Engineering Vol 72 1901-09-20
description
Transcript of Engineering Vol 72 1901-09-20
7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 72 1901-09-20
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/engineering-vol-72-1901-09-20 1/47
SEPT. 20,
1901.]
E N G I N E E R I N G.
INTERNATIONAL
ENGINEERING
CONGRESS AT GLASGOW.
that the leakageof waterwould be a sourceof trouble.
In the Severn Tunnel and in the London tunnels
very little t rouble had been met with from water
comina throuah the bed, but
that
could be
accou;ted for to a certain extent by the strata
being more or less
h o r i ~ o ~ t a l
;
b u ~
one c o u ~ d not
be certain as to the conditlOn of thmgs, for In one
tunnel upon which he was engaged absolutely no
water was met with where a great deal was
expected, and
in
another instance i t was exactly
the opposite. As
the
traffic from
Stranraer
to
Belfast would have
to
be
dealt
with
by
specially
built
locomotives,
or
special electric engines,
the
question of heavy gl'adients was not of vital import
ance. He thought it would
be
advisable
to
go
to
the
areater depth of 150
ft.
below the surface. In
Concluded frorn page
H .
IN preceding issues we have reported the dis
which took place on
the
first two days
the
Engineering Congress
in
Glasgow. There
remain
the
discussions on
the
last day, Thurs
September
.5th, to complete our account of
the
st successful gathering of the
kind
ever held
in
country. I t reflec
te
d
credit
alike
on
those who
it, and
those who managed it ;
and
as
paper
s,
and
discussions,
stands
re
-eminent among such meetings.
SECTION I. RA ILWA YS two
0
tunne
ls with which he
had
been connected
At the meeting of th is Sect ion on Thursday, part of the work was through
Keuper
marl,
and
a
September 5, 1\ir. John
Strain
took the chair. areat deal of trouble had boen experienced from
. ~ a t e r coming through the joints where
i t
had been
TaE
IRISH
T
uNNEL
. hardened
by
rock being forced up through it. He
A
paper on The Proposed Tunnel between asked whether
it
would not be wiser to drive the
Scotland and Ireland was read by Mr. James proposed tunnel
in
the fonn of
t ~ o
t?bes o.r cylin
Barton, M.C. Inst. C.E . This paper
wa
s pub- dera, something after the
f a s h w ~
In .which the
lished
in
abstract on page 335 of our issue of electric railways were now being dr1ven In London.
September 6. .
He
had not gone
in
to t he figures of the strength of
Mr. Mansergh (the
Pr e
sident of the Congress) iron and steel lining,
but
he thoug
ht
wou
ld
be
said he had recently been driving 10 or 12 miles
in
wise to adopt .some such means to get over the
silurian rock, and a good deal of water had been
hydr
ostatic pressure. ·
met with.
He
agreed with Mr. Barton that pro- Sir Douglas
Fox
pointed out
that
a great deal of
bably
under the
sea the interstices would
be
filled the research carried out in connection with
this
pro
with
matter
which would
prevent
the
water
getting
posal was
due
entirely
t6
Mr.
Barton. Th
e finan
down. He
thought
it was most likely h a t less cial
point
was
the
crucial one, and that need not
water would have to be d e ~ l t with in a
tunnel
such be now discussed. This was a national work, and
as that described
by
the author, than in a tunnel
he
believed
the
influence produc.ed
by
the union
nearer the surface. He did not
think
that the between the two countries would be very great.
drainage he
ad
ing proposed need be so deep. Not only were the points proposed
by
Mr. Barton
Mr.
F.
W. McOullough (Water Works Engineer, the natural places to cross bet ween the two
Belfast) said
that
as early as 1890 he had brought countries, but from a commercial point of view the
before the Press in England, Ireland, and Scot- Belfast and Glasgow rou te was the most important
land a scheme for a proposed tunnel from the north that could be selected. Although at present it was
point of the Island of Magee to
Port
Patrick, but, suggested that a double tuimel should be adopted,
examining the details of the various routes, he had he thought there was a great deal to be said, and
come to the conclusion that the scheme known as worthy of consideration, as to whether
it
would not
the
Whitehead and
Port
Patrick was
the
best. be desirable to adopt somet.hing like
the
system
Shortly afterwards Mr. Barton, through
the
papera carried
out
in
the
Simplon Tunnel ; that was to
in
Belfast, said he was considering the ques tion say, two single tunnels with a heading be
of an Irish Channel tunnel scheme between tween them. Mr. Bell's progress of 2 yards per
Ireland and England, and would bring
the
day,
or
10 yards per week, was no doubt very
details before
the public;
but the editor of _one good with a .small plant; but
the
whole ques
of
the
papers
stated
that
t he word
England tion
of
speed
depended u
pon there
being thoroughly
was a
printer's
error. He
thought
it was good arrangements made as
to
phnt,
an
d so on.
only fair that any .scheme for crossing the
Irish
'rhe Simplon heading, which was being worked in
Channel should be reasonably compared with any
harder
material than
any
silurian, wa s steadily pro
ther
chemes previously in existence. I t was only greasing at the rate of 22 ft.
per
day ;
and
he h
ad
fter a lapse of ten months that Mr. Barton was reason to believe that ere long that amount per
'ble to bring the details of his scheme before a day · w·ould · be increased. With regard to the
meeting called under the presidency of the Lord question of K ~ u p e r marl, he had had the pleasure
Mayor of Belfast . Mr. Barton's route was formerly of going down the shaft with Mr.
Ba
rt
on and
iven as miles, but he (the speaker) noticed in examiniog the strata, and he thought
it
presented
paper
that it
had now
shrunk
to 25t miles.
If
great facilities for rapid speed. He would have
he latter scheme were adopted,
it
would have the preferred a little softer material to hav.e to work
bringingthetunnelinto slightlydeeper water through, but with the use of a .shield
that
diffi
t h ~ n was originally proposed. He held
that the
culty had been overcome. Basing his calculations
and
Port
Patrick scheme had imp
ortant
upon what he had seen, he estimated that
the
tunnel
dvantages over any other route. The greatest could be completed
in
about eight or nine years.
of water on the Whitehead and
Port Patrick
.
He
agreed with Mr. Bell
in the
great advantage
was 650 ft.
as
compared with 450 H. on of having two single tunnels. A 16-H. sh ield was
Barton's route. He maintained t
ha
t 1 in 58 was much more portable and easier
to
deal
with
than
an
extreme gradient.
There
were several lines a shield for a double
tunnel
of 27
ft
.
or
28 ft.
in
Scotland which worked w.ell with gradients of 1 diameter. He considered
the
pers01ial reference
He did not think that the question of
by
Mr. McCullough
to be
rather out of place. He
lectric traction affected the matter very much. agreed it would have been much pleasanter
to
have
geological difficulties to
be
contended with were been able to construct the tunnel fron1 Donaghadee
in Mr. Barton's scheme than
they
were u to
Port
Patrick
in
a straight line, or even from
one which he (the speaker) had formerly advo- Blackhead to
Stranrae
r without a curve; but he
strongly of opinion from his experience of the
Mr. Leonard Bell (Mourne Water Works) said Mersey and other tunnels
that it
would be a very
should like to have some . information as to the risky operation to attempt to cross the chasm
of progress that might be expected
in
the which had been ploughed out
in
the bed of the
had lately been
in
charge of
~ o m e
seven Channel. It was far better to adopt the caution Mr.
eight miles of tunnels on
the
other s1de of t he Barton had learned from long and mature experi-
and he had very grave doubts as to eoce, and to go down
the northern
head of the rift.
.
the
work could be proceeded with
at
the The suggestion of a tunnel from
Ireland
to
Eng
land
w h ~ h the author
said
he
hoped would be
or S ? o t l ~ n d
might take some people's
breat
h away,
but It
did not frighten engineers.
I t
was only a
Su
Douglas
Fox
asked what
rate
Mr. Bell had question of length.
The
work would be different
to
proceed from that in connection
with
the Mersey
Tunnel
Mr.
Bell replied
that
two
yards
per
day
was
the
where some of
the strata
were eandstone full of
for good work. The silurian was a
very
water. Mr. Bateman, the engineer, said it would
~ n d it wa.s mo.st. difficult
to
get
be
impossible
to
tu1mel
under
the Mersey because
work out of 1t. In his opinwn the shorter
there
were very la rge faults in the sandstone,
an
d
the proposed
tunnel
was a
great
advantage, that water would come in
in
such la r
ge quantities
o ~ e r e d
an
opportunity of getting through the that it could not be dealt with. Sir John Fowler
In reasonable time. He was afraid, however, , in his
e v i d e n c ~ ,
made the bold
statement
that
..
:
his opinion no water would be f o ~ n d in those faults,
and experience had proved his prophecy. He
thought the difficulliies were more senous to c o ~ -
template
in
the case of the Mersey T u n ~ e l
than
In
the proposed schen1e.
Sir
Doug.las Fox:
t h ~ n
quoted a l e t t ~ r which h ~ d appeared m the In
connection with
the
S1mplon Tunnel, and
b a s n ~ g
his figures up on those giv
en in that
instance,
sa.I.d
that two single
tunne
ls in such a scheme as
this
would cost 120l. per yard,
and he
felt satisfied
that
the
speed
of driving
the
heading would be greater
than
that foreshadowed in the paper, and that
from
both
an encrineering
and nation
al
point
of view
the
work would be one of very
great
i m p o r t a n ~ e .
Professor Carus-Wilson did
not
t
hink
It would
be wise
to
increase the grades of the existing
design.
A
grade of 1 in 75 was a much
r_nore
serious matter than would appear at first stght.
High speed was no
doubt
a great feature, but he
need scarcely
point
out
that
the suggested speed of
60 miles an hour with a 100-ton train up a grade of
1 in 75 would necessitate a locomotive of much higher
horse-power than was anticipated, and i t would not
be economical to attempt
it
.
Mr
.
Barton
.
hen
replied. He said that
Mr
.
Mansergh s observation as to
the e r ~ t
of
gradients was only a
matter
of de
ta
tl.
At
the
public meeting alluded to by Mr. McCullough, the
matter had been placed
in
the hands of a
c o m m i t t ~ e
consisting of a nun1ber of
members
of
Parliament
and other
s,
and they had
decided
to
adopt
the
pro
posed scheme. But
he had no doubt
t h a ~ any
suggestions made
either
by Mr. McCullough,
or
any-
one else, would receive most careful and patient
consideration. As
to
Mr. McCullough's suggestion
that there was a
sha
llow
point
between
Whitehead
and
a point in Wigtonshire, it
had been
discovered
that the chart was imperfect, that the full
n u m b e ~
of soundings had not been made, and there was no
such
point
in
the dyke which could be crossed at
650 ft., or anything like it. The best electrical
drills
that
had hitherto been used, and those that
had accomplished the most rapid work, were those
in
use
in
the Simpion Tunnel.
The Chairman,
in
moving a vote of
thanks
to
the
author, said
that
whatever views there might be of
the
project, whether pessimistic
or
optimistic, the
enormous advantages of such a scheme,
whether
viewed from a social, political, or commercial
aspect, could
not be
over-esti
mate
d. If the tunnel
was constructed,
Ireland
would
be
connected
with
Scotland for all practical purposes n
the
same way
as England was. I t would
be
the readiest
means
of cementing the three countries together, and
bring to a successful issue a matter which
had
troubled political parties for many years ;
in
fact,
it would be what he might call an engineers' solu
tion of the Home Rule question.
CHEAPER RAILWAy FARES:
A paper on
Cheape
r Railway Fares was
then
read by Mr . Horace Bell, M.I.C.E .
This
paper is
published n
extenso
on page 430 .
Sir Guilford Molesworth said he bad always had
the opinion
that
a railway should not be looked
upon as a money-n1aking machine,
but
as an instru-
ment
for developing
the
resources of the country,
and
he
had
always urged
that
policy
on the
Govern
ments with which
he
had
been
connected. Great
difficulty had
been
experienced
in
persuading
the
rail
ways
to adopt the
policy of low rates. The fares on
the State Railway of India had been reduced
to
one
fifth of a
penny
per mile with
entire
success, ·and
other companies
had adopted
the same policy, and
an enormous increase
in
the traffic had resulted.
The State R aUway
(Rajputana)
was constructed for
political
and
s t r a t e g ~ c a l
purposes, and was not ex
pected to pay its working expenses ;
but
it had
proved be a very remunerative line, and i t was due
to the policy of low rates. . In England we were
pla?ed
in
a l?eculiar position owing to the policy
whiCh was misnamed free trade, which enabled
the
foreigner to put produce into the London
markets
at
lower rates
than
i t could be brouaht
from
the
Midland Counties. Sir Guilford
then
quoted certain memoranda which
he addr
ess
ed
to
the _Government of
India
twenty
years
ago
on
this
subJect.
.
Sir
W i l l i a l ~
Preece
sa
id this
was a
paper on
ra1l way pohtiCs. I t was
all very
well for Sir
Guilf
ord
~ I o l e s w o r t h
to
support the
governmental
management of railways. Their
management
in
India was rather a
sentimenta
l one. In this
count
ry
the railway companies were great com
mercial concerns, and must be managed and con-
•
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E N G I N E E R I N G.
[SEPT. 20, I 90
I
trolled
on financial policies. The question raised
and the
superstructure built
further
back under water, which had been partially destroyed, whereas
by the paper was simply one of cheap versus the its shelter.
Steel
caissons of 833 cubic yards
in
the case of Zeebrugge
there
was no protecting
present dear fares, and he rather disagreed with were used, 16 ft. 6 in. below low water. Upo n breakwater outside. He asked the authors what
l\1:r.
Horace
Bell in his estimate of t,he character of this foundation
the
superstructure wa s built, protection was proposed against the sea at Zee
railway managers over here. The Americans had formed of two facewalls made of concrete blocks J brugge, especial1y in connection with the outer
made their
railways to pay,
and
some of then1 wore of
39
cubic yards each,
and
a hearting of
rCLpidly-
portion of the breakwater, which he was afraid
now t ~ k i n g up,
perhap
s, the very worst example setting concrete. This brings the work up to might be subject to attack.
of a hne badly conducted on financial principles, 23 ft . above low tide,
and
it is protected on the Mr. Vernon
Harcourt
~ i d he had had
an op;>or
namely, the
Metropolitan
District. Mr. Yerkes sea side
by
a strong
parCLpet.
Up to December tunity on two occasions of seeing the works at Zee
had the control of that line, and was O OinO to show last 150 caissons had been placed in five yeara. bruggo, and
it
appeared to him there was a i f f ~ r e n e
this country how the line could be worked, with re Ya
rd With this
wa ) also read a
paper
on '' Zeebrugge between the works at Zeebrugge
and
Bilbao on
to fares, on American principles. Not only would it Harbour Works,"
by
J. Nyssens Hart and L. van account of the diffdrent exposure of the two sites,
be
converted
into an
electrically worked line,
but
the Gansberghe. which
wa
s, of course, the governing factor with
whole of
the
system would be worked
at
one
The
po
rt
of Zeebrugge is furmed
by
a curved re
g-l.
rd to sea works. A breakwater might be made
u ~ i f o r m fare of 2 d. Nearly every man in the breakwater, and protects the opening to the Bruges perfectly satisfactory on one site, which would be
ratlway world would say that
it
was absolute non- Ship Canal.
The
breakwater consi
sts
of
three
por - destroyed on another.
The
Bilbao breakwater was
sense t:> think that such a railway as that could tions. At the beach
there
is a solid
embankment;
a rubble mound and superstructure, but the
m ~ e to pay wi.th such a fare ; at
any
ra te, it the second portion is
an
openwork viaduct 1312 ft ~ e e b r u g g e breakwater was practically
an
upright
was gomg to be tned, and the
result
remained to long, while the third p)rtion is a solid
br
eakwater wall, which was nndoubtedly the best form of
be
seen.
There
would
ba
at least a
grand
object-
and
quay 5264
fv.
long.
Thi
s la
st
pa
rt in
two breakwater.
With
regard to the erosion of the
les3on to railway managers
throughout
the country, portions. The fir-it consists of a quay with a sea- rubble mound, very early
in
hi3 professional
and the outcome would be the decision as to what wall on the outside, protecting the filling bet ween career he had occasion to notice that at the
the proper
mode should be of working railways, the seawall and the harbou r wall, forming the quay. Alderney breakwater, which was at a depth of
whether
on high or on low fares. It was not a The second part is a st raight length of solid seawall 130 ft. at low water,
there
was a certain amount of
a mere
quest
ion of 1s. ve
·
sw; 2 d. The
secret
of 1115 ft.long, constituting the
outer
breakwater.
Th
e sco
ur
of the rubble mound every winter. One of
American railways was,
whether they
were worked base of the seawall pro
tect
ing the quay consists of the speakers had said he believed no breakwater
by electricity or not, the carrying out of three monolithic concrete blocks, weighing 3000 tons, with a rubble mound wa s likely to stand, but it
principles-rapid transit, cheap fares, and fre- 182 ft. long
by
24 fc. in. wide, all
their
tops was to
be
hoped that
that
prediction would
not
be
quent services, the result being that they were being 1 metre below sea-level. In the outer fulfilled, because last year he saw at
I avre
a break
worked more like tramways. GlasO OW pos- breakwater the f o u n d
i o n
blocks are 29.5 ft. wide. water upon a rubble mound protected with con
sessed a splen did tramway system. It had grown
The
tnain body of the wall consists of 55-ton crete blocks,
in
which the superatru'cture was
with
gigantic steps,
and the three
principles bl
oc
ks laid upon the foundat ion blocks
up
to founded on low.water level. At Boulogne, he
to
which
he had
referred
had been
the
cause of 22.9 ft.
ab
ove low-water spriog tides.
The
toe of thought,
the
superatructure was
rather
abo
ve
low
such growth. And so it would be with all our the face of the breakwater is protected from und er- water level
than
otherwise. He should not feel
large railways. If
the suburban
traffic which did mining
by
a mound of large blocks of rubble very happy
in
building a superstructure at, or very
not now pay was worked
by
electricity, a complete stones, weighing from 6 to 39 cwt. The near, low-water level if
it
were exposed to any
revolution would be
the
result.
With
American foundation blocks are
built
of concrete
in
iron storm. He quite agreed
th
at it was desirable, if
ideas and London
and
American management the caissons, which remain part of the blocks.
The
possible, to do away with the parapet, because the
great object-lesson would
be
given,
and
the very blocks
are
built hollow
and
towed into place . They amo
unt
of water coming over a breakwater 5 ft. or
low ebb
in
which
Briti
sh rail way properties now are
then
s
unk and
fill
ed
with concrete. The lower 6 ft. above high tide would not do much harm,
were, would probably turn round, and shareholders part of th e caissonq has a cutting edge, and the sea though
it
might damage a high parCLpet. With
who had
not
touched dividends for some time would bottom is levelled with concrete from hopper regard to the entrance to the
port
of Bilbao, vessels
be able to feel fat dividends in their pockets from 1barges. Up to the present four caissons have been came
in
at an angle, and therefore had not the wave3
the
exercise of
the
principles determined
in
deposited.
right
against
their
beam.
The ~ e e r u g g e
harbo
ur
America.. Mr.
Fraser,
Genoa, said
that
during his resi- would not have been a desirable form if it
had
not
The
Chairman said the
pap
er was full of good dence
in
Genoa he happened to
be
witness of two been to a certain
extent
sheltered from the east,
sense, and deserving of the serious consideration of storms which affected the breakwater,
and
he
but
the land curved round,
and
the breakwater
was
railway managers and shareholders. It brought up exhibited photographs showing the effects of the fairly protected.
questions that were
in
every one's n10uth. All sea
in
raising blocks weighing 55 tons.
The bl
ocks Mr.
W.
H.
Hunter had
also had the advantage
thought
that our railways might be less conserva- were laid on rubble, the top of which was about of inspecting b
ot
h the works at Bilbao and Zee
tive
in their
administration,
and take
a lesson
in
10 n1etres below high-water. Evidently a number brugge, and he pointed
out that
at the l
atte
r place
many
things from our American neighbours.
He
of
the
55-ton blocks had been used as battering the steel caissons were of
the
most slender con
proposed a vote of
thank
s, which
wag
carried by rams and completely knocked away the parapet. struction, the very minimUin of n1aterial beiog
acclamation, to the
author
and to the Honorary He
thought
it was a
proo
f, if proof was required, e1nployed. The steel work was stiffened by inter
Secretary of that Section, Mr
.
Henry Cooper. that the use of enormous caissons was indispensable costal bracing, and reinforced by concrete.
That
Mr. Hogg (Glasgow) proposed a vote of
thanks
to overcome the force of the sea. appeared to him to
be
a point of considerable
to the Chainnan for presiding,
and
the proceedings Mr. J. R. Baterden
thought
the original depth importance
in
the construction of the blocks, for it
of
the
Section terminated. of the rubble mound
be
low water was 15
fb.
at had reduced the
co
st of
the
caissons to a minimum.
Bilbao,
bu
t M. de Churruca had shown
that
it was The same thing obtained at Bilbao. He thought
SECTION II. WA.TERW A.YS AND MARITIME WORKS. not safe to build the new breakwater
at
less than it was hardly fair in discussing questions of con-
16 ft., even under the s
helter
of the old damaged crete blocks
and
matters of
that
kind to for
get
the
pier. He thought no single superstructure built work of the late l\1:r. Cunningham, of Dundee, who
upon a rubble mound
in recent
years had escaped designed a novel system of construction
and
flota
more or less damage, and he doubted very much tion of concrete blocks without
any
metal-work or
whether
any
breakwater now being constructed caisson. He should like to have heard from the
would long escape danage.
The
only large sea authors of the papers whether
they
had had any
pier which he knew at present being built in the difficulty in depos iGing the blocks. With regard to
dist
rict
on a rubble mound was the one at
Peter-
the dangers of erosion, on the external side there
head, the rubble mound being there 32 ft. below wa s certainly, in his judgment, a peril.
He
con
the water.
With
a rubble mound, or blocks,
if
the sidered there might be a difficulty
in
founding the
down scouring of the waves scoured away
the
toe blocks
on an
even bed.
The
third sitting
of the Section was held on
Thursday
morning, September 5, Sir John Wolfe
Barry, K .C. B., LL. D., F.
R.
S., presiding.
TH
E
CLYDE
E
sTU RY
The
first paper
read
was
the fol1
owing s
hort
com
munication on ' '
Improvement
Works
in
the Clyde
Estuary,
"
by
lVIessrs. D. and C. Stevenson. This
paper was
ed n extenso on page 382 of our
last
issue.
Replying
to
the
questions of
the
Chairman,
Mr. D. Stevenson said the rCLdius of curvature
adopted in the
channel was 1200 ft.,
and
the
bottom width was
about
400ft. The cham1el was
maintaining itself.
BILBAO AND
ZEEBR
UGGE HARBOURS.
The second
paper
was one on "
Works
for
Improving the Bilbao
River
and Harbour," by M.
Evaristo
de
Churruca.
The port of the N ervion River, which forms the
port
of Bilbao,
is
85 miles long.
Th
e o u t ~ r
harb
o
ur
is enclosed by t wo breakwater-s ; the west
1s
4757 ft.
lonCY, running out from the coast
at
right angles to
the
0
north-west. The
eastern
breakwater runs
in
a
westerly direction for 3610 ft. Between them is
an
entrance
1970 ft. wide, facing north-ea
st
.
The
first brea
kwater
is the more
import
ant,
and
rests
on
mud and
sand.
I t
is built on a mound of con
crete
blocks, of 39 to 65 cubic
yards
each,
and
these
rest on a mound of sorted rubble. The building of
the superstructure
was commenc.ed
in
1891,
and
damaged
in
1893 and 1894, when
1t
had a.
length
of
417 ft.
The
design was
then al t
ered.
The
~ o s e
blocks already laid were le
ft
as
an outer
protectwn,
of the rubble mound at a certain depth, it would Mr.
Vern
on Harcourt said
that
to a certain
also scour it away with large blocks;
this
he extent Mr. Hunter 's views were correct, because
should imagine would be rather worse, and the he saw the blocks
at
low water last year, and the
damage more serious. He did not see the necessity, top of
the
blocks was not an even surface. He
except
in
places where protection was required for rather thought the bed of the sea was not quite so
the pier, of taking the roadway at such a great mobile as Mr.
Hunter
supposed.
It
was more
an
height above high-water. It was not only ?ostly
indurat
ed
silt
mixed with sand,
and
he was
in
construction,
but detra
cted very sen ously ass
ur
ed
that
the
kind
of
indur
atecl clay which was
from the stability of the pier, seeing that the the foundation of the caissons was perfectly hard,
wav
es had a very much greater power against and that the protection of the large rubble on the
the higher structure
than
against t ~ e lower. If a outside of the breakwater would be amply sufficient
pier
was made a few feet above htgh water, and to prevent scour on their face.
the waves were allowed to flow over it,
the
effect on Mr.
Hunter
said that his experience was
that
the material of the harbour would
be
comparatively indurated clay was a delusion.
little a short distance in. With regard to the The Chairman, in closing the discussion and con
entrance to
the
harbour,
it
seemed to him a very veyina the
thanks
of the Congres3 to the author-s,
awkward harbour to enter, as a vessel had to turn said appeared to him that at Bilbao, if it were
broadside on to the wav es.
not
for the protection of the
outer
mound resulting
M. Mendes Guerreiro, speaking
in
French,
said from the failure of
the
original work, the new work
he had to do with a. ha
rb
o
ur at
Oporto, wh
ere
he would
run
very serious risks of the rubble mound
had very much the same work to ca
rry
out as at being eroded
and
the superstructure more or less
Zee
bru
gge and Bjlbao. ¥ pref
er
red the s ~ s t e m destroyed. He thought t he soundings at Bilbao
at Bilbao to the system at Zeebrugge, because
1n
the were particula rly steep, which indica ted that the
first case there "as the protection of the old break- sea stroke must he exceedingly hulvy upon t h ~
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SEPT
.
20,
I
90
L
J
-
works.
He
had recently
had
before him a ques
tion
of th
e
failur
e of a
most important
breakwater
ab
Ty nenwuth, near Newcastle. Th e or iginal design
of t
he
breakwater, which was
som
e 60
or
60 years
old,
was
based upon a canon of engineering which w
as
accepted at
that
t
im e
-
that
the
actio
n of the waves
on
rubble mounds
w ~ s
n ot
ap
pa
rent,
or of
any
im
portance, when the dep th was fr om 12 ft.
to
15 f t.
bel ow low wa ter. I t was one of the canons la id down
with very li tt le real basis of
so
lid fac t, b ut it was
acce
pted in
t h
o.se
days ,
and
t
he or
i
ginal
br
eakwater
a.tTynemouth
was star ted at a de pth below low water
of bet ween 12 ft . and 15 it. As time wen t on it
was
re c
og
nise
d
th
at
th
ose de
pt h
s
were in
suffici
ent
and
the rubble mound, which
had
been al roady
made, was low
ered
by dredging o
perati
ons, first to
17 ft . , th en to 20 ft., then
to
22 fb ., then
to 24
ft . ,
25 ft . , and at last to 27 ft. at t
he extremity
of the
br
eakwater. Even at the depth of 27 ft., the
e rosive action of the sea. had been
so
se
ri
ous th
at
the
pier
head
was in imminent dang
er of f
allina
d 1
.
O l
an arge
port10ns of the breakwater we
re
in a
state of utt er ruin . The we ight r esting up on
the
rubble m ound
was
practically a monolith of enor
mous size.
He
found
that
a va st ma
ss
of ma
sonry,
which was
so bea
utifully
const ructed that i t
all held
together
in
on
e solid
bl
ock of
upwa
rds
of
6000 tons, had been moved or tumbled over by the
sea
in
consequence of th e erosion of the
rubble
mound,
and
it Wtts possibl e at
that
time for the
d ive rs
to
walk
undern
ea th the s
uperstruct ur
e and
observe the
damage. The
q ue
sb
ion , therefore, was
at what depth below low-water the work s should
be founded. I t was nece
ss
ary to rely upon the
equation
of the expos
ure
to the prevailing wind
and the steepness of t he soundings. At Tynemouth
the exposu
re
was very
lo n
g and
the
soundings par
ti cularly
steep,
so t ha t the sea
came in
with e
nor
m ous power . To his mind, the only
way
to get
a
se
cure
foundation
was
to
put the foundations at
such
a dep th as was sui table
to
the situation in
which they had to be placed. I t was wise to bear
in
mind that in talking of weigh t, what was
meant was weight in ai r, and not weight
in
wa
te r.
' Vhen
once
a co
nc rete
block was tilted or began
to
move, the
whole
condition of things wa.s changed,
and the sea acquired a power over the block which
seemed out of a ll propo
rt i
on. The matter of para
pets
was
very seriously considered in the re
con
s
truction
of th e Tynem
ou t
h bre:l
kwater, and he
should li ke very much
to ha
ve
got
rid of the
para
p
et
altogether but
in that
case it was not a ques
tion
merely of protecting
th
e
promenade, bu
t of
allowing
persons to be on th e pier in
ve r
y
expose
d
weather, and
theref
ore
it
was decided
to rec
o
nstruct
the
parapet,
although in a very much stronger
form.
LIGHTING .AND
B u
oYING oF CoasTs.
F our
papers
on Recent Improvements in
the
Lighting and Buoying of Coas ts " were read
together. The firat was by 1\fr. D. Stevenson,
who
d
ea
lt with Scotland.
Mr.
David A. S tevenson gave a
history of
the
erection of h t h o u s e ~ ,
beacons,
and
fog signals.on
th e Scottish and I sle of
Man
Coasts, deahng
specially with the i m p o v e m ~ n t of the last f
ew
years. 'Ve hope
to prmt
thts paper later . Mr.
Alan
Bre
bner's paper we
sha
ll
also print
in
full.
I t dealt with
the
hi
sto
ry
of t he lightning flash
system, and sugges ted an . i ~ p r v e n : e n t on it, con
si
st in
g of a complete subdtvtded
ec
hpse r of two or
more parts,
each
m
in dependently
of the
oth
ers a
lona
with
an optica
l
apparat
us of two
or
mo
re
side l3. Th is :ystem requires a screen of
two
parts of a
bi-valve apparatus, one of th ree
sides
a t ri lateral
apparatus, an d
so
on ; hav:mg.
a
sc reen
specially
a l t ~ o to and r e v o l v t n ~
w1th
It
. Ei.ch
partial screen is made to
tota
lly. echpse, when shut,
the beam of the correspo
nding
lens . A
ll.
th e
g
roup
-fl
as
h characteristics can th us be obta1ned
with any of the arrangements, and t he flashes
can
be
given
more m p a c t ~ y th an one . per
.fi
ve
seconds
of
tota l period reqUired by the lightning-
~ h t system.
The third paper,
by
Baron de Rochemont, deal t
with
the French
coasts.
This we
print o l
page 419.
' '
The
Present Condition
of Lightm
g
on
the
Chinese Coa
s t
was the subject of a
paper
by
Mr.
J.
R.
Harding, whi
ch
we
print in ab
s t
r
act on
pag
e
424 of the present issue . .
M. Ribi
ere, speaking ~
n c h , con
sidered that
the
flashes
of
quick-flashi ng were e
9.u
a
lly
as
good as the ligh ts of l o r ~ duratwn, wh10.h were
said to
be
preferred by sa tlors. When the In terval
E N G I N E E R I N
G.
b
etween
the :flashes was r
ed
u
ced
to five
seconds
or
le
ss,
the sa
ilor saw th e
light
suffici
en t
ly well and
co
ntinu
ously to take his bearings.
Wh
en it was
n eces3ary to wait half a minute or a minu
te
, it was
n
ot
so convenient for taking b
earing
s
as
with
s
hort
er
:fla
shes .
With regard to Mr Brebn
er's
arrangement, th e diffic
ulty se
emed to be that
ther
e
was too great an angle between
the
flashes.
He
M . Ribiere) found i t nec essary to have something
like four panels for the elecbric light, and
four
for
the incan
de
scent
and
oil lig
hts
.
Mr.
Brebner
a
pp
eared
to
hav e a more rapid rate of rota tion, and
if it was on ly ap plicable to the smaller lights,
the economy of
his
sy
ste
m w
as
co
nsiderably
re
duced.
Mr.
Brebner's
reply to
the cri t ici
sms
of M.
Ribiere
on
his subdivided eclipser s
ystem
was as
follows : First ly, the speed of rotation required
is
well within the l
im
its of what h
as
been accom
plished with ease in apparat us
now
in use,
and
Me ssrs . Chance Brothers a.
nd
Co. can show
to
any
o
ne
a th ird-order subdivided eclipser apparatus
working
with perfect smoothness and regularity.
Secondly, it was only by introducing t he idea of
small
and inextensible luminaries that
exception
co
uld be taken to hi
s sys tem.
Neither incande
sce
nt
mantles, however, nor oil and gas
f l ~ m e s
are in
ex
t en sible, hence this criticism is without force . As
compared with the
twin-light system
in favour in
France, which is a mo
re
conve
nien
t, but also a
more c
ost
ly subs titute for the old British
' '
biform, ,
the subdivided eclipse r sys tem will be found to be
a con
sp
icuo us
ly
economical
one
.
Mr. J. R. Ha.rding :V
as
very
much
interested in
the po
ss ible use
of
acet
ylene
. He had
tried,
at
Sh a
nghai, some experiments
on
a
small
sca
le with
a
fourth-order lig
ht,
and as far as
th
ey
went
they
were successful.
He
obtained from
a
dealer in
Sh
ang
hai a small plant,
with
a burner though t to be
80 candle-power . He t
ried
that
burner on
several
nights , and on
alternate
nights tried a
mineral
oil
burner which he knew to be 72 candle-power, and
he
found
th at the
80
candle-power acetylene burner
gave at leaat a 100 per cent. better flash th an
th
e
72 candle-power mineral oil
burner
.
M.
Ribiere
said
that experiments h
ad
been
made with acetylene gas, but the difficulty was
that the flame went down the tube
and
caused
ex
plosions.
That
was
obviated by
hav
in
g a
burner
with several
li
t tle
tu b
es,
and in
that way
the propagation of the flame was stopped
by
the
small ness of the tubes. The gas was used by an
incand
esce
nt
ma n
t le, a
nd produced
a
power
which
might be stated
as
4 to 2 t
compared
with mineral oil.
H e thoug
ht there
was
a
gr
eat
future in
sto
re
for
acetylene gas
-burner
s in lighthouses.
Mr. D. Stevenson said
there
was one acetylene
in sta
lla tio
n in this country,
namely,
at
Grange
mouth,
and
the li
g
ht
had
been
perfectly successful.
Mr. Harding,
replying to
some
rem
arks by Mr .
Ge
dd
es, agreed
that
group flashing got over to a
certain extent the objection to the very rapid
flashes.
Perso
n
ally
he was rather
in
favour of
rapid
:flashes, a
nd
he was o
nly quoting the
op inion
of
mariners.
The Chairman said t hat one could not help r ecog
nising the enormous stri des made of late years in
ligh ting the coasts,
espec
ially since 1874.
Both
the submerged
cab
le
and
wireless
telegrap
hy were
sy
stems
which needed invest igati
on
, because foggy
weather and snowstorms
were
what mariners
dr eade
d
more
than
a
nything
else. " ' ith r e
gard
to the pe
riods
of waves and t he designil g of
lightshi
ps
to be suitab]e
to
the waves at pa.rt10ular
places, it was of g reat inter
est
to know that
observation
showed
the period of the greatest
wave at a particular place was more or less a
st anding q uanti ty,
thus enablin
g
the
n
ava
l
a ~ c ~ i t e c t
to so
design hi
s vessel as
to
produce the mmimum
of rolling and agitation .
Votes
of
thanks
were passed to the Cha irman,
and
to
Mr
.
Vern
on Harcourt ; and the work of th e
Sec
t ion
then
finished.
SECTION
III. MECHANICAL ENGINEERING.
TH
E
METRIC SYSTEl\ .
This Section was again well
attended on Thurs
day, the 6th ins t., t
he
concluding of the
gr
ass,
and
t
he
pr
o
ceedings
w e ~ e
a g ~ 1 n c h ~ r a
by
well-sustained and suggest
iv
e ~ n s . M.r .
Willinm
H.
Maw, as Chairman of the SectiOn, again
presided and in opening the dis
cu
ss ion
on
Mr.
G r e e n w ~ o d s pa per
on
the metric system, re-
marked th at it d
ea
lt*
with what
he
mig
ht call
an
unpopu l
ar
necessity, namely, the necessity
of ou
r
manufacturers realising that if they ar e to maintain
certain foreign markets, they must adopt the metric
system. Mr. Gr
ee
n wood had
deal
t with the
t e r
in
a very practical way, and
had
shown that,
if
sufficient
time
is
taken
for
the chan
ge,
it
can be
mad e without undue loss to the firms adopting it.
Mr.
W . H . Alien, of Be
dford,
opened the dis
cussion.
He
sa
id
that al
though they
had not at
his works
adopted
th e
metric sys tem
outrig
ht,
they h
ad
mad e a change fr
om
the
ordinary En
glish
sy
ste
m, and had adopted t
he
decimal division
of
the
inch.
I t
seemed
to him
th a
t
nothin
g sh
ort
of legislation wou ld force the necessary
change
upon
the
coun t ry ; and
th
e s luggish way in which
the
legislat ive machinery had
rec
ently been moving
did n ot give
much
hope for parliamentary enact
ment.
l i
e referred to the pre
judice
against such
radical changes, and, in speaking of the difficulties
to be met
with,
recalled the fact that in 1897
he nginee1· had
publi
shed a se
ri
es of replies ob
tained from almost
every
co
unty
in England, to
show the eno
rmous
variety in the system of
mea
sures
and
names
adopted
in them,
all
of which
would make
it very
di
ffi
cult
to
effect any uniform
s tandard. In
their
own case th ey had dt vided
the
inch into thousandth parts, and, as an indicat ion of
how readily the
workers
became
acquainted with
the
system, he
pointed to the fact that after three
m
onths'
use, a lab ourer earning 18s. a wee
k,
when
asked
by
him if the size of the wire he was working
with
was .364, gave
the
re
ply:
No,
it
is decimal
365. He
had no sympathy with the stock
argu
ment
that 10 co
uld
only be divided by
2
and 5,
whereas 12 was divi
sible by
2, 3, 4, and 6.
What
was want
ed
was somethin g which would be inter
national in its unifqrmity .
Mr. Hans Renold said it was
too
la te in the day
to speak on behalf
of
the
metric system. No
one
who had given
the
slig
htest
attention
to the
sub
ject failed to r ecognise that
the
change
must
eve
ntually
be mad
e to the
metric
system.
He
had
be
en educated in Swi
tzerland, and
was trained
in
the metric
system, and
when he cd.me to
England
he 4ad great trouble with
the
wretched arrangement
of six teenths and
the
like. In 1882 he had adopted
the
metric
system in his chain
manufactory,
but
as
his
works were small
he had to
yield
to the pre
judice
in
favour of
the English
method. But
lately
they had been working to the thousandth of an
inch, dimensions being expressed in decimal figures,
and
no difficulty
had
r
es
ulted.
He
pleaded for
a
greater at
te
ntion in the Board Schools to this
dec imal fraction rat
her than to
vulgar fractions.
He was doing a large export trade with Germany
and France, and he found a great economical ad
vantage in adopting the metric system.
He
did
not
think
that they could
expect
much help fr om
Government, and
would
be
glad if 60 or 100 of
th
ose pr esent would make a resolve
to
apply the
system and carry out that resolve.
Colonel Huber re
ferred
to the work done on the
Continent
in
conne
ct
ion
with the standardisat
i
on
of the
sc
rew thread,
and
the evolving
of
the I. S.
system which was in use in France,
Germany,
and
Sw
itzerland, and was now be
ing
adopted by Austria
and
Ru ssia ; at the same time he pleaded for
some
measu
re
of universal
app
lic
at
i
on
. He thought t
he
t
ime
had
pa
ss
ed
when any country could stand
alone and claim
the right
to govern every other
co
un
tr y
.
The metric
system
and
t
he
metric
screw
as adopted on the Contine
nt
might not
be
the best.
bu t
it
had the advantage of simplicity, and
he hop ed
it
would yet be adopted also in this country.
He
quot
ed the views of several manufacturers on
th
e
Continent in
favour
of the me tric screw.
Professor Barr
expressed his pl
easure at the
thorough treatment
of t he subject by Mr. Green·
wood , and
stated
that it was
hi
s belief that
there
was no compromise b
et
ween the
present
system in
this country and the adoption of the almo
st
un i
versal
metric system
. Re
mentioned
incidentally
that it was largely
to
th e instrumen tality of Watt
that the metric system had been adopted
on
the
Continent, and it was the more surprising
that
in
this country we had cont
inu
ed in the old way.
The absence of
its adopti
on was a
hindranc
e
to
that stan
dardi
s
ation
which would enable the
parts
of machines
to
be
got
in
the
country where th ey
were
worked.
He
h
oped
the Institution
of
Mec
hanical
Enginee
rs would take
a strong
po
si-
Mr. Gr
ee
nwood's paper will be found on page 430 of
th
e pr
eeent issue.
•
•
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390
ti?n in the matter ; but was inclined to
di
sagree
Wlt.h Mr. Greenwood as to
the
period of time
whtch s
hould
elapse before the
metric
system
was
made
compulsory: twenty years
was
far
too
lon
g.
The division
of
the inch was
a mo
st
commendable prelin1inary stage towards
the
com
plete
transition.
The
Chairman
here asked Pro-
~ e s s o r
Barr
whether the metric system
was a
dopted
1n
the new laborat
o
ry work
;
to
which Professor
Barr
replied
that
it wa 3
not in use : but the
students.
were
made thor
o
ughly familiar with it.
The
Chatrman
expressed the
view
that
it would
be
a
great advantage,
especially
in
the
realisation
of
their
aim,
if our future
engineers were
trained in
the a c t u ~ l working the
metric system in
all
labora:tor1es;
and to
th1s
Professor
Barr
replied
that
the d1flic
ulty
was really in
getting
the
appliances
con
structed
according
to
the
metric system.
Profe
ssor Schroeter strong
ly
commanded
the use
of the
metric system,
and
expressed
his commisera
tion with Profe
s sor
Barr and the students
who
while they had
lel.rn
ed
the met ric system,
were
st ili
conde.mned
to
work
with
the
complicated
Briti
sh
scale 1n
the
laboratory. Before
re
suming
his seat
he
asked
leave
to
express
his
own
grat
itud
e
and
the
thanks
of his colleagues, the
other
forei o n delegates
for
the
splendid
rec
e
ption they had
accorded:
and for the hospitality
extended
to them. He
stated they would carry
away
with them
t he
best
remembrances of the Congress in the many
suo-
gest
ions
which had been made during the i o ~ s
they had heard.
Mr. F. H. Livens said that they had
had
the
vlewa of
manufacturers engaged
in
the production
of
~ e w
specialities new designs where the appli
cation
of
the
metnc
system
was a
comparatively
simple
matter,
but
he
would
like to point
out that
it
was
very
difficult
to apply the new
s
ystem
where general
work of lo
ng standing
wa9 carried
out, because
of
the large number
of
patterns, tem-
plates, and jigs in
use,
and
where, for machines
made
years
ago,
duplicate parts were still required.
I t was
a serious
matter
to
contemplate the replacing
of
th ese
for
old machin
es upon
the
metrics
yst
em,
and
for
this
rea
son a conside
rabl
e
time
must be
a
llowe
d
before the
me
t ric system was
completely
adopted,
because
only
in
new
productions and new
designs
could
it be
applied. The old
patterns,
etc., how
ever, lapsed with time. Most
of
the
firms who
had
adopted
the metric system had stfl.rted with
new de
signs,
and the
case of
Mes
srs. Willans
Robin
son wa s
one
in
point,
while
Mr.
Greenwood's
own
firm was adopting
it with
a
e ~ i a l t y He,
personally, was
much in favour
of
the
change,
but
he re
cognised
the
difficulties,
and thought
that
time must be
given
to
effect
the alteration.
Mr.
Bryan Donkin suggested
that those
Briti
sh
firms
which had introdu ced the metric system
might
send
their
pames
to the Secretary, so that some
idea might be
f
ormed
as
to the present extent
of
its application in this
country
.
The Chairman, in
closing
the
di
sc
ussion, said that
the
time did
not permit
of the points
ra ised by
Mr.
Greenwood's paper being dealt
with so fully as
they
deserved,
but he hoped
that
further written
con
tributions
to
the di
scuss
ion
would
be
sent
to Mr.
W
orthington
.
As
r ega
rded
Profe
ssor
Schroeter's
kind expression
of t
he appreciation
of
their
recep
tion
by
the
foreign delegates,
he
could only
sa
y
that
any
pleasure which
they
had derived
fr
om
attending th
e Congress w
as certainly
more
than
equalled by the pleasure
of
the other
metnbers
at
Aeeing
them there.
He
hoped
that
they
would
be
able to
attend similar meeting
s
on
many futur
e
occas10ns.
Mr.
Greenwood,
in replying to the di
scussion,
pointed to
the
international imp
o
rtance
of
the
sub
ject, and to the necessity
of the
chang
e be
ing
made if we
are
not
to be
cut out from
the trade
of
the world.
The Government did nothing
-
never
did
anything
-
until
forced
to
do it,
and
thus
manu-
facturers must
r ecog
nise
the commercial
and
econo
mical
value
of
the metric
s
ystem
and mak
e
the
change
for
themselves. The term
of
twenty
years
for compulsory adoption suggested
in t
he paper
had
been taken
exception to, but it was only a
suggestion and an indica
tion
that
the propo
s
R l
of
the Chambers of Commerce in favour of two years
was altogether i n a ~ e q u a t e With
referen?e to
the
question
of a
me
tr
ic
screw
thread,
he was 1n favour
of adopting
metric
mea
s
ures
first,
and after
that t
he
question
of
the standard screw
could be
tackled
.
1'hey wo
uld probably
h a v ~
to
follow
their C o ~ -
tinental fr i
ends
as
he beheved
that
th
e metnc
screw adopted ~ a s
a
good m p r o m ~
be
tween the
E N G I N E E R I N G.
Whitworth
and Sellers standards.
He
approved
t ~ e division of
the inch into thousandth
s as a pre
hmlnary
measure
of
educational
value,
and
con
tended
in favour of a free expression of
opinion
at
such
Congresses,
and their util
i
sat
ion for enforcing
the
advantages
of the
system
.
TESl'IN
O
MA
CHINE AT
THE
J.AUES vVATT
ENGINE
ERING
LA BORATORY.
Mr. J.
Hartley Wicksteed
read
the nex t
paper
on The
100-Ton
Universal'resting
Machine,
with
Vari
able
Accmnulat
o
r,
at the
J ames
Watt
Labora
tories, Glasgow
University
.
Thi
s paper we pub
lish in full on page 407 of
this
issue.
Dr .
Barr,
who was asked by
the Chairman to
open
the
discussion,
said
that a good man y
year
s ago
he
committed
him se
lf
to
the opinion that the vertical
machine was b
ette
r
than the
horizo
ntal
machine,
and
he still
held that view, but the introduct ion of
this new
t
ype
of
hori
zo
ntal ma
c
hine by Mr.
Wick
steed
afforded so
many
conve
ni
ences, especially
in
rapidity of
adjustment
for different
kind
s of speci
mens, that
he
had
co
me
to
the
conclusion that i ts
handiness was
even mor
e
important than the
slig
ht
advantage that the
.vertical
arrangement
gave
as
re
ga
rd
s co
nvenience
for accurate
te
st ing. More
over,
they
had in the lab
or
ator
y a 10-
ton
vertical
machine, thus affurding a combinat ion which con
ferred
all
advantages
that a 100-ton vertical
machine
could give.
The
author of
the paper
h
ad
given him
too
much credit for
t
he
slight suggestions
he
h
ad
made,
and
while regarding
the
machine as
the
most
perfect yet built, he felt
that
it was really the embodi
me
nt
of
the labour
of
many
distinguished engineers
who had made a succession of
improvements
from
time to
time,
and he
was
proud
to
have
in this
machine the outcome of the cumulative expe
ri
ence
of n
ot only Mr
. Wicksteed,
but
of
Mr. Arthur
Greenwood, Mr. Kirkaldy, who had worked so long
at testing
machines, of
Professor Kennedy,
of
Pro-
fE
ssor
Unwin,
who
had
done
much in perfecting
testing machines,
and
of
Profe
eso r
Elliott.
Mr.
Wicksteed
stated
in
the paper
that at
his (Dr.
Ban·
's
)
sug
gest
ion
the
poise-weights
rode
upon
three
wheels
instea
d of four,
and
he could
only
wish that
mor
e
engineers would adopt this arrangement ; the idea of
geometrical guides
in this
connection also
he
was
proud
to
attribute
to
the early suggestion of Lord
Kelvin and
of his l
ate maste
r
and pr
edecessor,
the
late Professor Thomson, when he (Dr. Barr) was a
student at
Glasgow
University
.
Mr.
Arthur
Greenwood, who
spoke
next,
con
gratulated
the author
of the paper
on hi
s
return to
the
true
faith.
Ve r
tical machines
had long been
in fayour f
or the
reasons
stated
by Professor
Barr,
and he
recalled t
he
f
act that the
first machine
made
by
his
firm, exhibited
in
t
he
1862 Exhibition,
ma
de
for
the late Mr
.
Kirkaldy,
was of
this type, but
they
had come
to the
conclusion that t he vertical
machine imposed
limitation
s
upon
t
he
size of
the
pieces to be tested ;
and
at w
or
ks where
there
were
a
great variety
of
test
pieces
the ad
vantage of the
h
or
izontal machine, whe
re
there was no such limit,
was recognised
quit
e
twenty
.fi ve years ago by Mr.
l{irkaldy, and
m
an
y h
ad
since
been
cons
tructed.
He
congratulated Mr.
Wicksteed
on the
introduc
t ion of
the spr
ing
for
de
termining the true
bearing
of t
he
weigh-beams, but
he
doubted whether
it
would
prove
q
uite
satisfactory
in
t
es ting the
accu
racy of the machine,
ang felt
that
it
might be con
venient
to
provide
an
elbow lev
er
so
that
dead
weights could bo u sed for testing the accuracy.
Professor
Unwin was
asked by the
chairman
also
to
say a few word s,
and remarked
th
at
the
first 1nachines
he
had
made
wero
constructed
by
Mr.
Wicke,teed,
and
that
at that time
he
was
in
favour of the vertical machine ; but now
the
h
or i
·
zontal machine
was exceedingly admirable,
and
at
the
same time was
very handy
, affording the greatest
possibility of
making
a wide
a r i e ~ y
of
tests
.
In d
eed,
he did
not
think
that
n
better
arrangement
than
that
de
sc
rib
ed
could be arrived at but, at
t
he
same time,
he
felt with
th i
s, as with many other
thino-s- for
instanc
e,
with
bicycles-
it
was n
ot
pos
sible0 to
have
an absolute best. The hydr
aulic
system had adv
a
ntages
over th e l
ever
mach ine
in
some respects .
There
was
one
special
advantage
of the h orizontal machine which
did
not seem
to
have been
specially noticed,
and
that was
the
absence of
limit
to
the
len
gt
h of spec
imens
which
might
be d e a ~ t
with,.
although at t ~ e same
timo a
vertical machine
talnng
10-ft. specimens
prebably
covered
most requirem
ents
. As
to the ealibration
of
the
machine,
he
fe
lt that
a special
bellcrank
lever
wa 3 de
si rable for
applying dead
load ;
but, in
[S
EP T. 20,
1901.
~ h e
absence of
that, the
system
of springs adopted
In this
horizontal machine was possibly the best.
He recalled a
sp r
ing
machine made
for
\V
oo
lwich
Arsenal, however, which
had
not
proved quite
satis
factory,
and
ho
wa
s inclined
to
ask Mr. \Vicksteod
why he adopted
springs
at all.
If
a rough measure
of elongat ion were wanted,
and an
approximation
sufficed,
it
seemed to him t ha t a
simple
straight
bar
with the
u
se
of a
micrometer
gauge would give a
better method than
any
coil of spring, which could
not
be accurate enough,
or
would not give
an
elonga
tion so
proportionate to the
load.
Having
obtained
confidence
in
t
he
micrometer gauge,
he
did
not
see
why
it
would
not
measure
the
accuracy
up to the
full
100 tons.
n the
application of
testing
machines
to
laboratory work in
colleges we were
far behind the
Continent or the
United
States, where there was a
g
reater variety
of work done, a
nd
wh
ere
more time
was devoted to such
te
sts than was possible in
workshops.
