2

~F~E~n.~~,~~~9o~o~.J~============~~~=E~N~G~I=N~E=E~R~I~N=G~~~~~====~~~~~~~~~I4~3~ .
THE STANDARDISATION OF SCREW
THREADS.
(Co-ntinued frorr~; page 111.)

. Sellers (1864) (Fig. 4). - Willi~m ~ellers, of

5
Ph'ladelphia recommended a modtfica tw n of the
Whltworth ~tandard. Fig. 4 shows the. form
of this thread, the sJ\me letters applytng t o
similar parts as in Fig. 1 (see page ~11 ante). . The
form of tho thread is that of an eqUilateral t rum gle
(60 deg.) truncated so as ~o presen t a fiat surface
at the point and root (see '1 , le an_d e, f) . The dept h
of the thread h, is equal to .60 p~ and Lh~ t otal
depth ho enclosing the ?uter and mnor po~n ts ?f
the triangle at a, b, c 1s .866 11. . The p1tch 1s
nearly p = .1 d. + .025, and the d1ameter at the
root of the thread is d 1 = .87 d - .03. 'Fhe depth
approximately t o
Of the th read. 65 corresponds very
Th S 11
t d d
6
that of Whitworth - . 4 P
e e ers s an ar

Tig.ll.

TABLE VI.-Partic1~la1'S

of the French Marin e

Standard (1865-7).

I Diameter

X um b er

SELLERS.
1
f18G4J
I

Part iculars of this system n.re to be found scattered

through the Bullet in Officiel de la Marine, from
1865 to 1867. The section of t h e t hread conforms
almost exactly with that of Sellers (see Fig. 4). The
inner and outer points of t he angles are t.runcated,
the depth cut off being eq ual t o ! h0 The proportions of pitch appear t o be widely generalised
according t o some empirical rule, as will be seen
from the following Table, in which t he diameters of
the bolts are given to th e line b, b ( Fig. 4), that is
to the apex of t he extended, and n ot to the surface
of the truncated, tlnends. The diameters advance,
presumably by steps of on e millimetre, from 6, but
t hroughout this wide range there are only nine
variations in pitch , so t hat t he same pitch in part
of the series is made to do dut y for 18 diameters.
The series is contained in the following Table:

vf

Series.

7:

I
I
I

I
I
I

I
l~

I
I

/ k/

L-------
dJ
I
I I
~
l :I

__ _ J __

r-t--------I~

r --+.:.:.o
18

,'

~--1----=--~-~,-'---- --~
t5tWJJ
l ~ 13
I
tsp

'iO

15
1I

~0

Sl

6
6
6

:l !

36
40
4.l

GO

64
C'8
I _.

8'i
SH

17

)8

9G
l OO

]Q

20

VII.-The S teilnlen System.

Diameter .

Pit ob.

Diameter.

Pitch.

mm.

mm.
0.6
0.76
0.'75
1.0
1.25
1.25
1.60
1.60
1.76
1.76
2.0
2.0
2.5
2. 5
30
3.0

mm.
28
30
33

mm.
3.0
3.6
3.5
4.0
4.0
4.0
45
4.6
6.0
6.0
6.0
6.0
6.0
7.0
7.0
7.0

4
6
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
15
18
20

I
1

h;_

14

2.5
3
35
4
4
4
4

TABLE

"& I I
-8 '*--ic
I
I
I

r.o

7. Steinlen's System (1873) (Fig. 5).- This important engineering firm at Mulhouse, had perfected, as early as 1870, its own system of screw
threads which was described by Mr. Steinlen in
1873, in a. paper presented to the Mulhouse
Society. -H-

-':-t----I
-X-.

~---~-~-~~.f------~

~,

12

11J
18
20
24
28

2
3
4

11

1.5
2

I
I

l :
4/<,
l,

!)

14

I~

JO

II

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

mm.
4
6
6
5
6
5
6

1.5

1
1

mm.
48

p.

12

I
'
I

I
I

cL.

Series.

Pi tch

10

I{

Nu~ber IDinmeter I

TABL E

..

..

>~-lY..----~I

mm.

p.

mm.

lI

Pi tch

3!1

38
40
43
46
48
60
55

has become of general adoption in the U nt:ted

States, and the special advantage claimed for itCC)
that of the square-faced and rooted threads- has
65
been endorsed by a large number of the various
70
2l
75
standards that have been set up since 1864 in
25
80
various parts of the Continent. In the following
Table is a summary of the Sellers t hreads for
This system was shown at the Vioma Exhibidifferent sizes of bolts, these latter advancing by
t ion of 1873, and suggested t o D elisle t h e careful
sixteenths, eighths, and quarters of an inch.
and patient investigation of the s ubject, to which
TABr~E V. - The SeUers' System (1864).

J!ie.5.

Diameter.
Calculated.

If .

i
f ,,
ll

H
!!I

!<i

mm.
6.a5
7. 94
9.54
11. 10
12.70

14.28

1~

16.88
19.05
22.22
25.40
28.68
31.70
31.92
38.10
41 .28

1i

44.46

11

f
i

ll
1!
1~

1t
)~

?t
2!
2f
3

lit
3!

Sf

4!
44-

4f-

&!

C.!
Ii
6

47.62
60 80
57.16
63.(0
6~U'fi

76.20
82. 66
88. 0
95.25
lOt 6
108 0
114.3
120.7
127.0
133.4

139.6
146 0
162.3

Pitoh.

20
17.5-l
16.6
13.9
12.6
11.6
10 8
9.34
8.40
7.63
6.98
6 48
606
6.77
6. 40
5 11
4.87
4.6!
4.31
4( 0
3.76

3.64
3.35
3.19
3.04
2.92
2.81
2. 71
2.61
2 53
2.46
2.38
2 3l
2 26

14

13
12
11
10
9

8
7
7
6
6

6~

6
6

4~
4~

4
4
3.\-

3~

:3t
a
3

~~
~i

2~.;

2!

2i
2~

2!

mm.
1.27
1.41
1.69
1.81
1.96
2. 12
2.31
2.64
2.82
3.18
3.63
3.63
4.23
4.23
4.62
6.08
6.66
6.36
6.36
7.26
7.26
7.82
8.47
8.47
8.83
9.26
9.67
10.1'i
10. 16
10.70
10. 70
10.28

6. The Fre11ch Ma rine 8tanda'rd ( 1865 - 7).-

mm.
10

13

5
6
7
8
9
10

16
19
23
26

16
19
23

2 1)

11

3o
31)
42
46
48

30
33
36
40
43
46

12
13
14

15

'
,... ..............
1

'1..

I
1

! I

11

.,. oo. .,!. I ,

\
, I-:

'#

}c. '
.

I I

I
I

'
I

11

I
I
I
l

I
I
~

i
t

Jk

It

l if

1!

li

1~

1i

'I

7
6
(3

6
5
46

'

I ,,

~-

'

I
I

II

! ' -,,'b ! .'

I
t

""

.,.'

<>:g, ; :,.:_. ,
~
r:

,,

,,

'1

I
I
1

I
I

I
I

I
I

p: .
I

II

I
..... ~----li-- -- --

I ,,I
f:
I
I

'1

'

'

E 1---~
1
'

I
tSlJSIJ :

r' ID

- --i---t--------dt
I
I

:
j

.J

!f--tI --------ru1
I

t
I

I
I

: k-----------

I
I

16
12
11
10
9
8

/fORD & ORLEANS.

iL.I

FRENCH RAILWAYS.

tO

mm .
9 h2
12.70
16.87
19.06
22.22
26.40
28 57
31.75
34.92
38.10
41.27
44.46
47.63

Fig.G.

n.

No a t.tempt has been made by the French railway companies to adop t nny uniform system, and,
as we have pointed out , there exists n o particular
inducement for s uch great associat ions to standardise. Mr. E. Sauvage (Bulletin de la Societe
d 'Encouragement, 1894, pages 144 to 311) describes
no fewer than 10 different types in railway use.
Of these a few have been selected as examples.
9. The N orthern of F'rance and 01lewns R ail1vays
(Fig. 6).- This is illustrated by Fig. 6. The section of the t hread is an isosceles triangle a, b, c,

~6

13

3~

mm.
10

f4- -J.--------
I

Number of
Diameter Mea - Threads pt: r
sured over Thread.
Inc h.

Finished. Unfinished .

I ~ -------- -------1--t---------<:t
:I lI
lI II
l
~J~-----x--1
- I
:

f.08

5.es

l18'13A

I
I

Diamet er of Bolt.

~,.

~:,

Adopted.
20
18
16

V III.-The P -tussia n State R ailway S ystem.

N umber
of
Serie8.

STEINLEN .

Number of Threads per Inoh.

It is an equilateral triangle, with the face and

r oots rounded and truncating the triangle, the
radius of the curve being 0.1 p. The form th us
combines the Whitwor t h and Sellers system. The
series of diamet ers and pitches is given in T able
VII.
There are a number of int ermediate diameters
n ot given in t he foregoing Table, but all t h e
varieties of pitch are included.
8. P1"1"'ssicvn State R ailw((ys. -This thread was
introduced to a limited .ext en t on the Prussian
State rail ways. I t is an example of the numerous
attempts at comp romise tha t we re made t o adapt
th e Whitworth syst em t o a metrical standard. The
thr ead is Whitworth set out in inches, while the
dimensions of t he bolt , nut, and head are in metdeal units. Table VIII. contains par t iculars of
t.his syste m :

1-.

IV- 0 76D

*--kE
18
I

I
I

r-- --- --~--+~---- -~

fu
I
~ - ---- - -~:~~--- ----- --~

-:ro- - - - - ~ - --

wi t h the com ploted d epth 71 0 = p ; t ho face and

1
I
root are rounded t o the extent of ~ p , making the
!
! I
actual depth of thread = . 75 p the angle of the
J!. .. --k
J--~E
thread is 53 d eg. 8 min.
'
10 II I
110
I
I
I
I
I
I
~0. Th e W este1"n and State R ct,ilu;ays of FTWt1ce
r"
: I
(Ftg. 7).- These two railways have adopted a thread

:1 rI
:1 1I
of. similar section and angle (53 deg. 8 min.) but
I ~---~g~r-----J.I II
wt~h smaller curves at t h e edge and root, the bends
I 1
I
1
J..
I
betng equal to .075 p; from this a somewhat
ISl36tJ jf-J___ !,';f.:'_Di!,~~- -- -- - -tl
I
g rea.ter .d~pth of thread results (h = .85 p ). The
German engineers have, since 1870, contributed so sectwn IS Illustrat ed by Fig. 7.
largely. The form of the thread is shown in li'ig. 5.
~1. The E astern .Railtt:ay of F'rmtee (Fig. 8).-This con;pany employs three types of thread. (a)
* "Bulletin de la Societe Industrielle de Mulbouse, " For _carnages a~d o~her rolling stock, they use the
1873, page
. . 44,
sectwn ~h own 1n F1g. 8 . Here the threads are of~
11

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

144
considerably s.maller angle than the last two named
(43 deg. 36 mm.) ; the curves at edge and r oot are
n.ot so sharp, so that the lines bounding the extenston of th e angles (h0) are considerably farther apart
and equal 1. 26 p ; th ~ distance f, f limiting the
depth of th~ thread 1s -} p, th e depth of the
thread h being .86 p. (b) F or fixed plant track
and so forth,. no special type of screw is specified:
(c) For machtne work there is employed a. section

Ftg. 7.
FRENCH RAJLWAVS.

1'
.
I
I

I
I

I
I

I
I

I
I

I
I

'I
I

I
I
I

I
I

I
I

I
I
I

I
~

I
I

I
I

*--------------I
I

l>O

28
25

I
I

k:

I' ~

1lJ -0"'"'

OQJ!_

j-(-

---- - ---- - -

..J.
W

dJ.
,

f''

11

II

.J..J

I
I
I

II
1

II
I

'I
"'
::t -- ----~~-~,,~~~

I
I

,~~ I

Jo

.' . I

k. .,--

EASTERN
FOR ROLLING STOCK.

I --,
I k------I

I'

!
I

lI

1I

.... ~ ... ,

II

II

I --........ u
~J
'48"J6'
'-l<~~
\
,,-1

''t
I
I

II

I
I

J:~:
1
''
I '

Ill
I

'1,

: tr _____1v.Jy_-~!5-f-------~
I

fI
I

(S~l

reducing the depth by

on each side, and the

effective depth of the thread h = p . The r esulting

angle given to the thread is 36 deg. 62 min.
13. The Lomba~rdo &jstem (Fig.10).-0n the Mediterranean system of the I talian State Railways, the
English standard is largely employed, but to some
extent a metric system is also usecl. This contains
some good features and is known as the Lombardo
system. It is illustrated by Fig. 10, where it will
be seen that the section of the thread forms an
equilateral triangle t runcated to the amount of
h 71 0 = .058 p and rounded off with a sharp curve;
t he completed depth h0 = t~ p, and h = .76 p. The
diameters of the bolts made on this system corre-

Fi'nJ1.

.&~

)-. ,

....., b I

I 60
I
I

,,

I
I

'I

K.

1
1

~~~

I I
I I
I I

I I

I
' ~.....

11 I

:1

1 :

I
I
pI

I I
I

(!Z-3Sid

i
l

"ftp,O,?Sp

15 P

II

II

p 1I

I
I

1I

~~ ----~1
I

I
I

I
I

},

I/

~----------II

II
I

II

I
I

I
I

-* ---*--/IV

--1--+------- dJ
I
I
!+---~------ fb.
I
I
1
I
I
I
I
I
I

I ....._

~.8 *---~I

~--~
~
I
t8

! r---~:-YL'[~-----4

Jl,

'I

T ABLE

I
I

in this review we are al ways following the valuable

report of Signor Galassini, addressed to the Society
of Engineers and Architects of Turin.
14. The Delisle Systems, No. 1 (1873) ; No. 2
(1877) (Fig. 11).- These were the first systems
presented to the Association of German Engineers.
In the earlier form (1873), Delisle had adopted
practically the Sellers type ; whilst in the second,
he proposed a profile (Fig . 11) of an isoceles triangle, inscribed in a r ectangle, having the base
equal to the height (h0 = p), and the truncation = ! 71,0. The series of diameters and of corre-

= 2.4 + .05 d

, d

= 40 ,

= 80

16. Saatrbriick Enginee1s' S ystem (Fig. 12).- Tbis

closely approximates in form of thread to that of
Sellers, the diameter and pitch of the series being
given in Table X., while Fig. 12 shows the progression of both systems of Delisle, as well as that
of Saarbriick ; the curved line introduced in the
diagram illustrates the Whitworth progression
averaged. I t will be noticed that in the Saarbriick
series there is an abrupt jump between the 26
and 28 millimetre diameters ; these dimensions mark
the change from the small to the large diameters of

-~~~Pt'-~1:
-------~
19
0...

II

f ~--~--------------1
I

'

"!1J -

I
I

1:

The above refers to Delisle, No. 1 ; for Delisle,

No. 2, the ratios are :
p = .4 + .1 d for d = 6 to d = 40

I
I

I
I I
1!!,
I I
--1t*- 15

L
f.

~~ ~--r~ ____%_
-:p;_ _________

I I

I I

I I

I 1
I I

' ID

iv
1 I
__ o+ ~

15

I
1

I
'I !

I
I

I
I
I

11

.... I '-,
.... ~

I
1

b
I
I
...
69' a ~:/

I
I

I I

I I

I I
ll
I I

11
I I

11

f 1 ------------- '-..*QI
:;;.. I ___T__,

'1-----~--

I I

GERMAN

I
I
uL> I - - ' - -

IQ/

I I
: 1

= 40 ,, d = 80

:I

:I

, d

I I

I I

7.8

II

~-~'1-I

6.6
6.0
6.4

1..-

I I

6.2

---------++------d,~ ~

I
I

3.6
4.0
4.4
4.8
6.4
6.0
6.6
7.2

DWSLE

~+------a,

II II
II
1 I
lI

rv. 1 6

~------

3.2
3.6
4.0
4.4
4. 8

= 2.8 + .05 d

l~TALIAH STATE RAILWA ~S.i

in which the depth of thread h is equal to the

pitch p, diminished by a constant of l millimetre
(h = p - 0.6). From this arises the inconvenience
that t he threads of different-sized screws are of
different sections.
12. The Pa,ris, MJO'ns, and .LY.fedite?"tanewt R ct.il'lVaAJ (Fig. 9).-The form and angle of thread used
by this company are illustrated by F ig. 9 at a, b, c ;
it has a depth h0 = 1. 6 p, the rounded portions

3.6
40
4.4
4.8
52
5.6
6.0
6.4
6.8

2.4

28
32
36
40
48
66
64
72
80

LOMBAROO.

k---- ______a:_l~~-----------~
I

I
I

16
18
2.0
2.2
2.4

:3.2

J-E---.k
4

1.6
1.8
2.0
2.2

Fifl.JO.

1.4

:r-- --------- -'R---~~:.- --------- ----~

10

I6

(J.U!>J)

1.4

26

'~~1

II
I
:~---- X-

l---k

~-

I
I

t-f-J
.
I

I1

r~~'

II

1.2

2.8

I
I
I

~...-~~~,-~ 0

:I
pl

:
I
I
-l.. ' I

I
I

----~

I1

3.2

I1

II

1.0
1.2

The values of the two Delisle systems are deduced

from the following ratios :
p = .2 d for d = 4 to d = 8
p = .8 + .1 d ford = 8 to d = 40

II II
I
l ~-----;~--R---------~ !

L
:-..........._~
(Jj

II

I
1

Ik:-~~-~

II

I1

~--+---- a,
-______J____l _____ w

1.0

22
24

!
TJ

2.6
2.8
3.0

)j--+---~
/J.

I
I
1-,,,,_J.______ ....k
I

I
I

RAILWAYS.

I.
I
I

I"' J

FRENCH

I
II

I
I
I
I
I

~ ............ ,

Pitch.

I
I

L ~~ !
r+--- ------- .. -P--------------..

Pig.8.

RAILWAYS.

I
I

mm.

20

r---------- ---------1-----t-----dl
I
I

mm.

16
18

mm.
0.8
10
1.2
l.4
1.6
1.8
20
2.2
24
2.6
2.8

15

I.r-----+---- d~

Saa briiok.

5
6
7
8
10
12

--

:1
I

- -1

($:356)'

1
I
I
1

86'52
-;k-~
_, .. --~ I - .... -.....
!f._.. ~ ''
I
~ i~
I
I

I
1

-------"11

\
.. ~~
,t~..'
"'
..
.,'

30

--

I
I

>f.-ko01sp

' 1 :

l.

0,015...*'-i<
~p I
'

II

!I

~-~-----I
I

L L- - - - -

-~,,

12
10
8

28

PARIS , I.YOHt;, &

MEDITERRANEAN.

1
1
: _,, .... ~

.A:-----*-:o

119~RENCH

- - - - T-

3fi
3.5
3 : 3.6
3
3

3~

~
,.

20
18
16

Delisle, No. 2
Pit ch.

mm.
2.5
2:25
2
2
1.5

~3

Delisle, No, 1
Pitch.

mm.

We may now pass on to the consideration of another

series of screw-thread systems devised and adopted
not so much. by ?ngineering establishments, as pro~
posed by sCientists and by scientific associations :

1I

24
26
2U
27

4
4

Diameter.

P i~h .

mm.

_. I

.:.

mm.

-.l-~- - T

18
19
20
21
22
23

Number Diameter.
of Scl'ies.

Pitch.

mm.
50
45
40
35

I
I
I
I

I X .-Pctrticulctrs of the Lombardo System.

Number Diameter.
of Series.

I
I
I

T ABLE

I
I

exactly wit~ those on the Paris, Lyons, and sponding threads are shown in Table X., as well
Mediterranean Ra1lwa.y; the range of the series is as those of the Saarbriick system, referred to
not, ~o wev er, quite so great. I t will be noticed later.
t~a.t m Nos. 21 and 26 of the series, alternative
TABLE x.- Delisle, N os. 1 anil 2, and the Saarb1iiok
pttches may b e used indifferently. The followina0
System.
Table contains particulars of the series:

1900.

2,

spon~

l"l~S TERN.

[FER.

XI.-The R eulcaux Syste'ln.

Diameter d.

Pitoh p .

Diameter d.

Pitch p.

mm .

mm.
0.8
0.9
1.0
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.6
1.8
2.0

mm.
24
26

mm.
2.8
2.0
3.2
3.4
8.6

5
6

7
8
9

10
12
14

16

18
20
2~

2.2

2A
2.6

28

30
32
36
40
45

eo

60
70
~0

4.0

4.4
4.7
6.0
6.6
6.2
6.8

FEB.

2,

1900.]

underneath are two cast - steel cases each containing seven cylindrical rollers, which r evolve
on the slide. The necessary guiding is secured on
the sides and underneath by four clamps of forged
&teel. A cast- iron recoil cylinder is r ecessed in the
lower part of the mounting, to which it is strongly

screws, and the designers gave a di~e1~ent proportion to the former to secure a fin~r pitch. .
16. Th e Rettlea1tX Sy8tent. - This ~ystem IS very
similar to the thre last named, an~ does ~ ot
possess any apparent advantage over either. 1he
profile corresponds to that of Delisle No. 2 (Fig. 11).

EVJ.12.

DIAGRAM OF PITCHES & DIAMETERS OF

OELI SLE N~ f I 11873> AND 2 f 1877) & SAARBRUCK
ENG I NEERS'

145

E N G I N E E RI N G.

NoT:- Tlte

?8

ASSOCI ATION.

. ..

turvedJ ~ slwws the; 1Ttea1VWhitwortlv pi.tcJv "wuL

dioJneter fOr

appr~

siJxe.s.

to the naval guns already described, we shall select

for the following descriptions a few only of the
most interesting types that embody particular devices, and are placed up on special mountings.
12- Oentirnet1e (4. 724- I n.) 26-Calibre Quick-Fi1ing
Coast - Defenc e G1tt'1t (Fig. 702, page 147).-This has
been adopted for regular service in Japanese coast
defences. The programme that had to be fulfilled
according to the Japanese Artillery stipulationE~,
stated that the gun should be of medium power
(muzzle velocity 600 metres only = 1968 ft.),
quickly trained and fired by a limited number of
men. In connection with this order, the Japanese Government established competitive trials, in
which the Schneider-Canet ordnance obtained the
first rank, and was definitely adopted. The following are some leading data :
W eight of gun
...
...
Length of gun
...
. ..
Weight of mounting
...
,
base
.. .
. ..
,
shield . ..
...
Maximum
angles of eleva
t1on . . .
. ..
. ..
. ..
Training
.. .
...
. ..
Weight of projectile
...
Weight of powder charge,
French smokeless powder
Muzzle velocity
. ..
.. .

.
.

3
I

~~~

/ ~~ -

.... / .-.:' ~~

/ /,
_I

PiJ.cM,
0
.DUI/~~

'I

I,

.,

_I

c;.~~ ': f "'

~ ~ C\t
c:t ~
'it 10
CO ~ Cot ~

-"",...

I:>

"'cot<oa,OQ

.t

"'C>> .:.
().......
Ill) ~ ~ ~ 19 ~ Cf> ~ ~ 'P
.:.
N
~
Cl') a, <>) ">

(0

~~ ~:! :e::2~ ~H~ ~ ~

<:t

"'

..ot:.,

0))

"'

I:>

10

'?

10

I:-

CO

t-o

cp

(,)

"1
(0

10

t:t

...

<:t

'

tL

f lUSAI

Each different diameter d determines the conesponding pitch p according to the following
formula :
p = .4 + .1 d for d = 4 to 40 mm.

p = 2. 0 + .OG d , d = 40 , 80 ,
out in
From these values the series is worked
Table XI. (see preceding page) :
(To be CO?ttinued.)

:MESSRS. SCHNEIDER AND CO.'S

WORKS AT CREUSOT.-No. LXXVIII.
MORTARS FOR COAST DEFENCE .

27 -Oentimeke (10. 630-I?~.) Coast-Defence Mmta?-.

-Coast-defence mortars of 10.630-in. calibre have
been built in large numbers (Fig. 700, page 146).
The following are some leading dimensions :

Weightofmortar . . . . . . 5,750lrilogs. (1,267lb.)

,
mounting
... 19,160 ,, (42,228 , )
,
projectile
.. .
250 ,
(551 , )
Angles of elevation . ..
. . . -0 deg. + 60 deg.
Training
. ..
...
. ..
through 270 deg.
Muzzle velocity, with black
...
.. .
275 m. (902 ft.)
powder
...

The 10.630-in. mortar illustrated is placed on a

mounting, the general arrangements of which are
similar to those of the mounting for the same calibre
of coast-defence guns already described. In the
mortar, however, the height of the trunnions being
very much less than in the 10.630-in. guns, the platform for loading and training is not required ; the
bolst~r is fitted ~ith the circular rack and pivot
housmg, for the p1vot on the lower part of the slide.
In the lateral training mechanism, the helicoidal
wh?el cast in one piece with the grooved pulley on
which the chain turns, is set in motion by an
endless screw fixed to a shaft on which are keyed
the two working cranks. The elevating mechanism
consists of a toothed sector fitted to the mortar
and an endless screw ; on the end of the shaft'
w~ich carries the l~tt.er is keyed a square pinion
drtven by another pinion on the shaft of which is
keyed the working crank.
30-Centimctre (11.811-In.) Muzzle-Loading Rifled
M?rta1r, 1883 Patte?-n, on Co;tst-Defence Mounting
(Fig. 701).- Mountmgs of thiS pattern were built
by MessrP. Schneider and Co. in 1889. They are
arranged so as to allow an elevation of from - 5 to
+ 70 deg., and lateral training throucrh
200 deg. The
0
mountin~ is built up of steel plates and angles ; on
the top m front are the trunnion supports, while

bolted ; the piston-rod is joined to the front and to

the rear of the slide. The slide consists of two
!-beams stayed together in front and in the rear.
The slide is fitted, in a line with the mountincr
trunnions, with a strengthening piece forming :
transom. In the rear there is a stay-plate, with
two supporting rollers for the mountincr trail.
The slide is built up of steel plates and~:>angles.
The mounting and slide rest in front on a bolster,
and in the rear on a circular segment with the interposition of coned ro1lers. The bolster rollers and
the rear segment are of cast iron, and rest on oak
beams imbedded in the foundation.
The gun is elevated from the front of the mounting by means of a transverEe shaft, which works a
toothed sector keyed on the left-hand trunnion of
the mortar. It is trained from the rear of the
slide; a transverse shaft works the pinion which
engages the rack of the circular sector, through
conical and cylindrical toothed wheels. On the
slide is fitted a crane for serving the mortar with
ammunition.
Quick-Fi1ing Coast - Defence Gu11ts.-A certain
number of points selected for coast defence, and
especially " armour-piercing coast batteries," have
to be armed with guns of high power and fiat trajectories, permitting a rapid concentration of fire
against a target. I t is important in many cases that
coast-defence batteries should be in a position to
compete thoroughly, under conditions approxi~ately equal, with quick-firing naval guns, while it
1s necessary to take into consideration the ease
with which tnodern fleets can perform their evoluti~ns. A specia~ class of Schneider-Canet quickfirmg guns contams a complete series of calibres
from 37 millimetres (1.456 in.) to 24 centimetre~
(9.449 in.), for carrying out this programme to the
best advantage. This class of mctJte?-iel has been
adopted for regular service by various Governments, especially Russia and Japan, the two latter
countries having acquired the right to reproduce
the types in their own arsenals. As a rule these
guns are similar ~o those used on board si1ip, as
regards constructwn and breech-closing device,
but they are frequently of loncrer bore in order to
obt_ain higher muzzle velocitie~ and flatter trajectories. The mountings are also similar to naval
mountings, but as coast-defence guns have to fire
under great angles, both positive and necrative the
mounting is either placed upon a concrete ba~e or
upon a cot;te built up of plate and angles. As the
guns of thts class are similar, except in dimensions,

1620 kilogs. (3570 lb.)

3.120 m. (10ft. 21-& in.)
2780 kilogs. (6127 lb.)
1800 ,
(3967 , , }
1500 ,
(3306 ,, )
- 7 deg. + 20 deg.
through 140 deg.
18 kilogs. (40 lb.)
2.8 ,
(6 , )
560 m. (1837 H.)

The mounting is fitted with a shield which protects the working parts and the gunners. The
mounting consists of four main parts, namely : The
built-up base, in the shape of a truncated cone
stayed inside and bolted to the firing platform th~
loading platform being in the rear ; the bol~ter
fitted to the base and provided with roller balls, th~
central pivot of the bolster being joined by ribs to
the circular ring ; the slide which rests on the
bolster on the balls and consists of two cheeks made
practically v~rtical, the latter being provided with
under trunnwn plates strengthened in the middle
by stays, the cheeks joined together by a stiff plate
the gun carriage, which consists of a cast-steei
jacket, in one piece with which is cast the lower
part of the hydraulic r ecoil cylinder ; the trunnions
are in the f~ont part of the jacket ; while. inside,
gun-metal rings at both ends serve to cruide the
gu~ during recoil. ~t it~ lower p~rt, o.:'er a part
of Its length, the carnage lB made w1th a crap forming two slide paths to guide the butt e;d which
draws the recoil piston-rod with it. A tr~nsverse
bar with buffer is placed in front to check the
travel of the gun when it runs out again.
The recoil cylinder is on the Schneider-Canet
system, with central counter rod. It acts as follow s :
D~r~g rec~il the gun draws along with it the r ecoil p1ston, Its rear surface presses on the glycerine
in the cylinder, a~d forces it to flow through the
annular vent cut round the central rod and
through the lateral vents cut round the piston. The
glycerine flows to the front part, the valve which
establishes a communication between the t wo ends
of the cyl~nder being r~ised. The inside capacity
of the cyhnder decreasmg ~y a quantity equal to
the volume of the rod wh10h penetrates it the
corresponding excess of liquid moves the b~ttom
of the cylinder which acts as a plunger, this moves
the. transv~rse bar and presses down the r ecuperati.ng sprmgs. . Wh~n the recoil is spent, the
springs In relaxing dnve back the transverse bar
and the cylinder bottom, thus forcing the glycerine
to resume its former position ; but as the valve is
closed, it can only flow through the narrow vent in
the va~ve seat, the gun returning therefore slowly
and . w1thout sho~ks. The training gear both for
vertical and honzontal angles is of the ordinary
type, and so need not be described.
12- Centimet1e (4. 724--!n.) 40: Calib1e Quick-Fi1ving
Coast-Defertce Gtt.n.-This gun IS on the same system
as the preceding one, but is of a much greater
power.
Weight of gun
...
,
mounting
,
base
. ..
,
shield . ..
Elevation
. ..
.. .
Training
.. .
...
Weight of projectile
Muzzle velocity
...

. ..
...
. ..
.. .
. ..
. ..
.. .
.. .

2650 kilog~. (5840 lb.)

4130 ,,
9102 , )
1850 ,
4077 , )
1650 "
3636 " )
- 10 deg. + 15 deg.
through 360 deg.
21 kilogs. (46 lb.)
650 m. (2132 ft.)

The mounting is provided with a platform and

consists of five main parts :
(a) The base, ~f plates and .angles, is invariably
bolted on the firing platform ; It contains the roller
path and supports the firing platform. At its lower
p~~t are ei.ght r.ecesses. containing rounds of ammunitwn for 1n~uring rapid firing.
(b) The Circular bolster with pivot.

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

SCHNEIDER-CANET MORTARS AND

[FEB.

2, 1900.

COAST-DEFENCE MOUNTINGS .

'

. .

'

' '

FIG.

701.

30-CENTIMETRE M uzzLE-LOADING M o RTAR AND CoAST- DEFENCE Mo uNTIN G-.

(c) The slide which rests on the b olster on balls

it consists of two cheeks stayed together and fitted
with the trunnion plates.
(d) The loading platform on the rear of the
slide ; it bears on t he base with the interposition of
rollers.
(e) The carriage~which carries t he gun; this is
made with two trunnions t hat rest in the slide and
is on the same type as the one for the prec~ding
gun, as also are t he hydraulic recoil cylinder and
the recuperator.

6-In . 50-Calibre Q1rick-Fir'ing Coast-Defence Gwns

(Fig. 703) .-Guns of this type have been s upplied
to t he Russian Government.
Weight of gun
. ..
... 6,230 kilog~. (13,731lb.)
,
,
,

Elevation

mounting
base
.. .
shield .. .

...

... 10,400
.. . 3,180
.. . 1, 720

.. .

.. .

Training
.. .
.. .
Weight of projectile
Muzzle velocity
...

...
...

,
,
,

(22.921 , )
( 7,008 , )
( 3, 791 , )
-10 deg. + 30 deg.
. thro.ugh 360 deg.

43 k1log~. (95 lb.)

720 m. (2362 ft.)

.. .
The mounting consists of the following main
parts:
(a) The base, built up of plates and angles, in
the shape of a cone, strengthened by g usset plates ;
it is bolted on t he firing platfor m, by means of a
circular soleplate.
(b) The bolster which rests on the cone and is
provided with rollers to facilitate rotation. The
bolster is fitted also with the pivot and the circular
rack for lateral training .
(c) The slide con'3ist s of two cheeks with trunnion
plates for the carria~e trunnion~ ;. they are s~rength
ened in front by a r1b and are JOlned at their lower
part by a plate of suitable shape in which fits the
bolster pivot.
(d) The gun carriage con sists of a fixed part and
of a movable one which follows t he recoil. Th~
fixed part contains t wo lateral string b eams, a front
and a rea.r collar, and a hydraulic recoil piston. The
string beams contain the trunnions. and are bolted
at their two ends on t h e collars. The front collar
is provided with a plastic ring, which forms a buffer
for the mounting jacket when the gun run::; out
again. The re~r .collar .is lined . inside with gunmetal bush es ; 1t IS continued at Its lower part, and
forms a butt to which is joined the r ecoil piston.
The movabl~ part contains a jacket which remains
joined t o the gun in front
tongues aD;d grooves,
and in the rear by t wo h alf-rmgs placed m a groove

br

Fw. 700.

27 - CE~TLM ~TRE
l\lo.a.1Art

AND C oA-ST-DEFENCE CARRIAGE.

of the gun ; a recoil cylinder cast in one piece wi th metre guns, except that the recoil piston-rod is
it ; two lateral slide shoes, forming clamps which jointed in the r ear, and does n ot follow the recoil.
hold on t he str ing beams and support the gun In the case of the presen t mounting t he cylinder
during r ecoil.
.
.
is drawn by the gun , the piston rema ining fixed .
The arrangements of t he recoil cyhnder and re- Moreover, the set of recuperator springs is divided
cuperator are t he s un a a.s those for the 12-cen t i- 1 into two parts, t\Dd con sists of Belleville rings.

FEB. 2, I 900.

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

147

FOR COAST DEFENCE.

SCHNEIDER-CANET QUICK-FIRING GUNS

~ee

(F m D escription,

'

..

P aye 145.)

. ..

..

'

..

~.

FIG. 7 02.

'

..-- .. .

G uN

1 2-CENTIMETRE 26-CALIBRE QmcK-FIRING

AND CoAST-DEFENCE M oUNTING .

"""

'

'

F IG . 703.

6 IN.

50-CALIBRE QuiCK-FIRI NG G u N ANl> CoAST-DEFENO~ ~1o uNTING.

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

[FE13. 2' I 900.

