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

J UNE I, I 900.]

TABLE

THE COST OF ELECTRIC POWER

PRODUCTION.
By PBILIP DAWSON.
IT is proposed in this article to consider briefly
what connection, if any, exists between the first
cost of a plant and that at which power can be
produced.
The initial cost of a plant may be roughly divided
into four parts : Land and buildings. Plant, includinu all machinery in station. Mains, feeders, and
di:tributors. MiscellA.neous, which includes such
things as meters, instruments, cost of provisional
order, and such-like.
T ABLE I.-C~para tive

Cost of P roducing tht Board

of T1ade Unit in a Lighting amd T'raction P lant.
Lighting in Pen ce.
0.300 to 2.2110
Fuel .
..
..
0.050 , 0.380
Oil waste nod stores
Wages and snlaries ..
0.28 , 1.600
Maintenance . .
..
0.054 " 0.600
Total ..

T raction in Pence.
0.09 to 0.50
0.005 , C.20
0.03 ,. 0.40
0.025 " 0.06

0.68! " 4.7

VI. - C OST

Ob'

W ORKH\G SOME NEW ENGLAND ELECTRIC ROADS PER CAR-MILE,

..

Onrs closed
..
..
..
., open
..
..
..
Cars equipped with motors
,
,
, fenders
Snow ploughs . .

..

..

Car-miles rm1 . .
..
Passengers
..
..
per car-mile
"
Round t l'i ps ..

Employ~

..

Fare (in pen ce)

21.44
(including West
Shore Ro.ilwnr
39)
39
52
50

Name of Com
pa.oy.

Motive
Power.

Name of Com pany.

Grnde.

ALx-laOhapelle.. 1 in 11

Gera

..

..

Hamburg
..
..
Brussels, Ln. Pe- 1 in 25
tite Espinette
Zwickau . .
. . 1 , 25
Hanover . .
Konigsberg
Dortmund
LUbeck . .
Strnsburg
Rome
..
Zurich . .
Badeo Voslnu
Bristol . .
Leeds
..
Glasgow . .
Dover
..

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

level
1 in 24
1 , 40
1 , 20
1 , 70
1 , 10
..
..
1 in 15
1 , 20
1 , 14
1 , 25

.589 to 1.236
.975
.902
1.200 (heavy
cars)
.670 on level,
1.230on incline
.681
.608
. 576
.592
.688 (large car)
1.056
. 782
0.490
1.000
0.960
1.370
0.980

Avera~e

Speea
per
Hour .

Pounds of
Coal per
Oar Mile.

miles

lb.
3.5 to 6.9
21 (lignite)
3.21
4.6 to 4.9

8
8
6 to 12
16

6 to 8
7 to8
8
8
7 to 8
9
8

100

2!, 5

2!, 5

G7.8
. 5720d.

60.6
. 2231d.
. 0477d.
. 0075d .
. 0767d .
.0526d.
.577d.
.1798d.
.660d.
.0089d .
2.43!5d.
.21S6d.
. 0121d.
0.65 d.
.1526d.
4.9627d .
8.1080d.
8.1850d.

TABLE

..
..

. 0493d.
. 0372d.
.0402d.
. 2096d.
. 247ld.

. 0.312d.
. 'i902d.
3.3070d .
.4266d.

..
.1045d .

.09!3d .
6.6499d.
10.0620d.
10.7650d.

4,898,303
3.816

530
2!, 5, 7!, 10
69.2
. 5164d .
. 1734d .
.137ld.
. 181d.
.1132d.
. 4132d.
. 2831d.
. 0706d .
. 9963d.
2.92''7d.
. 3905d.
.1939d.
.106-!d.
.1928d.
G.7988d.
9.8090d.
9.8260d.

170,0"'6
225
2,\- + 2t on t h e
line
56.3
. 2855d.

.0373d .
.Oi96d .
.0013d.
.2014-d .
.1305d .

.520/d.
2.8235d.
. 7193d.
. 1251d .
.0263d.
.4253d.
5.4363d.
9.5025d.
9.653d.

220,680
200
2!, 6, 7!
51.6
.0131d .
.0176d .
.0888d .
.0446d .

. 0789d.
.3963d .
.345d .
.027d.
.4865d .
2.0555d.
.3895d .
.236d .
.0724d.
.2085d .
4.278d.
8.2165d.
8.284d.

VII. - METROPOLITAN STREEl' RAILWAY C oMPANY, NEw YORK, W oRKING E XPENSRS.

12 .MOXTUS E~DIXG NOYE~tnER, 1898.
CABLE.

E LECTRIC.

Pence per Oar-Mile.

Pence per Car Mile.

Pence per Car-Mile.

0.680
0.220
0.015
0.065
0.880

0.110
0.030
0 005
0.020
0.000

0.276
0.000
0.050
0.030
0.000

1.760

0.165

0.355

0.285
0.180

0.200
0.210

0. 190
0.000

0.465

0.410

0.190

0.065
0.050
0.000
0.025
0. 775
0.090

0.015
0.005
0.000
0.235
0.545
0.040

0.000
0.000
0.090
3.075
0.000
0.035

1.005

0.840

3.200

3.935

3.075

1.035

0.010

0.935

8.200
11,991,404
47.7 p er cent.

6.100
'i,110,090
37.9 per cent.

8.926
15,994,912
65.8 per cen t.

H ORSE.

M.Al l\TENA!\CP. OF PER)IA:SE:ST W AY.

____________________..... _______________________.....
Matetials and labour on trnck proper
Tube cleaners and oilers

Repairs to bu ildings ..


Snow and ice . .
..

R epairs of cable nnd labour

Total

65
7
1,464,038
4,108,260
2.824

1,283,642

2,228,932
8,886,229
3.996
284,203

"
equipment of cars

1,500,000
Steam
Aix-laOhapelle.ot

Car e of hmses . .
..
..



1.32
,,
GP.ra
..
..

1 24
0.94
Hamburg t
..
2,600,000
Electric m otive power
..

"
1.09
..
Brussels . .
..

Wages conducting tla nsportation
..

0.84
"
Ho.nov('r . .
..

"
1.77
Rome
..
..
Water

, and salaries , ot.h er . .
.
..
..
0.96
1.56
nresden! . .
..
Steam

Accident fu nd 2~ per cent. of g ross earnings ..
1.15
Geneva . .
..
600,000
Water

1.64
Bnden Voslnu ..
Steam

Fire insurance. .
..
..
..

Ot~'"expenses, legal, printing, &c.

tt Electric Supply Company pays 7.68d. for e,ery car-mile which
Total expenses per cnt'-mile
..


tramwn.r company are prevented from running through its fault.
t Electric Supply Company pays 9.6d. for eYery car-mile which Receipts from passengers per cnrmile ..

tramway company are prevented from running through its fault.

..

t Corporation pays 8d. for every car-mile which tramway corn Enrnings per car mile
pany are pre,en ted from ru nning through its fault.

Average
Board of
Trade Units
per Car-Mile.

883,731
3,093,458
3.503

155

1.44 Lo 1.38

III.-Power Conswm.p tion on Various European

Lines per Car-Mue.

d.

T ABLE

746,801
4,381,462
5. 729

53
51
66

52

..

52.60

60

..

fen ces
..
..
..
"
buildings and fi xtures ..
"
electric line construction
"
R eroontl of snow and ice ..

Repairs of cars
..
..

29.853

46
88
88

..

..
..

70.201

05
85
180
180

Operating expenses per cen t. of earnings

TABLE !I. - Cost of P ower on Va1ious .Eu1opean Electric R epairs of road bed and track
..
..

Cost of Pao ' Cost ali

Quan tit.y
duction per which Sold Company
Board of to T ramway Gua rantee
Trade Unit. Company.
to Buy.

30.75

35
33
G
68

..
..
..

0.1275 " 1.16

T 1amway Lines.

1898.

Winchester
Bridgeport
Ho.atford Street Fair H aven and
New Haven
Avenue Railroad Staeet Railway Railwny Oom West,ille Rnil T aaction Com
Company, West
pa ny.
road Company.
pany.
Company.
H aven.

.Track in miles.

701

..

..

..

..

----.-

J)f aintenance of Equipment.

Oars a nd vehicles
..
..
..
..
Cable or electric equipment, tools, &c. . .
3.91
7

Total

---

P ower.

Repairs to stenm plant

, electric and cable plant

"
Harness and stable equipment

T ABLE IV.- Total Working Expe'll.ses in H amtburg in

Pence per Car-Mile in 1898.
H orses, renewn.ls, feeding, hostlers, &c.. .
..
..
..

(Three trail car -miles are supposed equnl to oue motor car mile.) Engine and power service, fuel, light an d power supplies ..

.,
Supply of electric power . .
..
..
..
0.609
Watet . .
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
Repairs and cleaning of trucks and motors . .
0.213

..
..
..
..
1. 650
.
.
Wages and salaries
Total

Main tenance and depreciation of overhead
Tra:nsportation.
line . .
..
..
..
..
..
..
0.101
..
..
..
..
..
0.658
Sinking fund
Conductors, drivers, inspectors, ca.r lighting, oil, car house ex
Track main tenance
..
.
..
..
0.018
penses, &c.
..
..
..
..
..
..


..
..
0.144
Oar cleaning and mamtenance . .
Office expe nse~ and insurance . .
..
..
O.U72

4. 245

General Expenses.

Total per car-m ile . .

Car-mileage run by moLor cars ..
,
,
,
t ra i1 , ..
Number of m otor cars . .
..
,
trail ,
..
..
Lengt h of single track in miles . .
TABLE

3.555
10,287,000
4,241,000
401
300
150

V.- Cost of R unning Leeds Electric T rctmways

dtvring 1898 in P ence per Car-Mile.
d.

Electric power . .
..
..
Wages and salaries
..
..
..
Repairs and m aintenance
Road and maintenance. .
..
Compensation and management
Total

..

..

0.56
1.98
1.24
0.28

..

0.77

..

..

..

4.83

In the early days, before polyphase high-t ension

currents were known, the situation of the central
station was practically imposed, very little latitude
being possible owing to the maximum distance of
economical transmission being limited. Electricity
works being most required in crowded centres, it
was not only difficult to obtain a site at all, but the

Offices, clerks, dnmages, &c.

Totnl operatin g expenses

..

Total car -mileage

..
..
..
..
Ratio of working expenses to receipts ..

cost of the ground was very great. H enpe the

necessity of crowding the greatest amount of power
into the smallest possible space. The plants being
mostly used for lighting, and only running a few
hours each day, highly economical engines and
boilers and labour-saving appliances were of but little
advantage. At present, circumstances have altered;
electricity can economically be transmitted to any
distance, and is utilised--and will be more and
more so every day-firstly for power purposes, and
secondly for lighting purposes.
H ence a modern plant, instead of running but
a limited number of hours a day, will be practically running nearly 24 hours every day. The

average cost for existing British plants, according

to Mr. E. Garcke's Manual of Electrical Undertakings, expressed in percentage of total capital
expenditure, is approximately as follows :
Land and buildings, 19 to 23 per cent. ; machinery
and plant, 35 to 37 per cent. ; the various remaining items from 4 to 14 per cent. As regards the
first item, the above average includes several old
lighting stations, and there is little doubt that , if a
new plant were to be put down, the cost of land
could be materially reduced.
Th~ differ~nce which exists. betw~en a plant
workmg contmuously and only mterm1ttantly is at
once seen in the average amount of coal consumed

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

j0 2

THE PARIS EXHIBITION

[JUNE I,

CIRCULAR RAILWAY AND TRAYELLING

1900.

PLATFOR~1.

(For Description, see P age 705.)

.,

((

Frc. 1.
per unit gen erA.ted. The type of engine used must,
however, also be taken into consideration.
Thus, taking the published results of British
electric-light plants, we find t hat the cost of coal
per unit generated varies approxima tely between
0.3 pence and 2.2 pence. Comparing t his to
tract ion plants, we find t he cost of co~l varying
between 0.09 and 0.50 pence per unit generated
(see Table I .). Again, considering the item of
wages a nd salaries in a lighting station, we have
0.3 to 1.6 pence; in the case of traction, t his is
0.03 to 0.40 pence per unit. Comparing the total
cost of production of on e Board of Trade unit
generated in a lighting station and in a traction
station, interest and sinking fund excluded, in the
former, the unit varies from 1.00 to 4.00 pence,
as compared to 0.25 to 1.00 penny for traction
purposes. Table II. shows the comparative costs
of producing electric power in average lighting and
traction plants. Or, in oth er words, t he cost of
power when generated for traction and power
purposes is one-quar ter of t hat when generated for
.
. .
lighting only.
The amount to be added for mterest and smkmg
fund, of course depends on the length of t he concession, on t he terms of final purcha e, and on
t he life of t he machinery employed. The cost of
p roducing power varies with t he amou.nt to be
produced, decreasing as the amoun t mc: eases.
This shows the advisability of concentratmg. as
much power as possible in one station, and reducmg
t he number of units. The question as to the
quality of coal to be employed is one. on :vhich
a uthorities do n ot always agree, and wluch Will be
d iscussed in d etail in a future article.
In considering the yarious items which go to

F0.

~.

- - ELECTRIC RAILWAY

STATION

- - MOVI N G PLATFORM.

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STATION

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JuNE I, 1900.]

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

[JuNE I,

1900.

~ake ~ complete power or traction installation, The Nile itself runs between high banks, which through the land-as that brings up the salt

in large
mclud1ng the system of feeders, distributors track ~onfine the flood to the channel, except where it quantities. Mr: 'Yillcocks .is, therefore, a great
~nd overhead line, the cost of the power ~tation Is led away by the canals. After the basins are advocate of periOdical washing, such as occurs in
1s ~ut a. comparatively small item. The saving emptied, the crop is sown, and grows rapidly. The basin irri&ation; and he looks with apprehension at
whi~h c.an be effected by a. properly designed harves~ follows, and then the fields are left parched the great Increase of perenni~tl irrigation, if it is not
statwn. IS v~rY: gr eat, and a. little extra capital and and for several months, except such portions carried on with greater care than has hitherto
expenditure IS m many cases well justified.
of th em as can be irrigated by water raised from obtained. When the level of water in the canals
The total cost of running an electric tramway or wells, which is n ot very much. In perennial irri- is k ept continually higher than the surface of the
railwa! varies ~etween. 2. 50 and 8. 00 pence per gation,. on the contrary, water is available all the fields, there is always danger of infiltration.
car mile, according to ci_rcumstances ; the electrical year round, and the land is never drowned. In . It is impossible, within the space available, to
energy ~t the power .station required varying from the flood-time the c~nals run full, while in the gtve any adequate account of the contents of this
0.49 units to 1.4 ';!nits per car~mile, according to summer they are at a lower level, but water can valuable work, and we must be content with a
the profile of the hne and the weight and speed of always be obtained, eith er direct ly or by pumping. brief s~nopsis .of the .chapters. These are (I.)
the cars.
The result is that three crops can be obtained in a E gypt In relatiOn to Its geology, meteorology,
Ta~le III. gives the average consumption of year, and products, such as sugar and cotton, can agriculture, land system, imports, exports, and
electric power at the switchboard p er car-mile of be grown which require to be planted at times revenue. (I I.) The Nile from Lake Victoria to
several existing European lines; and Table II., the which do not coincide with the abatement of the the Sea. (HI.) Basin Irrigation in Upper Egypt
cost of production and charges tnade to tramway annual flood. This system has prevailed in the Part . I. (IV.) Basin Irrigation in Upper Egypt:
compan~es who do n<;>t generate their own power. Fayoum since time immemorial, the water being Part II., beginning at the year 1886, and tracing
Comparing these priCes to those at which current derived from a cann.l called the Bahr Yusuf, which the alterations and improvements introduced since
can be produced by a modern and properly designed branched from t he Nile far south, and following an t.hat date. (V.) Perennial Irrigat ion in Upper
and operated station, it will at once b e seen that easier gradient, eventually delivered its water at a Egypt. (VI.) Perennial Irrigation in Lower Egypt.
they are exorbitant.
much higher level. The modern development of (VII.) E gypt by Provinces, dealing with proThe cost of the electric power necessary t o run the system dates from about 1820, when Mehemet prietors, population, rent, taxes, manures, faclight, and h eat the cars forms from 10 to 40 pe~ Ali Pacha. inaugurated very large irrigation works tories, crops, drainage, and the like. (VIII.)
cent. of the total working expenses. The three in the Delta. In 1873 a large area in Upper Egypt Drainage and Land Reclamation. (IX.) The Barlargest items in the running costs are power, wages was also brought under perennial irrigation. Vast rages. (X.) The Nile in Flood, explaining the
sums were spent on these works, and undoubtedly regulation of the flood wat ero. (XI.) Engineering
and salaries, and sinking fund.
Tables IV., V. and VI., which give respectively immense returns were obtained. But owing to Details, in connection with regulators, canals,
the working of the Hamburg, L eeds, and of some Oriental methods of construction and management, escapes, silt deposit, dredging, well-sinking,
New .E ngland electric tramways, are inter esting as the cost was far greater and the returns far less masonry, &c. (XII.) Duty of Water, and Agri(XIII.) Administrative and Legal.
cultural.
sh~wing ~he P.reportion and the great variation than they should have been.
When the British took the country in hand it (XIV.) Reservoirs, giving accounts of the various
wh10h exists In the various cases between the
was at once evident that the irrigation system was projects which have been suggested for storing
proportions of the various items.
Table VI. gives the detailed working expenses in a. deplorable condition, and that no one knew water in Egypt. Eleven Appendices.
The most beneficent results that the English
and other useful data. of the most important New exactly what was needed to put it right. A number
of irrigation engineers were obtained from India, irrigation engineers have attained in E gypt have
England roads during 1898.
Table VII. is specially interesting, showing the under Colonel Moncrieff, Mr. Willcocks, the author been to get the full benefit out of the works they
results obtained on the New York lines by the of this book being one of t hem ; and they were sent took in hand. Before their t ime, everything was
subs tit ution of electric for cable traction. A few into the country to fe el their way, and to do what managed on the Oriental plan of doing as little as
facts and figures r egarding this great system are they could with very limited r esources to prevent possible, and beating someone when a disaster
decay ripening into disaster. This volume is a occurred. They naturally changed all that. They
inter esting in this connection.
record of what they have done, and it fur- insisted on the officials doing their duty, and t hey
(To be continued. )
nishes matter for pride to us, both aB engi- gradually-by minor alterations and improvements
neers and Englishmen, to read what enormous -brought order and regularity into a department
benefits have flowed from the exertions of a few which before had been characterised by sloth and
men who, in 17 years, have brought order out of waste. But the matters which appeal most to the
chaos, and have r endered happiness possible to imagination are the repair of t he barrages, and the
building of the great dam at AssG>uan, which is now
millions
of
fellaheen.
Mr.
Willcocks
is
pecuEgyptia!n Irrigation. By W. WrLLCOOKS, C.M.G. M.
Inst. C.E., late Director-General of Reservoirs. With liarly well adapted to be the historian of the in progress. The barrages were weirs built acr oss
an Introduction by Major HANBURY BROWN, C.M.G., movement, because he has been connected with so the two branches of the Nile where it forks at the
late R .E., Inspector-General of Irrig,ation, Lower many important features of it . We are told by head of the Delta, in order to hold up the level of
Egypt. Second Edition. London: E. and F. N . Maj or Brown, in the introduction, that Mr . the water in the summer where it enters the great
Spon. New York: Spon and Chamberlain. [Price
irrigation canals. The work s were completed in
the
first
to
see
that
the
Barrage
Willcocks
was
30s.]
1861, at a cost of 1,880,000l., exclusive of the
"The Egyptian question is the irrigation ques- was capable of repair : a discovery of immense cm"Vee, or forced labour of the peasants. In 1863
tion," said N ubar Pacha ; and certainly n o one was importance, as it enabled the flow of water to all the Rosetta barrage was closed for the first time,
b etter able to sp eak on the subject than he. The parts of the Delta to be greatly increased. He but was r eopened immediately, owing to a settlematter, however, does n ot rest on authority; it is held the position of Inspector of Irrigation of the ment of a part of the work. The ground
capable of easy demonstration. Egypt became a Central Provinces of the Delta, and did much for under the weirs was practically soft Nile sand.
''question " because it could not meet its liabili- the improvement of the district, and also for the The Rossetta weir was built on a platform, flush
ties, and thus furnished West ern Powers with an abolition of the corvee, the system of forced labour with the river bed, 46 metres (151 ft.) wide, and
excuse to meddle in its affairs. Could it have ob- which so grievously oppressed the peasantry. 3. 5 metres (11 ft. 6 in.). This was composed of
t ained a sufficient income t o meet the payments on During the low flood of 1888, he accompanied and concrete overlaid with brick and stonework. Upon
its debts, and t o have defrayed the cost of govern- ad vised the Ministers of Public Works, on a. special this platform there was built a regulating bridge
ment, it might have pursued its own path, certain mission undertaken to consider measures for meet- with 61 openings, each 16 ft. 5 in. wide. In each
that the jealousies of the Powers would have been ing the difficulties of the sit uation. Afterwards, as opening there is an iron gat.e, but this gate Ol'igia safer protection than any armaments. Its in- Director -General of R eservoirs, he conducted the nally did not., when lowered, r each the platform
debtedness, h owever, grew faster than its resources, studies which led to the decision to make a reser- of the barrage ; it rested on an iron .gr ating 12 in.
and it met the fate predicted by Mr. Micawber voir above the First Cataract ; and he drew up the high, fixed into the pier~ just above the platform.
of all whose expenditure exceeds their income. designs and estimates according to which the This grating allowed a free passage of the water
The Egyptian revenue is derived, directly or in- Assouam Dam and the Assiout Barrage are being when the gates were down, and was put in to
directly, from a tax on agricultural products, and built . Finally, h e was en trusted with the work 9f prevent deposits of mud. The Damietta. barrage
all agriculture in Egypt is dependent on the water ascertaining the rental value of all land in Egypt: has ten more openings than its fellow, and has a
of the Nile. When that is available in the r equired a task which made him intimately acquainted with similar platform and superstructure. Curiously,
quantities, the cultivators can pay t heir taxes easily; every part of the country.
all knowledge of the gratings seems to have been
One
is
particularly
struck
with
the
fair-mindedwhile, when it is sh ort in amount, they find it diffilost, and the spouting of the water through them was
n
ess
of
the
author
of
this
work.
He
holds
very
cult enouo-h to live, without contributing anything
held to indicate grave fissures in the foundations.
decided
opinions,
but
he
does
n
ot
conceal
the
fact
t o the r~venue. Thus it is t hat irrigation- the
The Da.mietta barrage was n ot closed ; that on the
that
they
do
not
meet
universal
acceptance.
He
system of delivering water when and where it is
Rosetta. branch was closed when the Nile gauge
entrusted
the
writing
of
the
preface
to
a
gentleneeded- is t he key to Egyptian finance, and through
stood at 12. 5 metres. The upstream gauge rose
strongly
from
him
on
certain
man
who
differs
that to its international difficulties.
to 13 metres, while the downstream gauge fell to
points,
and
did
not
hesitate
to
defend
his
own
ideas
There are two systems of irrigation in Egypt,
11.25 metres, so that with a difference in water
and
practice
;
and
hence
we
have
the
unusual
specand probably always have been-basin irrigat~on
level, of 1.25 metres (50 in. ), there was a gain in
an
introduction
which
is
also
a.
critiq'tte.
t
acle
of
and perennial irrigation. In the former, whiCh
water level of only .5 metr e (20 in. ). Gradually
Throughout
the
volume
th
ere
are
quotations
from
obtains chiefly in Upper and Middle Egypt, that is,
t he head fell to 1 metre, and the water level difeports
which
are
not
in
agreement
with
Mr.
Willr
south of Cairo, the country is divided by earthen
ference of level to . 35 metre.
own
conclusions,
and
the
reader
is
t
hus
cocks'
banks into irregular portions of about 10 square
Several engineers had been consulted at various
that
th
e
question
of
irrigation
is
not
so
warned
miles area, on t he average, and in the autumn each
times as to strengthening the barrages. Nothing,
as
h
e
might
otherwise
imagine.
If
it
were
simple
basin is filled to a depth of 4 ft ., or 5 ft., or 6 ft .
however, had been done, partly owing to want of
confined
to
leading
t
he
water
to
the
crops,
the
with flood water from t he Nile, and this water is
money, and partly to the uncertainty of the operamatter
would
be
fairly
easy,
provided
the
water
allowed to lie for about a month. The country is not
tion, as it was known that the work had been
were
available;
but
the
water
has
also
to
be
drained
.flooded, as we understand such a phenomena here,
shockingly sca.mped in places. In 1884 the irrigain
order
to
prevent
the
land
"salting"
and
away
,
but the filling and emptying is done in an ordered
tion engineers, under Sir Colin Soott Moncrieff,
becoming
sterile.
Further,
it
is
most
important
to
manner, by means of canals which are provided with
took the barrages in hand; and aided by a special
pr
event
''
infiltration"
the
rising
up
of
water
sluices, or r egulated by temporary ear th en dams .

LITERATURE.

J UNE I, 1900.]

grant obtained from N ubar Pacha, they started on

the work of strengthening them, t he work being done
principally under ~Ir. Willcocks, Mr. P erry, Colonel
Western, and Mr. A. Reid. The tale is too long to
tell in extenso, but it is well worth reading. In
1890 the r epairs were complete on both dams, and
the level of the water was held up to 14 metres.
Much has since been done in the way of maint~n
ance ; and it is interesting to note t hat in 1896 and
1898, the piers were strengthened by ''stook ramming '' and cement grouting, on the plans devised
by Mr. W. R. Kinip;Ple.
As to t he reservoirs, we have so recently published (see page 318 ante) an account of the present
condition of t he great dam at Assouan, t hat it is
not necessary to say more. In addition, however,
to this site, Mr. "\Villcocks investigated several
others, including the Wady R ayan, which was
for ~everal years ably advocated by Mr. Cope
Whitehouse, at a time when t he idea of storage of
Nile water was considered more or less chimerical.
Although it has been passed over for the simpler
project of a dam in the bed of the Nile, there is
always the possibility of its being revived. The
ability of Egypt to utilise water is immense, and it
is quite possible that it will outgrow the proj ected
supply. It is more likely, however, that regulating
work may, hereafter, be constructed farther south.
Now that we talk glibly of the Cape to Cairo railway, and are opening up the way from Fashoda to
Uganda, Egyptian irrigation is entering o.n a n ew
phase, in which the possibilities for good are greatly
increased. Whatever happens, however, Mr. Willcocks' book will remain a mine of valuable information, to which all future irrigation engineers
will turn.

PARIS EXHIBITION RAILWAYS.

(Continued from page 676.)
THE CIRCULAR ELECTRIC RAILWAY AND

TRAVELLING PLATFORM.
IN a recent article (sAe ENGINEERING, page 647
ante) we illustrated and described, with some detail, the Timmis and Lavezarri system of electric
sirnalling, adopted on the circular rail way that has
b:en constructed for the convenience of visitors to
the Paris Exhibition. It will be remembered how
indispensable to passenger transport was the Decauville Rail way at the Exhibition of 1889, while four
years later the World's :Fair at Chicago was provided partially with electric traction, and the travelling platform appeared for t he first time. In this
branch of engineering, matters have moved fast
since 1893, so that not only has a steam-worked
railway become obsolete for the present Exhibition,
but it possesses a far more complete system, and
one-thanks to the smaller area and more compact
form of t he grounds-of greater utility than was
possible in Chicago. We have -already described
the permanent extension lines that have been
hastened to completion for the convenience of
visitors to the Exhibition ; the present, and a subsequent, article will be devoted to the circular
electric rail way and travelling platform which are
essentially of a temporary character. The sketch plan
which we publish on page 702 shows the course followed. The thicker line indicates the electric railway, and the t hinner line, that highly popular mode
of t ransport, t he travelling platform; this ingenious
mode of transport appears to afford endless delight
to Exhibition visitors. It will be seen from the plan
that the routes followed by the railway and the
platform are similar, and that the latter is in places
identical with that of the former. Fig. 1 shows
the two lines at a station of the electric railway,
with the travelling platform immediately above it.
The stations on each are shown respectively by
solid and open circles. Both lines commence at
the upper part of the Esplanade des Invalides
(Rue Fabert) and passing down this street, turn
with a sharp curve to the Quai d'Orsay, which
they traverse, parallel to the street of foreign pavilions and at the back of the A.rmy and Navy
Building. In this way the lines reach t he A venue
de la Bourdonnais, which they cross, leaving the
Quai d'Orsay with another sharp curve. At the
upper end, where t he Avenue de la Bourdonnais
intersects the Avenue de la Motte Picq uet, a third
curve brings the lines into the last-named Avenue,
following which they reach the point of departure
in the Esplanade des Invalides. It will be seen
from the plan that quite a large area outside t he
Exhibition, including parts of the Rues de Grenelle,

E N G I N E E R I N G.
D orninique, and U niversite, the Avenues Rapp and
Bosquet, and the BouleYard de la Tour Maubourg
are enclosed by t he railways, which, moreover, are
in places constructed quite outside the Exhibition
boundaries. The works had therefore to be constructed in such a manner and at sufficiently high
levels, as not to interfer e with the traffic of the
streets affected. How far the comforts of residents
on t he line of route may be interfered wit h by t he
constant passage of trains on the level of the first
floor windows, is another matter.
A few words about the travelling platform are
necessary here, on account of its close connection
with the electric railway, although we r eserve the
details of its arrangement for another article.
It was intended that the platform should be
kept throughout its course at a certain levelabout 23 ft. -above t he road, in order that passengers may see as much as possible during t heir
extended and deliberate promenade ; and this condition has been admirably carried out. On the
other hand, it was desirable for the convenience
of passengers, and economy in construction, that
t he electric railway should, as far as possible, follow
the ground level, and the various stations are practically on this level. But obviously this arrangement was impossible where the line follows the
public streets; on such sections a sufficient elevation to clear all road traffic was n ecessary.
Where road crossings occur they are for the most
part made below the street le\el, as was done with
the little D ecauville Railway in 1889. U nder th ese
conditions, it may be readily imagined that the line is
one of frequent and steep gradients, as well as of
sharp curves. The Esplanade des Invalides station
(A, Fig. 2), is almost on t he ground level, but it rises
sharply towards the Quai d'Orsay curve, where it is
on the same level as the travelling platform ; it
then fall s into cutting and tunnel to pass beneath
the avenues converging on the Pont de l 'Alma.
After this it rises to the ground level, and continues with an ascending gradient till it curves into
the .Avenue de la Bourdonnais, and is again on the
lovel of the travelling platform. Near here the
line enters the Champ de Mars, and falls rapidly
to the ground level, where, opposite the Mining
and Metallurgical Building, is a station. Immediately beyond, t he line falls quickly enough to pass
beneath the Porte R app entrance to the Exhibition ; that is to say, near an entrance to the Textile
Building, which, by the way, is sadly interfered
with by the trestlework of the travelling platform.
N ear this point there is a short branch leading to a
service station, not accessible to passengers ; this
station serves as a dep6t and repairing shops.
The offices of both the electric rail way and travelling platform administrations are situated here.
The whole of the traffic is controlled from these
offices, the surveillance being greatly assisted by a
very complete system of telephones common to the
two means of transport, and about which we shall
say more presently.
The last station on the Champ de Mars is at
some 1ittle distance from the boundary, and is not
opposite the end of the Machinery Hall, because
at this point a rising gradient is lifting the track
so as to take it out of the Exhibition limits, high
enough to pass into the adjoining street. The
high level is maintained after this, the line running down one side of the Avenue de la Motte
Picquet, while the travelling platform at about the
same height passes on the other side, in front of
the first- floor windows of the Avenue. Passengers, especially those using the slower means
of transport, can thus be entertained with
passing views of the domestic arrangements
of the first-floor r esidents, all of whom probably
heartily resent the existence of the Exhibition.
Continued on the high level, the electric railway
enters the E splanade des Invalides, where it commences to fall rapidly, and terminates at the same
level at which it commences in the Invalides station.
From the foregoing explanation it will be realised
that the circular tour by this line offers other attractions besides conveniences to passengers-those
of sharp curves, severe gradients, and glimpses of
family life. On the ground level, in open cutting,
and in tunnel, the railway works show nothing of
interest, but the viaducts are quite important
structures which should be fully described. They
were constructed for the railway company, called
the Compagnie des Transports Electriques de !'Exposition, by a very famous firm of engineers and
constructors-the Societe de Constructions de
Levallois-Perret. It was this company which,

in 1889, made and erected the Eiffel Tower, and

much other important work for the 1889 Exhibition.
~fr. Eiffel was at t hat time the director of the
works. Quite recently the same firm supplied the
important viaduct carrying the Moulineaux-Champ
de Mars station across the Seine, and which was
recently illustrated and described by u~ (see ENGINEERING, page 578 ante). We are indebted to the
Levallois-Perret Company for the illustrations of
the circular rail way viaduct accompanying this
article, and for the following information. The
total length of viaduct is about 4620 ft . on a total
length of r ail way of 4 kilometres, or more than
one-third ; the maximum h eight of rails above the
ground is 19 ft. 8 in. F ollowing the same direction as when describing the route of the line, the
first viaduct is 915 ft. long, divided into 19 spans
varying from 28 ft. to 55 ft. 9 in. The second
viaduct is 916 ft.long, with 23 spans of from 39 ft .
to 54 ft. The third and most important viaduct is
over 2700 ft. in length ; it is composed of 55 spans
varying from 49 ft. to 66ft. in lengt h. A considerable range in the spans of t hese different viaducts
was obviously n ecessary on account of the r e
quirements of the traffic interfered with, and the
widths of streets that had to be crossed. At the
same time a similar type cf construction was necessary t hroughout, both on account of appearance,
and for convenience in construction, But little
description of the structure is necessary, as the
drawings we publish explain themselves. Figs. 3
and 4, page 703 illustrate one of the current 49-ft.
spans.
On those portions of the viaduct set out on
curves with radii varying from 40 to 60 metres
(131 ft. to 196 ft. ), the construction followed on the
straight viaduct has been modified, as shown in
Figs. 5 to 12. The chief alterations are in placing
the cross-girders further apart (66 in. ), and the
rails are supported by intermediate bearers. The
mode of bracing t he piers is also slightly different, as will bo seen from t he illustrations. The
erection of the viaducts was a work of considerable interest, and mtl.y be described in some
detail ; for it is to be remembered that in work
of t his class, it is not the construction, which
is ordinary enough, but In the erection in crow.ded
thor oughfares, where ingenuity is required to
overcome difficulties. The diagrams Figs. 13 to
15 illustrate the method of erecting both the
trestles and the superstructure, which offered a
great contrast to the primitive systems followed
in the erection of the Exhibition buildings. The
beton foundations for a series of trestles being completed, a travelling gantry, outlined in Figs. 13 and
14, and worked by hand, was brought to the spot
where the trestle was to be dealt with. The headway
of the stage was sufficient to lift the trestle clear of
the ground, the attachment being made by hooks as
shown, and the hoisting done with a winch. When
the t restle was raised high enough, the gantry was
manceuvred until the bedplate was exactly in position
over the foundation ; it was then dropped into place,
and the staging was shifted to the next pier. In this
way the work advanced very rapidly, a temporary
track being laid on the street for t he travelling
gantry. To erect the girders, the latter were laid
conveniently upon blocks placed on t.he ground.
The hooks of the gantry hoist were then made
fast, as shown in the diagram, and one end was
raised to a certain height. A second hoist was
then brought into use ; this latter travelled on a
track laid on the viaduct already finished, and its
hooks wer e attached to the other end of the girderwork. The operation of lifting a span and lowering it on the bearing plates of the trestles was thus
very rapidly accomplished. The spans were put
together and riveted upon the ground, so that they
were in the best position for hoisting (Fig. 15). The
weight of a span complete was about 6 tons, and the
whole arrangement reflects great credit on the
Lavallois-Perret works, and on their engineer who
devised the system. "The illustrations show the
n10de of laying the track on the viaducts ; a metre
gauge has been adopted, the rails are flat-footed,
weighing 50 lb. a yard, and are laid on ordinary crossties. Parallel to the track is a third rail, by which
current is transmitted ; it is exactly similar to the
others, and is insulated by paraffin, the bonds being
made with copper strips riveted to the rails. This
conductor rail is connected with feeders at various
points ; it is laid on the outside of the track, with
reference to the stations, so that passengers cannot
run any risks by coming in contact with the conductor rail. Moreover, the whole course of the

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

[J UNE I,

1900.

THE PARIS EXHIBITION; THE CIRCULAR ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

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line is decorated with warnings in different languages that it is dangerous to '!alk on the track,
just as in 1889, polyglot posters Informed the world
of the consequences that woul.d ~ollow the pro~ru
sion of its head beyond the hmit of the carriage
windows. The track is used for the return circuit,
the bonding being by copper rods riveted to the
webs of t he rails.
The various stations call for no special comment;
they are commodious, of good appea~anc~, and
simple, as should be ~he c~se for thi~ km~ of
service and a very brief exiStence. Fig. 1 IS a
.good iilustration of a station, and it shows t~e
elevated travelling platform as well as the ~lectnc
railway. The platforms are the same height as
t he floor of the carriages. The public are, of
course not adn1itted to the repairing Rtation and
carriage depot of which we spoke just now ; it is
on a branch, and for greater security the conductor
rail is r eplaced by an overhea~ con~uctor. The
carriages are therefore each proYided w1th a trolley,
which, in regular ser vice, is laid on the roof of the

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

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'!'RAILING CAR FOR CIRCULAR ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

vehicle ; but which is raised when the latter is run

into shed, or manreuvred in the shunting yard.
The rolling stock, apart from the motors, has
been supplied by the Societe Anonyme FrancoBelge, which has kindly furnished us with drawings. The motor cars already in service are
nine in number, and 18 trailing cars have been
delivered. The former carry 82 persocs, for
whom 46 seats are provided. As will be seen
by the illustrations, Figo. 16 to 20, the arrangements of these carriages are very good ; the
construction makes it impossible for passengers
to get down on the outer, or third rail, side. The
total length of the carriage, outside buffers, is 41 ft.;
the length of the frame is 37 ft. 8 in. The general
features of construction are shown in the drawings.
E:11ch ca!-riagt' is fitted with a Soulerin brake, and

an electric air compressor which can be operated by

the carriage axles; hand-brakes are also fitted. On
account of the very sharp curves, of which, as we
have seen, there are several on the line, central
buffers only are used. The trailing cars differ only
in some details from the motor cars ; naturally no
"motor man " compartment is necessary, but they
do not hold so many passengers, the dimensions
being smaller. The length over buffers is 30ft. 6 in.;
and over frames, 27 ft. 5 in. ; the distance between
centres of axles is 14ft. 9 in. As will be seen, they
are four-wheeled vehicles mounted rigidly on the
axles. Each train is made up of a motor car, and
two trailers. At t he present time really heavy
traffic has not commenced; when it does, the intention is to run trains at intervals of 1! minutes,
and as the speed will be 16 or 17 kilometres, in-

eluding stops, it is fair to estimate that this little

line will be able to carry 10,000 people an hour, a.
numher of visitors seeking transport that will
probably be often exceeded. The motors, together
with all the fixed electrical plant, have been furnished by the important Societe Industrielle
d'Electricite, which was founded by the American
W estinghouse Company. vVe are indebted to one
of the society's engineers, M. D. Welter, for information on this part of our subject.
The
illustrations show the positions of the motors
under the carriages ; they are of the latest Westinghouse types, are each of 30 horse-power, and
the running speed is reduced by gearing in the ratio
of 20 to 62. It is, in fact, simply a normal tramway motor with steel frame, and very carefully
encased to keep out dust. For 30 horse-power

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

[JUNE 1,

1900.

~evelo~ed on the axle, a speed of 500 revolutions t his takes place, the speed is also increased, and blade cost now a trifle over l i d.

