27,

APRIL

E N G I N E E RI N G.

1900.]

THE DESI GN OF ROTARY

CONVERTERS.*
By H. F. P ARSH.ALL, M. INsT. C.E ., and
H. M . H oBART.
(Concluded from page 501. )
RUNNING CoNDITIONS FOR RoTARY CoNVERTERS.
T HE difference between t hree-phase and six-phase
ndings as regards t he manner of distribution of
~~e conductors of t he differ ent ph~ses over .t he
armature surface, has already been p01nted out 1n a
revious art icle on p age 517 of ENGINEERING for
b otober 27, 1899, and was il_lustrat ed d_i agr~mm~ti
cally in Fig. 14 of t hat a:r twle: B earmg m mtnd
the difference there expla1~ed, 1t sho ~ld ~e f~rther
noted that the so-called s1x-phase w1nd1n~ gtves a
distribution of ~ts armat~re magn et omot1ve force
in accordan ce m th. t he ~1agrams for t h e ~agneto
motive force in mductwn motors, wluch wer e
shown and explained in an article on p age 299
of EriGINEERING, for A ugust 26, 1898. In t his

Jlte. 53.

due to ab sen ce of con t rol of field excitation , except

by means of t h e ar mature r eactions .
The choice of as many t urns p er p ole -p iece on
t h e armature, as good con stan ts, in oth er r espects,
will permit, is, of course, conducive in all t y pes of
rotaries t o t h e best r esult, from t h e standpoint of
securing t he r equired magnetomotive force from
t h e armature with as lit tle idle curren t as possible.
By similar tneth ods t he magnetomotive for ce r elat ion s may b e a nalysed from t he p hase cha racteristics
with load. U nder th ese conditions, i .e., with
current deliver ed from the commutat or, there are
furth er con sideration s : The demagnetising influen ce of t h e commutated curren t may b e n eglected,
as t he brush es r emain at t h e n e ut ral p oint , and
even t h e disto1'ting influence upon th e magnetic
distribut ion, may be consider ed to b e substantially
offset by t h e overlapping enermt componen t of t he
in coming altern ating curren t. The main differen ce
a.pp~a.ring in th e an alysis of t h e p hase character ist ic
wit h load , is t h at t h e energy compon en t , except
wit h very great weakening or strengthening of t h e

Magnetising component= J7452 - 6W = 406 amperes.

. . . .

'th
T he armature has a suc-cu ou1t smgle wmding '!1
180 total turns, therefore 10 turns per pole-p1ece
per phase.
4
Magnetising current per turn = ~~ = 135 amperes.
Maximum magnetomotive force per phase = ,J2 x
135 x 10 = 1900 ampere-turns.
.
Hence maximum of resultan t magnetomot1ve force
of ar mature per pole-piece = 1. 73 x 1900 = 330()
am pare-turns.
3300
Average value over pole face = ,J = 2300 ampere2

t urns.
These ser ve to set up t he same magnetic flux.
t hrough the armature winding, for which 2750
amper e-t urns p er field sp ool were required. The
latt er, h owever, w~re less fa vourably sit uated,
t h ere being much magnetic leak age to b e deduct ed
fr om the init ial fl ux set up.
" Sttlrging" Ejfect.- R efP-rence h as b een made t o
t h e "surg ing " effect in r otary con ver ters as being

SERIES ROTARY

TJtru,P~.

60v

535

2 SO,tcles. 1001fw.m,

7f:rh.

Fie54.

. 170 r~'-"'
~

a,t;(

ROTARY CONVERTER

lW.tlt.oub FiRhL Ex~rv.

,., ,.rJr

2 so

'" '

fJJO

/
~

1/~
./

200

./

[......-'

180
~ ~~

..

'/

""""

rrtrtt~s.

Olt/ (,oil

1&0

140

BOO

120

126"

'

..

::,

..~. .

et

Q)

::;2l ~eres t:

[JU

_Antp~Tv.rns

100

I1J

"'0 ~~

Cl)

If//

~
(/)

l.

Volt6 orv nfUtlllfu".. - sso

11u-00 Phase. TAr.
rrurn1~

80

FieLL 8ooo1J-O
7

00

76v

60

60

.....
4()

20

100

r; ~ ~

~~
0
0

-~

0
, !;3.,tl

100

UO

1~

WO

Continuous Current Amperes output from Commutator.

.... ~ I"'"

'mJ

zo

tU)

60

80

100

120

240

160

180

Continuous Current Amperes output: from Commutator.

article it was shown t hat th e t hree phases. of

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

n ormal field, will b e a. very appreciable compon en t

of t h e total resultan t incoming alternating curren t .
Thus in Fig. 48 (page 499 ante), t h e upper curve
r epresents th e p hase characteristic with full-load
ou tput of 1100 amperes at 115 Yolts from t h e
commutator. At n ormal field of 2750 a mperet urns, t h e a mperes input per collector ring are
1030. Reducing th e field excitation to zero increases t his incoming curren t to 1290 am peres.
The ou t put is 125, 000 watts.
The internal losses under th ese condi tion s of fullload ou tput and zero field excita tion, a re approxi3
effective response t o field variation s wit h but 1. 7
mately as follow :
'
2.00 '
Total armature C2R loss
.. .
...
5, 000 watts
or 87 per cent. as great an incoming current, as will
Bearing and all brush friction
...
2,700 "
a three-phase rotary converter. This is a distinct
Core loss...
.. .
.. .
.. .

2,700 "
.. .
.. .
B rush C2R losses
... 3,500 "
advantage, even for t he shunt -wound, and f or t h e
comp?und-wound rotary, b ut it is still mor e imporTotal internal loss .. .
13,900

tant 1n ~he case of th e series r otar y, and for the

Watts outpub ...
. ..
. .. 125,000 ' '

rotary Without ~eld excitation (which will sh or tly

"
be dtscussed), smce t he chief objection s to t hese
Total watts input ...
... 138,900
1atter types, relate t o t he large incoming curren t
"
Total watts input per phase...
... 46, 300 watts
.. .
...
.. .
V oltage per phase
75 volts
E nergy component of current per
r:rhe previo113 ar ticles of this series will be found in
phase
in
armature
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
..
616 amperes
o~r tssues of September 29, October 13, October 2i
Observed amperes input per colNovember 17, December 8, and December 22 1899 and
lector ring .. .
...
. ..
.. . 1290
of
February
9,
February
23,
and
April
20
of
the
p;esent
year,
"
Observed amperes in armature
winding
.. .
...
. ..
.. . 745

"

chiefly r esp on sible for the d iscrep a ncy b etween the

obser ved current inp u t, when t h e field is a dj ust ed
for minimum inp ut and the en ergy-curren t input .
This a ddit ion al curren t is of the nature of an int erchanging current a mon gst the gen erators and
r otary converters. When, in t h e first place, the
source of p ower driving t he gener ator h as n ot a
con stant ang ular effor t , t h e flywheel may n ot b e
s ufficient ly large t o make t h e an g ula r velocity
uniform t hroughout the r evolut ion.
The rotary converter , t o remain strictly in synchronism, must res pond p erfectly t o t h ose changes
in angular velocity. Of course it cannot d o so p erfe ctly, so the r esult is that at on e inst ant, it lags
behind by a m ore or less small fract ion of an
alternation (dist ance from mid-pole -face p osition),
and tak es more current ; t h en it acceler ates m ore
r apidly, gains on t h e gen erator, and s winging too
far forward, on account of it s m omen t um, acts, for
t he instan t , as a gen er at or, r eturning current to
the source of its s upply. This is the nature of the
superposed current a b ove r eferred to.
According to t h e d egree of unevenness of the
angular speed of the generator, and t o t h e a bsolut e
and relat i-ve inertia of the moving parts of the aenerators and rotary con verter s, t his superposed s;ing~g motion may be more or l ess great , and may,
e1ther b etween generators and rot ary, or between

EN G I N E ER I N G.
rotaries, develop into sympath etic swings of considerable magnitude, l eading, in some case~, to
falling out of phase, but more often to serious and
rather destructive sparking at the commutator, due
to the pulsations. As already pointed out, these
troubles may be remedied in practice by e mploying
copper coils or plates specially located between
pole-pieces, or more easily, but less economically
and effectively, by using wrought-iron pole-pieces
of the highest practicable conductivity, with s mall
clearance between pole-face and armature.
Compound- W ound R otcc,ry.-The purpose of t he
compounding coil (series winding) h as already been
set forth (see page 783 of ExG I~EERI~G for Decelnber 22, 1899), and it m erely remains to st ate that
in pra.ctice it has been found to distinctly dimini h
the tendency to stability when the '~surging"
effect is present to a n y extent. Nevertheless, it is
an aiel to automatic phase regulation, being, of
course, more especially valuable where quick
changes of load are cons tantly occurring, as in the
operation o f tramways.
For gradually varying
load, pure shunt excitation with hand regulat ion is
more satisft.Lctory, unless the generator is driven
with an extremely uniform angular m otion .
The current delivered from the conunutator of a
r otary converter, is never very uniform ; it has
always a superposed alternating-current component,
which may be readily demonstrated by sending s uch
a commutated current t hrough a rea.ctance coil of
sufficient inductance, when there may be observed
across the terminals of the coil (by an alternatingcurrent voltmeter) a difference of potential many
times in excess of the CR drop. Although this is
best observed by means of the drop across it, such a
r eactance coil tends to eliminate the e variation ,
and they are much less than whe n no inductance is
in circuit. A compound winding will, t o a certain
degree, have this same effect, and while the diffic ulties attending its use are probably partly due
to this effect, it should, at the same time, in some
measure tend to make the commutated current
more free from superposed variations. The series
winding is cut out when starting up from the continuous- current side, and this is conveniently
accomplished by a d ouble-throw switch, which in
one p osition connects the junct ion of t he series
winding, and t h e negative brushes to the starting
rheostat, a nd in t he other position connects this
point with the equalising ba r.
Series R ota.ry.- The shunt winding may be dispensed wit h altogether, in a rotary converter, t he
excitation being supplied by the series winding
alone. The conditions, h owever, are not satisfactory, as the excitation is controlled entirely by
the load current, and from what we have learned
by a study of phase characteristics, such wide variation of e xcitation cannot be made to give an economical p ower factor for any extended range of load.
Curves taken upon a 550-volt, lOO-kilowatt rotary,
op erated in this manner, are given in Fig. 53.
R ota1y withont F ield E.ccitation.-A rotary with
no field winding, supplies its excitation by virtue
of the magnetising effect of the lagging currents
flowin g through its armature, and which enter from
the collector rings. In Fig. 54 is given a curve of
t h e alternating-current in terms of the continuouscurrent output for t he above-mentioned lOO-kilowatt
r otary when operated wit h no field excitation. In
t his case, the excitation of the generator wa<5 raised
from 5500 ampere-turns per spool, when n o amper es
were deli vered from the commutator of the rotary
converter, up to 7000 ampere-turns per spool, at fullload amperes d elivered from the commutator of the
rotary converter. This served to maintain the commutator potential of the rotary, constant at 550 volts,
throughout the whole range of load. This incr eased
excitation of the gen erator, was necessary, a3 it also
was of only lOO-kilowatt capacity, and the large d emagnetising magnetomoti ve force of t he lagging
armature current acting against its o wn impre sed
field, required to be overcome by the increa .. e of
field excitation from 5500 to 7000 ampere-turns per
spool. Such r otaries without field windings h ave,
h owever, actually been employed commercially.
The ad vantage of h aving, for rotaries of this type,
a very str on g armature, even to the sacrifice of the
most favo urable values for other conseants, will n ow
be clearly seen. The armature winding will thereby
be enabled to supply the required magnet01notive
force, with less excessive magnetising currents from
the source of supply. The use of six collector rings
(so-called six-ph ase), has, in t his r esp ect, an advantage of 14 per cent., for a given armature and windinf', over the ordinary method with three rings .

THE INSTITUTION OF NAVAL

ARCHITECTS.
(Concluded from page 511.)

PROPELLER SHAFTS.
THE last sitting of the meeting was held on the
evening of Friday, April 6, when two papers were
down for readiug.
These were Loth on propeller
shafting, and were di cussed together. The first was
by Mr. Roberto Schanzer, of the Terni Steel 'Vorks,
Italy, and was on '' Mys terious Fractures of Steel
Shafts." The oth er was by Mr. A. Scott Younger,
and was entitled " Corrosion and Failure of Propeller hafts. "
Mr. Schanzer's p !\per we print
m full on another page.
Mr. Younger in his paper, which we shall
print in full shortly, attempted to account for
the extreme corrosion which is found to occur
at the ends of the brass liners on t ail-end shafts.
All were agreed that corrosion occurs just at the
end of the liner s, but there was uot t he same
unanimity as to its cause. Some say it is due to
galvanic action alone ; others that it is caused by
galvanic action acting in conjunction with vibration
and shock set up by the propeller striking the
water ; others, again, that the water at the ends
of the liners has a " sawing action ;" whilst more
rece ntly the idea has gained ground that corrosion
is to be accounted for by the longitudinal stresses
set up by the bending of the shaft. The author
was of opinion that t he theory of galvanic action
was wholly inadequate to accoun t for the d eteriorat ion of shafting, but t hat it might have some effect in
aggravating it. Attention is called in the paper to
the increased number of accidents of t h is nature to
vessels in ballast with propellers only partially im mersed, and the a uthor considered t hat cross bending
in altem9.te directions was alone s ufficient to account
for the mishaps. He assun1ed a vessel in ballast
with a draught of 14ft. a nd a propeller 17 ft. in
diameter. The exact position of the centre of
effort of all four blades would be difficult to
d etermine, and would probably vary d uri ng a
revolution.
Assuming the worst p osition with
two blades vertical, t he bending moment on the
shaft due to the two tra nsverse blades would be
equal and oppo ite, and might be n eglected. Assuming, further, the vertical blades to be d oing h alf
the work, then by a diagram, which will be r eproduced when the paper is published, it was shown that
the centre of effort of the two vertical blades would
be about 4 ft. below the centre of the shaft in calm
water. The resistance of the ship at 9 knots was
estimated at 8 t ons and the weight of the propeller 8.2 tons. The shaft was assumed to be fixed
at the watertight bulkhead aud me rely supported at
the after liner, the force representing t he support
acting at the cen t re of the after bearing. By calculation it was sh own that this force was equal t o
15 .2 tons . On t hese assumpt ions, which the author
only put forward as rough approximations, it was
calculated that the bending moment on t he shaft
had its max imum value somewhere about the
middle of t he after liner, and there was also a
point of contrary flexure somewhere between the
liners. At t he ends of t he liners the shaft would
not receive the full contribution of strength due to
its increased di~meter, and this would have a
serious effect. The actual magnitude of the stresses
was not grea-t, on]y about 2 tons, but, in view
of the shaft haviog to transmit a twisting m om ent
t he bending stresses became important, as the
shaft must be bent backwards and forwards each
revolution, and owing to the change of section
the stresses attain t heir maximum values at the
ends of the liners . R eference was made to t he
variation of these assumed conditions from actual
practice.
In order to test his views t he author had made
experiments by twisting a number of model
shaft-s. They were held at one end in a lathe
centre and passed through a well-fitting brass
bush, whilst anothe r bearing was } 2 in. slack.
An upward for ce was applied at a point cor re~pon ding to the centre of the boss of t he
imaginary propeller. The . hafts h ad enla rged parts
turned on t hem corres ponding t o brass liners on
tail shafts. The condi tions of trial were purposely
exaggerated as compared to those which would be
proportionately present in actual practice. The
results were as follow : Every h aft broke at t he
point indicated by calcul~tion as being m ost
severely stressed. The maximum stress per square
inch at the point of fracture in the plain shaft was
greater than in the linered shaft. The author

[A PRIL 2 7, I 900.
concluded by reference to some of the devices in
common use for preventing deterioration and b1 eakage of propeller shafts. These were illustrated iu
the paper, and will be shown when we publi~h
Mr. Younger's contribution in full.
The discussion on th~se t wo papers was opened
by Mr. M cColl, who said that he had aiyen the
subject of propeller shafting_ attention f~ a great
number of year . The questwn was a rexed one.
On. some point., however, most people were agreed,
w~1l~t on others there was great di,erstty of
op1n10n. There was n o doubt as to the advantage
of continuity of liners, so that everyone would he
likely to agree with Mr. Younger's remarks on that
point. Mr. Y.ounger h~d described ~ertain experiments made, w1th the obJect of producmg fracture in
a co~paratively shor~ time, the shaft being heltl in
the Jaws of a chuck m a lathe, as above described.
R eferring to these experiments, Mr. McColl
thought they were not conclush"e as to the
effect o f bra s liners in causing fracture in actual
shafts fitted in ships ; a point which the author
wished t o establish. In order to get at true
results Mr. M'Coll considered that the stresses
should be proportionate to the diameter of the
shafts, but this wa not so in the experiments, the
stresses being in excess, with shafts of the diameter
tried. The liner referred to hy the author and
used in his tests would be n o thicker than an
ordinary condenser tube. No doubt, however, the
liner did have an effect in weakening the shaft,
but the speaker contended t hat was more dependent
on t he material of which the liner was composed
than on the increase of section due to its presence.
This he proceeded to .illustrate by means of the
black board, first drawing a shaft liner in two
lengths, the two parts being butt-jointed together.
'V here t he joint occurred undou btedJy there would
be corrosion, but e\7 en after that had occurred if a
piece of t he liner were removed and its place filled
up with an india-rubber ring, then corrosion would
cease. That was hown by practice. If, however,
~1r. Younger's t heory were correct, the deteri~
rat ion would continue, and the shaft would ultimately give way. Other examples .were dedu.ced
by the speaker in support of this contentiOn.
The author had mentioned, amongst other arrangements for protecting the shaft, that of ~tr.
McColl. It consisted of shrinking a wrought-Iron
band round the shaft a few inches from the end
of the liner and then filling in the intervening
space with ~hite metal or an india-rubber ring.
Mr. M cColl said that he had seen many rubber
rings taken off, but had never found the results
of corrosion beneath them. The author endeavoured to account for corrosion at the .end of. the
brass liners, the theory of galvanic actiOn bem.g,
he thought, wholly inadequa~ to. account for tt.
Cross-bending in alternate duecti.ons was alone
sufficient to account for the mtshaps. These
opinions Mr. McColl did not share ; for though the
a uthor had said that cases had occurred where
shafts have broken at the ends of liners, from
which the water has been rigidly excluded-thu~,
in the author's opinion, showing . that _galvamc
action was not the cause of corroswn-~t ~as by
no means certain that water bad bee~ rtgtdly excluded. ~1r. M cColl would amend t~1s statement
of t he writer of t he paper by addmg the ~~r~
"appeared" ; thus making it read, "fro~ w ~c~~
the water appeared to have been exclude
N 0 doubt if the bottom bearings were worn,
there would be bending due to .great?r pre sure a;
the outer end ; and if gal vamc actwn w~aken~e
t he shaft, there would be a point a~ whtch t
80
shaft would break owing to bendmg, and h d
far Mr. Younger was rigbt. All who t~e
followed this question would a~ree th~~ 1'd d
1
whole my tery of shaft fail ures mt~ht be ." e f
into two periods : One prior to t he mtroduct10~i:
water-ballast steamers, and the other comme~inu~
with t he introduction of such vessel , and con d
D ina the secon
d
in<Y up to t he present ay.
ur b
e of
o.
d b een an en ornlous mcreas
erwd
there
h
a
P
~I M Coli was con
d
n~i haps of t his nature, an
r. ~he method , f
vu1ced that the fact was due to h d t water
that a no
..
ru n ning the ships. Vessels
. h ft . tact as 1ono0 ,ts
ballast n ow retained thetr s a s ID
not
of course was
d
Th
in former years.
. e anger,
rathe; owing to
in the water balla~t Itself, but w~s st was needed
ro eller.
its absence ; that IS to say, mo:e a11a
in order t o uet better immerston for the tp bp .. ]]ll,.t
o.
t have wa er ~
If however, lt was necessary o ~
ld m"ke the
'

he wou
~
in th? ma~ner n ow m vogue, d houah that might
shaftmg 2::> per cent. larger, an t
b

APRIL

27, rgoo.J

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

537

REA VY TURRET LATHE.

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

( Fot Desctiption, see Page 547.)

. .

..
,

\; l

'

not remove the trouble it would put it farther away.

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

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

believer in the galvanic origin of these cracks, and attributed them to secondary st resses set up wherever
a change of form took place. This was a view that
was vaguely mentioned by engineers whenever fracture t ook place at sharp corners, but until Mr. Bruhn
showed by experiments last year how important t his
matter was, att ent ion had not been seriously directed
to it. Some years ago, on t he occasion of the
failure of t he thrust shaft of t he s.s. U mbria, he
made a few remarks at t he Instit ution of E ngineers
and Shipbuilders in Scotland as to t he mathematics
of the subject, and he proposed confining his presen t remarks to t his side of t he question. He
pointed out t hat if a corner is absolutely sharp t he
secondary stresses t here would be infinitely great,
but t hat n o engineer's tool seemed to be sharp

might be, this particular shearing stress, due to

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

the shaft was suddenly reduced, the liner being

'.
only effective up to the line where the frictional
""""
contact ceased.
Except in N avier's and other classical works on
-'
elasticity, he had never seen it mentioned that a
0:.T
~
't
differential equation similar to that previously menA:
eta:;
------- -
tioned existed between two shearing stresses in the
..,.
same structure. In fact, even these authorities
dealt with the matter in such a way that it was
difficult to see their object. Thus, the previous
equation, and the one to follow, formed part of a
Fiy.n .
set which expressed the relations existing between
the three longitudinal stresses and the six shearing
stresses which could possibly act on a parallelepipidon. Mr. Stromeyer illustrated his reasoning
by means of a diagram which we reproduce. If
seven of these stresses were omitted as not affecting
enough to cut such a corner, and even if it did the the torsion stresses in a. shaft, if d x (in Fig. 10) is
ductility of the material would prevent the stresses parallel to the axis of t he shaft, d y parallel to the
from becoming excessive. He then dealt first of radius, and d z to the circumference ; t hen Tr is
the torsional shearing stress, while T 8 is a shearing
all with the fundamental equation
stress acting between t he various cylindrical layers
dX + d T = o.
of the sh~ft. From the figure it would be quite
dx
dy
evident that
a
T
7 _ aT,= O.
where X is the longitudinal stress in the direct ion x, and T is the shearing stress, which is
dx
dy
both parallel to x and to y. This was the equation
This equation showed that in a conical shaft,
to which the speaker had drawn attention in his
remarks on Mr. Bruhn's paper, and which deter- subjected to torsion, and where naturally the tormined the distribution of the shearing stress in a sional stresses increase towards the smaller end,
beam, and would be applicable to the case of a circumferential shearing stresses would be set up
propeller shaft. I t was important to bear in mind which would tend to bend the originally straight
that as the only shearing force, not stress, was that radial lines, as indicated in Fig 11. 'Vh~rever there
due to the weight of the propeller or shaft, and not is a corner on such a shaft, this part might be
to the thrust on the blades, however one-sided it looked upon as a ' ery blunt cone, and the.e the

- --

~---

(l

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

secondary stresses T, would g-row excessive. They

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

PR I L 2 7, 19<)0.

liners should be cut boldly away, or rather, not an attemp~ had been made to shrink the liners in
broug ht together, and t h en plenty of m etal should the experlllle~tal s hafts, but thi had t<> be aban.
be run in. I t would thus melt on and make a d~ned. I~ ~p1te of Mr. ?tlcColl's remark , he was
good joint right down to the shaft.
In times still of opm10n ~hat the bonding of the haft did
gone by he had surveyed a large number of more than corro 10n to produce rupture. To doubt
coa ting steamers in w h1ch the outer shaft bear- the t~? metals being brought together would et up
ing had been fitted into the rudder po t in a cond1t~on th~t would lead to corro ion ; but ucb
way once common, and which was referred to by corro 10n was m p~ et ice the les er eau e of mishap
the author. He had fo und that the wear on the J oints in br~ liners, however well made, were not
bearing of the after support wa always sideways,
be trusted. The propeller of a hip had been
and not up and down ; from which it was apparent r1g btly compared to a vast flywheel carried by an
that, rather than t h e rudder post u pporting the overhung ~earing. N ~ land engineer attempted to
propeller shaft, the latter was being used as a run an engme on such hnes, and he considered some
stiffener for the rudder po t. Mr. Younger said means should be devised so that marine engineers
he would make the rudder post strong enough to were not put in s uch a difficult po ition. He Wl\8
withstand the stress; but that, the speaker thought, of opinion, in spite of what had been raid, that
wo uld be a very difficult thing to do. If an outer a stern-frame could be de 1gned t hat would
bearing were to be fitted, be would sooner see two carry an outside bearing which would be indea fter posts, one for the rudder and one for the bear- pendent of any influence of the tres e due to
ing. Mr. Younger believed in a light propeller. the pres ure of water on the rudder in steering.
That was a good principle to go upon provided the H e agreed with the spirit of 1\Ir. tromeyer' re
propeller were made str ong enough. If manganese marks, but at t he ame time the o\crloading of the
bronze were used the screw would be light and experimental s hafts was a neces ity.
ome con
strong, but there was then the probability of m or e clu _ion had _to be reached within a reasonable pace
corrosion. If two metals, one electro-positive and of hme. Ltfo wa too short to make such experithe other electro-negative, were in contact in a cor- ments under normal condition of tress. In speakrosive fluid, like sea water, corrosion would occur ; ing upon :rt!r. Milton's remarks, he would point
and even with the same metal, if on e part became out that he considered it fairer not to take an
electro-positive to another, due to the presence ex treme case ; but be regretted to hear ~fr. Milton
of heat, wasting would ensue. Thi was shown say he would n ot proceed with the experiments he,
by the r apid way ballast tanks under boilers Mr. l\1ilton, had proposed making, because they
wasted. It was noticeable also in a donkey boiler would be sure to be valuable ; and he, the speaker,
thS\t if there was a place where t he lagging was off, recognised that his own tests were by no m~.an conthat patch, beingcomparatively cold, did not corrode; clusive. He preferred a light propeller, though he
again, steam dome if placed near the chimney would had not proposed it should be hghtened to the
always deteriorate more on the chimney side. As extent of detracting from the necessary strength ;
a means of keeping water tLway h e believed in a con- but he had had in his mind some crews that
tinuous liner; but a shaft witho ut a liner might be were absurdly heavy.
Certainly no one could
a good thing if m ean were taken to keep it in complain of the shaft mentioned hy Mr . .Milton
thorough order. His experience had been, how- t hat had run 19! year , unless it were the hip
He -would, in conclusion, call atever, that when owners tried the plan they had repairers.
sometimes gone back to the usual arrangement. As tention to the fact that the po ition of the deto m aterial, Mr. Younger bad referred to a " good signer of marine engines was very different to that
ingot steel." U nfortunately there was consider- of the d esigner of such structures a bridge , roofs,
able difference of opinion as to what was good ingot &c. In t he latter case there were ceruin definite
steel for haftmaking purposes. One large tirm of maximum condition to be met, and the engineer
makers who had built up their reputation by supply- co uld determine his stresses, and then allow a
ing only the mildest steel, n ow preferred a material margin of. afety of three, four, or fire times the
of fro m 32 to 36 tons tensile strength for shaft- load as the ea e might be. Such nice calculati(,ns
making purposes.
As to scrap steel, experience were impo ible with tail-shafts for crew Hteamers,
had led many marine engineers to consider that as no one could calculate what the tre es were,
the material was not s ufficiently ductile for screw and they had still, therefore, to go on the old prinshafts, and they preferred either iron or a suit- ciple of trial and error.
able ingot steel.
It was found that cracks and
CoN<.:Lt:DIN(: Pnof'EEnt c
corrosiC\n would spread wit h great rapidity with
This brought the busines of_ the mee~iog t? a
scrap steel, and in his opinion there was nothing
equal to good fibrous iron.
Mr. ~Iilton con- concl u ion in reaard to the r eadmg and d1 cu_ston
cluded a long and interesting speech by saying he of papers, and only remained to prop~ e v~tes of
had known one iron s haft to b e in use in a coa t- t hanks to the 'ociety of Arts for lending the
ing vessel having water ballast for a period of 19! Institution the lecture theatre as a place of meetyears, and it was only condemned then because it ing; to the council and secretary, for th~ir labour
had become bent; it w~s made of Lowmoor iron during t he past year; and to the p~c 1de~t-the
and wa fitted with a continuous liner.
uch ex- Earl of Hopetou n - for taking the cbatr durmg the
amples as this led him to believe in good iron for greater part of the meeting. These votes were, of
course carried with acclamation, and a mo t ucscrew s ha fts.
Mr. A. D enny said that the society with which cessfui meeting was brought to a conclu ion ..
Before closing o ur r eport we would uesll'e to
he was connected had attempted to put forwarrl
certain rules as to the material for shaftinu, and record a feeling of crratification which wa expres~
had been m et with a chorus of disapproval. They by many of the m:mbers at the adn~irable manner
had, therefore, r everted solely to tests, a a cri- in which t he proceedings were carrted out. That
terion of fitn ess, rather than specifying material. is n ot a matter in itself tbat would attract at~n
He agreed with Mr. Milton t hat the great cause tion at a meet ing of thi. Institution ; but the pomt
of destruction of shafts was the way ships we wish to emphasise is that the whole of the
sailed in ballast trim.
This was especially the papers were in the hands of tho ~ members who
case with ships of full form whil t bigger pro- applied for them before the meetmg commenced,
pellers increa ed t h e chance of mishap.
He and many of them several days before. lt was
had a good deal of sympathy wit h rt1r. 1\iilton'. owin g to this fact that the lo~g and perhap~ rather
views as t o the use of iron for shaftin g, and he ab truse discu ions, on the 1mportant subJeC~ of
knew a good many engineers preferred iron s hafts vibration and fluid resistance were made po tblt
to those made of ingot steel. The difficulty was to It may be that some of our readers wul thm
make sure of getting all iron in scrap, and that t he speeches by the learned profo rs over-long,
These contributions to ~be
pie~es of steel were n ot included. The b est source and a little dry.
of supply was the old iron s hips that were built d iscus ion have however, an interest and tm
before t he steel era, but e\en then there was no portance more than academical. It may be 1.rem~m
certainty that t he ves el had not been repaired with bered by some t hat when the que tien of ~ ~ra~doen
,
steel at some time. He had tried to persuade the was first appr oached from the mathemattca
engineering branch of his firm to do away with certain ''practical" cri~ics failed~ see.the_adr~~t
t
liners for shafts. They had said they were quite taae of giving so much ttme to an mve tl~ahon
willmg if he would take the risk. That h e did not likely in their opinion, to lead to lmporta~
feel inclined to do. I t was always a question in i sues: I t n eeded a very little time to prove;Ire
Mr. Yarrow an~ . 6
new departures upon whom the risk ought to fall, fallacy of this view.
but in any case he thought it s hould not be beyond Tweedie took up t he application of the _sctentl ~
the skill of engineers to de ign a good bearing for principles to the de ign of actual engme~, ~n
ha"e evolved a system ~rhich has don~bll~r~ t~
the stern of the ship.
:rt1r. Y ou nger, in r eplying to the discus ion, said any one thing we can thmk of to contn u e

ti?

it

APRIL

27, 1900.]