The slide is ~ontinued in the rear by a loading plat- country amongst the nations of the world. Mr. transferred to another district would cease to give
form. A shield of suitable shape and dimensions E . P. Martin secon<:led the resolution; and the s1tisfacbon, a fact no doubt largely due to the
protects the whole mechanism.
chairman having invited members to make any r e- nature of the water dealt wit h, whet her hard or
lnu ks they thought fit, but no resp onse being soft. Rust from pipes was a source of trouble in
THE INSTITUTION OF MECHANICAL given to his invitation, the motion was put to the the use of meters in soft water districts.
meeting and carried unanimously.
Professor Unwin complirnented the author on
ENGINEERS.
The result of the ballot for President and mem- the design of his meter and the patience he had
THE fifty-third annual general meeting of this
Insti.t ution was held on Friday evening of last week, bers of the Council was next announced. The exhibited in investigating the cause of error. There
January 26, at the Institution's House, Storey's Council was fortunate in being able to pers uade was one pass~ge, however, to which he would take
Gate, St. J a roes's Park. In the absence of the Sir William White t o accept another term of office exception. In speaking of the Venturi meter the
President, Sir William H. White, who was pre- in spite of the heavy official duties that press upon author said in his paper : ((it must, of course, not
vented from attending, the chair was taken by Sir him in the onerous position he occupies under be used below i ts rated capacity., The statement
Government. He will therefore remain President was, perhaps, accurate, but he t hought was someEd ward H. Carbutt.
After the minutes of the last meeting had been for the present year. The three Vice-Presidents what misleading. All meters had limits of capaelected were Messrs. J. A. F. Aspinall, E. P. city, but while most meters had maximum and
brought forward, the secretary proceeded to read
Martin, and J . H. Wicksteed. The members of minimum limits the Venturi had only a minimum,
THE ANNUAL R EPORT OF THE CoUNCIL.
Co uncil elected were Messrs. H. Chapman, H. A. below which it would not register-or rather below
Frvm this it appeared that the number of names I vc:\tt, H. D. Marshall, S. R. Platt, and J. I. which it would not give a registration which could
in all classes on the roll of the Institution was, at Thornycroft.
be read. The minimum velocity of flow he bethe end of 1899, 2922, as compared with 2684 at
w.ATER METERS.
lieved at which records were obtained was half a
the end of the previous year, showing a net gain of
There was one paper down for reading and dis- foot per second ; the speaker had found it extra238. The losses of membership during the past cussion, this being a contribution by Mr. William ordinarily acc urate in dealing with water mains.
year were slightly in excess of the averaae. On Schonheyder, entitled ''Water M eters of t he He r eferred to the frequent use of vulcanite by
the other hand, 57 more new members wer~ added Present Day, with Special Reference to Small t he author, and pointed out the extraordinary
to the Institution than during the previous year, Flows and Waste in Dribbles." This paper we durability of lignum vitre as a bearing surface for
and 112 more than in the year 1897. Attention is commence to print in full in o ur present iss ue, and metal when well lubricated with water.
called to the fact that early in the year the co uncil may therefore at once proceed to the discussion
Mr. P. Bright, of the ~rm of Tylor and Co. , said
took steps to put before engineer officers of the which followed its reading.
t hat the author had given a very fair paper in
R oyal Navy the advantages attaching to memberMr. Schonheyder wished to add a few words of describing different types of meter. H e regretted,
ship of the Institution. It is satisfactory to know explanation befor e other members spoke. H e said however, that Mr. Schonheyder had not communithat t his action has resulted in many of these that a great many difficulties had to be overcome cated with his firm, as they would have been
officers becoming members, and it is anticipated before he had been able to bring the meter t o its pleased t o have given him part iculars of a Tylor
1nore will join. Amongst members who have died present state as described in the paper and illus- meter more modern than t he one illustrated Ly the
during the past year may be mentioned Sir Douglas trated by the models on the table. These difficulties author in his wall diagram, for this had not been
Galton, who had served on the Council since 1888, had been entirely due to material and not to dBsign. made for eleven years, and the fan shown had not
and had been a Vice-President for eight years; Mr. For instance, the piston cups had first been made been used for sixteen years. The speaker would
Jeremiah Head, who had been a member of of leather, but this was found not to be suitable, bear out what Professor Unwin had said as to the
Council for 25 years, during which t ime he was a and after many trials he had adopted a soft vul- durability of lignum vitre. The author had said
Vice-President for four years and President in canite, the composition and mode of manufact ure of that the plan suggested for use with the inferential
1885-6 ; Mr. Willia.m L~ird, who had been a member which was known only to the makers who supplied meter did not appear to him successful in r egisterof Council for 12 years; and Mr. Peter Rothwell it. Again, the cr~nk spindle, which was of gun- ing small flows as well as large ones. Mr. Bright
Jackson, who was an original member of the Insti- metal, was apt to seize, unt il he bushed the hole would p oint out that these meters could be made
tution.
through which it worked with vulcanite, and that small enough to register the slightest dribble, they
Turning to the accounts, we find that the re- cured the defect. The pin of the valve also wore had at work such meters which would show a flow
venue for the year 1889 was 8777l. 4s. 5d., away somewhat rapidly when it was running metal of 2 or 3 gallons per hour, but had a capacity up to
while the expenditure was 9230l. 16s., leaving an to metal with the crank; this was due to working 120 and 130 gallons per hour. As they were geneexcess of expenditure over r evenue of 453l. 11s. 7d. dry on account of air accumulating in the t op of the rally used with ball valves, however, t he r egisterThe total investments and other assets amount to meter. H e had got over this also by the use of ing of sluggish fiowa was not so much a matter of
69,0S4l. Ss. 10d. If from this is deducted 25,000l. vulcanite. In the counter-plate, where the pinion consequence; in connection with this matter he
of debentures, and the total remaining liabilities, spindle pa::~ses through, there was also trouble would point out the discrepancy that often existed
3588l. 19s. 11d., the capital of the Institution through seizing, but here again a vulcanite bushing in the capacity of ball valves, those registered at
amounts to 40,495l. Ss. 1ld. The past year, it is cured the defect. The speaker referred to the dif- !- in. being frequently made with a i in. way. The
pointed out, was the first in which the Institution ferent-sized meters on the platform, which showed price of the meter was a very important consideraoccupied its own house, and an increase in the the range of the device. The cylinders of some tion. Inferential meters could be supplied for
expenditure was inevitable. Certain expenses of were of vulcanite, which was a useful material for 30s., which would serve for 342 p eople if a constant
a special character had also to be incurred in con- hard water. Two meters were also exhibited in supply of water were used. Questions of original
nect ion with the opening of t he new house. Under operation, the counter gear being taken off so cost, and of cost of maintenance, should both be
these exceptional circumstances the financial result that the action could be seen. The author considered in connection with these matters. He
for the year is considered satisfactory.
gave an illustrat ion showing with how small a agreed that working metal to metal did not give very
The work of t he Research Committee is n ext head the meters could be driven . One meter had good results; Lord Kelvin's now well-known tap was
referred to. The r eport of the Alloys Committee, register ed 267,000 gallons per hour, and was now much improved by having a vulcanite valve added.
presented by Sir William C. Roberts-Austen, is quite correct at 450 gallons and 20 gallons per hour.
Mr. W. B. Bryan, of the Eas t London Water
mentioned. This report, and the discussion which 'rhis meter had been tested by the Southwark and Works, said that he was much interested in water
follow ed its reading, have been fully dealt with Vauxhall \Vater Company, who had not thought it meters, as his company supplied through meters
in our columns in connection with the February necessary to go lower ; the author had, however, water to the value of 150, OOOl. a year. He was remeeting of the Institution. Sir William R oberts- tested the same meter to 5 gallons per hour. It had sponsible for t he meters used for this purpose, and he
Austen is now at work on the effect of annealing been in work for two and a half years in the service thought there was room for several different types;
and tempering on the propertieS 'of steel, a s ubject of t he Vauxhall Company, and was still as good as a positive meter was not suitable for large supplies
which will form the principal part of the next re- when new. A !-in. meter had been in use at his of, say, 300,000 gallons a day, and for those quant i
p ort.
Professor Burstall hopes to present the house for four years ; t he valve was still bright and ties the inferential meter must be used, and it regis
Report of the Gas Engine Research Committee, perfectly tight, and the meter register ed correctly tered with sufficient accuracy. On the other hand,
for domestic supplies the posit ive meter was neces
which is under the chairmanship of Dr. Kennedy, down to as little as 2 gallons per hour.
early in the present year. Professor Beare is also
Mr. Charles Hawksley, who rose at the invita- sary. It had the disadvantage of sometimes stop
proceeding with the investigation of the value of tion of the President, said he was willing to obey ping, and then they received indignant letters from
the steam jacket; while Professor Capper promises orders, but he came as a learner rather than a consumers asking why their water had been arbitrahis first report on the compound st eam-jacketed speaker. He had not an intimate personal know- rily cut off. That was the disadvantage of the meter
condensing engine at King's College, London, as l edge of the details of this meter. He knew that from t he customer's point of view, but from the sup
soon as the investigations he is making are s uffi- ea.ch type of water meter had it.s own advantages plier 's p oint of view it had this advantage that when
and defects according to the special situation in it stopped registering it stopped supplying. The
ciently advanced, which will be shortly.
Reference is next made to the Summer Meeting which it was placed. It was of very great import- expense of installing meters was the great dr~w
held in Plymouth last year, and to the formal open- ance to water companies to be able t o register small back, and to use Mr. Schonheyder's beaut1ful
flows, for much of the water used passed away in deYice to a large extent would involve a very great
ing of the new house. .
.
.
Sir Edward Carbutt, In moving the adoptiOn of this manner; n ot to be able to register small outlay. .A s bearing upon t his question, he would
the report, remarked that he might be permitted to q uantities appeared to him very like a shopkeeper state t hat t he East London Company's customera
say how hard the Council worked, for, as a Pa.st- having no small weights, so that he had to give included 80,000 renters who paid less than 3d. per
President he was n ot called upon for such act1ve away every t hing weighing only ounces. This was week, and 40,000 at ld. per week; that did not
exertions 'as other members of t he Council. The more especially the case in regard to waste. As to leave much margi n t o pay interest on the cost of
Research Committees were carrying out most valu- low-pressure meters, he knew the P arkinson had meters. Th ey had 2 10,000 houses in Lheir district,
able work which could not fail to make its mark given good r esults d uring many years of its exist- so that to put in meters would cost mer one
on engin~ering science. He attached importance ence, but it wo uld n ot transmit pressures. An- million sterling. Abroad things were on a diffe
t o students joining t he Institution , and he h oped other point was that many meters would perform rent foo ting ; t he example of Berlin where meters
younO' men would come forward to take adrantage excellently well when new, but would not mea are used, had been brought forward as an object
of th~ chances offered to them of increasing their sure small quantities when somewhat worn, the lesson t o be copied, but there the houses were big,
technical knowledge, and fitting themselves fo r valves perhaps becoming defective. Some meters being subdivided into flats or tenements, the
up1olding the po~ition of this grea.t engineering would work ex~ellently in one position, buh when average being 60 persons per house. In Vienna

FEB. 2, I 900.

the average was 69 people per house, whilst in

London the average was 6 or 7 people ~er house,
and in the provinces only 6. He believed the
Kcnnedy meter had ad vanta.~es ove~ a_ny ot~er
positive meter, but Mr. Schonheyder s mvent10n
was distinctly a new departure, and must be considered in that light. lfe wished to congratulate
him on the practical ingenuity he had shown. He
bad found the Deacon waste detector meter a verJ:'
valuable device in localising waste ; the V en tun
meter had great advantages in giving a.ccuratel_y
the flow in large mains. He c?uld s:peak to th1s
point as he bad one on a 48-m. roam, and had
tested it by actually cubing the water before it
passed through. Its disadvantage was that when
the clockwork stopped the r egistration stopped but
the water went on ; that was a. s tate of things that
did not suit his company.
Mr. T. Kennedy, the inventor of the Kennedy
water meter was next called on by the chairman.
He said that' he had supplied a written communication to the secretary, and he thought that members had better wait until that was published in the
Transactions.
Mr. J. Smith, of Nottingham, said that a model
and wall diaaram of his meter had been supplied.
He thought the subject was a little diffic~lt to deal
with in a speech, but he would send a wntten communication giving details of the mechanism. His
father the late Mr. Sydney Smith, had brought
out a ~ater meter on the gas-meter principle. His
own eystem was one of spiral passages or channels.
These had a graduated taper from inlet to outlet,
the method of estimating the quantity of wa. ter
being by mathematical calculation, the formula for
which was a little complicated. He had made experiments upon this principle, and had found it satisfactory, but great perfection was needed in the wheel
work to get accuracy, friction and looseness of t he
wheels being the points that had to be surmounted.
Mr. E. B. Ellington said it was a curious fact
that though the Parkinson meter was said to be
suitable only for low pressures, it was the one used
most extensively for recording the amount of water
supplied to machines working on the high-pressure
hydraulic system. In that case, however, they had
recourse to measuring the exhaust water; but as the
water passed first through the motors a difficulty was
experienced owing to pieces of packing and other
material being carriedawayand blockingupthe meter
drum. Another drawback was the large size of the
meter, and this led to it being used really as an inferential measurer, because they passed only a part
of the exhaust through it and estimated the whole
amount in this way. In connection with power supplies, difficulty often arose when using an open tank,
and sometimes they had to have a closed one, in
which case the Kent meter was adopted with satisfactory results. They had, however, to watch the
working, as it would not always measure with accuracy small flows unless the parts were often renewed.
In spite of all they could do, however, a good deal
of water passed away unrecorded in dribbles. One
of the points requiring consideration in the selection of water meters was the relative cost of
different types, and he thought the author's invention might not appear to advantage in this respect
under certain circumstances, besides w:hich the
size was considerable.
Mr. Oochrane said that in Manchester Ke~tt's
high-pressure meter was used and was found to
register with a margin of 2 per cent., which was
very good. As much could not be claimed in
London, but the Manchester experience pointed to
what can be done. An advantaae
was that the
0
flow would not be stopped in the case of breakdown,_ ~ result which must necessarily follow with
a posthve meter. He considered it better that
some water should be lost rather than the supply
should be stopped, a circumstance that would be of
very serious consequence in the case of docks railways, &c. ; it was better that a little water si1ould
not be recorded rather than that the work should
be suspended.
Mr. 1,. A. Wheatley, as the maker of the Schon~e:yder mete.r, con~idered he was debarred from critictsmg other 111 ventwns. They had been told for many
years that anyone producing an accurate positive
~eter would find an enormous demand for such an
mstrument, but he would submit that it would be
better if it were determined whether it were wise
to. ~s~ .such a meter rather than devote time to
o~ttlctsmg the m~rits of different inventions. Objectwn had been ratsed to the price of the instrument
but when the work done by it was considered iiher~

149

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

was a prospect of economy even at the price paid for price of 4d. per 1000 ~allons; even at this rate it was
it. He would ask customers to think of the saving worth using a good 1nstrument. In regard to the
that was made. The way they put the case was comparatively high pri?e whe~ the _meter was supthat they had a device which would produce divi- plied to small hou~es With few Inhabitants, there w~s
dends. A matter in which users were often to blame 110 r eason why a stngle meter should J?-Ot be used 1n
was the small attention given to water meters. common for three or four houses. This had already
They were put away underground and no trouble been done with cottage prop~rty., and had worked
was spent in keeping them in working order.
well. lie t hought M~. 1\-lorr~s did not know what
Mr. Morris, of the Kent Water Works, had tried the losses were by usmg a Stamens me~er. If h~
Mr. Schonheyder's meter, and had found it one of were to put on a positive meter, he m1ght find a
the best. He hoped it would prove to be, with considerabl~ saving.
.
further experience, the best that had been proThe meettng t hen terminated.
duced, and he would then be able to say whether
i t was worth wbile to pay for it the larger sum demanded. His company did not give domestic supply
THE PARIS INTERNATIONAL
by measurement, but they had put meters on for
EXHIBITION.
some purposes, such as the watering of gardens for
THE PowER STATIONS.
which large quantities of water were taken at cerIN previous articles we have described the posi
tain seasons. Householders were too careless, t hey tions and general arrangements of the power
would let a stream of water run day and night on stations that will b e installed on the Champ de
the grass. The system his company followed was Mars to furnish power to exhibitors and others
to supply a meter and charge a certain sum for its who require to show machinery in motion, or who
use, they would also charge a given rate for the need energy for some other purpose. The arrange
wat.er and the excess beyond that would be paid ment adopted will differ from that at the Paris
for at a rate decided upon . They used t he Siemens Exhibition of 1889 ; on that occasion, it will be
meter, which was satisfactory. He had investi- remembered, the exhibited machinery in motion
gated the system adopted in Berlin where meter was driven by a general system of transmission,
supply was in use, and had found the Siemens the steam required for the purpose having been
meter working satisfactorily there. The houses had furnished by a number of exhibitors, whose instalno cisterns but were supplied direct from the mains, lations were entirely independent. As it is inso the water passed at considerable speed. Many tended this year that processes of manufacture
of the houses had 70 to 100 inhabitants, and the shall be displayed side by side with exhibits of
custom was for the landlord to pay the water rates, raw material- an interesting, though apparently
so t hat the consumer was charged a fixed sum in his a not very practical scheme-much machinery will
rent. The police regulations required that a land- be distributed throughout the Champ de Mars,
lord should have in all t hese big houses a repre- and the transmission of energy will be electrical.
sentative on the premises, and this man looked About 6000 horse-power will be needed for this
after the water supplied so that tenants could not purpose, besides 16,000 horse-power for lighting,
take too much wit hout it being known. The result making a total of 20,000 horse-power. The quantity
was that about 12 gallons per head was the rate of of steam required will be three times that conconsumption. The whole loss was only about sumed in 1889 ; and it therefore became neces16 per cent., that being the difference between the sary to centralise the power stations, instead of
quantity of water pumped and that paid for.
making them numerous and independent. FollowMr. J. Macfarlane Gray wished to add a word in ing this plan, the steam-producing plant will be
commendation of the great ingenuity of the Schon- collected in two buildings placed parallel to the
heyder meter. It had been a real pleasure to him to old Machinery Hall, and near each end of the
trace its mechanism, and he had tried to think out E lectricity Building.
One of the boiler-houses
the geometry of the parts. He would recommend is situated near the Bourdonnais entrance to
all young engineers to do the same as a most useful the Champ de Mars on the A venue de la Bourmathematical exercise.
donnais ; this will be occupied to the boilers of
Sir Edward Carbutt, summing up the discussion, French makers. The second, on the Avenue de
referred to the National Physical Laboratory on the Suffren side, will be given up to foreign contriCouncil of which he was a representative of the butors. Of course, in each case the generators
Institution. The Government had agreed to allow supplying steam will constitute exhibits. The
12, OOOl., and would spend 4000l. a year for working electrical units, consisting each of an engine and
expenses. He thought that it would be an excellent direct-coupled dynamo, will be placed as near as
feature of the work undertaken by the laboratory possible to the boiler-houses in a gallery parallel
if arrangements were made for the efficient testing to them, which has been built adjoining the
of water meters. He had himself required such Electricity Building with the old ironwork of
tests, and had found great difficulty in getting them the 30-metre gallery of 1889. This is the same
carried out satisfactorily.
structure that came partly to grief last year during
Mr. Schonheyder, in replying to the discussion, the attempt to shift them in imitation of American
referred to the remarks of Professor Unwin in re- practice. Between the boiler-houses and the
gard to the Venturi meter, and accepted the correc- building to contain the engines and dynamos, and
tion. His idea of this meter was that it would find which is in a very backward state, a passage 6
a useful position in being placed between the mains metres wide has been made. On account of t.he
of two companies interchanging water. If the flow arrangem-e nts that we have just referred to, it has
were very slow, however, the returns would not be been n ecessary to combine the machinery and
accurate. He thought the minimum flow might be electricity groups for the foreign exhibitors, and
taken at! ft. per second in the main . where large the classes of steam engines, and the production
quantities of water were in question. He ha.d tried and mechanical utilisation of electricity, in the
lignum vitre for bearings; this would work well so French section. Each of the boiler-houses, placed
long as plenty of water was present, but if the in a court 117 metres long by 40 metres wide
meter became dry the wood would be likely to split. (384ft. by 131 ft. ), comprises a building 106 metres
Mr. Ph,ilip Bright had r eferred to the Tylor meter, by 28 metres (344ft. by 92ft.). The total height is
illustrations of which accompanied the paper, and 14.40 metres (47 ft. 3 in.), including 1.20 metre
he (Mr. Schonheyder) wished to apologise if these (4 ft.) for the lantern ; the framework is chiefly of
showed an older type than that now used, but if Mr. N trusses 6. 70 metres (18 ft. 8 in.) dEep, and with
Bright would send a drawing the matter would be set vertical bars spaced 3.46 metres (11 ft. 4 in.)
right in t he'l\ansactions. In regard to small flows, h e apart; these are placed at intervals of 9 metres
stated that if an inferential meter would not register (29 ft. 6 in.), at which distances they are carried
down to two gallons per hour the difference might on iron colmnns; the details offer no partiouhr
be enormous. He had tested a meter of the disc interest. There will be neither walls nor partikind against one of his own for two years, and had tions, but a covered verandah about 6 ft. wide will
found the difference to be 18 per cent. In regard to run round the buildings ; the roof covering will be
what had been said about small holes for ball of corrugated iron. Naturally these buildings are
valves, it was to be remembered that the water was made as cheaply as possible, for though they will
flowing continuously, whilst a meter had n ot to be accessible to the public, they will be completely
register all t he time. He thought that if a. meter screened between the old Machinery Hall and the
cost 2l., and the loss was 18 per cent., it would be engine and dynamo gallery, which in its turn ,vill
very dear at the price as compared to his meter ; be practically hidden by the Electricity Building.
one example of which, exhibited on the table, cost The b oilers will be ranged in two rows back to
3l. 7s. 6d. In further reference to the subject of cost back with a passage between them, and another
of JDeasuring water1 he said there were a good many passage on each side between the fronts of the
of his type registering a flow of water supplied at the boilers and th e sides of t he buildings; the central

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

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(FEB.
2,

1900.

pa sage will be occupied with rail t racks which

durin~ construction are ~sed for the tran'sport of CHIMNEYS FOR POWER STATIO S ; PARIS EXHIBITION.
mater1al, ~nd later on. w11l serve for bringing the
coal supphes to the b o1lers, removing ashes, &c.

~ we have already said, the makers of the

b<?tlers us~d, are at the same time exhibitors ; they
Ftf; .1.
l:'ig . Z. Sec.A.B.
w~l be pa.td for the steam supplied, and also someth1ng towards the cost of installation. On the
latter account, the sum allowed will be 1500 francs
per 1000 kilogrammes of stea.tn-producing capacity
of the generators per hour ; and for the former,
- -----4
at the rate of 4.45 .francs per 1000 kilogra mmes of
steam ge~1erated m actual running conditions.
'W_a~er w~ll be furnished gratuitously by the Ad
''
m1n.1strai10n, and all t he steam pipes leading to the
I'
fig
.
a.
Sec C.D .
eng1nes or elsewhere, are also officially provided.
.A syst.em of underground galleries has been laid

for this purpose. They extend from the boilerI

I

houses under the engine and dynamo building,

cJ
'9I
and th~nce beneath the Electricity, Mechanical
I

!r"i9 10.
lndustn es, and Chemical Buildings. They run
I
it;1 two directions, on e parallel, and the other at

I
r1ght angles, to the main axis of the Champ

de ~ars. . They a~e. of three types, each with

straight s1des, sem1cu cular arching and invert
I
the heights are r cspecti vely 2. 70 a~d 2. 60 metre~
':,Ft.g 4 . Sec. E F

(8ft. 10 in. and 8 ft. 6 in.), and the widths, 2. 60,

I
l

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2.40, and 2 metres (8 ft . 6 in., 7 ft., 10 in., and
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6 ft. 6. 75 in.). The thickness of the work varies

I : E.
from 25 to 33 cent. (9.8 in. to 13 in.). Brackets are
built on each side of these tunnels, leaving a clear
I
passage way down the centre. The total length of
I
j
'I

the ~nderg~ound wa~s is about 1500 metres; they

te~mmate 1n the bo1ler-houses by a shaft that is

~
~-
I'
!
FitJ.5 . Sec. fr.H.
1:'
ra1sed above the roof of the building so as to insure
I
I
ventilation, Four distinct services are to be
accommodated by t hese t unnels. There will be
first, the mains coming from the lower basin of the
A
I
~ FifJ.11.8 ectJ.mL AJJ .

cascades, and which will supply low-pressure water

for the condensers. Second, the mains that will
I
receive the hot water from the condensers and de~

liver it into the Seine. Third, the high-pressure

~
'

'

<::::>
mains to supply t he boilers ; and fourth, the steam
I
Ec
mains that will be of various sizes according to re<::::>

CO
quirements. Some of these latter will be attached
I~
Frfj.6 Soo.IJ
to th e arched roof of the conduits, and will be pro
vided with expansion joints. It may be mentioned
~-~ .
<::::>" ........
q:,
h ere t hat a large pumping station is being installed
:

on the bank of th e Seine to furnish the water for

I
C.JJ.

the Grand Cascade, and for the boiler feed water.

I
.

:'0
The waste gases from the various boiler furnaces
t)rr. _i..--.
will be received in common collectors running
under the floor along the axes of the boiler-houses,
I
and terminating in a chimney for each boiler-house.
I
I
- There will be one s uch collector for each range of

boilers, and its cross-section will be gradually in'

I

''
creased as it approaches t he chimney. Both the
collectors in each boiler-house are alike, and are
j Fiy? Sec KL .
made pal'allel to each other . They are built with

ver tical sides, an arched invert, and a semicircular

~
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top ; their width increases from 1. 75 metres (69 in.)
'
'
'

to 2.60 metres (8ft. 6 in.) ; and their height from

~'P
2 metres (6 ft. 6 in.) to 4. 60 metres (15 ft. 1 in.),

'
\)"
'
the differences in height being made good by sloped
.t l
.Pt{j.ta.8ec:Ji,Qw EF.
. '
lengths bet ween the various sections. The ends of
I

the collectors are connected with the chimney by

sharp bends, as shown in plan, Fig. 2, which enter

: l
'
-1. . '
the chimney on opposite sides ; branch flues from
~~
.
'
,
''
~ :
each group of boilers are taken to the collectors.

...'o'
The groups of engines and dynamos are arranged,
I

F{g 8 Sec. /fl.N

as we have said, in t he gallery alongside t he E lec'
'
tricity Building, and also in galleries at right angles
I :
to these. The dynamos are direct-coupled, which
saves considerable space, amon g other advantages ;
the engines are all condensing, to avoid the incon- f.N1
venience of the discharge of steam in the Exhibition groun ds. Within the engine-houses a powerful travelling crane in the French section, and a
Fifj. 8.Sec. O.P.
+-'
gantry in the building devoted to foreign exhibits,
. _fl
are already in place, and will be found of great
service in th e erection of the heavy engines and
dynamos. The first-named of these installations
is by M. le Blanc, and th e second by M. Karl
Flohr of Berlin. Both of these manufacturers are
exhibitors ; they will receive steam gratuitously,
and will, in addition, be paid a cert.1.in indemnity
for the use of their exhibits, the rate of payment
being dependent upon the amount of work done by
their machines and the power developed.
top of 4.50 metres (14ft. 9 in. ) ; at the ground level
T o return to the chimneys of the boiler-houses, petition, it having been the intention of the
Administration that these chimneys should form a the diameter is 12 metres (39 ft. 4 in. ), and the
which are illustrated by Figs. 1 to 13; they are of
block of concrete on which the whole structure rests
very large dimensions, as, indeed, iB necessary specially ornamental feature of this part of the
Champ de Mars. Each chimney was to have a is 18 metres (59ft. 6 in. ) in diameter. It is intended
considering the number of furnaces that deheight of from 70 to 80 metres (229 ft. to 262 ft.) that the shafts shall be illuminated at night during
pend upon them ; they are also . highly decoraabove the ground, and an internal diameter at the the period of the Exhibition. We have doubts as
tive. They were made the subJect of a corn-

FEB.

1900.]

2,

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

FOUR-CRANK TRIPLE-EXPANSION ENGINES FOR HIGH-SPEED LAUNCH.

CON TRUCTED BY lVIE. 1 R..

I1\1P. ON, TRICKLAND, AND 0 0., LI1IITED, DART~lOUTH.

(For Description, see Page 153.)

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o I

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of the Avenue de la Suffren. The contract price was

203,000 francs, and it has been built by t he well
'
known
contractors,
MM.
Nicou
and
Demarigny.
It

. ..
.
' .
.
. .
is wholly of brick, is 80 metres (262 ft. 5 in.) above

..
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. r
the ground, and is enriched with polychromatic

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decoration at the top and near the base. Its in

'
..., ' . ' .
ternal diameter at the bottom is 5. 20 metres (17 ft. ),

and at the top 4. 50 metres (14ft. 9 in.) ; t he thick.. ... .. . .

.... . . . . .
ness of the brickwork varies from 2. 90 metres
.

. . ..

(9 ft. 6 in.) at the base to . 23 metre (9 in.) at the

..
s
ummit
;
on
the
inside
are
eight
sets
back,
to
pro

. .. . . .
vide for the reduced thicknesses of the walls. The
.
...
shaft is strengthened at eight points by iron bands,
and very efficient lightning conductors are provided
to insure t he safety of t he lofty struat ure.
A close approximation of t he value of the ground
for t he foundation was possible from the experience
of the foundat ions of the adjaining Machinery
Hall, which have not shown any sign of failing
during the twelve years they have been constructed;

....,..q

'
the load on each of the piles of these is 12,000

kilogrammes . The total calculated weight of the

. -.

'.
chimney is 5, 733,000 kilogrammes, and the resistance of each pile is 20,000 kilogrammes, giving a
total of 2, 760,000 kilogrammes ; the load on the
ground is equal to 1.17 kilogrammes per square
centimetre, while for t he Machinery Hall the corresponding load is 1. 32 kilogrammes, so that the
margin of safety was obviously ample. On account
of the large din1ensions of t he horizontal flues leading to th e bottom of the chimney, the shaft had to
be taken to a depth of 8 metres (26 ft. 3 in.) below
t he ground, which is of somewhat plastic clay
overlying gravelly sand at a depth of 16 metres
... .-...
(52 ft. 6 in.) ; t he piles on which the foundations
-~

are supported are driven into this sand. Altogether

138 piles were driven, 9.50 metres (30 ft.) long,
and .43 metre (16. 9 in.) in diameter ; the tops of
THE LAUNCH STEAMING AT A S P EED OF 17 MILES PER H ouR.
these piles projected about 33 in. above the floor of
t he excavation, which was then filled in to a depth
to whether the expectation on this subject will be of natural draught and t he lofty structures r equired of 5 ft ., the diameter of the foundation being
fully r ealised, for, some ornamentation apart, there for the purpose, might have been adopted with 18 met res (59 ft . 6 in.). Upon this the brickwork
is nothing very remarkable or attractive about these advantage. As these chimneys will be conspicuous of the shaft was commenced. As has been exchimneys, which resemble plenty of other indus- features on the Champ de Mars, and as t hey are plained, the flues enter the shaft opposite each
trial shafts in France and elsewhere. We should exhibits, it may be of interest t o give a somewhat other, and a partition wall across the shaft, carried
have thought, indeed, that other means than that detailed description of one of them-that on the side to a height of 1 metre above the ground level,

..........

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

separates thetn from each other. The decorative

work on the chimney, which appears to have g iven
great satisfaction to the Administration, is elaborated in coloured brick, t h e predominant colour
being white, forming a. g round for t h A r ed -andblack bricks t hat are very freely used. There is,
in addition, some applied ceramic decoration, t he
invention of a M. Stiever, and which is said to be
very durable, inexpensive, and easy of application.
I~ is made from silicious clay modelled to the d esired shape on a foundation of wide meshed iron
lattice or expn,nded m etal, and kilned at a temperature of about 1200 deg. After this the surface is
painted and enamelled and then baked. The illustration on page 150 gives a good idea of t he d esign
and decoration of t he chimney. As to its actual
condition, the shaft is finished and a part of the
applied d ecorations are in place. The erection , so
far as the pedestal was concerned, was carried on
from a fixed scaffolding ; the shaft was built by
means of an internal movable staging fixed by
cramps and r aised as the work advanced; access
to the staging was obtained by an internal ladder
that was carried up with t he work. There is also
tn ext ernal ladder formed of foot irons built in to
ah e brickwork at intervals of about 12 in. A hole
1s
made in t he centre of each of t hese irons to serve

in the future as a means of attaching t he connections for a flyin g stage. During erection all the
material was h ois ted to the working platform by a
winch placed on the ground inside t he shaft.
The second chimney hns a heigh t of 88 metres
(288 ft. 8 in. ), of which 8 metres (26 ft. 3 in.) ar e
below t h e gr ound level. The nature of t he foundation is very similar to that already described ; piles
and a bed of concrete carry t he chimney ; above
the concrete are laid tapering stone footin gs, with
an exterior diameter of 16.50 metres (65 ft. ) at t he
base, and 12.90 metres (32 ft . 3 in. ) at t he top,
and internal diameters of 4.36 and 6.90 m etres
(14ft. 3 in. and 22 ft . 7 in. ). This enclosed space
is lined with brick so as to leave a finished diameter of 3. 20 metres (10 ft. 6 in.) at t he base and
6.20 metres (20 ft . 4 in.) at t he ground level. A s
in the other chimney, t he flues are led into t he
uptake at opposite points and are separat ed from
each other by a. partition wall. The thickness of
the sha ft varies from 2 .90 metres (9ft. 6 in .) at t he
pedestal to .35 metre (14 in.) at the cap. The
illustration, Fig. 10, shows the general sch eme
of d ecoration of this chimney, which is largely
worked out in coloured bricks ; the effect is very
satisfactory, t hough more simple than that of t he
other shaft. This work was completed by MM.
Toisoul and Fradet, a.nd the mode of erection calls
for no particular comment. So far as the chimneys
are concerned it is clear t hat the motive power of
the Exhibition will not be retarded, and it is to be
hoped that the exhibitors of th~ steam gene~ators
on which t he supply of power will dep&nd, w1ll not
be behind with their part of t he work.

HAND AND MACHINE LABOUR.

(Conti nued jrO'f{/, page ll f>.)

THE work of perforating bank ch~q ues ~nd

ruling paper may be referred to as tnterestlng
examples of a. small industry d eveloped by labo~r
saving machinery. In 1866 one man was occup1ed
760 hours at a high rate of wages (2 dols. a d ay) to
perforate 160,000 bank cheques (or their equivalen t)

representing 9 hours 18 minutes of labour, were

occupied at a wages cost of . 971 d ol. (see
Table IV .)
Entirely of historical interest are th ~ data given
in Table V . Here t he original method of lining
paper in 1819 by quill and ruler is compared with
t hat in vogue in 1895. At t he former date the
time required to rule 100 reams of paper 14 in. by
17 in . was 4800 h ours; at prasent this is reduced
to two hours and 30 minutes ; a ratio of 1920 to 1.
One person was occupied on t his dreary work during
400 days at a dollar a day in 1819 ; while two persons were engaged d uring 2! hours, one at 4 d ols .
the other at 3 dols. per day in 1895. The labour
cost was respectively 400 d ols . and .85 dol. Between t hat r emote date and 1895 many improvements had been made t o alleviate the lot of the
unfortunate quill ruler , the handruling machine
having made the work much easier and more
rapid, b ut this became obsolete since 1860.
BooTs AND SHoEs .
Alt hough boot-making machinery is largely used
in t his country, t he full development of t he indust ry has tak en place in the U nited States. Am ong
a number of different classes we have selected two,
summarised in t he Tables V I. and VII. The
T ABLE

V 1.- Product1on of 100 Pa,irs of M en's B oots,

Cheap Grade.

!\1achine.
Mode of Production.
Hand.
1895
Date ..
...
...
.. .
1859
Numberof different opera122
83
tions invohed ...
. ..
Number of workmen em2
113
ployed . . .
.. .
. ..
Number of hours worked 1436 h. 40 m. 154 h . 4. 9 m.
35.4 dols.
. .. 408.5 dols.
Cost of labour . . .
Average rate of wages per
.30 dol.
hour
.. .
...
.. .
.30 dol.
T ABLE

VII.-Production of 100 Pairs Wo-nun's

Shoes, H igh Grade.

Mode of P roduction.
Hand.
MA.Chine.
Date...
.. .
. ..
.. .
1875
1896
Number of d1fferent operations involv~ .. .
...
102
140
Number of workmen employed ...
. ..
.. .
1
140
Number of hours worked 1996 h. 40 m. 173 b. 29.5 m .
Cost of labour ...
... 499.166 dola. 54.653 dols.
Average rate of wages per
hour
.. .
.. .
.. . . 25 dol.
. 30 dol.
dates of comparison in Table VI. are 1859 and
1895 ; and in Table VII. t hey are 1876 and 1896.
As regards the former , which deals with the production of 100 pairs of men,s cheap-grade pegged
boots wi~h half-double soles, t he 100 pairs were
made by two persons by hand, and 113 persons b.y
machine. AB regards t he latter, a summary lB
given below of the various and complicated processes carried out by one person in 1875, but
which occupied 140 workmen in 1896; t his unit
consists of 100 pairs of women's fine grade kid,
welt b utton shoes, with single soles, patent-leather
tips, and box toes :
VIII.-Analysis oj H and (1875) arul M achirte
(1896) P1ocesses in the Mant11jactu re of 100 P airs of
W omm,s Firt,e K id B1ttton Sh oes.

[FEll.

2, I

900.

classes of boots and shoes, it is even more marked

in some other varieties of foot gear, as will be seen
from the following list ; t he data refer to hand
work date from 1855 to 1875.
Class ot Shoe.

Hand.

MacLinP.

Ratio.

hr!l. min .
283 20

brP. min .
62 4.6

5 to 1

shoes . .
..
..
..
100 pairs of men's fine shoes . .
100 pairs of men's pegged

538 20
2226 0

83 10. 7
296 38.6

6 ., 1
8 " 1

boots . .
..
..
..
100 pairs of women's tint

1436 10

15<!

4.9

9 ., 1

1996 40

li3 29. 6

12 .. 1

1025 20

SO 22.8

13 ,. 1

100 pairs of men's shoes

..
100 pairs of women's cheap

sbO(>S ..

..

..

..

100 pairs of women's cheap

shoes ..

..

..

..

BREAD MAKING.

Of the numerous different varieties of bread and

biscuit-making examined, two are here selected for
comparison- that of ordinary, and Navy bread.
Table I X. gives particulars of the manufacture of
one thousand 1 lb. loavl)s, and Table X. of the
same quantit y of Navy bread ; particulars of baking are not included. I t will be remarked that
the difference in time and labour cost it~ not so
great as might have been expected between hand
and machine work. After t he operation of sifting,
which, when performed, shows on the average a
saving ( 1 abo ut twenty-fold by modern methods,
kneading and mixing are the most imp01tant. In
t he two cases selected t he times were 6 hours
20 minutes and 8 hours, compared with 1 hour
37.2 minutes, and 1 hour 6.6 minutes; on the other
hand, in fancy varieties of bread and biscuit,
these differences were not so marked, and even
disappeared altogether. B ut in t he s ubsequent
process of rolling dough for bisc~it very . great
economy is secured by the mechan1cal apphances
used. Thus 1000 lb. of dough for biscuit were
rolled, cut, and prepared for baking in 3 hours and
64 minutes, as against 54 hours by hand, a ratio of
nearly 14~ to 1. No comparisons are given on the
subsequent process of baking.
T ABLE

I X. -Production of 1000 1 L b. L oa1'es of Breacl.

Mode of Production.
DA.te.. .
...
...
.. .
Number of different opera.
tions in ,ol ved . . .
. ..
Number of workmen employed . ..
. ..
. ..
Number of houra worked
Cost of labour
...
.. .
Average rate of wages per
week
...
...
. ..
TABLE

Hand .

Machine.

1897

1897

11

16

12
28
8 h. !6.1 m.
5. 599 dols. 1. 553 dols.
12 dols.

12 dols.

X .- P roduction of 1000 L b. Nary Bread.

!\Iachine.
Hand.
!\1ode of Production.
1895
1858
...
...
D11-te .. .

Number of different ope

12
9
rations involved

Number of workmen em22

16
played . . .
.. .
. ..
Number of hours wotked 52 h. 48 m. 18 h. 33.5 m.
2.824 dols.
5.288 dold.
Cost of labour ...

Average rate of wages per
12 dols.
12 dola.
...
week

T ABLE

BRICKS AND DRAIN P IPES.

vve shall be

rather surprised if t he results obHand. Machine.

Operation.
tained in t his country with brickmaking machinery
h. m.
b. m.
d
o
not
consid
erably
surpass
those
r.ecorded
.
for
1
6.7
3
20
...
Cutting out cloth linings
the United States. Table XI. summanses the t1me
0 50
Sewing back seams of quarters 33 20
and labour costs for 1895, bot h for hand and .ma0 41.7
,
,
,,
vamps ... 25 0
0 33.0
button pieces ..
. .. 75 0
,,
chine it should be borne in mind that the Amencan
' brick is smaller than ours, as 1t
. measures
2 40
Making linings . ..
. ..
. .. 3~ 2
standard
T ABLE I V.-P roduction. of P erforating 150,000 Bank
2 46.7
Sewing linings to quarters ... 60 0
8
in.
by
4
in.
by
2i
in.
;
t
he
comparison
is
IJ?ade.
on
Cheques.
,,
tops
and
button
the
production of 1000 bricks. The followmg 18 a
2
23
Machine.
100
0
scallops...
.
.
.
..
.
.
..
Hand.
Mode of Production.
comparative summary of the two methods :
Cutting and finishing button1896
1856
Date . .
...
...
. ..
5 0
holes . . .
...
. ..
. .. 175 0
H and. Machine.
Number of different opera
0 58.7
Sewing on buttons . . .
. .. 25 0
5
1
tions involved . ..
.. .
Digging,
loadinp-,
and
convey.
,,
vamps to quarters .. . 100 0 10 0
.. . 4 b. 40 m. 13.5 m.
Number of workmen eming clay to pug mill . ..
1
40
,,
toe tips to vamps .. . 30 0
6
1
ployed ...
...
...
Pugging
mill
..
.
.
..
..
.
2 b. 40 m.
0
50
9 b. 18 m.
Cutting insides
. ..
.. . 11 40
750
Number of hours worked
Grinding
and
moulding
.
.
.
.
.
..
13.5 m.
2 '36 6
,,
outsides
...
... 36 40
.971 d ol.
Cost of labour
. ..
.. . 150 dole.
Engineer and foreman (furmsb0
17
3
10
0
,,
heel lift
. ..
. ..
..
.
...
.
..
13.5 m.
ing
power)
.
.
.
A vera.ge rate of wages per
27 46 7
103 0
3.90
dola.
La.stin6'
.
.
.
.
..
.
.
.
..
.
2
dola.
Horees . . .
. ..
.. .
. . . 2 h. 20 m.
day
. ..
. .