Even in the
application of such ma
chines
to
commercial purposes
in
workshops, much
mor
e ought
to be done tha
n at
present
;
and Pr
o
fessor
Unw
in
p o
inted to
t
he
importance
of
thoroug
hly
experienced
men being
engaged in such
wo
rk
s.
Inde
ed, he
thought
that
from
the
national
po
int
of view we
were
not working
up to our duty
in pro
secuting
the dev
elopme
nt
of mechanical
science in this direction,
and
he thought that
the
t ime
had
come when, in
stea
d of
test
pieces,
actual
products should
be
tested so as to ensure
that all
the material
came
up to the
st
andard.
He
pointed
also
to
the
fact that but few
English
memb
ers of t
he
In
te
rnati
onal Association for test
ing material propos ed to
atten
d
the meeting at
Zurich,
and this
was
an
indication of
our
lack of
interest in
t his
important development
in work
shop practice.
The
C
hairman said
that
he thought that
such
machines
and other
appliances
provided
in engi
neerin
g laboratori es
ought to be
utili
se
d more for
research work and in speaking at the inauguration
of
the James
Watt
Laboratory
he had
brought
forward
this
point
and
suggested
that
suitable
selected
st
ud
e
nt
s sho
uld be
enco
uraged
to m
ake
use of
the
laboratory
for
such purp
oses.
With
regard
to the
use of a
standard bar
in place of
springs
for meas
uring the
accuracy of a testing
machine,
he
believed that one of
the
rea so
ns
for
using
the sp
ring
arrangement
was
to
enable
the
test
to be made wi th all
the
beams free, while the
lever
was oscillating slight ly
in
s
tead
of having t
he
exceedin gly slig
ht
movem
ent
which would occur
when a
bar
was used for testing. A combination
was
therefore
desirable : if
the bar
were used as a
means of
mea
s
uring and the
s
train
was put on
the
bar
th rough a
sp rin
g action,
the
machine would
be
free during the
time the extension of
the bar
was
being
measured.
Mr. Wicksteed, in replying, said that
it
bad been
to him
a
grat
ifying discussi o
n,
rig
ht up to the la
st
words of
the Chairman
, who had m
ade
an in
genious sugge
stion
for
the improvement
of the
method of calib:rating
the
machine. He
quite
agreed
with Profe
ssor
Unwin
i
the purpose
was
to
prove
the
accuracy,
but
t
hat
was
not quite the
object
of
the
spring. He was indebted
to Profes
sor
Barr
for
re
cog
ni
sing t he different
workers to
wards
the
perfection of
the te
st
ing
machine,
and he
would
like
to
add anot
h
er
name,
that
of Mr.
Th
omas
Trail, formerly
the
head of the consultative branch
of
the
Board
of
Trade
.
:JYir.
Wicksteed
added that
many years
ago he
met
Mr
.
Tr
ail
at the
proving s
tation
for
Lloyd
's, Glas
gow, when
under
the superintendence of Mr. Seed
house. J\1r.
Trail
had
taught him
how
to prove the
accuracy of
a testing
machine
by
meas
urement.
Thu
s,
after Mr
. Trail
had
t ried the
se
nsitiveness of
the
machine
in the
most
exact
way by
pulling
the
short
end
of
the stee
l
yard by
a spring balance
attached to
a t
hr
ead so as
to
indicate even a q
uart
er
of an ounce, he had the
ma
chine ta
ken to
pieces
and the pa rts
laid
out
on
n.
surface, so
that th
e
accuracy of all
the
knife edges might be de
ter
min
ed
.
But
while
minute errors
could bo di
covered in this way, gross er rors in the pos
it i
on of
the
centres mi
gh t
pass unnot
iced, and.
it wa
s
to
check such
mea
s
urements that
he
In t roduced
the
s
pring arran
ge
ment
he
had
described,
an
arrclno-ement which would
at
once expose
any
such
error
b
in the
fulcrum d istance. H e
st
ron
gl y com
mended Profe
ssor
Unwin's idea
of actually
tes ting
manufactured
ar t icles rather t
han
test pieces,
and
mentioned the
fact
that
some tool-holders which
h
ad been made
in connection
with
machines for
dealing with arn1otu-plates h avi
ng
proved
u n ~ ~ t ; s
7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 72 1901-09-20
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/engineering-vol-72-1901-09-20 5/47
S PT 20
, 1go
1.J
fa
cto
ry
when constru
cted
of
cast steel
we
re
t
este
d in the machine, and t hose came
through a test of 17 tons
pull wer
e passed in
to
u
se
, although the
rema
i
nd
er w
ere replaced by
forged
stee
l
hold
ers.
R
EGENERATIVE
A
c cu l\lUIATOR
s Fon. Exna.us
T
T E A . ~ A TD THE
E
scAPE
OF
S·
r&Al\I THi tOOG H
OR I
FIC
ES.
The
next
two I?apers t
aken
bo th
by
Mons. A.
R9.teau,
of Pans,
t
he
first bemg
enti
tl
ed A Note
on
a AccUtnulator,
and
its Application
for Usmg Exhaust Steam,,, while the other descr
ibed
E
xperiments
on
the
E sc
ape
of
Steam th
rough
r i f i c e s .
'.
'Ve
shall reproduce b
ot
h pa
pers in
full
1n
ea
rly
IE
su
es
.
Professor Stodola., of Zurich, made a few obser
vations,
referring to
the ori
gina
l id
ea
suggested
by
M
ea
u
,.
w
het
·e
by
.
he
s
team
of
an engin
e
workmg
1n
tern nttent
ly
m1ght
be
passed to
an
accu
mulator to effect economy, and he r
eaa
rded i t as
of
importance,
especially in view of
th:
gre
at
com
pet
iti
on of the gas
engine
.
He
re
mark
ed th
at
th ey
all lo
oked forward
with great
in te
re st to the
re
s
ults
of th e practical working of th is in gen ious arranCYe-
t
b •
men .
n-1r
.
Bryan Donkin said that
the sho
rt de
sc
rip
tion of t he appliance scarce
ly did
i u
st
ice
to
the
splendid work
done
by M. Rateau
;
an
d
he state
d
that fuller details could be fo
und in
a
paper
which
h
ad
been
road at
last year 's French Congress by
th
e
author.
I t
seemed to him
t
ha
t t
he
accumul
ato
r
mig
ht
be
called a
he
at
or
caloric flywheel,
and the
In
s
titution
wou
ld be
gr
atefu
l
to
M.
R.ate
au if
he
would
contribute to
t
he
In
st ituti
on a subsequent
paper giving the results of the ap plic
at
ion of the
F y stem
to
a 250 indicated
hor
se-power
insta
lla
tion
at
the Bruay
mine
s, in the north of
France.
M.
Ra teau, in
replyin
g
to the
brief
di
sc
ussio
n,
pr
omi
se
d to give
fuller
d
et a
ils.
M.
RaLeau 's second paper was
taken
as read, the
Chairman
ob
se
rving that t ho subj
ect dealt wi
t h
in
the pa per was one
to
which the auth
or
h
ad
paid
great atte
n t io
n, and in
which
he
h
ad carried
out
much experiment
al work. His conclusio
ns th
ere
fore
were
worthy of mo
st
careful exam
in
at ion.
P owER REQUIRED TO D RI VE A M
ARINE
-ENGINE
WO RKS .
The
Secretary
next read in brief
abstract a. paper
on t
hi
s subject
by
Messrs. James Crig
hton
and
,V.
G.
Riddell,
of
Gla
Fgo w,
which
will
be
fo
und
printed in full
on
page 422.
Mr.
Saxon
opened
the discussion, and asked for
fuller information
as to
the fri ction of t
he
engines,
as well
as
of th e
line
shaft, and
at
the same
time
a
dv
ocated t
he adoption of fuel
economisers, which
he considered would give a further economy, when
the
engines
described in the paper were worked in
conn ec:ion with surface condensers. At
presen
t ,
the feed-water
hea
ters,
as
indicated
in
the
paper,
rai
s
ed
the
temp
e
rature of
the f
eed
to
alm ost boil
ing po
in t
,
wherea
s
his
experience showed
that,
by
utilising the
waste furnac
e gases in connection
with
an
econo
mi
s
er,
a
temperat ure of
270 deg . was
at
tained
.
In
reply
to
the Chair man , he
promised
to
send to
t he
Secre
taries
t he r
esult of
some experi
men ts he him
self
had
mad
e in conn
ec t
ion
with
the
fri ction of lin e
shafting.
E N G I N E E R I N G.
al together from the changes afforded by coned
pulley
s.
Mr.
Crighton,
in
replying to the discussion, said
that
he
was not able
to
answer
a
req
u
est
made
by
J.\;lr.
Sa
xon as
to the
capital outlay in volved in the
new
pl
a
nt,
because t
he
accounts had not been made
up. Diagrams of engine fri ction h
ad
been
taken,
and
th ese
he
would hav e prepa
red
for the pro
ceedings.
He
would
al
so
add
to
the
pr
oceedings
some details
as to
boiler efficiency.
P NEUJ\
IATI
C
RIVETIN
G.
The next
paper
was on "Pneumatic
Rivetin
g
and ot
her useful
app
lic
at
ions of
Pneumatic
Tools, ,
by
Mr . J. C. Taite, London.
This
paper, which
was read by the Secretary, is
suppl
em
entary to
a
comprehensive
treatment
of the whole s
ubject
of
pneumatic tools read
at th
e Institution of Mechani
cal
Engineer
s some months ago
by Mr.
E . C.
Am
os,
and
dealt spe
cially with
the
tools exhibite d
at
work
at
the Glasgow
Exhibiti
on, and also
with
the
economy
re
sulting
fr
om
their
application
to
s
hip
building, locom
ot
ives, bridgebuilding,
and other
w
or
k. As we
sha
ll reproduc
e the
pap
er
in an
early issue, we may pass
on to the
br ief
di
scussion
which followed.
Mr.
T.
H
urry
Riches open
ed
t
he
discussion,
bu t re mark
ed
t h
at
he
had
giYen all
data
as to
the
wo
rking
of pneum
atic
tools at
hi
s establishment
when
Mr.
Amos's
paper
was read . H e
wa
s
st
ill
sa tisfied
with
t he working of t
he
tools, and was
ex
te
ndin
g their use.
In
t he
pap
er
Mr.
Taite in
dicated *
·in.
rive
ts
were being
driv
en f
or
4s. 6d. per 100 aga inst 10s. 6d. by hand,
but
his
exper
ience wa s
that
th
ey had
never paid more than
7s . 6d. for
hand
work. The pn eumatic hammer,
while excellent
fo
r lig
ht
enough work, was
not qu
ite
so sa tisfac
to
ry for heavier rivets ; unless t he
rivet
wa s t
hor
oughly well
heat
ed, and th e point properly
cooled, th e
re
was a possibility
that the
riv
et
would
not fill t he hole.
Mr
. Bell,
of
the
Great
Ea st e
rn Rai
lwa
y,
said
that in the frame of a six-wheel railway carriage,
where
th
ere were 700 rivets, the hydraulic
rivet
er
co
uld not get
into
corners,
and
thus 80 we
re left to
be closed
by
hand; whereas
with the pn
eumatic
riveter
every
one
co
uld
be
put
in
;
and in
this way
while skilled rive
te
rs were
re
quired in conjunction
with the hydraulic sy
ste
m, the same labour sufficed
with pneumatic
tools
for putting
in all
the
rivets,
a
point
which was
great
ly
appreciat
ed
at
their
works.
Mr .
C. B.
Alb ree
said
he
had
h
ad
some
ex
peri
enc e
with
heavy hammers, and found that the
power was more a que
st
ion of the veloc
ity than
the weight of the
hammer
; th e st ren gth of
the
blow
increased
with
the
velocity,
and
t]le velocity
was
determined by
the
pre
ss
ure
or
by
the length
of the st r
oke
; t
he
pressures were
limit
ed, becau
se
if th
ey were
too high,
the kick or reb
o
und
was so
gre
at
that the workman co
uld
not ho
ld
the tool, so
tha
t the o
nly
al te
rnativ
e was to u
se
a long
st
rok
e
with moderate
pressure.
Mr. Taite, in r eplying
to
the d iscussion,
sa
id
that
the main
obj
e
ct
of the
pap
er was
to draw
attention
to
t he tools
at
t
he
Glasgow
Exhibition
.
As
to
th e cost of clos
ing
t
he
i n .
rive
ts by
hand,
the ra te quoted
in
hi
s
paper
was s
uppli
ed
to
his
firm. Th ey had actually done the
work with
pneu
ma
t ic tools,
and at
t
he Exhibition they
were closing
1
-
in
.
rivets;
and
he would
be
glad
to
me
et any
of
the
memb
ers of th
e Congress
at
hi
s pavilion
to
see the work
and
i
ts
res
ult
.
As to the takin
g
up
0f
the
rebound, he
might
sa
y that the ha.mn1er was
h
eld in
a bar
with
a
spheric
al fitting so
that
the
worker
had on
ly
to
ho
ld
the t rigger ; while in s
hip
holds he did
not even require to do t hat , so t
ha
t
there was no difficuH.y
in
resp
ect
of vibration .
C.ANADUN AG RI CULTURAL MA
C
HIN
E
RY.
J\ir.
W.
H.
Alien, of
B
ed
fo
rd, said
that he had
also made
obs
ervation
s
of the
f
rict
ion
caused by
shafting, n
ot
on
ly
at
his own works, but
at other
s
w h ~ r e
facilities h
ad
been
kindly
grant ed,
and
generally the resul t was that th e main s
haftin
g
w
as
fo
und
to
ab
so
rb
25 per ce
nt.
of
the
original
power, the co
un te
rshafting,
with
its belts,
and
bearings,
to
ok another 26 per cent. , whereas
the
machines abso
rb
ed
in
friction
fr
om 26
to
30
per
cent
.,
so that the u
se
ful work done was o
nly
from 20
to
26 per
cent.
With the
o
bject
of re
ducing this
wa
ste
of power, he dispen
se
d
with
the top
gea
r a
nd
coun tershaft
ing
entirely, and
adopte
d a
syste
m of
clutchefl, which had
proved very Ea
tisfactory,
and
several
manufactur
ers
had
since adopted t
he
system.
Mr. Bryan
D o
nkin
as
ked the authors
if
th
ey
could indi
ca t
e the bo
iler
efficiency.
Mr. Walker, of
'Vi
gan, t hought th
at much
of
the
eco
nomy
had
be
en realised ,
as
su$ gesteu
in the
paper, by
the
change
in the
boiler. \V
hile
favour
ably disposed
towards
electric driving, he
had
fou
nd
gr
ea
t diffic
ulty in d ~ p t i n g
it
to
hi s o
wn
works,
and had
even had
many
el ectrical engineers
at
t
he
works anxious
to
soh
·e
his
difficul ty,
th i
s
being
princip
ally associated w:ith the number of
pulleys
required
for th e vanable
speeds
, apart
Mr. George
Harwo
od Frost, B .
A.Sc
. , of
Onta
rio,
n
ext
read in abstract a most suggestive p
ape
r
descri
pt
ive of the
sp
le
ndid
coll
ec t
ion of agric
ultural
mac
hinery
in the Canadian
Section
of the Exhibi
tion,
and this pap
er we s
hall
re
produ
ce
with
the
illus
tration
s in an
early
issue. The Chai rman ,
in
mov ing the cu
stomary
vote of thanks, took occasion
to
r efer to the g
reat
inge
nuity
displayed in t
he
design of
the
machin
es
de
scribed,
and
also
to the
great
per
severa
nce wit h which
Canadian
manu
fact
urers had
pe
rfected these
mac
hin
es . H e
adv
i
se
d
the
memb
ers to
examine
the Canadian exhibits,
and
sa
id
th
at
in
doi
ng
so th ey would find
Mr.
Frost'
s a mo
st
u
se
ful guide. Mr. R.
Co
ur t
nay
said
th
at
he had had experience of several of
391
t
he
Canadian mac
hin
es, and
he
was thus able t o
con firm wh
at
t
he
Cha irman had
sa
id
as to thei
r
great
excellence.
Th
e number being impo
rt
ed
in t
o
this co
un
t ry was increasing ve
ry
r
apidl
y.
Th
e
reape
rs
especially we
re
most
car
efully designed,
and
they were beautiful
machines;
th e ploughs in
exce
ll
ence compared favo
ur
ably with those of
Br itish and American manuf
ac t
ure,
and
he
had no
doubt that, notwi
t
hstanding
c
ompet
it i
o
n, th
e
Canadians would ho
ld
the pos
ition
t h
ey
had
assumed,
and
improve upon i
t.
THE G OV.ERNIN O OF wATER-
WHEEL
S.
Mr.
E . C. de Seg
und
o
contributed
the next and
concluding
pap
er
on "The
Cassel
Self-R
egul
at
ing
Water-
Wheel, " this
paper
dealing with a device
which we illu
st
r
ated and
described
in
a
recent
number
of E
NCJNEER
INO
uide
page 768
ante .
Dr.
Barr,
who was as
ked by the
C
hairman to
begin
the di
scussion,
said
t
ha
t t he method of
re
gu
la ti
on
applied to
the
wheel which was exh
ibited
wa s certainly
in t
er
es t
ing a
nd
useful
wher
e
the
saving of
wat
er was not aimed
at,
the problem
being
to
gove
rn
s
imply
the speed of t
he
wheel.
Incide
ntally
he remark
ed
that
the
Pe lton wheel
was miscalled, because a Scotchman, Mr . Moore,
who was well
known in
Ca
li f
o
rn i
a
in
connection
w
ith
the laying of wrought-iron mains,
had
used
such a wheel long before Pelt
on
brought
it
out in commercial form.
He
believed that such
wheels would
be
extensively used because of their
m p l i as
con1pared with t
he turbin
e,
and
because
they
were
as
economical as
the
best
t
urbine
.
An
important question, however, in many cases
wa
s
the
econo
my
of the
water
used ;
and
in connec
tion with a sy
ste
m of gove
rning
which combined
t hi s
ad
vantage,
Pr
ofes ;
or
Ba
rr stated
that
he had
been working
on
th is problem,
and
had
take
n out
a p
ate
n t for a variable nozzle. Mr. Basil ' Vilson,
of Belfast, h
ad
also
patented
a similar device a
week
after
his,
bu
t
quite indep
end
en t
ly,
an
d,
with
his cons
ent,
was now work ing
on
the
same lines.
Professor Barr
sa
id t hat
he
had a case sur ro
unding
th
e nozzle
proper,
the
nozzle
b ~ i n g
made of
india
rubb
er, and
th
e arran
gement
being such
that by ad
mitt ing more or less water
under
pressure arou
nd
the indiarubb
er nozzle,
the
l
atte
r became
restrict
ed
al though
still
maintainin g its circular form.
He
did
no t propose
to
apply t
he
arrangement
to
large
heads,
bu
t for
ordinary
purposes it would govern
the
fl
ow, effect economy, and
maintain
t he m
ost
efficient fo
rm
of
jet.
He
hoped to
continue his
research work
in
conn ection with the application of
t his system.
Pr
ofessor Goo
dman
was
the
next speaker,
and at
the
outset remarked
that o
nly
those who
had
worked
at this pr
oblem of
the
governing of
water
wheels
had any
idea of the
real
difficulties involved.
·
Nhen
t
he
N iaga
ra
power
insta
ll
at
ion w
as arranged
t
he
m
ost experienc
ed hydraulic engineers were em
ployed,
with
the resul t that the best
apparatus
possible
wa
s
got
; y
et
two years ago
when he
was
at
Niagara
he wa
s much disappointed to see all
t
he
gove
rn
ors hunting. There were many turbines
working,
and
when so
me
were up, othe
rs were
down, so that
th
e general
result
was tolerable ; but
each tut
bine
w
as
doing badly.
He
h
ad
been
conducting a long series of experiments on
the sub
ject and had
prepar
ed a paper for the In stitution
of Mecha
ni
cal
Engine
er , and t
heref
o
re thought
i t
was n
ot
des
irabl
e at
that time to
en
te
r
into
details ;
but
the
se experiments
had l
ed him to the
conclu
sion th at the solution of the
probl
em suggested by
P rofessor Barr wo
uld
n
<.t
prove satisfactory. Any
con
st
riction of
the
nozzle
an
d consequent checking
of the flow of water
in
the s
upply pipe
gave rise to
a mome
ntary
increa
se
of
pre
s
sure
in
that pipe
; and
if
the su
pply pipe
was long, so that
there
was a
large mass of
wat
er
in
motion, th is
incr
ease of pres
s
ure
became very gr
eat and
would
in te
rf
ere
seriously
with the action of the m
et
hod of con trol suggested
by
Professor
Barr.
Mr. Bryan
Donkin ask
ed
if
Mr.
Segundo could
give them
any
information as
to
the efficiency of
the wh
eels.
Mr.
Segundo, in replying to the discussion, s
g,id
that Dr. Barr's id
ea
for a rubber nozzle was ex
tremely
valuable, and he was
hop
eful
about
carrying
out some
tests
in connection
with
it,
with Pr
o
fe
ssor
Ba
rr
's permissio
n. He quite
agreed with wh
at had
be
en
said
ab
o
ut th
e n
ame
of Pelton being er ro
neously
applied
to such fo
rm
s of water-wheel, and
in
connec t
ion
with this
me
nt i
o
ned that
th e American
P atents Office
had di
scovered the idea
recorded
in
1850. As
to
the
inefficient regulation
of the
t
urbine
s
7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 72 1901-09-20
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/engineering-vol-72-1901-09-20 6/47
392
at. Nia
gara, mentioned by Professor Goodman,
he
sa1d that
Mes
srs. Escher,
W
yss
,
and
Co. had claimed
to have
successfully over
come this
unsati
sfacto
ry
sp
ee
d
regulat
ion by the u
se
of reli
ef
valves some
wha
t
similar to,
but n
ot
, in
hi
s view,
so
s
imple
those he had de
s
crib
ed
in
th e
paper.
Professor
Goodman's r e
mark
s
were
very
instructive,
but as
the
time
for adjournment had a
rrived
he would
only say in
r e
ference to them
that h e
would look
forward with great pleasure to
the
detail
s
which he
prop
osed t o e
mb
o
dy in hi
s pa
per to the In st ituti
on.
As the efficiency of the
wat
er-wheel,
he
b elieved
that
it
had been pu
t
at
92
per
cent.
as
the re
s
ul t
s of
tests at
t
he
Corn
ell
U ni
varsity.
H e hi mse
lf
h
ad
m a ~ e no
expe.riments,
but he thought
· that
in
ord1nary practtee 70 or
75
p er cent. miaht b e
attained.
He quite
ag
r
ee
d with
Mr.
D o
nkfn
that
t ~ e form of
no
zzle was a
subject
wor t
hy
of
atten
twn, as
the
best had
not
yet been arriv
ed
at.
· P rofes sor Goodman
here
ma de the re mark that a
group
of tests of a P elton wheel
at
the
Yorkshire
College had g
iven
an
80
per cent. efficiency.
This completed the pr
ogra
mme
of pa
pers, and
the
Chairman
then
mo
ved
th
at the
t
hanks
of
th
e
S
ec tion should
b e accorded to the Glasaow Univer
sity Students'
Union
for the
use of
their
very
suitable hall,
in
whi
ch the meetings
had been held.
He added that in concluding
their
meetin
g
he
felt
sure th a
t
all
present
wo
uld desir
e
to
most heartily
co
ngratulate
those on wh om the wo
rk
of
organising
the
Congress had
fallen,
on
the
great
s uccess
which
had
attended
their
efforts.
SECTION
IV NAVAL ARCHITECTURE
AND MARINE
ENGINEERING.
On
the
third
day
of the
meeting, Thuraday, Sep
tember
5,
the
sitting
of
this
Section
was
renewed in
the Hu manity
Lecture
Thea.tre of ~ h e U niversi
ty,
Dr.
John
Inglis occupying
the
chair.
S TEAMBOAT E
QU
IPMENT
OF
w ARS
HI P
S.
The
fir
st
p a
per taken wa s by
Mr.
E.
C.
Carnt,
the
subject
being The Mo
dern Steamboat Equip
ment of
Warships.
" Th is pap er we print n xt nso
on
p
age
431.
The discussion on th i
s
pa p
er was
opened
by
Colonel Solainoi, who
referred
t o the ma ter ial of
which
the boats descri
bed by
the aut hor were built.
H e
sa i
d that
th e
se li t
tle
vessels fulfilled a most
useful function
in
training young
officers in
the
h a
ndling
of
vess
el
s.
Th a
t had
some
effect
on the
material of which they were constructed. They were
apt to run in to landing
stag
es,
or
ge.t
damaged
in
other
ways, and it was
no
doubt
true that, if made
of
wood,
they
were mo
re
easily
re p
a
ired by the
ship
's ca
rp
enter
than
if
t
hey
were con
struct
ed of
me tal.
There
was this,
however,
to be considered :
that n
acti
o
n, if
th
ese
boats
were
to
rem
ain on the
skids,
their wooden hull
s
wh
en
struck by
s
hot or
shell would be likely
to afford
ma
teri
al
for dangerous
splinters.
So much
this
feared
that
it
was
accept ed
by
naval officera th at it w
ou
ld be well to
get rid of their boats before
going into action
.
That
involved con
s
iderabl
e c
om
plica
tion,
for
even
in war time
men-of-war co
uld
not
di
s
pense
wit h
b oats altoge ther. He thought t hat
now
th
ero were
so many
me
cha
nic
s
on
board a warship that ordinary
da m
age t o a
steel
b
oat
sho
uld
be
able
to be
repaired
with
out
great
d ifficulty.
Professor Bi l
es sa
id
that n o
doubt the
stea
mb
oat
equipment
of war
ves
sels was a
subject
that had
no
t r ece
ived
ve
ry
much
attention by
t he
In st
it
ution
of Naval Architects, and Mr. Carnt
's most inter
es t
ing
p
ape
r w
as therefore doubly
welcome.
Th
ese
li t tle vessels
we
re ,
ind eed
, of considera
bl
e
imp
ort
ance,
and t
heir
per forma
nc
e was
watched
with
intere
st
by
n
ava
l architectg,
as
in
dicating the
pos
s
ibilities in
d evel
opme
nt of
speed in
la
rg
er
vessels
havin
g
high rati
o of
power
to
di
sp
laceme
nt
.
One
of the
most
s triking facts to him was th e
circumstance
that with a wooden
boat
of
60 ft.
lenath as great
a
spee
d
had be
en ob
tain
ed as
w
a ; eached with
a
metal
b
oat
.
I t
was well kn own
that in the smaller sizes wooden hulls were ligh ter
than th ose of
me
tal,
and
in vie w of the fact stated,
it wo
uld be interest ing
to know
wh
ere the
line
of
demarc
at
ion occurred.
In
the
case of
sailin
g
yachts of high sp eed, they found , for
in
stance,
that modern
' '
Cup D efend ers " were all of metal.
Colonel Soliani had pointed out
t
he defects
of wood
in
r
eaa
rd
to splintering in action
.
Th
ere
were,
m
an
y
things
in
a
ma n
-of-war that
~ l d
be undes
irab
le durina an engageme
nt,
yet wh1ch
had
to be tol
er
at e
d for the
sake
of th eir
advan-
•
•
E N G I N E E R I N G
tages durin
g peace.
I t
was
always
a
que
s
tion
what qualit ies should be sacrificed- whether it
wa
s
worth
r
et ainin
g a
great
ad rant age
for
the
peace
p e
ri
od,
al t
hough it
mi
ght en
ta
il
some
ri
sk
in
wa
r. Splinters
from
the hull
s
of
wooden b oa
ts were,
however,
perhaps
not quite
so
da ngero
us as
might be
th ought ,
and
the damage
to a
steel hull mi
ght not be so easi
ly
r
epaired after
an
action. The
' ' turn
about principl
e was always
o.ne
of
con s
iderabl
e
in t
e
rest
,
but
it was a
qu
es
twn whether th ese boats owed their improved
ma n
oo
uvring
facilitie s
nwst to
the cu tt ing
away
of
d
ea
d wood,
or
to th e
two rudd
ers.
In
th e mo
dern
sailing yacht
the
principl
e of
cutting away the ends
was car
ried
to an ex treme,
and these
boats turned
with a
rapidity
that was simply amazing. In
ma
k ing a co
mparis
on between sa
iling and ste
a m
b oats,
they could
n
ot bu
t
be struck by the
enormously quicker
a
ct ion of the sailing
vessel.
Mr . Carnt p o
in t
ed out
he r
e
that
the
turning
t ri als
to which he
had
ma de reference were carried
out
with a vessel
steaming at
16
kno
ts .
Professor
Bil
es
add
ed th
at no
doubt the
speed ma d
e a great
di
fference, b
ut th
e question remained whe
th
er the
quicker turning
was
du
e mos t
ly
to t
he
two
rudder
s,
or
to
cutting
away t
he
de
ad
wood.
Mr.
Co
rner,
Chief
Enginee
r
to H.M.
D oc
kyard
,
Portsmouth,
who rose
at
the invita tion
of
the
Chairman, sa
id
that the
pape
r was par ticularly
in terest in
g to him, for he
had been largely mixed
up
with
b
oat trials
at
the ear
ly
part
of
the
forty
y
ea
rs
durin
g which
he
had
been co
nnecte
d
with the
R o
yal Navy.
He
had
b
ee
n en
gaged on one
of
the
earliest
trials ca
rried
out with
one
of these
little
st
ea
m vessels.
They
were a novelty th
en
,
and he
well r e
membered
the
great in t
erest excited.
On
their
r
et
urn
to the
dock
yard
a
ga
llan
t
ad
miral of
that day, who probably did no t possess all t
he
math
e
ma t
ical lore that was
now
to
be
acquired at
Greenwich,
asked him
wh
at spee
d
had been rea
ched.
The reply
was, po
in
t o
ne
eight five
four.
Why,
that,
sa
id the
a
dmir
al,
i
se
xactlythenumber
-.> f feet
that
are in a mile." Now we have r eached
six
tee
n kn
ots
. Mr. John Samuel Whi
te's
connec
tion with th ese bo
ats had
been a
very
mar
ked one.
He
had been
associated with Mess
rs
. Bellis
and
Co
., now
Bellis
and Morc
om, who
had mad
e
the
machinery; and the c
ou
ntry owed a
great
deal to
all three for th e
ad van
ceme nt
made
in
this
branch
of n
av
al arc
hitecture and
marine
eng
ineerin
g
•
sctence.
In
re
plying to the
discussio
n, Mr.
Ca.rnt
said
th at
th e relative merits of wood and steel for the hull
construction
of small
boat
s
had
been well conside.red
by the Admiralty, and
the preference
had
been
given to
wood. I t
had
beon
stated
that
the
Admiralty
we
re
creat
ing
a r
ese rve
of 25
per cent.
of boats in excess of the normal
peace
r
eq uir
ements
for ships in the Navy. f a b
oat were bl
own to
pi
eces
in
an ac
t io
n, no doubt the
ship would also be so
crippl
ed
that
s
he
would
have to go to
th e doc
kyard
to
refit,
and
a
new
boat
could then
be
dropped
in to
pla
ce. The question of splinters from wooden
hull
s
had
been full
y
taken into
co
nsid
eration.
His
own
opinion
was
tha
t
there would
n
ot
be
mu
ch
proba
bility
of
hea
vy
splint
e
rs. Th
e
se
boat
s
had
three
sk ins,
and
the diagonal construction led him to
think that
they
would
not splinter
badly,
bu
t would
get
_perfor
ated in th
e
same
manner
as a
steel
b
oat
;
t
he
diffe
ren
t
layers
of wood in
the
s
kin were
securely
f
aste
n ed
together with some textile fabri
c
and ma
rine
g
lu
e be t ween them.
At
the present
time
Me
ssrs.
Whit
e were
building at East
Cowes
four steel boats
f
or th
e Ru
ss
ian
Government. They
could build
th ere
stee
l
hull
s
as li
ght as
any in
t he
world,
but they
fo
und
t hat
they
could
n
ot get the
same speed with a metal-built b
oat
as th ey could
with a
woode
n
hull
of
similar dim
ensions.
He,
like Pr
ofessor
Biles, had seen
a good d
ea
l of t
he
mo
dern
racing
yacht,
a
nd
had b
ee
n led
to
cons
ider
how far
th
e doub le rudder a
nd
the
rem
oval of
the
dead wo
od
respect
iv
e
ly
influenced the tu rn ing of
th e
small steamboats
described
in
th e pa
per.
At
fir
st he wa
s
inclin
ed
to think
th
at the absence
of
dead
wood was
the
rulin
g
fa
cto
r, but
he h
ad found
that the additional . rudder forward of th e main
rudder
w
as
a great h elp to pr ecision
in steering.
In
go
in
g
astern
t
hi
s w
as
the
case to a n
wst
ma
rked
degree, t
he ' ' turn-abo
ut , b
oats
wh en r
everse
d
ma noouvring with the gr
eatest
precision. H e had
recent
ly built
a
steamboat
in
which the
dead wood
w
as
out
awa
y,
but there
was no forw
ard
rudder, a
nd
although the
b
oat
st eered very
we
ll an
d
would
t
urn
in a very small circle going
forward,
th
ere
was an
abse
nce
of control in
going
astern. An
inv
olu n tK I.
ry
[S EPT
. 20,
I
901.
ex
periment wa
s recently made
th r
ough the carry
ing a way of the
after ru
dde
r,
an
accident
that was
not discovered
until the
b
oat
had
returned
to h
er
•
moor1n
gs
.
Dr.
In glis,
in
summing up the
di
scussion, said
that the excellence of the work done by Mr . John
Samuel White at
E
ast
Cowes
in
the con
st
ru ction of
hull
s,
and by Me
ss
rs. Belli
s
and
Morc
on1 n early
d lys
n
ma
king machinery,
was well
known. Thir
ty
years ago he
had
become possessed of one of these
li
ttle
boats,
and
h ad fo
und
then that
eve
n a Clyde
en
gineer
could
learn
so
me
thin
g
fr
om
marine
engines
made
at Birmin
gham.
GRA PHrc
A
NALYSEs
oF SoREw-P.aoP
ELLER
REAOTIONS.
The next paper taken
was a co
ntribution by Mr.
J . Millen
A
dam
,
entitled
' '
Graphic An
a
ly
ses of
Screw-Propeller
R e ~ c t i o n s . This pap
er we print
in
abs
tract
on page 429.
Mr.
E .
Hall
Brown
Wd.S
t he first sp
ea
ker. He
said it
wo
uld need
a wee
k,
rath
er than tw
e
nty
minut
es, to a
dequat
e
ly study
th e
paper
the author
had
pr
ese
nted, but
there were some
poi
nts
that
u g g e themselves
t o him
durin
g
the
r
eading
.
I t was
generally accepted
that
the greater
part of
the
velocity of th e
prop
eller
race
was
acquir
ed
pre
vious
ly
to the water
striking
t
he
blade.
Th a
t ,
however, was
apparently
n ot the view of Mr.
Adam. The question
also
arose
in
connection with
what the author had
sa
id whether the
ordinary
screw-propeller throws
wat
er
off at
t
he
tips. Mr
.
A;:lam appeared to think so, but th e speaker's
opinion
was that such an
ac t
ion
did
not
take
place.
f they could judg
e
by
the
smok
e
test
,
the
prope
ller
wo
uld draw from
t he
surroundin
g fluid at
the t i p : : ~
and
di
sc
har
ge
at
t
he
centre. No doubt
as
the
pro
peller
race
loses in velocity,
and
pressure
in
creases,
some water
must
come to the surface,
and
this
might give colour to
the
t heory.
What
e
ver might
be t he
pra
ctical r es
ult,
however, t
here
could
be no
do
ubt that the
pap
er r e
pr
ese
nt
ed a
high
intellec
tual effort, a
nd
as a men al exercise it was m
ost
va
luable
to follow.
Mr. Thrupp
said
he proposed
to
study the paper at
leis ure. He th ought it a
pity
that
n the theory
of
propeller
s it w
as
n
ot
pos
s
ible to get rid
of th e
express
ion negative slip. "
The
ex
pre
ssion was a
contradiction
in itself, and
wa
s like
speaking
of over 100 per ce
nt.
efficiency.
Mr.
John
Scott said he had
e
ndea
vo
ured
to give
practic
al effect
by
ex
periment<:1
on a large scale
to
the
a
uthor's theor
ies.
Although somet
hin g was
done,
he
reg retted
that
the
experiments had been
interrupted through
a cause quite
unconn
ected with
the propeller.
H e
had be
en highl y
impr
essed
by
t h ~
figures
and arguments Mr. Adam had
put before
him.
A
propeller on hi
s d esign
had
been
nade
and
put on a yacht, and from t he r es
ult
s obtained
he had co
me
to t
he
conclusion that the form of
screwposse
ssed
element3 of
design
which
promised
o
it a cons
iderable
fu t ure.
I t
was
very
difficult
to
come
to an ex
act co
nclu
sion
by
o
bservin
g
with
t
he
eye the
form of wake ; he could o
nly
say it differed materi
ally from that of
an ordinary sc
rew.
Th
ey had
had
two cone prop
e
ller
s ma
de
: with
the
fir
st one there
was
much
difficulty
in
goi
ng
as
tern
;
indeed, all the
power of t
he
e
ngin
e a
pp
eared
to
be
absorbed by
the propeller
in creating
a vor tex.
In
the sec o
nd
prop
elle r this diffic
ulty
was overco
me.
Mr. Mumf
o
rd said
he h ad
made prop
e
ll
er
experi
ments
for
twenty years,
but was
afraid
he could
n
ot form the same hi gh op inion of the promi
se
of
s uccess
for
the au thor' s propeller as
the
last speaker
h
ad expressed.
He
had made
ma
ny ex
p
er iments
with
screws hav
in
g various
pitche
s, but he
had
never
fo
und
o
ne to
give
an
efficiency higher
than
that
of the
sc
rew of unifo
rm
pitch.
The
accelera
tion of the
wake did
not occur in the passage of
t
he
water
fr
om
the
leadin g to
the
fo
ll
owing edge of
the
b lad e, but at some di
stance in fr
ont of
the
sc
rew.
In
r
egard
to t
he express
ion
negat
ive
slip,
to which Mr. 'rh:upp had
taken
exception, he would
point out that t he
ph
en omenon arose
fr
om th e fact
that the drivin
g s
urf
ace w
as
n
ot nece
3
sarily
the
r
ea
l
pitc
h of t he screw,
the
e
ffec t
ive p i
tch
being
affected by b oth
surf
aces. Th is was
illu
st ra t
ed b y
the fact t h'l t with fine pitches negat
ive
slip was
m
ore appa
rent,
as with
coarser
pitches
the
di
st
urb
ing
influence was a smaller r
a.ti
o.
In regard to
the
throwing
out of w
at e
r
at the tips
of t
he
bl
ades,
there
was n
ot
so much loss as
mi
ght
be
thought, as
there
was r eaction
on
t
he propeller
bl
a
de
t
hr
ough
motion being impart
ed to the wa
te
r.
In an
y case,
it
had been fo
und
that
trying to
confine the water so as to de
li,
·er it directly
•
7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 72 1901-09-20
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/engineering-vol-72-1901-09-20 7/47
SEPT. 20, 1901.]
astern resulted in no practical advantage.
In
conclusion,
he
would . ay that in propeller
de
sign
it was impossible to
dep
end on t heory alone for
de t
erm
inin6 res
ult
s, and success could only
be
proved by practical exper
im
en t. So
far
as his ex
perience w
ent, he
did not see there was much
hope of higher efficiency be
ing
reached
with
th
e
screw propeller .
Mr. Adam, in replying to the
di
scussion, sa
id
t
ha
t the trouble to which Mr.
Scott
had referred
in connection with rev ersing arose
through
in
sufficient
attention
being pa
id
to the form of the
back of the blades.
He
cou
ld
n
ot
agree with
Mr.
Mumford that, energy having been impa
rted
to the
water, a propulsive effect would
be
produced what
ever the direction might be in which the particles
were set
in
motion.
Any
action not
para
llel
with
the
shaft
was, to a
certain extent,
a loss of power.
A NEw FoRM oF PRO
PELLER
.
The
l
ast paper read at
t he meeting
in
this Sec
t ion was a cont
ribution by
Mr .
Schutte,
of Bremer
haven, and was entitled A New Form of
Pro-
peller: ' Models of propeller were
h i b i ~ e d
in the room.
I t
const
sted
of a boss from whlCh
projected t
hr
ee
arms
slop
in
g aft. To the extrem
i-
t ies of each of
the
se arms, pear-shaped blades were
fitted, the
attachment
being
at
a
point at
t he back
of each blade where
the
ce
ntre or
hydraulic
pre
s
sure occurred. I t was claimed
that
t he wa
te
r had
therefore free access to each
par
t of the blade,
and
a vacuum would
not be
formed.
Th
e propeller
t
her
efore worked evenly
and
was
fr
ee
fr
om vibra
tion.
Th
e
di
scussion on t
his
pap
er
wa
s of a very br ief
na
tu
re.
Mr. Napier pointed out tha
t
the
screw
desirned by t he author had expanding pitch to an
eno:mous extent. He reminded the meeting that
the form of hull had an immense influeRce on the
action of the propeller, as was shown by t he differ
e
nc
e aimed at in the slip of twin and sin gle screws
re spective1y.
Mr.
Davidson sa
id
that a
prop
el.ler
similar to that sho wn by t
he
author had been tried
some years ago. Mr . Rotta. said that experi.ments
had been ma
de
with the screw ref
erre
d to In the
paper, and wi t h one. as nea
rly like
as possible,
hav ing blades fitted 1n the ordtnary way.
They
had
also
tried
blades with
constant pi
tch, but the
efficiency was not the same.
The meeti
ng
of t
hi
s section was brought to
a
close
by
yotes of tha
nk
s being proposed to
Lord
Glasgow,
Dr. Io
glis,
and
Mr.
J o
hn Scott
f
or
presiding during
the meeting.
This
was proposed
by Mr.
Napier,
and
seconded
by Mr.
Adams.
SECTION Vll
.-
MUNICIPAL
This
Sect
ion met again 'on
Thursday in
t
he
Engi
neeri
ng
L
ec ture
Th
ea t
re, when the Chairm
an
was
again Mr. E . George Mawbey, Leice
ster.
RE
CENT
TRAMWA.Y
PRA
CTI
CE
.
Mr. Ja.mes More,
Ju n
. , M.
In st
. C.E
.,
F.R.S.E
.,
Edinbur
gh, read a
paper
on
Rec
ent Tramway
Practice.
Thi
s
paper dealt
with electric tramways
and th
eir developme
nt during
the last
fi
ve years.
Th
e paper is too long to give
in exten
>o
a
nd
too
d
eta
il
ed
for
an abstract
;
and
we must therefore
pass
dir
ect to t
he
discussio
n. There
is the more
reason for doing
this
because every novelty
in
elect ric
tram
ways has been fully describ
ed in
EN GI
NEER
ING
and
TRA d:riON
ND
TRA NS Inss
r
oN,
and
o
ur
readers
are
ke
pt
well informed as
to this
branch of t
heir
professional work.
Mr.
Th
omas
Hews
on, Leeds,
in
moving a vote
of thanks to Mr. More, asked whether that gen
tleman had
any
info
rm
ation as to propositions to
make the central groove in the tramway rail as it
was laid some years ago in
Liverp
ool, and whether
there was any disposition throughout to co
un
try to
recur to that f
orm
. To his mind it had m
any
advantages. He fur ther would like to
know
whether
in
the tramway wor
ld
he fo
und
any likeli
hood at
pres
ent of t
he introducti
on of welding the
tramw
ay
rails.
Mr. J o
hn
Pr ice, City Surveyor, Birmingham,
in
seconding, not iced that Mr. More laid great st ress
up
on jointing in the permanent way. Th ose who
h
ad
any knowl edge
at
all of th e wo
rkin
g of electric
tramways knew th
at
the
quest
ion of the pe
rm
anent
way was a very serious one.
In
f
act
, some
lin
es
which had been r
ecently
laid,
he
understood, were
already giving considera
bl
e trouble. At Birming
ham t hey
turned
one section of
the
tramways
fr
om
the accumulator service to an overh
ea
d system.
He
advised the company, who were o
peratin
g it,
E N G I N E E R I N G.
that by doing so,
and
putting 01: a four-wheeled
truck inste
ad
of the old double bogtes on the old cars,
that the
perma
nent way would go rapidly to pieces.
It had done so. H e advised th
em
th
at
it wou
ld
not last more th
an
six 1nonths, or twelve months
at
m
ost
.
In
th
ree
months
they got orders to relay
t he whole thin g,
at
considerable e x p e n s ~ He
would
like
to
ask
how the cast-welded JOint was
found to work in practice, and
~ o u l
?e
k ~ l y
to be t he difficulti es to
be
met w1th In deahng w1th
the
permanent
way 1
The
rail sections now
had
a
te
n
de
ncy to be very considerably increased, and he
n
ot
iced
in
the diagrams
in the
pape
r th
at
Mr
. M
ore
h
ad taken
very much the same lin es t hat he
h i ~ -
self took when designing a new rail fo r the B
ir
mingham
trams
. The jo
int
used a.tBirming
ham
was
somethin g
lik
e No. 8 in the diagram ;
that
was to
say, the
fis
hpl
ates
were somethin g those of
No . 8.
The
cross-section of t he
new
ratls was very
much like No. 2. They found
tha
t
by getting
the
joint
s doubly bolted,
bottom and th
e sides,
they
1
76 LBS. PER YARD
84LtJS. Y R D.
7053)
2 .
8 LBS PER YARD
7
:>0 LBS. PER YJlRO
got
a very much stiffer joint ; and
after
usin g th at joint for several years, he had
not
ye
t been able to see
a
better one.
Of
co
ur
se,
no
one could be expected to
di
scuss in
deta il a
paper
inv olving so n1any h
ea
ds ; but he
shou
ld
like to say one word more
about
the ro1ling
stock.
The
bogie car, where
you
h
ad to
deal
with a large
numb
er of passengers- say, a
ny
thin g
app
roaching fifty- was the best, the o
nly
point
against it being the greate r consumption of power.
Mr. A. H. Campbell,
Eastham, in
seconding the
vote of
thank
s, drew
attention
to the
paragraph
which stat
ed
: The
Edinburgh
Co rporation
cable lines, just being completed, have not
so
far
paid
their
way, for seve
ral
avoid
able
reasons. That adjective
av
oidable was very
suggestive,
and
i t would be
in
structive
and
in te
re
st
ing i 1\fr. More wou
ld
vouchsafe a
little mor
e specifically w
hat
it meant.
Th
ose of
them
who
had
had occasion
to study
the
E
dinbur
gh cable problent
kn
ew
that there
was
a
great
dea l of scientific
and
legal cont roversy
going on ju
st
now as
to
the working of th ese
cable tramways. Th en,
turning
to t
he
Table
where
Mr. More
gave
the
resul
ts
of
certain
evaporati
on under
different conditions
by
diff
ere
nt
types
of boile
r, it
appeared to
Mr.
Oa.mpbe
ll that
a
gre
at
deal of t he evaporationwas
ex
ceed
in
g
ly
low,
except at Aberdeen
, which
appeared
enormous
ly
high.
Passing
to a section of t he paper tha t pecu
liarly concerned them as tramway engineers, having
the highway interests more particularly at heart, he
desired a litt le fuller ·information on the diffe
ren
t
methods of layin g t
he
rails ; that was to say,
bed
ding them. Under the heading
Foundation,
Mr.
More r ecounted three methods of be
dding
the rails. The first and second methods they
had tried, and they had
di
scarded
both.
The
third method they had not tried, and he did not
think ,
unl
ess after obtaining more information, he
would
be
induced to give it a trial. He was still just
as sceptical, and
as
f
earful
of t he resul
ts
of this third
method as
he
was
by
experience of
methods
e
ith
er
one or two. In
his
place
they had
adop ted
a
m
et
hod different from
an
y of these three.
They
embedded the t r
am
way rail
in t
o the concrete. The
rail
was 6i in.
deep
. They commenced
with
6-in .
setts. That therefor
e m
ea
nt that the flange of
the rails had to be
tied
on the
top
surface of
the
concrete, and the
result
w
as that
so correct
ly
3
9
de
scrib ed in the paper.
Th
ey t herefore adopted a
differentiation in the
thickne
ss of the setts. They
went back to t he 6-in. sett,
an
d they blocked
the rail to the proper lev el, a
nd
t hen poured .In
the concrete tho r
ouahly
rammed it, and got 1 m.
to in. of the rail
embedded
in the concrete.
U niformity of g
ird
er rail would tend
ye
ry m ~ c h
towards the economis
ing
of the constructwn of rails,
and th
at
wou
ld
tend very much to develop and
exte
nd the use of t
he tramw
ays,
particularly
in t he
sma
ller
dist
ricts.
Mr.
Fowler Leeds, was
at
a loss to understand
why
an engineer si1ould des ign a rail
lik
e No . 2,
~
o. a,
No. 7, or
No
. 8, because it would
be
obs.erved m
all
those sections th e weight of the traffic not come
on the centre of the ra il,
but
on one
side
of
t ~ e
cen tre of the rail. The consequence was that 1n
course of
time
there n1ust
be
a biass
ed pressure,
and the pressure or weight fall
ing
more on o
ne
s
ide
of
the
bed than the
othe
r, naturally in co ur
se
of
time the
bed
would get out of
or
de
r.
H e was r
at
her
3 .
s.
S L8S PER YARD .
8
J7 LSS. P£R YARO
surprised at t he last speaker advocat
ing
the
bedding
of t he rails on such a plan, believing that it wo
uld
be liable to put the bedding out of
order.
The plan
he
adop
te
d was to get the sett as n
ea
r the depth
of the rail as possible, and
all
he
did
was to
lay
the rails on a
be
d of concrete,
put
a sn1all s
prink-
ling of sa
nd
on
the to
p of t he b
ot t
om se
ct
ion of t
he
rail, and
lay
the se tt flush with t
he rail
perfectly
level ; and the wo
rk
was the same to-day as it w
as
ten
year
s ago. There was
no
settlement
whatever.
The
rails were as sou nd and as sec
ur
e
as ever
they
were.
In
Glasgow
they
had the opposite
experi
e
nc
e. There he noticed, opposite
the
Asylum,
right away
into
t
he
country, t
hey were
ac tually
lay
ing
with tar macadam. Surely, after thirty
yea
rs'
experience, th
ey
should not commence
to
lay
tr
amways
with
tar macadam.
Mr
. Brodie, City
Engineer,
Liverpool,
said
he
agreed with the fir
st
speaker as a mat ter of
ex
peri
ence with regard to the
question
of
the
de
pth
of se tts.
They had tried
both ways
in
Li
verpool,
and
his
present
op
ini
on was
that
they
we
re bett e
r
to
have a shallow
se
t t alongside of the
rail
and
a good so
und
co
ncret
e between
the in
s
ide
of the
said sett
a
nd
the
rail
flange. Wh
et
her
they
li
ked
it
or
n
ot
,
in
connection
with
electric
tramways
they
wo
u1
d have vibr
at
ion
wherever the
t raffic was heavy
and
continuous. As a matter
of
prac
tical expe
ri
ence, t h
ey
f
ound in Liverp
ool
that
a small d
ep t
h of concrete on the top of
the
flange
wa s a
di
stinct a
dvantage
in vibration. I t also
prevented the possibility of water getting under-
nea th the rails . If water got there in a close
service, they would have trouble with their pa.ve
ments .
Th
e Chairman asked Mr. Brodie his experienoe
in the matter of
beddin
g the rails.
Mr . Brodie replied 'that they had the different
methods of bedding. So long as the
concrete
was
of first-?lass m a t e r ~ a l
p r o p e ~ l y
mix ed and properly
pr
opor twned , he d1d not th1nk there was
much
in
the methods of bedding.
Of
course,
where
t
hey
had
an old co
ncr
ete,
as
t·
hey
had in
Liv
erpool, it was
we
ll
th
at
th
ey s
hould get
sufficie
nt
depth
of
new
concrete below the' rails and take good
care that
the
new
concr
ete
had the c
hance
of taking a good
grip
of the old concrete wetti
ng
the latter
pro-
perly
and also by
cement
.1ng to some extent,
laying
a
layer
of
cement on
the surface of the old concrete.
A
question had been
a
sked with
rega
rd
to the centre
•
7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 72 1901-09-20
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/engineering-vol-72-1901-09-20 8/47
I
394
rail, and although he did n
ot
wish
to
to be r eplying, he might say that he had
great
exper
ience in the c ~ n t r e - o o v e d rail in
ve rp ool and he firmly e v e d on the whole,
l ~ u l from the municipal engineer's
of view,
that
t he c
ent
re - gr
ooved
rail
was
bet
te r rail
than
the sid e- tread rail.