1s requ1red. The control apparatus include a controller in parallel, each motor group being regarded as a single motor for grouping in series or
parallel ; t here are also a rheostat, an automatic
interrupter, a disjunctor, and safety fuses.
We have already (see page 647 ante) very fully
d_e scribed the Timmis-Lavezarri system of electric
s1gnals that has been adopted, and we neeJ, therefore, not dwell on this part of the installation. It
was at .firs~ c?nsidered. unnecessary .to equip a
closed c~rcu1t .hne of th1s character wtth signals,
t~e spee~s be1ng low,_ and the trains always runnmg on s1ngle track 1n the same direction. But
M. ~arechal, the engineer-in-chi.ef of the company,
deCided that too great precautwns could not be
taken, especially at the sharp curves on different
parts of the line, and the Timmis-Lavezarri system
was accordingly adopted. At 50 metres in
front of each curve a signal is located, but
the contact which closes the signal is placed
30 metres away, so that the train has passed
in front of the signal before the contact placed
under the motor car closes the circuit. On the other
hand, at a distance of 250 or 300 metres beyond
the same curve, is another contact for closing the
circuit, and as the train passes it opens the disc and
clears the track without the employment of any
other signal. The train then ceases to be protected,
a condition that applies to the straight portions of
the line, and which are certainly free of danger. It
may be remarked, however, that the two signals
protecting the curve at the entry to, and exit from,
the Rue F abert, where the line follows the Esplanade des Invalides, are coupled, because they
are so close to~ether ; they are worked under the
normal condit ions we ha ve already described, and
to which we refer our readers.
We have now to speak of the power station that
furnishes current for the traction and lighting of the
rail way and travelling platform ; in this, the latter
plays a somewhat important part, the stations,
lines, and carriages being all well lighted. Tpe
arrangement presents nothing of special interest
however, but it includes a great number of
incandescence lamps. The working current is
transmitted frem the transformer station to the
travelling platform, as well as to the railway,
and our present description of it will render it
unnecessary to return to this part of the subject
when we come to describe the platform. It is a
transforming, and not a generating, station, because
the Societe des Transports Electriques, found it
more economical to purchase, instead of generating,
current , on account of the temporary character of
the installation. They accordingly made arrangements with the Western Railway Company, which,
as we have already seen, is establishing a large station
at Moulineaux for working its trains on the new
railway we recently described. Unfort unately,
this power station is not yet complete, so that
the Societe des Transports Electriques had, for
the time at all events, to look elsewhere. They
were therefore compelled to t urn to one of the
Paris Sector companies to furnish them with the
necessary current, for the present at all events, and
they were thus able to run trains from the commencement of the Exhibition. It has also to be
mentioned that the completion of the transformer
station was delayed by a deplorable accident, no
other than the loss of the cargo boat Pauillac
belonging to the Compagnie Transatlantique FranQaise. Together with a large amount of Exhibition
material from the U nited States, the Pauillac
carried the greater part of the French W eatinghouse Company's plant for the station in question, and it required a considerable amount of
energy and prompt resource on the part of the
French Company to re,lace this lost material.
The traYelling platform is fed by a group of
transformer3 consisting mainly of a triphase motor
workin<Y with a 5000-volt current delivered from
the m:ins of the Paris Sector Company before
mention ed ; this motor develops 850 horse-power.
It is coupled direct to a tramway generator of
550 volts and 600 kilowatts effective continuous
current, capable o! working as a. maximum to
2000 amperes, wh10h corresponds t~ the effor t
required for starting. To produ_c~ this t he speed
is raised by means of an auXlhary gr?up, the
generator working as a motor ; the ex01ters are
then cut out and the circuit made between the
generator add the platform ~o.tors. Wit~ ~he
same auxiliary group the exCiting effort 1s Increased, till the platform is started ; as soon as

when the n ormal rate of movement is reached, the

generator is transformed into a self-exciter, and the
auxiliary group is cut out. As already said, the
same station furnishes power to the railway; for
this purpose a 600-kilowatt generator had been sent
fron1 Pittsburg, and was lost in the shipwreck
of the Pauillac; it was therefore replaced by one of
450 kilowatts. The 5000-volt triphase current
is reduced by three monophase transformers, each
of 170 kilowatts, the original scheme having provided for three of 225 kilowatts. The generator is
compound wound, and the transformers are arranged
under special conditions to allow of over-compounding. It is satisfactory to note that, in spite of the
many difficulties encountered, both the railway and
the platform, work admirably, and that both were
ready for the public on the earliest days of the
Exhibition.
(To be continued.)

HAND AND MACHINE LABOUR.

(Concluded from page 647.)

SCREWS.
THE introduction of automatic screwing machines
has had a great influence upon the manufacture of
screws, although in many cases- thirty, forty, and
fifty years ago-screws were being turned out at
one operation by machine tools ; and it should
be noted, too, that, according to the report before
us, from six to twelve of these automatic machines
are now operated by one person. In one cas~,
with six machines to attend, the wage is !Os. 6d.
per day ; in some, with 10 machines, 9s. 6d. ;
and in others, with 12 machines, 10s. 6d. per day,
all of 10 hours.
The greatest difference in the time required under
the hand and machine system is in the case of iron
screw posts, ! in. by 1! in., of which 10,000 are
now made in 16.7 minutes, as against 1250 hours
in 1840, a ratio of 4491 to 1 in favour of the
machine. The principal worker now gets double
the wage, and the labour cost of manufacture is
3!d., including power, keeping machinery in order,
&c., as compared with over 26l. In this case the
machinist attends twelve machines, and earns
10s. 6d. per day of ten hourR. This difference is
the greatest recorded by the inquiry resulting in
the report now before us. In the case of other
screws the saving in time is very considerable- in
several instances the reduction is to a twentieth
part of the time taken in the early sixties. Here is
a typical case :
TABLE

XC.-P?oduction of 100 Cup-Pointed Steel

Machine Set Sc1ews ~ I n . by 2i I n .

Mode of Production.
Hand.
...
...
1862
Date...
...
Number of different opera5
tions involved ...
. ..
Number of workmen em3
ployed ...
...
...
Number of hours worked 42 h. 0 m.
. .. 9.55 dols.
Cost of labour ...
Average rate of wages per
.. . . 23 cents
hour
...
. ..

Machine.
1896
6

6
2 h. 30 m.
.46 dol.
18.4 cents

In the hand systeu1 a vice and saw were used in

cutting the stocks into lengths, whereas with a
cut-off machine the work was done in 56 minut es
instead of 2 hours. The next operation was the
forming of the screw, which, with a lathe, occupied
30 hours, then threading, done with lathe, dieplate, and pliers, requiring 8 hours more, or 38
hours for the work, which an automatic machine
does in 1 hour 12 minutes at a labour cost ls. l ! d. ,
against 35s. 5d. for the old-time labour.
HAND- TooLs.

Comparison is mat;le of the cost of manufacturin~

hand-tools, such as saws, hammers, chisels, &c., and
the data are as interesting as those for work done
by those tools. In t he case of hand-saws it is rema rkable to n oto that such ad vantage as is gained by
the application of 1uachinery has gon o very largely
in wage. Thus, with hand labour in 1895 the time
taken was 325 hours, against 218 hours 52 minutes
by machine methods in the samo year, a di~erence
in favour of the latter of 33 per cent. ; but 1n the
1abour cost the decrease only equals 7! per cen t .69.25 dols. against 64.06 dols. n ow, the avera~e
wage having increased from 101d . .to l s. 3~. ~n
the making of circular saws there 1s a savmg In
time and wage of about 55 per cent., both processes
being of date 1895. A hand rip saw with a 26-in.

A. steel cold
chisel ~ in. by 6 in. cost rather less than !d., as
compared with 3d. 30 years ago. The time required for making 100, was, in 1870, 28 hours 36
minutes, and now it is 7 h ours 20 minutes, so that
here also there has been a slight increase in the
average wage. In the modern system, shears, trip
hammer and tongs, trimming press, grindstone and
polishing wheel, all take the place of the smith's
hand-tools, and the band-worked grindstone.
In the making of hammers it is found that the
cost of labour is reduced to from a tenth to a
fifteenth what it was in the sixties. We take as a
typical case the making of 12 dozen engineers'
hammers, of solid cast steel, 2 lb. weight.
TABLE

XOI.-Jitlanufact ure of 144 2-L b. Engineers'

H ammers.

Mode of Production.
Hand.
Machine.
...
.. . . ...
1860
Date...
1895
Number of different operations involved
..
8
27
Number of workmen employed ...
...
...
2
28
Number of hours w01ked 792 b. 0 m. 44 h. 36 m.
Cost of labour .. .
.. . 124.80 dols.
9.07 dols.
Average rate of wages per
hour
.. .
...
.. . 15.7 cents
20 cents
Thus t he engineer 's hammer costs 3d. to make
with steam-driven tools of pretty much the same
class as those used for making the chisels, while
with blacksmiths' tools, files, vise, &c., the
cost for each was 3s. 6d. In the case of
plain eye riveting hammers, of solid cast steel, and
weighing 9 oz., the results are ~lniost, although not
quite, as satisfactory ; the cost now being oneeleventh what it was in 1860, as against a fourteenth with the engineer's hammer. The number
of men and operations were the same in both cases;
but the gross of hammers were made in 36 hours
24 minutes, as compared with 432 hours, and the
cost has therefore been reduced from 69.60 dols.
to 6.31 dols. ; so that wages have in this case only
increased fractionally- from 8d. to 8fd. per hour.
The cost of making each riveter's hammer is rather
less than 2d. Again, in making hickory handles
for hammers, there has been a great saving. With
steam-driven saws, lathes, and "belting " machines
for finishing, 100 handles can be made in two hours,
whereas the woodworker of 1870 took 66 hours
40 minutes. Wages have been reduced from
2.50 dols. to 2 dols. per day, and thus the labour
cost has been reduced from 16.66 dols. to 40 cents;
the rate being now five handles for ld.
RAILWAY WAGONs, &c.
In the United States the work of loading and
emptying railway wagons has been brought to
great mechanical perfection, while at the same time
traction charges have been so reduced as to make
it a matter of small moment whether ore or coal
supplies have to be brought 1000 or 100 miles ; and
the figures we give on this point are therefore of
great importance as a standard to be aimed at in
this country. In the matter of loading ore, we have
results for 1891, when the primit ive shovel and
wheelbarrow were used, and for 1895 when the
steam shovel was utilised on an improvised
railway. Taking 100 tons as a unit, we find t hat
200 hours were required, which at a daily wage of
2 dols. works out to 40 dols., or ' l s. 8d. per ton,
while with the steam shovel operated by an engineer, craneman, and a fireman, with the help of a
trimmer in the car, we have the same work done
in 68 minutes, at a labour cost of 30 cents. To
t his, however, must be added the cost of laying
lhe track for the steam shovel and cleaning up the
iron ore afterwards, meaning 1 hour 43 minutes, at
a cost of 26 cents, but the total time is only oneseventieth that for hand labour, and the cost for
the 100 tons- 55 cents- is little more than the cost
of loading 1 ton with the primitive tools.
We take next the case for unloading coal, from a
canal barge to a bin 400ft. distant. Labourers ~n
1859 earning 7~d. per hour, unloaded 100 tons In
120 hours, at a"' labour cost of 19.50 dols., or lOd.
per ton. In 1896 the ~rimmers got l s. an ho:u
for shovelling the coal Into steam .elevators di~
charging into cars worked by grav1ty to the b1n
where t hey tipped the coal. 'l'he work was thus
done in one-twelfth the time- 10 hours at a labour
cost of 2. 50 dols., or l i d. per ton. This includes
overseering charges in each case ; wages, too, were
higher for all hands.
Our next and concluding Table gives the results
for transferrin0a 1000 bushels of wheat from storage
bins to steamships :

LoADING AND U NLOADING

] UN E I , I 900.
TABLE

XCII.-Loading 1000 Bushels of Wheat in Ships.

E N G I N E E RI N G.

1. Tissues made in the ordinary loom, and r e- or mor e round a warp thread, is then t urned to
Mode of Procedure.
Hand.
Maohine.
presen~ed as a class by calico weaving.
connect it with another adjacent warp thread,
Date...
...
...
. ..
1853
1896
2. Tissues less closely woven, and wit h the warp around which it makes similar turns, and so on.
Number of different operaand weft threads tied together by "whip thread." The process is so mew hat similar to that indicated
tions involved . . .
. ..
5
10
Gauze weaving is t he representative of this class .
Number of workmen emfor gauze weaving, except that the binding thread
ployed . ..
...
. ..
3. Tissues produced in the J acquard loom, such from t he bobbin, after being twisted once or twice
31
36
Number of hours worked 37 h. 0 m. 8 b. 56 m.
as brocades.
round a warp thread, passes on to the next one to
Cost of labour
.. .
. .. 6 45 dols. 2.50 dols.
4. Openly-woven t issues, t he threads of which repeat the same evolution, and so on. A slow
Average rate of wages per
are mutually and continuously interlaced tuJles movement is given to t he warp in the direction
...
...
... 17.4 cents
28 cents
hour
are the representatives of this class.
'
of its length, the bobbins passing to and fro conOur last comparison, associated also wit h trans5. Lace tissues.
t inuously as the warp is displaced. This product
port, is in the r epairing of " dirt " r oads, where
6. Close-woven tissues in which t he weft threads is characteristic of the various tulle fabrics. The
pick, shovel, and rake have b een superseded by the are knotted on the warp to produce a pile ; of this
road machine; the advantage in favour of t he latter class, som~ natures of tapestry, carpets, &c., are special purpose of the mechanism is to obtain a r eticular tissue having clear open spaces, with uniformly
is 40 to 1 in r espect of time, and 3 to 80 as to cost. r epresentat1ve.
divided and secure connections, giving at t he same
Indeed, it is almost impossible to find any ex7. Open knotted t issues, such as fishing nets.
t ime a special decorative effect. This method is
ample in th~ whole range of industrial enterprise
8. T1ssues p roduced by the involutions of one often corn bined with t he use of additional threads
where mach1nery has not been of great value in thread, ~uch as hosiery a!ld knitted goods.
t wisted around single threads or groups of threads
increasing the volume of production , r educing its
W e w11l endeavour bnefiy to describe the charac- of t he warp; these passing from one to t he other,
costl an~ at th~ same time ena:bling high~r wages teristics of t hese different classes of tissues a clear
according
to the nature of t he design, can be made
to be pa1d, whlle greatly reducmg the sellmg price understanding on this p oint being absolutely n ecesof the commodities; so that in the end t he worker sary for useful examination of t he machines by which t o produce figured materials of great beauty. A
piece of tulle is illustrated by t he diagram Fig. 10;
is a gainer from both points of view. 'J.lhis fact is t hey are produced.
it consists of a series of parallel threads, r ound
not new by any means ; but we t hink our series
1. Tissues P1oduced in the Orclin,ctry Loom. (The which each weft t hread makes one t urn in the b ody
of articles has demonstrated that it operates to a Fr~n?h definition. for t his is Oroisement Simple.)wider and greater exten t than was quite realised Thls IS t he most stmple method of producing fabrics. of the fabric, and two t urns at t he selvage. The
even by t hat ubiquitous and erudite individual- the A thread crosses at right angles to a series of intersections are made as follow: One set of
man in the street.
Fig .10.
parallel threads passing under and over these the
c?aracter . d~pending upon the system of alt~rna
twns ; t~Is Is tJle work pro~uced by the ordinary
TEXTILE MACHINERY AT THE
weaver 1n a s1mple loom, 1n which t he alternate
PARIS EXHIBITION.
threads of the warp rise and fall simultaneously.
(Continued from page 673.)
Or instead of being at right angles, the travel of the
HAVING described t he more important devices weft may be made obliquely between a warp of a
for testing the counts and physical qualities of given width, the t hreads of which pass alternately
threads and yarns, which are exhibited in the one below and the next above on the line of meetTextile Machinery building of the Exhibition, we ing, the angle of t he weft being made eq ual and
may pass on to consider briefly the principal opposite for each adjoining width. This method of
characteristics of tissues which are produced from weaving only produces a stable fabric if the warp
such yarns. In doing this we may be t raversing an~ weft are sufficiently close, as in linen tissues,
some of t he ground covered by elementary text- or if they are fixed by dressing, as in certain classes
books; but a recapitulation of the distinguishing of muslins.
features of differen t fabrics will be useful as an
2. TisSt~;es less Closely Woven, a;nd 'With the W arp
introduction to the different machines t hat produce and W eft Threads Tied together by Spi1al Ligattwes
them, and which are shown in t he Exhibition. (01oisements Lies). - The special purpose of this
The word '' fabric ' ' serves not only to define all method of weaving is to supply the lack of stability
classes of stuff made from textile materials, and unavoidable in producing fabrics by the previous
suitable for clothing, upholstery, &c., but its use method. It is illustrated in Fig. 9, where it will
is extended to combinations of interlaced t hread,
employed for a variety of purposes. All woven
materials may be broadly divided, according t o
their characteristics, into four principal categories.
1. Ordinary tissues, such as calicoes, &c., produced
in t he common loom. 2. Upholstering goods, such
as carpets, hangings, &c. ; t hi8 class is distinguished by great variety of colour and richness
of design.
3. Hosiery.
4. Tulle, lace, &c.
Tissues may be defined generally as fabrics produced from t hreads interlaced according to some
I
regular method, and weaving is the operation by
which such fabrics are produced. But this classi- be seen that a whip thread is twisted round each
fication and definition of tissues is t oo general for warp t hread, and locks ar ound it and the weft at
practical purposes, and, moreover , is not strict ly every point of intersection of the two threads, which weft threads travelling in on e direction and ancorrect; because such a material as felt, for example, cross at d gh tangles to each other. This whip thr ead other, symmetrically in the opposite direction, are
may be classified as a tissue, because it fills consists of a second but finer longitudinal thread, twisted around each warp thread so as to form sixcertain purposes of a fabric, although no operation which envelopes t he first one with an alternat ing sided meshes, as is shown in Fig. 11, which repreof weaving is r equired for its production; on the spiral; it also ties the transverse thread at each point sents t he t issue obtained by the three series of
other hand, wire cloth cannot be defined as a of intersection, and is then twisted under the lower t hreads when the warp is n o longer stretched on
tissue, although it is actually a woven material. longit udinal thread. The structure so produced is t he loom ; one set of the weft thread~; draw t he
Again, knitted goods may be spoken of as tissues, that of gauzes in t heir most simple form : it is warp to t he right, and the other set to t he l~ft, as
though the operation by which they are produced made by means of special devices added to the indicated on the diagram. W e shall see later on
ordinary loom, and is capable of various modifica- that varieties of this method of interlacing are
cannot cer tainly be called ' "eaving.
In order to avoid these difficulties a more com- tions, producing different effects.
shown at the Exhibition on some very remarkable
3. 1.'isSttes P1odtu;ed in the Jacqtta?d Loom, such machinery in operation.
plicated terminology has been adopted . The professor of spinning and weaving at t he Conservatoire as B1ocade (Enveloppements Fnwtiones). - This
5. L ace TisSttes (Torsion Mt,tuelle).- This method
des Arts et Metiers, of Paris, defines a t issue as operation, which is simple in principle, but very in principle is the interlacing of two threads twisted
follows : '' A stable aggregation of flexible elements, delicate in operation, consists in passing from left t ogether ; this operation is not continuous as in
producing compact or open coverings, uniformly t o righ t, for example, between the raised and spinning ; two threads coming from two different
flexible, and of a limited t hickn ess;" this definition lowered threads of a part of t he warp, a small special points meet, and turning one around the other
allows felt to be included as a stable aggregation of shuttle, t hen in returning this shuttle from right to eit her wit h a half twist or one complete t urn at
flexible elements, but it excludes cotton wool left between the other raised and lowered t hreads the Inost, separate in order to repeat, each on its
which is an unstable aggr egation, as well as t he of t he same group of the warp, and continuing this own side, similar evolut ions with other t hreads.
many variet ies of passementerie which do not form operation between the same or other gr oups of This i.nterlacing is p~oduced in its most simple
coverina surfaces. I t would appear, therefore, threads, following a progressive or intermittent form In a meAhed tissue, where each thread is
more logical, and certainly mor e practically system, according to t he requirements of the design. twisted successively ar ound its neighbour to right
useful, to distinguish the different classes of This is the decorative and supplementary work exe- and left. It is, in fact, an imitation by mechanical
tissues according to their textures, as illustrated by cuted on ordinary tissues, either locally or over their means, of the tedious but highly artistic work of t he
characteristic types, and by the methods of laying whole surface, or produced continuously, according hand-lacemaker executed with so much skill, but
and interlacing t he component threads, which fur- to the pattern, on highly finished brocaded t issues, to the uninitiated onlooker, in a capriciously irrenishes the clearest and most characterist ic distinc- in which t he tnost elaborat e and richly coloured gular manner, according to the r equirements of the
design and by means of pins fixed in pillows ;
tions from a practical point of view. I t is this designs can be woven.
4. Openl11 Woven Tissues, t.he Th1eads of ~rh ich t hese worker~ ~lso employ .other and ordin~ry
mode of classification that we propose t o adopt in
dealing with the textile exhibits at Paris, and we me MttttwllAJ and OO?ttinmottsly I n terlaced (Enve- m eth~~ of twi~tmg, and oc~swnally of knotting, to
shall find that it leads to eight comprehensive loppements Oonlinus H elictiidal).-This variety is consolidate t heir work. ThlS class of interlacing in
produced by a binding thread which, twisting once t he loom involves t he use of a number of separate
divisions, as follow :

7IO

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

HORSE-POWER

2500

TRIPLE-EXPANSION

[J UNE I,

ENGINES

1900.

AT THE PARIS EXHIBITION.

CONSTRUCTED BY MESSRS. A. BORSIG AND CO , BERLIN.

(For Description, see Page 712.)

rw-'

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t hreads wound upon spools, each of which , acting

quite independently of the others, can be brought
into any necessary direction in order to meet other
threads coming from an opposite direction.
6. Tissues 'with Knotted Wejts A rotund the Warp
(Ervveloppements :Nouis) .- In this division a weft
thread is wrapped around one or several warp
threads, with at least one complete twist, and is
then locked against it or them, by a knot made in
passing the free end through t he loop formed by
the evolution around the warp. I t follows from
t his method of interlacing that any pull exerted on
the end of the enveloping thread tends to lock it
more securely. In a tissue of this kind the necessity of employing a continuous weft involves the

operation of passing the shuttle or bobbin carrying

the thread which forms the loop through the latter.
From this microscopic and difficult operation results
the production of very beautiful piled fabrics, ex
amples of which are to be found in the celebrated
Gobelins tapestries; in these, each loop is attached
in t he manner described by a running knot to the
threads of the warp, which renders the finished
fabric extremely solid without affecting the execution of a variety of work admirable alike in design
and colour.
7. Open Knotted Tissues (Noev.ds Mu tuels). - This
differs essentially from the previous method of
interlacing, in which the knot, formed by the enveloping weft, can obviously be made to slide

along the enveloped warp. I t is produced by

two threads, which are knotted together at given
points of their length. I t is necessary that the
knot should be a. fixed one and occupy a definite
position, and that the two threads should make
similar and opposite movements in order that the
two loops formed by them should interlace and be
mutually looked. The production of fishing-nets
is an example of this kind of work. I t can be
made as a. trellis between the thrends of a single
series, each of which is knotted alternately to its
neighbour to the right or left; the formation of the
knot requires either a single loop made simultaneously in the two threads to be knotted, and
closed by them with a twist made by the two end&

JuNE I, 1900.]

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

7It

HORSE-POWER TRIPLE-EXPANSION ENGINE AND TRIPHASE DYNAMO.

2500

CON 'TRUCTED BY ~lE

BOR IG AND ~IE SRS.

RS. A.

SIE!>rl~~NS AND HALSKE, BERLIN.

(For Desc'ription, see Page 712.)

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I
I

are the result of interlacing threads of two classes:

those previously arranged parallel to each other
lengthways of t he stuff, and called warp threads ;
and those which are passed through the warp at
rjght angles, half the threads of t he latter being
raised, and the other half lowered for the passage
of the shuttle containing the transverse or weft

I
I

..

FL:J. 72.

...........

.~

-...;:,.;
~

/.:\)

:;..;

C'\

~) ~

exerted at t he end of t he thread unfastens, one by

one, and successively, all the loops, and con sequently t he entire tissue, j ust as a. lengt h of
chain stitch composed of a. series of loops can be
unravelled. F or t his reason, tissues of such a
character require to be stopped from t ime to time,
and especially at t he ends, by a closed knot. The
characteristic type of t his class is hosiery, and it
is also illustrated by knitting, produced eit her by
hand or machine, by crochet work, &c.
A few words remain to be added about some of
t he fundamental operations common to all classes
of weaving, and which may be illustrated by t he
ordinary calico fabric. All tissues of t his nat ure

'--'

/':"'\
'"11 11

~(S(iO:) OJ

1.:::'\
I I

) """

~~

:}.

"

~f ~ .~
~
&
~ '1 \

"t hat traverse the loop, or by t wo successive and

opposite twists traversed by the ends of t he
t hreads. In fishi ng-nets made by hand, only one
t hread is used, which is knotted at regular intervals
with t he meshes of t he row already made, t hus
forming gradually a new r ow of loops.
8. Tissues P1od1tccd by the I nvolrtttion of One
Tlwead (Mailles).-This method of weaving is the
interlacing of a thread upon itself by means of successive loops twisted into one another without the
end of t he thread ever passing through ~ny of t he
loops (see Fig. 12). Fron1 t his it results that
whatever may be the length of the interlaced portion, or of t he ti~sue already finished, a pull

~:

The shuttle (navette in French, from

navi1e, a ship), carries t he weft to and fro from
one side to t he other, the edge of t he warp being
t he selvage of t he material. Usually one or
several, continuous threads are used for the weft
(the lat ter where several shuttles are employed);
but short weft threads are also used; in t his case
the length is about double the width of the stuff,
thread.


'

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

712
,

and is applied in such a way as to secure the

selvage edges. The loops and free ends of the
wef~ are left, in such a case, alternately on each
side of the fabric, so t hat the salvages on each
sid e parallel to the warp, are secured by the
closed loop of t he weft, the alternating open ends
being left free. In the warp, the left-hand thread
is called the first t hread, and these are thus
divided into " odd and even," t he same distinct ion being applied to the weft.
At the risk of appearing to introduce still fur ther
elementary matters belonging properly to textile
handbooks, a few more points have still to be mentioned as introductory to our subsequent notices of
exhibited textile machinery, the operations of which
dep_e~d upon fundamental principles. The superposltlOn of the weft a nd warp threads, r esultj ng from
the alternate raising and lowering t he latter, may be
shown graphically as in Fig. 13, where t he black

the variations th us obtained may be graded from

left to right or right t o left.
In calico weaving, the seq uenca is always one
warp thread " taken," one " left. "
In batavia (fancy twill), the sequence is two
'' taken ,., and two ' left. "
In serge (regular twill), with n squares, it is one
" taken," and 1~-1 " left."
In satin (satin twill), wit h n squares, the sequence is the same.
It is the fi rst weft thread of each pattern that
decides the sequence of the tissue, provided that
the first square on the left indicates the commencement of the warp, numbering always by 1 or n
threads taken. In figured linen the gradation is

. . IG.

. .18.

by one and one, continued diagonally. In the diagram, Fig. 16, t he warp gradation is by one and
one, t hat of the wefb by two and two. In Fig. 17
the gradations are by threes. The same order can
be observed either transversely or longitudinally.
(To be continued.)

squares represent the lifted warp, and the white

squares t he positions of the weft. In the diagram
c~lled t he "pattern," Fig. 13, it is easy to see t hat
the black squares 3, 5, 7, &c., represent the warp
thread 1; and t he black squares 4, 6, 8 the warp 2,
and so on. The white squares 3, 5, 7 are weft thread
No. 1 ; and 4, 6, 8, weft 2. In order to d etermine
the class of texture of any stuff, the pattern, Fig. 13,
can be reduced as shown in Fig. 14. Two nat ures
. .14.

THE PARIS EXHIBITION ELECTRIC

POWER STATION.
T HE BoRSIO AND SIEMENS-HALSKE I N TALLATION.
ON page 606 ante we published a plan showing the
positions occupied by the various exhibitors, F rench
and foreign, who have contributed to the magnificent
power station of the Exhibition. Prominent among
these are Messrs. Borsig and Co. and Messrs. Siemens
and Halske, who supplied respectively the engines and
generator occupying the location marked 27 on the
plan. The four-cylinder t riple-expansion engine, illus-

from the crankshaft take the oil up to the purifier.

Each half bedplate is made with two crankshaft bearings. Between the bedplate and the dynamo bearing is
a 41-ton flywheel provided with a t oothed ring on which
an electric motor acts. On t he bedpJate rest two
cast -iron standards with the guides, and two forgedsteel colums ; t heEe carry the two low-ptessure cylinders, which are bolted together. The high-pressure
and in termediate cylinders are supported by wrought iron columns. These platforms are so arranged that
if the iron columns are removed t he covers and pistons
of the low-pressure cylinders can be taken out. After
uncoupling the crossbeads the pistons can then be
lowered int o reces~es in the bedplates which are
usually covered in, and finally removed.
All the cylinders are packed with their own steam.
The packing rings of the high-pressure piston are of
the l<amsbottom type ; t he other pistons are provided
with Buokley rings. The valve gear eccentriC's are all
mounted on a shaft, which is carried in six bracket
bearings situated behind the low-pressure cylinder.
The pendulum governor is on an intermediate shafting
which pasEes obliquely between the standards. The
admission and exbaust valves of the four cylinders
are actuated by means of levers and pawls. In the
case of the inlet valve of the high-pressure cylinder,
the release is controlled by a cam from the governor;
in the other valves, stops have been provided for
hand adjustment. The valves are all of t he double
seat type, and are provided with Collmann's oil
cataract. The casing of the cataract contains an ad
ditional spring, with the help of which and of a handwheel, t he speed may be varied while the engine is in
motion. For the high-pressure and intermediatepressure cylinders, one eccentric actuates both t he
admission and the corresponding exhaust valve; t he
low-pressure cylinder valves have each their own
eccentric. The dimensions of the cylinders are :
Diameter of high-pressure cylinder .. .
.. .
. ..
.. . 760 mm. (29. 9 in.)
Diameter of intermediate pressure cylinder . ..
. ..
... 1180 ,. (46.4 , )
Diameter of low-pressure cylinder . ..
.. .
.. .
.. . 1340 ,. (52. 7 , )
Length of stroke ...
...
... 1200 , (47.2 , )
The revolving masses of the rods are counter
balanced by screwed-on weights. The stuffing-boxes

Fig.8 .

of pattern ar e required, one to d etermine the

character of t he fabric, and t he other the quantity
of warp or weft thread absolutely necessary for the
completion of a pattern. Every pattern has, therefore, two functions : 1. The transverse function,
r eferring to the number of warp t hreads shown by
t he number of squares in t he width of the material
to be produced. 2. The longitudinal f~nction,
showing the number of weft threads reqmred for
the same pattern. The passage of two consecutive
wefts under two warps lifted alternately, produces
an interlacing indicated in Fig. 15. This inter-

I'
I
I

I
I

'

I
- 1 ---Ht-1- - -1-- -M+IIi-

lacing has two definite characteristics : 1. The

binding points L L 1 at the top or bottom of each
t hread as it passes over or under the weft. 2. The
point of intersection E between each of the threads
C D E.
There are two distinct kinds of
"'patt~rns " t he weaving, and t he figure pattern;
the forme; are t hose which determine the mod es
of intersection, to constitute the underside of t he
fabric t he other also shows t he underside, but
also d~termines a surface grain or configuration
which is systematically repeated, and is known by
various names, s uch as diagonals, lozenge, pheasants'
eye, &c. There are f out ~undatnental ~in_ds of
weavipg patterns, from whlCh many v~nettes of
stQffc:~ are derived.
They are : (1) linen ; (2)
twills ; (3) serge ; . (4) satin. . T~ese ~at terns
have t he two followmg charactenst1cs : 'Ihe first
is that t he transverse and longitudinal ratios are
alike, because t he number of intersections of the
warp and weft t hreads are t he same, conformabl.Y
with the second characteristic, that t he sequence 1s
the same for all the threads, warp and weft,
r espectively. The. se~uen~e of a fundamental
p attern and its d erivat ives IS shown by the order
of the black or coloured squares of t he pattern
and of the squares left white, which compriseP, on
t he whole length of the pattern, . a "Yeft thread
selected as No. J ; the others followmg In the same
order, but starting from a differen t warp thread ;

_____
.., .__
... ... ........

........

- - --

"-----Ht-- ---
-...---c_...I;..
..... ...,. ---11+- - - - - '
.,........_.......___ . - ---....... ... - .
I

.....

_.

I
:I
I

trated on pages 710 and 711, was designed and built

by Messrs. A. Borsig, of Tegel, near Berlin ; it is intended for a steam pressure of 210 lb., and for a speed
of 90 revolutions ; working with condensation, it will
develop 2500 horse-power. At t he Exhibition, how
ever, the engine runs with steam of 140 lb. and at 83.5
revolutions. The two cranks are plq,ced at an angle of
180 deg. The twopart crankshaft has at one end the
dynamometer, and. on ~he other a pull?Y from_whioh
t he t wo single-actmg a1r pumps are dnven wh10h ~re
placed in the basement, about 8 ft. below the engme
floor. The bedplate of the engine consists of two
part~ each weighing 29 tons, flanged and bolted
together, and forming oil t.rougha, from whi?h two
small cent rift1gal pumps, dnven by a steel w1re cord

receive their oil under pressure. The air pumps have

only piston and cover valves, but no suction valves. The
pistons are worked through links from t he ends of a.
beam, the shaft of which rests in two bearings on the
pumps, Of\e end being driven by a lever and a connectingrod from the pulley on t he engine crankshaft.
The boiler steam pipe extending from t he main
behind the engine, is interrupted by a. out-off
vsl ve, placed between the high-pressure and intermediate cylinders, from which a short branch leads to
the front of the former cylinder. A hori zontal pipe
t hen takes the steam to the intermediate-pressure
cylinder, and thence through e. cast-iron chest into
t he low-pressure cylinders. From each of the latter
cylinders an exhaust pipe is carried down the st~

JuNE I, 1900.]

da.rds to the a.ir pumps. The four pla.tforms shown

on the illustration a.re necessa.ry iu a n engine which
rises 41 ft . a.bove the floor level.
The triphase dyna.mo, supplied by Messrs. Siemens
and Halsk e, of Berlin, will generate 2000 kilowatts at
from 2000 to 2200 volts, with 50 periods ; the arm&
ture is stationary. The rotating field consists of a
divided cast iron rim, which is connected wit h the hub
by eight cast iron spokes, and is keyed directly t o the
extended engine shaft. The p oles consist of la.minated
iron, held together by bolts, and a steel prism of
approximately quadra.tio section. This prism conta.ins
the t hrea.ds of the screws which fa.sten the poles t o t he
cast rim, and which a.re inserted from inside. The
winding of t he field ma.gnets consists of copper strips,
4 by 23 millimetres (0.16 in. by 0. 6 in. ), placed edgewa.ys. Each p ole ha-s 40 windings, and the tota.l weight
in the field a.mounts t o 4 tons. To provide for efficient
ventilation, the field cor es are split in the centres, and
t he upper windings are ta.ken round hollow bronze
castings, through which the air escapes rad ially. The
excitation of the field requires from 28,000 to 42,500
wa.tts a.t 2 10 volts ; the tota l resistance of t he field coils
is about 1 ohm.
The manner in which t he sta.tiona.ry armature has
been centred should be mentioned. If we imagine a
hollo w shaft, resting on two rollers, the sha.ft will
be lowered or ra.ised in the vertioa.l plane, when both
rollers are moved simultaneously. If the mot ion is
confined to one of t he rollers, or if one is 1 a:sed while
the other is lo wered, the centra l axis of the hollow
shafL will be shifted h orizontally. In this wa.y the
shaft ca.n be adjusted horizonta.lly and vertic9.lly.
W hat we have briefly termed a. hollow shaft is
rea.lly !l'n inner and ou ter ring , connected by a. series
of radia.l spokes and forming a. flat ring, which is
turned on both surfaces. Two such rings, exactly
equal, are placed pa.ra.llel a nd coa.xial, and then con nectt>d with one a.nother by interposing t he armature
(Fig. 4). Each of t he two bearing rings rest s on t wo
rollers, as shown in the dia.gra m. When the armature
ha.s been cent red wit h the aid of these rings, it is
bolted to latera.l blocks. The bolts are again removed
should a.n adjustment become necessary.
The core of the a rmature is built up of sheets, 0. 5
millimetre (0. 02 in. ) in thickness.
The armature
itself, as well as the bearing rings mentioned, are ma.de
up of four quadrants. The 648 grooves of the armature, 13 millimetres wid e and 55 millimetres deep
(0.51 in. by 2. 2 in. ), contain each one copper r od of
7 by 44 millimetres (0. 28 in. by 2 7 in. ). When the
rod has been put in posit ion, a.n insulat ing cover is
forced into the groove. All t he rods of a. circuit
a.re in series wit h one a.nother, and t he three bra nches
a.re connected radially. The whole copper ma-ss of the
armature weighs 2. 5 tons ; the r esistance is less than
0.057 ohm. The excitation is effected by a continuous-current series dynamo of 45 kilowatts at 210
volts, with external field and drum armature. The
controlling instruments are of t he Terravis type.
They are a voltmeter, a. current meter, and a
power meter, and are mounted all three on a. post
about 14ft. high , which encloses t he respective wires.
The dials have each a. dia.m~ter of 2 ft., a.nd scales
a.re marked on both faces, fron t and back. The in
struments indicate the rea.l values, small transformers
being interposed between generator and instrument .
trhe regula.ting appa.ratus and s witches a.re placed on
a. desk. The resistance for t he exciting circuit and
the three-pole high tension out-out a re in the basement, but manipulated through ha.nd wheels from the
switch desk.

MIDLAND LOCOMOTIVE AT THE PARIS

EXHJBITION.

. Ox pages 682 and 683 of our last issue we published

tllustra.tions of the fine express passenger engine, which
is being exhibited a t Paris by the .Midla.nd Ra.ilwa.y
Compa.ny, a nd this week we g ive, on our t wopage
engraving a.nd on pa.ge 718, further views of thi~
engine and its t ender. As stated last week, t he
e.Pgine, which was construct ed at the works of the
Midla.nd qompany, D erby, from t he designs of .Mr.
Sa.muel \\ . Johnson, ha.s cylinder s 19i in. in dia
meter by 26 in. stroke, and it is provided wit.h 121 i ft.
?f hea.ting surface. As our e ngravings s how, the engine
~s pr.ovided with a single pair of dri vera, 7 ft. 9! in.
ID diameter, the weight available for adhesion being
18i tons. The locomotive is of a type which has
p~oved itself capable of dealing most satisfactorily
With the heavy and fast t raffic for which it was
desi~~ed, while t~e bea.uti~ul finish of the engine
exhibtted r enders 1t an admtrable example of British
workmanship.
In order to accommodate such large cylinder s inside
the frames, it has been necessa.ry to place t he valve
chests benea.th t he cylinders. The valves a re however, driven direct from the eccent rics with~ut the
in~rvention of a. r ocking shaft, the centre line of both
cyl~nders and valve stems being set at opposite inolina.1rions of l in 16, in order to admit of this. The
valves are of t he piston type, and the reversing

E N G I N E E R I N G.
gear can, therefore, be handled with eo.se, in spite
of the high-pressure ca.rried and the large size of the
va.l ves. The va.lve gear is of the us ual link type.
The boiler shell is constructed of Ar - in. pla.ting,
the rings being a.rra.nged teleecope fashion. The
centre line is 8 ft. 1 in. above rail level. There are
228 tubes, 1& in. in dia meter by 10 ft. lOi in. long.
The t ubes, it will be seen, are sharply bent, increa.Ring
their flexibility and reducing a ll expansion strains.
The firebox casing is 8 ft. long by 4 ft. 0! in. over
the outside plates. The inside firebox is, of course,
of copper; and, with the exception of t he tu be-plate,
is -Ar in. t hick.
'l' he frames a re of the usu al plate type, and are
made from 1-in. steel plates. Th~ crank a.xle, it
will be seen, i~ provided with four bearings, the inner
journals being 8~ in. and the outer 6! in. in dia.meter.
The crankpins are a lso Si in. in diameter, with a
leng~h of 4! in. Tee crank c heeks have an elliptical profile, a nd are reinforced with steel rings shrunk on. A
steam brake wi th blocks on each side of th e drivers is
fitted, and there is also a steam sa.ndin~ appa.ra.tus
provided both before and behind the driving wheels.
The front of t he engine is carried on a. four-wheeled
bogie, having wheels 3 ft. 10 in. in di am e~er. The
single t railing axle, which has wheels 4 ft. 4t in. in
diameter, is situated immediately under the rear of
the firebox.
'l'he general design of the tender is shown in Figs. 5
and 6, page 718. It is support ed on two bogies, the
axJe.boxes of which are connected with equalising
Learns. It is designed to carry 4000 gdlons of wattr
and 3! tons of coal.
' iV e give below some of the principal dimensions
and pa.rt icula.rs of the engine and tender, in a. ta.bulated form:
Cylitn.ders :
Diameter . . .
. ..
.. .
. ..
19~ in.
S troke
. ..
...
.. .
. ..
26 ,
L ength of ports . . .
...
. ..
171 ,
Width
,
. ..
. ..
. ..
lB
"
Piston valves, diameter .. .
. ..
8
"
,
lap
...
. ..
,,
lead in full gear
! "
Wheels ( Ca3t Steel) :
Driving wheels, diatr.eter
7 ft. 9! in.

Engine bogie wheels

...
...
3 , 10 "
Trailing wheE'ls . . .
. ..
4 ,. 4 ~ ,

Thickness of tyres on tread ...

3 in.
Size of bogie journals .. .
iB. in dia.. by 9 in.
,
inside driving .. .

"
7! ,
,
outside ,
.. .
. .. 6
"
9 ,
" trailing . . .
.. .
,
9 ,
. .. 5~
Boile1 (Telescopic) :
Length of ba.rrel . . .
...
. ..
10 n. 6 in.
Dia.meter of barrel inside
.. .
4 " )~ ,
Thickness of barrel plates
.. .
,~ ID.
,
smokebox tubeplate
i ,
L ength of firebox casing outside
~ ft.
Centre of boiler from ra.il
.. .
8 ,. 1 ,
Number of tubes, copper
.. .
228
Diameter of tubes, outside
.. .
1ft in.
Firebox (Copper) :
L ength inside, at bottom
.. .
7 ft. 3 in.
Width
,
,
.. .
3, 4 ,
Thickness of tu beplate . . .
. ..
0, (I ,
.,
top, baok, a.nd sides ...
0 , 0 1~ "
H eating Surface :
Firebox
.. .
147 sq. ft.

Tubes
.. .

1070 "

NOTES FROM THE UNITED STATES.

PBII.ADELPBIA, May 18.