4
0
98
0
Fas tenmg soles to uppers .. .
Persons engaged
.. .
. ..
2l
119
150
0
2
46
7
Sew ins- outsides to welts
.. .
T ABLE V.- P roduction of 100 R earns of Ruled P aper.
A comparison is made between t he production ?f
2 46 7
Levelhng the bottoms
.. . 20 0
Mode of Production.
Hand.
Macbin~.
1 20
35 50
1000 paving bricks (see Table XII. ) by hand m
Nailing
heels
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
..
Date...
...
...
. ..
18 19
1895
50
25 0
Trimruing
heels...
.
.
.
.
..
1830 and by machine in 1896. The latter are
Number of different opera
1 6.7
41 40
Scouring
,
,
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
..
3
nat.u~ally
of much higher quality, ~nd were protions involved . ..
. ..
1
1
40
3
l
40
Trimming edges of soles
...
Number of workmen em
duced in about one-fourth the t1me by about
Blacking
and
burnishing
edges
2
played ...
.. .
...
1
3} times as many hands (37 to 11). It should be
soles...
...
...
...
20
0
2
22.6
of
Number of hours worked
4800
2 h. 45 m.
noted that the labour cost does not follow the
Blacking and burnishing heels 18 20
1 44 3
Cost of labour
.. .
. .. 400 dols.
.85 dol.*
Scouring of bottom and heeh
11 40
1 :n. 3
same proportion, for while t he hand process rep.r eAverage rate of wages per
dol.
.50 dola.
3
1
da.y
. ..
. ..
. ..
The above list includes only a few of t he opera- sented 33 hours 62 minutes, and t he machme
* Not including cost of furnishing power.
tions of which t here are 134 in all. Great as is process 8 hours 42 minutes, the labour cost :was
respectively 2.24 d ols. and 1.44 dols., the diffe

t
he
s~
ving
of
time
in
the
p
roduction
of
the
highex
"t Slt labt>ur cost of loO dols, In 1896 six pe1sons,

FEB.

2,

1900.]

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

,.

.l

;ence being due to the. fact that the ~ate of wages

has doubled, while more than three times as many
persons are employed.
The hand manufacture of 6-in . clay drain pipe
was cheaper in 1845 than the same article turned
out in 1896, although t~e time occupie~ was
16 hours 11 minute~, as agamst 9 hours 30 m1nutes
to produce 100ft. ; wages were far lower and the
potter's wheel employed turned out .the lengths
at a high speed. The labour cost 1n old days
was 1.1 dol., as compared with 1.3 dol. in
1896. In the production of sand and cement
drain pipes -a modern industry- ,ery different
results are shown ; the dat9s are 1894 and 1896,
so that no important difference in wa:ges rat~s e~ist.
The unit was a 100-ft. l ength of 9-In. drain ptpe.
The steam mixer did the work in 5.6 minutes that
occupied a man 28.6 minutes, and the hydraulic
press required 11..1 minutes aga~nst 5 hours and 42.9
minutes the ratio was 4 to ltn favour of the machine (se~ Table XIII.). The comparisons in the
three' preceding units are as follow: Table XI.
refers to the manufacture, not including kilning, of
1000 common red brick, 8 in. by 4 in. by 2! in. ;
Table XII. to the production of 100 ft. run of 8-in.
standud straight clay drain pipe ; and Table XIII.
deals with 100 ft. of 9-in. sand and cement drain

ptpe.
TABLE XI.-ProducMon of 1000 Common R ed Brick.
Mode of Production.
Hand.
Machine.
Dd.te...
. ..
.. .
. ..
1895
1895
Number of different opera15
15
tions involved . ..
. ..
Number of workmen em21
119
ployed . . .
...
.. .
Number of hours worked 20 h. 36.7 m. 7 h. 29.3 m.
Cost of labour
.. .
.. . 3. 000 dola. 1.167 dols.
TABLE XII.- Production of 1000 Fi1e- Clay Paving
Bricks..
Machine.
Mode of Production.
189G
...
...
.. .
Date
Number of different opera13
8
tions involved .. .
. ..
Number of workmen em37
ployed .. .
. ..
.. .
11
Number of hours worked 33 h. 52 ru. 8 h. 42.8 m.
Cost of labour
.. .
... 2.240 dols.
1.438 dols.
TABLE XIII. -Production of 100Ft. 9 In. Sand and
Cement P.i:pe.
Machine.
~lode of Production.
Hand.
1896
Date...
...
...
...
1894
Number of different opera6
7
tions involved . ..
. ..
Number of workmen em18
1
ployed ...
...
.. .
Numberofhours worked ... 8 h. 44.2 m. 2 h. 12.2 m.
Cost of labour
. ..
. .. 1.456 dols. 0. 3815 do la.
BUTTON MANUFACTURE.

Autom~tic machinery has wholly superseded hand

labour in this industry in the United States . In

making brass buttons a. comparison is instituted between the methods ruling in 1862 and 1896. In the
manufacture of brass buttons, the operations of cutting the blanks and stamping designs are combined
in one machine, and for 100 gross, 4 hours are required, as compared with 42 hours 40 minutes, with
the foot-worked drop press. Making the eyes and
fastening them to the blanks is also a. single operation
performed in 4 h ours, as against 51 hours 40 minutes;
closing the shells and finishing the buttons occupied
4 hours as against 20. To the whole process 44
minutes ha\'e to be added under the modern process
for keeping tools in order, overseeing, and furnishing power. On the whole production of 100 gross,
14 hours 14 minutes were occupied, as against
115 hours 40 minutes, or about eight times as long
(~ee Table XIV.). Table XV. refers to t he productwn of 40 gross of vegetable ivory buttons made in
78 hou~s 38 minutes in 1895, as compared with 190
hours .m 1857 .. The following comparative list of
the ch1ef operatwns shows the development of this
particular industry :

.. .
.. .
Forming blanks
Drilling holes .. .
. ..
.. .
Dyein~ ...
.. .
..
.. .
Tutnbhng barrel for smoothing
Sep~rating by screens...
.. .
ewmg on cards
.. .
.. .
. ..
Sharpening tools, &o. .. .
Gverseeing
.. .
.. .
. ..

153

Hand.
h. m.
190 0
22 0
5 30
3 0
2 9
18 30
11 0
11 0

Machine.
h. m.
15 0
5 0
0 30
0 15
0 9
12 15
1 45
0 30

I~ is intereRting to note that the operation of

sewmg on cards w~s, ~n each instance, performed
by hand ; the savmg 1n time effected is due to the
b.etter class of labour e-mployed, improved organisa
t10n, more easily punctured cards, and needles

b etter adl\pted f or the work. The rate of wages is raising of the girders to give headway for the riv~r
largely increased, approximately about doubled .
traffic; and it being impossible. to raise t~e streets . m
the immediate neighbourhood without part1111ly burymg
or rB~ising the ad joining houses, the road gr:adients bad
TABLE XIV.-Product,ion of 100 Gross of Bra,ss
become as steep as 1 in 11. To obviate this inconvenience,
Coat B u.ttons.
and to provide for the more efficient carrying on of the
Machine.
Mode of Production.
Hand .
salt and other trades on the Weaver, and also with the
1895
Date
...
...
...
1830
idea of eventually passing coasting vessels with fixed
Number of different operama.sUa, the befor~-mentioned decision was arrived at; and
9
. ..
tions involved .. .
after a strenuous contest in Parliament. the Bill received
Number of workmen emthe Royal Assent, resulting in the buildiog of two exactly
9
ployed ' ...
...
...
6
si milar bridges.
Number of hours worked 115 h. 40 m. 14 h. 14 m.
These bridges-the only difference between which was
Oost of labour
...
. .. 11.266 dols. 1.865 dols, that one had 10 ft. and the other 16 ft. head way- were
of 54 ft. span, with a 19 ft. 6 in. roS~dway, and two
TABLE XV.-Production of 40 G1oss of Vegetable
4ft. 6 in. footpaths, and were too heavy to be worked
b:ory Buttons.
without mechanical power of some kind. Steam or hyMachine.
draulic machinery would have been costly, and almost
Mode of Production.
Hand.
constantly ont of repair on such a foundation ; it was,
1895
Date...
...
...
...
1862
therefore, decided to adopt the following plan : First, the
.Number of different operasuperstructure of the bridge, which might, for argument's
15
18
tions involved .. .
.. .
sake, be taken as weighing ;300 tons, was supported by a
Number of workmen emroller pa.th and rollers, which in turn were carried upon
31
ployed ...
.. .
. ..
83
Number of hours worked 306 h. 15 m. 88 h. 51 m. a set of pileE~, strongly braced together. Connected
Oost of labour . . .
. .. 60.837 dols. 9 120 dols. with, and exactly under the centre of gravity of, the
superstructure was a circular pontoon or buoy, divided
(To be continued.)
into two chambers. This pontoon had the appearance
of being suspended from the superstructure, and in
reality would be if the water were not present, and
HIGH-SPEED STEAM LAUNCH.
WE illustrate on page 151 a high-speed steam launch it wn,s entirely clear of both bottom and sides of the
built by Messrs. Simpson, Strickland, and Co., Limited, chamber in which it was placed. Of this large buoy
the lower chamber, which had a displacement equal to
Dartmouth, which has Eeveral interesting features in 250 tons, was perfectly wat~rtight and always subdesign, having been constructed specially for a challenge merged, so that its displaoment was practically concontest at Oba,n, and this she won. The vessel weighs stant. The upper chamber was open at the top, and
only 38 c wt. with steam up and ready for a Fpin at either served as an access to the lower chamber, or,
the high speeri of 17 miles per hour, equal to 14! knots. by varying the amount of water allowed to enter it,
The boat is 30 ft. long by 6 ft. beam a nd 3 ft. depth, increased or decreased the buoyancy of the whole. lb
the constructive material boing cedar. The engines would be seen that the downward pressure on the rollers
are of the triple-expansion type, with four cylinders and paths, due to the weight of the superstructure. was
and four cranks, and, as shown by th~ engraving on partially counteracted by the upward tendency of the
page 151', have been designed according to 'horn's ar- pontoon, and was thus reduced, in the case under consideration, to 300- 250 =50 tons. By emptying the
rangement of oylinders and valv eE~, one pair of eccen- upper part of the p ontoon this might be further reduced
trics suffi.oing for operating the valves of two adjoining within certain limits. There were three natural impedicylinder s. The engines are designed to take steam at ments to such an arrangement of bridge, namely, floods,
300 lb. pressure, and to run at a piston speed of 750 ft. drought, and ice ; and in the Northwich case there was
per minute. Each pair of cranks are opposite, the the unnatural impediment of subsidence. These disabiliforward pair being at ri ght angles to the after pa ir. ties were met thus :
1. The lower portion of the pontoon, being watertight,
Owing to this arrangement of cranks, and careful
bala ncing, there is a remarkable absence of vibration had a constant buoyancy, and, therefore, the pontoon
at full speeds. In fact there is far less vibration in would not rise with a flood ; and if there should be the
this launch at full speed than in one of the same size least danger under exceptional circumstances, it was only
necessary to open a vaJve and partially fill the pontoon
fitted with ordinary two-crank compound machinery, with water, when it would soon become immovable.
and t ravelling about half the speed. The b earing
2. In the case of drought, even if the water fell below
surfaces throughout are of ample dimensions and the level of the upper chamber, it meant a few extra
fitted with wearing surfaces of hard phosphor bronze. tons on the rollers, which they we re well calculated
The air pump is driven off a rocking beam in the to be81r. Such droughts were exceedingly rare on the
usual way. The boiler is of the modified Thorny- Weaver, and there was ample extra turning power in the
croft type as designed and patented by the builders. motor.
3. To prevent the water in close proximity to the ponThe forced draught is provided by a fan of special
design arranged inside th e boiler casing, and driven by ~oon f!eezing, and hindering it from turning, the chamber
steel wire spring belt~, originally introduced by the m wluch the pontoon wa~ placed would be covered in
and it would be a comparatively easy taek to :prevent th~
builders wme twelve years ago, and now universally small body.of water in the chamber from freezmg.
adopted by them. The condenser is of the usual in4. Spemal arrangements ab the pile-heads and in the
side type, the circulating water being supplied by wedge gearing were made to compensate for the exigenscoops. The total w~ight of the machinery works cies of subsidence.
out to 28 lb. per indicated horse-power.
To convince the trustees, and also Parliament, that the
On the speed trials the engines ran at llOO revolu- scheme was feasible, the author had a. model constructed
tions with 300 lb. of steam, at which pressure the at a scale of 1 in. to 1 ft., and also converted to this
valves were set to lift. The trials took place at Da rt- principle an occupation bridge, at that time under repair
mouth, where the photograph was taken from which our both these aff01:ded ample proof of the fe~sibility of th~
engraving of the craft under steam was mad e. A mean scheme. The difficulty presented by subsidence entailed
careful consideration as to the motive power to be adopted.
speed of 17 miles per hour, 14.75 knots, was attained, Pressure pipes of any kind being inadmissible, the author
the stipulation of the contract being that 16t miles decide~ to adopt electric$.1 power, although, so far as he
per hour, or 14.3 knots, was to be made. This launch knew, It had. never been tri!3d before for a similar purpose.
was built to take up a challenge to ra.ce the best of He also demd~d to use WI~e rope for turning, as giving
three over a course of six miles ~t Oban. She won the most fiextble connection between the bridge and
easily to her owner's great satisfaction, her opponent motor. The local company undertook to supply current
being another of Mes~rs. Simpson, Strickland, and at 4d. per Board of Trade unit throu~hout day and night,
Co.'s launches built last year. The captain of the and guaranteed to pay any costs m curred should the
yacht to which this launch belongs reports that he supply fail. The outer mains of their three-wire system
finds her fast and comfortable, and an excellent sea were drawn from for power purposes at 440 volts and a
~0
hor~e-power
motor working a v.ertical drum fo~ turnboat.
mg, Wlth 4 ho~e -power motors duect-coupled at either
end of the brtdge, but fixed on the abutments for withSWING BRIDGES OVER THE RIVER
drawing the wedges, were used.
WEAVER.
The switch~ were specially designed,, and had only
A~ the ordinary meeting of the Institution of Civil one ~et of res1stances for both t~e openmg and closing
Engmeers, held on Tuesday, J an nary 23, Sir Douglas mot10ns of the .n:otors. The br1d~es w~re moved with
Fox, .Presid.ent, in the chair, the paper read was on remarkable fa01hty, and .the consum~t10n of current
"Swmg Brtdges over the River Weaver at Northwich," .aftex: they had been workmg a short time, and all the
by Mr. John Arthur Saner, M. Inst. C.E.
bearmgs, &c., were f~ee, only amounted to one-quarter of
In 1893, the trustees of the River Weaver, to whom Bl. Board .of Tr&;de umt. for the complete cycle of operathe author was engineer, decided to apply t o Parliament t10ns, .v1z. : wtthdraw.mg wedges, opening and closing
fo! po:wers to convert the so-called fixed bridge at North- the br1dge, a~d replncmg the we~ges.
.
Wich mto one cai?able of being opened for river traffic.
In concluston, the author desued to express h1S inAn Act was obtamed, only however on condition that debted~ess to Mr. John J. Webster, M. Inst. C. E ., for his
two bridges were built some'little dist~nce apart, in order ~uggest~on of the P?~toon pri,!lciple and for his aasistB~nce
that one might always be available in case of breakdown. m makmg the ?r1gmal designs, and to Sir Benjamin
When called upon to solve the engineering- portion of Ba~er, ~ho, with the late .Mr. Thomas Hawkeley,
the problem, the author considered all the different forms ass1sted m the pa..,sage of the B1ll through Parliament.
of movable bridges at present in use but could not find
any which exactly suited the case. 'The problem to be
solved was somewhat unusual, owing to the nature of
ARGENTINE RAILWAYS.-The Buenos Ayres and Valthe foundations i~ the salt district, which, a-s was well paraiso Transa~dine .RaiJ.way Oompany has begun work
kn_own, were seriOusly affected by the abstraction of upon an extensiOn of 1ts bne to La.s Cuebas. The Buenos
brme and sa.lb from . the s~bsoil. The average ~ubsi Ayres Great ~outhern Railway .Company is reported to
dence at the N.orthwich Br1dge had been about 4 ~ in. be contem~latmg the constructiOn of an extension beper annum durmg the lf'st 17 fears, necessitRting the tween Bahu\ Ble.nca. and A1-ul,

154

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

BALANCED EXPANSION JOINT .

. OF the fa~lts of sliding expansion joints on steam
PlJ?eS there ts no need to write. Every engineer is
:pamfully aware of them. Oftener than not the joint
ts purely ornamental, and ser ves no purpose at all . it
neithe: exp!).nds nor. contracts,. but leaves the pip~ to
adapt 1_t~elf as best tt ea~ to 1ts '~arying conditions.
Some JOmts _move freely 1n on~ dtrection, but not in
the other, w1th the result that in a little time they
come to _the end of their travel, and become stationary,
unless, tndeed, they draw clear out and allow the
s~ea~ to escape. The pressure of the steam in the
p1~e 1s alw~ys endeavouring to pull the joint apart;
thts f_o rce 1~ usually met by an endeavour to anchor
the ptpe at.tts extreme ends. But this is by no means
an easy thmg to do, for the steam pressure often
~~ounts to se:veral tons, while the friction of the
JOmt may eastly be as much more, if it be badly
:pa:cked. It then becomes a question whether the
JOmt on the abutments will yield most readily . If
the abutments are firm then the long steam pipe
~ecorues. a strut, and if it be not perfectly s traight it
IS bent std eways and all the joints are strained.

[FEn.

PERlVIANENT-WAY

HA D

2,

r goo.

CRANE.

BY THE BEDFORD EN HNEERING COMPANY, BEDFORD.

CON ' TRUCTED

...

There are many we.ys in which a slidi ng expansion

joint can give t rouble, but most of them are due to
the long distance through which the chief strains
have to be transmitted. To remedy t his, Messrs.
Brown and Co., of 49, Deansga.te, Manchester , have
brought out the balanced expansion joint we illustrate above.
In this a supplementary annular
steam p iston and cylinder is provided to balance
the steam pressure. The abutments, therefore, have
only to bear the streqs due to t he friction of the joint.
On reference to the engraving, it will be seen that the
left-hand end of the pipe has an annular cylinder
formed round it, and in this cylinder there works a
piston connected to the right-hand length of pipe uy
three bolts. This piston is made tight by packing,
which can be set up in the usual way. There is a
pipe which admits steam from the steam pipe beneath
the annular piston.
The joint, which is constructed of steel forgings,
is shown fully expanded. When the steam is t urned
off, and as the pipes cool, the piston is drawn
by the bolts deeper into the cylinder, the pipe at
the same time sliding through its packing. When
the steam is re-admitted, it forces back the piston
as fast as t he pipe expands, the pressure on the
piston all the time balancing the steam pressure in the
pip~. Thus the expansion joint acts just a.e if the pipe
contained only bot air, and were not s ubject to pressure at all.
GERMAN RAILWAYS.-The extent of railway built in
Germany last year was 733 miles. In this total State
lines figured for 494 miles, and private lines for 239 miles.
THE INSTITUTION OF J UNIOR ENGINEERS.-On Mondn.y,
January 29, through spacial facilities afforded by the authorities, a large number of members availed themselves of
the opp0rtunity of inspecting the Operative Department
of the Royal Mint, Tower Hill. The superintendenb, ~Ir.
Rigg, received them. The foundry was first seen ; here
the alloys are cast into bars 12 in. long and ~ in. thick,
the width varying from li in. to 2i in., accoraing to the
coin to be manufactured. Passing to the rolling-house,
the successive operations therein were witnessed, strips
being rolled from which the blanks to form the coins are
cut; a variation of 1 in. above or below the correct
20,000
thickness throws the coin out of the "remedy," or allowance of variation in weight permi~ible. The blankcutting machines having been seen at work, the annealing
of the blanks was next shown, and the house containing
the presses was then entered. Here the blanks are auto
matlcally placed ?e.tween the dies, th~ impression o~ both
sides, and the mtlling on the edg~ ~mg 1mparted .m one
operation ; the speed of productiOn 1s about 90 coms per
minute. Great interest was manifested in the automatic
weighinsz machines which divide the finished coin into
"light ,y "heavy," and "good," ab the rate of about
23 coi~s per minute in each machine. The engines
driving the machinery were seen, and the electricity
plant was likewise specially open for the members' inspection.

THE illustration given above is from a photograph of one of several 5 ton " Breakdown " cranes,
constructed by the Bedford Engineering Company, of
Bedford,. for ~be Great Central Railway Company.
The _carrtage 1s constructed almo t entirely of steel,
and 1s thoroughly braced in a ll directions, the drawgear, brake, axle-boxes, &c., being of the Great
Central standard patterns. The centre post upon
~hich t~e superstructure tu.rns, is a heavy ste~l forgt~g let mto the centre castmg of the carriage. The
s1de cheeks of the su perstructure are of f-i n. steel
plate, and the various transomes are nippled into
these-a device that relieves the bolts of all shear.
Another special feature is the use of fixed shafts
where possible. These shafts have a T -head forged
on them at one end, whilst the other end is ehouldered
down and provided with a nut and washer ; two set
screws through the T -head into the adjacent plate
render the shaft a most efficient stay, acting at t he
point where it is most required. ~1oreovar, the rotating bushes wear more evenly , and are better protected
from dust than fixed bearings in the cheek. The
shafts are drilled up for lubricating the bushes that
run upon them. It is mainly due to the use of these
shafts that it is possible, in the crane und er notice, to
~emove the v.:hole of th~ gearin~ without interfering
m nny way w1th the mam frammg. The main hoisting pinion and ratchet are cast together in steel, the
second-motion wheel and brake are also cast together,
and are connected to the hoisting pinion by a steel
tube of large diameter. The change of purchase for
hoisting is eff~cted by a claw clutch and lever, avoiding the necessity of sliding the handle shaft, and the
handle shaft can be thrown entirely out of gear when
lowering by the brake. Slewing is effected from a
second handle shaft alongside that for hoisting. The
maximum load of 5 tons on a single chain <:an be lifted
and slewed in comfort by four men.

PRESCHLIN' J OINT FOR COPPER

STEAM PIPES.
THE disastrous failures of eopper steam pipes have, at
the Board of Trade inquiries, invariably proved to have
arisen from the employment of brazed joints. By using
solid-drawn or electrolytically deposited tubing, the
brazed longitudinal seam can, of course, be got rid
of, but the brazing between the flange and the body
of the pipe has still remained a source of weakness.
All expansion strains necessarily attain their maximum at the rigid junction between the pipe and the
flange, that is to say, at the very section which has
been exposed to t he risk of overheating in the operation of brazing. Any device which gets rid of these
brazed joints has accordingly many points in its favour,
and we illustrate on this page an ingenious arrangement which has been designed with this object in
view by Mr. Prescblin, the manager of Elmore's

G~r'?an

a~d

Austro - Hungarian Metal Company,

Llmlted, the London office of which is at Broad
street ~ v~nue, E. C. As shown_, the joint is made by
first shpp_mg flanges ?n to the p1pe3 to be joined, these
flanges bemg bored w1 th a conical hole. The ends of the
pipe are then bell-mouthed, and hollow conical plugs
inserted, after which the ends of the tubP.s are beaded
over these plugs. On bolting up the flanges, the expanded end of the pipe is compressed between the plug
a~d the flange, as ou~ ~ngra.~ing shows, a. perfectly
tt~ht and very strong JOint bemg thus obtained. The
plugs, it will be seen, have a rounded outline, and it
was suggested that under a heavy longitudinal pull,
t he pipe might be nipped in t wo between the plug and
the flange. The experiment was accordingly made
at the well-known testing and experimental works of

1!.:6/J

Messrs. D. Kirkaldy and on. The pipes tested measured 4.346 in. in diameter outside, and 3. 95 in. in dia
meter inside in one set of experiments, whilst in another
set they measured 4.145 in. Dutside and 3.93 in. inside.
In all four experiment-s were made, and in no case did
failure occur at the joints. \Vit h the larger pipes failure
took place under a load of about 77,000 lb., equivalent to a stress over 30,000 lb. per square inch of
fractured area. \Vith the thinner pipes failure occurred
at a load of about 39,000 lb. , the stress at rupture being
about 29,500 lb. The stretching of the tubes was
extremely regular up to the breaking point. The joint
has further been tested in practical work, having been
used for some months for the stean' pipe supplying
a. factory engine. Side movement of the joint which
might cause failure from "working " is prevented by
lugs, on the two opposing flanges, these lugs engaging
with each other, and preventing any relative movement
of t he two flanges, save ia a longitudinal direction.
BUENOS AYRES.- The municipality of Buenos Ayres baa
received petitions from four electric tramway companies
asking to be relieved from their obligation to light the
streets through which their trams run. The lord mayor has
recommended that this request should be complied with,
upon the underatanding that, in exchange for the concession, the municipality should have the right to make
use of the company's columns and posts for xing its own
lamps.

ISS

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

FEB. 2, I goo.]

OF FRANCE.

CONI POUND LOCONIOTIVE ] OR THE WESTERN RAILWAY

CONSTRUCTED BY THE SOCIETE ALSACIENNE DE BELFORT.

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A SHORT time since (see ENGINEERING, vol. lxviii.,

page 592) we published illustrations and a description
of the new types of powerful high-speed locomotives
recently built for working the heavy traffic of the
somewhat difficult system of the French Southern
Railways. Of still greater importance on t he same
lines of development is t he improved practice on the
Western Railway system, because this railway forms
one of the favourite routes to Paris, and will probably
be more than crowded during the coming year.
In 1893 the Western Railway Company placed in
service a number of four-wheeled coupled express
locomotives, three of which differed from the others
in being compounded with four cylinders; the
boilers of these engines were practically like the others,
but the pressure was raised 2 kilogrammes (28.4 lb.
per square inch), bringing it to 199 lb. The results
were very satisfactory; marked advantages were
obtained in the consumption of fuel, facility and power
of haulage, and ease in running due to the excellent
arrangement of the moving parts. After a sufficiently
long experience, M. Clel'ault, engineer-in-chief of
materiel and traction to the company, decided on
adopting the type, and constructing twenty compound
locomotives, with certain modifications and of increased
weight , this last-named change being rendered possible from the fact that heavier permanent way had
been laid on the system of the railway company. These
new engines have now been in service for bOrne mon ths,
and sufficient experience has been obtained with them
fully to justify NI. Clerauh's decision. We are glad to
publish drawings and particulars of t hese new engines,
for which we are indebted to 1YI. Morandiere, "Ingenieur des Etudes du Materiel et de la Tract ion " of
the W estern Railway of France.
This new type of locomotive has been built by the
Societe Alsacienne de Belfort, who had given much
attention to the first lot of four compounds for the
Western Railway, as well as to the similar engines
for the Northern Railway of France, and which we
have alrea.dy described.
Some of the special characteristics of the locomo
tives which we illustrate on our two-page plate, and on
this and the opposite page, are as follow: A greater
height of water above the crown of the firebox; the
introduction of additional compensation between the
springs of the driving wheels in order to obtain a
better distribution of load; and an increase in the
size of the firebox. W e give below some of the lead
ing particulars and dimensions of these locomotives.
The total length of the engine is 9. 964 metres
(32 ft. 8.25 in. ), and the total wheelbase is 7.400
metre (24 ft. 3.4 in. ) ; the distance between centres
of driving wheels is 2. 9 metres (9 ft. 6.17 in.). The
diameter of the driving wheels is 2.040 metres
(6ft. 8.32 in.) and that of the truck whetls, is .960
metres (3ft. 1.8 in. ). The height from the rails to the
top of chimney is 4. 25 metres (13 ft. 11 in. ), and to
the centre line of boiler 2.500 metres (8 ft. 2.4 in.).
The mean diameter of the boiler is 1.380 metres
(54.~3 in. ), it has 96 Serve tubes, 3.80 metres (12 ft .
5. 6 m. ) long, and . 065 metre (2. 65 in.) internal diameter. The heating surface of these tubes is 137.780
square metres (1483 square feet), that of the firebox

E N G I N E E R I N G.
is 13 060 square metres (140.6 square feet), so that the
total beating surface is 150.840 squa.re metres ( 1623.5
square feet). The grate are3. is 2 450 square metres
(26 37 ~quare feet). The diameter of the highpressure
cylinders is .340 metres (13.39 in.), and that of the lowpressure, .530 metres (20.89 in.), the length of stroke
is . 640 m etres (25. 20 in.)
The boiler is buil t of soft steel, with an ultimate
resistance of from 38 to 42 kiJogra.mmes per millimetre
(24.13 to26. 67 tons per square iiich)a.nd has a.n extension
of from 27 to 3 L per cent. on a. test-piece 3. 94 in. long.
The rivets for the boiler sh ell are of iron and those
for the inner firebox are of copper. The 'thicknesses
of pla.t~s are 16 m~ll~metres (. 63 in.) for the body of
the bmler; 15 mtlhmetres (.59 in. ) for the sides of
the firebo x shell; 16 millimetres for the front
plate of the firebox shell ; 13 millimetres (.51 ia.) for
the outer back plate; and 25 millimetres (. 98 ia.) for
the front plate. The inner firebox is of copper 16
millimetres thick. The r eversing gear is of the sam e
type as that in u se on recent locomot1 ves built for the
Nord Railway, and descriLed on a. previous occasion.
Of the attachments to this locomotive may be mentioned the Westinghouse brakes on the driving
wheels ; the Bourdon '' telescopompe " lubricator
operated from the val Ye gear; two Friedmann injectors; and a Gresham and Craven s9.n<lbox. It will
also be noticed th at the driver is protected more
than is usual by the form of shelter that is provided.

NOTES FROM THE NORTH.

GLASGOW, W ednesday.
Gla3gow P ig-Iron Market.-A good business was done
last Thursday for enoon. The tone was firm. :"'cotch
iron ro3e 5d., Cleveland 6~d., and hematite iron also 6~d.
per ton. The aftern oon quotations ranged from 68:~. 8d.
to 703. per ton cash, and up to 70s. 4d. one m onth for
Scotch iron. Hematite iron changed hands at 77s. ld.
p er ton 7 days, and 77s. 4d. one month. The settlement
prices were: 693. lO!d. per ton for Scotch iron ; 693. 3d.
per ton for Cleveland ; 7'is. for Cumberland hematite
iron ; and 793. for Middle3Lrough hema.tite iron per ton.
The result was weak on Friday, on the unfavourable
news from South Africa, but prices closed rather
b ~ tter tha.n the worst.
Scotch closed l s. 2d. per
ton down on the da.y, Cleveland 9d., and hematite
iron ltd. per ton down. The settlement quotations at
the close were: 68s. 7!d., 68s. 6d., 763, and 79a. per ton.
The ma.rket was quite demoralised on :Monday forenoon.
No support was forth coming, and though only 12,000
tons were sold, the quotations were weak. From 1s. l d.
to 1s. 6d. per ton was lost. In the afternoon the market
was idle but strong, and there was a recovery of 2! d. up
to 5d. per ton. The settlement prices were 67s. lO~d. ,
67s. 3d., 753. 1~d., and 783. per ton. Business was quiet
0n Tuesday forenoon. Not more than 12,000 tons changed
hands, and as the iron was not readily parted with in all
cases, the prices were all better. Scotch rallied 5d.,
Cleveland 6d., and hematite iron 7! d. per ton. In
the afternoon only some 5000 tons were sold, and
prices were a shade easier, Scotch giving way 1d.
and hematite iron 2~d. per ton. At the close the
'iettlemenb prices were: 68s. l~d., 67s. 7 ~d ., 75s. 6d.,
and 783. per ton.
At the forenoon meeting today
10,000 tons were dealb in. Holders were very stiff,
and prices were, therefore, strong. They rose from 3d.
to 7~d. per ton. In the afternoon only some 5000
tons changed hand~.
Prices closed firm, rising id.
to 3d. per ton. The settlement prices were : 68s. 7 ~d. ,
68s. 1!d., 76s., and 78s. per ton. The followmg
are the quotations for No. 1 makera' iron : Clyde,
83a. 6d. per ton ; Calder. 84.8. 6d. ; Gartsherrie,
843. ; Summerlee, 85s. 6d. ; Coltness, 87s.-the foregoing
all shipped at Glasgow Glengarnock (shipped ab Ardr os!an }, 82s. ; Shotts (shipped at L eith}, 853. ; Carron
(shipped at G rangemouth}, 85~. 6d. per ton. The
markets of the week have been s wayed hither and thither
by the varyin~g reports from the seat of war in
South Africa. In mosb cases the fluctuations have been
small and the business smaller still. Evidently the
tension is telling on trade, as home and Continental
inquiries ha.ve of late been very m eagre. America
seems likely, from its increasing competition in the
raw and manufactured articles, to solve the problem
for us as to whether higher or lower prices are to prevail.
Recent reports from the other side indicate weakness.
Shipments and deliveries continue to be very large. The
stock of pig iron in Messrs. Connal and Co.'s public
warrant stores stood at 228,312 tons, as compared with
233 869 tons yesterday week, thus showing a reduction
ambunting for the week to 5557 tons.
Finished Iron and Steel.- Work has been got more into
full swing in the Scotch centres of the iron and steel
trades and with such a heavy weight of orders on hand
the m~stera have started all possible hands, and yet consumers have complain ed loudly of the .slow manner in
which the manufacture~ ~oods are d ehvered to. th~m.
This desire for delivery, 1t ts stated, must carry w1th 1b a
further hardening in the. q';lotations. ,Pdar and short
supplies of fuel ha~e agat~ mterfered wtth the production and consumptiOn of 1~on an~ steel m.anufactur~,
and the speculative trader 1s feehng the pmch, for all
over the makers of finished iron and steel are in arrears of
delivery. Prices of both iron and steel keep firm.
Sulphate of Ammoni~.-Tbis comm~ity is stron~.
Business has been done both for sp0t dehvery and up t11l
June at lll. 17d. 6d. per ton f.o.b. Leith. BJ: an~ by
there will be another uon works erected, where 1t wlll be
e~tenaively made.

Gtasgow Copper .ftlarket.-Both on Thursday and Friday

the mar~et was a blank as regards copper, and the settlement price was 71l. 5s. per ton on Thursday, and 7ll. on
the following day. Again, on Monday, there were no
transactions, and the price fell 12s. 6d. per ton. No
copper wa.s sold on 1,uesday forenoon, and prices were uncht\nged. There was still nothing doing in the afternoon.
In the market this forenoon there were no dealings in
copper, but the price was marked down 53. per ton. The
price rose 103. per ton in the afternoon, but no business
was done.
Glasgow Co1poration Tramways.-At a m eeting of the
G lasgow Corporation Tram ways Committee held on
Monday there was recom mended for acceptance the offer
of the National Conduit and Cable Company, United
States, to supply the feeder ca.bles for the extension of the
electrical tramways which have yet to be carried oub
through the city. The amount of the estimate is151, OOOl. ,
which is lO,OOOl. b elow tha.t of an Englis h firm, the next
lowest of the three offers which were sent in.
Aduance in the Price of Splint Coa.l.-T he Scotch coalmasters ha.ve just resolved that the price of splint coal
for the iron works sba.ll be raised by ls. per ton for the
month of February, making it 133. per ton.

NOTES FROM SOUTH YORKSHIRE.

SHEFFIELD, W ednesda.y.
Huddersfield and the Paris E.xhibition.-At a meeting
of the Huddersfield Chamber of Commerce, held last
week, the sub-committee appointed to tak9 in hand the
subject of a collective exhibit for the Paris Exhibition
r eported that though there only remained a month before
the time when it would be necessary to send goods to
the Exhibition, only eigh t manufacturPrs in the district
had promised to exhibit. It was doubted whether the
eight manufacturers in question would be able to make
up a. collective exhibit worthy of the dis trict, and in view
of the apathy it was decided to abl.ndon the idea of
exhibiting at Paris.
The Woollen Indust1y.-The President of the Huddersfield Chamber of Commerce in the course of a recent addres3 said the peace, pro,perity, and development of the
woollen industry in the 'Vest Riding were more seriously
menaced by the action taken by the Rivers Board than
by either foreign tariffs or competition. Out of 2000
mills in the West Riding, 800 were connected with the
sewers and 1200 were not. Mills on the sewers would
become valuable property, while those outside the sewera
would beoome valueless.
The Coal Tracle of South Yorkshire.-The position of
the coal tra.de of the district continues very satisfactory.
The demand is large, all the pits working well, and there
is no probability of any interference with the present
prosperous condition<J from the point of view of labour.
The panic caused by the congestion on the rail way has
now nearly subsided, though consumers are still stocking
largely above their ordinary qu'lntities. The supply,
however, is good, and no serious difficulties are being met
with. In the steam coal trade the doma.nd continues
pressing, and as there are no stocks at the pits and the
prospects of the iron tra.de are of the most encouraging
character, this is likely to continue. In the house coal
trade the pits are full of ordera, and there is a great pressure for supplies for all markets.
The bon ancl Steel Tradcs.-Reports from all branches
of the iron and steel industry are to the effect that ordera
continue to pour in, and prices are steadily ad va.ncing. Thera h as been A. further increase of 10s. per
ton on B essem er and Siemen ~ - Martin steels.
'I' he
bottom quotations now for Bessemer billets are 9l. 10:3.
to 9t. 15s per ton, according to quality; and for Siemens!\1artin billets, from lOt. to 12l. lO.s. p er ton, according to
quality and temper. The iron market is exceedingly
strong, and ma.kers are very reluctantly accepting fur theJ
orders, even at high prices.

[FEB.

2, I

goo.