He
n
ot
think
i t
was good as a ma
tt e
r of policy
o have t h e
centre-groove rail
in one
place
and a
rail. in h e r place ; and ther efo
re,
thoug
h l
1e b e ~ I e v e d
10
the
centre-grooved
rail,
h e
ha.d a
dvi
sed
his corpo
ration to
put
in
the
s ide-tr
ea
d
r
a1
l,
for
he
co
uld
foresee
t
he
t
im
e
wh
en
Liv
er
po
ol
would be connected with th e districts ro
und abo
ut.
to
j oints, they
ha
d t
ri
ed ra il-welding
the JOint w1th a g ird
er
undernea th the
surface and
a
numb
er of oth
er
joints
as
wel l. Pe rso
naliy
he
P.
referr
ed a weld joint. Th ey h ad some expe
n ence of bogie trucks as well as with fo
ur-wh
eel
cars, and while t he maximum traction
was
an
in
~ e n i o ar
range
ment, he t hought i t wanted cer
ta
in
v e m e . a ~ e n on th e wh ole, the b ogie,
w1th
eq
ual di st ributiOn of weight, had some ad va
n
tages.
Mr.
Thom
as Harpur, Cardiff, said the
pa
ck
ing
on t he rail under ne
at
h had a very great deal to do
wi t h
the
ul tim
ate life of the
permane
nt way.
Th ey were
doing
at Card iff
practically what the
author
suggested.
He
had n ot me
nt i
oned any
method of
paving
except with granite setts, bu t he
r efe
rred to
t
he
grout ing with bitumen which
he
said had be en in vogue in L ancashi re for twenty
years, but was n ot known in t.he sout h. Mr.
Harpur
contradicted t hat statement, because
that
m
et
hod of bit.uminous g
rou
ti ng granite pave
ment
had
b
ee
n m operation in Cardiff, which was
pretty well
south, for upwards of twenty years.
The
t r a ~ w a y s
in Cardiff had been
so
grouted for
that
perio
d,
and he
could nut
under
st and
how i t
had taken
so
long for
municipal
engineers a
nd
tramw
ay engineer s
to
find out the supe
ri
o
ri ty
of
bi
tu minous grouting over that of ceme
nt,
and par
ticularly in r eference
to
wood-pavin g.
Mr.
J . L o
bley,
Hanley, said h e had used t he
bitumin
ous concrete for t
hirt
y years,
and
he fully
agreed with what Mr. Harpur had said about i t .
With regard to packing, he al so endorsed Mr.
Harpur's method of well·r
a
mming in fine gravel
· and
cem
ent un der th e b o
ttom
flange b efore having
t he final
concrete
laid on to r ece
ive
the pavement.
E N G I N E E R I N G.
guard strip nor t he g uard wire would a fford proper
protection. Possibly everything wou ld go
right
in
99 cases out of 100, bu t the lOOth would come, and
it did com e in Liverp ool
on
a very st ormy night,
when the streets we re covered with snow, and with
fatal r esu l ts .
Mr. Price said
that
in Birmingham t hey had the
whole of
th
e telephone wi res
bunched.
Private
wires, of
which
t here were only three or four,
were
all in
sulated, and the postal
r a p h people
ag
r
ee
d to
put
them under
grou
nd.
A
vote
of tha
nk
s
was
hea rtily accorded to Mr.
M o
re, who
replied
on the
discus
sion .
DwELLINGS FOR THE \VoRKING CLA SSES.
Mr. A. H. Oampbell, East H am , read a pa per,
by himself and Mr. W. H . Savage, on Prov ieion
of Dwellings for the Work i
ng
Classes."
On t he
motion
of Mr. L obley, seconded by Mr.
Cooper,
Wimbledon,
he was accord ed a hoar ty vote
of thanks.
There was a paper on the
agenda by Mr. F.
W. Mager,
on the sub ject of " Coal-
Mini
ng Subsi.
dences
in Relation to
Sewe
rs, "
but
as the author
did
n
ot appea
r, it
was
ta ken as r
ead
.
Th i
s co
ncluded
the
pr
oceedings of the
Sect
ion.
-
SECTION VIII.- GAS
Th i
s
Section
m
et again
on Thursday, the 5th inst
.,
in
the Natural
Hi
s
to r
y Lecture
Theatre.
Th
e
first
paper
r ead was
by Mr.
Charle
s Oar
penter, a
nd
was entitled The Ap p
li
ca tion of the
Un
it
System of Gas to I ts Purifica
t ion ." The following is an abstract of
its
conten ts :
The plants of the large1: t gas wo rks are built
up of unit
wh1
ch hardly vary, except in number, from
thoso employed in the smnJlest undert n king.
From
th
e point of view only of coal, each
retort or unit is independent ; and alone or coupled '
vi
ll
give its maximu m duty. So mnch for t he manufitctu re of
gas. f ts J?Urification, either in the wet or
dr
y way, is
con idered, 1t will be found that the usual conditions are
qu
ite
different.
In
tl.
5-
million cubic feet
wo
rks, two
tower scrubbers aro used for the purifi cation from
ammo nin ; a liquor scrubber to wo rk up the strength,
and a water scrubber for tho la t traces. Accepted
dimensions wo uld
bo
20 ft. in diameter by
70
ft. hig
h.
The wetted surf
n.ce
wo uld be 527,788 square feet.
The following T
ltb
le compares the above figures per
ruil1i
on cubic feet made per diem in the case of the 5
million cubic feo t wo rk for each million between the
winter max inlllm of
G
millions and the summer minimum
of
2
millions.
TABL E I. -Compa1·ison of T owe1· Sc1·ubbers arul Gas
llfa
cl
e.
[S
E
PT
. 20,
I90I.
The con.struction is s
im
ple to readily lend itsel
t<? des1gn of a
mn.c
hm e wherem, under varying con.
d ~ t 1 0 n
of gas
prod
u
ct
ion, a more con
sta
nt r
ft
tio of scrub
b.
mg surface and gas treated can be obtained. The addi
tiOnal ~ e s are small ground space requ ired
absence of ru
ot
1ve power, and facility of cleaning. '
The .Propor
ti
oning of plant area to make of gas sug
gcsted
m
the case of scrubbers can likew ise be applied to
purifiers.
Th
e minimum area recommended may be taken
at 400 ft. super per milli on per diem.
In
tho case of tho
typ ical works thts figure wo uld work out as follows:
Millions
per
Diem.
-
6
4
8
T AB LE IV.
Total
A
rea. Sq
ua
re
F
ee
t per
Million.
--
400
600
667
1900
- __ :___
_
-
Cal
culated
Siz
es of
Purifiers at
400
Ft.
pEr
Million
.
20
fb.
by 100
ft..
20 )) 80 H
20 )) 60
))
20 )) 40
))
The author wou ld an
o n d e : : ~ . v o u
being mado
to
fix
the host cond1t1on for speed of contact and
ar l.
in
the
pur
ifying plant of gas works, and then to
pr
o
vid
e
means whereby this mn y be obtained in reguhtr working
within the
ex
treme limits of production.
Mr. Hu n t was not qui
te
clea r
as
to
the
a
dvan
tage
to be gained by following t he practice of units advo
cated by Mr. Carpenter. Th e day before
th
ey had
had a process before them for
carb
onising in bulk,
which, to some
extent
, took away t he arg
um
e
nts
in
favour of the unit system. There might be some
littl
e ad vantage in the scrubber, fr
om
th e fact that a
port ion of it was available for repair without pu
tt
ing
t
he wh
o
le
appa
ratus out
of
or d
er.
They had
a
lw
a
ys
t
hough
t
that
large
ar
eas were conducive to economy
of ma
nu factu
re.
In
the case of purifi
ers, the
economy
of la r
ge
ar eas was
very
marke
d, although
there
was no doub t
bu
t that with large purifiers
the
gas did not get so evenly dist
ribut
ed as with
purifiers of moderate size
;
and
there, perhaps,
Mr
. Carpenter's proposal might be adopted wit h
advantage.
Mr. D em pster said t hat as nearly every gas work s
had differ ent sect ions of retort s,
hydraulic
mains,
&c. , it
seemed
to him that if a standard of sections
co
uld
be
adopted,
it would be a
great advantage.
He
did not
see
any reason for more t
han
t
hr ee
sect
ions
of each
size.
Mr. Hyslop, P aisley, did not see t hat t here was
any necessity
for
reducing
th
e area of scrubbers
in summer time. In his opinion, more
trouble
and
loss was caused by oYe r condensation
than
in ot her
depar
t
ment
s o f
gas manufa
ctur
e.
Mr.
William
E.
Kenway, Birmingham,
s
poke
strong
ly
in approval
of
t he V icto r joint.
which
had
b
een
adopted by
the Birmingham and
W olve r
hampton Corpora t ions, and was being
taken up
by
other
s . This joint
did
no t inte rfere with
the
packing. I t was in no way a solepla te ; it was
s im
ply
a
twin
joint, and it only came outside th e
bottom of th e ra il as much as the h ead of a bolt.
If th
ere
was a better joint·, he should like
very
much to see it tried anywhere else.
Millio
ns per
Diem.
Mr. Wilson, Dawsholm, rather thought that
small unit
s would take up too much ro
om
for
successful
application
to o
ld
works ; in the matter
To
tal
Are
s.
Gas Are :t
. Wetted
SurfacP.
of
erecting new
wo
rk
s, the id ea might be carried
Squa
re
Feet per S
qua
reFeet per Feet per out
much
more eco
nomi
cally, and t
hu
s
be
m
ade
to
.Million. Million. Million.
1 - - - - -
- prove
valua
bl
e.
~ ~ f :
1
Mr.bFdoulis was of cpinion that any rules or data
4
3
2
105 79 175,929
t 1ey a were, mo
re
or so modified by local
157 118 263,894
ci rcum
st a
nces that th
ey
we
re
of
little
use in in -
Mr. Broom did not think it was a good way to
make the 6·in. setts t igh t on the f l ~ n g e of the
rail.
In
St. H elen s
th ey
us ed
only 4-in.
c
ub
es .
Th
ey
put 6 in.
of
concrete under
t
hem,
and t he
rails were packed as well as possible. Th e r
es
ult
so far had been ve ry
satis
factory . In fact ,
he
believed that repairs would l>e required to t he
rails r eally be for e t hey
were
required t o th e s ett s .
The Chairman invited remarks on overhe1d trac
ti o
n.
An alternative to towe r
sc
rubbers is the well-know n
standard " washer. The wheels of a 5-million machine
wo uld be 8 ft . ou tlet diameter by 4 ft. inlet diameter, and
12 in. 'vide. 'fhe gas area wo uld
th
erefore be 13.52
sq
uare
feet ; and the wetted surface per wheel 205,709 ft., or
24,
67
2 square feet por machine of twelve wheels.
The following Table is on the same lines as the
pr
eced
ing one for t he tower scrubber :-
TABLE II -Compa1·ison of Stand
a1 Clt
Waslu 1 ancl Gas
ade.
M
llio
ns per
lJie
m.
T
ota
l
Ar
ea.
Square Feft
per Mll
ion
.
Mean Gas Area.
Square Feet
per
Milli
on.
Wetted Surrac('.
Square Feet
per Million.
Mr. Brodie, re sponding, said they had had some
se rious
accidents in
Liverpool, and as a
result
the
Corporation bad enter ed in to
negotiation
s with the
pe
op
le interested in the overh ead wires,
assisting
5
4
3
2
8. 6
10.7
14 .3
21 5
•
2.7
3.4
4.6
6
.8
4,9
34
6,1 f8
8 ,224
12,33\i
any as r
eg a
rds cos t i n ca
ses
where people wer e
th ere by Parliamentary
au t
hor i
ty
, and
by treaty
or
ot
he
rwi
se where
peo
ple
we
re tr es
passin
g or h
ad
n o
righ t . The
consequence wa
s t hat, so
fa
r as the -
National Telephone Company was concerned, all A glance
at
the second
co
lu mns of Tables I. and II.
overhead wires in Li verp ool were to-day cabled
and
shows the very striking difference of practice in the two
d
f
l
h
h
types of sel..
l t
appeared worth while to try the
suspen
ed rom stee wires, so t at t er e was
not ex
periment of combining to as great an extent as possible
v
er
y much possibility of an accident from
the te
le- the ad vantages of both. A p ai r of towers were therefore
phone
wires. They had not been able to
make
constructed for a works hn v ing a 2-million winter and
the
t elegraph people
move
q uite
so
quickly, but 1-million sum mer load. Each tower wM marle ft.
they had offer
ed
p rac tically to bear the total square by
26
ft. high, and packed wi th iron
11
bundlcs"
d
d
buil t up similarly to those used in the Standard " rua-
cost of putting the te legraph w ires un ergrou n ' chines,
bnt
rectang
ul
ar in shapo.
and t hey thought they bad gone as far as
need be in
that
di r
ec tion.
Most
of the
co
mp a
ra- TA
BL
E
III Con1 pet1
ison of T
owc
r
W
a ~ h e ancl
Gas
t ively
few private wires
had be
en removed,
and Made. _
there only r emained one
or
two unprotected tele- 1
Total Area.
Gas
Area Wetted
Surfa
ce.
phone
wire
s
in
Liverpool.
Early
in
connection .Millions per Squ
a
re
Feet per S
qua
re
Fe
et
per
S
qua
re
Fe
et
per
wi
th th e
tramways
in
Liv
erpool t h
ey
made exhaus- Diem. Million. Million. Million.
t ive expe
ri
men
ts both
wi th t he guard wire
and
wi
th
2
- -
s
1
- - - 2. fl
- 6.075 -
the guard st rip,
and
also wi
th
ot
her
arrangements, 1 6 2 f .1 12.150
and
h e
advised
t he
Corporation
that
neither
the
dividual cases. His ow n impression was that they
could not hav e too much area in their purifiers, but
he was decidedly of opinion, also, tha t there was
a limit to the economical working size of pt,\'ifiers.
Mr. Carp enter , in t he course of hi s reply, added
that the
cost
of each of the towe
rs
was below
150l. , and th
at th
e
complete
plant,
exc
lusive of
foundation
s and pipes, would come out
at
about
300l. The weight
of each of t he
towers
was 5 tons,
a
nd
t
he
weight of
the bundle
s " was
4
tons
.
•
IN
Ll
NED RETORTS.
Mr. W.
R
H erring t M. In s t C.
E.
(Edinburah),
read a paper en t
itl
ed , ' ' The Constru ction of
0
In
clined Retort Carb oni sing Plants, of which t he
folluwing is an abstrac t :
The primary object of the inclined retort is the re
duction to a
mi
nimum of the labour h
it
herto in
volYed
in the charging and draw
in
g of
con
l-gns retorts. There
are also second My advttnb\ges- sueh as the gren.ter pr
o
ducing capacity over a given area of land, economy in
construction, c. Considerable di
ve
rsity is shown in the
outward foa
m
of
th
e different plants in
th
is
cou ntry, as contrasted with the various in ta
llat
1ons u
po
n
the Continent of Europe. A distinct ;ve feature of the
Continental in tn llat ions is the length of the retort. The
British p
mct
ice may be said to be
20-
ft. retorts, where
spaco permits of their adopti o
n;
whereas on the Co
nt
inent
from 3 to ft.
nt
etres (
10
ft. to
11
ft.
6
in.)
is
the pre
dominant longth of the rot
or t
. ) rom a labour point of
view, the operation of charging 11 20-ft. retort with 7 cwt.
of coal is no grettter, and occupie but a few seconds m
or<'
,
than the charging of a retort fr
om
12 ft 6 in.
to
13 ft.
long. t wi ll be highly interesting if Con tinental engi
neers wi ll disclose t heir reasons for adhoring to tl.e
shorter retorts.
'f ho inclined-rotor t in
sta
ll
at
ions
at
the present t
un
e
may, broadl y speakin
g,
be defin ed as
c : o m ~
of two
dist inct types. The best-know n type is that having
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SEPT. 20,
rgo1.]
E
N G I N
E
E R I N G.
395
•
T H E
WHITEHEAD TORPEDO WORKS
AT
F l UME .
(For De
sc
1-iption, see Page 398.)
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ntinuous coal-storage ho
pp
ers (sub-di vided or not),
rected above the bench
es
with or without measuring
hambers beneath.
The
oth
er d is
tin
c
ti
ve type has one or more coal
-s
torage
o
pp
ers centralised; the charging shoot forming also
e measuring chamber, receiving its charge from ben
eat
h
e hopper, and t raversing wit h it to the reto
rt
s to be
harged.
The charging ap_pliances, or the
mea
ns used for
co
n
cting
th
e coal m
to
the mouth of the retort, have
m
os
t impo
rt
ant influence upon the successful work
the system. Th e- many v
ari
eties of coal that
e to be dealt with- from fine
du
st, wet and dry,
mixed
co
al
and
on to ro
und nut
has brought
t
o existence all sorts of devices whereby the charge
n be regulated so as to flow
in t
o the retor ts
at n.
orm and even speed, and ens
ur
e a p erfectly level and
orm charge throughout the length of the reto
rt.
The
uthor has always
pr
eferred to reta
in vit
hin his re1tch,
gu
rati
vely tho power of th
e
charge of
al direct in to the reto
rt
and over tho bot tom mouth
ece-stop, a nd adopt m
ea
ns to gove
rn
the i
mp
etus of the
l by stmple devices to suit all the various condit ions of
e
phy
sical characteristics of the coal to ins
ur
e a unifo
rm
harge.
'f
o accomplish this, the author found it necessary,
the first in
sta
nce, to have some co
nt r
ol of the aperture
e area of the point of discharge of the coal f rom the
easuring chamber. By inserting a sliding valve in the
.
•
•
•
•
•
ro
tO
O
JUbw
......
. -
- -
·---..-;..;;--
-
-
·
-
-
base of the measuring chamber, the area can be governed
at will. Separate
~ e s
are employed fo r each hori
zontal row of retorts. Each row of retorts being on a
different level, necessitates a lon
ge
r body to each a
nd
consequently a longer d rop for
th
e coal, wi th i
ts
accele
rated impetus. This impetus must be governed ; and
many devices have been
in
troduced to accom
pl i
sh i t,
most of w
hi
ch are successful so long as a minor
deg
ree of
intelligence is excercised
in
the
ir
employment. The most
successful device is
th
e compo
und
flap hinged wi thin the
bo
dy of the shoot, and adjusted by levers from the out
side
set
at such an angle us to check the impetus b
,Y
thinning the stream of descending coal and
dir
ecting 1t
in to
a
unifo
rm
layer upon the base of
th
e shoe of the
charger. The author has
th
oug
ht
that
it
will be advan
tageouR to have the means of altering t he angle of the
shoe-piece of the shoot, and he has introduced
a
m
ea
ns of
adjustin s- the angle of the shoe.
Th
e ch
Rc
hnrging of the coke from the r
eto
r
ts cn
nn
ot
cl
l\
,im to
be
au
tomat
ic.
Th
o a uthor is of opin ion t h
nt
tho o s . ~ - s c c t of the reto
rt
should he of n form n:;
to permit of the expansion oj the coal
in
the retort rising
wit
hout jamming 1tself in to the aroh or crown of the
retort, a
nd that
this formation must be continu
ed
to t he
outer lip of the cast-iron mouthpiece.
Fu r
ther, in the
Granton erections he is having an hy
dr
aulic or com
pressed air piston, working
in
and
out
of the retort
from the
upp
er side, arranged wi th an acceler-ating-
motion, so th
at
the
fp
iston-head will, U
?O
n en
te
ring the
retort, sta r t very slowly, and m
m·ease
in S>eed,
descending from 8 ft. to 10 ft. m to t he retort ; thus gtving
the charge the necessary impulse
to
traverse down the
slope of
the re
tor t.
1 he manip ulation of the slides of the measuring
chamb.ers or the valve
at
the base of the .storage
necessttates a very great amount of
ph
ysteal force. The
auth
or
has therefore
in
tro
du
ced a small double-acting
hydraulic cylinder and piston bolted to
th
e
und
erside of
the coal-storage hopper and at tached t o the sliding valves
g-
overning the discharge opening from the hopper. And
m the case of measuring chamhers, t he usual smgle lever
is
intr
o
du
ced to actuate the b
ot
tom slide. A s
imp
le mul
tiple hy
dr
aulic valve is
fixe
d upon the stage of
th
e retort-
bench, a nd made to work groups of cylinders, in the case
of the t wo reto
rt
-settings at N ew-street, Edinburgh. One
multi
pl
e valve is made to work six cy
lind
ers
actu
at i
ng
six
measur ing chambers. I t
is
the- au thor s in tention
however,
to
group them into sets of
12. A
single
o k ~
of the lever p ermits of the oper
at
ion of one chamber di s
charging, and the reversaJ of the lever aR ain closing the
valve of the chamber a
nd
the hopper.
I
he whole opera
ti
on re
quir
es no more exertion than can
be
exercised by n.
child.
The accumulation of
ta
r and other condensable matters
in
the
lip
of the lower mouthpieces often renders the
drawing-stage mout
hpi
eces a most unsightly spectacle, as
•
•
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ell as invo.lving considerable labour the of
mol;lth)?lC
Ce ,
e v e r s
and mechamcnl parts. The
.1s mtroducmg a traversing screen, r
es
ting upon
g.ht
rails l ~ r a to the front buckstays, each
sc
reon
emg
u f f i
e 1 e n t long to span the length of th ree retorts,
d1rect .the and .tar, and anything falling from
e ~ n : o u t h p e c e s duectly 1nto the shoot
co
nducting the
to the cok
e-co
nveyor t rough.
Th
e great m p ~ o v e m e n t
that
have been made recently
the constructiOn of conveyors for the transport.. ttion
h?t coke r e n d ~ r it now possible to introduce these
f?r t ~ e removal of the coke from the retort
ouse as
1t
IS di
sc
harged from the retort-mouthpieces ·
e trough being placed preferably beneath the floor and
made therein for the quenching of the coke
the Withdrawal of the fo
ul
gases and steam through
and discharging them above the retort-bench
evel.
T.he author
pr
efers the cast-iron trough and roller
chnm
t J = >
of C<?nveyort the trough suspended beneath
he
flo
or bemg ent
ir
ely covered in on the.drawing
t a g e level, with portable covers
fo
r opening immediately
front of the retorts to be drawn· perforated J?ip
es
ein.g within the trough, and tap a
tion m front of each reto
rt
- ettins-. Coke on bemg
from a gi_ven setting, meets with the
a t e r
when
t comes oppos1te the nex t but one setting. By this
eans . the steam and products emitted during the
uenchmg t h ~ coke are draw n th rough the conveyor
trough, formmg Its own duct, and up vert ical shafts
at
the ends of the. benc
h.
The traversing
sc
reen or shield
hould be u .ed m front of the retort to
pr
otect the men
rom the direct heat-rays of the di
sc
harging coke. I t
lso acts as a shoot to direc t the stream of coke to the
leading to t?.e coke
v e y ~ r
bene
at
h.
rhe l l : l p r o v ~ m e n t In the constructiOn of coke-conveyors
renders
It
po to abandon the stage-fl
oo
r retort-house
\}together ; havmg the producer on the inner side or
pr
efera.b
ly
n t a i n i n g
gas-producers, situated a
co
nvemeut po
mt
for feeding with coke,
and
the conducting
of
the.
fu
el gas to the retort-setting through brick-lined
co
nduits.
The paper conclud
es
with a descrip tion of the new
Edinburgh gas works.
Dr. Leybold, Hamburg, called at tention to
the
difference in the English
aA
contrasted with t le
er
man
prd.ctice.
In England they used
20-ft.
length retorts ; in Germany about ha
lf
that
leng
th,
from 3i
to 4
me
tres.
One
of
the rea
so
ns
was that
n long
er re torts they did not get
an
equality of
temperature throughout
the length.
German
c
oa
l
was s
uper
seding, with them, English coal
for
gas
manufactur
e.
With German
coal th ey gasified in
four hours with En glish they could
not
do it
unde.v six hours.
In
H a
mbur
g they made 17-
candle
gas the reason being
that
they had not
y
et
finished t
heir
installat ion for the
incandescent
ligh t ing
of
the street
s.
They
experienced
some
difficulty in us
ing
cannel coal
with
inclined
retorts .
Mr.
Wilson
said
that for financial
rea
sons he
had recently, n
ot
withstanding a predilecti0n in its
favour ,
had
to decide
against
the erection of an
in
clined
retort
bench. 1
1
he capital cost, he thought,
was not compensated for
by
the saving in wages
were it possible to
a
dop
t the
inclined
retort
to any
kind of coal,
these objec
t ions would , to a cons
id
er
able extent, di
sa
ppear.
Mr. H e
lp
s,
Nuneaton
, would
hav
e liked to have
had particul
a
rs
of coal
used
by
Mr. Herring,
to
obtain the
resul
ts he gave.
Mr. Howbridge expres
sed the
opinion
that
Mr.
Herring n
his
l
ates
t inst a
llation
had gone back
wards
in several respects.
Mr.
Herring
had
in
hi
s paper t hat discharge of the coke could not
claim to
be
automatic
. The
speaker
was
afraid
that
such
was
not the general exp
e
ri
ence.
From
his own
experience, he should
say
th e discharge
was automatic. Mr. H erring's failure to
get
it
au
to
mati
c
had
arisen, he
thought, from
the charg
ing
applianc
es used.
Mr. Herring,
replying
to the
gen
e
ral
discussion,
maintained that
the
system of inclined
retort
s had
financial
advan
tages . Re
found
that the carbonis
ing wages
at
Bren tford of 4 66d. in 1892 had been
reduced
to 2.17d. in 1900; in Huddersfield the
wage had been
reduced
from 4.12d. to 2.5d. Sup
posing
he were to save 1s. per ton on
his
carbon
ising wages, it meant a to
tal annual
saving of
lO,OOOl.
They wanted to
reduce
their wages bill
to the lowest possible
limit, and
by
mechanical
means.
Th
ere
were enough
of them present who
knew
that
inclined
r
eto rts were no
t
automatic
in
dis
charge. They
exper
ienced
no
difficulty in using
cannel
coal
or
s
hale wh
en
properly
mixed. Th ey
u
sed Scot
ch co
al
only.
Mr. Foulis
,
in announcing the
close of
the pro
ceedings, said they must
agree
that
th
ey h
ad
h
ad
an
excee
dingly succe
ss
ful
meeting
; in fact, the
mnst successful m
ee t
ing
he could r
emember
.
Votes
of thanks
to
the Univ
ersity
authorities,
the foreign delegates, contributors of
papers,
t.he
•
EN G I N E ER I N G.
Chairman and
th
e Secretary, having
been pa
ssed,
the members separated
.
SECTION IX.-ELE
)TRICAL
B ~ f o r e
taking
up
Thursday's
programme, t
he
President, Mr. Langdon, made a communication
from the Di rector of the
National
Ph ysical Labora
tory
at
Bushey
House,
Bushey Park. Dr. Glaze
brook hopes to
open
th e engineering laboratory, a
h a ~ l 80 .ft. by 50 ft., by the end of th is year. It is
~ u i l t
with a trayeller ; the d r a w i n - o f f i c ~ is
adjoin
Ing, and
th
e holl
er
s
hed
s are close by. A 60-kilo
watt
Parsons
turbine has
been put clown as the main
engine to avoid vibrations so far as possible. The
first work to
be attacked
will
be
that of the Alloys
Research
Committee ; photomicrographic examina
tion of
stee
l rails, the
elast
ic
prop
e
rties
of alloys, and
t l ~ e testing of pressure gauges and steam indicators
will also form part of the
early
w
ork
.
Micr
om
ete
r
meas
uring ma
chines
have
been ordered.
The
testing
of high temperature
thermometers
and of thermo
co
uple
s will follow.
DISTRIB UTION SYSTEl\IS.
Mr.
Michael B . Field, of Glasgow,
read
a paper
The
Relative
Advantages of Three,
Two,
and
Smgle-Phase
Systems for Feeding Low-Tension
Net
works
. In
the first pa rt , which concerns
chi
efly
tramway
work,
he sp
oke as a strong ad
vocate of the
triphase syste
m.
In the
second,
which deals
with
combined
distribution
of li
ght and
P?wer, or essentially of lig
ht, he did
not co
mmit
h1m se
lf
to any pronounced view.
In
the
di
scussion,
Mr.
K olben, of
Prague,
paid
a tribu te to the author for
his
very exc
ellent
paper,
and especially for the very full
informat
ion
on
cables.
The figures given, he
thought,
were true, and they
demonstrated t
he
a
dvanta
ges of the triphase
system, which Mr. I{olben himself had always ad
vocated,
and
which was sure to come out as the final
survival, also for combined light and power dis
tribution
. F or large and crowded cities,
he
ag
reed
that tripha
se tram way motors would n
ot be suit
ed,
but for long-distance lines the
triphase
system
would
answer. We
lost
still
t
oo much
power in
regulation, but li ttle headway had
been
made in
t he
United
S
tates
, as
he had alr
eady
mentioned
,
before the
adoption
of the series-parallel system,
and up
t ill that time
the
power statio
ns had
been
comparatively
too large.
As regard
s frequency,
he
thought
fifty pe
ri
ods right for combined light
and power. They had adopted that frequency in
Prague
for
the
distributi
on · of 3000 horse-power,
all light and power being taken from one central
sta
t ion and one set of
bu
s-bars with sub-stations
and a low-tension
network.
Mr. Field had not
shown the
direct di
st r
ibution
from the thr.ee
end
s
of a secondary network.
Bo
th
Mr.
Kapp and
Mr.
Zipernowsky
regre
tt ed
that th ey
had not studied the pap
er
previously
.
Profes
sor Carhart
ex pre
ss
ed
t he opinion that
they
were, in t
he United States,
mo
re
a
nd mor
e
coming to the general use of t
he
triphase
system
;
t
wo
phases
were
but
little applied
. As
re
ga
rds
frequency, we might go below 50 for combined
light
and
power. At Buffalo incandescence lamps
burned
very steadily on 25-period circuits for arc
lights a hig
her frequ
ency would be desirable. The
continuous-c
urrent
arc,
he
wo
uld
like to
add, w
as
giv
in
g way to al
ternating
arcs run
on
the
triphase
system, and open arcs had almost
di
sappeared in
the United
States
. He would point out t
ha
t syn
chronous triphase motors were very convenient for
driving
contin
uous-current generators du ring the
transition period, when plants were changed.
Mr.
Esson
thought that it was high
time
that
our
ideas on thi s question should become crystalli
se
d.
We should re
member
that
the
triphase di
st ribution
with
a neutral wire was just what the th ree-wire
s
ystem
was for continuous
currents
as regards the
expenditure for copper
.
Engine
e
rs did not appear
to realise this. We were in the United Ki ngdom
handicapp
ed
by
t
he
single-phase
stations
of the
early days.
Tw
o phases
had been adopted
as being
easier
and
mo
re
convenien t
for
the mains alre
ady
in
exi stence but he
felt
pretty
sure
that
the last
single-phase
station
put
down
in
Great Britain
some
years
ago would
not
have
any
successors.
I t would
all
be tri-phase or continuous
current.
Professor
Silvanus P.
Thomp
son also thanked
t
he author
for his very valuable tabulation, but he
disagreed with
Mr.
Esson .in that we should not
crystallise our ideas. I t had
been
very difliculL to
ma
ke
any headway he re against continuous
currents,
fS
EPT
. 20 , I 901.
but he would not like to be misunderstood as to
what
he had previ
ous
ly
said,
apparently, in
criticism of
continuous currents; and he
did
not wish
by
a
ny
means to suggest that t
he
tr·i-
phase system
would
always
be
corr ect
when
we
had
to change over from
high-
freque
ncy single
phases
.
The
Metropolitan
Company, for inst ance, had put n a two-phase
plan
t ,
and
run first o
nly
o
ne
of
the ph
ases.
'l
,
ran
s
formers were not
suitable
for such changes. As to
regulation on
combined
l
oa
ds, lamps
might
be put
on the two legs,
le t
ting the angle of the
V take
care of itself.
Mr. de
li
erranti,
who was unfortu
nately
not
pr
e
sent, remained
convinced
up
to
t
he
presen t day that t
he
mono
pha
se system would yet
ru le supreme. He
did
not share this view ; but
there was a possibility of its
turning
out correct.
The complica tions of the
triphase
systen1, which
were so
oft
en ta lk
ed about, did
not exist
in
reality.
Mr. W. B. Rhod
es
bri
efly reviewed the theo
retical advantages of moto r generator s, synchronous,
and ass
ynchr
onous
mot
ors.
As
to synchronous
motors,
th
eory was still a little doubtful.
Mr. Blat
hy, of
Budap
es t,
thought
that this
latter question depe
nd
ed
very
much
on
cil·cum
stances. The motor-generators would
be
b
est if
hig
her
tensions
than standard ten
sio
ns had
to
be
applied. When tramways had to
be
driven from
central station
s,
he
believed
in the direct
triphase
system; the regulation was easy, and no loss of
energy
necessa
ry
;
the
eco
nomy
was, at
lea
st,
as
g
oo
d
as
with co
ntinuou
s
curr
e
nt
s.
The Va ltelina
Railway,
110
kilometr
es
in
length, s
hor
t
ly
to
be
opened for
electric service, replacing the former st eam service,
would have passenger
trains running
at 40 miles,
and goods trains
at
20 miles an hour, with stations
about
four miles
apar
t . I t seemed to be overlooked
also
tha
t the torque of the electric motor locomotive
was constant, while t hat of a s
team
engine
might
fluctua te in the ratio of 2 to 3. There was no tender
to be pulled, moreover,
and
the el
ectr
ic locomotive
would
dr
aw
at
le
ast
as much as a steam engine
of equal weight. With rega
rd
to frequency,
he
considered
that
42 per iods
wa
s coming more and
more
in t
o favour as t he low
est limit
for arc lamps.
li,or incandescence l
amps
22
periods
would suffice,
and if we put three filaments n
the
lamp, there
was not.hin g to
pr
event us from going down
to 10 cycles. The energy flow
in
t
he
triphase
system was constant, and that
constituted
its chief
s
up
e
ri
o
ri
ty over
the
mono
phase
and
bipha
se
systems.
Vienna had been
sin gle phase ; three
years ago they had passed over to biphase distri
bu t ion, and,
with
concentric mains, t wo
di
stinct
two-phase systems mig
ht
quite well be advisable ;
but the Con
tinent
was fairly unanimous as to the
triphase system.
Mr.
Gerald Stoney, of Newcastle-on-Tyne, quoted
a significant case. Messrs. Brown, Hoveri , and
Co.
are
now
puttin
g down
triphase
generators
in one of
the Frankf
ort municipal central stations.
Mr. Stoney
pointed
out
this
change, of which Mr.
Field had
not been
in formed
.
Th
e
author had
not touched upon the advantages of synchronous
motor g
ener
ators
as
condensers
by
over-exciting
the
genera tor.
Mr.
Geipel also emphasised that
the
complicat ions
of triphase switchboards were imaginary, since
they had
three
small switches in
stead
of two large
ones.
We
could use la
mps of
lower vo
ltage on
th ree-phase systems, the generators c
ost
much less
than those for single-phase installations, and t
he
regulation with ]a
mp
loads offe
red
no difficulties, as
he knew from experience.
In
his reply,
Mr. Field repeated
that his remarks
concerned cpiefiy low
-t
ension networks, which Mr.
Kolben
appeared to have overlooked. With regard
to t he biphase system, he entirely concurred
that
it offered
no
advantages, e
xcept in
special cases,
such
as Professor Thompson had spoken of, and
that it
suited
the Board of
Trad
e regulations.
If
members
would visit the
Pinkston central station
in Glasgow, t
hey
would convince
th
emselves t
ha
t
there
w
ere no
complications in
tripha
se systems.
How
well r
otar
y
converter
s would wo
rk,
even
if
the
engines would not
keep
in
pa
rallel,
he had
oft
en seen in Glasgow.
He
quoted a case where
two generators went out of step
and
we
re
synch
ronised again,
and
o
nly
one
sub
-stat
ion
circuit went out.
They did
not in Glasgow
recrulate the tension in the genera ting station, b
ut
kept i t at
constant
voltage in the sub ·
stat
ions.
Acc
umulator
charging from rotary converters was
not very convenient, he
admitt
ed.
By
the
suggestion of Mr.
R. K.
Gray,
who had
7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 72 1901-09-20
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/engineering-vol-72-1901-09-20 11/47
S PT
.
20, 1901.]
t lken
the
chair, the two next pa
pers by Mr.
Ma.v or
and Mr. Hobart were
discuss
ed
together.
l\1oDERN
CoMM
UTATING DYNAl\10 M ACHINERY, WITH
SP E
OIAL R E
FERE
NCE TO ·
rHB CoMM
UTATING
LIMIT
S.
Under the
pressure of
Mr.
H. M .
Hobart,
at
pre
s
ent of Berlin, hurri
ed
th
r
oug
h
his iQ J
po
rtan
t
paper, which
we
sha
ll
p ublish Jat er, at a vflry rapid
rate
;
then Mr.
H e
nry A
Mavor, of Glasgow, fol
low
ed
with
hi
s
paper
on
the
DESIGN
OF
C
ON
TINUO
US- CURRENT
DYNAMOS.
Th i
s
we
h
ope
..to
publi
sh l
at e
r
;
it
is
not
o
ne that
ca l well
be
abstracted.
The
two papers,
he
said,
mtght
appear
to have been
wri
tten in
combination,
as
they
agr
eed
almost
entirely, except
as
to hi
s
fo
rmul
a
(4
)
in whi
ch
he
differed from Mr.
Ho b
at
t ;
but he
had
not seen
Mr.
Hobart's
paper
till the
eve
ning
previous,
and,
in f
ac t
,
ha
d not h
ad time to
assimil
ate
it .
I t wa
s,
no
do
ub
t , a
very
valuable
paper ; but
his im
pression was that ma
ny quest
ions
had not
been
d
ea
lt
with
sufficien t
ly in detail
to
enable manufacturers
to base
designs
upon it.
Mr. Hobart's tables
we
re certainly
good,
and
he
ventured to
suggest that i
hie own
-M
r.
a v o r
- ene
rgy
fa
cto
r
were
intr
od
uced in to
them, the
paper
wo
uld
become s
ti
ll more useful.
He
was
co
nvin
ced that notwitsta.nding a
ll
that had been
said, t h
ere was st
ill a field
for ingenuit
y in com
mu
tato
r
CQ
nstruc
tio n. He would, f
or
instance
,
like to get
rid
of mica in
su
l
at
ion.
Mr.
Kapp
agreed
that the
cont
inu
ous
current
was
by no means old -fas
hi
oned,
and
that
we
had reason
to
occ
upy
ourselves
with
pa
rticul
a
rs
of design.
Mr.
Mavor
wanted
deep
slo
ts
;
but
so
metim
es
fl
at
slo
ts might
be rig
ht.
For instance, for 1000-volt
ma
c
hine
s-
there
was
no demand at
p
res
e
nt
f
or
hi
gher voltage
s-
- deep slots lost
to
o much
in
insuh
tion. We required
ma
ny
sections
for the
commu
tators
; a
nd
he
would
like
to draw
a
tt e
ntion
to
a
rece
nt type
of commutator bal's, which
were narrow
and bent.
Mr.
Kapp
gave
an approximat
e fo
rmula
for the output of a dynamo s
impl
y invo
lvin
g
dimensions and speed
;
th
e power
in
kil owa
tts
wasP.:
-
P C
D.
L U.
. = . 100 . 100
wher
e D a
nd
L m
eant the diamete
r
and the
len
gt
h
of the
armat
ur
e
in
cen timet r
es
, U t
he numb
er of
revolutions
per
minut
e, a
nd
C was a co-efficie
nt
a
very
e
lasti
c co-efficie
nt, he
had
to
admit,
as i t
varied
from
0.6
for
small machines
of indiff
erent
d
es
i
gn
t o 2.6 for well-desi
gne
d
large
machin es.
Thi
s C also depended on
the
diam
et er,
th e
relation
be
ing 0.6 ~
·
Professor
Carhart contented
himse
lf
with con
g
ra
t ul
atin
g
the author
s on t
heir
papers.
Professor S . P .
Th
ompson was
glad to hav
e this
opportunity of saying something
on co
ntinuou
s·
current
dynam
os. H e
did
n
ot wi
sh
to
cri
t ici
se
;
the paper
s were
very
u
sef
ul; but
he would ask Mr.
Mavor
what
his energy factor re
a
lly meant. In
(1)
it was explained as er
gs
per second
per cubic
centi
met re
per
second,
and
a
little
lower down unit
velocity
and
uni
t
field
we
re
introduced. If the
la
tt e
r was a slip-( Mr.
Mavor at
once assented)-we
had in the
K s
imply the amperes passing through
the
sq
ua
re
centimetre of the active belt, reckonin g
copp
er
a
nd
ir
on
toge
ther, and
it
wo
uld
then not
be
very
s
urpr
ising
that manufacturers had
come
to
substantially th
e
same
values for
the
ene rgy facto
r.
As
Mr. Kapp had
given a fo
rmul
a, he
mi
gh t
remind
the
Section of
a rou gh formula proposed by
Mr.
Steinmet
z :
the
output P is in kilowatts
=
/
·
where
d and l
represe
nted
r espective
ly
the diameter
and the
le
ngth
of
the
core b
od
y,
an
d S was a con
stant
varying
between
2
and
4
for sq
uar
e
inch
un i
ts
.
The
speed did not
ente
r in to
this
fo
rmula,
as
i t
re
ferred to
a
certainapp
r
oved
b
est
spe
ed.
Mr.
Hobar t 's
Tables
and
paper, particularly the researches
on
the
subdivision of a g
iven number of turns in
many
sl
ots, were of much
value,
but
he would
li ke
to hav
e a litt
le more inform
ation co
ncernin
g
the
mac
hine
s
of Table II., wh
e
re
n
oth
ing
was said
on fluxes
and
flux
den
sity
in
the
ga
ps.
Th
e
re
acta
nce voltage was a q uantity
we
owed
to
1\fessrs .
Pa rs
hall
and.
Hobart. This
voltage,
an
d
its
1atio 'to
the average el
ectromotive
force,
might be
u
se
ful
terms as regards
co
mmutation, but
he was doubtful
whet
her
t
he ratio
was
the pr
oper quan t ity
to
be
considered,
because
in rever
sa
ls we d
epe
nde
d,
not
on
average field, but
on
actual
field.
If we had
a
E N G I N E E R I N G.
perfect bru
sh, t
he cur
rent sho
uld
sudd e
nly
go down
to
zero ; but th
ere
was
th
e
time in t
erval, the com
mu ta ti
on
per i
od
,
depending
up
on
the fringe
of
field,
the
pole
tips,
&c .; and what happened in this
interval nobody
r
ea
lly had
attempted
fully
to inv
es
ti
gate
.
Mr.
Parshall assumed t hat the c
urrent
dropped in
a
kind
of
alternatin
g-c
ur rent
sine c
ur
ve.
The carbon brus
h she ared off the
cu r
re
nt
as
in
a
valve, a
nd the
resistance
in th
e va
ryin
g
area
of con
tact played
an im
portant
part.
Much had been
written
on commutator construction, but nob
ody
had seemed
to
have
to
uched
on
the
eng
ine.
Yet
we
could n
ot expect
en
gine build ers
to
con
st
ruc
t
engines which would
vary
the
ir
s
peed inrersely
as
to
di
amete
rs of the
dy n
amos.
Mr.
Chame
n,
of Glasgow,
mentioned
that at
P
ort
Dund
as seve ral
se t
s vf 1200 horse-power
engines were
runnin
g at 250 revolut ions,
an
d a large
Willans
en
gi
ne of 2400
hor
se-p
ow
er
at
180 revolu
tions. He believed
in hi
gh speed engines,
and
his
expe
ri
ence had convin
ce
d
him
that mechanical
t roubles
al
o
ne prev
en ted
the
general
adopt
ion of
high-speed engines.
Thi
s,
the
reader will find, is
ve
ry much Mr.
H o
bart's
view.
Th
e absolutely
true
runnin
g of co
mmutators
of
high
pe
riph
e
ral
speeds
and complete freedom of co
mmutato
rs
and
bru
sh
supports
from v
ibra
t ion,
he
states,
are purely
questions of sufficiently so
lid and
consequently
pensive n1echanical con
st ruc
t
ion
th rougho
ut.
Mr. W. B. Sa
yers refe
rred
to
the
difficulties of
sta
ndard isat ion, which
Mr. Hoba
t t himself hld
c
haracterised as
inv olving a
stupendou
s
programme
of rating.
A s
regards
the
cause of
th
e trouble
in
commutation,
he thought
we
might ro
ug
hly sa
y that
the
commuta
to
r
did not
give
the
c
ur r
e
nt any
g uid
ance
wh
en
it
falls o
ff,
a
nd he furth
er developed
the
diagram
which
Profe
ssor
Thomp
son h
ad drawn.
Co
lonel Crompton considered Mr. Mavor 's sug
gestion
of
prac
tical value, while much t
ha
t had been
written
on dynamo design
wa
s useless .
We had
now learned
to ke
ep
commutators perfectly smooth
a
nd
ro
und and stea
dy.
In that
r
espect the
adop
tion of the wheel press process f
or
the
construction
of co
mmutat
o
rs
const it ute d a
great impr
ove
men
t .
He endo
rsed
what
Mr.
C
hamen
had
said -
that
we
could o
btain
econo
my
only
with
high
peripheral
speeds
in
eng
ines and dynan1
os.
Th at
was
the
one
point, mo
re
over,
on
which
we did
score
in Engl
and.
In
replying,
Mr. Hobart
ack nowledged
that
Mr.
Mav or 's fo
rmula
(4) seemed
to be
very convenient.
The
1000
volts
of which
Mr.
l{
ap
p had spoken
need
not be th
e
limit,
so
far
as con
stru
ctors w
ere
concerned.
The high
er the voltage, the eas
ier the
design.
Mr.
Lasc
he
h
ad
do
ne
some good
work
on
ten
sion
members in
large
alternating
rnac
hines
;
that mig
ht be
possible also for
commutat
ing
mac
hine
s.
With regard to Professor
Thompson's
inquiry
concerning
Table II . , Table VII. con
tain
ed
fur
ther inform
at
ion.
The ra
tio of r
eactance
voltage
to the av
e
rag
e voltage he
did
n
ot himself
regard
as
of
much importance. Th e
problems
deal
in
g
with the fr
inge
commutating
zone w
ere
ve
ry
complicated to
follow, but we had not been very
successful
in
our
attempts
to
impr
ove m
atte
rs by
s
haping
t
he
pole corners.
Mr. Mavor
thou ght that
the ra
tio r
eacta
nce volt
tage to
average elect romotive force was u
se
ful,
because
it included
the average
fi
eld. He hoped
that his fo
rmula
(4) would
be found
convenien t
With respect
to
t
he
independence
and
co
nnect
ion
b
etween engine and dynam
o, that qu
es t
i
on
had
received
far
too li
t tle
consid
erat
ion.
Dy n
amo
makers
had
had
to adapt
then1selves
to the
practice
of
the engine builder, and he thought the time
had
now
come
when the
engine
construotor
s
hould
st u
dy
the
spec
ial
de
si
res
of
the dynamo maker.
Votes
of
thanks
to the
U
niv
ers
ity authorities and
Professor Gray, a
nd to Mr.
the Chairman,
bro
ught the very
successful proceed
ing
s
to
a con
clusio
n.
THE EXCURSIONS
AND VISITS TO
WORKS.
I t
is
not
vossible even
to enumerate all the
excursions a
nd
visits
to
wo
rks made durin
g
the
Co
n gress . On each
afternoon
works su
ffic
i
en t
ly
varied in their nature to suit
t
he
wide in te
rests
of
the
Uo
ngress
wer
e op
ene
d
to
me
mb
ers, while
trips
were organised
to
so
me of
t
he
romantic
spots in
the weRt
of Scot
l
and, wh
ose sce
ni
c
charms
were
fortunately di
sp
lay ed
in bright
s
unny
w
ea t
her.
Friday
was ent
ir
e
ly
given over to en
joym
e
nt
,
there
be
ing
fo
ur
exc
ur
sions.
Edinburgh,
with i
ts
hi
sto
ri
cal association s, and
the
Forth
Bridge,
with
its
imm
en
se
a
nd
impr
essi
ve pr
opor tions, claimed
397
the atte
n tion of a large
num
ber; but
the
Cly
de
es t
uary, as ever,
proved the
most
sed
uctive.
One
exc
ur
sion was by the Caledo
ni
an Company 's
s t e ~ m e
Du
chess of
Hamilton,
fr
om the
famous
Broom
1elaw
q uay
in
Glasgow, down t he
river
w h i ~ h
Gla
fg
ow
ente
rpri
se and capital has
dredged, ~ n h l the tow.n
is acknowled
ged
, with,
perhaps,
a
ht
t
le
of poetlC
licence, as a \ ' sea-girt ci
ty
.
1
J.lhe great
pan
orama
of s
hipbuildin
g
and
engin
eer
ing w
orks
al
ong
the
river proved most
impr
essive, especia
lly
to
t ~ e
foreign gues ts.
Th
e scene was
changed
when, 1n
slipping
past
Greenock, t he
upper eRt
u
ary
, bo
rdered
by
fir-clad hills, came
with
in view.
1'h
e
steamer
th r
eaded
i
ts
way through
the Ky
ea of B ute, a
nd
in t
o some of the long na
rr
ow lochs winding among
the Arg
ylls
hire
hills,
and
finally the members, .
land
ing at th
e
head
of L och
Long
, proceed ed
to dnve to
Tarbet,
and
ta
kin
g a
steame
r
down Loch
Lomon
d,
re
turn
ed by
rail to
Gl4sgow.
Th
e
other
trip
w
as by
the
P arsons'
stea
m
turbine
·
driven
steamer
King
Ed ward,
the machinery
of
which was the
princip
al so
ur
ce of
at t
racti
on
.
The
vessel was
to
have gone
into
t he lower estuary, but
a fr esh breeze sug
gested
as
prudent
a mo
re pro·
tected route, an
d t
hu
s
the
ves
se
l
went up
Loch
Fyne, an
d
afterwards up the sa
me lochs in t
he
Kyl
es of
Bute
as had b
ee
n t
rav
er
se
d
earlier by the
Duch
ess of Hamilton .
The
t
hird
steamer c
har
tered
was
the ever-popular
Co
lum
ba, which was reserved
f
or
the Iron
a
nd Stee
l
In st itut
e,
and went up
to
In verary. All
the
trips added
greatly to the
pl
ea
s
ur
e d
er
ived
fr
om
t he w
eek's
congress.
In co
nc
lusion,
we
ofl'er o
ur
hearty con
grat
ulations
to the promoters on
the
sp
l
endid
success of the
Co
ngress .
We
would
spec
ia
lly mention the
five mem
hers
of t he original committee, a
nd the
m
ost act
ive age
nt
s t
hr
ougho
ut
-
Dr
.
Robert
Ca
ird,
Professor
Archib
ald Barr, D. Se.,
and
Messrs. A.
S.
Biggart, J. F.
Mclntosh, and
H. A. Mavor,
as well as
Mr.
J.
D. Cormack, now
Professor
of
Mechanical
Engineeri
ng
in the
U
niver
s
ity Co
llege,
Lo
nd
o
n,
who
did great servi
ce
as general secre·
tary, and
bo
re th
e cons tant st rain
of
t he heav y
duti
es inv olved
in
or
gani
sing
and carrying
to
success a congress uniq ue
in
its co
mpr
e
hen
sive
character. To th e London co
mmittee
much
of th
e scientific
result
s of
the Co
ngr
ess
were
due,
Sir
Douglas Fo x,
1\-Ir. James Mansergh,
and Dr.
J. H.
T. Tudsbe ry
having given
most
valuable help.
The
ho
norary
secretJlries of all
the
sections also deserve
credit for working
so
willingly a
nd
energetically-
Mr
. R.
El l
i
ott
Cooper
was
Secretary
for Section I.
;
Professor L. F .
V
ern
on
Harcourt
f
or
Sec t on II.
; Mr. Edga
r
W
orthington, B.
Se., for
Sect
i
on I l l
. , Mr.
R.
W. Dana for
Sect
ion IV . ;
Mr. Bennett
H .
Rr
o
ugh
for
Sect
ion V
.; Mr.
J ames Barrow.man for
s ~ c t i o n
VI.; Mr.