TnE s udden collapse of dema.nd for iron and steel
is the surprising feature of the market in all t rade
centres. Productive ca.pa.city has been incr eased
between 30 and 40 per cent. during the past t l\O
years, and the momentum of expa.nsion will ca.rry t he
in crease considerably beyond 50 per cent . This fa.ot,
in view of the uncerta in fu ture demand, makes manufacturers feel ra.ther serious at times. The increase in
raw ma.teri a l and la bour will remain as a. permanent
factor. The grea.t combinations can, a.nd, of course,
will, gauge production to demand, so th g,t there need
n ot be fea.red one of those destruoti ve depressions
which in t imes past has dealt so severely with
industrial interests. :M anufacturers a.re wa.tchi ng the
situation wi~h considerable anxiety. They know that
there are no stock s of crude iron a~ yet; but the great
uncertain thing is the volume of demand during the
latter half of t he year. Steel ra ils and structural
m ateria l continue high and a.ctive. Plates, sheets,
bars, pig-everything else excep t ing, of course,
Bessemer pig-are weaker and d eclining. Consumera
can play this game three or four week s. June must
bring demand. By tha.t time the depression wiJl
proba.bly have reached its limits. The pressure to
secure business, which set in perhaps two or three
mon1 hs ago, is increasiog. snd this pressure means
lower prices. There is much new business in sight,
from ra.ilroad sources espeoia.ll y, and this is r elied
upon by ma.nufanturers to turn the scales in their
fa vour before Midsummer. Inq uiriee are coming
from Tra.nsa.tla.ntic sources for large quantities of
coal. The coke market is easier. During the coming
summer, capacity in coa.lfields will be ava.tlable. The
ore shipping st>ason ha.s set in, and the grea.test season
ever witnessed is now on. The stockbrokers view
industria ls with suspicion and distrust; but they do
not comprehend the strength behind them.
Steel
rails a re still 35 dols. , and Bessemer p ig 24 dols.
Neither a re worth within 3 dols. to 5.00 dolP. of those
pr ices, and big fortunes would be made at a. clean
5dols. drop on both. Readjustment is the order of
the day. Congress will adjourn June 10, leaving a.
la rge a mount of business until next winter, because i t
is afraid to pass the Nicardgua. BiJl, the Subsidy Bill,
a.nd a dozen other Bil1s. Several Sta.te Conventions
have passed resolutions in favour of a more elastic
currency. Since January 1 it has been increa~ed
45,000,000 d ols.; but the rank and file think this is
only a spoonful.
Ma.y 24.
A great many contracts expire in June, especil:lolly
pig-iron contracts. Until then but little will be done.
The advances in ore tr~~.nsportation and labour make
much decline impossible in crude material, and the
extraordinary cons umpti on, coupled wit h the indication ~ of a. broa.dening d emand, ha.ve had the effect of
strengthening confid ence that was wea.kt-ned during
t~e .Gates exposures. Yet there is a. pronounced d echmng tendency all a.long t he line. Consumers everywhere are holding ba.ok orders, just as they rushed
o:ders in a yea.r ago. Prices are being shaded, espectally in the West. A good deal of mill capacity is to be
shut down, in order to make ext ensive impro vemeJ.Jts.
A go?d ma.ny of the larger foundries in Pittsburg are
runnmg double t~rn, and consumption will probably increase. Steel ra.tls ha.ve been sh~ded below 35 dole. in
Western mills, but full prices a re held in Eastern mills,
Total heating surface ...
1217
,,

who~e surplus has export possibilitit s in its favour.

Grate a.rea . ..
. ..
24.5 sq. ft .

Th~de~and for machinery and electrical equipmentshas

Working pressure
180 lb.

&;ga.m 1mproved, and so~e extensive orders for trolley

Gross traoti ve power ...
14,800 ,

hoes have been placed Within a week. Plates COlltinue

T ender :
" :ea.k, but s~apee hold their own. Bridge builders
. ..
...
...
7 tons
Coal capacity
gtve a ro . . y vtew of t he sit uation. Bar iron h as pro
W.ater oopa01ty (imperia.l gallons)
4000
~ta.meter of wheels (oast steel) ...
3ft. 6 in.
La.bly touched bottom, and in finished iron there are
Sll~e of journals . . .
...
. . 5~ in. dia. x by 9 in . al~ea.dy signs of.a. reaction t~wards firm er prices. One
Wheelbase (Engine):
t hmg can be rehed upon, vtz., that when the reaction
Centre of bogie to trailing whel
ha.s ex?a.usted itself, an immense de mand will spring
19 ft. 1 1~ in.
up. for Iron and steel products. The opinion is stronger
Wheelbase ( T cncler ) :
t h1s w eek than last that t he limits of depressio n will
Extreme contres . . .
. ..
16 ft. 9 in .

'l'ota l wheelbase, engi ne and
be reached sooner than was thought possibl~ a
tend~r, extreme cen tres
mont h ago. A . strong mov-ement is started to

49 " 7! "
~ork up public sentiment to favour the expenWeig}d3 ( Workh1g Order) :
diture of 62,000,000 dols. to make the E rie Ca.nal
T ons Cwt. Qr.
de~p enough to carry 1000-ton barges. The Lake
On en~ine bo~ie ..
..
. ..
16 16 ::s
u
dn ving wheels
.. .
18 10 0
shtpyar~s have a year 's work under contract. Coal

trailing ,
.. .
14
Hi 1
compa.01ea are being formed to incJ;"ease t he proTotal weight, engine . . .
. ..
50
3 0
duction of bitu~inous coal o~ a. ~arge scale. N ea.rly
On lea~!ng tender bogie...
. ..
26
0 0
a ll the more desirable properties m P ennsy lvania. and
,
. ..
. ..
. , tratling
23
2 1
West Vi:g!nia.. have been brought up, a nd extraordiTotal weighb of tender, with
nary actiV1ty m _d,~velopment is assured during the
4000 gallons of wa.ter a.nd 3i
next ~ea.r. Inquir_Ies from Europe are q uite frequent,
tons coal ...
. ..
. ..
. ..
49
2 1
and stx cargoes w1ll sta.rt as soon as vessels can be
T otal weigh b, engine and tender
99
5 1
loaded. Much more coa.l would be sent abroad but
for the absence of tonnage.

. PARA AND NEW YORK.- A Bill has been passed a.uthorismg the Governor of the State of Pa.ra to call for tenders
for the esta.lJlis hment of a. line of steamers between Para
and New York. . A sub.vention of 7878l. per a.nnum for a
A NEW TRANSATLANTIC CaBLE.- The American
term of 12 yea.rsl.S prov1ded for. Steamers of the new line Eu~o~n Cable Company is a.nnounced. The proposed
are to make at least 12 round voyages in the first year oa.pttal1s 2,000,000l., and the object is to lay a cable from
and 24 annua.lly during ea.oh of the subsequent 11 yea.rs. ' New York to the Portuguese const.

la ,

E N C 1N t E R I N G.

[JUNE I, I 900.

ARMOURED TRACTION TRAIN FOR SOUTH AFRICA.

C0 N ST RUCT ED

BY

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--

T HROUGH the courtesy of Messrs. John Fowler and

Co., the w ell-known steam plough and traction engine
builders, of Leeds, we are enabled to publish in this
issue, illustrations of the armoured t raction t rain for
South Africa, the t iial trip of which was deal t wi th in
our issue of May 18. The com plete t rain is shown in
Fig. 1, and consist s, it will be seen, of an engine,
three armoured trucks, and t wo howitzer s bringing up
the r ear. Since these howitzers were not originally
intended to be coupled up tandem fashion as shown,
it was necessary to fit one of t hem with a special
book to take the trail of its fellow. The engine
is shown separately in Fig. 2, and i t will be
seen that all the working parts have been completely boxed in with protective plates. These are
1 in. thick, and are made of a special nickel steel,
containing a little chromium, and hardened by a
process, which is the secret of the makers, Messrs.
Cam m ell and Co., of Sheffield. I t will be seen that the
driver has a very r estricted view. He is provided for
at the right-hand side of the engine, and a peep hole
in the project ing side of t he cab, enables h im to see
the road immediately in front of him. There is a
similar p eep-hole on t he left-hand side of t he cab, but
this he ha-s to view by reflection in an adjustable mirror.
In spite of these drawbacks the driver manccuvred his
train on the t r ia l run with great ski ll. The total
weight of the engine is 22 tons, of which the
plat,ing is r esponsible for about 4t tons. The driving
wheels are 7 ft . in dia meter by 2 ft. broad, and are
prov ided with helical teet h made out of Abort strips
of heavy T irons r iveted to the rims. The bite in loose
ground can be increased by bolting on spuds to these
wheels in t he usual way; whilst, as with the ordinary
tractiou engines, a wi nding rope and gear a re provided,
by the use of which t he engine can e:ctri~at~ it~elf and
its tra in out of any of the worst drifts 1t IS hkely to
meet in South Africa.. The grate is kept fairly
high, but is nevertheless liable to b.e flooded in
passing fords. In most cas~s there W I.ll even t hen
be sufficient steam left m the bOiler t o permit of the engine completing the passage with its
own steam but in t he case of wider rivers, two
engines wo~ld be used? one hauling the other a.cr?ss
in turn by means of smtable r ope tackle. The eng~ne
ba.s cylinders 6! in. and 11~ in. in diameter by 12 m.
8troke and t he workin g pressure is 180 lb. per square
inch. 'The tank capa.ci ty is 400 gallons, and a t a
pinch about 16 cwt. of coal can be carried. The
arrangement and const ruction of the wn:gons are
clearly shown in Figs. 3 .to 6. The .vert teal plating is i in. thick, bu t t he stde flaJ?B, 'Y~1ch are shown
raised in Fig. 3 and lowered m Ftg. 4, are b~t
.fg in. thick, since t hey will, ~nder normal condttions, be exposed merely to obhque fire. They are

...

..

-- .

--

FIG.

never t heless quite proof to the .Mauser bullet, even

when the latter strikes normally, t hough at short
ranges t he bullet would then raise a burr at the back
of the plate. The skids by which the howitzers eau
be run in to a wagon are carried on r ests provided for
the p urpose at either side of the wagon, as seen in
Fig. 3 ; whilst in Fig. 5 they are shown ready for use.
The wagons are 15 ft. 6 in. long and 7 ft. 8! in. wide.
Their weight when empty is about 5 tons, and they
will each carry about 12,000 lb. of ammun it ion for the
howitzers.
STERt.- The exports of unwrought steel from the
U nited Kingdom in April were 29,389 tons, as compared
with 21,506 tons in April, 1899, and 28,172 tons in April,
1898. In the four months ending April 30 this year the
exports attained an a.g~regate of 120,837 tons, while in
the corresponding penod of 1899 they did nob exceed
87 114 tons, and in the corresponding period of 1898
10i,529 tons. British India took 12,229 tons of unwrought

2.

----.

steel from the U nited Kingdom in the first four months

of this year, as compared with 9176 tons and 11,722 tons
in the corresponding periods of 1899 and 1898 respectively; Australasia, 13,684 tons, as compared with 9524
tons and 9313 tons respectively ; and Canada, 9871 tons,
a-s compared with 734 tons and 1670 tons respectively.
The exports to the United States increased to April 30
this year to 7954 tons, as compared with 3789 tons and
4606 tons respectively. The exports have increa.sd this
year to D enmark, H olland, and }"ranee ; but they have
decreased to Russia. and Germany.
AGRICULTURAL E NGINES.-The exports of portable
agricultural steam engines have shown a further tendency to increa-se this year. In the four months ending
April 301 these exports were valued at 215,715t., as compared w1th 206,244l. in t he correspondins period of 1899,
and 134,706l. in the corresponding per1od of 1898. In
these totals the exports to European countries figured
for 159, 082t., 160, 772l., and 921 163l. respeoti vely) and
Australasia for 13,956l , 10,096l, and 6798l. respectJ.vely.

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} UNE I, 1900.]

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E N G I NE E RI N G.

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

[JUNE I,

1900,

and one of them will be floated in the course of a week

NOTES FROM SOUTH YORKSHffiE.
or eo. Furth~r d.own two big British India boats occupy
GLASGOW, "vVednesday.
SHEFFIELD, Wednesday.
~ertbs, O?e '!1thm a month of launching and the other
GkuglJ1!' Pig_-Ircm Market.-Last Thursday was held JUS.t gettmg ~nto frame. On the slip the steam yacht
L eeds and the Cost of (Joal.-While most of our large
as a hohday m honour of the Queen's Birthday and Oriental,, ~h10h t~e firm builb nine years a~o for Mr. towns .have bad ~or some time to pay an increased rate
con~equently there was no iron market; and 'when ?eter M Kmnon, 18 being overhauled, and so m the dock for their gas, owmg to the great advance in coal prices
busmess was resumed on the following day the market IS the Carron Company's steamer Thames.
Leeds-thanks to the foresight of the committee in laying
was very ~at. Some 20,000 tons of iron changed
by. for a rainy .day-has up to the present been a conhand~ and 1t was reported that the trade ad vices from
sptcuous exceptiOn. At length, however, they have been
f\.mert~a were unfavourable-prices being easier, with
com.p elled to succumb, and an immediate increase is con.
~EX!CAN
RAILWAY
.
-Mr.
A.
M.
Rendel,
consulting
1ncreMmg stooks. Scotch iron lost 1s. per ton Clevetempla.ted. It is not only, however, the additional cost of
engmeer
to
the
MexiCan
Rail
wa_y
Company,
Limited,
land 1s., and hematite iron 10d. per ton. 'rn the
co.al. that has hee.n upsetting the calculations of the West
reports
that
the
total
length
of
hne
now
laid
with
steel
afternoon less than 8000 tons were sold and the market
Ridmg CorporatiOns. The new conditions of contract laid
sleepers
is
287:}:
miles.
The
Pueblo
branch
is
improving
closed very flat-Scotch iron down 1s. '11~. on the day,
down by the colliery proprietors will, if insisted upon
as
steel
sleepers
are
substituted
for
timber
ones.
Ware~
Cleveland 11~., and hematite iron 1s. 4d. per ton. The
make a considerable difference. For a tirue coalowners
house
accommodation
at
Mexico,
N
egalekl,
and
Vera
Cruz
settlement pnces were: Scotch iron, 6&. 7id. per ton;
and the corporation have been a.b loggerheads, but from a
has
b
een
materially
increased.
No
addition
has
been
Clevela.~d, 72~. 1~d.; Cumberland hematite iron, 793. 9d.;
c~nference held in L~eds last week, between representamade
to
the
company's
engine
or
carriage
stook
during
and Middlesbrough hematite, 85s. per ton. Monday's
tives of the corporatiOn and coalowners, a modification of
the
past
half
year,
but
50
truQks,
with
a
carrying
capacity
forenoon market was very flat. The advices from New
the latter't4 proposals seems possible. The gas producers
of
27
tons
each,
were
added
to
the
wagon
stook.
The
Yo~k read. most unfavourably, and led to a rush of
made certain counter suggestions which the coalowners
~overn~ent
of
Mexico
has
required
that
all
rolling
stock
selling which must have in~rea.sed the short position.
have promised to take into consideration. The various
m
Mex1co
should
be
fitted
with
automatic
couplings
of
a
Abo~t 15,000 tons were dealt m, and there was a decline
clauses in the proposed new form of tender were discussed
type
to
be
approved
by
the
Government.
ra:ngmg. from 7d. to 1s. 10~d. per ton. There was
The fi~t bad r~ga.rd to the proportions of delivery-40
still a sttff back on cash transactions. In the afternoon
cent. ~n th~ s1x summer months and 60 per cent. in
.CATALOGUES
-We
have
received
from
Mr.
A.
E.
the mar~et was very much depressed, Scotch iron being
the s1x wmter months instead of 27 per cent. and
Ptllatt,
of
~h~
Queen's-.
r
oad
Works,
N
ottingham,
a
cataat ~:me t1me close on 2:J. per ton down, but the close was
73 per cent. as now. A counter proposal was that the
l?gue
descr1b1!1g
the
Ptllatt
f~rna~e,
and
gtving
illustraa l~otle better than the wors~. On the day Scotch fell in
contracts sh_ou14 include a~ abatement of 6d. per ton for
tioas
of
certam
works
ab
wh10h
1t
has
been
applied.price la. 8d. per ton, Clevt>land 2:J. lO~d., and hematite iron
summer delivenes as an mducement to corporations to
Th~
British
Steam
Specialities,
Limited,
of
Fleet-street,
ll. 4d. per ton. At the close the setlilement prices were:
take the largest p ossible quantities and thus compensate
Letcester,
have
sent
us
a
copr
of
their
catalogue
of
steam
67s., 6~s. 3d., 78s. 4~d. and 85s. per ton. About 15 000
themselves and the cost of stacking.
fi.ttings,
amongst
which
are
moluded
steam
traps,
reductons were dealt in on Tuesday forenoon and there w~ a
farkgate bon and Steel Compatny, Limited. - The
sharp ra~ly from the previous day's weakness.
" Bears" tiOn valves, damper regulators, grease extractors and
covered m both Scotch and Cleveland, and the former rose feed heate.rs.-A new catalogue of railway generato~ has thtrtyninth annual meeting of the shareholders of this
7d., the latter 4id., and hematite iron 10~d. per ton JUSb been 1ssued by the Bullock Electric Manufacturing company took place at the Royal Victoria. Hotel, Shef.
There was .a "back" of 7d. on Scotch iron and of 3d. o~ Com~any, of Cincinnati, O~io, U .S. A. The catalogue field, last week, Mr. 0. J. Stoddart presiding. A diviCleveland Iron. Other 15,000 tons were dealt in at the contams unusually full detatls as to the construction of dend of 1s. 8d. per share, making with the interim diviafternoon market, and prices were firmer on continued the3e mao~ines, many of the constituent parts being dend a total of 3~. 2d. per share, or 13 p er cent. for the
"bear" covering. Scotch closed ls. per ton up on the day separately Illustrated.-A pamphlet dealing with paints year, was declared.
Cleveland 7~., and hematite iron l()id. per ton. At for wood, steel, and galvanised iron has been published
West Rid!ing Electric Power Soheme.-At a meeting of
the close of the market the settlement prices were: 68s., by the Goheen Manufacturing Company, of Canton Ohio the Y eadon Urban District Council last week a letter waa
70a., 79~. 3d., and 853. per ton. A moderate business was U.S.A., for w~om Mr. 9~arles E. Gritton, of 33,'King~ read from the secretary of the Yorkshire Electric Power
done thlS forenoon, some 15,000 tons of iron changing hands street, W.C., IS the BritlSh agent.-We have received Comp.any giving notice of an intention to promote an
The "bears" covered freely, and Scotch iron rose 4~d. pe; from Messrs. S . A. Da.niell, Limited, of the Sun Works el~ctr1c power supply for the W est Riding. The letter
to~. 0 ther .15, 000 tons changed hands in the afternoon, and Edward-street Parade, Birmingham, a copy of thei~ satd. the scheme was being promoted by electricians,
pnces recetved a smart drop; but the close was above !lew oa.ta~ogue illuatra.tin~ the leoter p~e~es, pipe-screw- engmeer~, and others, who have had considerable expethe lowest. Scotch lost 6~d. from the forenoon close mg machmes, wrenches, Jacks, and drtlhng machines, of rience in ~uch . undertakings at home and abroad, and
hematite iron 6d., and Cleveland 3d. per ton. Th~ which they are manufacturers.- Messrs. Webster and that the Bill wlll be drafted as soon as the decision of
settlement prices were: 67s. 9d., 693. 6d., 793. 1~d., Bennetb, of the Atlas Works, Coventry, have sent us a the committee on the Lancashire and other Electric
and 85s. per ton. The following are the returns of copy of their new illustrated catalogue of machine tools. Powers Bill has been given. The principal object of the
the shipmen~ of pig iron from all Scotch ports for :rhe s~oimens de~cribed inc.lude verti~l !>?ring and turn- sohem~ .was to supply low-priced electricity to local
the week endmg last Saturday : To Canada, 165 tons mg mllls, chucking macbmes, mult1epmdled drilling a~tbont1es and other large consumers. The council deto India, 138 tons ; to Australia, 535 tons ; to Italy' machines, various types of milling machines, and other Cided to ask the B oard of Trade to extend the time of the
516 tons; to Germany, 1435 tons; to Holland, 577 tons'. tools of modern and special design.- We have received electric lighti~g provisional order they obtained in 1894,
to B elgium, 125 tons ; to Spain and P ortugal, 120 tons! from Messrs. I. Muller and Co., of 112, and 114, Golden- and a~o to wrtte to the L eeds City Council asking if tbat
to other countries smaller quantities, and 2662 tons coast~ lane, London, E . C., their new priced catalogue of engi- authority would supply electricity in bulk to Yeadon in
'
wise. The week's total was 6614 tons, against 3947 tons neers' tools,, iron and tinplate working machinery, gun- conjunction with the proposed tramway scheme.
in the corresponding week of last year. Here are the metal, and uon steam ttmgs, and contractors' plant and
South Yorkshi re Coal T 1ade. - A large number of conprices of No. 1 pig-iron makers' brands: Clyde, 88~. per ~tores. The catalogue contains 312 pages and is profusely ~racts have been placed d~ring the past week, but many
ton; Gartsherne, 883. 6d. ; Summerlee and Calder, 903.; illustrated.-Messrs. Ruston, Proctor, and Co., Limited Important t enders are st1ll out. Prices generally have
Coltness 92s. 6d.-the foregoing all shipped at Glas~ow ; of Lincoln, have sent us a catalogue which they ha.v~ been from 5s. to 6s. 6d. per ton over last year'd rates.
Glengarnock (shipped at Ardrossan), 86s.; Shotts (shtpped issued in connection with their exhibits at the Paris The Sheffield Gas Company's contract for 250 000 tons
at Leith), 92s. 6d.; Carron (shipped at Grangemouth), 90s. Exhibition. This covers a wide range, as, in addition to has been placed at advances ranging from 53. to 5s. 6d.
per ton. Dulness continues to prevail in all departments the agricultural and traction engines, by which the per ton. For another large contract an offer of 5s. lld.
of the iron trade, and speculation is apparently dead. nam~ of the fi~m is so w~ll known;, fine specimens of advance was refused, ooalowners holding out for 63. per
American and Continental reports show on all hands a vertlOJ.l and horizontal statiOnary engmes are also on view ton. The following offer, made to a German house
declining tendency, and home consumers buy as spar- at the stand.-Messrs. Dick, Kerr, and Co., Limited, of affords a criterion of present pit rates: B est qualities'
ingly as possible. The smallness of the stock, how. 110, Cannon-street, E.C., have just published excellently 16s. per ton ; thin, 15s. per ton ; softs, 13d. 6d. p er ton ;
ever, and the certainty of its further decrease exercise illustrated pamphlets descriptive of the cars they have branch nuts, 13s. 6d. per ton; steam, 15s. 9d. per ton.
a strong restraint on sellers taking liberties with the supplied to the Waterloo and City Railway and to the
Irm and Steel Trades.-The firms engaged in the
warrant market. The fluctuations during the week have Liverpool tramways.-Messrs. Joseph Wright and Co.
been unimportant, and the amount of business passing is of Tipton, have issued a new catalogue describing th~ heavy industries of the city continue full of work. and
small. The number of blast-furnaces in operation is 85 special types of feed-water heaters, softeners, filters, look forward with every confidence to the future. Users
agains t 83 at the same time last year. The stock of pig and condensers, of which they are manufacturers.-An are fi~ding pig iron and m any brands of partly finished
iron yesterday afternoon stood at 140,175 tons, show- interesting catalogue is that recently published by the m~ter1al very scarce, and manufacturing production is
ing a reduction amounting for the past week to 3946 Delta Metal Company, Limited, of 110, Cannon-street bemg somewhat retarded. The demand for SiemensE. C., which contains illustrations of some of the numerou~ Martin and Bessemer billets is well maintained. The
ton~.
complicated sections which they succeeded in producin~ li~~ter trades are still in a ~omewhat depressed conFinished I -ron a:nd Steel.-The Scottish Manufactured by means of Mr. Dick's ingenious process of "extrusion. ~1t10n, thoue-h there has recently been an improvement
Iron Trade Conciliation and Arbitration Board an- The letterpress of this catalogue consists, in the main, of m the colomal demand.
nounce that they have examined the employers' books for particular3 as to the physical properties and practical
March and April, and they certify that the average adaptations of the different brands of Delta metal manurealit~ed net price at the works was Bl . 93. 3. 40d. per ton. fa.otured.-Mr. T. B. Batsford, of 94, High Holborn,
The effect of this will be an increase of 5 per cent. in the London, ha.a issued a catalogue of sets of the ProceedNOTES FROM CLEVELAND AND THE
wages of the workmen.
NORTHERN COUNTIES.
ing3 of the different technical and scientific societies,
MIDDLESBROUGH, Wednesday.
Glasgow Copper Market. -Copper on Glasgow Exchange that he has on sale, and also of bound volumes of techThe Cleveland bm Trade.-Yesterday the attendance
still continues idle, and the prices are quite nominal. nical publications. Many of the publications listed are
The settlement price has varied during the week between now rare.-The Dudbridge Iron Works, Limited of on 'Change here was only thin, and the amount of busiStroud, have issued a neatly got up pamphlet desorihing ness transacted was but small. Pig iron was scarce, and
72l. 153. per ton and 71l. 5s.
The BeU R ook Lighthou se.-The Northern Lighthouse the Dudbridge oil and gas engines.- The Eleotrioitats- on the other hand, buyera were backward. It was very
Board have accepted the offer of Messrs. Steven and Actiengesellsohaft vormals Schuokert and Co., Niirnberg, difficult to get at quotations. Makers, all of whom are
Strutbers, Anderston Brass Foundry, to erect a new have recently published a strongly bound volume de- well supplied with orders, would n ot, as a rule, quote at
parapet, lantern, machine, lamps, and fog signal appa- scribing their make of electric tramway plant.-We have all, and merchants had very little iron indeed to disQose
ratus on the historic Bell Rook Lighthouse. They have received a small and well got up abridged catalogue from of. Ideas with regard to the future were mixed. Proalso granted the firm permission to have the same fitted Messrs. Alfred Herbert, Limited, of Coventry, contain- ducers were inclined to look for a. good deal of activity
up and exhibited in complete working order at the forth- ing an illustrated summarised list of the special machine throughout the summer and autumn months, but most
the buyers were very sceptical about the future. There
coming Glasgow International Exhibition, previous to tools they manufacture. These comprise chiefly auto- of
matic screw machines, capstan lathes, drilling machines, were merchants ready to sell No. 3 g.m.b. Clevelan'd
being fitted up at the rook.
hexagon turret lathes, and milling machines, t ogether pig iron at 71s. for early f.o.b. delivery, and even that low
Mothe'1'1ell Water Bi ll.-This BiU, which had already with all tools and accessories. Particulars and illustra- figure did not tempt buyers. G enuine purchasers offered
received the assent of the House of Lords, asked for tions of all these are set forth in the abridged 70a. M ost of the producers would not listen to anything
powers to take an additional supply of water from the oatalogue.-We have already described in our columns below 74s. for N o. 3. The general market rates for the
Culter Bum and other streams, the filters and clear water the excellently equipped factory which Messrs. Ludwig lower qualities were: No. 4 foundry, 70s.; and grey
tanks to be in the parishes of Carluke and Cambusnethan, Loew and Co. have erected at B erlin for the pro- forge, 69s. 6d. Middlesbrough warrants opened ab
powers also being wanted to borrow to the extent of duction of machine t ools and accessories, and we have 693. 6d. and closed 69a. 10~d. cash buyers. East coast
200,000l. When it came before the House of Commons now received from their L ondon agent, Mr. H. F. L . bematite pig iron was quite unobtainable, and inquiries
Committee last Friday, it was evident that there was a Oroutt, of 30 and 32, Farringdon-road, E.C., sections of for it were ignor~d. The nominal quotation for Noe. 1,
prospect of settling with the opposition, and shortly their illustrated catalogue describing certain of the firm's 2, and 3 was 87s. 6d. Middlesbrough hematite warthereafter the Committee passed the preamble, and the products in the matter of gauges, machine vices, index rants, of which there are now only some 2000, were
clauses were adjusted.
centres, chucks, reemers, and milling tools. Prices are not quoted. Spanish ore was steady. Rubio was put at
Poitnthouse Shipbwilditng Yard.-At Messrs. Inglis's given in all cases, whilst excellent illustrations make 2ls. exship Tees, and freights, Bilbao-Middlesbrough,
shipyard at Pointhouse every berth is filled a.t present, clear any special features of the articles listed. Mr. were fixed at 6s. 10~d. Today there was very little
but there are one or two boats to launch very soon. Oroutb has also issued a useful little pamphlet describing doing on 'Ohange. Quotations for makers' iron were the
Alongside the elip four olipp_!.!r steamera of about 500 tons the equipment and arrangement of A modem machine same a8 yeeterday. In the early part of the day Mid
dleibrough w"rrauts were idle, and there was no quottv
Ol\~h are being built for the Nowfoundla.nd Goa.stio.r trade, ahop.

NOTES FROM THE NORTH.

pe;

] UN E I , 1 900. ]
tion for them, but by the olose of the market they were
weak at 693. 3d. c9.-sh buyer3.
!Jfanufactured Iron and Steel.- Nearly all the manufactured iron and steel makers give a good account of
their condition, reporting that they have large orders on
h&nd, and that they will nob accept new contracts except
a.t similar rates to those that have ruled for some time. Easing of quotations in other districts has not influenced the
market here. It musb be mentioned, however, that few new
orders are being placed. Common iron bars are 9l. 103. ;
be3t bara, 10l. ; iron ship-plates, 8l. 103. iron ship-angles,
8l. 7s. 6d. ; and steel ship-plates and steel ship-angles,
ea()h 8l. 7s. 6d.-all less the customary 2~ per cent. discount for cash. Rail produce~ are kept pretty well employed, and they are not pressmg material on the market.
Heavy sections of steel rails are 7l. 15s. net at works.
Coal and Ooke.-Coal prices are fairly steady, though
bunkers show a tendency to ease. Coke strong. Average
blast-furnace kinds keep at 29J. delivered here.

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

-----transferrin~ the Survey to another publio department.

MISCELLANEA.

This comm1ttee is now sitting.

The Thames Conservators, in their report for 1899,
which has just been issued, state that further progress
has been made towards the completion of the deepening
of the navigable channel of the river fro m Black wall to
the Nore. F or that part of the channel from Gravesend
to the Roya l Albert D ock entrance there remains about
3 miles, and from the Royal Albert Dock entrance t o the
lVIillwa.ll Dock entrance about ~ miles to complete by
dredging. The survey from the Uhapman Lighthouse for
a distance of 13 miles to the entrance of the Tilbury
Docks shows that an improvement of the channel
has resulted at the upper end of Sea Rea<lh. Above
London Bridge the survey has been completed up to
Vauxhall Bridge, and shows a n improvement of from
1 ft . to 2 ft. in the depth of the channel. During
1899 the pollution from 17 towns and villages, with
a population of 36,000, has beeQ diverted from tributary streams. In by far the greater number of cases
where works have not yet been carried out for the prevention of pollution of the ri ver, the local authorities are
taking steps to meet the requirements of the Act, and at
Witney, Thnme, Aylesbury, and Marlborol;Jgh dr~inage
works have already been commenced. The mspect10n of
farms, manufactories, &c., has resulted in pollution being
diverted in 197 oases. On the subject of the water supply,
the Conservators state that the summer and autumn of
1899 were, as in 1898, unusually dry. From January to
May there was abundance of water in the river, but the
supply fell off in June, and in tTn1y, August, and September the average flow over Teddington Weir was much
below 200,000,000 gallons p er day.
The Southern Pacific Railroad has for some years pas t
been using '' Burnettised , sleepers for its lines. This
process, it 'Yill ~e reme~bered, consists of impregnating
the wood w1 th zm c t'hlonde. To check the efficiency of
this impregnation, the following plan has been adopted,
which experience shows can be successfully used by the
foremen in charge of the works: A definite quantity of
sample. boring~ fro~ the sleepers are burned to ash m a.
porcelam roastmg dish by means of a gas jet. The ashes
are collected in a platinum cup and distilled water added,
together with an excess of hydrochloric acid. The solution of zinc is filtered off, and the zi nc precipitated with
carbonate of soda. The liquid is then made up to
3 .drachm s, an~ t~e ~esulting milky solution compared
With standard bqmds ID tubes of the ss.me size and shape
as that contaimng the test sample . These standard
liq uids are grad~d to rep;esent .06, .0~, .12, .15, .18, .21,
and .24 lb. of zmc chloride per cubtc foot of timber.
qertain other Ame~~an railroads are using a. modificatton. of the Burnettistng process, which is claimed to be
an .tmprove~.ent when t~e wood is to be exposed to
trymg cond1t1ons. In t~Is modified proc.e ss the wood is
first freed from ~p and a1: by s team and by placing it in a.
vacuum. Chlortde of zmc is next injected which is
accomplished at a t emperature of 150 d eg. 'Fahr. and
under a J?ressure of 100 lb. per square inch, about three
~o.urs bemg needed. Next a solution of gelatine is
!nJected,. the. pres~ure.used being again 100 lb. per square
mob,, which 18 mamta.med for about half an hour. This
solution d oes not penetrate very far into the timber, since
the J?Ores o~ the latter are already filled with the zino
solutiOn. Fmally, a solution of tannin is injected which
renders the gelatine insoluble, and c'lmpletes the process.

TIIR first factory in Sweden for the manufacture of s teel

balls for ball-bearings has been erected at the lower
D onhult waterfall. The balJs will be pressed. The
manufacture will be started at the rate of 50,000 balls
per da.y, but it is intended to quadruple this, which will
be a.n annual output of 60,000,000 balls.
The rail way station of the ancient a.nd holy Indian
city of Bena.res, is to be ligh ted by the newest form of
illumination-acetylene gas. The system e mployed is
the " Thorscar" patent, the contract having been given
to M essrs. L ockerbie, Limited, of Birmingham. There
will be a. total of about 200 lights employed to illuminate
the station and approaches.
.
The traffic receipts for the week ending May 20 on 33
of the principal lines of the United Kingdom amounted
to 1, 799,577l., which was earned on 19,865! miles. For
the corresponding week in 1899 th e receipts of the same
lines amounted to 1,927,588l., with 19,604~ miles open.
There was thus a decrease of 128,011l. in the rec~ipU~,
NOTES FROM THE SOUTH- WEST.
and an increase of 26l i in the mileage.
Ca,rd~ff'. -There has been a. well-sustained demand for
In view of the forthcoming extraordinary meeting of
steam coal; the best descriptions have made 23s. to
23s. 6:1. per ton, while secondary qualities ha ve brought the Institution of Electrical E ngineers at Paris on
20s. 6d. to 22d. 6d. per ton. H ousehold coal has ex- August 16 next, the Council of the Institution requested
hibited a. firm tone; No. 3 Rhondda large has brought M essrs. T. Cook and Sons to make the necessary travelIt is suggested tbatJ
223. 6d. to 23s. per ton. Coke has also shown strength ; ling a.nd hotel arrangement~.
foundry qualities have made 32s. 6d. t o 33s. per ton, members should make an early application for such
and furnace ditto 30s. to 31s. 6d. per ton. As regards accommodation as they require, since rooms will be
iron ore, the best rubio has been quoted at 20s. 6d. to a.llotted in the order of application.
21s. per ton.
The Water Committee of the London County Council
The Bath a;nd W est Of England Exhibition . -The have prepared a report, in which they ask to be allowed
annual exhibition of the Bath and West and Southern to ~repar~ for legislation in the Session of 1901 Bills
Counties Agricultural Society-the old Bath and West of ~eal.ing w1.t h the London water s upply. The committee
England-which commenced at Bath on Wednesday, had JUSti fy their req uest on the ground that "neither in reply
5766 ft. run of shedding devoted to agricultural im- t o the .deputation which waited upon him, nor in the
debate ID the J:Iouse of Comm~ns, iJ? which be opposed
plements, machinery, &c.
the second read mg ot the Coun01l's Bills, was any mdicaKeyham..-About five years since the Lords of the Ad- tion given by the President of the Local Government
miralty spent several thousand pounds in extending the Board of the course which the Government intend to
gunmounting store at Keyham. But the accommoda- pursue, t;lOr ~o we know whether they are likely to protion is still altogether inadequate, owing to the many dif- pose legtslatJOn based on the recommendation of the
ferent types of guns and mounting~ which are being in- Royal Commission in favour of purchase."
troduced into the service. To meet the case temporarily,
. In a. paper recently read ~afore the Royal Institution,
the store is to be further extended at a. cost of 2500l., and
plans are under consideration for the erection of a new Sir Andrew Noble gave particulars of observations made
block of buildings for the storage of guns and their mount- with different powders in the Elswick lOO-calibre experiings on the site of the dockyard extension ab K~yha.m. mental gun. It is of interest to note that the Frenoh
The proposed new buildings for this purpose will cost official smokeless powder, the B.N. is characterised by
aboutJ 5000l., and when they are completed the present giving higher chamber pr~sures and lower muzzle presbuilding will be converted into a mach ine-~b op for sur~ than other modern propellants, so that for a given
maximum chamber pressure, the B.N. powder gives a
Key ham factory .
lower mu zzle energy than either cordite or ballistite. On
the other band, the. B. N. powder g~nerates less heat per
JAPAN.-A censu~ of Japan taken in 1898, and just gramme than corc;hte, the re~pectiv~ figures being 1003
published, shows the population of the Japanese Empire, and 1272. heatumts. Ly~dite, cu riOusly enough, is a
exclusive of Formosa, at that date, to have amounted to comparatively cool explosive, one gramme generating
45,193,605 persons, an increase since the last census of only 850.3 heat-units.
1, 960,000.
A new central .railway station was opened last week
for traffic at N ottmgham. The station is jointly owned
THE L ATE MR. THOMAS DA VID LrrrLE. -One of the by the q.reat C~nt~al and the Great Northern Railway
many British engineers who have done splendid service Compames, and IS Situated on the Mansfield-road in the
towards the opening u~ and trade development of great heart of the city. The site and structure have cost about
tracks of jungle in Indta, has passed away in the person l,OOO,OOOl. The p ermanent way, stati~n offices, platforms,
of Mr. Thomas David Little, who died suddenly at Che~ter and the great spans roofing the statiOn are of the most
on the 16th ult. It may be said that Mr. Little spent substantial and most modern character. There are seven
his whole life for the advancement of our great Indian platformA, and, in addition to dealing with the whole of
The Gr~at Wes.tern Ra.ilwa.y Company are bringing into
dependency, for he went to that country forty years ago, the Great Central through and local goods and passenger
and his work there absorbed all his attention. He served traffic, the station will carry all the through and local use a corridor tram o~ a new type, in which the gangway
for three years, from 1855 to 1858, under the late ?vir. J. pa.ss.enger traffic of the Great N ortbern ~stem. The old runs not al~ng the stde of. the coaches, but along their
B. Clacy. the county surveyor for Berks, and was for a. station of the Great Northern system a.t L ondon-road will centre. ThlS change has mvolved the total abolition of
few months in the dra.wingoffice of the Great W estern be practically closed for Great Northern traffi c but some separate eom partmen ts, a.nd ea~~ coach is now practically
Railway at Paddington, when he decided to enter the ~ondon and ~orth-Western trains will continu~ to utilise open fro~ ~nd to end, the partttJOns between the seats in
no case nsmg to the roof of the carriages. First-class
Public Works Department, and passed the usual exami- It under runnmg powers.
passenge~s are seated two in the width of the train-one
nation in 1859. He was first located in the Presidency
The A eronautical Journal relates that Major Baden on e!l'cli side of the central gangway; in the second-class
of Bombay; but various parts successively claimed his
attention. His promotion was rapid, and in 1881 he Powell, a brother of the defender of Mafeking had great carr1ages the seat.s a.~e arrang~d two on one side and one
reached the first grade of the executive branch. Miles diffi culty in getting his war kites out to So~th Africa. on the other; ~bile m the thtrd class they are two and
of roads, and bridges of all types, some of them of the when ordered to the front. He was refused permission ~wo. Hence, .m the last case at least, a given space
iron screw pile type, were built by him, and he practically to take them as personal luggage, or as ammunition or ts ~ade to yield a substantial increase of accommolaid out a great track of 1500 square miles of jungle in arms, and finally it is said smuggled them through as dation, ~ co~pared with the corridor coaches now in
one of the native States. He became a member of the "medical comforts." The kite~, though their presence vogue, sm ce ~nstead of three persons being placedon the scene was due entirely to private initiative have not a.lway~ Without . some constriction-in the width
Institution of Civil Engineers in 1885.
proved Yery useful, as not only did they enable photo- of .the tram, room 1s found for four. A convenience
THE LATE PROFESSOR CALLCOTT REILLY.-We regret to gr~phs of ~uns, camps, &o., to be taken from great whiCh, so far, the Great Western has not allowed its
have to announce the death, in his seventy-second year, of h~Ights, but have also .served to support the vertical passengers nearly. so .freely. as the northern lines, is
Professor Callcott Reilly, who for so many years occupied Wires neede~, for ~arcoru's s~stem of telegraphy. When also to be fouJ?d m ~h1s tram, for in one of the middle
with such conspicuous success the position of professor of Mr. Marcoms assistants a.rrtved at the front with their coach~ there .Is a ki~h~n from which travellers can at
engineering construction at Cooper's Hill. He com- coberers and. transmitters, they found neither poles nor any time. durmg th~Ir JOurney be served with refreshmenced his engineering career as a millwright, serving his ba.ll<;>ons available to carry their transmitting and re- ments Without leavmg their seats. All the coaches
time with Messrs. E . and B. J ohnson, of Cheater, and ceivmg wires. It was then the kites came to save the ~ave the olerestory roofs usual in Great Western main
for two years he was foreman patternmaker ab the situati~n, and with their aid it was found possible to lm~ stock, and, of course, run on bogies internally
the1r uphols tery a~d decoration is all that ~ reasonabl~
works of Messrs. Knight and Wood, Bolton, then one transmit messages over a distance of 85 miles.
year as principal foreman with Mr. J oseph Clayton, of
The Presi~ent of the .B<?ard of Education has approved traveller eau r.eqmre, the lighting is by electricity and
Preston, and subsequently for one year as draughtsman of a. committee con~Istmg of The Right Hon. J. L. a. stea.!Dwarmmg apparatus is provided. Comm~nica
with Mr. James Ho~_gson, shipbuilder and naval archi- ~harton, M.P. (chauman) ; Mr. Stepben E. Spring twn wtth the guard and dr.iver is effected by the method
tect, at Liverpool. He next became ohief assistant to Rt~e, C. B., of Her Majesty's Treasury ; Mr. T. H. ~ec~ntly adopted by the rallw!l'y companies in generalMr. Edward Woods, a past-president of the Institution, Elh~tt, C. B., of the B oard of Agriculture; General mstde cords run along both sides of each carriage at the
and continued with him until 1872, when he became first Festmg, C.B., of the Board of Education (Victoria and level of the top of the do?r, and w.hen either of these is
professor of engineerin~ construction, and continued to Albert Museum); Dr. H. F. Parsons, of the Local p~lled down the a~toru~t10. br~ke 1s put on, a small red
occupy that position unt1l a few months ago. Thus many of Government B<;>ard; Mr. W. T. Blandford, F.R.S., late dtsc at the same t1me IDdtoatmg from which coach the
the engineers now in India owe to Prof~sor Reilly much of of the Geolog1al Survey of I.ndia ,; Professor C. Lap- alarm proce~ds. This new train is to be used for the tritheir knowledge of engineering, and his death will awaken worth, J?.R.S., of Mason Umversity College, Birming- w~ekly s~~v1ce to Cork aJ?d the south of Ireland vid New
regret alike because of his urbanity as for his great ability ham ;. WIth Mr. A. C. Cooper, Board of Education South Milford , 1t1 leaves Paddmgton on Tuesdays. Thursda s
as an engineer. He became an associate of the Ins titution Kensmgton, as secretary, to inquire into tl)e orga~isation ~nd Saturdays at 4.25, and return from Milford at a.blut
of Civil Engineers in 1864 and a. member in 1870, and a?d staff of the Geological Survey and Museum of Prac- 6.30 on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings.
contributed a. classical paper on '' The Uniform Str~ses t~ca.l Geol?gy ; to reporo on the p~ogress of the Survey
in Girderwork1, followed by another on "Iron Girder smce 1881 , to suggest th~ o~anges m staff and arrangeFREN CH STEAM .NAVIGATION.-A line of subsidised
Bridges,, ea.rnmg the Telford medal and premium. He ments necessary for brmgmg the Survey in its more
took part frequently in the discussions at the Institution, gen~ral features to a ~peedy an.d satisfacto.ry termination, atAahers has been n~aug~rated at Havre under the title
principally on the stresses of materials, a subject to which ha.vmg regard espectaJly to Its economic importance of. t e Franco-Canadtan hne. The steamers of the line
he devoted muoh ref\earch.
~:d:~x~rom ~avre to Quebec and Montreal, callin~ a~
and, furtbu, to report on the deairability or otherwise