NOTES FROM CLEVELAND AND THE

lNORTHERN COUNTIES.
MIDDLE BBOUGH, W ednesda.y.
The Cleveland !ron Trade.-Vfar news appears to
occupy the a~tent1on ~f co~merctal men very consider.
ably ; and, m facb, mtelhgence from South Africa is
much more eagerly looked for tha.n are telegrams relating
to . trade.
Duyers were ~oming forward in a. most
satLsfa.c.tory and encouragmg manner, and inquiries
for deh very a good way ahead were numerous until
the news of Sir Redvers Buller's reverse arrived and
cast a complete gloom over the market. Y esterda.'y the
weekly gathering on 'Change here was numerous but
buyers sho wed little disposition to operate, and the
amount of business transacted was but small. Merchants had little iron to dispose of, but they
offered No. 3 g. m. b. Cleveland pig at 68s. 6d., and
a. few sales were recorded a.t that price. Buyer?,
~owever, would not purchase at even 68s. 6d. excepo
m cases where they urgently needed the iron. Producers were very fi rm and would not, as a rule, quote
No. 3 below 70o., and they look to that being the general
quotation in the early future. All the lower qualittes of
Cleveland pig were repor ted sca.rce, and No. 4 foundry
grey forge, mottled, and white iron were each aboub
6&. 6d. Middlesbrough warrants opened ab 67s. 7d.,
and closed 67s. 6d. cash buyers. There was very
little east coast hematite pig iron available for sa.le,
and inquiries for it seldom led to business, buyers and
sellers differing in their ideas as to values. Quotations
ranged from 80s. to 82s. 6d. for early delivery of Nos. 1,
2, and 3. Rubio ore was obtainable at 20a. 6d. exship
Tees for very prompt cargoes. There was no quotation
for Middlesbrough hematite warrants. T o.day prices for
makers' iron were unaltered. The only cha.nge in the
market was the advance in Middlesbrough warrants to
68~. cash buyers.

JIIanu,factured I ron and Steel.-These two branches of

trade continue in a very healtb1 state, and prospects a.re
by n o means discouraging. ~uotations all round are
fully maintained, and prices for several descriptions have
been again advanced. Common iron bars have been put
up to 9l. 5.s.; best bars to 9l. 15s. ; and iron and steel ship
plates and iron a.nd steel ship-angles a.re each now 81. 53.
-all less the customary2! percent. discount for cash. Tte
return j ust issued by the accountant to the Board of Con
ciliation and Arbitration for the manufactured iron and
steel tra.de of the North of England shows the average net selling price of rails, platas, bars, and angles for
the two months ending D ecember 31 last to ha.ve been
6l. 17s. 10.27d., as against 6l. lls. 5.82d. for the preced
iog two months. Under the sliding sca.le agreement this
gives an advance in wages of 6d. per ton on puddling and
5 per cent. on all other forge and mill wages, t0 take effecb
from January 29.
Coal a'Tid Coke.-There is very little new in coal and
coke. Prices are pretty much the same as when we last
reported. Ls.rge quant1ties of coke are still being taken,
but the pressure for delivery is not so great a.s it has been.
Medium blast furnace quahties, however, are still put at
25s. 6d. delivered here, and the f.o.b. price of best Durham
coke is a.bou t 32~. 6d,

NOTES FROM THE SOUTH-WEST.

Cardiff. -Steam coal has been less active, buyers show
ing somewhat less eagerness to close transactions. The
best steam coal has made 25s. 6d. to 27s. per ton, while
secondary qualities have brought 233. 6d. to 24s. per too.
H ouse coal has shown l ittle change; No. 3 .Rhondda
large ha~ been ma.king- 23.:~. to 233. 6d. per ton. Patent
fuel has about maintained previous rates. Good foundry
coke has ma.de 3ls. 6d. to 32.:~. 6d. per ton, while furna.oe
coke ha.s realised 27s. to 32s. 6d. per ton. In the iron ore
markeb the current price for the best rubio has been
20s. 6d. to 2ls. per ton.

Smooth Travelling on the Great Westen1.-Mr. A. ,y,

CHICAGO.-The Chicagodrainagecanal has been brought
into operation. The c:1.nal is designed primarily to relieve
Cbica.go of its sewage, and t o enable it to obtain a supply
of pure water from Lake I\1iohigan, which is n ow contaminated by the overflow from the sewers. It is also
intended, however, to b~ the beginning of a ship canal
from Chicago to the Mississippi. The cost of the canal
has been ~, 'iOO,OOOl. The F ederal Government is to be
asked to coutinue the work of deepening the Illinois.
EXPOR'r MERCHANT SHIPPF:RS1 DIRECTORY FOR 1900.T his directory, issued at the price of 17s. 6d. by M essrs.
Dean and Son, Limited, 160A, Fleet-street, London, E. C.,
has long had a reputation for its utility, for this is the
thirty-fifth~~yea.r of publication. It is divided into three
sections. The first gives under each town in the United
Kingdom a list of the exporters with an ind1cation of the
countries with which each is identified, and a note of the exports in which each specialise, and it can easily be understood that a comprehensive list like this is very useful.
In the second section we have articles of merchandise
arranged alphaLetically, and under each a list of the exporters in each town dealing in such goods. There is a.lso
a compilation of the trade ma.rks of exporters, and finally
a list of manufacturers who have paid for the insertion of
their names under each article of commerce. There is
much other inforJDation regarding shipping and forwarding agencies. An important part of the directory is an
itinerary, printed and bound separately in a form convenien t for the pocket. This is for the E. C. district of
London, and all exporters or manufacturers are recorded
in it a<;cordiog to their address, and thus a busy man cJ.n
easily arrange his visits to minimiEe time.

Hart, s uperintendent of the L ondon district of the Great

Western Railway, stated recently at a mee,ting at Slough
that he had the authority of the German Emperor to sa.y
that his I mperial Majesty had never tra. velled so comfortably and so smoothly on a rail way as he did on the. q.rea.b
Western system on the occasion of his la.te VIsit to
England.
The "Pandora."-The P andora, which has been recen tly floated out of dock at Portsmouth, a.nd which ~as
designed by Sir W. White, Director of Naval Construo~10n,
is one of two third-class unsheathed protected crUisers
now building, the other, the Pioneer, being under .construction at Chatham. Nine similar third-clas.q cruiSers
of slightly less displacementi, have already been launcbedh
and completed. The principal dimensions are: L engt
between perpendiculars, 305 ft.; length over al~ 318 ft.
6 in.; breadth extreme, 37 ft.; mean draug)1t of water,
13 ft. 6 in.; displacement, 2200 ton s. A steel deck slo~
at the sides, and varying in thickness from ~in. to? ~-,
has been worked throughout the l~ngth of the shtp 1D
the neighbourhood of tl:ie water line, formin~ a w~ter
tight protection, and affording protection to t e eng10esed,
boilers, magazines, &c. The Pandora will be propell
by twinscrews, each driven by an independeno
set of vertjcal triple-expansion engines, capable hof
d eveloping, ab a working pressure of 250 lb. to t e
square inch, 3500 horaepower indicated, or .7000 hWo~eh
1
power indicated for the two sets of eogmes.
this horae-power a S:P.eed of about 20 knots w
be realised.
team will be supplied by eighb watertube boilers of the Thorn ycroft ~ype. These engines and boilers are being built at P<Jrtsmouth . . The
quantity of coal carried at the above draught w1ll be

ht

FEB.

2,

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

1900.]

MISCELLANEA.
WF. have received from Mr. E. Sbl.nford, of 26 and 27,
Cock:mur-street , S.'\V., a copy of a new map he has just
issued~showing the new works in the Metropolitan district, proposed in the Private Hills t o be dealt with in the
ne w session just opened.
A Scotch county court has decided that although under
the ' 'Vorkmen's Compensa.tion Aot a man inj ured when
laying drain9:ge. pipes may rec~ive compensation? he
cannot do so 1f m jured when laymg water-supply p1pes.
Truly it is a wonderful Act.
The traffic receipts for the week ending January 21 on
33 of the prinoi pal lines of the U nited Kingdnm,
amoun ted to 1,642,968t., which was earned on 19,865!
miles. For the corresponding week in 1899 the receipt~
of the sa.me lines amounted to 1,591,159l., with 19,604~
miles O{>en. There was thus an increase of 51,809l. in
the rece1pts, and an increase of 261! in the mileage.
In their annual re port on the cement trade, just issued,
Messrs. Tulloch and Co., of 4, Fenchurch-avenue, E.C.t
state that the past twelve months have proved a ree;ora
year in the cement industry, the supply being barely able
to keep p ace with the dema nd. The use of foreign
cemen ts in this country is increasing, the imports being
q 11ite 120,000 tons, mainly Belgian natural cements.

PERSONAL. - IVIr. Duff Bruce, cons?lting engineer,

Westminster, announces that he has admttted as a pa.rtn~r
Mr. J. Angus, who ha.s for some yeara pa.s.t been hts
~rincipal assistant. The style of the firm will now be
Duff Bruce and Co.
\VEST YoRKSHIRE CoAt. - The annual meAt ing of the
Lofthouse Colliery, Limited, was held at L eeds on SR.turday, 1-Ir. R. Talbot, of Batl~y, presiding. The. directors'
report contained the followmg: " The prospertty of the
engineering, iron, and other trades of the country has
given an impett:s to the coal t~ade, and ena.bled ~he colliery to be fully employed durmg the year. The dt~ectors
have purchased tw<? or ~hree small areas of coa.l m the
Silkstone seam, wh10h wlll further enhance the value of
the colliery. The accounts show a profit of 12,205l., which,
added to the balance brought forward from last year of
3077[. makes a total of 15,282l. Of this sum 2798l. was
distributed August 1 by the directors as an interim dividend leaving a balance of 12, 484l. a~ the disposal of the
shar~holders. The directors recommend the payment of
a dividend of 6s. per share free of income tax, which will
absorb about 5397t., and leave a balance to be carried
forward of 6886l." The company's shares are 3l. each, so
tba.t the return for 1899 is at the rate of 15 per cent. per
annum. The report was adopted.
LEEDS ASSOOIATION 01!' ENGJ:NEERS.-TBE DE LAVAL
STEAAI T URBINE.-At a recent meeting of the above
Association, Mr. Konrad Andersson read a paper on
"The De Laval Steam Turbine." The present form of
it, be said, is of the impulse type, the pnnciple being to
take up the kinetic energy of a steam jet in the buckets
of the turbine wheel, the steam acting by speed and mass.
As the kinetic energy is proportional to the square of the
speed, it is essential that the speed be high. H aving
minutely described the construction, he remarked that
the enormous speeds, which vary from 30,000 revolutions
in the 3 horse. power motor to 10,600 revolutions in t he
300 horse-power motors, are directly reduced by a carefully designed gear of the double helical type, in the ra tio
of about 10 to 1. On the smaller maohmes, up to 30
horse-power, only one gear wheel is provided, but in all
sizes above 30 horse-power the pinion on the turbine shaft
gears into two wheels on opposite sides, making the
strains equal and in balance. T he m'l.in applications of
the De L a.val steam turbines are : (1) Turbine motors,
driving machinery direct by means of belts or ropes ; (2)
turbine dynamos, the dynamos being placed on the
second motion shafts or a prolongation of the same ; (3)
turbine pumps, the centrifugal pumps being placed on
the Eecond motion shafts; and (4) turbine exhaust and
pressure fans or vontilators. The paper was illustrated
by sketches, diagrams, and tables of results of various
experimental runs of the turbines. 'rhese showed a steam
consumption as low as 13.9 lb. of steam per brake horsepower on a 300 horse-power steam turbine motor. Limelight views were also presented of the different types of
turbines referred to, by the courtesy of Messts. Greenwood and Batley, Limited, L eeds, the sole manufacturers
in this country and the colonies. One of their 3 horsepower turbine dynamos was on view, as well a-s important
portions of larger machines. The paper was listened to
with great interest by nearly sixty members. After a few
congratulatory remarks from Messrs. Wilson Hartnell,
J. Bowers, G. Blackburn (Vice-President), and J. C.
?vioorhouse, a vote of thanks was accorded to Mr.
Andersson. The discussion was adjourned until February 8, the "Q_aper to be printed and circulated in the
m~ntime. The Pre~ident (Mr. Joe Tempest ) was in the
oha.r.

157

advances, thus giving employn;tent to many natives wh o

would otherwise greatly suffer m consequence of the lo"':ness of the Nile causing so much land to be out of culti
va,10n.
The Parliamentary estimates for the cons~ruction of
the proposed Manchester and Liverpool ElectrJC Express
Rail way places the t otal cost of the EC~eme a.t 1,750, ooot.
The estimates give the.length <?f th.e railway from DeanEgate, Manchester, to 1ts termmat10n at t.be ~lue Coat
Hospital, LiverpooJ as 34 miles 4 fu rlongs 2 chaws. The
railway will throughout its whole length be constructed
as a double line in accordance with a. system known as
the monorail sy~tem, with. su~h m.odi6ca.tions as ~ay be
found necessary. The prmmpal 1t~m~ m the .estimates
are: Stations, 67,600l.; land and bUildmgs req u1red to b.e
taken (310 acres), 451.600l. ; the permanent way, estimated ab 18,000l. per mile, 621,450l. ; viad~cts, 175,300l. ;
and contingencie~, 117,9-!0l. The ~cheme IS prop~sed to
be carried out by a company wtth a share cap1tal of
2, 000, OOOt., and a loan capital of 666, OOOl.
The following regulations governing the acceptance of
Portland cement are in use in Holland. The cement
must not leave more than 10 per cent. on a seive ~f 900
meshes per square centimetre (:J800 per equa~e m ch).
Setting, which should take at lea..st two hours, .ts tes~ed
by filling an ebonite ring 40 centimet res (1. 57 m.) h1gh
with the mortar to be tested. A needle of 1 equare
millime tre in section, loaded with 300 grammes is applied
to the mortar, and the setting is held to commence when
th is rod fails to panetrate to the bottom of the mortar,
and to finish when it fails to indent the surface. The tesb
for constancy of volume is performed by placing a cake
of cement on glass and protecting it from drying for 24
hours. This cake should not crack or cha nge shape even
after prolonged storage. The tensile tests are made on
blocks of at lea.st 5square centimetres (.775square inch) section a nd the specimens are prepared with 1 part by weight
of cement, 1 part by weight of normal sand, and 0.3-0.4
parts of water. After storage for 24 hours after making in
moisb air, followed by 27 days in water, these specimens
should show a t ensile strength of at least 227lb. per square
inch. Compression tests made from the same mixture, the
blocks being 2-in. cubes, should fail at a load eqnal to not
less than 2275 lb. per square inch. If seven-day t ests
are used, the tensile strength should be 142 lb., and the
crushing load 1422 lb. p er square inch. Specimens of
neat cement are required to show a t ensile strength in a
seven -day test of 355 lb. per square inch, and m a 28-day
t est a strength of 498 lb. per square inch.

It is remarkable that commercially pure nickel exhibits

no extraordinary physical propertiee. Rolled metal,
assaying over 98 per cent., ha.s a tensile strength not
exceeding 32 tons per square inch. This is, of course,
much greater than the ultimate strength of pure iron, but
is much below an alloy consisting of suitable proportions
of the t wo metals.
From a report recently made by M essre. Preece and
Ca.rdew on th" cost of lighting rail way carriages by
electricity, it appears that the total annual cost p er
coach would be 13l. 163. 6d., ba-sed on the cost of fittmg
and running 400 coaches with an average of twelve
lamps of 8 candle-power per coach. The t otal capital
outlay for lighting this number of coaches is estimated at
32, uOOl.
A curious engine has recently been patented in the
United States, and is, perhaps, worthy of notice for its
originality, whatever opinion may be held as to its practicability. The cylinder is mounted bodily on a crank of
the same throw as the main crank, and these two cranks
are connected together by spurwheels, so that the two
rotate with equal speeds in opposite directions. A s a
consequence, the piston-rod always remains p arallel to
WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY.-TheAnnArbor Railroad Comitself, and no connecting-rod is needed. The necessary pany is stated to have closed a contract with the Marconi
motion for the valve is obtained by m eans of a cam.
interest for apparatus to work a system of wireless telePress reports state that a muzzle velocity of 3000 ft. graphy in connection with the car ferry business of the
per second is expected with the new 10-in. Brown seg- company across L ake Michigan. One office is to be at
mental gun j ust completed for the U nited States Navy. Frankfort, on the east side of the lake, and t he other at
The Brown gun is wire wound, but differs from the ordi- Menominee, on the west side, the distance between the
nary type of wire-wound gun in having its inner core in two points being 83 miles. A direct line between the
the shape of staves bound together by t he wire. The two points passes across the peninsula to the east of
velocity noted above is exceptionally high, though with Green Bay. At present the railroad company depends
an experimental gun using a n aluminium projectile the for telegraphic communication upon a line round the
A rmstrong-Whit worth Company attained a muzzle velo- lake through Chicago, and quite frequently, during
stormy weather, the company is put to a g_ood deal of
city closely approaching 5000 ft. per second.
inconvenience. The U nited States Navy Department
In certain of the newer American rolling mills the bars and the Lighthouse Board of the Treasury Department
are rolled in lengths of 300 ft. and allowed to cool on a are arranging for the establishment of wireless telegro..ph
special cooling bed which keeps them straight. The stations on lighthouseB and lightships belonging to t he
g reat len~bh of the bars renders very evident certain United States. A series of experiments are contemplated
peculiarities in their contraction when cooling, the total in the first instance.
movement being between 3 in. and 4 in. lt is noted
that when first placed on the bed contraction proceeds
GREAT CENTRAL RAILWAY.-We have now definite inrapidly, then checks, and finally ceases. The bar then formation a.s t o a complete half-year's working of the
expands again, probably during recalescence, after which London extension of the Great Central Railway. The
contraction proceeds uniformly till the metal is cold.
data available are exceedingly discouraging ; all that can
It will be remembered that a short time back the be pleaded, by way of set-off, is that the extension can
building trades decided to make a gift to the nation in still be scarcely regarded as in thoroughly effective operathe form of convalescent homes for discharged soldiers. tion. The receipts of the company from all sources for
The hon. secretary, Mr. T. E. Rider, of 1, Vvaterloo- the six months ending D ecember 31 were 1,570,884l., a.s
place, Pall Mall, informs us that the appeal for assistance compared with 1, 395,712l., showing an increase of 175,172l.
has met with a most ready response, contributions both On the other hand, the working expenses were 1,082,891l.,
in money and in kind ha ving been presented by many as compS~red with 834,384l., showing an increase of
prominent firms and others, whilst the workmen in the 248, 507l., so that the net receipts declined to 487, 993l., as
trades are also supporting the scheme by monetary con- compared 561,328l., showing a reduction of 73,335l. The
tributions, which will be applied to the expenses of erec- great increase in the working expenses occurred under
tion.
the head of locomotive p ower, which cost 109,522l. more.
The following resolution has been passed by the Of course, the opening of the L ondon extension involved
Council of the Institution of Naval Architects: " That a heavy increase of engine mileage, withou t a. prop orthe Council will be willing to present a gold medal to any tionate return being obtained from the outlay incurred.
person not being a member or associate member of Traffic charges also showed an increase of 84, 703l. for the
Council, who shall at the forthcoming spring meetings past six months, the L ondon extension involving, of
read a paper which, in the judgment of the Council, shall course, the employment of a large amount of additional
be deemed to be of exceptional merit. The Council will labour. Carriage and wagon repairs further involved an
also be willing to present a premium of books or instru- additional expenditure of 22,703l., and maintenance of
ments to the reader of any paper, not being a member or way cost 10, 29lt. more. The NottiLgham joint station
associate member of Council, which paper shall, in the and the Banbury branch are still not completed; when
jud~ment of the Council, merit this distinction."
The they are ready for business they may be expected to help
Sprmg meeting of the Institution will be held in the hall up the revenue of the London extension to a not altoof the Society of Arts, Adelphi, on Wednesday, April 4, gether unimportant extent. The Nottingham station will
and the two days following. The annual dinner is fixed give the Great Central Railway a thoroughly good hold
upon Nottingham, and the Banbury branch will facilitate
for April4, and will be held in the Hotel Ceoil.
t he interchange of traffic with the Great Western R ailMr. John Aird, who ha..s recently returned from Egypt, way system and the West of England generally. The
states that great progress is being made with the N ile future of the Great Central Railway n.ppears to be largely
dams. At Assuan the Bab-el-Kebir, Bab-el-Sogair, and dependent upon the a~istance which it may d erive from
Bab-el-Haroun channels have been closed, and t he works a closer alliance with the Great Western Railway. The
at these important points are being vigorously proceeded directors are also, however, endeavouring to rearrange
with. Two thirds of the main wall will be practically the finances of the company by a contemplated issue ef
completed this sea-son, and the masonry of the navigation 3~ p er cent. debenture stook ; in is hoped, for instance, to
channel has been commenced. At Assiout the works are save 30,000l. p er annum in interest upon 2,000,000l. temso advanced that it is hoped this dam will be completed a porary loans. More siding accommodation and additional
year earlier than the contract time. About 15,000 men rolling stock will also assist the development of traffic
R~re employ~d; but more will Le required as the season upon the L ondon extension

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FEB. 2,

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159

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

1900.]

so

AGENTS FOR "ENGINEERING."

NOTICE TO CONTINENTAL ADVERTISERS.

AUSTRIA, Vienna: Lehma.nn and Weotzel, Klirtnerstrnsse.

OAPE TOWN : Gordon an~ Gotch.
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(See next column.)
L' d
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.
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Chicago : H. V. Holmes, 44, Lakestde BUildmg..
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street.' Qordon and Gotch, Limited, Queen-street.

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Oftlce for Publication and Advertisements, Nos. 35

and 36, Bedford-street, Strand, London, W.C.
We desire to call the attention of our readers to
the fact that the above is our SOLE Address, and
that no connection exists between this Journal and
any other publications bearing somewhat simUar
titles.
TBLEORA.PHIC ADDRESS-ENGINEERING, LONDON.
TELEPHONE NUMBER- 8668 Gettt'attd.

--

CONTENTS.
PAGE I
PAGR
The Standardisation of
1 Miscellanea. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Screw Threads (lUm.) . . 148 Engineering at Home and
Messrs. Schneider and Co. 'a
Abroad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Works at Creusot. - No.
Directors' Liability . . . . . . . . 160
LXXVIII. (fllttttratect) . . 146 American Trade . ...... .. . 161
The Institution of Mechani
The New York Ship Canal .. 162
cal Engineers . .. . ... ... 148 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
The Paris International Ex
Notes from the United
hibition (lllmtratt4).. . . 149
States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Hand and Maohine Labour 162 Workmen's Compensation 163
Hi~hSpeed Steam Launch
The War in South Africa .. 163
(Rlust>ated) ......... .. 153 Our National Defences . . . . 164
Swing Bridges over t he
American Competition . . . . 164
River Weaver .......... 153 Dear Fuel and ita Economy
Balanced Expansion Joint
(I llustrated) .. . ........ . 164
(lllu.st1ated) . . . . . . . . . . . . 164 Ripper's Mean Pressure
Permanent Way Hand Crane
Indicator. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
(Illustrated) . . . . . . . . .. . . 154 Screw Fa us. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 166
Preschlin's J oint for Copper
Launches and Trial Trips .. 166
Steam Pipes (IUmtrated) 154 Diagrams of Three Months'
Compound
Locomotive,
Fluctuations in Prices of
Western Railway of France
Metals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
(l lltutrated) . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 Industrial Notes ...... ... . 167
Notes from the ~orth .. . . . . 156 The Physical Society. . . . . . 168
Notes from South Yorkshire 166 Water Meters (Illustrated) 169
Notes from Clevel:md and
The Simplon Tunnel. . . . . . 170
the Northern Counties .. 166 " Engineering " Patent ReNotes from the South-West 167
cord (nlmtrated) .. ...... 171
With a Two-Page Engraving o.f a CO .llPO
.
UND LOCOMO-

TIVE FOR THE WESTERN RAiLWAY OF FRANCE.

I

READING CASKS. - Reading cases for containing twenty-six

numbers of ENGlN~~RINO may be had of t he Publisher or of any
newsagent. Prico 6s. each.

NOTICES OF MEETINGS.
INSTITUTION O'F CIVIL ENOUi'EERS.- Tuesdn.y, February 6, at
8 p.m. Papers to be read with a view to discussion: 1. Moving
Loads on Railway Underbridges," by Mr. W. B. Farr, Assoc.
M Inst. C. E. 2. " Note on the Floor System of Girder Brid~es,"
by Mr. C. J!". Findlay, M.A., M. Inst. C.E. At this meetmg a
ballot for members will be taken.- Students' visit, Friday, Feb
ruary 2, at 2.80 p.m. 1 to t he Electric Works of the London
United Tramways, L1mited. (Assemble at the Works, 88,
High . road, Chiswi?k Train from Westm~n ster . Bridg~ to
Turnham-g reen Stat1on, 1.62 p.m.)-Students meetmg, Fnda.r.,
February 0, at 8 p.m. Sir Alexr. R. Binnie, Member of Oouncil,
in the ohair. Paper to be read : .. Underground Sources of
Water Supply," by Mr. D. E. Lloyd-Da.vies, Stud. Inst. C.E.
SooiRTY OF AaTs.-Monday, F~bruary 15, at 8 p.m. Cantor Lee
tures. "The Nature and Yield of Metalliferous Deposits," by
Mr. Bennett H. Brough. Four Lectures. (Lecture 111.).- Wednesday, February 7, at 8 p.m. .. Housing of t he Poor," by ~r.
Edmund Wilson.- Thursday, February 8, at 4.30 p.m. Ind1an
Section. "New Projects of Railway Communication with India,"
by Mr. James Mackenzie Maclean, M.P. This meeting will be
held at the Imperial Institute.
TUE INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENOINSERS.-Thursday, Febru
ary 8, at 8 p. m. , at the Institution Civil of Engineers, Great
George-street, Westminster, S. W. " The Standardisation of
Electrical Engineering Plant," by Mr. R. P. Sellcn, Member.
SOCIETY ov ENOJNBBRS.-Monday, February 6, at the Royal
United Service Institution, Whitehall. The president for the
past year, Mr. John Corr~ Fell, will present th.e premiums
awarded for papers read durmg the year. The president for t he
year, Mr. Henry O'Connor, will deliver his inaugural address.
The ohair will be taken at 7.30 precisely.
ROYAL INSTITUTION OF GREAT BRlTAIN.-The Friday evening dis
course next week (February 9), at 9 o'clock, will be delivered by
Professor J . Reynolds Green, Sc. D. F.R.S. Subject : .. Sym
biosis and Symbiotic Fermenta.tion."- Afternoon lectures next
week, at 3 o'clock.- Oo Tuesday, February 6, Professor E. Ray
Lankester, M.A., LL.D., F.R.S., on cc The Structure and Olassifi
cation of Fishes." (Lecture IV.).- On Thursday, February 8,
Professor H. H. Turner, M.A., F.R.S., on "Modern Astronomy."
(Lecture 1.),-0n Saturday, February 10, Mr. W. L. Courtney,
M. A., LL.D., on "The Idea of Tragedy in Ancient and Modern
Drama." (Lecture I..).

ENGINEERING.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 2,1900.
ENGINEERING AT HOME AND
ABROAD.
Swiss trip of the Institution of Electrical
Engineers has given rise to an interesting discussion amongst those fortunate enough to be included
in the party as to the most noteworthy featu1es
of the electrical industry in Switzerland. P erhaps
the most characterist ic difference between the conditions in England and in that country lies in the
fact that Englishmen in general, often curiously
enough, even when professional Radicals, resent
most bitterly innovations of every nature, whilst in
Switzerland a more intelligent view is held as to
the t rue interests of the public. In the early days
of the electric light this characteristic British attitude of mind led to the passage of an Act of Parliament which almost strangled the infant industry,
and no reasonable development was possible until
these legal swaddling clothes were loosened some
years after. Short-sighted people have at various
times considered this a matter of congratulation,
asserting that we thus avoided the loss of large
sums of money in experimental work. Following
out this reasoning to its logical conclusion, they
should equally maintain that the development of the
steam engine in this country, rather than abroad,
was a national misf01tune. As regards our railways, it is doubtles~ true that we are now suffering
from the fact that we were pioneers, and that consequently our loading gauge is smaller than would
now be advisable were the work to be done over
again ; but it is impossible to dispute the assertion
that the fact that we were pioneers in this line has
been worth many millions sterling to us as a nat ion.
Even in this instance the most serious obstacles to
be overcome by our early engineers were not of a
material nature, considerable as these were when
everything had to be originated ab <n:a, but arose
in a much greater degree from the blind and unreasoning conservatism of so large a section of the
British people. In one instance we call to mind,
Waterton, the well-known naturalist, as .c 1 ted
THE

SF

that had he caught in the act, the surveyor,_ who

was 'engaged in locating a line through a por~10n of
the Waterton estates, he would .have shot him out
of hand.
"
d b
At present the greatest difficulty .to be face Y
electrical engineers is the ~xtraord1nary development of socialism in our midst, as shown by ~he
intense desire to municipalise every un~ertaking
possible, quite irrespective of the matenal advantage of the public. When, a few years back, a
London tramway company propose~ to ~dopt the
overhead system on certain of Its hnes, Mr
Burns and certain of his colleagues on the County
Counch aave vent to an excited shriek at
what they were pleased to call the dis:figu_rement of London streets. Many well-mean1ng
people who when badly informed, as is too frequently th~ case, are responsible for so much
mischief in the world, took up the cry, and
the scheme was defeated. The absolute hollowness
of the pretence brought forward has been _well
shown since; firstly, by the proposal, several t1m~s
brought forward by the London County Council,
for carrying the tramways on to the Embankm ent~
and secondly, by the fact that this same Council,
now it has come into possessi~n of man! of ~he
tramways, is actively engaged In promoting Bills
for working certain lines by tl)is same overhead
system. Further, unlike the original scheme condemned on artistic grounds, certain of the lines now
proposed pass through fine thoroughfares. We hope
the proposals now made will be successful, though
given a free hand, a well-managed company would
probably afford the public a better service. In the
present temper of the British people it is, however,
impossible for a company to have as free a hand as
a public body. Compare, for instance, the rec~less
abuse with which a lighting company is assailed,
when its service temporarily fails, with t he
calm way in which the very serious breakdown
at the Corporation Works, Manchester, was ac~
cepted as a mere accident, involving little or no
blame on those responsible. Again, when Bills
were introduced last year for the erection of great
power stations near collieries, for the subsequent
transmission and distribution of power .. to various
townships, the opposition aroused was sufficient to
defeat the measures, great as might possibly have
been its benefits to t he communities involved if
commercially successful, and little a~ they stood to
lose in the contrary case. Even had the promoters
succeeded there is little doubt but that the permis~
sion to serve their fellow men would have been
overweighted with the most harassing and unnecessary conditions as to insulation and other safe..
guards. Swiss experience shows that under favourable condit ions 16,000 to 17,000 volts can be
carried by bare wires protected merely by por..
celain insulators a.t the points of support, without
undue risk to the community, but it is absolutely
hopeless for any private corporation to persuade
Parliament, or the Board of Trade, that this is the
case. The sole hope for the removal of unreasonable restrictions on electrical distribution and
electric traction, lies in t he great County Councils
aRd other important public bodies being directly interested in the much-needed reforms. There,
perhaps, neverwas a. t ime at which British capitalists
had more concern for the interests of their servants
and of the public, and there certainly never was a
time when they were regarded with more suspicion
by the latter. All the visitors to Switzerland seem
to have been struck by the way in which the democratic governing bodies there abstained from
checking enterprise.
As to the points in which Swiss practice differs
from ours, Mr. Crompton notes that the electrical
efficiency of Swiss-built dynamos is much less than
with British makes. This observation is interesting,
and may be paralleled by the fact that the average
shop or factory engine in this country is much less
economical of steam than is usual on the Continent.
Obviously the same cause is at work in both cases.
Here we have had (in view of recent prices we
speak in the past tense) cheap coal, hence it was
rumecessary to incur any heavy capital expenditure
in t he production of specially economical engines,
a saving of steam being less important t han simplicity, with a corresponding immunity fr01n breakdowns. In Switzerland coal was dear, hence an
economical engine, even if costly and complicated,
was demanded by manufacturers. Coming to dynamos and transformers, the SwiEs having enormous
resources in the way of water power cheaply available, a saving of a small percentage on electrical

r6o

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

[FEB.

2, I 900.
,

losses would not balance the extra outlay needed. ning .at its nor_mal speed, and falls off very rapidly
Wages being low in Switzerland, there has not
Conse~uently Swiss engineers have devoted most as th.is speed iS reduced. H ence, until means are
attentwn to the mechanical aspect of their gene- provided for satisfactorily t urning this difficulty, the been the same compulsion towards the use of jigs
rator , transformet~, and the like, whilst our polyphase, motor seems out of place on tramways and special tools, as in America and in certain of the
sol_lrce of power bemg coal, and the cost of power and similar lines. Of course, in underaround rail- more enterprising works at home. In spite of this,
the
accuracy
of
workmanship
on
Sulzer's
engines
is
bemg an important item in this particular class way work it is possible to reduce t he sta~ting torque
whilst in the matter of surface finish
o! work, we ha,e demanded a high dynamo effi- needed by fixing each station at a summit between unsurpassed,
the productions of this and other Swi~s firms is rarely
Cie~cy, and followi:t?g this, a high steam efficiency; two steep gradients, but even so there is always a
equalled here. Quite possibly the t;aste for a high
unt1l now the efficiency of our combined sets ap- possibility that a train may be stopped for some
p.roaches more nearly to the theoretically pos- reason midway between stations, and have, there- polil:)h is carried too far. On Lake Lucerne we have
sible than that of any other nation.
Of course for e, no accumulated energy to enable it to climb seen the cranks of paddle engines polished like
nickel-plate. Possibly these were nickel-plated,
we are now sp~aking. of average plants, since the gradient up to the next station. With con- but in any case there seems no good reason for such
fine and econom1cal mill and factory engines have tinuous-current motors this creates no difficulty, an extreme of surface polish. Mr. Crompton at t he
be~n built _in England for years past, and no doubt as the maximum torque it is possible to oxercise
Institution meeting mentioned that the polished surSwiss engmeers do on occasion turn out high- greatly exceeds the normal. N evertheless it is faces of Sulzer engines suffered not the slightest
efficiency electrical plant. In all cases, however, to be hoped that these difficulties will be overcome scratch in being handled in the shop and finally
both here and abroad, there is always a limit in the near future, as there is a sweet simplicity erected. The additional time and care needed to
b.eyond which it is. unprofitable to carry the effi- about a "straight" polyphase system, which is secure this would be commercially impossible in any
Ciency. of any m~c~Ine. ~n Switzerland, power for most attractive to t he mechanical mind.
country but one in which wages were low, and
a carbide plant iS m one mstance fmnished at the
Another feature which seems to have struck seems hardly worthy of the effort requisite.
rate of 65 francs per brake horse-power per annum. many of the visitors is the small part played by
This plant runs night and day and every day, so the consulting engineer, as we understand him.
that t~e cost of the pow:er works out to about l4- d. Every English contractor will admit that there are
DIRECTOR '' LIABILITY.
per kilowatt-hour, and In such a case it is obvious consulting engineers for whom it is a pleasure to
CERTAIN cases which have recen tly been heard
that t~ere c.an be ~mall inducement to lay down work, whilst in other cases the party in question in London and the provinces, should act as a warnexpensive high-effiClency plant. Similarly in our owes his position as consultant rather to an im- ing to those who allow their names to be placed
factories, and particularly in our machine shops posing presence and a fluent tongue than to any upon the prospectuses of companies as directors.
engines using anything up to 45 lb. of steam pe; deep or accurate knowledge of his profession. In the case of Greenwood v. The Leather-Shod
hour are not uncommon, yet power is still the One must admit, however, that the contractors are Wheel Company, which was heard in the Court of
cheapest thing a manufacturing engineer purchases. often somewhat unreasonable. At one time they Appeal on December 19, a claim was made for the
Most of the engineers taking part in t he Swiss will complain that the consultant ties them down rescission of a contract to take shares in the defentrip were struck by the general use of three-phase to every detail and prevents them standardising, dant company, and also for damages in respect of
plants . Of course, t he three-phase system is being and consequently cheapening their products; whilst alleged misstatements contained in the prospectus.
used in this country to a considerable extent, as on when, as happened not so long back in an im- Amongst other things, it was a1leged that certain
the Dublin tramways and the L ondon Central Rail- portant steam-engine contract, the consultant gave agreements should have been disclosed in the proway, but motor transformers are employed to con- the contractor a free hand as to his designs, merely spectus, by virtue of the Companies Act, 1967,
vert this current into a continuous one before con- specifying results, there was a chorus of abuse from Section 38. The prospectus stated that t he comveying it to the car motors. Whilst it is quite t he unsuccessful firms and certain others interested. pany was formed '' to take over the patent rights
possible that alternating currents may yet be used An excited town councillor, for example, indignantly for t he Vnited Kingdom of the most impot tant
in tramway motors, it would seem that as matters asserted that t he gentleman in question was not paid improvements in wheels for the century, namely,
stand at present there are considerable difficulties large fees to get other people to make his designs the leather tire invented by Messrs. Pierron and
in the way. In the Burgdorf-Thun line, which has for him. Between these two views of his position Klein in 1895, which should super..,edc all preEent
been specially commented on, the conditions are the unfortunate consultant is in some difficulty. forms of vehicle tires, as it is elastic, durablf,
somewhat peculiar. The line in question is of There can, however, be little doubt t hat on t he quiet, cheap, and light-running.
standard gauge and is 25 miles long, and is worked whole it is far better that such gentlemen should
It was stated that '' wheels for the trolleys in the
by the three-phase system, the current being gene- confine their specifications to the general require- House of Commons have been ordered, and are now
rated at 16,000 volts and transformed down to 750 ments of the case, making the manufacturer re- in use. The Secretary of State for War has given
volts before passing to the car motors. The stops sponsible for t he details of construction. The an order for wheels for military carriages, and
are few, and the gradient, reaching in parts 1 in 26, latter would, under t hese circumstances, find it wheels have been ordered by the Director of Clothis fairly uniform. As a consequence, the low-start- necessary to provide a more competent designing ing of the Royal Army Clothing Department. " The
ing torque of a three-phase motor is of minor staff, which we fear certain of them will do with plaintiff complained that no such orders had been
importance, whilst the fact that such motors will very great reluctance. Every one with experience given, and that the wheel were merely on trial at
not run much above their proper speed is made in life must know of individuals "ho would rather the various places mentioned. The clause referring
use of on the down trip, which is made with brakes lose business than pay a man a really high salary. to other agreements was as fo1lows : "There may
off at a speed only 5 per cent. greater than the Such an individual feels that if one of his em- be other agreements as to the formation of the
normal speed of running. The motors work back ployes is too well off, he ceases to be master company, the subscription to the capital, or otherinto the line under these conditions, and thus save in his own business, and he would rat her fail to wise, to none of which the company is a party, and
current. In ordinary tramway work, or on sub- secure a contract than owe it to the abilit ies of one which may technically fall within Section 38 of the
urban railway work, very different conditions pre- of his designing staff, who might thus establish a Companies Act, 1867.
ubscribers will be held to
vail. To obtain a satisfactory service here, great claim to greater consideration. This feeling is, we have had notice of all these contracts and to have
starting power is essential; a fact which our loco- fear, largely a national trait. A works foreman waived all right to be supplied with particulars of
motive engineers, even when, like the late Mr. too frequently resents any suggestion from one of such contracts, and to have agreed with the comStroudley, they were able mechanics, have very his hands, considering it " cheek," reflect ing more pany, as trustees for the directors and other
frequently failed to grasp. The latter gentleman, or less on his own capacity ; whilst in the scientific persons liable, not to make any claims whatsover,
it will be remembered, constructed for suburban world, which, above all others, should be free not to take any proceedings under the said section
service the little '' Terrier " engines, and it used to from such pettiness, we have had the spectacle of or otherwise, in respect of any non-compliance
b e a common sight on the South LonJon line for distingushed chemists resenting the discovery of therewith."
I t came to light in the course of the case t hat a
one of these engines and one of the more powerful argon by an outsider like Lord Rayleigh. One, we
London, Chatham, and D over locomotives, on a remember, passionately exclaimed that Lord Ray- contract was in existence under which one of the
parallel line, to start from a station together. The leigh was assumiug that chemists were all fools directors was to obtain very considerable benefits.
latter gained speed quickly, and left its rival puffing who had gone about with t heir eyes shut for fifty In referring to this contract, Lord Justice Lindley
said that it should have been discloEed, in accordaway far behind. Since at that time the Chatham years.
Company had not adopted the \Vestinghouse brake,
As indicating the relatively low position held by ance with the provisions of Section 38 of the Comit waa not possible to use this greater starting draughtsmen in this country, it is to be obserYed panies Act, 1867; which, after providing that every
power to full ad vantage, since it was necessary to that the pay of the average draughtsman does not contract shall be disclosed on the prospactus, enacts
reduce speed when still quite a distance away from exceed that of the average mechanic. Considering that any prospectus or notice not specifying such
the next stopping station, and as a consequence that a mistake in the drawing- office involves a contract shall be deemed fraudulent on the part
the "Terrier," being fitted with a proper brake, pounds, where a mistake in the works may involve of the promoters, &c. The result of the case was
Nas able to make up at the end of its run the dis- shillings only, this state of t hings is rather curious. that the plaintiff was held entitled t o recover the
tance lost from its inadequate power at the start; As a consequence, the men of most ability do their amount paid by him in respect of shares. Our
so that both trains in general took the same time utmost to get out of the drawing-office once they interest in t he case does not, however, stop there.
between stations, the mea.n speed being in each have had what they consider sufficient experience The principle that " a falsehood is the intent to
casa most dishearteningly low in the opinion of t he there. In Switzerland, on t he contrary, the pay of deceive" is now shown to apply to erroneous stateunfortunate season ticket holders. Since the date th e draughtsman, if not high, yet considerably ments in a prospectus. Taking the object of a
we have in mind, the Chatham Company has intro- exceeds that of the a vcrage mechanic, and conse- prospectus into consideration, it is clear that the
duced the continuous brake, and could, if it had quently a bett er class of man is secured. It must Court must interpret it in the way it is construed
had an intelligent eye to the interests of its share- be confessed that too many of the run of draughts- by those into whose hands it corneR. The whole
holders have considerably increased the speed of its men here in the past were q uite unreliable outside object of the Directors' Liability Act of 1890 was
ouburb~n service. The electrical engineers respon- their routine work, but better are now available; to remove a defect in the law brought to light by
sible for the Central London system have fully re- and we know of one prominent firm of engine the decision of the House of Lords in Derry v.
cognised the fact that to secure a fair average speed builders who will not employ in their office any man Peek (14 App. Cas. 337], and to impose upon those
a large starting torque is necessary, and, as a con.se- who has not had a good training in theory, in addi- who issue prospectuses the duty to take reasonable
quence, have not seen their way to .use alternatmg tion to his practical knowledge. This, whilst now care not to make untrue statements. The best way
currents in their motors. The maximum torque of the exception, is becoming more and more common, of seeing the effect of t hat Act is to consider its
more important provisions, side by side with the
an alternating motor is obtained when it is run- and is of good augury for the future.