Th
omas Cole for Se
ction
VII. ;
Mr.
J.
W.
He
lp
s for
Sect i
on
VIII.; and Mr.
W .
G.
Ma
cmillan for Section IX.
Where
so ma
ny
contributed
enthusiast ically
and
loyally
it
is
im·
possible to name a
Jl
who are wo
rthy of
men tio
n ;
bu t
we
cannot refrain from referring
to
the s
plendid
work
done
by
Mr .
James Ro
wan
in
connection
with
r
ecept
io
ns and
e
nt
e
rtainm
e
nts;
by Mr .
Matthew
P a
ul
in
the almost
herculean
task
of £nding
accommodat
ion
for
the members of
t
he
Congress
within
a city already overcrowded by exhibition
visi
tors and
holiday
tourists; and by Dr. Darr
in
arranging
t
he
rooms
and
other accommodation for
th e
meetings at
the
University,
which pr oved
admirably
sui
table and
co
nvenien
t for
the
Congress.
R
usS IAN PO
RTS.
- The
H.
u
ss
ian Governme
nt
has d
ec
id d
upon the
re- co
n
st
ruo
bi
on of the ports of
St
.
Pe
tersburg
and Cronstadt. Cronstadb will beco
me
st
rictly a war
porb,
and will be closed to mHc
hanb
vessels.
St
. Peters·
burg is to remain a
co
mmercial
porb
. The commercial
po
rt a b
Sevastopol is to be transferred to Tbeodosia.
- - -
BELGAN CoALEXPORTS.
-The
exporbs
of
coal from Bel•
gium in the first half
of
this year were
2,108,000
tone, as
compared with 2,468,590 tons in the corresponding period
of 1
900
. The
ex
ports in
June
figured in these totals for
328,974 tons, as oompared
wi
bh 345h467 tons in June, 1900.
The exports to France
fi
gured in t e general total for the
pasb
bwo
half-years for 1,675, 422 tons and 1,830,469 tons.
FIREPROOF Woon
.-The
secretary of the United States
Navy has approved a repo
rb
of
th
e Board of
Na.val
Con
stru
ct
ion recommending a di
sco
ntinuance
of
the use
of
fireproof
wood
for decks a.nd for all joiner wo
rk
below
the protecti
ve
decks on vesseld having such decks, and on
all vessels below the berth deok. Wood treated by
th
e
fireproofing process will be ueed, however. in torpedo
boats and torpedo·boab destroyers, and will be painted.
In other ships metal will be used in the place
of wood
wherever p
os
sibl
.
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:
E
GI N E ER iN
C
[S T
20
196 .
TH E
WHIT
EH
EA
D TORPEDO WORKS
AT Fl UME.
posed at .90 deg., and working on
the
same crank.
To equahse the speed, which otherwise would have
din;inished th e fall of pressure
in
air an autom
at
ic regulato r was pro
vided whiCh controlled the cut-off of the engine.
•
8 millimetres long, with air vessel for
70
at mos
p h e ~ e and
dri ven
by
a
th r
ee-cylinder Brotherhood
engine.
T:S:ESE
were established by Mr. Rober t
Wh itehead In the year 1872, at F iume a to wn of
36,000
in h
abi
ta
n ts , situate d at t he ex
tremity of th e Gulf of Quarnero, about 46 miles
south
-east
of Tr ieste. Mr. Rober t Whi tehead was
bo
rn
at
Bolton-le-Moors, L ancas
hir
e, on J a
nu
ary 3
1823, and att ended the Grammar School
until fourteen years of age . After one year 's pr i
vate study he began
hi
s
pr
actical t raining in t he
shops of M essrs.
R.
Orrno
nd
a
nd
Son,
Man
ches
ter
his u'?cle, Mr. W. S wifb, was manage/
Du rmg the six years that he remained in these
wo
rk
s,
in
his
spa
re t ime he
studi
ed assiduously at
t he Mechanics' In stitute in Mancheste r.
This to rpedo had a speed of 6 to 7 knots at 700
ycl rds . Fur ther tr ials were m
ll
de
fr
om the Austrian
gu nboat Gemse in 1867
and
1868. Up t o t hat time
the depth. of the torpedo had been con trolled by a
hydrostat
iC
plate only. The t rials made in 1868
showed th
at
something else was necessary, tha t is
to say, although the hyd t·ostatic plate gave
th
e tor
pedo a good ave rage de
pth, the
variat ions from
these d
ep t
hs might be as much as from 0 (to rpedo
on the surfar.e) to 6 or 8 metres. H ere Mr. 'Vh ite
head brought out the invention
kn
own for so
many
re
ars as the secret of th e
torp
edo, the
one necessa
ry
to t
urn
it
into
a weapon of
precision as far as its depth-keeping properties
In .1876 Norway, Sweden, and Denmark acquired
the n ght to the use of the invention and in 1876
Turk
ey and
Ru
ssia. F or
the
las t-rdentioned
Go
vernm ent torpedoes were con
st
ructed not only for
use from ships, but also for coast defe'nce, they had
a length of 6.7 m
etre
s, and made 17 to 18 knots at
1000 metres. P ortugal adopted the weapon in
1877, followed shortly aftenvards by Argentina
Belgium, Chili, and Greece; in 1885 by H olland
1891 by
th
e U n
it
ed
St
ates , a
nd in
1895 by J apan
which up to t hen had been supplied by
th
e r m a ~
torpedo works of Sch warzkopff and Co . China
hither to supplied by the same firm, was the latest
addition to the li
st
,
ha
ving o
rd
ered dur
in
g the
present year.
n leaving Manchester , Mr. Whitehead went as
draughtsman to the wo
rk
s of
Me
ssrs. Philip Ta
yl
or
in
Mar
se
illes, then kn own as
th e F orges eb Chantiers de
la Med ite
rr
anee, of wh ich his
uncle had been appoin ted
ma nager. H ere he
rem
ained
three years, and in 1847 went
to Milan, where he occupied
himself
in
the con
st
ru ct-ion of
silk -spinning mac
hin
ery. H e
patent ed several impor tant
improvemen ts in this branch,
but was deb
ar
red by political
events
fr
om rea
pin
g the bene
fit of his invent ions, as the
revolu tionary government an
nulled th e patent s gran ted
un
der
the
Aust rian · ime
F or the next two years Mr.
Wh itehead was in the service
of the
"Aus
trian Lloyd
in
Trieste, as constructo
r,
after
which
he
took the post of
manager to the
Sta
bilimento
Tecnico Trie
st
ino (1\iessrs.
Str udthoff
.
n 1858 he accepted the in
vita.tion of a number of Fiume
ca
pi
talists
to
assi
st
in
th
e foun
da tion of a marine engineering
works
un
der the name of the
Stabilimento Tecni co Fiu-
mano.
Th
e ne w en te
rp
rise
rapidly attained gr
eat
re
pute
owing to the excellence of th e
marine engines of Mr. White
h
ba
d 's constru
ct
ion, most of
t hem being supplied to the
Austrian Navy, which wa s, in
fact, the chief suppor ter of the
wo
rk
s.
Th
e falling off in the
requirem
ents
from this quar
ter in 1871 was the forer unner
of the closing of t he
wo
rks in
1872, when Mr . Whitehead
took them over in his own
name, and founded the now
well-known torpedo works.
In
t
hi
s under taking he was joined
by his so
n-
in - law, Count
George H oyos, and l
ate
r by
his eldest son, Mr. J o
hn
White
head.
Th e history of the evolu tion
of the Whitehead torpedo may ·
be briefly given as follows :
In the year 1860, Capta
in
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
J
Lupp
is, of
the
Aust rian
Na
vy, conceived the idea
of a boat for coast defence, dirigible from a dis
tance, and ca
rr
ying an explosive charge to be fired
by a con tact device.
In
1864: Cap
ta
in L uppis
associated himself with Mr. ' Vhitehead, so as to
br ing
pr
actical mechanical ability to work on his
in ven tion . Mr. Whitehead quickly dec
id
ed that
t he idea of a boat steered
fr
om the shore was
impracticable, and that the only possibility of
success was offered by
an
underwater projectile
independent f rom t he moment
it
was launched.
The first torpedo, as
we
now understand the wo rd,
was fi
ni
shed in October, 1866, and is illu
st
rated in
Fi
g. 1, page 395. I t had a
di
ameter of 366 mill
i
metres
, a
nd
a len
gt
h of 3.36
met re
s.
Th
e
tota
l
weight was 136 kil ogrammes, and the explosive
charge 8 kil ogrammes, the air
pr
essure in the
rese
rv
oir being 26 atmospheres. The engines we
re
of the com
pound
oscillating type,
th
ere
high-pressure and one low-pressure cyhnder dis-
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
I
•
•
•
-
MR. R o BERT
W HI
TEH EAD.
we
re co ncerned. Th is invention consisted in the
addition of a pendulum, cont rolling a second pair
of horizon tal rudders, so that the hydrostatic plate
now governed
th
e abso lu
te
d
ept
h, and the pendu
lum prevented the depth line vary ing a
pp r
eciably
from th e horizontal.
In
July, 1870,
Mr
. Whitehead made a series of
ex
periment s in presence of the represen ta tives of
the
Bri
tish Admiralty at Sheerness, with such
sa t
is
factory results that the Bri t ish Government acquired
th e use of the in
ve
ntion in 1871, as Au
st
ria had
already done in 1868. This example was followed
in 1872 by France, and in 1873 by
Italy
and Ger
many, w
it
h the pr
ov
iso, however, from the latter
power th
at
the speed of the torpedo mu
st
be brought
up to
at
least 16 knots for a
run
of 650 me tres. In
the course of a year
th i
s task was easily accom
plished, and the torpedo made for the German Go
vernment running 17 knots for a distance of 760
metres ; this was a 35-centimetre to rpedo, 6 metres
•
•
A \Vhitehead torpedo of the latest type is shown
in
Fig. 2,
page 395, and the
following shor t descrip tion will
give some idea of
th
e progress
mllde since the historical
tr
ials
in 1866. Beginning at the fo r
ward end, we have the pistol
or pe rcussion firing mechanism
A, consi
st
ing of the strike r 1
(see Fig. 3), armed wi th
•' whisker
s"
2 for insuring
engagement with
th
e skin of
•
•
the enemy's vessel, should the
torpedo strike a glancing blo
w.
Th
e head B is formed of
phos-
phor - bronze sheet 1.5 milli
me
tr
es th ick, and contains the
charge of damp gun·cotton 3,
with a dry gun-cotton primer
4, and a percussion cap 5,
which last is fired when the
st
riker 1 is driven back by the
torpedo reaching its target.
The head described
(" wa
r
head '') is replaced fo r exer
cising purposes by a head of
steel plate some 3
mi
llimetres
thick, the explosive charge is
re
presen ted either by water
ballast or by a teak dummy
and
th
e
"pis
tol by a
poi nt of iron, having a trans
verse . hole for receiving the
tow hne when the torpedo is
picked up after a run.
N ext we have the air vessel
C,
co
nsi
st
ing of a
fla
sk of steel
capable of supporting
th
e hy
draulic test pressure of 2UO
atm
os
phe
re
s, to enable a work
ing pressure of 150 atmos
pheres to be carr ied. The
air vessel is charged by intro
ducing a n
ozz
le in the sock
et
6,
Fig
4, the air charge being re
by the check valve 7, or,
In case th e torpedo is
not
re
quired
to
be used immediately
after charging,
by th
e hand
screw-down valve 8. Commu
nication is establ ished bet ween
the .air vessel the to
rp
edo
engme by the
p1
pe 9 leading
to the admission valve D and
to the pressure r egulator E,
w
hi
ch is in d irect connection
wi
th the sl ide-valve chests of
the engine F . The admission valve D is furn ished
wi th a lever 10 which engages with and is th rown
back by a projecting bolt in the impul
se
tu be wh en
the torpedo is launched. The t urn ing back of th is
lever admi ts air to the engine, the air at high
pressure being reduced to working pressure in its
passage
th r
ough th e pressure regulator or reducing
valve.
When the to rpedo is fired f rom an above-wate r
tube, this operation is actually a lit tle more co m
plicated than would be supposed from the ab
ov
e
descrip tion, as in this case the throwing back of
the air lever 10 may be likened to the cocking of
the hammer of a gun, and the actual admission of
a
ir
to the engine is effec
te
d by t he action of the
water on the li
tt
le plate 11 ("water
trip
per ")
when th e torpedo takes its first plunge, so that
the ' 'water tripper may stand for t he tr igger of the
gun.
Th
e object of this supplementary mechanism
is to avoid the loss of air and general shak ing up
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SEPT.
20
,
I 90
1 ]
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E N G I N E E R I N G
THE
WHITEHEAD
TORPEDO
W011KS
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. ..
....
•
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.
•
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r
•
•
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F I
G. 6. VIEW OF W oRKS F Ro u TBE SEA .
•
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.
' .
~ ' - -
. .._,,
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l
•
399
-
AT
FlUME.
•
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...
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FIG. 13.
G ROUP
oF H oRI
ZONTAL
LaTH
ES•
'
;1
•
•
• i
•
•
.
•
•
f
.
•
•
•
••
•
(
•
•
•
•
•
.
.
•
•
•
•
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•
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Fi o
. 12. VERTICAL H r ~ o
MILL
Foa ToRPEDO .
F IG. 14.
GR I
N Dit\G OUT AN
I MPULSE
T UBE .
v hich would oc cur were the engine allowed to race
under full pre8sure
during
the flight of the tor
pedo th rough the air .
.
Th
e engine F is of the t
hree
-cylind er
type
;
the
admiss
ion, cut-off
and
exhaust are controlled by a
valve to each cylinder,
actuated by
a cam en
the
engine
shaft, with which they
are
kept in close
contGl
ct
by
th
e pressu1e
of the
live
a
ir , l he
exhau
st
•
air is
led
away
to
the aftermost
extremity
of th e
torpedo
t
hrough the
hollow
engine
sh
aft 12.
As we have concerned ourselves up to now
with
th9
p r o p l l i n mechani
sm of the
torpedo,
we will
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•
follow the eng
in
e sha.ft through the buoyancy
chamber
G
t o t
he
tail.
Th
e shaft is continued
rig
ht
thr ough t
hi
s part, and carries t he left-handed
pr
opeller ; a sleeye tu be
turning
fre ely on the
shaft carries the right-han
ded
propeller 14
an
d
this sleeve tube is dr i ven at
the
same speed the
shaft, but
in the opposite direction, by the nest of
mitre gearin g 15. .
This arrangement
is adopted
to
preven t the rotatiOn of the
torped
o on i
ts
o
wn
axis, which would inevitably occu1' i
the
torpedo
were driven by a single prope
ll
er.
We
may
now consider the remaining mechanism
of
the
torpedo,.
which consi
sts
of two
apparatu
s,
ea?h of equal Impor
ta
nce to the propelling ma
chi n
ery,
the first controlling
the
dept h line or ver
t ical t rajectory of the torpedo, and the second the
direct
ion or horizontal
trajecto
ry.
_Th e .d
ep t
h mechanism (
diving
gear ) is con
t
atned In the
chamber J
abaf
t
the
air vessel and
consists of a spring-loaded hydrostatic 16
working.in
conjunct
ion w_ith a
pendulum
17, th rough
th e medlUm of the steermg engine (se rvomotor) 18
on the h
or
izontal ru
dders
19 of t
he torp
edo. As
before
exp
lained, the function of the hydrostatic
~ i s t o n is to keep
the
torpedo
at the
absolute d
ep t
h
lm
e ca
ll
ed for by
the
compression of its sp rin g
;
the
pendulum
prevents the torpedo
taking
an ex
cessi
ve
angle up or down, and
flat
ten
s, as o
ne
may
say, t he
strongly
undulating depth line which
would be
produced
by
the
action of the hydro
static
plate alone.
Th
e g yrosco
pe steering
mechanism
K
is
di
sposed
in the buoyancy chamber
G
immedia te
ly
abaft the
engine bulkhe
ad.
This apparatus was
in
vented in
1897 by
Mr.
L. Ob ry, engineer, of
Trieste
,
impr
oved
and in troduced by Messrs.
Whitehe
ad, and now
for ms an essential part of the torpedo. I t con
sists,
as its nam
e de
note
s, of a gyroscope 20
ac t
ing through
a miniature
stee
ring engine 21 on the
vert ical rudders 22 in the tail.
' rhe
gyroscope
wheel is set
in
rapid r
otat
ion
by
the ac tion of a
spiral s
prin
g wound
up
by
hand
before launching
the to rp edo, and released by the throwing
ba
ck of
t he air-admission lever ; hence the moment the
torpedo
commences to move
in
t
he impulse
t
ub
e,
the g yroscope wheel is r
ap
idly revolving, and, as is
well
kn
own, will
continue
to rev olve in its original
plane of rotation.
Should t
he
torpedo, therefore, be deflec
ted by
its
head strik
in
g the
wat
er first (as is usually the case,
for
inst a
nce, when firin g
from
the
beam of
a
tor
pedo·boat
in
m
ot
ion), or,
inde
ed, from any
ot
her
cau
se
, the gyroscope corrects this defle
ct
ion by
giving helm port or sta
rb
oard, as required.
The success at tained by this latest addition
to
the torpedo has been p
henom
ena
l, so
t hat it m
ay
fairly be
said
that
t
he
gyroscopic
stee
ring
apparatus
has
done
for the di rec tion of the to rpedo what the
combination of hydrostatic plate and pendulum did
for the depth
line.
We give below the principal data of the torp edo
we have been examining:
Diameter ... ... .. . . .. 45 cen timet res
L
engt
h,
including
pistol .. . 5 metres
Weighb, read y for launching ... 557 ldlogs. (1228 lb.)
Weight
of explosive cna.r
ge
(damp gun-cotton) .. . .. . 60 k i l o ~ s (132.2 lb .)
Capacity of air vessel ... .. . 341 htres (12.04
cub ic feet)
W orking pressure in air vessel. .. 100 atmos. (1470 lb.
per square
in
ch)
Working
pressure
in
e
ngin
e ... 35 a.tmos.
514.
5
lb
.
per equa.re inch)
Diam
ete r of cy
tinder
s of en
gi
ne
(th ree) ... .. . . . . .
Stroke
.. . ... ... .. .
4 in.
3 ,
Pitch
of screw-
pr
ope llers (four·
blade
d) . . . . .. . .
40 ,
After this short review of the developme
nt
of
the to
rpedo
to
its present form, we will proceed
to
a
de
scription of the works of l\1essrs. Whitehead
and Co. at Fiume, of which we give a plan in
Fi g. 5 on page 395, and a pe rspe ct ive view
in Fig
. 6
on page 399.
These
works have been
almost
en t
ir
e
ly rebuilt
during the last few
year
s, and will now compare
favourably wi th anyt
hing
to be seen
in
the United
Kingdom.
The foundry is exceptionally lofty and well
lighted, and is served by two powerful
trave
lling
c
ran
es,
at
present
o r k e d
by
h
and
p o w ~ r ,
bu
t
to
which electricity IS shortly to be a.pphed. For
iron casting a No. 4
Stewart's rapid
c u p o is u
se
d,
stationed outs ide the foundry ; t
he
casting ladles
are fi ll
ed
fr
om
its tapping t rough, which
extends
through the wall. The gr
eate
r
_pa
r t of the of
the foundry consists, however, 1n b1·onze cast.mgs,
•
E N G I N E E R I N G
and for these there is a range of 12 crucible
furn
aces, the hot gases from which pass throuah
r e c ~ n g u l a r
cast
-i ron flues
in
the core and mould
dr;ymg ch
amber
before en tering
the
uptake;
in
this way the core stove is
kept
at
high
tempe
r
at
ure
by heat that would other wise be los t.
In t he same building wi th the foundry is the
power-house, containing the ma
in
driving engine
~ t e a
m dynamos for ligh ting
and
power t r a n s ~
miSS ion, air e ~ s o and hydraulic pump
and
accumulator for forgmg pre ss. The main engine is of
the vertical
marine
patte
rn
by Messrs. Shanks
of
Ar?roat
h,
t r ~ p l e - e x p a n s i o n
s
ur f
ace-co
nden
sing,
~ i t h
cylinders 8 i In., 13i in.,
and
22 in . by 18 in. stroke.
is supplied with steam
at
150 lb. pe r sq uar e
[SEPT. 20,
I
901.
versely in to
c a r p e n t e ~ s
shop a
nd smit
hy (for
coppersmtths, tinsmiths,
an
d
bla.ck-
smtths).
The centre of No. 4 bay is occupi
ed by
the control
and
tool-rooms-
dep
artments railed off by counter
a ~ d grating. In tho first-named department all
pie.ces
pr
oduced in works are carefully gauged,
we1ghed, and
ot
herwise tested before assembling.
Opposite t
he
fo
undry
is a two-storey buildina
the
ground floor of which is the store and
t h b ~
first fi?or the drawing and other offices ; the pro
longatiOn of _the ground floor of this building to
the
harbour IS
used
as
a b
oat
shed, a
nd
contains
two slips for hauling
up
the steam launches and
other craft employed
in
torpedo t rials.
Suuth of this building, and
exte
nding some
The
stea
m dynamos each consist of a marine- 50 ~ r e s (164
ft.) i?
to the sea,
is
the runn ing
pattern compound
~ n g i
surface-condensing, statwn- a
platf
o
rm
rai sed on piles about 8 ft. above
cranks .at 180 deg., cylinders 12.6 in . and 18.9 in. by the water. On this platform are installed the
10.25 In. coupled di rect
to
a six-pole
p e d o - ~ u n c h i n g
frames and impulse tubes, and
ge
nerator
w1t h
drum
arma tu re; electromotive force
an
o ~ s e r v m g room for the officials engaged in t he
volts, cur rent 800 amperes. Th e engines were runnmg tests. Th e whole is roofed (see Fig. 11),
built by Messrs. Ringhoffer, of Sch michow, near and served by an overh ead electn c crane. The
Pr ague, and the
dyn
amos
by
Messrs. Siemens, of running
ran
ge
extends
due
west
from the sta tion,
Budap
est. and raft s are moo
red
at
the
distances called
The
air compressors, four in number, were . for by the particular type of torpedo under
test
,
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
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•
•
•
•
:
•
;
• •
.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
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•
•
•
•
•
•
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•
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•
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•
•
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.
·
• • •
• •
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•
-
F1a. 11. TnE FLIGHT oF A ToitPEDo.
•
•
built in the works ; they are of the vert ical type,
effecting t he compression in two stages, and each
capable of furnishing 550 lit res (19.4 cubic feet) of
air
at
100 atmospheres (1470 lb. per Equare inch)
pressur
e per hour.
Adjoining the power-house is the boiler-room,
where steam is produced by
three
boilers of novel
co
nstruction, one of which was illustrated by us in
ENGINEERING, vol. lxii., page 554.
Externally
the boil
er
appears to
be
of the usual
Lancashire
type, diff
er
ing o
nly
in
n
ot
being
brick
ed
in ; in te rnally t he ordinary corrugated flue is con
nected with a flue of square section placed on edge
and filled with water tubes extending from side to
side of
the
square in cross layers ;
that
is to say,
the fi rst laye r co
nne
cts the lower right-
hand
plate
to
t he u
pper
left.hand plate, the seco
nd
the lower
le
ft
-ha
nd
plate to the
upper
right-hand plate, and
so on. Th e tubes are not staggered, so that
th
ere
is a through passage between the tubes from end
to
end of
the
flue for cleaning
purpo
ses. Two of
the
boilers are of 200 h orse-power each, the oth
er
,
with single flue, is of 100 horse-power.
From the boiler-house we pass into the main
shop, a
buildin
g of six bays, each 7 m
et
.
res
(24 ft. 7 in. ) wide a
nd
175 met res (574 ft .) long.
'£aking t hese bays as shown on the plan
(Fig. 5 on page 395), No. 1 is devoted
to
heavy
turnin
g;
No . 2 to light t urn ing, milling,
and
s
haping;
No
. 3
and
No
. 4 to fitting
and
assembling
torpedoes; No. 5 to fitting and assembli ng launch
ing tubes, air compressora, and
ot
her accessories,
and
No. 6 to the machining of these objects. On
the south side of t
he
main shop are two bays 7
metres wide, 125 metres long, and divided t rans-
e.g. 400 met res, 600 metres, and 800 metres
for the usual patte
rn
s
;
1000 metres and 2000
metres for torpedoes for coast-def
en
ce
purp
oses.
A narrow-gauge tramway, with t
urn
tables
at
all
crossings, runs through the who
le
of the works and
to
t he running
stat
io
n.
Part icular attention has
been. given everywhere to arrangements,
as will be by the o w ~ list of the lif ting
and travellmg gear employed 1n t he various bays
of t
he
wo
rks
. (see views on our t wo-page
plat
e).
No.
1
bay
1s
se
rv
ed
by three
walking
jib
cranes
capable of hand lin g weights up to 1 ton. '
N<?s. 3 and 4 bays (
Fi
g. 10) have a
top
rail ex
tendmg
the whole. e n g ~ h of bay, joined
by
numerous cross-rails
wit
h switches, and
ha
vina
several jockeys supporting chain blocks running
them.
Nos .
5
a
nd
6 bays (Fig. 9) are provided each
wi
th
an overhead traveller for 4 tons and one for 1 ton
t he smithy with two overhead travellers, each
1 to n.
Each yard is served by a gantry crane of 4 tons
capacity, and the covered en trance to the sto re is
spann
ed by a 2-ton overhead t rave
ll
er.
In
addition to to rpedoes, Messrs.
Wh i
tehead
manufacture tubes, air compressors, a
nd
all
ot
her accesson es for the torpedo service, and
have also a de
partm
ent devoted
to
the con
st ruc tion of
air
and gas corn
pre
ssors for scientific
an
d
oth
er purposes, two-stage compressors for a
terminal pressure of 200 atmospheres (2940 lb. per
sq
uare inch) being the usual ty
pe
of these l
atter.
Some of
the are
illust r
ated
on page 399.
The tool shown In Fig. 7 on the two-paae plate is
also worthy of notice.
t
is a boring lathe for air-
•
7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 72 1901-09-20
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/engineering-vol-72-1901-09-20 15/47
SEPT
. 20, 190 1. ]
l shells , where the air vessel rotates in
t ~ a d near each end, is driven by a hollow
n ver, and operated on by a massive bor ing s nout
t each end ; the snout is pivoted
in
tho middle
nd
its
outward end is guided by a p l a t ~
giving the d esired
pr
ofile of the b ore.
Th
e works are
li
g
hted
b.v electr icity,
ome 900 glow lamps and 40
arc la
mps being
employed. Th e
nu m
ber of wo
rkm
en exceeds 800.
TH E
BRITI
SH ASSOC
IATION
.
. IN o
ur a ~ t
issue we br iefly re fe
rr
ed to the open
Ing procoedmgs at the recen t meetin
Y
of the B rit ish
Associat ion at Glasgow. As already stated, P ro
fessor A. W. R ttcker is President t his yea r and
he
de
l ivered '
E P RESIDENTIAL A DD RESS
in
St
.
Andr
ew
s
H all.
Th
e
addr
ess took a wide
range, dealin g chiefly with the doubts th
at
have of
late been cast on th e soundn ess of
the
atomic
theory. I t would be difficult within th e space at
our comma
nd to
compress the views expressed
in
the somewhat speculative a
ddr
ess without the risk
of doing inj u
st
ice to the author ; and , indeed, to
make t he at t
empt
would carry us outside
th
e s
tr i
ct
boundaries of our own proper pr ov ince. Pe rhaps
the safest course will be to quote th e concluding
paragra
ph
of the add ress, in which Professor Riicker
a
ppea
red
to
s
um up
his conc
lu
sions, and refer
those of our readers who wish to
] J
Ursue t he sub
ject further to the
pr
oceedings of th e Association.
' ' If no other conception of matter
is
pvssible,
said Pr eside
nt,
than t hat it consists of dis
tin
ct
physical uni
t s -
and no other conception has
been fo
rmul
a
ted
which does
not blurr
wh
at
are
otherwise clear and definite ou tlines if it is certa.in,
as it is, that vibrations travel th rough space which
cannot be
pr
opagated by matter, th e t
wo
founda
t io
ns
of
phys
ical theo
ry
are well and t ruly laid. It
may
be
granted
th
at we have not yet framed a. con
si
st
ent image either of the nat
ur
e of the atoms or of
the ether in which they exi
st
;
bu
t I have t ried to
show that in spite of th e tentative
na
ture of some
of our t heories, in spi te of many outstanding di
ffi
cul t ies, the
at
omic r y u n i f i e ~ ~ so many facts , simpli
fi
es so much that is complica
te
d, that we have a. right
to ins i
st
- at all events
un
t il an equally intelligible
hy
pot
hesis is pro
du
ced- th
at the
main
st
ru
ct
ur
e of
our t heory is tr ue : tha t
ato
ms are not 1
ne
rely helps
to p uzzle mathematicians, but
phy
sical realit ies.
The usual vote of thanks to the President for
his address was moved by
th
e L ord
Pr
ovost of
Glasgow
and
seconded by Lo
rd
K elvin.
The
latter
uescribed the at tack on the atomic theory as a
cru de rec
rud
escence of
ne
o-ber
ke
leianism, nee
sc
ience, neo-nihilism, n eo-vita.lism, and nee-pan
theism, which has grown up within t
he
last ten
years of the
nin
eteenth cen tury. From the t ime
when Thomas
Th
omson in
th
e
Un i
versity of
Glasgow taught the atomic theory in his lectures,
t
hr
ee years a fter he had learn ed it from Dalton, it
had
be
en felt to b e a reality,
and
it would
be me r
e
word -spli
tt
ing to say we a
re
agn
os t
ic in respect of
that theo
ry
.
On the
Thur
sd
ay
mo
rnin
g of
the
meeting t
her
e
was the usual animated gathering of 1nem hers and
associates, b
ot
h male a
nd
female,
in
t he R
ecept
ion
H all before
the
w
or
k of the
Sect
ions commenced.
Th is year t
he
Association. has been esl?ecially ~ t u -
na te
th
e University a.ffordtng an a
lm
os tl de
al
meetmg
l a c ~
where all the Sections can be accommodated
under
pra
ctically one roof.
:rh
e Bute H ~ l l of
th
e
Un iversity fo
rm
ed an admrrable receptwn-room.
In
rega rd to numbers t he ga ther ing was, as
nate
d somewhat disappointing, the atte
nd
ance bemg
two thousand ; so that Glasgow does not com
pare favourably in its devoti?n to the Br it ish Asso
ci
at
ion
wi
th other centres of Industry, n
ota
bly
Ma
n
chester
and
N ewca.s
tl
e.
In d
eed, th e commercial
me
tr
opolis of Scotland has not lived up to its own
reco
rd
for the
attendanc
e of the present y
ea
r has
f
<:
llen 'short of that of
th
e last Glasgow meeting
in 1876 by not far from a
a n d ;
and it is even
be
low the total of for ty-six y
ea
rs ago, w
city had a. far differe
nt
impor
ta
nce
to
w h i c ~ t
has
no
w
attain
ed.
Th
is h
as
been a sad
disa
ppOint
ment to p
at ri
otic i n h a ~ i of . the second o
ily
in the k inadom · bu t , 1f one may Judge by what one
hears, it i: to be easily f?r. The
culty of
gett
ing accmnmod
at wn
dunng an Exhibi
ti
on period, and the charges of h
ote
l keep ers,
ha
ve
done much
to
keep down t he attendance, many
m
em
bers of the Bri tish Associa.t ion- not a class
•
E G I N E E R 1 N G.
devoted to brass bands, switchbacks, and side
s h o w
acting on l rule·, which · has
som
et
hing
to
be said in its favour, of never
visit ing a city which is carrying on a. big exhi
bit ion .
A wi se change was made th is year in the pro
gramme, the whole-day excursions of Thursday
having been abandoned, whil
st
more ambitious
t ri ps were arranged fo r the Sa turday of the
m
eet
ing. Of la
te
yea rs the Thursday exc
ur
sions
have been less and less a
tte
nded. Most of the
sections have got th rough their business on the
Tuesday of the m
eet
ing, and even if si
tt
ings were
held on the We
dn
esday, they have been sparsely
attended. There has, therefore, generally been a
ies
n
on
h
second Wednesday- for those who
decided to go to the Thursd
ay
excursions, and con
sequently the majori ty returned home. The Asso
ciation has s u
ffe
red through attempting too much .
Fo ur
days for sitt ings of sections
ar
e qu
ite en
ough :
the Thursday and
Frida
y of t he first week and
Monday and Tuesday of
th
e second ; leaving S
at
ur
day free for t he pleasure t rips, which a
re
a great
at tradion - and quite legit ima
te
ly so - to
th
e
majori ty of members. I t is to be hoped this new
departure will be the ru le. There is another r eason
w
hy th
e excursions are n
ot
so popular as they
might be. Memhers find
th
at somet imes by
going to the railway
stat
ion and taking ordinary
tickets they can do th e t rip at a smaller c
os
t th an
th
at
pa
id
for the Associ
at
ion ti
cket
s.
Wher
e a
ny
surplus goes to is not generally known ; presumably
not in to t he coffers o f the rail way companies.
Th
ere is one other respect
in
which the sections
attempt too much and do a great deal too
li t
tle. The
way in which papers are crowded in to the pro
gramme
pr
events them from being
pr
operly pre
s
ente
d and adequ
ate
ly discussed.
The
great value
of
a
pap er is t
hat
it should provoke discussion.
In
this way crude opinions and en oneous views
are ex
posed, whilst so
un
d principles receive
confirmation by eminent au thori ties. Adequate
discussion, however, needs preparat ion, and when
no one knows what papers are to be read unt il
t
he
morning
th
ey are presented, it is hopeless
t o expect adequate discussions on scientific ques
tions. In order that the Br itish Association may
ful
fi
l its declared function of
th
e advancement
of science - in accordance with it s t itle- it is
ne
cessary that the programme of
pa
pers s hould be
prepared some time before the meeting, and that
means should be taken to inform members as to
the views to be expressed. That means fewer
papers ; but if this were the rule, we should nw onger
see aut
hor
s reading t heir productions to
an
audience
not numerous enough t0 fill
th
e
fr
ont bench, and
presidents of sections only anxious to g
et
the whole
th ing
over,
and th
e
bu
siness closed.
Th
e
Bri
tish Associat ion has, in the pas t, do
ne
much great work, and it is st ill a valuable in
st
itu
tion, t he decay of which would be a l
os
s to the scien
tific wo
rld
a
nd
a s ign of na
ti
onal decadence. I t is
the
t hought of how much more it might do- how
much more could be secured from th e gathering
together of so ma
ny
e
minent
in science-
that
lends
regret to cer
ta
in ma
nif
est shor tcomings. They are
defects which a litt le vigour on the pa
rt
of
th
e
executive would remove.
T
HE EN GI NEERING S ECTION.
Th
e proceedings in Sec
ti
on G commenced, as
usual, on the Thursday of
the
meeting, 1 1 ,
by
the
reading of the President ial Address. As
alr
eady
state
d in
our
l
ast
issue, Colonel
R. E.
Crompton presided over
th
e
En
gine
er
ing Section.
In
accordance with custom, we prin t his address
in full on page 417.
Th
e usual vote of thanks
was briefly propos
ed by
Sir Alexa
nd
er
Binni
e and
seconded by Sir Frederick Bramwell.
M ECH
ANI
CAL
ExHIBIT
S AT THE
GLASGow
E XJIIDI'£ION.
The fir
st
paper on th e li
st
was by Mr . D. H .
M
01·ton,
of Glasgow the s ubj
ect
being Me :
chanical E xhibits at the Glasgow Exh1
b1
t10n.
This was a long and comprehensive paper, whi ch
would form a useful guide
to
those visiting th e
E x
hibi
tion the a
uth
or
in
troducing cer
tain
su
g
aestive critical remarks from time to t ime. vVe
have, in th ese columns, deal t so largely with t he
con
te
nts of the Exhibition that we need hardly go
over the same ground again. .
Th e paper was not of a natu re to lead to dts·
cussion. Af
te
r a few remarks
fr
om Professor
Unwin, in which he spo
ke
of
the
ability shown by
4 01
the
au thor in dealing with
th
e. subject, a vo
te
of
thanks was proposed by the President.
M
AR
I NE
LI
G
IT
TS
.•
Two papers by Mr. J. R. Wigham were next
read by the author . The first described
a. L
ong
Continuous-
Bu
rning P etroleum Lamp
fo
r Buoys
and Beacons. Th is invent ion was described and
illustrated in o
ur
issue of October 12, 1900. It
will be remembered th
at
t he chief fea
tu r
e of
novelty is a long wick, which passes over a roller,
the two e
nd
s hanging down.
Th
e
fl
ame springs
from
the
part that passes over
th
e roll
er
, a
nd
not
fr
om the ends, as in ordinary lamps . One
par t
of
the
wick is conveyed up through an oil-tight
brass t ube, recei
vi
ng
it
s supply of oil from the
reservoir through holes in its sides, and the other
part is brought down through a tube
sta
nding
above the level of the oil in the lamp. A circular
fl
o
at
is placed
in
a copper cylinder
fi
xed to the
bottom of the lamp and filled
wi
th oil,
and
to thi s
float one end of the wick is attached. The oil in
th
e cylind
er
is allowed to leak away
th r
ough a
spec ial valve, a
nd
as the level is lowered, the float
falls very gradually, t lius causing the wick to
travel over the roller, and so presenting a ne w
surface to
th
e
fl
ame. Some fig
ur
es as to cost given
by
the auth
or we
re
of inter
es t
. The consumption of
oil (pe
tr
oleum) is about half-a-gallon in 24 hours.
At 6d. per gallon
th i
s would amo
un
t to 3d. per day.
Thi
s
is
inclusive of the oil
in
the
fl
o
at
cham
be
r
that
is
allowed to drip away ; but this, in escaping
into th e sea, performs a very useful function in
subduing
th
e wave motion in the neig
hb
ourhood of
the
buoy. Naturally this oil could be saved, and
in t
hat
case the consumption would be about
one-sixth of a gallon per diem. The light is
intended
to
be visible for about
fiv
e or six miles,
and will continue to
burn
without at tendance for
periods up to 90 days if required. This arrangement
for oil-lighting may be com
pa
red with
th
e
co
m
pressed-gas system which i t is in
te
nded
to
replace.
Wh en th e gas, in the l
atte
r, is exhausted, it is
necessary to recharge the empty reser voi r of the
buoy. A boat or steam te
nd
er
br
ings a high
pressure cylinder containing
the
fresh charge of
gas alon
gs
ide fr om the works, which are erected
for making the special
kind
of gas,
and
the charge
is transferred. To refill
an
oil reservoir and change
the wick would be a less expensive and a. simpler
operat ion.
Mr. Wigham's second paper described A N ew
Scintill
at
ing Lighthouse Light . After referring to
the almost universal adopt ion of the diopt ric syste m,
the author
proceeded to say
that in
the case uf
fi
xed
lig
hts
the dioptric apparatus
co
llects by means of a.
central refract ing belt and upp er and lower prisms
the vertical rays which fall upon them from the illu
minant
, and t ransmits t hem with
th
e unrefrac
te
d
horizontal r ays to every par t of th e horizon as a
steady continuous light . At tolerably close distances
t
he
illumin
at
ion
fr
om this
ar r
angement
ap
pe
ars
as a pillar of light, of
th
e height of the appa
ra
tus
an
d
the
breadth of the illuminant. n t he case of
revolving lights, the opt ical device collects both
the vertical and
th
e horizon
ta
l rays of the illumi
nant by means of annular lenses and upper and
lower
pr
isms, and sends th em in parallel beams
to the hori
zo
n. Each of these beams is much
mo
re
powerful in its effecb than the fixed light,
but
in
order that the whole horizon may be
reached
it
is necessa
ry
that the lent icular appa
r
at
us which transmits
th
em should revolve. As
a consequence there are in tervals of darkness
longer or shorter in durat ion, according to the
speed of
th
e revolu tion. Shipnaaste
rs
obj
ect
to
th
ese in
te
rvals, because it is
difficul
t to take a
bearin g and ident ify the light when it shows
itse
lf
only
fo
r a shor t time, especia
lly
as t
he
periods of darkness a
re
much longer than those
of light. There is also the difficulty that the
light never appears in th e exact p
os
it ion from
which it seems to have disappeared, owing to the
insensible wanderin g of the eye during t he interval
of darkness, a
nd
therefore in thick w
eat
her the
recurrence may be ent ire
ly
invisible. The
Fr
ench
lighthouse have established what
ca
ll
ed f lt
e l ti?
.hghthouses, based
up
on the _
prl
_n
ciple
th
at
to
ob
tain
the full _va
lue
of a
ny
.ar ti
fi
Cial
lig
ht
it is only necessary that It should remam before
the eye for a. period of one-tenth or one-twelfth
of a second.
The
revolving lenticular
ap
paratus is
so constructed as to bring t
he
focal li ght to t he eye
for a period of one-tent h of a second, with a recur
rence of the light after an in
te
rv
l of darkness of
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402
•
•
.E N,G IN E ER I NIG
•
[SEPT. 20 1901:
ME
CH A
N I
C AL .
FILTERS
AT THE
GLASGOW
EX H I B IT I 0 N
•
•
•
CONSTRUCTED BY MES8RS. MATHER AND PLATT, LIMITED, ENGINEERS, SALFORD
Fig 1
•
• •
•
•
•
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---
•
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•
•
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For Description, see Page 404.)
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5 seconds. In the author s scintillating light,
the lenses are so placed
with
regard
to
each other,
and are revolved at such a proportioned
rate
of speed, that the beams from each of
the
revolv
ing
lenses follow each
other
so rapidly
that
the
impression of the
:flash
of one
beam
remains
on
the retina of
the
observer's eye till
that
of
the
succeeding beam takes its place,
the
practical effect
produced being a continuously visible scintillating
light.
The
lenses do not revolve by means of rollers
on
a race-plate,
as
in
the
case of ordinary rev:olving
ligh thouse lights, but are mounted upon a framing
concentrated on a pivot, and so evenly balanced as
to redu
ce
the
friction of
the parts
to a minimum.
The discussion
on
Mr. Wigham's two papers was
opened by the Chairman, Colonel Crompton, who
said that the long-burning
light appeared to
have
points of simplicity as compared
to
some others.
He
had some experience in trying
to
burn petro
leum and would ask the author whether he had
found
difficulty through
thA
gritty particles so
plentifully found in all cheap petroleum.
Professor Barrett, of the Royal College of Science
for
Ireland,
said
he had
seen the scintillating
light
described. The lamp which
the author
was show
ing
in the University been placed on the top
of a high tower in Dubhn, and he o b s ~ r v e ~
t
from
his house.
The results
of hts 1Qvest1gatwns
were contained in a report, some details contained
in which he gave.
Fr
om this it would appear t ~ a t
t h ~ source of light v o n s i s t ~ d
o a
sorqe 3 Jn,
•
I
I •
in diameter, of
16
large incandescent gas lights,
with one or more similar burners in the centre of
the ring.
At
a rate of one complete revolution
in
four seconds
the in t
erval between
the
flashes is so
short
that
the
light is
nev
er
extinguished,
and
resembles a brilliant scintillating star. ·This striking
characteristic Professor Ba.rrett
attributes
mainly
to the large diameter of the ring of burners
whereby a certain divergence of rays uniform
in all azimuths is produced by each of the
annular lenses. The rapid ro ta tion of the lenses
blends these divergent rays into a continuous beam
with superposed scintillations, caused by
the
more
powerful parallel rays from the lenses. The light
as
mounted
in
Dublin
was viewed by Professor
Barrett
from his house at Kingstown, a distance
of 5t miles. At first his eye was at once arrested,
though unaware of . he exact position, the flashing
light asserting i t ~ e l f far above
the
numerous other
lights of
the
city. Professor Barrett suggested
that by the use of the Morse alphabet the name of
the light could be spelt out, and information thus
conveyed to
the
mariner as to his position.
Mr.
Wigham,
in
replying
to the
discussion, said
that sediment in the oil was one of his greatest
troubles, but
he had
overcome this by the u
se
of a
filter consisting of thick cotton layers between fine
gauze.
RECORDING HIGH-PRESSURE
ExPLO
S
IONs.
Mr.
J. E.
Petavel, of Owens College, Manchester,
next
r i l > e d
".'\. e c o r d i n ~ \fanometer for High-
•
•
,
•
-
-
•
•
6
Rewaslu
•
6 W ~ h o u t
InLet
Pressure Explosions., I t would be difficult to
give an adequate descript ion of this interesting
r u m e n ~
w i ~ h
illust:ations.
For
the
present,
therefore, t
will
be suffiCient
to
say
that
the spring
of
an
ordinary indicat
or
is replaced
by
a metal
cylinder. The travel of the piston is therefore
limited to the amount allowed by t
he
elastic com
pression of the metal. In
the
case of the records
referred
to
in the paper, this was about one-thou
sandth of
an
inch. A mirro r is supported on a
lever,
to
which the motion of the piston is imparted,
and in this way a ray of light is reflected on to a
rapidly-revolving cylinder; thus recording on a
magnified scale the motion of the piston.
At the
conclusion of Mr.
Petavel s
description,
the
Section adjourned until
the
next day.
RoAD
RESI
STANCE.
I
he first business on Friday, Septemher 13,
in
the Engineering Section, was
the
reading of
the
report of
the
Committee on Resistance of Road
Vehicles
to
Traction by Professor Hele-Shaw, Secre
tary to
the
Oommittee. This was large
ly
of
the
nature
of a preliminary report, containing a
forecast of what would be the progress of
the work of the Committee. The subject is
one of great importance,
and
has been too
long neglected by engineers. It is
to
be hoped
that the Committee will be able to carry out the
excellent programme sketched out, and that without
delay.
The
p r a c t i c ~ of ro
tl}
d engineering has not
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S EPT.
20 , rgot.]
E N G I N E E R I N
G
THE SCHLEIFMUHLE EXPRESS PUMP.
•
CONSTRUCTED BY
lVIE
SSRS. EHRHARlYJl AND
SEHMER, ENGINEERS,
SOHLEIFMUHLF1, SAARBRUCKEN.
or es
vi
ption see Pa ge
4 5
only
not
advanced during
the
la
st three
-quarters of
a ce
ntury
,
but
has actually gone back, and y
et
there are
few things
that
more closely and more
frequently affect the comfort and convenience of all
classes of people.
One difficulty that the Committee encountered
at
the
outset was want of funds.
The
sum allo·
ca.ted to the purpose
by
the Association, although,
perhaps, as much as was to have been expected,
was altogether too small to enable the work to be
carried on. Ib was concluded
that
a sum of
lOOOl
was required. I t is stated
in the
report the
Committee felt t hat, in view of the great develop·
ment of mechanical traction upon roads, the scope
of the report should not merely be limited to ex
periments on tractive resistance,
but
would deal
with the effects of vehicles upon road surfaces of
various kinds, and would involve experiments not
only with different kind of tyres, but with varying
loads
and
speedR
and
with different types of
vehicles.,,
It was considered, therefore,
that
the Committee
might look with confidence to substantial pecuniary
support from makers and users of traction engines
•
•
-
•
• •
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
and
manufacturers of motor vehicles ;
and
al
so
from County Councils a
nd
local boards. A circular
was drawn up with this end in view, but pending
the consent of the General Committee of the
Association, an application for funds had not been
pressed. Meanwhile, an offer had been received
to lend a motor car to
the
Comm
itte
e for
an
indefinite period, and it was determined, in
accepting this offer, to proceed at once with a
series of preliminary experiments which would
pave the way for future and more complete
investigations. During the
past
few months work
has been steadily proceeding upon the motor car.
I t is hoped that very shortly new engines for the
car will be ready, and a first series of the experi
ments may be commenced. These it is proposed to
make with single wheels, having various types of
tyres ; the track for this purpose, n the first place,
will be artificial, consisting of differe
nt
kinds of
materials laid in troughs
or
trenches, about 18 in.
or
2ft.
in
width, so
that the
dynamometer itself
can be thoroughly tested when the car is running
upon a level surface.
In this way the autographic records obtained for
•
materials such as sand,
we
t and dry, loose stones,
artificial projections of cross-pieces of wood of
different sizes, and differently pitched, can be
thoroughly ascertained.
A summary of all work hitherto done in the in
vestigation of road re sistances will be prepared by
Dr. Hele-Shaw, and will in itself form a valuable
record.
RoLLING STO CK.
A paper entitled
Railway
Rolling
Stock-Pre
sent
and
Fu
ture,
1
was next read by Mr. Norman
D. Macdonald, of Edinburgh.
Th
e author divided
the subject
of
locomotives under the headings
of cylinders, boilers and steam, trouble- saving
devices, wheels and tenders. Judging by the
exhibits at the Paris Exhibition, and from a study
of the technical journals
of
the world, he concluded
there could be no doubt that the compound loco
motive would be the locomotive of the future. At
Paris, one out of our meagre exhibit of four locomo
t ives was a compound,
but
in the exhibits of
the
rest of t he world compounding held the field easily.
Only one railway in Great Britain, with an odd
exception or two, uses compounds. Whether the
best system of compounding will
turn
out to be the
De
Glehn-of
two outside and two inside cylinders,
so much used in
France
for very fast and heavy
trains-
or the American Vauclain, with four
cylinders all outside, which is used on the great
engines especially buil t for the Atlantic City
flyers, which run at 66.6 miles
an
hour
i n l u ~
sive, or the Von Borries, Gorlsdorf, or some other
two-cylinder system, the author would not pretend
to guess. I t might be we shall come finally to a
four-cylinder tandem compound, now so much used
n Russia,
and
first tried on the
North British and
Great Western Railways. Favourable reference
was made to the Mallet four-cylinder duplex system
used for heavy work.
The
chief point,
the
paper
continued, to be considered
n
a locomotive ·is the
boiler. Mr. J.
F.
Mcintosh, of the Caledonian,
has given his great mineral engines 2500 Equare
feet of hea ting surface. There is room on our
•
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E N G I N E E R I N G.
is 45 miles wide, and its divide 330 ft.
above
the sea.
This
fact, the author considered,
has led to
the false
conclusion as to the easiness of the
Nicaragua
con
struction.
The
real
difficulties
are not,
however,
on the western side, for the San Juan
River,
120
miles long, which flows from
Lake
Nicaragua
to
the
Atlantic, is not a natural water-way, as is
often
suppo
s
ed
;
but,
as a matter of fact, there would
be
immense
difficulties to
contend with
in
constructing
a canal
in
the San Juan V alley.
I t
is impossible
to use the lower
half
of the San Juan for canal
navigation,
on
account of the
immense amount
of
sand brought into
it
by torrential and
powerful
tributaries
coming from the volcanoes of Costa
Rica. By damming, and thus
creating
artificial lakes,
it
was proposed
to get over these
difficulties,
and
then only 28 miles of canal navigation would
have
to be
constructed.
This plan
the
Isthmian
Canal
Commission and the
Nicaraguan
Commission
did
not consider advisable.
In
the
Panama
scheme
there
are
38 miles of canal navigation,
to
which
must
be added
7 miles of
deep-water
navigation
through
an artificial
lake formed
by a
dam
across the Chagres
River, at
a distance of 15 miles
from the
Atlantic.
The
Culebra cutting
of the Panama route would
be
27 4 ft. to the
bottom
of
the
canal, according
to
the
original state of the
ground
. The work
already
done
leaves
110ft.
of excavation
to
be
made
.
This
was
the
greatest
difficulty in the construction.
On
the
other hand, on
the
Nicaraguan
route the cutting
up to
the
lake
is insignificant, but a
deep cutting
of 297 ft. above
the
bottom, and others
of
218ft
.
and
170
ft.
would be
needed
in the valley of the
San
Juan,
in order to get through
the
high
ridges
projecting
into the valley.
Thus,
in
regard to
depth
of
cutting,
the
Nicaragua
route
is
le
ss
favourable. The
ratio
is as 1 to 3 in favour of
Panama, both in length
of canal navigation
and
depth of
cutting.
On the question
of
dam
s,
Mr. Baunu-Varilla
quoted
the conclusion of the
Isthmian
Canal Com
mission,
that the dam in Panama might be
of
earth
or masonry; which indicated
that neither
its diffi
culty
nor its
cost would
be
extraordinary.
The
Nicaraguan dam would neces
sitate
compres
sed air
for
putting in
the foundations
to
a
depth
of 100 ft.
below water-level of the river, and
have
a total
height
of 160 ft. from the
crest to
the foundation.
The
Commission
estimated that eight
years would
be
necessary for
its
construction.