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J UNE 1 , I 900.]

r emain , however, the t hree battleships which n eed

NOTICE TO CONTINENTAL ADVERTISERS.
AGENTS FOR "ENGINEERING."
armour ; but the Sheffield . man ufacli~rers say that
AusTRIA, Vienna. : Lehmann and Wentzel, Ktll'tnerstra.sae.
. Advertisements from Germany should now be sent the presen t progr amme "1s utterly Inadequate to
OA.PBToWN : Gordon and Gotch.
through Messrs. G. L. Daube and Co., Fra.nk.furt-am keep the Sheffield plant employed." T o clinch t he
EDINBURGH John Menzies and Oo., 12, Hanover-street.
F RANCE, P~ris : Boyvea.u and Ohevillet, Librairie Etrang~re, 22, Main, who have been appointed our Sole Agents for matter, however, Messrs. Armst rong have state~,
Ruede la Banque; M. Em. Terquem, 31bla, Boulevard Haussmann. that country for Trade displayed Advertisements.
Also for Advertisements, Agence Ha.vas, 8, Place de la. Bourse. Advertisements from France, Belgium, and Bol in correspondence r eferred t o by ~~ Y ~rburgh 1nf
the H ouse on Monday last, that
therr offer o
(See ne1..i. column.)
.
land
should
be
sent
through
the
Agence
Bavas,
GBRllANY Berlin : Messrs. A. Asher and Oo., 6, Unter den Lmden.
' Frnnkfurt-am-Main : MeSI:Jrs. G. L. Da.ube a.nd Oo. (for s, Place de la Bourse, Paris, our Sole Agents for laying down and delivering within three years from
date of order three bat tleships and two large
Advertisements).
those countries for stmnar Advertisements.
Leipzig : F. A. Brookha.us.
cruisers still held good : all the said ships to ? e deMulhouse : H. Stuokelberger.
READING OASES. - Reading cases for containing twenty-six livered complete in all details - hull, mach1nery,
GLASGOW : William Love.
numbers of ENGINBBRING may be bad of the Publisher or of any
INDIA Calcutta. : Thacker, Spink, and Oo.
armour, and guns. "
newsagent.
Price
6s. each.
' Bombay : Tha~ker and Co., Limited.
Mr. Goschen- who, it will be r e1nem.ber ed ,
ITALY : U. Hoepli, Milan, and spy post office.
served for many years under the ''old P arha.men LIVERPOOL : Mrs. Taylor, Landing Stage.
NOTICES
OF
MEETINGS.
MANCHESTER: John Heywood, 143, Dea.nsga.te.
NoRWAY, Ohristiania. : Oa.mmermeyers Boghandel, Oul Johans ROYAL INSTlTUTlON OF GREAT BRITATN.- The Friday evening tary hand " p ar excellence-is by no. means at the
discourse next week (June 8), at 9 o'clock, at Albemarle-street, end of his r esources ; and when driven from one
Qade, 41 and 43.
N&w souTH W AL KB, Sydney : Turner and Henderson, 16 and 18, Piccadilly, W., will be delivered b} Mr. Allan Macfadyeo, line of defence he promptly establishes hims~lf _in
M. D., D.Se. , Subject: "The Effect of Physical Age~ ts on Bac
Hunter-street. Gord~n and Gotch, George-street.
terial Life." Afternoon lectures next week at 8 o c~~ck . -9n another. He will, he says, very shortly 1nv1te
QURBNSLAND (SoUTH), Bnsbane : Gordon and Gotoh.
Tuesday, June 5. Mr. R. Warwick Bond, M.A., ou Rmkm, tenders for ships and machin ery ; and when Mr.
(NORTH), Townsville: T. Willmett and Oo.
the Servant of Art."-On Thursday, June 7. The Rev. Oanon Yerburgh very properly, asks him if these will be
R.oTrBlU>AM : H. A. K rn~er and Son. .
Ainger, ?!LA., LL.D., on " Ohaucer " (Lecture III.)- On Saturday,
SOUTHAUSTRALIA, Adelaide : W. 0. R.tgby.
June 9. Sir Frederick Bridge, Mus. Doe. , on " The Growth of part of the programme which was limited by the
UNITRD STATBS, New York : W. H. Wtley, 43, East 19th-street.
Chicago: H. V. Holmes, 12671258, Monadnock Chamber Music" (with musical i11ustra.tions) (Lecture Ill.).
output of the country, he says : '' Cer~inly ! It
TnE
Rtl~
TGEN
SOCIETY
.Thursday,
June
7,
at
St.
~arthlo
Block.
lli
VtaroRIA Melbourne : Melville, Mullen, and Slade, 261/264, Co DB mews's Hospital, Electrical Department,_ entrance _Smtthfield. is part of the programme of the estrmates. I t
The chair will be taken at 8 p.m. Dr. Lewts Jones w tll show an would be folly t o go further until we know. h.ow
street. ' Gordon and Gotch, Limited, Queen-street.
infJuence machine of American design. Mr. James Wimshurst, far we can place the large orders we are now gl\~mg
We beg to announce that American Su bscri ption~ to ENGINERRING F.R.S., will give a. sh o r ~ statement of h_is _work in the d ~ig n and
may now be addressed eithe~ direct to the Publisher, Mr. 0 . R. the perfectintr of the several forms of bts mflueuce machme. Mr. out."
JoBNSON at the offices of thiS Journal, Nos. 35 and 86, Bedford R6my, of Paris, will show a new localising apparatus.
But how is it that the F irst Lor d of the Admistreet, Strand, London, W.O. , or to our accredited Agents for the
United States, Mr. W. H. WIL&V, 43, East 19th-street, New _York,
ralty and his colleagues do n ot k now, or, rather,
and Mr. H. V. HOLMBS, 12571268, Monadoock Block, Chicago.
did noli know, mon ths ago 1 'rhe firms that can
The prices of subscription _(J?ayable in adva~ce) for.one yea! are :
supply ships, engines, armour, and guns are .all
For thin (foreign) paper edttl?D, l l. _16s. Od. , for thick (ordinary)
paper edition, 2l. Os. 6d.. ; or tf rermtted to Agents, 9 dollars for
on the .Admiralty list, and a. circular letter, whiCh
thm and 10 dollars for thick.
FRIDAY, J UNE l, 1900.
a junior clerk could have drafted, would have
ADVERTISEMENTS.
brought the needed information. H owever, letter
The charge for advertisements is thrt>e shilli!l~ for . the first
or no letter, the Board of .Admiralty 1n ust be singufour lines or under, and eightpence for each additiOnal line. The
THE NAVAL P ROGRAMME.
larly out of touch with t he engineering commun ity
line averages seven words. Payme~ t mus~ ~m~any all orders
for single advertisements, otherWlse then msert10n cannot be
THE t houghts of the nation are, at the present if t hey have n ot discover ed that th e statements
guaranteed. Terms for displayed ad~er tisements ?n ~h e wrap~er time, so intently dir ected toward the land operamade a.s to inability of contractors to fulfil orders
and on the inside pages_ may be ~btam ed on . application. . Senal
advertisements will be mserted w1th all practtcable regulanty, but tions in South Africa., that we are apt to forget the have been met with protest on all sides. We have
absolute regularity cannot be guaranteed.
paramount claim the sea service al ways has on our ourselves r eceived a great many communications,
Advertisements intended for insertion in the cur attent ion. The brief references lately made in the which prove conclusively how lame was Mr.
rent week's issue must be delivered not later than House of Commons to the present naval programme
Goschen 's excuse for not mak ing fuller provision
5 p.m. on Thursday. In consequence of the necessity
for going to press early with a portion of the edition, are, however, of such importance, and. are withal for strengthening the F leet . The head of one
alterations for standing Advertisements should be so instructive, that we propose coromentmg on them firm of t he higheot standing says : '' We are
received not later than 1 p.m. on Wednesday after- at some length. To do this we must go back to astonished at Mr. Goschen 's r ecent remarks as to
last F ebruary, when Mr. Goschen, in introducing his inability t o p ut forward a fuller naval pronoon in each week.
.
the Naval Estimates, said that in t he na val pro- gramme on account of contractors being unable to
SUBSCRIPTIONS, HOME AND FOREIGN.
gramme he was limit ed to what he believed to be execute the work. " Anoth er eminent engineering
ENGINEERING can be supplied, direct. from the Publishe.r, the output of the country in armour, hull, ma- contractor says : " I may tell you that Mr. Goschen's
post free for twelve months, at the folloWing ratea, payable tn chinery, and a vast n umber of accessories. The statement is making quite a stir among shipadvance:country accepted this statement at the time builders and steelmakers. There is no difficulty
For the United Kingdom . .. .. . .. .. .. .et 9 2
in good faith, taking it for gr.a.nted that the whatever in the Admiralty getting any number of
" all places abroad :Thin paper copies. .. .. .. . .. t 16 0
belief of t he Board of Admll'alty was well ships built-double the number they are having
Thick ,
.. .. .. .. .. .. 2 0 6
founded ; that care had been taken to ascer tain built-and getting them constructed quickly. The
All accounts are payable to . "ENGINEEI.UN<!_," Limited,~ the capacities of the various shipyards and enmeans at the command of t he builders of the
Oheques should be crossed " Umon Bank, Oha.nng uross Branch.
gineering establishments, upon which the coun- country are such t hat they could t urn out twice the
Post Office Orders payable at Bedford-street, Strand, W.O.
When foreign Subscriptions a~e sent by Post Office Orders, try places reliance to supply rnat6riel for t he fleet. amount of work. "
advice should be sent to the Pu~lisher. . . .
. F or our own part, we were a little surprised
Foreign and Colonial Subscribers reoetvmg lDCOmplete cop1es
Messrs. Armstrong, Whitworth, and Co.'s prethrough newsa.O'ents are requested to communicate the fact to to learn that a. state of affairs existed such a.s Mr. sent capability of executing Government orders has
the Publisher, t:,gether with the agent's name and address.
Goschen stated ; but, like the p uhlic at large, we been made public ; it is, as stated, three battleom.ce for Publication and Advertisements, Nos. 35
neglected what experience should have taught, and ships and three large cruisers. It is well known
and 36, Bedford-street, Strand, London, W.C.
accepted the official statement of the Board of that they are completing, at their Openshaw works,
We desire to call the attention of our readers to Admiralty in good faith. Some letters we have
an armour-plate plant that will render them indethe fact that the above is our SOIE Address, and since received, and to which we shall presently
pendent of the Sheffield fi rms. I t may be stated
that no connection extsts between this Journal and
any other pu.blicattons bearing somewhat stmnar make reference, have undeceived us in this r espect. further that in addition to their Elswick yard,
Mr. Y erburgh has being doing useful work lately which is equipped for the building of war vessels
tltlea.
in stirring this matter up in Parliament. In the on ly, they have the Walker yard, a lit tle lower
'hLBGB.APma ADDB.&SS-ENGINBERING, LONDON.
course of a question put to the First Lord of t he down the Tyne, from whence they have already
TKLB:PaoNB NUHBKR--8668 Gerrard.
Admiralty, he repeated that Messrs. Armstrong, launched several cruisers and two armourclads.
w hit worth, and Co. had said, "that t hey could,
I t will be instructive if, from the many commuCONTENTS.
if required, lay down three battleships and two nications, both verbal and by letter, which we have
The Oost of Electric Powe:AGB The Volta. Contact Force ..P~~: large cruisers, giving delivery of t he same within received from Admiralty con tractors, we her e give
Production.... .... .. .. .. 701 Notes .. ... .... ... .. .. .... 724 three years of receiving the order. " Mr. Goschen, a few extracts, selecting only those from well-known
Literature .. ..... ..... .. .. 704 The Late Mr. William
in his reply, said : '' I t should be understood that firms who stand highest in the public estimation.
Paris Exhibition Railways
Lindley .. .. ... 726 M
Ar 1.
d
1.
t t
hin
.
.
-r~
~o5
s
th
At

R
1
725
essrs.
ms"rong
o
no"
cons
rue
mac
ary, nor On e of them says : '' We could undertake and gua . . r
(n lu.strat<:A.IJ1
ou
rtcan at ways ... .
Hand and Machine Labour 708 " Road Locomotion" ... . .. 726 a.t presen t make armour-plates ; and for their supply rantee to turn out one battleship and three first-.
Textile Machinery at the
The War in South Africa .. 725 in these respects they are dependen t upon t he
class cruisers, with propelling machinery an~
Paris Exhibition (lllusForeshore Protection .... .. 726
h
d l
d
h
t rated) .. . 709 Range Finders .. .. ... . .. .. 726 same manufacturers as t e A ml.l'a. ty a.n
ot er auxiliary machinery complete, within three years
The Paris Exhibition ElecThe Accident at Southshipbuilders."
from date, commencing delivery of the first vessel
726
trio
Power
Station
(I
ll
u
sampton
(Illustrated)

The
imputation
clearly
was
that,
though
1\'Iessrs.
ltctted) ... ... . ... . ..... .. 712 Lending Library for Engiin two years from r eceipt of plans." Another fi rm
Midland Locomotive at the
neers ....... .. ........ . 726 Armstrong might be able to build the ships, t hey says : ' ' . . we could lay down two large ships
Paris
Exhi
bition
(I llus. ) 713 Naval Engineers 726 could not supply complete ships, but only the hulls.
Notes from the United
Power Stamping Presses
(either battleships or first-class cruisers) in 1900,
States . . . . .. _ .. .. . 718 ( Illustrated) .... .. . .. .. . 727 How unfounded this view was, was speedily shown, launch them in 1901, and complete by t he end of
Armoured Traction Train
Industrial Notea . .. 727 so far as machinery was concerned, by a letter 1903 ; could lay down six large ships in 1901, launch
for South
Africa
(lllus.) .. 714 The
Action of Bilge Keels
Messrs. Humphrys, Tennant, and Co. sen t to the
Notes
from the
~orth .. .. .. 716
(Illustrated) .... .... .. .. 729
them in 1902, and complete by the en d of 1904, and
Notes fromSouth Yorkshire 716 Workmen's Compensation
Times, in which they said they would ' ' be exceed- six per annum afterwards." This does n ot refer
731 1'ngly glad to undertake the construction and de
Notes
from
Cleveltwd
and
Oases

the Northern Counties .. '116 Boiler Explosion nea.r New

- to hulls only but to hulls, engines, and armour.
Notes from the South-West 717 castle . . . ... ... .. . .. 732 livery of t he machinery complete for the three Still another firm, also in t he foremost rank, is at
Miscellanea. ... .. . ... . .. .... 717 Compression and Liquefac
battleships and t wo large cruisers within three
The
Naval
Programme
..
..
719
tion
of
Gases
(l Umtrated) 732 years from the date of contract." I t need hardly present prepared t o take orders for two battleships
The Patents E>'Xamination
The Physical Society ... ... 734
to be deliver ed in three years ; or, if preferred,
Question .. .... .. ....... . 720 Accident at Crynant Sta.
be pointed out in th ese columns t hat the two firms three armoured cr uisers. This also refers to the
Imperial
Chinese
Railways
721
tion
(nlmtrated) .. .... .. 734 referred to have worked together for years past in
Land Reclamation in Nor" Engineering" Patent Re
complete ships, including engines, armour, and
folk .. ........ .. ..... .. 722 oord (Illustrated) ...... . 786 producing some of the most successful war vessels guns. Another firm would under tak e at once two
Wi th a Ttoo-l'a.g~ :Bnt;ramng of a P A SSENGER LOCO t hat have ever ploughed the ocean; and so far a.s battleships, or two first-class cruisers, or three
!JlOTIVE FO R T HE MIDLAND .Ri!ILW.AY AT THE una.rmoured cruisers were concerned, the difficulty second-class cruisers, or four third-class cruisers.
\ P.a.IUS EXHIBITI ON,
. of getting ships built was elearlf a myth.
There The Navy Estimat es pr ovide for two battleships

-.

ENGINEERING.

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

in the new shipbuilding programme of this year.

\Ve have in the ahove statements assurance that
16 would
be delivered by the end of 1904, or
.
earl ter.
We have made no reference to such craft as
destroyers; but most of our correspondents are
prepared to undertake the buildinO' of vessels of
this class, in addition to the larger ships mentioned ; whilst it is well known that there would
be no difficulty in getting several destroyers laid
down at once on the Thames. There are also other
yards and engineering works in different parts of
the country that are on the Admiralty list and
where ships have been built for the Navy, th~t are
not only willing but anxious to take contracts at
the present time. We have, as stated, referred
above only to firms in the foremost rank, and not
to all of these, as we have made no effort to obtain
a complete list of the private resources of the
country; indeed, we are aware that in more than
one big establishment, noted for the production of
annoured warships and their machinery, there are
slips vacant, and capacity for making en~ines and
boilers in the shops.
The E~rl of Hopetoun, in his annual address as
President of the Institution of Naval Architects,
made some ren1arks on this subject which are
worth recalling, if only from the fact that his Lordship is the representative of the Admiralty in the
House of Lords. This official connection naturally debars him from freely criticising the policy
of his friends; and, bearing this in mind, the words
used in the address would alone be sufficient to
cause serious misgiving. Speaking of the Royal
Navy, he said: "the new shipbuilding programme
appears at first sight to be a modest one" ; and he
then proceeded to remind the members of the Institution that we have already under construction a
large number of armoured and unarmoured vessels.
This is very true, but it n1ust also be remembered
that so large a proportion of warship tonnage
still remains incmnplete, because the work has
been delayed, and therefore the programmes laid
down have not been adhered to. Mr. Yerburgh
raised this point in his first question asked in the
House, and in replying, the First Lord made what
can only be considered an insufficient excuse, illustrating his contention by "an analogous case" that
was almost childish in its want of parallelism. He
supposed that the House voted 1000l. for a picture,
and that the picture was not finished the first nor the
second year, so that the money had to be re-voted
three times. '' Surely it would be incorrect to
say," Mr. Goschen remarked, "that the Government were responsible for not having spent the
whole of the 3000l." In regard to one picture, that
would be very true; but supposing the welfare of
the country demanded that a picture should be
painted every year, then the Government would be
very much to blame for seeing that one thousand was
spent each year instead of one thousand in three
years.
Lord Hopetoun, however, appears inclined to
take a more statesmanlike view than the First Lord,
and allows that the " modest programme " involves
a situation of difficulty which " might resolve
itself into one of some gravity, or even danger;''
whilst, despite his official position, he " cannot
believe we have reached the limit of our producing
power." He could hardly say less in addressing a
meeting of the principal shipbuilders and marine
engineers of the country.
Lord Hopetoun, however, attaches most importance to the armour question. " The difficulty of
procuring armour-plate seems to be the more acute
of the two quest.ions," he says. The chairman of
one of the big Sheffield firms has recently stated
in public that '' there need be no alarm on the
score of supplying armour-plates to Her Majesty's
Government so far as Sheffield was concerned, and
their own company in part.icular. Any demand
that might be made upon them would be quite
within their capacity; and in case of necessity they
were prepared to go still further, and increase their
output to meet the requir~ments ~f the British
Admiralty whatever they mtght be.
In regard to
the latter 'statement, it may be said that the three
large steelmaking firms of Sheffield - Brown's,
Cammell's, and Vickers' -are stated to have spent
recently about a million sterling in armour plant,
and that they could supply yearly protective plates
for nine battleships and nine armoured cruisers.
This leaves out of consideration the new plant of
Messrs. Arm strong, Whit worth, and Oo., at Manchester, which we believe iR ao far advanced that

some plates have already been produced; and also

the Parkhead Forge at Glasgow, where Krupp
armour up to 6 in. thick can be made. One of the
Sheffield firms alone has appliances for turning out
Y.early 10,000 tons of mixed plates ; or, say, suffiCient for three large battleships taking 2500 tons
each, and three cruisers taking 800 tons each. In
regard to thinner plates, there are many steelmaking corn panies who would only be too glad to
lay down the comparatively inexpensive plant
needed for their production, were the Government
to give encouragement.
~ncouragement, however, is just what the Admiralty will not give to contractors, and never
will, so long as the position of .F irst Lord is gi ren
simply as a reward for political services, and not
because the recipient has a knowledge of, or is
fitted for, the onerous duties he is called upon to
fulfil. We hear a good deal about '' administrative capacity, " and doubtless that is a first necessity for a man who is to govern the Queen's Navy;
but what are we to think of the admini::;trative
capacity of those who let the maritime defences of
the country sink to the dangerously low ebb of the
early seventies 1 Naturally, the Navy is not made
for the shipbuilders and engineering firms, but
none the less the Navy could not exist without
them. One would think that the humblest gift of
common sense- putting aside any genius for administrative capacity - would teach that for the
Navy contractors to be well equipped, whether
shipbuilders, engineers, or gunmakers (and we
should need them all if it came to a push), they
must be prosperous. It is not a question of
exorbitant prices, but of a fair assurance of work.
It is a thing the taxpayer has a right to demand, on
his own behalf, for its absence kills competition.
That was well illustrated in the case of armour-plate
production, for so long in the hands of two firms,
because no substantial encouragement was given to
others to lay down the costly plant needed, and
which might be idle for months, or perhaps years,
at a time. Another instance is that of a well-known
firm who construct torpedo craft. At times their
yard would be full of work, and then, orders
having been executed, there could be hardly
arything to do for months ; so that the men
would be dispersed, and the highly -paid permanent staff left without occupation. It is unnecessary to dilate on the loss that occurs
when a big works is idle ; but this, it may be
said, is '' the :contra.ctors' look-out., It is by no
means the contractors' look-out ; it is the taxpayers' look-out. Contractors do not work at a loss,
and the waste that takes place in slack times has
to be made good by extra profits when work comes;
besides which, these periods of depression frighten
fresh adventurers from entering the trade. One
would think that a very little administrative capacity would be n eeded to put this matter on a
sounder basis.
The fact i~, "administrative capacity, of the
Parliamentary sort is chiefly a capacity to fence
successfully with awkward questions in the House;
and for this reason there is something to be said
in favour of a Peer as a First Lord, so that what
should be a subsidiary duty may be left to the
Parliamentary secretary. This skilful word-fencing, however, has very little effect, perhaps even a
damaging effect ; for though, by a species of
forensic adroitness, the Government representative
may gain a verbal triumph, the public is mostly
shrewd enough to arrive at a true general conclusion. However that may be, we evidently
need a change of policy at the Admiralty. The
Chancellor of the Exchequer, speaking lately
at Bristol, said that the expenditure of the
country was growing at ~'an enormous and dangerous rate," instancing the increase in the Navy
Estimates ; and he went on to enunciate the
extraordinary proposition that ''in the race of
shipbuilding we should follow rather than lead."
With such views as these from one m em her of the
Government, backed up, as they hu.ve been, by the
groundless assertion that we have outgrown the
capacity of the country for producing warships, it
is evident the country at large should do something towards setting its house in order. The first
step, it seems to us, should be to get a First Lord of
the Admiralty more in touch with the great engineering and shipbuilding indust ries of the nation,
or at any rate to strengthen the Board in this
respect. Both Sir William White and Sir John
Durston have done what they could, but they
havA no administrative position ; thPy are simply

[]UN E I , I 900.

servants of the Board. As a matter of fact both

have been away for some time, incapacitated by
illness brought on by anxiety and overwork, both
of which are largely due to the unp1actical character of the Board of Admiralty- that is, unpractical so far as the building up of an engineering
fleet is concerned.
There may be some who think that the present
naval shipbuilding programme is sufficient for the
nation's need. 'rhat the Government feel such is
not the case is proved by the excuses put forward
for not building more ships. These excuses we
have shown here to be not founded on fact; and
we trust that the fallacy having been exposed, the
Government will take steps in accordance with
the feeling of the country, and with the demands
common prudence imposes with the present outlook.

THE PATENTS EXAMINATION

QUESTION.
THE Board of Trade have appointed a Departmental Committee, and have referred to it the
following:
''While Her Majesty's Government do not think
it desirable, and do not propose to establish any
general system of examination as to the novelty of
inventions in respect of which applications for
letters patent are made, and do not require any
inquiry into any such system of examination, the
Committee hereinbefore appointed is to inquire
into the working of the Patents Acts with reference to the following questions:
u (1) Whether any, and, if so, what additional
powers should be given to the Patent Office to
(a) Control,
(u) Impose conditions on, or
(c) Otherwise limit
the issue of letters patent in respect of inventions
which are obviously old, or which the information
recorded in the office shows to have been previously
protected by letters patent in this country.
"(2) Whether any, and, if so, what amendments
are necessary in the provisions of Section 22 of t he
Patents, &c., Act, 1883, and
"(3) Whether the period of se-ren months' priority
allowed by Section 103 of that Act to applicants for
letters patent under the International Convention
may properly be extended, and, if so, on what
conditions.,
Thus, the questions to be considered have reference, respectively, to examination as to novelty,
compulsory licenses, and the granting of patents for
foreign inventions. To-day we shall confine ourselves to a few observations on the first of these
questions, to which we shall hope to recur, whilst
what we may have to say upon the remaining two
questions will be reserved for later on.
As to the subject of preliminary examination,
the language of the reference is peculiar, and seems
almost to involve a contradiction, if not even calculated to mislead. At any rate, it is not obvious
how, without examination as to novelty, Patent
Office officials are to arrive at the conclusion that
an invention in respect of which a patent is sought
is obviously old, or is shown by the information
recorded in the office to have been previously
protected by letters patent in this country. Indeed, the terms of the reference appear to be
about as unsatisfactory as were those of the
report of a former Departmental Committee
which led to the inefficacious legislation respecting
registration of Patent Agents. Certain it is that
the impression conveyed by the terms of the
reference to the present committee is that
nothing but a very ineffectual and perfunctory
practice is contemplated so far as regards the
action of the Patent Office in dealing with applications for P atents containing claims in respect of
anticipated s ubject-matter. Nevertheless, we desire
to warn inventors and all others interested in
inventions and patents, that it behoves them to
watch closely, and exert all their influence to
prevent the adoption of measures which may spell
injustice and disaster to themselves.
One thing above all others they will do well to
resist by every constitutional means. They should
strive to prevent the arming of Patent Office
officials with power (which we feel assured the
officials do not desire) to refuse unopposed applications for letters patent on the ground of alleged
want of novelty, or to themselves endorse upon
letters patent or specifications any adverse opinion,
or any referenoe to suppostd anticipation~. ~a

J UNE I , I 900.]

know of course, that some influential persons,

having themselves made money in the past out of
patents, would n ow lik~ .to close the d~or, in o~der
to discourage competitiOn. But their plausible
reasoning should not be allowed to preYail.
The practice which n ow obtains in unop~osed
cases is to grant the p atent, even though 1t be
perfectly well kn own to the Examiner that practically the identical thing is already described in
one or more earlier patent specifications.
In many cas~s a. .specia~ sea.rch respectin.g tl~e
novelty of a given InventiOn IS a task whtch, If
undertaken by the inventor himself involves a
serious amount of time, whilst if performed by a
professional person is costl!.
.
.
But in a Government office, where certain exanuners have to d o particularly with inventions of a
given class or classe.s,. t~ose ex~miners become to a
certain extent f~m1hansed with what has been
already patenh d, at any rate during the time they
have acted as examiner3 ; and they have consequently, so to speak at their fingers' ends, a large
amount of information which, if communicated to
the applicant for a patent, would often be of the
utmost value, provided he had the opportunity of
freely revising and recasting his ~peci~ca.tion and
claims in such a manner as to av01d cla1mmg what
appe~red to be clearly_ old, and, at th~ same time
to claim what h e conceived to be the d1fterence (no
matter how small) between his invention or supposed invention and the earlier ones.
It has sometimes been suggested-and the suggestion was e\en embodie l in a formal resolution
at the Paris Congress of 1878, and subsequently in
the Swiss law- that P~tent Office authorities
should communicate the particulars of earlier inventions known to them to the applicant for a
patent, in confidence, for his information, leaving
him a.t liberty to abandon his application, or to
amend his specification and claims, or even to
proceed with his application for a patent without
amendment.
But it must be remembered that there are two
sides to every question. Viewed in this light, the
above proposal would be eminently unjust.
If it be desirable (as we conceive it to be) that the
applicant for a patent should be saved the expense
of a search, and protected, so to speak, from the
loss inventors now frequently incur through spending time and money over an invention which turns
out to have been anticipated; on the other hand,
the least t hat the public have a right to expect is
that they shall b e equally informed, so that every
member of the community may be spared the expense he might otherwise be put to (if attacked by
a patentee for infringement) in discovering for his
own defence the facts already communicated at t he
public expense to the patentee. In a word, the
applicant for a patent and the public must b e
equally protected.
At the same time, in protecting both parties, the
utmost care should be exercised to avoid injustice
to either.
It rarely happens that two specifications describe
identical subject matter. It frequently occurs that
the subject matters of two are so much alike as t o
be practically identical. It has often been the case
that the subject matter of one specification has
differed from that of another only in some feature
or features deemed n ot to involve invention, and
therefore not to constitute patentable subject
matter. Thus a United States examiner will report
to an applicant that the subject matter he claims
involves judgment, rather than invention, and
therefore is not patentable.
Where judgment ends and invention begins, we
will no t vretend to determine. The whole question is very much one of opinion. But we say,
unhesitatingly, that the manufacturing industries
of this country have in the past benefited greatly
from the commercial introduction of inventions
under patents which, had preliminary examination and the power of refusal obtained, would
probably have been refused, but which, h aving
been granted, and having led to important industrial and commercial results, have been, with the
practical evidence t hen available, upheld by the
Oourts.
In Crane v. Price the invention consisted in t h e
use of the hot blast with anthracite in the manufacture of iron. The hot-air blast had previously been
used with bituminous coal; anthracite had been
used wi~.h the cold blast. The patent was upheld.
But how would a Patent Office examiner be
likely to deal with such an application, as:Bu~ing

72 I

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

he had power to reject it, and that ~1is ~stru.ct~ons

were to rej ect in every cas~ where, 1n his opn110n,
t h e subject matter claimed did no t involve patentable invention, regard being had to what was
already publicly known 1
In t he case of Betts v. Menzies, plaintiff claimed
the manufacture of the new material, lead combined with tin on one or b oth of its sur faces, by
rolling or mechanical pressure, as in his specification described. The prior specification of D obbs
comprised lead coated with tin by mechanical
pressure.
Some judges took on e view ; some
another. Ultimately, t he point was upheld. But
we have little h esitation in saying that a Patent
Office examiner, having before him Betts' application and the prior specification of Dobbs,
and having to determine t h e q uestion of patentability, would, in all probability, have refused a
patent to Betts.
We might give other examples and may do so
hereafter. But the foregoing will suffice to illustrate the grave danger of casting upon Patent Office
officials t h e responsibility of determinining the
question of patentability. As a rule, whilst the
application for a patent is pending, there is not
available evidence of the kind upon which t he
validity or invalidity of letters patent is usually
determined by the Courts.
Often enough an invention is not even te ted
until after (sometimes long after) the grant of the
patent.
Even in unopposed cases it is usual to
give the applicant for a patent the bene fit of any
doubt. We, therefore, go so far as to say that, in
an unopposed case, the patent should be granted
even if, in the examiner's ovinion, there is absolutely no difference b etween what the applicant
describes and claims and what the examiner knows
to have b een before proposed. But, for the protection of the public, t he applicant should be required to disclose in his specification what is already
known. At the same time the p atentee should be
given an absolutely fair field. Nothing whatever
sh ould be done to indicate the existence of any
official ad verse opinion or doubt respecting the
novelty of his invention, or the validity of his
patent.
Very often the applicant for a patent set~ forth in
his specification that certain things have been
already proposed. Sometimes he proceeds to indicate what he conceives to be the disadvantages appertaining to t hoso known things. He then describes
what he proposes to do. Having described what he
deems to be his invention, h e makes his claims.
Sometimes his statement of what is already known
embodies reference to some prior patent or patents,
or some publication or publications. All the same,
in an unopposed case, his specification goes forth
to t he world as his own stat~ment, made freely and
not under official compulsion. With such a specificat ion he is able to approach those with whom he
hopes t o do business.
Assuming any kind of control to be exercised,
such as appears to be contemplated by those who
have drafted the reference to the Departmental
Committee, then it should be carried out on such
lines that, for all the outer world may b e able to
gather, the specification upon which letters patent
issue, may be in the exact words originally chosen
by the applicant before lodging his application.
In other words, there should be nothing whatever
to show that any reference it may contain to
anticipatory matters has been inserted at the
instance of t h e Patent Office authorities.
Some readers may, at first sight, fail to appreciate the true importance of this point.
But,
commercially speaking, we conceive it to be of the
utmost consequence to patentees. Because, in the
United States and in Germany, the Patent Office
aut h orities are empowered to refuse patents for
alleged want of novelty, there exists a widespread
belief that when a patent is g1anted in either of
those countries it is practically indefeasible.
This
idea is wholly fallacious; but it h as taken a strong
hold.
Now, if in this country it :should b ecome the
practice to look into the question of novelty, and
if, instead of allowing the applicant to re-cast his
specification in the manner we have above indicated, the alternative course should be adopted of
endorsing upon his patent, or upon his specification,
or upon the Patent Office records, references to
prior specifications or other publications, then the
idea will take root that any patent in respect of
which such offioial references exist is invalid or de
fective.

The obvious consequence will be t hat .the unfo~

tunate paten tee will, at bes~, be heavil~ handicapped (sometimes most unJustly), and ~~ ma~y
cases will be absolutely precluded from t urnmg h1s
invention be it more or less meritorious, to any
profitable' account, bec~use the o~cial endorsement
will be r egarded by ordinary bus1ness men as a sort
of danger s ignal.

IMPERIAL CHINESE RAILWAYS.*

AT the end of t he y ear 1897 the Imperial Chinese
Rail way system, about 600 miles long, stretched
from Pekin on the west to Shan-hai-Kwan on the
east-a fair future lay before it . Westward, it
might work along the great carava n ro~tes to
Mongolia, Siberia, and t he Far West ProVIncessouth and east to the wealthy Shantung Province,
and ultimately to the Yangst se region-north-east
into t he rich lowlands of Manchuria.
But eighteen short months have gone, and what
is the position-shut out from the south by the socalled Belgian line to Hankow-in reality, as we
know, Franco-Russian; from the Shantung Province by the exclusive privileges, which, contrary
to treaty rights in C hina, we have ceded to Germany ; barred n orth and east by the Russian occu
pation of Manchuria. and by the recen t AngloRussian agreement- " cribbed, cabined, and confined, " indeed, and in every direction- an apt
illustration of t hat policy of '' the open door, " of
which we have heard so much.
The recent development of affairs in connection
with one section of the above, -t o wit, that known
as t he Shan-hai-Kwan-Newchwang Extension, is so
serious, and apparently, so little understood, that
i t is desirable to call attention to it; and to make
the situation clear, some refer ence to the past and
r ecapitulation of what is now history becomes
necessary.
Act 1 of the drama was the conception of a
line, to run north from where the Great Wall at
Shan-hai-K wan leaves the barrier mountain range,
and crossing the short strip of plain to the sea,
separates the provinces of Chih-li and M anchuria.
This rail way would strategically connect the
capital with the Manchurian towns of Koiin,
Moukden and Newchwang, and was therefore of
great political interest to China. It would also
connect their trade, but from a commercial point
of view especially it would tap t he whole rich
valley of t h e great river of Sout h ern Manchuria,
and pour its products into Ying-Kow or Port
N e wchwang for export.
Surveys and investigations h ad been n1ade during the years 1896
and 1897, and the Pekin-Tientsin line to Shanhai-Kwan had been pushed on some 40 miles
beyond t he latter place t o Chung-ho-so. Negotiations were also in progress with an English
Syndicate, supported by the Hong Kong and
Shanghai Bank, to find the necessary capital for the
extension. At the end of 1897, however, came the
Russian coup at Port Arthur, and their announcement of an intention to connect that fortress with
their Siberian trunk road by a line running through
Manchuria.
In the face of this the Chinese Imperial Rail ways
thought it unadvisable to proceed with the whole
of their scheme. They, therefore, abandoned the
idea of carrying t heir line further n orth into Manchuria than Sin-ming-ting on the right bank of the
Liao River, and possibly to Moukden, provided
that a junction with the Russian line was considered desirable. And instead of carrying the line
from Sin-ming-ting round to P or t Newchwang 'h'id
Moukden, they decided merely to connect Kinchow wi th Port N ewchang by a short branch. In
this way they hoped still to save a part of the Manchurian trade and to carry it 'Vid Kin-chow to P ort
Newchwang, and thus also to preserve the importance of that place, which is so largely an en1porium
of British trade and American. They concluded a
contract with a British Syndicate to find the
money, which was to b e secured as usual by the
hypothecat ion of the roads to be constructed and
the revenue accruing from then1.
Act 2 cmnmences with a Russian objection being
taken to this con tract on the ground that there
existed a prior and secret agreement between

* In our issue of May 11 we gave an account of the

attempt which is being made to oust Mr. Kinder from

the control of the Imperial Chinese Railways. We now
supplement tha.t article by a detailed history of the ra.ih
way proJects in China.