..

FEB.

2,

1900.]

legal principles which formerly ruled the Courts in

these matters.
Prior to the Director s, Liability Act, 1890, t he
law in respect of .actions for de~eit may be gathere~
from the followmg passages 10 Lord H erschell s
judgment in Derry u. ~eak, 14. App. Ca~. 337 :
' 'First in order to sustam an act10n of dece1t there
must b~ proof of fraud, and nothing short of that
will suffice. Secondly, fraud is proved when it is
shown that a false representation has been made (1)
knowingly, or (2) without beli~f in its truth, or (3)
recklessly careless whet her 1t be true or false.
Although have treated th~ se.cond and ~bird as
distinct cases, I think the th1rd 1s but an msta.nce
of the second, for one who makes a statem.en t _under
such circumstances, can haYe no real beh ef 1n the
truth of what he states. To preven t a false statement being fraudulent, there must, I think, always
be an honest belief in its truth. And this pr obably
covers the whole ground, for one who knowingly
alleges that which is false has obviously no such
honest belief. Thirdly, if fraud be proved, the
motive of the person guilty of it is immaterial. It
matters not that there was no intent ion to cheat
or injure the person to whorn the statement was
made . . . Making a false statement through want
of caro falls far short of, and is a very differen t
thing from, fraud ; and the same may be said of a
false representation honestly believed, though on
insufficient g.rounrls . . . When a fal se statement
has been made, the question whether t here were
reasonable grounds for believing it, and what were
the means of knowledge in the possession of the
person making it, are most weight~ matters for
consideration. The ground upon whtch an alleged
belief was founded is a most important test of its
reality . . . If I thought that a person making a
false statement had shut his eyes to the facts, or
purposely abstained from inquiring into t hem, I
should hold that honest belief was absen t , and that
he was just as fraudulent as if he had knowingly
stated that which was false.,,
In addition to the liability imposed by Section 38
of the Act of 1867, the director should be careful
to recollect that other responsibilities are imposed
upon him by Section 3 of the Companies Act, 1890.
By that Section every person who is a director at
the time of the issue of the prospectus or notice,
and every . . . promoter shall be liable to pay
compensation to all who subscribe for shares, &c.,
on the faith of such prospectus, for any damage
they may have sustained by reason of such untrue
statement, unless it is proved (a) with respect to
every such untrue statement not purporting to be
made on the authority of an expert, or of a public
official document or statement , that he had r easonable ground to believe, and did up to the time of
the allotment of the shares, &c., believe that the
statement was true. (b) With respect to every
such untrue statement purporting t o be a copy or
extract from a report or valuation of an engineer,
valuer, or other expert, that it fairly represented
the statement made by such exper t. Provided that
the director, &c., shall incur liability unless he believed, or had reasonable grounds to believe, that
the expert who made the report was competent to
do so. (c) If the statement made is that of an
official person, it is sufficient to show that it was
correctly copied into the prospectus. The director
may also escape liability on other grounds, e. g., if
he prove (a) that he withdrew his consent to be a
director before the issue of t he prospectus ; (b)
that it was issued without his knowledge or consent, and give public notice of such withdrawal.
From the above Section it will at once be seen
that the director cannot shelter himself behind the
report of an expert., unless he believes or has reason
to believe t hat the expert was competent.
The recent case of Jackson v. Clough, which demanded the atten t ion of Mr. Justice Grantham and
a special jury at Leeds from December 14 to 19,
affords a very striking illustration of the unhappy
results which may accrue to those responsible for the
promotion of a company if they rely upon an incompetent expert. [A report of this case appears in the
Times of December 20 last.] The claim was brought
for damages for false and fraudulent misrepresentation.s in the prospectus of a company known as t he
~ndia-Rubber (Mexico), Limited, which was founded
1n 1~97 for the purpose of developing estates in
Mex10o, upon which the india-rubber plant was
alleged to be capable of growing in great profusion.
The expert sent out reported that the two estates
covered together about 287,000 acre8, and that
there were no less than 360,000 trees ready for

r6r

E N G I N E E R I N G.
tapping ! E vidence called at bh e t rial showed that
the estates under cultivation only covered about
56,000 acres, and that even if there were 350,000
india-rubber trees t hereon, the great maj ority of
t hem were buried in an impenetrable j ungle. In
this case, again, it was held t hat the plaintiff, an
under -writer of debentures, was entitled to be relieved from his obligation under t he contract.
No doubt the1e are many cases in which directors
are t.hemselves the dupes of the expert, who is sometimes interested in the success of t he undertaking.
Thus in the case at Leeds it was proved that the
expert sen t out was interest ed to the extent of
27,000l. in the s uccessful floatation of the company.
But, it is clearly the du ty of directors to see that
the expert who makes the repor t is unbiassed. I t
is t o be hoped that the result of this case, and that
to which we have alluded in the earlier part of this
article, will be to open the eyes of directors who,
in all honesty, allow their names t o be printed upon
the prospectus of a company which is to all intents
and purposes beg un, continued, and ended by their
less honourable colleagues.

Al\IERIOAN TRADE.
THE foreign trade of the United States during
the past calendar year reached a value considerably
in excess of that of any preceding twelve months.
It was foreseen that in some respects the showing
would be less favourable t han in 1898. For instance,
the decline in t he price of wheat and other foodstuffs meant a fall in the aggregate sum under
these heads in spite of an increase in the quantity
shipped, but it was hoped that there would be compensation for this in improvements in the other
staples and in manufactured goods. The p reliminary estimates of the Bureau of Statistics give the
value of all imports and exports of merchandise for
the year as 2,079,421,000 dols., compared with
1,890,461,000 dols. for 1898, being an increase
of 188,960,000 dols., equivalent to 37,800, OOOl.
Though less satisfactory than the country reckons
it had a right to expect, the showing is still one
t hat r epresents a very distinct advance so far as t he
mere total is concerned. What is not exactly pleasing to t he American mind is that the better part of
t.he increase occurs under imports, which fi gure for
803,946,000 dols. compared with 634,946,000 d ols.,
while exports ran to 1,275,475,000 d ols. against
1,256,616,000 dols., the increase under the first head
being as much as 169,000,000 dols . and in t he
second no more than 19,960,000 dols. Thanks to
the greater volume of purchases from abroad, due
in large measure to the prosperous condition of t he
country, the trade balance in favour of the United
States shows a fall, the excess of exports amount ing to 471,529,000 dols., as compared with
621,261,000 dols. for the preceding p eriod. It is
not to be inferred that America's foreign customers
a.re actually indebted t o her to the extent of
94,000, OOOl. sterling on balance as a result of the
year's t rade operations. On paper it would
appear that t hey are, but, in fact, t.his t rade
balance is to a very considerable extent a
myth.
Part of the indebtedness is wiped
out by American payments of dividends and intereRt upon foreign money invested in its undertakings, by American purchases of home securities
held abroad, by t he expenditure of American
tou rists in Europe, &c. ; and it would appear,
furt her, that the figures of the Treasury Department do not in all cases represent actual values.
This last is a point deserving of more attention than
it has r eceived. Values of imports and exports
may be those of t he Cust om House, but it does not
by any means follow that they are those of the
market. It is well known that, largely in consequence of the protective tariff, and partly in consequence of t he freedom from competition which
distance accords, American manufactured products
of various k inds are often sold in the United States
at one price, and at a considerably lower price in
Europe.
The " law of surplus" has, in fact,
largely governed the foreign trade transactions of
America. Rather than have t he home market depressed by the weight of more goods t han could
readily be consumed in it, American manufacturers
have in many instances, while keeping up the home
price, sent their surplus wares abroad, .and have
sold them t o foreigners at any price t hat t hey
could get for t hem. "\hen these goods wer e ent~red for export at the Custom House, the prices
given, as a general rule, have been those which
s uch goods commanded in the American market;

but when sold, the price received may have been

many points lo wer ; and in set tling the balance of
t rade, it is not the Oustom House r~port. but the
actual trade transact ion that determ1nes JUSt how
large this balance may be. It is _not po.ssible to
rectify the trade balance on t he ~as~s of th1s f~ctor,
but t hat it is one of great significance will ~e
apparent; and although we h~ve only the offiCial
statistics to go upon in ~me estrmat~ o~ the total of
a particular year 's foretgn trade, 1t 1s clear that
a considerable deduction mus t b e made to allow for
overvaluation of expor ts.
The following Table gives the value of the exports of the great staples in t he past year (in t housands of d o1lars) as compared wit h 1898:
18~8.

1899.

-- - -- - -- 1
Breadstuffs
Cattle..
Provisions
Cotton
Mineral oils

..
..
..
..
.

-----~ ----------------

December. 12 Months.
dols.
1ij,l48
2,012
15,3 16
12,831
6,476

clols.
25S),407
28,2S2

168,323
84,648...
64,842

-----

December. l 12 Mon ths.

dols.
31,6 t9
2,237
1o,536
39,887
4,194

dols.
303,767
32,259
163,990
118,563
62,561

- - - - - - -1

64,783

93,275

* Four mont hs-September to December.

It will be seen that t he most striking feature of
this statement is the hea,y decrease in t he value
of cotton, which is barely one-third of the value
in D ecember, 1898, in spite of the fact that cotton
ruled a bout 2 cents per pound higher in December
last t han a year ago. The explanation is found in
the holding back of t he new season 1s cotton by the
planters for a higher price, this being about t he first
t ime concerted action towards that end has been a
success. There has been an improvement under
the head of mineral oils for t he year, but this is a
very long way f1om counterbalancing the decrease
in cotton and breadstuffs ; and t he credit for s uch
increase as t here is in exports is due (1) to manufactures, which have increased t o 376,000,000 dols.
from 307, 926,000 dols. in 1898 ; and (2) to very
much smaller improvemen ts in the products of
mining and of forests. It will be some little time
before all the details of exports of manufactured
commodities are available. The latest trustworthy
figure which we have seen are those given in the
report for t he 10 months ended October 31, and
these figures are useful as indicating the character
of the trade for the entire 12 months. There was
an increase in the exportation of agricultural implements of more than 4,000,000 dols . during the
period ; France taking 500,000 d ols. more than
the year b efore ; all other Europe increasing orders
about 1,100,000 d ols. ; the Argentine Republic
increasing orders to the extent of 800,000 dols. ;
and an increase of 200,000 dols. going to Africa.
American cars went abroad to t he extent of
700,000 dols. more than in 1898. The bicycle trade
fell off, and t he sales of chemicals increased
2,000,000 dols . A notable gain was in the increase of exports of clothing by about 3, 700,000
dols., and ther e was also an increase in t he exportation of fertilisers by 2, 500,000 dols. American
scientific appliances are in b etter d emand, the increase in exportations of them being more than
2,000,000 d ols. Tiuplate was exported to the
amount of 14,686 dols., being a gain of 8327 d o1s.
This, however, is quite an insignificant item.
Of
structural iron there was an incr eased export of
600,000 dols. The demand for castings ran t he
exports up to more than 4,500,000 dols. over t hose
of the year before. In builders, hard ware there
was an improved t rade amounting to 1,300,000 dols .
over that of 1898. There were enhanced exports
of electrical and metal-working machinery, and t he
increased sales a broad of typewriters amounted to
3,000,000 dols. more than in t he preceding year.
The total increase in the exports of iron and steel
for t.he ten months was as much as 18,871,718 dols.
The Table on t he next page shows the exportation
of t he principal articles of iron and steel in which
it is practicable to indicate the export in terms of
weight, by the use of which the increase or decrease is more accurately shown than when only
the statement of val ues can be presented.
It is estimated t hat American manufacturers
have sold to the outside world over 100,000,000 dols.
worth of iron and steel during t he past year, being
20,000,000 dols. m.ore than in any previous calendar
year. F or t he fiscal year ended June 30 last,
t he value was 93,716,000 dols ., against 70 406 000
dols. in 1897-8 and 57,498,000 dols. in 1896-7 '; so

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

t62
that t he progress made in this respect continues to
be very real and rapid. It would appear, however ,
that the high range of prices ruling is telling
against further expansion. At any rate, 1\-fr. C.
Kirchhoff, one of the leading authorities m the
country, has committed himself to this expression
of opinion : '' A serious matter is the addition to
the supply by the falling off of the export trade,
serious from the point of view of an interruption
of efforts to expand our markets. The export
statistics do not as yet reveal this, because deliveries are still proceeding on orders taken long
ago. The tonnage involved cannot be stated,
because we have only returns of valuations in some
very important lines. But for months our sales in
the cruder forms have fallen off. Some large
concerns have continued to take business. Thus
we know that good orders have been booked for
steel rails for Japan, for street rails for Great
Britain, for wire rods for Canada, for structural
material for many different countries, and for wire
nails and barbed wire. In spite of this, the next
six months will show a heavy decline in the
exports of our heavier iron and steel. " Though
Mr. Kirchhoff does not mention the reason for the
falling off in new orders, there is no doubt that it is
referable to the high prices, and to the fact that
the pressure on European makers has been relaxed
sufficiently to permit them to take orders with the
hope of reasonably early delivery.

the Canadian canal system, on which there is

now a minimum depth of 14ft. from the interior to
Montreal. New York State has for some time
recognised the desirability of improving its waterway, and it is of interest to learn that Governor
Roosevelt has submitted to the State Legislat.ure
t he plans for an improved system which will permit
of ocean-going vessel , and not merely canal barges,
from reaching New York City from the interior.
The cost of t his improved system which Mr.
Roosevelt and his Canal Commission recommend
is estimated at 60,000,000 dols. '!,here is another
plan, much more modest, much less costly, and, it
must be added, much less effective. This involves
deepening and generally improving the existing
Erie ystem, and enlarging and otherwise improving
t he locks ; also the further utilisation of the Mohawk
River, and the better damming and regulation of
that stream, so as to provide a steadier supply of
water for the main canal. The cost of t his work is
figured up at between 20,000,000 and 30,000,000
dols. The second scheme suggest. the con truction of a deep-water ship canal. I t is not a new
project, but hitherto the tremendous cost has deterred both t he State and the nation fl-om adopting
it.
The change of sentiment, and the feverish desire of the State adn1inistration to push this project t hrough, are proof that New York is really
anxious for the future of its transit trade. The
Federal Government, it may be stated, ha. conExportation of Principal Articles of Iron and. 'tcel.
sidered three routes for a. ship canal. One was
Ten Months Ending October 31. to connect Lake Champlain with the Hudson, but
the objection was that it would leave the control of
Articles.
t he highway in t he hands of Canada-the one thing
1898.
1899.
which it has all along been sought to avoid. The
whole idea of t he waterway, we are reminded, has
lb.
lb.
219,085,962
134,842,261
Wire ..

been to make a shorter route to t he Atlantic from

109,304,669
Steel sheets and plates ..
4 ,450,4S2

the lakes, and one entirely within the borders of

58,963,146
42,455,755
, bars or rods ..

56,583,657
24,469, 92
the United tates, and then to turn into American
Wire nails ..

12,278,374
21,847,935
Bar iron

routes and American boats t he vast trade of t he

27,334,714
18,283,889
Cut nails

lakes t hat now seeks its ocean outlet by way of the
7,034,696
12,050,354
Iron sheets and plates
tons
tons
St. Lawrence.
207,728
184,320
Pig iron
..

The
two
other
routes
lay
within
New
York
State,
47,476
20,246
Structural ..

and utilised more or less the present system of

On the outlook for American foreign trade as a canals. It is the latter idea that is favoured by the
Canal Commission. The course of the present
whole it is not very safe to prophesy. We doubt canal it is proposed to change for a distance of
if the tendency is to increase, although the present
activity is beyond question. On the other hand, about 81 miles, between Syracuse and "\Vest Troy,
where
a
practically
new
canal
would
be
made.
The
there seems no good reason for the gloomy forecanal would be removed from Syracuse and Rochesbodings of those who look for a c1uick reaction- ter and carried around those cities for the purpose
who are, in fact, very much surprised that it has of avoiding the narrow streets and inevitable
n ot come about already. That the United States mutual interference between the traffic of t he canal
will continue to advance at t he rapid pace of the
and that of the cities.
past two years is not to be expected ; and that a
It will afford a notion of t he magnitude of t he
retardation of development will come before long, traffic between the Great Lakes and the sea, if we
especially with the Presidential election loom- give some details of t hat which passed last year
ing into view, seems more than probable. But through the Sault Ste Marie Canal, which connects
it is essential to distinguish between a retarded Lake Superior with Lakes Michigan, Huron, Erie,
rate of progress and a disaster. Putting aside the and Ontario. It is not to be inferred that all the
sudden and violent reactions in speculation which trade going through that canal is designed for
are often manufactured only for the purpose of ov~r-sea ; but, on the other hand, more is picked
enablin
those who are out to get in, there are up than is dropped between that point ancl t he sea0
natural laws which prevent immediate and s udden board, and so the Sault Ste Marie traffic does not
disaster after a period of great improvement, unless represent anything like t he full measure of the
it is caused by external ch~nge.s as complete as. the lake traffic. The number of vessels that traversed
reversal of the national pohcy m 1893. But, smce the canal last season was 20,255, of a capacity of
business tides depend upon human nature, there ~s 21,958,347 tons, and between them they conveyed
some philosophy in the calculation that approXI- 58,400,000 bushels of wheat, 30,000,000 bushels of
mate periodicity may be expected in the ebb and other grain, 7,114,000 barrels of flour, 15,328,200
flow of affairs. Confidence starts up, whatever the tons of iron ore, 3, 941,000 tons of coal, 120,000
cause. It grows for some time until it has enlisted tons of copper, 1,038,000,000 ft. of timber, and
all the progressive forces of society. Then it neces- 49,000 passengers. The number of sailing vessels
sarily becomes less rapid ; but progress does not increased 7 per cent. in the one year, steamers 15
cease at once, because the works and improvements per cent.. unregistered vessels 20 per cent., the
beaun at the point of highest investing confidence quantity of registered freight 18 per cent., t he
dobnot reach completion, and begin production for quantity of actual freight 10 per cent., pasa year or two. Also the growth of purchasing sengers 13 per cent., lumber 16 per ~ent., and
power following the full employment of workers iron ore 30 per cent. In all these Important
does not cease at once when overtaken by a growt h features which show the activities of the proof production, and so prices do n~t sudden~y fall ducing and manufacturing interests, the record
from the hiahest point; but there Is first a t1me of of Lake commerce in the year 1899, surpasses that
slow recessi~n, usually appearing in only a. part of of any preceding year.
the products, which gains strength and Includes
In connection with the diversion of trade from
more of them as the new tendency becomes gene- New York owing to the paucity of t he accommorally realised. \Ve repeat that it is uns~fe to dation offered, e may draw attention to a series of
prophesy, but it looks to us as though t he t1me of statements just published by the. Treasur y Bureau
slow recession, or at least of arrested development, of St,atistics at Washington, bearmg upon the exis not far distant.
ports of corn, wheat, and flour by way of Atlantic
and Gulf ports. It appears that in the matter of
corn several of the great ports in both divisions are
THE NEW YORK SHIP CANAL.
\VE had occasion recently to call attention to t he gaining on New York, and that the movement is
inadequacy of the Erie Canal for Lake tra.~~' and becoming more general. Corn exports from New
to the diversion of grain and other commodit1es to York increased from 13,500,000 to 40,000,000

[FEB.

2,

1900.

bushels between 1893 and 1899, an increase of over

200 per cent., while those from Boston were from
5,500,000 to 17,500,000, those from Philadelphia
from 4,000,000 to 20,000,000, Baltimore from
7,500,000 to 46,000,000. Newport News and Galveston, for which the record begins with 1895, show
for the first an increase from 4,500,000 in 1895 to
14,000,000 in 1899, and for the second from
1,250,000 to 7,000,000 bushels in 1899. In wheat
exportations Boston has made greater gains than
any other Atlantic port, the total having grown
from 3,934,125 bushels in 1893 to 11,567,847
bushels in 1899, while at New York, Philadelphia,
Baltimore, and New Orleans the figures f01 1899
are in each case actually less t han in 1893. Galveston, however, shows a marked gain to 15,713,000
bushels in 1899 from little more than 1,000,000
bushels six years before. By this showing, New
York has severe competitors in the other American
ports as well as in the Canadian canal system.

NOTE .
ELECTROLYTIC CoPPER.
IT is a comparatively simple matter to get a good
deposit of copper electrolytically, provided always
that a sufficiently low cun-ent density is used.
This, of course, involves a very large and expensive plant if any reasonable output of the metal is
desired. With greater current densities difficulties
make their appearance, and the deposit in place of
being smooth and homogeneous, becomes granular
and lacks cohesion. By certain devices of one
nature or another, the troubles referred to above
have been largely overcome. The effect of these
is shown by the fact that 10 years ago an electrolytic
bath for t he deposition of copper commonly contained 75 to 100 times as much metal in solution
as was deposited in 24 hours. Nowadays these
figures have been red uced to
of the values
stated. As a consequence, t he proportion of t he
metal obtained in t he wetway has been enGrmously
increased, the world's production being now estimated at 500 tons of electrolytic copper per diem.
One of the earlier plans of increasing the output
was t hat introduced by Elmore, in which an agate
burnisher was caused to continuously pass over
the surface on which the deposit was being made.
The resultant metal proved to be of extraordinary
strength . In a more recent development, a sheepskin impregnated with animal fat, is used as a but
nisher. Quite recently Mr. Sherard Cowper-ColeR
has hit upon another plan, in which the copper is
deposited on 3 vertical mandril, which is caused to
rotate at a very rapid rate. The centrifugal force
developed, and the wash of the electrolyte over the
rotatory surface keeps the latter clean and free from
gas, and as a consequence a smooth anti dense deposit has been obtained with current densities
approaching 200 amperes per square foot. An
account of the proces , together with details of the
mechanism used, will be found in a paper recently
read by Mr. Cowper-Coles before the Institution ?f
Electrical Engineers. From t he discussion ou Llus
paper it would seem that tho method in question
has had certain forerunners. Mr. \Vilde, of Manchester, in a communication to the secretary,
claimed, indeed, tha.t he had in vented exactly the
same thing in 1874, but it would seem that there
was a distinct difference bet ween the arrangements
adopted by him and th(\t o~ ~r. Cowper-Co~es.
With the latter the mandril 1s revolved, wh1lst
Mr. Wilde gave simply a circular movement to the
electrolyte. It is obvious that a high relative speed
is more easily obtained with the former plan.
An arrangement coming closer to that of Mr.
Cowper-Coles was described by Mr. Ferranti as
having been tested at Paris nine years ago. In
this case t he mandril was placed horizontally, and
was only half immersed in t he electrolyte. When
caused to r evolve rapidly an excellent deposit w_as,
we are informed, obtained, even with very htgh
current densit ies.
A UTOl\IATIC AND MAGAZINE RIFLES.
A new military Mauser was patented. last y~a.r
in which the loading is entirely automatic. vVtth
the ordinary magazine rifle, it will be remembered,
that after every shot the firer has to open and clo~e
his breech and during the operation the spent case 1s
ejected, and a fresh cartridge transfer1:ed from the
magazine to the powder chamber. W1th the ne~
Mauser, all the marksman has to do is to keep hiS
magazine charged. After firing, the ~reech is auto
matically opened, the spent case eJected, a fresh
cartridge inserted, the striker cocked, and the

FEB.

2,

1900.]

breech closed ready for firing, t he whole operation

only taking the fraction of a second. The less a
marksman has to do beyond taking aim and firing,
the better practice he is likely to make. Whether
the weapon is, or is not, too complicated for practical military work may be open to question ; but
an examination of t h e drawings of it sh ows that
the desired end has been obtained most n eatly and
compactly. Of course, if t he weapon is brought
before t h e aged officers, to wh om it is our practice
to refer such matters, an extremely adverse report
may be expected in due course. We believe
it is a fact that every improvement in weapons
has invariably been resisted by these authorities.
The adoption of the breechloader certainly was,
whilst for a long time we we re provided with
almost t he worst ar tillery in Europe, having
muzzle-loading weapons when other nations were
provided wit h successful breechloaders.
Similarly, the Maxim gun was n eglected by the
.Army experts, until the Navy showed its advantages. The British people generally seem under
t he impression that no man can have an opinion
worth anyt hing till approaching the three-score
years and ten ; and instead of our ordnance
committees and the like being advised by men
in the prime of life, say, between forty and
fifty, the decisive voice is usually t hat of someone
who may have been an excellent officer twenty
years previously, hut who is n o longer able to
appreciate new ideas. The usual argument has
been t hat the British infantryman cannot be
trusted. If given a breechloader he would, they
asserted, fire off ammunition in the most reckless fashion, and it was not until other nations
had shown us the way, that we, the chief mechanical nation in Europe, were allowed by our
advisers to provide our soldiers with an up-to-date
rifle. .Again, exactly the same argument was used
with respect to the introduction of the magazine
arm. Whilst other nations could trust t h eir soldiers
'l.nd so provide t h em with a clip loader by which
t he magazine could be charged in one operation,
'' Tom my," his officers reported, could not be
trusted, a nd was therefore given a single-loading
weapon, which could, it is true, on occasion be
used as a quick- firer. As a consequence, our
soldiers have to make an extra movement every
time they load, t hough the less a man h as to
attend to when under fire the more likely he is
to shoot well . However, t his exaggeration of the
diffi c~lties attendin~ a;ny ch.ange, is rio doubt largely
a natwnal characterl8tlC, bemg by no means confined
to military circles.
NOTES FROM THE U NITED STATES.
PHILADELPHIA, January 24.
THE scarcity of coal and coke is causing a good deal
of annoyance to manufacturers throughout the country.
Furnaces have been obliged to shut down here and
there, and manufacturing establishments in a dozen
States ~1av~ been obliged to suspend as long as a
weakenmg IS at hand. In others, some of their dep.artments have shut down, while others have cont~nued to run. This inconvenience is likely t o contmue fo~ some w~eks, o~ing to the greater difficult y
of handhng coal m the wmter than in t he summer. A
goo~ deal of ~rouble is expected with the miners
durmg the commg year, as the question of wages has
not been settled, and considerable opposition is manifested by employers to enter upon any cast-iron
arrangements.
The miners are demanding more
~han th~ employers feel they are able k> pay, and are,
~n some mstances, presenting a list of grievances which
m'r?lve a gre.at .deal mor~ than advance payment. A
natwnal assomatwn of mmers has been in convent iou
for several d~ys. in Indianopolis, endeavouring to
strengthen t heir hnes. Coke has been advancing for
months past from 2 dols. to 3. 50 dole. Furnace or
foundry coke ranges from 3. 50 dols. to 4 dols. per ton.
:Most of the .larger ~onsumers of furnace and foundry
co~e have ~a1r supphes on hand. Great speculation is
g~m~ ?n m coal territory, especially in Western
V1rgm1a; but good beds of coal are being picked up
wherever they are found throughout the United
States. Great activity will prevail in the development. of th~ I;rtore valuable deposits, and orders for
m~chmery mmdent . to their development are now
bemg pla~ed.. ~he .Iron trade is in a quiet condition,
but certa.m mdi~atwns have developed within the
P.ast few ~ay~ wh~ch g? show that a large demand is in
stght.. P tg Iron Is quiet at previously quoted prices.
s.teel billets are. quiet and firm, manufacturers p referrmg not to rush mto la~ge cont racts at t he present time.
Buyers are more an~t?us to secure supplies for the
summ~r, but are unwtlhng to pay present prices. The
har mills throughout the country a re all running full

E N G I N E E R I N G.
time, and car builders are disposed t o place heavy
orders for the summer and fall, but quot ations a re
rat her too high. Plate iron and steel has been shaded
a tenth or two, and further shadings are cert ainly
probable, but t hese shadings apply only t o very large
quantities. Bridge builders are in the market for very
large quan tities of material for t he spring and summer,
and inquiries a t rail mills show that over 100,000 tons
of rails are wanted, upward of half of t hem are
wanted for export. The entire iron mar ket is in a
good condit ion but the placing of orders is restricted
to actual necessity. Manufacturers are not disposed
t o court cont racts or business, or even inquiries at this
time. There are indications tha t the productive
capacity of t he country will be no more t han equal
to the demand.
WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION.
Haddock v. Hurnphreys. - This was an appeal from
an award of the Judge of the Lancashire County Court.
It came before the Court of Appeal on J anuary 20. The
appellant was a widow, whose husband had been killed
by an accident in the course of his employment, and the
sole question for the Court was whether he had been employed at a place which came within the operation of the
Act.. At the time of the accident he was engaged in remoVIng timber from a pile of logs, and loading it on to
one of the respondents' carts. The question arose whether
the place where the timber was stored was a wharf so as
to come by virtue of Section 23 of the Factory and Workshop Act, 1895, within the definition of the "factory " for
the purposes of the Workmen's Compensation Act. The
place where the timber was stored was, in fact, a timber
yard, about 150 yards from the edge of the Canada Dock,
Bootle. Alongside the water was a large space called
the timber quay, which stretched back from the water
for a distance of nearly 150 yards, and beyond this
running .Parallel with the wa~er, was 8: cart road used .by
the pubhc. On the further stde of thts road was a hne
of offices to each of which was attached a yard leased
by the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board to various
timber merchants. It waA in one of these that the
timber was stored. The area comprising these offices
and the yards were shut in by a wall.
The County Court Judge held that the locus ittt quo
was not a wharf, and found in favour of the employers.
The applicant appealed.
Mr. Blackwood vVright, who appeared for the appellant, argued that the County Court Judge, had in effect
treated "~ha:rf " and ".quay " as iden~ical. Each ought
to ha~e a dtstmot meanmg-a qu~y bemg a place for dischargmg cargo, and a 'wha;rf bemg a place for storing
cargo. He referred to Hall v . Snowden, Hubbard, and
Co. [(1899) 2 Q.B., 136J, whi~h decides that the applicant
~u:St produce affirmat1ve evidence that some of the proVISions of the Factory Acts referred to in Section 23 of
the Act of 1895 have actually been put in force at the
dock, &o., on which he has been injured.
Mr. J . Walton, Q. C., and Mr. Scott, for the respon~ents, c~mtended that the County Court Judge was right
m holdmg thab the place was not a wharf, which is
defined in the ''Century Dictionary " to be '' a platform
of timber? stone, or other materi~l built on a support at
the margm of a harbour or navigable stream, in order
that vessels may be moored alongside, as for loading or
unloading, or while at rest. A wharf may be parallel
with and continuous to the margin; or it may project
away from it, with openings underneath for the flow of
water, when it is distmctively called a ~ier. "
In the course of his judgment, dism1SSing the appeal
LC?rd Jus tic~ A. L. Smith said.: The question is whethe;
thiS place 1s a wharf or a timber yard. I think the
County Court Judge has come to a right conclusion in
~eci~ing tha:t ~t is a timber yard.
The word wharf
1mphes prox1m1ty to water, and I cannot think that it
includes a yB~rd cut off from a quay in the way in which
this yard was cut off.
L ord Justice Rigby said that he was unable to come to
the same conclusion as the other m em hers of the Court.
T~e \Vord wharf did not necessarily imply anything to do
With water. He thought that the place was a wharf.
Lord Justice Oollins was of opmion that the County
Co1;1rb Judge was right. H e thought that the only way
to mterpret the words of the Act was to give them their
popular meaning, as had been done in the case of Henn~sy v. M'Cabe [16 T.L.R., 77]. The place where the
timber was stored in the present instance was not a wharf
although it may have been contiguous to one.
'
The appeal was dismissed.
THE FRERE AND C o LENSO BRIDGES : EllRATUM.-We

regret to find that we have somewhat misrepresented the

tr~e position of Mr. M. W. Carr, M. I. C. E ., re the new
bridges for Frere and Colenso, dealt with in our last issue.
We stated that we were informed that a bridge at least
equally strong could have been obtained weighing not
more t~an 45 . tons per span. This perhaps conveys a
wrong 1mpress10n, ~Ir. Oarr's actual statement being that
he ha.d bad a~ offer of such a bridge through the cable
fro~ an Am~ncan firm, but. ~hat as drawings could not
arrive by matl, before a dectsion had to be come to it
~as impossible to give the offer any serious consid~ra
tiOn. r. Carr, we should add, is not responsible for
our . stnctures on the accepted design, these being
attributable to us alone. As will be remembered our
article i~ in no way implied criticism on Mr. Carr hi~self,
but possibly may have conveyed the idea that he had hims~lf expressed. censure on the designer of the bridge in questiOn. For thiS censure we alone are answerable and we
made it in what we consider to be the public interest.

r63
THE WAR IN SOUTH AFRIOA.
To THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING.
Sm,-The despatches from the seat of war published in
yesterday's (January 27) T innes are well worthy of the
most careful perusal and examination.
Sir George White's despatch of November 2 records
t~at on the evening of October 1~ he discussed the sit~a.
tiOnwith theGovernorof Natal, StrW. F . H ely-Hutchmson, who opposed his desire to withdraw the Glencoe
garrison and concentrate his forces at Ladysmitb, and
considered that " such a step would involve grave political
results and possibilities of a serious nature." Sir George
White gave way. It can no longer be said that our
generals have never been interfered with durin_g this
war. The despatch tells more ; it tells us that Sir Geor~e
White himself proposed to concentrate at Ladysmith, m
the midst of the rocky and mountainous district to the
north of the Tugela.. The force of circumstances soon p roduced the fight of Talana Hill, the retreat vid Beith, and
the concentration on Ladysmith which Sir George White
desired.
The great trouble of the war, the necessity of fighting
the Boers on ground especially adapted for their tactics,
was consequently not caused by the aforesaid interference
of the local politician, but by the deliberate choice of our
then Commander-in-Chief In Natal. We must, however, bear in mind that before Sir George White's arrival
in South Africa, La.dysmith had become a ~reat emporium of warlike stores and rail way material, which
could neither be rapidly removed nor even destroyed.
His despatches, however, indicate that the matter
was not even discussed. We now find in the interesting war . letter of Mr. Spencer Churchill, published in
the JJfo?nilng Post of yesterday, that Sir Red verd Bnller
has "always deprecated any attempt to bold Natal
north of the Tugela"-an opinion held by me from
the commencement of the war, and which appeared in
my first letter sent to you last month, and erroneously
dated January 8 when publi~hed on the 12th. This matter
is repeated and emphasised, as it really has been the
chief cause of our troubles and difficulties up to date.
The despatches contain a pregnant sentence by Lord
Methuen, who, in describing the Battle of Belmont, say~,
"Nor is there any question of taking the enemy in flank,
as on horses he changes front in 15 minutes;" which, of
course, refers to any tactical attempt at outflanking on a
field of battle. The larger operations in which the forces
under Sir Redvers Buller have been engaged for the past
fortnight and more, prove that any attempt to outflank
a large force of mounted infantry, even by a long march
and a partially successful surprise, has failed qud outflanking for a similar reason. The enemy concentrates
en the point chosen for such an advance, and the whole
district being defensible, he soon forms a strong position
in front of it. The outflanking force is then compelled to
make a frontal attack, or to retreat whence it came, and
in fact, may have to do both, like Buller on the Tugela'
the news of which has arrived since this letter w~
penned. The flank march enabled Warren to cross the
river by means of his pontoon bridge or bridges, and to
g.a~n a position on the north bank without much oppoSitiOn, but the Boers were soon able to face him in strong
force, both of rifles and guns, and after some gallant
fighting he recrossed the river.
The great question now is-what next ?
The time seems to have arrived for the supreme effort
it? Natal. General Buller's forces can probably cross the
river and force the Boers to fight desperately at any poin t
within several miles of Colenso, either up or down stream
and on any. day. He. holds choice o~ time and place:
General Wh1te can be mformed and duected to out his
way out of Ladysmith on the preceding night, and march
to the guns.
The next attempt should be made in such a way as to
force success 01' def eat, the latter being preferable to a.
surrende,r of the forces at Ladysmith. Thi s must not be.
I~ would be too full of shame for our posterity. Our
hiStory must not be blurred by any such record.
The bewilderment caused by this war to the sealed
pattern military professor is rather amusing. He is not
always content to experience stupefaction in silence but
lets the wo.rld kn<;>w of hi~ astonishment in the p~blic
P~ess ; the 1dea. bemg that if he- the Great Panjandrum,
WI.th t he Prusstan needle-gun on top-is at fault, somethmg must be very wrong indeed with the direction of
affairs. . These superior people have the great war in 1870
at theu fingers' ends1 and their opinions are mainly
focussed. on th~ expen ences gained t.hereby. A few of
t~em pomt thetr story and adorn theu tale by examinatwns of the wars of Buonaparte, or Frederick the G reat
or even of the Duke of Marlborough; but all are equally
!lo~plm~sed by the r~sults of this present Boer War, which
IS, In fact, a revelatwn. It shows the immensely increased
power of . defence giv~n to an army of sharpshoo~ers
by mountmg the entue f_orce on well-trained pomes,
when. opposed to forces mamly composed of foot-soldiers.
Also 1t p~oves the val~e of a mounted force for quickly
S?rro~ndmg ~ less mobile force, and thereby producing a
s1tuat~on whwh amounts to an attack, although the surroundmg force seldom attacks-a Sedan-like sit uation in
petto, when~ver ~he mounted force is sufficiently numerous
~o accomplish 1t. Moreover, the war has, if possible,
mcreased the respect for ambuscade: an artifice handed
down to us from the most remote historical periods of the
human race.
But the war haa not assisted the military expert who
recen tly penned a learned t reatise on ''The Great CounterAttack," endeavouring to prove that a defence seldom
succeeded where this tactical expedient was not followed.
On the contrary, the Boers have succeeded in a wonderful manner, and the "Great Counter-Attack " has been
carefully expunged from their programme-for the main

E N G I N E E R I N G.
reason that they could not afford to lose the men that it
would involve.
The staff college professors, whose theories are upset
in such curious fashion by the tactics of the Boars, should
lie low, and certainly avoid writing letters to the daily
papers, which, by implication, attribute blame to our
generals in th e field. :1..\t!uch mo,.e, therefore, should
civilians, whether bailing from the best club in Pall
Mall or elsewher~, and h owever distinguished in the
p olitical or literary world, be ca.reful to guard their pens
and tongues at a time when the officers and men of our
army in the field, from the highest to the lowest , should
rece1ve the generous and loyal support of every member
of the British Empire.
A discussion has been started in which the efficiency
of our Lee-Metford magazine rifle is adversely criticiEed
as compared with the Mauser (G erman or Spanish
pR.ttern) used by our foe.
Captain J ames, the well-known and successful A rmy
"crammer," has made a s pecial study of this subject, a nd
deli vered a very interesting lecture upon it a t the U nited
Service Institution. He allows that the ballistics of our
arms are equal, if not slightly superior, but the ammun ition is heavier; and be condemns our magazine arrangement whi ch holds t en rounds, but mu~t be filled singly
when exhausted ; whereas the Mauser and other rifles
adopted on the Continent have the clip system, each clip
holding, as a rule, five rounds, and thus the rifle is loaded
with five round s by n. single motion. A good deal may
probably be said in fa vour of our own plan of loading,
and especiall~ so in an engagement, like so many of la te,
wh ere the r1fleman remains for hours in one place and
under a fire which may pr~vent anr reserve ammunition from reaching him. M oreover, tf the writings of
" An American Journalist with the B oers " be correct,
our defeat at ~Iolteno by 1500 Boers was mainly credited
to 400 Ali wal-North men who ' ' were armed with Schneider
carbin es that had been used by cadets in the old Colonial
days." This record is noted as tending to prove that
small differences in the speed of loading and in the accuracy of fire a re matters of no really practical importance.
No complaints come from the seat of war in regard to
the efficiency of our guns, ammunition , rifle~, or equipm~nt. When this occurs, it will be time enough to carefull y examine the assumed defects with a view to their
removal. U ntil then, let us cheer on our brave fellows
and their dauntless leaders in the heavy task they have
before them.
May the God of Battles give them victory i3 the earnest
prayer of
Y ours faithfu11y,
J anua.ry 28, 1900.
FIELD OFFICER IN '84.