What has
been
said of
the
difficultyof regulating
the
Chagres River
has, the
author
stated,
been
immensely exaggerated.
The
Commission proposed to
build
a
dam
in
order
to
form a
lake
whose
normal
level would
be
85 ft.
above the sea. The
outlet
would
be
2000 ft . wide ;
and
the
surfa
ce of the lake, combined
with the
dimensions of the outlet,
are
such
that
the heaviest
floods
known
would not raise
the
surface more than
6 ft.
Nine
locks would be necessary in Nicaragua
and
only five
in Panama. The
level
to
which
ship
s
would
have
to
be lifted on
the Nicaragua
route
would
be
110 ft. as a maximum, as against 90 ft.
for
Panama.
The foundation s of all locks in
Panama
would
be
in rock.
Five
locks in Nicaragua
would be in rock, and the remaining four on foun
dations
believed
to be
safe.
In
Nicaragua the
winds
are
exceptionally
violent
and continuous ; in
Panama
the canal would
be
sheltered. Nicaragua
having a
much greater
rainfall, two
to
two and a-half
times
that
of
Panama, the current
would
be more
intense
and
permanent. The
author also stated
that
in the
maintenance
of
depth
of water, in the
curves necessary, and in the provision of harbours,
the advantage was
with
the Panama rout
e.
In
re
gard
to stability, the
important
question of seismic
disturbance
has
to be
considered.
No
volcano
exists
within
a distance of 180 miles from the
Panama
site. Since
the
early
qu
a
ternary
period,
before
man appeared on earth,
its form has not
be
en
al tered. Nicaragua,
on
the
other hand, has
alwaysbeen the theatre of seismic convulsions.
Its
lake
was formerly a
gulf in the
Pacific Ocean,
and
its name
is associated
with
the
most terrible out
break
recorded
in
hi
s
tory
previously
to Krakatoa.
The
eruption
of the volcano Ooseguina in 1835
lasted
44
hours
;
the
noise was
heard
for a distance
of 1000 miles, and ashes were carried 1400 miles by
the winds.
The
mass
ejected into
the
air
was
calculated
to have
covered a surface
equivalent to
eight times
the surface of
France,
it s volume
being
equal
to 60 cubes, having sides of 1100
ya_rds Thus
,
during
44
hour
s
the
volcano
may
be satd to
have
ejected
every six minutes
a volume of stone and
ashes equal
to
the total
volume of the
prism
of the
proposed Nicaragua Canal.
In the centre
of
Lake
Nicaragua is a volcano in
constant
activity, and
there
are
several
others.
There was
no
discussion on
this
contribution, a
matter much to be regretted, as
the
subject
is one
that might with
advantage have been
further con
sidered
from the opposite point of view ;
and the
President having added a few words, the
next
paper
was
taken.
A LEAF ARRES
TER FOR
WATER SUPPLY
The last paper taken
at this
sitting was by the
Earl
of Roase, and was
entitled
A Leaf
Arr
ester,
or Apparatus
for Removing Leaves, &c., from a
Water
Supply.
"
The author
having recently
erected
a turbine of 15 horse-power,
with
8-ft. fall,
for
working
an
electric
light
installation
at Birr
Oastle, found considerable
trouble through
leaves,
&c., choking the screen in the
water
supply.
Last
autumn the output was generally reduced
to
one
half in the course of
half or three-quarters
of
an
hour's
working una
ttended, notwithstanding
that
the
area
of
the screen
was
nearly
100
square
feet.
Accordingly,
an apparatus
was devised for remedy
ing
the evil.
I t
was so successful
that the turbine
would go for a whole
day without attention, and
without diminution
of
output. I t
consisted of
a cylinder of wire gauze of 4
ft. diameter and
4 ft.
in height, set
in an
opening in a vertical
diaphragm
extending
across the
supply
drain, and
revolving twice in a
minute
or so
round
a vertical
axis.
The
current flows
through
the gauze cylinder
in
a
hori
z
ontal
direction.
The
leaves
attach
them
se ves under
pressure
of the stream, and
are
carried round
till
they reach
the diaphragm, which
on that side is double,
with
an
intervening
space
of some 10
in.,
which is connected
with
the tail
race.
At this point,
the current
through
the gauze
being reversed relatively
to
the cylinder, the leaves
are
detached, and
are carrried by
a
portion
of the
water
towards the tail-race.
Four
or five
per
cent.
of the
supply
is ample for conveying the ·
leaves;
probably
much less would suffice.
There
was no discussion on
this paper,
and the
Section
adjourned until the
Monday
following.
To e contilnued.)
MECH_lliiOAL FILTERS
AT THE
GLASGOW
EXHIBITION.
AM O
NGST
the
exhibits of
~ s s r s
a t h ~ r
and Platt·,
Limited, of Salford,
at
Glasgow, are
a
couple of the
so.called mechanical filters. In filters of this class the
cleaning is effected by reversing
the
direction of
the
flow through the apparatus, the
wa
sh-water being
run
to
waste. A few minutes only are needed for
the operation. Such filters, in addition
to
the ease
with
which theyare cleansed, have generally the advan
tage of compactness, since, if desired, it is possible
to work them
at
very much higher rates of flow than
is usual with ordinary open sand filters. The two
filters shown by Messrs. Matherand
Platt
differ in
that
one is provided
with
a
"roughing
" bed, in addition to
the main layer of filtering material, whilst the other is
a single-contact filter, and is designed
to
be worked
under pressure, whilst
the
compound filter aforemen
tioned works
entir
ely
with
a graYity head.
This compound gravity filter, illustrated by Figs.
1
and 2, page 402, has been designed with a view
to
remov
ing the maximum amount of suspended matter from
water with a minimum expenditure of
labour and cost
of upkeep.
T ~ e
apparatus consists of a vertical cylin
drical
tank
div ided into two distinct compartments
by an inverted open-ended cone. Above the com
partment
formed by
the
inner wall of the cylindrical
tank and the outer wall of th e invert ed cone, termed
the "separating
chamber," is SJlperimposed a finely
perforated .floor bearing a .coarse or ' 'primary" filtering
bed of 9 in. to 12 in. deep, through which the water
passes in an upward direction, subsequently flowing
through
the
central aperture into the lower part
of
the tank, which
is
conical in section and forms a
chamber, containing a fine or
"finishing
" filtering
bed 3 ft. deep, arranged over a
syst
em of gathering
nozzles and pipes. Centrifugal motion is imparted
to
the
unfiltered water as
it
enters
the "separating
chamber , by a deflecting inlet, causing
the
heavier
suspended particles of floating matter
to
fall
to
the
bottom
of
the chamber, whilst
the
underneath side
of
the
perforated floor carrying
the ''
primary " filter,
being continually washed by
the
circular current, the
perforations are
kept
free from all
matter
calculated
to
block them. Thus a free upward
flow
is maintained
through the
"primary"
filter, and
the water
is
re-
lieved of all
matter
likely to block the surface of the
lower or "finishing " filtering bed in
the
base
of the
cylindrical tank. .
The cleansing of
the
lower filter bed is effected by
a reversal
of
the flow of the water,
the dirt
being
carried off through
a
central draining basin situated
7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 72 1901-09-20
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•
SEPT
1901.]
mmediately
aboYe the bed. The "
separating
" is
relieved of
its
accumulat
ed dirt
by means
the drain
valve
at the b1se of the chamber. The
upper or primary filter is cleansed by
agitating
the
bed
whh
a
revolving rake as the
water flows
pwards through it,
the dirt falling
into the drain
asin
above
the
low
er bed in the inner chamber. The
time occupied
in
cleansing the filter is from 10 to 15
minutes,
and the amount of
water expended over the
thus in cons
iderable.
The
filtering medium
of the purest quartz
crysta
ls suitably graded.
he
permanent " sharpness ''
and
adamantine nature
re
commend
the
m
as the
finest
known
ering material, and
the
beds do
not
dimini
sh
or
with
years
of
wear. The rate
of
flow of
he
water
entering the filter is auto
mati
ca-lly regu
ated
by a quick-acting equilibrium valve of special
One of
the princ
ipal
fe
at ures of the filter is
the
coni
cal shape of the chamber containing the
lower
r
finishing
" filter.
The
falling
in
of the walls of
the
chamber towards
the
base insures the paseage of
ll water through
the filtering bed,
and prevents
the
creeping "
of
the sl ightest percentage of unfiltered
water
dov\l·n the walls of the chamber, which
inv
ariably
occu rs were a filter bed is contained
within
walls of
a
vertical
tank. In the
case of
a
tank
with
vertical
walls, the
bed
is inclined to reso
lve itself,
to a certain
extent, into the form of a column,
and
unfiltered
liquid ' 'creeps, down between
the
walls of the tank
and the pe
ripheral surface
of the
bed.
In this filter,
the area
of
the
surface of
the bed
being
great er than
the
area
of the base (or outlet) of the
fame,
there
exists an ' '
annular
angle " of
the
bed
through
which
there is little or
no
current
of
wa ter passing.
The single-contact pressure filter illu
st
rated by
Figs. 3 and 4 differs
in
detail, the bed of
pure
quartz
crysta
ls being contained in a chamber, the walls of
'vhioh are
of
a conical section, as in the case
of the
compound
gravity filter.
Unfiltered
water
is distri
buted
over the surface of the filtering bed from
the
entral
basin,
and
passing down
through the
bed,
iss
ues in
a
purified
state
from
the
filtrate valve at the
base. The
cleansing of
the filter is effected by a
reversal of the flow of the water, the dirt being
carried
off through the central
draining basin
situated
immediately
above
the
bed
. The time occupied in
cleansing
this
filter
is about five
minutes.
The
conical shape of the chamber containing the bed has
been
fully explained
in co
nne
ct
ion
with the
compound
gravity filter.
EXPRESS PUMP.
WE illustrate on page 403 a
high
-
speed
pump exhi
at the Gl
asgow
Exhibiti9n by Messrs. Ehrhardt
Sehmer,
of S
ch
leifmiible S
aarbrlicken.
A
demand
of late
years
for a pump
which
can
be
coupled
to
an
electric motor.
The gearing
necessar
y be
the motor
and
pump, when the latter is of the
type, is noisy
and
troublesome,
and
the
being run
at
a
low speed,
must for a
given
be of considerable
size. The
Schleifmuhle
on the other band, is designed to
run
at a
of 282 strokes per minute,
and
therefore
motor
c
oupled
to
it
s
driving shaft
need not
of
spec
ially
large
dimensions. The
general
of
the pump is clearly shown in
on page 403. t will be seen that
there
sets of
pumps
arranged on
opposite
sides
the
electric motor.
The latter has
bee
n con-
•
E N G I N E E R I N G
Rurrounding
atmosphere. I
he effi c
iency
of
the
motor
is 93 per
cent. between
half and
full load
and
91
per
cent.
between
half and one-third of the
full
load.
Its
total
weight is 15 tons. As shown
the
sectional
view of the pumps, each
crank has two
p l u n g ~ r s
con
nec
ted with it, that furthest from the crank bemg con
nected to the crosshead by a couple of side rods.
As one plunger makes its suction s
troke
the
other
makes the discharge strok
e, th us balan
cing
the work
done
on
each
half reYolution. The
plungers work through stuffing boxes, a supply
of
lubricant being
admitted near
th e centre, as shown.
The
suction
and de
livery valves
are
of
the an nular
type,
the
seats being of
bronze
and
the
valves them
selves
of
vulcanite. As
shown,
the delivery valve is
placed direct ly over the suction
valve,
and
the path of
the
w
ater through the pump
is
very
direct. Provision
is m
ade
for maintaining
the
air in
the air
vessels,
which,
as shown, are mounted directly over the
delivery
valves
.
CITY AND
GUILDS
OF LONDON INSTITUTE
LISTS OF BOOKS.
To THE EDITOR oF ENGINEERING.
Sm,-No
one will
doubt
the
great
work done by this
In stitute, particularly in its technological and manual
training ola,sses. The teaching, however, is not meant to
be
final; indeed,
the
object of
the
system of
training and
instruction is
rather
to create a des
ire
for information on
technical matters than to satisfy it. Every i n t ~ l l i g e n b
student is well aware that when he has gone through
the
course of
training and
tuition provided ab
this
and
kindred institutions, his education is just commencing.
He has
been told
what to
do,
and
why he should do it,
and be
has now
to
ascertain
by
personal experience how
to do it.
I have
the
programme of
the
Institute for
the
coming
session,
and
it is full of valuable
information;
but
there
is
a feature of it
that
is
nob
at all satisfactory. After the
syllabus of each
subject
a u ~ h b
in the
Institute a
list
of
Works of Reference, is g1ven.
They are
described
as
works of reference in the
pr
ogramme,
but
I find amongst
them text-bookfl, reference books, trade and technical
journals, and art handbooks. The
list
s
appear to
have
been compiled by someone not fully
acquaint
ed
with
the
literature of the industries dealo with, smce some of the
works named
are
certainly
not
now
standard
reference
books, and some are even oub of prinb. But the errors of
omission are
the
most serious.
A student who wants to acquire reference
and
text
books to assist him in mastering the practical details of
his trade, should have the best and most up-to-date.
In
some industries the latest published are the best, yet I
find
many
really useful practical reference books not even
mentioned, and in some of the lists there is no mention
made
of
the
very instructive
trade
journals published. A
student who is
inquiring as to
wo
rks
dealing with the
industry
he
ha-s
chosen
to
follow
must not
rely upon
the
lists given
by the
compilers of this programme. He will
miss much useful
literature if
he does.
Yours truly,
WM. THOM
SON
.
32,
Bouverie-streeb London, E .C.,
September
17, 1901.
HEATING LARGE WORKSHOPS.
To THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING.
SIR, -
Can any
of
your
r
eade
rs give me
particulars
of
the most efficient, economical, and up-to-date
system
of heating large workshops covering one or two acres ?
September
12, 1901.
Yours
truly,
E NQUIRER.
by the British Scbuckert Electric
Company,
THE GLASGOW
CORPORATION
of Clun House, Surrey-street, London, TRAMWAYS.
C. t is of t he mu] ti polar
type,
being wound To THE
EDITOR
OF ENGOOERING.
amperes at
500 volts. There a
re 12
poles,
STR,-Inasmuch as
I note,
with
regret, that
my
letter
are cast in one with the two ha lve s of the ring which appeared in your issue of August 30 l
ast
has not
of
the
magnet iron is secured by
elicited
any
answer,
eithe
r from
the
Corporation
Authori
educing the
iron on the
out,s1de face of the magnet ties of
G l a ~ g o w , or
from
the
represE\ntatives of
the
makers
at each
former.
The
shunt coils are kept on the of the several engines employed in the Glasgow
Tramways
in
the
usual
way
by
means
of
pole
tips screwed Power Sbation, I have made such further investigation
the la
tt er.
The armature
is
drum
wound
and
myself as was possible under the circumstances, and
·
ened
with
two keys
di r
ec
t
on th
·e ·erankshaft
of
the ~ o u l d
ask to be
corrected
if the
fGHowing
statements are
mexact.
between
the
main bearings of
t
he
latter . The
t
would seem that the first Allis engine was put on
utator
consists
of 552
hard-drawn
copper
strips, regul8ir work at the
end
of May. and the second Allis
brushes
arc
of carbon ; the brush gear con- e n ~ i n e during the first week of June, since which
time
ists of four cast-iron brackets, between which the both engines have been available to
run
-
the
full
car
carrying the 12 sets of
brushes
can
be
shifted by service.
a shaft
with
two handwheels, and
coupled
The first Musgrave engine was started towards the end
a worm gear to
the
iron ring. I t will be noted of June,
but up
the present time has not been able to
this brush
gear, unlike
that
of
many other
undertake
regular service.
The
impression seems to
be
a
kers,
leaves the whole of the commutator
free
and that the makers believe it
may
be able
to undertake
a load
towards
the
end of October.
to inspection, The armature winding c
onsists of
The
two
Stewart engines seem
to have run on
a
car
layer of rectangular bars fixed on to the cas t- o ~ d t o w B ~ r d the end of April, a.nd to
have
been run inter·
armature
core,
and
connected at
both front
m1ttently
ab
light loads till about the beginning of June,
by
means of
bent
st rips
that
are passed out-
when
they
were handed
back
to
the
makers, for what
and form a
grid,
through which the air passes
~ o u l d
seem
to amount to
a practical re-construction of
t
a g
reat
spee
d during the operation
of
the
Important a r t s .
chi
oe,
the
consequent
cooling
being very
ma
rked.
Since th1s
time
.bhey have nob been
running
on
any
ends of the winding
are fixed to their
re-
regular lead,
the power
for
driving the
auxiliaries being
pective
eommutator bars in an absolutely secure derived from a
sub
-
station
a.otuated from the
main ourrent
by means of three screws.
The
whole
of the produced by the Allis engines.
h'
· d . J
As it
would seem
that
the Musgra.ve engine
has
never
me
1S so eslgnecl that f t ~ r rum;ting continually
~ a ~ e n
the car l<?ad for.more than a day or
two
ab
the
most,
full load, the
temperature
rtse w1ll
never
exceed
1
t
1
s naturally
1
mposstble to make any comparisons.
than from 60
d e ~ . to
65 deg. Fahr.
above the
,
t
would £eem undoubted that the Allia engines
are
fre-
q uen ly worked for considerable periodsat
rom
25 per cenb.
to 50 pe
rcent
. overload. t eems unq e s ~ 1 0 bly the case
that
the
Allis engines
can exp
e
cb no
rehef, nor
can
t
hey
be £nally adjusted or
overhauled b_ the con tra.c.tors
until such period
as
a Musgrave engme can be got mto
•
serviCe. 'd
While
I oannob sa.y that
there
seems be any ev.1
ence
of the Allis engines nob being able
to
w1thstt.t.nd th
1
s con
dition of affairs indefinitely, ib would seem certam
that
they
are being exposed
to
an i m p r o p t e s t and S ~ < ? u
certainly have all credit
for. working under ~ o n d 1 b 1 0 n s
very different from those whtcb they were destgned a.nd
erected
to
meet.
Yours trnly,
Glaegow,
September
16, 1901.
THE t R R BOILER.
CITIZEN.
To
THE EDITOR
OF ENGINEERING.
SIR,-In ENGINEERING of
August 30,
1901, page.
296,
I
£nd a reply of Mr. D tirr
to
a letter of Mr. R. A. Z1ese, of
Sb.
Petersburg; in this reply
Mr
. D ii
rr
saya that I have
paid him
a
royalty
for the boilers of H.M .S.
Bayern.
Permit me
to
say that I only have paid a royalty for a
small detail of the superheater, which by no means would
have been necessary.
Elbing, September 24, 1901.
Yours truly,
F. ScHIOHAU.
QUADRUPLE-EXPANSION ENGINES.
To THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING.
SIR,-Mr. Salvabore Odando, in your issue of Sep
te
mber
13, alludes to a quadruple-expansion engine con
structed
by the well-known firm Fratelli Orlando in 1891,
and which bears considerable resemblance to
the
engine
exhibited
by us at the
Glasgow
Exhibition. Mr. Orlando
alludes
to the
undoubted
fact that the
engines
are
very
similar except with regard to
the
valve gear. This parb,
we
may
say,
is the
only part
we
claim as
novel: quadruple
engines,
with
four
cranks
set opposite, and each pair ab
right angles to the other, nob being
in
any way novel.
The special
advantage
we claim for
our system
of valve
gear is
the
reducing in the fore-Bind-aft space occupied
by
the engine owing to the valves being placed laterally,
and the
small
number
of glands;
added to
which, only
one of these, i .e. the high-pressure piston-rod, is exposed
to the full boiler
pre
ssure.
We
consider this a
most
im
portant point when dealing with
the
very high-pressures
and speeds for w hicb these engines are
primarily
de
signed.
With
regard to Mr. Orlando's fear that the piston
valve
might
" cause inconvenience owing
to
the difference
of the strain
in
the
two
slide valves connecbed by the
same rod," we would say that
the
piston valves as em
ployed by
us are
so balanced that no
side
thrust
can
come
on the
vn.lve
spindle; the spindle, moreover, is made
very
substantially, and is guided both top and bottom. So far
this
arrangement
has proved perfectly
sati
sfactory. We
have
an
engine, the same as
that
illustrated,
but
of larger
dimensions, having cylinders 5 in., 7 in.,
in
.,
and
16 in.
in diameter
by 7 in. stroke,
running at 900
revolu
tions ab 350 lb. st
eam
pressure. This engine hag now
been running
two
seasons and has given absolutely no
trouble,
nor
has
it
required repairs
or adjustme
nts of
any
kind.
Yours faithfully,
for
StMPS
ON,
STRICKLAND, AND Co., LTD.,
Wm. Cross,
Managing
Directo
r.
Dartmoutb, S. Devon,
September
16,
1901.
LON DON PoLYTECHNICs Work for the autumn session
ab
the L ondon Polytechnics will soon be under way,
and
we have rece
iv
ed the programmes of a
numb
er of these.
Whatever view may
be
taken
as
to the ultimate value of
these insbitutionll, there can be no question as to their popu•
larity.
To
a
limited
extent
this
is no
doubt
due
to
the
fact tlhab
most
of them
have
a social
as
well
as
an
educa
tional side, and form capital clubs in which students can
meet
for recreation. The cla-sses are, however, well
attended,
and, so
far as
examinations by outside bodies
form a
test
of efficiency;
appear to be
successful.
St u
dents
from
the Battersea
Polytechnic, we observe ob
tained
during
the
year
scholarships, exhibitions, and prizes
to the amount of 1222l. The
secretary
is Mr.
J
oseph
Bar
wood.
At
tb9 N ortha.mpbon Institute, St.
John Street
road, London, E. C., special attention is
directed
to the
subject of, horolagy and the other light mechanical
crafts whiCh b a v ~ ~ e r k e n w e l l distrJct as their
centre. Ab the Goldsmiblis' Institute, New Cross
S.E., a series of special evening classes on E n g i ~
nearing a.nd Building Industries " has been a-rranged
for. The
bead
of
the
Institute, Professor
Lineham
M.
Inst .
C. E
., will be responsible for a oourse
of
e c t u r ~
on the
Elementary
Theory of Structures." and on The
Detailing
of Construction of
Ironwork.
"
This
course
it is
stated,
~ i l l . be adapted .to the
requirements
of
candidates
for admtsston
as
asso01a.te members of the Institution of
Civil Engit;leers Obher ol.asses will be held
in
experi
mental
engmeermg, for wh10h a new mechanical labora
tory has just
been
provided. Further
particulars can
be
o b t a ~ n e d
on application to th e Secretary, the Goldsmiths'
Instttute, New
Cross, S. E.
All
th ree of the above in
~ t i ~ u t i o n s
are
fairly well
equipped
with laboratories, and
It 1s to be
hoped
that the
couraes
are
nob so clo
se
ly
de
voted
to
examination
r e q u i r e m ~ n t s as
to prevent
these
laboratories
being
used for
us
eful research
work
as well
~ o r p u r p ~ s e s of mere
demonstration.
We ha
ve
a sus·
~ 1 o 1 that m m o s ~
c a s ~ s the
te <?hing staffs have their
t1me so fully ocoup1ed w1bh attendmg to
the requirements
of elemet;ltary students that they
have
little opportunity
for oontnbuting
to the
advanoe of knowledge.
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•
406
•
ENGIN
E -E
RI
NG .
[ SE P
T.
20,
~ O T .
-
.
-
-
-- •..- •
•
•
.
TESTING MACHINE AT THE JAMES WATT
ENGINEERING LABORATORIES
•
•
•
CONSTRUCTED BY :MESSRS. JOSHUA BUCKTON AND
CO
. , LIMITED,
EN
GINEERS, LEEDS
•
•
•
•
•
Fif1 .
2.
Jor:key Weight .
•
•
G
•
'.
.
A cctw::tlator .
•
-
•
•
•
•
Fig 1
•
I
I l
B
A
c
I
•
. .,
•
G
en
eral A rr.;,ngement .
-
•
•
S cw/4
•
I I
~ = = = = = = = = = = t t ] ~ - = - : l = ~ - - l - - - - - -
-i
- • - - -
f 1 I ' J
--
--
---- y
I
11
•
11
•
11
•
11
i
I
I
I
I
•
11
••
11
•
•
•
FitJ 3
Torsion Apparatus.
•
TESTING MACHINE AT GLASGOW
UNIVERSITY
.
Th e
100 Ton
U11:iversal T elJting .bfachine, with
va1
·iable
A cctl/T) I;ulator,
at
the
J ames
Watt L
aborato?·ies, Glasgo
w
University.*
By MR.
J .
HARTLEY WIOKSTEED of Leeds.
Vi
ce-
Pr
es
i
dent of the In stitution, and Vice-Chairman
of the Congress (Section
Ill .
THE whole arrangement of the testing machine is show:n
in
Fig.
1.
Th
e
straining
frame
i.s
worked
by
an hydrauhc
}'am supplied with water from an accumulator. When
the a l v e between the hydraulic cylinder and the accu
mulator i.s open full bore, a test can be made
at
the ra te
of 100 in.
st
raining per minute, but the valve can_be regu
la ted so as to reduce the speed to a tenth of an mob per
uinute. The speed is under easy control
t h ~ o u g h
a Wide
range, and it
can
be alte
red at
pleas
ure
durmg the pro-
*
Paper
read before the
In t
ernat ional Engineering
Congress, Glasgow, 1901. Section III.: vlechanical.
I
Fie-4. Compression Test .
(CQst-troo column broke tt 65 .5 ton;.
---
---
--- -
•
•
•
•
•
---
-
--
--
-
--
- .
I
•
-
--
---
---
---
--.
·--
...
__
_
--
-- .
---
--
-
.
. . . .
-
Fig.6 . Dejlectwn Test.
(Beam, tested up to 1
00
tons upon supports 10 feet a-part, d e A ~ c t e d 1 bcb,
and took a perm:ulent set of ; inch.
'
•
. .
l
gress of a test. Thus the speed may be slow until the
eln
c;
tic
limit
is reached,
and
mcreased
during th
e plas
ti
c
stage. ' 'his facility for
varying
th
e speed,
h e r
with
the absence of all vibration, makes an hydraulic stmining
gear worked from an accum
ulat
or preferable to
any ot
her
sy
ste
m.
t
is
du
e to Dr.
Kenned
y to state that he
ad vo
cated
th i
s system in 188
5
a
nd
sta ted in a
pap
er read be
fore the In
stit u
tion of Civil
Engin
eers,* that, " probably,
the
maximum in steadiness, a.s well as of convenience m
working, will be found in some such system."
In
fluid co
nn
ection with
th
e straining cylinder
th
ere is
an aut
og
raphi
c reco
rd
er, which draws a curve produced in
one direction by the pr essure
in
the straining cylinder,
and
in
any other direction by the strain
of
the specimen.
Friction
in
the ram of the recorder is overcome by causing
it to revolve, and the indications of the latter are cali
brated from the steelyard of the testing machin e, so that
the friction
in
the main straining ram is accounted for.
* P?oceedli 11{JB of Institu tion of Civil Enginee rs, vol.
lxxxviii., page 21.
•
• •
f
the hydraulic vah-e
w e r ~
opened full bore
it
would not
be possible to adjust the poise-weight so as to keep the
steelyard in equilibrium; but when once the hydrographic
recorder has been calibrated, the poise-we
ight
may be
taken to the extreme end of the steelyard, and a full test
can be made without roc
king
the steelyard, and the resul t
obtained from the autograph.
In Ifig. 1, annexed, t
he
testing m
a c
hin e is shown in a
somewh
at
diagrammatic form, so
as
to cl
ea
rly illu
st
rate
the principle of its cons
tru
ction.
Th
e mac
hin
e consists
essentially of a
st
raining system embraced
by
a weighing
system. The straining system consists of t'he hydraulic
cylinder, ram, and notched frame which slides out, carrying
the
st
ra
inin
g crosshead A .
Th
e weighing sy
at
em consists
of two long P? rallel rods,
wit
h
th
e th ree crossh
ea
ds or
weighbridges
B,
C
and
D. Th is parallel f rame
fl
oats on
knife-edges. vVhatever force co
me
s upon the weigh
bridges C
and
D is com municated
t h r o u ~ h
the crosshead
D to the elbow lever E, the fulcrum of which r ests on an
anvil
at
the back of
the hydr
aulic cylinder. The elbow
e \ ~ r
communi
cate
s
the
force to
t h e ~ ba.ck
of the
7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 72 1901-09-20
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SEPT.
20, 1901.]
lyard lever above it. The poise-,veights on the steel
meas
ur
e
th
e forces. In ten sion
te
sts
the
specimen
gs. 8 and 9 subjoined), is placed between A and C. For
(Fig. 4, page 406) it is placed between A n nd
a n d ~ ~ f
1t
1s
b
et
ween C and i t is tested in deflec
on (] tg. o). Tho crosshend A, being movable
in
t ho
otched frame can be a
dju
sted so as to
take
lo
na
or s
hort
pec
in'l
ens,, e
ith
er in tensio
l
or compression.
Up o
n
the
et'e 1s a large nut wh1eh Ctl<n be screwed up ti"'ht to
end of the hydraulic cylinder, so as to hold
th
e
st
rain
frame out for an unlimited time, independent of any
ea
k-o
ff
of
th
e
wat
er.
Th,i
s device, which enables one to
eep
th
e load
up
on a speetmen all th rough the night
or
rou
.g
h a va<?n.tion, was first introduced for
who
. P ~ l t
down the first
100
-ton ma
ha
vmg th1s provunon
at
th
e
Univ
ers
it
y College'
The torsiou apparatus is placed at the back of the main
of the lever, as shown in Fig. 3, page 406.
t
is
~ l y o
ut
of
th
e way, and
has
no co
nne
c
ti
on with
the
e x ? ~ th rough the.
to r
sion specimen itself when
lS
m pos1t10n. tors
10n gear w i l ~
exe1
t n
twis
ting
ent of 224,000 mch-pounds, and wlll
tw
iSt in two a
of iron 2 in. in diameter.
de
fl
ection apparatus is shown on Fig. 5. t has
wwel supports to prevent indentation, and
the
presser
oot also nas swivelled half-round
pi
eces which s
pr
ead
u r e over 6 in. of surface, while still allowing
the
1men to bend freely ; so t
ha
t if the distance between
E N G I N E E R I N G.
' 'geometrical guide." There are two scales on the steel
yard, one for use with
the
large solid poise,
and the
other
for use with the variable poise. The poise-weights carry
vernier scales" which,
at
the sugg
es t
ion of Dr.
Barr are
attached by g o s the poi.
c;e-
weights, a
nd
rest
by their
own overhangmg we1ght m V-groovos on the scale bar.
Thi
s insures that
the
Yernier scale is always lying close
ur
to .the ~ n ; r k of the mn in scale, wit11out the possibility
o
b ~ m g mJ
urcd from
wn
.
nt
of clearance
Ly
t he vibrn
-
tions of the steelyard following upon the fracture of a
test -piece.
Th
e accumulator h
n.s
a variable load, c
on
sisting of ten
4-ton slabs, of which it can deposit any number up to
t ~ e a
nd
carry up
th
e remainder.
The
slabs
which 1t 1s desu ed to load on are, at the suggestion of
Dr
. Barr,
hung
from
the
top weight
by thre
e rods.
Thi
s
arra
ngement h
n.s
been adopted, not only on accou
nt
of
its
advantages in connect ion with the testing machin
e,
but
to enable
the
accumulator to be used in connection with
other pieces of a
pparat
us, and to increase its value
as an
a p p ~ r a t u s upon which efficiency tests a great variety
of
t a 1 ~
c e s may
be
In F1g.
1,
page
406,
the
accumuh\tor ts shown standing on the floor level but in
th
e laboratory its fou
ndati
on is sunk 7 ft. · '
Fig. 6, subjoined, shows
a
shearing apparatus capable of
dealing with specimens in single shear up to 2 in. g u a r e .
Th
e faces of
th
e knives are
kept
close by a roller wtthout
~ n d u e frictio
n.
When a l ~ m n
be
ing tested, it is
tmportant
to
prevent the
wetghbrtdge B (Fig.
1)
from
•
piece is restrained from wandering away from the centre
line of stress, and with no other fri
ct
ion
than that
of
sm
oo
th rollers on smooth paths which have no direct
pre
ssure upon
t h ~ m J
but only
that
pressure which is
due
to unsymmetrical y1elding of
the
piece.
A horizontal testing machine cannot be verified in the
sa
me simple
and
direct manner as a vertical machine,
merely by hanging dead weights to
the
back centre.
I t
hus to bo proved
by car
eful meas
ur
eme
nt
of
the
fulcrum
di
stances ;
but in
order to ascertain that the fulcrums are
all bearing fai rly on supports with clearance from
any false bearing,
the
machine can be moved
by
means
of_powerful springs.
Fig.
8
shows a helical s
pring 8
in.
in
diameter, made
of 1 in. in diameter round steel with
21
coils, giving an
elastic s
tr
etch of 15 in. with
7i
tons. A
pair
of these
springs may be used yoked together, side by side, for test
ing bOth the nccuracy and sensibility of
the
machine up
to 15 tons. Each
sp
ring is bung vertically
with standard
weights suspended to it, and the extension of
the
spring
is carefully measured by th ree pairs of points round the
c
ir
cle,
th
e springs being then put into
th
e horizo
ntal
mnchino, and st retched until the measurement of
th
e ex
tension round
th
e average of
the
three places is
what it
was when supporting the imperial weights; and if the
reading on the steelyard records the same weight, and
retains
its
sensibility,
the
machine
is
proved
not
to
be
riding upon false bearings.
In
trying
th
ese large helical
springs to
the
utmost ca
pa
city,
they
were loaded
until
i . . Blocks f or Single- Shearing Test.
Fig.
7, Roller Stay.
-
0
\
I
l ________j
•
•
•
•
--
.
•
•
l
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
.
\
,.-,--
---
-
..
___
___
_
t £
e t a a=rer
l
FOOT
-
,..._-f--------
----l--.....
I •
•
T ension Tests (Scale
1
J znd)
•
•
,
•
Fie.
8. Helical Sjrring of 1- inch rouud steel.
Fig.
8.
Doubl
c·
riveted
Lap oin t . with r i v e t s ~ anch diameter
•
With 8 steel r
ivets in
si ngle s
hear
, took a
permanent se
t
at
46
to n
s .
and
fractured
at
90
to n
s
With 8 Iron
rivets
in single s
he
ar, took a pe
rmanent
set at 42 tons .
and fractur
ed
at
7 to ns .
•
•
• • •
•
•
0
•
•
•
0
•
•
•
•
•
am,e Sp ring held by end coils.
•
centres of the semicircles is taken,
the
test is theo
t
ically the same as
if the
beam were s
upp
o
rted
on knife
es at that distance
apart
, while injury to
the
section
too intense local
pr
essure is prevented.
The steGlyard of this
ma
chine has
an
arrangeme11 t of
ch is a combination of the variable
key-weight s
tarting fr
om
the
centre of
th
e stee
lyard
,
s introduced by Dr. Kenne
dy
on a 50-ton machine, the
of this type, which
he
put
down
in
h
is
labor
ato ry in
estminster,
and
of the solid poise ranging over both
ms of a double-armed steelyn.
rd
which the author has
sed f
or
ma
ny
_years.
This
comb
inati
on has been arranged
meet Dr.
Barr
's desire for a larger scale
unit
when
sUting light loads, and has the effect of giving the
scale
unit up
to 100 tons, which was obtained on
. Kennedy 's machine up to 50 tons, without
ma t
erially
ngthening
the
steely
ard
.
When the
machine is being
d for load up to 32 tons,
th
e large
poi
se-weight remains
nary
at
th
e sh
ort
e
nd
of
th
e lever,
and
acts merely
balance-weight to
the
long end. The variable poise
s from the centre of
the
lever, and travels over
the
ng
arm with a scale reading 4 in. to
the
ton
up
to
tons. This poise-weight, shown at G on Fig. 1,
406,
has two removable discs, H ,
Fig. 2,
which reduce
by half, giving a scale read ing of 8 in. to
th
e ton
up
to
tons. When the specimen r equires more than 32 tons
load,
thi
s second poise, G, is
lift
ed cl
ea
r away from
the
The balance of th e steel
ya
rd is not affected,
the latt
er
i n ~ lift
ed off
th
e line of
the
fulcrum.
e main poise-weight lS then liberated from its fixing to
steelyard,
and
engaged
with the traversing
screw,
and
the
whole range of
the stee
lyard, giving a
le readiJ g of 2 in. t o
the
ton up to 100 tons. At
the
sug
tion of
Dr.
Barr,
the
se poise-we
ight
s
xid
e
up
on three
eels, of which the two on one side have
fl
a
ng
es working
a groove
in
the rail of the steelyard, to keep the poise
wavering sideways,
and
a plain single wheel on
the
er side to support
th
e poise vertically, thus forming a
•
• •
•
•
•
• • •
•
•
.
;.;:::;,..
-
wavering in any direction, and for th is purpose there
is
a
roller stay, shown
in
Fig.
7J....
on
the
arrangement which.
was first put in practice by ur. Kennedy. It is formed
by two brackets bolted to the sides of the ~ a n t r y , and
stayed toge
th
er at the top, so as to form a
r ~ d
frame
work. The crosshead
ha
s planed lugs upon It, and be
tween those lugs
and the
st
ay
there
are
both vertical and
hori
zo
ntal rollers R. The rollers are held between roller
path
s on the lugs and
the
roller
path
s on
th
e stay.
Th
e roller
paths
on
the
s
tay
are formed at the end of
cylindrical
p1ece
s which fit in bored holes in the stay,
and
can
be
ve
ry
gradually adjusted forwa
rd by
screw
bolts made with taper sides, and acting upon thew like
taper cotters. By means of this adjustment the roller
paths are set so
that the
rollers are just held, free from
shak
e,
between
the
i o n crosshead and stay, and
thi
s is n o u ~ h to r
est
r
A.in the
crosshead from wandering
during
the
light loading at the beginning of a compression
or traverse test. But when the pressure becomes severe,
the
rollers
are
set
up
in the following manner : t is seen
at the beginning of the test that all
the
rollers are bear
ing
fairly a
nd
uniformly
tight
between
the
rollers
path
s ;
wnen the test has proceeded to a few tons
pre
ss
ur
e,
the
rollers are again felt round by the fingers, and it vill
probably
be
found that
th
e crosshead has begun to bear
hard against the rollers at two sides, and nas left
the
ro
ll
e
rs at the
oppos
ite
s
id
es with shake that can be easily
felt. This indicates that the tendency of the crosshead
is to depart from the line which previously brought it in
co
ntact
with those rollers ;
and in
order to restore it,
th
e
rollers
that
have lost to•1ch
are not
th
emselves set
up
,
but
th
e oppos
it
e rollers to
the
slack
on
es, namely,
the
rollers
against which
the
pressure is bearing, are set up until
the
crosshead
is
brought
into
touch again with
the
slack
rollers, and thus restored to
the
position from which it
was tending to depart. This takes up the
sp
ring of the
stay,
and it
will probably not require
any
more attention
throughout
the
test.
In
this way the end of
the
test
they fractured at
the
hooked ends, exactly as shown on
Fig.
8.
Thi
s was at
7
tons of
load;
but when screwed
p l u ~ were inserted, as shown
in
the lower view,
the
sprrngs would carry tons without failure, giving an
elastic stretch of in.
A photograph of
the
machine t aken into position is ex
hibited.
In conclusion,
th
e author is sensible of the honour of
the
selection of his firm
's
machine for a laborato
ry
bearing
the
great
name of
Ja m
es
Watt,
at a Univers ity which
wa
s
the first to establish a school of engineering in Great
Britain,
and
for
a
professor of such distinguished ability
and so thoroughly skilled in
the
practice of testing
as
Dr . Barr.
NEW ORLEANS AND MANOHESTRR.-A
steamship line
from New Orleans
to
Manchester is being planned. It
is understood that the Illinois Cent ral Railroad Company
is doing all it can to further the scheme.
THE WATER SoPPLY
oF
BARROW
-IN-FURNEss.-After
hard fights in
the
H ouse of Lords and
in the
House of
Commons against considerable opposition, the Barrow
Corporation
are to
be congratulated on obtaining
their
Bill for taking a supply of water from
the
watershed of
the River
Duddon.
The
Bill has now received
the Royal
assent.
Th
e scheme is one for taking a supply of
3,000,000 gallons
fr
om a point on
the Duddon about
miles from Barrow. In order to provide additional
storage accommodation for giving compensation
to the
river
in
times of drought. tlie level of
Seathwaite
Tarn
is to be raised
by
a maso
nry
dam so as
to
enable
the
cor
poration to have a
re
serve of
450
million gallons.
The
water is of very fine quality, and is highly suitable for
domestic consumption and trade purposes. The borough
engineer, Mr.
W.
H . Fox, Assoc.
M. Inst.
C.E.,
is the
engineer for
the
scheme.
•
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NOTES FROM
THE
UNI'fED STATES.
PHII.ADELPHIA, September 11.
t r ~ g e d y
a t
N. Y., has not r esulted in
any
senous disturbance 1n
the
steel markets or in finan
cial circles. The
situation
is well in hand. Produc·
tion
is
not equal to calls, but
no se
rious trouble has
been enco
un
tered . Merchants stocks
are virtually
depleted in b L;s , hoops, tinplate, pipe,
and
sheets, as
well as
sk elp
uon. Th
e
condition
in wh ich the
steel
indu
stry
finds itself has started
th
e
di sc
ussion of a
policy which,
if
adopted, would
lead
to
an
accumula
tion of standard requirements
to
provide for needs in
ca
.
se
?f
st r
ike:
~ h i ~
p o
licy can,
of course,
be adopted
w1thm c e ~ t a 1 n hm1
ts
. Pig iron, billets, me rch a
nt
bars of
gtven length,
sheets,
steel rails of
given
weight per yard, and other products can be
manu
f
ac tured
in advance
and
piled up in
warehouses
and sheds; but much
business comes
on
specia
l
o r d ~ r s .
Reports are satisfactory from all
quarters. An
enormous
volume of
material is bsing hurried to
buyers. The
inquiri
es
arriving
show that
t he peri
od
of
maximum requiremen ts has not been
reached.
Th e
ur gency
for
pipes was
n
eve
r greater. Skelp
mill
s are
unable to look
a t
a good deal of business offered. Steel
billets are
quiet
at
26
dols. for basic. Users
of
boiler
tu b es
a ~ e
deeply ?oncerned over the p ossibilities
of
completmg la
rge JObs on hand
.
The
comb
ine
s
heet
mills are furnishing only a little over one·half
of
their
capacit y.
Users of bar iron
east
and west are
trying
to buy more
than
they need for
present
wants.
Carbuilders, since
September 1,
have been
called
upon to bid on large rolling stock requirements, and
th ere
is
co
rr
es
ponding urgency for
axles, wheels,
and
all appliances entering
into car
co
nstruction.
Every
week seems
to
bring out greater
needs among
rail
roads for locomotives, and more locomotive building
capacity
will
be added with
expedition,
Open-hearth
steel
bars
have advanced 3.00 dols. Things will get
decidedly
worse unless
the
combination suc
c
eeds
in
starting, at least, its idle plants. I t is gradually
accumulating
non-union labour. Besse
mer pig
is
dols. at furnace.
Steel
rails 28 dols. at mills
for
standard
s e c t
o n ~ . Tramway work
of
very large
proportions is
in
sight.
NOTES FROM THE NORTH.
GLASGOW, Wednesday.
Glasgow P ig I
ron
Market. At the forenoon marke t on
Thurs
day
some
8000
tons of
pig
iron were
dealt
in. P rices
were steady, and Cleveland advanced id. per ton.
In
the afternoon a good business was done
in
Scotch
and
Cleveland iron, the turnover amounting to about 10,000
ton
s.
Prices
were
st
ro
ng
, and
Sc
otch finished
at ~ d .
up
on the
day,
and
Cleveland
1 ~ d .
per
ton.
The settlement
prices were : Scotch, 5 3 : ~ 6d. per
ton
: Cleveland,
453. 3d.
;
Cumberland
hematite
iron,
60s.
6d.
per
ton.
In the forenoon on Friday the market was very
quiet
, only
a.boub 4000
tons being
dealt
in. Scotch
warrants, after being dealt in at last price, 53s. 10d.
per
ton
cash, left off ab 53s .
9 ~ d .
buyers. In
the
afternoon only 2500 tons changed hands,
but
Scotch re
covered 1d. per t on. The
market
was very idle on Monday
forenoon, only 2000 tons being dealt in, none of which
was Scotoh, which
fell1d.
per ton ; Cleveland gave way
per ton.
At the afte
rnoon session some 3500 tons
we
re
dealt in,
and
prices were firmer, Scotch improving
on the
forenoon quotations
and
Cleveland 1d.
per ton. Cleveland was done
ab
453. 1d. per ton for
th e
end
of
the
year, 1000 tons being sold. The settle
ment prices were : 53s. 9d per ton, 45s. 1 ~ d . and
60s. per
ton
. At the forenoon session of the
pig
-iron
market
on
Tue
s
day
some 10,000 tons we
re dealt
in.
The iron sold was
all
Cleveland, which made an ad
vance of 6d. per
ton
.
About
5000 tons, all Cleveland,
were done in the afternoon, the close being
45a
. 7 ~ d . per
ton cash
with
buyer3, showing a
gaia
on
the day
of
5d.
per
ton. Scotch
warrants
were
quoted
at
54s. 1d.
per
ton
cash buyers, being a
gaia
on the day of
2d. per ton.
The
settlement prices were 543., 45s 9d.,
and 603. per ton . The iron " ring " will nob
meet
to-morrow, Thuraday, out of respect
to the
memory
of th e _ e c a a Amecica.n President. Som.e 5000 tons
w
ere
dealb
in
this forenoon in
the pig
-
iron
market. The
tone was steady, and Cleveland rose per ton . Scotch
was
marked
down 1d. per ton. In
the
afternoon
other
6QOO tons were dealt in, and Scotch · closed firm and
Cleveland was steady. One firm bought 7000 tons
of the latt
er.
The
settlement prices were :
54s
.,
45a.
9d., and G
Os
. per ton. The following are the
quotation
s for
Ne;>
. 1 -makers'
iron:
Clyde, 66s. 6d.
per
ton; Ga rtsherrte
and
Calder, 67a
.;
Lan gloa.n, 69.:i. 6d.,
Su
mme
rl
ee,
703.
6d. :
Coltnes1:.1,
72s. t he forego
ing
all
e)lipped at Glasgow; Glengarnock (shipped at Ardro3san);
66s. ; Shotts (shipped ab Leith), 70s. ; Carron (shipped
at Grangemouth), 67s. 6d. per ton. The u p w a . r ~ ten
dency
whi
ch the market showed
last
week rece1ved
a.
severe blow when the grave news came of the American
President
s
death. I t certainly
bad
a depressing effect.
Transactions
co
ntinu
e
to
be almost exclusively
in
Cleveland and bema.tite iron. Home consumers, in.
fluenced
probab y
by the firmer to
ne
of the
warrant
market have been buying more freely, but there
are
not he
slightest of t h ~ usual
autumn
demand
e.etting
in
from the Co.ntment; f J'ct, G e r ~ a n
m a k e ~ s
are reported
to
be o
ff
eriDg hemat1te
Ir
on here
ID
competl
tion
with the
local makers.
The
Board of Trade ~ t u r n s
show that a serious falling off
is
taking place ID the
E N G I N E E I\. I K G.
foreign
~ h i ~ m e n t s There are
81 furnaces
in
blast,
against
82 at this t1me last
year
. The stock of pig iron in Messrs.
Connal a
nd
Co.'s public
warrant
stores stood
at
58,370
tons yesterday afternoon, as compared with 58
370
tons
yesterday week,
thus
showing for
the
past ~ e e k no
change.
Fin
ished
Iron and
Steel.-Hematite pig iron is easier
than it was. West Coast warrants, whtch recently closed
ab
. 61s.
per
ton, receded to
603.
4d .,
makers
iron
b e 1 ~ g 60.: . 6d. per ton to 61s., according to brand and
dehvery. East Coast hematite iron is somewhat easier
at 593. per ton,
but
Scotch is still firm at 633. 6d. to
64
s.
psr ton delivered
to
the local steel works. In the
stee
l
tlrade generally
there
is a stiffer feeling showing itself.
Angles
a ~ e
now being
quoted
at
5l.
15.3.
per
ton, less 5
per
cent. dehvered on the Clyde.
Marine
boiler-plates
are
fir ll
ab
a ~ a ~ v a n c e of 53. per ton recently pub on the
p n ~ e wh10h 1s .now 7l. 153. per ton. Otherwise the quo
~ a t t o ~ ~ are w1thoub c b a n g ~ although there are more
mquu1es. Orders are plenttful, so that the mills
are
well
employed. The rolling mills in the finished iron trade
are also well employed, and
pri
ces remain fairly firm.
Sulphate of .Ammonia.-The shipments of sulphate of
J'mmonia have risen for the
year
to 99,609 tons,
or
an
m c ~ e a . of
3932
tons over those
at the
corresponding
per1od of last
year
. Prices have slightly improved this
week, lO l. 123. 6d. per ton being paid freely.
Th
e
re
is
a
better inquiry,
and
sellers are firm.
Shipbuilditng on the Otyde
.
Porb Glasgow shipbuildera
are at present
well stocked
with
work,
and
it is grati
fying
to
know
that additi
onal cont
ra
cts have lately
come
to
the district. There
are
several large
carr
iers
under
construction in local yards, but one of the
orders j usb placed
is
for a steg,mer of the th ree-deck
type, designed
to
have a carrying power of 8500 tons. The
keel of this steamer, which,
by the
way, will be
the
largest yet
built
in Port Glasgow, will be l
aid in
one of
the yards ia
the
centre
of
the
t
ow
n, that of Messrs.
Robert
Dunca.n and
M ~ s r s
Wm. Simons and Co.,
Renfrew,
are ho
build a
third
dredger of
1200
tons
to the
order of the Natal Government for service
ab
the port of
Durban.
I t is thirty years since
the
same firm first
built a.
dredger for the N
a.ta.l
Government, and they have built
for them quite a number of vessels in that time.
Openi
ng
of LeadhiUs Railway .-The Leadhills Light
Railway, which has been in course of con
st
ruction f
or the
past two years, was thrown open this week for inspection
by the Board of Trade. The inspector, accompanied
by
a number of officials of
the
Caledonian Railway Com
pany, who
are
the
pr
omoters of the enterprise, inspected
the
bridges
and permanent
way.
The
rail way
will
be
opened for traffic, ib is expected, in the beginning of next
month. So far,
the
line has only been carried
to
Lead
hills, and is only about six miles in length,
but
it will be
continued two miles
further to
Wanlockbead, where the
Dukes of Buccleuch have for a long time worked the lead
a.nd ailver oree.
NOTES FROM SOUTH YORKSHIRE
SHEFFIELD, Wednesday.
Sheffield Man ufactwrers
and
the Corporation. On
Monday a meet ing of
the
Sheffield Manufacturers' As·
soeiation
WM
held
to
consider what steps should be
taken
in
view of
the
action of
the
Corporation
in
fining local firms for damage caused to the roads
by the removal of heavy castings. The Association
decided to take
up
the case of Messrs.
Mo
orwood,
Sons, and Co., on whom the Corporation
re
ce
ntly
made
a demand for a heavy sum
in
consequence of damage done
to
certa
in st
reet
s,
and
it was
further re
so lved
to
ask the
Highwa
y Committee of the Corporation
to
receive a de
putation
of m a n u f a c ~ u r e r s to disc
us
s the matter generally
with a view of arriving ab an understn.nding by which
the
system of fining can be abolished.
Bradfo
rd
El
ec
t
ricity
Works Extension.
The
founda
tion stones of a new generating station, now in
co
urse of
erection for
the
Electricity
Department
of
the
Bradford
Corporation, were formally laid on Friday by Mr. T. H.
Sba.w
and Mr.
J . Akam, the chairman
and
vice·chairman
of the
Elect
ricity Committee.
The
new works
are
so
designed that
they
may be duplicat
ed by
building a
sece
nd
engine-house.
The
po
rtion at present bE:ling built
will accommoda.te three engines ha.vmg a total of 6000
horse·power.
The
electric generators have a capacity
of 1000 kiloswatts. The engine·room will be ca.pable of
co
ntaining
five units of
plant
with
a.
total capacity of
10,
000
horse-power, and it is proposed to instal six
boilers. Mr.
Shaw
pointed out that the work of his
committee
had increased more than
that
of any
ot
her.