comfort of those who go to sea in modern highered vessels. In the same way we. see Dr.
~~~an, a mathematician f~mous even. In Ca~.Ydae
but
unexperienced
In
the
practteal
apphbrl b '
1
h.
. .
<!ation of science to nava arc Itec~ure, g1vmg. an
xplanation of the increased effi01ency of b1lge
~eels by a method which. had escap~d men . of
n such acute observatiOn and h1gh attaineve ts as Sir William White and Mr. Froude.
p::bably if Dr. Bryan had t urned his attention
to this subject a few years ago a good deal of
discomfort to sailors and passengers, and a good
deal of worry to ship. designers, w?uld have
been obviated. The subJect, however, IS one. t oo
111.rge to treat at the end of a repo:t of a me~t1ng,
and we only wish to call the attenbot;t of engmeers
to the possibility of long and recondite p~pers and
speeches containing a good deal . more hght .a nd
leading to practical ends than IS at first sight
apparent.

SOME STATISTICS RELATING TO

ELECTRIC POWER PRODUCTION.
By

539

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

TABLE II -Smm COMPARATIVE APPROXIMATE FIGURES OF ELECTRIC LIGHT, PowER, AND T:'CTION STATlONS
IN EunoPEAN CouN'rRIES AND THE UNITED STATES oF AMERIOA AT THE PRESENT AY.
Total Elec
Station l{ilo Station Imo. Miles of Single
t.rical Station
watts Avail watts Avail Track Elec- Number of
Capacity
Poculation
Motor
Oars
able for
A va.ilablo foa of ountry.
taicnlly
able
for
Running. all Purposes in
Lighting nnd
Equipped.
Tanction.
Power.
Kilowatts.

NAME OF

COUNTRY.
Great Britain

Germany

F,ance

Swi tzerlnnd. . .

Belgium

The whole of Emope

U. S. A.

NAME OF COUNTRY.

-:a
fll

Q.)

IT is a most important question, not only to get

an absolutely certain and .continuous s~pply of

energy but also to attempt In every possible way
to red~oe the cost of producin~ the sam~.
.
As regards the pro.bl~ms Inv?lve~ m tractiOn
schemes different cases will reqmre different treatment. The cases which generally pres~nt. th~m
selves will briefly be considered, and an In~10at10n
given of the line of thought to be pursued In solving the problem of certain, co~stant, and ~~eap
supply. The conditions met w1th may be d1v1ded
as follows :

Great Britaln
70
Germany
164

42
Austria-Hungary

5
Belgium

12
Spain

68
Frnnce

.
Haly
. . 11

Bosnia

Holland

Portugal

Tratm1ua.ys.
Roumania .

Tramways in densely populated cities.

Russia

Tramw&Y,S in smaller towns.

Light ra.1lwa.ys connecting populous industrial centres. Norway and Sweden
Light rail ways connecting country towns and pleasure Servia

resorts.
Switzerland

Railways.

In the above subdivision it has been supposed

that the location of the power-house is not imposed ap1io1'i.
Owing to holidays and special circumstances, such
as races or games, unexpected overloads are always
possible and must be provided for. The load must
necessarily be a very fluctuating one, the average
being probably in large stations about 75 per cent.
of the rated load.
Where continuous -current machines are used,
the voltage must be fairly constant, and the maximum variation of speed of the engine must be
small, so as, amongst other things, to allow compound-wound dynamos to run economically and
satllifactorily in parallel.
Where three-phase generators are used, the
variation of angular velocity must be very small, a
maximum variation of about one-fifth per cent.
of angu~ar velocity during one revolution being
all that IS generally considered permissible.
The special conditions which maintain in traction
wor~ are, therefore, amongst others : Practically
contmuous running, and probable and possible
very heavy and unforeseen overloads. A. far
sh?rter time is available for overhauling the machi~ery than is the case in a lighting station, and
as 1t 18 not economical to have very much spare
power, .the ma~hinery sho~d be of such a type as
to. r~q~1re but httle care and supervision, so as to
m~mtse the chances of accident. In a traction
stat1on the efficiency of the generating plant is, as
as already stated, far more important than for light-

..... ~ 0

s..

...!d
0

:a

~::ll-4
e
........
H
>, 0

DAWSON.
(Continued from page 435.)
PBILIP

:.:3

s:l.d.S
d~cn

3000
2934
1115
90
210
1796
720

- ....
~

s..

;...
Q.)

.J:J

sf
::sd

rn

Ql
.....

zo :a
120

..

0QI

,
~>
0
d~

....>......
~0~::

.... .$

~=!. d.S
d ~cn

...!d

:a
....0

~
s..
H

s..

Ql

....0

e::sdf ....,gJ
....

zo ::a

:::: ~
~0

~::ll-4

t-o e

..... rn o
o., ~
CIS ~ d
P.l d .,
0d ~ en

s..

0
0

..!.(

s..

Ql

.J:l'
,...fll

e'"'
:;s
d

7194
I
1949
1130
600
4490
1890

857
157.
48
26
225
84

i'

fll

Ql

s..

0
...>
0

... ~;s:

~0

ell.
~

$
.... .$

:lZ
d.,.s
~=!.d
0

d~(J)

.,..
0QI

1899.

1898.

.. .... .... . - e ........ ...

-.... sf
zo_ zo
:a
. ,..
0QI

5264 632 648

1639 129 114
1130 48 40
210 12 47
3610 152 211
870 33 62

12,000,000
4,500,000
2,100,000
85,000,000
180,000,000

1897.

s..

0 .J:J
0

al . . . .

585
72
35
12
164
28

39,000,000
3,000,000
6,(}00,000
350,000,000
70,000,000

2~,000, 000

1896.

ing. Time and labour- saving apparatus finds,

therefore, a far better application than would
otherwise be the case, and larger capital expendit ure is justified. Economical engines, both as
regards steam consumption, repairs, maintenance,
and depreciation are of great importance. Plants
originally designed and well adapted for lighting are therefore often very uneconomical when
used to supply power for traction. Combining
lighting with an existing traction station may, on
the other hand, prove exceedingly successful.
In deciding on the system to be adopted in each
particular instance, the relation of power producing
expenses, total working expenses, capital expenditure and interest and sinking fund, on some of the
various possible alternatives must always be most
carefully considered and compared. The location of a power station should, of course, be as
nearly situated to the centre of distribution of
the whole system as is economically possible, all
other things being equal. The ground on which
it is located should be easily accessible by rail and
water, so as to get fuel quickly and cheaply. A good
and copious supply of feed and condensing water
should be easily obtainable, and the ground such
as not to necessitate heavy expense in sinking the
foundations of the various buildings.
Whe.r e the station is fairly central, and the lines do
not reach much beyond three or four miles from the
power-house, continuous-current generators, with
boosters to supply the distant and hard-worked
lines, may advantageously be used. When the
traffic is very intense, and the total power required exceeds from 4000 to 5000 kilowatts, it will
generally be found that, as far as Great Britain
is concerned, three-phase generators, with substations and rotary converters are to be preferred.
Where three-phase plant is used (with few exceptions) no continuous-current generators should
be installed, the requisite continuous current being
supplied by rotary converters even for use in the
station itself, as the reaction of continuous-current
generators through the line on to the rotary converters may make regulation difficult.
Where the station is centrally situated, but with
one or two lines going out a long way, continuouscurrent generators may be used. One or more
polyphase generators, preferably driven by continuous-current motors in the main station, can

;...

sa,opo,ooo

TRAM AND RAILWAYS, 1894 TO 1899.

ELROTRIO

1895.

1894.
0QI
~13:
~0

Large Town, Lalfge Population on Heavy Traffic Lines.

Ead of longest line not more than four miles from
supply station.
Impossible to locate economically station near centre of
system.
Station centrally located with exception of one or two
outlying districts.
SrnaU Town, Lighter Traifio.
Station in centre of lines, no very long line.
Station in centre of lines with one or two longer
branches.

9, 500
138,000

TABLE III.-DATA OF CONTINENTAL

..!.(

The system to be supplied, however, does not

indicate the design of the generating station and
supply system. The c~nditions which govern this
may roughly be summarised as below :

200

s..

Metropolitan and suburban railways.

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

2,300
800
21'10
120
6,000
21,000

36,000,000

121,115
211,168
204,146
15,469
11,373
3,75G,970
9,581,885

40,000,000

24.0,000
224,000
95,000
87,500
18,000
650,000
2,000,000

2,000
6,400
1,000
3SO

000

40,000 .
54,000
26,000
7,500
3,000
11\) ,000
800,000

200,000
170,000
70,000
30,000
15,000
400,000
1,200,000

Area of Total Adtproxi

Country
mate a.ttnl

in sauare Investe in
Pound&.
~res.

Ql

.t:J

"

::sd

..!.(

..

g
H
....0
~

. ,..
0QI
....

0
.....
0

~
~

;:..., 0
~

. ... fll 0
(,) ~
aS ~~

~=~. d3
d~(J)

~"'!<

Ql

.....I:~
j;>0 s::
..... fll 0

t4....

s..

~5
zo

QI

ra~

CIS

.t:J

,.!Id
0

......

~ 0

....e~....

....

s..

0 ~ ....
CIS., ~

fll

~=!.d..S

Ql

::a 8 ~u;

...

....00
~
....0
,..
Ql

.J:l'

~~
zo

440 20,000 800 560 28,000 1500 900 40,000 2000

1000 10,000 2000 1800 26,000 3100 2300 54,000 5400

134 2,389 194 169 3,404 243 180 3,60Q ~91
56 1,220
73 110 2,415 107 120 3,000 200
74
50 167 2,450 144
98
930
600
40
448 8,736 432 626 16,158 664 800 25,000 1000
168 5,970 289 212 6,750 311 235 6,600 318
250
8
16

120
3
8

90
8
6

37 1,300
92

49 2,200 120

28 1,150
75

12
600
30

250 7,600 330

send high-tension currents to rotary converters in

sub-stations n ear the extremities of the outlying
lines.
In a small system, when the station is centrally
located, gas engines, ~riven by water gas made on
the premises, and in parallel with accumulators,
may, inmany instances, prove effective, especially
where coal is expensive. It is tlie cost of the coar
which will indica~e whether in such a case gas or
steam engines are the most advantageous. A gas
plant generally costs about 25 per cent. more than
a. stea.m plant ; but the coal and wages bill with
gas are less than with steam. To decide on
whether steam or gas is to be used, the entire cost
of production should be compared in both cases
with the extra cost of gas due to larger sinking
fund and interest added, arising from the greater
capital expenditure required by a gas plant.
:
Where a small plant cannot be l_9cated centrally,
a subsidiary battery of accumulators and a booster
located in the battely sub-station may prove of
great value.
~ '
, ~

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

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

540

[APRIL

27,

1900.

75 AND 80-MILL. FIELD GUNS ON RIGID CARRIAGE AND AUTOMATIC BRAKE.

I

~+ -

-.. . . .

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

,,

\
,.J

'Uiw-

"

......

~.~ ......, " '

...

'

\ -.

-..._._

FU] . 88.

C>)

.....

- -t...

...

I
I

/
/

I
' /;

.......

two countries are totally different, but yet theso

figures are interesting. A great deal has been said
lately about American competition ; here at least
is one reason (as regards electrical machinery) why
America has a great advantage over our own manufact urers.
(To be cont-ilrllued.)

MODERN FIELD ARTILLERY.

( Contil'ft/ued from page 503.)
THE ScHNEIDEB.-CANET SYsTEMs.

As in naval armaments, the importance of quickfiring fi eld guns has been recognised by their general
adoption, increasing calibres, and improved mechanism, so a similar recognition has been given to
the value of the same principles, though under
widely different conditions, for field artillery. The
older types of guns firing from rigid carriages, and
with free recoil, will soon be regarded as obsolete,
at all events, by those nations whose armaments
are of the modern type. In treating of this special
subject, as elaborated by Messrs. Schneider and
Canet, we shall have little to say about the gun
itself, which in its design, as well as in t he breech
mechanism, the developments that have taken
place, follow lines very similar to those that have
been already described in dealing with the SchneiderCanet ordnance in another series of articles. The
principal interest attaches itself to the gradual development of field mountings, which in their most
modern types em body the experimental practice of
many years.
To deal with the subject fully, we should therefore have to embody all the numerous systems
which have successively been experimented upon
at the Villedieu and H oc proving grounds, and also
the results obtained during the experiments. These
have been carried on without interruption in the
proving-grounds ever since the question of accelerating the fire of field guns first became a practical
one. Of course such an investigation would be of
great interest, as it would involve a review in every
detail of the constant progress made in the con struction of this particular type of ordnance and its
mounting. But as this would carry us far beyond
available limits, the data we shall give must be
limited to describing the designs of a few successive
types, with a detailed notice of the 1898 gun and
mountings, which embody all the improvements
Ruggested by experiment, and carried out up to
date.
Previously, however, t o enumerat ing the various
systems which Messrs. Schneider and Co. have
studied in theory and have experimented upon in
practice, it will be well to refer to the conditions
they prescribed when they decided to under take
the manufact ure of quick-firing fi eld guns and carriages, and towards the complete realisation of which
they have never ceased to work. The result, as
already stated, is their 1898 pattern, which fulfils
all the conditions required.
At the commencetnent of the quick-firing field
artillery development, two different views generally
prevailed; and they seem, even no'~\ to div~d e
military experts as regards the con ditiOns whwh
quick-firing field guns should fulfil in service.
According to some experts-and these form to-day
the lesser number- the new type of carriage, and
especially that part on which most part of the
changes have been carried out, should not so much
be radically different when compared to the older
rigid types, but be rather an improvement of the
la.tter, such improvements and alterations being
mostly in matters of detail, affected, of course,
largely by t he progress made in the processes of

(sm .t..)

FIG.

manufacture of different parts, and by the quality of

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

91.

these same recoil cylinders, when they ner~ tfi~~

proposed, had been s~ted by many artt ens
be unfit for naval serv1ce.
.
willThe 0o-reatest concession these theorists are .
in a to make is the application to Lhe ca~ta~e
0
( which would remain, as in the past, . a. ~~f~
e
1
rigid suppor t), of an elastic device, for dunlillS g

APRIL

27,

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

1900.]

SCHNEIDER-CANET SYSTEMS OF MOUNTING QUICK-FIRING GUNS.

.. -

.._...

...... ~.. . .

-----

--"'

- -

Fw . 92.

75-MrLLIMETRE Q u i CK-FIRI

F tg. 93 .

R10ru

G u N ON

-..

..

CARRIASE WITII A u TOMATIC CocNTERWEIOB T BBAHE

I
I

I
I

'{~

....

'

..,$-

- -L

--,

1\

./

I I

Frg . 94 .

FIO.

95.

...

---

I
I

_,_

' 7 5- MrLLHI ETRE

GcN oN C ARRIAGE WITIT Gas RECOIL C rrECK.

~ecoil, bu~ not absorbing it completely. Sometimes, endeavoured to persuade military authorities to

mdeed, this device, which forms the most delicate

part ?f the whole mounting, containing as it does a
certam number of springs, is not expected to act,
ex~ept in special cases, and when the ground on
wht~h the gun is fired, is suited for its working.
The problem of fi eld gun construction thus interprete.d becomes comparatively simple of solution,
and 1t ~ay easily be conceived that the theories
advocatmg this principle were readily defend ed by
some manufacturers. Certain writers also have

accept these same theories ; quite recently indeed

books and pamphlets have been published which
clai1n to prove clearly the utter impossibility of
making a field gun-carriage that will remain in
position during firing. These claims are not based
on t heoretical objections, but on the alleged trials
a nd failures of many proposed systems. The objections so made are scarcely worthy of even passing
notice ; they are one of the phases t hat always
attend on progress, and are only silenced entirely

.....

./

..._

DIAGRAM SIIOWING GAS RECOIL CBEOK.

-4
~..:::::~~-~=-=---U-U ..,

FIG. 96.

. .,

by the indisputable verdict of results. Thus in the

same way the advocates of breechloading for ordnance were for long proved by t heorists and faddists
to be unpractical and altogether wrong, and this
not so long ago either; for muzzle-loading guns are
unfortunately still to be found in British service
But the folly of the objection has been long sine . .
demonstrated, as it will be for the advocates of
rigid field gun-carriages.
The main argument used by the advocates of
field guns which fulfil their limited programme,
and which has been called "accelerated firing, " il3
to the effect that such guns will prove am ply
sufficient after t he firing of a battery has been so
regulated, that each gun will fire a maximum of
eight rounds per minute. This number of rounds
agrees with the results the same advocates have
obtained and have prescribed as sufficient. Their
argument assumes that the firing methods, followed with the older type of guns, will also be
followed with the new types. This is a fallacy,
for it is quite certain that the tactics with quickfiring guns will be widely different from those
w hieh were deemed the best for guns capable of
' ' accelerated " fire.
It may, we think, be reasonably assumed, all
other conditions remaining equal, that a battery,
each piece of which will be able to fire on emergency, say, 25 rounds a minute without fatigue to
the men or undue wear of mechanism, will undoubtedly have the advantage in all fights against
a unit formed of guns, the firing of which is only
'' accelerated.'' This cannot be denied, and does
not require to be proved in practice; at all events,
this verification could only be carried out in actual
warfare.
From the commencement, Messrs. Schneider
and Co. took these considerations into account ;
they attacked the problem in every detail, leaving
out none of the difficulties with which it is surrounded, and t hey quite early defin ed the problem
they mean t to solve, and which may be summarised
as follows:
To fire with tho greatest rapidity possible, and
with a maximum of precision ; or, in other words,
to endeavour to put in a target, the largest number
of useful shots in a ghen time and without excess
of fatigue for the gunners, or undue wear of

5'42

n1aterial, the ballistic conditions being decided by

a majority of members of ordnance technical committees. In carrying out experiments Messrs.
Schneider and Co. found t hat these objects could
only be obtained when they had fulfilled certain
conditions, namely :
(a) Absence of recoil.
(b) Complete stability of t he carriage plat form.
(c) Absence of all necessity for readjusting the
elevation and lateral training of the gun during
fire.

(d) Mak ing guns and mountings to suit every

kind of ground met with in actual service.
The problem thus compressed in a few lines was
one of tremendous proportions. How fully it has
been solved the following notes will show, as well
as by what ser ies of tests and improvements of
many kinds, Messrs. Schneider and Co. have produced their 1898 pattern, which fulfils the conditions of this programme and can really be styled
a quick-firing gun.
Principal 'l'ypes of M ountings f or Schneider-Oanet
Quick-Fi1ing Field Gtt.ns.-In the following descriptions the systems are grouped together in sets, according to whether they contain characteristics more or
less common to each group. This classification, while
it facilitates the review of the progress made, does
not accord in every case with the chronological
order of the various experiments that have been
carried out. Such a chronological order would be
difficult to follow, f0r experiments of certain types
have frequently been abandoned for a time and
taken up again at a later date, other types having
been tested in t he interval.
Leaving aside the historical question, this classification will lead in the best way to the desired
result, for it will give a clP.ar idea of the designs
and tests made by Messrs. Schneider and Co. for
establishing a system of field artillery. The descriptions will chiefly apply to mountings, reference
being made to articles in another series for the improvements carried out in guns and breech mechanism.
The first group contains a series of distinct types,
in connection with which mechanical devices were
used for limiting recoil, to the exclusion of h)
draulic recoil cylinders. Besides, none of t hese
type& em bodied special appliances to shift the gun
on its carriage, over small angles, for adjusting
lateral training.
80-Millimet?e (3.149-In.) ffi.~tn and 75 -M illimetre(2. 952-In.) Gttns on Rigicl Carriage fitted with c~n
A utomatic Brake Governed by a Counte1weight
(Figt;. 88 to 94, pages 540 and 541). The following
are some general
particulars
of
the
SO-millimetre
.
'
.
gun:

Weight of guh .. .
. .. 425 kilogs. ( 936 lb.)
,, . can:iag~ ...
... 495 ,
(1091 ,, )
,, prOJeCtile
... 5.6 ,
{ 12 ,, )
Muzzle velocity .. .. .
...
490 m. (1608 ft.)
Striking energy of projectile 68.5 t.-m. (228 foot-tons).
This type )Vas manufactured in 1887 from the
1878 pat~ern of ;French ar.tillery, in order to devise
a system of brake with counterweights, to be used
both in the ordin.~ry manner by acting on the carriage wheels and J;o check recoil during the firing of
the gun. I t ha~ been desc~bed a~ length .in the
Remce f!.e 4rtiU6-_ie. . A d~scription of t.he counterweight brake experimented with is given in the
following description of the 75-millimetre gun and
mounting,on which it_was ~lso tried. The follo wing are some particulars of this latter g un :
...
.:. 322 kilogs. 710 lb.)
Weighb of gun
,
carriage .. .
. .. 448 ,
987 , , )
,
projectile
. . . 5. 5 ,
12 , )

Muzzle velocity
.. .
.. . 500 m. (1610 ft.)
Striking energy of projectile 70 t.-m. (233 foot-tons).
The gun is of steel and consists of a tu be of
about 32 calibres in length, on which is shrunk a
jacket, a t runnion ring, and a wedge coil. The
breech-block is made with interrupted screw, and
is fitted with a plastic obturator. The carriage is
made of steel plates ; the head- plate that joins the
two brackets to the axle is of gun-metal and in
one piece. The axle is of steel ; its central part is
rectangular in section, and it is made with flanges
at the angles, whi{}h ~nc.rease its strength. T~e guncarriage wheels are stmtlar to t hose of the hmber;
they are made of oak, with brass naves and steel tyres.
The mech~nism for elevating the gun is placed between the brackets ; it consists of a hollow screw.
The screw penetrates a nut round which is fitted a
helicoidal toothed wheel ; this engages an endless
screw keyed on a shaft which runs through the
brackets, and is provided with two hand wheels

E N G I N E E R I N G.
outside the carriage. By acting on either handwheel; the screw is made to turn, thus driving the
helicoidal wheel and t he nut, giving to the gun the
required elevation. A strap joins the gun t o t he
screw head, to prevent a too great preponderance
of the muzzle.
The brake, which serves to limit recoil during
firing, is arranged in the following manner : A
shaft made with threads at two places in its central
part, is made to revolve in two bushes fixed t o the
brackets, and is provided with two nuts ; the latter
are fitted with two arms jointed to a traction-rod
fitted with a screw arrangement to r egulate t he
tension of the system. Two tie- bars are fixed at
one end to the traction-rod, and at the other to the
two ends of a crossbar suspended to the carriage
and provided with brake shoes. The system is
completed by a lever with counterweight, placed on
the left-hand side; when the gun is ready for firing
the counterweight is raised against the gun trunnion.
When the gun is fired, it falls back and causes the
shaft on which it is keyed to revolve, and in this
action the two nuts separate from each other, thus
openiog t he two arms wit h which they are fitted,
and drawing forward the traction-rods and tie-bars,
the brake shoes bearing firmly on the wheel t yres.
When the round is fired, the lever is brought up
again, and the gun can be trained anew. If it is
desired to use the brake when the gun is wheeled
from one place t o another, a r ope is t ied to the
counterweight and held by one of t he gunners, who
thus regulate its action on the wheels.
The gun-lim her consists mainly of a frame of
steel angles on which the chest is bolted ; it is
joined to the axle by means of saddle-plates . The
gun-carriage is suspended from it.
75-Millimetre (2. 952-In.) Gun, Long T ype, with
Ga3 R ecoil-Clieck, on Mounting Provided with a
T1ai l Spade (Figs. 95 and 96).-The following
are some particulars of this gun:
Weight of gun
...
... 360 kilogs. ( 793lb.)
,,
carriage . ..
.. . 540 ,
(1190 , )
,,
projectile
... 5.2 ,
( 11! ,, )
Muzzle velocity
.. .
.. . 550 m. (1805 ft.)
Striking energy of projectile 80 t.m. (266 ft.-tons).
The gun is fitted with a d~vice called a "gas
recoil-check, , which t.akes up part of the propelling force of the gases created by the combustion
of the powder charge in order to absorb part of
the recoil of the gun. This device is funnelshaped and is fixed to the muzzle ; it is made with
a hole slightly larger than the projectile, thus
allowing the latter to pass through freely. When
a round is fired, a wide cone of gas is emitted, the
basis of which is in a line with the muzzle end of
the gun. The ga~ strikes against the inside of the
recoil check plate, and is forced to the rear ; in
doing so, it exerts a considerable pressure on the
funnel-shaped device, and tends to draw the gun
in the direction of the firing line. This action
counteracts that of the recoil and checks it to a
certain extent. The carriage is rigid and consists
of brackets riveted together; t he trail ends in a
fixed spade with bearing trail-plate.
The elevating mechanism consists of a jointed
rack, fi tted in a socket under the breech end of the
gun ; it gear's with a pinion carried by the carriage
bar. The pinion is keyed on the same shaft with a
helicoidal wheel, the latter driven by an endless
screw is fitted on a shaft with the interposition of
Belleville springs ; t hese served to deaden t he
shocks caused by the firing of the gun.
Experiments made with this gun showed the
recoils to be more or less checked by the muzzle
device, but the gunners had to stand outside the
wheels, n ot to be inconvenienced by the hot gases
that were driven to the rear. Besides, t his apparatus alone could noti insure the stability of the
gun and did not take up recoil completely.
(To be continued. )

TEXTILE l\1ACHINERY AT THE

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

[ APRIL 2 7, I 900
of opening, in a less backward condition than most
others, and here, at all events, it is possible to
commence a profitable examin;ation.
The Text ile Building promises to be one of the
highest comm.ercial interest of any on the Champ de
!dars, for the md.ustryto which it is devoted, not only
1n ~ngland and 1n F.rance, but also in Germany, the
U n1ted States, Belgmm, and Austria has assumed
such great proportions in the export r~turns of each
country, that machines and processes connected
with it, become of greater international interest
every year. Each year, t oo, the range of industries
included in the word textile, becomes wider until
. comprises,
.
'
1t
not only yarns and simple tissues
made from silk, cotton, fi~x, wool, and other materials, but also a large variety of products from
fancy tissues of the most delicate fabrics, to the
heaviest fishing nets ; in addition, there are the
numerous accessory industries, such as those of
designing, dyeing, &c., so t hat it will be readily
understood that an almost infinite variety of machinery is required to prepare for the manufacture
of, and to produce, so great a multiplicity of goods.
So far as space and time permit, we propose to
examine the manner in which this vast industry is
illustrated by the machinery collected at Paris from
many nations, and especially to dwell upon such
useful novelties and original methods as are there
represented. This examination will not have re
ference to the manufactured materials themselves,
for that would carry us too far; it is, however,
necessary to say a t ew words on the principal
systems in use for defining the sizes of yarns,
before proceeding to consider the apparatus that
naturally calls first for attention, the devices exhibited for determining the value 3 of yarns as well
as of tissues of all kinds.
In that section of exhibits specially devoted to
yarns, the first impression given is one of surprise
that there should exist so many systems of counting,
not only among different nations, but often in the
same country. So great is the confusion created
from this cause, that it has been determined to take
ad vantage of the present Exhibition to hold an
International Congress next autumn for the purpose
of discussing the establishment of a standard system
of count. This meeting is to be followed by an
International Conference to consider the recom
mendations of the Congress, and var~ous Cham~e~
of Commerce consulted on the subJcct have mh
mated their approval, and desire ~ co. o~erate. A
few word&on the more important 1terus m the pro
g ramme of this Congress ,'fill therefore not be out of
ll d" N
place.
.
Numbaringofyarns-convemen~lyca e
. umerotage ,, in French- is an oper.at10n, the obJec.t of
which is to determine the th1ckness of a gLven
thread and the number or "count , is the figure
that d~fines this t hickness. In practice there ar.e
two methods for arriving at t his result ; the one JS
applied exclusively to silks, and allows the c?unt to
be determined according to the average weJght. oJ
a silk skein of constant l~gth: The other, apphe h
to all other textile materials, lS based o~ the lengt
of thread required to give a constant wetght. ~bus
the count defines the relation between the wetght
and the length of a thread..
.
The different systems cbtefiy 10 use may b~ very
briefly examinee, commencing with silk and wtth t~e
French methods. According ~a law dated J uno 1. ~
by th
1866' the count of a silk yarn lS represented
k

-oo
metres
0
8
average weight in grammes ot. a em
. a
20
long, the mean being established by testmo hus
skeins of the same length. But t he data t
established is of no practical interest to .the manu.

or1al to con
facturer accustomed from tliDe 1m~em .
f
0 3
sider the count of the silk on!Y ~ de~Iers
8
skein of 400 " aunes, " from 4t5.o to 4J6 m:;:;d
Iona in round numbers. From this it has rFes h
o
.
d
d 10
the renc
that in the offietal recor s ma e
k .
f 500
bureaux of tests, the weights of ~0 s e~~s e~tered
metres each in grammes and fractl~ns, a
.
on the official forms, while in anothe: eo1dumJ? rsls
.
f th
'ghts mto erne
shown the ~educt1~n o
ese w~l
0.05313
(the denier 1s considered as equivale~t t? deniers
gramme). Then, after the mean num er m dill to
of the 500-metre skeins, the count co~r~spon Jing
the old 476-metre skein is inserted; 1ft IS t~c~~read
to this last number tha~ the fineness~ ~r~ler to conis commer cially known tn France. 1
1 count
vert the legal number into t.he co~~~rCl~ of 476
expressed in deniers, for skems ;.~ided ~~ 0. 05313
metres, the legal value has to ~e. 1 multiplied by
gramme the value of the de mer, or
nds to
18.82. The result D = 18.82 x t correspo

APRIL

27,

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

1900.]

the weight of the 500-metre skein, and the weight

of the 476-metre skein is obtained by multiply~ng
the precedina
result by . 952. From the foregomg
0
it will be see n that to convert the old number in
deniers d, and reciprocally, we have
d, = .952

18.82 t

= 17.92 t

whence

and

t = .568 d.
t being the legal

"count."

Passing to materials other than silk, as already

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

o!

classes of silk, as well as to carded wool and to mixtures of cotton and "silk, the length of hank is 840
yards, and the number is r epresented by the
number of hanks per pound; the perimeter of the
spool is 1.5 yards. To convert the English into
the French equivalent, or the reverse, the relation is :
F _ 600 gr. x 767.76 metres
- - 453.6 gr. x 1000 metres
E
whence
and

F=0.84685

E=l.l8113

F.

In hemp counts both the metric and the English

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

Fiq . 1.

P0

543
use, French and English.
In fact, there are
two French standards, the new and the old.
The former expresses the number of t~ousand
metres in 1 kilogramme ; the la tter-used 1n Germany as well as in France- indicates the num~er
of skeins of 700, 710, 714, or 720 metres, accordrng
t o different districts, per half kilogramme. A spool
with a perimeter of 1. 44 metres is us~d for windin.g
the skein of 720 metres. The English system 1s
known as the "worsted scale," and is employed
either for plain, combed, or twisted wool yarn; it
is represented by the number of small skein.s of
560 yards in 1 lb. weight. To convert the kilogrammetric standard K equal to the number of
thousand metres in a kilogramme, to the old French
count the following constants are used, according to
whether the small skein of 700, 710, 714, or 720
metres (F, F ' , F ", F'") is used in question :
F = 0.7143
F ' = 0. 7042
F" = 0.7002
F "' = 0.6944

X
X
X
X

K
K
K

K = 1.40 X
K = 1.42 X
K = 1.428 X
K = 1.44 X

F
F'

F"
F '"

For the conversion of the kilogram metric count K

into English equivalents we have:
E _ 453.6 gr. x 1000 metres

K
1000 gr. x 512 metres
whence
E = 0.886 X K
and

!{ = 1.128 X E .

I..

11

c
J

0
0
0

]f" = 0. 790
F '" = 0.783

ll

another is of general practice, and is done on the

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

= u LN,
p
= LN.

In a second system we should also have for a given

yarn

p = u' l n,

whence
I

u'=

p.
ln

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

is the saine, then

p
p
-LN - l n
. From this can be deduced the value of one of the
numbers when the other is known, as well as the
bases of the two systems :
N = P l n.
pL
In the textile industry there are two principal
systems of oounting, the French and the English,
for cotton yarns. In the former the count represents the number of 1000 metres in a
kilogramme ; the perimeter of the spool on which the
yarn is wound to form the skein, is 1. 428 metres,
that is to say, there are 70 turns per 100 metres.
~ the latter system, called the cotton scale, applY.mg, however, not only to cotton, but to some

E
E

E = 1.265
E = 1.275

X }4.,"

F "'.

For the counts of carded wool, both the French

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

The English method conforms to that in use for

cotton- that is to say, the count is fixed by the
number of hanks of 840 yards in a pound. From
taining 10 large or 100 small skeins, is 20,000 this it results that the count 50 (English) of
metres long ; No. 3 containing 15 hanks, or 150 carded wool corresponds to No. 75 of combed wool.
With the following constants the kilogramnietric
skeins, measures 30,000 metre~ and so on. .
.
The system employed for hnen thread 1s ut~ number K is converted into the English numbers

.
formly English~ in this the thread is wo.und 1~ and reciprocally :

skeins of 120 metres o~ a spool 2.5 yards m pertE _ 453.6 gr. x 1000 metres
-- r
meter. Twelve such skeins form a hank, and 100
}{, 1000 gr. x 767.76 metres

hanks make the standard parcel. In French equi- whence

E = 0.590 X K,
valents the small skAin contains 274 metres, the
large skein or hank 3290 metres, and the parcel and
r

K = 1.692 X E .
329 000 metres. In this system the length is
uniform, but the weight varies in an i~verse
Did space permit,, the consi~eration of this in
proportion to th~ nutnber; thus 1~0 sketns of teresting and complicated subJect could be enNo. 1 weigh 540 kilogrammes; the wetght of No ..2 larged to fill a volume. T~e merest outl~e has
is one-half of this, or 270 kilogrammes ; N ? 3 ,Is been attempted in the foregOing paragraphs, w1th the
one-third and so on. In order to ascertain the twofold object of showing how necessary are the
weight
a parcel the standard weight of a. parcel labours of the cmning unification Congress? and how
No. 1 must be divided by the number of the packet much ingenuity must h~ve been expended m th.e ~e
being weighed ; for example, 100 skeins of No. 12 vices for rapidly measurmg counts, and determmtng
weiah 540 + 12 = 45 kilogrammes. The conver- the standards of various classes of yarns. AlrE}ady
sim~ of the kilogTammetric into the English nume- the Textile Building of the Exhibition contains
ration, or the reverse is as follows :
good examples of this detail in a great industry,
and no doubt, as time goes on, those now in place
E = 1.666 X K
K = 0.60746 X E
will be supplemented by others.
Thus, the
In the wool standards distinction must bo made Chamber of Commerce of Lyons exhjbits models of
between that of combed and that of card~d the apparatus for testing the condition of silk yarn,
wool. For the former two systems are 1n a.nd the amount of moisture it contains, that is used

whence

As examples, a yarn rating as 50,000 metres per

kilogramme gives the English count of 44.3, and
the English count 40 corresponds to a kilogrammetric length of 45,120 metres. Practically the
English count 100 gives 113,000 metres (the exact
length is 112,800 metres). For the conversion of
the English number E into French numbers F, F',
F'', F "', according to whether the lengths of skeins
are 700, 710, 714, or 720 metres, the following
constants are used :
F
0.806
X E
E
=
1.240
X F

F ' = 0. 794 X E
E = 1.268 X F

oi'

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

544

ARCHED BR.IDGE ACROSS THE RHINE AT BONN; THE SIDE SPAN.

(For Description, see opposite Page.)

Fi.rJ. 68.

........ -~oo .....;,. ________!_ig_._?_

O: _______________ ~ ..,ooo-----------------------------II!C- --41'tsoo

r. --:----------------..--... - -78 tJO---.---- - ----- .-- - ~ 1

0

'

--- - --34%6 -- ----- J------

)('

- - -

~~

- -- -

J.fZS

--

tl
--- .... 'i'lh

,. ........

_...

-+

x-f"'

--------------------- ?so---------------

-41

-t..

- ..
-

,.

Fi[j.71.

'

!~~~====~~~~

I
I
I
I

I
I
I
I

I
I

I
I

I
I

I
I
I
I

lI

II
()
()
()

..,

'

II
I

I
I

'

I
I

I
I

I
.I

,
-

---

I
I

I
I
I

I
I

'

..
(5020.11.)

in the public establishment of which the Lyons

Chamber of Con1merce has charge.
The leading feature of these apparatus consists of
a series of stoves in which the samples of silk to be
dried are suspended to the arm of a balance by a
thread that passes through the cover of the stove.
By this arrangement the weight of the silk can be
ascertained at any moment, the process of drying
watched and recorded, and the final weights taken,
after dessication is complete, the hot-air supply
being shut off at the moment of taking this last
observation. The progress t hat has been made is
illustrated by a series of reproductions, the first of
which dates back to 1840 ; it is shown in the diagrams, Figs. 1 and 2, and consists of an inverted
bell with double sides C, the top being furnished
with a cover H. The samples of silk to be dried
are suspended in the bell as shown, where they
are subjected to a temperature a little ab0ve
100 deg. Cent., sufficient to expel all moisture
and reduce the samples to a state of absolute
dryness. In this condit ion the absolute weight
is obtained by the balance, and the weight of
the whole parcel is estimated from the sample.
T o this absolute weight a certain amount of
water it:i added, corresponding to that which
exists in commercial samples, and in this w&.y the
normal weight is obtained as a b~sis for regulating
the conditions of manufacture. In this apparatus
it will be seen from the section Fig. 2 that a pipe
i8 introduced in the double side of the Lell to rccei vc and carry off the steam or moisture that is

FIG.

"'9.
/ ....

-1

u,..__

... _
I

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

_.JJ.J -

ARCHED

BRIDGE

ACROSS

THE

RHINE

AT

BONN ;

T HE

FALSE

WORK.

-,j

tv

........

'll

11 .....
\0

8
I

_j

t'I1

..

C)

....

.........

FIG.

t:t1
t:r1

87.
...

1ibel'ated in t he~operation of drying. Another for m

is also exhibited elabora.t~d from the el~mentary ARCHED BRIDGES OVER THE RHINE.*
( Contilnued from page 412.)
-type, in 1853, by MM. Talabot and Perroz; Fig. 3,
page 543, illustra.tes this form in which the heated air
THE side arches resemble the main arch. and are
-coming from a coke fire is le i to the upper part of t he like it divided into panels, t welve altogether, each
receiver by a series of copper t ubes, and is drawn out of 7.8 metres (25ft. 7 in. ) length; their number is
from the bottom throu~h an opening connected with half t hat of the main arch. Some dimensions of
a chimney, the air passing through the sample on its the box girders have already been given in
way. In 1886 M. Testenoire, the pre<3ent director of Fig. 45, in our issue of Ma rch 30, in juxtathe Lyons establishment, introduced, with the co- position to those of the main arch. The upper
operation of M. Robin, important improvemen ts in members of the side arch form longitudinal girders
t he drying apparatus ; he replaced the hot-air tubes of the roadway, and correspond to the inner girders
-with a sleeve, leaving an annular space in the b ell, of t he footpath. Girderd, wind bracings, buckle'Up which the hot air flowed in a larger volume, t hus plates and bearings recall the arrangements of the
rendering the temperature more uniform, and the main arch, on a reduced scale. Figs. 68 to 71 (page
operation more rapid. The receiver was also en- 544) show details. The arch over the Rhine embank. cased in a non-conducting envelope, and a furnace ment at Bonn consists of four girders, with eight
was added in which coke or coal dust could be b earings, and is divided into 10 panels, each S. 25
ourned. This apparatus, which is exhibited, com- metres (10ft. 8 in.) in length. The upper booms
pletes the series of these appliances that need be sup port the cross girders up to 450 millimetres
n oticed. In another article we will consider other (17.7 in.) in h eigh t, which are connected by the
a pparatus and instruments which are shown in the longitudinal girders of the r oad way ; the buckle
Buildin~ of T extile Industries, having for their plates render any further wind bracing unnecessary.
-object the regulating of textile threads and yarns,
The artists have exercised their fancy mainly on
i)rior to their being made ready for the loom.
the brackets, parapets. lanterns, masts of the
aerial conductors, and the portal of the wind
(To be continued.)
bracing. That t he dragon should have been
marched up in regiments, is n ot astonishing. The
PIG IN BELGIUl\:r.-The produotion of iron and steel pig Drachenfels (Dragon's Rock) is the most popular

prominence of the picturesque, once volcanic Siebengebirge (with valuable quarries) situated on the
Beuel bank of the R hine, high er up the river, in
sight of Bonn. It may safely be predicted that t he
new bridge will guide many a visitor to the
Drachenfels, who formerly would not have made
Bonn his starting point. The artist, therefore,
gave expression to a natural impulse of gratitude in
lining the lower edge of t he parapets with dragons.
When we examine Fig. 72, we understand, why the
race of t he dragons has become extinct. They were
all head, teeth, claws, wings, but fearfully scraggy ;
like all t ruly voracious creatures, practically bodiless. The photograph brings out this deficiency,
and, further, the amazing development of the ears
on the dog-like beads. Over the Rhine embankment heraldic griffins take the place of the dragons.
A very pleasing use has been made of vines and
wine and its poetry, of leaves and flowers, both in
the metal and stone works. But we do not admire
the senseless grouping of the gay-coloured eagles,
lions, and m ur~l crowns on t he one portal (Fig. 64,
page 406 a.mte), nor the ships and decorations of
the other pnrtR.l which we do not illustrate. The
red lion in the blue field underneath the cross with
long horizontal and short vertical bars, represents
the coat of arms of the municipality of Bonn.
The decorations ar e worked in iron and copper,
and, in the portals, are fixed over the rivets : the
i n Belgium in t he first two months of the year was
dra{!ons are iron.
1,272 219 tons. The corresponding output in the correWe pass now to the erection of the bridge. The
* The previouA articles appeared in our issues of Febsponding period of 1899 was 1,282, 779 tons, and in the
first year was taken up by dredging navigable
ru~ry 9, Ma.l'$>h 16, and March 30.
~rreaponding period of 18.98, 1, 184,395 tons.

channels, chiefly on t he shall0wer Bonn side, and

by building the piers. The abutmen ts were built
in the second year, which also saw the main ar ch
completed. After the termination of the second
year, in April, 1898, t he side arches had to be put
up, the road ways paved, and there remained other
work, chiefly for the architect and mason. This
general scheme involved one great disadvantage.
While the foundations of the piers were being sunk,
and the piers raised to about the level of the roadway, the sites had none but river connection with
the shor e, as the side channels had to be kept open
for navigation. The heavy iron pieces arrived by
boat, and had to be lifted up and preliminarily
joined together on the false work. If the side
arches had first been completed the tr an sport
difficulties would have been lessened, and the
erection of the arch mnch facilitated. But the
latter plan would practic~lly have obliged the
contractors to finish the four piers simultaneously
in one year, and to deal with the superetructure in
another year. Many more hands would have been
required at one t ime. For these reasons the first
scheme was de~ided upon, although its drawbacks
were not overlooked.
The steelwork, cleaned and varnished with linseed
oil, was temporarily bolted t ogether at the works
of the Gute HoffoungRhti.tte, at Sterkrade, where
half a main girder could be mounted. The girder
was dismounted again and separated into units,
suitable for transport by rail or river ; the units
were riveted hydraulically and painted with red

.........

z
C)

Ot

~
(A

E N G I N E E R I N G.
l ead. The false work between the river piers was
put up in 1897, and shifted over to the abutments
in tThe same year . The diagrams of the false
work, Figs. 73 to 86, on our two-page plate, are
well worth ~ close inspection.
The transverse rows of piles for the main arch correspond to the girder panels, but are 5 f t . out of
the planes of the verticals.
Of the seven longitudinal rows of piles, five were driven first,
and the two outer r ows, with their struts, added
<1.fterwards to increase the stability of the structure.
With regard to the n ormal to the longitudinal axis
of the bridge, each single pile was braced to two
double piles, about 15 ft. distant, by means of four
stringers. The diagt)n al tie-rods, with screw adjustm ent (Fig. 73), belong to pairs of the same longitudinal row ; they were attach ed to collar~ aro und
the h ead and the foot of the piles; t he upper collars
were bolted down, those b elow did not require any
fixing.
Two travellers (Figs. 73 and 75) were
moved on I -beams, placed right at the top of the
structure, 12 metres (39ft. ) apart. Two waterways
had to be kept clear for the river traffic. This
necessitated an interesting structure of timber,
iron plates, and iron r ods, details of which can b e
seen in Fig. 78. Special protection had also to b e
provided for the false work on t he up-stream side,
as the Rhine currents are very powerful.
For
this purpose fender courses were pushed at acute
angles up-stream from the t hree divisions of t h e
false work; Figs. 74 and 77 give particulars o f one
of these courses. There will be noticed on each side
seven, and counting th e apex, eight groups of t hree
piles and struts held together by rings and bolts.
Four parallel rows of wires were stretched along
the inner inclined struts, and booms were fastened
along the outer rows.
The false work of t h e side arches (Figs. 79 to
82) was built on the same plan, and was once
put to a severe test. During t his p eriod, river
steamers were calling at a pier some way above
the bridge on the Boon side. On Whit- unday
the Humboldt was j ust landing passengers, when,
through some accident, the ca.ptain lost control over
his b oat, which the current swept down upon the
fender course. One of the bollards was knocked
over, and the wires were broken; this check prevented further mischief, although the boat was
wedged in between the piles, as indicated in Fig. 80.
The false work supported two main working platforms. The lower platform was placed about 2
metres (6t ft.) below the upper edge of the roadway. It had the full width of t he roadway, except
near the piers, where it was narrowed down to
8 metres (26! ft.) The staging for the main arch
rose with the different panels, which it followed on
both sides in a width of 3. 5 metres (11~ ft. ), 0. 7
metres (27. 6 in.) below the lower member of the
girder ; these stagings are shown in Figs. 73 and
76. Two revolving jib cranes of 8 tons capacity
took the steel work from the boats. Part of the scaffolding of the Beuel river pier had been left in position to serve as crane staging. On the Bonn side the
one crane had to be put on a special crane bridge,
and the other on a staging near the embankment
arch . Thus the steel was taken up by one crane,
put on a truck and wheeled, and again lifted by
the second crane, to be deposited on the working
platform. Here the travellers already mentioned
came in, these being actuate d by winches ; fully
loaded with 8 tons, t hese travellers weighed 45 tons
each. Figs. 83 to 86 r efer to the false work of the
Bonn embankment. In Figs . 73 and 74 it will
be seen that the longitudinal axes of the piers do
not coincide with the axes of their b eton foundations ; the reasons for shifting the piers inward
h ave b een pointed out.
The main arch erection was carried out in the
following manner : The bearings having been fixed
in the piers, the firs t two panels were put up wiLh
their wind bracings, t h e portal at vertical 2, ancl
the corresponding part of the roadway, all preliminarily pinned and bolted together with t he greatest
care. The roadway with its wind bracing was then
continued, starting from the portal on the Bonn
side, over its whole length, but for the time only
in half width of 7.2 metres, leaving the footpaths
till later. The auxiliary rails could now be transferred from the staging over to the roadway. The
arch girders were t h en advanced simultaneously
from both sides with their wind bracing and suspension rods. At t he end of the tenth week the
A.rch was nearly closed. After careful r e-levelling,
exact measurements were taken of the gap, and
the closing segments finished in accordance. Thus

the stage represented in the photograph, after

which Fig. 87 has been prepared, was reached at
the end of the twelfth week of the erection. The
arch closed, the road way supports were so far
lowered that tha central part of t he roadway
obtained freedom of motion, and that the arch
girders could freely yield to temperature stresses
without detriment to the ~uspension-rods. The
riveting of the arch accomplish ed as rapidly as possible, the girders were lowered on their bearings.
This was the moment when the preliminary wedges
of the bearing saddle were replaced by permanent
wedges, finished to accurate measurements. Th e arch
had been resting on jacks, standing on t he false
work, and on wedges driven between the jacks
and the verticals of the girder. The wedge were
first withdrawn. T o watch the effect of the lowering of the girder on the piers, accurate le,els had
been sunk into the piers in t he longitudinal axis of
the bridge. A deflection of these levels by one
division of 3 millimetres signified that the pier had
yielded-tilted outward- by 1 millimetre reckoned
at the h eight of the bearing, and by 1.4 millime tre
at t he height of the road way. The Bonn pier had
already shifted by 6 millimetres (t in.) before letting
the arch down, owing to the expansion of the iron.
The lowering itself caused a further movement of
3 millimetres during t h e process, and of 4 millimetres more during the subsequent 24 hours. This
was succeeded by a further gradual yielding of
4 millimet.res extending over the eight months
before the completion of the side arch, during
whic~ period the pier was exposed to the onesided
t hrust of the main arch. This total tilting of 6 + 3
+4+4 = 17 millimetres (0 .67 in. ) was reduced to
12 millimetres (0.47 in. ) when the side arch had
been lowered on its bearing.
'imultaneous observations on the Beuel pier gave lower numerical
values.
The paving of roadway with Swedish fir blocks
and the asphalting of the footpaths were the last
t hings d one to the superstructure of the bridge.
The iron had after erection again been coated with
red lead and two layers of paint, and shines n ow in
a greyish green. The firm of R . Schneider, of
Berlin, was represented by engineers Ste iner and
Gadow, the G ute Hoffnungshutte by the manager of
their bridge department, Professor I{rohn, a nd by
engineer Riensberg. The false work was put up
by Hanebeck, of D ortmund. The chief architect
was Bruno Mohring, who, as we stated in the
introduction, participated in the prize design. The
sculptor was Brasche ; the models were supplied by
Riegelmann, the iron decorations by Hillersr.heidt
and Kasbaum, all of Berlin. Mr. Frentzen, who
acted as superintending engineer-inchief to the
town , deser ves mention also as the author
of the technical part of an excellent d etailed
monograph on the Bonn Bridge, which has guided
us in this d escriptive n otice. The archmological
finds h ave been carefully preserved. Most of them
belong to the late Roman age, and contain Roman
and German relics, urns, pottery, b ones, &c.,
strangely mixed in peculiar circular pits, sunk
about 5 ft. into the alluvial soil. E ight of these
pits were fully explored. 1'he absen ce of ornaments and of coins would tend to indicate that
the Roman settlers were n ot of the wealthy cla s.
(To be rontinued.)

PARI

EXHIDITION RAILWAY. '.

TnE E s PLANADE DES I JVaLIDE LINE .

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

[APRIL

27, T900.

tra.ffic, and the insufficiency in the means of circula~wn , have at last made the question of an urban
nul way system one of capital necessity. The 1900
E xp osition, which will bring vast crowds together,
who mus.t be. mov~d t? an~ fro, has greatly stimulated actwn 1n this directwn ; certainly this is the
case with s:u~h. lines as cou~d be. made to converge
on the Exhlb1t10n, and wh1ch wlll therefore facilitate the movements of the unusual crowds.
There exists at present along the south bauk
of t he Seine, a railroad t hat terminates at the
Champ de Mars, which, in ordinary times may be
regarded almost as a suburb. This line was intended to serve the western section of Paris and
that portion of the city on the left bank of the
Seine; it is known as t he 1\loulineaux R~ilway
because it goe3 to a little town of that name ; but
in reality its first section, that which runs from the
Champ de Mars to the fortifications, and therefore
to the Ceinture Railway, was made to serve the
1878 Exhibition by connecting the Champ de Mars
during that year to the Ceintur~. By it, trains
running on the Ceinture, which has a connection
with t he Gare St. Lazare, brought Yisitors rather
circuitously and tediou ly to the Exhibition. Inconvenient as it was, however, the route was very
largely used by visitors, for Paris was still worse
provided with means of transit than it is today ;
the same story was repea.ted at the Paris Exhibition
of 1889, in spite of the fact that the tramway system
had been greatly increased ; but in consequence of
low speeds and relatively long intervals between
the running of cars, this means of circulation was
very im perfect. During the present year it is expected that the Champ de :Mars Railway will deal
with an enormous number of persons, modified and
greatly improved as it has been in many ways.
Some years since it was decided to bring the
Moulineaux line nearer to the centre of Paris, as far,
in fact, as the Esplanade des Invalides, which will
play so important a part in this year's Exhibition.
I t is true that this location is far from being in the
centre of the city, and it will be necessay, at a later
date, to continue it so as to form a junction with
t he extension of the Orlean Rail way now in progress. But what has been done constitutes a most
valuable addi t ion to the means of circulation, for
the new station is opposite to the A,enue des
Champs Elysees, which may be regarded almost as
a central part of Paris. This extension ~ad been
decided on before it was finally determrned that
the 1900 Exhibition hould be held; and ;vhen this
decision was arrived at, the project assumed larger
proportions. The final scheme comprised the connection of the new terminus, known as the Gare des
Invalicles, with the Gare St. Lazare, by means of a
branch, which gave a shorter ro~te than: by f?llowing t he Ceinture line to the pomt . of JUnctiOn at
Moulineaux.
The branch, startmg fro~ .t.
Lazare, follows the Ceinture line for a certam d1.tance, but qui ts it to traverse tha~ part of Pans
b etween the Ceinture and the Seme, and aft.erwards rejoins the Moulineaux line and its extenswn
to the Esplanade des Invalides. This rou~e will
have the cr reat aclvantacre of relieving the Cemture,
o
o
.
which is much
overcrowded
durmg
cer t'
am h.ours oI
t he day, because where. it is p~1.rallel wtth the
Ceinture the latter will be w1dened, and on
leaving it, the new line will carry much of th.e local
traffic. For the present year, at all events, 1t ~ar
be regarded as a special and independent Exlubltion line. The rail way that has been constructed
for this special purpose extends fro~ the Es.pla
nade des Invalides, where there lS ~ ~e.rmmal
station to the Champ de Mars, where 1t JOlDS the
Moulin'eaux line. Visitors coming by the. la~ter
can therefore, stop at either of the two p~mctpal
centres of the Exhibition. This, however, lS o~y
a part of th e whole scheme, which is known as t e
Courcelles and Champ de l\1ars Rai~way, Courcelles
hein<Y t he name of the Ceinture statiOn, where there
is a. junction with the tracks coming fro'? .the ~are
St Lazare The railway is naturally d1v1ded mto
tw.o secctio~s-one from Courcellcs to the ~ven;e
18
du Trocadero station; the Eecond, conne?tl~g t
station with the Champ d e Mars. It 1s m t 11e
vicinity of the Trocadero that the line cea~es to be
a widenincr of the Ceinture, and takes Its t'~
rout~ tow:rds. the Seine. The rou~e of the: ~~ ~
line 1s . h own 1n the general p1an, F1g. 1, pag
h'
while Fig. 2 is a section of that .Part between t e
Courcelles and the 1'rocadero stnhons.
d
The works on this line have been heavy, an a~e
.
T he fi rst sect'1on ha .been 10
of much 1nterest.
.
charge of ~1 . Rabut, P onts et Cbaussces engmeer, m

APRIL

27,

1900.]

the service of the Wester~ Ra.ilw3:y Company; to

him we are indebted f~r mfo.rmatl.on, and f or the
illustrations accompany1ng thiS a.rttcle. Along t he
whole length of t h e .sect~on-abo~t ~000 yards -:th e
work consisted in wtden~ng the ongtnal double hne,
either on one or both s1des. For the greater part
of the length the tracks are placed, one on each
side of the old one, but bet~e~n t he N euilly-PorteMaillot station (see plan, Ftg . .:>), at the Avenue de
la Grand Armee and the station of the Avenue
Bois de Boulogoe (see plan, .Fig.. 4), th? two
new lines run together. and outstde (1n relatwn to
Paris) the old line. Thts arrangement was r endered
necessary by local conditions, but when the system
is completed,. the traffic wil~ be so arranged t hat t h e
Oeinture .Railway shall still u~e the two central
lines whilst the outer ones w1ll be reserv ed for
the Courcelles and Cha mp ~e Mars traffic ; t ha:t is to
say that all trains runmng towards Auteull and
the' Champ de Mars will occupy the in1_1er track,
and those o-oing to the Gare St. Lazare w1ll u se the
outer track. In each of th~ four stations b el onging jointly to the Ceinture and the new lines, the
two tracks over which trains pass in the same
direction will be provided with island platforms, so
that passengers will have no difficulty about their
route on changing carriages. It is worthy of r emark that contrary to t he general practice in
France 1 th~ English type of raised platforms has
been a dopted, so that th e platform, raised .85
metre (33. 5 in ) above the rails, is ~ractically on .a
level with the footboards of the carnages ; there 1s
no doubt that this d eparture from us ual custom
wi11 be much appreciated, especially during the
busy periods of the coming s?mmer.
.
\Videning a suburban railway, and espemally
widening stations, is a serious matter when the line
runs through property so costly a s that traverded by
the Oeinture, but very fortun ately it happened that,
almost without exception, t h e extra width has
been obtained by cutting down t he old slopes
and building retaining walls.
At stations the
conditions were not quite so easy, but here,
again, the necessary width was obtained without
the purchase of land, by excavating beneath
the roadway, and carrying the latter on brackets,
which in some cases have an overhang of n early
10 ft. The great difficulty in executing these
works lay in the fact that they had to be carried on without stopping the traffic, and that
special arrangements had to be made for the
disposal of the earth removed. The general plan
adopted was to load the excavated material into
trains of contractors' wagons running on a temporary narrow-gauge line, and placed at a level of
6 or 6ft. above the ground. These were e mptied
into full-sized ballast wagons, standing on sidings
previously constructed in convenient places, and at
night, after the Ceinture traffic had stopped for a
few hours, trains of these ballast wagons were taken
over the railway to be used on the embankments of
a branch line belonging to t he Western Railway
Company, in the environs of Paris . The brackets
carrying the overhanging road ways r eferred to
above, are constructed of reinforced b e ton carried on
brackets of the same material. I t was found difficult
to make the brackets of stone on account of their
dimensions; the cost of b eton was much less than
that of steel framing ; and the general effect is
better than if a compound type of structure had
been adopted. The beton brackets vary in depth
and .thickness with their length ; they are placed
a~ diStances of from 7 ft. to 10 ft. according to
crrcumstances. Taking one of average proportions
we find that it is 1.80 metres (70.87 in.) high,
1.~9 m~tres (59.66 in.) long, and . 30 m etre ( 11.8 in.)
mde ; 1ts framework consists of three round bars
1 in. in diameter ; the ends of each of these bars
a:e bent round and held, t he one to an anchoring
gtrder by a round bar 1. 25 in. in diameter and 2 ft.
long ; the other, at the outer end of the bracket, is
~ecured by a round bar 1 in. in diameter and
11 ~ long, placed horizontally. This last-named
bar lS held by two vertical irons. The lower of the
two ro~nd bars in the bracket is supplemented on
each s1de by an additional bar, the whole being
held tog~ther by stirrup irons . This fra1nework is
encased m the beton, and the structure is stiffened
by three longitudinal girders ; of these, one is set
at the back o~ the retaining wall, a second on the
ed~e of the s1de walk nearest the line, and the
thud at the outer end of the bracket. The first
?f th~e forms t he anchorage of the brackets, and
~built up of four ro~nd bars connected by stirrup
trons and embedded 1n the concrete ; the third is

547

E N G I N E E R I N G.
u sed to carry a stone pediment to which an iron
fence is secured. The foundation of the side walk
is also o f beton, strengthened by r ound bars connected to the framework just described. To cmnplete t he connection of the brackets with the retaining walls, tooth ed recesses are cut in the face of
the latter. The beton employed is n1ade in the
proportion of about 600 lb. of cement per cubic
yard of coarse sand, of which 40 p er cent. will not
pass through a sieve with a . 005 millimetre mesh,
and 60 per cent. of gravel varying from .05
millimetre to .15 millimetre. This concrete was
well rammed into m ould, the stirrup irons being at
first corn pressed by cords, which were afterwards
cut, so that when they took their normal position,
they still further compressed the beton. The
process is that of M. Henue bique.
It was not pnssible to execute all the work in t he
first section of t he line in open cutting, a s several
avenues under which the Ceinture passes had to be
d ealt with, and various types of sections were
adopted for these places, varying according to the
levels ; these included masonry a rches, reinforced
b eton, or girder-covered way. At the Avenue de
la Grande Armee, on leaving N euilly-Porte Maillet
station, a section was adopted having iron plates
and g irders under the road way, and reinforced
beton to carry the footpath s ; water and other
mains gave consiierable trouble, and involved
special con s tructions. It was necessary also to reconstruct the existing bridges, and on account of the
greater span and consequent increased dept h of the
girders, the roadway had , in most cases, to be supported on iron plates.
Figs. 5 to 9, pages 548 and 519, are t ype sections
at different parts of the line. Fig. 5 shows the
fagade of the Neuilly-Porte-Maillot station, a nd t he
arrangement of staircases and platforms ; the new
lines are placed outside the old ones. Fig. 6 is a crosssection through the Avenue du B ois de Boulogne
station ; in this section the profile of the original
work is shown by dotted lines. Fig. 7 is a cross-section under the Place Pereire, at a point where the line
crosses over the Marcea u sewage collector; it will
be noticed that the old work is in covered way, and
the new lines in tunnels, one on each side; Fig. ~,
a section under the Avenue des Ternes, shows a
somewhat similar construction. Fig. 9 is a sect ion
beneath the Avenue du Bois de Boulogne; this
shows the Ceinture line on one side, and the two
new lines in the tunnel on the other.
(To be continued.)

HEAVY T U RRET LATHE.

vVE illustrate on page 537 a turret lathe of very
exceptional dimensions, which has recently been constructed by the Pratt and Whitney Company, of
Hartford, Connecticut. The machine is designed for
work on steel or cast-iron stock, 2! in. to 7~ in. in
diameter; and thus its field of work commences where
that of the usual type of modern turret lathe comes
to an end. For work of such exceptional dimensions it is obvious t hat great rigidity is essential;
and hence the headstock and bed have, it will
be seen, been cast in one t>iece; whilst t he turret slide
fits direct ly on to the be<.l, and is therefore firmly held
at all points of its travel. A five-step belt cone is
used, and the back gearing has a ratio of 11 to 1, the
cutting speed intended being 35 ft. per minute. The
feed for t he turret can be adjusted at will, to form
.008 in . to 1 in. p er revolution. This adjustment is
obtained through a friction device, and is regulated
by the handwheel shown to t he front and left of t he
machine. The cross-slides for cutting off or for forming
tools are provided with automatic feeds ranging from
.007 to .0025 per revolution of spindle. All these feed
motions are provided with automatic and adjustable
stops, and independent ha nd feed s.
In the case of the turret slide, this hand feed may
be given either by the large spider wheel shown, or
by a worm and gear, which is useful in facing work.
The thrust of the main spindle, and a lso of the feed
shaft, is in eaeh case taken on ball bearing~. The
following are some of t he principal dimensions and
particulars of the machine, the size of which is inadequately conveyed by our engraving :
Diameter of bole through s pindle
...
Largest diameter that chucks will hold
Smallest diameter that chucks will hold
Length that can be milled
. ..
. ..
Diameter of turret . . .
.. .
. ..
.. .
Distance from top of turret slide to centre
of turret hole
...
.. .
. ..
.. .
Distance from top of cut-off slide to centre
of turret hole
.. .
. ..
. ..
.. .
Diameter of turret hole ...
. ..
.. .
Dimensions of spindle front bearing,
ng in. in diameter
. ..
. ..
. ..

.. .

5
... ... 16 in.
... .. . 3 ,,
... ... 11 to 1
... 10ft. by
...
4ft. 6 in.
... 4-in. face,
Dimensions of co\}ntershaft pulley
14-in. diam.
Revolutions of countershaft per minute
334
Weight of countershaft ...
(about) 7000 lb.
weight, boxed for export .. .
...
. . . nooo ,
Automatic oil attachments and special tools are
provided by the makers when required. The agents
for the machine in this country are Messrs. Buck and
Hickman, of 2 and 4, Whitechapelroad, London, E.
Number of steps on cone
Diameter of largest step
Width of belb
. ..
Ratio of gearing .. .
Floor space . ..
...

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

SOUTH AFRICAN DIAMOND MINING.

THE present po3ition of De Beers Consolidated
Mines, Limited, is probably not exactly appreciated.
The annual meeting for 1899 was held recently at
Kimberley, and was distinguished by one of Mr.
Rhodes) brisk cheery speeches ; but nothing was said
about the payment of a dividend for the second half
of the year. The actual state of affairs is that for the
finan cial year ending June 30, 1899, dividends were
paid to the amount of 40 per cent. These dividends
absorbed 1,579,582l. , and an unappropriated balance of
1, 126, 730l. was carried to the balance sheet. Nothing
was said, however, in the directors' report as to the payment of a dividend for the six months ending D ecember
31, 1899. The unappropriated balance of 1, 126, 730l.
would have been amply sufficient to provide for another
dividend of 20 p er cent. , and the reserve fund (which
is invested in British consols) stood at the close of
June, 1899, at 1,179,557l. The financial position
of the company is accordingly exceedingly strong ;
but at the same time the fact cannot be overlooked
that the company has been depri,ed by the wa r of
the profits of nearly six months' working in its
current financial year. The average yield per load of
blue ground at the De Beers and Kimberley mines in
the financial year 1898-9 was 0. 71 carat. The average
value per carat was l l. 9s. 7d., giving an average value
per load of blue ground of ll. Os. lid. At the close
of June, 1899, the quantity of blue ground and lumps
on the company's floors, including the stock of the
Premier mine, was 4,034,816 loads, valued at ls. 6d.
per load for the De Beers and Kimberley mines, and ls.
p er load for the Premier mine. A new contract for the
sale of diamonds was entered into with a syndicate for
the year from April 1, 1899, at an increased price ;
and, "in view of the general prosperity of the world,"
the directors are sanguine of making an equally
favourable contract for 1900-1. During the pas~ year
the directors decided to proceed with cold storage
accommodation and a dynamite factory. The cold
storage was rendered n ecessary by the loss of cattle
by rinderpest. The dynamite factory was necessitated by the creation of a European monopoly, which
rendered it impossible for De Beers Company to ascertain from year to year wha t price would be demanded
for the articl~?, On the completion of its dynamite
factory, the De Beers Company will be independent
of all European rings, and will have a ready market
for any surplus dynamite in Rhodesia and the Transvaal. The dynamite factory has been placed under
the superintendence of Mr. W. R . Quinam, who has
had considerable experience in connection wit h dyna
mite factories in America.
SLIDE-RULE POR ENGINE CALCULATIONS.- We have
received from Mr. William J. Goudie, of Crosshill, Glasgow, a specimen of an ingeniously arranged rule specially
devised to facilitate the provisional designing of multipleexpansion steam engines. The instrument contains two
slides and two sets of fixed scale8. In all there are
fifteen scales, and a number of reference points. By following the directions accompanying the rule, the whole
of the calculations to fix the general dimensions of a proposed triple or quadruple-expansion engine can be found
inside of five minutes, and without the exercise of any
mental effort. The scales are clearly printed on white
paper, and are thus very easily reacl.

THE LATE MR. ANnREw BAROLAY, F .R.A.S., ENGI

NEER, KILMARNOCK.- 'Ve have learned with regret of the
death, on the 19th inst., a fter a short illness, of M r.
Andrew Barclay, who founded a large engineering works
at Kilmarnock, now carried on as a limited liability concern. Mr. Barclay, who was 86 years of age, was the son
of a millwright, who, it is perhaps interesting to note
originated three-ply carpet weaving. The son, therefore'
took naturally to engineering, and commenced on hi~
own account, sixty years ago, and built up the Oale7 . in.
aonia Works, which came to be widely known in connection with the manufacture of pumping and winding
7.. "
2 ,
machinery, ~ving employment to about 700 men.
10 ,
Although they have for so~e time been OWJ?ed by a
16 ,,
company, Mr. Barclay contmued as a consultmg engineer. He devoted much of his leisure time to a.stro
nomical work, and his mechanical ingenuity found scope
4~"
in the manufacturing of telescopic and other apparatus.
4~ ,,
Forty yea.rs ago, .he was elected a Fellow of the Royal
3~ ,,
Astronom10al SoCiety. He took part also in the administrative affairs of his native town, Bind was for a sbort
14! in. long time one of the magistrates.

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

( t\ PRIL 'Jj, I9QO.

~=====:=========================================================

THE PARI

EXHIBITIO

, THE

(For Dt8Cripti&tl., !tt Pagt 546.)

..-

aou~oott~

lq
/..

,...

...
~

lq

c:

"'
"'t

"

N OLL.U

ATIO..