OUR NATIONAL DEFENCES.

To THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING.
SIR,-You have no doubt read Lord Rosebery's recent
speech ab Chatham. I agree with most of what be says,
especially this: th at England is not scientific enough, and
that she bas a great deal to learn, say, from Germany.
He says, moreover, that England will have a great de_al
t o do when the war iR over, and par t of that work w1ll
ev idently be in scientific gun construction . H e says also
that it is, in short, the less important part of England's
force, the A rmy, that has been employed so far, and th~t
England has still her Navy to fall. hac!' u~on . I fear ~h 1s
is what we s hould call here an "1llus10n, ' for, s upposmg
the English land guns to be indifferent, I take it the
naval guns are n o better; and guns ar~ t'?e el_ements of
naval warfare quite as much as the umts 1n shtps-more
so even-all d~pending upon the ci r~umstances o~ a_fig_ht.
You will be able t o find out eastly how long 1t 18 smce
England puts nickel in her armour plates. I think she
has only done so for the last five or six years. T?erefore,
the bulk of British ships must be protected wtth compound armour and with forged, ordma.ry, cemented st eel
plates the latter very brittle in the case of thick plates,
becau~e large thicknesses cannot be treated .properly, a_nd,
in the case of thin plates, by reason of then small thickness. U p to the present time, the test of armour-plates,
n amely, three or five rounds in su~cession, wa.~ thought
to be a heavy test, as it wa.s constdered t~at ~n actual
warfare one single plate would never recetve m succession such a number of rou~ds. !'fow, however, . the ~ro
babilities are that they w1ll, owtng to the qUick-fin~g
guns used on board ship. I very much fear a. _bnef
concentrated fi re would greatly damage an ordmary
cemented steel plate. When English works receive n-_n
o rder for armour-plates, they ?r~t m~nufacture one ; th1s
undergoes tiring tests, and 1f 1t Wlthstands them, ~he
works manufacture the whole order, no further plat~ bemg
tested. This, at all events, was t he case . unt1l ve~y
recently, and may still be the case no~. lt 1s no t so m
France, for when French works rece1ve an o!der, the_y
set t o manufacturing the plates, among ~htch ~me 1s
chosen at random for tests, the whole lot bem g s_ubJect. t o
acceptance or refusal, according to the manner m wh~ch
the test plate has wit~st?O~ the t ests, the tes~ ];?late bemg
replaced in the lo.t 1f 1t I S &?cepted.. Th~ 1s a ~ore
rational way of actmg, and, Wlthout . dlSputmg the mtegrity of British armour -plate works, 1t keeps the French
works fully attentive to every phase of manufacture
until the order is completed. Fren?h plates, therefore,
are more likely t o be good than Engllsh o~es.
.
You remember better than I can, and wtth more deta1ls,
the reluctance with which Engl~nd aban~oned compound
armour also her reluctance 1n adoptmg breech guns
instead ' of muzzle-loaders. One can ut;t.de~ta.nd , t~ a
certain exten t that E ngland must take t1me m adopt1!lg
a new system', for her materiet is so enormou~ that 1ts
alteration involves an enor mous cost. B ut this, I fear,
will prove a. great t rouble to Englan~. After the war,
the materiel, among e ther matters, Will be remogelled a

E ngland will take, I suppose, the latest pattern now

existin g, and will use it to transform the whole of her
present wa.r ?IUttbiel. Thi would ta.ke her, let us say,
t en years. Durin~ those' ten years other nations will
have improved the1r ex isting ttUtteriel, and will still be, in
ten y~ard time, ten years a.liead of her. I fear England
has no techni cal men, in the se nse in which they are
known here, men who are constantly devising, calculating, and t esting prop osed improvemen ts at any price.
Try what you will, you will never get France to take
up, say, a new projectile, or anything which may be
ver y much cheaper than the existing article which is
first t o the front so far-bu t wh ich, a fte r a series of te..qt&,
may fall s hort, by ever so little, of th o existing article
adopted by her ; while she will pay the price, after a.
seri es of test s, for any improvement of the existing
article, or for a better one.
I t1ke it, therefora, tha t Eogla~d is badly situated and
badly governed in this respect; a nd, as I say above, her
very greatn~ss will cause her trouble in this. T he right
state of matters would be that E ngland should lead, all
the other nations being eager to follo w her, as regards
improvem~nts in ordnance, &c. Other wise, to my mind,
she will always be wholly or partly (partly onl y at intervals, owing t o her power of production) in Lhe rear ;
and until ~he does lead in ordnance she must not rely
upon the total number of her ships, b ut only on a comparati vely small fraction of that number .
Consequently, and still to my mind, L ord Roseberry
is wrong in part of his s peech.
When one talks to " the man in the street, his reply
is always : " Yes, bu t we have the men." English officers
and soldiers do their duty t o a man on the battlefield, and
thus are a glory to England; but what can be expected of
the p oor fellows if they are ind ifferently armed ? Besides,
are they really better than French or German soldiers ?
I n short, E nglish manufacturer$ have gone very much
to the rear. I fear they have taken more pains in endeavouring to increase their d iv idends than anything else.
The G overnment offices have not st uck up for progress
as they ought t o have done, and the whole machine ha.s
been turning round in the same old groove for yean'. As
Government inspectors do not demand more severe tests,
the W orks have been quite contented, and have not prog ressed . Who will be the sufferer ? why the F atherland
alone. I think I see how it is done: the Government inspector goes down to the works, takes a seat at a desk in the
test room; he looks bored, and writes down all figures the
mechanic in charge of the tests calls out to him. ' Vhat
can English guns be-you know th e conditions-even
leaving out of consideration that the test -pieces are cut
from thin rings at endd, which may have been treated
sepa rately from the forgings, and which are broken in
the antiquated machine I referred to p reviously.
T o maintain her position, E ngland must s ucceed in
leading in industry. D epar tment must amend their
s pecifications ; must study carefully now, and go on
studying incessantl y; mu t demand of manu facture.rs
j nst what they wa.nt, and must t hen ~ee they do get 1t.
England has the men and the material : she has only lo
will. But what a disturbance this would make in the
manufacturing world ! Some works complain of the
epecifications they have even now to follow. If they only
could put themselves in Continental shoes for a period,
they would return to E ngland sadder but wiser ! And
until this is done, English industr y will never lead ;
and I would sorro wfully back three French battleships
against five English ones of the same cl~s.
Yours faithfully,
P aris, January 30, 1900.
ANGLOPBIL.

AMERI CAN CO MPETITION.

T o THE E DITOR OF ENGINEERING.
SIR - On rea.ding your issue of t o-day I find myself
unde~ obligations t o a "Member, Woolwich 1st Branch
A .S. E .,, for so opportunely appearing to confirm the
more psychological statemen ts of my second letter.
P ar t of his composition con firms also several facts I
stated in reference to p ractical matters ; and his letter
would have been s till more valuable if he had not occasionally digressed from the strict line of the subject
under revie w. In language inven ted in the U n~ted
States of America., be awards me th e palm for eomethmg,
but deals an unkind cut I hardly expected by calling
some of my sen tences "rba.p~ody; " yet ev~n in this
there is a cause for thanks, m that the wr1ter of the
le tter in to-day's issue charging another person with
"rhapsody , is a valuable and appropriate practi~al
illustration of part of wh a t I stated about the English
workman's mental idiosyncracies. \ Vill you be good
enough to gran t me a little space to ex plain some. things
which, judging from your correspondent'~ emmen tly
p ractical composition, I have failed t o write clearly.
He says I "can scarcely be in touch with the circumstances on which I write,, but I hardly expected such a
commonplace objection from " T he Member." This is the
common talk of the wor kshop. L et a well-educated,
intelligen t m anager go into a shop where the u~ual ruleof-thumb methods bold sway, and t ry to mtroduce
improved methods, especially in small t.hin~s . and ~~d
habit~ and every other Jack mutters agamst h1m as a
paper ~aster, , " know~roightylittle abou t it, , " shouldn' t
try to teach us." I am next supP.?sed t o be " not old
enough to remember . .. an old mtll wright and seen his
styles" perhaps not, but I do remember that when, as a.
young' man, the gre~t Rennie went to see \Vatt at Birmingham he was batled as a godsend, and set to work at
once beca~se he was an excellent millwright and Watt's
best ones so bad, he had " lost all patience with them," as
he wrote to Boulton. W a tt, Rennie, Naismi th,_a.nd the
other great originatorP, took the raw and 1gnorant
workers and made meebanics of them~ but emall thanka

[FEB.

2,

rgoo.

to the workers for the same. These great geniuses could

have made a9 good workmen of any race of men endowed
with the two common qualities of strength and energy.
A grave statement is nex t made. That the Yankees bad
a con tinent to develop is of no consequence, for " this
count ry has developed two or thre con tinents " in the
same time. One would like to kno w where they are.
The overplus of our pop ulation has \Vandered here and
there, but the g reat mass of the "middle " a.nd " lower "
classes remained at home, and were forced into manufactures or commerce by the simple fact, that in a small
country dominated by gTeedy and wasteful landlords,
there was no other means of livelihood. This fact explains one rhief cause of our early advance in industry
and t rade. If round our borders there bad been a boundless waste of rich la.nd, free to anyone who cared to march
in and squat down, the people would never have dreamed
of crowding into unhealthy factorie3 and overgrown
towns to work for other men. T hey would have done
just what the Yankees did-every man his own master
would have packed his chattels, ~truck into woods, builb
a house, and settled do wn in comfor t, peace, and plenty.
A hundred years ago, in A merica, one white man would
hardly work for another at alL B ut no w the land
has been g rabbed by railroads, speculatord, and others,
and with t he filling up of the continent (population
of 70,000,000 now, I believe), the conditions of life are becoming similar to tbo3e in Britain. P eople are now forced
into business and ma.nufac ture.3, and this process will grow
and strengthen. There is already abundant labour, and
both men and masters by natural increa e will cause
sharper competition inside the States, which will rapidly
increase the competition outside the States, and alter the
industrial economy of the whole wotld. It is incomprehensible t hat our people do not see this, and do everything
in their power to increase their connection and influence
before this ad verde current strike3 them. At present,
they seem to be opening slui ces in all qua.rterd inviti;tg
the current. I t has been said, "These wri ters carrying
the g reatest weight are the least conscious of real danger
befalling British t rade, provided u;e wish to keep i t." T his
want of consciousness can be accounted for; but, any
how, it is a condition of SArious danger to u s if we are
influenced by it. American competition in _the im'T'n!d~att
future will be the result of na tural (bestdes art1fictal)
causes entirely beyond the control either of us or the
A mericans, and woa to us if we fail to prepare for the
battle.
We are next informed that there are " thousands of
good in ven tions, in some cases patented, a mong the
workmen here, yet whose pover ty " preven ts t he invention becoming profitable to the man. This is rather
evidence against the men than for them. If they have
not ed ucation, intelligence, and self-denial, and persevering en ergy to enable them to ~et a fair percentage of these
" thousands of ~ood invent10ns" into the market, it is
not much t o thetr credit, nor does it say much for their
masters.
ince, however, as we are told, these thousands
appear in the Patent Records onl y in angels' visits, little
can be said. My s tatemen t was, that common workmen
in America did overcome the difficulties " The Member"
complains of.
" T he employers here do not keep on the look-out for
them (inventions)." T his is a strong reason why we are
driven out of differenb market3. 1'hey do not keep a. lookout now much brighter than they did wh~n Na.ism~ tb
offered his steam hammer orer all E tVJland wtthout gttttn!J
an orde1 ! Some of them, t oo, it must be ad mitted, o.,re
ready enon~b to copy an inven t ion a fter another man
has proved 1t a commercial succ~s, bu t little ability is required for "business" of that kind .. "The Member "
bides his friends behind the shortcommgs of the Patent
Office, but this excuse is rather too thin even for me.
" The :Mem her's" elucidation of "the nature of the
tipple " in A merica. permitting more drinki!lg there, is
common but erroneous. T he true Yankee 1s very temperate, often, in fact, a te~total a postle; bu~ immigran~,
especially Germans and IriSh, consume constdera.ble q u~n
tities of the light beer called "lager." I do nob reqUire
t o describe the d rinking customs among pure-blooded
English men to " 'l' he M ember," but in th~ face of an
annual drink bill of 30,000,000/, I am s urprtSed to len.rn
that be discovered " a compara.ti ve ab~en~e of signs of
intoxication." In his young days, the drmkmg must ~ave
been mu ch worse than I imagined. Such a.n exacttng,
keen Scotchman as A ndrew Ca.rnegie says " We hat'e
little or no trouble with drink a1nong our 1nen." I s t here
an English employer, from Plymouth to Newcastle, who
could or would say the same ?
I return " T he Member , special thanks for infor~ing
us that "in \'ention is not his (the workman's) provmce;
that belongs t o the owner's repr~entatives, one of whom
must be a mechanic whose one bu siness in life should be
to be constantly on the alert to introduce improtements."
Exactly, that is what I tried to point out-one ?Mn an
inventor a nd the other 999 about the place walklDg ma.
chines. In s pite of the "thousands" of invent ions mentioned above, I renew my obligations to " The Me~be~ "
for this valuable sketch of a corner of the Enghsh _mtellect . I am scarcely less obliged for the t wo followmg
statements as they exactly explain the cause of our goods
in several departments having been com pletely crushe?
from the markets both a.t home and abroad, by Amen cans and German~. H e says : "Our tool-makers are able
and prepared to meet any want that is intellig~ntly put
before them as well a~, if not better t han, any Yankee, be
he nerer so t~mpc1ate ( !). , A nd : " If t~ose 'Y bo send tb.e
orders don' t know enough _to se~d spec1fica_t1ons of agncultural instruments to sm t the1r o wn requuem~n ts
they and not we are t o blame. " ~{ter readmg_ these
sentences, I must accuse myself of usmg _weak and Imperfect language in my second lettE-r; ~ut 1f they rE>presenC
the c0mmon sentiment$ of the F.ngh~h mS\n ufacturer, our

FEB. 2' I 900.

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

:
d" Wl' th a ven,~ea.nce. " . "The
loss of prestige is explame
Member '' pictures "our tool-J1?akers on . th,~u loftr,
throne and a bowing world orowdmg round w1th wants
the form of petitions in their bands. We are able to
1
~ecute all wants "intelligentlv , put b efore us better
:ban the most "temperate Yanicee," b~t any want not
"intelli~entJy " put can go to- the f~re1gn~r. Al~O\V me
t say S 1r that in the past there has.~een Jus t a trrfl.e t oo
~uch 'of s~metbing like these proceedtngs, ext?'M?dt'TW!t_"Y
as it mau seem.. While our wanufaoture!d haye sat WM~
in on cc intelligent" petitionsh~nd "speodioat10n~ ~f agrl
ouftural instruments " pus mg, educated, C1itnl ~til
obliging, Q/YU1, friendly Yankees and ~ermans hav~ qutctly
one to our old customers and supphed them w1th- not
g nly the "tools" and 'c agricultural jnstruments," ~ut
~lso "intelligence " to expl~it;t their ~ants and "spe.Olfit'ons " Mos t young or riBmg nat10ns want the r1ght
~~ol or ~achine placed in their hands 'l.lll'thout flrouble to
themselves. This the Yankees know, and the knowledg:e
has been worth millions to them. Do we possess this
knowledge?
But now Sir I tremble ab the demands I have made
on your space,' and I must leave the other cuts of "The
:Member " unanswered, tbou~hlc perhaps, no.t unanswerable. Only let me reply to h1s Open quest10n whether
the quality of the work at the present ? n.y would b~ so tar
removed from the days of Watt . . : if tirades 'Wn~Ont~nz.
had neve1 existed . . ." Abou ~ thiS ~atter N aiSmtth
says "We were not allowed w1 thou t dt fficulty to. carry
out ~ur system of f1ee t1ade z:n ability. The uniomsts r~uested us to discharge the men we had promoted . . .
~0 hn.ve complied with this. would baye altered the whole
pr1'nciples of practice on whtoh we desued to conduct our
business . . . We wished to stimulate m~n to steadfast
and skilful work by the hope of promot10n . . . I bad
taken several W orsley men from t~e ra'T!'k of labow er s
and raised them to the class of meobamos, Wlt.h oorr~pond
ingly higher wa.ges. We were perfectly sattsfied, Wlth the
conduct of these workmen, and with the productive results
. ord ered a " s t r1'){e . . . "
of their labou1 . . . The umon
and the result was the unionists struck and ne ver got
back. As the great inventor of the stea.m,,hammer is a
higher authority even than "The Member, we mus t acknowledge the q uestio~ as 'c closed. ~~ Free trade iln a.bil~y
will help us to mainta.m our prest~ge, ?ut the artlfi01al
barriers of the monks oan only end m rum.
Yours truly,
January 27, 1900.
A PRACTIOAL ExPORTER.
T o THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING.
SIB -We have in this office read with a good deal of
inter~t the articles in your columns on " American Competition," and we notice especiap.y in .a recent number an
article by Professor Morton, m wh10h a good deal of
credit had been given to our engineering schools in connection with the recent development in e xport sales of
machinery by this country.
What is, to our mind, the most significant phase of this
entire business has received very little attention, and I
take the liberty of sending you a marked copy of our
issue of January 11, containing an article by me on "The
Develo~ment, Import-ance, and Significance of Foreign
Trade m American Machine Tools. ,, If you will read
this you will see that (in common with others in this
office) I take a very different view of this matter from
that of Professor Morton; and I should add that there
is no better place in this country from which to view this
movement and gather correct ideas of it than this office.
If ib will add anything to the force of my remarks, I will
add that pe~onally I belon&' to the class to which Professor
Morton gave so much credtt, being myself a graduate of
one of our academic engineering schools-Cornell U niveraity. This facb has not, however, olosed my eyes, and
I think I am still able to see through a ladder.
I believe thab the views presented by rue come nearer
to the real facts than any which I have seen elsewhere.
You will find an illustration of the importance of the
shop man in develo~ing the industries of this country in
a biographical notice of J oseph C. Githens, which appeared in the same number. I knew Mr. Githens personally, having been for the ln. st twenty years connected
with the concern which sells his inventions; and, in fact,
I am still consulting engineer of that concern. I may,
therefore, fairly claim to be well posted tegarding his work,
and the notice of him states actual facts. You will see
from the notice that Mr. Githens began life as a common
mechanic-in faot, as a blacksmith.
You will also find in the same number an article by me
on "The Engineering Education of Mechanics," which
may, perhaps, be of interest to you.
A recent copy of our paper contained a biographicAl
notice of Mr. Lucien Sharpe, head of the great house of
the Brown and Sbarpe Manufacturing Company. 1\IIr.
Sbarpe b~ffan life as a working mechanic expecting to
earn his livmg ab the bench. The same is true of both
Mr. F. A . Pratt and Amos Wbitney, founders of the
house of the Pratt and Whitney Company, a.a well as of
William Sellers, William B. Bement, John E . Sweet,
\Varner, and Swasey (builders of the Lick and Xerkes
telescopes) and a host of others.
On~ cann<;>t ~e too intimately ~quainted with the g~at
machme-butldmg houses of thts country without bemg
impressed with the faob thab the men who founded them
and who still largely conduct them, began life in factories:
Of course, I am aware that our paper is received in your
o~ce, but in t~e. multiplicity of exchanges which flood an
edttor's desk, 1t IS very p ossihle for this article to be overlooked., and ~~ therefore, t ake the liberty of calling your
attentton to It.
Very truly~yours.
F. HALSEY,
Associate Editor A.me1ivan ~fachmist.
New York, January 18, 1900\

s.

DEAR FUEL AND ITS ECONOMY.

T o TllE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING.
Sra - That the continued high price of fuel is. causing
great~r attention to be given to its more econom1 cal. consumption is evidenced by the amount of current hterature on the subject in all trade journals. Two such outstanding contributions by Mess rs. Hallid!l'Y and C rompton
have jus t been republished in extenso m .ENGI~EERlf:lG ,
along with the important and embra01ve dtscuss1on
thereon.
The general effec b of dear fuel is t o bring about, sooner
or later, an extended omployme~t of some of the ma_..ny
mechanical stokers as the readiest means of effectmg
economy of fuel, the general impression being that, a.~art
from the mere laboursaving, these are more econom10al
of coal than hand-firing. This belief in the infallibility
of the mechanical stoker, however, engenders a carelessness in the firemen which must be completely unknown to
many, if not most employ~rs, who may have p~tt down
these appliances in the .behef that the be.st posstble was
being done to reduce theu coal account. It 1s alwaY,S apt to
be overlooked that the employment of a more ratiOnal or
scientific means to an end, in general, implies the exercise of higher intelligence .and greater oa~e to ~ake the
most of it; and a mechamcal stoker, whtle domg away
with the drudgery of firing1 demands all. the greater ca~e
to ins ure that the most effi01ent combust10n of the fuel IS
effected. All boilers absorb the maximum of heat only
under such conditions, and it need hardly be said. tpat
these conditions cannot be gauged by any emptnoal
observations.
It pays at large works to have the entire systems overhauled, as if these were not run for making money but
for making energy, although the final produc t may be
calico prints or chemicals; and while at such works an
empirical relation may have to be worked out between
yards of calico and British thermal units, no such empiricism is involved when electric light or power s tations
are concerned. There it is a question of energy from
beginning to end ; and it is a t such, with their unique
facilities, that the "living wage " of electricity or energy
will be arrived at.
With the epread of such s tations, wealthy corporations
are emulously vieing with each other to get the best
results; putting down the bes t arrangements for handling
the coal, and the b est boilers and mechanical stokers for
burning it, bnt, and except in a few isolated oases, leaving
DIAGRAM SHOWING EFFICf EffCY OF COMBUSTION
\

/00

90

'TO

80

60

so

30

10

20

.
0

'

6
6
q
3

'2

'Wi,,

~ 1... ..

r-,

l !
.... 1\ r ...
l/'

- ....... -'\ ."" ' "

C(

11 Cl

W1 'T f'T 11

- "'

- -

""

lsr

.
- ~~$
.

lJ(

- - - - - -

1
6

...

~ 'V~

,/

1\

---- -

"
8

G4 L6

r--

- -

J[>l\

.. 7

\
\

'
\.

...

-- - -to- - -

r-

"'Wi th.

l(ll ~.,

- -.... - -

-"

[~

~~

manager may thus see the state of matters ab any time

when passing, or ascertain at t~e end of a day or a we~k
tbe average performance. Bemg cons tantly ~b work, tb
actually drills up the men in a remarkable f~h10n. Thus,
on the accompanying- chart, the bracketed hnes. show the
average res ults obtamed at a large works havmg water'
tube ooilers and meohamcal
s tok ers, b y a " t es t er, " before and after its u~e had been ex plained to ~he. men.
The impro vement is very evident, as. it ~lso 1s. m the
example given of a hand -fired marine boile.r m wh1ch t~e
"hurrying-up " influence of the "tester" 1s well seen m
the curtailed firing period and the advat;ttage shown by
the great rise in the efficiency of com bustton.
.
In the discussion which followed :rviessra. Halliday ~nd
Crompton's papers, s~veral statements call for atte~t10~.
One speaker, remarking on the percentage of carbomc a01d
in flue gas, calls 12 per cent. a remarkable result!, and treats
anything hi~her as more or less mythical, of course from
the s tandpomt of his own experie~oe. If good ~ea.son musb
give place to better, great ex perience must gtve place to
greater and there are simply scores of cases in Scotland
where i6 p9r cent. and 17 per cent. are consta~tly obt~ined.
Indeed, in one case a large firm had the entire settmg of
a battery of boilers renewed, because no more than 8 per
cent. of carbonic acid could be obtained in the flue gases.
Now while the theoretical ideal-19 per cent. to 20 per
cent.' of carbonic acid in the steam-free flue gases-may
not be attain81ble in all cases, it ought to be striven for,
as _progress can thus only be made.
Thermometric measurements, as it was elicited, are practically useless-no body of heated gas can pass along a
tube or flue without obeying the laws of convection, and,
in consequence, being much hotter at top than bottom.
It was also pointed out how much depended upon the
proper sampling of the flue gas~s ; and ~ben the enorm<?us
volume passing- per ton of coalts taken m to account, w1th
but an oooa-s10nal peck for analysis, the difficulty of
getting representati ~~e samples is seen to be considerable.
Only the results from a continuous sampling and analysing
apparatus are of any value for basing conclusions uponand this exactly describes the " Combustion Tes~r."
GEORGE CRAIG, F.I.C.
9, Hampden-terrace, Glasgow.

RIPPER'S MEANPRESSURE INDICATOR.

To THE E 'OITOR OF ENGINEERING.
SIR,- In the article entitled "Ripper's Mean-Pressure
Indicator," in your issue of the 26th ulb., it is said
" since the date of the meetin~ a new device has been ~ot
out to serve the same end by stm pler means, " the meetmg
referred to being that of the Institution of Mechanical
Engineers, in D ecember last, at which Professor Ripper
xead his paper.
I should like to say tha t this latest type has notl been
developed since the meeting, as I had the pleasure of
seeing this particular type at work on an engine ab a
demonstration given by Professor Ripper before the
Sheffield Society of Engineers and Metallurgis ts, before
the date of the London meeting; and I happen to know
that no change whatever in the design of the instrument
has been made since the meeting of the Mechanical Engineers in London on December 8 last.
I am, Sir, yours faithfully,
FREDERIOK B ouLDEN, Assoc. M. Inst. C.E.
University Uollege, Technical Department,
St. George'ssquare, Shefheld, January 31, 1900.

SCREW FANS.

To THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING.

SIR,-In my paper on " Screw Fans, " which I see was
....
I
published in your paper a short time ago, there were
0
6()
110
do
70
80
90
40
20
several mistakes in the Table at the end. I enolase a
(s~~.,).
i;Ol/GHLY PERCI!.NTAO 01" 'lltL LOST 1
Test of an Axial Fan. (Extreme Di~eter of
Vam..es, 4.69 Ft.)
the next vital operation to take care of itself. Every
care, on the other hand, should be taken, and every
I
nerve strained to in swre that the fuel i s so bwrned, as to yield Number of revolution3
per minute..
. 626 545 53& 632 552 656 666 61\4 673
its nz.a-x'limum calo?~fic ilntcn sity, to bathe the boiler congauge in inches 1.84 1.61 1.63 1.53 1.63 1.63 1-St 1.29 1.22
stantly in the hottest possible products of combustion. Water
Kilowatts of motor .. 10.7 9.9 0.65 9.8!- 10.1 10.0 9.6 9.6 , 9.9
The supreme importance of this is manifest, when it is Discharge
io cubic feet
remembered that the conduction of heat through the
per second . .
.
0 137 216 296 386 396 452 474 664
boiler shell to the water simply depends upon the differ- Foot-pounds or work
I
by fan per second .. 0 ll561705 2390 3030 3170 3180 3180 3461
ence between the external and iri ternal temperatures.
The extraordinary results obtained from oil and gas firing Mechanical efficiency
of fan and motor . . 0 .16 .24 .32 .41 .43 .46 .46 .47
are unanswerable arguments in support of the imperative Manometrio
power . . .26 .21 .205 .21 .19 .19 .18 .155 .14
necessity of also burning coal so as to obtain its maximum
possible calorific intensity. These are well established
Volumetric power
0 .1851.30 .42 .52 .63 1 .61 .62 .71
now, and, roughly speaking, one ton of oil has been found
to be equivalent to two tons of coal under the boiler,
although their relative evaporative powers are only as corrected Table, and shall be much obliged if you will
17 to 14. The great economy, in practice, being simply kindly insert it in your paper.
Yours faithfully,
due to the ease with which the oil may be just burned,
H. INNES.
as it were, and no more, so yielding its maximum calorific
Rutherford College, Newoa.stleon-Tyne,
intensity; and all who have had to do with gas firing
January 29, 1900.
know how a similar result follows from its nse. Although
of such importance, this operation, especially when coal
is cheap, gets practically no consideration at all, for the
fireman cannot, and not every works has a chemist to look
Soura A MERIOA.-There are 16 Republics in South
after it. That engineers and users of steam power are America, having a combined area of 8, 115, 900 square
now keenly alive to the advantage aud economy of using miles, and a population of about 58,000,000. The import
high-pressure steam, makes ib all the more astonishing trade of these republics is estimated at 47,000,000l. per
that the analogous benefits from the use of "high-tem- annum, while the1r exports are set down at 76,000,000l.
perature combustion " should be simply ignored.
With a view to enable steam users to bring this allAssootATION 01!' T.EOHNIOAL INSTITUTIONS.-The folimportant stage under what is equivalent to scientific lowin~ officers were elected at the annual meeting of this
control, the writer some years ago devised a simple and A ssoCiation, held in the Mercers' Hall, London, on
inexpensive instrument, which was illustrated and fully Wednesday last: President, Sir Swire Smith; Vicedescribed in ENGINEERING for March 13, 1896. The Presidents, Lord Spencer, Sir Bernard Samuelson,
"Combustion Tester," as it is called, is an automatic Barb., Mr. H. Hobhouse, M.P., and Mr. W. Ma.ther.
measurer of the calorific intensity, and this it achieves by Treasurer, Mr. R. F. Martineau (Birmingham). Honoconstantly estimating, indicating, and registering the rary Secretary, Professor J. Wertheimer, B.Sc., B.A.
~mount of oarbonic acid in the flue gaaee. A works (Brilitol).

loo.

c.

166

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

[FEB. 2, 1900.

LAUNCHES AND TRIAL TRIPS.

ON the 19th ult. the newstea.mer L ondon Bridge
built by Messrs. Ropner and Son, of Stock ton-on-T ees:
t o. the order of Messrs. Furness, Withy, and Co. , Limlted, of W est Hartlepool, for account of the Bridge
S team Shipping Company, Limited, of L ondon made
her official tri~ trip in the Tees Bay. The vess~l ha.s a.
deadweight cargo capacity of about 5200 tons and is
fi tted with triple-expll.nsion engines by Messrs. Blair and
Co., Limited, of 1100 indicated horse-power.

DIAGRAMS OF THREE MONTHS' FLUCTUATIONS IN PRICES OF METALS.

(Specially compiled from O.tficial R eports of London Metal and Scotch Pig-Iton W cwrant Ma1kets.)

N OVEJ\IBER, 1899.

if2
/#)

The s.s. V a.l de Tra.yers, after loading cargo ab Glasgow,

proceded down the F1rth of Clyde to run ner speed trials
on the measured mile at Skelmorlie, on the 29th ult. The
V a.l de Tra.vers is a. single-screw s teamer by Messrs. S.
M 'Koight .and Co., Limited, of Ayr, to the order of Mr.
J ohn Harnson, of L ondon. H er dimensions are 200 ft
br. _30 f~. 6 in. by 14 ft. H er dead weight carrying capa.:
b1hty 1s upwards of 1050 tons, and the cubic ca.{>acity
a.hout 50,000 cubic feet. The net register tonnage IS 275
tons. The machinery has been supplied by Messrs. Ross
and Duncan, of Gova.n, and consis ts of a. fine set of tripleexpansion engines, having cylinders 17 in., 27! in., and
44 in. in diameter by 33 in. stroke, supplied with steam
by a. large single-ended marine type return -tube boiler
working at 160 lb. pressure. The Val de Tra.vers on triai
had on . board: 1043 tons of cargo, and was drawing
12 fb. 10 m. S1x runs were made on the measured mile
with and against the tide, and the mean speed obtained
was 10.425 knots. The speed against wind and tide was
10.23 knots.
The Irvine Shipbuilding and Engineering Company,
Limited, Irvine, launched on the 30th ult. a. steel screw
steamer of 320 tons dead weight, to the order of the Cla.nrye
S teamship Company, Limited, Newry. H er dimensions
are 135 ft. by 21 ft. 6 in. by 11 ft. 9 in. moulded. Mr.
\V. V . V . Lid~erwood , Coa.tbridge, is supplying the
machinery, the engines being of the compound surfacecondensing t ype, having cylinders 17! in. and 40 in. in
d iameter by 27 in. stroke, steam bemg supplied from a.
large steel boiler at 140 lb. working pressure. The vessel
was named the Kilbroney.

--

The torpedo-boat destroyer U sugumo, being the sixth

vessel built and engined by Messrs. J ohn I . Thornycroft
and Co. for the Japanese Government, und erwent a. satisfactory full-speed trial a.t the Ma.plin Sands on the 23rd
ult. The speed realised when carrying a load of 35 tons
was 30.602 knots on the measured mile, and 30.370 knots
on a run of three hours' duration.
The Britomart, ~unboat, in her first 30 hours' trial off
Plymouth, maintamed a speed of 11.2 knots with an indicated horse-power of 667. The mean results were : Air
pressure, .24 in.; steam in boilers-starboard 220 lb., port
220 lb.; steam at engines- starboard 187 lb., port 208 lb.;
vacuum- starboard 26 in., port 25.4 in.; revolutionsstarboard 241.3, port 238.1 ; indicated horse-power-starboard 344, port 323. On the eight hours' steam trial at
900 indicated horse-power, the mean results were : Steam
in boilers, 208 lb.; steam at engines- fitarboard 188 lb.,
port 196 lb.; revolutions-starboard 274.8, port 276.4;
vacuum- starboard 26.8 in., por t 25 in.; indicated horsepower-starboard 476, port 481, total 957 ; air pressure,
.5 in.; coal consumption per indicated horse-power per
hour, 2.52 lb. ; speed, 13 knots. She had a four hours'
forced -draught trial on the 25th ult., with the following
results : Steam in boilers-starboard 224 lb., port 224lb.;
steam at engines-starboard 198 lb., port 198 lb. ; air
pressure, 1. 2 in.; vacuum- starboard 25.1 in . port 24.6 in.;
revolutions- starboard 309.6, port 313.3 ; indicated horsepower-starboard 661, port 708-total, 1369 ; speed, 14.6
knots.
The details of the successful eight hours' full-power trial
of the Rosario, screw sloop, have been reported as follow:
Steam p ressure in boilers,_ 235.4 lb.; steam _pressur~ a:t
engines, 185.4 lb.; revolutiOns, 205.3 per mmu te ; mdtcated h0rse-power, high, 400.5; intermediate, 524.5 ; low,
573.0 ; total, 1498; speed, 13.6 knots. The indicated
horse-power was 98 in excess of the power required by
the Admiralty specification.