In 1899 the capital expended was 18,456l., while in 1900
it
was 280,649l.,
and the
number of consumers
had ri
sen
from 43 to 1277.
The
York
shire Dales Railway. It s officially announced
that the new line of railway,
in
course of construction
from
Skipton to Gras
sington, is
to
be
the
subject of an
application
to
the Light Ra.ilway Commissioners for per
mission
to ext
e
nd
to Kettlewell.
Th
e exact route is n
ot
yet definitely settled,
but
the co3t of the project is said
to
be 25,000/.
South
Yorkshire
Co
al Trade.
The
re
is a feeling of
buoyancy
in
the coal
trade
of the
di
strict, and
an
improved
business is being done
in
a.Jl
classes of fuel.
After
the
restricted output
last
week, the pits have worked steadily,
:md the coal raised is selling more readily than has been
the case for so
me
time. Prospects for the
futur
e
are
br
ighter, and it is expected
that
the men will have
almost full work for some months. The improved demand
for house qualities is fully maintained,
and
present
pri
ces
have formed the basis of
a
good deal of forward busi-
(SErT.
20,
1901.
ness. London
and
the eastern counties
are
taking large
tonnages, and the eaU for prompt delivery is proof of the
depletion of merchants' stocks.
Best
Silks one make from
13s.
to
4 ~ . per. ton, and Barnsley house from
lls. to
12s.
per
ton.
The
IDland demand for steam coal has also im.
pr
oved,
but
the export business is still disappointing.
V alaes
are
firm, Ba.rnsley bards being quoted
ab
9s. to
10
e. per ton
.
T ~ e r e is now a f u l l e ~ supply of engine fuel,
and
Derbysh1ra IS
a.
keen competltcr for orders of this
class of fuel. Nuts make from 7s. 6d . to 83. 6d. per
ton·
screened slaok 5s per ton,
and
pit slack from 2s. 6d. pe;
ton.
The
coke
trade
shows a
little
improvement.
Iron
and Steel.- Most of the heavy branches of trade
are
cha ra
ct
erised
by a.
more hopeful tone.
The
armour.
plate
departments are
being kept fully employed,
although
there
is nob the pressure
th
e
re
was some time
ago. Indeed it
is
stated
that
the time is nob distant
when
further
specifications will be acceptable. The
armour-plate manufacturers of Sheffield are now in a
position
to
meet
any
requirements of the Government.
There is a well.sustained demand for marine forgings of
all kinds, and an improving call for railway material.
T h ~
leading railway compll.nies, however,
are
placing
thetr contracts very ca.ut10usly. The demand for all
classes of iron keeps
up
well
and pri
ces have a hardening
tendency. Buyers find that they cannot do better than
accept makers' quotations, and are placing
their
contracts
more freely. Hematites are in good supply,
but
ordinary
forge irons
are
more difficult
to
obtain.
•
•
NOTES FROM CLEVELAND AND THE
NORTHERN COUNTIES.
MIDDLE SBROUGH, Wednesday.
The Oleveland Iron Trade.
Yesterday there
was
n
fairly numerous attendance on 'Change, and the market,
on the whole, was almost cheerful, though he matite iron
cheapened. Inquiries were fairly numerous,
but
the
amount of business actually transacted was
not
large. One
very gratifying f
eatur
e, however, was
the
improvement
noticeable in No. 3 Cleveland pig, the demand for which
was better
than it
has been of la te,
and the
price of which
was ad ,·anced by 3d. per ton, notwithstanding
that
the
production
is
understood
to
be still
in
excess of the
requirements. Sales were recorded ab 453. 6d. for
prompt
f.o.b. delivery of No. 3 g.m.b. Cleveland pig
uon, and
sellers, as a rule, would
not
entertain offers
at anything below
that
figure. Both makers and
mer
c
hants
realised the foregoing quotation. No. 1
Cleveland pig was steady at 47s. 3d.; No 4 foundry,
44s. ; grey forge,
433.
; mottled, 42s. 9d . ;
and
white,
42s. 6d.
East
Coa.sb bematite pig, havi ng been for
some time firm ia price
and short
in supply, underwent
a.
change for
the
worse, owing to increased o
utput
of
bematite on the West Coast
and
in Scotland, as well as to
some
extent
in
this district
. Sellers were ready enough
to accept 5 9 ~ . 6d. for early delivery of Nos. 1, 2, and 3.
Business was recorded ab that figure, but many buyers
endeavoured to
pur
chase
at
rather
less. Spanish ore was
rather
f i r ~ e r in price, rubio being quoted 153. 6d.
to
16s. ex-sh1p Tees. To-day there was no alteration in
quotations.
M O/f1 ufactured I
ron
and Steel. Tbe
finished iron
and
s t ~ e
trades
are
steady.. Mosb firms
are
well supplied
w1th work. Common u on bars
are 6l
53. ; steel
ship
plates, 6l. 5s. ; iron ship plates, 6l.
17
s. 6d. ;
and
iron
and
steel
b ~ p
angles, 5l. 17s. 6d.-allless
per cent
. Hea.vy
steel rails are 6l.
10
s., and cast·iron railway chairs 3l. 10s.
-both
net cash at works.
. Palmer s Shipbu.ilditng and Ir_on Comp0/(1,y.-Tbe thirty.
s1xth annual repo
rt
of the d1rectors of Pa.lmer's
Ship
building and
Iron
Company, Limited, to be presented
at
the ordinary general meeting,
to
be held ab the
County
Hote
l, Newcastle-on-Tyne, on Monday,
Sep
tember
23,
states
that for the year ended June
30 1901
the gross profit,
after
providing for
the
cost of
~ e p a i r ~
a
nd
upkeep p l a ~ b
and after
making proper allow
ance for contmgenc1es, amounts to 107,074l. 2d. 6d .,
to
which must e added the amount brought forward from
~ a s ~
year, 3qt9l. 11s. 3d., making a totalof 110,123l. 133. 9d.
Tbts
the
du
ectors propose
to
appropriate as follows ·
Debenture
and
loan interest, 977 l l. l ls. 2d.; divide
nd at
the
rate of 8
per
cent.
per
annu m on both preference
and
ordinary abates (of. whi
ch
per
c ~ n t .
ha.s
been paid),
48,263l. 8j. ;
to
wr1te off the extenstons for
the
year as
sbow.n by the balance-sheet, 64, 739l.
1 4 ~ .
11d. (less 20,OOOl.
proVIded m la
st
year'saccount), 44,739l. 14s. lld. ; balance
to carry forward, 7348t. 19.3. Sd . ; total, 1 O,
12
3£.
133.
9d.
Messrs. Wa lker, Maynard,
and
Oo, 1/zilnited.
Tbe
.annual report of ~ I e s s r s . Walker, Ma.ynard, and Co.,
~ 1 m 1 t e d of.
the
Redcar r o n Works, Middlesbrough, has
JUSt been Issued, sbowmg the profib on the business
from July 1, 1900, to una 30, 1901,
to
have been
25,529l. 14s. 8d., which
the
directors recommend should
be applied a.s foll?ws :
In terest
paid on purchase money.
5035t. 153. .10d. ; mcome-tax, 2464l.
lld.
; directors'
remunerat10n,
2500
l.;
pr
ofit made prior
to
the in·
corporation of
the
company carried
to re
serve account
10
,845l. 12:i. 2d. ; dividend on preference shares at
the rate of. 6
per cent
. per annum, 4632l. 16s. 6d . ;
balance a ~ r 1 e d f o r ~ a r d 50l. l l s. 3d. Having regard to
the very
t ~ c u l b
t1me
e l y
passed through in the iron
trade,
the
d1rectors constd
er the
re
su
lt
s
sa t
isfactory.
The
works have been fully maintained out of revenue. a
nd
the
furnaces have
e . e n k ~ p t in
full operation.
Mr.
H.
W.
F.
~ o l c k o w the rettrmg duector, offers himself for re-elec
tlOn. The profit
and
loss account shows an expenditure of
323,?88l.
11
s. 10d. on material, stores,
&c
. The
rece1pts have been 3t6,539l.
~ 3 3 .
9d. for pig iron
and
iron
st<?ne;
120
8l.
Ss. lld.,
o y a l t 1 ~ s rents, haulage. shunting,
sb1pp1ng, &r.; 957l. 3d., m ~ e r e s b fro ll
investments;
•
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412
German build, it would seem that the swaddling
clothes'
might be well thrown off (lest they prove
enervating), ,
and
that
German shipbuild
ing
might
now be nourished on
the strong
meat of open
competition.
If we
turn,
however, to
the
German shipping re
turns,
we do n
ot
find that the fostering care of the
German Government has resulted in as great an
increase in shipping as might, perhaps, be expected;
and, indeed, as is, we believe, generally supposed
to have
taken
place by the British people. The fact
is, the building of a few imposing and magnificent
vessels, such as the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse a
nd
the Deutschland, have strongly impressed the public
imagination. But if we
take in the
who
le
figures,
we find that during
the last ten
years of which we
have statistics
the
increase in German-owned
vessels has been not much more than 300,000 tons ;
for the total
net
registered tonnage in 1889 was
1, 320,721 tons, whilst in 1898 it was 1, 639,552 tons.
Th
ese figures are, of course, not large compared
to our more imp osing totals . The Baltic ports
have shown a considerable decrease, a fact which
makes the progress of the two great North Sea
ports, Hamburg and Bremen, more marked, espe
cially in regard to steamships.
Figures bearing upon the t
ota
l maritime trade of
Germany are not
published, but those relating
to
the two chief ports
are
available,
and
these show
very
notable progress. In 1889
there
were im
p
orte
d
into Hamburg
93,032,868 cwt. of merchan
dise of a total value of 62,279,038l.
Th
e corre
sponding figures in 1898 were 177, 904,5()6 cwt .,
and
100, 743,506l.
The export
s from
the
same
port in 1889 were 47,914,628 cwt., valued at
60,320, 746Z.; in 1898 they amounted to 79,251,066
cwt., the value being 74,668,068l. The figures for
Bremen are naturally smaller.
In
1889 the im
ports
were 27,663,644 cwt., having a value of
21,876, 728l.;
ten
years later,
in
1898,
the import
s
had
grown to 47,510,450 cwt.,
their
value being
34,072,
99ll.
The exports of
Bremen
for 1889
were 15,500,534 cwt., of a Vd.lue of 14,338,001l.;
and
in 1898
they
had grown to 24,997,318 cwt.,
valued at 19,292,617l.
In the Government return to which reference
has been made, Mr. Ward gives some important
and instructive figures, indicating the increase that
has followed upon State assistance, more especially
on
those routes practically affected, such as China,
Japan, and
Australia.
We
have
not
space to
qu
ote these here,
but
we would refer those more
directly
interested in
the
subject
to the
original
report
for details, and will content ourselves with
quoting Mr. Ward's final words. The figures
and
observations,
he
sa.ys, which I have sub
mitted will sufficiently
p r o v ~
that the direct and
indireot bounties granted by the State to the several
German steamer lines above referred to have been
of very valuable use towards
d ~ v e l o p i n ~ e r m a n
trade with the Levant, East Afnca, Austraha,
and
the Far Ea
st
.
Whether State
bount ies, either in
the
form of
direct
money payment,
or
of
other
concessions,
are
going to help
or hinder
German commerce
at large, and the shipping industry in particular,
is a
matter
that time will give us
matter
upon
which to form an estimate ; but whatever
the result may be, the mat ter is beyond our
control. The ultimate and practical issue of
the whole question is, however, chiefly withi n our
own grasp.
If ~ h e
inland German
ma
nufacturer
gets from the. State-?wned
r a i l w : a y ~
a largely
prefer
e
ntial
freight tariff
to th
e shipping
port
for
goods he sells for abroad; whilst on
our
own rail
ways obstacles are. put
in the
way.
B:itish
products being carried to
the
c o ~ s t ;
It 1 s
.ev1dent
the German will hold a commandmg pos1t10n that
must
turn the fortune of
trade
war, other things
being approximately equal. Again, if r i ~ i ship
owners combine
and
agree to carry fore1gn-made
goods-G e rman or Belgian-to distant lands
at
a
less cost than they will transport British goods from
British ports to the same places, it is also
e n t
that
we
put
into the hands of our competitors
another powerful weapon by which our home indus
tries
can
be
attacked.
Under
conditions such as
th
ese
it
is but a question of
time
before the
export
trade
of
British
made goods dwindles to smallpropor
tions, unless
our
manufacturers e a ~
by
i ~ g e n u i l i y
and
skill, provide large compensatiOns .In
other
di rections · a thing ever growtng more difficult to
accomplish in these times universal k n o w ~ e d g o
and
rapid transit.
W ~ a t
:vill ?ecome of railway
companies
and
steamship lines 1f the export trade
E N G I N E E R I N G.
of t ~ e country is seriously crippled is a n1atter that
possibly the n1anagers of those enterprise3 have
. been
at
pains consider ; thinking that
~ r i t t
trade has sufficient flywheel to last
their
time,
and
a
present ga
in is preferable to prospective
profit.
Th
ose who guide
the
dest inies of
the
nation,
however, may be expected to survey a wider
horizon; it their duliyto consider what steps should
be
taken
to preserve to our children
the
heritage
left by our fathers.
The
solution of the question
is doubtless beset with difficulties, but there are
few problems more worthy of attention. Some
thing
has already
been
done
by
the
Select Conl
mittee on Steamship Subsidies, which it is to be
hoped will be re-appointed, so that its labours may
not be
a
lt
ogether lost. It is not, however, from
foreign subsidies tha.t we need fear most the great
en
emy is within our
gat
es.
BRITISH COLUMBIAN COAL.
CoAL and copper are the two minerals which
promise to contribute as much as any to
the
material wealth of British Columbia in the near
future. There is cause for sat isfaction
at
the pro
gress made in gold, silver, and lead production; and
on the basis of Geological Survey investigations,
there
is
no
room
to
assume that
the
country has
come anywhere n
ear the
limits of its capacity in
respect of
any
of
the three
.
The
futura of
coal, at least, is bound up with the advance of
mining as a whole. But the possibilities of
production of these two seem to be greater
than
those of
the
others;
and
everything points to
the likelihood of Canada, chiefly by the aid of
British Columbia's contribution, attaining a lead
ing place as a copper producer, with the judicious
investment of more capital in its ventures and the
er
ection of more smelters. Scattered here and
there
about every annual
report
of the Mini
ste
r of
Mines
are
references to numerous finds, some at
least of which must be capable of profitable de
velopments. One of
the
latest places to claim
attention is Copper Mountain Camp, in th e
Siruilkameen district. It is notorious that very
litt le copper will stain a whole mountain side,
but the ore in this locality has been found
to be ' 'of great extent. The deposits on
Vancouver Island remain virtually untouched,
and
they, like
the
ores of Copper Moun
tain and other
points, are far richer
in
metal
than
those which have
been
worked with such
success in
the
Lake Superior
dist
rict of
the
United
States. The coalfields
at
present producing are
those of Vancouver Island and of the Crow's Nest
Pass. The last have been rendered accessible
only within the last year by the opening of the
Crow's Nest Pass Railway, and in the period ux:der
review 206,803 tons were produced, of which
103,231 tons were used for
coke-
making, leav
ing a net 103,572 tons. In Vancouver the yield
was 1,383,376 tons, of which 47,353 tonA
were used for coke- making, leaving a
net
1,336,023 tons, and of this 914,183 tons were sent
abroad.
The
Crow's
Nest
collieries are good for a
much greater output than those of Vancouver; but,
as we have said, they have only just begun serious
shipments, and the company working the seams
has been suffering from the many inconveniences
incident to all new enterprises of this sort, and the
property cannot
as
yet be
said
to
be
tho
roughly
equipped : a
matter
which is, however, gradually
being remedied.
The
estimates of some engineers
place
the
quantity of coal within this area at
25 billions of tons, which would admit of an
output of 25 million tons a year, or 70,000
tons a day for 1000 years. It is thought, too,
that the use of the diamond drill in the valleys
will reveal many as yet undiscovered seams. The
coal in the seams exposed up to the present is very
uniform and of excellent quality.
It is
said to be
the best coking coal in America, the coke possess
ina
high calorific power and great crushing strength.
Although only two important districts have been
developed, coal is found
in
many other parts of
the
province. Mr. Ronald C. Campbell-Johnston has
enumerated the more accessible. To the west, near
Fairview, in
the
Okanagan Valley, he says, there
are outlying indications
at
Swan (or Vaseau) Lake,
at
Okanagan Falls,
up the north
fo
rk
of
the Kettle
River,
and
in to the Fire Valley and Okanagan
districts around Whauchope.
In
these discoveries
we have the rims of the coal basins cropping out,
and boring is now proceeding to locate the deeper
[S EPT. 20, I 901.
parts of the basins. Similar indications appear
again to the west, commencing near the southern
boundary,
at
Princeton, in the Similkameen Valley,
further north on the Tulameen River, near Otter
Flat,
at
Gulliford's Ranch, Coutree, Nicola, Stump
Lakes, North Thompson River,
Hat
Creek, near
the
Marble Canon, and to
the
unexplored north.
In the
Hazelton district, around Babine and
Stewart Lakes, explorations are going on, and
surveys for rail ways are being completed to open
up a second Kootenay
in
all
its
wealth of coal,
c?pper, l ~ a d silver, and gold. Dr. Dawson pre.
d10ted this twenty years ago. The coal basins
here are
said to equal
the
Crow's
Nest
basin
in
quantity and quality. Pending the exploitation of
these fields, the Crow's Nest coal will do. The
British and American Admiralties are said to have
practically proven by
hard
tests
its
steam-producing
powers, and have agreed to substitute
it
for Welsh
coal, on completion of a railway along
the
Columbia
River to Golden, to transmit
it
to
the
coast.
Briti
sh Columbia continues to make striking
progress as a mining country. The annual
r eport for last year puts
the
value of all minerals
obliained
at
16,344,751 dols., .as compared with
12,393,131 dols. for 1899 and 10,906,861 dols.
for 1898. On the one twelvemonth there is a
s
light
decrease in placer gold; but this is compen
sated for
by
a very substantial increase
in
lode
gold,
the
total yield being 231,089 oz., as com
pared with 205,560 oz . Silver, too, shows
an
appreciable improvement-3,958,175 oz., comparing
with 2 939,413
oz
.,
the
increase being equal to 39
per cent., attributable principally to
the
activity
in South-
East
Kootenay, which turned out
960,411 oz., against 33,516 oz. in the previous
year. Over
90
per
cent. of the silver production
comes from silver-lead ores, and a rise in the
quantity of lead obtained was th erefore a foregone
conclusion.
The
figures under this head,
in
fact,
constitu te one of the features of
th
e year,
the out
put
being 63,358,621 lb., as compared with
21,862,436 lb. in 1899. The repo
r t
says
the
in
crease has been brought about chiefly by
the
energetic il.evelopment of two
or
three mines in
Fort
Steele
D i v i
although all the lead-pro
ducing districts, except Ainsworth, have shown a
material increase in production. The Slocan Min
ing Division
has
heret
ofore always held first place
in the list
of lead producers, having an
output
in
1897 of almost 31,000,000
lb.; and
although in
1899
it
fell as low as 16,660,910 lb.,
it
has again
increased in 1900
to
19,565,743 lb., a gain over t he
previous year of 17 per cent. However,
the
increase
in Fort Staele Division of from 881.167 lb. in 1899
to 38,495,079 lb. in 1890 has earned for it the right
to be considered the lead-producing centre of the
province. n copper, also, British Columbia is
making striking progress ;
and
though it does not
yet count as a factor of
great
significance
in
rela
tion to
the
world's supply,
there
is
no
denying
its
great potentialities. The
output
was 9,977,080 lb •
in comparison with 7, 722,591 lb.
in
1899 and
7,271,678 lb. in 1898. The Rossland ores appear
to be pinching out-at any rate,
the
metallic con
tents are much less than they were. The quantity
shipped in the twelve months increased by
26
per
cent., but the average yield was no more than 10 lb.
per ton, against 33 lb. in 18
99
; and as a result the
copper production was less
than
half that of
the
preceding period.
The
Nelson district also reports
diminished shipments,
but
this
is referred
to
a
temporary suspension of shipments by
the
largest
producer, pending
the
installation of new
machinery, and development of
the
mine. The
situation was saved by t he appearance in
the
field
for the first time of the Boundary Creek district,
which accounted for 5,672,177 lb., and by the
act ivity among the Coast mines, whose yield was
2,193,962 lb.,
an
increase of more than 100 per
cent . So far, iron counts for nothing in relation to
BritishColumbia's mineral.
I t
s only mined as a flux
for lead smelting,
and
we are told
that
the co
pper
and
other ores carrying an excess of iron, which
have now been discovered, are rapidly replacing
this barren flux, with
the
result that the tonnage
of iron ore mined is decreasing,
the
quantity
reported for 1900 being no more than 580 tons.
But there is plenty of ore of good class which will
no doubt be utilised in time in the establishment
of
an
iron manufacturing industry,
in
conjunction
with the
co
al of the Crow's Nest Pass and
other parts of the province.
That
time may
not be
so remote as is
thought
probable.
The
report
refers to
the
excitement created orer
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SEPT. 20 1901.]
he discovery of deposits of magnetic ore, chiefly
in the neighbourhood of the Alberni Canal. The
rovincial mineralogist finds
that
they consist of
extensive surface showings of very good magnetic
re. The development work was confined mainly
o surface st ripping; and while the surface indica
tions were excellent, the depth or permanence of
the deposits had not been proved by any shaft or
sufficient tunnel. Says the writer of the r
eport
:
Before iron ore will at tain
any
value
on
th is
coast, it must be proved to exist in sufficient
quan ti ty and under such conditions for cheap
mining as to
ju
stify the establish
ment
of an
iron
blast - furnace
and
rolling mill. Such a
lant requires about ten y
ear
s' supply of ore
absolutely in sight, and such an
amount
of
ore will never be shown to
exist
by surface
tripping.
I t is reported,
unofficially, that an
American syndicate has b
on
d
ed
the properties
referred to, a
nd
has
this
past fall sunk shafts and
riven
t
unn
els,
1
which continue to give
sa t
isfactory
showings. This is a
very lar
ge
undertakin
g, and,
as must be expected, work will proceed slowly
and
cautiously, so that it will be a couple of years yet
before sufficient knowledge is obtained of the de
posits to
justif
y the establishment of iron works.
Still, the enterprise is distinctly one of promise.
THE TRADE
OF
KOREA IN
1900.
l{oREA
which a
short
time ago was known as the
Hermit Kingdom,
is
rapidly assuming a position
f commercial importance. From
the rep
o
rt
which
as
ju
st been published
by
the
For
eign Office we
earn that, in spite of t he troubles
in
China during
he
year 1900, the value of th e
total trade
of
Korea
ot only did
not
decrease, but actually exceeded
of any previous year. This
re
su
lt
is explained,
to a
la r
ge
extent, by the
fact
that
although
the
xpo
r t
of
Korean
produce to China, which is in
Chinese hands, decreased,
and
importations of
oreign goods
by Uhinese mer chants likewise dimi
ished, these disadvantages were more than
counterbalanced by the stimulus given to the ex
ort
of Korean cereals by the in terruption of the
xpor t trade of N ewchwang, and by the demand
supplies for the foreign troops employed in
ilitary operations in China.
So far as imports alone are concerned, the figures
or 1900 were exceeded by those for the year 1898,
hile the Customs revenue for the year fell short
that for the year 1897.
The
large increase in
trade of 1900, which occurred chiefly
under
the
eading of exports, may therefore be regarded as the
sult
rather
of exceptional circumstances than of
normal devel
opment
of trade. In the year
895 the total foreign trade of the country was
4,237,161 yen, or 1, 542,359l. sterling, while in
it was 29,016,230 yen, or 2,901,623l. sterling.
latter sum was made up of 20,453,401 yen,
e
nting
the
total
foreign imports
and
exports
foreign co untries, exclusive of gold
export
; the
ort of gold was 3,633,050 yen, and the coasting
4 929,719 yen. (The value of the yen
during
year being
taken
at 2s. 2d.)
I t
will thus be seen
trade
of
Korea
has mo
re than
doubled
self in
the
course of six years,
and the incr
ease of
he trade of 1900 over that of the previous year
694,156l.
The
huge increase under
the
head
of foreign exports is distributed over
the
five
items of the K orean
export
trade, namely,
ce, beans, hides, ginseng,
and
gold,
into the
details
which, however,
we need
not enter.
During the year the increase
in the import trade
as very small, as compared
with
that in exports,
what
in0rease has
taken
place has
not
been in
avour of
British
goods.
I t is
very significant that
the heading of cotton goods shows an increase
14,297l. over
the
figures for
the
previous year,
was a falling-off
as
regards
British
imp
orta
in the case of shirtings of
no
less than 59, 069l.,
in
the case of
yarn
of 3056l.; a small decrease is
lso observable in the item of
British
sheetings.
apanese
co
tton goods, on the other hand, show the
owi
ng
increase : Shirtings, 1731l.
sheet
ings,
other
piece goods, 25,676l.; yarn, 11,329l.
Japanese
have
imitated
the
strong
native
the pattern and
texture of which are
so closely
that
the
import
ed goods
are
hardly
st inguishable from those of native manufacture.
p
anese shirtings have
not
only held
the
place
but
they are threatening
to drive
goods
out
of
the
market. Woollen goods,
chiefly of
British
origin, also show a
decrease.
E N G I N E E R I N G.
The trade in metals, machinery, and especially
in the appliances of mining, although not yet la rge,
is rapidly increasing, and the possibilities of the
future are considerable, and it will be well if
British merchants and engineers koep themselves
informed
re
garding these, f
or
they are certain to
have many competitors for the trade. While the
importation
of
American kerosene oil has remained
practically stationary during the year 1900, that of
J apanese kerosene has increased to the extent of
3970l., the principal port of importation f
or
t he
latter oil being Fusan .
Reports
from that
port
as
to the quali ty of the Japanese oil now imported
speak of it as having improv
ed
very much of recent
years, although still inferior to the American
article. Sumatra oil, which was formerly imported
to a considerable extent, has now disappeared from
the returns,
and
the same may be said of Russian
oil. The question of importing the lat
te
r oil in
bulk, as is done in many
ports
in the Far East, is,
however, engaging the
attention
of a
British
firm
at Chemulpo
and
if satisfactory arrangements f
or
its
importation
and
storage in
tank
s can be made,
it will probably prove a serious rival to
both
American
and Japanese
oil. It may be interest i
ng
to
note
in this connection that in Korea, as in
Japan, the importation of
ke r
osene oil from
the
Uni
te
d
States
has given rise to a tinplate industry,
which was
not
previously in
existence;
the tins in
which the oil s imported furnishing the material
for
the
tinsmiths.
There
was a noticeable
in
crease
in
the shipping
during
the
year,
and
this increase is the more
satisfactory n view of the serious
interfere
nce
caused
by
the
troub
les
in
China to
the
regular
movements of the Japanese steamships, which so
largely monopolise
the
carrying
trad
e of Korea.
As compared with the previous year, the figures
show an increase in sailing ships of 263 vessels,
representing
an
increase
in
tonnage of 4125 tons,
and in steamships of 431 vessels, representin g an
increase in tonnage of 23,908
t o n ~
Here, as usual,
Japan still easily holds her own, though a slight
increase is noticeable in Korean shipping.
The Korean Government is slowly organising a
postal and telegraph se rvice. The former is still
in a very rudimentary condition . The total mileage
of telegraph lines now open is 1696 miles, of which
121 miles represent the extension which took place
in 1900.
The
working of the lines gives general
satisfaction.
The total
receipts of the
Korean
telegraph administration
for.
the
year under review
were 72,443
yen
(about 7244l.), showing an increase
of 21,000 yen (about 2100l.) over those of the
•
previOus yea
r.
The
section of the Soul- Chemulpo Rail way,
between Nodol, the station on the Chemulpo side
of the
Han River and
Soul, was opened for traffic
on
July
8, 1900, and the whole line has since
been
in working order. The traffic is not
yet
very great,
and the
surplus income will
not
go far to
pay
the
5 per cent.
intere
st
on the
700,000
yen
of
}: r
ivate
capital invested, which, under agreement with
the
Ja
panese Government,
the
shareholders
are
to
receive before
any
attempt is made to repay the
loan of 1,800,000
yen
(180,000l.) advanced by
the
Japanese
Government. Although work has not
yet
been begun on
the
Soul-Fusan Railway,
the
concession for which was granted to a
Japanese
syndicate
in
1898, ·
there are
indications
that
in
the
near future
operations will be commenced. Various
other
schemes have
been
proposed, and it is evident
that the J apauese
are
de
te
rmined to
take the
lead
n
the
development of
the
resources of Korea,
which they look upon
as
su
pp
lementary to those
of Japan,
and
also because they
know
that t heir
influence
in Korea
will enable
them
to make
them
eelv s felt
in the
affairs of China.
The development of
the
Gwendoline Mine, ac
quired
under
the Pritchard-Morgan Concession
from
the Korean
Government, made steady progress
in
1900.
The
reef, which
i3
being worked, contains
up to 20
per
cent. pyrites, holding free
and
com
bined gold ;
and when the
works have been a
littl
e more developed,
the
prospects of satisfactory
returns are
good.
The
Unsan district, over the
whole of which
the
company possesses mining
rights, has been shown to contain silver, copper,
a
nd
gold dep
os
its,
and
there
are
also
numer
ous
places where auriferous gravel is being work
ed
.
Anthracite
coal has been found at
Ten
san, 10
miles north of the Gwendoline Mine,
and
prospect
ing shows that
the
coal seams
extend
over a large
area. At Tangokae (otherwise known as Kim-song),
wh e
re
a German syndicate has obtained a gold-
mining concession, prospecting work is still being
carried on, but as yet little practical work has been
done. On the whole, however, the report shows
that Korea is following the example of Japan,
although somewhat slowJy,
and
before long we may
expect results which will have an important bear
ing
on
trade in the Far East.
SELENIUM
.
IT is somewhat significant that in the
Preliminary
Report lately issued by the Royal Commission
on
Arsenic in
Beer
no mention is made of
any
possible
part
which selenium may have
played
in the
tragedy enacted in the closing months of last
year
in the
north
of England. The position
taken
up
by
Dr. Tunnicliffe n this matter, although the
analyses which he produced do not
appear
to have
been disputed, has not, as far as we have
been
able
to ascertain, gained the supp
ort
of scientific opinion
generally. At
any
rate, the prevailing
impr
ession
seems to be that though it is possible that the
selenium detected in some of t he vitriol used in the
manufacture of the brewing sugar may have aided
in producing
the
subsequent disastrous effects,
still
the arsenic was
the
main factor in all the cases of
illness, and undoubtedly
the
sole factor in a
great
many. Of course, it may
turn out
that the final
report
of the Commissioners will contain references
to points which it is considered advisable to
keep
quiet about until some necessary
re
search has
been
conducted and
we
certainly do
not
wish, on the
pre.sent occasion, to
take
up any decided position
one way
or
the
other
on this selenium question.
Some public prominence, however, having
been
attained
by selenium in
this
connection,
it
seems
of
interest
to say a word or two as to
its
ocJurrence
and
pr
opert
ies, as, to
jud
ge
by
the remarks we
have heard,
the
very name was an unknown quant
ity
to brewers
and
the public generally
un
til
it
achieved
it
s recent prominence in
the
daily press. A ve
ry
brief summary is all that need be given here
of
facts which may be gleaned from any text-book
on
chemistry ; our space will be more usefully occu
pied by references to such matters as are scattered
far and wide in scientific literature, and which are
not readily accessible. Selenium exists in two allo
tropic modifications- the one a black crystalline
powder, and the other a brick-red powder. The
black powder,
or
meta llic selenium, is obtainable as
a granular crystalline mass of 4.5 specific gravity.
The
or
iginal source from which it wa s obtained was
the lead selemide found
at
Olaucthal, in t he Hartz
Mountains, but a more plentiful and modern source
is the
Span
ish
pyr
ites used in the manufacture of
oil of vitriol,
and
it is among the acid manufacturera
that the propertie3
and
appearance of the element
are best known; that is, as a matter of in terest
and
not n the way of
bu
siness, f
or
the very small
amount of selenium which finds employment in the
arts does
not
act as an inducement to the vitriol
maker to
take
up
its
preparation commercially.
The
fact
is
that selenium remains to-day, as of
yore, very much a substance of scientific in terest,
and
cannot be classed among those elements which
minister in
any
real capacity to man's needs.
True, its peculiar electrical effects have been
taken
advantage of
by
Mr. Shelford Bidewell n
the
con
struction of the photophone, an
instrument
by
which
light
is converted
into
electricity.
But
neither
this nor the one
ot
h
er
scientific application
which
we
are aware of, viz., its employment in
connection with certain astronomical
instruments,
can be taken as offering sufficient inducement for
the
acid manufacturer to
take
up
its
preparation
on
a commercial scale.
An
objection,
by
the way
has
been taken by
some scientists to the name
commonly used, because, although it is common to
talk
of metallic selenium, it is
re
ally a non-metallic
element.
For
this reason the objectors say
the ter-
minati
on
urn, , which is characteristic of the nam es
of 1netals,
is inappr
opriate,
and
should give way
to selenio
n.
It is generally agreed that scientific
nomenclature, having been
left
so much to
the
taste
of individual discoverers,
is in
a son1ewhat
ch
aot
ic condition,
and
could be overhauled
and
broug
ht
up to
date with
advantage.
However it
is not a
matter on
which we
are
disposed to ~ a x
eloquent
at
the
pre
se
nt
time,
and
we shall be con
tent with merely drawing
attention to the
fact that
differences of opinion exist. Of course, in speaking
of the application of
this or
that chemical
sub
sta
nce
for
trade purp
oses,
it
is n ot possible to speak too
e;x.actly; a certain
amount
of reservation s always de
Slrable on account of
the
secrecy which is observed
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i n s ~
many
cases as
to what
chemicals really enter
into
particular
manufactures. We
are
moved
to
say
this
because of the proposal which was
made
a
year or
two
ago to use selenium as an
agent
in the produc
tion
of red glass. vVhether the proposal ever
reached
the
subsequent
stage of regular use we
are
unable to
say,
but
a st rong claim was made
out
in
its favour; the
use of selenium,
both
alone
and
in
admixture with
cadmium sulphide, obviating,
it
was
sa
id, the necessity of
reheating and dipping in
a colouring mixture
in the ordinary
process of
making
red glass. I t was in
the
year 1885
that
Dr. Divers, professor of c
hemistry
at Tokio, pointed
out
that
when
seleniferous acid is used
in the
alkali
manufacture, the rare
element
passes over into the
hydrochloric acid in the form of se
lenium
seleno
chloride, which in
contact with
water decomposes
into elemental selenium, selenious a c ~ d and hydro
chloric acid.
This
detection of selenium in
Japanese
vitriol
is
intere
st ing, because, presuming that the
acid was made from local brimstone,
it
shows that
whatever
safety from arsenic may
be
experienced
in the use of brimstone instead of
pyritic
acid, such
procedure would prove delusive where freedom from
selenium was aimed
at.
Although we
are
of
opinion that, as far as the
beer
epiden1ic was con
cerned,
the case
against selenium
was not made
out,
yet the
fact that t he acid made from some brands
of brimstone, at any rate, contain selenium is one
that should
not
be lost sight of. I t may be men
tioned in this connection that it is customary in
pharmaceutical circles
in
America to test sulphur
for
selenium.
The
official
tes
of
the Pharma
copooia
is
to boil half a
grain
of s
ulphur
with
half
a
grain
of potassium cyanide in water,
to
filter,
and add
excess of hydroc
hlor
ic acid to the filtrate.
In the presence of se
lenium
a
reddish
coloration is
obtained, the delicacy of the test extending, accord
ing to
some authorities,
to
the detection of of
a grain. With
regard to the
toxic properties of
selenium, although
n the
recent rise of
the element
into prominence
n1any chemi
sts
pooh-poohed
the
idea that it
would give
rise to any
mischief in
this
way,
the
fact of the poisonous nature of the alkaline
salts has been clearly established. With regard to
this point attention may be directed to the work of
Chabrie and Lapicque
Oompt. nd.,
page 110),
the researches of those
authors
proving that sodium
selenite s
without
doubt an irritant poison. A
subsidiary point to which
they
draw attention
is
the
harmle
ssness of sulphites as compared with selenites
when injected into
the system,
on
account of the
imn1ediate
transformation
of
the
former
in
to sul
phates. The fact is not
without its
importance,
seeing how generally sulphurous acid
and its
com
pounds
have come
to be
used
in the
brewing
industry.
As we
have
said,
the present-day
appli
cations of
selenium are neither extensive nor of the
first importance, and
the
outlook for its increased
use is
not
bright. No doubt if an increased demand
arose,
the
present price of about 6s.
per
ounce
would experience a r eduction, as there is evidently
no lack of
raw
m
ateria
l. As
in
the case of arsenic,
the attention which has
been drawn to
the
subject
of
this
article
has led to
analytical inves tigations of
interes
t
and
importance, the
result
of which has
been to
put the detection of these bodies in various
food products on a sec
ur
e basis.
CROYDON ELECTRIC TRAMWAYS
AND ELECTRIC
LIGHTING.
THE
Borou<Yh
of Croy
don
will very s
hortly open
to
traffic a
se;tion
of electric
tram
ways
through the
main thoroughfare, connecting Norbury and Purley.
This first line is 5} miles in total length, about five
of which are with double track.
I t
forms only
part
of
the
scheme, further extensions being contem
plated for the near future.
The narrowness of the streets in the
central
part
of
the town, where the traffic will be greatest,
forms o
ne
of the chief difficulties in the way of a
successful
tramway system
in Croydon, and
has
rendered
it
necessary to
lay
down a single
track
at
the
most
congested
parts.
This
constitutes
a serious
obstac
le to
a
rapid
service; no other course, how
ever, could
have been adopted und
er the circum
stances · but
it
is
hoped
that the
number
of t
urn
outs
p r ~ v i d e d will
enable
a satisfactory schedule
to
be
worked.
The
Croydon
Tramways
Company was .formed
in
1870 and f
or
a
period
of
about
twenty-etght
years
they worked
a
system of horse
traction, which
did
not give
very
good
genera
l
results. I t
was felt
that
some time might e1apse also before the new system,
E N G I N E E R I N G.
with electric traction, showed a profit, and the
T ~ a m w a y s m m ~ t t
under
the chairmanship of
Str Fredenck Edndge, recommended the Council
to
lease the working to the
British
Electric Traction
Company for a period, with the option of taking over
the working at intervals, the first being at the ex
piration of five years. n
nder
this agreement-which
is somewhat similar
to the
one adopted for electric
lighting some years ago- the Corporation provides
the
capital
and
supervises
the
work of laying
the
line, which will
be
ope
rated by the le
ssees, who pay
the interest and
sinking
fund
charges,
and
purchase
the
necessary
current
from
the
Corporation.
The
generating
plant
for
traction
is located
in
an
extension of the electric lighting
station
of the
Corporation, n Factory-lane, Croydon, and consists
of two 600 horse-power Belliss-British Thomson
Houston
traction sets, and one 1200 horse-power
Bellies-Electric Construction Company set.
The
engines are triple-expansion, working at 180 lb.
steam
pressure; the steam consumption of the
smaller sets, with
steam
at 50 deg. Fahr., super
heat, being 21 lb.
per
kilowatt at full load,
and
that of
the
larger sets 20 - lb.
The
original
station at
Factory-lane, Croydon,
contained
three
Belliss-British Thomson-Houston
sets
of 120 kilowatts each, alternating
current
.
I t
has been
subsequently enlarged by
the
addition,
at
various intervals, of two
sets
of 250 kilowatts
each, and two sets of 500 kilowatts, all alternating
current,
and similar to the three first sets of 120
kilowatts each. These seven sets are now
runnin
g
for lighting purposes. Two
steam
mains
are
pr
o
vided-one in the engine-room and one in the
boiler-house, and
any
one of the engines can work
independently of the others,
running
on the con
denser or to atmosphere, as may
be
chosen.
When the plant was first
started,
the necessary
steam
was supplied
by three
Davey-Paxma.n econo
mical boilers, of 6000 lb. evaporation each;
and
as
the station
was increased t
here
were added two
similar boilers of equal capacity;
one
Babcock and
Wilcox boiler of 9000 lb. evaporation,
then three
Babcock and Wilcox boilers of equal capacity to the
first one. Two
Danks
economical boilers of 9000 lb.
evaporation are now being
put
down.
The complete plant will therefore contain ten
sets of engines and generators (seven alternating
and three direct-current), and eleven steam boilers,
the
total
indicated horse-power being nearly 6000.
Two Green's economisers work in conjunction
with t
he
boilers.
The
boiler-house adjoins the
engine-room ;
the
coal stores
are
independent
entirely of the b
oi
ler-house, but are in direct
communication with
it, the
boilers being sup
pli ed with coal
through
tr ucks which run on
a small line. All t he coal is weighed before
consumption in the boilers, and all the feed
water
is
measured. The boilers are fed by
three
vVeir feed pumps. (For a description of
these, see ENGINEERING, vol. lxxi., page 781.)
One of the feed pumps can be worked at high
pressure and
the
two others at low pressure, or all
t
he three
as high-pressure pumps.
They
are con
nect
ed to the two steam mains ; the air pump dis
charges
in an
overhead
tank,
from which
the
water
flows
through
a
Kennedy
water
me t
er
into
t
he
suction,
or
the feed pumps can
be
supplied direct
from
the
overhead
tank
or from t he circulation
water
of
the
suction
1 n ~ i n
which supplies
the
sur
face conde
nsers
. feed
pipes
are duplicate,
one being
connected
direct
with the
boiler,
and
the other with the Green's economisers.
The four Babcock and Wilcox boilers work at a
pressure of 180 lb. per square inch, wbile the
Davey-Paxtnan boilers work at a 160 lb. pressure,
and t he feed pumps are so designed that t
hey
can
suit ei ther of these pressures, both direct and
thr ough the economisers.
Th
e condensing
plant is
by Messrs. W. H. Allen,
So
n, and
Co.,
Limit
ed, of Bedford,
and
consists of
three
sets of Edwards three-throw air pumps, two
centrifugal pumps,
and
four surface condensers.
One
centr
ifugal
and
two air pumps are el
ectr
ically
driven from
the traction
bus-bars,
and
one
air
pump and
one centrifugal
pump
are
steam
driven.
Th
e engine-room is provided with two overhead
travellers,
one of 9 tons, and one of 25 tons, for
erection and repairs. I t c o n t ~ i n s also a t ~ t tank
for testing
the
steam consumptwn at any bme.
The tramwa
y
and
lig
htin
g switchboard is placed
on
a raised platform in the engine-room, and.con
tains four generator panels arranged for e1ther
traction
or
lighting, two
Board
of
Trad
e panels,
four feeder panels,
and
two booster panels, all
(S EPT. 20, 1901.
•
fitted with the necessary
equipment
and meters,
namely : Weston ammeters and voltmeters, British
Thomson.Houston wattmeters, cut-outs and light·
ning arresters, and
Elliot
recording ammeters
and
voltmeters. Ample space is provided in
the
rear
of
the
switchboard, givi
ng
access
to
all the
various connections.
A special power-board is connected to the gene
rator
bus-bars. Two negative boosters of 18
and
25 kilowatts capacity respectively deal each with
two
return
feeders .
Ther
e
are
four feeders from
the
ge
nerating
station, a
return
feeder being laid
in
every case side by
side
with
the
positive feeder.
By
this
means
the
maximum drop
in the
rails will
be
under
three volts, and it is hoped
that
there
will be no trouble whatever through electrolysis.
This is im portant, as a large
number
of lead-sheathed
lighting cables are laid parallel with the route.
The generating
station
is directly connected by
private wires to all
the
substations as well as
to the
switch pillars. Pi lot wires are run
to the
various
districts in the town,
and
all arc lamps, both with
rectified
and
with alternating currents, are switched
off
a
nd
on from the generating station by the
selector system.
The
station is completed by a maintenance
and
repair shop, driven electrically.
Owing
to the
la0k of water at Croydon,
three
Barnard's cooling towers and ponds have been
put
down ; also two Carrod's patent water-softeners.
Every
de
ta
il has been designed with a view to
secure the maximum economy in working, con.
s i s t ~ n t
with
the
highest possible efficiency, and
the
plant
throughout
is
arranged in a most &ystematio
manner. I t reflects great credit on
the
Borough of
Croydon electrical engineer.
ENGINEERING VALUATIONS.
(Oontinutd fror page 178.)
STEAM ENGINES, BoiLERs,
AND
F
URNACEs
.
TBE principles which rule the depreciation and
valuation of other fixed plant and machinery also
lar
gely govern steam engines, boilers, and furnaces.
Errors affecting boilers and furnaces are easily
detected. Their comparatively rapid
rate
of decay
in many insbances, the
prominent
result of any
failure,
and the
necessity thus forced
on
the owners
for speedy renovation, compe
ls
them, willingly or
unwillin gly, to recognise
the
deterioration which has
taken
place.
Inde
ed,
it
may
be
assumed as a general
rule that where
the
waste
s
rapid,
and
renewals
necessary
at
freque
nt
intervals,
no great
mistake
can
be
made
in the amount
a
ll
owed for deprecia
tion, unless it be the result of crass ignorance, or
intentional endeavour to mislead.
But
the
mi
stake
frequently does occur (most probably through ignor·
ance of the conditions of the trade), when the
n1achinery, plant, eng ines, and boilers are grouped
together in one sum of capital expenditure,
and
an
annual percentage, fixed by the auditors or accoun
tants, written off a decreasing balance. If
the rate
assumed is sufficient to cover the wear
and tear
of
boilers, it will undoub
te
dly be more
than
sufficient
for lathes
and
planing machines
;
if
it
is founded
on
the
wear of
the
general machinery, which is
probably
the
basis
the
ordinary accountant would
adopt,
it will be quite inadequate for quickly-wearing
boilers. This is sufficient reason for subdividing
the capital assets in to groups ; it may even be
deemed reason enough for calculating the waste of
each machine se
parately
and under
due considera
tion of the factors which from time
to
time affect
its
wear and tear.
Mr. Ewing Matheson, in
hi
s valuable treatise
on
"Depreciation
of F actories," gives
an
example
which we
venture
to transcribe, as
it
will
se
rve
to
illustrate very clearly the differences
in
the two
methods: I f
a well-made
non
-condensing sta
tionary engine with Lancas
hire
boiler
co
st , includ
ing foundations, 500l.,
it
would
be pruden
t
to
write
off
per cent
.
the
first year,
and per
cent.
annually from
the
diminis
hing
value, t.his
being
sufficient if the minor repairs and renewals, such as
new brasses and fire-bars, be paid for out of revenue.
At the end of ten years the book-value will stand
at 229l.
If,
then, the cylinder be rebored, possibly
a new piston
sup
plied,
and
the boiler renewed by
t he insertion of a new furnace, at a total cost of
SOl.,
this sum
might
be added
to the
capital value,
the depreciat ion rate of
7
per cent. continuing for
a further five years
until
the value is reduced to
209l. A new boiler would probably then
be
re·
quired, costing 200l.,
and
the
rate
of
7 per
cent.
go on
the
renovated value of 409l. I t will
be
•
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SEPT.
20,
I
901.
J
obse
rv
ed t
ha
t
Mr.
Matheson makes no deduction
fo
scrap
v a l u ~ and for u r p o ~ e s of comparison we
will al
so
av01d
such
dedact10ns. A.ssum
ing
th e
first
b o
il
er
to
cost
the same amount as
t he second
one, the engine wo
uld be valued at
300l. with a
probable li f
e of thirty y
ears,
giv
in
g a de
p;e
c
iati
on
of 10l.
p e ~
an
num
; and the b o
iler
at
200l.,
with
a
probable
hfe of fifteen
ye
ars , g
ivin
g a
depreciation
of 1
3l
.
6s
.
8d
. per
annu
m. * Th e
seve
ral r
esul t
s
may be seen
in the following
Tabl
e :
Pe riod
la
Use.
P uroh \'le
• •
Mr. Ma t
heeor.&'
s Oalcula t ions
E o ~ l n e and Boiler.
Value, l ees
depr
eciati
on
at 7 per cent .
pe
r annum.
£,
500
•
E NG I N E E R I N
G.
engin
es li ke locom ot ives
which
h
ave many
of the
ir
parts replac
ed,
and
cons
id
er
ab
le
permane
nt
r
epa ir
s
done to them, befo
re
th ey
are
finally worn out . It
may
be assum
ed, as
a gen
era
l principle, that if the
annual writing-off should n ot
be
gr
eate
r in the
earli
er than
in the
l
at e
r
years, it should certainly
not
be
less to any consider
ab
le extent. The nearer
app
roach which is made
to
an
equa
l
annua
l
amount,
including
the
expe
nditure
on
replacemen
ts
,
the
more
correct will
be the
valuati
on
of
the machinery,
Based on Estimated
Pe
riods of U er.
Engine ex·
peoted to last
30 ye ars.
£
300
Boiler x pec
ted
to last
16 ye ars.
£,
s. d.
0
10 years
• •
Add repairs
229
Deprecia tion, 10
year
s
a t 10l. per annum ..
1
00
Depre ciation , 10 yeara
at l Sl. 6s. e . per ann.
200
133
0
6
8
80
--
66
13 4
20
0
0
15 ye ars
209
200
Add permanent re
p1ir
s 61
2
60
66
1ll5
1
95
Add
pe
rmanent r
epa
irs
idd new boiler ..
86
13 4
•
Dep reciation ,
6
yeara at
De
pre ciat
ion, 6 yea rs
at
17l. 6s. 8d. pe r ann
.. 86
13 4
409
H6
1
3l
.
pe
r annum
..
Add new boiler, t>X ·
pec
te
d
to cost
, as be·
80 years
•
•
Depreciat ion, 15 yea rs
at
13l.
per annum . .
. fore . . . . . .
2
00
0 0
200 0 0
200 0 0
Now on
e
or two
points
are
de
serving
of
att
ent ion
in connection
with
this
Table.
Th e red
uced
va
lu
es
of
the engine
and boiler
at t he
end of ten
ye
a
rs
will
be
: By t he fi
rst,
or
percentage
method, 229l. ;
by
t
he second,
266l. 1 3s.
4d.
At t he
end
of fifteen
year
s,
209L.
by th
e first, a
nd
195l.
by
t he
second
.
And
at
th e end of thirty y
ea
rs,
12
6L by the fir
st
m
et
hod,
whereas by the second
ihe b
ook value has
e
ntirely
disapp
eared
. I t is
evi
dent that the
fi
r
st
form gives a
n1ore
r
ap id
r
ed
uct ion
of value in
t
he
earlier year
s than the second one effects ; but this
advantage disappea
rs
as
t ime
pro
gresses,
and
is
eventually re versed. But is
it r
ea
lly an ad
vantage,
·
or
is it r
eally correct to imag
ine t hat the eng
in
es
and
bo
il
ers or
other
mac
hin
e
ry of
a
factory
d
eter
io
rate in value
durin
g the
first
few y
ea
rs of w
orking
at a
higher
rate than
they
do
in
la ter
years
I t
must be
remembere
d that
here
we are not dealin g
wit h any
question of the pr
ovisi
on
of funds for
repairs or repla
ceme
nts,
a
lthou
gh
such fund
s a
re,
by the
mere pro
cess of wri ti
ng
down prese
nt
values,
p
rovide
d
for replacement
of
machines worn out;
ye
t our
immedi
ate
object
is to as
certain
the selling
valtte
of
a machine as part of
a
going
c
oncern
, a
nd
fixed
in
pos
it i
on
ready for workin
g,
at any
g
iven
d
ate.
The probabilities are rather
in
fav o
ur
of
increase
of
deprec
ia
t
ion
wi
th
la pse of
time, because, in
addi
tion
to the
ordinary
wear and
tear,
there is the
nearer
approach
of
an
improvement bein
g
thrown
on the market
through
the consummation of the
resear
c
hes
of
engineers in various factories all
over
the world.
From this
p
oint
of view
it
would
seem
that
equal annual instalments
wri
tt e
n
off will
yield the nearest
approach
to an equitable
valuation.
The additions
for
repair
s also
require
a
little
more consideration. Were t he
engine
and boiler
at the
end
of the first
ten years of
th e
value
of
266l. 13s.
4d. in
a
going
co
nc
e
rn, as shown by the
sec
on
d m
ethod
If n ot, then too long a
life
must
ha
ve been acco
rded
them,
and
the annual writing
off
has therefore
not
been
sufficient in
am
ount.