~~~~L-.J...._Q-;;-:~o~~=:} ):D::::_
f:::::::::

c 11 -J\J..{ .P

&COL&

MILI TA i ftt
'LA Cl Df LA
COHCO,.Ol

Fro. 1.

GENERAL P tAN oF LI r. FRO\ Tn r.

O\ ' Rf' Et.LF: -CET ~TORE T \TIO

To TJir.

E ' PLA ~A oE

HE:s

I '

\LII>f

...
~

...~

-..
.0..

- Fig.2

AVIItlll
IJitl

e OI$ Dl lOUt OGitt

r
0

----I

11

I I

11 1 I

I I

!I

----1

I.

r-- J--.-"1' .

ji~~~l: l:l:1l1

_......;;e:~=-->"-:- ~

I I

I' I

1I

11 I

11

11 I
I

11 I

I 1

1:

IJ I

11 11:111
1 1 ,, I I I

l1

'1

I I
"

>-+- ++-'ti-t' ----e-- ..---.::.- -,_.

II

I1

I
I

I I

I
I

,,
II

t-----&1- - - - i j - r+--- t Ti[}--ii!f-,._-

h"J 1\'u.mlxr

FIG.

'

2. Lo "'GITUDL.

AL

,,

11

17

-~

.,;

ECTIO!\ rRO)I TH E C ouR 'ELLE,' CEI~Tl RE TO TnE Taoc .ADERO ~ 'TATI OS

...

'

10

--

...

6 LilO

F1o. 8.

<:.

CRo .

800

ECTI ON,

-.

--

~
- !J,OO

AvE r e

DE

Wor}c;

'

...

---

TRNE~-

------

Fin. 9.

100

i
'

RO 'CTI O ,

..,.,I

..

'()

A ,. ENUE

LC

Boi

DE

BotrtrJOS

Jl

....

27,

APRIL

549

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

1900.]

THE p ARIS EXHIBITION; THE COURCELLES-CHAMP DE MARS RAILWAY.

(For Desc1-ipliun, see Page 5 !6.)

Fig.3.
'

-I

_______ ... __ _
....

--------------.
...
- --........
_,(:.,.2a

ROOF

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

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

------- -~ou---liA-Ro-_-_:::-:---------L

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

Soale1io;

Fw. 3.

11

P LA.N Oli' THE N EU ILL Y-PORTE lYIAI LLO'l ' STATION.

4.

P.26.