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

Russia and China by which the former country

acquired territorial rights over Manchuria. When
one hears of a secret treaty between two Governments by which political objects such as offensive
and defensive operations are provided for under
certain contingencies, one recognises their validity.
But what is to be said of secret treaties as between nations or individuals, which aim at upsetting vested or acquired rights openly obtained in
the interim between the making and disclosure of
such secret agree1nents 1 Can there be any 'ralid
ground for such subversive action, so opposed to
the common rights of individuals or of nations ?
The Russians, therefore, demanded the total abrogation of the contract entered into, although it had
been signed and executed. Questions were raised
in Parliament, and just before the summer recess
of 1898 the British Government gave a definit.e
assurance that they would maintain and insist upon
the due execution of the contract. During the recess,
however, great pressure was put upon both the
Chinese and Britidh signatories to the contract, with
the result that t he original contract was torn up,
and a f.resh one substituted for the construction of
the lines in t heir modified and shown extent, but
with this exception, that the British bondholders
were not to have any lien on the lines to be constructed in Manchuria, but that the revenue therefrom only was to be devoted to the service of the
loan. As a quid p'ro quo a lien was granted on the
lines already existing in the province of Chih-li,
e1go, between Shan-hai-Kwan and Pekin, and
the revenue from these lines was also hypothecated
for the service of the loan ; and, in addition, the
Chinese Government itself guaranteed both capital
and interests. Besides the a hove, other safeguards
to the contracts were authorised.
With this exchange the security was still ample,
and as the Russian Government acquiesced somewhat reluctantly in the arrangement, the mattor,
from the financial point of view, was sufficiently
satisfactory. Still, there remained the fact that
a definite contract which had been entered into, and
which the English Government had undertaken to
support, was materially modified in order to meet
Russian desires. The loan was duly and successfully carried out, the English Government officially
standing sponsor for it, vide the prospectus of the

ISSUe.
Act 3 now ensued. Hardly was the ink dry when
the Chinese Government dismissed t he DirectorGeneral, who had been concerned with the Imperial
Railways for many years, and also had been instrumental in the progress of the negotiations just
brought to a close. An originally low-class Chinaman, of the name of Chang-yen-mow, more commonly known as Chang-yi, who for some time past
had been manager and part owner of the Tongshan
Mine, was appointed by the palace clique as
Director-General of Rail ways. The motive was
obvious, viz., that he might apply the products of
the loan to enrich himself and friends at the cost
of the English bondholders. He at once set to
work. His first endeavour was to obtain possession of the proceeds of the loan, so that he might
administer them in his own fashion. In this he
was foiled by the Hong-Kong and Shanghai Bank,
which refused to part with the money except on
direct requisitions of the English officials engaged
on the construction of the railway.
Then intrigues were set on foot to divert the
course of the line from that set forth in the bondholders' agreement, so that it might pass through
lands belonging to himself, or his friends, or should
serve places in which they held an interest.
Thwarted in this and in other devices he proceeded to memorialise the Throne, finding fault
with the construction and maintenance of the
existing lines and directly and indirectly attributing fault to the E?ropean officials. .This
official who probably d1d not know the difference between a fish-bolt and a humn1ing bird,
who up to the time of his appointment, not only
possessed no special or even general kno~le?ge of
railways and their management, and who, If JUdged
by the Chinese standar~ ~f knowledge a~one,
antiquated and absurd as 1t 1s, was a mere Ignoramus had no hesitation in preferring charges, the
truth ~r the falsehood of which carried as little information to his mind as the symbols X or Y.
In one thing he was successful, in tha~ of tak~g
possession of the revenues of the hne, wh1ch
according to the agreement, were ~eek by week to
be paid into the bank for the serv10e of the loan.
Of course some part thereof stuck, as the moneys

could be loaned out by him for short periods at those

high rates which are comn1on in a country where
there is such paucity of capital. These delays,
coupled with the ill-effect of his appointment
generally, had the effect of depreciating the shares
in t he London market by nearly 10 per cent.
Our Government has made representations, demanded his dismissal, and so forth, but the months
pass and nothing is done, because the Chinese will
not act until they recognise that we are in downright earnest. Why we should not make this plain
from the first is one of those things that no '' fellow
can understand" outside of the Foreign Office.
On top of all this came the Anglo-RuEsian agreement. By that document the Russian Government
is permitted ''to support applications by Russian
subjects, or establishments, for concessions for
railways, which, starting in a south-westerly direction, would traverse the region in which the
Chinese line terminating at Sin-min-ting and Neweh wang is to be constructed." Instantly the Russian Minister in Pekin made application for t he
construction of a Russian line from the Manchurian
road to Pekin, and though the Chinese for the nonce
declined to entertain it, the Minister withdrew the
application with the significant remark that the
Chinese Government would take cognisance of the
fact that it was their intention to renew the subject.
This line is, of course, a parallel and compet ing
line with the Chinese Imperial Railways, either
as a reality, destined to injure it, or as a. threat,
under cover of which the Chinese will be induced
to sell their own railways to Russia, and buy out
the British bondholders under the term of the contract, after which the Russians will connect it with
their Manchurian road, and alter the gauge so that
they can go through to Pekin.
But this is not all, the Anglo-Russian agreement
provides that ''as regards the line from Siao-heichau to Sin-min-ting, it is to be constructed by China
herself, who may permit European-not necessarily
British-engineers to periodically inspect it and to
verify and certify that the work is being properly
executed." These terms, as regards the Sin-minting portion, of the line are absolutely opposed to
the conditions of the loan on which British bondholders subscribed. The spirit as well as the wording of the prospectus provide for British, not
Chinese or other supervision. For what reason
have the Russians demanded this alteration in the
tenour of a contract to which they had agreed 1 and
why has our Government given way on a point on
which it had no right to give way, and by doing
which it has broken faith with the British bondholders ?
A little examination shows why the Russians
have desired to bring about the change- why our
Government has acquiesced is more obscure, except upon the laissez-allet principle. The line
from Kin - chow to Sin - min - ting taFs the produce of a part of the rich Liao Valley, and conveys it to Port N ewch wang for shipment. Allow
that line to be built and constructed by a Chinese
administration, not British, and one may at once
expect that it will be inefficient. The absence of
the expected traffic will destroy the Shan-hai-Kwan
extension of its commercial 'raison d'et1e-the
political one has already gone. Therefore the
English bondholders have subscribed their money
in vain, and the way is paved for the Russian
acqusition of the line. This last is debarred, it is
true, by the tenour of the Anglo-Russian agree
ment, but there are more ways of killing a cat than
choking it with cream, and we have never found
our Russian friends over strict in the interpretation of agreements.
Let us look for a moment at the effect on the
Port Newchwang or Ying-I{ow, which this line was
destined to serve. This is one of the most important ports of China, and its trade is principally
English and Japanese and United States. It has
18ft. of water on the bar and vessels come up to
the town ; for three or four n1onths in the year it is
ice closed, though it probably could be kept open
by one of the new type of ice breakers. At present,
the straw braid and bean cake, which forms so large
a proportion of its export are, during the winter
months when the roads are hard, brought down for
shipment during the following spring and summer.
When the Russian line to Port Arthur is complete, preferential rates will probably be granted
from the producing districts to 'fa-lienwan by the
Port Arthur Railway. The produce will be carried
past Newchwang, which, having no adequ~te line
to serve it, will languish and decay. When the

[} UNE I, 1900.
British interests there are destroyed, the Russians will slip in and restore N ewchwang to
the importance it deserves, but that it will be an
'' open port " then is more than human credulity
can take stock in. This gradual disintegration of
the Chinese Empire by steady pressure in the
north, equally, these constant blows at English
enterprise and interests, seem as yet to awaken few
qualms at home, "Sufficient for the day is the evil
thereof.'' Hinc illre lachrymre.

LAND RECLAMATION IN NORFOLI{.

THE Norfolk Estuary Company was initiated in
the year 1837. Its main objects were :
1. To provide an improved outfall for the
drainage of the middle and south levels of the Fens.
2. To provide an improved navigable channel for
the port of King's Lynn.
3. The reclamation of 200,000 acres of land from
the Wash ; the latter item from time to time
diminished, first to 150,000 then to 75,000, and
finally to 32,000 acres.
The first Act of Parliament which 'ncorporated
the company was passed in 1846.
The two first objects have been carr1ed out substantially as designed. The new outfall of the
Ouse made by the company has enabled some
hundreds of thousands of acres of fen land to be
drained by gravitation instead of pumping, and the
scourge of " fen ague " has been g1eatly diminished
if not abolished.
The port of Lynn, formerly approached by a
tortuous and shallow channel, only workable by
small vessels, now possesses an easily navigated
channel used by ships carrying 2000 to 3000 tons
of cargo. The first operations of the company
were confined to the above objects, it was not until
the year 1857 that the reclamation part of the
scheme was entered upon. It was believed at that
time that the whole area in question could be converted into cultivable land, in a very few years,
some seven or eight as a maximum. This was the
opinion of some of the most eminent engineers of
the day. One prophet calculated that 115 tides
would suffice to convert the sea into farm
land.
Costly works were undertaken in the
form of jetties, breakwaters, and banks to exclude
the sea, with a view to enclosing large tracts of
land. These were washed away by the sea, and
practically nothing was accomplished. It may here
be remarked that even if these works had been
successfully carried out, the actual failure would
have been no less complete; as the enclosed space
would have been mere sea sand incapable of cultivation. Dw'ing the progress of these attempts,
the attention of an eminent engineer, who was
consulted on the work, was directed to this point ;
he replied, "That is a shareholders' question." In
1864 the total result to the company in return for
all its expenditure, was 20 acres of enclosed land,
and the "shareholders' question" had assumed a
very serious aspect. The costly works were then
abandoned, and the present system of land reclamation, or, more properly, accretion, was
adopted.
This system was elaborated by the late Mr.
Gerard C. Meynell, who for 30 years was chairman
of the company. The main principles involved are,
so far from fighting the sea and attempting to exclude it ; the sea is itself the maker of the land,
and it must be freely admitted to the area to be
"landed up. " Each tide brings up its load of
warp and deposits it at t he time of slack water ;
in order to r etain this deposit and to prevent the
ebb tide carrying back a large proportion of it, it
is necessary that the water should return to the sea
slowly and easily. As the " salt marshes " very
generally have a slope seawards of about 1 ft. to
the mile, it follows that the tide water in ebbing
off the marshes 1nust travel1 mile while the tide
falls 1 ft. And as in this locality spring tides rise
23! ft. and neaps 16! ft., it is clear that the water
will travel with considerable velocity, quite sufficient to churn up and wash away a quantity of light
warp, besides cutting various winding and deep
creeks, rendering the surface of the land rough
and full of holes. The vital principle of the system,
introduced by Mr. G. C. Maynell, consists in cutting small drains or "grips" 1 chain apart to
conduct the waterway quietly seaward without
having to travel over the whole stretch of marsh.
This method has proved entirely successful in
greatly accelerating the process of accretion, and
has the further advantage of giving a smooth level

J UNE I,

1900.]

surface to the land. It will be seen that this proceSB is necessarily slow, especially as the land gets
higher. At first, when the deposit is sand or silty
mud it is comparatively heavy and its deposition
more rapid, but for agricultural land it is necessary
to wait for the ''warp" which is the soil which
supports vegetation. Not only is this light and
difficult to retain, but also it is not found to deposit
very far below high-water mark, and the best land
for enclosure is only that found between the levels
of spring and neap high water ; so that only three
or four tides in a fortnight have access. The late
Sir John Fowler a few years ago wrot.e "Ambition
and impatience are dangerous in reclamat ions.,
The land, being thus formed, can be enclosed with
comparative ease; the land being high, only a
low and consequently cheap bank is required, the
usual dimensions being a bout 10 ft. in height
with an outer or sea slope of 1 to 5, a 4-ft .
top and inner slope about 1 to l i; the bank
is flagged or sodded with the salt grasses. These
banks, being made on high marsh, are in little
danger of damage by the ;:;ea, an ordinary spring
tide hardly reaching the foot of the bank ; and they
are, moreover, made of much more tenacious
material than the raw sand which was alone available for the high and much-exposed banks formerly attempted. They are further protected by
an expanse of ' ' solid grass '' marsh outside.
Impatience to enclose, and a desire to enclose
too much, are dangerous in a double aspect : first
from the engineering view in bank-making; the
higher the ground on which t he bank stands, the
smaller the bank can be made, and the safer it
will be from damage. Secondly, from the agricultural view, the higher land is best, and it is found
that the land, when enclosed, has a higher letting
value when it has an expanse of grass marsh outside the bank for feeding stock, the salt grasses
having excellent feeding qualities. There is now
in one part solid grass marsh at a distance of over
a mile from the last enclosure bank. The amount
of land actually enclosed up to the present time is
from 2000 to 3000 acres, and there are now some
1600 acres ripe for enclosure.
The q uestion will naturally be asked, Does it
pay 1 and that question may be answered in t he
affirmative. From what has been said above, it
will be seen that no expensive operations are necessary, and the capital required is not large, though
it remains a considerable time unremunerative.
Land replamation would not be a suitable investment for a man desiring to trade on the principle
of small profits and quick returns; it is, moreover,
a business involving some risk and excitement; one
tide may bring in a rich deposit of warp, and the
next may come with a heavy gale fron1 a critical
direction, and do serious damage to, or destroy
the work of years, though n o serious damage has
ever occurred to any of the works under the present system. Even the well-remembered tide and
storm of November, 1897, which had such disastrous effects on low-lying lands in many places, did
no damage to the reclamation works of the company. Though n ot properly a part of land reclaiming operations, it may be interesting to note the
company's experience in the protection of t he banks
of the "Estuary Marsh Cut,, the new navigable
channel to Lynn above-mentioned. It was found
that these b~nks were subject to very severe erosion ;
a tier of quickset fagots is laid under water in
the line d esired for the foot of the bank, thus forming a low submerged g royne parallel to the stream.
It is found that silt is rapidly deposited behind the
fagots until the top of the fagots is reached, when
another layer is placed, and the operation repeated,
until finally the tide water actually replaces or
rebuilds the bank it had washed away. The conclusion arrived at is that in these operations fighting the sea ends in disastrous defeat, the sea is the
land reclaimer's best friend and patient servant, and
he will feel that he has attained the fullest success
when it can be said '' Nature has done it all for
you. "

THE VOLTA CONTACT FORCE.

centenary celebration of Volta.'s great discovery last year revived the controversy concerning
the nature of t he Volt a effect, and left it practically where it w~\S. It may appear strange that we
should, in the course of a century, so distinguished
by exact research, not have been able to settle the
question, whether or not the electromotive force at
the junction of t wo metals is independent of the
THE

E N G I N E E R I N G.
medium which surrounds them. But so far no electrostatic capacity of the couple. Oppositelytest ha~ been, or could have been, acknowledged charged bodies should attract one another. The
as cruCial. In the absence of any well-established difficult demonstration of this attraction, often
theory, we have, therefore, still to remain con tented attempted before without success, was given last
wit h hypotheses. If we acquiesce in the view to year only by Majorana. But that demonstration
which many members of the Como Conference does not decide t he question, whether the seat of
see.me~ t~ incline, that th~ olta effect is something the electromotive force is at the metallic junction
as 1nt rms10 and charactenstlC to the metal as its or in the air in its immediate neighbourhood.
density and affinity, then indeed we would appear Majorana, in fact, wished to demonstrate attracto be faced by a fundamental problem, about which tion for dissimilar metals and repulsion for similar
we may speculate, but which we are not likely metals, and he failed in the latter task.
further to elucidate by experimental investigation.
As to the explanation of this effect, scientists
But although we can assign no reason why fluorine had, as we mentioned already, arranged themselves
attacks nearly any other elementary substance with in two camps. The contact theorists, the minority,
an almost vicious energy, whilst the sluggishness of headed by Lord Kelvin, say: We have to deal with
argon seems to be above all temptation, we can three junctions, zinc-copper, copper-ether, etherreckon with those affinities and base calculations zinc, and with a contact force at each j unction.
upon them. We have learned to calculate the The Volta effect is the sum of the three forces, and
electromotive force of an electrolytic cell, consisting its seat is mainly at the zinc-covper junction. It
of metals and their salt solutions, or simply of salt is due to the direct affinity of the metals for one
solutions of different concentrations ; but we have another, a tendency, as Professor L odge puts it
not agreed as to how t o predetermine the V olta plainly, to form brass. But we have no proof
contact force. Yet few of us doubt that chemistry whatever that brass would bt) formed if we passed
is in some way responsible.
a current for years across that junction, even if
The opposing sides of t he old controversy used to we applied both metals in the thinnest sheets
be called contact theorists and chemical theorists. imaginable. The Peltier effect for copper-zinc is
To have proved that this description, if ever cor- very small. On the other hand, certain experirect, is not correct now, that both parties r ely in ments on the heat of combination, for instance,
some sense on chemical affinity, and to have pre- the renewed researches of J. B. Tayler,* seem to
sented the whole controversy on its broadest basis yield values which approximate to the order of the
with remarkable lucidity, both in mathematical V olta force. Tay ler tried the heat of amalgamaand in popular language, has been the work of Pro- tion. Galt and Baker have, independently of one
fessor Oliver L odge. As President of the Physical another, dissolved mixtures of powdered copper
Society he has taken another opportunity, as he had and zinc, and alloys of the same composition in
previously done at British Association meetings, of nitric acid ; the difference in the h eat evolved
raising this discussion. His presidential address would r epresent the heat of combination. Here
was delivered in February. The discussion was again, values which would suit the contact theorists
adjourned till May, but, unfortunately, his oppo- have been obtained, notably for the alloy Ou Zn 2
nents were then prevented from attending. Though But the alloys were not uniform, and the comthe battle has n ot been fought, we may examine plicated reactions which take place in nitric acid
the q uestion.
expose these experiments to grave objections.
Some of the electric phenomena, observed in a Bromine might answer as the solvent, in Professor
metallic circuit, are manifestly in close connection Armstrong's opinion.
with heat . We have first the Seebeck effect,
One of the chief p oints of the contact theorists
or ordinary thermo-electric current which is oh- is, however, that they have, on the basis of very
served, not only when junctions of different metals feeble experimental evidence, maintained that the
are at different temperatures, but also, as has been V olta effect is independent of the medium, and
established in recent years, when different portions is the same in air, e. ~f., as in a vacuum, or in a
of a homogeneous metallic circuit are at different hydrogen atmosphere. It had been assumed
temperatures. Further, the Peltier effect, the heat that it was only necessary to bring a zincevolved (or absorbed) when a current is passed copper couple in a vacuum, and then charge the
across a junction of different met9-ls; and, finally receiver with hydrogen, to change an air atmosphere
the Thomson (Kelvin) effect, convection of heat, in into a hydrogen atmosphere; and as the electrothe sense of the positive current (copper) or against it motive force did not materially vary under t hese
(iron), when a current is passed through a conductor circumstances, the medium was said to be without
whose portions are different temperatures. Com- influence. But we have to deal less with t he
pared to the Volta effect, the apparent difference of surrounding atmosphere than with the gaseous
potential of the order of about one volt, which films which settle on all solids, and which, as many
copper and zinc assume in air, these effects are electricians have learned from . experimenting with
small. But in the Volta effect we have to deal ROntgen tubes, are exceedingly hard to get rid of.
wit h a dielectric, and scientists do not agree Mr. F. S. Spiers, to whom we owe the most recent
as to the interpretation of the various effects and excellent work in this field, has tried chemically
and t heir relation to the V olta effect, if t here to burn out the last traces of oxygen, which resisted
Lord Kelvin holds that the j unction the repeated action of heat and of the air pump,
be any.
force at a boundary of two metals has n othing by means of hydrogen ; and he found that under
to do with any reversible heat effect observed these circumstances the electromotive force went
there. In Professor 0 . Lodge's opinion, the re- down to almost nothing. His experiments were
versible heat at a specified junction is a measure not brought to a conclusion, and, as the task is
of the n1etallic electromotive force located there. beset with difficulties, which perhaps only a chemist
Professor Perry regards the Peltier effect as a dif- can fully realise, not decisive. For one thing, by
ferential coefficient , the rate at which t he electro- this burning of the oxygen, he reintroduces moismotive force varies with the temperature ; whilst ture, which C. Ohristiansen, in the course of
Professor Lodge, from whom Mr. Glazebrook differs investigations extending over years, holds mainly
to a certain extent, argues that those holding this responsible for the apparent Volta effect, an objecview confound the electromotive force, measured at tion which is sustained by J. Brown, also a notea particular junction, with the whole electromotive worthy investigator. To obviate all trouble arising
force of the circuit, and bring the latter in com- from water-vapour and gaseous films, Professor
parison with the heat evolution at that particular H . .Armstrong has suggested to experiment in liquid
gases; but he is quite aware that the eventual
junction.
But we had better first state the undisputed facts disappearance of the Volta effect might be ascribed
of the V olta effect. Two n1eta.ls in contact become to the low temperature.
Professor 0. Lodge locates the chief V olta force
oppositely charged, and these charges can be measured when the metals have been skilfully sepa- at the air boundary of each metal. He postulates
rated again. If a drop of liquid or of electrolytic two facts: (1) chemical affinity b etween oxygen
moisture - not dry vapour- intervenes and connects and metal, in amount different for different metals;
the two metals momentarily after the true metallic (2) the fact t hat oxygen atoms are, at any rate some
contact has been broken, the charge will leak across of them, negatively charged. A layer of oxygen
the conducting bridge and disappear. If the metals atoms seeks to move up to the zinc ; but t he
are connected both metallically and electrolytically, atoms are unable to d o so because there is no avenue
we have a common voltaic cell. If connected both for the s upply of electricity of opposite sign. We
metallically and dielectrically, as in the ordinary have a kind of incipient polarisation, not a charge.
Volta experiment, t hat is, insulated fro~ one. a~ The zinc is somewhat in the condition of an
other except at one point where the dielectric 1s insulated sphere surrounded by a concentric nega ..
swept away, a charge results 'vhich is controlled by
* See ENGINEERING, page 662 ante.
an electr0motive force of fixed value and by the

V.

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

[JUN E

1,

1900.

tively charged she11, so far as the interior of the views, we ~hink th~~ many electricians will be glad were fired. Various types of shells and explosives
s~ell is concerned. Outside, the conditions are to accept hts expositiOn. It helps us over difficulties
were used for the purpose of gaining experience of
dlfferent, and the cause of the stress is different. without forcing novel hypotheses upon us.
their destructive effects.
The Belleisle sank
When at some point connection with a neutral or a
and seemed badly damaged ; but it is scarcely
less strained substance-copper-is established an
necessary, for the present, to enter into details
NOTES
avenue ~o! the reli.e~ of the strain is provided,
ho~ever
picturesque.
The
naval
critics
of
th~
~nd positi~e electriCity flows across the junction T HE STATE P URCHASE OF TELEGRAPH SUBMARINE
dally press, adding omniscience to their other
CABLES.
1nto the Zinc, and takes its abode on the sur
qualities,
have
told
us
of
the
effects
produced
as
a
OPINION is growing in favour of a closer State
face, facing the oxygen ; the oxygen atoms
result of their observat ion of the interior of the
control
of
submarine
cables,
if
not
of
the
State
pur~pproach slightly nearer all round, the surroundship from the shore, three miles or more distant
Ing molecules are polarised with their negative chase ~~d working of them ; and ther~ is every and the wor~h of the de~uctions made upon such
poles inwards and positive poles outwards a double proba~nhty of . an .inquiry being instituted to data. c~n eas1ly be .appraised. We are sufficiently
layer is set up on the zi~c, an~ line~ of fo;ce appear Investigate t he s1t uatwn, and the p ublic obligations p~triOtiC ~o recognise that the experience which
all through the surroundmg dielectric. These lines of cable. companies earning large Government will be gatned by the careful observation which is
reach from the zinc free surface to the copper free grants, w1th reference not only to the strategical being made of the Belleisle, is too valuable to be
surface. The oxygen atoms are slightly further re requirements of the Empire, but also to the com- noised abroad. Meanwhile, Mr. Goschen who
moved than ?efore from the copper, and have mercial and social needs. The House of Commons with the Board of Admiralty, witnessed th~ trials'
approached sbghtly nearer to the zinc. Thus his tho Royal United Service Institution an d th~ has announced in the H ouse of Commons that'
doctrine is not a doctrine of chemical cornbination S?ci~ty of Arts have all discussed ti1e subject to the extreme surprise of all concerned the Bel:
but of chemical approach. I t signifies a voltai~ Within a w~()k, aud the general consensus of opinion leisle did not take fire at all, as had' been recell, whose electroly.te is replaced by a dielectric, has been In favour of fuller State control. Sir pOIted. The spectators, wh o were at sorue disand whose current IS momentary, not continuous Henr~ H . Fowler, .P., who speaks with the tance, were misled by seeing clouds of steam rise
and if a current did pass, there would be actual oxi~ experience. of a Cabinet ~nister, in presiding over the ship. These were due to a. steam pipe
dation. That is precisely Dr. Lo.dge's meaning, at the SoCiety of Arts meetmg, seemed to ignore having been cut, and, further, some of the shells
and he demonstrates that, assuming an air film the Government fear that a public and inde- especially the lyddite shells, as they burst in th~
layer of a thickness of molecular dimensions suf- pendent inquiry would be inimical to the water emitted a cloud of smoke, and gave the
ficiently dense to be virtually a liquid, and a~ ap- secrecy necessary for strategic reasons ; and, impression that the ship was on fire. There was a
proach of the oxygen atoms by one hundred thou- moreover, he was pronouncedly in favour of little smouldering fire in one of the cabins amongst
s~ndth of their distance, we should get a potential Sta~e ownership. Th?1:e is no question of the some clothing, but otherwise the wood work
difference between zinc and the air in its neigh- des.Irableness of all-Brihsh cables, and the dupli- alt hough shivered in every direction, had not bee~
bour~ood of a few volts. A ~eal atmosphere is not ca:twn, too, of means of rapid communication consumed b:f fire in any d~g~ee. The fire pumps
r~qu1red; the film would suffice,. and the potential w~t~ all the ou.tpost.s of the Empire; and, where of. the Belle~sle were not InJured, and while the
dtfference would, therefore, continue to exist under mihtary necess1ty dictates, financial details must shtp was ~emg battered her pumps flooding the
t he air puml? . To get real o~idation, we must bring be settled somehow or other. It is also important decks continued to work for a long time. There
the plates wtthm molecular dlStances of one another that the social and business relations of the Empire can be no harm in adding to the First Lord's
squeezing out the films, or else bring them withi~ s~ould be fostered b:y cheap telegraph communica- s~tement the fact that this practical demonstramolecular distance of the parts of a liquid con- tiOn, and here also Su Henry F owler brushed aside tiOn of gun pow~r proved the efficacy of light
the financial difficulties by pointing to t he popularity armour for protectmg the upper works, especial1y
ductor, as is done in an ordinary voltaic cell.
Professor L odge thus takes an intermediate posi- of. cheap ~ates within ~he United Kingdom, not- against explosive shells.
tion between meLallic and oxidation effects, and he Wlthstanding that no Interest was paid on the
THE RusTING OF IRON.
has brought himself in harmony with modern views capital involved. Sir Edward Sassoon, who brought
Ordinary red rust is essentially an oxide of
on chemical affinity, as Professor Armstrong re forward the subj ect in the House of Commons and
marked. The peculiar behaviour of chromium to at the Society of Arts, had many strong staten1ents ~on .conta~ing .c ombine? water and practically
which the veteran electro-chemist Hittorf has drawn to make against the cable companies. It is not IdentiCal. wit~ Je wellers rouge, which is nearly
attention, possibly offers a parallel case of chemical necessary to enter into the details of these charges pure fen~IC oxide, Fe2 0 3 ~he ordinary chemical
approach, though Hittorf himself has not made but we are quite at one with him in the view that explanatiOn of the process IS that the iron comany such suggestion. Chromium passes with a as railwa:r, electric, gas, and other undertakings bines with the oxygen of the air according to the
surprising facility from the active state, in which have their rates, agreements, and concessions equat ion
2 Fe2 + 3 0 2 = 2 Fe2 0 3,
it stands voltaically near zinc, into t he passive directly controlled by Government departments,
state in which it behaves like platinum. The cable companies earning subsidies should similarly or taking the combined water into account according
change may be effected by making the chromium come u.nd.er control. Bu~ in ;ega.rd to State pur- to the equation
It Is well to bear In mtnd that there is inthe anode nf an electrolytic cell. It is due-as in chase,
Fe2 + 3 0 + 3 H2 0 = F e.2 Oa, 3 H2 0 .
vol ved in the submarine and other colonial telethe case of iron- to the fcrmation of an oxide layer
graph
cables
about
30
million
sterling
in
capital,
That
these
simple
equations
do
not
represen
t
the
on the surface. If we substitute for the attraction
of metal for oxygen an attraction of matter for the and that the market value is very much greater. actual facts of the case ~as been k~own for years,
I t is true that this capital is highly remunerative ; as well as the fact that 1ron placed m contact with
electricity with which every atom is charged, we
but
if,
for
strategic
reasons,
it
is
deemed
necessary
an
alkali
does
not
rust.
To
explain
this
fact
it
find ourselves on Helmholtz's ground. In any such
to be independent of foreign territory as well as has been suggested that the presence of carbonic
surface effect, the condition of t he surface is necesof private enterprise, it follows that Inuch of the acid gas is n~cessary fo.r rust~g t o take place, and
sarily of importance. The potential difference rerevenue n ow earned by " tapping" various foreign th~t tl.1e alkahes absorbmg thlS prevent rusting. On
quired to liberate hydrogen has been supposed to centres will be lost. Under all the circumstances this VIew the phenomenon of rusting, according to
vary with the nature of the cathode; it is probably
however, an inquiry would be welcomed, as it i~ Professor Crum Brown, takes place in two stages as
more correct to say that it depends upon the surface
certain
to
yield
results
of
advantage
to
commerce.
follows:
condition of the cathode. We know that burnish1. 4 [Fe + H2 0 + CO:.~] = 4 Fe COa + 4 H 2
ing increases the Volta effect, and in the poten tial A PRACTICAL DEMONSTRATION OJ:.' GuN PowER.
To throw light upon various problems associated
2. 4 Fe COa + CH20 + 02 = 2 Fe~ (OH)6 + 4 C02
differences between gases and liquids, surface tension plays an important part. Water particles, with gun power, and upon the effect of modern ex- A close investigation of t he matter has, howsprayed in air, surround themselves with a double plosive shells, the British Admiralty gave one of our ever, led Mr. W. R . Duns ton, F .R.S., to queslayer, possibly, according to Usener, an adsorbed most powerful ships an opportunity of attacking, with tion this theory, and to conclude that the pregaseous film in the electrically dissociated state. ~11 her might, the Belleisle, a. ship. which, although sence o~ C02 is ~y no means necessary for t he
If the water is pure, it imparts to the air through 1n some respects obsolete, was still endowed with productiOn of t his red rust. Thus five pieces
which it falls, a negative charge. In the presence moderate capacity for resistance. Built in 1878, of bright iron were taken, the first was placed
of salts, acids, or bases, this charge is diminished, with a length of 245 ft., the Belleisle has a load in. dr~ ox.yg~n, the second in water vapour, the
and may turn into a positive charge (Lenard, J . J. line belt 12 in. thick in t he centre tapering to 4 in. th1rd ID liquid water, the fourth in a mixture
Thomson); the sea water spray, for instance, elec- at the end, and an armoured central battery of pure oxygen and water and vapour. In none
trifies the air positively. Now, according to J. B. about 70 ft. long, within which are four 25-ton of these cases was any rust formed . The fifth
Kenrick, the addition of electrically dissociated muzzle-loading guns and six smaller weapons. specimen, however, was placed in liquid water
substances d ecreases the charge, whilst that of The old ship steamed out to a point off Selsey charged with pure oxygen, and the production of
non-dissociated substances increases it, and this Bill where she was anchored over a shoal so rust was then quickly apparent, alt hough no C02
effect occurs parallel with the changes in the surface that even when she sank as the result of the attack was present. In fact, for this rust to be formed it
tension. There are, further, the experiments of it would be easy to board her and examine the is essential, Mr. Dunstan finds, t hat the iron shall
S. J . Barnett on the surface tension of liquids effects. On Saturday morning she was p'r epared for be in contact wit h liquid water, and with oxygen.
under the influence of electrostatic induction. We action, steam rai.sed, guns set, splinter nets run out, A piece of bright iron placed in a receiver over a dish
know, on the other hand, from Lord Kelvin, that and a full set of brand new dummy men ordered to of water remained perfectly bright for sixty hours,
air bubbles passing through pure water electrify quarters and to " man guns." Then t he flagship of provided that the temperature was kept constant,
the water, and that the presence of other substances t he Channel squadron- the Majestic - steamed so as to prevent the condensation of the water on the
round the deserted vessel, opening fire at about a metal. A similar piece, similarly suspended, but
diminishes this electrification.
In the case of solid surfaces we do not as a mile range, so as to rake the Belleisle from stern without any precaution against t his condensation,
rule speak of surface tension ; yet it is a factor to to stem. Cont inuing on its victorious but inglorious soon showed spots of rust. Reasoning on the results
be reckoned with, and enters largely into lubrica- career, the Majestic ultimately got a broadside in of the experiments just describ ~d, and on the fact
tion problems, for instance. Failing the crucial at 1000 yards range, finishing off with racking the t hat the alkalies J>revent the formation of rust,
test whether or not the Volta effect is independent old ship from bow to stern. The period of attack Mr. Dunstan suggests t hat the real active agent is
of the medium, the controversy must remain unde- was less than ten minutes, during which some twelve hydrogen peroxide. To test this, iron was suscided. But though some of the leading contact shots from the four 12-in. guns, t hirty-two 6-in. pended in water, to which were added substances,
theorists have declared that Professor Lodge's de- shots from the six broadside quick-firers, and a son1e of which decompose this peroxide, whilst
ductions have not induced them to modify their number of smaller projectiles from the 3-in. guns, . others have n o such action. In every case the

E N G I N E E R I N G.
} tiNE I, 1900.)
===========================~==================================~~~

former preven ted t he product ion of rust, whilst it

always occurred in t h e latt er. In addit ion to the
alkalies which d estroy p eroxide, p otassium b 1'_
chromate, potassium chro ma t e, p otassium ferrocyanide, and sodium nitrate, wer e tried. These,
whilst d estroying the p er oxide, ar e, unlike the
alkalies, p owerful oxidising agen ts, yet n evertheless t hey proved efficient prot ector s of the metal.
In a.not her
ex p eriment
a piece of iron was im.
.
merse d 10 a so1utwn of hydrogen p er oxide, which
was made j ust alkaline. Under t h ese condition s,
alt hough t he peroxide was decomposed and ox ygen
was freely libera ted a t the s urface of the metal,
the latter did n ot rust. The whole phenomena of
rusting is then, accordin g to M.r. Dunstan, effected
by t he iron taking up U from the water , formin cr
ferrous oxide, and producing p erox ide of hydrogen~
the latter then immediately combines the ferrous
oxide to form the r ed rust.

THE LATE 1\IR. WILLIAM LINDLEY.

' VE regret to learn of t he death of Mr. William
Lindley, a. well-known engineer , who carried out many
important engineering works in Germany, and very
deservedly received a special vote of thanks of the
Senate of Hamburg ma ny years ago. H e was born in
London, September 7, 1808, and was thus in his 92ad
year when he died, at Black heath, on May ~2. His
father, Mr. Josepb Lindley, of H eath, in Yorkshire, was
sometime assistant to th~ Astr onomer-Royal at the
Greenwich Observatory. His connection with Germany
commenced with his educa tion, as when 16 years of
age he was tutored by Pastor Schroeder at W anabeck, near Hamburg, bu t r eturned to England, and in
1827 became a pupil of Mr. Franois Giles, a wellkno wn surveyor and engineer, and Jater beca me his
assistan t. With him he surveyed and prepared plans
for many of t he earlier railways, including the ~ew
castle- Ct1rlisle, the London- Birmingham, L ondonGreen" ich, and the London-Southampt on line!!. At
the same time be wns associated wi t h wor ks connected
with the regulation of t he R iver Mersey, vaiious
dra.inage works and the first Thames T unnel. Thus
early, too, he had formed friendships with Telford,
the two Stephensons, and the elder Brunei, so that
~ a me_asur~ he was one of the ~ast few r emaining
links Wi t h the early years of th1s, and the closing
decades of la~t, century.
In 1834, after an absence of seYen years, he returned
to Germany to lay out a line from Hamburg t o Lubeck;
bu t difficulties with the Danish Government led t o the
abandonmen t of the project upon Mr. Lindley's sugge~tion; a.od, ins tead, he induced the company to
bmld the fi rst lengt h to Bergedorf of the existing
line to Berlin. It was on this line that he first
introduced the long six-wheel railway carriages. He
was about this t ime also requested by t he S tate of
H amburg to negotia~e wit h the British Government
for a <'helper rate of pos tage between that St ate and
t his country. During th e great Hamburg fire of 1842
he rendered splendid services. The fire lasted three
days and nights, and when Mr. Lindley was called i n
to advise, be sugges ted the razing of part of t he city
by gun powder, to check the advance of the conflagration. The Sta te authorities approved; but the populace, frantic with excitement, believed rumours that
the English were medita ting the destruction of
the State, and Mr. Lindley bad a lively time
~ut he and his staff wtre w ell protected, and
lll the end he was_formally. a~d publicly thanked by
th~ Senate for h1s unrem1ttmg labours. His new
ratlway to Bergedorf was qpened im media tely, and
served t o remove the homeless citizens. In the r econstruction of the town Mr. Lindley found scope for the
development of a modern system of sewerage and
water supply, and the Hamburg of to-day with its
railw~y terminu~, its harbour goods sheds, ~ntrep6t~,
&o:, Is largely his work. The water works were constructed in 1844-8, and were amongst t he first to give
co_n~tant supply. In 184~ he was engaged upon the
trgmometr1cal survey; m 1850-2 he negotiated the
sale of t he steel yard on the Thames belonging to Hamburg, Bremeu, and Lubeck, and on the site t here now
stands the Cannon-street Railway Station. In 1851
he reported upon the wor k c; of the New River Water
Company in L ondon, and this for med the basis of improveme_n ts in connection with t he reservoirs, filters,
and mam~. Gas works, publb baths, harbour improvements, water work extension were carried out
~y him in succession about this time in Hamburg; and
m 1851 he was aleo entrusted by the British Government wi t h the construction of a great retaining wall in
H eligoland. Indeed, the ten years between 1850 and
1860 were t he m ost a ctive in his life, and many
work~ of ~h~ mos~ varied kind were designed
by him, prm01pally m Germany . In 1860 in consequence of the illness of his wife, who' died in
1862, he spent some time in the South of France.
The opponents always raised by success availed themselves ?f t he opp?rtunit y of breaking his municipal
connect10ns ; but m Fra.nkfort-on -the-Ma.ine his ser-

vices were very readily appreciated, and here he did

work from 1863 onwards, similar to t hat by which
Hamburg had profi ted, amongst t he most serviceable
of his Frankfort works being the Central station and
the sewerage system. Eight or nine cities in Germany
owe t heir water supply or sewerage works t o him,
while amongst his last works was the preparati on of
the d esigns of the sewerage and water works of
W arsaw, and of the sewerage works for S t . P etersburg
in 1878-9. In the latter year he retired, leaving his
three sons- William, R obert, and Joseph Lindley, to
continue his work.
It may be said tha t the H amburg and Fran kfort
sewerage systems have been accepted as mod els for
German towns, and th ey have bad t heir influence on
United States practice and on the L ondon sewerage,
a R oyal Commission having visited Hamburg many
year a ago. In all his work Mr. Lindley anticipated the
needs of a far future, and attached the highest importance t o simplicity of detail and conscientious workmanship. An energetic worker, he was still a genial friend
and a generou s employer , always recognisingwilling and
faithful service. In the later years of his life he found
pleasure in travel and in books. He was a. F ellow Qf
th e Geological Society , a member of the Institution of
Civil Engineers, and of the mithsonian Institut ion.
Germany will not soon forget his services, and in H amburg on the fiftieth anniYersary of the fire- in 1892offioial r ecognition was paid, while his deat h has brough t
many appreciations of his great public services.

joint patent of Mr. White and ~yself. . Professor Hele

8haw's paper having been so Wldel~ prmted,. I shall be
glad
you will allow
me to make
correotlOn.
As ifProfessor
Hele-Shaw
in histhts
paper
remarks that
"this engine obliges the use of spur gearing," I may say
that the shaft carrying the gear wheel connecting the two
crankshafts* is also the valve actuating shaft (of course
running at half the cra.nksh~J.ft speed), a. point of importanoe in its simplicity.
Yours fo~thful1y
F. C. NoNN, Aesoc. M. Inst. C.E.
May 21, 1900.
<N

THE WAR IN SOU TH AFRICA .