We have estimated
the
boiler to last for
fifteen
years wit hout replacement ; but at the end of
years it
required
r
ep airs
in the
nature
of parti
al
repl
ac
em
e
nt to t h ~ extent of
20l .
Th i
s we
a d ~ e d
to
its va
lue,
bu t d1d
not
find any
mcrease
of
life
;
the
e
xpenditure me r
e
ly enabled
th e bo
il
er
to
be
used for the term originally anticipated, na mely,
fi
fteen
ye
a
rs. In order
t
heref
o
re to
avo
id an
y
balance
existing
at the
expiration
of that period it
was necess
ar
y to
increase
the
annual
decreme
n t
by 4l. Exactly the
same
co
nditi
on
arose in the
case of t he eng
in
e, where
the
a
dditiona
l de
crem
en t
at
the end
of
ten
y
ears
was
3l. pe
r a
nnum.
I t
will
readily be
see
n that
an
ir regularity
lik
e
this
II ay
assume se
ri
ous
proporti
o
ns when
i t
extends over
a
lar
ge
number of
machin
es, or
when
i t includes
We
are here taking Mr. Matheson's estimate of
fifteen years as the assumed life of the Lancashire bo iler,
but
we need scarcely say that many such boilers, origi
n-
ally well made and properly l
oo
ked after, have a far
lo lger life than this .
•
Depreoiation, 15 ye ars
at 13l. 6s. 8d. per ann .
tak
en
as part of
a going conce
rn, at
an
y given
pe
riod.
The
es timat ion of
the pr
o
per
a
ll
owance for the
depreciat ion of steam
boiler
s is a
matter
which
really
r
equ
ires care
ful
consideration
in
each indi
vid ual cas e,
as
it depends so
l
arge
ly
on
special
conditions su
ch as
wh
et
her t
he
boil
ers are
worked
easily or to the
ir
full capacity, the ch
aracter
of the
water used, th e
nature
of the
sup er vi
sion exercised ,
a
nd so on
.
We
h
av
e
known
we
ll-d
esi
gne
d
an
d
well-made boilers
ruined in
three or four
year
s by
improper
use, while in other cases we k now of
boilers which h
ave
been
in
use
for twe
n
ty
ye
a
rs with
compa
ra
t ively few
rep
airs, and which are
st
ill in
exce
ll
en t
cond
it io
n. In
th e case of moderate-sized
or
small
bo
ilers f
ormin
g par t of
the
pla n t of wor
ks
not employing
sk
illed s
upervi
sion, it
is probable
th a
t we over·
es t
imat
ed
the
life of
the boiler in the
calculationswe
have
madelin
the
above
Table
; it m
ost
probably
wo
uld not
la
st
fifteen
years
without
some
more
exte
nsive r
epair
s than those usually
charged
to trade
account
under th a
t
head
.
f it be
ass
umed
that it could last fourteen years without
undert
ak
ing
th ese r
ep
la
cement
r
epairs,
though nece
ssarily
at
considera
bl
e
ri
s
k, then the
a
nn ual deduc
t io
ns
will be much n
ea
rer
eq
ualised ; th us ;
O r i ~ i n a l cost .. . . . . . . .
10 years' depreciation
at
14t. 5s. 9d.
per annum... ... .
..
...
Value
at
end of ten years ..
Add repaira ... .. . .. .
...
• • •
Dapreciation, 5 years at 15t.
83.
6d.
per annum ... ... .. . . .
£
s.
d.
200 0 0
142 17 6
57 2 6
20 0 0
77 2 6
77
2 6
The initial difficulty consists in fixing the period
for which the engine
or machine
will last wit
hou
t
extensive or repla
ce
me n
t re
pairs being
effected.
Such
period must be
equal
to
the t
im
e it would la
st
if
run to
actua
l
destruct
ion
under suc
h conditions,
and it
must be
re-est
im
ated, on the
san
1e basis,
eR.ch
time such
r
ep a
irs
are
d
one to it.
A locomotive
affords o
ne of the
most
striking exposit ions of th is
di
ffic ulty .
During
its worki
ng
life t he wheel ty res
ma
y be renewed
thre
e or
four
tin1es, i
ts
bo
iler
she
ll
twice,
and
i ts
tubes and
firebox
three tim
es or m
ore
,
whilst
t
he repain
t
ing
a
nd minor
re
pair
s, cons
id
era
ble
i tems on such a motor, may
be
done even more fre
quently. Again,
where such engines
are
recklessly
or
careless
ly
worked, attended
by
ineffici
ent dr i
vers
an
d firemen, and
imperf
ectly clean
ed
out at nigh
t,
and at
t
he
week
end
s ;
wh
ere
s
light
r e
pairs
a
re
scamped,
or ne
glected
until some
br
ea
kdown
compels
atten
t io
n, an
d l
arger
r epa
ir
s
ar
e
ei t
h
er
deferred until too late for much
prac t
ical good, or
l
eft altogether un d
on e ;
th
e
workin
g
li f
e
mu
st
of necessity
be much shorter th
an
on
a
car
e
fully
managed
and fully eq uip ped English
rail
way
.
Th
e
former
conditions are
th ose which,
un
for t
unat e
ly,
ru l
e in
many constructive contracts,
on
co
lliery
and
iron work
s
lin
es,
and in other li k
e
und
erbakings; and the engin
ee
r in charge of t hem
must
there
fore
be
prepared for wide
ly
different
calculat ions,
and
make
vastly
different allowances,
to
those
which wou
ld guid
e him on a well-conducted
public
lin e.
On
t he oth
er hand, so
me
public bod
ies,
such
as
the officials of th e R oyal Doc
kyards and
Arse
nal s,
or
municipal corporations, having
no
pr
ofit
or
loss
account to pr
ese
nt,
will
fr
om t ime
te
t
im
e effect s
uch
extensive repai
rs and
renewals to
the
ir machinery as to
p ractically ma
in tai
n it at, or
n
ear to,
i
ts
full
purch
ase value.
Th
e diverse
pr
o
blems
t
hu
s
presente
d to the eng
ineer are
ex
t remely
perp
l
ex
ing,
and
make it
im
possible to fix
any
a
rbi
t r
ary ra t
e applica
ble to all
cases,
or eve
n
to
all po
r tions of
the
pl
ant
belonging
to the
one
firm
or
corporat
ion. Th e record of
the
whole of t
he
plant in
a sch
edu
le, each i
te
m of
whi
ch
is
co
n
sidered separa
te
ly,
and
wi th du e
regard
to its o wn
par
tic ul
ar
circumstances, will, howeve
r,
r educe
these difficulties to a minimum.
In certain
t rades, wh
ere
legi
slat
ive en
ac tment,
or t
he
uth
or
i
ty
of
trade
unions,
limit
the hou
rs
of labour, there
is
a tendency t,o employ
double
shif
ts
,
so
t
ha
t so
me
part of
the machinery
may
be
kept at work during the night as well as by day.
Su
ch
extra
user
must be
allowed for
in estimating
the life of the machinery, and the wa
ste
of that life
which
ha
s
be
en accomplishe
d
but
in the
case of
stati
ona
ry
engines a
nd
boile
rs
wo
rk
ed
unde
r
suc
h
co
ndi
t i
ons
, even more mu
st
be allowed
for
than t
he
additional
ti me en1ployed.
Where two drivers
a
re
engaged, even
und
er the most favourable circu m
st a
nces,
there
will always
be
suffi
cient
fr i
ction
and
jealousy
to
causa some
ne
gl
ect
of the en gines,
w
hi lst the
boile
r, un
less su
pervised by
some control
li
ng
a
uth
o
ri ty,
will
un doubtedl
y suffer
more
or less
t
hr
ough
want
of
prop
er cl
eaning and
e
xamination.
Th
e
insp
ection
by insurance
co
mp
ani
es
, n ow
so
gen
era
lly
ad
opted, will
not
prevent an
undu
e
amount
of decay ; it will only
preve
nt t he bo
iler
be
ing
wo
rked when
it
ha
s pr
emat
ur
ely a
rr i
ved
at
a
d
ange
rous condition.
To e cont
u
ed.)
•
NOTES.
TH
wASTE
OF SHIPPING .
A
RE TURN of ves
se
ls of a
ll
co
un tries
lost
or brok
en
up during t he
first
half of the
present
year has now
been
issued by
Lloyd's
R egist ry.
As
usual, t he
Bri
tish
Empire
shows the largest loss of s
team
to
nn
age , viz , 42,295
gr
oss to
ns
; but
as
t
he
total
stea
m
tonnage
owned
in the
empire
is
12
,149,090
tons
gross , t he percen
tag
e is only 0.35; whilst out
of
8, 192,938 gro
sR steam tonnage
owned
by
the
remaini
ng
civilised countries of t
he
world, 46,321
gross tons, or 0.55
pe
r cent., were lost.
In
taking
th e U
nited
Kingd
om alo
ne
a
still better
showing
is
made, since, out of a
total
of 11,513,759 tons , but
29,448
to
ns, or 0.26
per
cent.,
had
to
be removed
from the registe
r. Out
of 70 steamshi
ps
o ~ t in t he
'half-year, co llisi
ons
we
re resp
onsible fo r 10, whilst
ano ther 10 have
been
repo rted as missing, and 35
as
wrecked.
Apparen
tly, the lo
ss is
g1eatest
amon
gst
t he
smaller
st
ea
mers, since,
whilst
t he
average size of
stea
mers of
the
world, taken as a
whole, is
ab
out
14
50 tons,
the
avera
ge
of
those
rem
oved
fr
om the Regi
ste
r is 1260.
This
is, of
course ,
to be
expected,
as for
several reasons
new
s
hip
s
average
a gr
eater
displacement than
their
predecesso
rs
;
an
d ,
in
facing t he
peri l
s of the seas,
have
the
advantage
of
youth
combined
"with
a
ll
the la
test impr
ove
men
ts " in mat erials and ma
chin
e
ry. The
loss of sailing s
hip
s was
much greate
r
during the half-year than that of steamers, amoun t
in
g
to
136 vesse
ls
out of a to
tal
of 10,815 ;
bu
t t he
gross
tonn
age was less, b
eing but
77
,7
76
tons
gross.
Speaking ro
ughly, t
he
percenta
ge
of loss in sailing
s
hip
s
is
some
2
t imes what
it
is
in
t
he
ca
se
of
steamers.
EL
ECTRI C T RilfWAY S AT
CoPEN
HAGEN.
Few European
cities
have
a more p
erfect
sy
stem
o
tram
ways t
han
Cope
nh agen,
wher
e elec t ric w
ork
ing
is
now
ab
out to
be
universally adopted .
One
of the
companies intro
duc
ed
over
head elect ric working a
year
or two ago,
and
the
syst
em works
admirably;
the other and much la rge
r
company depended
u
po
n
horse tr
ac t
ion,
with
the exception of
one
line,
where
elec t
ric accumulator car
s
are
in
use
;
but
t
he
la
tt
er h
ave caused mu
ch
di
ssatisfaction on acco
unt
of
the
unp l
easant
sm
ell
in the
car
s.
The company
h
as been
de
sirou
s of
introducin
g
over
h
ea
d wires
on
all
their
li n
es, but
the authorities
h
ave
placed
various obstacles in their
way.
They want
an
und
e
rground
syste m in the
inn
er town, on the one
7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 72 1901-09-20
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/engineering-vol-72-1901-09-20 31/47
accumulator
cars
are
in use ;
but
in
outer town overhead
wir
es
may be
used.
Th
e
naturally, wanted to
have
the
ove
rhead
·
on
all the
lines;
and
the
corporation
has
abated its
demand, inasmuch as
the companyhas
allowed to substitute
overhead
wires
for
the
accumulator system,
with
the
limitation
that this
line,
in the inner town, had a closed
overhead
sys
t em, which,
of
co
urse, necessitates double
the
number of wires. With
regard
to the
underground
system in the other parts
of
the inner town,
no
altered decision
has
as
yet
been arrived at. The
company
fi
g
hts for the overhead system, which
is
cheaper
both
to build
and to
work
; but the
cor
poration has
been
afraid of
the
deteriorating
effect
upon
the
corporation's numerous underground iron
pipes by
the return
or
va
gabond currents.
Recent
experiences
from some 90
German towns tend,
however
,
to
show
that
the
earlier
and s
omewhat
alarming reports from American towns have been
exaggerated.
THE BoARD
OF
TRADE AND MUNICIP ALisM.
The Board of Trade has been very tender
towards
the feelings of
municipal
corporations. t gives
them
the
first offer in
th
e
matter
of electric
lighting
and
tramways,
and it
al lo
ws them
years
in which
to make up their
minds.
f they
announce
their
intention
of
taking action,
it
accepts
the
resolution
for
the
deed,
and sit-s quietly during
long periods
of procrastination.
But there is a limit
to
its com
plaisance,
as the City
Council of Newca
stle has
lately discovered, for
it
has
overruled
their objec
tion
to
allow the
Newcastle-upon-Tyne Electric
Supply Company,
Limited, to
extend their
three
phase power system,
which
has
~ t s
head-quarters
at
Neptune Bank,*
into
the area which
it
lights. The
basis of the
objection
is
to be
found in a report of
Mr.
W.
M. Mordey,
who
advised
the
corporation
that
the
introduction of
another
system into
their area,
which
had
already two
systems, would so compli
cate
the
situation
that it would
be extremely
diffi
cult
for
the
corporation
to effect a
purchase o(
the
supply a
rrangements when
the
remaining twen
t y
years,
under the provisional
order,
expired.
The
council
therefore determined
that, as
far as
they
co
uld
influence the
matter,
the citizens
~ h o u l d be
debarred from
the
advantages
of electric
power
supply
for the next twenty years, in
order
that
they
might make
a
cheaper bargain at
t.he
end
of the
period
.
This
is municipalisation
with
a vengeance,
for
it
must be remembered th
a
t,
according
to the
Act,
the
corporation
will
only have to buy the
plant
at its
actual
value,
without any regard to its earning
capa
city, and will
probably make
a
very
good purchase.
They
will succeed
to
a
large
business,
created at
great cost,
absolutely
f ~ r
n o t ~ n g a ~ d . Y e ~
b ~ c ~ u s e
the
new
supply station IS
outside.
therr J U r i ~ d t c t w n
they prefer
to deprive
the
city
of
the
advantages
of
cheap
power
for years
. We are glad that the ~ o a r . d
of
Trade has
interfered,
and we
hope
their actiOn IS
an augury that in
the
future they will ~ _ ? r e
often
discriminate between
the
needs of
the
Citizens
and
the
ambitions of
the councillors.
THE STRENGTH OF
MASONRY.
A
most elaborate series
of
experim
ents
on
masonry arch
es was
carried ? u ~
some few . years
back
by .the
Austrian
Asso?Iatwn of
Engineers
and
Architects. These
expenments showed pretty
conclusively th at the s
ame
laws of
ela
s
ticity
were
applicable
to
the calcula
tion
of
mas
onry arches
as
to
me t
al ones, and thus
removed
the design
of
such
structures
from
the
region
of
almost pure
empiricism
in
which it
h.ad
been left by p ~ e v i
investigators.
The working stress
es
p e ~ m i S S i b l e
however still remained
an
open
questiOn ;
and
the S o c i ~ t y
accordingly.
have s u p p l ~ m e n t e d their
previous work
by a
series
of
experiments on the
trength
of different
classes
of masonry.
Blocks
ere prepared
of
stonework
and. concrete, bo
th
ordinary and armoured, and of bnckwork. These
blocks
measured
1
ft.
8 in.
by
1
ft.
8
in. by
ft. 4 in.
high,
and were
h e d
in a
l a ~ g e
ydraulic press,
the
l o ~ d at
wh1eh
the
first sxgn
f failure
appeared
being
noted
as
well as the
ltimate load. A few
experim
ents
wer
e ma
de
wi th
eccentri
c
loading
;
but
i t
w
as
fo
und th a
t
th
e
re
sistance
·
wa
s
practically as
g r e ~ t
as
the load was
carefully
centred. Tl;ts, of
has long
been known
t_o be
tr ue
In t ~ e
of
plastic
metals,
like mild st
eel ; but It
not
thought that
masonry
had any
such
* See TBACTION AND TBAl\ S llSS
ION,
August, page 201.
E N G I N E E R I N G
similar
power
of accommodating
itself
to cir
cumstances
; though
it
is true that
the
stability
of
the
famous Bear Valley Dam in California
has
been attributed to an
action of
this
char
acter.
Portland cen1ent morbar was
used throughout,
better
results being obtained with
a mixture of 1 part
cement to
2
sand,
than
wi
t h
one
of 1 part
cement
to
3i sand
. The
armoured concrete
was reinforced
with
in.
steel
rods, parallel to the
height
of the
block,
arranged
along each face
at interval
s of
2-
in. to
3
in. These
were
bound together with
a horizontal lacing
of
-in. wire. t was noted
that
in
all cases
the lines of
cleavage
at
failure
did
not
follow the jo
ints
of the masonry, but passed
across them
as if
the
structure
was homogeneous.
The committee
conducting the
tests
conclude
that,
with really
firs t-class
workman
s
hip
a
nd
careful
in
spection, masonry
may
be safely loaded
far in
excess
of what
is
now
usual. We give below averages of
some
of
the
re
s
ults obtained
:
Tons per
8quare Foot.
Granite ashlar in mortar,
1
pa.rt cement,
2
sand . . . ... . 520
Concrete,
1
part cement, 5 broken
st
one
114
" 1 " 8 " " .. . 59
" 1 "
10
" , .
46
Armoured r e t e
1 part
cemen
• 3.5
broken stone
..
. . . .
250
Clinker brickwork in mortar,
1
part
cement,
2
sand . . . .. .
230
Common building brick in mortar,
1
part
cement,
2
sand . . . . .
105
THE TAYLOR-WHITE PRO CESS OF TREATING
TooL STEEL .
A
recent
issue of the Jo·wrnal of the
r
nklin
I
nstit l ;
te co
ntains
a
paper by Mr.
Charles
Day
de
scribing the Taylor-
White
process 0f
treatin
g tool
steel. Tools
thus treated
will
stand
a yellow heat
without
losing
their temper,
and
it
is possible
with them to take cut
s
at
such a
speed
that
the
chips turn blue.
The
steels used
are of the
self
hardening type,
which have
been
in use for
many
years.
The makers of these
s teels have, how·
ever, always cautioned users
hot to heat the
metal
above a
cherry red
in forging it,
or
the
steel,
they stated,
would
be r u i n ~ d . This
s tate
ment
was
tested
very
thoroughly
by Messrs.
Taylor
and White at the
works of
the Bethlehem
Steel
Company,
and
it
was found
that,
though
founded on
fact,
it
did not
contain
the whole
truth
as to the matter. In short,
it appears
that
certain
of the self-hardening steels,
though
injured if
heated
to
and cooled from a temperature
between
1550 deg. and 1700 deg. Fahr., became highly
efficient if heated
to
a
still higher
point, the maxi
mum
efficiency being
obtained when
the tempera
ture was
such
that
the
metal
would
crumble
if
struck.
The
Taylor-White
process therefore con
sists
in
heating
the
steel to about
2000 deg. Fahr.,
and
subsequently
cooling
it
in a
particular
way
dependent somew
hat
on the class of steel used.
In
general, however, the
steel heated
above
2000 deg. Fahr. is
rapidly
cooled
down
below
1550 deg. in a
lead
·
bath,
and the cooling is then
finished
at
a slow
rate
in a bed of lime. t is then
reheated
to a
temperature
of
between
700 deg.
and 1240 deg. Fahr., and
maintained
at
this
heat
for
about
ten minutes, which
is said to still
furth
er increase
the
efficiency of
the
tool.
When
finally cooled from
this temperature, about
\
n.
of
the surface
should be removed by
grinding,
thou
gh
this
is
no t
. necessary
if
the surface has
been
pro
tected during
the
heat
treatment
by an appro
priate
flux.
The
effects of the
treatment
ex
tend well
back from
the
point
of the tool,
and it can be ground
again
and
a.gain,
until
so
weakened
that
reforging is
needed.
In
ca
rrying
out the
heat treatment,
it is necessary
to
regulate
temperatures
within narrow
limits ;
but if
this
is
done, the
results
obtained
are
remarkably
uniform.
The
steels
most suited to the pr
ocess
contain
1 per
cent. of
chromium and about 4 per cent.
of
tungsten;
though
i f very hard
metal
s
are to
be
cut,
the
chromium
may
be ra is
ed
to 3 per cent., and the
tu ngsten to 6 per cent. or more. In the course of
the expe
riments,
which have resul ted. in this inte
res
ting
process, some 200
tons
of forg
mgs
were
out
up.
Th
e
to
ols
the manner
stated are
not s
uited for taking
fin1shmg cuts; but If
used
f?r
heavy
roughing
cuts,
they
give
remarkable r e ~ u l t s
as cutting
speeds of 60 ft. to 70 ft . per minute
become practicable.
Many
machine tools, however,
are
not
geared
up
sufficiently
to
permit
of
thiB,
as
the
bel
t slips, and
in other
c
ases
an engine power
which has
been quite adequate to
the operation qf
[SEP
T. 20, I
90 t.
a number of
lathes at the
o
ld
rates of
output, has
had
to be increas
ed to
cope with the much
greater
production
rendered
possible by the Taylor-White
tools.
STEEL-MAKING AND NA vAL Co
NS
TRUCTION IN
JAPAN
From
the
newspapers received from Japan
we
learn
that
Mr. Wada,
the
director
of the
Imperial Ste
el Works,
at
Wakamatsu, recently
e n t e ~ a i n e d
to
dinner,
in t
he
Im pe
rial
H otel,
Tokyo,
the
members
of
th e Japane
se
Gov
ernment
and the represent
atives of
the
foreign
Power
s
in
Japan, and other
s who had assisted,
either
directly
or
ndirec.tly,
in
founding .the wo
rks,
for
the
purpose
of mformmg them re
ga
rdmg the pro
gress which
had
been IQade,
and the
immediate prospects of
the
undertaking.
The
works were commenced
in
April,
1896,
and
in
February
of
this year
they
made a
partial
s
tart with the
manufacture of pig
iron,
while
in May
they
made a beginnin g with
the
manufacture
of Siemens'
steel to
the amount
of
about
40
tons
per day. At
the
end of June, two of
the
five rolling
mill plants having
been
completed, a beginning was
made in the production of medium and small rails
and plates. The rest of the plant is expected
to
be
completed by the end
of this month,
and the manu
factur
e of large rails and other heavy materials will
be started at once. .At first some accid ents oc
curred
in the working, arising from the want
of
experience
of
those in charge, but now
everything
is go
ing
on
smoothly,
and
pig
iron
was being
turned out to
the extent
of
100 tons per day, the
ore
used being
tJ:1at
obtained
at
Kamaishi, Mimasaku and
Taya
(China.). In fact, the works have
been
so placed that
the mineral res0urces of China
are as
availa
ble as
those of Japan, a.nd already the
Japanese
obtain
considerable supplies of
iron ore
from China.
Their
an1bition evidently is
to supply not
only their
own
want
s,
but
also
tho
se of the Chinese. So far,
the
experiments
at
Wakamatsu
have proved
the
efficiency of the
works;
and
the director
is confident
that
90,000
or 100
, 000
tons
of steel can be produ.ced
in
a
year when
all the
arrangements have been
completed
and
operations
are
carried out to the
full
extent.
Moreover,
he
believed that
in
a com
paratively
short time
a good prof it would be realised
which would give an
ample
return on the capital
invested.
The
failure
of
contractors to finish
their
work
within
the
stipulated
time
had
cons
tituted
a serious drawback
in
making
the preliminary
arrangements of
the works, but
with
patience
most
of
the
difficulties
had been
overcome.
In
connection
with steel
making in
Japan
it is in
teresting to note that it
is
stated, on what
seems
to
be good
auth
o
rity,
that
the
Ja panese
Government
is
about to launch
a scheme
of
naval developme
nt
which will exceed
that
of 1896, which
brought
a
considerable
number
of orders for warships
to this
country. t is understood, however, that it is
the
ambition
of
the
Gove
rnment that
a
ll the
~ : h i p s
embraced
in the
new
scheme shall be
built
in the
Government
or
private yards
in Japan, and
some
of
the works
are
being extended in view
of
the
orders which
are
expected. The steel works also
are
to
be developed so that they may undertake
the
production of armour-plates, but
it
must take a
considerable
time
before they can
hope
to succeed
with the heaviest class of
armour-plates
. The
reason
for the new
naval programme is
not only
the wish to encourage the ma
nufacture
of s
teel
in
Japan, but also to show
Russia
that Japan is
determined to keep
herself in a position to hold her
own
should
a crisis take place in affairs
in
the
Far
East.
\
.
CniLIAN RAILWA
Ys.-The Chilian
Gov
ernme
nt
has en
tered into a contract with Mr.
J.
Harding for surveys
and plans for a line to the north of Chili. The proposed
line, if carried out, will be about
650
miles in length.
RHODE
S
IAN RAILWAYS.-Proj
ec ted extensions towards
the Zambesi, Gwelo, Salisbury, and the Gwanda goldfields
have been impeded by the war, and the consequent inter
ruption of communications; large quantities of material
have been detained in Cape Colony.
In
spite of all
diffi
culties, however, the work has never stood still. The
widening
of
the line between Rhodesia and Beira had
only commenced
ab
the outbreak
of ho
stilities. The
con
version
w a ~
accomplished during the war under circum
stances of exceptiOnal difficulty and pressure, the line
being at that time the sole channel of supply for the civil
population of Rhodesia; while the Rhodesian Field Force,
under Sir Frederiok Carrington, was entirely
upon
ib
for the conveyance
of
men, hor
Ee
s,
eq_Uipment,
and stores. The earthworks for a line between Salisbury
and Buluwayo have been steadily pushed forward
from
both points.
•
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•
•
E N G I N E E R I N G.
of
four in
paralle
l. The co
ilin
g is
arranged
in two
layers
overcome tlie objectionable 'condensa
tion
'
whi
ch occurs
ormed by two superposed
Wi
ndings with a phase i f f e r · when
cmlil
gas is used, even at -low
pr
essures, the Pintseh
ence of
one-fourth
period
each
containing
all the s
pirals
gas, which is already
in
use for lighting buoys, has
be
en
in
series. The two circuits thus closed, terminate in three adopted. This ·gas can bear a
pr
essure of 10 or 12 kilo
in
s
ul
a
ted bronze
rings, against which three brus
hes
· rub,
r a m m
(140 lb.
to
16
8lb.)
without condensation, so that
capable of receiving a current of 75 amperes without 1t can be stor ed in small portable reserv0
ir
s.
h ~ a t i n g or e m i t ~
s
park
s. The
i n t e r m e d i t ~ t e
ring con- .The burner
(F
ig. 2) employed consists
of
a vertical tube,
st1tutes a pole 1n common. An electromotive force of w1th a Bunsen burner and Alier
ma
nt le at the t op;
an
at least 85 volts is
obtained
on the
se
circuits
when
normally
ejector
f
or
the compressed gas is placed at the
bottom
of
excited in open circuit, the vol
tage
being automatically the tube. For proper comoustion the volume of a
ir
sup
reduced
to
about 45 volts
when
there is a 50-amJ?ere cur-
pliea to
the mantle
mu
st be eight tim es
that
of
the g a s ~
rent at the regulators.
Th
e heating, when working with The pressure of the gas is 0.16 kilogramme per square
a normal l
oa
d, does n
ot
exceed 40 d
eg
.
Cent. (J.04
deg. ce
ntimet
re (2.24 lb. per s
quare inch);
the rate of consump
Fahr.) above the temperature of the surrounding air . ·
f
tion of gas is
1GO
litres (5.65 cubic feet) per hour, anti 4.5
one
of
the
la
mp
s is put out
of
use,
mutu
al r eaction
litr
es
(2
74.6cubic inches)
per hour per
carcel. A reg
ulato
r
' :>etween
the
two circuits
does n
ot
cause
the
c
ur rent
s
uppli
es
the
gas
at
consta
nt
_ P r e
so
that
a
l u m ~
m
the
other l
amp to vary more than
10 {>er cent. The so
ur
ce of a
lmost
con
st ant
m
te
ns1ty
can be
obtamed,
efficiency when working
with
a full load lS not less than with occasional instead of constant supervision. Thi s
80 p
er
cent. Th e exciter
is
a s
mall Gramme
m
achin
e
syste
m has been
adopted
for several first-o
rd
er lig
hth
ouses
with
a toothed
armature
, fixed
to
the same shaft,· a
nd
(Chassiron, I le de Sein, Ile de Groix), for the Ar-men
self-exc
iting when
s
hunt
wound. I t is easily se
lf
-
lighthou
se out
at
sea, and for
the Ailly ligh t
house.
excited ; and by
mean
s of a rh eostat
the
electromotive The e c e . . . ~ i t y o£ building work s for s
upplying
the oil g-as
force of
the
a.lte
rn
a
tor
can be eas
il
y co
nt r
o
ll
ed. · · h
as limit
ed
the app
lication of ·
mca
ndescent gas l
ightmg
The old
pattern
of electric arc regulator, wh
ich
had
to
a few important lights.
The Ligh
thouse D epartment
o
nl
y one rod
for
co
nveying the curren
t , caused t he carbons therefore
ha
s e
nd
eavoured,
with
success.
to
obta.
in the
to
burn unsymmetric..tlly and to produce
uneven
shadows. same advantages, for a slight ou tlay,
by
substituting
To
remedy
this, a
much lighter and mor
e
e ~ a c
regula
tor petroleum vapour
for
in
candesce
nt li
ghting. The
burners
with
· two
sym
metrical rods h
as been
·designed. By em- employed
are
all
made
on the
sa
me
princip
l
e, but
their
ploying aluminium, ·the weight, which e x c e e d e d arrangements differ slightly according to the type of
40
kil
ogramm
es (88 lb.), · has
been
reduced
by
more t han li
ghting apparat
us f
or
which they are
in
tended. Thi s
50 pe r ·ce
nt.
• . · princip le cGmsists in injecting the liquid petroleum in to a
Tb
'e new r
eg
ul
ato
r · (Fig. 1) c0nsists.of a
box with two vaponse
r, he
ate
d by
the mant
le ;
th
e vapour
th
en pnsses
gla..zed sides, ·whi-ch contains the mechanism. Three . in to the Bun sen burner of the
mant
le, after mixing with
•
•
Jl0 .8
•
•
SEPT. 20,
1901.
Cape Bear, of the
Mont
St . Clair, and of t he Ile VietgEl,
now in
c6urse·of
construction.
I ncandescent gas lighting, when no special gas wo
rk
s are
raquired, .is not much more expensive than .lighting ,\rith
a th ree-wlCk burner ; and even when spemal works are
necessary it is more economical than a five-wick burner.
'r he a
nnu
al
expenditure
f
or
gas lig
hting
does not exceed
1800 francs (72l.)
with
gas works, or 800 francs (32l.) with
out
work
s ; for
petrol
eum vapo
ur
li
ghting
it amounts
to
650 francs (26l.
).
These figures show at a glance the ad.
vantage
, from an economical point of view, of the system
of incandescent lighting.
P ER l\fANENT L IGHTS.
Th
e Lig
ht h
ouse Depar
tment
h
as
tak en s
tep
s
to prot
ect
navigation
by
illumina
ting the
beacon towers
and
shoals
out
at
sea, where the ere
ct
ion of ordinary
l i ~ h t h o u s e s
is
precluded on accoun t of the expense. Tbis has been
carried .out
by
e a n ~ of small single-wick li
ghts
with ordi
nary mmeral oil, wh1.ch cu.n burn for several months ·with
out hav
ing to be atte
n
ded to
.
Th
e wicks used for
this
pur
pose are s
pe
cially pre
pa r
ed,
the
su
rf
ace of the wick bein·g
evenly coated
with
a thill l
a.ye
r of carbo
ni
sed tar
the
operation being termed
c?
·o11tage or k i n ~ .
Th
e iumi
nous
inten
si
ty
of
th
ese lights, which
is
equ1valent
at the
outset to two carcels, diminishes gradually till, at the
end of two months, it is only equal to one carcel. E xcel
lent
res
ul t
s are
obtain
ed, but, like all
un
a
tt
ended lig
ht
s
they afford less security to mtvigation than the ordinary
ones.
The total
consumption of oil,
in
cluding
th
e waste
from the overflow, is from 35 to 40 grammes (1. 234 oz. to
1.411 oz.) .Per hour.
This
system of
l?e
r
manent light
s was
first applied to a num ber of fixed lights. t wns subse-
•
..
•
. Fig.
2.
Fig .4 .
•
•
I
•I
•
•
I
•
I
.
,.
•
I
FocaL
I
-
•
·r
I
· - -
.
•
f -
•
••
. • F..;...-• •
'
FocaL
- ~
•
.
V
.,
•
•
•
I
•
•
•
•
•
I
•
.
..
•
-
I
.
•
FocaL
-r-·-
·
-- :--------,
Irr.candes c urtJ
Iru:a:ndescenb JU77l.O .
iTr
Petroleiaru Vapour.
FJT
IS 8
•
•
i n o - uprights
are
fixed to the box the cent
ra
l is
a t e ~
and
the two
outer ones
are
co
nn
ected
together
by
a 0 1 · ~ s s i e c e
Th
ese uprights
are
slit vertically,. n:nd
h
ave
brus
hes
which convey
the cur
rent
to the
s
lidm
g
rods.
Th
ese bronze rods s
lid
e up
an
d down these up
rights
;
the two
o1;1ter · rods
are
co
nnecte
d each ex
tremity
by
a cross-piece ;
the upp
er cross-p1ece has a
carbo
n-h
ol
der
whi
ch is d
esigned
so
as
.
to
en
ab
le
the
carbon
to
be fixed in position;
the
central carn.es an
or
dinary
carbon-holder.- Clockwork
mechamsm with
a
regulatmg electromagnet
mo
ves
the
rods
simultan
eously,
and controls the movements of the carbons so that they
are disp
laced
at
the same rate
as
they
are burnt
.
The
light can be shifted up and down; and the lower carbon
can be brought in to
contact
with
the upp
er one at
the
moment of lighting. .
I t
is by
improvements
su
ch as
h
ave
b ~ ~ n desc
nbed
t ~ a t
i t is possible to obtain that grea.ter
pr
e01s10n of
~ h e
o p t 1 0 ~
apparat
us which plays su
ch an
Important part m el
ect
n c
illumination.
•
I NCANDESCENT
LI
GHTING WITH COMPRESSED GA S OR
. P ETROLEUM VAPOUR .
Th
e
light
given by Aiier mantles, heated
by
gas to in
ca
nd
escence, h
as
su
ch
great
intrin
sic. bri
gh t
ness, t
hat
t ~ e
Ligh thouse Department has been md uced
to
t ry th1s
sys
tem
of
i l l u
m 1 n a ~ i o n . .
Incandescence W1th low-pressure gas only giVes a com-
paratively
feeble
intrin
sic
r i g h t n < ; J o ~ p r ~ e d g n . s
must
be
used
in
order
o
obtain
a
gre
at e
r
mtnn
slC
b n ~ h t n e s s t ~ a n
that afforded
by he large
st petrole
um
burn
ers
m u
se
. W1th
compressed gas, the ~ t i t y of p p l i e ~ to tlie m a n ~ l e ,
and the rate
of combust10n,
vary
m pro >ort10n
to the P,l
es
s
ure;
whi
lst
the di
mensions of
the
mcandescent ligJlt
re
main una
ltered.
Th
e
temp
e
rature
of
the
~ a n t l e a
nd
1ts
in trinsic brightness
are
t
her
efore gra
du
ally m creased. · T( )
•
'
•
. _ I
• •
•
t'-
the
air requi red for combustiorr.
In
P
st a
rting, .the
vaporiser is ' h
eate
d
by
a
spirit
flame
to the
required
temperature. . .
f the type of optical a p p ~ a t u s permits,. the
is
made in the
form of
an mv
erted U (F1g.
3),
w1th 1ts
extremities placed as near as possible to the mantle.
When the optical apparatus does not permit of
the
above
arrangem
e
nt
for
the
vaporiser, or where a
fi
xed
burner
is
e
mpl
oyed, the optical
apparat
us being alone movable, .the
tu be con veying the petroleum is placed against. the
vaporiser (lfig.
4).
'l'he two.
tubes th
us
cast
a
~ n g l e
shadow which can be thrown mto the
dark
arc of ,.hgbt
nmg
lights
with
group flashes,
or in to
the la
ndw
ard
in
the case of the old
type
of
appa
ra
tu
s.
Th
e adoptwn .of
l
arge
r
man
tles and of vaporisers
with
fl
attened
tubes, now
on trial,
will
te
nd
in future to limit
th
e use of
burn
ers of
the type
represented on Fi g.
4.
These
' :>m"Der
s re
quire
the d d i _ t i o ~ of a p e t r e ~ m r v o 1 of. a mmunum
ca9acity of 4
litr
es
(244
c
ub1
c mche
s)
, wh10h 1s
co
nne
c.te
d
w1th another reservoir of at le
ast
d9uble the
c a p a c 1 t y ~
fill
ed with air at
a· pressure·.of G kilogrammes (84 lb: J
(Fi g·. 5) . A regulator
maint
ams the pressure of the
at
r
up
on
the
p
et
roleum
to at
l
east
2 kilogrammes (28 lb.j .
The
consumption of petrole
um
is
as
low
as
4 grammes
(0
.1
47 oz.)ler hour
per carcel of
light in the
mant
le. c o n s ~ p t of 5 graii?m.es (0.175 oz.), how
ever
is
assumed m pract10e, and this 1s much lower than
that
of a ny lamp
hi
therto e
mplo
yed.. The
tota
l r
ate
of
consumption per hour is there fore 175 a m m ~ s (6.172 oz.).
Petroleum vapour is e
mp
loyed
as
an
illumm
ant for the
lighthou
ses of
Four
(Finistere), o
fRo
ches
Douvr
es, a
nd
of
the
Grand
Cbarpe
nt
ier,
a l ~
of which
are
s
ituat
ed
out
at sea ; for the l e ~ g lights of Gr aves, E?t. Georges,
Tr ezien) and St. Mathieu, and for t he fl
as
h-ligh
ts
of the
I sland of Ba tz, of K ermorvan, of Poulains, of Camarat.
Thi
s illuminant will also
be adopted
f
or
the
hghthou
ses of
Fig .6 .
. '
"
.
.,
lt
11
lt
j I
I,
'
l1
,
1
•I
1
•
•
..
- -+-
- --
'
Fo
caL Plane. ·
- r r · ·-
• •
•
•
urner
Vapour.
'
T
.App arcctus f or · i c e n l /
I
Liglro TOTn/ .Petrolewrv V apoznt:
•
•
I
f
r
•
\
l
•
•
-·
•
'
•
guentl;t adopted for illuminating the
pi
er-heads of Port
'l'udy (Ile de Groix), of Palais (Belle Ile), of T urballe, of
Cette, etc., which
are
inacceSsible
during
rou
gh weather
;
a
nd
for illuminating the beacon-towers of 1\IIorees
(situated
near the approaches of St . Nazaire), of the Trois
Pi erres (entrance of L orient
),
of the Vinotiere (near
Br
est),
and
of
the
Vieux-Moines ; also for the lighthouses
of
Haut-Banc
-du-Nord (
l l
e
de
R e), a
nd
of
l
ll
e
Harbour
(Bay of
St. Br i
euc),
whi
ch
are
s
it u
ated out at sea.
Thi
s
system has been applied to such an extent that it wn.s
necessary
to
give these lights
all the
character
is t
ics of
atte
nd
ed lights. '£his has been effected by adopting the
system of flotation
in
a me
rcur
y bath, e
mp
loyed
with
hg
htnin
g lights,
whi
ch enable
th
e apparatus to be eas
ily
revolved.
"\Vi
th
light opt ical appara
tu
s, the power required for
the
rotation
at ordinary speed does n
ot
exceed 1250
grammes-centimetres (0.09 foot-pound). Consequen tly,
a battery which has only to be rechM ged at long in
tervals suffices
to
rotate the apparatus. This ba
tt
e
ry
operates a Gramme ring which revolves between th e poles
of two permanent magnets ; the Gramme rino-,
in
i
ts tu r
n,
rotates a central Yertical shaft connected wihl; the optical
appara
tu
s. The avernge
ve
loc
ity
of r
ot a
tion is o
nl
y one
revolution
in
ten seconds; and owing to tbe very Row
speed it is e s s a
to
employ a lM:ge
numb
er of very
fine wire cmls of
gr
eat electn ettl resiStance. Th e appa
ratus
ha
s, con
se
que ltly, very little st.ability work.mg ;
and to increase th1s the armature 1s
pr
ovided w1th a
series of copper rings, in which Fouca
ul
t c
urr
e
nt
s are set
up
i n ~
a
st
re
ngth
·appro:ximately proportion
ate to
the
s p ~ e
whiCh
~
a sor t o.f electa·o-
ma
gnetic.
brak
e. .In
this way the resiStance mcrenses a.utomat10a Uy mth
the spee
d ;
. a
nd
.any
n ~ a l
slowing down is
avoided as Immedi
ate
ly there .
IS
a tendency to reduce
s
pe
ed,
the
resi
st a
nce is diruinished to corres
pond·
•
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422
-
•
at
the
question
fr
om this
point
of view,
in
which
the
essential factor of resistance is
the
whole mass of the
tower, we find it advisable
to
build the latter in the form
of a monolith.
Thus,
instead
of building
the
most recent
Fr
ench light
houses
at
sea with ashlar masonry, the method adopted
~ to.employ small
set in
P
or t
land .cement,
w1th a fac
mg
of sma
ll
p10k dressed stones. Stmilarly,
beacon-towers which were formerly built with ashlar
masonry, a
nd
subseque
nt l
y with small stone and ordinary
maso
nry
are now const
ru
cted of
co
ncrete
or
of neat
ceme
nt
deposited within framing. This simplified method
of construction is economical
and
rapid ; and, ruoreovert
it increases the resistance of the work to the ,principal
stre ses
to
which it is subjected.
Wh
en it is advlSa.ble or
necessary to accelera te
the
work of construction,
th
e ex
e n s e
can even
be
r
ed
uced
by
employing n
ea
t cement.
The framing within which the concrete is deposited, when
the work is done above
wat
er, consists of e
ight
cast-iron
corner-pieces, with boards inse
rt
ed between them.
Th
ese
corner-pieces are securely bolted together,
and
form , with
th
e in termediate planking, a framework sufficientl y
s t r o l l ~ for secure cons
tru
ction, on co
nditi
on that
the
framtng is raised from
time to time a i the
work
prooeeds, a
nd
that the portion above the deposited
co
no
rete
is le
ft as
low
as
possible.
All the co
rner
pieces are
in
shape ; they are 0.44 metre
(1.44
ft.) high,
and
weigh from
60 to 70
kilogrammes
(132lb. to 154 lb. ). The fr
ami
ng for beacon-towers can
thu
s
be
made
to any
r
eq
uired size
with the sa
me plant,
by merely
va
rying the length and spacing of the e
ight
co
rn
er-
pi
eces, a
nd
employing in te
rm
e
diat
e planking of
s
ui tab
le length.
The
cement is deposited
under
water by means of a
sa
il
cloth skip, opening at the bottom. The sk
ip
has orifices
which allow the
wat
er
to
enter
th r
o
ugh the
lower p art, ·as
the
cement is deposited. Th is arrangement enables the
wetted cement
to
pass
out
of
the
s
kip wh
en it is opened,
with
o
ut
being soaked
or
washed away by
the
sea
wat
er. Se
lected blocks of granite,
fr
agments of cast iron,
and
pieces
of pig iron are solidly imbedded in
the
cent re of the work,
to
u n t e r b ~ the comparative lightness of the n
eat
ceme
nt ;
this increases the total weight of the tower,
with
out affecting i
ts
homogeneity outside
the
central
port ion. Mortar mad e with sand should be used in pre
ference to neat cement for those portions of
the
work
which are left out of water sufficiently long by the fall of
the tide. Rubble stone a
nd
shingle can be added for the
pa
rt
of masonry above high tide.
Th
e mass of beacon-towers is increased by making them
large
r,
and by in
creas
ing their
specific weight.
Durin
g
recent years
the in
crease
in
volume has been obtained by
making
the towers higher, in
pr
eference
to in
creasing
thE:'ir
diam
ete
r. These beacons are fairly often raised
about 10 m
et
res
(33 ft
.) above high
wat
er,
th
ereby
in
creasing
co
ns
id
erabl.Y. their resistance to the action of the
waves a
nd th
e
ir
vis
ibility; and
they can,
if
desirable, be
provided with a permane
nt
light. The li
tt
le towers of
La
Grand Vinoti
ere
and
Les Vieux-Moines (Finistere)
hM·e been built in this manner.
POWER REQUIRED
TO
DRIVE
A MARINE
ENGINE WORKS.*
By
Messrs.
J
AMES CRIGHTON
and W.
G. RIDDELL,
of Glasgow.
IT is not
the
intention of
th
e authors to attempt to
describe a model n g i n works or driving plant,
but
rather to and show the result of a few improve-
ment
s which have been adopted by
the
firm with which
th
ey are connected.
About
th r
ee years ago it was decided to rearrange the
works
in
a
thor
ough
wann
er,
and to
fit
up
a new pmyer
inst allation. The works had gradually grown durmg
F
· Arrtmgtm t:nb of
Boil 4r rDI lL S
tokeltol tt
•
w9 e e L a JP ea ea L s
up
wards of thirty years, and most of the buildings ~ e r e
in excell
ent co
ndit1on and
in
no need of re
co
nstructiOn.
Th
e problem
to
be solved,
t h ~ n
was how to
la
y down
an
economical driving
plant wh10h
would co
nf
orm
to
t he
existing conditions, and w h i c ~ would not e a d to an un
necessary sacri
fi
ce. At that trme
the
mot1ve power of
* Paper
read at the
n a l
Engin.eering Con
gress1 Glasgow
1
1901. Sectton Ill. ; M e c h a m c ~ l .
E N G I N E E R I N
G. I
the work.<)
consi
c:;
ted of one marine type boiler r k i n ~ at
80
lb. pressure, and u ~ p l y i n g steam to three vert1cal
compo
und
engines for
dnying
the machinery,
and
one ver
tical compound engine for lighting purposes. The points in
fa
vo
ur of so many uni
ts
were
the
savi
ng in
steam when
running one or two machines at night, which might
driv
en
by
one of
the
small engines; a
nd
also
the
fact
that
in the
eve
nt
of a breakdown of one engine, the
ot
her
parts of
th
e works were n
ot
affected.
t was, however, decided to put in one engine capable
of driving and lighting the entire work
s,
a
nd
to meet the
difficulty of la
te
work by driving those machines which
experience showed were the most likely to be needed at
night by motors which could be connected 'vith current
f1
·o
m the Glasgow Corporation.
Th
e engine was made1o
a simple design,
in
order
to
make
the
fear of a
br
eakdo
wn
very remote. A cylindrical marine boiler, design
ed
to
work under either forced or natural draught, was selected
as the most s
uit
able typ
e,
and has
pr
oved itself both
economical and reliable. The position of the power
st ati
on was fixed
to
a certain extent by c
ir
cumstances.
The works are situated in a busy part of the City of
Glasgow, where ground is t l y and economy of
fl
oor
space essent ia
l.
There is no direct communication with
any railway, so that all m
ate
rial has to be carted to and
from the works. Close proximity to the street was t here
fore
an
importaqt factor
in
set tling
the
position of the
boiler.
Th
e position chosen was between the engine and
boiler department
s,
and as
the
difference
in the fl
oor level
of these
departm
ents is about 6ft. ,
th
e was placed
on the lower level, and coal
tipp
ed over into a bunker
in front of it {Fig. 1). ashes were returned
by an
hydraulic hoist to a receiver raised above on the higher
level, under which a cart might be filled automatically.
The engine (Fig. 5) was placed as near the boiler
.
•
' t
I • •
.
•
I
•
•
(SEPT. 20, 190f.
for phenomenal resul
ts
did n
ot pr
event
the
weight of the
coal burned at the tests from being apparently less than
th
e weight passed over the weighbridge.
Th
e difference
was sometimes as great As 5
per
cent
.,
after deducting coal
used for keeping
up
fires at n
ig
ht a
nd
for lig
htin
g fires at
the b e ~ i n n i n of the week. Measuring was therefore
di
scontinued,
and the
weight of coal passed over the
weighbridge
ta
ken as the amount burned. The water
m
eter
was read at stopping
t i m ~
each
Saturday
, a
nd
continuous weekly ret urns sho,ving the cost per 100
gallons of wat
er
evapo
rat
ed were made
up
from the figures
thus obtained.
Th
e tabulated tests of
the
boiler were made when the
alterations to the driving plant were in
co
mplete, and the
amount of steam required was greater
than
is used
in
ordinary circumstances. I t is
pr
obabl
e,
however, t hat,
owing to additions to
the
works and new machine tools,
the qua
ntity
of water evaporated at t hese tests will ulti
mat
e
ly
be requ
ir
ed. Now
that
all the power in the works
is denved from one engine, less steam is being used, and
the r
ate
of combustion per square foot is less and t he
efficiency slightly &"reater. Notwith
sta
nding this, the
tests taken at
the
htgh
er
rate of combustion have been
used in this paper as the basis for calculat ing tbe cost of
power a.c:;, in course of time, the cond
it i
ons
,I?r
evailing at
these tests will be the normal working conditions of the
boiler.
Tr i
als of the boiler were car
ri
ed o
ut
for four consecutive
weeks, with a different kind of coal ~ a c h week. The
co:t
l
was
te
sted daily during the fo
ur
weeks with a
Th
omson's
oxygen calorimeter. During the first week the cheapest
qu
ality of coal which would give
the
required amount of
steam was used. This cos t
Ss.
10d. per ton,
tt.
nd goes by
the
local name of
wa s
hed singles."
t
had a low calorific
value of about 10,
00
0 British thermal units per pound.
Fig.4
---
----- ,
I
1 c:;:rl?. L/ • =
•
•
as poSsible, with crankshaft
par
allel to two ?f the main
lines of shop shaftmg. Two dynamos were laid
~ v n
for
lighting and driving purposes, and
e s e
a ~ d the
hn
es.
of
sliafting were
co
nnected
to
the mam engme shaft With
belts, and all so arranged
8:8
to be e a s ~ discol?-nected.
Motors were laid down to dn
ve
all
out
ly
mg
shaftmg.
Th
e existing conditions having been t reated in a
r a l way,
the
i n g pl l'nt will now
be.
described
m detail.
Th
e boiler (Figs. 1 and 4) IS of the
cylindrical marine tyP
e,
13
ft_.
6 in. mean
~ i a m e t e r
by
12 ft. 6 in. long, and IS f i t t d ~ t h
Morn
son suspen
sion furnaces 3 ft. 1 m. Iru:Ide dtameter by 8 ft . long.
Th
e working
pre?sur
e is
200
lb. per square
in
ch.
Th
e
firebars are 5 ft. long, and
the
grate area is
46
.2 square
feet.
Th
ere
are
t
hr
ee separate
co
mbustion chambers
and
316
tubes in. e x t e diameter by 8 ft . lo?g.
Th
e
tota
l h
eat
ing surface 1s
2040
square feet, .bemg
44.2 times the grate area. The length . of the ~ I m n
above
the
firebars is 65 ft. A
60
-m.
fu.n
1s
pro-
vided to blow air into the furnaces through fronts
of the H owden type, boiler
tub
es are
with retarders. The
bo1l
er 1s covered all ov.er. w1tp.
non-conducting materia
l, and
the o ~ s from .radiatiOn 1s
so small that 3 cwt. to 5 cwt. of coal1s suffiment to keep
up
t he s t e a
pr
ess
ur
e d ~ n i n g
the
n i ~ h t when
~ h e
e
ngit;l
e
is n
ot
working. A Cratg's c o m b u t 1 0 n tes
ter
18 kept m
th
e boiler-room,
by
means of
wh10h the
perce.ntage of
carbonic acid gas in the uptake J?ay be read a:t Sight, a_nd
the air
supply reduced to the
pomt
where e
ffi
Ciency begms
to decrease.
Th
e feed-water is heated by exhaust steam,
a
nd
e
nter
s
the
boiler through a Kenne
dy
w
ater
meter
a
temper
at
ure of
205
deg. Fahr.
Th
e arrangement
l
shown
in Fig. 4.
. .
Numerous evaporative tests were earn ed o
ut
wtth
differen t kinds of coal.
Th
e coal and ashes were measured,
and the capacity of the measure wns e q ~ e n t tested,
and the wat
er meter was read at reg
ul
ar
mt
ervals. .