BOULEVARD

FLANDRIN

~~~-T~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~;d~========~~=============
- ~LATF~R~ .

- - --.

- - - -

PLATFORM

CENTRE

- -a

UNE

OF OVI ATION

=as

4J$1(1

OF 80UL.VARD

LANN $

. ~.

- --

- --

s~ l :uJ6
I
iJv

FIG.

4.

P LAN OF TH E

A VEN L"E

JJ Lr Bo1s DB B ouLOONJt.: S rATI ON.

Jlig. 7.

C)

\($

CIQ

~r

--.s.oo - ----+

- -------- 10, 0Q

NEUILLVPORTE MAILLOT
STATION .

MARC EAU

FIG.

.. --- 631

. . -------

- S.OO-

FIG.

5.

CH.os~ SBCTION, N EU ILLY-POR'l'E-M AILLO'r STA'r lON.

Fig. 6.

AVENUE DU BOIS- DE-BOULOGN STATION.

S OUL'!
FL.AN01tfN

BOCIU
ZANNto

---------------- ----+---

8 0,2(}'
--- ---- --- -- 18.60

- -------

--

-4---
---~--

"')

------------r -i'l63

l '

~-1

FIG. 6.

t' . .

J'

CRoss-SECTION , AvENUE DU Bois DE BoULoG E STATI O:X.

NOTES FROM THE UNITED

S TATES.

April 18.
.T~E iron and steel situation has changed but little
1nthm .the past few days. Rumours are rife of a
weakenmg tendency for summer deliYery, but very
P HILADEIPBIA,

few large buyers are now considering the purchase of

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

7.

.'

. "/)"
\
'

SE WR

CROSS-SECTION, PLACE P EREI RE.

t ha t t he H . C. Frick Company, in conjunction with

the Union Steel Company, will erect six enormous
blast-furnaces, with a capacity of 600 to 700 tons
each on the ~lonongahela River, 30 or 40 miles above
Pittsburg. A large steel plant will a]so be erected
the1e. The Uarnegie S teel Company has already entered
upon in1provements that will cost 5,000,000 dols., including, among other things, the erection of a merchant
steel milll50 ft . by 600 ft. The new open-hearth mill
near Pittsburg will be ready 1 'eptember 1. Steel
billets have dropped 1 dol. p er ton at Pittsburg, and
large contract s are likely to be placed. Most other
kinds of material are a t the same level as a week
ago. Inquiries are being received for large quantities
of structural material and plate, also for merchant bar
and sheet iron. The outlook has materially improved
within a few days. This fact points to the improbability of a permanent decline in pr ices. There is a
slight decrease in pig-iron production, owing to t he
fact that a number of furnaces were unable to
obtain a full supply of coke. Last week's coke production was 216,000 t ons. The Tra nsatlantic demand
for iron and steel products is impr:>ving, especially in
the shape of inquiries. The shipments of pig iron would
be much heavier were it able to obtain tonnage at fa ir
prices. Inquiries for pig iron foot up very large, b ut the
general impression of the iron market is that downward
prices are more probable th an upward, and hence t here
is a hand-to-mouth buying in all directions. Product ive capacity, however, seems to be on the increase
particularly in iron and steel directions. Acti'e pro~
seoutions are being made for t he railroad building on
a very large scale. Very heavy orders for electrical
equipment have been placed during t he past few days
an_d large. plants have inquiries ~efore them for sup:
phes, whiCh .to. all.appeara.nces w~ll tax the~r energies.
T.h e be~t opmton 1s that the pohcy of buymg will be
d1scont1nued shortly, and that large consumers will
appear about ~fay 1, a.nd place their contracts for the

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

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

NOTES FROM THE NORTH.

GLASGOW, Wednesday.
Glasgow Pig-Iron Ma;rket.- About 10,000 tons were
dealt in last Thur.sday forenoon. The t one was quieter
and prices were better. Scotch was up 2~d . per ton and
hematite iron 3 .~d. The market was fiat in the afternoon
a.nd a larger bu iness was done, the turnover being estimated about 35,000 tons.
cotch gave way 3d. per ton
from the forenoon clo~e, Cleveland 4~d., and hematite
iron 4d. per t on . Tbe settlement prices were : Scotch
iron, 74.s. 7~d. per ton ; Clev~land, 77s. 3d. ; hematite iron, Cumb3rland and Middlesbrough respecti ve1y,
8!~. 9d.
and 87s. 6d. per ton.
On the follo wing forenoon th e market was excited.
Cablegrams
were received from New York, stating that there had
been a complete di sruption of the billet combjnation, atJd
that the tendency of iron prices wag downwards, though
iron was scarce. The statements, it was remarked,
did not bang together; but, all the same, they led to
heavy selling, and prices were weak.
Abouli 45,000
tons were dea.lt in. S cotch lost 1s. 3~d. per ton,
but at the ]owest point touched there was a fall shown
from the top figure recently reached of 4s. 4d. pe r
ton. Cleveland gave way in the forenoon 10~d. per
ton, and hematite iron l s. 3i d. per ton. Buyers in t he
afternoon were offering 73s. 3~d. p er t on cash, and sellbrs
wanted ~d. more per ton. The settlement prices were:
73s. 3d., 76s . 9d., 833. 4~d., and 86s. per ton. On
Monday forenoon the reports received from America
as to further sharp redu ctions in the prices of material
there had a. very bad effect on the pie--iron market.
Operators for the rise sold freely, and on the whole
25,000 tons of iron changed hands.
At the last
Scotch iron was down l s. ld. per ton, and Cleveland
and bemati te iron respecti ve]y lO~d. and l s. l~d.
per ton.
In the a fternoon the market was rather
steadier, the feature being the bidding for bematite iron
just at the close of the market, and tbe price rose 3d. p er
ton from the forenoon finish. Cleveland iron lost other
3d. per t on, but Scotch was without further change. The
sales amounted t o 20,000 tons, and Scotch iron was sold
down to 71 s. ld. per ton three months fixed. The settlement prices were: 723. 3d., 75s. 7~d. , 823. 6d., and 86s.
p er ton. T uesday's market was very much better,
and price3 were strong, a fair amount of busines.i
being done. Scot ch iron rose l s. 9d. per ton, Cleveland ls. 3d., and hematite iron 1s. 7d. per ton. There
was a distinct recovery from the flatness of Monday,
though the cabled ad vices from America were by no means
cheering. It was thought, however, that the selling had been
overdone. About 20,000 tons were dealt in. Scotch iron
rallied 8l d. per too, Cleveland 9d., and hematite iron 7~d.
per too. Tbe market was very strong in tbe a fternoon,
Scotch closing up on the day, Cleveland ls. 3d., and hematite iron 1s. 7d. per ton. The turnover for the day amounted
to about 40,000 t ons, and the settlement prices were:
74s., 7G.i. 10~d., 84s., and 86s. per ton. The pig.iron
market was very active t his forenoon and nearly 48,000
t ons of iron changed hands. Prices were irregular, and
there were sharp reactions. At the afternoon market
25,000 tons changed hands, and Scotch iron fell in price.
The settlement pnces were: 73s. 7l d ., 7ns. 7~d., 84s. 4~d.,
and 86s. per ton. The following are the prtees of No. 1
makers' uon : Clyde, 90s. p er t on ; Ca1der and Gartsberrie, 9ls. ; Summerlee, 9ls. 6d. ; Coltness, 93s. 6d.
-all the foregoing shipped at Glasgow ; Glengarnock {sbipped a.tl Ardrossan), 903. ; Sbotts (shipped
a.t L ei th), 92s. 6d. ; c~rron (shipped at Grangemouth). 9ls. per ton. L ast we~k's shipments of pig
iron from all Scotch ports were as follow : To Canada,
6!0 tons; to South America, 100 tons; to Australia, 110
t ons; to France, 165 tons; t o Italy, 1630 tons ; to Germany, 1440 tons; to Holland, 470 t ons; to B elgium, 165
t ons; to other countries, smaller quantities; and coastwise, 3115 tons, tbe total shipments being 7908 t ons, as
compared with 7019 tons in the corresponding week of
last year. For tha year up to last ~aturday, the shipm ents amounted to 118, 493 tons, against 80,155 tons for
the corresponding portion of last year. The primary
cause of the recent fa,ll in prices in the Glasgow pigiron marke t is doubtless the unsatisfactory Amencan
r eports, and the dreaded ad vent of its formidab]e comp etition. Makers show but li ttle disposition to follow
the course of the market, and, being well sold, their
quotations remain practical1y unaltered. The furnaces
in blast at the close of last week numbered 84, being one
more than at the same time last year. The stock of pig
iron in Messrs. Connal and Co.'s public warrant stores
stood at 159,107 tons yesterday afternoon, as compared
with 165,898 tons yesterday week, thus showing an
increase for the past week amounting to 6791 tons.
Pig-Iron Stocks-the Great D ecrcase.-Pig iron continues to go out of store at an alarming rate, and Connal's
stores show a. sma.ller quantity of the raw material available than has been the case since the "boom " and famine
days of 1875. In that memorable year Connal's warrant
stocks had sunk to 9G, 000 tons ; to day they are 159,107
tons. Practically litt1e or no iron is goin~ iato store, as
makers can more pro6tab1y dispose of the1r manuf..tcturE',
and U!l ti l th e ~peculati ve price of wa.rran ts su ffi ~ien t ly

exceeds that of the market for consumption, or until a lull

appears in trade, there seems to be no prospect of pie-s
drifting into the store-houses. The low-water mark m
1875 was succeeded by a rapid flow, and by 1880
Glasgow warrant stocks had swollen to 745,000 tons.
Other six years saw them t op the million tons, and high
tide was reached in 1889, when nearly ll million tons were
in Messrs. Connal's stores. After 1889 the quantities
fluctuated till 1897, when a steady annual decrea.se set
in, and now, as we have seen, the amount is 159,107 tons.
The position is interesting, and doubtless but for the
American factor, and the a loofness of the general public
from the excitements of speculating in warrants-once as
lively and as remunerative, or the reverse, as Kaffirsthe price today would be much higher than it is.

F inished I ron ar~cl Stcel.-Scotch manufactured iron and

steel makers have litt]e fresh to report. The lack of new
orders has been more manifest, the sharp set-back in the
"peculati ve branch ha vi og led to less eagerness to place
new work. The set-back has come at a bad time for
makers, as consumers were disposed a.t the beginning of
the month to accept the inevitable, and give out long-heldback contracts; but now they are once more off, and only
a general re]axa.tion of prices will tempb them. The
cost is eating into profits to an alarming extent. Indeed, it
is hinted that so soon as some of the st eel compa.nie8run
through their current contracts, they will redu ce their running hours of work. Some of th e tubemakers, it is said, are
importing strips from America at 25.s. to 30:3. per ton
under Scotch prices, and it is a lso said that efforts are
being put forth to further combine interests; and as
recent fusions have left the trade in few hands, this
should not be over-difficult.
Olasgow Copper Market.-Practically no business has
been done in copper during the week. The price was
advanced 103. per ton on Tuesday forenoon, and in the
afternoon prices were nominal. 'fo.day the market and
prices are merely nominal.
I nstitution of Engineers and Shipbuilde1s:- The annual
meeting of this Institution was held last night-Professor
Arcbibald Barr, M. Inst. C.E., presiding in the absence
of Dr. Robert Caird, F .R.S.E., president. The Lord
Provost of Glasgow and several members of the Town
Coun cil were present. Mr. Archibald D enny drew attention to the fact that the University of Glasgow bad,
since last meeting, conferred the degree of LL. D., on two
members of the Institution, Mr. R obert Caird, president,
and Mr. Andrew tewart, who had endowed the chair
of Political Economy, and done many other good works.
He moved that the congratulations of the Institution
be minuted. Mr. Foulis Eeconded, and the proposal was
enthusiastica1ly carried. The meeting approved of proposals to award the gold medal of the Institution to Dr.
Barr for his paper of last session on " Similarity of
Structures," and to give awards to Messrs. Mattbie,
J ames Weir, and Professor Arnold, of Sheffield, for papers
read during the same session. Messrs. A. D enny and
William Foulis were elected vice-presidents of the Institution, and Professor Biles, Mr. Chamen, Mr. James
Morrison, Mr. C. C. Lindsar., and Mr. J ames W eir were
elected members of CounciL The discu s_ions on Mr.
O' Brien's paper on " A N ew Balanced Piston Valve,"
and Mr. Barnett's, on "Typical Racing Yachts," were
concluded, and both ~entlemen were thanked for their
contributions. 'l'he discussion on Mr. D. Cowan's paper
on " W orksbop Administration " was then taken, Mr.
H . A . Mavor and other gentlemen taking part in it.
Then came an elaborate paper on ., The M ain Drainage
of Glasgow," by Mr. A. B. JY!acdonald, city engineer.
The L ord Provost a nd two of his colleagues spoke in tbe
discussion, which was adjourned to a special meeting,
along with JY!r. Cowan's paper.
Shipbuilding Contracts.-Orders for three sailing ships
have been placed wi th P ort Glasgow shipbuilders.
Messrs. William H amilton and Co. are to build twoone a three-masted steel sailiog ship of 3300 ~ons carrying
capacity, and another capable of carrying 5000 t ons deadweight and to have four masts fully rigged. This vessel
is about equal in carrying tonnage to tbe Palgrave, built
many years ago by Messr.s. William Hamilton and Co.,
and which wa.s for many years the largest sailing vessel
afioat. - M essrs. Russell and Co., P ort Glasgow, are to
build a steel sailing ship to carry 5900 tons dead weight.
Whether this vessel will be a full-rigged sailing ship or
have five masts has not yet been decided. These ships are
all for the Anglo-A merican Oil Company, and will be employed in the transit of oil in case from America to ports
10 the Far East.- It may be mentioned, in the absence
g(..nerally of orders for sailing ships on the Clyde, that
with the foregojng there are now fi ve sailing ships
on order with Port G lasgow builders.-Messrs. Robert
Duncan are completing a special1y designed schooner
for Honolulu owners, and there is another being constructed in :Messrs. W illiam H amiUon and Co.'s Glen
yard.- M essrs. A . Rodger and Co., Port Glasgow,
have also orders to build two steamers of large dimensions, and one smaller. One of the steamers- the largest
ever constructed by this firm-is for Mr. Hugh Hogarth,
of Ardrossan and Glasgow.
L ocomotive Contracts.-Messrs. Neilson, Reid, and Co.,
Hyde Park W orks, have juRt closed a contract for 25 engines for the Cape Government Railways, and one for 29
engines for the Burmab State Railways.

NOTES FROM SOUTH YORKSHIRE.

SBEFFIET"'D, Wednesday.
She:Uield D istrict R ailwap.-His G race, the Du.ke .of
Portland, K. G., wi11 formall y open the Sheffield I?Istrwt
R 'l.il wl').y on M ond ay, :M ay 21. Th P date of openmg .for
puLlic: tratft c will be :mnounced l>y th e L ancashtre,

[APRIL

'2 i,

Der~yshire, and East Coast Company, who

1900.
will work

the hne, at a later date.

.T he N e?U .V ickers-llfaxim Gwn llfotvnting.-The new
VICkers-Maxtm .mounting for .12-in. naval guns has suc.
ce~f ally passed 1~s ~ests, and Will be supplied to all battle
sbtps of the Irresistible type. Owing to the arrangement
wb1ch e~a~les the gun t.o be load.ed and fired at a.ny
aogl.e, th1s IS the most raptdly workmg heavy gon in the
serVIce. ~be new Armstrong 12-in. mounting, tested ab
th~ same t1me, has ~lso been approved for use in battlesht~s of the Formtdable type. It is fitted with an ingemously combined rammer, which, simultaneously with
th e loading, cleans the breech by means of a brush.
. Miner~ and the llfidlan.d Railway Company.-A ques.
t10n of 1mportance to mmers and other workmen who
travel by train to their daily labour came before His
Honour ,Judge Raikes at Barnsley last week. Four
colliers sued the Midland Railway Company to recover
7s. each damages, they having lost a day's work on
December 18, owing, they contended, to the failure of
the company to run th eir 5.15 a m. train from Barnsley to
the Carlton JY!ain and Monk Bretton collieries, where
plaintiffs were employed. The evidence showed that the
men bad taken weekly tickets, a.nd that on the date men
tioned with some 500 others, they went to Barnsley
Station with the intention of proceeding to work by the
5.15 a. m. train. The latter, however, bad not arrived ab
6. 30 a. m., and knowing the rule of the collieries that they
would not be allowed to de8cend the shaft after 6 o'clock,
the men returned home. The submission on the part of
the railway company was that there was no contract to
carry the men at any particular time, but merely to
convey them by a special train. The company, however,
paid into Court le. 9d. for a quarter shift. Judgment was
reserved.
M essrs. Vickers, Sons, a;nd Maxi?n.-Mr. James H.
Boolds, manager to Sir Raylton Dixon and Co., Limited,
shipbuilders, Middlesbrough, has accepted the position
of manager to Messrs. Vickers, Sons, and Maxim, engineers and shipbuilders, Barrow-in-Furness. Mr. Boolds
is a son of the late lYir. Henry J. Boolds, who was known
as Lloyd's surveyor in the Greenock district. He served
his apprenticeship with lYI~srs. Duocan and Co., Port
Glasgow.

'

NOTES FROM CLEVELAND AND THE

NORTHERN COUNTIES.
MIDDLESBROUGH, Wednesday.
The Cleveland I ron Tr acle.-Y esterday the attendance
on 'Change was only small, and there was not very much
business doing. At the same time the J?larket ~ho~ed
some improvement, and the great scarcity of ptg u on
was to a very large extent responsible . for the few
transactions recorded. Producers were m no hurry
to sell, and expressed great .con~d~nce in the future.
There were certainly more mqumes than have b~n
reported since the holidays, but buyers and sellers d1d
not very readily agree as to rates. ln the early part of
the day No. 3 g. m. b. Cleveland pig re.alised 77s. for prompt
f.o.b. delivery, and that may be satd to be the general
market rate, though towards the cl~se several se1lers
advanced their prices to 77s. 6d. Mtddlesbrougb war
rants opened at 76s. ~d., and advanced by. the close
to 76s. 9d. cash buyers. No. 1 Cleveland ptg was put
all 79s. ; No. 4 foundry, 763.; and gr~y fo~g~, 75s. rbere
was practically no east coast hematlte pig 1ron available
for sale for this month's delivery, and the market q~ota
tion of 87s. 6d. for Nos. 1, 2, and 3 was purely nomm~l.
There was no quotation for Middlesbrough ~ema.tlte
warrants. Rubio ore was steady at 21s. exsh1p .T~.
To-day quotations for makers' iro!l were pretty stmilar
to those ruling yesterday. In Middlesbrough wa.rra.~ts
there was some fluctl'lation, and they finally closed qUleb
at 76s. 4~d. cash buyers.
. .
H ematite Pig Iron from Spain.- That hematite p1g Iron
is almost unobtainable here is shown by the facp tball
importations from Spain are report~. The 8 8{ 1
chartered by Messrs. Ed ward Harns and Co., .o
h
brough, arrived in the Tees. this ~ve~k from Btlbao Wlt. a.
cargo of 2300 tons of hemat1te p1g It'O~ manufactured Id
Spain, and imported for consumptl.on at Cleve1an
works. There is no doubt that Sp~ntsh. pr~du~rswith
at present in a position to compete 10 thts d1Stnct b
]ocal makers, for they have advantages of ch~per 1a. .our
and freights. It is expected that further ImportatJons
will be made.
Manufactured I ron a;ru1, Steel.-~here is not much.new
to report of the manufactured tron a~d steel trade:
Work is very plentiful, and orders c~otmube tohcohmed]~
band in a satisfactory manner. Pnc&~, t oug
ar
quotably altered, have a very strong upwar~ ~en:~1 i~:
Common iron bars are 9l. !Os.; best bari, 10 tr~ and
plates, 8l. !Os. ; steel ship-plate~, 8l. 7s. 6d.; and Lr~o~ar
steel ship.angles, each 8l. 7s. 6d.-aHllless t~e lur~ils ar~
2~ per cent. discount for cash.
eavy s ee
strong at 7l. 15s. net at works.
Coal and Coke.-The fuel trade may be repo;~ th:
strong. In gas coal there have bee~ a good
both
contracts arranged for the :M etropoltta.n comp 1.
re
1
locally and in other districts. Bunker .coa ~ dfor
plentiful, and from 1Ga. 6d . .to 17s. 6d. ~ q'i~ ~anu
unscreeoed qualities. . There lS no alteration medium
facturing coal. Coke m excellent demand, band . t half
blast-furnace qualities delivered here over t e nex
year are fully 28s. 6d.

rtdcii!i

!:ies

========G===l=
now 55 000,000
1
0
GE~MAN PoPU!,ATJON. - .erm!l Y' as
at t he r&te
inhabitants, and Its populatiOn lS 1? creasmg
migra.t~
of 700,000 to 800,000 per annun1. ;re~mn.ns now e
much less freely t han they formerly dtd.

APRIL

27,

I900.]

NOTES FROM THE SOUTH-WEST.

MISCELLANEA.

C'ardiff.-The demand for steam coal both for immediate

shipment and for future delivery has continued satisfac
tory, and a large business i_s being done. The best descriptions have been ma.kmg 22a. to 22s. 6d. per ton,
while secondary qualities have brought 19s. t? 2~3. p<.'\ r
ton. The demand for house coal has been qmet m con
g()quence of the advance of the season ; No. 3 Rhondda
large has made 203. to 223. per ton. As regards iron
ore, the bost rubio has been quoted at 20s. to 20s. 6d.
per ton.
The" Bulwark" and the "llfontagu."-For s0me weeks
the construction of the line-of-battle ship Bulwark, at
Devon port, hM been reta.rd ~d, owing to t~e non-d.eli very
of her side armour: A constgnm.ent of this materta~ has,
however now arr1ved, and conatderable progress wtll be
made with the ve~sel. A large quantity of materi~l was
also delivered at Devon port last week for the new !me-ofbattle ship Montagu.
The StcattSca Valley.-Tbe four undertakings engaged
in the steel trade are all actively employed. Quotations
for tin bars have exhibited a firm t?ne. The foundries
and engineering works are on full time. Coal for local
condumption has again run short.
The " .Achillcs."-The L ords of Admiralty have decided
to prepare for further ser vice the old armonred cruiser
Achilles which for me.ny years belonged to the Devonport
contingent of the Channel squadron. For twelve yeR.rs
she has been ly ing idle at P ortsmouth, and it was concluded that she would be sold out of the service. She is,
however, to be converted into a flog.ting torpedo dep6b,
for which she is well suited; some necessary alterations
can be effected for about 7000l. The Achilles was built
at Ohatham in 1861.3, at a cost of 469,572l. In 1890 she
was reboilered at Key ham at a cost of about 35,000l., with
& view to her being employed as a fort guardship, but this
proposal was not carried into effect. During the time
she was on the effective list, 214,671l. was expend ed in
maintaining her in an efficient state.

AT the monthly meeting of the Ipswich Engineering

Society, held on JYionday evening 1ast, a paper on ''Refrigeration and the Mechanical Prod uction of Cold," was
read by Mr. E. Bruce Ball, A.M.I.M E., special attention
being devoted to the carbonic acid gas system.
The Hamburg-American Company intend to run their
new 23knot boat the Deutschland ''for a11 she is worth,"
hav ing come t o the conclusion that it will be more profitable to do this in spite of the increased wear and t ear,
than to give her a longer time in port. The D eutschlR.nd will therefore sail from Hamburg every three
weeks
In their report on the com.p osition and quality of daily
samples of the wa ter supphed to L ondon for the montb
anded March 3l, 1900, Sir William Crookes and P rofessor
De war state that the bacteriological quality of the L ondon
water supply during the last month has been very good on
the whole. There was only one occas ion on wb10h one of
the filters of the Thames-derived companies gave a higher
number of microbes than 200 per cubic centime tre. All
the other samples examined were well filtered. the
average number of microbes not exceeding 18 in the
Thames dederived companies, and being as low as five
in the River L ea water from the East L ondon Water
Company's mains.
The high-powered petroleum lamps first introduced some
10 or .1~ yea~s ago are proving very us~ful in maintaining
a sutfictent hght round the enclosures m which the B oer
~risoners are kept. Whilst giving an excellent illuminatLOn, these lamps are much more convenient than electric
ar~ lamps of correspon.ding power, since th~y require
?et~her dynamo nor engme; and further, th e hght given
IS of a softer character than the electric, the shadows being
much less dense. A number of th~e have been used at
Cape Town for the purpose named, and M essrs. A . C.
Wells and Co., of 102, 103, and 104, Midland-rond St.
Pancras, have just shipped 30 more for use at St. Heiena.
Th~se lamps also form part of the equipment of the siege
trams.
A paper on "War and Power Traction " was read
1ast Sa turday before the Automobile Club by the Right
Hon. J. ~- A . Maodonald, CB., commanding the
Fourth Bngade. The author held that mechanical
traction would do much to reduce transport difficulti es. In the first place, the roads themselves would
be cub up less; and, secondly, the same number of
wagons would not occupy half as great a length of
road as when drawn by animals. In facti with animal
traction the room required for a team often ~xceeded that
occupied .by the wagon drawn. Speeds would be increased
br, adoptmg motor-cars, so that by an accumulation of the
dtfferentadvantagesreferred to, the total timeocoupied in
the mt~~rch of a transport train from the start of the first
wagon to the arrival of the las t might, he thought be re'
duced to about one-fifth of that now required.
The following meetings are arranged for next week :
Thursday, May 3, the. R ontgen Society, at 20, Hanoversquare, at 8 p.m. Fnday, May 4, the annual meeting of
the Cold Storage and I ce Association, will be held in the
E xamination Ha:ll o~ the Royal College of Physicians
and Surgeons, V1ctona Embankment. The chair wi11 be
taken at 11.30 a. m. for the morning, and at 3 p. m. for
the afternoon meeting. The papers to be read are: "Re~~n t Res~arches in Refrigeration, " by Mr. G. Halliday.
InsulatiOn and Insulators,'' by l\1r. W. D. A. B ost
::Electric ~ighting of Cold tores,, by Mr. W. B. E tJson:
The Destgn and Construction of Buildings for I ce
Factories and Cold Storage," h} lYir. P. Gaskell. In the
evening there will be a dinner at the Cafe lVIonico at
7 p . m., whilst on the following day a series of excursions
have been arranged for.
The Seagull, torpedo gunboat, Commander H. GrantDalton, which is the only ship in the service fitted with
the Niolausse water-tube boiler, has concluded a series of
nine trials, each of approximately 1000 miles. Four of
the runs fe11 short of the required distance, owing to the
bad weather. At the four early trials the indicated
bor~e- po wer ranged from 1364 to 1371, and the speed
Yaned from 13 to 13.6 knots. The next trial gave a speed
of 14.48 k.nots, _with .16ll indic!l'~ed horeepower, but on
the followmg trtal, wtth an add1t10nal 20 indicated horsepow~r, the .speed went up to 14.6. The next trial was
earn ed out m ver7 bad weather, and bad to be abandoned
when only 856 mlles bad been run; but with 1798 indicated horsepo~er the Seagull averaged 15.2 knot6. The
nex t run was m such fine weather that the ship was
abl~ ~o COIJ?pl~te the thousand miles, and then with two
addttlO~al md1cated horse-power her speed improved by
two pomts. At the final tr1al, with 1947 indicated horse
power, the speed .was .16.07 knot~. Throughout the trials
only four of the six b01lers were m use and as the engines
are oapable o.f 3000 indicate~ horse~power, the actual
po~er ~t the tn~1e of the last tnal was, for the number of
b01l~rs m use, nmeteentwentieths of the maximum. The
maxtmum coal consumption for the' entire series of trials
wo~ks ou.t ab 1. 9 lb. per unit of power per hour for th e
mam .engmes, and 2lb. for a11 purposes. The Niolausse type
of .b01ler h~ be.en shown to p ossess certain advantages, the
oh1ef of wL JO~ lS that anr tube can be quickly removed and
~no~her substttutad, ~bile all the tubes, which are 3! in.
m dtameter, are stratgh~. When the trials were begun
the lanterne, or end of the tube, was scre wed on, bnt no~
the tu?e and l.a?terne form one solid-drawn piece, which
matertally famhtates t he substitution of tubes.
. Partio~l.ars of so.me interesting te3ts of the fire-resistmg quaht~e~ of t_hm partitions have just been published
by the B.nt1sh Ftre Prevention Committee. In one set
?f expert!Den~ th.e. partition consisted of matoh-boardmg filled 1n wtth stlu~te co tton, which was t: xpo~ed to a

TRE St=BZ CaNAL-The transit revenue of the Suez

Canal Company in the first quarter of this year amounted
to 841,513{. , as compared with 939,49ll. in the corresponding period of 1899, and 847, 1G2l. in the corresponding penod of 1808. The number of ve...~els which passed
through the canal to March 31 this year was 816, as compared with 865 in the corresponding period of 1899, and
935 in the corresponding period of 1898.
~!AcHINERY AT T HE

PARIS Ex.HIBITION.-We have received from MM. Dunod, the well-known publishers, of
49, Quai des Grand:i Augnstins, Paris, the prospectus of a
work on "Machinery at tho Paris Exhibition," by M.
G. Eude, the engineer in charge of the installations.
This work, which will appear in parts, published at
irregular intervals, but to be completed during the ear1 y
part of next year, should be of considerable interest
and value. The object of the first part, recently published,
is to describe the general installations, of which machinery
e~hibits will form a part. These installations comprise
the production and distribution of steam, and the production and distribution of power.
THE LATE Sm F n.\ NCIS !YL\.RINDIN.-Tbe death of
Colonel ir Francis Arthur Marindin, K.C. lU.G., on the
21st. inst. removes a faithful public servant who, in the
capacity of Inspecting Officer of Rail ways for the B oard
of Trade for over twenty years, rendered valuable service
towards insuring the high standard of safety attained by
British ~ailways. He was born at WeJmonth on lVIay 1,
1838, bemg the second son of the late R ev. S. Marindin
of Ohesterton, Shropshire. He was educated at Eton'
a~d the Royal ~lita.ry Academy, Woolwioh, being, lik~
hlS fa.ther1 destmed for army service ; but the subject
of our bnef note !>referred the engineering side and
entered the Royal Engineers in 1864. He served in the
East in 1~55-6. ~nd was aide-de-camp and private secretary to Str \Vtlham Steveneon, Governor of Mauriti u~
from 18.60 to 18~3, and during tha~ period ~as employed
on speo1e.l duty 10 Madagascar. H1d next 1mportant important appointmenb was as Adjutant at tbe Chatham
Sc~ool of ~itary Engineering, and in 1869 he was appomted Bngade :Major, in 1872 l\fajor, and in 1877 he
~ve~t to the Board of Trade to occupy the position already
mdtcated . . In this capacity be had to examine the works
on n~w ratlway~,. as well as to inquire into accidents,
and hts .adaptabtlity soon proved the appropriateness of
t~e cho~ce. In several respects his administration gave
nse to Important reforms and public benefits. Thus he
brought about the appointment of a Select Commjttee
of .the House of Commons, to inquire into the hours of
railway.servants by strongly-worded animadversions in
oonneotton.with 1\.n inquiry into the death of a guard in
1891 ; .and m connection wtth the Tbirsk accident of the
followmg y~ttr, . he strongly advocated the adoption of
so!De com~mat10n of mechanical and electncal apphanoe wluo? woul~ make such an accident impossible,
unless the dr1ver dehberately ran past fixed sign al~. He
~lso urged the eng9:gement of rehef signalmen, and the
hportance of housmg the men near their work . In 1887
e ~as m~de a C. M. G. as a reward for serv ices in connect,~n wtth the Egyptian State railway and on the
OCC&Ston of the Diamond Jubilee three y eat~a a~o he was
Mo~o~d to th~ Kn~gbthood of' the Order. Str 'Franois
armdm marned, m 1860, a daughter of Sir ' '' illiam
thtevenson, ~{.C. B., . ?n whose personal staff he served
ree ~ears 1~ Mam 1ttus. He was a strong ad vooate of
a.t.b~etic exer~1ee, and his name will always be associated
\'\'It the re\'lval of football in this country.

551

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

fire of 45 minutes' duration, during which the temperature in the test-room rose from 300 deg. to 1800 deg. F~hr.
The partition measured 7 ft. 8~ in. high by 10 ft. Wide.
The studs, bead, and sill were of 4 in. by 2 in. yellow
pine, and the studs were placed at 14-in. centres, and
mortised into the sill. The :Partition was covered on
both sides by galvanised nettmg of 1-in. mesh, and ~be
space thus enclosed between the studs ~as filled w1t.h
silicate cotton carefully ,packed ; the thtokness of th1s
packing was therefore 4 m. Finally the partition was
completed with !-in. by 6-in. tongued, grooved, and
beaded matohboarding nailed to each stud. The silicate
cotton, it should be stated, was very carefully packed,
care in this direction having been shown by previous
experiments to be ~sential to success. In the present
instance the partition resisted well. The internal matchboarding was, of course, destroyed, and the studs were
burnt to a depth of ! in.; but the wire netting remained
in place, and the packing proved successful in preventing
the fire passing through the partition. Another partition tested was one constructed by the Mural and D ecorations Syndicate, Limited. This was but 2! in. thick,
and was constructed of iron, terra-cotta, and plaster. In
spite of i ts thinness this partition proved quite successful
in preventing the p assage of fire, though the test lasted
1 hour 16 minutes.
The report of Captain M. B. Lloyd, Her :Majesty's In.
speotor of Explosives, to the Board of Trade on the fatal
explosion at the New Admiralty Harbour Works, Dover,
on January 14, has now been published. The explosion
occurred after a hole bad been bored for a charge of gunpowder, a nd was due, in Captain Lloyd's opinion, to the
act of one of the men named Merton. This man i'3 found
to have lighted a pipe and thrown away the match, which
fell on to the bag of powder. Capte..in Lloyd says : "As
regards the blame to be attached for the occurrence of this
lamentable accident, this, in my opinion, falls first upon
the man Merton. Notices are posted up in the works prohib~ting smoking during working hours, and though these
nottces are not, perhaps, quite so prominent as they might
be, still the rule appears to be well known and generally
observed by the men. To this man's reckless carelessn~s
and gross disobedience of orders must be attributed the
chief blame for the accident. But in censuring his conduct thus severely, I cannob exonerate the contractors
from all blame in the matter, and cannot report that they
had taken every precaution for the prevention of accidents by explosion. The practice of bringing the charges
of ~owd er down to the benches in cotton bags is one
wh~ch ~oul~ ~ot comme~d itself to a careful person, and
whiCh I S dlStmctly forb1dden by Special Rule 8 made
under the Quarries Act. I am aware that it is questionable
~bether theEe works constitute a quarry within the meanmg of that Act, but, at the same time, I consider that a.
firm of .Messrs. P earson's experience and standing should
not wa1~ to be legally coerced into taking such simple
preoaut10ns as are enjoined by these special rules. and
should have made rules for blasting embodying the intention~ of the Quarry Special Rules, and adapted to the
part~ oular elMs of work they undertake whethsr railway
cuttmg or work of the description they' are now engaged
upon at Dover,,

PERSONAL.-Mr. J. M. Dewar, ]ate of ~1:essrs. Mauds

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

---

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

meetmg of tb~ Insti.tution of Ct vil Engineers, held on
Tu~sday evenmg, Sir Doug1as Fox, prebident, in the
chair, the result of the ballot! for the election of officers
was decl.ared as follows: Pre&identl, Mr. J ames 1\IIansergh ; vtce. presidents, Sir William White, K.C.B. Mr.
Charles Hawksley, Mr. J. C. Hawkshaw, M.A., and Mr.
F. W. Webb; other members of council, Mr. Barton
(Dundalk ), :M r. Horace Bell, Sir Alexander Binnie, l\1r.
B. Hall Blytb, lYI.A. (Edinburgh), Dr. H e-nry Taylor
Bovey, M.A. (Montreal), lVIr. U. A . Brereton Mr T
Forster Brown (Cardiff), Mr. R. Elltotti Coope; M; G
F. Deacon . M r. W. R. Galbra.tth, Mr. G. H. Hill, Mr:
J. 9 Inglis, Mr. Al~xander I r.atJ, C.I.E (Gorakhpur
Indta), Dr. Alexander B. W. Kennedy, Sir J ames K 1tson:
Bart., M.P. (~e~ ds), Mr. A. G. Lyster (Liverpoo1), Mr.
John ~lien M Do.n~ld (Derby ), Mr. E. Pri tchard Martin
(Dowlats), Mr. Wtlham Matthews, Sir Guilford L. Molesworth, It.C.I.E., Mr. Alexander Stememz, Mr. Thomas
St~w.art (Cap~ Town}, :Mr. John I. Thornyorofb. Mr.
vVtllt~m Twattes, M.A. {Melbourne), Profe~or W. G.
Unwm, B.~c., and Sir~- Leader Wi11iams (Manchester).
The coun01l of the Institution have made the following
a~ards f~r papers read and discussed before the InstitutiOn durmg the past seesion: A George Stephen~on
medal and a Telford premium to Sir Lowthian B~ll
Bart., LL.D., F .R .S.; Telford medals and premiums t~
~essrs. H . H. Dalrymple.Hay, B. M. Jenkin F w
Btdd~r, and F. D. Fox; a Watt medal and a 'Teiford
premiUm to Mr. J . Dewrar.ce ; a Crampton prize to Sir
Charles Hartley, and Telford pr~miums to ~le~rs. c. N .
Russell and R . A .. Tatton. The presentation of these
awards, t?gether .wtth . those for papers which have not
b~en subJect to dt~cu~10n and will be announced latter
"111 t ake r1ace at the maugnra1 meeting of next seesion. '

E N G I N E E R I N G.
2400

H .-P. WILLAN
{'t)Y
V\
~' ,' 1' RUC1~ rl.~#})

[APRIL 2;, I90Q.

T THE P l{.I
}l~ V
l.

1
~
1
~' .c.~ '

' RL'
""'

\\' ILT#.. \ T,"

'T J )
..\ ,~..1.'1

1IN 'O'T
J)()l
'
> r
l'\ )
I

Ll\Il1~ J'' J) '

W B illustrate on Lhe present page a very fine 'Villans 1 piece. Thus the bed plate iR di vided into halves along
engine, recently constructed by 1\ Jessrs. \ViJla.ns and the line of the cran kshaft, the two being bolted
Robin on, Limited, of the Vic toria " ' or ks, Rugby, together to form the usual oil bath. Each of Lhese
and which, coupled direct t o a. "" iemens multipolar sections weighs 15 tons. The crank chamber, again,
dy namo, is being exhibited in the foreign section of is also di' ided at the lower portion into four pieces,
the Electricity Building of the Paris Exhibition, a.nd so as to gi,e a ccess to the crankshaft, connecting-rods,
will be used to supply light and power there. The a.nd <:rossheads, without necessitating the dismantling
engin~ is intended to give 2400 horse-power in norma l of the engine. The exhaust chamber, however, is in
working, but is capable of developing 3000 indicated one piece. The governor is of the firm's usua] centrifugal
horse-p ower on emergencies. Its designed speed is 200 type, but is placed vertically, a.nd is driven by screw
revolutions p er minute, its weight 120 tons, and it occu- gel-ring fro m the crank shaft: a plan which has 'been
pies a floor space of 31 ft. by 11 ft. 1 in. The engine is of adopted fo r all the larger s izes of \Villans engines.
the central va.hTe pattern, and in general de ignis ideo- The cra.n kshaft is in one piece, the eccentrics being
tioa.l with the smaller size of Willans engines, though forged solid on th e crankpins, though the shaft
for facility of hand ling, certain portions ar~ made in is 14! in. in diameter at the journals, a.nd weighs
two parts, which , in the smaller patterns, are in one about 12 tons. N o flywheel, it will be seen, is su p -

L'u '-..
.l'
'

( ' l'-1'
.1.' , 1'1
, 1' ~,
f

E.t '"HIIiiTI <)N.

R ( : B\

plied with the engine, tho armature of the dyn~mo

sen ing for this. Tbe cylinders are arranged t..an em
fa hion a.s usual in the Willans engine. Tbe.Ymeasure
1 I in '30 5r in a.ud 49 in. in diameter by 2:3,.. 10. stroke.
"'
'
1 .,
'

The
designed
working pressure lS
ten a t mos pbere
re<i
The exhaust steam pa se ~o a jet .con~en er s.up~~o
by the \Yorthington Pumpmg Engme Compan) f
similar engines a re, we learn, now. in course o con
struction fot the Glasgow Corporatton.
R .\IL\\ .n

~ IN ~IAXCHt:RIA.-Th~Russo-Cbl~S.~...E~~~

Ra1lway, whicb was commenced lD Augustb lOOl The

locopected to be completed to Po:t Arthur Y
lme is being pushed for.wa.~ wtth ene~y,_ s:~tioo of
n.ot1 ves being engaged 10 tts construct10n m
c:>urse, to a large worktng staff.

5o

-~

'lt

r.

J..

<

.........

"tj

--------

OQ

4..$0

3:

__.......
~=v==t:t

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

..

~
X

,.,
...-

(/)

...<>

.<..X

...

Ct
0

<:>

i>o

t>

!->

...<:>

....

"'

~'

"'"'

''

"''

o;U

'
..\,"'1

~""'

c.""

<."":J

'

'"'

"'~"'

fi

'

'>

"'=-

.""

""""~

:?I
\:) '

~
:..,;,.

1::

f!~ c:::s

....
.,.
.

_;;-

:::._

..-

+' .

"'~

..

0\

""0'

II

I~

!'SI

:?3

.-,.,.

...-0
0

,.,

1/)

:-

Q;,

..,.
~
.

i(
"...

V,
~

>

;;

l!;

>

JP!! .. i
..

!'

c,

r rr

r~ r

":')

C)

'

...
:->

..,,
j

.(.

l:

,..''

.......,,

o- -

....-

...'

I'

''

"'<:>

,:,

L
I

_ _ __ C)

. .
.

'

'

''

-~

0)

<->

'"

.'
0

'

'~

I
'
I

I
l

''

'

I
I'

I
I

:' II

' '

'

I' ,'

...... )>

'

.: l:
'/1

.----:\

'I
I

I
'

:~

'.

~-

~
.....

.'

:''

''
''
'I

''

''

,..r-

C'>

. o

<:>

~z

.-

1 1'1

:o
1 -1
o

J=;f,>l ~ 1/1

----- --- - - -------..L

-t--- ----- -- ~

-~~~~~====~~~~

~-

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

~-------------- 34 tO

-tL

11 ~

'!II II

..

,1:-o,

I
~l(l,f ..

t-o

~0

~~

.... :.'\

.Ill)>
.

"'-1

1/1

td

z
z
-.

<D

'

-8

APRIL

27,

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

1900.]

AGENTS

FOR "ENGINEERING."

AusTRIA, Vienna: Lehmann and Wentzel, Kartnerstrasae.

OAPK ToWN : Qordcn an~ Gotch.
EDu"'liUROB John MenZies and Co., 12, Hanover-street.
fR.ANOB, p~ris : Boyveau and Ohevillet, Librairie Etrang~re, 22,
Rnede la Banque; M. Em. Terquem, 31bl.a, Boulevard Haussmann.
Also for Advertisements, Agence Ha.vas, 8, Place de la Bourse.
(See next column.)
.
GBRMANT, Berlin : Messrs. A. Asher and Co., 5'oUnter den Lmden.
Frankfurt-am-Main : Me&n'S. G. L. aube and Co. (for
Advertisements).
Leipzig : F. A. Brookhaus.
Mulhouse: H. Stuckelberier.
oi.Asaow: Willinm Love.
lm>IA, Calcutta: Thacker, Spink, and qo.
Bombay: Thacker and Co. , Linuted.
ITALY: U. Hoepli, Milan, and n;ny post office.
LIVBRPOOL : Mrs. Taylor, Landing Stage.
MANCHBSTKR : John Reywood, 143, Deansga.te.
NoRWAT, Ohristinnia: Cammenneyers Boghandel, C~Lrl Johans
Qade, 41 and 43.
Nsw SoUTH W.u.K.S, Sydney : Turner and Henderson, 16 and 18,
Hunter-st reet. Gordon and Gotch, George-street.
QunNsLAND ~OUTD), Brisbane : Gordon and Gotcb.

NORTH), Townsville : T. Willmett and Co.

RoTTBRDAH : A. Kramer and Son.
SOUTH AUSTRALIA, Adelaide: W. C. Rigby.
U!>'IBD STATBB, New York: W. H. Wiley, 43, East .19tba~re~t.
Chicago : H .. V. Holmes, 44, Lakestde Building..
y 1oroRIA .Melbourne : Melville, Mullen, and Slade, 261/264, OolllnB
11treet.' Gordon and Gotch, Limited, Queen -street.
We be~ to announce that American Subscriptions to ENGINEERING
may now be addressed either direct to the Publisher, Mr. C. R.
JoHNSON at the offices of this J ournal, Nos. 35 and 86, Bedford
street, Strand, London, W.C., or to our accredited Agents for the
United States Mr. W. H. WtLsr, 43, Enst 19th-street, New York,
and Mr. H. 'v. HolillKS, 44, Lakeside Building, Ohica.go. The
prices of subscription <PB:Y!lble in advance) !or one )~ear are : For
thin (foreign) paper edit10n! ll. 1~. Od. , for th1ck (ordinary)
paper edition, 2l. Os. 6d. ; or tf renntted to Agents, 9 dollars for
thm and 10 dollars for thick.

--

ADVERTISFMENTS.
The charge for a.dver~sements is thr('e sbill~S"B tor . the first
four lines or under, and e1ghtpence fo r each addittonal line. The
line averages seven words. Pa) me~t mus~ a?com~any all orders
for single advertisements, otherw1se theu mser tion cannot be
guaranteed. Terms for displayed ad,~ertisements ~n ~he wra.p~e r
and on the inside pages. may be ~btamed on. apphcahon .. Serul.l
advertisements will be mserted w1th all p racticable regulan ty, but
absolute regularity cannot be guaranteed.

Advertisements intended for Insertion 1n the current week's issue must be delivered not later than
6 p.m. on Thursday. In consequence of the necessity
for going to press early with a portion of the edition,
alterations for standing Advertisements should be
received not later than 1 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon in each week.
SUBSCRIPTIONS, HOME AND FOREIGN.
~GINEERING

can be supplied, direct from the Publisher,

post free for twelve months, at the following rates, payable in
advance:For the United Kingdom . . .. . 1
9 2
, all places abroad :Thin paper copies.. .. . 1 16 0
Thick
,
.. .. .. .. .. .. 2 0 6
All accounts are payable to "ENGINEERING," Limited.
Cheques should be crossed" Union Bank, Charing Cross Branch."
Post Office Orders payable at Bedfordstreet, Strand, W.O.
When forei gn Subscriptions are sent by Post Office Orders,
advice should be sent to the Publisher.
Forei&'D and Colonial Subscribers receiving incomplete copies
through nem;agents are requested to communicate the fact to
the Publisher, together with the aient's name and address.

Office for Publication and Advertisements, Nos. 35

and 36, Be'dford-street, Strand, London, w.c.
We desire to can the attention of our readers to
the faot that the above is our SOLE Address, and
that no connection exists between this Journal and
any other publications bearing somewhat stmnar
titles.
TJ~L~Gauato ADD~t&Ss-ENGINEERING, LONDON.
TBLB.PaoNK NUl1BKR- S66S Gerrard.
-==...:::::=....:::..___

CONTENTS.
rAGE
The Design of Rotar.r Con
verters (Illustrat~d) . . . . 635
The Institution of Naval
Architects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 536
Some Statistics Relatin~ to
Electrical Power Produc
tion ...... ...... .. . . . ... 539
Modern Field Artillery (n
lustrat.td) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 540
Textile Machinery o.t t he
Paris Exhibition ( I llus
trated) .................. 542
Arched Bridges over the
Rhine (1Utt8trattd) . .. .. 545
Paris Exhibition Railways
(IUustratd) .. . ... .... . . 546
Turret Lathe (R
U8trated) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 547
Sou~b. African Diamond
Minmg ............. .. .. 547
NS~ from the United
tes .. . . .. . . .. .. . . .. .. 619
Notes from the ~orth . . .. .. 550
Notes from South Yorkshire 550
Notes from Olevel"nd and
the Northern Counties 560
~ftes from the SouthWest 551
551
2.~:.anea.
~ Willans Triple
Expa
. nSJon .E?gine at the
Pans. Exh1b1tion (Rlm.) 562
Bubmanne Boats . . . . . . 553

PASK

The Mechanical Engineers'

Congress at P aria.. . . . . . . 554
Uorupulsory Boiler [nspec
t ion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 554
The Shipbuilding Boom . . . . 555
Notes ... . ........ . ..... 656
Automatic Railwn.y Coup
lings .. .. . .. . .. .. .. .. .. .. 557
The Flip or Jump of a Gun
1 or Rifle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 558
Naval Engineers . .. .. . ... 558
Yacht Measurement ...... 569
A Question of Overtime
Races .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 559
American Competition . 559
Our Trade wit h Canada 659
Naval Architecture ....... 559
Broken Tail-Shafts .. .. .... 560
Large F reis.ht Oars on
1
British Ratlways .... .. .. 560
The "Calyx " Drill . . . . . . 560
Launches and Trial Trips .. 560
Industrial Notes . . . . . . . . 561
The Relation between Elect ricity and Engineering . . 562
On Mysterious Fractures of
Steel Shafts (fllustrattd) 563
Workmen's dompensation
Oases .. .. .. . .. .. .. .. .. 567
Falmouth Art. and Industrial Exhibition ....... 568
}" Engineering" Patent Re
cord (IUmtrated). . . . . . . . 569
Wit4 a 'l'woPaaa Bnt.Jraving o'f an ARCHED BRIDGE

llf'vy

...........

ACROSS 'IHE

WORK.

--

RHINE .d.T BONN THE

~

F.d. SE

553

more perhaps than t~ose of .experienced conNOTICE TO CONTINENTAL ADVERTISERS.

structors; t he list of accidents mtght not have been
Advertisements from Germany should now be sent quite so long if the lay ~l ement had kept aloof.
through Messrs. G. L. Daube and Co., Frankfurt-am- But submarine boats remain dangerous cra-ft; and
Main, who have been appointed our Sole Agents for if we have had no fatal accidents in recent years,
that country for Trade displayed Advertisements. it is largely because we have learned to be careful,
Advertisements from France, Belgium, and Bol and have at least grasped the nature of the proland should be sent through the Agence Bavas,
8, Place de la Bourse, Paris, our Sole Agents for blems.
The first submarine boat, indeed, did not drown
those countries for atmnar Advertisements.
anybody; but whether or not the great Cornelis van
READlNQ o~szs. -Reading CQ.SC! for containing twenty-six Drebbel actually submerged the boat w~ich he
numbers of ENGINURING may be h&d of the Publisher or of ~Lny
exhibited before J ames I. on the Thames m 1624,
newsagent. Price 6s. each.
is not quite clear. Day did go ~own at. Yarmouth
in 1660, and when he repeated hlS experiment, boat
NOTICES OF MEETINGS.
and crew failed to reappear. Fulton was more
0 1\'IL AND MECIIANIC..\L ENOLNEKRS' SOCIETr.-May 3, at eight
o'clock, at the Hotel Victoria, when Professor R. H. Smith, successful: he kept four hours under water in 1801,
Wh.Sc., A.M.I.O.E., M.I.M.E., will read a. paper on Valve Gears and exploded a mine at Brest from his boat.
and Valve Diagrams."
SOCIETY OF CIIEMIOAL I NDUSTRY ; LoNDON SKCTION.-Monday, Phillips' wooden boat was crushed by the water
Ma.y 7, at the Chemical Society's Rooms, Burlington House, Picca pressure on Lake Erie, and the same fate .befell
dilly. The following paper will be read and discussed: "The Bauf\r's iron boat in 1850 at Kiel ; he and hlS two
Production of Nitrate of Soda in Ohili," by Dr. W. Newton,
men had a marvellous escape, being carried up by
F.I.C., &o. The meetinlt will commence at 8 p.m.
BRITISH As OCl.\TION OF DRAUGHTSMEN (MANOIIBSTBR BRANCH). - the huge compressed air- bubble.
The boat of
Thursday, May 3, at eight o'clock, at tbe Deans~ate Hotel, Man
cheater, when a paper on " The Modern Gas Engine" will be read McClintock and Howgate, constructed in 1863 for
by Mr. J ames Dnnlop, member.
the Confederates in the American Civil War, sank
TilE SOUTH WAI,Y.S I NSTITUTE OF ENOINEERS.-Monday, April 30, four times, and each time killed its volunteer crew,
at three o'clock precisely. Pr~sidential Address, by the President,
Mr. Thomas Evens, M. Inst. C.K Papers for discussion : "Deep 32 men in all. All these craft had less than 30 tons
Pumping at the Elliott Colliery," by Mr. E. M. Bann, M. Inst. displacement, employed water ballast and manual
O.E. "Pit Head Pulley F.ramings," by Mr. S. A. Everetb. "On
the ltelative Positions of Drums and Pulleys in Winding Arrange propelling power, and resembled plumply-built fish
ments," by Mr. G. W. Westgart h. "Notes on the Coal Beds of in their shape.
Queensland," by Mr. T. P. Moody, mining engineer. Lewis' Prize
With the same year, 1863, began the days of the
Essays, 1899: Fi rst prize, on "Colliery Surface Arrangements,"
by Mr. S. A. Everelt. Second prize, on " Colliery Su rfa~e Ar cigar-shaped boats of considerably larger tonnage,
rangement.s," by Mr. Ernest II. Thomas. Written remarks in fitted with steam, pneumatic, petroleum, or electric
discussion are invited from those who may be unable to be present.
The following papers will be taken as rea.d : "Description of the power, and sometimes with two separate sets of
1\aiping- Coalfield, and Tong Colliery , Tongshan , Tientsin , North motors, for motion on the surface and under water.
China," by Mr. Thomas Webster. "The Chemical Classification
of Coal," by Mr. Olarence A. Seyler, B.Sc., F.I.O. "A Beam Noteworthy among these are N ordenfelt's four
boats, which burned fuel when on the surface, and
Compass for Plotting Su rveys," by Mr. Ohg,rles Gregorie.
SOCIETY OP ARTS.-Wednesday, May 2, at 8 p.m. "Some Un relied on the heat stored in the boiler when under
familiar Masterpieces of the Italian School," by Miss Halsey.
TilE L'iSl'ITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENOll\ERRS.- Thursday, May 3, water. During the last fifteen years another type
at 8 p.m., at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Storey's has come to the front : boats which keep just under
gate, S. W. If t he discussion on Professor For bes' paper read on
April 26 is concluded, the following paper will be read : "The the water line, and which are to dive under only in
Calculations of Distributing Systems of Elect ric Traction under extre1ne cases. To this class belong the boats of
Bri tish Conditions," by Mr. H . .M. Sayers, Assoc. Member.
Hovgaard, of Peral, and the several craft which
ROYAL INSTITUTION OF GREAT BRITArN.-Friday, May 4 at nine
o'clock, at Albemarle-street, Piccadilly, W. Professor T. E. Admiral Au be had constructed : the two boats of
Thorpe, LL.D., D.Sc. , Ph.D., F.R.S. , Pres. O.S., M.R.I. Subject, Goubet, Zede's Gymnote, and the Gustave Zede.
"Pottery and Plumbism. " Afternoon lectures next week at three
o'clock. - On Tuesday, May 1, Mr. Hugb Robert Mill, D. o. , France has been most persevering in these endeaLast summer, Romazotti's Morse was
LL.D., F.R.S.E., on "Studies in British Geography" (Lt>cture 11.). vours.
-On Thursday, May 3, Professor Dewar, lti.A., LL.D., F.R. ., launched at Cherbourg ; she is to have two sisters,
M.R.I., on "A Cen tury of Chemistry in the Royal Institution "
(Lecture 11.}.-0n aturday, May 5, Professor tanley Lane-Poole, t he Fran9ais, and the Algerian ; and there is finally
1\I. A., on " Egypt in the Middle Ages" (Lecture II. ).
Laubert/s Narval, also launched at Cherbourg in
October last, fitted with petroleum and electric
motors and accumulators, whilst the other French
boats mentioned depend entirely upon accumulators. Giorli's boat of 1893 is distinguished by
three horizontal rudders, one of which is automatiFRIDAY, APRIL 27, 1900.
cally adjusted by a pendulum. Finally, t here are
the six Holland boats, the last of which is entirely
of Mr. Holland's own design. We have described,
UB~IARINE BOAT .
and illustrated, many of these boats in their days,
lNTERES'r has again been rovived this week in so that we need not here enter into details.
The flooded boats, which keep awash, just under
the subject of submarine boats, owing to t he report
that France has decided upon the construction of a the water surface, look like torpedo boats. They
large fleet, 100 being given as the number, while are spacious enough not to need any compressed
the United States Navy authorities have, it is said, air stores for breathing ; and the tube projecting
come at last to the conclusion to purchase the Hol- above the water level, provided with a. mirror at an
land boat aftor many trials and some tergiversation angle of 45 deg., is a help Lo the man at the helmin the naval mind. This uncertainty of opinion is not much of a help, though, for Lhe elevation is too
shared by all Governments, excepting only that of small to give a proper field of view. In stability
France, in which country t he conditions of a these craft ctrc superior to the totally submerged
na.\'al war are such as to j ustily the under- boats, but they sufl:er from many of the drawbacks
taking of the risks more or less inseparable from of submarine boats which are regarded as serious,
the submersibility of such craft. The idea of sub- notably by such an expert as Professor Busley.
marine boats is almost antiquated : but the lack of He is acting President of the newly- formed
success in experiments is justification for the pru- Schiffbautechnische Gesellschaft, a German naval
dence displayed by our own Admiralty, even al- constructors' institution whose inauguration rethough naval experts have more than once sounded cently was attended with so much eclat, due to the
the alarm, and sternly called upon the Govern- presence of the German Emperor to hear the Proment to rouse itself fron1 its assumed lethargy. fessor's contribution on this important subject of
We know very little about the performance and submarine boats.
Amongst those serious inherent difficulties, Propossibilities of submarine boats. What has been
available is essentially newspaper talk, and the little fessor Busley places first the low stability of subthat may be accepted is not encouraging. No doubt marine boats. Some people still seen1 to forget that
a great deal of ingenuity and heroic daring have beon the displacement centre of gravity of a totally subdisplayed. B ut we want, first of all, to become merged boat is simply the mass centre of the water
convinced that submarine boats are useful weapons. displaced, and does not alter its position whatever
Meanwhile, we may strive to devise a primary inclination the boat may assume. There is no
motor suitable for such a boat, which would be buoyancy. Yet transverse stability and prevention
valuable for other purposes as well, for if we are of rolling, is not so difficult to obtain, provided the
to rely on electric accumulators, we tnay as well ~ectio~ of the boat is like that of an egg, poised on
suspend the task.
1ts pomt. If w~ use ballast, the centre of gravity
Although it would not be quite accurate to t;ay of the system wip. be low down, and the displacet hat there has not been advancement towards the ment centre high up .
The low longitudinal
solution of the inherent difficulties to submarine stability, the tendency to pitching, is the trouble.
navigation, a glance at the successive experiments A man need only step forward to send t he nose of
is not by any means encouraging. It is true that the boat down. For this reason the Plongeur of
submarine boats haye exercised the minds of laymen Bourgeois failed, and the length of boats has been
11

ENGINEERING.

554
r~duc~d again.

..

Goubet has gone furthe t in this

duect10n, and his two men always sit in the middle
of the boat. Ba~er tried to apply counterpoises,
Hol.l ~nd. automat1c pumps, to restore longitudinal
equilibrium. Nordenfelt did n ot deprive his boat
of all buoyancy, and counteracted its effect by a
submerging propeller. The flooded b oats are
better off in t his r espect . But even in t h eir
case we n otice a reduction in length ; the Zede
had a length of 45 metres, t he Morae of 36
metres, the Narval of 34 metres. It has, on the
other hand, b een point~d out that they are n ot
good sea:-going boat~, hardly fit for r ough weather ;
and theu own designers ha ve proposed t o give
them a little freeboard. If we do that we lose
the chief advantage of t he submarine boat th e
immunity against projectiles ; and we m ay ~rgue
~vhet~er we had not b etter return to ordinary boats,
1n whiCh we are not tied d own to s mall space and
small speed, and all sorts of undesirable condiLions.
Submarine boats remain dangerous to manage.
On the average, perhaps, we may construct them
strong enough to descend t o a depth of 100 ft.
Supposing a boat, moving at the usual speed under
water, 8 knots, is to discharge a torpedo. Two
men are sent forward; the boat at once inclines
15 deg., and within half a minute it will have
arrived in its critical d epth. If there is any d elay
or any fault in the steering gear or in the application
?f safety weights, &c., every second will seriously
mcrease the pressure of the water outside. Trials
made with the Gymnote, m or eover, indicate that
E~ubm3.rine boats do not obey t heir horizontal helms
with sufficient r apidity. The Gymnote always
overshot her mark, and would not keep on a straight
course, but described a succession of curve~. Professor Busley t ried to pull a submarine boat under