To THE E DITOR OF ENGINEERING.
Sm,-In "Field Officer's " interesting letter on the
war in South Africa, in your issue of May 25, that gentleman pays a well-deserved compliment to the marching
powers of volunteers, when he mentions the fact of 100
volunteers marching 22 miles in five hours, without a
single man falling oub, when he says :
" The determmation to endure all and still go on
requires greater pluck on a long and wearisome march
than on the field of combat, where excitemen t lends
~ome im porta.n t a-ssistance."
This c. determination to endure " long marches is the
outcome of the "ma.rchings out, " route ma.rcbings, &o.,
so zealously practised by the Middlesex (a prominent
corp~, I presume) Volunteer Corps. It is now many
years since the Queen reviewed the Volunteers in Windsor Great Park, but the writer well remembeta a march
which would equal any thing attempted by regulars
-viz., after the review by the Queen of the Volunteers, over 400 men of the volunteer corps of which
the writer was a member, marched from Windsor
Great Park to Wimbledon Camp. The detachment
representin1 nearly half the regimental number of
the corps, eft the park at 8 o'clock p.m., and with the
exception of a halt for half an hour at about 11 o'clock
at an inn where a. supper-pork pies and sandwichesbad been provided, the marching detachment did nob
halt again until all reached Kingston Hill, where a halt
of a. quarter of an hour for a "drink " was made. The
detachment marched into Wimbledon Camp a t a quarter
to four o'clock on the next morning, and with only one
man falling out who was. taken ill at the beginning of
the march. A plucky l}t.tle drummer boy of about 10
years old marched as ~rlSkly a_s the rest _of the men,
and showed not ~he slightest ~Igns .of fatigue. Aparb
fro_m the actual dtstanoe of Wmd~or Great Park from
Wimbledon Camp, an extra 4. miles . was marched by
the detachment, because the gmde durmg the night took
t~e wrong turning at a. cross- road, and the error was not
dlScovered until the detachment had proceeded 2 miles
when the_y ~ad to return before striking the right road. '
When It 1s remembered that all these volunteers had
been paraded at Chelsea, Victoria, and ~a.ttersea stati<?ns
at 6 a. ~- on t~e ~a.turday, a!ld that w1th tJle ex,cept10n
of . restmg while m the tram ~rom those statlOns. to
Wt'!dsor, they had l?een on theu fee~ th~ whole time
until they reached Wimbledon Camp, Ib Will be granted
that the ".determination to endure all and still go on"
wa~ great 10 the breasts of the volunteers. This is the
sp~rit of scores ol vol'.lnteer corps, and one great and benefimal outco~e of the present war ~~ been the practical
demonstra.t10n of the work of our Citizen army, which now
will no longer be looked on without a tinge of pride by
all Engl~hmen, for it is this ~etermina.tion to endure
all and still ~o on that ~as sust~med the volunteer fo~oes
under the tna.l. of the gibes an4 Jeers they first met Wlth,
that red ta.peiBm and ostramsm by the regulars at a
later stage and the lukewarmness of the classes. The present war has given the volunteers the longed-for opportunity they so much desired of proving that they are not
the very fe&therbed soldiers they were ab one time
dubbed. What other nation on earth could show such a.
rallying of (c volunteers" from all parts of the world as
t?a.t shown by Englishmen in offering to sacrifice their
lives for .the "old flag. " True sons o_f the Empire! the
far -rea.ohmg eff~ct of such. enthusta.sn; as has been
shown ~y. C~na.<h&J?S, Aust rah!lns, New Zealanders, and
others It Is _Impos~uble ~o pred1ct m the future, but how
proud, and JUStly so, will be the noble sons of the Empire
when they return to their far distant homes and modestly
rel~te to the wife and children the gall~nt exploitS in
w~:tch they have manfully done their share; those stories
w11l become household t raditions that will cement the
future generations ~f loyal colonists and the Motherland
m the way tba.t nothmg else could have done for now one
and all, from whatever clime they come, will feel that they
are part and parcel of the whole .British nation, and not
mere lopped-off younger branches.
Yours t~lyC S
Late 2nd (South) Middi JlfiN~GlE,
t
C
1
0
May 26, 1900.
esex
e
un eer orps.

SOU TH AFRICAN RAILWAYS.

Ar the S!.nnual meeting of the Cape Town Chamber
of Commerce some interesting information was afford ed
as to the present position of South African railway
enterprise. A lth ough this information can scarcely
be regard ed as directly official, it is of so minute a
character that it must have been derived from the
officials of the Cape Government lines, so that it may
be considered to be subst antially authoritative. The
result of the working of the Cape Government lines in
1899 was a profit upon t he capital engaged at the
average rate of 4l. 12s. 7d. per cent. per annum. This
return showed some reduction as compared with the
correspond ing profit r ealised in 1898; but it is remarkably good, under all the circumstances. The revenue
acquired sh
d
f ll'
ff f 160 116l b t
,
owe a a mg o . o
,
, u . a
se' e~e economy was enforced m_ all t he workmg
detatls, and th e ?et profit reahsed for 1899 was
actually 21, 954l. m exce~ s of the net balance for
1898. This is somethi~g e~traordinary, in view of
the fact that commumcatwn was out off during
nearly t he whole of the last quarter of 1899 with
the Transvaal, the Orange Free State, Kimberley' and Rhod esia. This, of course, caused a large
decrease in t he tariff receipts of the Midland and
E
r
h
d
.
astern. mes.; on t e other ban ' heavy t r affic .1n
connectiOn w1t~ the transport of ~roops and matenal
of ~ar largely u:~.o;eased the .receipts .of the western
sec~lOn.. In add1t10n to earnmg full Inter~st. on t~e
oapitalmvested by t he Cape Government m 1ts ra1lways, t he lines contributed last year something over
200,000l. to the general revenue of t he colony. Cornplaint s are made of an insufficient supply of rolling
stock; and it is stated by the Chamber of Commeroe that while the movement of goods over
G
t .

d f
h C
t e .d.pe overnmen 1mes m c;case . rom ~20,000
tons m 1890 t o 1, 500,000 tons m 1898, showmg an
advance of 140 per cent ..' the num?er of trucks UJ?OD
the network was only m creased m t he eame penod
t o t he extent of 84 p er cen t . The only extension
opened in the Cap e Colony lac: t year was that from
Ashton to Swellend am. This extension will have th e
effect , when a further section t o Riversdale now in
course of construct= on, has been completed, of bringing
t he south-wstern dist ricts of t he colony into closer
.
k
th t

t ~me h Wl . 1 s prmclpa 1 oonsummg . mar ,et s. The
hne ~rom . S n Lo.wry Pa~s to Caledon! a d.1sta? ce of
53 mtles, Is now In c?urse of. cons~ru~t10n ; It will .run
t hrough a good g ram-growm g dtst n ct . Ot her hnes
have aho been nearly completed from :Nialmesbury to
:N!ooreesburg, and from Queenstown to T arkastad
while a li ne from Klipplaat t o Oudtshoor n is ex~
peoted to be ready for traffic by the close of t his
year. In the nort h an extension northward t o the
Za.mbesi and L ake Tanganyika has been started
and,_ but for the outbreak of the war, this ex:
tensiOn would probably haYe been now completed
as fa r as Gwelo. On the 'east coast the line from
Beira to Salisbury is being laid upon a 3 ft. 6 in.
gauge: . This lin~ will be extended from Salisbury so
FORESHORE PROTECTION.
~s to.JOlD t he roam Bulawayo and Zambesi line; so that
To THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING.
1t wtll not be long-especially now that the close of
SIR,-I~ reply t~ the letter signed "W. H. T., " which
the war is in sight-before Sout h Africans ~ill be able a~ea.red m ~our ISsue of the 2~tb inst., may I be perto travel by railway all the way from Cape Town to mitted to pomt out that experience and careful experiB eira, as well as to the Za.mbesi.
ments enabled the late Mr. Case to construct tables which
in the he:nds of an ~ngineer who understands the system:
are reqmred for laymg out the elliptical curves decided

''ROAD LOCOMOTION. "

upon. . It by no means follows as a. matter of course that
T o T HE E DITOR OF ENGINEERING.
~a.t~erung t~e shore .and driving out the low-water mark
~IR,- The balanced oil engine, mentioned in connection 1s a.1med at m every Instance. The principle of the Oase
wtth the name of Mr. H yler \Vhite in Professor H eleShaw's va.lua.ble paper on " R oad L ocomotion," is the
* See Fig. 28, page 63t ante.
I

'

E N G I N E E R I N G.
system is correct, but its application necessarily varies
with circumstances.
As regards the Hastings foreshore, "W. H. T." appears
to take the view that, though uniformity and protection
might be secured by the adoption of the Case system, it
would be more difficult for yacht and plea.sure-boa.t
owners to work their vessels out and in. Of course, if
the integrity of the long esplanade wall and the sa.fety of
the whole frontage are of secondary importance to the
con venience of the boat-owners, there is nothing further
to be said; but one would certainly imagine that the constant breaches and deepening of t he water toward the
wall-due to the ever-increasing erosion near the sea ends
of the existing high groynes-would caus~ the ratepayers
t o feel very uncomfortable when they contemplate the
possible-I should say probable-cost of protective measures which will be necessary in a few years' time.
With respect to the li~ht nature of the Case groynes
b eing unsuitable to Hastmgs on account of the exposed
situation, I may point out that these light groynes stand
well at Southwold , at Glenbeigh, and at Dea.l, which are
all exposed places liable to violent storms, and quite
different to Dymchurch ; they present a very s mall s urface to the action of the water, and therein lies their
strength. A slend er rod can be made to stand in a
stream which would instantly carry away a r od of heavier
scantling. These low groynes are not supposed to show
mor e than 18 in. or 20 in. above the shore level, which is
amply sufficient to enable them to fulfil their functions,
aud the piles or uprights at intervals of 7 ft. 6 in. a re
quite strong to hold the planks against any waves or
longshore currents. When the work is firs t put in a. few
piles ar e sometimes washed out by scours ; but, if the
plan king is properly attended to, they are never disturbed
by the lateral action on the planks themselves.
The concluding para.gra.Ph in your correspondent's letter
is one which particularly mterests me. On October 4 last
year I called attention, through a. letter in the T imes, to
the absence of a ny official and reliable record of the
changes annually taking place round our coasts-changes
cons tantly affecting buildi ngs and other works which
have been carried out by a large outlay of public money.
I had previously brou g ht this matter forward at the meeting of the British Association at Dover, and, later on,
wrote to the Board of Trade and the B oard of Agriculture. My idea was, r oughly, that there should be a D epartment, or special branch of a Department, to look
after that strip of neglected land which lies all round ou r
coasts between high and low water marks.
A committee was appointed last year by the cou ncil of
the British Association to consider the question of
coast erosion, and arrangements have been made
with the assistance of the Admiralty, to obtain returns
from the coastguard s tations along the coast o f protective
works which may be carried out, and of the effects
produced by such works. This may be a step in the right
direction, but it d oes not go nearly fa~ enoug~, _and it is
~bvious that the coastguards are not m a pos~t10n from
their training and equipment to take the sect10ns, make
plans, and keep records in such a manner as would be
serviceable to engineers when called upon to execute
works. It would, for example, be very difficult for a
coastguard however intelligent, to give anything like a
satisfactory account of the u effects .Produced " by walls
or g royne3 unless be had taken sectiOns, &c., when the
work was started and would compare them with later
sections, &c.
I n reply to my letter, the Board of Trade informed me
that the establishment of the D epartment I suggest ed
would entail very considerable expense, and would p~o
bably necessitate the revision of many Acts of Parhament, and that the scheme was not fea~ble at present.
Early in January of the present year, the B oard of
A'Jriculture wrote to say that they had read m:r communica-tions with much interest, but that they dtd not
t hink it at all probable that the Treasury would . feel
justified in providing at the public cost for the considerable expenditure requisite for the purpose. The letter
concluded by suggesting that my proposals might be
brou~ht under the notice of both the Treasury and the
Admualty.
Soon after this the South African war absorbed all the
attention of the ~uthorities and the public, and I am only
just about to r evive the consideratiOn _of what I .cannot
but feel in common with many others mterested m foreshore w~rks is a question of national importance.
Faithfully yours,
'
R. G. ALLAN~ON-WINN.
39, Victoria-street, W estminster, S. W., May 30, 1900.

RANGE-FINDERS.
T o THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING.
SIR -In the concluding portion of your notice of Captain Eugene Pierucoi's range-finder, on page 695 of your
issue of ~lay 25, you make reference to Colonel W eldon's
rangefinder, and s tate that you are not aware _that _the
W eldon instrument had undergone further ~od1fica~10?,
or had become popular, since your first not1ce of 1b m
your journal.
Will you kindly permit us, as. sole m~k!3rs of ~b.e
\ Veldon range-finder, to state that, m the op~mon. of military experts, this instrument needs no modtfica~lOn, a.nd
is all round the best yet invented: and, further, 1ts p opularity has been lately strongly endorsed by the large
number purchased by officers (including the late General
W. Penn Symonds) for use. in ~outh ~frioa.
With reference to Captam P 1erucc1 s new range:finder,
it would seem that the gentleman named k?ew httle or
n othing of the Weldon range-finder, otherw_Jse he .snrely
w ould not have been to t~e trou~le to ~evl8~ an mstrument that is in every mam partiCular mfer10r to one
already well known and in exte nsive use. W e refer to

_[}UNE I,

the Weldon instrument, which is small enough to go into

a waistcoat pocket. Its optical parts are prisms, not
mirrors. It cannot get out of adjustment, for the simple
reason that it has no adjustments. One man can work it
alone, and therefore a double personal error is not possible. It will give the distance from each other of any
number of places, without the observer occupying any
one of them, &c. Its weight, complete, is under 3 oz.
In what single direction can the Pierucci range-finder
claim the slightest advantage?
Y ours truly,
S uffolk-street, Birmingham.
.R. FIELD AND Co.

THE ACCIDENT AT SOUTHAMPTON.

To T~ EDITOR 0~' ENGINEERING.
SIR,-Many of the newspaper reports of the accident
ab the New Cold Stora~e ab Southampton, which took
place on May 28, have g1ven the impression that the permanent buildings had collapsed.
As the agent for H ennibique (patent), of which the
building is being constructed, I trust that you will allow
me s pace in which to contradict this wrong impression.
The true facts of the case are as follow:
The contractors bad erected a large timber workshop to
contain the vertical moulds in which the ferro-concrete
piles are cast. At the time of the accident there were
about 300 finished piles 43ft. long, in the moulds weigh -

1900.

reasons why engineer officers should hesitate to write to

the Press on the subject of the relative positions, duties,
and responsibilities of themselves and their departmental
subordinates. As a civilian engineer (not Royal Navy)
who has long taken considerable interest in the s ubject of
engineering in the Royal Navy, I therefore undertake to
dis pute two J;>Oints raised by your correspondent, Mr. A.
Marshall, wh1oh do not come within the scope of mere
personal opinions or arguments, and the correctness, or
otherwise of which can be ascertained by reference to
official records.
Mr. A . Marshall states that " chief engine-room artificers" have sole and absolute charge of the machinery of
some vessels up to 2000 indicated horse-power, and this
on a foreign station too. " This statement is incorrect.
I have carefully studied the official "Navy List" for
April, 1900, and can find no such case as that to which he
refers; the nearest aJ:>proach to the oases he mentions is
that in ships of the Rosario, and similar classes, of 1400
indicated horse-power, th e en~nes are in charge of "articer engineers," and not " chtef engine-room artificers."
The S pider, of 2700 indicated horse-power, in reser-,;e at
Devonport, also has an fl.rtificer engineer attached to her.
These artificer engineers are warrant officers, and they
must have at least ten years' con rmed service in th e
Royal Navy, and be not less than thirty-five years of
age; as a ruatter of fact, they frequently serve nearly
twenty years before qualifying for the warrant rank, and

- .,

ing R.bout 1200 tons. Just as the men had left. the VfOrl~s
at dinner-time, the workshop collapsed, ca.rrymg w1th It
the ferro-concrete piles which it contained. M ost of the
piles were still green, and were, consequently, br oken by
their fall. The acciden t occurred about 200 yards from
the permanent building no w in construction, which is not
injured in any way. The workshop bad been erected on
made ground principally composed of chalk, a~d the
accident is attributed to a s udden subsidence m the
g round. The workshop had been in use for about twelve
months.
I am, dear Sir, yours faithfully,
L. G . M oucaEL.
G reat Western Railway Buildings, 124, Holborn, E. C.
P.S.-I beg to enclose a photograph of the working
moulds above referred to.

LENDING LIBRARY FOR ENGINEERS.

To THE E DITOR OF ENGINEERING.
SIR - W ould you allow me to inform those who ans wered my letter on the above subject, whic.h. appeared in
your issue of February last, that the pet1t1on was forwarded to the President o f the Institution of Civil
Engineers, and that I have received the following reply
from the secretary : .
.
"I am directed to m form you that the Coun01l are of
opjnion that the formation of such a l~brary at the pres.ent
t1me is, on various grounds, not practJCa.ble at the Inst1tution and they therefore find themselves unable to accede
, request made to t hem. "
to the
E. HAMILTON WHITEFORD,
Assoc. J\I. Inst . C.E.
Borough Engineer's Department, Municipal
Offices, Plymouth, M.a y 28, 1900.

NAVAL ENGINEERS.
To THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING.
SIR - I have seen the letters in your issue of April 27
on th~ above subject, a nd although I have no intention of
entering into an y controversy with ~our correspondents,
I think it only just that the attent10n of your readers
should be directed bo the fa.ot that such letters are merely
ex parte statements. Ther e are many good and obvious

. I

it may, of course, be safely assumed that such service has

fully qualified them for that position.
It has also been stated that " chief engine. room artificers have been sent out as "Assistant Admiralty Ovc?'
seers." This is stretching the case with a vengeance. It
is well known that, at the works of private contractors,
an engineer officer R oyal N avy, is appointed as Admiralty
overseer, and no doubt in this case, as in all others, he
has an engine-room artificer to assist him, but your
readers will be quite capable of appreciating the differenoa between this position and an appointment as
"Assistant Admiralty Overseer."
In conclusion, I would like to quote a well-known
clause of the regulations, which state that "All engineer
officers below the r ank of chief engineer, are, in addition
to any special duties that may be a~portioned to them, to
keep (when under steam) up to e1gbt hours watch per
day, to insure the watches being placed in charge of
ot}ice1s." (The italics are my own.)

Obediently your3,
FAIRPLAY.

A NEw ROUTE TO HARROGATE.-A new railway from

L eeds to Harrogate (via Wetherby) is to be opened
July 1. A large n umber of men are at work at Blrdsey
and W etherby. At the latter place they are lowering
the line for the south platform at the new station.
Owners of landed property are an ticipating the advantages which the new route will probably open up. At
Linton, in the vicinity of Wetherby, not far from where
the line takes a curve to join the old Spofforth branch, a
lnrge estate is being laid out for building purposes.
RATING RAILWAY SJGNAL-BOXE~.-Thc Midland Ra.ilway Company has given the assessment committee of the
Pontefraot U nion notice of its intention to appeal against
the rating of the signal-boxes on its system. A s. a ~st,
the assessment of a box at Methley rated at 4l., 1s bemg
ta.ken before the Quarter Sessions, and the Guardians on
Saturday authorised the assessment committee to take
such steps as they think proper t o resist the appeal. It
was s ugges ted that as the q nestion is one affecting the
whole country, the board ought to enlist the pra.otioa.l
support of other boards, but it was d ecided not to do so
unless the expense of reference to the higher courts be
comes necessary.

J UNE I,

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

1900.1

POWER STAMPING PRESSES.

CON TRUUTED

BY

TAYLOR

AND

CH ALLEN

'

ENGINEER ,

BIR~1IN GHAM.

FIG.

1.

DouBLE CRANK P owER PRESS.

WE illustrate in ~'ig. 1 above a large double crank

power press for cutting-out, stamping, and embossing,
&c., sheet metal, constructed by Messrs. 'l'aylor and
Challen, of Derwent Foundry, Birmingham. It is
capable of exerting a working pressure on the dic3 of
100 tons. When fitted with suitable dies this press
will cut out an armature disc 28 in. in diameter, and
pierce the centre hole 12 in. in diameter at one stroke ;
it is also capable of cutting the outside slots or notches,
centre hole, and key slots of t his size of disc simultaneously.
The press is fitted with the makers' patent positi,e
stop action, by means of which the movement of the
slide is always arrested at its highest position, this
also enables t he toolmaker to set his tools without
removing the belt, as t he crankshaft may be rotated
in the normal direction wi thout cs.using the clutch to
engage.
The dies for producing the disc with notches complete, especially the larger sizes, are ex pensive, and,
unless large quantities of one size are required, it is
better to use the armature disc notching press, Fig. 2.
This machine will notch any size of disc from 5 in. in
diameter to 36 in. in diameter, punching out one notch
at each stroke. In this operation, extreme accuracy
and speed are essential, both of which properties are
embodied in this machine. When the disc under
operation has made a com plete revolution, notching is
automatically stopped, r eady for t he disc to be re
moved and a fresh one inserted. N otohing may be
also instantly stopped at any point by actuating the
hand lever provided for the purpose. The only adjustment needed for the various diameters of discs is
obtained by revolving the baud wheel shown in .the
illustration, which brings the slide to the re~wred
position. A special feature in this arrangement 1s that
the connections to the automatic stop, positive lock,
and rotary feed, are in no way interfered with.

INDUSTRIAL NOTES.

TH~ sixty-fifth annual report of the Boilermakers

and Iron hipbuilders is signed by the new general

secretary, .Mr. D. C. Cummings, who states t hat
1Ir. Robert Knight, J. P. , although he. continued
in office at the request of the membera unt1l the close

FIG.

2.

An.M.A TORE

of 1 99, nevertheless thought that it would be best

for the ~ew ,secretary to undertake the annual r eport.
Nfr. Kmght s farewell address appeared in t he previous r eport, and in this report he expresses, through
the present secretary, his thanks for the helpful aid of
all the officials of the union during his long t erm of
office. Few men have retired from such a position with
general sentiments of good-will from employers, as
well as of employed, of so ardent a character as :Mr.
Robert Knight. To such men as Mr. Knight trade
unions owe much of thei r present influence and power
for good. He was able at once to uphold the rights
of labour, and yet win r egard from those whose
position and interests were opposed to the demand s
of the men represented by himself.
peaking of the past year the report says that " the
trade of the country in 1899 was in a brisk condition,
the world's tonnage of shipping exceeding that of any
previous year. " lt goes on to say that ''the glut of
shipbuilding during the year, and the inability of the
builders to complete intending orders in a given time,
was without doubt the cause of some of the work
leaving our shores, and the future can alone determine whether we can retain our position as the paramount ship producers when trade is in a more normal
condition. However, work once lost is hard to recover again, and should prove to all workmen, our members included, the necessit.y of keeping good time
and thereby d oing their part towards helping us to
retain our position. , Some figu res are given of the
proportions of British and foreign built t onnage.
The report rejoices in the fact that "the past year
was singularly free from labour troubles involving
great issues." Questions of demarcation of work from
time to time caused uneasiness, but it is suggested
that there is no reason why such questions should not
ba more readily adjusted t han hitherto, if men "allow
reason and common sense the right to decide, not
allowing obstinacy and unreasoning doggedness to
prevail. " This pronouncement is opportune, and
ought to have some weight with all other unions and
sections of labour. It is remarked that the shipbuild ing section made moderate and fair demands for advances in wages in 1899, the average advance being
under 1s. 1d. per week, whereas in another group of industries the advance was nearly 4s. 9d. per week. The

DISC NOTCHING PRESS.

engineering and shipbuilding group stood the lowest

but one in all the groups of trades in this respect.
Reference is made to the system of weekly payments,
and a hope is expressed that the employers will see no
reason to resort to the old system. The formation of
sectional unions is deprecated, as disadvantageous to
all concerned; to employers by reason of sectional
differences and disputes as t o demarcation of work,
and to workmen because of an increase in the diversity
of interests.
The total number of branches at the close of 1899
was 273; the total number -of members was 47,417.
A hope is expressed that the membership will reach
50,000 by the close of the present year. The income
for the year was 155, 173l. 16s. 4d., of which total
124, 761l. 14s. 9d. were from contributions; entrance
fees, 3748l. 13s. 3d. ; from investments and interest,
6787l. lls. 11. ; the remainder was made up of levies
for the several funds, sale of r eports, &c.
The items of expenditure are of most interest to the
general public, and, as regards this union, they will
bear examination without fear of adverse criticism.
Sick benefit cost 28, 602l. 7s. 8d., an increase over t he
previous year of 1874l. 12s. 3d. Unemployed benefit,
inclusive of travelling, cost 11,376l. 3s. 5d. In commenting upon this surprisingly large amount, in such e.
busy year, it is explained that some of it was due to
the fact that t he more aged members often find it
d_ifficult to obtain regular employment even in good
t tmes.
Superannuation benefit cost 13, 169l. 4s., an increase of 5319l. 6s. 6d. in the year. :Much of this increase is the result of larger payments under this
head to aged members. Funerals cost 6609l . 5s. 2d .;
bonuses (accident benefit) cost 5140l., and 73l. 3s. I d.
expenses of disabled members to doctors. Benevolent
grants amounted to 2248l. Ss. 4d. To the above
amounts must be added the payment of 6680l. h. ld.
to surgeons for medical attendance at the various lodges
of the union, and 212l. 1s. fares to situations. The
whole of the foregoing amounts represent provi
dent benefits of the best kind, relief in sickness, and
old age, when out of work, in cases of accident, and
of distres~.
The total cobt of disputes only amounted to
878l. 18s. 5d. This is the smallest amount f:ince 1881,

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

[JUNE I,

1900.

are not at all anxious about new orders, changes in as the limit below which a child shall not work in a

prices, or American competition. There has been m me.

some little unsettlement in the steel trade, at least,
The Lords rejected the Early Closing Bill for shop
temporarily.
assistants, but the National Union of Shop Assistants
The reports from the Wolverhampton district are had not been enthusiastic in its favour, as they rather
not quite so satisfactory as they were some weeks ago. supported the Bill of Sir Charles Dilke in the House
It is true that current quotations for all classes of of Commons, which is, indeed, the union's Bill. The
finished iron are fully maintained, and that makers union regards the speech of the Premier as a. God-send;
show no indication of yielding to reductions ; but they think that it will help forward the Bill in the
there is a quietude in business which manifests a spirit Commons.
of waiting, rather than an anxiety to purchase. Both
It would appear, from some ad verse criticisms in
marked bars and unmarked iron keep up well to or
towards the full market rates ; but as black sheets the newspapers that there is friction and danger in
have only been in moderate request, the makers have connection with two labour federations- the "National
to ease the prices of a month or so ago to secure Federation," established as a result of the action of the
business. Stamping sheets have been in good request Trade Union Congress, and the '' Engineering Federaat full rates. There has been a good demand for hoops tion," established some years previously, from which,
and gas strip, rivet and nail-rod iron, and prices ha ve however, the Amalgamated Society of Engin~rs sebeen pretty firm. There seems to be no falling off as ceded as soon as the federation was finally'. corn
regards the demand for steel of all kinds, which is plated. There need not be any friction or danger,
being used more largely than ever in substitution for and any attempt to stir up strife will be disasiron. On the whole, the position remains fairly good; trous to all concerned, and harmful to employers.
but the outlook does not seem to be as rosy as it was The object of the Engineering Federation was, and is,
some time ago. It may be, however, that the co-operation in matters affecting the engineering and
lagging is merely temporary. The engineering and shipbuilding trades, as regards matters of wages,
allied industries keep tolerably well employed; even hours of labour, and conditions of employment ; also
those who report trade as being only "moderate " to try and amicably settle questions of demarcation
show, by the figures that they give in their returns, of work-matters of vast importance in those industhat there is very little to complain of as regards tries. It is not a military body, but rather one for
employment. The secretaries of the Amalgamated conciliation purposes. A conflict between the two
Society of Engineers alone speak of trade as moderate. organisations would be mischievous.
Ironfounders, boilermakers, bridge and girder conThe jealousy of trade unions, one towards another,
structors, tankmakers, gasholder erectors, smiths and is manifested, sometimes in one form, sometimes in
strikers all report employment as good, as it also is in another. The most frequent cause of disputes is
the railway sheds. Cycle makers are busier. The demarcation of work, but there is one other not less
reports from the adjacent districts are similar in most disastrous when it occurs, and which is even less
instances-dull it hardly is in any branch. In the excusable-namely, attempts to keep out men from
hardware industries, there are variations in activity; employment because they do not belong to a particular
some are more pressed than others, but there are few union. A case of this kind has recently happened in
that have any serious cause of complaint, for when a the East End of London, between the Amalgamated
branch is said to be quiet, further inquiry shows that Union of Painters and the London East End Painters'
there is full employment, but less overtime, or no Society. It appears that a certain firm wanted ten
overtime, as the case may be. Altogether the position additional men, and the National Union forthwith
is favourable, and the outlook is not discouraging.
E~ent ten men to fill the vacant places, whereupon the
members
of
the
other
union
struck
work.
The
firm
In the Birmingham district there was a tendency paid the union wages and fulfilled all the required
towa.rda weakness in several departments of the iron
and yet this paltry dispute. Could it be
trades at the end of last week. It appears that new conditions,
orders are scarce and difficult to obtain in comparison wondered if the firm said, "A plague on both your
with some weeks past, and it is complained that houses!" One wants to know what the National
specifications on old contracts are not so regular as Federation is doing in the matter.
they were. But there arE> large expectations as regards
It is feared by some that there will be a rush of
~outh Africa, and inquiries are on foot in some departlabour, a.s well as of capital, to South Africa, when peace
ments. There is a general belief that there will be a is restored. It is thought that the labour market at
great boom in the iron trade in that part of the world home will become disorganised, and that in Africa
before many weeks are over. But hope deferred maketh there will be a glut. As a rule these things adjust
the heart sick, and long delays in this instance may themselves, but in a great crisis there is some danger
... 1,573,605
Total for provident benefit
97,272
eventuate in the postponement of the realisation of of a rush to be first in t he field. Pioneers often fare
...
, dispute benefit ...
the desire for a great boom in South Africa. There is badly; they merely pave the way for others' success
Aggregate .. .
...
...
. .. 1,670,877
a great deal of work in hand connected with the war, subsequently.
The above is a worthy record for a labour union. H especially as regards railway work, bridge work, iron
It is reported that many of the cotton operatives of
is no mere fighting union, but one with important pipes, &c., in which departments employment is good.
provident benefits attached. It does all that a labour The export t rade continues to be well up to the Lancashire are migrating to Canada, Russia, Portugal,
union is expected to do, and IJ?-UC~ tha:t some have _of average, but the fa mine in India is seriously inter- and Mexico, where high wages are offered to persons
late years desired. It has faith m fnendly negotia- fering with orders from that vast Empire. The expec- skilled in the cotton industry. It is said that millions
t ion and it has won its way into the confidence of the tation is that the iron and steel workers' wages will of spindles have been exported to those countries and
again be advanced, so that the price of material- raw also to Austria, India, and J apan. If this continues
employers in the vast industry which it represents.
and finished-will keep up. So far the price of best we shall have increased competition, lower prices, and
The position of the engineering trades throug~~ut bars and unmarked iron maintain their position fairly lower wages than of late.
L ancashire is little changed as regards actual actlvity well. The idea of keen competition from America
The great tramway strike at Berlin has ended in the
and employment. Establishments in practically all seems to be very much of a dream; in any case, there
the leading departm.en~s contim~e fully en~aged on is none to be had before the autumn, by which time acceptance of a compromise under the mediation of the
work in hand, but 1t I S complamed that, m many many things will have taken place. Some gas strip chief Burgomaster. The terms appear to be greatly in
directions orders are being completed faster than they has, however, found its way here from America. The favour of the men, not merely temporarily, but per
are being ~eplaced . It is admitted that this may not demand for steel continues good, but t here is a scarcity manently, including a pension fund.
mean any actual slackness of trad? ?uring, at least, of raw material. In one branch of the steel trade
There is friction and a threatened dispute between
the remainder of the present year; 1t 1s regarded as an there is considerable competition for the orders offered,
indication that t he outlook for the not distant future and some reductions have been accepted. Pig iron the Birmingham Corporation and the 4000 workpeople
is not quite so satisfactory as it was. some time. ago, nor was "bea.red " down somewhat last week, but not employed. The men ask for a further advance in
as could be desired at the present time. But, 1t may be to any extent. The iron and steel using trades are wages ; the officials reply that men will leave private
that the suspended orders-offers made that could fairly brisk in most instances ; even in cases which firms t o accept the present rates and advantages. The
not be accepted for early delivery, some of which, at are described as moderate, employment is good on the men threaten t o strike, but some think they will cool
least it is said, have not been placed elsewhere-may whole. This applies to all the engineering indus- down.
still 'be available when deliveries can be guaranteed tries, and those connected therewith. The same is
It is reported that the great building strike of some
by the accepting .firms.. Meanwhile ~mployll?'ent is true generally of the other iron and steel using indusgood with no senous s1gn of slackenmg off m any tries, and of those who work in other metals also, with 50,000 operatives at Chicago, which has lasted some
impdrtant branch. of industry connecte.d with the en- the exception of bedstead makers and one or two others months, is being settled by a compromise. The cost
gineering and a.lhed trades, or other 1ron, steel, and of lesser consequence. There is not, however, much of the dispute is estimated at 25,000,000 dols.
metal-using industries. Lu.tterly, also, the cotton to complain of.
A number of scrapers and painters employed at the
trades have been so far prosperous as to influence t he
The Bill which raises the age of boy-workers in Creat Central Railway Company's Dock Works at
tide in favour of the textile machine-maki;ng branch,
Grimsby struck last week for an advance of 4s. per
mines
is
regarded
as
safe,
a.CJ
it
has
passed
into
t
he
which had, in some districts, been slackemng down ;
week-20s. to 24s.-but offered to accept 22s. The
committee
stage
in
t
he
House
of
Lords;
the
object
of
thus prosperity in one branch reac~s fav.ourably on
company offered 21s., which the men refused.
the
measure
is
a
simple
one-it
raises
the
age
at
which
another. In the iron trade slow busmess 1s the order
of the day. There has been a hanging back, both as to child labour shall be employed from 12 t o 13 years of
There has been considerable excitement a.t Antwerp
The
first
Act,
in
1842,
raised,
or
rather
fixed,
age.
raw atld finished material ; only such purchases are
over the conviction of M. Fabir, the dock labour
the
age
at
10
years,
previous
to
which
there
was
no
made as may be required for present~urposes-a handleader, over the recent agitation. It is feared, at date
the
report
of
the
Employment
of
ChHdren
limit,
as
to-mouth policy, .a~ it is termed. Singularly enough,
Commission shows. It has taken nearly GO years to of writing, that the feeling will eventuate in a general
American compet1t10n, although.afar off at p~esent,. as reach the age of 13, effecting a. saving of three years st rike. A monster demonstration has been organised
far as supplies are. concern~d, 1s a .more dtsturbmg
for Jlme l , and Lhe city a uthorities regard the pros
to
school
and
child
life.
Presently
we
to
be
added
element in Lancashire than m the Midlands. :M akers
may expect to see one year added, reaching 14 years peot with considerable an~ety.

of finished iron are so well booked forward that they

only twice before, since 1870, has the total been lower,
in 1872 and 1873. The union is to be congratulated
on the smallness of the sum expended.
The cost of management is moderate when it is remembered that there are all the officers of 273 branches,
besides the general council and some district councils
to be paid. The cost of the general and assistant
secretaries, executive council, &c., in the general
office, 1462l. Ss. 6d. ; presidents and vice-presidents,
472l. 23. 5d.; secretaries of branches, 2889l. 53. 4d.;
treasurers, 78ll.; stewards, 969l. 1s. 1ld. ; trustees,
119l. 5s. 2d.; guardians, 124l. 5s. 6d.; audits, general
office, and branches, 1023l. ls. 11d. Some of these items
are due to sick and other benefits. Branch expenditure
for benevolent purposes amounted to 3094l. 15s. 10d.;
grants to hospitals, 29l. 4s. ; arbitration expenses,
l37l. 10s. ; law expenses, 987l. 1ls. 6d. ; congress,
196l. 11s. 7d.; federation, 25l. 4s. 6d.; grants to other
societies, 336l.; compensation, 70l.
Then there were costs of printing, 2006l. 17s. 2d.;
posta.ges, &c., 70ll. 6s. 3d.; branch committees,
374l. l5s. lOd.; banking expenses, 268l. 14s. 9d.; district committees, 4826l. 16s. 6d.; rent and rooms for
meetings, l079l. l4s. 7d. ; rates, taxes, and fuel,
95l. 4s. 3d.; missions on society's business, l288l. 6s. 8d.;
and a variety of other items incidental to a union of
this character, such as purchase of property, repairs,
money orders, &c.
The balance in band at the close of the year was
291,329l. 19s. 8d., showing an increase of 55,883l. Os. 4d.
This is the largest balance ever attained. In 1888 the
total was 53, 028l. 6s. 7d., only once before that year,
in 1883, did the balance reach over 100,000l., and it
fell largely below that amount during the next fiv~
years. A large amount of the cash balance is now
invested in permanent securities, the market Yalue of
the aggregate being 174,032l. 10s. 3d. on December 30,
1899. The investments are all of a highclass character, not likely to fluctuate to any extent. The
gain on the whole was 168l. Ss. 1ld. in the year in
value, as certified by the accountants, the whole of t he
securities being examined, as well as the bank books.
There was still a large cash balance of l04,637l.15s. 10d.
in the several branches, 9537l. 10s. in the council's
hands, and 403l. l4s. 7d. in the hands of the several
district committees.
The aggregate amounts expended on benefits from
1867 to 1899 inclusive have been as follow:

474,598
Sick benefit
... ... ... ...
105,056
... ...
Funeral benefit .. .
103,975
...
...
Surgeon benefit
...
117,095
...
...
Superannuation benefit
605,631
...
Out of work benefib ...

72,969
...
...
Benevolent grants

6,046
...
.. .
:E'a.res to situations ...
78, 2~5
... ... ...
Accident benefit

---

---

J UN E I , I 900.]

THE ACTION OF BILGE KEELS.*

By MR. G. II. BRYAN, Sc.D., F.R.S., Visitor.

I.

INTRODUCTION.

~ Ta~ means adop ted for moderating the rolling of

shtps have been r ecently brought before my notice m a

pape~ by. ~r. \V., J. Luke, and the discussions accomP!l'nymg 1t m t~e T~a.nsac~ions of the Instit ution of Eogmeers and ShtpbUtlders m S cotland (XLIII. 2, 3) for
D ecember, 1899, and. J a.nuary, 1900. On reading this
p aper,, I w~s m~c~ Impre.ssed by the efficacy of bilge
k~els m extl.nguiehm~ rolhng, as these appeared t o furn~h a. ?eaut1ful pr.a{)ttcal illustration of the proper ties of
d1scon~mu ou ~ mot10n, which have for ma ny years been a
favounte subJect of study am<?ng ~P.Plied mathematicians.
I at one~ wrote to Dr. E lgar, mqUlnng ho w far the theory
of ~he b1lg~ keel ha<l bs~n tre 1ted. from a hydrodynamical
pomt of v1ew, and, 9:-t h1s suggest10n, the following paper
h as .been prepar~d, ~n the hopes that a. theoretical discussion of the prm01pl~ underlying the use of the bilge
keel may prove of use m ~ny f~~~her experiments that
may be u~dertaken. In S1r "'\V tlnam White's paper of
1895 allus10n was made to the investigations then about
to be, undertaken by 1\Ir. R. E. Froude, but from Mr.
Luke d paper (page 23) it appears that an account of
these ha~ not yet been published.
2. T~e p~im.ary object t? be kept in view in every d evice
f?r extm~u~shn~g the os01llations of a ship is the absorptiOn or dtssipa.ttOn of the energy of the oscillatory motion.
The use of m ternal water chambet's communicating with
one another by .a la rge number of small holes, as described
by r. Watt~ m 1883 and 1885, affords an excellent illustratiOn of thlS property. In consequence of the resistance offered to the flow of water from one chamber to
the ~~her .and back, energy is absorbed from the water
and 1S ~lt1ma.te~y oonv~rted into heat, in much the same
way as m Joules classwal experiment of determining the
so-ca~led mechanical equivalent of heat.
Wtth the use of bilge keels, bhe en ergy of oscillation
has to be absor bed by the water surrounding the ship
and there are three ways in which a fluid can absor b
ener~y : (1) By ~iscosity ; (2) by the production of discontmuous motiOns; (3) by the generation of waves.
Now, t?e effects of viscosity may na turally be expected
to mamfest themselves more in retarding the motion of
the sh~p than in extin~uishing oscilla~ion, and the fact
that b1lge k~el s do not m crease the reslStance on the ship
to .an aP.pre01able ext~nt ~bows that their action cannot
primarily l?e .due to vtscos~ty. As to the effects of viscosity
m deterrrunmg the ult1mate form of th~ dissipated
energy, these are of n o great importance to the naval
arohttect.
W e are thus l eft to d eal with discontinuous motion and
wave motion. The question a.s to the relative extent to
which the action of bilge keels depends on these two
causes ma y nob be devoid of practical interest. It is clear
that a ship which readily expends i ts oscillatory energy
in forming waves may, under other conditions, all the
more readi lv absorb energy from certain types of wave~, on
somewhat the ea.me lines as, in the radiation of beat, good
radiators are good absorbers; in other words, a ship
which generates the most waves when it rooks is the most
ea~!ly .seb in motion when waves of the proper period
stnke tt.
3. The object of this paper is to show t hat the efficacy
of bilge k eels in extinguishing roller motion, in vir tue of
the discontinuous motions they produce, is materially
greater than would be directly inferred from experiments
on the coefficient of resistance of a. lamina moving in
water. It must be clearly borne in mind throughout
what follows that we a re not considering the total extinctive effects, but merely the a mounts by which these
are increased b y the addition of bilge keels t o a. ship
which previously did not possess them. In a ship unprovided with bilge keels a nd possessing no sharp edges
projecting in to the watE-r, discontinuous m otions cannot
exist a.t the velocities due to ordinary moderate rolling
motions. In such cases the ex tinction of oscillation is
doubtless due t o wave formation, aided to some extent
by viscosity. But when a bil{{e keel is added with a sharp
edge, discoutinuous motion 1S at once set up, the fluid
motions being d ivided into two p ar ts by a surface of discontinuity thrown off from the sharp edge; and it is my
purpose to prove that the advan tage of the ship with bilge
keels over the same ship without them, can be accounted
for by discontinu ous motions to a greater extent than
would appear at fir3t sight probab'e. It is not con ten ded
tha,t the effects of wave motion are not also of importance
in this connection, but they probably are secondary in
character, their action being due to the influen ce of the
waves in modifying the di$continuous motions, as well as
to the presence of the bil~e keels causing a. modification
in the waves by which their absorption of energy may be
mat erially increased.
For this reason wave motion ha~ been ent irely left out
of account in the calculations which I h ave made, a sim
plification whioh is, moreover, necessary in order to
bring the problem within the range of existing methods
of mathematical ana.lysis. At the conclusion of the p aper
I propose t o indicate lines on which ex perimen ts might
be conducted with a view of putting the matter to a practical test.
4. Sir \Villiam W hite tells us that the late Mr. Froude's
experimen ts made w ith a. paddle oscillating in water gn:ve
a. coefficient of resistance of 1.6 lb. per square foot, with
a mean velocity of 1 ft. per second, and that th~ use of
this c~efficient does not fully account for the experimen tal
facts. "On the other band," Sir \V illi am ' Vhite goes on
to say, "in the case of the Sulta n, the agreement between Mr. Froude's estimate, based on the use of this

* Paper read before the Institution of Naval Architects.