--

There was launched from the yard of Messrs. Ramage

and F erguson, Limited, Sa~pho, a. steel screw steamer,
built to the order of the BrLStol Steam N a.viga.tion Company, Limited. for their ~eneral trade l?et~een Ge~many
and Bristol. The followmg are the prmCipal pa.rttcula.rs
of the new vessel : L ength between perpendtculars, 230 fb.;
breadt h, 33 fb. ; depth mou!ded, 17 f_t. 4 in. . The trip~e
expa.nsion engines have cyhnders 18 m. , 27! m., and 45 m.
in diameter by 33 in. stroke, steam being supplied from a
large boiler working up to 160 lb. pressure.

I 38

DECEMBER, 1899.

J ANUARY ,

1900.

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132
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126

184

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116
114

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le 5

GREAT~R NEWY ORK.-Dollaropolis continues to expand

with great rapidity. In the thll'd quart~r of last year,

new buildings were in hand at a.n estimated cost of

32,552,896 dols., as compared with 23,229,688 dols. in the
corresponding period of 1898.

AMERICAN SuBMARINE BoaTs.-The H olland, submarine

torpedo-boat has arrived at the Washington Navy Y ard,

after a. four days' run from Philadelp~ia, ~here she was
sent from New Y ork after successful tna.ls m Long I sland
Sound. The boa.b made the passage through canals. The
IN the accompanying diagrams each vertical line represents a . m arket day, ~nd each horizontal line
H olland will be subjected to a. ~n~mber of tests at Washington to demonstrate her qualities, ~ot only as a. sub- r epresents ~s. ~n th~ case of hemat ite, Scotch, and C!eveland ~ron, ~nd ll. m all oth er cases. The
marine vessel but also her destroymg powers.. The price of qu1cksilver lB per bot tle, t he conten ts of wh10h vary 1n we1gh t from 70 lb. to 80 lb. The
U nited Sta.~ Navy D epartment, it is reported, IS pre- metal prices are per ton. Heavy s t eel r ails are to Middlesbrough quotations,
paring plans for two other boats of the H olland t ype.

F EB. 2 , I 9 0 0.

E N G I N E E RI N G.

The question of compulsory shop clubs has for some

putes in 1899, with t he total number of persons
INDUSTRIAL NOTES.
affected, durat ion, and percentages. The classifica- t ime engaged the attention of t he officers and members
of friendly societies. In August last a. conference
I~ a recent issue we called attention t o the belated t ion given is fa irly complete :
was held on the subject, when proposals were sub
report on strikes and look-outs in 1898. We have now
1899.
mitted and discussed. The National Conference has
oefore us the preliminary figures for 1899. Inasmuch ---- Causes of Labour Disp utes in-
always been opposed, under any circumstances, to
as these figures represent all the main facts, they a.~e
Work people
Ag~ aegate
sufficiently full to be placed, as near as may be, 10
Dispute3.
Direot ly
Durat aon -Days compulsion to join t o join any "s~op club," or ~eave
juxtaposition wit h those given in ENGINEE~u~o of
any friendly society. Upo~ the pomt. of c?mpellmg a
Involved.
Loet.
man t o leave a friendly soc1ety there 1s stlll an a.bso
J anuary 12 last. The publ~ca.tion. of thes~ prelmun~ry
lute unanimity of opinion, and rightfully so. For
statistics proves that there 1s no difficulty 10 p;~du01~g

., . more than a. hundred years the State has fostered,

.
8
.
these reports at an early date in each year. Ihe mts~
::s
c:l ~
=~
cu.,
cu.,..
~3
z
z
cellaneoua details have only to be kept up to d~t~ as
o o
O o
o o promoted, and protected friendly societies. They are

.
E-4
E-4
... E-4 .B~
...
...
are the main facts a.nd figures. The value of stat1st1Cal
now among the grandest institutions of the land.
O ,o
cu o
cuo
cuo
p.
E-4
P-4
P-4
information depends as much upon its early appear:More than seven millions of the population of the
ance as upon the fullness and exactness of the informa - Uni ted Kingdom belong to them. Their inv-ested
Specified
Causes.
t ion given. I t appears that the delay in issuing the
funds are enormous. Any blow aimed at those in
I
yearly report is due to the fact t hat the Labour Depart- Wages:
But there
73,664
53.7 1,245,432 49. 9 stitut ions would be a national disaster.
44.4
F or advances.. 320
ment awaits the publica.~ion of ~h~ annual re~~rt~ of Against reduc
is another aspect of t he quest ion of " compulsory
'7. 0
139,333
6.6 shop clubs," upon which differences of opinion have
6,609
4.8
Trade Unions, Employers Asso01at10ns, ConC1hat10n,
t iona . .
. . 50
12.0 13,676 I 10.0
284,304 11.4
Otb er . .
. . 87
Arbitration and Wages Boards t o render the Board
arisen, namely, with regard to the power given,
I
I
of Trade r~ports finally complete. Another reason is H OU1'8:
and
to
be
given,
to
employers,
under
certain
condi')
!)
..
.
1,149
0.8
11:!,672
0.8
1
For reduction ..
that disputes begun in 1899, but not sett~ed, cannot be
1.4
2,798
Other . .
. . 10
2.1
16,142 1 0.6 tions, to compel workpeople to join the works' club or
finally classified, as regards success or fatlure. There Against persons or
benefit society. Such powers are given in certain
are solid reasons for some delay, but hardly an excuse c1asses . .
14.3
8, 141
5.9
160,952
6. 4 private and local Acts of P arliament- as, for example,
. . 103
Working a rrang-efor reports being so far behindhand.
425 559 I 17.0 in R ailway Acts a nd some Acta rela ting to corpora te
9.1 17,833 13.0
ments . .
. . 70
Other cases
. . 72
10.0 13,2ZS
9. 7
206,964
8.3 bodies. The Home Office Departmental Committee,
The following general comparative Table indicates
in effect, proposed that compulsory works' clubs should
100.0 137,093 100.0 , 2,496,358 1100.0 be legalised by the adoption of the following recomwhat are termed ''prolonged general disputes" in each
Totals
.. , 721
mendation, namely, that the proYision in RecommenYear and their number, extent, and duration in oom- ------------------------~
' with " all oth er disputes. ,
parison
Perhaps the most questionable cause of dispute in dat ion I. shall not apply where (II. ) the shop club (a )
General Oontpa,rcttive Table.
the foregoing Table is the strikes against a person ''is a society registered under the Friendly Societies
or persons employed, the t otal number of which was Act, and is certified by t he Registrar of Friendly
103, or 14.3 per cent. of the total. But the total Societies t o be one to which that provision (I.) shall
Prolonged Gen eral
All
other
Disputes.
Disputes.
number of persons a ffected was only 8141, or 5.9 per not apply. " The provision referred to (I.) is: (3) "That
~
cent. , while the loss of time was equal to 160,952 it shall not be lawful for any employer to make it a.

working da.ys, or 6.4 per cent . of the whole. The condition of employment that any workman shall dis
Num
ber
Aggregate
Number Duration Number
percentage of wages disputes to t he tot al was 63 continue his membership of any friendly society to
Number of
of
WorkDu~ation
Work in Work of Dis
m
Cll
per cent. in 1899 and 63 per cent. in 1898; in which he belongs, or shall not become a member of
of
Di3
...~ I putes. peosle la ing Days. putes. people lnl Working
1897 it was 62 p er cent. The one singular fea-ture any other friendly society." The adoption of RecomG)
vo ved.
vol \ed.
Days.
1>1
in the Table is the fewness of disputes for the menda tion II., sub-clause (a), would in effect nullify
300,000 23,700,000 } 781 - , 246,3S6 5,165,062 reduction of working hours, only nine of the total, or clause 3 of Recommendation I., as above given. It
1
1893 { 1
90,000 2,340,000
1.2 per cent. The number of workpeople directly would, in fact, practically legalise such shop clubs,
255,248
5,600,000
928
3,929,010
70,000
1
189i
744
2 17,123 4,160,670 involved was only 1149, or 0.8 per cent. The time lost generally, provided t hat t hey were registered, and it
46,000 1, 66~,00 )
1
189j,
926 . 198,190 3,746,368 was equal to 18, 672 working aays, or 0. 8 per cent. of were certified by the Registrar of Friendly Societies
No large disputes.
1 96
182,769 4,614,523 the aggregate time lost in labour disputes in the year. t hat such clu b and clubs were of the nat ure t o which
863
1897
1
47,600 s,73 1,ooo
710
153,907 3,639,478 This is
1
100,000 11,660,000
189
t he provision applied.
the
more
remarkable,
remembering
t
he
721
No
large
disputes.
178,440
2,496,358
18991
The friendly societies generally are up in arms
crusade for the eight hours during the last few years.
Doubtless the agitation will revive when work is less against legal authority being given, for the first time,
The jute workers' dispute in 1899, involving 35,000 plentiful, but when it is plentiful there is an absence under the Friendly Societies Acts t o "Compulsory
work people, is not included in "prolonged general dis- of agitation. Still t he movement for shorter hours Shop Clubs." The Ancient Order of Foresters' Execu
putes," as it only lasted a few weeks.
goes on. It expands naturally rather than spasmodi- tive Council have issued a report on the whole case,
The aggregate number of workpeople affected by cally. This, indeed, is because it is the outgrowth and condemn any proposal to legalise compulsion as
labour disputes in 1899 was about 2.1 per cent. of the of circumstances, of t he wholesome desire for more being contrary to the principles upon which legislation
total number employed. The proportions in the leisure, with increased intellectual advantages.
is based, namely, voluntary membership, and voluntary
several groups of industries were as follow: In
payments for the benefits provided in and by the
mining and quarrying, 5.5 per cent. ; in the t extile
The net rasults of all the disputes is a. matter of rules of friendly societies. With respect to existing
trades, 4. 9 per cent ; in the building trades 3. 6 pec interest to all-what has been won, what lost by all legalised societies or clubs under private or local Acts,
cent. ; in the engineering, shipbuilding, and metal the expenditure of force, loss of t ime, and loss in the proposal is that they shall or may run their course
trades, 1. 9 per cent. ; and less than 0. 5 per cent. in all wages? These are given in t wo Tables-one, the per - until the Act, under which they were created, expires,
other trades. Agricultural labourers, sea.me11, and centages based on (a ) the number of disputes, the or is required t o be revised. Much can no doubt be said
fishermen are not included in the general percent age, other (b) on the number of workpeople directly in- in favour of clubs in connection with large works, or
but it is explained t hat no serious stoppage of work volved iu the disputes.
vast un dertakings like our railways. But there is the
occurred in those trades in 1899. If they were included
element of compulsion as a condition of employment,
P
ercentages
Based
on
Nuttrtbe1
of
Disputes.
the proportion of 2.1 per cent. of the total employed and, moreover, there is an element of uncertainty as
would be reduced .
regards employment. When the latter ceases the
1896.
1897.
1893.
1899.
benefits of the club or society cease also. Of course,
The duration of disputes in 1899 was the longest in
Rest~lt of Disputes-(a).
the contributions cease at the same time, but if the
40.8
38.8
the building trades owing to the general look-out of In favour of the workpeople
35.5
3l.t
member has attained a certain age he may not be able
,
employers
. . 32.6
36.6
32.6
31.9
plasterers, and the strike of carpenters in Hull, in
to enter another society or club. There was a time
mpromiae effec ted ..
Oo
26.3
24. 9
34. 2
81.
6

March, followed by a generallock-out in May of build- lndefinite results
. . 0.3
1.3
0.4
4.7
when such clubs had a useful career, but now the

ing operatives generally in Hull, Leeds, and other

-friendly sgciety is, in a sense, universal. The Post
Totals ..
.
.
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
towns in Yorkshire. The distribution of disputes in

Office affords facilities for the transfer of money, either

groups of "trades is shown by the following Table :
Percentages Based on Nwnber of Workpeople I nvolved.
contributions or benefit payments, so that whether in
Result o.f Disputes-(b).
Disputes in 1899. Classified by G1oups of Trades.
town or country the member has no difficulty in
ln favour of workpeople
43.5
24.2 1 . 22. 6
26.1
respect of payments. The pronouncement of the
,
employers
28.0
40.7
60.1
42.8

c:: 0 ompromise effected . .
council of the Ancient Order of Foresters will, doubtof Work34.0
28.3
17. 2
27.8

~ Number
~ 0~:.
people Involved.
Indefinit e result s
. . 0. 2
1.1
0. 1
3. 3

less,
carry
great
weight
with
all
the
other
great''
orders,"
~-~
0
~
z.
Groups of Industries.
....aS o_$
CUaSil:A
......
and the general run of friendly societies will mostly,
a..
Totals
..
.
.
100.0
100.0
be::S
be
100.0

~ G)=
I
1 100 0
bi:Q
d
c
if not entirely, agree with the sentiments expressed in
~.0 14 Directly Indirectly < .,...._
I
the circular. The plea put forward is '' the liberty of
The building trades ..
As rega rds the net result s t he balance appears to t~e su?jec~," and his '' right to make his own provi26,682
177
3,117 I 853,878
.Mining and quarrying
26,863
110
19,657
495,865
be in fa vour of the emplovers, but this is because the siOn, m h1s own way, for the future. " It is to be
Iron nnd steel trades ..
15
1,479
752

30,601
35,000 jute workers failed in their immediate object. hoped that no compulsory powers will be given to
Engineering, shipbuildinv,
But, a fact not noted in the returns here dealt wiLh, interfere with those rights.
&c. . .
. . 130
12,967

6,972

390,081
The textile trades
121
61,205
9,691
the employers subsequently made concessions to the

543,464
The clot hing trades ..
36
1,212

731
41,351
workpeople in Dundee. This really turns the balance
The transport trades
. . 48
Full activity is maintained in the engineering trades
11,886
876
63,950
in
favour
of
the workpeople. But one lesson is pre- thr?ughout Lancashire. But, again, there are comWoodworking and furni~hing 26
977
68
23,413
Miscellaneous . .
..
. . 68
sented by the figure3, namely, that even in the most plamts that the new work coming forward in some
8,823
63,835
483
prosperous times attempts to force wages too high directions is insufficient in weight to replace the
Totals

137,093

41,3!7
721
2,496,368
may be, and most likely will be, resisted, and will orders on th~ books when those are completed, so that
fail. The dispute in 1899 which attracted mos t the outlook 1s not regard-ed as quite so good as it has
. The number of workpeople indirectly affected, that attention, was the strike and lock-out of the plasterers,
1s, thrown out of work by disputes in which they. which a.tfected 4000 men, wit h a. total loss of 200,000 been .. Thi~, ho,~ever, is anticipating trouble, for
here
1s
no
1mmed1a
te
prospect
of
slackness
inasmuch
t
were not concerned, was 23 per cent. of the total. The davs'
work.
..
as most _engineering establishment s have a sufficiency
percen~ge is highest in the mining and quarrying group,
of work 1n hand to keep them well engaged for most
where 1t amounts to 42 per cent. A small number of
The distribution of dispu tes, or strike areas, was as of the present year, and in some instances they have
~en, or e~en of ~oys in this group is sometimes suffifollows : In Scotland, 60,165 persons ; Wales and quite a yea r's work before them. Therefot e the
c~ent to d1sorgamse the working of a mine. In all
Monmouthshire, 36,552; Lancashi re and Cheshire,
d1sputes the non-combatants deserve sympathy for 27,674; Yorkshire, 19,136; other Northern Counties, slackening off in n ew work coming forward is more
they cannot gain, but may lose a. good deal by a ~top 9104; Midland and Eastern Counties, 16,055; all the apparent than real, t he fact being tha.t few establishments are able to undertake new work with the
page of work.
Southern and W estern Counties, including t he ~Ietro guaran tee of early delivery .. The present high prices
polis, only 6876. In Ireland only 2878 persons were ~ay have the . effe_ct of ke~pmg back offers in some
The following Tt~.ble represents the cau~es of dis- involved in disputes causing a s toppage of wor k.
mstan ces, but m t1mes of htgh pressure price is secon
I

all

.. I

Q,)

168
da.ry to early delivery, as d elayed deliveries may m ean
!lo market when the contracts are completed. The
uon market has maintained a strong po1:1ition in all
respects, but thero is an unsettled feeling about the
w ar in ~ 'outh Africa, which, to somo extent, m ay have
checked business except where present requireme nts
are concerned. Th ' t-.ttcl t rade is very busy price
being w ell maintained.
,

EN G I

E ER I

G.

pe~ hift, an_d in. 21 bo" s from 10 to

hours p er
luft. Overtime 1s to be paid for at the rate of tim
and o. quarter, each d ay to s tand by it elf.
Tho
plat elayers ge t a new ecale of wages var) ing from
1 s. t o 25~. per week . Ptlsseuge r g ua rds have their
h ours r duccd t o 11 hours per shift.

( FEH.

2,

1900.

t o the second drum, .Bnd the corr pom_lmg <leHection i

obser ved. A <'On apan on of th
detlectJOn:-.at on<> imJi.
ca.tes upon wlnch drum the fault li . \\..1th the g h anomet~r s till d eflet' ted tho core may bo ru n through n. nitable _contact bru h or apong attncllcd to the guard wire.
The tnstant the fault pas a und r the guard\\ ir <:On
tact, tbo deHPct ton falls, nod tbo fault 1 la ttod. The
pa.per gt v
th theory of the me~hod , and indicat a
bow to apply it (1) to loca1i ing "distributed'' fault
(2) to. e' eral faults in a ingle cable: and (:t) to the c '
of a s mglo fault. Oa e ad ' 'antage of tho method i th t
at the c ~itical moment when ~he faul t pn .. ., under the
guard wuo the galvanometer 18 hort-circuited through
the fault, and thus completely prutccttd.
A paper o n .. R rtftrlton a~ul T ra,l.fmi itnl. of Eltr.tri~
W al't8 al.ort!J Wtrc.~,'' by l>r. E. B r t on and .Mr. L.
Lownd , w read by Dr. Barton. T he wav u t!d w re
produced by mca.ns of nn induction ooil and an O..'!<'illator,
and travelltd along wir
. 1:> centimetre in diam t r
' centimetre apart, and 1H6 metre~ long. The cod 0 (
the wires were conneeted by ~rapbite marking on ground
gl~s, so that any wave tra ms which reached th( <'Dd
were at once absorbed. Three Ctrlular parallel plate
condensers were ustd of 15, H, and 5 centunetres rndiu
respeotively. The plates wer( in all C&'3e.S separated by
Air, and wore placed 1 centimetre ap rt. The ne dl~ of
th e electrometer connecti ng the wi
was unchn.rgod so
that it was always attracted by the charged plat . The
posi tions of the condenser and eh-ctromoter could t..e
varied so as to study either the reflected or the tran mitted waves. The electrometer produced only a negli
gible d istur bance, as it reflected only O.O l per cent. or the
energy incident upon it. The authors have attacked the
problem mathematically, using the rel11tions of H eavU,1de,
and have obtained expressions for tbe reA ctoo and trans
mitted sys tem. These exi?ressions consist of two term~,
one of which i cornparattvel y unimportant. From the
other term cer tain values have been ~lculated. A
superior lim it has then been gi ,en to the other term, and
the values already obtained have been subjected to a
correc tion on this account. By a suitable arrangt:ment
of the condenser nnd electrometer, these calculated vaJu~
have been experi mentally d eterm ined, and are 10 clo~c
agreement with the theoretical numbers, fnlling in many
cas s betw(\en the results derived from the Approx imate
and the corrected theories. The au th ors have also inv lt
gated the stationary wave system produced by interference wh en the electrometer is placed cl e to the cond enser, and between the cond enser and the oscillator.
The chai rman said that the experiment~ afforded a
satisfactory Vfri6cation of lleavi id e', theory.
A pap r on T he F rc'i''e'u:!l of Tran~ursc V tl,ratiortl
of a Strctchccl lndia-R uLbcr Cord," by :Mr. T. J . Baker,
was taken ns read.
In this paper ~fr. Baker has inves tigated the frequency
of tbe no te given oub by an iodin-rubber cord of square
section when s ubjected to different tensions. The rel
tion between length and ten ion is linear over a consider
able range. The curve connecting lensth with frequency
shows that while tho cord was d oubhng its length the
pi tch was rising rapidly, but that further e:ttensioo wa.s
practically withou t effect.
ince tbe relation between
length and ten ion is linear, while the sect ional area i3
decreasing, it follows that the value of Young's modulu
must be changing. The author has shown that the valte
of Y oung's modulus is proportional to the squaru of the
stretch~d length of the cord.
sing this fact, the freq uency of the note given ou t by a. scratched india-rubbcr
cord is shown to be proportional to a quantity whtclt
varies very slightly with increase in length of the cord,
and hence the vanation in elasticity is given as the cau:>e
of the con tancy of the note.
.:\Ir. ppleyard exhibited some mi rrors produced in ido
incandescent electric lam~ by t he application of voltag
m uch above tbose for wh1ch the lampa were dcsign~d nod
the consequent d efia.g ra tion of the filaments.
The meeting then adjourned until February 9.

The cot<. h Man u fac tured Iron Trade Conc1hation

Board has awa rded to the ironworkers an nd vanco of
There are signs of unres t in the cotton indu tries of 5q. pt'r ct>nt. in wages, to commence from January 2!l.
Lane& hire. In the Bolton dis trict the spinners arc It ha.. been agreed to continue the Concili9.tion Hoard
!-S~ta.tiog for an ad '' anco in ~~ges of 5 \>er cent. , a nd ti ll July, 1901, which ins u res peace fo r that period.
1t 18 feared that 13evenl.l m1Jhons of s pmdles will be
On the Wels h r a ilways there- is some dang r of a
stopped unless coaccssionR are made. In other district s there are loud complaints about the quality of strike. I t is repo rted t hat n la rge numb9r of notices
the yarn, the weaYers declaring that the bad quality ha ve bee n sent in by the men.
--of the material necessi ta.tes an increase in wa.ges as
Th e g reat lrike o f Au trian coalminers ha en t e red
c:mpensation. The n there is a movement for the reductiOn of ono h our pe r week generally throughout the a new pha se. The Minister o f Agriculture and Publi
cotton trades. The o peratives a s k that this s hall be \Vork s has conced ed tha eight hour to the men in the
done by Ac t of Parliament, making i t compulsory t o Go,ernment mines, this being the principal cl mand of
close all mills and factories at 12 o'clock on aturdays. the workers, from January 1, 1901 , that is a yoar
.. urely thi R can be done by mutual arrange ment. An hence. This conce~sion applies t.o about 20 por cent.
of the total men employed at the mines. Tho mA c t o f Parliament in this case seems absurd.
ployers o f the other 0 per cent. do not coo ider that
In the W ol ''erhampton district the iron and s teel they are in the a me p osition as the ~overnmeot , ns
trades fully maintain the activity whi ch has so long the latte r d o not work for profit, an<.l pay u o rates or
dis tinguished those industries.
.M erchants and con - t.axes.
sumers alike are pressing to get their orders for future
The carpenle rs on s trike at the Pa.ris Exhibition
supplies placed on producers' books. The latter, howe,er, are unable to guarantee deliveries within the buildings made a serious r iot on Saturday last, the
specified time.
R enewals of contracts with old cus- military being called o ut. The soldiers wero stoned ,
tomers are only accepted at the current quotations. and the men w ere attacked , se,eral being w o und ' d.
The falling-off in the ordinary trade with the Cape is It is said that the men had declared their intention
more than co mpensated for by the large orde rs coming o f wrecking the building . But this, it is to be hoped,
in t o meet the r equirements of our British for ces in is not true. To wr ck the Exhibition buildings w ould
South Africa for iron and steel for bridge-building be a disas ter to Paris, even greater than its temporarv
and other engineering purposes, for water pipes for occupation by the Gf~rm an troops. It would spell
the COn\eyan ce of water to different camrs, and for ru in t o thousands, and be a d i grace not easily wiped
tube and strip iron for the manufacture o bedsteads out.
for military h ospitals. The chain and a n chor branches
are very busy on orders for naval purposes. GalvaTilE PHY ICAL SOCIETY.
nisers have been giving out large orders sin ce quarterA T the meeting_ of the Phy ical Society, held .Tanday for commo n sheets, the high prices of which are uary 2G, Profes or Lodge, li'. R . , Pre idenb, in the chair,
well maintained. A ctive business generally has been a paper by Professor Ayrton and ~Ir. l\Iather on " &me
doing in tube, strip, r ods, and hoops. Marked bars D ctelQpmcnll in. the U1c of Prirc'8 Guarcl W ire in l ~ttla
are firm at full rates, while makers of unmark ed bars tion Tc1t1 , was read b.v Professor Ayrton. .lfor insularefuse orders at the minimum rateR. It appears that a tion test~ made by the direct-d eflection method, the g uard
special mee ting of the trade is called to consider the w ire properly applied affords complete protection again t
advisability of raising the minimum rate. Pig iron is s urface leakage when th e ends of the cable te ted are near
the gal vonometer, so that it is possible to have the wire
difficult to obtain at quarter-day rates. Steelmakers connecting
the conductor of the cable with the galvanoare so busy that only small lots are obtainable. me ter terminal "air insulated ., A difficulty, however,
.M aker s have, indeed, on their book s sufficient orders aria&; when the ends of the cable are at a consid erable
to k eep them going up to the end of th e year. A c- distance from the te tmg instrument; this may render air
tivity is everywh re, and it may be said pro perity, in ulation impossible. T he authors have overcome th is
for the workpeople bare in the higher rates that have difficulty by applying a guard wire along the entire
been ruling for some time past. The iron and steel- length of the leoo. This is d one by using a concentric
using indus tries are mostly well employed ; indeed, wire to connect th ) cable and galvanometer, the inner of
it is difficult to name any branch which is bad ly off for the concentric being u cd as the lead, and th outer as
work. The en~ineers, ironfounders, boilermakers, the guard wi re. The .Principle can be a pplied to d etermine whether a defective piece of cable is ba.d throughout
tank makers, br1dge and girder constructors, smiths or bad owing to one or more isolated faul ts. In this case
and hammermen, are all busy, a nd so a lso are those the cable is placed in two water tanks. one o f which is
engaged in the rail way s heds. The hardware indus- earthed and the other fairly well insulated. By a. suittries are generally busy, only that some a r e busier able arrangement of the guard wire it is then easy to
than others. There i little complaint as to wages in de termine the resistance of the wir in the earthed tank,
any branch.
\Vhene,er a movement is made for so that by altering the length of this wire the cha.ra.cter
better wages, the employers make concessions rather of the insulation can be d etermined throughout the whole
length o f the cable. In referring to some of the earliest
th9.n run the risk of seeing the works idle.
experiments with the guard wire made by ~fr. Appleya.rd
In the Birmingham district the position of the iron in 1895, Professor Ayrton p<1inted out that the principle
had not been applied completely, and that at one pomt
and s teel trades is not only as strong as ever, but has there was a chance of leakage.
gai ned additional firmness by reason of the publication,
JOIXT- TO<'K ENTKRPRISE.-The n umber of DCW COID
:Mr. Campbell said t hnt the necessi ty of having a contowa rds the close of last week, of the accountant's centri c cable cou ld be obviated by simply banging the panies regtstered last year in tbe U nited Kio~dom waa
certificate as to the selling price of material, the rates lead from the guard wire by short lengths o f material of -l:i2!>, with a nominal capital of 231,687,2%1. The corre~onding r~gistrati?ns in 1 9 comprt:;ed 4653 compaui~,
of which give an inc~e in wage to the iron and fair insulation.
l\Ir. Appleyard said tha t he quite n~ with Pro- w1th a nom ma l ca.p1tal of 240,~ .)3,501. In the com~mes
steel work ers in the Midland districts. The net a vera ge increase in price since the last preYious certificate fessor Ayrton that the gu ard wire ought in g nernl to l>e re~tered last year, rail way uodortakings figu red for
i s lls. 9d. per ton. This gives an advance of 9d. per applied a t both ends of all lea.ds, prov1ded tha t both e nds !>, 166,5:-X>l. ; electric light undertakmgs for 11,1 !.12, 7HOI. ;
water undertakings for 231,00 l. ; teleph one undertakings
ton for puddling, now 9s. 9d . per ton , with a propor- could be got at. The reason it was used at one end only for 350,500l. ; cycle and motor undertakings for 2,:~07, l:V.;
in the experiments on d ielectrics, made in 189:i, was that
tionate advance to other workers. The present market the far end of the lea.d was carried into tbe condenser coal undertakings for ,666,500/ ; iron and teel underprice of material is considerabl1 higher tha n the rates box, which wa.s submerged in wa.ter in the temperature tak in gs for H,372,-ll8l. ; and engineering undertakings
ghen in the certificate, so that 1t is probable there will tank.
pecial precautions were tnken to insure good for H,037, WO/.
be another advance in two month ' time. The un- insulation of the submerged end of the lead, a.nd tests
LE~\X's R orAL NA\ Y L I:o.T.-Tbe .Jan UAry llisue of tbi
marked-bar makers have advanced thei r rates 10s. pe r showed that the leakage there was nil. As the end of
ton and the marked-bar firms intend to follow uit. tbe wire could not he got at, no guard wire could be admirably arranged li t has just been i ued bJMee rs.
Th~re is a great demand for sted o f e,ery d escriptio n, applit!d. Mr. Appleyard congratulated the authors upon \Vitherby and Co., 326, High H olborn , and 4, ~ewman's
and makers are able to command almo~t any figure the use of a concen t ric cahle for a lead, and pointed out court, Corn hill. It is uperior tonny otlH: r li t published,
it~ves a r cord of the war ser vice of each officer, which ~&S
for early deliveries. The iron, s~ c~l, a~d meta.l-~siog that such a lead was sufficient for ull the rou tine tc ts on in thia volu me been brought up to date . ..\touch of b vmg
e<re; the inner a nd outer conductors could bo used for
industries arc mos tly very busy ; 1t 1s qmto e~cept10nal tbe purpo e of W.king the " copper , resistance.
intere.:.t is al~ given by t he recording unde" each ship of
for any to be slack. The scarcity no<l hig h price of
~Ir. J>rice expressed his interest in tbe d evelopm nt of the succe es of predecessors of tb e .,nmc nn.me, a record
fuel aud of materia l arc felt in somo instances, how- his principl ' which had been made by the authors.
wluch m1ght well be engraved offir'H\lly upon a prurument
e,er, and may th re fore tend to quieten _down when
l\Ir. Applcyard then rend n paper on "A Fmilt -Tc3t place in each ship. There is ah:to a list of hip3 in coun;o
there is no gre at preet- ure for early d eh ' er1es of goods. for Brfwlaf aotl other CaMe Core."
TbLS method af con. truction ; hut there are on or two t)ltJ'' und O~J::o
enables the fault to l>e found without the removal o f ion wbtch ought to be nmendt>d. Tht Muntagu 1 a
The North - E~stern Pailway Compa ny have ma,le braiding or ta . Tho core ~ wound on two ins ulated Lattle h1p, not a cru er ; the l\I utme and Rinaldo loof)t',
not cnul:iers ; nud it is time 1\I r.;. ,J uh n BrO\\-"ll and 'o.
drums
or
tanks,
the
intermedia.t'
piece
of
cable
\pmg
constderable concessions to a. large num ber of g rades
about I ll ft. lnng.
ne end o f tlH" core 1l:l left frc , the were ub t1luled for the ClydeLaok Company. On the
iu their employ.
Eogino-dri,,crs, guanl~, general other IS connected to earth through a gal ,.,\nomet r nnd n r tired ltst we tmd t'P\'Cral m~tan s "lwrt' tLu dt: ignap orters, pla tform po rters, ticke~ collecto1o and other battery.
guard wire 18 connected from som pomt tions are not qutto m accordance WJtlJ pn-... nt circum
classes wilt r ecci ve advances m wage , and some betwe n tbe galvanometer and the battery to some )JOint stanc~. One admiral, for instance, i3 gJ\en a.s Dtrector
r eductions in ''orking h ours.
In EeYcral ca::,es, a s, of thP h ra1dmg o n the" iro betwef'n the drums. A wet of the ~n,al on truction and Arm:uucnts C Jmpaoy,
for example stat10n p orters, the hour rtn r d uced duth, connected to an earth wue, L laid un one or other wh1ch wa di ... o lv~ someth mg like three ye . ago.
from 63 ho~s per week to 10 hours per s hift. I n of the drum , O\'er the braidmg. T he gahanometer Th~ howevert are mall matt r ; the ~Surprt.Ee 1 that
127 ~igual box.. ~ t.he hours are reduced from 12 to 10 de8e<'tion i noted. The earth wire U, then ch!lnged ov~r with such a ru~b of detail more ~hp h 'e no~ crept to.

--

FEB.

2,

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

I900.]
WATER MErERS.

Wetter Meters of the P1cscnt Day, with Special Reference

to S nt'tll Flows amcl 1Vastc in DriiJ!Jles. *

Bt Mr.

ScuoNHEYDElt, Member, of L ondon.

ALTHOUG H merely ~lementary knowledge, it is necf'3sa.ry to state at the outso~ that meters are divided into
the following cla&os :
1. Low-pressure meters.
2. Inferential meters.
3. V olume or cap9.city met ers, without device for rendering them tight.
4. Those of the Venturi class, which h::1.ve a spzcial
function.
5. 'Vaste detection meters, of the D dacon class.
6. Positive meters, or meters which provide a space to
be filled with and emptied of water, and which Jnve some
W rLLIAM

mittedly represen ts waste. This quantity, bJ.Sed on a

poQulation of 5 millions, is 50 million gallons p er day, or
sufficient to supply 25 gallons per head per day to an increased population of 2 millions, or in other words, is
more than sufficient for t he needs of the city of B erlin.
T o put the matter (if po:Jsihle) still more pla inly, if this
waste is permitted to continue, 8,000,000l. of capital, or
one-fourth of t he total approximate cost of the propo3ed
'Velsh scheme of water supply (of 200,000,000 gallons per
day) to London will be s pent in order to make up the defiOlency caused by preventible waste.
H ere is a great problem, and as the author b elieves, the
solution of it lies in the sale of water either by meter only
(at very low prices it may be), or by meter with a fixed
charge for a minimum s upply at present rate3 in order to
insure he1.lth and cleanliness. He has devoted many
year3 of his life to the production of an efficient instrument for the ordinary m'3aS'J rement of wa~er, and esp9-

movi ng part, which is in the form of a double buckdt,

mounted on pivots. and so arranged that ~hen one of th.e
buckets is taking its s upply from the m am, the other JS
being emptied and vice 11ersd ; each bucket, when full,
overbalances the other. In this meter also a bal_l va.l ve
is required for limiting the ~upp~Y: A ':Deter of thlB kmd
was d escribed by the late S1r Wtlham Su~mens ~the.n Mr.
C. W. Siemens) in the Proceedings of tht~ Instttutt~n for
1854, page 6, and was called a "Bucket meter; 1t was
in vented by Mr. Mead, of L ondon. .
.
.
2. Inferentictl Meters.-As the name 1mphes, the water lS
not a.ctually measured in this type of meter, but the quantit,Y passed through it is '' inferred :' from ~he !lumber of
revolutions made by the fan or turbme, wh1ch ts ~he only
moving part. These meters are extremely conventent and
useful, as they are comparatively small, light, and cheap,
a nd they are fairly accurate when the water passes
through at a good speed, as when us~d for filling water-

Pig.7.
0

PARKINSON .u

rP.

I~

11

"i

IL(!I _tnlll~-""h

:;B---

-=' r~"'
~t-dl"= ~rlb~,/..~,.-J
~=rr=r==t=rrm
2::~ : ; .~-r,,,~r::.
_/ 11
~: ~ ~
I

1-=.

- -

- -

""""

S'R60. A

rY 5
...]:;1.,''-::1
. 11. TYLOR INF'RNTIAL 11

r;v,..
'1:1' 4.

,.. .
,
' "
11
.rtf}.J,
SICMNS r e:;a /NZ

SIEM,' / S t

ll

FA N ."

contrivance for rendering them tight at varying pressures

and under diverse conditions of ser vice.
Before treating of each of these classes, it may be
observed generally that they all ha.ve a useful purpose
which they are oa.pable of answering with more or less
ad vantage according to their individual merits. The mistake most commonly made, in the author's opinion, is
that they are indiscriminately used and frequently selected
on account of first cost, without due consideration of the
duty they have to perform.
The question nexb presenting itself is, What is the
~mall flow to which this pn.per has reference, and of what
tmportance is the measurement of waste in dribbles ?
That all water supplied by private companies, intent on
~a.ming d~vidends, should be paid for, goes without saymg, proVIded thab t he cost of measurement does not
ex~ed that of allowing pumped, impounded, filtered, and
deh vered water to run to waste.
Table I . illustrates the large flows of water represented
by leakages through compa:-n.tively small holes, when
under a pr&~sure of 100 ft. head.
T ABU:

Gallons.

Size of
liole.

1n.

p. r IJ ,ur.

Per 24 Hours.

:1

38 l
214

05

Number of Persons
that can be Supplied
at 15 Gallons per Head
per Day.

9144

1
1 11

24

5136
2280
676

':11!