water ; it could n ot be done when the sp eed exceeded 4 knots. That all operations n ear the coast
or in shallow water are exceedingly danger ous,
n eed not be emphasised. Campb ell's boat managed
to wriggle h erself out of the Thames mud again in
1886 ; the accident testified to th e nerve and skill of
L ord Charles B er esford , and also to his good luck.
These dangers are increased by the exceedingly
limited range of sight under water. Light emanating from a focus under water will, at a distance of
100 yards, not have the t en-millionth part of its
intensity; and n ot much of the dayligh t penetrates
into the water as it is. On a clear day, a diver,
20 ft. b elow the s urface, is hardly able t o see
further t han 25 ft. Searchlights would b e of lit tle
good, and would, moreover, b etray the posit ion of
the craft. Hence the boat must approach t he
ship it wishes to attack very closely ; and if the
ship is moving, the case is almost h opeless. o far,
we hardly k now of subn1arine boats doing more
than 8 knots. The slow speed is largely due to
the weight of the batteries, which for a journey
of five or six hours would weigh about 6 cwt . per
indicated horse-power ; and we appear as far as
ever removed from materially diminishing the
weight of electric accumulatora.
This low speed, and the short p eriod during
which such a boat can be kept in motion without
replenishing its charge, limit t he range of action of
the submarine boats badly. The Gymnote could
make a run of 45 miles at 10 knots, it has been said;
most submarine boats have not accomplished so
much as that. The submarine boat thus can merely
b e utilised for the defence of a p )rt, and it is a
very expensive means of defence. The Narval is
stated to have cost about 30,000Z. Adding a t hird
t o this sum, we could construct a torpedo-boat destroyer of four-fold speed and three-fold displacement which may achieve something. Whether a
submarine boat would ever escape from a successful attack is a very doubtful question. Professor
Busley does not dwell upon that point. But if
the boat almost has to feel its way up to t he object
of attack- b ecause it cannot see to any distancethe chances of escape ar e decidedly poor.

THE MECHANICAL ENGINEERS'

CONGRESS AT PARIS.
As is well known, a lon g series of Congr esses on
different subjects will b e ~eld at P aris during th e
coming summer, commencmg soon after the op~n
ing of t h e Exhibition, and ext en ding nearly to Its
close. Among those of special in~erest to ?ur
r eaders v.-ill be that devoted to apphed mechan1es,
the programme of which is now comp~ete. Th~ Con gress has b een organised by a committee h a~ n:~~ as
its President Monsieur H aton de la Goup1lh ere.

E N G I N E E R I N G.
The organisation consists of four honorary presi~ents, four honorary members, a complimentary
m ~ernational committee, and the working commlttee. This last-named body comprises, besides
the. President, two vice-presidents, and six secretanes, among whom we n otice Monsieur Gustave
Richard, who also acts as treasurer. The Congress
will be held from July 19 to 25, n ext at the Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers, 292, R ue
Saint Martin, P aris, under th e n ominal direction
of the Commissioner -General of the Exhibit ion ,
and t he general r egulations prepared for the other
Con gresses will apply to this one. The members
according to these r egulation s, will be of four
classes :
1. Donors who will have made a contribution of
at least 50 francs.
2. S ubscribers who qualify by a. payment of
25 francs.
3. Delegates representing French and foreign
Governments and public bodies.
4. Honorary members and members of the Intern ational Committee.
The work done by the Congress will corn prise :
1. The general meetings.
2. Meetings of sections.
3. Conferences.
4. Visits to the Exhibition and to various manufacturing establishments.
Among the rules prepared for the conduct of
business, the two following are worth n oting : '' At
the general and sectional meetings, after accepted
communications, or the r esults of conferences, have
been read, m emhers taking part in th e discussions
will not be allowed to talk more than ten minutes,
nor more than t wice during the same discussion,
without the special permission of the meeting.
Members who have taken part in the discussions
sh ould write, and hand to the secretary, a summary
of what they said, within 24 hours. F ailing this,
the s ummary prepared by the secretary will be
taken as correct. Abstracts of the proceedings at
the meetings will be isAued gratuitou ly to m emhers
with the least possible delay. Detailed Transact ions will be prepared, and issued with a completen ess that will depend upon the funds at t he disposal of the organising committee.
If t he final programme of the Congress be filled,
the mem hers will have a busy week. It contain s
nine items, a summary of which is given below.
1. The .:>rganisation of engineering works. The
subheads of this title are-Engineering 'Vorks : the
distribution of departments, of labour, and of appliances ; mechanical plant ; machine tools ; interchangeability of parts ; motive p ower ; transmission ;
the reception of material, its inspection, testing,
&c.; econ omy in managemen t; and labour organisation . There are four reporters to this subject :
MM. Kreutzberger, Leneveu, Mengin, and Professor Thurston.
2. The second subj ect is Engineering L aboratories ; its subdivisions are : Machines and their
installation ; methods of n1echanical testing ; descriptions of existing laboratories ; mechanical terminology. There are nine r eporters to this subject: MM. Bacle, Chabal, Boulvin, Charpy, Deve,
Dwelshauvers-Dery, Mangin, Ra.but, and Professor
Thurston.
'rhe third subj ect is Mechanical Application of
Electricity. This has three reporters : MM. Delmas, H enry, and Neu.
The fourth subject is a comprehensive oneTransmission of P ower, H oisting Mechanism, an d
Methods of Transpor t . The subheads of this subject are : L ong-distance transmission ; workshop
transmission, gearing, changing speeds and reversing ; cranes, hoists, travelling bridges, eleYators,
&c. ; shop railways; rack railways; aerial transsport ; chain haulage, &c. The r ep or ters are : MM.
Basseres, L ecornu, and Thierry.
The fifth subject is Hydraulic Motors: their construction, efficiency, and applications, as well as
descriptions of novel types. The rep orters are : MM.
Ratean and Prazil.
The sixth subject is Sectional Steam Generators,
with small and very small elements. The former have
been greatly developed since 1889 ; the latter then
existed only in an experimental stage. Records of
the progress 1n ade will be received, and t he points
of construction, cir culation, safety, and useful
applications will be discussed. The r epor ters are :
MM. Brillie, Donkin, Sinigaglia, and Walckenaer.
Th e seventh subject, High- peed Engines and
te3m Turbines, comprises discussions on their construction, duty, maintenance, control, results, and

[APRIL

27,

1900.

applications. MM. Lecornu, L efer, P arsons,

Rat~au, and Sosnowsk i are the r eporters of this
sect10n.
Various motors are dealt with in the eiaht di vision, s uch as gas engin es, heavy and light oil
engines, p oor quality gas motors, carbonic acid
motors, c c. The repor ters are : MM. Die~e 1,
Donkin, F orestier, and vVitz.
The last subject will, no doubt, attract considerable attention ; it deals with the mechanism
of automobiles, a q uite n ew subject since the last
Congress. The points for discussion include the
design of light and fast motors ; special transmissions, pneumatic tyres, n on-continuous axles, &c.
The repor ters are : MM. Bochet, 'uenot, F or estier,
Griffith, Krebs, de la Valette, and Mesnager. Such
are the outlines of the programme to be filled in by
the Congress when it meets in July. I t is to be
hoped that many English engineers will interest
themsel ves in it ; the advantages gained by t<~king
part in the discussions, organised visits to the Exhibition and to works, the right to t he published
Transactions, r eduction of fare on French railways
going to t he Exhibition, &c., will more than repay
t he very modest subscri ption fee. T hose engineers
who desire to make written communications on any
of the subjects enumerated, should send them to
Monsieur Gustave Richard, 44 Rue de Rennes,
Paris, who will for ward them to the reporters of
t he ection to which the communication r efers.
Monsieur Richard will also afford more detailed
information than we have been able to give in this
short summar y.
CO~IPUL

ORY BOILER IN PECTION.

THE Boilers Registration and Inspection Bill,

introduced by ir William Houldsworth and other
members, and the object of which is, as stated in
the memorandum, ' ' to prevent explosions and
save human life," differs in some essential points
from Mr. F en wick 's Bill, on which we commented
in our issue of March 30. I t appears to be framed
with a greater regard for the interests and convenience of the steam user ; and, while allowing
him more liberty of action, does not remove from
him th e respon sibility of seeing that his boiler is
maintained in safe working condition.
The Bill proposes that every boiler, with certain
exceptions, shall be periodically examined and
certified as safe. The examinations are not t o he
made, nor are the certificates of safety to be granted,
by the Board of Trade or by any other depar tment
of the Government, but by competent inspectors
selected by the owners, the owners being held
responsible for t he competency of the inspectors
they select. The certificates of safety, granted by
the inspectors, are to be forwarded to t he Board of
Trad e, who, it is proposed, shall k eep a register of
the examinations made, and issue to t he owners of
the boilers certificates of registration in exchange
for the certificates of safety. No mon ey is required
from P arliament, but the boiler-owner is to pay for
the examination of his boiler, and forward the s mall
fee of one shilling to the Board of Trade to meet
the expenses of registration . The Bill r enders it
illegal to work a boiler without a certificate of
registration, and penalties are imposed .on ?wne~s
for so doing. I t is stated that ' notbmg In this
Act shall diminish the respon sibility of the owner
for the fitness in eYery respect of his boiler, or for
the pressure at which it is wotked, or for its
general keeping, treatment, and managemen.t."
The Bill includes within its scope of operatiOn
" every boiler used on land or afloat in the United
Kin udom, or on board any British ship within the
territorial waters of the Pnited Kingdom, with
th e exception of :
" (a) Boilers belonging to or u. ed exclusively in
the service of Her Majesty.
.
.
' ' (b) Boilers used on board steam slu ps certificated by the Board of Trade or by Lloyd,s Reg~s~er
of British and F oreign Shipping, or by the Bnt1sh
Corporation for the Survey .a nd Hegistry of S~ip
ping, or by the Bureau VerJtas, or by any society
for the registration of shipping that may be approved
by the Board of Trade.
"(c) Boilers used by r ailway companies as locomotives.
"(d) Boilers used exclusively for domObtic pur
poses in private houses.,
To meet certain circum tances or conditions, a
clause provides that "\Vherc the Board of Trado
are sati tied t hat, owing to the special character of
any boiler or class of boilers, it is expedient that

APRIL

27,

1906.]

the same should be exempted from all or any of

the provisions of this Act, .the Board may ~ake
an order exempting such botler or class of b01lers
from those provisions or any of t hem."
The term '' boil e~ is stated to n:ean ''an y
closed vessel which IS used for ~enerat1ng .ste~m ,
or for heating wate~ or f~r heating ot~er h quids,
or into which steam IS admttted for heating, steaming, boiling, or other similar purpos~s; and incl~des
the setting as well as all the mountmgs and fitt mgs
with which t he boiler is equipped, which are either
usual or necessary for its safe working, but does
not include any mountings or fittings, pipes, or
connections! ly~ng beyond ~!1em: " ,At le~t ~ne
steam exammatwn and one ent.rr.e .examt.n atwn
of the boiler and such other examinatiOns (If any)
as may be ~ecessary to ascertain the act ual condition of t he boiler, are to be made within six
months before the certificate is granted ; and the
certificates are to run for a p~~iod .of ,thirtee~
months from the date of t he last enttr~ examination. Provision is made for an extenswn of the
certificate where necessary. The B oard. of Trade
are to issue an annual report on t he working of the
Act gi\ring the num1er of boilers examined and
by ~\horn the number of certificates granted and
refused the number of examinations made, the
service 'in which the boilers are employed, their description and the number of each type, the various
pressures at which they are worked, the gross
amount of coal consumed, and other particulars.
The report is to be presented to free libraries an.d
other institutions, and offered for sale to the pubhc
at a reasonable price.
The Bill contains numerous clauses, and is
lenathy, but t he above is an outline of its general
pr~ciples. While i~ secures the i~spection of
practically every boiler, the o wner I S allowed a
large measure of freedom in the choice of inspector ;
though at the same time his r espon sibility is by no
means lessened, but is brought home to him in a
manner to which at present he is a stranger. Once
a law is passed rendering it illegal to work a boiler
without a certificate of registration based on efficient examination, a great step will be gained.
The owners of exploded boilers ha ve r epeatedly
urged, in extenuation of, perhaps, a fatal explosion,
that t here was no law to enforce inspection, and
that they were quite ignorant that the boiler was
in a dangerous state. Wi th the passing of a Bill
such as this, owners would no longer have any
possible excuse either for ignorance or for the
neglect of due precautions for insuring safety.
Objection will, no doubt, be taken in some
qu~rters to the introduction, even in a comparatively minor degree, of the Board of Trade, and the
old familiar illustration of t he '' thin end of the
wedge" will be sure to come to t he front. We do
not think, however, that any danger need be ant icipated; and it is extremely unlikely that the B oard
of Trade would endeavour to secure the inspection
of all the boilers in the kingdom being placed under
their direct control. The attempt would be too
unpopular to succeed. On the other hand, provided that the Board of Trade were willing to
undertake the proposed duty of granting certificates of registration in exch9.nge for cer tificates
of safety, there is the probability that a fairly harmonious system of working would be secured, and
that every boiler would t hen be brought under
an effective but elastic control, which might not
be so readily obtainable were t he matter left in the
hands of county councils, town councils, or other
district authorities.
Again, it may be urged that the compatency of
the inspector is not secured.
Whatever Act of
Parliament may be passed it will be extremely difficult;. to compass every point to everybody's satisfactiOn ; and we consider that in the present Bill,
~hough definite arrangements are not specially
mtroduced for securing the competency of the inspector, yet by implication it is distinctly provided
f?r. The ~oiler-mvner is r esponsible for the selectiOn ~f the mspector. H e may go to any b oiler-inspectmg association or boiler -insurance company,
to a.ny firm o~ engineers or boiler-makers, or to any
engmeer, ?oiler-maker, or p erson pracbically conversant With t he construction and workina of
boil~rs. His choice, therefore, can be made from
a Wide field, and he would have a fair idea as to
w~o was co~petent for the duty of examining his
b01ler ; whtle, further, he would have to for ward
to ~he Board of Trade, when applying for the
certificate of registration, a declaration to t he effect
that he has satisfied himself that '' the inspector

555

E N G I N E E R I N G.
is p erfectly competent and fit in every r espect to
make the examinations and g rant the certificate of
safety." A penalty attaches to the owner of a
boiler for selecting an incompetent insp ector, and
a penalty also attaches to an incompetent inspector
for giving a certificate of safety. Neither the
owner n or the inspector would be likely to ignore
this, or to forget t hat any remissness on th~ir part
would be revealed at the B oard of Trade in vestigation unde r the Boiler E xplosions Act, and t hat t hey
would have to submit to an other penalty inflicted
by that Court. Even if at the outset one or two
explosion s should occur, and the insp ector was
found to have been incompetent, the matter would
soon right itself, and exposure and the infliction of
a suitable punishment for p roved neglect or fraud
would quickly exercise a wholesome influence.
Furt her, objection may be raised to the definition
of a "boiler, " and it may be argued that many
steam vessels will be included in the operations of
t he Bill which, on various grounds, might justly be
excluded. It will be noted, however, t hat t here is
a clause which exempts special types of boiler at
the discretion of the B oard of Traue, and this might
be taken advantage of where desirable or necessary.
But in our judgment, any vessel which is liable to
explode with disast rous r esults to life and property
should be brought under inspection. Many lives
have been lost from the bursting of k iers, tar stills,
steam cylinders, chemical pans, and various other
vessels; while what are termed "minor " explosions,
consisting of t he blowing-off of valve chests and
manhole doors, or the bursting or fracturing of
boiler tubes, have been of frequent occurrence, and
have involved loss of life in numerous instances.
During the past two years, the Board of Trade have
reported on at least 70 such explosions, which
caused t h e death of 30 persons and injury to 37
others. Nearly all these explosions were due to
causes which careful and systematic inspection
would have pre\'ented. Such cases may, individually, to t hose who do not suffer therefrom, appear
to be minor and insignificant'; but the same element of carelessness and neglect is there at work,
just as in the case of explosions attended with
greater loss of life, and therefore the arg ument in
favour of inspection applies equally to what we may
term steam plant, as well as to steam b oilers. The
application of an all-round r emedy would seem to
be essential ; but should the measure at any time
be found to be unnecessary in any special department of industry, or to affect prejudicially any
particular type of plant which may be proved to be
perfectly safe wit hout inspection, no doubt a remedy
would b e forthcoming. No clause, and no Act of
Parliament, is unalterable ; modifications may be
made as time and experience dictate.
Sir William Houlds worth's Bill would certainly
seem t o be t he b est that has yet been laid before
Parliament. Though not perfect, it would, we
believe, exercise a healt hy influence, and tend to
t he practical extinction of boiler explosions, with
the exception, of course, of those due to the carelessness of inattentive attendants, of whom t her e is
always a percentage. The taxpayer is n ot further
burdened, and there is nothing in the Bill to harass
trade or impede progress. No vexatious r estrictions as to special types of boiler or fittings are
int roduced. Steam users who are careful, and who
already have a competent inspection of t heir boilers,
would be comparatively uninterfered with, and
their carefulness would r eceive an official sanction.
The careless steam user who disregards t he safety
of his boiler, and risks t he lives of his workpeople
and the public, would be compelled to take precautions; but even in his case he would probably find
inspection to be no hardship, but a decided blessing. The Bill would be a help to boiler-owners,
boiler attendants, inspecting associations, insurance
companies, and, indeed, to all interested in the
safe and economical use of steam; while t hose who
are n ow liable to suffer from the effects of preventible explosions would receive a degree of protection which they have hitherto not been perntitted
to enjoy. Further, there is every r eason to believe
that the quality of the insp ection would be raised,
inasmuch as t h e inspecting authority would be
directly respon sible to the boiler-owner and to the
Board of Trade. ince t he Boiler Explosions Act
camo into operation, in 1882, cases have been met
with in which t he inspection was made by a.mat eurs, and was of a decidedly perfunctory character.
Then, again, other cases have been repor ted in
which boilers, though under insurance companies,
exploded from grave defects either in construction

or condition; while, on t he other hand, there were

cases in which t he boiler - owners deliberately
ignored the suggestions for insuring safety which
thAinsurance companies had made. The unfortul?ate
existence of keen competition between the vanous
insurance companies, leading in some instances to
the acceptance of rates which are totally insufficient
to provide for effective inspection- though on ~h.e
system of "risk " they may help to swell the diVIdend- would be checked, inasmuch as inspection
would then be the central principle in every transaction, and ins urance would be secondary. The
various insurance companies, by means of t his Bill,
would not only have greater facilit ies given to
t hem for securing t he necessary '' ent ire " exam~
nations which, in some instances, they now find It
difficult to obtain, but also t he means of enforcing
the adoption of any recommendations which they
may consider it their duty to make for r endering
boilers safe. Such recommendations are at the
present time too often treated with contempt by
the boiler owner.
We commend the general principles of this Bill
to the careful consideration of the Select Committee. The object in view, viz., t he saving of
human life, is a good one, aud we do not doubt
t hat this desirable end would be achieved wer e
the proposals of the Bill carried into actual
practice.
In a subsequent ar ticle on this subj ect, we shall
deal with the remaining two Bill~S recently laid
befor e Parliament, vi~., t he Home Secretary's Factory Bill and t he Engines and Boilers (Per sons in
Oharge) Bill.

THE SHIPBUILDING BOOM.

I s t he boom in shipbuilding collapsing 1 '!'hat is
a question frequently being as ked in all our great
industrial centres and on 'Change, for builders
have recently made no secret of the paucity of
"inq uiries," and s till more of the difficulty of
securing orders. It is true that many of the larger
firms prefer r eticence on this s ubject pretty much
for the same r eason as Lord Roberts makes it his
business to keep his own counsels about proj ected
movements in South Africa un til action renders the
plan of campaign obvious, for employers and employed continue unfortunately to wage warfare from
the industrial point of view, so t hat knowledge of
new work often proves an incentive to the men to
enforce the law of supply and demand. Whether
the employers are able to preserve t his secrecy is
quite &nother affair ; but the point has been urged,
at least by the optimist, as a reason for not accepting the testimony of the shipbuilder. We have this
week, however, the official return by Lloyd,s Registry of Shipping, which is in a position to know
t he actual facts of the case. Their report indicates
that the work actually on hand shows a decrease as
compared with three months ago of 46,000 tons;
but the falling off had set in early in t he autumn,
and the total now is 145,000 tons, or about 10 per
cent., less than the highest point reached, which
was in D ecember of 1898.
This decrease is n ot at first sight serious, when
taken in conjunction with the fact that it is upon
abnormal condition s. The figures of greatest significance, h owever, are those indicating the amount
of work commenced recently. L9.st year merchant
vessels were launched at a rate which made the
average output 360,000 tons per quarter. In the
three months just ended the vessels c01nmenced
only totalled 245,370 tons, whereas fifteen months
ago they totalled 430,000 tons. From t he return it is clear that new keels are not taking the
place of all the vessels launched. It may be taken
T otal
U nder
Construc tiou.

Tons.

Vessels
Oommenc ed.

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

..
..
..
.
..

684

597
668
668
638
564

1,401,087
1,385,715
1,386,367
1,347,649
1,306,761
1,260,422

190
179
175
174
175
160

l' er
Tons. Oent. of
I Total.

436,473
3~7 ,625
346,449
307,386
389,764
2 !6,370

31
25
25
22.8
26
19.4

that nine months is a fair average period now for

the preparation of ordinary-sized vessels for launching, nnd if the vessels launched within that period
ar e compared with those commenced, it is shown
that the work now is less by 81,000 tons than in
September last. The actual state of the case too
is made even worse than the figures indicat~, by

..

ss6

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

the fact that much more of the work is now in an

advanoed state of construction, for the v essels reported as '' commenced " form a steadily decreasing
proportion of the total.
It will thus be seen that 18 months ago the
volume of work was not only large, but that a.
great proportion-about a. third of it- was in the
early stages, and represented a much higher labour
value. Now barely a fifth of the g reatly reduced
total is new work, and although the figures at the
beginning of the year show a slight recovery, this
is due to the except ional cause of new tonnage
being then ordered to take the place as soon as
possible of v essels chartered for the conveyan0e
of the Army Corps to the Cape. This s udden
fillip was n ot only momentary, but will have an
influence in the opposite direction when the troopships are relieved from special dut y.
The sit uation n ow is partly due to the difficulty
of getting anything like early delivery of ships, and
partly to the high prices charged, both for material
and labour. Our metal price diagram has from
month to month recorded the steady upward movenlent of most metals, notably steel plates and
iron ; and there is the further fact that structural
iron- girders and the like- commands 21l. to 22l.
per t on, and is even then difficult to get for early
delivery. Shipowners therefore pause, and that
wisely, before placing at a high price an order which
1nay not be fulfilled until a period when lower contract rates prevail. And once this view gets abroad
-and it is being repeated by many able to judge
-the collapse in the demand for new ships must b e
pronounced. It would almost appear as if this was
the case now. Freights, it is true, are good ; but it
is difficult to b e certain that they will continue at a.
level sufficient t o m eet the larger capit al cha rges
consequent upon the high cont ract rates n ow
dema nded. There is another p oint of importance
in connecliion with the future, and tha t has reference to large ships . At the recent meeting of t he
Institution of N aval Architects, i t was made clear
that there were limitations to t he use of these
great liners. Professor Biles point ed out that after
a certain p oint was reached, economy in carrying
was dependent upon increased draught, and that
the class, or cubic capacity, of the freight, was
a further element ; while Mr. \iV est, an experienced Liverpool naval con structor, took the vie,~,.
that the very large steamships could only find their
profitable venue on the Atlantic. The demand for
new ships of this service, if this be true, must
sooner or la ter be met, wit h a material reduction
in the shipbuilding output . There is n o s uch
reduced demand as yet, for 17 v essels are now
building which e xceed 10,000 t ons; but ther e is a
decrease in the number of vessels bet ween 6000
and 10,000 ton s in course of construct ion.
In vie w of the ver y la rge decrease from the
" top " t ot al of January, 1899- 145,000 t ons-it is
not without interest to n ote how it is distribut ed
throughout the various district s as sh o wn by Lloyd's
fig ures given in the accompanying Table:
--~-------------

--

April, 1900.

------

Belfast. ..

--. .

Barrow a11d distr ict ..

Glasgow

..
Greenock

Hartlepool & Whitby

Middlesbroug h
and
Stock too

Newcastle


Sunderla nd

J a nuary, 1899.

------

N um ber .

T o ns.

N urn b er.

Tons.

22
10

55
23

185, 454
2,690
267,087
158,585
84,160

21
11
127
66
30

184,344
20,S!)5
306,0H
214,859
88,681

33
79
47

108,325
232,168
162,763

34

99,792
I 263,913
I 168,109

11!)

83
49

It will be seen that every district, excepting

Belfast and Middlesbrough, shows a decrease, as
compared with the totals for Jan uary, 1899 given
in the Table; but in both these instances the work
now on hand shows a decrease of some 3000 t on s
when comparison is made with t he tonnage at the
beginning of this y ear. In the case. of B elfast the
continued great volume of work. 1s due ~o t~e
popularity still of the immen~e lmers, for 1t w1~l
be not iced that the average siZe of t h e vessels 1s
b etween 8000 and 9000 t on s. As t o Middlesbrough there is a d ecrease on r ecent totals, although the fig ures sh ow an increase upon Janu~ry,
1899. In the case of B arrow t h e total. g1ven
is of little sia0 nificance as Lloyd's d o not Include
warship work of which a large amount is on hand
at Vickers' W orks. In Glasgow's figures t h e d ecrease is ab ou t Lhe average 10 v er cen t . , and, as

compared with the totals of the two preceding

quarters, there is not much change. The yards in
the Greenock district have suffered badly, for the
steady decrease for 18 m onths now reaches ab out 25
p er cent., and, m oreover, there have recently been
several reconstructions of firms, indicat ing that
the past activity has not in all cases meant prosp e rity. Hartlepool makes a satisfactory appearance on the Table; but the period of greatest
activity at tha t port was in September last, when
the total was 96,294 tons, so that h ere again the
average 10 per cent. is n ot far out. On the Tyne
the N e wcastle builders h a ve 25,000 t ons less than
the highest t otal, reached exactly a. year ago, again
about 10 per cent., while at Sunderland in June,
1898, t h e t onnage was 194,934 tons, 32,000 tons
more than at t he present time. It will thus be seen
that the decrease from the period of greatest activity is widespread and very decided.
It is worth noting, further, that notwithstanding
her act ivity at home, G ermany has in course of
construction in this country 18 vessels of 84,011 tons,
while Austria-Hungary is having built 13 of 37,189
tons, and Holland six vessels of 29, 580 t ons. The
foreign -owned tonnage makes less than 18 per cent.
of the t otal merchant work under construction.
This does not include foreign warship work, which
includes 28 vessels of 68,580 t on s, and here again
there is a big decrease, for a year ago we had in
British yards 31 foreign warships totalling 109,375
tons, while two y ears ago the total was nearly
double what it now is. Our own warship work,
however, more than makes up for this difference,
although here there is great difficulty in arriving at
a fair conception of the labour value of the t onnage,
because everything is included except vessels not
actually o fficially t ried. It would be easy to indicate several vessels included upon which very little
work remains to be done, but without allowing for
this we have under con struction the following
vessels :
Tons.
554 merchant vessels of .. .
... .. . 1,260,422
53 British warships of .. .
385,530

28 foreign warships of .. .
...
68,580

Total ...

...

...

... 1, 714,532

A year ago the t otal was 1,819, 780 tons, so that

there is a d ecrease of 105,000 t ons, n otwithstanding
that British warships account for 61,000 t on s more
n ow than a year ago.

NOTE'.
NORMAL CELL .

WHEN n ormal cells are t o b e used for sta ndardising galvanometers, a nd for d etermining electromot ive forces by a compen sation method, the r esistan ce of the cell must be accurately known and
very small, and the cell m ust further be able t o
bear certain rates of discharge ; to which end t he
curren t d en sity n ear t h e electrodes must also b e
:;mall. T o a ttain these objects, Emil B ose, of the
Univer:;ity of Breslau, has devised a new arrangement of Olark and Weston cells, which is illustra ted
in the '' ~eitschrift fiir :Elektrochemie. " The glass
,essel is a desiccat or, a cylindrical vessel whose
lower half has a smaller dia meter than the upper
half, a nd a ledge ab out half-way up . The a malgam is placed in a ring-shaped trough resting on
that ledge. This trough and th e elect rodes can be
removed during transp or t . The electrodes con sist
of glass tubes, passing through the perforated glass
cover, filled with mercury and ending in platinum
wires which dip into t he mercury or amalgam .
Connection s are made by inser ting wires into t he
upper ends of the tubes. With a cell diameter
of 12 cen t imetres, and a ring trough 3 cen timetres
in widt h, we have an a malgam electrode surface of
80 squar e centimetres, and about t h e same surface
for t h e mercury and mercury sulphate which cover
the bottom of the vessel. Owing t o these large
surfaces, the electromotive force of t he cell remains
very steady. Withdrawing currents rising in int ensity t o 0.0366 ampere, Bose ob served that the
electromotive force of a W eston cell did n ot sink
by more t han 0. 0033 volt in 60 minut es. I n the
case of t he Clark cell the loss was smaller still,
only 0.0029 volt; but, taking oth er point~ into
con sideration, both cells app ear to l>e equally
good. The cell fits int o a wat er bath or t h ermostat, and t h e arrangemen t len ds i tself also to the
construction of n ormal calomel elect rodes. In
that case, b oth tubes dip into calomel and mercury,
coverin g th e Lottom of t h e cell or con tained in th e

[APRIL

27, r goo.

trough. Either electrode tube may be used for

measurements, and the other electrode is available
for comparison to ascertain the loss of the potential
of the respective electrode in use.
THE PROPOSED UNIVE RSITY 0 .1<' BIRMI NGHA.ll.

~rom the report of the advisory committee ap -

pomted t o recommend a curriculum for the pro-

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

In the case of F armer v. Wilson and Others, which

was heard in the Divisional Court on Friday,
March 30, an int eresting question arose as to what
constitutes watching and b esetting. An information had charged the resp ondents with acts d01~e,
wit h a view t o compelling 37 p ersons named thercm ,
to abstain from doing certain acts which they had
a legal right to do, e. g., to remain on board the
steamship Siren, and. to fulfil . th~ engagem~nts
ent ered into by them w1th the Slupptng FederatiOn.
A charae of watching and besetting was also made.
It appeared that at the time of the beset t ing
charaed, t he Siren was lying moored near
J arr~w Hake in the Tyne, and was occupied by th
Shipping F ederation as a dep ot for men intending
t o serve as sea men on board ships belonging t o
me mbers of the F ederation, which is an association
of shipowners. The engagements b etween the ~'7
persons and t h e F ed.eration .were ~ade by "' the1r
Federation t hrough 1ts offie1als, b emg bona fide
th e ser Yan ts and in t heir con stant employmen t.
~

APRIL

Neither those officials, nor t he Federation, had at

any material time a license from the Boa.rd ?f Trade
under Section 3 of t he Mercha~t Shipping .f\ct,
1894, for the purpose of engagmg or supJ?lyn~g
seamen to be entered on board any sh1p . In
the United Kingdom, nor were the F ederatiOn
or its servants the owner, master, or m~te of
any ship, or bona fide the servant and In ~he
constant employment of ~he owner, ?r a supermtendent within that sectiOn. Relymg upon t he
fact that t he Shipping. Federation had oontravell:ed
the provisions of Sectwn 3 of the M erchant S hipping Act, 1894, the respon~ents alleged th~t t he
37 persons on board the Srren we1:e n ot d01ng an
act or fulfilling an employment wh10h they had a
legal riaht to do or fulfil, and that therefor e S ection
of the Conspiracy and Protect ion of
Property Act was not applicable to the c~se.
The justices found t hat there was a besettmg,
in fact, with a view to con1pel t~1e 37 p ersons
from remaining on board .the Suen and _fulfilling their engagements w1th the FederatiOn ;
but were of opinion that inasmuch as t he F ederation bad contravened Section 3 of the Merchant
Shipping Act, t he Conspiracy and L aw of Property
Act Section 7 did not apply. In t he course of
his judgment, by which he allowed the appeal and
sent the case back to t he magistrates to convict,
Mr. Justice Day said : ' 4 I am clearly of opinion
that the magistrates were wrong. The J.!len en.gaged
by the F ederation have been beset with a v1ew to
compel them t o abstain from doing acts which
they had a legal righ t to do. They had a legal right
to be upon the ship, to st ay there, and t o r eceive
their wages, if they could get the money. There
may have been a breach of the statu te by the
Federation, but that does not prevent the men from
having a legal right to be on the ship. " We cannot
doubt the accuracy of t his decision. The fact that
the Shipping Federat ion may have been employing
workmen without statutory authority has clearly
no effect upon the right of the workmen to go wher e
they choose. Only last year it was d ecid ed in the
case of Charnock v. Court ((1899] 2 Ch. 35] that
there is nothing in the Conspiracy and Law of
Property Act, 1875, to limit its op eration to ~}a?eR
habitually frequented by workmen. "Place
meludes any place where a workmen happens
to be, however casually, nor is it limited to
places ejusdem gene?"is with places of business
or residence, and it includes public places such
as railway ~tations and landing stages.
The
words "wrongfully and without legal authority,"
apply to such conduct as will support an action for
nuisance at common law, to which proof that the
watching or besetting was for purpose of peaceful
persuasion would have been a d efence. It may,
therefore be restrained by injunction.

AUTOMATIC RAILWAY COUPLINGS .

ON Monday last a trial was made of the first of
three new trains constructed at the Great Northern
Ra.ilway Company's Carriage and Wagon Works at
Doncaster. Tne trial was chiefly interesting because
the train in question is the first t hat has been completed in which automat ic couplings have been fitted
throughout; but there are other points also well
worthy of attention.
In our issue of May 19, 1899, we illustrated and
described the arrangement of a combined automatic
and non-automatic coupler which bad been devised
by Mr. W. S. La.ycock, of Victoria Works, Sheffield.
Since that time Mr. Laycock has been working at his
invention, and has made several improvements, with
the result that the carriage stock of the t rain in question, and the two others which are to follow it, have
been fitted throughout with the combined coupler ;
and it may be said at once that the trials were qui t e
successful, the railway authorities expressing themselves very satisfied with the result.
It will be remembered t hat Mr. Laycock adopted a
standard automatic coupler of the American Motor
Car Builders' Associat ion as the foundat ion of his
invention, wisely determining t o go on approved lines
as far as possible. The details of his arrangement will
be seen by reference to our former illustrated notice ;
and it will be sufficient here to remind our readers
that i~ it ~he !D~in casting or draw head of an automat ic
couplmg ts d1v1ded from the stem, and is attached to
tl~e hook o~ the usua.l English coupling by means of a
p1~. In thts way the drawhead will, when required,
swmg down out of the way, so that the shackle, or
non-.automatic, coupling can be used; whilst if t he automatte arrangement is required, the drawhead is held
~ecu~ly in a horizontal position by swinging it up and
msertmg the pin in its proper hola. It will also be
remembered that an arrangement h4d been devised fQr

557

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

27, r goo.]

running back the buffers when the automatic coupling

was used, t he latter, of course, comprising both the
attaching and buffing devices.
.
The object aimed at. is naturall~ to give a c~m~e
of automatic and ordmary couphng, because 1t 1s
necessary t hat a railway carriage should be able t o
t ake its place in any train, and obviously the whole
stook of the line cannot be changed at one time. There
must, therefore, be a period. when an alternative of
either method must be available, supposing the automatic coupling is t o be introduced.
The new train is intended for the 10 o'clock diningcar express, and will consist of six oars. The t rain,
including engine, was 424 ft. 6 in. in total length,
whilst t he weight of the coaches was 200 tons. There
will be passenger accommodation for 46 first-class and
129 third-class passengers. The first vehicle was a
t hird- class carriage with guard's compartment and
brake, a lavatory, and t hree open third compartmenti3.
The length is 63 ft ., and t he weight 35 tons. A firstclass coach, 60ft. long, followed, having accommodat ion for 28 passengers, the weight being 34 tons 18 cwt.
A combined first class and kitchen car was next, t he
lengt h of which is 62ft. This will carry 18 first. olass
passengers, and weighs 36 tons 13 cwt. Next came
two third-class dining cars, each 64ft. 6 in. long, and
each with seating accommodat ion for 42 persons, the
weight being about 35 tons 9 cwt. each. A luggage
brake-van, 45ft. long, and weighing 22 tons 10 cwt.,
completed the t rain.
The carriages are all in communication with each
other by means of vestibules, which work in admirably
with the central buffing and automatic coupling, so that
a thoroughfare exist s from end to end of the train. The
vestibules have also been supplied by Mr. Laycock, t hPy
being on t he Pullman system. The Gold system of
st eam heating has been adopted. This has been fully
described and illustrat::d in these pages.* The cars are
not noticeable for any elaboration of ornamentation,
there being, indeed, a pleasant ret urn to the greater
simplicity of earlier days, but t he solid comfort of
passengers is perhaps more consider ed than is usual,
especially in the matter of room ; whilst the lighting,
both natural and artificial, is excellent ; there being
clerestory roofs and Spencer's turn-down arrangement
for the gas lamps. The general idea of the arrangemen t s adopted is, not so much to give a separate
dining-car, as to have a table for each compartment
so that passengers can eat their meals without leaving
t heir seats. Many of the tables are, of course, portable, and a very good arrangement has been devised for folding each table out of the way when
not needed, whilst the passenger can himself put it
in position in the easiest manner without leaving his
seat. The automatic locking device for holding the
table securely is a particularly neat arrangement.
The ventilation is very satisfactory, torpedo ventilators being fitted t hroughout, whilst the lavatory arrangements have several new features, such as " automatic perfumer," " ozonateurs, " " gersapet tes," and
other ingenious, though sometimes, to t he uninitiat ed,
startling refinements of civilisation.
The t rial run was from Doncaster t o Grantham and
back, but before the start a series of tests of the
automatic couplir.gs was carried out. The six coaches
were dravn1 up on a siding in the works, a space of a
foot or two separating them. A shunting engine was
t hen backed gently in: and the coaches were pushed
together, the coupling being effectually performed on
every occasion. It is said t hat the automatic device
will enable an ordinary carriage to be coupled up
wit hout moving it more than a foot, but on this
occasion, when on.s trial was made, the travel of
the coach was just on 18 in. This was with the
shunting engine, which was coupled to the other
carriages- it was the last carriage on which the test
was made- by a loose three-link chain so that control
was far from perfect. At any rate enough was shown
t o prove that the interlocking of t he " knuckles "
could be effected without the heavy bang that is somet imes supposed to be necessary for the purpose.
The particular automatic coupling now in use has,
it is claimed, several advant ages over others t hat have
preceded it. There are no springs for actuating any
part of the mechanism, a point that is consider ed of
importance, doubtless with reason. A falling wedge
holds the hook or knuckle in t he engaging position,
and this will remain in place until pulled out. The
latter operation naturally releases the coupling, and is
performed by means of a chain w hich leads from the
drawhead to the side of the carriage, and this enables
uncoupling to be done without t he shunter going on
to the rails and between the cars. A part of the tests
consisted in dividing up the train, and this was done
most expeditiously, a pull at the chain freeing the
carriages from each other . The nex t test-or perhaps
one should say exhibition- was to convert the automatic coupling into anon-automatic one and viceve'lsa.
Both these operations were carried out in a few seconds
by the man withdrawing the pin and placing it in the
locking hole when the drawhead bad fallen to the ver

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

'

tical posit ion, s> t hat the car became fitted ~or attach
ment by t he ordinary hook and shackle oouplmg. To .r e
place the automatic arrangement for use also occup1ed
but a few seconds, and was easily performed by one
man.
The trial run was without special incident. The
train was drawn by one of Mr. Iv~tt's ne':V four
coupled express engines, No. 990, wh1ch a:ttatned at>
times a high speed, but only for compara:t1vely short
periods, for there were natura!ly ma:ny s1gnal checks
and stops on this much used b1t of hne.. The follow
ing particulars of this type of locomotive may be of
interest :
Cylinders

.. .

...

...

Diameter of driving wheets ...

Steam pressure .. .
. ..
.. .
. ..
.. .
.. .
Grate area
Heating surface :
...
...
...
Firebox
Tubes . ..
. ..
...

.. . 19 in. in dia. by
24 in. stroke
. .. 6ft. 7~ in.
. .. 175 lb. sq. in.
. ..
26! sq. ft.
...
...

140
1302

...

...

... 1422

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

...
...

... 4 ft.

Total ...

,
,

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

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

The steady running of these long coaches, all held

together and mutually supported by the vestibules,
was a notable feature. There were some sections of
line over which the r unning seemed hardly so satisfactory as over others, a matter which was evidently not
due to t he rolling stock.
It should be added that three other companies are
being supplied . wit h the combined coupling by Mr.
Laycock, namely, the North-Eastern, North Brit-ish,
and Great Central Rail way Companies.
CATALOGUES.- Messrs. George Cradook and Co., of
Wakefield, have sent us a copy of their catalogue of wire
ropes and accessories. Included in the letterpress we
note detailed directions for splicing rope, whilst amongst
the engravings are illustrat10ns of aerial ropeways and
suspension bridges erected by the firm.-The Chapman
Valve Company, of Indian Orchard, Mass., U.S.A., and
of 75, Queen Victoria-street, London, have recently published an excellently arranged catalogue describing the
various forms of sluice valves, throttle valves, hydrants,
and seat valv~s made by the company. The valves in
question are made for steam and air, as well as for water
mains.- Messrs. Ash well andNesbit, Limited, of 12, Great
James-street, Bedfordrow, have just issued a new
pamphlet describing their system of wnrming and ventilattion, to which are added illustrations of many important
buildings to which this systell! has been su:pphed.-A
new catalogue of acetylene generators, punfiers, and
fittin~s has been issued by Husson's Safety Acetylene
Syndwate, Limited, of 28, Victoria-street, Westminster,
London, S.W.- Messrs. Ransomeand Marsball, of Liverpool, have sent U'3 a copy of their new price list of vertica.l
cross tube boilers.-We have received from the British
Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company,
Limited, of N orfolk-street, W. C., copies of circulars on
alternate current motors, and compensators for alternate.
current circuits.
GoLD.-The imports of gold into the U nited Kingdom
in Maxch were 997,595t., as compared with 2,391,541l. in
March, 1899, a.nd 4, 441, 660t. in March, 1898. The aggregate imports in the first three months of this year were
8,010,03ll., as compared with 7,022,912l. in the corresponding period of 1899, and 9,258,84H. in the corresponding period of 1898. The Transvaal War has had a great
effect upon the imports of gold from British South .Africa,
which only amounted to 78,77H. in the first three months
of this yea.r, while in the first quarter of 1899 they stood
at 4,671,029t., and in first quarter of 1898 ab 4,003 994l.
The imports of gold from British India have som~whab
fallen off this year, having only amounted to March 31
to 199,190l., as compared with 419,310l. in the oorrespondin~ period of 1899, and 4~3,930t. in the correspondmg period ?f 1898. . Australasta: would appear to be the
gold-producmg reg10n from wh10h the largest supplies
are now obtained. The imports from our AntipodE\an
settlements to March 31 this year amounted to 1,263 806t.,
as compared with 1,023,130l. in the fir.st quarter of' 1899,
and 1,382,415l. in the first quarter of 1898. The imports
of gold have been largely helped up this year by increased
receipts from the United States and Germany; but these
of course were transmission imports-tha b lS gold received to adjust the balance of trade, or to suit the convenience of bankers and others. The United States sent
us gold in the first quarter of this year to the extent of
2,577,119t., as compared with 3456l. and 25,109l. The
receipts from Germany were 1, 764,100l., as compared
with 78,698t. and 97,534t. Gold was exported from the
United Kingdom. in March to the extent of 1,242,600t.,
a~ compar~d With 3,041,619t, in March, 1899, and
4,825,249t. m March, 1898. The aggregate exports in
the first th~ee months of this year were 3,585,490l., as
compar~d wtth 7,000, 737l. and l0,173,480l. In these latter
totals the gold exported to British India figured for
1,375,300t., 613,814t., and 737,620t. respectively

558

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

( APRIL

27,

1900.
:

a.ge. Mr. B ullen t~en, q ui te rightly, goes on to state no special p ension, he beinff scheduled with leading
that one of the assistants and the chief engineer must stok ers and seamen petty offi cers for this part of his
Q
T o TH~ E o l'.ro.n 01r ENGINEERING.
..,;IR, -Under th18 hea.dmg, Mr. Bridges-Lee has in devote the ~reater p ortion of their t ime t o clerical work "deferred p ay." To level the chief engine-room artificer
rc~urs o,~ t~e 23rd ult., e~pla.ined the "phenomenon' , of -mos~ of 1b wb o!ly unnecessary , let i t here be sa.id up i_n the mat~r of p ension, he ough t a t least t o be treated
JUmp
m an a cademtc m anner. His explanation - lea vm g the engmeer and t h ree assis ta nts to carry as lJ ? era.lly as ~ a ~etropoli tan policeman, i. e, he should
r~uces ~ C?mplex m~chanical problem t o such very ou.t the whole of the resp on sible d uty below. E ven rece1ve two thirds his a verage wage per day as a retiring
SlJ?lple 1nrm01ples tha.t 1b becomes a. misnomer t o term thts sk ele ton s taff m ust be denuded of a fe w of its ~llo~ance. Thi~ conceesion, al though the merest a.cb of
" Jump ' a. " p h enome non " a.t all. U nfortunately, the bo~~, for M! Morison ~n. b~ pap~r states of . t he young ~ usttee, would g 1ve a tremendous impetus to t he recruitbroblem to ~e solv~d re fuses t o obey the simple principles a.ss1 ~tant engm eer, on JOmmg h1 s fi rot Ahtp, " That mg. of these men, and also act as a s tim ulus in obtaining
e ~as a.pphed to tb, and d emands a. much closer investi - he 18 ab~olut~ly ~ost, because he has n ob yet learned a higher stamp of men than those t hat are now joining
~a.tlOn a~d a resort t o less obvious laws of m oti on. In the pract iCal s~gm ficance and bearin g of the theoretical H er Majesty's Navy.
lllustra.t1?n I presen t th e ft~llowin g p henomena which kn? wledge. whiCh he has acquired; a nd he is therefore . I h~ve left the question of treatment to the last, as it
qutte . d~otd of tha t judumen~, resource, and confidence ~s perha~s t he !DOSt i mpor tan t, so fa.r a.s its baneful
are suffi Clent t o prove this assertion.
'
1. The _d istribution o~ weight, in relation t o the li ne (the 1tali0s a! e . my own) 'Yhteh can only be created IDfl uence 18 felt m de ternng candida tes from flocking to
alo~g ~h10h the ex ~lostve force ~ts in propelling the by long and _m t ima te acq uam tance wit h the machinery." ~be Navy . . By treatment, I mea.n all that is understood
proJectile. and rep~lhng _the breech , 18 very m uch alike in If the foregom g were 'Y~olly and a:bs~l utely a t~ue s tate- m the ~nvuonmen t of t he recruit t he momen t he is
the ~e~vi ce magazme rlfle, and in its predecessor, the men t of t~e exact cond1t10n of affau s In the engm e-rooms " under the ~ennan t. " For all serv~ce purposes be is
Martmt-He~u.y. The oen.t re of g ravity of the whole of our ships of war, . t hen the senior en gineer, with his clB:'saed as a chtef pett y officer, but he 1s only reminded of
Pystem, or:~ntt~ng tb~ firer, 1s about 1 in. belo w the a.xis of p han.t <?m st a ff of altststants, would be in a t ruly pit iable t b1s whe~ told C?f his awful responsibility should any thing
t~ e ba:rrelm ~tther rtflP. Neverth~less, th e j ump of these cond1t1?n, and ou r ~eets on the way t o the de vil. I n under hts nomm~l ~ntrol go wrong;_ot herwise, he is
nfles 1~ so. dtffere~t ~hat, whereas the former requirP.s fa?t, Su , the tru t h IS only ha lf stated, but q ui te un con - t~eated but very md1fferen t ly by th ose m authority over
correct10n m the Sightmg of about 12 minutes of angle ~clOu~ly so. Next to th.e assis~an t engineers there comes, him. In this respect his i mm ediate, or, as I may caJJ
t o c~u~teracb a.n 'ltp'llJard j ump of that a mount, th~ m p omt of ra~k, the chief e!lS'lD.e-room a rtificers, who. in t hem, his local superiors, have much to answer for. But
Mart101- ~enry h as a well-defined down:wQ/rd j um p of p011;1t of expenen~e and famiha r1 ty with the multifarious the whole truth cannot be told here, for the rules of the
d ut10s of an engme-room and s tokehold form wha t Mr game must be obser ved. B ut these are the smaller
severa l mmutea.
2. The ~e!vice rifle, with compressed charges of black Bullen apt ly calls t he ~ ~backbone of t~e de pa rtment. '; worries of an engine-room artificer's existence, and aa a
powder, gtv~ng ~ mu zzle velocity of 1850 foot -seconds, An~ behm? t_hem, ag~m, . come the m ne engine-room rule, wash off with the grease; it is t he bigg~r thing~ that
h.as a bout SI X .m1nutes more upwa rd jump than the same art~ficers~JU nior, t oo Ju mor, alas !-for the many a nd are more trying. L et me instance, for example, t he
nfle when cord1te ammunition givi ng 2000 foot -seconds is trym g duties t hey a re oftentimes called on t o carry out. recent stoppage of leave of the 25 engi ne-room artificers
Bu~ let me for a moment deal with the chief engine-room of. the Channel squadron, because three of that number
used.
artt ficers.
fat led to obser ve a Service courtesy in not recogniding the
3. 'rhe Service rifle s word -bayonet attached below the
That they are entitled to call the mse,l ves engineers, in Ad miral in command, a nd two other officers who were
ba~rel, on a princ~ ple inven ted a~d p atented by the
w~ter, caus~s th e nfle ~o shoot low, and not h igh, as M r. the ~ense that the term is understood in t he merchant wit_h h im on shore at t he t ime. There is every reason to
ser vice, I f ully contend ; h ence my d emurring to your beh ave tbab these three men fai led to recog[Jise the
Br~ti~es- Lee s exolanat10n would require.
It 1s not p css b~e to_reduce t hese phenomena to par ticular t e!D? " tradesmen. " B efore an eng ine. room a r ti ficer is offi"ers, as they-th e officers-were in mu fti. B ut, still,
cases of the explanation pu t forwa rd by Mr. Bridges-L ee. eh gible for the position. of a chief engine-room artificer thE-se t hree were guil ty of a Ser vice offence, and for such
They are a class of proble ms invol ving the application of he m ust have ser ved. e1ght_ years, fi ve years of which should have been admonished. W ell, the obvious t hing
fore~ of very i~ten~e and short-lived nature, a lmost p er- must ~e ac~ual se!!' tt me. H e must th en get a certificate for the A dmiral to have d one was t o have bad all the
<?USSlve,. t ? the m~rt1 a of a system whose parts vary widely fro_m hlB chtef engm eer! showi ng t~at he is com peten t t o engine-room artificers who were on shore on t his occasion
m. elas~l~I t~ and m. d ensity, and cannot be looked up on as take charpe of the engm es and hollers of a small ship. mustered on the flagship, and t here have ident ified the
a t all rtgtd m relation to such impulses. The whole time A f ter th1s, he has to pass an examination m ore difficult terrible culprits. T hat was th e obvious t hing, as I ba.ve
? f the p assage of the bullet through the Ser vice rifle barrel than tha t. dem~nd ed. by the B oard of Trade for a second- stated, but it was not done. Ob, no ! The Admiral
1B a bout .0015 second, and in this t ime all t he m ovemen t cla.s~ engm eer s .certificate, before he can become a chi ef made a signa l stopping the leave of th e 25 ens:ine- room
wh ich affe~ ts the direction of the projectile must t ake engm e-room a r tificer. second -class. A " tradesman " t he artificers who were on shore at the time, until suoh a
place. This move ment is nob visible, a.s is t he subsequent chief . e.ngine-r9om art~fi_c~r may be, wi thin your narrow p eriod as they-the engine-room artificers-t urn ed base
their luckless
la;rge J?Ovement of the. wh ole rifle, b ut its effect on the defim t10n of his capa b1ht1es, but tha t he is competent t o mformers and Aneaks, and so p eached on
1
d nect10n of the bullet ts plainly e nough evident on the carry out most onero~s a nq resp onsible duties, a glan ce a t brethren . Truly, as Mr. Bull en sa.ye, ' It's a way they
t arget when the correct allowa nce for it has n ob been t'l?e current Navy. Lts t w1Jl prove : for therein you will ha.ve in t he N a vy."
d iscover m any ships the machinery of which is in t he
T ake, again, t he trea tment meted out to engine-room
ascertained , and made in the sigh ts.
a bsol ut e charge of chief engine-room a rtificers. But to artificers a t the Western port a few months ago. Ab
Y ours truly,