E N G I N E E R I N G.
~oefficient and the experimental facts

was very close

mdeed."
'
Now ~he diagram shows that the midship section of the
Sultan IS ~ounder than that of the Revenge; and, moreover, the btlge keels were placed one near the bottom and
the other rather below the p oint where the contour is
most curved. The section given of the Revenge shows
that the subme! ged portion is more nearly of the form of
a . rectangl.e w1th rounded corners ; and, moreover, the
bilge keel Is placed at the most protuberant part 0f the
contou~. ~n Mr.. Luke's diagrams the angular forms of
the mtd.shlp seot10~s of most ships and the far more
~ear~y ctrcular sectton of the Sul tan are n oticeable, while
m d u1grams of the Campania and Omrah kindly ~ent
me by ~r. Elgar, the section is approxim'a tely a reotaJ?gle Wlth the corners rounded off. A glance ab the
d1agram.s s uggests that the differences i n the behaviour
of .the bil.ge keels largely depend on the forms of the mids~~p sections, and we a re thus led to the following propoSltlOn:
The. resistance. to dis?ontinuous motion due to bilge
keels IS g reater m a ship of somewhat angular section
than in a ship of circular section, provided that the keels
are attached at the protruding corners of the section.
5. The angular contour of the midshiJ.> section increases
the efficacy of .the bilge keel _in two distmct ways :
a. The. mot10n of the sh1p produces currents in the
water w~10h fl.ow past th.e b~nds i~ the opposite direction
to ~hat m which the shtp IS t~rmng, thereby producing
a n m orea.se of pressure on the bilge keels.
b. ?-'he. dis?ont inuous motion p ast t he bilge keels alters
the dtstnbution of pressure on the sides of the ship and
for a rectangular section the differences of pr~sure' thus
produced have a moment always t ending to retard the
rolling motion.
Sir William White was evidently alluding to some
such considerations as these in his remark : "But as the
ma tte! at present stands, it would appear that the R evenge
exper1ments point to a possibility which is also indicated
by the results given by Mr. Froude in 1874. It appears
that ~hen bilge keels are added to a ship they musb become
eff~ctive, not ~erely as flat surfaces oscillating with the
ship, and expen encing direct resistance, but by indirectly
influencing the stream-line motions which would exist
about the oscillating ship if there were no bilge keels."
II. Elt' FECT OF STREAM-LINE M OTIONS.

6. When a cylinder of other than circular section is

rot ating in fluid, whether the rotational motion be steady
or oscillator y, stream-line motions are set up, the effect
of w.hich is t? cause the fluid to flow past the more protrudmg J.>OrtJons of the cylinder in the opposite direction
to ~hat m which the cylinder is turning. If a small
lamma. or paddle be fixed projecting from the cylinder
where it can int~rcept this counter current, the increased
relative Yelooity of the fluid increases the pressure on the
lamina., which we shall assume to vary as the square of
t he relative velocity.
In the case of an elliptic cylinder whose longest and
~hortest diam~ters are in the ratio of 3 to 2, this streamline motion would almost exactly double the pressure on
a small lamina. projecting from the extremity of the
lol'l_gest diameter.
For cylinder.:~ of section other than elliptical, the increase of pressure due to this cause depends, however,
quite as much on the for m of the section as on the ratio of
its greatest and least radii, and it may be laid down as a
general rule that, when the protruding parts are smoothly
rounded, the stream velocity is small, while sharp bends
produce a considerable increase in the stream 't'elooity,
unti l, when the two sides actually meet at an angle projecting into the flnid, the stream velocity becomes infinite
a~ the ~ngle, and .the stream-line motion is replaced by
discontmuous mot10n.
1. The problem of the stream-line motions past cylinders
of given section is, in general, very difficult of solution;
but, by taking suitable forms for the stream function, we
can obtain solutions for cylinders whose curve of section
coincides with a given contour a t any number of assigned
points. In this way the stream-line motion could theoretically be worked out for a cylinder of section approaching to the midship section of a given ship to any degree
of approximation. The calculation, however, becomes
ver y complicated, if the section approximates to a highly
angular form.
In the small time available for the preparation of this
paper, it has only been possible to work out a fe w simple
cases. The points by which the shape of the contour
lines have been determined are shown in the figures on the
next page ; the intermediate form of the curves is merely
roughly sketched in, and is not to be regarded as accurate.
F or the section shown in Fig. 1, the pressure at A 2 is
increased by nbout 35.7 per cent., although the longest
radius only exceeds the sh or test by about 13 per cent. It
is to be noted that the points A 3, A.,\1 A 6 lie in a. straight
line.
F ig. 2 shows a section of rather theoretical interest, in
which the increase of pressure at A'l amoun ts to 46.85,
say, 47 per cen t. That only a difference of 11 per cent.
exists b etween the caoos represented in Figs. 2 and 3 is
due to the fact that the convex parts of both curYes are
very smoothly rounded, and the difference of form chiefly
lies in the presence of reentrant corners in Fig. 2, which
are much less effective than protuding angles in modifying
the pressure3 at the protuberant parts.
In Fig. 3 we have a nearer approximation to a square
section, th e points A 0, A 1 , A'l, as also A ... A 5, A6, A7, As,
being in a. straig ht line. In this case the stream-li ne
motion increases the pressure at As and A 0 by 67 per oe~b.
These results represent what ha ppens when the movmg
body is a complete cylinder, symmetrical about 0 , rotating
in an infinite mass of fluid. In addition to the stream
motion producing counter. currents round the salient parts

o~

the. cylinder, it causes the fluid to move in the same

d1reotion as the cylinder at the p~int~ nearest the axis,
such as .Ao If we suppose the fiutd, mstead of covering
the cyh.nders, t? reach only half way up them, Figs. 1
a nd .3 gtve a fair general representation of the midship
seot10p. of m~ny ships fi?ating in water. From what we
have. J~St said, the mottons which were investigated in
obta!nmg the above results cause the surface of the water
to r~se and fall with the ship, an action opposed by
grayity. So far. as. gravity is effectual in directly counter aotmg these var1at1ons of the water level, the result is to
superpose counter-currents, which tend further to increase the e.ffeotive pressure at the protuberant parts.
If we suppose the velocity of stream-line motion to be
doubled by. these added counter-currents the increase of
pressure w11l be more than doubled. It is therefore not
Improbable that in a ship of eection si~ilar to Fi'g 3
the efficacy of bilge keels fitted ab A3 and .A 9 may b~
more than double that of a paddle osctllating freely in
water. As a matter of fact, however, the action of gravity
p rodu.ces waves and throws the calculations beyond the
domam of exac.t ma.~hematical a nalysis.
8. T o test thiS .Pomt further, I adopted a different form
of st~eam funot1on, chosen so as to make the vertical
velo01ty zero at the surface of a horizontal plane. This
represent:s w~at would be the stream-line motion, if a ship
~e~e rolhng m .water covered with a hard and perfectly
rlgid sheet of Ice, supposin~ this ice to just allow the
vessel free play to roll. The form choden for the con tour
of .the ee?tion (Fig. 4) roug hly is somewhat like the midshlp sectiOn of the R evenge given in Sir "\Villia.m White's
pa.~er, but with r~ther ligliter draught than any there
mdt~ted, the modification being made to make thecalo~latiOn easier. In this case it was found that the effect~ve pressu re at A 1 and A 3 was just over double-2.085
times .that due to the rotational motion of the ship alone.
At pomts rather lower down the effective pressures would
be somewhat greater.
The assumed surface condition at the horizontal plane
Ao 0 A,. can be produced, even if the fluid be indefinitely
ext~nded above t he horizontal plane, by supposing the
cyhnder completed, its section in the upper portions being
of the form roughly sketched out in Ftg. 4 the eq uation
of the curve of section being the same a~ for the subm~rged portion, and its form being thus completely determ mate. These are but rough examples, but they may
~erve t<? s~ow the gep.eral effecb of the shape of the ship
m modtfymg the res1stances on bilge keels, and the importance of placing the keels in such a position as to
encounter the strongest possible counter-currents past t he
sides of the ship.
III.-EFFRCT o~ NoN-Co-PEmonw DISTURDANCES.

9. The effect of wave motions whose period coincides

with that of oscillation, whether these be due to the
motion of the ship or to external causes will be to decrease ,or increase the effective pressure on' the bilge keels;
accordmg as the currents they produce are in the same
or th.e opposite direction to that in which the ship is
rotatmg. Bub the effect of wave motions or other independent disturbances of different period will always be to
increase the effective pr~sure on the keels.
For let V be the velocity of the fluid relative t o the
bilge kee_l is undisturbed motion, v the added velocity due
to the disturbance, k the assumed coefficient of resistana~; and first assume V> v. Then, if the two velocities
are m the same direction, the resistance is k (V + v) 2
while, if they are are in opposite directions, the resista.n~
is k (V - v)'l. Assuming that it is an even chance whether
the velociti~s are t~e same or in opposite directions, the
average resistance IS
~
+ v) 2 +(V -1') 2} =
+ v2 } ,

k{<v

k{ v2

and is thus increased by an amount equal to that due to

the mean square velocity due to the disturbance. If,
however, V < v, then, wnen V is opposed to V the direction of the effective pressure will be revers~d, and the
a verage resistance will be

k { (V

+ 1)2 -

(V - v)2 }

= 2 k V v,

which is more than double t he pressure in undisturbed

motion, since v > V.
In the first case the resistance is increased Ly a consta~t at;nou~t, and th~ additional work dona in any half
os01llation lS proporttonal to the amplitude of swing.
In t~e second case the resistance is p roportional to the
velo01ty. '.l;he effec~ due. to non co-periodic disturbances
thus seem likely t o gtv~ n se t,o tarms proportional to the
first power of the amphtude m the curves of extinction .
The remarkable magnitude of these terms has been
noticed by Sir Willi~m .White in the aforementioned paper.
Among non-co-per10dic disturbances must be included a
ste~dy .current! the effects ~f which, on a rotating or
os01llatmg lamma, or body ~1th s~arp edges, can easily
be, and doubtless have been, ~nves.ttgated ~xperimenta.lly.
Whether the turbulent mot10ns mduced m the water in
the neighbourhood of the bilge keels by the discontinuous
motio.ns set up in l?r~vious oscillations ea~ be regarded as
ful filhng the conditiOn assumed above, v1z., that it is a.n
even chance whether the added velocities are in the same
or the opposite direction t o the motion of the keels is
another ques~i<?n, on which it is perhaps premature ' to
expr~s an opimon.
IV.

Ei'~J.l' RC'l' OJi' PRESSURE VARIATIONS AGAINST TBE

SIORS Oli' TBE SHIP.

10. The second cause can be most readily understood

by anyone who has noticed how readily a small boat will
turn round , even when i ts rudder is set at right angles to
the course, m which position the turning moment of the
pressure on the rudder itse~f is pr~ct1ca.11y nil. T aking
AB t o represent the rudder m a hon~ontal plane (Fig. 5),

JUN E

I, I

900.]

of the cylinder. The dead water, which is dragged along

in the region behind the bilge keel in one half oscillation,
is projected outwards, with a free stream line, in the succeeding half oecilla.tion. The motion is thus irreversible.
and is accompanied by dissipn.tion of enerfY The general
result is to throw the liquid into a. state o turbulence.
16. In the purely t heoretical aapect of the question, the
impossibility of destroying free stream lines depends on
the principles : (1) That a. surface of discontinuity is equivalent to a. vortex sheet; (2) that vortices alwa.:ys contain
the same particles of fluid ; (3) that vor tex mot10n cannot
be set up or destroyed in tbe interior of a. perfect fluid.
Practically viscosity causes the vortex motion to diffuse
outwards from the sheet, according to the same laws by
which diffusion of heat takes place. This will cause the
motion to assume the form of eddies, but is not likely to
seriously affect the bilge keel resista.nces considered in the
previous sections.
17. One effect connected with t he pressures due to
changes of motion may be noticed, namely, the effect of
the speed of the ship m increasing bilge-keel resistance,
due to the keels constantly coming in contact with fresh
portions of liquid that have not been set into turbulent
motion by previous oscillations. This effect is analogous
to the effect of lateral velocity in increasing the air resistance of planes, which has been very fully investigated by
Professor L angley, :Mr. Maxim, and many others in
experimen ts conducted in connection with the problem of
artificial flight.
18. It is obvious that the effect of the d rp I d t pressures
must be largely affected by t he same causes that we have
shown produce such a marked increase in the extinctive
moment of the! q2 p ressures, vij'.., the increased velocity
of discontinuous motion due to the non-circular section of
the shi p, and the moments of the pressure variations on
the sides of the ships. Their effect will thus be widely
different (excep t for a. ship of circular section) from the
corresponding actions on a. plane lamina moving through
water. In fact, we have to take account of the a.ccelera.tions imparted to the masses of dead water behind the
protrud ing parts of the shi p to which t he bilge keels are
attached, and not merely to those which would be ent rained by the bilge keel if t he ship were absent.
Practically the result of the fact that the motions set
up when t he ship beBins to swing are not annihilated
when it comes to rest is to set up currents in the liquid a.s
mentioned later on, and the production of these curren ts
is sufficien t to account for a. considerable absorption of
energy.
VI. COMPARISON OF R ESULTS.
19. Sir William Whi te tells us tba.b if the whole of
the increased extinction in the Revenge be reP.resented
by an increased coefficient of resistance of the bilge keel,
this coefficient would come out to vary between 8 n.nd
over 16 lb. per square foot; while, if we represent in this
way only those terms d etermini ng the extinction curve,
which vary as the square of the amplitude, the corresponding computed resistance coefficient comes out to be
abQut 6, and remains constant for all amplitudes. This
value is rath~r less than four times the value (1.6) found
experimentally for a plane area.
Now we have seen that the increased relative velocity
of the fluid d ue to stream-line motions pa.sb the eide of
the ship may suffice to more than double the bilge keel
resistance. In order to account for a fur ther doubling of
the effective resistance, it is only necessary to assume
that the retarding moments of the pressure differences
induced on the sides of the ship is equal to the moment of
tbe pressures on the bilge keels themselves-a very reasonable hy(otbesis.
20. I this view be accepted, there remain still unaccounted for the terms in the extinction curve, which
are .P.roportiona.l to t he first p ower of the amplitude, and
the Idea ab once suggests itself that what we have called
the d et> I d t pressures may be largely responsible for the
increase in the value of these. 0 wing to the difficulty of
investigating these pressures mathematically, it is desirable that the matter should be put to an experimental
test. It is certain that these pressures have no inconsiderable influence, and the point at issue is whether they
account for the whole or part of the remaining extinctive
effects; and, if the latter, for what proportion ?
VII.-SUGGESTED EXPERIMENTAL VERIFIOATIONS.

21. The question a.q to how far actual bilge-keel resiste.nces can be accounted for by discontinuous motions alone,
without invoking the aid of dissipation of wave-making
energy, could be tested by laboratory ex.P.eriments on
cylinders oscillating totally immersed in flmds with fixed
boundaries, so that no wave formation is possible. Such
cylinders could easily be ~et oscillating by attaching them
to pendulums.
The case of a cylinder half immersed in liquid bounded
by a rigid horizontal plane, with the object of preventing
wave formation, the oounda.ry having j ust sufficient opening to allow free play for the oscillations of the cylinder,
would be of considerable interest. A similar result could
also be gob bv making the upper part of the cylinder of
such a. form as to give zero vertical velocity across a horizontal plane, as sug~ested in Fig. 4.
Further informatiOn could be doubtless obtained as to
the ultimate fate of the discontinuous surfaces by injecting coloured fluids into the water, either as close as possible to the edges of the mod~l bilge keels, or. along
alternate quadrants of the section. Such experiments
would test a. point which we have not yet considered,
namely, the action of the bilge k eels in producing circulating motions of the liquid ; in particular, that of sucking
the water in at the sides and bottom of the ship (Aq, A2o
..A.a. of Figs. 6 and 7), and. projecting it . outwa.~ds tn . the
regions traversed by the btlge keels. durmg t~eu osc~
tions. Professor Hele-Sba.w's beautiful experiments With

E N G I N E E R I N G.
thin liquid film~ unfortunately, would not answer the
purpose in cases where the discontinuous motions in these
are almost at once broken up by the enormous influence
of viscosity. The turbulence which breaks up t he coloured
bands with thick films no doubt makes observations very
difficult, but it is precisely this turbulence of which we
want to take account in l>racbioe.
Lastly, experiments wtth vertical cylinders, with tubes
let into them at various points, would enable the pressure
variations on the sides of the cylinder itself to be measured. Practically, a long oscillating or rotating ver tical
cylinder, projecting above the water, shows the same
effects by the heaping up of the water in front of the
projecting edges, and moreover shows the eddies thrown
off very readily. A little dust scattered on the surface
will show the currents produced in the liquid. Since
writing the last words, we have tested the point in a
simple way, by scattering powdered sealing-wax and bits
of P.aper in a. basin of water, and causing a. glass plate to
osctlla.te about a. vertical diameter. In this way anyone
can easily see for himself the particles being sucked m at
the middle of the plate, and shot out when they reach
the ends.
VIII. CONCLUSIONS.

22. (i.) The efficacy of bilge keels in extinguishing

rolling oscillations is largely due to their action in setting
up discon tinuous motions in the water.
(ii.) This action depends n ot only on the bilge keels
themselves; but also largely on the form of the section
of the ship, and the position in which the keels are
fixed.
(iii.) The influence of the form of the ship depends on
two causes, namely : (a) the effect of the stream-line
motions past the sides of the ship in P.roducing countercurrents against a. sui tably-placed b1lge keel; (b) the
effect of variations in the pressure on the sides of the
ship due to the d iscontinuous motions caused by t he
bils-e keels themselves.
(1v.) The first of these causes is sufficien t in cases similar
to those existing in actual ships to more than double the
bilge keel resistance, and a. like effect is d oubtless produced by the second cause.
(v.) A considerable portion of the differen ce between
the fourfold efficiency thus accounted for, and the still
higher efficienoies found by experiment, may be attributable to other effects of discontinuous motion which are
difficult to investigate mathematically. T he effects here
alluded to are those which depend on the changes of
motion, i.e. , on the d ifferences of pressure CS\Used by the
fact that the motion at each instant is not steady, but
oscillatory.
(vi.) The effect of irregular disturbances, such as waves
of period differing from the period of rolling, is to increase
bilge keel resista.nce, provided that it is an even chance
whether they increase or decrease the relative velocity of
the liCJ,uid.
(vii.) The energy dissipated by the bilge keels is expended in setting up currents and turbulent motions in
the water, such as can only be set up when sharp edges
project into the fluid.
(viii.) The observed fact that motion of the ship increases
bilge keel resistance is easily explained as a. consequence
of the last conclusion, and is entirely in accordance with
existing theories and experiments on artificial flight.
(ix.) In estimating bilge keel resistance it will be seen
that we are not concerned only with the projecmng lamina.
called the bilge keel but we should rather regard the
whole of the part of the ship on either side of a fore-and
aft section which projects beyond a circular section,
together with the attached lamina., as constituting one
large effective bilge keel. This way of thinking of bilge
keel resistance makes it easier to understand t he large
amount of its effects.
(x.) But the presence of the projecting sharp edges is
absolutely essential for, without them, the fluid will
simply flow round the rounded corners of the ship, and
the whole of the dissipation of energy by discontinous
motions will be done away with.
(xi.) In fact, in a ship with smoothly-rounded corners
to its section. without bilge keels, energy of rolling for
moderate oscillations can only be dissipated by viscosity
and wave formation.
(xii. ) It remains a. matter for experimental investigation
to determine how far it still remains necessary to attribute the bilge keel action itself to the production of wave
energ;r as a seconda.qr cause, to be called into account in
expln.ming irregula.r1ties or exceptional resistances not
directly attributable to discontinuous motion.
23. These conclusions point to the importance of
attaching the bilge keels at those par ts of the ship where
their efficiency is a maximum. It appears, however, that
existing practices pretty well fulfil this condition.
One point still remains, however, to be noticed : it is
very essential that the bilge keel should project sufficiently
far to prevent the surfaces of discontinuity once thrown
off from again closing round the sides of the ship, otherwise a greatly diminished resistance may be expected.
My thanks are due to Dr. E lgar, F.R.S., for his kind ness in sending details relative to actual ships, which
have proved of the greatest possible use in preparing this
paper.
.ALGERIAN RAILWAYS.-The revenue collected last year
upon th e Algerian lines, owned by the Paris, Lyons, and
Mediterranean Railway Company, was 390,842t. ; the
working expenses of the year having been 216, 771l. ; the
not profit realised for the twelve months was 174,071l.,
showing an increase of 23,023l. as compared with 1898.
The net revenue collected for 1899 exceeded the guarantee
of interest given by the French T reasury to the extent of
4506l.

731
WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION CASES.
H ol1nes v. T he Great No1the1n Railway Cornpany.This wa3 an appeal from the award of the County Court
Judge ab Clerkenwell. It came on for hearing in the
Court of Appeal on Saturday, May 26. It appeared that
the applicant wa.s the mother of a workman who met his
death on the line under the following circumstances : He
was employed by the company as an engine cleaner, and
on November 4, 1899, was engaged on work at King's
Cross. On that day he was ordered by a foreman to
P!'Oceed to the company's new engine shed at Hornsey.
No particular instructions were g iven as to how he was to
get to H ornsey, but he travelled on one of the c0mpa.ny's
trains from King's Cross to H ornsey. On November 7
he proceeded to Hornsey as before, in coru pa.ny with
other men, and on arrival they proceeded to cross
the line in front of the engine of the train by which
they bad travelled, which was then blowing off steam.
While the deceased was so crossing the engine of an
ex_Press train which was travelling in the direction of
Kmrs Cross, caught him and injured him so much that
he died next day. It was proved that there was a. footway across the line and also a. subway, by means of which
the deceased might have crossed. The sole point in the
case was whether the accident arose out of and in the
course of the employment, the company con tending that
upon the principle of H olmes v. Macka.y [1899, 2 Q.B., 319]
the employment did not commence unttl the hour of
actual work had a.rri ved and the deceased was upon that
part of the employer's premises where such work was to
be performed. The County Court Jud g-e, however, held
that as the deceased was carrying out his foreman's orders
at the time, he was in the course of his employment, and
that, therefore, the applicant was enti tled to compensation in respect of his death.
Mr. Monta.gu L ush and Mr. Clutton Brook, who appeared for the company on a.p(>Sa.l, argued that a~ the
workman was not under any obligation to cross the line,
be could not be said to have acted in the course of his employment when he did so. While he was travelling by
train, and until he reached his work, he was his own
master.
Mr. Duckworth, for the applicant, was not called upon.
The Court dismissed the appeal.
In the course of his judgment, L ord Justice A. L.
Smith said : The only question whi ch the Court ha.s to
consider is whether there is any evidence to support the
conclusion of the County Court Judge that this accident
arose out of, and in the course of, the deceased's employmen t. It seems to me that there wa.3 an implied contract
between the company and the deceased, that if he would
get into a train at King's Cross they would take him by
their line to his work and brins- him back again. There
is a difference between the begmning of employment and
the beginning of work. In my opinion the employmen t
in this case began at King's Cross, and the workman was
in the course of his employmen t when the accident happened. This appeal must be dismissed.
L ord Justice Va.ugha.n Willia.ms and L ord Justice
Romer agreed.

CoAL IN FRANOE.-The im~orts of co~l into France in

the first three months of this year show an increase of
610,000 tons, as compared with the corresponding period
of 1899. The imports of coke also show an increase of
38,000 tons.
GoLn.- The effect of the Transvaal War upon our gold
imports is beginning to be very marked. The receipts
from all quarters in .AJ.>ril were only 645,953l., as compared wit h 2, 364, 939l. m April, 1899, and 5, 072, 794t. in
April, 1898. British South Africa contributed to these
totals 575l., 1,221,345l., and 1,218, 303l. respectively. The
imports of British Indian and Australasian gold also
d eclined considerably in April, while deliveries ceased
altogether from Russia., Eg7.pt, China, and Japan. In
the four months ending April 30 this year, gold was imported to the value of 8.6551 984l., a.s compared wi th
n.387,851l. in the correspondmg period of 1899, and
14,331,635l. in the corresponding period of 1898. The
imports of South African gold declined in the firBt four
months of this year to 79,346l., as compared with 5,892,37-ll.
in the corresponding period of 1899, and 5, 222,297l. in
t he corresponding per1od of 1898. The falling off observable in this year's imports would have been even
more marked but for the fact that gold was received from
the U nited States to A pril 30 this year to the value of
2,577,586l., as compared with 5516l. and 27,247l. in the
corresponding penods of 1899 and 1898 respectively.
F rance sent us gold in the first four months of thts
year to the value of 526,022l., as compared with 465,355l.
and 2,115,733l. respectively. Australasian gold also
came to hanrl to the value of onll 1t590,261l. in the
first four months of this year, whtle m the first four
months of 1898 the receipts from the same q~arter
were 2,273,225l. The exports of gold from th~ United
Kingdom in April were 929, 751l., as compared with
1,456,640l. in April, 1899, and 2,626,154l. in April,
1898, and in the four months ending April 30 this
year 4,515,241l., as compared with 8,457,377l. in the
corresponding period of 1899, and 12, 799,634l. in the
corresponding period of 1898. The great fa.Jling off
in the exports of gold this year has occurred in the
movement to Germany and the U nited States. In
the fi rst four months of 1898 we sent Germany gold to
the value of 3,000,308l.; in the corresponding period of
this year the exports declined to 4843l. Similarly, while
we sent gold to the U nited States in the first four months
of 1898 to the value of 6.229,731l., the corresponding
movement in the first four months of this year only
mounted to 7000l.

732
BOILER EXPLOSION NEAR NEWCASTLE.
A FORMAL investigation under the Boiler Explosions
Act, 1882, hM been conducted by the Board of Trade at
the Guildhall, Newcastle-on-Tyne, relative to an explosion
which occurred on January 30, at North Farm, Great
Usworth, owned by Mr. Roberh Meek. Mr. Howard
Smith and Mr. Alexander Grey were the Commissioners;
and Mr. Gough a.Ppeared for the Board of Trade.
In opening the inquiry Mr. Gough said the boiler in
question was of the cylindrical egg-ended, externallyfired type, and was 14ft. long by 3 ft. diameter. It was
of iron, and had been purchased some 16 or 17 years ago,
by Mr. Meek; but the maker's name could not now be
ascertained. When Mr. Meek bought it, it was secondhand, and he had the advice of a Mr. Milburn, who was
then foreman 1lacksmith at a colliery. It did not appear
to have occurred to Mr. Meek to ascertain what pressure
the boiler was fit to be worked at, and nothing on the
point had apparently been said either by him or Mr.
Milburn. Mr. Meek used the boiler once or twice a week
for grinding and threshing purposes, and found that a
pressure of 50 lb. was required; so that the safety valve
was loaded to blow off at that pressure, the weight being
placed at the end of the lever. The boiler was fixed in
the usual way, in brickwork; and it had not apparently
occurred to the owner to have it examined periodically in
order to ascertain its condition. From the time it was
set up until March, 1895, there was no leakage; and Mr.
Meek appeared to have considered that so long as the
boiler did not leak it was fit to work. In 1897 there was
some leakage from the plates at the firing end, and Mr.
Meek had two new steel plates put in, and a patch applied
to a third plate, which was grooved, the work being done
by a blacksmith. But still no examination was made to
determine the safe working pressure at that time. In
December, 1899, the pressure-gauge was seen to be defective, and a. fitter who was doing some work mentioned the
fact to Mr. Meek, but the gauge was not examined nor
replaced. Mr. Meek attended to the boiler himself, and
twice a year he emptied it and cleaned it out. Early on
the morning of Tuesday, J a.nuary 30, he Jit the fire, and
at about nine o'clock started pumping, the gauge at the
time indicating 28lb. He then went to breakfast; but,
hearing the valve blowing off, he went back and moved
the weight to the end of the lever. Some time afterwards
be found the gauge still registering 28lb., andt thinking
there was more steam than that, he tapped tne gauge,
but the p ointer did not move. He again fired up, and
was preparing to start the engine when the boiler exploded, parting in the middle circumferential seam, and
being practically divided into two main portions. The
front half was projected a d~tance of 88ft., and the back
half was blown into several pieces, which were scattered
around. The building in which the boiler was placed was
wrecked, and great damage was done to the farm buildings; but fortunately no one was injured. Mr. Swan, of
the Board of Trade, had examined the boiler and found
that it was much corroded, particularly at the seam where
the primary rent occurred.
The evidence of the various witnesses was then taken
by Mr. Gough. Mr. ~leek, the owner of the boiler, said
that he had no knowledge of boilers beyond the fac ~ that
he had worked one himself for 30 years. The damage
done by the explosion would. he calculn.ted, amount to
more than lOOl., apart from the boiler. He was on the
top of the boiler a few minutes before it exploded. He
had not exe,mined the boiler regularly, nor caused it to be
examined. There was no law to that effect. In his
judgment the boiler was safe, and he had run it himself
for manv years.
Mr. Thomas D. Swan, engineer-surveyor to the Board
of Trade, who had made an examination of the exploded
boiler, said that the fracture was along the line of the
rivet-boles. At one place the plate was only t-o-i n. thick,
tapering to a knife-edge; but there was a point at whiob
it did not break which was even thinner still. The plates
externalJy were generally very much corroded.
After the taking of evidence Mr. Gougb submitted a.
ist of questions on which he desired the judgment of the
Court ; and in reply to Mr. Howard Smith Mr. Meek
said that he did not consider that he had been at all
negligent, and there was no law for compelling the
examination of boilers. He was "as careful as be
could be."
The Court adjourned, the Commissioners meanwhile
visiting the seen~ of the explosio~, and making a~ examination of the bmler. On resummg the proceedmgs the
following day, Mr. Howard Smith reviewed at some
length all the circumstances under which this old boiler,
purchased secondhand 16 or 17 years ago, exploded. The
boiler he said, was quite worn out ; and the plates were so
reduc~d in thickness owing to external corrosion that they
were incapable of resisting any useful pressure. The boiler
should have been examined from time to time; but Mr.
Meek took no measures to insure that it should work
under safe conditions. The explosion was undoubtedly
caused by the neglect of . Mr. Meek in not .having proper
ex&~minations made. If It had been exammed bY; a competent engineer it wm1ld have been found to be quite t:mfi t
for the pressure at which it was worked, and would ha:ve
been condemned three or four years ago. It was quite
true that there was no statute directing the owner of a
boiler to have it examine_d ; ?ub he owed a duty t? .the
community to keep his bailor m good and safe condtt10n,
otherwise it mjght become a source of grave danger. Fortunately for Mr. Meek, no person had been injured, and
no property, other than his own, bad been da.m~ged by. the
explosiOn. Otherwise be would have found hu~self .m a
very serious position, and would have ascerta~ned, In a.
striking manner, wha.t the law was. He p~eaded Ignorance
for his neglect but that was a plea wh10h could not be
accepted by th~ Court. The neglect of the ordinary pre-

E N G I N E E R I N G.
cautions which he ought to have taken had oaul)ed the
explosion.
Mr. Gough, on this decision, asked that Mr. Meek
should be ordered to pay at least a portion of the oasts of
the investigation.
Mr. Meek defiantly said that he could not, and would
not, pay. If the Commissioners wanted any money from
him, let them come and ta.k e him awav. There was no
blame attaching to him : he bad done h{s duty.
Mr. Ho ward Smith advised Mr. Meek to adopt a different tone, and inquired what his means were; to which Mr.
Meek replied that, like most farmers, it took him all his
time to make a living.
Mr. Howard Smith said that the Court had seen the
damage which Mr. Meek's ~roperty bad sustained. and
they would take it into consideration. Bnt the case was
one for which there could be no excuse, and Mr. lYieek
must pay lOt. towards the costs of the investigation.
Mr. Meek said that he would not pay it, and the Board
of Trade could "eome and get it."
Mr. Howard Smith in reply said that if Mr. Meek
would meet the Government officials in a proper spirit
they would no doubt give him time in which to pay the
amount ordered; but he advised him not to adopt towards
them the tone he had taken in the Court that day. If
Mr. Meek refused to pay, he might be taken before the
magistrates and sent to prison.

COMPRESSION AND LIQUEFACTION OF

GASE8.*
By ARTHUR L. R rcE, Brooklyn, N. Y.
THE first experimentation upon the liquefaction of gases
seems to have been suggested by Sir Humphry Davy,
although Michael Faraday was the one to do the actual
work. It was in 1823 that Davy, then the Director of
the Royal Institution, instructed Faraday, his assistant,
to heat hydrate of chlorine in a closed tube, not stating
what r~sult :was ex_pected. This araday did, and got a
yelloWlsh, 01ly mOisture on the s1des of the tube, which
he and a friend who was standing by took to be some
foreign matter remaining from a previons experiment
with the tube. Faraday filed off the end of the tube to
cle111nse it, and was astonished by a violent explosion. He
repeated the experiment and found, by testing, that the
oily drops were liquid chlorine. This incident started
him on a train of investigation, which resulted in the
liquefaction of sulphuret of hydrogen, carbon dioxide,
nitrous oxide, cyanogen, ammonia, and hydrochloric acid,
all during 1823.
A little work had been previously done, as Faraday
himself afterwards stated, by Monge and Clouet some
time previous to 1800, in hquefyiog sulphur dioxide, and
in 1805 by Northmore, who liquefied chlorine and, possibly, sulphurous acid, using the same method as Faraday.
The means employed seem ridiculously simple, when
compared with the results obtained, but the two prime
elements. pressure and cold, were both present. In one
end of a bent glass tube (see Fig. 1) was placed a mixture

Ftp.1.

.Rg.4.

of chemicals which, on heating, would give off the desired

gas, and the tu be was then sealed ; enoug b material was
used so that, in the closed tube, a very considerable pressure would be produced by the gas thus set free. The
other end of the tube was plunged into a cooling mixture
to condense the gas; a capillary tube, open ab one end,
containing a drop of mercury, was p)aced inside the large
tube, so that the number of compressions of the air mi~ht
show the number of atmospheres pressure existing. With
this apparatus the work of 1823 was done, the pressures
being carried as high as 50 atmospheres, or 750 lb. per
square inch.
The subject was then dropped for 20 years by Faraday,
Colladon, an assistant of Ampere, meanwhile experimenting, but with no resulb. Colladon's apparatus was,
however, with the single addition of a release-cock, the
one with which Cailletet has sinne done much excellen t
work. It consists of a tube (see Fig. 3}, at one end open,
of large diameter and of thin gl&SE ; at the other closed,
of small diameter, and wi th heavy walls ; the large end
of the tube was placed inside a heavy iron chamber and

* Read at the New York December meeting of the

American Societ.y of Mechanical Engineera.

[]UN E I , I 900.
packed joint made around the small part of the tube
in which the gas was placed, and where it was compressed
by pumping mercury into the iron chamber. Around the
sm~ll part of the tube co.uld be placed a cooling bath.
Ca1lletet added an expansiOn cock by which the pressure
could be relieved suddenly and the gas thus further
cooled; he also improved the form of the tube.
In 1845, Faraday again took up the experiments upon
gases. He used air pumps combined as a two-stage compressor, pumped the gases into glass tubes, and inserted
them in a cooling mixture. During the 20 years' interval,
Thilorier had made liquid carbon dioxide by compression,
and then, by evaporation of the liquid, had produced
the solid snow; also Natterer bad, by the use of a mixture of carbon dioxide, snow, and ether, and by pumping
away the vapours, so that a continuous evaporation was
produced, succeeding in freezin&' mercury, so that the
means were at hand for producmg a much lower temp~rature than at the time of the earlier experiments.
Natterer bad also tried experiments on the compression
of gases, going as high as 4000 atmospheres or 60,000 lb.
per square inch on oxygen, but did not cool the gases,
and therefore get no liquefaction. He did, however, get
gases whose density was greater than that of their
liquids, as it has since been determined, thus proving
the fact, had he hub known it, of the existence of a
critical temperature of substances. In his experiments
of 1845, Faraday used the carbon dioxide-ether mixture
of Natterer, and thus was enabled to obtain a temperature of -106.2 deg. Fahr. ( -76.6 deg. Cent.), at atmospheric pressure, or, at a vacuum of 1.26 of an atmosphere,
!l. temperature of -166 deg. Fahr. ( -110 deg. Cent.); the
bath would only last 15 minutes, so that his observations
on the liquefied g&E~es were practically instantaneous.
By this means be solidified sulphur dioxide, sulphuret of
hydrogen, nitrous oxide, hydriodic and hydrobromic acids
and ammonia. He tried, but failed, to liquefy hydrogen,
oxygen, nitrogen, carbon monoxide and coal gas, using
pressures of from 27 to 50 atmospheres, not realising the
existence of a critical temperature, and these gases were
long known as incondensible.
This point was investigated a little later, in 1849, by
Dr. Andrews, who proved, as bad Natterer before him,
that some gases could nob be liquefied by any amount of
pressure; but went further and showed that, by cooling,
some of them would be condensed, thus determining the
existence of a temperature below which, and only below
which, a gas may be condensed to a liquid.
For a time aftP,r this the work of experimentation went
on intermittently in several laboratories, but without
notable result, although some improvements in the details of apparatus were made. An important suggestion
was made in 1857, by Sir William Siemens, thab refrigeration might be produced by expanding a compressed
gas, either in a cylinder doing work, or freely, to a lower
pressure, and using this cold gas to cool, before expansion,
the gas coming to the apparatus. It is on this basis that
the latest investigators have proceeded, and it is this
means which has accomplished, in the closing years of
the century, the long-sought result of the liquefaction of
all gases. During this time of apparent inertness,
Messrs. Pictet and Cailletet, the one in Switzerland, the
other in France, working in ignorance of each other's
efforts, were reaching toward the same goal, but along
different lines. Cailletet, using the apparatus of Colladon,
modified as previously mentioned, was working as a man
of pure science, interested in discovering facts; Picteb
wanted to liquefy gases in quantity, so that they might
be used for refrigeration or otherwise. The results were
announced to the world at about the same time in
December, 1877, but Cailletet is proven to have reached
his result in the liquefaction of oxygen on December 2,
while Pictet accomplished the same thing on December
22. Cailletet bad the liquid in a glass tube, could study
its properties visually, and could liquefy the same gas
again and again; but he could not get at it, and bad only
a minute quantity. Pictet had his liquid in a steel tube,
so that it could not be seen, and he could not repeat the
experiment on the same charge of gas to verify a result,
but he had about 1~ cubic centimetres of the liquid, a
considerable amount as such things had gone up to that
time. In his original ap_paratus, Pictet made no provision for drawing off the hquid, but in a later form this
was accomplished by means of a pipe, and a cock outside
the cooling chamber, though no means of preserving the
oxygen in its liquid form had then been devised. The
greater importance of Pictet's work lies in the apparatus
which he devised. This was what is termed the cascade
system (see Fig. 4) ; a circulating pump was used to draw
tbe vapour from a jacket filled with liquid sulphur
dioxide ; this vapour wn.s forced through a water-cooled
condenser, and then compressed to liquid form, so that
the action was much the same as in a modern refrigerating
machine. The sulphur dioxide jacket was used to cool
the vapour of carbon dioxide, this, in turn, being used to
cool a tube into which oxygen gas was forced under
pressure, by heating a large quantity of potassium chlorate
m an iron bomb. A cock on the bomb allowed of the
escape of part of the gas, thus cooling the remainder by
expansion ; in this way, with the oxygen tube at -220
deg. Fabr. ( - 140 deg. Cent.), and at a pressure of 320
atmospheres, Picteb was able to get a tube one-third full
of oxygen. The temperatures were -85 deg. Fabr.
(- 65 deg. Cent.), at 5 atmospheres in the carbon dioxide
chamber, and -13 deg. Fahr. ( -25 deg. Cent.), at 2.75
atmospheres in the sulphur dioxide chamber.
Cailletet experimented with various gases, among others
laughing gas, acetylene, and carbon monoxide. H e also,
as did Pictet, got a mist of hydrogen, but was not able
to get it in liquid form; he is cr~dited wit~ being: the
first to use liqUid ethylene as a coohng agent m the llquefaction of gases.
.
.
During the next decade, experiments were earned on

&.

1900.]

JUNE I,

by two Polish chemis~, W roblewski and Olszewski, who

worked in collaboration. They used Oailletet's form of
apparatus, and, in the latter part of the work, used
Pictet's cascade system for cooling the compression tube.
In 1884 they confirmed the results obtained by Ca.illetet
on hydrogen.
In this same year Dewar, at the Royal Institution,
showed that liquid air could be produced by the use of
solid carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide as cooling agents,
giving -184 deg. Fahr. ( - 120 deg. Cent.), a compression
to 200 atmospheres and subsequent expansion ; the amount

Fiff.5.