144

16

---

610
312
162
3S
10

The quantities in the above T able are estimated but

t~ey are cc;mfirmed by exporiment at Liverpool.
'
Hub a. wtder an~ more .unportan t question arises when
t.ho needs of o~r mcreasmg population and the necessity
of larger supphes come forward for consideration. Ten
gallons per head per day of the L ondon water supply ad-

. * Paper read before the Institution of Mechanical En-

gmeers.

cially for the purpose of registering dribbles ; with what

amount of succe3s he must leave to others to determine.
Returning to the different kinds of meters already
classified :
1. Low-Presswre Mete1s.-These are more especially applicable to measuring small flows, such as dribbling supplif>.s to flushing cisterns, bub they can also be used for
such services as supplies to private houses in which
cisterns are used ; the great objection to them is, as their
name implies, that the whole of the pressure from the
main is lost in passing through them ; and, therefore,
they require to be placed at tl:ie highest elevation at, or
from, which a supply is to be taken, and this again invol ves
- in the case of house supplies- the frequent entry of the
meter inspector and assistant to the top of the house for
the purpose of reading the index and examining, repairing, or exchanging the meter.
The oldest and probably the best-known meter of this
type is the "Parkinson " Fig. 1 above1 which was described in a paper read before this Instttution (Proceeding3 1851, pa~e 19}. In general a ppearance and also in
construction 1t much resembles a gas meter; it has only
one moving part, namely, the drum, though it also requires at least one ball valve for regulating the supply of
water to it. The meter was again descrioed in the Proceedings of 1882, page 41. It is very accurate d own to
the smallest dribble, and will work a long time without
requiring repairs. The g_uantity delivered by the smaller
sizes is, however, rather hmited, for a -in. meter is only
rated to pass a maximum of 100 gallons per hour, a !-in.
200 gallons, and a 1-in. 400 gallo.ns per hour, or about onet~ird as much ~ meter3 of other kinds. In the larger
s1zes the supply 1B taken t hrough two or more orifices of
exactly the same diameter, bu t only that portion which
passes through one of the apertures is me asured, and the
t otal flow is com puted by multiplication in the clockwork.
It would seem that large er rors (plus or minus) could
easily a.coumuln.te by such an arrangement, through one
?r mo~e. of t~e openings becomi!lg .Pa rtly obstr1oted by
1mpunt1es ; mdeed, the author 1s mformed that snob is
actually. the c~e, when the water ~s not quite clean (see
Mr. E llmgton s paper on "Hydrauhc Power Supply " in
the Proceedings of this Institution, 1895, page 365). '
The " BasC\ule," Fig. 2, is another weter of the lowprt>ssure type. Like the "Parkinson " it has only one

c!l-r~, in filling large tanks (without ball valves), or for

stmllar purpos.es. When, however1 the flow of water

throu~h them 1B frequently slow, t_he1r registration is very
nnsat1sfactory, as the fan or turbme then lags behind or
stops entirely, while the water passes through freely
Probably .the oldest, and certainly the best known of thi~
type was m vented by the late Sir William Sieme~s in or
about 1850. Two distinct kinds of this type are made
n~mely, the "Turbine," Fig. 3, and t he "Fan " meters:
Ftg .. 4. In the first the wat~r enters through the top of a
vertLCal!y pl~ced wheel w1th tur~inesh~ped bucket8 ,
a~d bemg d1s~harged from these m a d1agonal directiOn, the react10n of the water turns the wheel which
thereby actuates the clockwork of the dial. Retarding
va~es on the . wheel prevent it from running too
qU1ckly at the ~tgher speeds. The footstep, also tlie top
of. the ~heel-.spmdle, and th~ clockwork was lubricated
wtth oil, wh10~ ~anno~ readily escape. The clockwork
arrangement IS mgemous and effective. The "Fan "
m~ter, like t~at .of. the "Tu~bine" class, has an upright
spm~le, and IS stmtl~rly. fu~mshed, but the wheel is driven
by. Jets of wa~r 1mpmgmg on vanes secured to the
s pmdle. In thiB country the turbine t ype is chiefly used
and abroad thab. of t.he fan type. The Siemens meter;
were fully desortbed m the paper which the inventor read
~efore the membe.rs of this Institution i n 1854 (Proceedm gs, page 6), and m Mr._J. J . Tylor's paper (Proceedings,
1882, page 43), and also m the paper read by the late Mr.

E N G I N E E R I N G.
VOLUME
. 6..
F '1J

tl

HRSY."

F in7
~v .

OR

CAPACITY

uCROWN ...

Fig.8.

[FEB.

WATER

..
8.

2, I

900.

METERS.
FifJ-9.

KENT

''uNIFORM~'

---

5ZU.F.

r~newa~ of parts ; though how new parts of standard from the tunn.el mouth is 16 gallons per second, 2 gallons

dtmenstons can fit old and worn parts, where no adjustment is possible, it is difficult to understand. It appears
from recent comments in the American press that the unreliability of. these meters to record accurately the small
flow~ (to pn vate houses, &c.) is being more and more recogmsed. When the water is nob very clean, is rather
har_d, o~ for so~e time stagnant, the meter will set fast,
wh~e still allowm~ a large quantity to pass- of course, unregiStered. J udgmg from their general construction, and
from reports of their workings, as well as from the author's
own experiments, he fails to detect any advantage to be
obtained from the use of these meters O\'er those of the
" Inferential'' type. Indeed, he has come to the conclusion that they do not equal in accuracy a well-made
and maintained Siemens meter.
4. Th_e Venturi. - The possibility of constructing the
Ventun meter 1s due to the practical absence of loss of
bead in the ma.in, which is contracted and again expanded by means of properly formed cones. The difference between the pressure where the water is passing
through the main pipe before arrivmg ab the meter and
whe~e it is passing ~hrough the neck of the tub 3, f~rrns
the mdex for ga.ugmg tne flow. These facts were di~
covered. over 100 years ago by the Italian philosopher
Ventur1, and the meter has been perfected by Mr.
Clemens Hers~el, o.f America... It has no moving parts,
except the. re~IStenng gear, drtven by clockwork ; it is
cheap cons1~enng the large volume of water it deals with,
and for ordmary rates of flow in water mains it is said
to be verr accurate, and it is certainly most convenient
and usefu ; but it must, of course, not be used below its
rated capacity.
. 5. Waste-Detec~i.fJn Meter~.-A very simple and effecttve meter of thlS class, Ftg. 10, has been invented by
Mr. G. F. Deacon, of Liverpool, and it is in very extended use. ?-'he water enters t.h e upper (and smaller)
end of a cono1da.l tube (though 1n some of the meters it
passes upwards from below), in which is mounted on a.
rod a. circnla.r disc, so as to be able to move freely up
a~d d?wn. As. the flow inc~ea.ses t~e qisc will fall, and
will riSe when 1t decreases; 1ts mot10n ts communicated
to a pencil outside the meter by a thin metallic cord
passing through a gland, and suttably connterweigh ted.
The movements of the pencil are traced on a. sheet of
moving paper with diviSions representing hours (generally 24). A diagram is thus traced which indicates to
the initiated the varying flow through the main, and the
exact rate in gallons ~r hour can be measured for any
time of the day or mght, and by these means waste is
readily detected. The total quantity passed is often
computed by a. special attachment; and ca.n be read off
on dials as in ordinary meter.;. Several meter manufacturers make atta~hments to their instrumente for obtaining similar results, and this is effected by causing a. uniformly moved strip of paper to become marked with a.
line for every lOO gallons passed. This is, of course,
convenient for many purposes; bub for general waste
detection and locating, especially in large mains, the
"Deacon" apparatus seems the more convenient.

Henry Gill before the Institution of Civil Engineers in

1891 (vol. cvii., page 203). In the latter paper is described
an arrangement for causing the jets of water to strike the
vanes of the fan meter always at the same velocity, with the
view of causing the meter to register the small flows a.saccu.
ratelya.s thelargeflows; buttheauthordoesnob think this
plan is a. snccess, as the floatin~ cylinder (or shuttor) is
liable to set fast, if the meter is 1dle or is only registenng
a constant flow for any length of time. Attempts have
often been made to obtain the same accuracy at all speeds
of the inferential meter by combining a large and a small
one, but the author has no P,eraonal knowledge of the
efficiency of this plan. The ' T ylor Inferential," Fig. 5,
is another well-kaown meter (Proceedinga, 1882, page 45);
it is of the fan type and the wheel is sometimes made of
vulcanite, so that it practically floats in wa ter ; and the
step has, therefore, no weight to carry, but only acts as a.
gentle guide.
Quite a. number of other types of inferential meters are
made and used, especially abroad ; they are far too
numerous to mention, much less to describe. There is
probably no very great difference in the value of the
various types of mferentia.l meters; vulcanite should
count favourably in their construction, but they all fail
to register small flows, yet in spite of this a.cknowledged
defect they are habitually employed for measuring house
services (and other dribblin~ supplies) with the result
that the registered consumptiOn, even in a water-closet
town, is quoted at only 5 gallons per head per dar, and
less (see Mr. Gill's paper, Proceedings, Institut10n of
Civil Ensineers, 1891, vol. crii., page 39) ; whereas in
reality thlS should be nearer 15 or even 25 gallons per
head per day than five.
3. VolurM or Capacity Meters. -These meters are
almost exclusively made in the United States of
America., and their use is chiefly confined to that
country, though some are also used here. In construction they are, broadly speaking, all the same, as they
consist of a ca.sing of either gun-met~l or vulcanite, in
(To be continued.)
which works a. vulcanite block, serving both as piston and
va.l ve. They very seldom possess any provision for taking
up wear, and the parts are therefore difficult and expenTHE SIMPLON TUNNEL.
sive to repair. Hence (though they profess to measure
ON Friday, J a.nua.ry 26, at a meeting of the students of
the volume passing through them), as they are not tight
even when new, they cannot measure small flows, and the Institution of Civil Engineers, Mr. J. A. MacDonald,
their leaky condition is necessarily augmented by wear. M. Inst. C. E., in the chair, a. paper on "The ConstrucTheir merits appear to be simplicity, small size, lightnesg, tion of the Simplon Tunnel," by Mr. C. B. Fox, B. A ,
and cheapness, and for large flows they are said to be Stud. Inst. C.E., was, in the absence of the author, read
very accurate. The "Heraey," Fig. 6, the " Crown," by Mr. J. D. C. Couper, Stud. Inst. C.E. The following
Fig. 7, the " Bee " or "Thomson," Fig. 8, the Kent is an abstract of the paper :
" In this paper is described the work upon the scheme
"Uniform, " Fig. 9, the " N ash," and some other belong to
this class. everal of these meters, such as the ''Bee" and put forward by the Jura-Simplon Railway, in 1881, to
others, are of the di.ec type, and are founded on the E_atent connect Italy and Switzerland by a. railway near the
taken out in this country in 1830 by Edward and James Simplon-road Pass, by piercing the Alps between Brigue,
Dakeyne, for an engine or pump; and later by Davis the present railway terminus in the Rh one Valley, and
ar d Bishop. Only in the Kent "Uniform " has an Iselle, on the Italian side, in the gorge of the Diveria,
at~mpt been ma.de to compensate f_or wear, by means of from which village the rail way will descend to the
a. lever adjustable by a. set screw agamst the edge of ~he existing southern terminus, at D omo d'03Sola, a distance
oval piston-block. The part of the lever, however, wh10h of about 11 miles.
"The galleries have proceeded about 2 miles, and at
bears against the piston is tipped with glass, ~ mat~rial
quite unsuited for such work on account of 1ts hnttle the north end a dark a.rgillaceous schist vei ned with
nature, and, further, the lever is not automatically ad quartz, with beds of gypsum and do!omite, have been
justed to the wear. Most, if not alJ, the other meters of traversed, the dip of the strata on the whole being favourthe "Volume " type can only be repaired by mechani- able to progress, though timberin~ was resorted to at
cal manipulations requiring high skill, or sometimes by dangerous places. The total quanttty of water flowing

per second bemg accounted for by the drilling machines.

Ab I~l~e, however, a. very hard Antigorio gneiss obtains,
and ts hkely to ~xtend about 4 miles. It, ho'!ever, presents no great dtfficulty to the Bra.ndt rock drllls, which
work under a head of 3280 ft. of water. The author gives
a. description of the survey and alipment of the tunnel
and of the general features of the hne, &c. The work at
each end of the tu~nel is carried on quite independently,
Lw_o parallel h.ea.dmgs, each 59 square feet m section,
bemg first dnven by means of the Brandt drilling
machines and dynamite, and the first heading being then
enlar~ed to the full size. On the Italian side, where the
rock ts hard and compact, breakups are made at intervals
of 50 yards. No timbering is required, except to facilitate the excavation and the construction of the side walls.
Steel centres are employed for the arch. At the Brigue
end a softer rock is encountered, so that at times heavy
timbering is required in the final excavation to full size.
Full descri_ption is given by the author of the methods
employed m the excavation and forth~ transport of materials.
" The Bra.ndb rock drill is described in detail, and an
account is given of the station at which the water power
is developed. On the Italian side a. dam, 5 ft. high, haa
been thrown across the Diveria at a. point about 3 miles
above the site of the installation, the total power developed being about 2000 horse-power on the turbine
shaft. The water is conducted from the Diveria by a
metallic conduit, and is supplied to the rock drills at a
pressure of 100 atmospheres by four pairs of high-pressure pumps driven by two Pelton turbines of 250 horse
power each."
The paper concludes with a. description of the arrange
ments for ventilating the tunnel dunng construction. A
discussion followed, in which Messrs. E. D. Kibble, J.
Rick man, H . Leader, C. M . Skinner, R. W. V a.wdrey,
B. A., and J. A. Ryan took part.
NEw ZEALAND IaoN SAND.-Some years since great eX
pectations were entertained of the commercial value of
1ron sand deposits at Onehunga, on the west coast of New
Zealand. Iron works were erected at the place, which it
was thought would in time supply the entire Australasian market with merchant bars and plates. The
venture was, however, unsuccessful, and the plant haa
just been sold by the Ba.nk of New Zealand to a capitalist of Wellington.
THE LATE MR. JOH N SHORT, SuNDEBLANo. - :Mr. John
Short, head of the shipbuilding firm of Messrs. Short
Brothers, died s uddenly on the 24th ult., in his office at
Sunderland. Mr. Short was in his office discussing
matters with Mr. Willia.m Allan, lV!.P., when he suddenly aank back in his chair and ex~ired. He was
56 years of age. Besides his shipbuiJdlDg business at
Pallion, he was largely interested in the timber trade,
and was a. director of the W estoll line ot steamers, the
largest in Sunderland, and a. member of the firm of
Messrs. Lowther, L atta., and Co. He was also .chairman
of the Shipowners' So01ety and a. member of the River
Wear Commission and of the Sunderland Town Council.
He was recently asked to stand as one of the Liberal
candidates for Sunderland at the next general election,
but he declined.

CATALOGUES.-The American Blower Company, of 70,

Gracechurch-street, London, E. C, have sent us a copy of
their new cabalo~ue of kilns for timber dryin~ and seasoning.-A new prtce list of carbons for arc hghts and of
copper-carbon dynamo brushes has been issued by Messrs.
Pollard and Co., of 5, Sb. Nicholas Buildin_gs, Newcastleon-Tyne.-Messrs. R. E. Ha.ttersley and Co., of Halifax
and Bradford, have sent us a copy of their new list of
mill cutters, end mills, shell reamers, rose bits, and
similar tools, of which they are manufacturers.-We have
received from the Klein Engineering Company, Limited,
of South Parade, :Manchester, a. copy of their new cata
logue, which contains illustrated descriptions of the coolers
and condensers s upplied by the firm.-Messrs. :Michaelsen
and Heine, of 61 and 62, Gracechurch-street, E .C, have
sent us a cata.logue describing an iron cement they have
recently introduced into this country, and which is, they
assert, superior to cement, sulphur, or lead for fixing
levers, bolt3, and the like, and is applicable to many other
purposes.

FEB.

2,

1900.]

"ENGINEERING" ILLUSTRATED PATENT

RECORD.

ling Moving Objects. [1 0 Figs.] December 13, 1898. (Con- the injection of superheated steam, and ~ppar~tus a~plicable
vention date, July 9, 1898.)- This is a. proposal to use any kind of respectively to pubhc aLd prhate lighting, m ~hdch a::tah t].~;

waves which may be propagated through space for controlling

moving machinery at a distance. After two pages of preliminary
description, the applicant says : "Finally, I may avail myself,
in carrying out my invention, of electrical oscillations which do
CoMPILED BY W. LLOYD WISE.
not follow any particular conducting path, but propagate in
SELECTED ABSTRACTS OF REOENT PUBLISHED 8PEOIFICATIONB straight
lines through space, of rays, waves, pulses, or disturUNDER THE ACTS 1888-1888.
bances of any kind, napable of bringing the mechanism of t he
The mtmber of vi~ws given 1:n the Specification Drawi71{J_S is ~ta te~ moving body into action from a. distance and at t he will of the
in each case; 'Uihere ?lo-ne are mention~d, the Specification t8 operat or by their effect upon suitable controlling devices ;"
not illustrated.
and further, "my invent ion in ils broad features is not limited
7

Where inventions me comm.ttnicated f rom abroa.d, the 11 ames, d:c.,

of the Communicators a1e given in italics.
eo ie.s of Specificatio-ns may be obtained at the Patent OOice Sale
~ranch S6 Southampto-n Bttildings, Chancery-la1te, 0., at
the unlf~ price of Bd.
The date of the advertisement of the a-cceptance OJ a complete
Specification is, in each case, given cifter the .abs~rac.t, unless the
Patent ha.s been sealed, 'when the date of sealtrno ts g1,ven.
An.y person ~ay at any time within two munths from th~ da~ of
the adve1ttsement of tiLe acceptance of a ~~rnplete Spectfication,
give notice at the Patent Office of opposttton to the grant of a
Patent on any of the grounds mentioned in tlte A ct.

21,S5t. H. Aron. Berlin, Germany, and the Aron

Electricity Meter, Limited, London. Winding Apparatus for Meter Clocks. [2! Figs.] October 25, 1899. -

'fhis invention relates to improvements in appnratus for electrically winding springs, of the class described in specification
No. 24 873, of 189t I t is stated that in use the apparatus construe~ as described and claimed in the said specification has
not proved satisfactory, for the reason that t he small spiral spring

~ebru ary 4, 1899.- The charge chambers of many breecbloadmg

guns being made la rger in diameter t han t he bore of. the gun or
the breech opening into t he chamber (so that. no entue blo~k or
piece for centring the small barrel of a Morris tube can be.mtroduoed at either end of the chamber), this invention provJdes a
centring piece which is small enough to pass through the breech
inlet into the charge chamber, and can then be expanded so as to
fit the chamber. For this purpose, t he Morris tube has fitted on
it two bosses at some distance apar t connected together_by three
radial wings in which are fi tted sliding pieces. These pieces are
drawn inwards so that t he whole can be passed through the s~a:n
opening into the charge chamber and then, when t_he barrel lS m
its proper pos:tion, the sliding pieces are moved radially outwards,

J\9.2.

---

J:l{J.Z.
to the special mode and appliances which I have dev:sed." Various
forms of apparatus of the Marconi class are t hen described at
~reat length, and specified a~ being combined with relaying and
electro-magnetic apparatus to ~e used 01_1 ships and vehi cl~s f~r
various purposes. There are thirteen claims, t he first of which lS
as follows : " The improvement in the a rt of contl'olling the movements and operation of a vessel or vehicle herein described,
which consists in produc ing wa,es or disturbances which are conveyed to the vessel by the na.tural media, actuating suitable
apparatus on the vessel and affecting the control of t he propelling engine, the steering and other mechanism by the opera
tion of the apparatus, as set for th." (.A ccepted December 27,
1899.)

GAS ENGINES, PRODUCERS, HOLDERS. &c.

17,210. M. Otto, Neuilly-sur-S~ine, France. Explosion Engine Flywheels. [3 Ftgs.] Augus~ ~4, 18.99.

(Convention date February 24, 1899.)- According to tbts mventJOn

the flywheel of a .gas engine is formed as or ca~ries th~ rotat~ng
portion of a contmuous-current dynamo elect l'10 machme wh10h
IS also capable of acting as a motor, the stationary portion of the
0

[1 Fig.) February 13, 1899.-This frictional powertransmitting

gear comprises four wheels- the driven wheel, the driving
wheel, and two stress balancing or pressure wheels. The driving
wheel is mounted iu a frame which is capable of slight play,
a.nd the normal tendency is for driving and driven wheels to be
out of contact. On the periphery of the driving wheel upon the
far side from the driven wheel are the points of contact with the

26,724. S.

- The metal is deposited by electrolysis, upon a rapidly rotated

vertical mandril of conducting material, which forms the cathode
of an electrolytic cell ; apparatus such as that described In the
applicant's prior specification, No. 21,974, of 1898, being preferably
employed. A cord of rubber or other material wbich will not
receive a copper deposit is helioally wound around the mandril,
the copper being deposited between the turns of the cord as a continuous helical strip or wire of any desired thickness, to facilitate
the removal of which, the mandril may be coated with a thin film
of wax varnish. The mandril is revolved at a speed of about
2)00 revolutions per minute, its p eripheral velocity being preferably not less than 1000 ft. per minute. The copper deposited on
the cathode may be derived either from a copper anode acted on
by. the electrolyte, or from the electrolysis of a copper salt, in dynamo being attached to or formed integral with the frame o(
wh10h latter case the anode need not be acted upon during the
the eng ine. A storage battery and switches, and . movable
passage of t he current. (Accepted J anuary 3, 1900.)
brushes are provided so tho.t the current supplied may be used for
25,59!. D. F. Pugrue, D. James, and G. Mitchell, ignition purposes, aud that the stored current may be used for
Swansea. Bonding Tram RaUs. [4 Figs.] December 6 starting the engine. The preferred construction of dynamo is
1898..- Thi~ invention _relates to a tool for the purpose of described and illustrated. (.Accepted December 27, 1899.)
bondmg rails for electnc tramways, and consists of a lever
18,241. E. Cervenka, Prague, Germany. Incanhaving a right-angle attachment to hold a dolly which acts
with sufficient pressure on the elbow or the bond to keep it descence Gas Lamp. [6 Figs.) September 9, 1899.- This
scurely in place whilst h.einl(' expanded.. The dolly is a sepa invention relates to an incandE;scence gas lamp and burner, in
rate part of the tool and Is m!l.de to fi t m a slot on t r.e r 'ght- which a gas-supply tube of metal or partly of metal and partly of
glass, surrounded by a combined glass globe and chimney, provided with air inlet openings, terminates 1n a. burner cylinder, in
which the gas, entering through small branch tubes, is intimately
mixed with air by baffles spirally arranged around a. central pin,
the mixture passing a central outlet at the top of the cylinder,
V

and then through a wire nett ing or perforated plate to the mantle.

The outer gl~be o~ bulb enclos~s an inner cylindrical tube : these

~
P0 '~( 1-I
two parts betng either made m one or connected together, and
....:
the air inlets a re formed either in the upper part of the globes or in

the part where it is connected with the inner oylinder. Accord,....

Fj . 3 .
ing to a modification of the invention, there a re substituted for
' -1
the spirally arranged baffles, cylinders with contracted upper ends
ll
I
and lateral air inlets, one such cylinder being placed over each
fl,l.,..,
branch supply pipe, and a spreading hood or plate is placed between these cylinders and the top of t he burner. A further modiangle part of the lever, the said slot being for the purpose of fication is described in which an adjustable vertical mixing tube
allowing the dolly to be moved up or down to take either an upper is substituted for the branch pipes and baffles, or mix ing cylinders.
or lower bond, where they are required to be single, and the dolly The lamps may be arranged either singly or in series or groups,
is also made so that it may be reversed to either end of the and are said to be suitable for use in place of elect r ic incandescence
bond: To hold the lever in position a hinged claw cramp is used lamps, which they in some degree resemble in their external form.
to ~rtp the top of the rail, and forming the fulcrum against which (.Accepted Janua?y 3, 1900.)
the lever acts, to keep the dolly in place against the elbow of the
bond. (Accepted Decembe1 27, 1899 )
13,674. P. G. de Schodt, Namur, Belgium. Incandescent Gas Lighting and Heating. [a Figs.] July 1,
26,371. N. Testa, New Vork Oity, U.S.A. CQntrol 1$99,-Fl~me~ of a. hi~h tempert\.ture are obtained by means of

ElPJ

o.

CowperColes, Westminster. Manu

facture of Copper Wire or Strip. December 19, 1898.

-E

all equally, till they press against the interior surfa~e of the charge
chamber, thus holdmg the small barrel or Morr1s tube firmly
centred. For moving the sliding pieces inwards and outwards
they are connected by an inclined link at each end to two nuts
that can be moved longitudinally by turning the barrel which has
right and left-threaded parts on which these nuts are fitted. When
the barrel is turned in the one direction the uuts are made to
approach each other, causing the links to take a more and more
inclined direction, thus drawing t he slidin~ pieces inwards ; when
the barrel is turned in the opposite directiOn, the nuts are made
to move apart, causing the links to take a direction more and more
towards the perpendicular to the axis, thus pushing the sliding
pieces outwards. Modifications are provided. Specifications 4841
of 1883 and g366 of 1885 are referred to. (.Accepted December 27
1899.)

MACHINE AND OTHER TOOLS, SHAFTING, &c.

3180. J. C. Bowell, London. Friction Gearing.

FU].1.

serving to conduct the current from the coil of the electromagnet, or solenoid, to the swinging armature is liable to break,
thus opening the electric circuit and interrupting the motion of
the apparatus. The object of the present invention is to provide
means whereby this objection is avoided, and the device is
clearly illustrated in the drawings of the specification. It is
stated that the new arrangement of the spring allows ready
access for fitting and repairs. (A ccepted December 27, 1899. )

pera.ture is thus attained, are illustrated an . escr1 e .

.
public lighting purposes a small boil~ of spe01al construc~10~ 1 ~
arranged in the upper part of an ordmary stree~ la~p, an s t.P
plied with water under pressure, the level of which lS a~toma_. l C
ally regulated. When the burner is lighted the water IB r9:p1dly
vaporised, the steam therefrom issuing tc;> the_ ~urner, 'Yh10h is
of a. known form, compr ising a parabohc mi~mg _devlOe su~
mounted by an inverted truncated cone. Mod~ficat~ons. of th~
apparatus adapted to the purposes of private tllummatlOn an
heating a re des?ribed and illustrated. It is proposed to em~lo):
in some cases mst ead of steam, vapours of alcohol or b y ro
carbonq or a~y other suitable vapour, or gas under pressure,
such as ~cetylene or car bonic acid . (Accepted J anuany 3, 1900.)

GUNS AND EXPLOSIVES.

2568. Morris Tube Company, Limited, and J . H.
Wyatt, London. Practice Tubes for Guns. [6 Fif!s.]

ELECTRICAL APPARATUS.
JC L. Anderson, St. Louts, U.S.A. Electric

Gener~tors. December 16, 1899.- This invention relates to a

rimary battery in which carbon is the elemen t acted upon and
~onsumed. The' electrolyte consists of hydroftuoric a cid, wit.h
which boric acid is mixed, to enable glass cells to be used. Thts
electrolyte does not act on the electrodes, one of which consists
of carbon, while the other may be either ~rhon, metallic .lea~,
lead peroxide, o~ othe~ unattackable materu:1.l. Oxygen. which IS
stated to COmbme Wlth the carbon electrode, producmg 00 .,,
which rises in bubbles, is supplied either by the other electrode
(as in the case when lead peroxi~e is ~sed), or by the addition of
an oxidising agent, such as chromic amd, to the electrolyte. Lead
peroxide when used, it is stated, may be reoxidised at intervals
by dippi~g it into nit ric acid. When both electrodes consist of
carbon the oell is di vided by a " porous diaphragm," chromic
acid being added on t hat side only of the diaphragm on which the
ne~ative element is situated. (.Accepted J amta'MJ 8, 1900. )

F*WT.

-w.

22 666

171

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

balnncin~

or pressure wheels, one being above and one below the

horizontal plane through the axis. The balancing or pressure
wheels a re carried in movable frames worked in unison, so that
they may be made to ap~roach or recede from the drivin~ wheel.
They may also have a shght play in their bearings, in order that
when pressed a~a.inst the driving wheel they shall be forced
slightly outwards with relation to the driven wheel, thus tightening to the maximum the belt travelling around them and the
driven wheel. (Accepted December 27, 1899.)

MINING, METALLURGY, AND METAL

WORKING.
1694. H. H. Grenfell, London. Alloys. January 24

1899.-This invention relates to the manufacture of alloys of iron,

steel, copper, and other metals with vanadium. The valuable
properties of such a.llo.vs are stated to be well known, as is also
the purifying effect which is exercised by sodium, in consequence
of its rapid oxidation. According to this invention both sodium
and vanadium are added to the molten metal, either simultaneously or separately, in the metallic strLte, or as salts ; or
ferro-sodium and ferro-vanadium, or an alloy of these may be
employed. It is stated that the process is adapted to be worked
on a large scale, and that in consequence of the purilying properties of the sodium, it is not necessary that the iron should be
in a very pure condition before the vanadium is added. The
proportions of the component metals vary according to the metal
chiefly employed, and the mode of t reatment adopted ; certain
percentage compositions are, however, given by way of example,
the invention not being limited thereto. (Accepted Jan uary 3,
1900.)

RAILWAYS AND TRAMWAYS.

21,639. E. de Pass, London. (La Soc~U des Priens A t'tomatiques "Stop," Par-is, P ra;nce.) Automatic Brakes. [1 Fig.]
October SO, 1899.- This invention has for object to provide an autc matic arrangement for operating rope and cord brakes and for
shoe brakes, more especially for use on rail ways. According to
one arrangement eo.oh of the wagon buffers is coupled by a connecting rod to a lever movable about a pivot. To one of the ends
of the lever is attached the end of a rope brake, t he other end of
which is secured to the frame of the vehicle. This rope controls
the operating device of the brake shoes. At the other end, each
of the levers bears against a spring which tends to push it back
to keep the brake out of action, so that the brake cannot act so
long as the speed of the vehicle is equal to that of the vehicles be tween which it is placed ; but as soon as the carriage tends to run
quicker than that which precedes it 1 or slower than tha.~ which

172

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

follows it , oue or '>ther of the buffers is t hrust inward and this

movement brings about the comp1 es~ion oft he ~pring, the rotation
ot the lever , and consequent ly the }JUtting or. of the brake. It is
stated t hat the braking of one vehicle will therefot e effect t he brak

over common r oo.ds, and its object is to maintain the boiler in an

approximately horizon tal position when passing over inclined
surfaces to prevent the upper t ubes bei ng exposed a.t t he smoke
box end, and t he water from leaving lhe firebox uncovered, thus
preventing overheating or the melti ng of the safety plug. The
underside of the smokebox has an attached cylinder, whose lower
end is solid, forming a. plunger or piston , which slides freely in a.
concentr ic CJlinder fas tened to the uuder-carriage, to which is

[FEn.

2,

rgoo.

said cooling. Around the cylinder or its waterjacket are placed

ribs form ed of thin strips of copper wound spirally, and clamped
or other wise attached t hereto, and t he flywheel is s~ placed that
its rim comes near the ad mission and exhaust valves at the ex
plosion end of t he cy linder, the rim , a nd preferably the spokE:s
being provided with \~ebs or flanges, so as to create a draught
fanning effect ; the wheel ma.y be of large diameter, and built up
of ~ trips of meta l. The flywheel, when desired, may rotate upon

o:

......... -------------- .... ,

'-----------------------~)

Fig . 7.

lng of the following veh io~es succeslvely, so that it is sufficient for

t he brakesman to bra.ke the tender in ord er to stop the whole
t rain. At the st arting of t he t rain, t h e buffers regain their position under the action of their springs, and t he brakes a re taken
off. (Accepted December 27, 1899.)

STEAM ENGINES, BOILERS, EVAPORATORS, &c.

3107. The Hon. C. A. Parsons, Beaton, Newcastleon-Tyne. Feed-Water Beaters. [3 Figs. ] February 11,

. . 2~:_...:;.-':):--:.:::::.:;..---:..-_-:.,-...-..-..-:.-:::...-_-)
.
FUJ
. . .....I '
.,
...-"'
I

'~
-i

--

/~~

... -

- - .. \ .

- 0

'

. ......
'

11

1899.- This inventio.n relates to steam feed-water heaters, t he

steam being ultimately condensed by a surface or jet condenser.
The invention is stated to be specially applicable to feed -water
heaters used with marine engines where steam is supplied to the
feed -water heater from the exhaust of the auxiliary engines. In
feedwater heaters so connected the temperature of the steam is
rapidly r educed hecause of t he reduction of steam pressu re
towards the pressure wit hin the surface condenser. The object
of the invention is to maintain t he pressure of the steam while it

"

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

-------------------a vertical axis, so thn.t it lies in a. horizontal plane and near the
g round u nder a framework of th e vehicle, where, when required
for cooling purposes, it is exposed to the free current of air
underneath, which it ser ves to d ivert on to the cylinders. By
this disposition t he weight of the flywheel is brought low down,
thus lowering the cent re of g ravity of the whole vehicle, the
stability of which is stated to be also increased by the gyroscopic
action of th e flywheel. (A ccepted Decembe:r 27, 1899.)

18,96L W. Batnes, London. Internal Combustion

affixed t he axle carrying the front wheels. The space betwern th e Engines. [4 Figs. ] September 5, 1898.- Tbis invention relates
cylinder and plunger is coupled by a tube to a force pump,
arrranged in convenient proxm1ity to t he engine-dr iver, which
when operated by means of a bell-cra nk lever , draws water
from a lank and forces it through the tube, lifting the boiler
to the desired t rim, when t he water is a llowed to escape the
smokebox and front end of t be boiler descend. Mod ifications
ar e provided. (Accepted December 27, 1899.)

to t he vaporisers of internal combustion engines, and in combin

in~ them with t he exhaust in the form of a silencer. To accom
phsh t his a vessel of cylindrical form is employed, into which the
exhaust from the engine is deli\ered, and placed t herein is a helical
coil or U shaped pipe, through wbicb is passed the hydrocarbon

----------------------- ....
"- ______----- ---- -...... ....... ;~

'"\

...

....

21,154. L. Szekelyhidy, Szolnock, Hungary. OscUlating Valve Gear. [8 lf'igs. ] October 23, 1899. -This inven-

...

tion relates to t he det ails of construc tion of a compensated oscil

00 00

Fifj.1.

is within the feed-water heater , and lh<reby to beat the fe , d

water to a. higher temperature than is other wise possible. A r e
sistance is interposed between the feed-water heater and the
condenser by means of a loaded valve which allows steam to dis
charge to the condenser only when it attains t he desired pr es
sure. According to one arra ngement t he exhaust steam from
the auxiliary engines of a. ship passes to the feed-water heater,
a. loaded or relief valve being fi tted on t he overflow Ateam pipe,
'
which passes from the heater to the ship's main condenser or bot
welL It is stated that t he additional hack pressur e thrown on to lating slide valve motion ar:d a moditlration thereof, and of
the auxiliar7 engines is of little importance, as they are generally a.ctua.tiog mechanism for use with va lves having such motion.
non-expanstre. (Accepted Decembe'r 27, 1899.)
The valve and actuating motion ar e full y illustrated and de
4309. C. D. Abel. London. (Compagnie Oompteurs a scribed. (.Accepted December 2i, 1899.}

Gaz, PariR, Fra1tcP. ) Feeding BoUer Furnaces. [4 Fiqs.)

February 27, 1899.-This invention relates to means of sup{>ly m ~

fu el to boiler and other furn aces and removing the ash a nd cho kers
r esulting from the combust!on. For t his p~rpose the fuel. is
raised by an elevator and delivered on a contmuously tra.velhng
apron which conveys it o,er a hopper having a. shute descending
behind the boiler to t he firegra.te below. The g rate has a movement of any known kind by which the fuel as it burns is g radually

TEXTILE MACHINERY.
10,097. A. Lees and Co. and J. Clegg, Oldham,
Lancaster. Winding Arms and Quadrants of Mules
and Twiners. [3 lt igs.] May 13, 1899.--Tbis invention
relo.tes to the conetruction of tht> winding arm a nd quadrant of
seU-acting mule and twiner, and its object is to im prove the
gearing between the teeth on the quadrant and the pinion and to
mi nimise breakage of the same. A central boss is cast on the
quadrant portion , and two or more lugs a re provided in position

...

to be vaporised. A form of vaporiser is n.lso shown, having a

chamber cast or otherwise formed on one side of the exhaust
silencer , and so a rranged t hat the exhaust g.l~es en teri~Jt .it impinge on t he dividing wall, and thus vapon se the 01! to the
chambers. The exhaust gas~s pass from tbe silencer into tbe
atmosphere throug h an asbestos cloth which co,rers the end of the
silencer. (A ccepted December 27, 1899.)

MISCELLANEOUS.
3006. J. Shanks, Barrhead, Renfrew, N.B. Waste
Valves for Sinks and Baths. [2 Figs.] February 1_1,

~
~

I 11 l>-- '
11

j '
I I

.J.

'\

I
I

Fig. l .

...

1899. - Tbis invention has for object to render the waste or d1s
charge apparatus of sinks less liable to derangement, and .to pdro
vide t hem with means for being readily ~leansed;. A co01c~J e
pression is formed at the bottom of t he smk, wh1ch commumca.tes
with t he waste outlet and has a. check or internal shoulder wbtob

I )f':!~}-

1t 1' 1

--------------------- .
'. . ...... ----- --------- ----- .... --'i
' ...

.
I

I I

\ 0

0 0

11
I '0
I 0

o I
0 I

I o
0 I

,,,,
II

11

Fig . Z.

moved forwards towards the fire br idge. The g rate stops short of
t he bridge so t hat t he ash and clinker:s as they pass t he end of the
ate drop'down an incline and are deh vered on to the lower part of
~~e same t ravelling apron a~ th~t w~ich on its ~pp~r part conveys
the fuel. By this apron, wh1ch 18 gUlded up an l!lChne, .the ash and
clinkers are raised to a point where they are dehvere~ 1nto t rucks.
The t ravelling apron may serve for a. ra nge of bo1ler or other
furnaces its upper part conveying fuel t~ t he range of hoppers
and its l~wer part removing the ash and chokers from the succes
sive fires. (Accepted DecemJJer 27, 1899.)

..... __ .. _________
---- -- .. ....
- ,..... '
0

to correspond w i ~h t he lugs on the winding arm. ~be q u.adrant

when cast is put 10 a lathe and bored and turned on 1t8 penphery,
t he t eeth are machine-out. The windi ng arm is fitted to the
quadrant and t he lugs on each part bored to receive turned bolts
by which the q uo.drant and a rm are secured to~ether, so as to
enable the winding arm to be remo\'ed or r eplaced without
disturbing t he short shaft or central stud. (A ccepted December
27, 1899.)

VEHICLES.

supports o. g-ra.tiog, above which is a disc-shaped v~lve bavin_Jt ~

projecting r ing of rubbe_r wh~ch can becot~e seated 10 the comca_
depression, the valve betng hfted by a cbam .. The overflow P~
sage which has a perforated hinged cover at lts top, passes do~n
the 'end of the sink, and enters t he wa8te outlet beoe~th t e
g rating
Modifications a re shown of the method of formlDg the
conica.l:sea.ted vahe, and the mode of coupling the lower waste
pipe to same. (Accepted December 27, 1899. )

UNITED STATES PATENTS AND PATENT PRACTICE.

Descriptions with illustrations of inventions patente? in tb~

United States of America from 1~7 to the. present ttme, ~be
reports of trials of patent law cases tn the Um~ States, ma) rd
consulted, gratis, at the offices of ENGl~EERL~O, 3J and 36, Bedfo
street, Strand.
ARGENTINE hrmc RATION.-Tbe number of immigrant-s

18 960. W. Balnes, London. Motor Road Ve i n to Arge ntina in November, 1899, is re turned a.t 1~,24~,
[1 F ig.] September 6, 1898. -~bis inyention relates as com pared with 12,215 in ~ove?lber, 1898. The tmmt
27 843. R. Gascotgne, Nottingham. . Ro~d Loco- htcies.
to the cooling of the cyhnders of motor veh1ole engmes, and to the
moitves. [6 Figs.] December 27 , 189~. -ThlB m ven ttoo r elll;tes disposition
of the flywheel by which it is caused to assist in the g r ation in D ecembe r, 1899, lS est1mated at 15,000,
to loc motives or traction engines which are used for tra velhng