get back to the Mars. Somehow or t he other she is still t his naval depot there is a good deal of boating. W ell,
J OHN RIGDY.
11
afloat,
and
o.ne
of
th_e
fighting
units
of
the
Channel
flee
t.
engine
room
artificers
were
eo
m
palled
to
ma n " an oa.r
S treatham, 8. W ., March 18, 1900.
E ven the n.m e engm e-room a rtificers on board of her alongside of stokers and bluejackets, a nd made to pull
are _under~?mg . a similar training t o t ha t of t he "inex- t hemsel ves t o a nd fro. This wa.s felt to be very degradmg.
pen enced ~lBtant engineert~, only more so, as every and i t was not un ti l a lot of irri tation and friction bad
NAVAL E NGINEERS.
N!l':Y man w1ll und.erat and, a nd even tually they will a ll be been caused that things were modified somewhat.
To THE E DITOR OF ENGINEERING.
At Chatbam, the engine-room artificers a re treated
eligible for p~omottpn to a ~igher rati ng. I hope I have
SIR,-The thanks of the whole of the engineering de- st at ed suffi01en t Str, on th1s p hase of the q uestion t o more as jf they were militiamen than responsible mepartment of the Navy will be most unanimously accorded sh o~ that the engine. room arti ficers are-, after a few years' chanics- (! do not use the word " mili tiaman " in an
yo~ for the m anner in whic~ you deal wi th , and the space servitude under the S par tan condi tions which prevail in invidious sense)- for there t hey are drilled, and faced
whtch you d evote t o, the clatms of the Naval Engineers. the Navy, something more th an mere " tradesmen " and about, a nd "ngh ted abou t " until they get quite disY our half-apologe t ic tone at the commencement of your tha t t hey are competent to ta ke cha.rge, because m'any of gust ed with the Navy, and With everyth ing pertaining
leading article was quite unnecessary, for all your readers t hem have h ad charge, or now have cha rge- and all t o i t. B ut I have said enough , Sir, to show you why it
must realise how vitally important is t he question that joint ly sha re the h uge resp onsibility- morally, I ~ean-of is the a uthori ties fi nd such diffi culties in securing engmeyou have for so many years most strenu ously k ept in the the tremenduous dep ar tmen t ans werable for the prop ul- room ar tificers. They forget, or never seem to understand,
foref~ont of leading engineerin g problems. Mr. M orison, sion nf the ship s of our big Navy.
thab t hese men are aU special correepondents, commist oo? IS t o be congr~tulate~ on. the m as terly manner in
.As I h~ve already sta t.ed, the M ars does k eep afloat sioned by their shop mates on leaving th e training ground,
which be ha ndled t h18 most m t rJCat e g uestion of personnel w1th t he madequate engm e-room staff a.ssi~ned to her. t o write home gi vmg all particulars about the ''job, " as
be~ore ~he North-~ast Coast Instit utiOn of E ng meers and B ut at wha t a cos t of work, worry, and wearmess on the they call it. On1y last week, I overheard a young fellow
S htpbullders. It IS along step towa rds the consummat ion part of those who " keep things going. " To start wi th state quite publicly that he had been the meanBof stopping
of an ideal engineering n a val staff, when gentlemen of the pre-1892 engine-room complements ough t t o be re: eleven of his old shopma tes from joining the N a.vy aa
Mr. M orison's standing in t he en gineering world t a ke up stored. T~is would m ~an a n addi tion of 30 per cen t. to engine-room artificers, &J?d this becaue of a lit~l e pe~ty
the cudgels on beha lf of a class who, by th e very n eces- the professiOnal a nd sk1lled staff~ t hat a re now so terribly tyranny on one of t he ships of the Chann el fleet 1n wh iCh
sity of their p osition, a re speechless. Excellent as ;rour overworked, a nd not 12 per cen t., as M r. Morison states he bad been und ergoing a course of get ting t he "sea
article is, I must confess t o a cer tain a moun t of dJ Rap- in his ot herwise able and lucid paper. This can only be babi t.,
I must apologise for the leng th of t his lettr:r, bub I
pointment when I p erceived the line of d emarcation brought about by steady ed ucatiO-n al methods such as
which you had dra wn be tween the engineer officers and tho~e you hao:e ad opted, . a:nd by t he A dmi ralty con- t hink that t he p osition and responsibilities of th e enginethe engine-r oom arti ficers. F or all social functions, cedmg m ore hbera.l conditiOns under which engineer room ar tificers deser ve fuller treatment than your article
which take place at the after part of th e ship, this dis- officers ser ve t han those which a t p resent obtain. The acoorded t hem ; and so I bring my remarks to a close,
tinction is truly obvious; but down below, amidst the g_rantin~ of execut ive ra nk rais_es many p oints of excep- merely subscri bing myself a
NEW E. R . A.
A pril 9, 1900.
whi rr of revol ving machinery, it tak ea a keen and p rac- t ional di fficulty, but none, I thmk. that a re insurmount tised eye to notice t he sub tle difference bet ween the classes able. Writi ng as I do, with some inside knowledge of the
in quest ion. Referring t o t he engine-room artificers, you N a vy, I hold it to be absolutely necessary that some
T o THE EDITOR or ENGINEERING.
state, "These men, i t must be rerue mbered, are not engi- drastic cha nges must be made wi th regard to the status
Sm,-The t hanks of Naval E ngineers a.re due tN you
n eers ; they are excellent artificers, or, as t hey would be of the engine er officers of t he Navy, i f t hey a re to corn- for your uns wer ving and untiring advocacy of their claims.
called ash ore, 'tradesmen ' ; u.nd though they carry ou t their ma nd a.nd control large n umbers of half-disci plined men Thei r t hanks a re also du e to M r. D. B. M orison, viceoften t oo-onerous duties in an admirable manner, they are so as to insure t he safe and reliable working of t he de- presiden t of the North-East Coast Insti tution of E ngin ot competen t t o t ake charge." The writer of this letter oartment.
neers and Sbip!:>Uilders, for hi ~ extremely able paper on
q uite recognises t hat you h ad every in tention of being . The dif:Bcu lties 9:'b p resen t being met wi th in secur- " The B ritish Naval E ngineer," read before t hat Institufair, and just when pennin g the above lines; nor is b e m g suffiCient cand tdates for the a rtificer's rating are tion . This paper is noticeable, not only for its masterly
inclined t o en ter in to a philological dis~uisition upon the more easy of sol ution as they t ranslate t hemselves in to t reatment of th e subject- but also for the fact t hat i t is
precise m eaning of the word "engineer, ' for with change terms of pay, pension, and better treatmen t. H ere th ere the fi rst of its k ind read before a tech nical institution.
of la t it ude t he term al ters its meaning considerably . In a.re no in heren t difficul ties, as with t he other problem. L et It marks an ep~cb in the naval ens-ineering s~ruggl_e.
.
L ondon, the ord ina ry h andicraftsman in a n engineering me d ~al wit h t he question of pay fi rst. T he commencing
It is instructive to note, bow-In connection With thiB
workshop is st yled an "en gineer ;" whi lst in America, t he wage of an engine-room artificer is 5J. 6d. per day, which, struggle-t he so-called " imposaibili ties " of one day beloc"'moti ve engine driver en virons himself within t he a ll- p lus a llowances, works out at about Gs. per day. Now, come the very easy " possibilities " of t he nexb. Take
em bracing t erm. The gentleru an in charge of the ma- when I merely state t hat this wage was determined in t he case of t he modi fication in " relative" rank lately
chinery of a pen ny steamer on the T ha mes is by courtesy 1883-a. date before the ad ven t of high pressures, water- made- t he " with but after " concession. A few years
dubbed an "engineer;" a nd yet y_ou, with the ~est intentions tu be boilers, a nd piston speed A of over 1000 ft. per minute ago what is known as " the H ouee," was officiall y ini n th e world, s tate that th e engm e-room art ificers are only - I need n ob waste you r valuable space by advancing for~ed that for certai n reasons it was impossible to die" tradesmen ." You would apply a similar term to your further a rguments for th e necessity of an increase in pense with t he " bu t after " portion of this strange term.
butcher, bak er, and greengrocer. ~urely, we a re so~e wages, ere efficien t bon4-.fide mechanics will rush with T he statemen t caused laughter 1 but whether the lau~h
th in~ m ore than t hose. For ser vice purposes, I qutte per.fer vid patriotism for the p osition of an engine-room was directed against t he absurdi ty of t he wish to abohsh
" b ut after," or against the reasons given for th e necesadm1b that some easy m ethod of differentiat ion is neces- art1ficer.
On the question of p ension, t he Admi ralty are now sity for i ts reten tion - was not clear. The cond itions of
sary ' for inside t he Navy such dis tinctions are easily
und~rstood, bu t such familiarity outside t he Navy is less losing a n umber of valuable chief engine-room ar ti- the case remain the same now as then, yeb the "imexcusable. For p roof of this conten t ion ib will n ot be ficers, sim ply for the reason t hat no inducements in the possibility " has disappeared, and with a. wave of the
n ecessary to seek evid en ce outside of tha t furn ished in shape of a ugmented p ay (6d. per day is all that is now band "but after " is sent adrif t. T he Na.vy is shaken,
your a.dmirahle ar ticle. Y ou take the case of t he Mars, offered as a n inducemen t for a. chief engine-room artificer but sur vives.
.A ~other instance o~ the. ea:sy ~ranaiti?n from the ima nd quoting from M r . Bullen's. booJs "TheWay they ha ~e re -engagi ng), or su l?stantia! increase to pension, are held
in t he Navy," you state t ha.t m t his fi rst -class bat t leship out to men to con t m ue their services to th e Crow n. A fcO?Siblo to the poss1blo. 1s mdicated ~n th e l~tter on
tha t she only carries on e fleet engin eer, one engi neer, and chief engine-room a rtificer is most shabbily t reattd, so 'Naval E ngineers" wh1ch appeared m your 1esue of
four a siat a nts, the o 'd esb of whom was h ub 23 years of fa r as h is pension is con cerned. I n poin t of fact, he has . March 30. " L ieutenan t " ther e states his opinion that

THE FLIP OR J UMP OF A GUN OR .RIFLE.

APRIL

27,

1900.]

"most executive officers recogmse that engineers ehould

have the power of punishing their men, in t~e same way,
and to the same extent, more or less, as marme officers at
resent." It seems but yesterday that this view-w~en
~ut forward by the engineers-was declared by executive
officers t o be entirely incompatible with the maintenance
of discipline in the Navy.
I appeal t<? "Lieutenant "-whos~ letter marks him out
as a broad-mmded officer-whether 1b would not be a good
thing if he and others coul~ bri~g the~r brother ~fficers of
the executive branch more ~nto hne .wttb the engmeers on
the points in question. Hitherto h1s branch has been reg~rded a.s being mainly i!l opposition . t o .the engineers'
claims. Radical changes m the org!l'msation of the engineer branch are bound to come 10; they have been
knocking at the door for y~ars past. They may be on the
lines suggested in the engineers' " statement, , or th ey
ma.y be on the lines of th e change in the U nited States
Navy but come they will, sooner or later-sooner with
the heip of the executive bra~ch, later without it. I p~t
it to "Lieutenant," whether 1t would not be more satisfactory for his branch to be in a position to congratulate
itself on having helped forward the inevitable change,
rather than to have cause to reflect that the needful change
hnd forced its way in face of an opposition, which bad
produced no useful effect.
I am, yours obediently,
NAVAL ENGINEER.

---

To THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING.

Srn,-The thanks of engineers ge~erally are dne ~o you
for the admirable report of ~Ir. 1\IIortson's paper, deh vered
before the North-East Coast Institution of Erygine.ers and
Naval Architects, and also for your own arttcle, 10 your
issue of the 6th inst., commenting on the same. Now
that influential institution~, like the one referred to, are
taking up the ~e ~or fuller recognition of the ~l~ims ?f
naval engineers, 1t IS to be hoped that the au thori t1es will
see the urgent necessity for car~ying. out somfl important
reforms in the whole of the engmeermg department of the
Royal Navy, on the lines suggested in your pages, which,
by the way, you have so consistently advocated during
the oast decade.
Both Mr. Morison's paper, and your own leading article
dealing with it, are so uniformly fair and generous, that
I am loth to criticise either;. but if I may pe hypercriti.cal
for o. brief space, I should hke to deal w1th that port1on
of your article wh erein you ad vert to the engine-room
artificers.
It is curious to observe that most lay speakers, and
writers who handle this vexed question, the engineering
personnel of th~ R?y.al Na:vy_-fB:ll into the same err?r of
making a most mvtdtous distmctlOn between the engmeer
officer and the engine room artificer, as if the latter were
a mere automaton standing about on the engine- room
platform, awaiting. orders from the former as to. the
adjustment of a pau of crank-bead brasses1 or the tram of
wheels necessary for cutting a certain p1tch of thread.
In this respect you-in your a rticle-sin most grievously.
You refer to the engine-room artificers as being mere
11
artificers " or "tradesmen," and not "capable of taking
charge." If your strictures applied only to the raw
recruits-sa.y, under two years' service-they would be of
some force; but, if I understand your statement aright,
you intend your remarks to include the whole of the
artificer branch, from the artificer engineer to the
humblest novice who has just donned the uniform; for
you also state that the term "a,rtificer engineer " is a
contradiction. Why these invidious distinctions should
be made passes my comprehension; for in the service, so
far as duty is concerned, there i3 no actual break in the
continuity of responsibility between the Fleet Engineer
and a chief engine-room artificer, and in many instances of an engine.ro?~ artifi?er of six yearo' standin~.
For the purpose of g1vmg p omt to thiS letter I Will
deal only with chief engine-room artificers, in stating
what their real duties and responeibilities are in the
engine-rooms and stokebolds of our men - of - wa1. In
the first place, to become an engine-room artificer, a
candidate must possess the same q nalifications that the
average merchant servi ce engineer possesses on his first
going to sea. This point is important, as it tells a~ainst
the demarcation th eory so easily adopted by well-mtentioned advocates desirous of improving the lot of Naval
EngineerP, but who yet deal an unintentional back-handed
blow on those they would otherwise wish to benefit. At
starting, then, there is practically little difference between
the young mechanic who drifts into the merchant service,
and his brother or shopmate who enlists in the N a.vy as
an engine-room artificer; but started on their respective
ca.ree~, what a wide difference there is in their sn bsequent training. On the one hand, the merchant en~ineer
may pass nearly the whole of his professional life m the
comfortable free-from-care ocean tramp, whilst the
artificer is buffeted about in every description of fighting
ship, from a torpedo boat to a first-class battleship. At
the end of two years the merchant engineer finds no difficulty in passing the examination which entitles him to a.
secondclass Board of Trade certificate, when he can, if
he likes, join the Royal Naval R eserve as an engineer.
On the other hand, the em~ineroom artificer must serve
eight years, five years of which must be absolute sea-time,
before be is allowed to sit at the examination, which, if
he passes, enables him to become a chief engine-room artificer; even then, be must have obtained a certificate showin~ that ''he is capable of taking ckalrge" of the engines,
h:)ll.erJ, and all other ma.cb inery of a small ship. This examinattOn, by the way, is in some reRpects much more difficult
than the Board of Trd.de examination for a second-cla,gg
certificate! for in the one case diagrams are dealt with,
both pract10ally and theoretically, and in the other they
are not touched at all. So that a. chief engine-rcom
nrtificer may, in all respects, be classed with a sec0nd-class

559

E N G I N E E R I N G.
certificated engineer in th e _mer~han_t service, in so f~r
as a knowledge of marine engmeenng 1s concerned; but, m
addition, the artificer's peculiar service training gives
him the pull over his civil brother; for allied with ~is
catholic acquaintanceship with nearly all types of marme
engines and boilers, he must have a keen and subtle knowledge of torpedoes, hydrauli~, air com pressors, and the
thousand-and-one mechanical appliances which go tow!l'rds
the military make. up of a man-of-war. And yet, wrtters
in professional organs like your own, never dream of desmibing the merchant engineer a~ being onlv a "tradesman, " and not "capable of taking charge." The truth isand the engineer officer's case can lose nothing by its
being told- that for all professional purposes there is
little difference between the senior chief engine-room
artificers and the engineers. F or years past they
have been quite interchangeable; and to be p erfectly
candid, the writer of this letter is unable to furnish any
im~tances where breakdowns to the machinery and boilers
have occurred through the substitution of the chief engineroom artificer, for the engineer officer. Chief engine-r0om
artificers have sole and absolute charge of the machinery
of some vessels up to 2000 i ndicat ed horse-power, and
this on a foreign station, too. I question if there is
a merchant vessel afloat, flying British colours, of
similar power, which has only a secondclass certificated
engineer in charge. It is also a fact that in large battleships and cruisers, chief engine-room artificers do. take
charge of a watch, relieving an engineer just as if there
was no wide gulf between their respective p ositions. It
is also true that, for some years past, chief engine. room
artificers have been sent out to large shipbuilding firms
to a ct as aesistant Admiralty overseers; and up to the
present so successful has the experiment proved, that the
venture is being extended.
It is also worthy of note that the 75 artificer engineers
are all e ither in sole charge of gun vessels, or acting a~
assistant engineers in ships of greater horse-power than
the one referred to.
And now, Sir, I think I have adduced sufficient evidence to uphold the claims of the engine-room artificers
for more consideration at the hands of those who profess
to speak on their behalf, in arti cles and speeches such as
the two in question. The claims of the engineer officers
for i:nore exalted rank are so irresistible th at they need no
adventitious aid, such as the belittling of their inferiors
in rank. The engineer officers as a class a re, I feel quite
sure, much too generous to wish exaltation through the
debasement of a class, which, after all, as one of the
writers whom you quote says, is the "backbone of the
department."
I hn ve left untouched the wider question raised in
yours and Mr. Morison's articles, vi z., more power or
rank for the engineers, as this letter has run to an almost
inordinate length already;. but I may add this (and 1
speak with a wide and extensive knowledge of engineroom artificers, and of their hopes and aspirations), that
the engineer officers have the best wishes of their subordinates in their endeavours to secure more definite rank,
as they fully recognise that for disciplinary purposes
executive rank is nec~sary for the smooth working of
the department.
I beg to remain yonrs, &c.,
April 23, 1900.
A. MARSHALL.

YACHT MEAS URE MENT.

To 'l'HE EDITOR OF ENGINJ<:EmNG.
Sm,-In connection with the abstract you gave on _page
472 ante of my paper, read before the Institution of Naval
Architects, allow me to add that it is an undeniable fact
that S2 ought to represent the stability, because in similar
yachts the stability is represented by s imilar dimensions
raised to the fourth powe r; and when the yachts are not
similar, it must be the art of the constructor t o choose
the sail area thus, that S2 represents the stability, and

then also the capability for takilng

'U(P

the energy of the

wind, this thus furnishing an undisputable standard. As

sometimes it may be found difficult to enact absolute
justice, it is proposed to divide the sail area S into Sn
and S 1, where Sn represents the normal sail area, as mentioned, and SI that part whereby the sail area in question exceeds the normal sail area, giving SI a reducing
coefficient g, smaller tha n one, makes the sail area of
smaller influence. The formula q (S, + U S2:_ is there-

fore a. milder representation of the just formula q

Yours truly,

H. C. VOGT.

A QUESTION OF OVERTIME RATES.

T o TnE EDITOR Ol!' ENG INEERTNG.
SIR,-Can any of your readers answer the following
question "with authority" : I s Good Friday an authorised holiday in England for men who are paid by the
hour? If it iR, then titters and turners can demand extra
pay for working that day; if it is not, then a master would
be entitled to JawfuUy dismiss any men who refused to
work on Good Friday because n o extra pay was offered.
A case of the kind happened in an engineering establishment in L ondon this week. The fitters and turners
were request ed to work a~ usual on Good Friday. They
asked if they were to be paid extra, and on being
answered in the negative they demurred and only a few
of them turned up.
The question 1s: Were the men legally entitled to
extra pay, such as they would have for Sunday or Christmas Day ? Has there been any decision in the Courts on
this point?
Yours faithfully,
April13, 1900.
ENGINEER.

Al\IERICAN COMPETITION.
To THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING.
SIR,-y ou have devoted .m uch o.f your valuable sp~ce
to the above qnestion. It IS certamly a. matter of vital
importance to the na~ion, and ~t is no.t ~ httle re~arkable
that at a time when thts matter IS recei vmg atte_nt10n, that
an account of the c0nstruction of the At bar~ Bridge shonld
be followed by an account of the C<?nstru_ctlon of ~~e new
superstructure for the Tugela Bridge m your :u:sue of
January 26, 1900.
.
I venture to think that a careful study of your Illustrations of these two structures will do more than v_olumes of
writing to show whab a hopeless task the Eoghs~ man?facturers would have to compete with the .Amenc~ns ID
bridge construction, unless a radical change lS made 1D the
question of design.
The fact that the Patent Shaft and A~letree Comp~ny
constructed the bridge for the Tugela. m the short ttme
recorded speaks volumes for thei~ resources, but ~hat can
be said of the question of des1g o ? V:'e are m formed
" that to avoid possible delay it was deCided to make use
of the designs shown which were, we are told, prepared
two or three years ~go." This speaks volumes for the
enterprise and resources of the drawing-office.
How long would it take the drawing-office of one of
the American bridge. building firms to prepare a set ef
working plans for a bridge of the same size ? I venture to
say that m less than 48 hours the drawings would be in
the shops and a fair start. made wit? the work. .
Again, as to the question of weigh~, we are m!ormed
that each span weighed 105 t ons. It Is a ~ood thmg the
British Government will have to pay the b1ll, for the cost
of the 50 or more, unnecessary tons of material in each
span wo~ld be a very serious item if the purchaser '!as
obliged to study reasonable {;Conomy, and had the opt10n
of, say, an economical American: offer. Then ~he q~es
tion of the enormous number of rtvets to be put m durmg
erection, when, as in ~he case of the Tugela ~ridge,
time was of the utmost Importance, and gangs of nveters
probably difficult to get, is by no means an unimportant
matter.
Much more could be said on this subject, but the sum
of the matter is this: That if antiquated and unscientific
methods are persisted in, English engineers will only have
tbemeel ves t o thank if our cou~ins in America run them
out of the market in the item of bridge construction. On
the other hand, there is no reason, with the great resources at England's command, why this should be so,
and why scientific methods of design and construction
should not be adopted.
I have seen btidge work by the best English and
American builders, and the quality of both is equally
good; but what can be said of the question of design from
an economical point of view? Study the illustrations in
ENGINEERING of t he Atbara and Tugela Bridges, and
answer the question.
I am, Sir, yours &c.,
COLONIAL OBSERVER.
New South Wales, March 17, 1900.

OUR TRADE WITH CANADA.

To TEUt EDITOR OF ENGINEERING.
SrR,-Observing the interest you take in Canadian
matters, I would point out for the benefit of your
numerous readers, that as the Canadian Government has
still further increased the preferential rebate in favour
of British manufacturers from 25 p er cent. to 33! per
cent., this offers a. unique opportunity to Briti~h manufacturers of machinery of all kind s. Very little machinery ie manufactured in Canada, and a 33! per cent. rebate
enables them to successfully compete with any American
manufacturer. The demand for boilers of all kinds, stamp
mills, ore cars, belting, drill steel, &c., crushers, buckets,
wire cables drills, dyna mos, hoisting engines, turbines,
&c., extends from Klondy ke to Atlin, throughout British
Columbia, which is one vast mineral deposit, to the
North-West Territories, and again to Ontario, with
great free milling quartz deposits to Quebec and Nova.
S cotia. Very large new iron and steel works a re n ow in
contemplation in Eastern Canada. The great collieries
of Eastern Canada provide a constant and increasing demand for many kinds of machinery. Saw mills, pulp
mills, electric power and light works can be supplied now
from this side at a good profit. In a recent issue the
British Colwrnbic" Bevie1.u published a note from its Toronto
editor, which stated that Canadian mining mac hinery
firms a re refusing to guarantee delivery in less than four
to six months after order. The importance of this 33i
per cent. rebate on the duty is too obvious in view of the
immense mining and industrial development of Canada
that those who enter the field n ow will have an immeasurable ad vantage over those who follow later.
Yours faithfully,
THE EDITOR, B-r itish Colwmbia Review.
London, April 25, 1900.

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

560

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

[APRIL

27,

1900.

me~ting the daily wants of the gentlemen who control an explanation of the first stage of this phenomenon, but Euro~n and As~atio rail way systems, m us~ be ~et by

theu use, and whose time is so filled up with the requirements of their ordinary du t.ies as to leave little or no
leisure for the investigation of matters which do not force
t hemselves on thair attention, or commercially affect their
work in hand. Professor B iles instances some of the problems of naval construction which still cry out for definite
ascertainment, and he shows the great saving in expenditure to be effected and improvements in shipbuilding that
may be rapidly arrived a.t, if for the present syatem of
patchwork designing and abandoning of yes terday's craft
m order to reproduce them in another and unsuspected
form in that of tomorrow; even a.n insignificant portion
of the money so expended and often wasted, were spent
upon the providing of suitable fa cilities for the collection
of definite informat ion ascertainable alone by practical
experiments, with models of sufficient size to insure the
reliability of the results thus to be arrived at. P rofessor
Biles' reference to the ' ' ham rock " fiasco is very ap1opos,
and if any of your r eaders care to realise the pilgrimage
of tentattve blundering that yacht designing has slowly
waded through during the last quarter of a century, let
them visit any yachting centre and inspect some of the
numberless sp ecimens of the eccentricities of marine
architecture that may be there seen, each one of whichin its day-having purported t o be the best example of
scientific perfection of design, and m any having. perhaps,
posed as champions in the yacht racing world, d uring the
shor t space of time which enabled the designer to appreciate some of his late3t errors and t o avoid or modify
them in his next effort. Such is the system which is
strangling yacht racing and filling our shipyards with
out-of-date craft. W e have, of courae, certain dogmatic
theories of resis tance on which is based our ship-designing
effort!:l, but if a tree may b e judged by the fruit it bears,
such theories sadly need amendment.
Professor Biles further ad verts to the improvements
that might be got in screw propellers if proper facilities
for collecting accurate exp erimental data were provided;
hub a~ ex periment~ with various types and developments
of types of propellera can best be made in sea-going crafb,
and the cos t of m anufacturing such propellers is trivial
as compared with the bene fits that may thereby accrue,
in increased speed and decrea~ed coal consumption, it is
difficult to account for the comparative neglect of such
matters in our great shipbuilding yards ; this is especially
puzzling as regards the experi mental investigation carried
on at the R oyal N aval establishments; the most vital
necessity is sea-going speed ; almost every problem of
construction affects, or may affect, s uch speed. The
N aval authorities h ave practically unlimited money at
their dis po3al, and yet we have it, on t he admission of
Sir W. White, that "in this country the pressure of work
on shipbuilding for the Royal Navy has, for many years
past, taxed to th e utmost limits the capacity of the
Admiralty experimental establishment, so ably superintended by Mr. R. E. Froude, allowin~ little scope for
purely scientific investigations, and makmg it difficult t o
deal with the numerous experiments incidental to the
design of actual ships." To my mind, this is a confession
of the exis tence of a state of affairs which is unpardonable. On the efficiency of our Fleets, both present and
future, practically depen~s the continued exist~nce of our
Empire. H olland, Russ1a, Italy, and the Umted S tates
have properly eq uipped ex perimental escablishments.
R ecent experience has shown that th e latter country has
dis tanced us in yacht construction .. W hat _guarantee h~ve
w~ that our navies are nob also bemg qutetly out-bmlt ?
But could any indictment of this "conserv~tive" policy
of the Admiralty be stronger than that deh vered by the
Hon. G. L . Parsons in his paper on "Screw Propellers,"
which he read a few evenings ago b~for~ the N e.w~astle
Association of Students of the Inst1tut10n of C1n l Engineers, in which he stated that : "'l;riple screws hn.d been
coming into favuur for wa~~:nps m ~ost of the large
foreign navies but the Br1o1sh A dmtralty, though t he
first to adopt the twin screws on .a large scale, had. not
built a singls triple-screw warahtp. T he two trtpl~
screwed American commerce destroyers-the Colum bta
and the Minneapo1h-h ad been very s uccessful. German
and French naval authorities bad largely. adopted t~e
t riple screw, so t hey hav~ already been convm0ed of ~he1r
superiori ty as they were 1n the case of water-tube boil~rs,
long befor~ the British authorities would have any thmg
to do with them."
Now take my own case. Some months ago my attention
was di~ected to the quest ion of "cavitatioD: " by_a series
of letters that appeared in your journal. I~ IS an tnte~est
ing and ~ighly tmpor~ant subject, and havmg ascertame_d
the existmg theones m vog~e ~ end~a voured to test the.u
truth as applied t o the ex1stm~ cuc1:1ms~ances of rapid
propulsion ; the results of my tnvest1gat10ns were c<;>ntained in letters which you wer~ good enough to p ubhsh
in E NGINEERING, and I therem showed t?at nob only
could " cavitation " be procured and local~sed on screw
ro eller blades, so as to incr ease the effic~ency of such
blaaes, but that the pres.ence .of such cav1tat10n would
enable the present increasmg p1tch of the scoop propell~r
to be lar~ely m odified, and t hereby much of the cavitation wh1ch now supervenes near the ends of such
screws and consequent waste of horae-power to be
d d I further p ointed to the fact that th~ truth
~f~ evi~ws as to the beneficial action of-wha~ mtght be
<>a " vertical cavitation " as distingutshed from
d escn~bed """'
. .

h
the " horizontal caVl tatwn " that anses w en scoop pro
pellers, such as the Thornycroft pro~e~lers, are us~
was, to a large exten ~, sho'Yn by the faethty of p~opulswn
which arises in t urbm e-dnven era~ when. !1 h1gh ~haft
velocity has been r eached, and wh10h . facihty. c~ntmuea
t" l by further increases of shaft veloetty the hm1t of the
~~s~ible area of " vertical cavitation " has been reached.
I am of oourse, aware of the t heory of decreased wayemaki'ng res_istance thf\,t hf\.S been advanced as affordms-

- so far as I k now - the second stage has hitherto

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

BROKEN TAIL-SHAFTS.
To THE E DITOR OF E NGINEERING.
SIR,-Permit me to offer a suggestion which, though it
has no direct bearing on the cause or remedy, may alleviate the damage.
My proposal is to have a set of s tandard sizes of tailshafts to sizes agreed on by Lloyd's and the Insurance
Corporation. This would entail, no doubt, t he co-operation of ship o wners and builders ; but in the event of a
breakdown, a shaft could at once be got from the stocks
kept at the various ports ; and, indeed, forge men could at
slack times forge, rough, and finish a few.
There are, no doubt, difficulties to overcome ; but consider the state of affaira-not so long ago-when every
engineer had his own set of tap and die~, and e very set
different. Whitworth set that rig-ht. Can the tail-shafts
not be also dealt with on similar hnes ?
Y ours, &c. ,
Cart F orge, Glasgow.
A. E RSKINE M uiRHEAD.

LARGE FREIGHT CARS ON BRITI H

RAILWAYS.
To THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING.
StR, -The ~eneral acceptance of the argument that immense reductiOn may be effected in the working expenses
of British rail ways by introducing large freight cars may
be considered satisfactory to the ad vocates of the i~nova
tion, but it is disappointmg to obser ve a tendency m the
technical press to share the conviction hitherto held by
rail way officials to the effect that the d ifficulties opposed
to their introduction provide a suffi cient reason for the
neglect of earnest endeavour to secure a radical reform in
the established methods of rail way working. The argument that traders' consignments of general merchandise
average only some 2 tons per vehicle does not apply to the
mineral traffic, and as minerals account for 71 per cent. of
the total tonnage moved yearly by the rail ways of the
United K ingdom, and the rolling stock provided for the
carriage is usually entirely dis tinct from that employed
for general merchandise, confusion would be avoided by
giving sep arate consideration to the two branches.
The only diffi cul ty remai!ling in connection ~th
mineral traffic is thn.t of termmals, and the prospect1 ve
saving in cost of transport .is wit.ho.ut doubt sufficient to
justify the cost of remodellmg ex.IStmg arrangements, but
traders cannot be expected to .carry out the. necessary
alterations when the benefi t Will accrue mamly to the
carriers. I have suggest ed elsewhere that encoura~ement
to reduce the tare of t heir vehicles might be giVen to
private owners of rolling stock by altering the b~is of
the charges from the .net to th e gross tot;lnage, ~a~mg an
equivalent reduction m the rate. Thus 1f the extstmg net
load be assumed to be GO p er cent. of the gross, the rates
when charged on th.e !atter would be r~du.ced by ~O . per
cent. in order that similar traffic under stmilar cond1t10ns
should yield an equal revenue. The introduct ion ~f highcapacity wagons would then enable t he trader to mcrease
his net tonnage by 20 per cent. for the same cost of ~rans
p ortation; whilst the railways would save one-third of
the dead weight to be returned empty, and would h~ve a.
gratuitous addition of about 70 per cent. per umt of
length to the capacity of their trains and sidings, which
would go far towards .solving th~ di~culty of congestion
in mineral yards and Impo!tant J Un ~ tiOns .
_
In the case of ind ustrtal estabhshments fi tted wtth
t urntables, short wagon lifts and othe~ obsole~e plan~,
t he railways might construct a depot m to. which t~ eu
large wagons would discharge, and from whiCh th~ different departments of the works would be supphed by
means of small wagons running on the existing r ails, or
by a system of con veyors.
Timber rails steel beams, &c., are commonly loaded
on severai short bolster wagons, which no~ only inyolve
an excessive proportion of tare, but whiCh provide a
fre_g uenb cause of derailment and damage.
The difficulties opposing the introduction of highcapacity rolling stock in this country will certainly be
overcome eventually; and i t would be surprising if we
find s uch difficulties, and the interests vested in the
existing order of things were accepted by E~glishmen as
a valid and satisfactory reason for the cessat~on of effo! t.
B ut it is also cer tain t ha t the demand for hghb and 1~
expensive steel cars, which is now arising from the railways of our colonies and dependencies and from the g reat

A meriCan enterpnse unless works are esta.bhshed m this

country to manufacture from suitable standard patterns
in large quant ities. I find that a proposal to establish such works is viewed with fa vour in certain influential
quarters, and I shall be glad to hear from engineers and
others who may think it advantageous that this important
branch of manufacture should be developed within our
own shores, and who would be prepared to support a.
venture of this description.
Y ours, &c.,
J. D. T wrNDEBRow, A.M. Inst. C. E.
13, Mosley-street, Newca.stle-upon-Tyne.

THE "CALYX" DRILL.

To THE E DITOR OI<' ENGINEERING.
SrR, -Can any of your readers oblige me with the
name and address of the makerRof the " Calyx " drill ?
Y oura truly,
L ondon, April 24, 1900.
B. L.

LAUNCHES AND TRIAL 'rRIPS.

THE Alberta, built for the L ondon and South-Western
Railway Company by M essrd. J ohn Brown and Co., at
Clydebank, was launched on th9 3rd inst. The vessel is
270 ft. long, by 35 ft. wide, and 15 ft. 9 in. deep to the
upper deck. She is generally similar to the Vera, built by
the same builders for the L ondon and South-Western
R ailway Company, but naturally includes such alterations
as the experience with the V era has suggested. The
Alberta is one of a series of high-speed vessels designed
by Professor Biles for the London and South-\Vestern
Railway Company (for which he is consulting naval architect), which has attained a speed of 19! knots on the
measured mile, and which, while being subdivided to float
with any two compartments flooded, is well suited to the
reqnirements of the Channel service. The horae-power
of the machinery is about 5000 indicated.
On April 3 Messrs. William Denny &nd Brothers,
Dumbarton, launched the twin-screw steamer Arundel,
built by them for the joint ownersh ip of the L ondon,
Brighton, and South Coast R ailway and the Western
R ail way of France. The vessel is in tended to ply
between Newhaven and Dieppe, and has been built by
them to cope with the increased traffic expected this
summer on account of the great Exhibition just opened
in Paris. The Arundel is practically a repeat of the
Sussex, built four years ago by Messrs. Denny for
the same owners. The accommodation consists generally
of first-class amidships, second-class aft, and a small
space forward for steerage passengers. The first-cla.ss
accommodation, which is fitted up in first -class style,
consists of a dining saloon on the main deck forward of
the funnel casing, two sleeping saloons on the lower deck,
with convenient access from dining saloon ; and a number
of private cabins and a smoking-room on the promenade
deck. The sleeping saloons are arrans-ed, as 18 usual on
the Channel vessels, so that they can either be used f~r a.
day or night service. The second-class accomm?dat1~n
consists of three saloons on the lower deck af b, fimshed 1n
plain but comfortable style ; and a smoking-room in a.
house abaft the engine casing on the main deck. The
promenade deck for about 1~0 ft. is entirely given up to
the first -class passengers, while the parb at the end of the
promenade deck, as well as the whole of the mai_? ?eck at
the aft end at the side of the deckhouse, contammg the
companion to the saloons, is given up to s~cond-cla.ss pas.
sengers. The machinery will be supphed b.Y ~essrs.
D anny and Co., and will be of the latast descr1pt10n, the
engines being of the ... chlick balanced type.
On W ednesday, April 4J the fine ~.teel screw oa.rgo
steamer Duisburg, which has been bmlt by the Flansburger Schiffsbau Gesellschaft, Flensbu~g, t o the order of
the D eutdch A ustralische Dampfsch1ffs- Gesellachaft,
Hamburg, put out to sea for her official tri~l trip. Her
principal dimeneions are : L ength 403 ft. 8 .m. ; brea-d.th,
47ft. 8 in. ; depth, 32 ft., wit h a deadwets-ht carrymg
capacity of about 6500 tons. The vessel 1s cla.ssed . to
Lloyd's highest class, 100 A 1. She has been . fitte~ wtth
triple-expansion engines supplied by the engmee~mg de
partment of the firm, having cylinders 28! in. ,_ 47i m., ~nd
78 in. in diameter, by 54 in. strok~, stea~ b~mg supphed
by four boilers capable of developmg an md10ated horsepower of a.bout 2500: T~is is th.e nint~ of t welve vesaels,
and the sixth of mne stster-shtps, whtoh the Flens~urg
Company have completed for the D eutsch Austraheche
Line.
M essrs. R. Napier and 'ons, Limited, Govan, launched
on the 4th inst. a steel screw steamer named Tyne, of about
3150 tons for the Royal M ail Steam P acket Company,
L ondon. The new steamer i~ intende~ for thecompant s
extra service to the W est Indies and Rtver Plate, and Will
carry about 4600 tons deadweight. Th~ general dimen
sions are : L ength between per~ndtoulars, 320 ft. ;
bread th, 44ft. 8 in. ; depth, 26 ft. , With a topg9:llant fore
castle, long bridge, and full {>OOp. ~he m9:chmer con.
sists of a set of tripl~-expan~10n engm es. w1th . cylinders
23 in. , 38 in., and G2 m. I!l dtameter by 3 .ft. 3 m. stroke,
and two single-ended botlers for a workmg pressure of
160 lb.
Messrs. Rnssell and Co. launched from their Green~k
yard, on the 13th inst. , the screw steamer Garon~e,. bu~ltl
to the order of Messrs. Searnely and Eger, Chns tJama.
Dimensions : L ength, 225 ft. ; .breadth, ~4 ft. ; depth,
16 ft. 3 in. ; dead weight carrymg capa~1ty, l GOO tons.
Messrs. R oRS and D uncan, Govan, wlll supply the

engmes.

APRIL

27,

1900.]

INDUSTRIAL NOTES.
TuE state of the labour market, as shown by the
re~urns to the Labour Department of the Board of
Trade is again most reassuring. In all the more
important industries the employment generally has
remained good, the percentage of unemployed members of trade unions being lower than at any corresponding period of any year since l 90. Those
returns number in the aggregate 2503, namely. 1716
from employers, 638 from t~~de _uni?ns, anc.l 149
from various other sources. Ihe hoe m t he employment char t, starting from a low level, gradually
went up in the t wo first months of the year, now it
has reached as low a level as it did in any month of
1899, and it is still trending downwards towards a
lower level.
I n the 137 trade unions specially reported on there
was an aggregate of 524, 199 members, of whom
11 821 or 2.3 per cent., were repor ted as unemployed,
as' codtpared with 2. 9 per cent . in t he previous month,
and 2.5 per cent. a year ago. Then only 125 unions,
with 494,394 members, sent in returns; now the figures
are larger. As the number of uuions reporting increase,
so will the figures represent a wider area and a greater
nu mber of industries.
The det~iled report3 from the various groups of
industries fully bear out the general statement as
made above. In the coalmining group employment
was very good during the past mont h, better than a
year ago, but the average time worked was not quite
so much as in the previous mon th, when it reached an
exceptionally high figure. At collieries employing
452,368 workpeople the men worked on an average
5.67 days per week, as compared wit h 5.69 days in
the previous month, and 5. 62 days a year ago. This
high average disposes of the complaint t h&t miners are
neglectful of their work. The scarcity of coal does
not arise from that cause. It is gratifying to report
such steady employment in an industry which is not,
even at its best, the most alluring that could be
named.
Employment has continued good in the ironstone
mining industry, and has again improved, though it
is not quite so good as it was a year ago, from some
cause or another. At mines and open works, employing 16,744 persons, the average t ime that winding
operations htwe been in progress was 5. 71 days per
week, as compared with 5.55 days in t he previous
month, and 5. 89 days a year ago.
Employment in the pig-iron industry is still good,
but from some cause it shows a slight decline. At
the works of the 116 ironmasters making retur ns,
there were 377 furnaces in blast, employing 25,759
men, as compared with 383 furnaces, employing 25,887
workpeople in the previous month, and 380 furnaces,
employing 24,918 persons a year ago. The demand
for pig iron has not abated, so that there must be
some other cause for t he decline.
Employment has further improved in the iron and
steel manufactures, and is much better than it was a
year ago. At 209 works covered by the returns, t he
total volume of employment, taking into account the
aggregate numbers employed, and the total number of
sh.ifts worked, increased by 2. 3 per cent. , as compared
with the previous month, and 5.3 per cent., as compared with the corresponding month of last year. This
shows that the demand has not diminished for finished
material.
In .the tinplate trade employment continues good,
and 1s much better t han it was a year ago. There
were 420 mills at work, in<:lusive of those manufacturing black plates, as compared with 418 mills at t he
same date last month, and 345 mills a year ago. The
number of persons employed is estimated to be a bout
21,000 persons. After a. long spell of depression there
has been a revival.
In the engi~eering and metal trades group employ
ment has contmued good. The proportion of unemployed trade union members in the entile group wA.s
only 2.2 per ceut., as compared with 2. 3 in the previous
mo?th, and 2. 4 _Per ?ent. a yeat ago.
Employment I S still good in the shipbuilding group
of trades. The proportion of unemployed union
members was only 2.5 per cent., as compared with
2.9 per cent. in the previous month, and 3.0 per cent.
a yea.~ ago. The prospeots indicate a still further
reductiOn.
~ the building trades employment is better, fol1owmg the advent of finer weather. The p roportion
of unemployed mem hers in the trades reporting
;~as 2.6 p~r cent. as compared with 3.1 per cent.
Ththe prev10us month, and l. 6 per cent. a year ago
e prospects for a good season are most encouraging.
The wood-working and furnishing t rades ha,e im
proved
all branches, being now fairly
d ' emp1oymenli, m
goo The proportiou of unemployed members wlls

561

E N G I N E E R I N G.
2.4 per cent., as compared with 6. 9 per cent . in the
previous month, and 1.0 per cent. a year ago.
The printing and bookbinding trades have improved, and are now fairly em ployed as a whole,
though bookbinders are somewhat slack. The proportion of unemployed union members was 3. 6 per
cent., as compared with 4.3 per cent. in t he previous
month, and 3.3 per cent. a year ago. The war has
tended to slacken those branches. In the paper t rade
employment has remained good, the proportion of
unemployed members of trade unions was 2. 2 per cent. ,
as compared with 2.3 per cent. in the previous month,
and 2. 6 per cent. a year ago.
Employment in the cotton industries is very good
in both the spinning and weaving departments. In
factories and mills employing about, 83,500 females,
100 per cent . in spinning, and 96 per cent. in weaving
were working full t ime. The woollen and worsted
branches continue very good on the whole, out there
has been a slight decline. The hosiery trades cont_inue
to be very good.
Dock labour in L ondon has improved ; it is better
than in the previous month, and much better that it
was a year ago.
The number of fresh labour d isputes reported in the
month was 40, involving 10,049 workpeople, of whom
8159 were directly and 1890 indirectly affected. The
corresponding number in the month previous was 33
disputes, involving 11,357 workpeople, and in the
same month of last year 53 disputes, involving 13,827
persons. The most important dispute was that in the
pottery trades, affecting about 4000 workpeople, which
is still unsettled. Of the other 32 disputes, nine were
in t..he building trades, nine in the engineering, shipbuilding, and metal trades, ten in t he textile t rades,
five in coalmining, and six in various other industries.
The number of new and old disputes settled in t he
month was 38, involving 5691 workpeople ; of these
13 disputes, affecting 2158 persons, were decided in
favour of the wor kers; eight, affecting 886 persons, in
favour of the employers, a nd 16, affecting 2487 persons,
were compromised . In one case the dispute, affecting
160 persons, was under consideration at the date of the
report as regards cer tain details.
There were changes in the rates of wages affecting
about 204,100 workpeople, of which number no fewer
t han 198,600 workers obtained advances, averaging
2s. O!d. weekly per head. In all about 5500 suffered
decreases in wages averaging l s. ll! d. per head. The
net result was an increase of Is. ll! per head all round
in the weekly wages of the whole 204,100 workpeople.
The principal increases were in the coalmining and
iron and steel industries, but about 5000 coalminers in
the Forest of Dean suffered a decrease in wages.
Changes affecting about 5200 workpeople were preceded by disputes causing a cessation of work,
whereas changes affecting 174,650 workpeople took
effect under sliding scales, and one, atfecting lOO
persons, was settled by arbitration wi thout any stoppage of work. The remaining changes, affecting
24,150 persons were arranged by direct negotiation
between the employers and employed or by their representat ives. On the whole, peaceful means were
used to obtain t he advantages gained by labour.
The report of t he Boilermakers and Iron Shipbuilders
states that there has been a steady falling otf in new
contracts since the beginning of the present year.
Orders for some classes of vessels have been practically
nit. This is attributed to " the exceedingly high
prices of material prevailing," both as regards coal,
iron, a nd steel. The report goes on to give examp!es.
Coal has advanced 6s. or 7s. per ton. Plates, angles,
bars, and rivets have been three times a dvanced in t he
last ~e~ mo~ths ; the d ifferent prices being given,
espe01ally of 1ron and steel plates, and other materia l
used in the boilermaking, bridge building, and other
branches per taining to the trade which this union represen ts. Tht' lessening of orders is not regarded as "a
slump in shipbuilding," but only as a temporary
slackening due to the causes above given. As regards
employment, t he ~lackening is not felt, nor can it be
during the present year to auy great ext ent, as in t he
largest districts shipbuilders have a sufficiency of work
on hand to carry t hem over t he current year. In corroboration of this the report notifies t hat t here is a large
demand for full squads of riveters in the Clyde and
Belfast districts, sufficient to take up t he surplus
labour in less favoured districts. In consequence of
the ~lackening off, the council have suspended the order
closmg the books, a nd "all members legitimately out
of employment may now sign on home donation " and
other benefits. But a discharge note is required
certifying cause of non-employment so that the mer~
idlers shall not impose on the f~nds. The total
number on the funds was 3350, as compared wit h 3922
in t he month previous. Of the total, 1010 were unemployed, as compared wi th 1284 in the previous
month : 172:2 were on sick benefit, a decrease of 329
on superannuat ion 618, increase 31. The report con~
tains a list of cc debt cases " and the members are
cautioned t hat unless the d~bts are paid, expulsion

will be resorted to. This union is strict in all such

cases, whether t he debt be due to officers or members
of the union, to employers, or to tradespeople, or
others.

---

The engineering trades throughout L ancashire con

tinue to be well employed in all branches. The returns
of t he trade unions in all t he engineering branches
show continued full employment, and the number of
unemployed members is decreasing rather t han other
wise. I n the iron trade there has been a wavering
t one, in consequence of some American iron having
been on offer, though very litt le business has been done
to indicate the extent of that competition or its effects.
In ~he finished iron branches there has been no
material change ; a fair weight of business is coming
forward, and makers are firm at full rates. Indeed,
most of them are well sold for some time ahead, so
that there is little off~ring in t he open market. In
the steel t rade an active inquiry is maintained, and
here again American comp etition is said to be begin
ning to be fel t. In t he general branches of t rade employment is e'idently good, for in branches of trade
unions in Manchester, wi th 22,443 members, only
404, or 1. 8 per cent . are sts.ted t o be unem ployed
from all causes, temporary and otherwise. This is a
decrease of l.l per cent., as compared with the
previous month's returns. In numerous branuhes of
Amalga mated Engineers in Lancashire with an aggregate of 10,844, only 202 were unemployed from all
causes. Notwi thstanding this proportion most of
the local secretaries describe trade as moderate only.
In the Manchester and Salford district engineers,
boilermakers, and sheet-metal worker3 report trade
as moderate : ironfounders, machine workers, brass
finishers, as good ; at N orthwich all are busy, at
Warrington they are fully emploJed. At Oldham
all are busy except in t he textile machine shops,
and the plate and machine-moulders, which are said to
be slack. At Bolton, Wigan, Chorley, and Bury, a ll
branches are moderately well employed. At Blackburn, Burnley, and district, t here is a slackening off,
shor t time being resorted to in some instances. On
the whole activity prevails; the position being favourable, and the outlook encouraging.
In the Wolverhampton district the pressure of work
in the iron and steel producing industries was and is
so great that t he usual Easter holidays were curtailed
as much as possible. The decision of the marked bar
makers not to increase the basis price had the effect
of strengthening confidence t o some extent. But the
decision only applies to such orders as makers can
accept for early delivery, all forward cont racts are declined except on the condition t hat the price to be
paid shall be t he current price at the time. The
action of the U nmarked Bar Makers' Association indicates that if t he present prosperous trade continues
the list firms will probably declare for a further
advance. There is a large demand for common and
puddled bars, tube strip, hoops, rods, and galvanised
roofing sheets, a nd as a consequence of t he latter for
black ~beets also. Steelmakers are very busy, and
q uotat10ns very firm. Generally all branches continue
to be fully employed, except where a sufficiency of
coal is not ob tainable. Amalgamated E ngineers report
trade as only '' moderate" in both of t he branches, but
only one man is out of employment, so that it would
appear to be very good, a~ it is with ironfounders, boilermakers, bridge,. all:d girder co~structors, tan}t and gasholder makers, snuths and stnkers. There 1s material
improvement in the cycle t rade, some of the firms working overtime. At Walsall, ~Iadeley, and Coalbtookdale employment is good, except that in the latter place
complaint is made of some slackness in foundry work.
E~ployment in the ironplate t rade is reported to be
qutet a t Wolverhampton, moderate at Bilston and
fair at Lye. Complaints as to the high price of fuel
and of material are heard, and especially from some
of the smaller employers.
In t~e Birmin~hat;n district t here was a good deal
of hohday k eepmg 1n Easter week, t he business done
in the iron and steel t rades being small. I nquiries
are reported to be numerous, and many new orders
have been placed since quarter-day. Merchant~ it
~oul~ seem, see t he fu~ilit~ of holding back in a~ti
ctpat10n of any reductiOn m the prices of material.
T~e complaint is that fuel is difficult to obtain. The
pnce of cok e has been further ad vanced. The slump
in .the I?ig-iron m~rket in Glasgow has not a ffected the
pnces 1n the M1dlands ; nor would it appear to be
likely to do so. All p rices have been firm at the
advanced rates. A. btisk inquiry f?r steel is reported,
but orders a re subJect to the dehvery of bille ts and
blooms, which are said to be very scarce. The general
branches of trade are mostly busy in the district. In
branches of trade unions with 21,176 members, only
445, or 2.1 per cen~., were repor ted to be unemployed
from all causes, bemg about the same proportion as a
month ago.
The state of unrest for some t ime past manifest in

E N G I N E E R I N G.
the cotton trades h a s been of th e milJ rather than of
the turbulent kind, a result undoubt~dly due to the
e;tcellent w ork done by ~he Joint Committee under
t~e Brookla~ds agreement. There have.been dissentlOns fr~m t1me to ~ime, and ~ in a few cases open
rupture, but on t he wliole the arrangement has worked
s m oothly. R ecently a revision of that agreement has
been thought to be necessary, and this has led to
proposals f~r a more p ermanent form of organisation
on the basis of a B oard of Conciliation. N otices
for a dvances it~ wages have been given in various
branc.;hes, and In some cases concessions have been
ma~ e: During last week t here was a good d eal of
a ct1v1ty, first by t h e publication of the reports of t wo
of the Operatives' ~ssociati~ns, and t hen by a conference of repres~n tattves of Employers and Operatives
on the quest10n of the demand for an increaee in
wages. The report of the Amalgamated A ssociation
of Card a nd Blo~i_ng-Room Operatives sp eaks of the
prosp e rous condit10n of trade, the concessions in
wages made in accordance with the Brook lands
agreement, the closing of the mills at 12 n oon ,