733

E N G I N E E R I N G.
by which the liquid could be drawn off, and was thua
enabled to get amounts of the gases which could be
handled in the Dewar flasks.
D ewa.r at first used the Oa.illetet apparatus as altered
by Wroblewski, but changed to that of Piotet, using,
however pumps to compress the gases previously made,
and for~e them into the liquefying Qha.mber; he used
ethylene in place of carbon dioxide, placed the draw-off
cook inside the cooling chamber and, l.ater, added the .regenerative principle suggested by Su~mens f<;> r ooohng
the chamber in the case of hydrogen hquefact10n. Pro

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press the air again will d~pend upon t~e ratio of the
pressures, i.e., upon ~he ratioToh~ compr~totn, a.thd :hbu~~
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be as small a:s posstble.
1s nece.ssi a ea . a
pressures be ht~h for tl~e most economiCal worklbg, h enod
Linde works hlS maohme b.etween 200 a..tmo3p eres an
1G atmospheres for a!l the au by expa.ndmg through hthe
va.l ve a, one-fifth 1s then expande.d to. 1 atmosp ere
through the valve b so .as to cool .It still further, and
I n.bout one-f_ou!th of th1s a;mount ts oon?ensed. The
expn.nded n.~r IS. sent ~ack 10 the O\lter p1pes as sho~,
1 the part wb10h lS at 16 atmospheres to the ooropress10n

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fessor D e war is the most extensive of the modern experimenters

in the field of the liquefaction of
~ases; he, first, liquefied oxygen
m large quantities and held it in
liquid form in 1891, and a. little
later liquid nitrogen was produced. In 1895 he demonstrated
I
that air in the liquid form cottld be frozen to a jellyFig.6.
- like solid by the expansion method, the jelly proving
to be a mass of nit rogen with the liquid oxygen of
the air contained in the interstices; this solid air
melts instantly on contact with the atmosphere. In
J
1896, before the Chemical Society, the production of a.
I
jet of liquid hydrogen by means of the expansion of the
cooled and compredsed gas and the regenerative method
.'t
"'\
of cooling the incoming gas was announced ; by the use
of this hydrogen jet, oxygen and air were frozen to a
solid white mass.
Continuing this line of research, in May, 1898, D ewar
was able to collect hydrogen in static condition, and to
hold it in this form by the use of the Dewa.r bulbs at
a temperature of -396.4 deg. Fahr. ( - 238 deg. Cent.),
only 65 deg. Fahr. above the absolute zero.
AltbouJJh liquid air has received considerable attention
from the mvestigators already mentioned, they have been
particularly interested in the scientific investigation of
the properties of the elementary gases. The workers in
this particular field have been Tripler, Linde, and Hamp
son, all of whom have been aiming at the simplification
and cheapening of the production, so that the hquid may
be made of use. All three have been working along the
lines of a direct regenerative action, as suggested by
Siemens. Dewa r has also done work alon~ this line,
combined with cooling by a separate fluid, but m a. smaller
way, as would be expected in a. chemical laboratory. The
principle is. this.: a perfect gas expanding to do work
loses heat; 1f th1S cooled gas be exhausted so as to jacket
the pipe t hroue-h which the incoming gas enters, it will
cool that incommg gas; the process is oumulatiYewithout
limit, if the machinery is frictionless and insulated
against heat from the surrounding objects. Solvay built
a machine on this principle, hub was unable to get
lower than -139 deg. Fahr. ( -95 deg. Cent.), on account
of the heat due to the friction of the pistons and to
conduction.
In a perfect gas no lowering of the temperature would
result from lowering of the pressure by free expansion,
but none of the eo-called ~ases are p erfect, and all are
cooled somewhat by expansiOn through an orifice. Joule
and Kelvin found that with air the fall of t emperature
~
is about 0.45 deg. Fabr. (i deg. Cent.), for each atmo:.--:.--:-=:...:
sphere difference of pressure at t he orifice, at ordinary
.:-.:::-:.~ -:;
temperatures, and that the effect increases as the tem:.=-_-_-;
--perature falls, because the gases are coming more n early
------to the vaporous state. If, then, air be compressed to a
-- -:-r,hi~h pressure and allowed to ex pand through a small
f6/7S.D)
ortfice, it will become considerably cooled and may be
used to cool the incoming air whtob, in turn, will lose
liquefied was about 5 {>er cent. of the air compressed. heat by expansion; the process may be carried on until
He also devised for holdmg liquid gases the vacuum flasks some of the air, on or before lea.vin~ the orifice, is
which bear his name. By this means the rate of evapora- li~uefied.
Tripler's English patents of 1891 seem t o be the first
tion of a liquid gas is reduced t o one-fifth of that in the
open air; 1f the inner wall be coated with mercury to s~eoification of any definite machinery for thus liquefying
form a. heat mirror, the evaporation will be only one- an. Linde and H a mpson did nob come forward with a.
thirty-third of the free rate. These flasks were the means working apparatus until1895, and, at that time, Tripler's
by which liquid gases were handled and kept in statio apparatus was about perfected. The latest (1898) type
of Linde's machinery is shown in Fig. 5. The fall of
form, until very recently .
After Wroblewski's death, which occurred in 1888, temperature, as previously stated, is proportional to the
Olazewski continued the experiments. He replaced the difference of pressures at the orifice, and this difference
glass tube of Ca.illetet by one of steel, having a stop-cook should, therefore, be large; the work required to com.

pump, and the rest to the atmosphere. f is a. separator

and g a freezing bath, both being used to remove the
moisture from t he air; a, is the compression pump, and e
a pump for supplying at 16 atmospheres as much air as
escapes at b. In the earlier form of the machine, none
of the air was expanded below 50 atmospheres, and the
air was cooled by a surface condenser supplied with wa ter.
With this a pparatus, about . 9 of n. quart of liquid can be
obtained per hour with the use of 3 horse-po wer, this
being about 5 per cent. of the air handled ; the first
li qui~ will appear about two hours after starting up the
maohme.
Hampson's apparatus is som ewhat simpler and more
compact. Three helices are arranged in the form of concentric cylinders, and connected so that air is forced
throug~ them successi vely beginning at the outside;
expansion occurs at the lower end of the inside
spua.l, and the released air flows back along the outside
of the three coils in a r everse direction and escapes to
the at~osphere near the inlet. With this device Rampson clatms to have condensed about 1.2 quarts of air per
hour at an expenditure of 3.5 horse-power, using a. pressure of 120 atmospheres expanded to 1, a nd getting
6.6 per cent. of the air handled as liquid; the liquefaction
commences in 15 ~nutes from the t1me of startmg.
L ennox, a.? ~slStant of Dewar, reports the making of
1 quart of hqU1d per hour by the cascade system with
an expenditure of 3 h orse-power, and at a pressure of
~00 atmo~phe~es expanded. to 1. De war's latest apparatus
1s s~own m F1g. 6. I~ t~1s both regenerative act10n and
ooohng by carbon d10x1de a re employed ; if air be
drawn from steel cylinders at 200 atmospheres pressure
and expanded to 1, the amount of air liquefied will be
about 5 p er cent. of that used, and the liguid will begin
to flow in 6 minutes from the time of startmg.
These achievemen ts, though notable, seem petty when
compar~d ~o the work ~f :rv.t;r.. Tripl.er in P.roducing gallons
of tl:ie hqu~d, and .h a.ndhng 1t m ordma.ry tm cans with only
a felt or a1r packmg from hea t absorpt10n. Mr. Tripler's
appa.~atus. (Fi.g. 7) consists of a three-stage compressor
dra.wmg atr d.ueotly f.rom .th~ atmosphere and driven by
a steam en~me. The a1r IS taken first into the lowpressur~ cylin~er., where it is compressed to 65 lb. per
square 1noh ; 1t 1s then sent through an intercooler to
reduce. the tem.perature. to th at of the atmosphere, and
t&ken m to the mtermedta te-pressure cylinder from that
~t a. pressure of 400 lb., ib is taken through a second
mteroooler t o the high-pressure cylinder where it is
forced up to 2000 lb. to 2500 lb., and then~e sent to the
after-cooler to be reduced again to the temperature of
the atmosphere. The air is passsed through a separator
to tak~ out ~11 the moisture ~nd the? passe~ to storage
tubes m which oomP.ressed a:u, not m. the hquid form,
may .be kep~. The hquefi~r 18 Mr. Tnpler's special inventlO~ ; th1s takes th~ air from the separator and, by
~xpans10n through a. coli of p1pe and a small orifice, cools
1t. to a.lo~ temper~tu.re i it passes up around the coil of
Pll~e, cool~ng the atr m stde, and thus giving the regener~tlve aotton. The expansion valve is placed a.t a little
d~stance a.b~ve the bottom of the coil, so that some liquid
a1r collects m the ~otto~ of the coil, and thus serves to
furthe~ coo~ t~e atr as It comes to the expansion cock.
';L'he a.1r which 1s to be. drawn off collects in the liquefier
JU.sb below the expa.ns~on valve, and may be drawn off a.tJ
w1ll: The expanded atr escapes to the atmosphere after
havm~ been used to cool the coil of the liquefier The
ca.pamty o~ th~ prese~t plan.t is 2 to 4 gallons pe; hour,
and ~be au will begm to hquefy in 15 minutes after
~tartmg up. N~ data. are available as t o the power used
m the compreeston.

('l'o be continued )

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

734
THE PHYSICAL SOCIETY.
AT the meeting of the Physical Society, held May 25
1900, Professor J. D. Everetb, F.R.S., vice-president i~
the ~hair, ~rofessor. ~ P. Thompson showed s~me
exper1ments illustratmg the aberration called ''coma."
If a.conve.rging lens is .Pl.aced obli~uely in a parallel beam
of _hght, ms~ead ?f g1vmg a pomt 1mage, ib produces
umlateral. d1stort10n, and the bright central spot is
accompamed by a pear-shaped tail, which is known as a
"coma." _The direction in w~ic~ this tail points depends
up~.:>n the s1de of the lens whiCh 1s pre.~ented to the light.
W1th a concavo-convex lens the convex surface gives an
inward pointing coma, and the concave surface an out~ard pointing coma. The existence of this phenomenon
1s due to unequal magnification from different ~ones of
t~e len~, a fact which was shown by covering the lens
w1th a zone plate of three or four rings, and viewing on a
screen the distorted images of the several zones. The
form of a coma varies greatly with the distance of the
screen fro~ the lens. A parallel beam of li~ht which has
passed obhquely through a convex lens 1s capable of
producing some curious shadows. The shadow of a rod
can be obtained as a. circular spot and that of a grating
made by stretching threads between two rods, as con~
cent~ic circular rin~s. Pr~fessor Thompson also showed
a strmged model, illustratmg the paths of light rays in
the formation of a coma.
Mr. R. T. Glazebrook then read some "Notes on the
M easurement of Some S tatnda;rd Resistances." Three
methods have been employed by the author for building
up multiples of a standard resistance, such as a 1-obm
coil. The first method consists in making as accurately
as possible three 3-ohm coils. These in parallel can be
compared directly with the standard by Carey Foster's
method. Their resistance in series is very approximately
nine times that in parallel, and hence an accurate determination of a resistance about 9 ohms can be obtained.
If, then, this resistance is put in series with the standard
an accurately known 10-obm resistance is obtained. By
a similar process a 100 or 1000-ohm coil can be built up.
The second method consists in calibrating a resistance
box. The 1-ohm coils of the box are compared directly
with the standard, and the other resistances determined
accurately by a building- up process, using a subsidiary resistance-box. In comparing the high resistances the differ ence between the two boxes may
be so great as to send the balance off the bridge wire.
In these cases the third method is employed. The equal
arms of the bridge are accurately known, and one of
them is shunted with a resistance, which need not be
accurately known, until the reading is brought back into
the wire. The coils chiefly used tlirougbout the experiments are made of platinum silver.
Mr. Campbell as ked if the same degree of accuracy
could be obtained with manganin coils. If so, then the
small temperature change of manganin would be an advantage.
Mr. Trotter asked if proper allowance could be made
for the large number of mercury cups used in method I.
Mr. Rennie advocated the use of the build-up box in
preference to the first method. With two mercury cups
there is less chance of errors escaping notice than with
eight. Every 10 or 100-ohm coil tested at the Board of
Trade is subjected to a comparison with a box calibrated
by a build-up process.
Dr. Harker asked if the resistance of the eight mercury
cups in series had ever been measured, and if so, what
was the magnitude of the result and what the uncertainty.
Mr. Glazebrook said he bad investigated the resistance
of the mercury contacts, and it was negligible. In answer
to Mr. Campbell, the author said he bad no experience of
manganin coils himself, but he had seen some figures for
German coils which agreed very closely.
Mr. J. J. G uest then read a paper" On tke Strength of
Ductile M aterials under Oombined Sflresses." The author
throughout his experiments has used the "yield point " of
a material as the true criterion of its strength and has
rejected the elastic limit is being modified by local yielding. At present two theories are used i n the calculation
of strengths of materials. . ~he first is that the materi~l
yields when one of the prmctpa.l stresses reaches a certa.m
amount. This theory, which was adopted by Rankine
and is used by engineers in England and America, is not
in accord with recent experiments. The second theory is
that the material yields when the greatest s train reaches
a certain amount. This was advocated by St. Venantand
is used by engineers on the Cc;mtinent. Besi~es th~e there
is a third theory of elastic strength, m wh10b the
condition of yielding is the existence of a shearing
stress of a specific. amount. . In th~ ~e. of a sol~d
bar subjected to torsion, there 1s a var1a.t10n m the str!l'm
from the axis outwards, and consequently the matenals
have been used in the form of thin tubes. This allows
the application of an internal fluid pressure. The specimens were of steel, copper, and brass, t he state of set
caused by drawing ha.vmg been removed by annealing.
The tubes were subjected to (1) t~rque ; (2) torque and tension; (3) tension only; (4) tension and u~temal pressure;
(5) torsion and internal pr_essure; an~ (6) mternal p~essure
only. The axial elonga.t10n, the twist, and occas10nally
the circumferential strain were measured. Towards the
end of the experiments observations were made on bending. The results disprove the maximum .stress theory,
and are at variance wtth the maximum stram theory. The
maximum shearing stress develope~ and the corresponding she11-ring strain were comparatiyely consta!lt throughout the experimen~, and no other stmpl~ rela.t10n between
the stresses or strams was even approximately oonstan~.
The results of the ex periments have been plotted synoptically on a cur ve, and the several lines ~ave been dr~wn
upon which these points should be accordiDg to the van ous

[] UNE I, 1900.

theories. It is readily seen that the points cluster round

~he line which represents the existence of a specific shearmg stress. The author, therefore, favours the existence
of this stress for any material.
The chairman read a communication upon the subject
from Dr. Chree. Mr. Guest in his paper has regarded
the shearing stress theory as a little known one. As the
shearing stress is half the difference between the greatest
and least principal stresses, this theory is the same as
Professor G. H. Darwin's maximum stress difference
theory. All the theories suppose that the stress strain
law is linear and that strains are so small that their
sq uares and products can be neglected. Mr. Guest concludes that in ordinary materials the law is linear to the
elastic limit, which answers to a stress lower than that
which answers to the yield point, and thab yield point
phenomena arise between these. Nevertheless he focuEtses
attention on the yield point as the criterion of strength
and assumes that Hooke's law holds up to it.
'
Professor Perry congratulated the author upon his
paper, and said there was no time left to discuss it at
length. The results obtained gave information upon a
subject of which very little is known experimentally.
The Society then adjourned until June 8.

ACCIDENT AT CRYNANT STATION.

examined on the previous day by the foreman mechanic

of the line, who reported that some stays needed
renewal; as, however, traffic requirements were heavy it
was decided to work the engine a few days longer before
laying it off for repairs. Mr. Carlton suggests that a
fo~ema!l mec~anic is hardly competent for the task of
boiler mspect10n, as usually such men are quite unable
to calculate the strength of a boiler ; the fact that similar
though less serious explosions occurred on the same
company's lines in 1897 seems to give force to this
opinion.. The company, ~oreo~er, do nob employ the
hydrauhc test, wh10h, whilst hkely to be misleading
unless backed by efficient inspection, would probably in
the present instance have prevented the accident. The
engines on the railway are, it would seem, very hard
worked, so that the fireboxes wear out very rapidly.
RHODES' STEAMSHIP GurnE.- Messra. George Philip
anrl Son, 32, Fleet-street, E.C., forward us a copy of
this year's Rhodes' Steamship Guide, which is edited by
Thomas Rhodes, and issued at 2s. 6d.-a very moderate
price for a work containing so much valuable information
to all connected with shipping as well as to stea.mship
passengers. There are many hints as to outfit, &c., for
the voyage, and a comprehensive record of the va.rious
routes and lines to all parts of the world, an alphabetically arranged record of the particulars of all paesenger
steamers, a gazeteer of ports, popular descriptions of the
principles of naval construction and marine engineering,
and, finally, a series of well printed maps showing the
routes, &c., so that it will at once be recognised that the
guide serves the puposes of a Bra.dshaw and more.

THE explosion of a. locomotive boiler, on December 31

last, at the Crynant Statio.n on the Neath and Brecon
Railway, is an accident of a type very unusual on British
lines. and the report of the inquiry by Colonel Yorke and
Mr. T. Carlton, lately issued by the Board of Trade, is consequently of considerable interest. The engine in question was a six-coupled saddle tank locomotive constructed
BLAST-FURNACE~ IN THE UNITED STATEB.-The number
in 1874 by the Avonside Engine Oompany, Limited,
Bristol, and has naturally undergone very extensive of blast-furnaces in activity in the United States ab the
repairs during its long life. The accident arose from the commencement of May was 292, as compared with 277

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failure of the stays at the back of the firebox, as shown

in the engraving annexed. The whole of the internal
firebox had been renewed in 1893, and in 1896 a patch
3 fb. 2 in. by 2 ft. 10~ in. waa placed at the back of
the box as indicated in the annexed engravings, and
it was the stays betweon this patch and the outer
firebox which gave way, causing the accident. The
dimensions of the firebox internally were as follow:
Height, 5 ft. 6 in. ; width, 3ft. 5~ in. ; length, 4 ft. ~ in.
The plates of the internal box measured about irJ in.
thick, the tubeplate, as usual, being more than this. The
stays originally used were ~ in. in diameter, and were
spaced at 4-in. centres. In making the repairs, however,
the exceedingly doubtful procedure was adopted of using
stouter stays, the diameter being increased to 1 in. The
designed pressure was 120 lb. per square inch, and there
being two R amsbottom safety valves of 3 in. in diameter,
it iB exceedingly unlikely that this pressure was exceeded at the ttme of the acciden t. Most fortunately,
this occurred when the engine was at rest, so that the
driver and his mate were able to jump off, and thus saved
their lives, thou~h both were badly scalded. The examination of the bmler made by Mr. Oarlton showed that the
back plate of the boiler was J>ractically worn out, the
plate at the centre being but i m. thick, whilst the heads
of many of the stays here were so worn that they held the
plate by only a couple of threads. The engine bad been

at the commencement of November, 1899 ; 217 at the

commencement of May, 1899 ; 196 at the commencement
of November, 1898; 194 at the commencement of May,
1898 ; and 183 at the commencement of November, 1897.
The weekly productive capacity of the furnaces in blast
were as follow ab the dates named : May, 1900, 293,860
tons; November, 1899, 288,522 tons ; May, 1899, 250,095
tons ; November, 1898, 228,935 tons ; May, 1898, 234, 163
tons; and November, 1897, 213,159 tons. The weekly
productive capacity of the furnaces in blast in the U nited
States has been a.s follows month by month this year:
J anuary, 294,186 tons; F ebruary, 298,014 tons ; March,
292,643 tons; April, 289,482 tons; and May, 293,860
tons. It will be seen that production has, upon the
whole, been maintained with remarkable steadiness this year. On the other baud, stocks of pig have
appreciably increased in the U nited States in the same
period, and they would appear to be still growing. At
the commencement of Decem her, 1899, furnace stocke,
sold and unsold, were returned at 113,693 tons ; ab the
commencement of J anuary this year, ab 127,346 tons ; at
the commencement of Jfebruary, at 148,336 tons ; ab the
commencement of March, ab 185,152 tons ; at the commencement of April, at 197,532 tons ; and at the commencement of May, at 241,077 tons. U nless tb~ te?dency of stocks to increase can be checked, a reduct10n m
production wonlci anoear to be inevitable,

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

J UNE I , I 900.]

"ENGINEERING" ILLUSTRATED PATENT

RECORD.
COMPILED BY

w.

LLOYD WISE.

IBIJKt""1'1ID'"' ABSTRACTS OF RBORNT PUBLIBB ED 8PBOIFIOATIONS

UNDER THB ACTS 1888-1888.
The number of vi.ews given in th.e Specification Drawings i8 stated
in each ca8t ; where none atre menti<med, the Specification i8
not illustrated.
Where inventions atre communicated from abroad, the Names, ~c.,
of the Communicators are given in italt:C.S.
Copies of Specifications may be obtained at the P atent Otfl,ce Sale
Branch, !6, Southampton Buildings, Chancery-lane, W.C., at
the unif<mn price of 8d.
The date of the advertisemmt of the acceptance OJ a complete
Specification i8, in each ca8e, given aJter the abstract, unless the
Patent has been sealed, when the date of seaUng i8 given.
Any person may at any time within two months from the date of
the adve-rtisement of the acceptance of a C07n1Jlete Specifi,ca.tion,
give notice at the Patent Office oj opposition to the grant of a
PatMt on anv of the ground8 mentioned in the A ct.

3426.

AGRICUL'l'URAL APPLIANCES.
R. Bawden, Devon. One - Way Plough.

735

~emains

closed ~n~ t he reyersing apparatus consequently remains

m th e same pos1t10n. Th1s objectiOn is stated to be removed by
the present invention in t hat when the armature of t he electromagnet belongin~ to the secondary oirouit is attracted, it releases
a mechanism wh1oh communicates sufficient shook to the objects
contained in the receiver to destroy cohesion and break the secon
dary circuit, the mechanism being subsequently stopped by the re
turn of t he armatu~e u~der the i~fiuenoe of spring force or gravi.ty.
A construction of Clrcuitclosers 1s adopted whereby on the olosmg
of one of t he circuits controlled by it the said circuit will be kept
closed unt il t he elect romagnet located in the secondary circuit
again attracts its armature, a breaking of the circuit then takes
place and the reversi ng apparatus is automatically returned to its
middle position. Modifications are provided. (Accepted April
25, 1900. )
invention is the const ruction of armatures for alternating-current motors in such manner that all the parts can be mada by
machinery, thus cheapening their manufacture. The armat ure
core is made up in t he usual way of laminre of iron or steel provided with notches intended to receive the windjng of the
armature, and the winding consists of closed circuit elements
placed into the slots of the armature core, each embracing two
or more armature teeth, so that when the armature is placed in
a rotating magnetic field independent currents will ciroulnte in

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engaging with a looking bolt operated by the person driving the

plough, by means of a lever extending from the plou~h handle
so as to cause t he looking bolt t o occupy different posttions and
engage or disengage the teeth on the dog, thereby enabling the
land and furrow wheels to be locked and unlocked when reversing
t he plough. (Accepted .April18, 1900.)

EIECTRICAI. APPARATUS.
4727. A. M. Taylor, Old Charlton, Kent. Conduits
and Turn-Outs. [4 .Figs.] March 3, 1899.-According to

each individual conducting element, t hus creating a tur ning

moment between the armature and t he rotating magnetic field.
The figure here reproduced shows in side view part of an arma
t ure core with closed circuit elements within the armature
notches, each element embracing two armature teeth. The closed
ci ~oui t elements. may be insulat ed fro~. eaob other by placing
tbtn layers of m1ca between t hem, but 1t IS stated that their inner
resistance is so exceedingly low that even wit hout insulating ma
terial between them t here is no perceptible leakage across r::urface
contacts existing between the single elements. (.A ccepted ..4.pril
18, 1900. )

786S.

F. M. F. Cazln, Hoboken, N.Y.,

Electric Incandescence Lamps.

L.(

}
(~$'/)

I I

" gun.Td against t he effect the atmospheric electricity or telluric

currents" may be used, and that when employing the telephonic
apparatus, the operator "bears special sounds, which are dry."
(Accepted April25, 1900.)
11,189. W. Lloyd Wise, London. (.Actien Gesell8chaft
Blekt~icitatswerke vo11nal8 0. L . Hummer arut Co., Dresden.)
Dynamo-Electric Machine. [5 Figs.) May 29, 1899.-This
invention has for object, inter aUa, to prevent the concentration
of lines of force ati the leading born of the pole with cocsequent
sparking at the commutator. The pole has m it on one side only
one or more cutis or slits, which do not run in the direction of the
axis of the pole but r un at right angles thereto, and are only
made in that side of the pole or core, at which the armature
coils emerge from the ma~netio field. These cuts or slitsi which
can be made to ser ve as a1r spaces or be merely part ing s its, increase the magnetic resistance of the pole or pole core only on
that side at wbioh they are placed and t hen compel the lines of
force at the opposite entrance or leading side to concentrate. A

U.S.A.

April 14,
1899.-The arrangemenlis described in tbis specification are stated
to be in the main intended for the purpose of conser ving the
radiant beat of the incandescent fi lament and converting some
portion of t he saici heat int o light. In one arrangement two
globes are provided, t he inner being at one par t unprotected , so
t hat it may be cooler in that plaee t han at others, so as to favour
deposit of any volatile substance in the cooled portion rat her
(7 Figs.]

Pig .3 .

~.:l.

23,663. J. Burke, Berlin. Alternating Current

Motors. [5 Figs. ] November 27, 1899.-Tbe object of this

[2 Figs. ) February 21, 1900.-A looking device for turn-wrests

or one-way l'lougbs is the subject of this invention. The loolting
deYice nons1sts of a toothed dog fixed on the shaft carrying the
stems of the land and furrow wheels, the teeth on the dog

as soon as electric waves are not acti ng upon them-are made by

enclosing grains of crushed ''p ear~ " of "merchant" steel within
a glass tube provided with platinum contacts. A telephonic
receiver is employed. It is stated t hat devices intended to

this invention, which has reference to the conduit system of

electrical street railway working, the plou~h channel is formed
of two rolled iron rails. Contact studs and dummy contact studs

strengthened field is t hus produced and sparking is consequently

prevented. The extreme end of the pole may consist of two parts,
one being in one piece with the oore or pole body, and t he other
being attAched thereto by a screw. Tbe surfaces of separation
between t he detachable piece and the pole body or core increases
the magnetic resistance at this side of the path of the lines of
force and prevent their concentration. In a further modification
both parts of the extreme end of the pole are d eta<Jba.ble and are
so constructed as to be interchangeable. The device is intended
princil'ally to prevent sparking in continuous-current machines ;
but it1s stated that it can, however, so far be applied to alter nat
ing-ourrent machines as to lessen self-induction and improve the
current ourve under varying loads. (Accepted April18, 1900.)

6881.

GUNS AND EXPLOSIVES.

T. B. Burns, Bristol. Targets.

[5 Fig8.]

March 30, 1899.-This invention has reference to penetratable

targets, and is for the pur pose of decreasing t he depth of t rench
or width of mantlet necessary to cover the target while it is

Fig .1.

Fig.2.
are employed and a channel intermediary to the conductor
<JhMnel, or th~ conductor channel, is supplied wit~ insulating
fluid under pressure. Contact boxes, sumps, a flexthle plou~h,
and a dirt brush are some of the devices employed. The in\"eD
tion is stated to be applicable where the three-wire system is to
be applied in a single conduit. (A ccepted .Jlarch3, 1900.)

7105. A. OrltDg and G. G. Brnnnerhjelm, Stock

t-----------------1

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,----1----+----+-:J
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pu.~ ,

bolm Sweden. ControlllnJ Mechanism b~ Elec

trtcai Waves. [6 Figs. ] Ap~U 4, ~899. (q onventton ~ate than generally over the whole interior surface of the globe. It

February 27, 1899.}-Tbis present ~nven~1on pr?vtd~ a modified

<Jonstruotion of apparatus des.cnbed m ~pe01ficat1on 1865 of
1899 for controlling the reversm~ meobamsms of rud~ers, &c.,
by means of elec-trical waves em1t~d from ~ t ranSIDltte! a~d
made to influence a receiver which 1s located m an eleotr1o mr<Juit and the electrical resistance of which is diminished by the

is proposed that beat-insulating material, such as rare earths,

shall be applied to filaments for which they have no chemical
affinity in such manner as t.o be discontinuous in reference to the
length of t he ftlament so that t hey shall not serve to conduct
current. Means are suggested for " chemically insulating" such
oxides from carbon or other filaments for which they have
affinity. There are 20 claims, occupying three pages. (Accepted
.Ap?il 25, 1900.)

9272. R. G. wnuams, Manchester. Wireless Telegraphy. [1 Fig. ) May 2, 1899.-Tbe inventor proposes to tele-

FiiJ.3.rn:'?Vo:r--------

f 'ISI-)
graph "graphic or other m~tter, su9h as pho~ograpbs, drawings,
or the like automatically, w1thcut wues." It 1s stated that" The being repaired. The top or side of the target is hinged by rubber
advantages of wireless transmissions of electrical actions or mani straps, and may be brou~ht inwards towards t he marker by
means of a handle when 1t is necessary to repair any portion of
.---_,F ig
its surface. (A ccepted Apn'.l 18, 1900.)

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--

MINING, METALLURGY, AND METAL

WORKING.
16,040. G. Smith and D. Corrte, Polmont, N.B.
JCiectrtc Fuses. [4 .Figs. ) August 5, 1899.-The fuse wires

or leads consist of two insul a~d copper wires, which are braided
or lapped together, and at one end a lead tube is threaded which
is squeezed to the wires, and the flashing mixture is then put on
in the usual way. The tuee bead t h\ls pr epared is forced into a

Fig.2

Fig.3.

. 1.

influence of the waves emitted so as to cause. an elect romagnet

coupled in the circuit to be sufficien~ly ~agnet1se~ to attract an
annature and close a secondary cu cmt belongmg to at;tother
electromagnet, the armature of which at each fresh attract~on r~
veraes a switch connected wlth t wo electromagnets acting m
opposite directions on the reversing apparatus. In the_apparatus
previously desoriberl the receiver, after t~e waves emitted ~ave
ceased to not upon it, continues for some t1me to oppose so ~lig~t
a resistance to the electrical current t hat the secondary 01rcmt

feste.tions are obvious. No \\ire to buy, lay, a..n d maintain, and

consequently no inconvenience through damage or severaace of
line wires.'' Patents 14,765, of 1894, and 6509, of 1895, are
referred to. Apparatus such as is described therein is combined small tapered copper tube, which is turned over on to the lead,
with \vireless transmission apparatus of known kind. (.Accepted wbioh is thus firmly fixed into the tube, the taper and "turn
over " of which prevents any movement, either backward or forAp1-il 25, 1900.)
This tube is p ressed by a maohine into the detonator,
2797. A. s. Popov, Cronstadt, Russia. Coherers. ward.
[3 F igs.] February 12, 1900.-0oherers which are stated not to where again the taper on t he small tube engages with t he sides of
need decohering- that is to say, whose resistance becomes normal t he detonator, and makes the joint so tight that it is impossible

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

[] UN E I , I 9CQ.

to remove the inner tube from the outer, or to pull the wires ing element.. Tile inclined water tubes connecting the two tate with very little friction, tb~ thread guide is not eo liable to
b!lokwards or forwards. (.A ccepted .A.p1il 25, 1900 )
he~ders. formmg part o1 an element are arranged in pai~, each overrun, and thus vary the tensiOn on the yarn, as is the case when
patr bemg c~nnect~d. at their rear ends tll a junction box which
LIFTING AND HAULING APPLIANCES.
IS D?t fixed lD. p0Slt10n, SO that each V -shaped pair Of tubes,

ob~me~ by thts arrangement, is free to expand and conttact.

6803. Sir W. G. Armstrong, Whttworth, and eo., With
thts a rrangement water flows from the lower headers in an
Llmtted,a~d L. Newttt, Newcastleon-Tyne. Wt.nch
Ge~r. [5 Figs.] March 29, 1899.-A~cording to this invention upward and backward direction through each of the tubes cona hotst, such, for example, as an ammunition hoist of the kind nected thereto, and through the juncbion box it passes upward
described in th~ specification ~o. 33U, of 1898, is worked by two and forwa!d through each of the corresponding tubes to the
bevel w~eels wtthout ~eeth, etther of which can be brou~ht by corresponding upper header. The upper and lower hea.dera of

each
.Pair
are
rtgidly
connected
together
by
bolts
so
that
the
a. l.ever mto contact With another bevel wheel which is preferably
b.uilt up of ~brous material and driven by the shaft of a. con- combmed headers and water tubes form practically one piece
tmuous-ru~nmgmotor. An automatic tripper gear, consisting of
Fig. 7 .
. . 2'
a. nut_working on a. screw th~ead.on the shaft, on which the pair
,
of be\ el w~eels are free to slide 1s fitted. This nut is prevented
from rota.tmg, and therefore moves along the shaft as the latter

..) I

revol ves until it comes against a. spring buffer on one or other of

the bevel wheels, and carrying it with it along the shaft takes it
out of c~mtact with the fibre wbeel, so .stoppin~ the machine and
preventmg overrunning in either direction. An altern~tive
arr~ngement is describe? and shown, in which belts are employed,
whi~h run on a drum driven by the motor. The belts transmit their
motion to other pulleys, and one belt being crossed enables a
reversin~ action to be obtaine~. Th~s the motor may be left to
run. contmuously, t~e belts act1~g on Idle pulleys, but should it be
deSired to commumcate a motion to the pulley, either one or
other of the belts is shunted on to the pulley which is attached to
the shaft. The shaft is geared to the winch or worm and wormwheel. (.Accepted .A.pril18, 1900.)

the yarn is removed direct from the bobbin, and the bobbin caused
to rotate in the manner hitherto common. (AcceptedApril25, 1900.)
11,278. J. B. Bolton. Colne, Lancs. Treating Yam.
[2 Figs.] May 30, 1899.-This invention is for treating yarn in
hank form in continuous succession, the banks being so arranged
that they are passed in succegsion into and out of a vat or
chamber and can be removed and replaced without stopping the
maJhine, which is constructed with two or more endless or con'

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:

'

that can be readily fixed in place and removed. Each lower

header is connected in a readily detachable manner to the top of
the water ves~el, and each upper header is similarly connected
to the lower stde of the steam drum. The water vessel supports
tl;le connected elemen~s at the front and at the back there is provtded a wall upon wh10h rests the lowest row of tube junction
boxes. A furt her arrangement is illustrated wherein to obtain
efficient combustion and good eva.porative results with inferior
fuel, each fire~rate is covered witb a firebox of refractory brickSHIPS AND NAUTICAL APPLIANCES.
work h~ving 1ts roof II!ade in .two parts arranged at different
levels wtth a !?arrow ex1t openmg between their adjacent ends.
1
7192. W. D. Prlestman and B. Rlchardson, Bull. (.Accepted ~pnl 18, 1900.)
Dred~ers. [3 .Fif!s.] April ? 1899..-A gr~b dre~ge~ constructed
acc?rdmg ~ this mvent10n IS provtded With a wmdmg barrel, a
18~8.
F. Rensing, Germany. Water-Tube BoUer.
sprmg,. whtch may conveniently be a.rran~ed within the barrel or [4 Figs.] January 29, 1900.-The boiler comprises an upper steam
otherWise, and a. strap or other friction orake. The relation of d.~m and two water boxes arranged vertically, one being fixed
the barrel, the spring, and the winding chain are such that when r1g1dly to th~ steam ~rum, the oth~r not being so fixed, but can
move freely m followmg t he expanston and contraction of a horizontal group. of tubes connecting th~ water boxes, and arranged
above the mtddle firegrate of the boller. From opposite sides of
the steam drum large tubes branch off, and are connected to
water chambers arranged to constitute side walls of the boiler
further tubes forming supports for the firebars of the side grates
of the boiler, connect these water chambers to lower water chambers. The lower water chambers are connected to the upper part

p . 2.

pr-- -- -- - - -- -
.

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

the grab is in its highest position the opening chain is wound

upon the barrel, but the spring is unwound. As the grab is
lowered the opening chain rotates the barrel, and, in so doing,
winds or compresses the spring. When the grab is lifted the
energy stored in the spring operates to rotate the barrel in the
opposite direction, and thus to re-gather the opening chain.
(A ccepted .April 25, 1900.)
897. B. W. B. Branch, Tampa, Fla., U.S.A. Ship's
BnJJ and Keel Cleaning. [2 Figs.] August 26, 1899.-A
float or scow carries apparatus by means of which the hulls aud
keels of vessels may be cleaned of barnacles and other matters
while afioat, a. stern propelling wheel being employed to keep the
float in proper position against the vessel being cleaned, and side
propellers operated to move the float length wise of the vessel.
A cleaning brush is supported on an iron frame, springs being
I

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chains travelling parallel over a series of rollers and

carrymg rods or bars at right angles to the chain pin. A number
of hanks are passed over two of these bars and the bars are
attached to the t ravelling chains by specified means. (Accepted
Ap1il 25, 1900.)
tinuo~s

MISCELLANEOUS.

, - . -- ---

,'

,,
'

'

'
'
''
''

arranged to hold the brush with its whole surface against the hull
of the vessel as it is moved up and down. Lifting cables are connected to the frame, and extending over winding pulleys are
operated from winding drums, and a drawing-down cable is connected to a further windin~ drum. In operation the brush, if in
its lowermcst position is drawn upward by the lifting cables, and
upon reaching the surface, the drums operating the lifting C<4bles
are put out of a{}tion and the drawing-down c:.ble is wound up,
so moving the brush downwards. (A ccepted April 18, 1900.)

STEAM ENGINES, BOILERS. EVAPOB.ATORS, &c.

6720. J. E. Thornycroft, London. Water-Tube
Boilers. [4 Figs.] March 28, 1899.-This invention relates to
the kind of steam boiler wherein an upper steam drum is connected to a. lower pipe or vessel by a series of vertical and adjacent
pipes or headers arranged in pairs, each pair bein~ conneoted
toget her by straight water-tubes located above the firegrate. It
will be seen from the figures here reproduced that the watertube -boiler formlng the subject of this invention has the steam
drum arranged in front of the boiler above a lower water vessel
which communicates with the water space of the steam d.r um
by external downta.ke tubes. The vertical headers are arranged
side by side between the steam drum and water vessel. Two
headers constitute with their connecting tubes one steam generat-

14,40i. W. Mather, Manchester. Apparatus for

Evaporating ~ubstances and Rendering them An
~ydrous. [2 Pigs.] May 17, 1899.-Borax, cyanide of potasSium, or other substances, which by the application of heat become more or less liquid and capable of being taken up in the
form ?f a. film on .the surface of a cylinder, and which, as their
~on tamed water IS evaporated, become again solid and anhydrous,
ts fed from a hopper in a melted ~tate on to a heated cylinder.
and, when necessary, under a spreading roll which reduces it to
a film of uniform thickness and removes any bubbles it may con-

FU].

of the water chamber constituting the side walls of the boiler, by

approximately vertical tubes, in such manner that between the
connecting tubes and the vertically disposed portion of the side
wall water chambers, are formed lateral furnace chambers. A
middle firegrate is arranged between the two lower vessels. On
disconnecting the joint between the large tubes branching off
from the steam drum, and their corresponding water chambers,
the horizontal water tubes and chambers to which t hey are connected can be removed. In a modified construction the middle
firegrate is omitted, in which case the lower water chambers are
arranged to meet, otherwise the arrangement is similar t:> the one
before described. (.Accepted April 18, 1000.)

TEXTILE MACHINERY.
brough. Bradford. Unwinding Bobbins. [ L Fig.]
May 3 L, 1899.-This invention ha.s for its object the unwinding of
yarn from stationary flanged or other bobbins, by combining with
each bobbin an appliance so arranged that the tension on the
yarn as it is removed from the bobbin by the rotation of the spool
cop or the like is reduced, therefore to reduce the liability to
breakage of the yarn ; also to unwind the yarn from the
fla.nged or other bobbin with more uniformity of tension than is
the case when the bobbin is rotated by the drag of the yarn. The
bobbins containing the yarn to be wound therefrom into cops, or
upon spools or other bobbins, are placed in any suitable position
on the frame, and the spindles for receiving the rope, spools, or
other bobbins on which the yarn is to be wound, are mounted and
operated in the ordinary manner, but instead of drawing the yarn
direct from the flanged or other bobbin in a manner that the said
bobb!n rotates, there is upon . each flange.d or other st~tionary
bobbin a rotatable thread gutde or carrter arranged m such
manner that the thread guide or carrier is caused to rotate around
the bobbin, and thus unwind the ya.ru t herefrom wit hout causing
the bobbin to rotate. It is stated tha.t by forming the thread
guide of light material and mounting the same so that it will ro-

11!r : ----
. --- ..
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11,309. C. Rakto, C. E. Liebreich, and A. Down-

FU.J-Z

7.

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tain. The heat of the cylinder rapidly dispels the contained

water and the material is removed by a strippin~ doctor in a practically anhydrou!J condition. The cylinder, in the example
shown, is heated by gas, and is caused to revolve by gearing, it is
surrounded by a ca.sing provided with a. vapour outlet at top.
which may have removable sieves so arranged as to catch any of
the material which may become pulverised and carried away by
the arising vapour. Both casing and vapour outlet may be steam
jacketed or otherwise enclosed so as to prevent condensation of
the vapour or ga~ prior to its leaving the machine. (.A ccepted
Ap1il l 8, 1900.)

UNITED STATES PATENTS AND PATENT PRAOTIOE.

Descriptions with illustrations of inventions patented in the
United States of America from 1847 to the present time, and
reports of trials of patent law cases in the United States, may be
consulted, gratis, at the offices of ENGINEERING, 35 and 86, Bedford
street, Strand .