on Saturdays, and the new Factory Bill. The
Repor t of the Cotton Spinnera a lso refer s to
the Brooklands agreement, to la~o?r legislation,
and to the progress made by negotiatiOn in matters
p ertai ning to their branch. of trade. As regard s the
first named, the r eport declares the a greement to b e
practically _def~nct. At t~e conference of employers
and ope ratives r epresentatives, held in M anch ester on
Friday in l ast week, the a dvan ce of 5 per cent., as
r equ ested, was conceded, as regards the spinners and
others, all round, but t he e mployers could not see
their way clear to give the 10 per cent. a sked for to
the da tal hands.

( APRIL

27,

1900.

3. The disturbance or undulation of the ~ther.

currente, but each are S?bject to well-known cond itions
4. The work done by the generation and maintenance and ~o Simple mathematical treatment. Each has its own
of elect~c currents in material syst ems.
partteui~r sphere of usefulness. Some of the energy is
It w11l smooth our journey over somewhat difficul t w.a sted .m the ~orm of. heat in the conductor, in the
g~ound if I commence by illustrating these principles dtelectn.c, and . m the u on ; some in the neighbourin~
With some elementary experiments.
conduc~m~ ~ama, and some is conveyed away- dissi1. The D eflection of a N eed le.- A small mag-net like pated m l~mit!eas space. ~he ratio of the useful energy
that fr~ely pivote~. in the mariner's compass lB always to that whtch ts generated 1s known as the efficiency of
for~ed ~n.to a p os1t10n at right angles to a conductor the system. The steam engine utilises only 15 per cent.
mamtatmng: an electric c~x:rent. I am usin~ energy from of the energy of tb e coal ; the gas engine utilises 25 per
coa:l burnt m . the electriCity works in Mlllbank-street. cent. of the same energy~ a turbine can utiliee 80 per
It. 1s ~roll;ght m to this building through conducting mains cent. of the energy of falhng water but the efficiency
latd m ptpes under the street s in its electrical form and of a dynall!o has reached. the.J;Ugh fi~re of 98 per cent.
you see how its presence affects the needle. A n el~ctric
Alternatmg c!lrrents d1ffer m their frequency. Those
current is not like currents of air, of water, or of gas. generated at NJagara pass through eaeh cycle 25 times
They_are due to the flow of liquid or gas, and each cur- ~.r second_. The favourite frequency in the U nited
rent~~ confined to the interior of the pipe conveying the Kingdom IS 50, but many installations in the U nited
matenal. The so-ca.Jl~d ele~tric current affects not only ~tat~s reach as high as 1~0. These frequ~ncies in closed
the COJ:?ducto! that dJrects tt, b~t all t~e surrvunding ?Ircu1ts ca!l, h~wever, be Increased to mllbons per second
space, m cludmg any mat!er that 1t contams, and especi- m open ~I.rcutts. I? fact, M axwell proved th e identity
ally the ~ther that filJs It. Y ou have here evidence of of electnetty and hs-ht by showing that they moved
the existence of a magnetic field- a field of force of strain through the ~th~r wtth the same velocity-1 96,400 miles
and of motion. In fact, a condition of mat~r and th~ per sec~nd-and m the same undulatory fashion. If the
~ ther, and not a form of matter.
a~t~rnat10ns could be generated with a frequency of 50
2. I take a portion of this conductor and wind it around btlll? DS of waves per_second we should see electric waves
~bar. of. soft uon. When the current is turned on, the ~ hg~t rays. Electric waves and light waves differ only
u on 1s Impressed with magnetism. We have made an m. tbeu length. H ertz detected and measured these elecelectx:omagnet. S ome of the energy of the electric cur- tnc waves. Attempts have been made to utilise them
rent 1s tran~formed in~o it~ magnetic form, and we have but so far not with much praetical success.
'
powerful eV1dence of duect10n and stress-in fact a mag'\Yhenever a conductor is forced through a fixed mag
'
nified magnetic field.
netic field, so as to cut transversely the linea of for~ of
3. W e thus get attraction, repulsion, and we are able that field, an electromotive force is set up in that con
to produce rotation and t o strike great blows.
ductor whic~ varies wi~h the length of the conductor, the
4. ~ take two coils of insulated wire, one of which I number ~f ~mes cut .bY.It, and the rate at which they are
supenmpose upon the other. I send intermittent electric cut. Thts lB the pnnciple of the dynamo. Work is done
currents through the one and insert a t elephone in the upon the conductor in moving it against the resistance of
other. A lc:>ud sound is emitted by the telephone, which the field. Energy is thus transformed from its mechanical
gradually dies away as I remove the coils away from each to its electrical form. At Nia~ara 5000 horse-power are
other. ~he sound is res~ored in its loudness as I approach converted by one machine into electric currents of 1500
The Operat ive House P ainter s in the N orthwich the c~>1ls . together agam. H ere we have evidence of amperes driven by 2200 volts.
If a condu.ctor itself be free to move, and a magnetic
district have been gra nted an advance of !d. p er hour re t_h~nc disturbance. The electrical energy in the primary
in wages, with the promise of another ! d. p er hour coillB transferred by waves through the ~ther and con- field be proJect ed through it while it is maintainine- a
next year. In some other dis tricts there is an upward verted. aga~ i~to electric energy in the secondary coil, curre~t, 1t is forced into motio~, and it becomes a rota.tmg
appeahng m Its sonorous form t o our consciousness machme or motor. The electrte energy of the current is
tendency in the wages of painters- the one branch of through the ears.
tran~formed into its m~chanical form. Its torque, or
the building trades which is somewhat underpaid.
5. This ~th~ric disturbance is also the accompaniment turmng moment, depends upon the intensity of the magof spar~s m air. T he sudden rupture of an air gap, the netic field, on the length of the conductor, and on the
. At a joint m eet.ing of the Cle vela nd mineowners and convers1_on of the air into a conductor, i ts immediate streng th of the current. This reversibility of the dynamo
of the Cleveland miners' representatives held last wee k restorat~on to an insulator again, si ve sudden periodic is of immense commercial value. Max well said it was the
the wages of t he miners were advan ced llt p er cent~ undula.t10ns t~ the rether, which, owmg to its inertia, set greatest invention of the century. Tramcars in our
waves m motiOn that extend to unknown d istances. There street~, trains on our rail ways, tools in our shops, and
for the next six months.
is nothing but the air and t he ~ther between me and mills m our factories are thus worked by: electricity.
Dynamos and motors are subject t o laws and conditions
A strik e is r eported of about 8000 miners employed that clock; yet I can control the movements of the clock
so thoroughly well known that exactness is assured and
at the Santa P aulina ~fines, n~ar Santander, fo r by producing these sparks.
waste reduced to a minimum. There is no more perfect
6.
When
I
direct
an
electric
current
through
acidulated
higher wages and r educed hours of labour . The men
water, the current breaks up the water into its constituent machine than a dynamo. M otors are nearly as good.
a t the iron works refused to join in the strike, though eleJ?tn~q, O~J:gen .and hydrogen ; and if I insert a bar of Electricity as a scienceis fascinating to everyone, but it
urged to do so by the m i ners. At Gijon the litho- white alummmm mto a bath of blue sulphate of copper is deeply fascinating to the engineer. The reliability of
graphers are on strike, and some disturbances aro~ e it .is coated with a thin layer of brown copper. The elec- its laws, the accuracy of its measurements, and the comthere a t t he end of last week.
trteal energy does work upon the water and upon the pleteness and definiteness of the units t o which its
copper solution, and we have ocular demonstration of the measurements are referred, give him confidence in his
estimates and a certainty of the p erformance of his preThe strike o f a bout 800 Italian workmen employed mechanical opera tions ~ffectd .
a.t the Cornell Dam, a large engi neering undertaking . 7 .. The work done by an electric current upon matter concerted operations. It places in his hands the means
near New York, resulted in some riots last week, and 18 st1ll further shown by this platinum wire, which I can of directing the energy out of si~ht in positions known
Sergeant D ouglas was sh ot dead. Another r egime nt ~rst make h ot, then incandesce to redness, and finally fuse only t o himself, and of applying tt with great efficiency
a t the exact spot desired. N o magician or poet ever
mto
drops
with
the
evolution
of
brilliant
white
light.
was sent to the scene to enforce order. It is said that
We thus perceive that electricity is purely mechanical conceived so p otent a power within the easy reach of
the m en were very riotous before the troops wer e sent, in its effects. It requires matter to render it evident to man.
a.nd they are still inclined to be demonstrative and the senses. Its transference is characterised by motion,
B. T he Doing of Work.-The maintenance of an elecdisorderly.
chiefly undulatory when we consider the ~ther, but p ar tric cu rrent through a conductor means the expenditure
taking of the most known forms when considering conduc. of work upon that conductor, and this expenditure of
The r epreEentati ,es of the Ama lgamated Society of tors and ineulators. It is therefore essentially a. dynami- internal work means molecular motion. In solid conEngineers on the north-east coast have addressed a. cal _agent in the hands of the engineer to C!l.rry out his ductors the result is heat. If the current be _gradually
increased, this motion is similarly increased. The result
let ter to the Engineering and Shipbuilder s' Employers' d ut1es.
A. The A pplication oj Force.- E lectricity enables the is successively incandescen t, white heat, fusion, and dis
Association asking t hat the application for an advance
ruption.
of wages, which a few weaks ago the master s said engineer to direct energy to great distances, and there to
In liquid conductors the motion probably becomes
apply
force
at
his
will.
Force
is
that
which
produces,
or
they could not conceda, should be reconsidered. The
tends to produce, motion. I t is the function of the engi- revolution . The result is decomposition by the activity
members of the United Kingdom Society of Amal- neer t o utilise this motion.
of the centrifugal force overcoming chemical affinity. The
gamated Smiths and trikers e mployed in s hipya rds
An electric current is by n o means so sim{>le a pheno- atoms fly away in fixed determined lines, and collect at
on the Tyne, who a sk ed that, from Saturday last, menon as it name implies. The term itself IS a survi val opposite poles.
In gases the transference of electric energy in the form
the wages of smiths should be a d van ced 10 p er cent. of exploded doctrines. I t is not alone the conductor that
on time rates, and 7! p er cent. on piece rates, and the has to be considered but the whole circuit, especially its of sparks means dissociation. Compound gases are broken
wages of strikers 10 p er cent. on t ime rates, have insulating portion or dielectric, and the surrounding up into their component elements under the same directmedium- the ~ther. The earth also frequently played a ing influences. Work is done upon the g~ as in the pre
been informed that t heir r equest cannot be granted.
very important and essential part. M oreover, the energy vious instances.
Joule established the law of the relations of current and
takes both the electric and magnetic forms, and one or
other is dominant whenever the current is rising or falling heat upon a definite and accurate basis.
THE RELATIONS BETWEEN ELECTRICITY or persistent. The rise and fall of lines of electric force Faraday developed the laws of electro-chemi8try with

produce a magnetic field, and vice versd, the rise and fall equal exactitude.
AND ENGINEERING.*
Professor J. J. Thomson has determined the action of
of lines of magnetic force produce an electric field . In
By S ir WILLIAlU H ENRY PREECE, K .C.B' F .R.S.,
my experiments I converted this theatre into an electric currents on g-ases.
Past-President, Inst. C.E.
The {>rinciple of work that lies at the very root of the
and magnetic field, and if you posseased an electric sense
THE nineteenth century is distinguished in our profes. you would have been conscious of unwonted disturbances. profess10n of the engineer enables all theae operations to
sion chiefly by the knowledge we have _o~tained of the An electric field is that p or tion of space which is charac- be measured in definite mechanical unit!, reducible to the
constitution of mat ter and of the quaht1es of the ma- terised by the presence of lines of electric force; a mag- common English standard, the foot-pound, but which the
terials we utilise for the service of man, of the presence netic field by lines of magnetic force. Each line mdicates electrical engineer, with greater precision, refers tv the
and characteristics of that medium-the re ther-which the direction of stress, and the nu m her of lines passing scientific unit of work-the J oule.
fills all space, and of the existence, indestructibility, and through unit area (one square inch or centimetre) the inC. The P urification of .Llfa tter.-The elements and their
protean character of that g~ea.t n a tural source of force, t ensity of the stress. M atter through which they pass is useful compounds are rarely, ii ever, found pure. Immotion, work, and power wh1ch we call energy..
in a state of strain; in conductors they produce curren ts; purities have to be sifted away. Ore~ raw prod uce,
Electricity is onJr one of many form~ of tb1s energy. dielectrics a re displaced electrostatically ; magnetic sub- rocks, and earths have to be subjected to various processes
It is measureable m weU.defined and accura.t ~ly- deter stan ces, iron, nickel, and cobalt ar~ polarised electromag- of refining and conversion to extract from them that which
mined units. I t is produced _a nd ~ol~, ut1hs~d ~nd netically. T he motion produced is molecular motion- is wanted. The electric current by the above operations
wasted. It is therefore som ethm~ d~tmctly obJective. rotation, revolution, or oscillation. Lord Kelvin has very has proved to be a powerful agent to break up crude mate
recently shown that an electrified body is set in rotation rials into their useful and useleas constituents. The
It has even been defined by A ct of Pa.rh ament.
industries of the world are vecy extenT here are four great principles underlying the practical in one direction if positively excited, and in the other electrochemical

direction if negatively excited by the generation of a mag- SlVe.

applications of elect ri city:
According to Professor Borcbers, the eminent electronetic field around it, and that it will remain in rotation
1 T he establishment of a magnetic field.
metallurgist, the world manuf&cture of calcium carbide
in virtue of its inertia during the existence of the field.
. 2: The establishment of an electric field.
When the current is alternating it is always either for the production of acetylene gas is utilising a power
* The "James Forres b " lecture, deliverPAi before the rising or fallin g and changins- its direction. The behaviour equal to 180,000 horse-power; that of the alkalies and the
of alternating is more comphcated than that of continuous combinations of chlorine for bleaehing, 56,000 horse
Institu tion of Civil Engineers, Apri1 23, 1900.

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

annihilation of space, but the chief element which ~~ves

our time so much is the fact tha t we can, by electnmty,
do so much more from one spot. Indeed, in the United
States the railway companies complained that their
revenue between New York and Chicago suffered through
the introduction of the telephone. P eople remained at
home and did their business by wire.
lb is very curious, ~hen visiting th_e U nited States, to
find that their mormng papers contam extracts from our
London evening papers of the same day. One frequently
receives messa&"es in Engla~d that were s~nt off tomorrow. This IS due to the difference of longitude.
Wireless telegraphy-or, as it ia better term~d, f.etheric
telegraphy- has made b ut small progress, owm g to the
simple fact that the demands for its services are so very
few. There is no commercial business in it.
T he fascination of electricity and the sensation of breaking down space by apparent magical means, have led to
much gratuitous ad verti~ement on t~e part of_ the press.
I wrote in 1888 "The mfluence which eleotnc currents
exert on neighhouring . wires exte nds t<;> enormou~ di_sta.nces, and communications between trams ~nd shi~s. m
motion, between armies inside and outside bes1eged 01t1es,
between islands and the mainland, has become possible
without the aid of wires at all by the induction, which is
exerted th rough space itself."
The Posb Office has for 16 years been developing this
system. Several extensions are now in hand.
(To be continued.)

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

shall therefore give a short ab3tract of the rep_o rt of P;ofessor Arn old. 'f ha.t will avoid many quot_at1ons w_hwh
otherwise could by no means be dispensed With. Bes1d~s
the remarks of Professor Arnold are of so great .an mterest that even those who already kn?w t?em Will ?ertainly not be sorry to have them agam bnefiy recapitulated.
A bstract of the P aper of llfr. A . E. Seaton.-In the
report mentioned above Prof~ssor Arn_o ld state~ the results of the chemical and m1orograph10 analysis . of the
shaft, a nd points out the diffe!ent causes to wh10h the
failure of the shaft may be ascr1bed. Such causes are the
following:
1. T o judge from the appearance of the fracture, the
ingot from which the shaft was forged had ''piped " to a
cunsiderable exten t.
2. A considerable amount of liq uation had certain1y
taken place in the metal, as is to be sten from the chemical analysis, which shows that t he carbon in the centre of
the shaft is 50 per cent. higher than near the circumference. Also, the manganese is higher in the ct-ntr~.
The phosphorus and s ulphur of the core a re three time~
greater in quantity than at the circumference.
3. B esides, we learn from the chemical a nalysis that
even the mean amount of carbon was far too high in the
shaft referred t o, which had been specified to be of steel
con taining from 0.2 to 0.25 per cen t. of carbon, while the
mean amount from the figures of TaLles I. and II. gives
nearly 0.4 per cent. of carbon.
Also the amounts of phosphorus, and especially of sulphur, are far from being sa.tisfactory.
T ABLE I.-Sample taken at the Cir cwmf erence of the Shaft
Examitned by Professor A rnold.
Per Cent.
Combined carbon
.. .
...
.. .
. . . 0. 310
Silicon . . .
. ..
.. .
...
...
. . . 0. 037
Manganese . . .
. ..
. ..
. ..
. . . 0. 828
Phm~phorus
. .. . . . . . . . .
...
. . . 0. 058
Sulphur...
...
. .. .. .
...
. .. 0.055
T ABLE !I. - S amp le taken at the Ceat1e of the Shaft
Exam,incd by Projes~ or Arnold.
P er Cent.
Combined carbon . . .
...
...
...
0. 470
Silicon
. ..
. ..
. ..
. ..
. . :0. 031
Manganese . . .
. ..
.. .
...
. ..
0. 986
Phosphorus . ..
...
...
...
...
0.167
Sulphur
. ..
...
...
...
...
0.150
4. While in ordina ry s tet lo t.ha two constituen~ of
steel, viz , pearlite (or 'steel, , a-s ib is termed by Professor Arnold in the reporb referred to), and ferrite (or
''iron " ) are more or less mingled and interlocked with
each other, which circumstance, of course, is favourable
to the t enacity of steel, in the case of the shaft examined
by Professor A rnold the areas of " iron " and "steel , are
not interlocked ; and furthermore there are "sharp j unction lines between the two constituents," which are
''always liable to rupture under vibratory stresses, because the cohesion or adhesion is inferior t o that of interlocked constituents."
The structure referred to by Professor Arnold is reproduced on the micrographs appended to the paper of
M r. A . E . Sea:ton ('f ransa_ct10ns, vol. xxxvi_1., 1896t
plate xxxv.). F1g. 2 (magmfied about 23 dtameterSJ
gives a general view of the structure, Fig. 3 (the sam e
st ructure magnified 170 diameters) is bett er adapted to
show the ma rked separation of constituents and the sharp
junction lines alluded to. The same might be said of
.Fig. 4 (outside of the shaft, magnified 170 diameters),
but it should be noted that in this micro-section the
pe~rlite is less in quantity as compared with the ferrite,
owmg to the smaller amount of carbon found near the
periphery of the shaft.
5. The st eel contains a certain amount of su!_phide of
iron, whose injurious effects are described by Profe~ sor
Arnold.
6. As already stated, not only the sulphur, but also the
phosphorus, is rather high in the s teel examined by Prof~ssor Arnold, v:vhich c~tcumstance, owing to the formatiOn of phosphide of u on, renders steel very brittle
eaeecially so when under vibratory st resses.
'
Before concluding this shor t a ostract I would call attention t o two features pointed.....out by Mr. A. E. Seaton 1n
his paper.
"'
1. The author lets us know that the shaft in q uestion
ha.d-shown "fine hair cracks , on its surface.
~ 2. He further refers to a nother instance where fissu res
originated on the surface had gradually extend ed inwards.
~he ~ractured surface_ of the latter ~haft is reproduced
m Ftg. ~ (TransactiOns, vol. xxxv1i., plate xxxvii.).
The draw10g shows a circumferent ial zone of dark suefaces, which, inst ead of presenting t he granular appearance of fractured steel, are quite smooth, owing t o the
fact that they were not produced by fracture but are due
to the spreading of pre-existing cracks, pr~vious to the
failure of the shaft.
Results of E x a;mination of a Steel Shaft having stqJported the Flywheel of a P late-R olUng Mtll. -'l'he shaft
forming the object of the present paper was supplied about
eight years ago by a rat-class French firm and worked
satisfactorily for the whole time, till it was r~moved (some
months ago), owing t o a deep crack which had suddenly
appeared on its surface. -M oreover, the whole surface of
one <;>f the necks was covered by very fine hair cracks
runnmg very close to each other, parallel to the axis of
shaf t; these cracks were v~ry ~l~arly seen on t he surface
of . the shaft ; they . are sttll v1s1b!e on the photograph
(F1g. 1}, thou~h I d1d not succeed m reproducing them as
clearly as I w1Shed to do.*
)
.

power of aluminium1 27.000 horse-power; of copper,

11 000 'horse-power; ot carborundum, 2600 ~ors~-power;
an'd of gold 455 horse-power. Electro-platmg IS one of
the staple ~anufactures of Sheffi~ld and of Birmingham.
There are nearly 200 firms workmg at the former place,
and over 100 at the latter.
The decomposing bath. a nd the arc furn~e are reyolutionising many ind~str1es. Pho~p~orus 1s now bemg
produced in England m l~r~e q~ant1t1es f~om 7orundrum,
and aluminium from baux1te 1s ex tendn;1g 1~ use an~
being reduced in pri~e. .The Post Office IS usmg ~lumt
nium for telephone o1rouits. I have recommended 1ts use
on a very large scale in the interior of Africa, wher~ ~rans
porb is so costly. We can g~t the same conduct.Ivity as
with copper with half the we1ght, and at a less priCe, and
we oa.n put up a line telegraphicalJy ten times better than
of iron for less money
D T he Annihilation of Space. -The elements of Volta
and 'the battery of Gal vani-zinc? copper, and a solutio_n
of sulphuric acid-gave a _con vement gen~ra.tor of electr:-c
currents which could be dtrected along wtres to great distance3 ~nd thus, by establishing magnetic fields1 could
defteot needles in such a way as to form the alphao_et nnd
so transmit words and, therefore, thought. In wtres of
reat length while the initial speed is that of light, it
fakes time f~r the electric waves to rise and fall, so that
the number of currents which can be sent per second is
limited. Between L ondon and Liverpool the speed of
speaking _is _virtuall_y unlimited, but between Ir~land and
America It IS restricted by the so-called capa01ty of the
cable submerged in the ocean. This capacity absorbs
energy and retards the rate of rise and fall of cu~rents. ON MYSTERIOUS FRACTURES OF STEEL
While a. thousand currents per second can be sent m the
SHAFTS.*
former cMe, only six p er second are available in the
By Signor R. SoHANZER, C.E ., Terni S t eel W orks,
latter.
.
Terni, Italy.
Nevertheless sitting on the shore of t he Atlant1c
in Ireland or{e can manipulate a magnetic field in
THE phenomenon of sudden and unexpected fractures
Newfoundiand so as to record simu~taneously on p\per in in steel, and particularly in shafts and other steel strucconventional characters slowly wntten words. Th us we tures which ha ve been subjected for a considerable-length
have bridged the ocean and annihilated space. We do of time to shocks and vibratory stresses, i~, no doubt, of a
this on a smaller scale in our own domestic circles when most perplexing character, and has, therefore, attracted
we press a button and ring a bell in our servants' quarters. the attention of many among the most authoritative in vesThe sound of a bell and the drop of an indicator is a. tigat ors. Nevertheless, the question is as yet very far
message-" You are wanted in the dra.wing-room.,. ~h~n from being sol ved, a nd many sides of the problem are still
the button is supplemented by the telephone, as It 1s m lacking satisfactory explanation. In fact, the mysterious
so many houses now, you can speak your message, "\Ve fractures alluded to can be said, after all, to represent
want coals , and thus the servant is saved two journey_s, nothing else than so many cases of more or less marked
and you have gained some time. T elegraphy is t~us brittleness, i.e., of a phenomenon which our present
established in our homes. Ib becomes part of our daily knowledge is quite inadequate to account for, except in a
life, not only in o_ur domest~c circles, _but in our urba_n very limited number of cases. Moreover, another very
requirements and m our busmess relattons. N ot only 1s star tling feature of the ph-enomenon ought to be noticed;
speech reproduced, but handwriting also. Town is con- very frequently sudden fractures are produced in steel
nected With town and nation wi th nation. L ondon and shafts, as well as in other engineering structures of ~teel
Paris Paris and Berlin, Berlin and Vienna, speak to each which have been accurately tested before use, the ordiother' with clearness and distinctness in ordinary lan- nary physical tests having uniformly pointed to the best
guage. The scattered British Em pire is linked together. quality of metal ; after such a structure ha-s been workLondon and New Zealand are in communication with each ing continuously for several yeard in the most satisfacother. All the world is joined in one unbroken whole, tory manner, fracture suddenly occurs ; no g radual,
and we read on our breakfast-tables every morning the visible deterioration having afforded any indication of
events of historv made yesterday arid the present condi- coming danger up to the very moment of the failure.
tion of our .friends in every quarter of the world.
_ In this latter respect the question is very closely related
The regulation of the ever-growing traffic on our rail- to thab of fatigue, which forms, no doubt, one of the most
ways and the safety of passengera is secured by similar important and, at the same time, one of the most disput ed
means. The telegraph not only places the manager of problems to be met with in the stud' of the resisting prothe line in communication with every station upon his perties of metals. In fact, notwithstanding the very
system, bot electric signals control the motion of every valuable work of W ohler, Sn Ben jamin Baker, P rofessor
train. Trains are keptJ apart by a considerable space. W . C. U nwin, and many others, and the recent a.nd exCollision would be impossible were the human willmfal- tensive research~ of Mr. Thomas Andrews on the detelible; but the world is made up very much of fqols and rioration of metals by fatigue, the ma tter can by no means
temporary maniaa We all do at times wha.t we be considered as settled.
ought nob to do. The annual return of violent deaths
T o q uote but a. single instance, it is still a disputed
is an interesting document. When in England alone question whether vibratory stresses far below the elastic
138 persons choke themselve3 at their own tables, and hmit of a given metal may be capable of modifying its
765 die by faJling downstairs, we must not condemn microscopic structure ; however, for the purpose of the
the ra.ilNay signalman, who is responsible for the d eath present paper it is not quita necessary to answer such a
of only 58 in 1898. A railway signal-box is an elec question.
trical exhibition. Every line is protected by its own
There is one fact which cannot be doubted in any case,
electric signal. Every distant outdoor mechanical and that is the u nquestionable influence of the pre-existsignal is rep88tted back. The danger signal is locked ing structure, which may be e~ther favourable, or opposed
and cannot be lbwered to '' line clear , until it is unlocked to the effects of that peculiarly dangerous action which is
by the train itself or by the distan b signalman. Mr. F. generally known as fatigue. Moreover, in my --o pinion
W. \Vebb (Member of Council) is not only working the out- the term fatigue is very frequently considered as an easy
door signals thems elves b1 electrical energy, but he is way to overcome tlie difficulty of accounting for so-called
moving the points and swttches by the same means. So mysterious fractures. In reality, all""known causes of
far, the experience gained at Crewe during a. period of brittleness are favourable to the deterioratiOn of fatigue.
about twelve months, from the working of a signal cabin Among such causes the following may be quoted : Abcontaining ab::m t 60 levna h!ls .been such as to justify normal crystallisation, inducin~ internal stress~ by which
confidence and the extension of the system, and some 10 the metal is rendered brittle; rmmodera.te size of crystals
cabinR containing about 1000 levers will be provided. The or grains; sharf junction lines or insufficient cohesion
apparatus has been designed to work in with, as far as between crysta faces; _layers of various impurities a rpossible, the standard signalling apparatus of the London ranged in the intercryatalline spaces; microscopic flaws
and North-Western Railway. The interlocking frame due to different causes, &c.
may be said to be the ordinary mechanical frame in miniaThe object of the present paper is to describe one more
ture, occupying one-third of the space. The levers- of such ca;uses, viz , a particular brittle structur e which I
abou_t 6 in. i!l length-are placed in two tiers, and are observed m a suddenly fractured shaft th at was premampulated m the same way as the levers of a mechanical sented t o me for examinat ion. To tell the truth, a
frame, consequently the signalman accustomed to the old similar structure has already been mentioned in a paper
type has nothing to learn in the new. T he levera a re read before this Institution by one of its most eminent
mechanically looked by means of tappet looking, and they members, M r. A. E. Seaton , t which contains a very valucontrol carbon switches by which the 110-volt electric able report by Professor J. 0. Arnold. However, in the
current is transmitted to the motors.
shaft now men tioned, the par ticular structure alluded to
The objecb of this electric working is pri~arily to was to be noted under a qmte characteristic aspect differ~duce the manual labour of the signalman and enable ing in some respects from that d escribed by Professor
h1m to pay more attention to the movements outside his Arnold. At a ny rate I could not help remarking a rather
cabin; ~noreased speed of working; the removal of startling analogy between the two structures.
obstruottous on the grousd caused by the numerous wire
and rod connections ne_cess~tated by the presenb system;
and, finally, a reductiOn m the number of sig nalmen . * Paper read before the Institution of Naval A rchitects.
employed.
t "The Oauses of Mysterious Fractures in the Steel
:,rhus el~trioity adds to the security of life. It sup- used by Marine E ngineers as revealed by the Microp~es the railway man with a new sense, and the engineer scope." Paper read before the Institution of Naval
With a new power.
Architects, March 26, 1896, by Mr. A . E. Seaton
*Unfortunately, these cracks can hardly be seen in the
The abridgmenb of time necesearily follows from the Member of Council.
' engraving taken from the said photograph

-. .

E N G I N E E R I N G.
The fractu~e of .t he piece showing these hair r k 1
b

represented m Ftg. 2, and shows dark smooth cs~~f s lS resem led that of the shaft whlCh I was examming, I
similar to those which were already noticed by 1\Ir AacEes ctould not but find a very startling analogy between the
.
. . w0 cases.
ea t on on th ~ f rac t ure o f another shaft shown as will b
0
h

S
reme~bered, m Fig. A (Transactions vol. xx~vi i plate b n ~de ~ther hanid, a verr 1mportant d1fference was to
xxxvu. }.
'
'
e th n o
a once.
n the m1crographs of Professor A rnold
e structure was formed of p1tches of pearlite, irregularly

tu~e

seen .in Fig. 4 can be said to be formed of dark and

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

~w. 4 .

0n'3 c f the Firat Five S1mpl~s (P0lished Parallel t o

Axts of Shaft. Vertic ll Illu mination. ~l !lgnified 20 Diameter~ .

Fre-. I.

Broken Shaft: Lateral Surface showing Hair Cracks.

Chi

~..; \

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

F n:. 5. Diagra m showing the Posit ion of 36 amples

for Micr oscopic Examination a nd 12 ~hm pies for
Chemical Analysis.

Fru. 2

F w . 6.

Broken Shaft: F ractured Surface.

After thEse prdimin ary nmarks, we may pass to the

general~ xamination of the shaft, beginning with the
ftiicroscopic Ex<t.rn.ir~ation. -Sam pies were fi rst t aken
from the broken shaft with out an y preconceived plan,
and with the sole purpose of getting a general idea of th e
structure of the metal. A segment marked A (see .Fig. 2)
was detached from the fractured surface ; the said segment was divided into pieces by fiv~ parallel. cuts, as
shown in Fig. 3 ; naUy, five of the p1eces obtamed were
polished on the plane surfaces generated by the saw.
These a.s is to be seen from ~'if!. 3, happened to be
parall~l to the a xis of the shaft. Under ~he. microscope
the five sections showed a very characten stte structure,
reproduced in Fi~. 4 (magnified 20 diameters).
T he first thing I remarked was th~ pronounced separation of constituents, the effect of wb1ch upon the restating pro{>Srties of the metal has been alread y mentioned
when discussing the re port of Professor A rnold.
It was just thi s marked separation of ferrite from
pea.rlite, which recall ed t o m y mind the aid report, and,
considering tha t the samples referred to by Professor
Arnold came from a shaft whose history, in man y p oints,

Sample P olished Normal t o A xis of Shaft.

:M agnified 20 Diameters .

Sed::uJn normal/~ a:x.u tlj.J':2.f!::_

.,_ 1,. :I.:L,. &o . cuts of the saw
3

'--:-- - -

FH:. 3.

_ __j__ _ .__

__.~.._ _L--~

2
3
+
D iag ram showing how the First 5 Samp~es were t a ken.

N oTE.-All the micrographs rapresent samples polished with rouge a nd une t ched (with the except i0n
of the s!lmple shown in Fig. ~0 ), seen u nder vertical illu mination .

d istri but~d upon a gr~und consisting of ferrite. (See

Transaction~, vol. xxx vu., 1896 ; plate 35, Figs. 2 and 3).
The appearance of th e structure shown in Fig. 4 lS
quite different. 'eparation of constituents is to be noted
here, as well as in the instance dealt with by Professor
Arnold, but it is effect ed in a different way. The struc-

In both of the structures referred to (vi z. , that dealt

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

E N G I N E E R I N G.
two important differences are to be not ed between the
two structures : the first relates to the constitution of the
bard areas, the second regards their shape. The soft
areas are formed in both cases by ferrite ; but the hard
areas are formed of pure pearlite in the shaft examined
by Professor Amold and of pea.rlite mi xed with ferrite in
the other instance.
In other word~, the hard area~ are harder in t he case

Fro. 7. Another Point of the ame

F w . 8.

graphs obtained by P rofeesor Arnold, where pearlite

forms irregular patches spread out upon a ground formed
of ferrite. Ib ought, however, to be stated that th e micrographs of Professor Arnold represented sections normal
to the ax is of the shaft, while Fig. 4 is a section parallel
to the axis. Now, I think, such a fact can fairly well
account for the difference observed. Indeed, supposing
that, in the shaft examined by Professor A rn old, pearlite

Sample N o. 1 (see Fig. 5). *

Fm. 9.

ample. :Magnified 50 Diameters.

Fm. 11.

Fro. 15.

ample No. 12 (see Fig. 5). t

Sample No. 24: (see Fig. 5 ). t

way as those of P rofessor Arnold, i e. , n ormally to the

tt.xia, would not show the stripes noticed in Fig. 4. Now,
the results of microscopic examination proved conclusively
that matters lay just as I had a nticipated.
Fig. 5* shows the positions of the different samples for
microscopic examination, that were all taken in proximity
to the fractured surface.
As is to be seen from this diagram, t he samples were

a mple No. 3 (see Fig . !5). 1

Fw. 10.

Sample No.

(see Fig. 5). *

F ro. 12.

FI G.

16.

ample No. 13 (see F ig. 5). *

~ ample

No. 26 (see Fig. 5). *

,"a mple No. 22 (see Fig. 5). *

FIG . 13.

Sample No. 15 (see Fig. 5). t

FIG. 1-!.

Fw . 17.

Sample No. 27 (see Fig. 5).1

FIG . 18. Samp le No. 34 (see F ig. 5).

grouped three by three, and of the three samples of Each

group. One was polished on a plane surface parallel to
the axis and t o the radius of the shaft>. Anotlier sample
was polished on a plane surface parallel to the axis and
normal to the radius. Finally, the third was polished
normally to the axis of the shaft. Corresponding t o
each group a sample was taken for chemical analysis.
Microsco pic examination showed that between the two
first samp les of each group (both p olished parallel to
.
the axis of the shaft) no eesential difference could be det ect ed.
The 24 samples of this class showed a. quite noticeable
similarity of structure. The said structure, as I bad expected, IS p erfectly analogous t o t hat shown in Fig. 4,
I and it is de veloped with a quite striking uniformity in all
the 24 samples polished p arallel to the axis of the shaft.
On the other hand, as I had anticipa ted, in the 12
samples polished normally to the axis of the shaft the
parallel stripes are no longer to be seen. There are bright
Fro. 19. Sample No. 36 (see Fig. 5).1
FJG. 20. Structure of a. Brittle Plate. S lightly etched areas formed of pure ferrite, dark areas formed of pearlite
with liquori ce roots infusion. M agnifi ed 50 Diameter s. mixed wit h fernte, exactly as in the 24 samples {>reviou ~ ly
alluded to; but neither the dark nor the bright areas
assume the shape of elongated stripes, as is to be seen at
* Polished para llel t o axis of shaft. 1'Iagni fication : 20 diameters .
once from Fig._ 6 (magnified 20 diame ters). The bright
t P olished norm a l t o axis of shaft . Magnification : 20 diameters.
areas seen in Fig. 6 are nothing else than the transverse
referred to by P rofessor Arnold than in that examined was to be found in the shape of solids elongated in the sections of the solids (formed of ferrite) whose longituby me. This first difference is very simply a ccounted direction of the axis of the shaft, a normal section ought
* Fig. 5 represents diagrammatically a cross-section of
f~r by .the different carbon percentage, which is much to show the appearance seen in the micrographs of Professor Arnold, whilst a section parallel to the axis would the shaft, very near to the fractured surface. The thick
btgber m the shaft examined by Professor Arnold.
T~e second difference relates to the shape of the areas. have shown the hard areas (pure pearlite in that particular lines represent the intersections of the polished surfaces
As ts to be seen from Fig. 4, and as will be more com- instance) in the shape of elongated stripes, preCisely as is of the samples with the plane of the section. The
pletely proved later on, the stripes of alternately ba rd the case with the abaft exami ned by me. On the other hatched 9uadrangJes repr~sent samples polished normally
a~d s~ft metal are all elongated in one and the same hand, if this vie w of the matter be correct, it would be to the ax1s of the ehafb, t .e. , parallel t o the plane of the
direot10n, which is by no means the case with the micro- expected that sections from my shaft, taken in the same figure.

566

E.. N G I N E E R I N G.
0

[APRIL

27,

1900.

s tructure, o~s~rved in the ~haft referred to, could by no

T AB LE III.-CaEiUICAL ANALY IS OF SAMPLES SHOWN rN F IG. 5.
means be origmated by fatigue, though it .certainly was
I
favourable t o the development of deterioration of fatigue
Sector.
1.
I
2.
3.
4.
under the prolong~d act10n of vibratory stresses.
5.
6.
L et us now constder the second disease noticed in the
shaft: _the high.phosphorus percentage.
CircumOircumCentre.
CircumCircum- Centre. Circumference. Centre. ference. Centre. Ciroum
I t might. p oss1uly_be advanced. that in both shafts phosCentre.
Centre.
ference.
ference.
ference.
fe rence. phorus bnttle~ess was the ch1ef cause of the fracture.
c 0.160 0.160 0. 165
0.170
Phosp~orus brtttleness D?ay certainly have played a parb
0.155
0.160
0.160
0.160
bi
0.160
0.16()
0.175
0.
155
0.
175
0.
160
0.175
0. 199
0.176
0.199
even With the shaft formmg the objec~ of this pa.per, the
0. 187
s .. ' 0.023
0 210
0.146
0.176
0.164
0.026
0
170
0.030
0.027
0.030
0.028
0.025
Ph
0.025
phosp~orus contents o~ the la t ter bemg unquestionably
0.024
0.083
0.030

0.025
0.
023
0.100
0 08i
0
099
0.091
0.094
0.093
0.095
Mo
exce~I ve, though considerably lower than in the shaft
0.0 7
0.101
0.091
0. 460

0.460
0.
100
0.450
0.450
0.450
0.450
9.41 0
0. 450
I
0. 450
0.450
0.450
exammed by P rofessor Arnold. But, on the other hand
0.450
the deleterious mechanical effect of a structure such ~
has b.een described above, can by no means be ov~rlooked,
and lS moreover proved by the presence of the hair
T ABLE IV.- A nalysis of E ight Samples ta 7cen along a
C?mposition is ve~y unifo~m; therefore, one of the pos- cr~cks largely . dealt with in this paper. Therefore, I
Radius of the Shaft.
Sible causes. of fa.tlure whtch was found in the ca~e of the t hmk that t he Impor tance of the stratified structure as
.
shaft examme~ by P rofessor Arnold, viz., liquation, is a. cause of having induced brittleness in the shaft' reSample.
0. I Si.
s.
Ph.
totally absent m the present inst ance.
Mn.
ferred to, is by no means impaired by the fact that
L et us now consid~r the ot~er cause~ mentioned by Pro another cau~e of brittleness- viz., high phosphorus1 (Centre)
0.] 65 I 0 164


0 038
0. 095
0.500
fessor A rnold as ~avmg p ossibly contnbuted to the failure was present m the same metal. It must, however be
2. .
..
0.165

0.175

0.026
0.082
0.500
3 ..
of the shaft formmg the object of his rep ort. T he carbon recognised that the simultaneous presence of high

0.165

0.181
0.030
0.090
0.510
4 ..

0.165

perc~n tage of the s haft under examination is very low, phosphorus a nd of the stratified structure is perhaps nob

0.181
0.023
0.095
0.500
6

0.165


0.181
yarymg from 0.155 to 0.170, i.e. , fa r lower th an that foun d al to~ether fortuitous.
0.023
0.095
0.500
6 ..

6165


0.199
0.031
0.0~0
0.5GO
m the shaft examined by Professor Arnold (from 0.310 to
Fig. 20 (m~gni fied 20 diameters) shows anotherinstanoe
I ..

0,170
0. 175
0.03~
0.098
0.500
0.470 per cent.), a nd even lower than had been specified of the s tra tified struct ure described. This appearance
b (Circumference) .. 0. 170
0.193
0.028
0.089
0.610
for the latte~ shaft (0.20 to 0.25 per cen t.). As to the wa~ noticed on a series of sa.m plea taken from a steel plate
I
sulphur (varymg from 0. 055 to 0.150 per cent. in the shaft w~10h h~d pr~ved uncommonly brittle. As is to be seen,
di.nal sections are rElpresented by the bright stripes of ~e~erred to. by. P rofessor .J\.rnold ), in the pre~ ent in.stance Fig. 20 lS a fa u con firmation of the dangerous influence
F1g. 4.
It IS me t w1~h m a very satisfactory proportion (minimum of the stratified structure upon the physical properties of
Several of t~ese bright areas or patches of ferrite, with 0.023; maxtmum, 0.088; m ean amount, 0.027 per centJ steel. It ought, however, to be remarked that, in the
th e surroundi.n g ground ~ass, form ed, as repeatedly The phos~horus is rather high in both metals. Nevertbe- plate all uded to, the phosphorus was also found to be as
st~ted , of a t;nn:ture C?f fernte and pearlite, are shown in les~, the ht~h percentage of this elem~nt which was found much as 0.081 p er cent.
T o ~um. up the experimental evidence afforded by the
Fig 7, magmfie~ 50 diameters. This structure is analogous at the _{>enph ery of th~ shaft deal t with by Professor
t o that of the m10rographs of P rofessor Arnold, t he differ- A rnold l S never reached m the other shaft, which shows a exammat10n of the two shafts and the brittle plate dealt
en.ce ~etween the two ~tructures consisting, as already mean ph?sphorus p ercentage of 0.092 per cent., the mini- with, I think that the three instances mentioned concors~Id, m the fact that, m the latter steel, which is con - mum bem g 0.082, and the maximum 0.101. B esides, it dan tly p oint to the harmfulness of the stratified strucstderably harde r, ~he irre~ular patches are formed by the ~bould be no~ed. t~at phosphor~s. _even in high amoun ts, ture. ;As regards the influence of phosphorus upon the
hard metal ( pearh~e) whlle the ground mass consis ts of If! far less preJ~dte.Ial t o the res1stmg properties of steel, ~ormat10n of the said structure, there is nothing impossible
t he SC?ft one (ferrite). T he reverse phen omenon takes wh~n evenl~ d1stnbuted all over the mass, than it would m such an assu mption, though it is very far from being
place m the shah under examination, where the irregular ~e If found m the shape of masses of phosphide of iron proved hy the few instances quoted. At any rate, it is
quite clear that the influence of phosphorus would only
patches are for!lled by the soft metal (ferrite), whilst the Irregular!~ scattered throughout t he metal.
C~ncluswns. -From t he above comparison of the pro- a~count for the marked separation of pearlite from fergro~nd mass 1s . formed by the hard one (a mix ture of
pertles of the two shafts referred to, it is t o be clearly rite; whilst the arrangement of the eeparated constifernte and pearhte).
Figs. 6 and 7 represen t the transverse section of the seen tha~ there are but two features common to both tuents in parallel stripes would be, of course, attributable
t o the direction of forging, in the case of shaftA, or of
struc tu re, w.h ose longitudina~ section i~ shown in Fig. 4. metals, viz. :
.1. The unfavourable arrangement of constitu ents dealt rolling in that of plates.
Thu.s, knowmg b oth the longttudinal a nd the transverse
B efore concludmg, I now ask the permission of briefly
sect10n of the structure, we are obli~ed .to ~onclude that WIth under 4.
2. ~igh phosphorus. p ercentage (though in the shaft recapitulating the results arrived at, and the suggestions
th~ metal ? f .the ehaft .under exammat10n lS formed of
forth in this research, which are to the following
soltds ~ons1stmg of fernte, elongated in the direction of examt~ed by me the satd elemen t was far from reaching set
effect:
the ~x1s of the sh~ft and embedded in a harder mass, being the h1gh amoun ts met with in the shaft referred to by
Prof~ssor A rnold ). .
.
First, the particular structure de al t with in the present
a mtxture of fern te and pearlite.
L et us begin by considering the first point. T he rea- paper was obser ved by me upon 41 samples of a steel
.I n ord er .t o sho w ;he very remarkable agreement of
m1crogra.ph1c results obser ved all over the section of ~ons why ~he un~av~>Urable a rrangemen t. of constituents, shaft suddenly broken. Such structu re is always charthe shaft, I app~nd t o this p aper a series of micro- JUSt men t10ned, IS hable to induce ma rked brittleness in ac terised by a marked separation of ferrite and pearlite,
g r.aphst r epresentmg 12 of the 36 samples shown in s teel were very clearly explained by P rofessor Arnold in th e latter gathuing, preferably, in given points of the
F1g. 5. These 12 samples are reproduced in Figs. 8 to 19 the paper referre d t o. Besides, I think it ought t o be section, so that areas of different hardness are formed.
M oreover, in the case of samples polished parallel to
page565.
' clear to anybody .tha.t sharp j unction lines between two
Chemical Analysis.-Bearing in mind the different metals of ver:y d tfferent hardness (which was precisely the axis of the shaft, the said areas take the sha pe of
p oints alluded to in the report of Professor Arnold I the c~se both In the shaft examined by me and in that elongated stripes, parallel to the direotion last mentioned.
wan~ed to ascertai~ whether a ny of the causes wh ich, ' in re ferred to by Profes~or Arnold) must necessa.rily cause The latter structure gives rise to hair cracks ruaning
the m stance de~cnbed by Professor Arnold, had contri- a tend ency of the two me tals t o slip upon each ot her in the same direct.ion on the external surface of the
buted to the fulure, were to be met with in the present under vi brat ory stresses. In other words the su rfaces shaft.
Secondly, in the shaft dealt with by Professor Arn old,
i nstance, in addition to the unfavourable arra ngeme nt separating the said two substances of very differen t hardseparation of constituents is likewise observed. The bard
of constituents whi ch we a lready k now to be a f~atu re ness are certainly surfaces of weakness.
Now, suppose that the masses of different hardness of areas a re formed of pure pearlite.
com mon to both structures. I therefore wanted in t he
T he stratified structure could, ho wever, not be detected
fi~st pl~ce t? know whethe~ there had been liquation ; whic~ the metal was seen to be formed, assume the sh~pe
w1th thts obJect I took a sen es of samples for chemical of soh~s ap~roxim~tel~ re<:tilinear, and very much elon- in the shaft examined by Professor Arnold, no samples
analysis, both at the centre and near the circumference ga ted m a g1 ven direction. Of cou rse, such circumstance polished parallel to the axis having been taken from t he

in ord~r t o ascertain whether the chemical compositio~ can but g reatly increase the brittleness. Moreover in same.
Thirdly, the stratified st ructure re~erred to was found
was umform throughout the mass.t I further took a series this c.ase t he i~tersections of the surface of weakness Just
of samples on the whole length of a radius of the frac- menttoned, w1th tbe external surface of the shaft will by me to be q uite distinctly developed in a series of
tured surface. Microscopic examination had shown the approximateJ,r ~oinci~e with th e generating lines of the samples taken t rom a very brittle steel plate.
F ou rthly, the parallel hair cracks indicative of the
utmost uniformity of structure th roughout the whole mass latter, thus g1vmg rlSe to cracks p arallel to the axis of
of toe shaft. N ow, the following T ables- show than a lso the sha ft. Now, the existence of t he said cracks as well strati'fied structu~e. alluded t o were. meb with, not polY.jn
th e shaft al ready referred to, but in two other rollingthe chemical composition is of the greatest desirable as the stripes of alternately bard and soft m~tal was mi
ll shafts which were both broken in a sudden and
proved by the exnmi nation of the shaft. M oreo ver we
uniformity.
unex plained manner. In both of the latter shafts the
T he p receding T ables clearly show tha t the che mical ha~e strong reasons for . supposing that th e alter~ate direction
of the cracks was found to be paralled to the
str1pes were present also m the shaft examined by Professor Arnold (the bard metal being formed of pure axi~, exactly as in the case of the shaft previously
* Microscopic examination could not p ossibly lead to pearlite in the latter case). Only they did not appear referred t o.
m ore concordant results. Indeed, tLe difference of the as the sections examined were all taken normally to th~
Fifthly, the presence of hair cracks is likewise men ~wo structures repre~ented in Figs. 4 and 6 respectively a xis of the shafb.
tioned in the ca~e of the two shafts alluded to by l\1r. A.
IS no d oubt a very s triking one. N ow, having examined
As regards the cracks all uded to, they were observed E. Seaton, one of which is t hat examined by Professor
24 samples p olished parallel t o the axis of th e shaft, t here by me, not only on the shaft deal t with, but on two more Arnold, but be does not state whether such cra~ks were,
was not a single one to be fou nd where the structure rolling-mill shafts likewise broken by fatigue. In both or were not, parallel t o the axis of the respective shafts.
shown in _Fi.g. 4 would not have beon obser ved in a qui te cases the cracks were parallel to the axis. A lso, Mr.
Sixthly, nothing can be said a..~ to wh ether high amounts
characterlShc way; fur ther, on examination of the 12 A. E . Seaton alludes to a broken f:haft showing hair of phosphorus are favourable to the development of the
sam ples p olished normally to the axis of the shaft, all of cracks on the surface. It would be interesting to particular ddective structure describEd in this paper.
them sho..wed the stru cture represe nted in Fig. 6 without know whether the directi on of the cracks WM parallel Nor can a ny other cause for the production of such a
a single exception .
to the axis also in this instance. T hat would be a structure be suggested.
t As is t o be seen from Fig. 5, the cross-section of the confir~a.tion of the preceding statements.
opposing
Of cour~e, by the preceding statements I do not mean
shaft was divided into six sectors. In Plat<>..s C and D the v1ews set forth above are correct, another question t o aRsert thab the stru cture descd bed in this paper must
micrographs are reproduced of two sam ples from each arises, which i3 of the utmost practical importance: necessarily be found in every suddenly fractured shaft,
sector, i.e., one polished parallel and th e other normally " \Vhat are t he reasons for the particular ..arrangement for the possible causes of cet erioration by fatigue are of
t o the axis of the shaft. In orde r to show the uniformi ty of constituents descri bed? " U nfortunately, I fear that an exceedingly manifold nature. I t i~, however, qu.i te
of str ucture found from the centre t o the p eriphery of th e a n answer to th is qu es tion cannot be easily obta.ined at possible that th e structure alluded to should be met w1tb
haft, the two samples are alternately taken both an the the present stage of our k nowledge. I shall, therefore not onl y in the few instll.n ces quo ted. The fact that sGch
centre, or, both at the p eriphery of the respective sectors be satisfied with simply making some brief remarks o~ a structu re has, up to now, escaped the attention of
M oreover, in order t o show that no diffe rence is to be this subject.
.
:
observers is very easily accounted fur. F i1st of all micro
found u~tween sam ples p olished normally, or parallel to
It could, perhaps, be tl;lought obvious t o inquire whether graphic exami nation of defect1ve structu res is as ytt very
the radius, the samples p olished parallel to the axis are the cause of the particular structu re~obser ved should not fa-r from being pract ised in all s uch caSES where lt would
alternately selected from either of the said categories. be sought for in the act ion of fatig:~. That would imply be desirable tu do w. B esides, the most characteristic
The samples p olished normally to the radius happening that t he vibratory stresses to which 1 the shaft~ was sub- feature of the phEnomenon, i e , the stratified structure,
thus to be always t ak en from the centre, whilst tho.se jected, when working, mig ht probably have caused a is noted only on samples polished para11el to the axis of
p olished parallel to the radius ahva.ys corresponded to the rearrangement of th e microscopic constituen ts of the steel. the shaft. P erhaps if the method of examination deoutside of the shaft, this rule was in verted in the last That, however, would be quite impossible, as t he definite scribed in this paper were adopted in other instances of
arrangement of ferrite and pearlite is com pletd at suddenly fractured shafts, a similar structure v. ould be
three sectors.
t The shavings for chemical analysis were tak en at the Bri nell's p oint V, fa r above any t emperature attainable met wi tb in some c~es.
A siruilar met hod of examination ought to be alFo
hack of the respective sectors in the posi tions, shown in by the me tal when working, even if strongly heat ed by
applied t o other steel structures, a.s pi~ teP, .rails, ~c. Of
Fig. 5 by small triangles bounded by a d otted line, and friction.
\ Ve are consequently led to conclude that the stuti fied course, in the latter case the d1rech on 1D which the
marked Ch. 1 to Oh. 12.

--

..

APRIL

27,

E :t\ G I ~ E E R I N G.

1900.]

samples are to be polished mus t be modified according to

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

advised; and I order the res{>onden ts t o pay the costs of

a nd incident to these fnroceedmgs. *
Russell v. H olme.-rhis case was heard by His H onour
Judge E dge, at the Clerkenwall County Court. Judgment was d elivered on F ebruary 20. I t was an application to revie w the weekly payment o f 20s. per week
agreed to be paid to the ap plicant by the respondent
under the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1 97. The
workman in this case was injured on August 1, 1899, and
was wholly incapacitated from following his employment
until October 23. Prior to the accident he was working under an agreement of service, by whi ch he had engaged to ser ve the respondent for a period of two years,
from Oct ober 8, 1898, at a wage of 2t. p er week. After
WORKMEN'S COMPENSATI ON CASES.
the accident an agreement was come to (nominally with
Re An Arbitration between WilUcvm Stranks {.Appellant) the resp ondent, but really with a.n insurance company
with whom the res pondent bad insured) that the a ppliand Samv.el Gv.lliver and Co., Linnitecl. ( R esponclents).Tbis case was heard by His Honour Judge Marten on cant s hould receive 20s. p er week as compensation under
Wednesday, January 17, a t the Aylesbury County Court. the A ct during his incapacity. The insurance company
It raised a.n interesting question as to what constitut~s a. paid th at sum to the responden t, who paid it to the a ppliclaim for compensation within the meaning of the Act. cant; but, in addition, the res pondent continued to pay
It appeared that an arbitration under the W orkmen's him his full weekly wages of 2l. ; so that up to October 23,
Compensation Act, 1897, was by a.n application, dated when the applicant returned to work, he r eceived 3l. per
October 23, 1899, on the p art of Willia.m Stranks, re- week , or l l. per week beyond his ordinary wages. It was
the respondent that this sum was paid out of
quE's ted between him and Sam uel Gulliver and Co., stated
L imited, as to th~ amount of compensation p ayable to compass10n to the applicant, a nd not as wages ; but a
William Stranks under the said Act in respect of personal difficulty a,rose as to how far this sho uld be taken into
injury caused to him by a.n accident arising out of and in accoun t under Section 1, sub-section 2 of schedule 1 to
the coul'3e of his employment as ca.skma.n under the the Act, in fixing future weekly payments. The rerespondents, of Nos. 13 to 17, Kingsbu ry, Aylesbury, spondent continued from October 23 to D ecember 30 to
wine and spirit merchants, on February 9, 1899. At the pay the applicant at the rate of 2l. per week, but the
bearing a preliminary objection was taken on t he part of m s urance company d eclined to pay the 203. per week
the respondents that the application was out of time. On subsequent to the former date ; and s ubmitted that, as
behalf of the applicant a. notice dated Augus t 3, 1899, and by their p olicy of ins urance, they had all the righ ts as
given by him to the respondents b.efore the .expiration of well as the liabilities of the respondent in the matter,
six calendar months after the acCident (which ha ppened and bad the authority of the respondent to use his name
on February 9, 1899), was relied upon as being a. clatm for in these proceedings, they were absolved from making any
compensation with respect to such accident within Sec- furth er payment to the a pplicant as compensation betion 2, sub.section (1), of the W orkmen's Co mpensation tween those dates.
Mr. P owell appeared for the applicant, and Mr. ScarAct, 1897. The notice was as follows:
''To Messrs. Samuel Gulliver and Co., Limited, of lett for the respondent.
In the course of his j udgment, His H onour said: I
Aylesbury, in the county of Buckingham.-!, William
Stranks, of Castle-street, Aylesbury, in the county of ought not to recognise the insurance company, as such, in
Buckingham, one of your employes, hereby give you this application, but must treat it a.s if made by the
notice that on the 9th day of F ebruary la-st, while in your respondent, and must give it the same consideration, and
employ and on your premises, I met with an accident have regard to all the circum stances of the case, as if the
whereby I sustained an injury. The accident happened respondent wa-s alone seeking te r e view the weekly pay while I was helping to remove a pipe of wine from a dray ments. The applicant resumed work on October 23, but
by means of a stillion. In its descent the pipe slipped was unable, a nd still continues unable, to do the work he
down the stillion too fast, and, in trying to arrest its pro- did prev ious to the accid ent, which appears t o have
gress, my hand was caught between the pipe a nd the post seriously affected his eyesight. It i~ said, ~nd I have no
of the warehouse d oor, and s uch accident has rendered gro,md for questioning the s tatement, that for a month
two fingers on my rig ht hand permanently useless; and I afterwards be was no t worth much; but he was a.n old
hereby give you notice that I claim as compensation from and valued servant, and consequently the respondent
Y.OU in respect of such injury the sum of sixty pounds. - continued t o pay him the 2l . p er week until D ecember 30
(Signed), William Stranks. Dated this 3rd day of August, last, when he gave applicant notice that be was obli~ed
1899." No objection was made as to the sufficiency of t ) reduce a pplicant's wages to 30s. per week, that bemg
notice of the accidenti, and the only question of d e termi- wba.t be considered the applicant was able to earn.
nation being whether the above-mentioned d ocu ment of Consequently, the applicant has, since he returned to
August 3, 1899, was a claim for compensation within the work, and up to D ecember 30, continued to receive
from the respond en t the same wages as he received
Act.
In the course of his judgment, after alluding to the prior to the accident, and has therefor e not s uffered any
facts, His H ononr said: The time limited by the Act for pecuniary lo~s. It may be that he did not earn the
taking proceedings is, by reference to the date of the whole of the 2l., but bearing in mind that this is an
claim for compensation, which must be made within the application against the respondent, that he gener ously
six months. It was argued that, if the claim for com- give applicant 2l. per week for neorly three months fro m
pensation was sufficient to preserve the right, proceedings the date of the accident when he was not earning anymight be delAyed by t he claimant, so as to prejudice the thi ng, and that I have no e vidence as t o his precise
respondent by possible loss of evidence, or in other ways. earninS' capacity from October 23 to D ecember 30, I do
It appears to me tha.t , as the Act provides for the settle- not thmk I ought to make any order upon respondent
ment of the question by arbitration, any person against for payment of any further sn m between those dates.
whom a claim was made migh~, in case of necessity, From D ecember 30 there is no d oubt that th e applicant
bring an action for compellin~ the arbitration to be had. has been unable t o earn what he was able to earn
This inconvenience may extst in any case in which before the accident by 103. per week, and the q uesa. demand is made and not immediately prosecu ted. tion is whether the weekly payment should be dimiI think that a muoh greater in con venience might nished to tha t sum or to some lesser amount. If I
b~ felt if it were held that under the A ct not only reduced the amount to 10s. per week, the applicant would
must the claim be made, but an arbitration must also be receive the same amount of wages as he received before
sought within the six months. But, at all events, I think the accident, and it is submitted by the learned counsel
that the objectiOn is not sufficient to affect the cons truc- for the respondent that that would be contrary to the
tion of the Act. It was also objected tha.t the claim o f policy o f the A ct, which contemplates a division of the
a lump sum was inconsistent with a claim under the loss be tween the master and the workman. The wordAct. I observe, however, that under the A ct, Schedule 1, ing of the Act, Schedule 1, sub-section 1 (b), is somewhat
s~ction 13, the responden ts mig:ht .apply a fter a cer tain confusing, as it treats of total apd partial incapacity on
t1me for redemption of the habtlity for the weekly the same footing; but in either case the Cou rt canno t
payment by the paymen t of a. lump sum. I may add give more than 50 p er cent. of the workman's average
that in the case of Bennett v. W ord1e and Co., the L ord weekly earnings, and not exceeding 20a. per week. If,
Justice Clerk, in describing what would be a proper therefore, this had been an original application under
claim, says (Court of ession Cases, Fraser, fifth series, that clause for partial incapacity, I should have been
vol. i., page 855, see page 857) : ''A claim in the sense of precluded from giving more t han 60 per cent. of the applit~e statute means askin~ a. particular snm as compensa- cant's weekly earnings ; and in fixing the weekly paytion for the inj uries received ." I think that the claim o f ment, I should have, under s ubsection 2, to have regard
a particular sum is convenient, so that the person agains t to the "difference between the amount of the a.ver:1ge
whom the claim is made may know that be can settle, if weekly earnings of the workman before the accident and
he. t~inks fi.t., for that s um. U pon the whole, I am of the average amount which h e is able to earn after the
op1mon that the preliminary objection fails. Therefore, accident," &c. In my judgment this s hows the inten t ion
by my award, I declare that the respondents are liable to of the Legislature to be that not more than one-half the
m~ke compensation to the applicant for the inj ury sus- loss shou ld be borne by the employer; otherwise this
tamed by him, as stated in his r equest for arbitration, a.s result would follow- that a. workman totally incapacifrom December 6, 1899, all compensation to 'Yhich he tated could only recover one-half his average earmngs,
~as entitled .up to that day having beeN paid i and I g ive n,ot exceeding 20~. per week, whilst a workman partially
hberty to etther party to apply as he or tney may be incapacitated only might recover his full wages, as in
this ca@e. This being my view of the provisions of the
* It has already been remarked that such direction is statute, I award that the weekly payment be r educed to
dependent upon the direction of forging in the case of 5s. per week as and from D ecember 30 last.
Bradbtvry v. Bedworth Coal and Iron Company.-This
s~aftll, and rolling in that of plates. R ecent observattons of the writer point to the conclusion that the s trati- was an appeal from His Honour Judge Wightman W ood,
fied structure is found also in steel rails. In this case t he sitt ing at Nuneaton. The appeal came on for hearing on
stripes follow a straighb line only on the web, deviating Saturday, M arch 17. It appears that the appellant, Bradwhen t.hey reach the head and bottom, so as to keep bury, was a collier in the employment of the res pondent
approx1mately parallel to the outline of the rail. The
The principle laid down in this case has n ow been
results of the observations now mentioned will be possibly published before long.
.
over-ruled by the Court of Appeal.

br

company. While a.t work a.t the colliery on July 28 he

received a.n injury to his eye. H e then ceased work, and
on August 22 handed a d ocument in the following terms
to the responden t's manager : "My wages for the time
worked as data.ller (sic) and stallman and header during- the
p ast year have a.\.-eraged 53. 3d. per day, and between~ and
5 days average per week. My cla im upon the company is
from Friday, August 12, inclusive." The respondents
11.greed to pay him 12~. a week, and did so for stx weeks.
He went back to work on September23 at the same wages
as before. He was dismissed on November 16, as the
respondents had no further work for him. At the begin.
ning of 1899 his eye gave him further trouble, in con.
sequence of which he made a fresh application for com.
pensation on F e bruary 9, 1899. In answer t o this the
respondents contended that it was a.n application out of
time. The learned County Court Judge found, inter alia,
the following facts : (1) Tha t the parties had come to an
agreement in set tlement of the claim on August 22, 1898.
(2) That the agreement was that the appellant s hould be
paid 1 2:~. a. week t o be paid in accordance with the Act,
and that he should be in the same position as if a.n
award t o that amount had been made in his favour.
(3) That on September 23 the weekly payment was
" reviewed " wi thin the meaning of the Act. (4) That it
was not withi n the conte mplation of the parties that the
incapacity m ight prove intermittent. He gave judgment
for the responden ts.
Mr. R . M. Bray, Q.C. , and Mr. C hitty appeared for
the appellant, Mr. Ruegg, Q.C., and Mr. F. W. Sherwood for the respondents.
In the course of his judgment, L ord Justice A. L.
Smith said: The short question for our determin ation in
this case is: What constitutes a claim within the mean ing
of the Workmen's Compensation Act ? [After alluding
to the facts as set oub above, his lord ship said.] It is
clear that in this case the so.called claim of Augus t 22
wa.s nothing more than an agreement for payment of
compensation. Thab is not a. claim within the meaning
of the A cb. The appeal must be d ismissed.
L ord Justice Collins a.nd L ord Justice Romer con
curred.
P owell v. T he ltfain Colliery C01npany, .LVtnitecl.-This
was a.n appeal from an award of the Glamorgonshire
County Court Judge. It came on for hearing on ~Iarch 17.
The r espondent (P owell) was injured in a.n accident on
D ecember 21, 1898. On May 2, 1899, he sent a notice
claiming compensation and a. request for arbitration on
October 4, 1899. The County Court Judge made an
a ward in his favour. The sole qu estion was whether "the
claim for compensation, which by Section 2, s ub-section
1, mus t be made within six months from the accident
meant the filing of a. request. for arbitration, in the County
Court, or was satisfied by a notice of claim for compensation being sent by the workman to his employers. The
importance of the case lay in the fact tha t no less than
five other cases in the list depended upon it.
lVIr. Ruegg, Q.C., and Mr. B ertram appeared for the
appellants; Mr. S. T. Evans f0r the r espondent.
The Court allowed the appeal, L ord Justi ce Romer
di~senting. In the course of his j udgment, A. L. Smith,
L.J., said: The question involved in this case is one
which has given rise to considerable difference of opinion
among the County Court Judges. It seems to me that in
fixing the time limit for the claim for com~pen~ation, the
L egislaturl\ has follo wed the Employers' Liability A ct,
1880. The difficulty in the present instance arises be.
cause the Workm en's Compensation Act prescribes
"arbitration " instead o f "action." By Section 2, subEection 1, o f the A ct of 1897, proceedings for the recovery
of compensation under the A ct ar e no t maintainable unless
' ' the claim for compensation " is made within six months
from the occurence of the accident. Is "the claim for com
pensation " satisfied by a mere notice by the workman to the
mas ter that he claimed compensation ? Or d oes ill mean the
initiation of proceedings which set in motion the procedu re under which a workman recovers compensation?
In my opinion it means the latter. The mea uing of the
term "initiation of proceedings" may be gathered from
Section 1, sub-section 2 (b), and sub-section 3. The claim
for compensation will be made when the workman re.
qnires the tribunal t o assess compensation. Upon any
other view of the matter the claim might be bung up,
and the master might be made to pay compensation after
the lap se of years. I d o nob agree with the sta.temenb
that the ma-ster may have the matter settled after he has
given notice to the workman. The A ct and the rules
and forms have all been drawn with a view to the work
man making a claim against the mas ter. If it was in
tended that the master s hould institute proceedings the
Act would say so in plain t erms. In my opi~ion this
appeal shou~d be allowed.
L ord Justice Collins agreed.
In t he course of his dissentin g judgment, L ord Jus tice
R omer said: The words "claim for co~pensation " are
r easonably clear in themselves. Ther e must be a. specific
claim for compensation, and it mus t be a claim under the
A ct. The section d oes nob say, " unless proceedings were
taken for arbitration." I see no r eason for departing
from the plain words o f the A ct. If a. workman gives a
notice to the mast er, making clear the nature of the
injuries and thn.t he intends to seek compensation, that
to my mind is a. claim. B efor e going to arbitration there
mus t be a. difference in existence, and to make a. diffe
rence th ere mus t be a. claim of some kind. A claim for
compensation wa-s the essence of proceedings under the
A ct. In my opinion the County Court Judge was
right.
A stay of execution was granted, pending an appeal to
the House of L ords.
Osborn v. Vioke1s, Sons, and JJ.faxim.-This was an
appeal from His Honour ,Judge W addy sitting ab the
Sheffield Co'::lnty Court, who decided against the appal.

E N G I N E E R I N G.
lants ~n a. case arising under the W orkmen's Compensa.tJOn Act, .1897. 1'he case was heard in the Court of
Appeal on April G. The question involved was the right
of the employer to an a.bsolute stay of proceedings under
the ~et . by reason of. the default of the workman to
submtt himself as requ~red for medical examination. It
appeared t~a.t the apphcant met with an accident in the
cotus~ of h1s employment, an4 wa'3 atten?~d by the company s doctor, Dr. Innes ~m1th, who v1s1ted him from
Mar?h 20 to July 17. Durmg that time, although no proceedmgs had been take~ under the Act. weekly payments
were made t o the apphcanb. In July, Dr. Smith thought
the man was well enough to resume work which he did
He.knocked off.work again on August 13, although Dr:
Smtth had certified him to be completely recovered on
,J u~y. 21. On November 24 the applicant instrncted his
sob01tors t? com~ence proceedin gs, and the respondents
th~n requued h1m to attend for medical examination.
Thts he consented to do on the terms that two doctors
should be present, their fe~s being p aid by the company.
H~ conte!lded that a previous examination by Dr. Sin clair Whtte had . been sufficient ~or the purposes of the
Acb. The hearmg of the arbitration was fixed for
,Ja:nuary 5, 1900, and upon t~at d~y the appellants a.p
phed for a stay of proceedmgs In accordance with
Clause 3 of S chedule 1 of the Act. The County Court
~ udge ordered that there should be no stay of proceedIngs~ but that. th~ respondent should submit himself for
medical exa.mmatwn, the respondents to pay ll. ls. for
such attendance.
Mr. Ruegg, Q.C., and Mr. Arthur Lims a ppeared for
the appellants, Mr. Israel Davis for the respondent.
The Court allowed the appeal.
In ~he courEte of his judgmen t, Lord Justice Collins said:
In thlB case the workman was injured in the course of his
employment, an? was paid a. weekly sum of ll., being
50 per c~nt. of hlB average weekly earnings for a considerable per10d.
Then came the time when the doctor thought that h e
~ad recovered from the effects of the accident. Proceedm~s for compensa.tion were then commenced, n o objection
bei~g taken by the masters that there was no notice of
acCldent, nor that the claim for compensa.tion was made
aft~r the expi~ation of ~ix months from the date of the
a~Cldent.
[Hts lordshtp refe rred to the material sectiOns of the Act an~ conti~lUed. ] .T~e workman h aving
started these proceedm gg w1thout gtvmg notice of action
and ~fter th~ six months had. expired, now says that:
notwithstandmg that he was m default in nob giving
notic~ of the accid~n.t, he can now turn round and allege
that It. was a. cond1t10n precedent to his examination by
a ~edica.l man that he s hould have given n otice of the
accident. To my mind that is an impossible position for
the workman to take up. In my view the workman takes
proceed~ugs su~je~t to .t he right of the masters to insist
upon his submtttmg himself to a medical examination
as required by Clause 3 of Schedule 1, just as if notice of
the accident had been ~iv~n.. ~do nop see that the Co~mty
Court Judge had any JUriSdictiOn to Impose the condition
that the m9:s ters should pay the fee of the workman's
doctor for h1s attendance upon the examination ? I do
not. say t.hat there ~ay not be very special circumstances
which might make 1t reasonable, and it might be almost
necessary on account of the workman's state of health to
have the workman's own medical man present ab the
examination. N o such case has been made oub here. I
think this appeal should be allowed.
Lord Justice Vaughan Williams and L ord ,Justice
Romer agreed.
Ellis v. Knott. - This was an appeal from the award of
Judge Smyly, Q.C., si tting at the Derby County Court,
on an application by the appella.n t to review a weekly
payment under the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1897.
H was heard in the Court of Appeal on April 7. The
respondent was employed hy the appellant as a. machinist.
Part of the respondent's duty was to work ab a circular
saw. While so working on August 21, 1899, one of his
fingers were cut off by ~he saw and two others were injured. The average weekly earnings of the respondent
were 36s. By an agreement the appellant undertook to
make him a weekly payment of 18s. as compensation,
such payment to contmue "during the incapa01ty of the
respondent, or until such time as the sam e should have
been ended, diminished, or increased according to the provisions of the Act." In November, 1899, the appellant
offered to take the respondent back into his employment
at the same wages as before, but the offer was refused.
The appellant then filed a. request for arbitration to review the weekly payment under Schedule 1, Clause 12, to
the Act. The respondent at this time was earning about
lOa. a. week at boot repairing and selling newspapers. The
County Court Judge said that, in his opinion, the respondmt could not work at the same employment at
which he had worked before the accident, or earn ab that
employment the wages he then earned. He was of
opinion that he ought not to compel a. man to go back to
the employment to which he objected to go, although the
employer offered to make things easy and pay him his
full wages. He further said that the sums which the respondent now earned were, in his opinion, no justification for reducing his allowance. He accordingly made an
award refusing to reduce the weekly allowance.
Mr. W. S. Shaw appeared for the app ellant ; Mr. C. C.
Scott appeared for the respondent.
The Court dismissed the appeal.
L ord Justice Collins said : The County Court Judge's
judgment, coming immediately after the ev.id~nc~ w~s
give n is capable of no reasonable d oubt. Hts findmg 1s
that the man was no longer capable of earning the same
wages at the same work at ~hich he .was employed. before
the accident . That work 18, a.ccordmg to the ev1d ence,
the only work at which he could as a mechanic earn wages
of that amount. H aving lost one of his fingers, and two

other fin~ers being inj ured, the man was not fib to work
a~ the cu cular saw. This was the only work offered to
htm by the app~llanb. The finding of the Judge waa,
theref~re,. 9: findmg tha:t the r;na.n's earning capacity had
been dimm1Shed. Havmg arnved at thab fact, everything
else follows, and the amount of the weekly payment was
for the J udg~ to 4etermine after giving du e effect to all
proper con~IderatiOns. The Judge has considered the
amoun~ whwh the respondent had b een able to earn since
the ac01dent.
Lord Justice Vaughan Williams and I..~ord ,Justice
R omer concurred.
Stuf!'rt v. N ixon. - This was an appeal from an award of
the L 1verpool County Court Judge in proceedings under
~he Workmen's Compensation Act, 1897. Ib waa heard
m th~ Cou rt of Appeal on A pril 7. The appellant was
the. widow of~ dece~ed workman, who at the time of the
ac01dent causmg bts death was a stevedore's laboUier
employed by the respondents. The main question was
whether the ~ul~ laid d own in Syson s v. Andrew Knowles
and S ons, Lm;uted (16 T . L. R., 250), applied in cases
where the ac01dent caused the death of the workman.
It appeared thab the deceased was a. casual labourer and
h.ad been employed by the respondents for five day~ contmuously.at daily wages. On the fifth day h e wa~ killed
by an acCident. The County Court Judge h eld that the
A ct of 1897, by reason of Schedule 1, Clause 1 (a), did not
apply, as the deceased man had onlr been employed
for five days. He made an award m favour of the
respondents. Since the decision of the County Court
Judge, the Court of appeal decided. in the case of
Sysons v. Andrew Knowles and Sons, Limited (16 T. L .
R., 250), that a workman who had been employed for less
than two weeks and was injured did not come within the
Act, Schedule 1, Clause 1 (b) not being applicable to such
a. case.
Mr. L eslie Scott (Mr ..Joseph Walton, Q.C., with him).
for the appellant, argued that as the first part of Clause 1
(a) (i) of Schedule 1, gave compensation equal to the
workman's ea~nings in the employment of the same
~~player dunn~ the three yeara next preceding the
InJU!Y, the maxtmum sum not to exceed 300l., and the
mmimum sum to be 150l., cases might arise in which no
c~lculation was necessary. In the present case no calculatiOn was necessary, as the a ppellant was entitled to
the minimum compensation of 150l. The decision in
Sysons v. Andrew Knowles and Sons (10 T. L . R ., 250)
turned upon Clause 1 (b) of Schedule 1, where the
language was different. The County Court Judge was
therefore, wrong upon this point.
'
Mr. Ruegg, Q.C., and Mr. A. G. Steel, for the resp ondents, were not called upon.
The Courb dismissed the appeal.
~n the course of his judgment L ord .Tustice Collins
said : This appeal must be dismissed. The question is
whether the case of a. labourer, who is employed only for
one day, taking an extreme case, and who meets with his
d~ath by an accident arising oub of and in the course of
bts employment on that day, comes within the Act. In
the case of Sysons v. Knowles and Sons, the workman
who was injured, but nob killed by an accident, had, at
the time of the accident, been employed by the same
employer for a p eriod less than two weeks. It is Eaid
that the observation~ of the Court in that case upon
Clause 1 (a) (i ) are merely obiter dicta. and do not decide
the present case, and that the appellant is entitled to
compensation to an amount not less than 150l. I arrive
at the conclusion, taking all the sections and provisions
of the A ct together, that the L egislature cannot have
intended to introduce labourers of this class into the Act.
I do n ot think that the clause presents any difficulty of
construction at all. Its meaning i~ reasonably simple.
The first part of Clause 1, which deals with the death of a.
workman, contemplates that "the amount of his earnings
during the said three years shall be deemed to be 156
times his average weekly earnings during the period of
his actual employ ment under the said employer. " The
compensation is based upon the average weekly earnings
during the period short of three years. That is subject
to this, that the employment must have lasted for at
least two week s. I do not say that it is absolutely n ecessary th at the workman must have been employed every
day during those two weeks, b ut the employment must
be such as to form the basis for the calculation of average
weekly earnings. That is the reasoning adopted by this
Court in "Sysons v. Andrew Knowles and Sons." It
would be most anomalous to bold that a casual workman
who was injured by an accident n ot resulting in death
would not be entitled to any compensation, whereas, if
the workman diE:~d from the effects of the accident, his
dependants would be entitled to compensation. If that
were the true view of the statute, a workman who, after
an accident, lins-ered for some time between life and
death, would durmg that time be in a position in which
he would not know whether compensation would eventually be payable or not. In my opinion the case is
covered by the decision in "Sysons 'l'. Andrew Knowles
and Sons."
Lord Justice V aughan Williams and L ord Justice
Romer agreed.
P earce v. L ondon and South-Western Railway Company.-This was an appeal from the award of th e Sout hwark County Court Judge in proceedings under the
Workmen's Compensation A cb, 1897. lb was heard immediately after the above ease. The appellant was a
p ainter in the employment of M essrs. P erry and Co.,
builders and contractors, who had entered into a. contract
with the respondents, the L ondon and outh-W estern
Railway Company, to do such work in the way of altering, repairing, and painting the respondents' stations in
the L ondon district as they might be directed to do by
the district engineer at a fixed schedule of prices. Messra.
Perry and Co. were engaged in reconstructing Hampton

(A PRIL

27,

1900.

Court Station, and t~e . appellant, while employed by

bbem on the work, was InJured by an engine belonging to
the respondents. The app~lla.nt contended that the
respondents, thol;Jgh not his ~mployers, were liable
to pay com.pensa.t10n under SectiOn 4 of the Workmen's
CompensatiOn Act, 18!.17. The Cou.n ty Court Judge held
that the respondents were not liable to pay compensation
beca?se the building of a. station was "no part of or pro~
cess m ~he trade or business carried on by" the railway
company, but was ''merely ancillary or incidental "
thereto. He therefore made an award in favour of the
respondent~. The proviso to Section 4 of the Workmen's
qompensa.t10n Act, 1897, which renders an undertaker
ha.ble for injuries sustained by workmen employed by a
?~nt~actor, .unless the work is "ancillary, " is as follows:
ThiS sectiOn shall not apply to a ny contract with any
person for the execution by or under such contractor of
~ny work which is mer~ly anciJlary or incidental to, and
Is no part of, or process m, the trade or business carried
on by such undertakers respectively."
Mr. J . D. Crawford appeared for the appellant.
M r.dJf. L ahwson Wa.lton, Q.C., and Mr. R. B. D.
A n1an , or t e respondents, were not called upon
The Court dismissed the appeal.

L ord Justice Collins sai~: In my opinion, the learned

County Court. Judge .was right. It would be difficult to
find a. better Ill~strat10n ~ha~ the present of work which
w~s merely ancillary or lDCldental to the busin~s of a
rail way company as distinguished from work which was
part ?f the actu~l bu~iness of the company. It is easy in
certam cases to Imagme a contract for work which is part
o~ the busi~ess or trade of certain undertakers. But it is
difficult to Imas-ine such a contract in the case of a railway
comp~ny.. It IS difficult t? imagine a railway company
entermg mto a contract with a contractor to work their
engines upon their line for them. The business of a railw~y com panv is to carry passengers and goods. That is their
primary du.ty. The erection of a station was no part of
or process m the t~ade or bu~ine~s carried on by a railway
company. There IS no obhga.t1on upon a railway company, a.pa.!t from any special obligation assumed by them
under their A cts, to place a. station at any intermediate
spot on their line. Their trad e and business is to carry
passengers and goods from one place to another. The
construction of the station is not part of the main work
~f the ~ompany, but is merely ancillary or incidental to
It. It ts, therefore, " no part of or process in the tra<le
or business carried on by" the company. The County
Oourt Judge wa~ therefore rig-ht.
L ord Justice Vaughan Wilhams and L ord Justice Romer
concurred.

F ALMOUTH ART AND INDUSTRIAL

EXHIBITION.
THE sixty-seventh Exhibition of the Royal Cornwa.Jl
Polytechnic Society, Falmouth, will be held in the
SoCiety's ball and adjoining rooms on August 21 to 25, 1900.
Medals, prizes, and certificates are offered in the section
of Ornamental Art under the following heads :
W ood Carving.-High and Low Relief.
M etalwork.-Silver, Iron, Brass, Copper, Pewter.
P ottery.-Ma.king and D ecoration, Modelling in Relief
and Casting, Throwing of Object.
Printing.- Printing of Books.
Bookbinding.-Workmanship. D esign, and Ornament.
Leatherwork.-Embossed and Incised.
L ace Making.- W ork and Design.
Art N eedlework.-Ecclesiastical and other Embroidery,
Applique, &c., Work, and De~i_gn.
Design.-Furniture, Wall Hangings, Stained Glass,
Inlay, &c.
Also in the section of Mechanics, under the heads of :
Stationary and other moti ve engines, driven by steam,
electricity, or other power; mining machinery and appliances; domestic inventions and improvements; naval
a rchitecture ; other branches of mechanics ; and essays and
scientific papers on lighting, sa.nitation, drainage, mineral
veins, .dr~ssing of ores, winding machinery, prevention of
overwmdmg.
Also in the departments of Fine Arts. Photography,
Natural History, Mineralogy, and Chemistry.
All objects exhibited may be priced for sale, and no
charge will be made for space.
These E xhibitions have been held nearly 70 years, and
afford the best opportunity for making known the merits
of inventions, &c., throughout the West of England. The
Society waa founded in 1833, on the initiative of the late
Mif?s Anna Maria. Fox and her relatives and friends ; and
has ever since done good work and given great encouraeement in the directions abo-ve indicated, as well as in others.
Lists of prizes, entry form~ and all further information
may be obtained from the ::secretary, Mr. Edward Kitto,
F .R. Met. Soc., The Observatory, Falmouth.
SouTH AMERICAN NAVIGATION.- The Brazilian D epartment of Industry has invited tenders for a river navigation service between M onte Video and Cuya.ba., Matto
Grosso. Two journeys per month are required for a
term of five years. The service would be assisted by a.
subsidy.
DIRECTORY Oh' I NDU TRIAL A SSOCIATIONS.- The Board
of Trade has published a "Directory of Industrial
Associations, " includin~ employers' associations, trade
unions, boards of conciliation and arbitration, and workmen's co-operative societies. It includes nob only the
associations themselves, but also, in the case of the employers' societies, the local branches, with the addresses
of the secretaries. Th~ price is nd., and the work, which
runs to 141 pages, can be obtained through any bookseller.

APRIL 2 7, I 900.]

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

"ENGINEERING" ILLUSTRATED PATENT

RECORD.
CoMPILED BY

W. LLOYD WISE.

IRLBOTED ABSTRACTS OF RBOENT PUBLISHED 8PBOIFICATIONB

UNDER THE ACTS 1883-1888.
Tht number of vietos given in the Specification D1altuings is stated
in each caae; wM're none are mentiDned, the Specification i$
not illtutrated.
Whtn inventions me comntunicatedjrom abroad, the .Names, ci:o.,
of tM Communicators are given in italics.
Copi.u of Speciftations may be obtained at the Patent 0{/ice Sale
Brcw.c~, U, So~t>thampton Bttildings, Oha1tcery-lan~. W.C., at
tM uniform pnce of Bd.
TM date of the advertisement of the acceptance OJ a complete
specfication. is, in each case, given aJter the abstract, unless the
Patent has been sealed, when the date of sea-ling is given.
Any ~rson may at a1~y time 'Within two months from, the date oj
the advertiument of the acceptance oJ a complete Specifi,cation,
ivt notice at the Patent Office oj oppo8ition to the gran'l.t of a
~a01t 01., anv of th~ ground8 mentioned in the Act.

4121.
[2

point. A piece of lead tube is inserted into t he glass tube, and

t he conductors al'e soldered to the outside of the vessel and the
lead tube. Other modificati l ns, in which a perforated partition
and a bent tube containin~ an air bubble are substituted for the
gla.es tube, are also described. The outer vessel contains dilute
sulphuric acid, or other conductive liquid . The operation is
stated to be as follows : When the circuit is cloafd, a current
is set u p in the liquid, which passes from one electrode to the
oth er, and finds but little resistance in tbe Lulk of t he liquid ;
th ough at one or more places t he orossaection of the condu cting
liquid is so considerably reduced t hat sufficien t heat is generated
t o evaporate t he liquid , and t hus to cause an instantaneous
interruption, whereupon evaporation immediately ceases and
t he liquid reunites and agam closes the circuit. (..d.ccepted
J.lfarch 14, 1900.)

1899.-This invention relates to t he starting of gas engines,

wherein firing is effected by means of an ignition tube, and has
tor object to enable ignition to be effected when the pressure of
t he charge is comparatively low. For the ordinary upper SUPJ?Ort
for the fi ring tube there is substit uted a valve or cock, which ,
when open, establishes a tine opening, through which the SJ?en t
gases remaining in the fi ring tube after exhaust lllay esoape mto
t he open air; or the valve may open into a obamber from which
a fine opening communicates with the atmosphere. Accordiog to
one arrangement t he valve is held down upon its seating by a

5874. Siemens Brothers and Co., Limited, Londou,

and A. S. Schloemer, Old Charlton, Kent. Telephones. [4 Figs. ] March 17, 1809.- A teleph one t ransmitter
and re~e iver are combined with a vibrator of known kind, t he
whole forming a single instrumen t t he casing of which is furnish ed
with contact keye, so t hat it may be held and operated by one
b and ; the keys making contact for th e vibrator, and for the t rana-

ELECTRICAL APPARATUS.
W. Best, Leeds. Miners Safety Lamps.

Pigs.] February 24, 1899.-The burner has a domed crown

which deflects a current of air on to t he flame of t he wick and air

inlets on its underside protected by a gauze in such manner t hat
the wick end is entirely enclosed by the gauze and dome, an explosion of gas being confined to the contents of t he chamber so
formed. The lamp is furnished with a glass chimney supported
on a gallery, and having a conical upper portion coming n ear to
t he top of t he gauze cylinder in ":hi?h it is enclosed, ~nd fl~n~ed
outward at its upper end, so that 1t 1s securely held m pos1t1on,
dividio~ the gauze enclosure into two separate portions. The
burner 1s of eart henware, and through it passes n conductor, the

screw during t he ordinary running of t he engine ; but for startin ~ purposes this screw is loosened, and t he valve is thereby
ral8ed so as to permit t h e spent gases to escap e by way of a fine
opening provided by forming in t he upper part of t he screw a.
narrow recess, and allowing t he lower part of t he screw to fit
sufficiently loosely to per mit the gases to blow past. The details
may, h owever, be varied to some ext ent without d eparting from
t be invention, a.s, for exnmple, by dispensing with the recess and
allowing t he entire screw to ftt loosely, so as to allow the gases to
blow past it. (Accepted March 14, 1900.)

1111 I

mitter circuits respectively. Alter native arrangements of t he

co nnection~ are illustrated in the d ra\vings filed with the pro\i
sional and complete specifications ; and it is stated that the telephone transmitter may in many oases be dispensed with, and that
the vib rato1 may be placed inside the casing, eith er at its lower
end, or at th e top close to t he receiver, th e electromagnet of
whioh may in this case ser ve also for the vibrator. (Accepted
7219. W.J. Crossley and R. D. Hulley, Manchester.
March 14, 1900. )
Internal Combustion Motors. [8 F igs.] April 6, 1899.This inven t ion mainly relates to means for governing internal
8358. J. T. Niblett, and M. Sutherland, London. combustion motors, and for admitting, cont rolling, and spraying
Secondary Battery Elements. [8 Figs.] April 21, 1899. oil for their fu el. A motor working on the " Otto" cycle is fur
- The ter minal plates of an accumulator of the" pasted " t.ype are nisbed with a self-acting admission valve which is opened auto
cast, stamped, or otherwise formed out of t hin sheet-metal p lates, maticaUy by su ction caused by the outward charging stroke
and the edges have flanges on one or both sid es, forming recep of the piston every time that a working stroke is d esirtacles for the active material. '.rbe metal sheets may be smooth able ; when, however, such working strokes are not desirable,
and unperforated, or t hey may be perforated, groo,.red, or corru- this suction valve is not opened, the exhaust valve being meangated to secure t he more perfect adhesion of the active material, while kep t open so that exhaust gases are drawn back into the
which may be further p rotected by slabs of porous ear th enware
fi tting within t h e flanges. These slabs may also ser ve t o separate
plates of different polarity, in wbioh case t hey are preferably
ribbed or g rooved to facilitate t he circulation of t he elect roly te.

Fif1.1.
Fig.Z.
f

I
..___ :

. . J.

Ft1f.1.

.......

''I

10,164. H. T. Simon, Gottingen. Germany. Inter The plates are fu rnished with lugs by which several of them may
ruptor for Electric Currents. [3 Figs.] May 13, 1899.- be secured to a. common conductor, and are h eld together by

Tbi.s invention relates to interruptors for electric currents, such elastic bands, or by r igid bands and elastic distance-pieces to como.s are employed with induction coils, and comprises a .liquid pensate for th e expan.sion and con traction wbioh ~cours during
resist!\nce inser ted in t he primary circuit, the crossseot10n of t he forming and working of t he battery. Some mod1fied arrangements of t he terminals are descr ibed. The flrst claim is as
follows : " An electr ic sto ra~e or secondary battery element con
. Z.
sisting of a fl anged meta.lhc plate Ol' grid, active material or
mater ial to be rendered active on the said plate or g rid, and a
porou s slab or plate for retaining the active material in position
substantially as h erein before d escribed." (Accepted Manch H,
1900.)

GAS ENGINES, PRODUCERS, HOLDERS, &c.

11,041. 0. Ernst and A. PhUips, Frankforton
Maine, Germany. Matertel for Purifying Acetylene. Ma.y 26, 1899.-Tbis invention relates to the ruanufac

ture of a solid bi~thly porou s material suitable f?r use in t h e

p urification of acetylene, and composed of t he calcmm or oth er
salt of hypochlorous a-cid , together with one or more substances
Fig.J.
indifferent to t he aotion of acetylene, such as slaked lime, cal
cium car bonate, or calcium chloride. A sludge composed of
th e h ypochlorite and t h e indifferent substance or s_u bs~nces
is dried at suoh a temperature that the hypochlon te 1s not
decomposed, t h e drying being pre.ferably effeo~ed in vacuo_, a
solid but hig hly porous substance bemg t hus obtamed. Accord10g
to one method of preparat ion, bleaching powder, slaked lime,
and calcium chloride are stirred with water t o a sludge or paste,
wbiob is then dried as above described. Other methods of preparation a te given by way of example. The scope of t he in v~ntio.n
which is considerably reduced at one p oin t. The apparatus, 1s,
however, not strictly limited to these methods of applymg 1t
according to one form , consists of a leaden vessel shaped like a in practice.
(Accepted ..harch 21, 1900.)
tumbler, and closed by a lid of insulat ing material, in the centre
of which is fixed a glass tube, con tracted at th e lower end, but
8119. B. N. Bickerton and B. W. Bradley, Ashtonnot completely closed, leaving a small perforation at its lowest. under-Lyne. Starting Gas Engines. ll Fig.] April22,

...

upper end of which is situated near the inter ior end of the burner .
The wick is also enclosed in a condu~tin~ tube, ~be up~er ~dge of
wbioh is cutaway so as to form a J?rOJeCtlDg portion .wh1ch 18.ben t
over the edge of the burner, oppostte ~o th e co.nduc~mg term m~ ;
the lower por tion of the conductor 1s contam ed 1D a recess m
the burner and communication with it is e6ta.blish ed by means
of a condudtingrod terminating in t he base of t he lamp. The air
supply enters t hrough boles in t he ou ter casing of t h e laml?, a.nd
is directed as an annular deflector t hrough t h e lower por t10n of
the gauze cylinder, and d own between the inne~ glass and an
outer one enclosing its lower por tion, whence Lbe atr reaches t be
flame through the gauze below the d omical deflector above referred to. (Accepted March 14, 1900.)

I
I

cylinder, and th e g reatly reduced suction fails to overcome t he

s pring holding the admission valve closed. Tbe inventors state
th at t h ey are aware t h at t his mode of governing has been previously used ; but that th ey are of opinion that t he special
mechanism which t hey propose to u se is novel. The oil is ad
mitted, contr olled, and sprayed by a mushroom valve automatically openin~ against a spr ing, t he valve stem works in a bored
guide which 18 continuet' close up to the valve, and has a recess
supplied with oil, whioh when. t he valv~ opens, .commu~icates
with a number of small holes m the gmde, so s1tuated m relation to t h e air entering the valve, t hat t he oil is t hereby broken
into spray. (Accepted Ma1ch 14, 1900.)

GUNS AND EXPLOSIVES.

1338. W. Brand, Broxburn, N.B. Cartridges .

January 22, 1900.-Car t ridges for r ifles, machine g uns, revolvers,

and the like are provided with a powder wad of cork lubr icated
with oil, grease, or vaseline, on hoth aides .of which is fttte~ a
t hin wad of cardboard, j ute, or other matenal. The wad bemg
compressed in the car tridge-case expands on entering t he barrel,
and, it is stated, passes through the same t horoug hly gas-tigh t;
hi~her velocity and greater p enetrating power being t hereby atta.me.dt while t h.e lubric~tion keeps t h e .barrel cool and i.n good
condttion, even m b ot ohmatea. The ordmary wads coven ng the
oork wad may in blank car t ridges be dispensed with. (.Accepted
Al a'rch 14, 1900.)

10,071. B. S. Maxim, London. Explosives. [7 F igs. J

May 12 1899.-l t is stated to be well known that t he products of

s uoh e~-plosives as cordite and ballistite consist largely of carbon
dioxide wbiob by reason of its density and its great heat rapidly
erodes the barrel of a gun. For the purpose of diminishing the
erosion d ue t o t his cause, a resinous or oth er bydrocarbonaoeous
s ubstance is, according t o this inven tion, used as one of the con
stituen ts of t h e explosive, the carbon dioxide being thereby
largely reduced to carbon monoxi~e \V ben . t he. eA-plosi~e is fir~d .
The r esinous substance prefened m pract1ce 1s Amertcan resm,
mixed with about onesevent b par t of its weight of lubricating
oil. T he inventor states that be has discovered by experiment
that if g un cotton be mechanically reduced to a very fine condition it3 fibres can be readily incorporated with the resinous
mat~rial withou t the u se of solvents, and pressed into a solid
explosive ma!!P, which burns no fa~ter than that made from dis-

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

570
sohed gun cotton, and very much slower than t hat made from
pulped gun cotton; and that by suitably proportioning t h e
ingredients, the rate of combustion may be readily controlled. A
still slower burning powder may be obtained by partly diBBolving
the nitrated cotton by means of acetone, nitro-glycerine, or other
solvent. The ex.Plosive may be form ed into grains, t he outer
surface of which 1s thus consolidated by the action of solvents, a

Fi9 .3 .

Fig-2 .

[ APRIL

and reduced to working pressure by reducing valves, t he auxiliary generator may be dispensed with, the superheated steam
being taken directly from the main generator. The claims are
as follow : " 1. In improvements in steam motors, the means of
utilising the steam from an auxiliary higher pressed boilu or
heater to dry or superheat the steam on its way to t he motor,
substantially as hereinbefore described . 2. In multi-cylinder
steam engines the arrangement of reheating or redrying of t he
steam flowing from one cylinder t o another by the agency of
steam generated in an independent higher pressed boiler as hereinbefore described. 3. In steam engines working under a reduced
pressure by means of a reducin~ valve located between the generators and t he motor&, the u tllisation of the steam under the
initial pressure to dry or superheat the steam on t he low-pressu re
side of the reducing valve by means of the apparatus substan tially as bereinbefore described. (.4ccepted M a ,r ch 14, 1900.)
5742. B. B . Lake, London. (Schaff'elr an d Bt{,denberg.
J1a-gdeburg-B uckau, Germany.) Reducing Valve. [1 F ig.]
March 16, 1899.-Tbis invention relates to a reducing valve comprising a pair of concentric valves, t he larger of which is pressed
down upon its seat by the full difference between the inlet and
outlet pressures. The smaller and inner valve is relieved from
pre88Ure, as the dimensions of t he aperture wherein its cone or
plug is guided at t he top and of t he passage of t he val ve below are
alike, while the spaces above and below the valve commu nicate
t hrough a port. Should the pressure at the outlet become slightly
reduced, the piston will be forced up by the weight of the lever,

27,

1900.

a re para.l1el and cylindrical ; one of t hese ends is formed into a

valve seat, while t he other is fitted with a piston adapted to
balance the valve. The valve and piston are suspended from the
arms of a beam pivoted at its cent re, a nd the effective area of the
piston 11lightly exceeds t hat of the valve, t he latter being normally maintained on its seat under t he pressure due to this excess.
The piston is, however, fitted with one or more small governing
valves normally fi rmly pressed on t heir seats by sprii:gs, but lift
ing at a predetermined pressure, thereby reducing the effective
area of the piston, so that it is no longer able to maintain the
valve on its see.t. By this means the use of a heavy spring is
avoided, while t he valve is stated to be more readily adjusted and
con trolled than those hitherto constructed. (A ccepted March 21,
1900.)

17,756. C. Vanderbilt, NewYork. U.S.A. Locomotive

Boner. [5 Figs.] September 2, 1899.-The locomotive boiler
comprises a. shell having a cylindrical and horizonta.lJy disposed
barrel section, from the outer end of which the chimney project6,
a conical wagon top, and a. firebox section inclined downwardly
and rearwardly from the base of the conical top. The firebox has
an inclined axis, and is eccent rically suspended in the firebox
section by means of links at its forward end, and its open end is

Fi.g .1.

110011 )

.
.
-
'

progressively bu rning powder being thereby produced. Progreseive action may also be secu red by making t he explosive into
blocks or tablets of various fom1s, in one of which the block has
concentric annular depressions in each of its faces, with tapered
cavities in the walls of the depressions, those cavities on opposite
sides of the block breaking joint with each other. (.A ccepted
A'!arch 21, 1900.)
14,717. B.S..Maxtm,London. ProjectUes. [8 F igs. ]
July 17, 1899. -This invention has reference to projectiles such
as "Dum-dum " bullets; wh ich ar e a.daJ>ted to spread or " mush room " on impact ; and its chief object 18 to overcome the objection t o the use of these projectiles with cordite or ot h er smokeless
powder, owing to the fact that in consequence of the high velocity
tmpressed on th~ projectile t he lead filling is expelled from the
nickel casing, which is retained in the bore of the gun, renderin ~
it useless until the casing has been removed. For this purpose,

' ''

''

Pifj.2.

STU.

~o?J._.;;0
~--

a nd the small valve, being free from pressure, will be opened with
out meeting with resistance, admitting steam below t he larg-er
val ve into a space communicating with the outlet only t hrC?ugh .a
very small port in t he latter valve, RO t hat t he pressure m th1s
space is at first practically equal to that a_t the inlet. The ~arger
\'alve being t hus relieved from pressure, rlSes under the act~on ?f
the weighted lever. I t is stated that tbe novel ~e~ture cons1s.t~ m
the employment of the inner val ve, which ~ven m 1t~ final po~1t10n
is free from l?ressure, while the larger valve 1s not relieved unt1l the
smaller one 1s opened ; and the disadvantages of previously known
constructions are pointed out. (A ccepted b[a?ch 14, 1900. )

9310. A.

w.

Broughton, Bolton. Pistons.

[4 Figs.J
May 3, 1899.- This invention is especially designed to eff~ct the

lubrication of t he lower portion of t he pistons of _honzon~al

engines. Both t he piston block and cover a_re furmshe~ w1_th
openings to admit steam pressure under the p1ston to reheve 1ts
weight, by which the st rain on t he piston-rod and t he we!Lr of
t he lower sides of t he cylinder and piston are shted to be cons1derably reduced. The O!Jenings also serve t o admit the ends of p~pes
for conveying oil or lubricant, which is supplied by means of p1pes

F~1 .2.
~
/~~

.n u~

riveted or otherwise secured to the front sheet of the firebox section. The ft ues extend from the front end of the fi rebox to an
inclined flue-plate having a corrugated rim, and t hey are so inclined t hat they are approximately at right angles to this pl~te.
It is stated t hat by this arrangement the strength of the boller
is materially increased, the 11evera.I sections being so formed and
connected that the strains due to unequal expansion and cont raction, steam pressure, and other causes are mjnimised and
resisted. (Accepted At arch 14, 1900.)

MISCELLANEOUS.
6014. C. V. Burton, London. Pianofort e H a mmers.

[ 1 F ig.] March 20, 1899.-A metal spring is ~:mrved or shaped

t o form a. striking head, and is covered w1th t_elt or ot~er

yield in,. material which effects the actual contact w1th t he wrre.
The sp~ing is provided with dampiog pieces of felt, ~ecured
between its adjacent surfaces, and also bet ween the sprmg a~d
the gripping device by which it is retained i_n J?OSitio_n ; t he Interior of t he curve of the spring may also be Similarly hoed. The

... ..

Fig.1.

.:.1.

.,;o---r

c::

l4
a hole with an interna.l tle.nge is formed in t he n~se _of t he ni?kel
casing and the tla.nge is covered by a metal cap w1thm t he oasmg,
which ' wh en the projectile is subjected to t he pressure of t he
powd~r ga&es, acts to p revent the spreading or ope~ing of the
casing at the nose, without, _however, un~uly retardmg tp.e expaMion of the projectile or 1mpact. To msure the eftectl\e expansion or " mushrooming " of th_e proje9tile ?n impact, tra!lsverse slits are formed in the casmg, wh10h shts are filled w1th
paraffin wax, or other plastic material. (..Aecepted M arch 21,
1900.)
9481. A. Reichwald, London. (F. K rupp, E ssen, Ger,nam.v.) Env elope for Charg es for Ordnance. May 6,
1899.- This invention has for object t he manuf~cture fro~ a
readily combustible material of an envelope_or casmg fo! h?ld_mg
ordnance charges. The envelope may_cons1S~ of _a fabnc Slmtlar
to that hitherto used, but saturated Wlth a. solut10n of a smok~
less explosive such as nitro-glycerine o_r nitro-cellu~ose ; or. 1t
may be an explosive film, prepared by pourmg an explo81 ve s?lut1on
such as th ose above referred to on to a plate, and allow1ng the
solvent to evaporate. It is stated t hat both ~orms of env~lope
are exceedingly combustible, and have pract1eally no residue,
while they possess the fu rt her advantages t hat the supplemental
charge of black powder h itherto requirtd may be dispensed with,
and that there 1s no danger of premature explosion of the s~c
ceeding charge in conseque~ce. of the presence of glowmg
particles of uncot1sumed fabr1c m the barrel of the gun. (A ccept ed Jf arch 21, 1900.)

S'rEAM ENGINES, BOILERS, EVAPORATORS, &c.

6382. J . Murrie , Glasgow, N.B. St ea m Engines.

---

_,
.
~~

~ r

' .

''

1-

____ ,.

.,

,.

'.,...

--

~
-.

'~~ ~-

7635. A. R tedtnger, Augsburg, Germa ny. Captive

Balloons. [4 Figs.] April ll, 1899.- In air balloon~ composed

l:

communicating with one or more lubricators on the ?utside of t he

cylinder. The openings are internally connected w1th a channel
along which the lubricant flows by a groove or grooves _cut on the
face of t he piston block or cover , from w~ence the lubncan~ ftows
to the lower surface of the cylinder. . It l8 s.ta~e~ that t he lDvention is applicable to pistons fitted w1th ant1fr10t1on me~l ~h~es,
in which case the openings will pass through the an ttfr1ct1on
metal. Grooves may be formed round the piston to allow the
lubricant to circulate around it. ( Accepted Jfarch 14, 1900.)

of a cylinder inclined aga1nst t he horizon, such, for mst.a.nc~, as

t hose described in specification No. 19,~78, of 18~6,_ os011lattons
may be prevented, not by means of the kite or subs1d1ary balloons
therein described, but by means of plane or curved surfaces
:1.rranged on both sides of t he main body of the ballo~n, aod each
having one of its longitudinal sides attached to _the g1rdle or b_elt
thereof, whilst the other is connected by a ser1es of c~rds wtth
the tackle and ring of the basket and with the holdmg-down

Fig. 2.

11,988. B . B . B erman, Ka rachi, India. ~afety

Va l ve. (2 Figs.] June 8, 1899.- A safety valve, spe01ally de.

March 24, 1899.-Tbis invention has re~er_ence to comp_ound ~nd

mul tiple-expansion steam engines, a.~d 1t_lB stated that It cons1sts
essentially m drying the steam dunng 1ts passage to~ard~ and
through t he en~ine by th e agency of steam generated m an mdeendent or au xiliary hoiler, working under a higher p~essure than
fhe main boiler, the beat being transferred from the h1gher to the
lower pressure steam by means of t ubular or.~ther h~aters, and
t he condensed steam flowing back to t he auxilia ry boiler by t~e
action of gravity with the r esult that t he steam from the mam
boiler is less subject to condensation, while the extent of the
dry ing or superheating to which it is subjected may be regu~te~
with considerable precision. The auxiliary generator may e o
the water-tube type, capable of withstanding a predssur.~hof f:o~
1 to ~ tons per square inch ; and it may be t.te Wl
sa e Y
valves discharging into the main boiler or into t h.e atmosph ere.
The steam generated in t he auxiliary generator . 1s conveyed to
I"U
tubular steam driers or superheaters near t?e c~lmders, thro'lfh
which t he steam is conducted from the mam boiler to t~e cy n signed fo r use in connection with higb-preesure steam geoerat?rs
ders, and from one cylinder to another. ~en. st~am 1s gene comprises a bifurcated steam conduit, the upper ,ends of wh1ch
rated at a. higher pressure than t hat at which 1t 1s consumed

11

felt upon the striking face of the hammer !s . in gene~alless in

thickness than t hat which conc:titutes t he ~t~~mg port10n of _the
ord inary hammer ; t he stiffness or ft~xJbihtf of ~be sprmg,
rather t han t he character of the felt fa~mg, bemg rehe~ upon to
determine the quality of the blow delive~ed. . The wir~, when
struck by a hammer thus constit uted, 1s sa1~ to e!DI~ a full
mellow note, any vibrations set up in t he metalh~ port~on of. the
hammer being effectually subdued by the felt dampmg pieces
above described. (Accepted Jfarch 14, 1900.)

Fi.g .3.

Pig.1.
rope. The length of t hese surfaces is about fou r tim~s t~eir
width, and they extend at least f~om th~ end of_ the cyhndrtcal
main body to t he centre of t he cyhnder ; m S?me 1n_stanc~s a continuous surface may extend all ~ound the gudl~, m wh1c~ cas.e
the connecting cords above ment1oned may be disp~nsed wtth_, 1f
the weight of the surfac~ be sufticie~t to preve:nt 1t from_be10g
forced u wards by t he w1nd. The tall_ of t he ma1_n balloon IS furnished w1th a series of conical cases of hght maten al, open at both
ends which form wind catchers, and serve still further to prevent
osciliations; such wind-catchers may also be suspended from the
basket. (Accepted Jiarch 14, 1900.)

UNITED STATES PATENTS AND PATENT PRAO~OE.

Descri tions with illustrations of inventions patent~ 1D. the

United ~tates of America from 1847 to the present tune, a.bd
reports of trials of patent Jaw cases in the Unit~ S~a~~s,Bm~~rd~
consulted, gratis, at the offices of ENGINBERING, .,o an
, e
street, Strand.