It
was, however, found that even the
f l . b ~ e
:)f a des\1;'e
•
•
The rate of combustion was fully 40 lb. per squu,re foot of
grate
per
h
ou
r, and when burning thiS quanti ty great
volumes of black smoke were given off.
Washed
doubl
es
or " n
uts
was
the
next quality
tried. I t costs l s. per ton more than '' singles," and had
a slig
ht l
y higher calorific value ; but i
ts
evn.porative
power was not worth the extra 1s.
Th
e third test was made with steam coal triping " at
Os. 6d. per ton.
Th
e great defect of this coal was the
large proportion of fine dust
co
nt
ained in
it
.
An
air
pr
essu
re
of
ft
in. had to
be
maintained in the
as
hpi
ts
in
ord
er
to burn it quickly enough, and this carried tlie dust
away before it was burned.
t
lodged
in
crevices of the
smokebox, where it took fire and did damage.
Th
e f
ourth
and last coal tried was steam coal at
11
s.
6d
.
This coal had a calorific value of 14,320 British thermal
units, and ave all-rou
nd sa
tisfactory r
es
ults.
Th
e
co
st
of e v a ~ o r a t 1 n was sli§htly higher with this coal th :1n
\vith ' washed singles ' - 7 4
9d
. pet· 100 gallons against
7.36d. per 100 gallons, but this was more than saved
in
wag
es.
One fireman was able to
atte
nd
to
t he boiler all
day when firing steam coal,
but
had to be relieved when
firmg singl
es,
t he r
ate
of rombustion being so much higher
with the l
atte
r.
In
Table I. (page 4
24),
a deduction of 2 tons 'Yas made
iu each case from the weekly coal consumption when
finding
the
rate of
co
nsumption per square foot of grate.
Th
is is the amount used for keeping up ste.1m at night
and l
ig
hting the fires at the beginning of the week.
Th
e total weekly consumption wtl.S the weight taken in
finding
the ot
h
er
figur
es
.
It
may be added that, after
allowing for the error in rueasurmg the coal, an equiva
l
ent
evaporation of 11.5 lb. from a
nd
at
212
d e ~ .
Fahr.
was frequent ly maintained for several hours
at
a time, but
the
losses due to sto ppages for meal hours and cleaning
fires reduced this to the fi§"ures given in the Table.
Th
e
grate area of
the
bo iler is 46.2 square feet, and the heating
surface 2,040 q u a r feed temperature
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•
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ar
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in
the form of a spray, and is heated to 205 deg. , brea.kdown.
Fahr.
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by
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Th
e two main lines of s
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nd
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:
SEPT.
20,
190 . ]
E N G I N E E R I N
G.
INDUSrRIAL
NOTES.
TI E
repo
r t
of
the
g
ener
al s tate of
the
labour
market
as
g1
Yen
by the L9.bour
Department
of
the
Board of
Trad
e, was based on 2420 returns, namely 1710 from
employera, 586 from trade uni ons, and 124' from
oth
er
sources. st
at
es ~ h a t employme
nt
in
the past month
shows
an u ~ c r e 8 . € 10
th e
per
centa
ge
of unemployed
co
mpared
w1th
July,
but
th i
s is largely
due
tp
the
uguai
~ e a s o n a l decline
in
the
printin
g and other trades. The
Iron
and
coal tr ades were fully as well employed as in
the
preywus m o o t ~ . Compared with
a
year ago, most
of
the Important mdustrie
s
show
a
de
cline. .
During
August
th ere w
n.
s
a.
fa
ll of
wages affec
ting
a consider
a ~ l e
number
of coal mioera.
In
the
142
trade
unions
wtt,h
an
aggregate membership of 543,971, making r e ~
turns,
21,025 (or 3.9 per cent. ) were repor ted a
3
un
.
employed .at the end of. August, compared with 3.4
p e ~
c
ent. July, and
w1th 3.0
per
cent.
in
t he
13
8
untOns, With
a. m b e r
h i p of 534,331, from whioh
returns
wer
e receiVed for Augus
t,
1900.
.
Emp
loyme
nt
in
the trad
es sho
ws
a
;light
.fall
off when compared
wtth
last month. Compared
w1th last
year
there is also a decline.
ing,
and the
o m m i t ~ ~ e
had dealt with
a special
case
~ r e d
to it. A ~ J disputes were
adjusted
with
out
fr1ct10n;
a.
fact wb1ch speaks volumes in favour of
the
system adopted by
the
North of
Eng
l
and
.Board.
There was no change in
the
ra t
es of wages a.t
the
last
asce
rtainm
e
nt, the
wages
continuing the
same
to the
end of
the present
mo
nth.
At a recent
m ~ e t i n g
of
the
Standing Committee
the
dispute a.t
the
Cons
ett
W orka was considered ; and
after
both aides bad been
r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s of employers and workmen
It was agreed
that
the
wages of the men in dispu te be
reduced
5 per
cent. immediately,
and a. further 2 per
ce
nt
. ~ r o m
the
first
pay-?ay in
October.
Rep
orts
are
also gtvan of.
the
meet Dgs of
the
~ i d l a n d Wages
Board, when 1t was de01ded
not
to cla.tm a reduction
~ o ~ s i d e r a . t i o n of the action of the operatives in n'ot
cl tl lmmg an adv ance on a previous occasion. Wages
remain
the
same
until
Oc
to
ber 5, 1901.
Employment in
the
spinning branch of
the
cotton
tr ade. shows a slight c ~ i n e but is still fair; in the
weavmg branch 1t remams slack. Information re
s ~ e c t factories employing a
bout
71,000 women
and
gu ls s hows that 80 P.er e n ~ . of
tbo
s
.e in
spinning mills,
and
per
ce
nt.
of those m weavmg factories were
workmg in factories giving full employment t h ~ o u g b
out the month, to be compared with 81 and 65 per
ce
nt. r e s p e t ~ v e l y in July, and with
70
and 67 per
cent
. respectively
a.
year ago.
Empl
o
yment in the
wool.len trade is moderate. In the worsted
trade it
contmues slack. In
the
hosiery
tr
ade it shows a
further decline,
and
is slack.
In
coal-mining employment in the four weeks ended
Aug ust 24 showed a marked decline in
the
average
of d
ays pe r
. week,
as
compared
with
a y
ea
r ago, but. an mcrease m
the number
employed.
As
compared wt tb
July, there
is
a.
s
light
inc
rea
se in
the.
av
erage number of day s worked.
At
collieries a.t
wluch 427,068 workpeople were employed, the pits
worked on an average 4.91 days per week during the
fo
ur 'v
eeka
ended Au
gust 24, as compared
with
5.4.3
days a.
ye
ar
ago.
In
i r o n - m i n i n
employment is pr
ac
tically unchanged
as compared WJtb July.
As
compa
red with
a year
ago
ther
e is
a.
slight increase in the average number of
days
work
ed,
but
a
decr
ease
in the number
of work
people employed.
The
average
number
of
days
wo
rk
ed
by
121
iron
mines a
nd
open works,
at
which
14,5 5
workpeo
ple were employed
in the
four weeks
August 24, was 5.62
per
week, as compared with
55 m th e four weeks ended July 27 and 5.55 days a.
year ago.
. Agricultural labourers have been, generally speak
lOg, well employed during August, chiefly
at
harvest
wo
rk. The
demand for extra labour for harvest has
however, been unusually small, and some casua.i
b o u ~ e r s have been in irregular employment.
Durmg the five weeks ~ d e d August 31, the number
o
labourers employed da1ly at all
the
doc
ks and
prin
Cipal
' harve
s
avera
ged 16,490, as compared
with
16,652 In July and 14,993
in the
corresponding period
a year ago.
•
.
T h i ~ t y - t w o fr
esh
di
s
putes
bega.n
in
August, 1901,
u : ~ v o l v m 10,129 workpeople, of whom 6544 were
d t r e c t ~ y
and
3585 indirectly a
ff
ected.
The
corre
spon.
dmg
number of disputes
in Ju
ly was 28, in
~ o l v m ~ 8148 workpeople,
and
in August, 1900 , 32,
tnvolvmg 9334 workpeople. Of
the
disputes
in
Aug.ust,
1 9 0 ~
_hree oc
cur
r
ed. in ~ b e
building trades,
ten m
the
mtm.og
and
qua.r
rym
g
mdustri
es,
eight
in
~ h e
me
ta.],
, engtneeriug,
and
shipbuilding trades, six
m toe
textile t rades, and five
in
other industries. Of
the
40 new a n ~ old ; r ; > u ~ e s involying 11,134 work
people of whlCh the detimte result 1s reported- nine,
mvolvmg 4237 persons, were decided
in
favour of
the
w o ~ ~ p eighteen , involving 3765 persons, in
favour of
the
employers ;
and
efeven, involving 2732
persons, were compromised .
The report
of
the
Associated
Bla<:
ksmiths for
the
c ~ r r e n t
month t h a ~ " '
trade
prospects still con
tmue good, and from ad v1ces received from our branch
correspondents ,the <;>utlook 'is encouraging. " I t
f u ~ t h e r .
states that
"
new
s Iipbuilding orders
are
be
mg
g1ven ou t ,
and
that
there
is a larger
amount
of
t o n ~ a . g e
un? er construction than
the
re has been
at any
p e ~ w d
d ~ r m ~ the
present
run
of prosperity in
the
s h p b w ~ d m g mdu stx:y." "The German and American
i ~ b u i l d i n g is equally good," it adds. Ae regard s the
Umt
ed
S t ~ t e s the
r;eport says that shipbuilding
yarde
~ r e
sprmgm
g
up all
along
the
se(l.boa.
rd, i p p ~ d at
m ~ e n s e
cost ~ I t h
the
b ~ s t
and Qewe
st machine
ry
jor
rapid product10n.
The
·
e p ~ r ~
J;efers to
thi
s as a big
p u r ~
the
race of cqxnpet1t10n. Recurring to q q ~ e
mdustnes,
the
report
t a t e
t.ha.t
the
locomotive
stationary engine,
and
general machine indust ries
a r ~
busy,,
as
also
are the
railway-wagon, bridge· building,
a ~ d Iron-roofing tra.dea. ': ''orkmen generally, espe
O l a . l ~ y members of
the
Sm1ths' Union, are urged .to
a v a i ~ v e s of t ~ e present prosperity jn
trade
to
put m .full t tme whereve:w: possible, Q.nd .thus proyide
f.or
the ramy day
which is sure to come.
Re
ference is
m a ~ e
to
the
severance of
the
soci
ety
from
the
Trades
Umon Congress,
after
an official connection of
twenty
six years. The cause was a dis
pute with
another union
the
Smiths refusing to recognise the award of t h ~
Parliamentary Comm
it
tee . The votes of the members
endorsed
this view:
·on
ly
five members voted
in
favour
of acce
pting the
decision of
the
Pa rli
amentary
Com
mittee.
In the pig
-
iron indu
s
try
emplo
yment
has continued
to improve,
a . l t b o ~
btill
mu
ch worse than
a. year
ago. R e
turns reb.tmg
to the works of 115 ironmasters
show that 317 furnaces, employing
about
22 100
workpeople, were in blast at these works at
the
'end
of August, as compared with 309 at the end of
July
and
371 a
year
ago.
•
In
iron
and
steel manufacture employment show3
an
improvement
as
compared with a month
and
with
a · year ago. At 202 works covered by the returns,
employing 79,323 workpeople
in the
week
ended
Augu
st 24, the total volume of employment
(taking
into account
both
the
numbe
r employed
and
the
number
of shifts worked) shows an
in
crease of 0.5
per
ce
nt.
as compared with July, and of 2.5
per
cent.
compa.re.d with th e correspo1;1ding period a. year ago.
In the tmplate trad
e
the
Improvement shown
in
July
has
been fully
maintained during
August, and
although
many
mills
are still
not working, employ
me
nt
is
as
good as
a.
year ago. At the
end
of August
349 mills were at
work
(including those engaged in
the
manufacture of blackplat es), compared with 347
mills
at the end
of July
and
349
a. year
ago.
The
num ber
of
workpeople engaged
at the
mills
in
opera
tion
at the
end
of August
is
es
timated
to be
about
17,400. . .
)
Employmen t in the eng ineering and metal trades ii
E
ca.
rcely so good.
The percentage
of unemployed union
members a.t
the end of August
was 3.5,
c ~ z q p a . r
with
3.3 in July. The percentage for
August,
1900,
was 2.8 .
n
the shipping trades employment has fallen off.
The percentage of unemployed union members at the
end of
August
was 3.7, compared with 3.0
in July, and
2.1 in
Augu
st, 1900.
Em pl
oyment
in tbe building
trades
has continued
to improve. The percen tage of unemployed union
members among carpenters
and
plumbers at the end
of
August was
2.7, compared
with
3
per
ce
nt. in July.
Th
e perce
ntage for August,
1900,
was
1.8.
In the furnishing
trades
employment has still
further
decliqed.
The
percentage of unemployed union mem
hers a.t the end of August was 3. 5, compared with
3.1
per
cent.
in
July
and
3
per cent. in August
of
last
year.
Employment
in th e
printing
and bookbinding
tr
ades
is quiet, as
is
usual at
this
season.
Th
e percentage of
unemployed union members a.t the end of
August
was
6. 5, compared with 4 per cent. in Ju ly and 5 6 per
ce
nt. in August,
1900.
Employment
in
the
p1p er
trades
shows
but
little change. The
percentage
of
unemployed union members
at
the
end of August
was
2.7, compared with 2.8 per cent. in July
and
3
per
cent. in August, 1900. .
In
the l
eather trades
emp loy
ment has continued to fall off. The percentage of un
employed union members
at th e
·
end
of Augti
st
was
~ . 9
compa
red with
2.3
per
c
ent.
in July
and
2.1 per
r.fmt.
in August
of last
year
•
The
c·banges in rates of wages reported during
August affected 103,419 workpeople, and the net
effect of
all the
changes was a decrease averaging
2s. 2d. weekly p,
er
bead. Of
the
total number, 2065
received advances averaging 1s. 6 d. per week,
and
101
,364 sustained decreaees averaging 2 ~ . Zid .
per
The
net result of
the
changes reported in
the
prevtOus month (July) was a decrease averaging
1s. lid. per
head
in the
weekly wages of 272,768 work·
people,
and durin
g
the
corresponding
month
of last
year
(August, 1900)
the
net
res
ult wa
s an
advan
ce
averaging 2i. 9d. per head in
the
weekly wages of
333,680 workpeople.
There was no advance of great importance in
August.
The
principal decreases reported were those
n.flecting 93,820colliery workers in Scotland, Northum
berland, and Forest of Dean, 4000 shale miners in
Scotland, 1,170 steel workers in Cleveland,
and
1,288
coal tr immers on
the
Tyne. ·
Changes affecting 83,820 workpeople were arranged
by
arbitration
or conciliat ion,
and
changes affecting
1740 workpeople took effect
under
sliding scales.
Changes affec
ting
679 workpeople only were preceded
by disputes causing stop
pa
ge of work, and
the
remaining changes, affecting 17,180 workpeopJe, were
arranged by direct negotiations between emp loyers
and
workpeople
or
their representatives.
The steel strike in Ame
ri
ca has collapsed, and
the
Trust h11s won. Some sections of
the
men, how
eve
r, sti
ll hold
ou t
.
The
attitude
of
th
e
strikers
at
vicKeesport is very thte111tening. They refuse to
ac
ce
pt the
settlement arranged
by Mr
. Shaffer,
and
declare that they will
neither
go to work
nor
allow
others to resume. The s
it
uation is reharded as the
most critical since the strike bega.n. Mr. ShatTer has
not notified
the
Pittsburgh lodges of tho settlement.
A large force of police was
in
readiness
at
Mc
Keesport
in expec
tation
of
an attempt by
one
party
of
the
strikers
to
prevent
a resumption of work.
There
was
a.
large mob ; but
the
police measures were effectual ,
and the
men were disperaed without violence. Five
thousand men returned to work at the National Tube
Company's mills
without
being molested.
The
l1·onworkers l ~ J 1 n for
the
current
month
contains
a.
report of the half-yearly meeting of
the
North of England Conciliation and
Arbitration
Board
for
the
manufac
tured
iron and steel trade. Both
the
president and
vice-
president
concurred in
stating
' ' that never
before in
the
i
ndustrial histor
y of
the
c
ountry bad
the
principles of conciliation
and
arbitra
t ion-of
reason
and
argument-been so widely advo-·
cated
and
adopted as at the
present
time." The
meeting was congra.ttilated · upon the fact that other
trades had
copied
their
example
in the
formation
of
conciliation boards.
The Standing
C
ommittee bad
m
t four times
thi
s year up to
the
date of the meet-
•
Th
e report of
the
O p e r ~ t i v e Cotton Spinners for
the
current month shows a further slight decline in mem
bership. On this
point the
secretary severely blames
tho
se who, while
taking
advanbge of what
the
union
does for them, keep aloof from
th
e association
and
refuse or neglect to c
ontr
ibute to
the
funds.
I t
is
h i n t ~ d t h ~ t
the
i e ~ y may have .to take steps to force
outs1dera m to the umon, by refusmg to work with non
union men,
the
action of
the
coalminers being ci
ted
as
an
example
to
be followed.
It
is to be hoped that
the
policy foreshadowed will not be entered upon, as it
will evoke a feeling of
irritation
; and, perhaps, end
in
dissolving the Joint Commit tee, which has done, and
is doing, such good work. The united membership is
now 13,648, six fewer
th
an a .
month
ago, and 644
fewer than
a. year
ago. Twelve cases of dispute
bad
to be
dealt with
in the
month; in two
of these the
o p e r a t i v ~ s came out on strike,
the
members being paid
l l
. per wee
k, and
2d. 6d. per child under 13 years of
age , un til the dispute ends. There were
23
accident
cases
in the
month,
the permanent
grant being given
in two
or three
of these cases.
There
we
re
also
ten
cases
under the
Compensation
Act, the
claims as to
which were duly sent to the employers.
In
nearly all
instances the se are mutually ar ranged, according to
the
scale fixed
by the
Act.
In
spite of
th
e increasing
outlay the fun<;ls
have increased
by 6ll
l. 17s. 3d.
in
the
month.
The
sum of 389l. 13s. 4d. has been' add ed
to
the
superannuation fund, which now amounts to
2375l. 5s. 4d.
The report of the National Un ion of Boot and Shoe
Operatives
states that there are no
signs of
better
trade in this industry. I t further states
that most
industries, except
tho
se connec
ted with
shipbuilding,
"show a downward tendency." Fortunately, disputes
have been few, and not serious. The only one of mag
nitude
is a.t
Ayr,
,
in
Scotland.
The report points out
that
the
employers
and
workers
are
at hopeless vari
an
ce as to
the
basis of
the
dispute.
The
amounts
vary from 80 to 100
per
cent. , according as
the
state
ments are made
by
the employers or the workmen.
I t adds : "Surely it should not be too big a task for
those .
on the spot to
be able, i they so desired,
to
prove which is r ight ."
The
employers state the
ir
willingness
to
pay the
same
pr i
ces,
and work
on
the
same conditions, as those of employers in
a.
neighbour
ing town; but when the question of quan tities arise
they widely differ. A dispute in London has brought
about
a curious complication.
The employer
is a ~ d
to be
the secretary
of
the Emp
loy
er
s' Association, and
also secretary of the Conciliation Board ;
and he
•
•
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•
:
re f.uses i t is all?ge.d, to call the latter
together.
The
union 1ntends, 1t ts said,
to
make
a
claim upon
the
Guarantee
Fund in this matter.
The union had once
to
pay ; now th e officers
think
that the
employers
should.
The matter,
however, will have to come
before the Arbitration Board before
any further
steps
can be taken.
The London T rades and Labour Gazette,
which
is
the. o r g ~ J l the ~ o n d o n Trades Council, protests
~ g a m s t
bemg
led mto the fatal mistake of
entering
1nto
a
long
and
costly
conflict
of
legal
quibbles
fritter
ing away the
unions' money,"
and the time
those
who conduct
the
business of
the
unions.
The protest
is
opportune.
The
Trades Congress resolved
to fight
a
test
case.
through
the
Courts, which might be
a
very
costly affatr, and all the employers' federations of
the
country would combine
to
defend themselves for
the
real question
at
issue would be the
right
of.
pfcketing.
The Loadon T ~ a d e s .Council insist
upon
legislation as
the only way tn whtch matters can be
set
right.
f
the trades onll desire to exercise
the
right of " obtain
i ~ g
or i v ~ n g tnfor Dation," there ought to
be no
great
dtfficulty tn amendmg the law. But
men
set
as
pi ckets
seldom stop
at
that exact
point. This
is the
real
difficulty in all labour
disputes.
Dr. John
E.
George, of
the
North-Western Univer
sity, in the United States,
has
written an
article in
P ublic Policy
on the
economic
conditions
of
the
machinists' movement for a
uniform
nine hours' day
throughout
the
States,
with the
stipulation that
the
old rate of wages shall be paid, or. as he
puts
it, ten
hours' pay for nine hours
'
work.
The
professor
thinks
that
the
economic
conditians
are
such
that a uniform
working day and
rate
of wages is not, a t least at pre
sent, possible tllloughout the
States.
But he favours
the
growing tendency towards
collective bargaining
between
employers and
workmen,
by and
through
the
ass?ciations
respectively
representing them. He also
believes that
more
peaceful
methods
will
prevail
in
the future
in
the settlement
of Jabour disputes.
·
THE CORREC
T TREATMENT
OF
STEEL.*
By Mr. C.
H.
RIDSDALE, F.I.C. (Middlesbrough).
. SECTION I.-PRELIMINARY REMARKS.
THE ultimate requirement of steel t is that, when manu
a c t u r ~ , it shall in every resp_ect satisfy the
purpose
for
which
i t
is
intended;
and
.ProVIded it does this thoroughly,
it
matters
nothing
what
Its composition is,
or
how it has
b'een t r ~ . a t e d .
f i t does not,
the
questions arise, Why does it not?
Who
shall
take
steps
to
r
emedy
it ? And, What shall
those
steps
be
?
Although we
are still
f
ar
from
understanding the
causes
in detail in every
case which
may produce
a
certai
n
cpnditioO::: in steel, much has been learnt during the last
few years on these questions· but (as one correct prin
ciple actually practised is worth
ten
reposing in tl;le brains
of scientific
men)
how many of
those
who handle steel
are making full use in practice of
what
is known as to
the effects of various t r
eatment?§
f not, is it not because
our science has not been sufficiently mad e to face practice,
and should not these subje
cts
be discussed more with
this
in view ?
The
writer
h
as
considered these questions in order
to
see
how our present
knowledge, so
far as
he knew, was
or
could
be applied
to
practice
in
different
manufactures,
and what further investigation was needed next ; and he
offers
the
following
remarks (though with
considerable
diffidence)
in the h o p ~
thStt,
though they
reveal
new
facts, they may be of mterest and of some good,
1f
only
in
showing
UJ? some
of our deficiencies and limitat ions.
The subject 1S one in which for
years
he has always
taken the greatest interest, and striven to
study
im
partially; he therefore trusts that, although associated
with
steel manufacture, he will not be re {arded as speak
ing from a maker's
point
of view ; he IS only Wishful
that the available
knowledge may
be t urned to
practical
account.
Steelmakers have, Eerhaps, to consider these questions
more, only because, 1f
any
trouble does occur with
the
steel before it is finished, 1t is
almost
always referred
to
them.
*
Paper
read
before
the
International
Engineering
Congress, Glasgow, 1901. Section V. : Iron and
Stee
l.
t The writer in
th
e main
ha
s in mind so
ft
steel (such
as he has dealt with in his previous pa pers , " Brittleness
in Soft Steel
,"
May, 1898, and "Practical Microscopic
Analy
sis,"
August, 1899
),
though the remarks apply
largely to all steel
up
to 0.40 per c ~ n t or 0.45 per ce
nt.
carbon, and these harder a r i e t i ~ s
are
spec
ially
mentioned
in places. He does not refer to s t e ~ of
any
one ma ke or
process. · . . .
:t I t is always desirable, in order
to
gt ve convmcmg
evidence
as
to cause, to
be
able
to reproduce the
effect
at will from
c o n d i t i o ~
of actual pra:ctice. This {for w a ~ t
of
opportunity
for
mmute
obseryatw.n
of
the
datly
condi
ti
ons
of practice over
a l
ong
penod) may
not
always
be
possible
to
do,
although the e n ~ r a ~ dt rec
twn may
be
s
ug
gested.
Generally,
however, this
IS
not
regarded
as suffi-
ciently convincing. . . .
§By
"treatme
nt " is meant everything which
It
un?er
oes (as contra.distinct to compositwn), whether physical,
thermal, mechanical, &c.
•
E N G I N E E R I
N
G.
i •
But
where can stee
l u sers, wishing
to avail
themselv
es
of
the existing
knowledge
on the
effect
that treatment
has on steel, find the
principles
succinctly s tated and
c ~ e a
connected
with their application in practice ? The
literature on the s
ubject
is confined to papers, which
apP.ea sca.tter.ed over . the proceedings of
the
different
I e t ~ e s , the mformatwn of
ten
being expressed only in
~ 0 1 e n t 1 f i terms,
and
not clearly pushed to a practical
~ e s u e
H ence the subj ect is not forced on the notice of
men too busy to
study
.and coll
ect
all
the
se, and they
do no.t connect them w1th
or
ap ply them to their own
practice.
The
obje
cts
of thi s
paper
are, therefore :
. 1. To hel.I? those wlio
handle
steel
by
desc
ribing
in
Simple
practical terms
such fixed
principles
as are
known
up
to
date,
and in what
direction th
ey may be applied in
praot10e.
2.
To ~ t a ~ discussion on and information concerning :
(a) ~ r & 4 e pr ocesses, and
(b)
The limitatwns of the control which maker and
user resP.ectively possess over the properties developed
by matenal.
3. To formula te certain views in order to obtain
an
expression
.o
f opinion
up
on t ~ e m , in. the hope that such
as
are publicly endorsed by this Inst1tute may be hence
f o ~ w a r d
reg
arded as a
stand
ard for
makers and
users
ahke
to refer to. At
{>r
esent, each
one
sets up
his
own
st a
nd
ard, viz., exige
nCi
es of
trade
The view r
eferred
to
are
:
(a)
As to
the
degree of
res
pon
s
ibility
of maker and
user respectively for n
orma
l results
obtained;
togl\ther
with a class ifi
ed list
of
the
indications that
sha
ll
be
accepted as
Q.etermining their source.
b) As to certain tests wh ich material ought and ought
n
ot
to be reasonably expected to stand after given treat
ment.
DIAG
RA?tl
I.
-
E.tf
ec
t
of
T
1·ea
t
men
t
v.
Oom,position on
T wist Tests
in
W
i1·e
•
" Quality "
of
Steel
and
Composition.
''Medium ~ r d .
Basis of Treatment.
Equal.
Twisting Corresponds
with
Composition.
Unequal.
Twistin8: Corre
sponds wtth
Treat·
.
ment.
A.
Twisted io
State
Re·
oeived. Bar·
d e o f n t ~ · Effect
ot Rolling not
Remo\·ed.
B. Rolling Hardneas
Twisted after was
in:
"Soft,"
Hardening
not
Removed (llS
io
"A")
E1fect of "Med' H ,
Rolling Re- mm
ar._.,
moved * Removed (as in
. B
).
' ra f'
F
\
1\
1\
C
b
Man-
ar
on. gaoese.
0.25 p.c.
O.SOp.o.
"Soft."
C
b
Man-
ar on. ganese.
0.10 p.o. 0.40p.o.
•
c
t
\J
\
1\
1\
c
•
Th
e difference
in
twisting between two members of a
pair
is a
measure of the effect of the di1ference in composition.
*
Requh
:
ed
much leas
to
twist than" A," and gave many
more twists before breaktng. ·
The
writer,
though e a v o u r i n ~ to show by specific
in
sta
nces how,
to
the
best
of
his
belief,
the prin
ciples
may
be applied or how certain effects have been brought about
in practice, does
not
in tend to imply dogmatically that
any
given procedure will a
lwa
ys produce
the same
m l t s ;
each particular case must be considered in conjunction
with all
the
conditions,
and these cann
ot a
lw
ays
be
main
tained
constant; so that,
though
nominally
the same
1
what
occurs one
time may
not another. Even
if the
sugges
tions made are in some
cases impracticable
or
incorrect,
provided they
ser ve as a starting-point,
and
give rise
to
discussion, some good should result.
In describing temperatures, the writer feUtrs he will have
to risk being
c o n s i d ~ r e d
old-fashioned, and bringing down
censure on himself from those who advocate oxact tem
perature as measured by a pyrometer, for not discardimr
such ' ' obsolete terms " as '
1
dull red, , '' chen·y red,
" yellow heat
, ,
&c.* Practical men whose eyes are
trained by experience know
what
appearance these give
in varying light, such as sunshine,
or
at ni
ght and
can
gauge
them
quite
as
nearly
as
the temp
era
tu res themselves
can be regulated.
An furnaceman
ha
s to
judge th
e
right
deg
ree
of
heating
m a
ll sorts
of lig
ht
s,
day and
night,
at
all
tim
es
of t he year.
We may
know what temperatures we want and what
is
right when
we see it
1
a
nd yet not know the
real tempera
ture in degrees centigrade: as we have no
mean
s of pyro-
* When used, they are all
referred
to as seen in a dull
light.
•
' 8
eeuu
n
(SEPT. 20, 1901.
•
metrically measuring
the temperature
of a bloom in
the
process
of
rolling.*
We cannot
fix
exactly what the finishing temperature
should be, either in d e ~ e e s centigrade or colour tempera
ture, for steel of any g1ven carbon; as besides the mass of
the
section
and
cooling f a c i l i t i ~ ,
the
purpose for which
w ~ n t e d , and hence
the
degree of rolhng hardness most
suitable
1
has to be known.
The stmplest and the only proper way is to
let the
men
~ h o have to judge
the
temperature in daily practice try
p1eces at t\yo or three varymg temperatures which
they
can r e c ~ g n l S for the Jlselves), follow them tbrough,
and
make
stmple mechamcal tests, and
then
adopt tlie tem
perature
that gives
the best
resul ts.
A good
man
will quickly be
able to
k
eep to
the
prop
er
temperatures.
4
man
cannot
is
not
_fit for tlie job,
as
he could n
ot
e1ther w1th a
pyrometeror
1f told in
terms
of colour .
SEO'l'ION II .-THE EFFECT
THAT COMPOSIT
ION ANT>
INITIAL TREATMENT HAVE AS 00MPARED
WITH
SUBSE·
QUENT TREATMENT ON THE ULTIMATE PROPERTIES OF
THE STEEL.
A. Considered Generally,
a;nd
With Re ference to
1 vhat
is Possible.
9omposition, and all
the
treatment
th
at
an
ar ticle re·
?elves, each h
ave
an effect on it at so
me
period but the
m ~ u e l c e s most powerful in
determining
1ts f i n ~ l charac.
te nst10s
are
frequently
the
latter processes and these may
compl
ete
ly outweigh all others. '
I t h
as
been usual in
the
past,
and
still is in
many
quarters,
to
consider that tb.e qua.
liti
es
stee
l possesses
are dependent mainlh on its composition so much so that
th
t
" 1 " b '
erm qua Ity as ecome almost synonymous with
" composition;" but recently it
has
become more and
more appax:ent that this is not;so, and that, except \vi hin
~ r r o w limits. of .treat.mentt composition plays
an
insig
ruficant
part
m ms
unng
g ~ v e n
qualities.t
Sel
ect
ion of
the most suitable com.I?osition may slightlv widen the
range of treatment that 1t will bear
and y e t ~
give
the
re
quired
results,
but
it is not i b l e
to
produce a
stee
l
whi ch is impervious to treatment.
The
maker controls
the initial
treatment
and the
composition
but
generally
tl?-e influence of those is only transmitte'd a very short
d ~ t a n c e through
the
subsequent working-up processes,
bemg:
com.P
l
ete
ly UP.Set on
reheating
a
nd
re- rollin { ;:t
m
practice a
maker
can
do
very little which
w1ll matenally a ffect the steel aft
er working
up.
Thu
s
unless treatment only ha.d a quite
minor
effect, say 5
cent. of the total, or unless the effect of the working-up
pro
cesses was always definite and fixed, and did not vary
more
than
5 per .ce
nt.,
the
maker could not reasonably
be r e s J ? O . n s t b l ~ for ~ h e subsequent behaviour of
m a t e n a l ~ provided
It
was
nght
when sent out by him.
After
1t been further. worked, the only
way
to set
an approximately true basiS for comparison of the eff
ect
of comJ>os
iti
on in pieces in which it differs is first by
reheatmg
to
redness and l
etting
cool slowly to r e ~ o v e
all which
may have
been induced by treatment.
As an
mstance,
many
years ago, when endeavouring
to
find
whether hard
s
po t
s
in
wire
were
du
e
to
local
variat
ion
in
composition (which never was found
to an
~ x ~ e
e x c e e d ~ n g the < > s s i b l ~
e
rror
of analysis),
the
w ~ t e r
took p1eces of :;-
m.
Wlre rod of
"soft"
quality,
w1th carbon 0.10 per cent., manganese 0.40 per cent.
hooked them' o others of "medium hard , quality, c a r b o ~
0.25 per
cent.,
manganese 0.80 per cent.t§
and
whilst
the
enq of one was held in a vice, twisted
tne
other. Thus,
wh10hever was
the
mechanically softer was bound to twist
more
than the
other (see Diagram 1).
.When the b ~ i s of treatment in each case was equal,
viz. (A) tested m
the state
as received (with
the
harden-'
ing
~ f f e c t
of r o l l i n ~ unremoved); (B)
and
also after re
movmg
the
h
ardenmg
effect by
heating
as Just desc
ribed
th
" ed
h
rd , .
h
e n;t
mm
a wire s .owed, a.s would
be
expected,
less
tw1
st than
the
" so
ft
,
wue
(about half).
But
a piece
of
the
'
1
so
ft
"
~ r e
'vith
l l e I ~ r d e n i n g e f f ~ c t
of rolling
e m o v e d (a:S
m A) would.
twi
st
the
chermcally
harder
Wire from the hardemng effect of rolling had been
e ~ o v ~ d (as .
m
B) through_ a number of turns, without
hems- Itself m the least twi.Sted. That is to say, rolling
had Imparted greater hardness to
the
'
1
soft "
wire
than
an extra Q15 _per cent. of carbon
and
0.40 per cent. of
manganese, Wl.thout
the
hard
e
ning
effect
of
rolling could
impart
to
the
"harder" wire, though it containe'd alto
?:ether double the percentage of hardening bodies that
the
'soft '' wire did.
(To
be
continued.)
•
.
IRRTGA'l
'ION
~ ~ T H E
NILE
VALLEY:
ERRATUM.-Owing
to
Imperfect audition, we
regr
et
to state th
at two
errors are
to
found
in our .report
of
the di
scussion
on
Mr. Will
cock s paper, published on pa ge 311 of our issue of Sep
tember 6 las t. Thus, the gentleman e f e r r e d to by MT.'
Vernon
Ha r
court, was
Mr.
Ru ssell Aiken and not "Mr
Hakin
,
.as.
printed; and
the
source of
the
Blue Ni le
Abyssmta IS Lake Tsana,
and
not '
1
Sennaar." Similarly
the other l ake should be Lake Dembea, and not " D e b e a .
* Jou.trnal of the W
es
t •
of
Scotland n s t i t t ~ t e January
1000, No. 4 containi ng discussion
on
A. Campion's
on
Hoot
Treatment and
Microstructure of Steel."
See wnter's
remark
s.
t See
the writer
's
pap
er
on
B rittleness in Soft Steel "
Jowrna.l
of
the
Iron
a;nd
Steel I
nsti
tu te,
189
8,
No
.
1.
Th
e
same
p1eces of steel gave various opposite
qualiti
es by
treatment only. ·
. l: Coarsely
crystallin
e billet on reheating and rolling
y1elded f i n ~ - g r a m e d fibrous
o d ~ ,
and fine-grained piece
of same billet gave coa.rse-gramed rods according to
treatment.
§ '.l'he other constituen ts did not differ.
•
•
#
•
7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 72 1901-09-20
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/engineering-vol-72-1901-09-20 42/47
SEPT. 20, 1901.]
COOLING CYLINDERS OF
INTERNAL
COMBUSTION ENGINES .
Th
e Oooliln g
6f
the Oyli
fldc ·s of
H igh-Speed I nter flal
O>mbu
stion Engines, amd its
Eff£
ot upon the Power
Dewlopcd.
By Pr ofe ssor
H E L E
~ n A w , LL .D. , F. R .S.
;£N response to an invitation to brin g some subject which
m1ghb
be
of
in t
erest
before the pre
se
nt
E ng
ineering
Con
gres.o, ib occurr
ed to
me that there was one
whi
o
h,
though
ab the presen t exciting attention chiefly amongst
a.utomobilis ts,
ha
s (in
the
r
apid
development in
the
p o ~ e r f u l l e s s of small
- s p e e ~
oil and spirit eng-ine3 )
a d1reot
m t
erest for e
ngmeers
m gt n 3ral. This subj eob
is
the
ove
rheati
ng of
the
cy
linders,
and
its
prevention.
In
c . : > m p ~ r a . t i
slow.running, stationary oil
or gas engmes 1b ts easy enough to have a k e t
with 0ne or t wo fai rly la
rge
tanks of cooling wa ter ; bu t
upon
a. motor oar, where w
ei
ght is
a. prime
cons ider
at
ion
the
ma tter of. ?Ooling
is
o.ne
causes
great troublf':
and the
pr
ovts1on for wh1oh h83 mv olv
ed
arrangements
of
great
ingenuity.
In
quits
small
mo t
or
v e h i
such
as
motor bicycles
and. tnoyo
le
s, and even the small voiburatt e tbat is, with
engmes
up to
3 horse-power ,
the
m
ove ment of the
vehicle
th
rough the air, or
the
p r
oY
ision of a. revolv
ing
fan, is
take n advantage of for the purpose of the cylin
ders
by
ai r, t he
cylinders being pro
vid
ed
w1th
a.
em 'lll
number
of webs for this purpose. In
a Fren
ch eng ine
D
D
E
F
•
F
-
OF
.
COY ER
1 Q
I
whi ch I tested a Fhort time ago, four cy nominally
of
about 3 horse-power each, revo
lved
ab a h
igh
sp
ee
d
in
a
horizontal p lane round a. fixed crankshaft; and after some
hours' run in a heated workshop, it was
pos
sible to bear
the hand up
on
the
outs
ide
of
the
coo
hng
ribs
of the
cy
lind
ers, although
up
on st a
nding
the
heat
was
rapi
dly
conducted Cer tai n constructional defects in
the
engine
pr
ev
eu e1
the
full power
be
ing
obtained;
a
nd
ib cann
ot
be
kn
owo uutil these
are
reme
di
ed whet
her
the
air cooling is rea
lly
effective in
this
. type of engine.
With
small
engines
air-cooling is
fairly
effective in
quit
e cold wea the
r,
hub in h
ot
and
dry
weather (which
is, of cou rse, chiefly the time when mo
tor
vehicles
ar
e in
requisitio
n)
even sma ll engines of little more than 1 horse
power r
ap idly
Leco
me
heated,
with
a corr
es
ponding fa
ll
ing
off in propelling power,
ultimat
e y
sto
pping alto ·
gather. No dou bt, by careful manage ment in the way of
co
ntinual
r
E>gu
l
a.t
ion
in the
adm
iss
ion of gas
in t
o
the
car
bu r
ette
r,
and
great w a . t f u l n
e ~ s
in taking
advantage
of
every descent of a hill to cool the cylinder, and, further,
by bei
ng
co
nt
e
nt with a
mode
ra te spee
d
of the
e
ngines
,
an
ai r
-c:>
oled c
ylinder
of 2
to
3 horee-power
ca
n be
kept
cool even up on a fairly hob day. I havP, ho wever, recentJy
had some
ex perience
wi th tw
o
y c l e ~ ,
one
havin
g
a.
2f
horse
-
pow
er engine,
air-c
ooled , an d
another with a.
water·cooled
head
of the same power,
the
l
atte
r being the
most recenb
typ
e of D e
Dion
motor, in which a small tank
Jf w
at e
r is ca.
rr ifd
be
hind the
and a small rddi
at or
th rough whi ch wa ter circula t
es
by gravita.tioP,
is emp loyed . I ha ve no
he
sitation in sa.}ing that t
he
power d
eve
l
oped
in the
l
atte
r
case has been very mu
ch
g r
eate
r
than
in
th
e former i while
there
is
no
co
mpariso
n
whatever in the dist ance whi ch
O l
n be covered on a hot
day by the two
m&tohines. to
eay
n
othing
of
the satis
fact
ion of
be
ing able
to
1
ide
mile
after
mile ab a high
speed,
with
out the sligh te st anxiety about climbing any
Pd pa
r read
be
f
ore the
International
Engineering
G lasgow, 1901. Section I l l : ]lfeohanioa1.
•
E N G I N E E R I N G.
hills
whi ch
may be
met
eve
n
in
such a ride
as
from
I
ai r ·cooled motors.
.H
is clea r,. on
.littl
e conside
rati
o
n.
Ca.rJisle to the
East
of
Fife.
· that the
ra t
e at wh10h water IS bo1 ltn g .off, and
the
I
have
had a similar
exper
ience with regard to my two- actual fact tha.b water is in a . o ~ w1th the cyhn de r
cy
lin
de r
Ne
w Orleans voiturette. This i t u r
in
m usb
be
lar
ge
ly a
measu
re
of
mte
rnal
hea t
of the
spite of
many
defeobs
as
are bo
be
found .m most cy
lind
er. On t ~ e o
th
er band, a.mo?gsb those who ~ r e
motor oars, is a f
ast
httle oa.r
1
and the a.u-co
>
led a ccustomed dn ve motor oars, t h e r ~ 18 generally a feehng
cy
linder£ , which have
a fan
vmg
between
th
e m,
ca
n
that the
engm
es
w
ork best _at a.
cerba.m
r a t u r e ,
some
in quite cold wea.t
her,
or even w1th an abnormal amount of where between
that
a.tJ wh10h t he wa ter boils off and
the
care in hob
weather
, be made to
run
ver y well. In hob cold state ab w hioh
th
e engine actually st ar ts. I have
w
eathe
r, how
eve
r, I
ha
ve
experience
d so
mu
ch
annoy-
n
ob been
able
to
find
that there
exist
any actual
data.
up
on
a.nce
with the heating
of the cylinders
up
on a l
ong
ru
n,
this
subject
; and it seemed
to
be a. sufficiently important
th a t I firs t of all
adopted the
plan of allowing
wa t
er to
matt
er to be worth making some experi ments
up
o
n.
I
dr
op
upon the air -cooled cy linder h
ea
d fr om a. rese
rvoir
therefore, with the assistance of Mr. G ill.
B.Sc.,
engin
ee
r
when I
found
the
oy lind
er was
gettiog
h
ot;
but
af terwa
rds
ing st
udenb of t he U
ni
verciby Oo
llege
of
Li v
e
rp
ool,
ex
pari
decided to replace the air-cooled heads w1th wa te r-cooled mented upon
the
6 horse-power engine represent
ed
in
heads. Si n
ce
doing this, I have never had any trouble Fig. 2. Thi s n ~ i n e , whi ch has magnet ic elec tric igni
whateve
r
with
t he heating
of th
e cy l
ind
ers, or experi
ence
d tion,
was fitted
w1th two
thermometers: A
measuring
the
any
diminution in power from
this
ca.u Ee. Oo one of the wa ter at ent ra n
ce
,
and
B that ab exib. C is a bank
which
hottest days of
th
e year, voiturette went about a was used wh en the wat er was allowed to remain ab
hundred
mil
es
,
and
r
et
urned a f
ew days la t
e
r, with
o
ut boiling point;
bub
otherwise the two pi p
es
\V
ere n
ot
my experiencing
any troub
le, ab
any ra t
e fr om this connected with
the two
ma in
P,
a
nd
the
wa t
er
at
exib
oause. A n umber of communi cations have reac hed me
kept
at the temperature r
equi
red by allowing a sufficie
ntly
fr
om p
eop le
who have e vid e
ntly
expe-rienced trouble
rapid
flow of wa
ter through the cyl in d
er
jacket.
D
is
with
ca.
rs, as
king fo
r d e
tail
s of
th
e wa tfr-oooling the flywheel upon
whi
ch
a.
dynamoineter
brake
act s, so
a r r a n ~ e m and it m'i.y therefore be
in t
erest
ing
that
th
e power can
be
acc
urately
tested. A series of five
to bn efly describe the details whi ch are illus trated in tria ls were ma de, four wibh the wa ter ab different tern
a diag
rammat
ic way in Fig.
1.
Th e hollow water-cooled peraturas,
and the
fifth
with
gJyce
rin
e oi rcula.ting in
the
head, together
with
valve cha.ml:ers BB . which are in
cylinder
jacket and
tank
instead of wa ter, to
obta
in a.
o
ne
solid piece, repla
ce
the ordinary ribbed bead and higher boiling point and a higher temperature of the
valve chamber.
The hob wa ter ris
es
dire
ct
ly fr
om
the cooling
liquid.
0 0
go
Fi[J.2.
•
I
B
Oo
@
A
0
1DM B...__
_ _,
D
•
c
centre
of the top
of
the cyl
inde
r head by the JJipe C, di s
charging at the
top
of the co
pp
er cylinder DD; while
th e
circulation
is
mainta
i
ned by th
e desce
nding water
pa
ss
ing
ou b ab the bottom of
the
CO(>per r
ese
t voir by
th
e
pip
es E E through a copper coil, wht oh is shown in plan
a t F.
Th
e c
ir
c
ul
ation t
hr
ough one
cylinder
is
entirely
sep a
ra t
e fr
om that in
the other, and <
mplete in
itself ;
both having, of cou rse, a common rese rvoi r in th e copper
cylinder
D D, the leve l of water i n whioh is shown by
m
Ail
DS of
a. water
gau
ge H.
I t
is interes t
ing
to notice
when the
engine
starts
h ow
a. warm la
ye
r
ca
n be felt by putting the band on the top
of the copJ;>er cylinder, whi le
all the
re
st
of th e system
re m
ai
ns qu1te cold ; and how,
as
the engine continues
to
wol'
k,
the zo
ne
of beab travels downwards, showing how
the
hob
water rises immediate
l
y,
and remains on
the
top,
and
indicating
the
pe
rf
ect nature of the circulation .
lb was on a. large car where I first sa.\v a similar system
of
circulation employed by Mr.
E stcou
rb, with most
sat i3factory
r e s u l t ~ .
In
view of all
the
troub e I have seen, and experi enced
myself, with cars in whi ch pumps are used , as they gene
rally
are,
it
see
ms a
pity
that oiroul
ation by m ~ a . n s of
gravity
cannot
always
be
employed.
Both with the tnoyole m
f:nt i
oned and with the above
voiturette,
the water
on a hob
day,
du r
i
ng
a long
run,
is
for considerable periods at a.
time
on
the
boiL wi thout
the
power in any way appearing
to
appreoia.bJy di minish ;
wh
ereas,
on the othe
r
hand
1
I
have
been on
large
r
oars
owing
to the
defect1ve working of the
pump,
the
wa ter was nob oircuJating prope rly, and a considerable
amount of steam was
being
formed.
In
the latter cases
the .POwer fe
ll
off
in a.
very serious
manner, although
the
engme never aotualJy
stopped, as
I
hav
e
seen
it do with
6
4 ·
775
Ftj3
I
4--q-1
I
•
4·01
I
I
·JH
9
I
3 ·91
• I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
3
I
I
0
I
I
I
I
I
Q.
I
I
I
2
•
I
I
I
•
I
•
CO
I
•
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
1
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
i
I
I I
I
•
I
l ~ o q 11 181
TEHPERATURE
21/t
~ : J S
Tb e general res
ult
of these
trial
s is given
in
the
foll
ow
ing
Table
and plotte.d in Fig. 3, in whi ch
the
ordinates
rep resent brake horse-power (which, it will be seen,
un d
er
the best
c
ircum
stances never
exceede
d
abo
ut
4f},
whereas
th
e
abscis
ue r
ep
resent the tEmJ?erature of the water ab
ex it. I ha ve kept the two sen es of boiling off experi
ment
s separate from
the
o
th
er
th r
ee,
hub
the pl
ot
ted
re sults
indi
cate
th
e same general resulb:
Summa
ry
of Tests•
Tr
ial TempP
ra
t
ur
e Tem
perature
Brak e
Horse- Revolution'3.
N
um
be r.
of Ent ry.
of Exit.
Power.
e ~ t F. deg. F.
1
66.2
77.0 4. 775
1086.3
2
6
.4
131.0
4.47 108 0
3
6 4
212.0
3.9 7 903.0
4
212.0 212.0
4.1
·7
925.6
5*
263.4
263.4 3.937
906.0
-
.. With glycerine.
N o ~ . 4
and
5 were boiling-off experiments.
The
general
nature
of these
experiments is immedia
te
ly
obvious, and
indicates a.
falling-off
in br
ake
hor
se-po
wer as
t he temperature rises, the bra ke horse-power betwe en the
two ex tremes of temperature havin
g
fall
en
from 4.
775
to
3.93 a
diminution
of abo
ut
17
per
centa.
Ea ch series of experime
nts
r
ep
resent s, r
ough
ly speak
ing, a l:out ten observations, and conducted as care
fully as i b l e ; bub,
at
the
same
time,
the
difficulties
of m
aintainin
g
uniformly the
t emp erature and
spee
d of
the engine were sufficiently great to make i t undes
ir
ab le
to attempt
to
produ
ce
any mathematical statement from
bhe
se
resu lt
s ; and fur the
r and more e
la
borate experi
ments will be req ui red of r a . t u r ~ taken in conjunc
ti
on
with the actual quantity
of w
ate
r u
sed, before any
definite conclusion
can be
arrived at on this
subject
. I t
is in ter
es t
ing to no te that Mr.
Duga
ld Clerk, i n reply
to
a let ter
from me
as
king
for
information, appears to
ha
ve obtained with
a slow-running
gas
engine blightly
greater ~ f f i o i e n c y ab the hi gh er te
mp
eratures ; b ut, of
course, the foregoing experiments
on
ly deal
with
aotua.l
power
and
not
with
efficien
cy
.
I
have
nob a ttempted
to di
scuss the
actual
cause
or
causes
of the falling·off in p ower as the t emperature of
th
e cy
lind
er r
ises
.
Whether this
is
du
e to
lubricatio
n
difficu lt ies,
or
thinnin g of
the
cy
lind
er lubrica nt to a
po
int
whi ch allows
the
piston
rings to
leak, or whether
due to
heabing
of incom ing
c
harge and
con
seq
uenb w
ea
ken
i
ng
of t he
mixtu
re, wou ld
afford matt
er for
an
in ter
esting
di
scussio
n.
The advances in the const ruct ion of these high-speed
in te
rnal
co
mb us ti
on engines,
and the
rapidly increasing
power whioh is being evolved from
th e
m, warrants
their
careful study. Thus, in the recent Paris-Berlin
ra
ce
there
were
seve
ral
e
ngin
es
up
on
light
mo t
or
vehicles
capable of de
veloping
more
than
5 horse-
power
wit
h,
in one oaEe at least. a. weight of not
more than
10 lb.
per horse power. When it is
remembered
that this is
nob
mer
e
ly
the eq ui
va
le
nt
of
the
s
team
e
ngine
but of
th
e
engine and
b01ler, ib will no doubt be admitted that
any of the points such
as
th e cooling of the cy inde rea,
whic
h is an
essent i
al f
ea tur
e
of the pr
oble
m,
is
worthy
of the attention
of
t his Congress.
7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 72 1901-09-20
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/engineering-vol-72-1901-09-20 43/47
•
THE DORTMUND AND EMS CANAL.*
By HERR
REGIERUNG
S AND BAURA't'H HERMANN.
Concluded
from
pa_qe 379.)
Lo
oks.-
Among these, two
de
3erve
particular noti
ce ;
namely, those a.t Munster and Gleesen, each
with
a fall
of 6.20 metres (20i ft .). Both locks have side ponds, in
order
to economise
the
water required for locking,
and
to
keep
this
quantity
down a.pprox1ma.tely in proportion to
that
required for working
all
the other locks, regardless of
their
higher
falls. Each of these two looks has two pairs
of side ponds built ab different levels. In the case of the-
M Unster look the area of a
pair
of side ponds is one and
a
half
times the
area
of tho look
chamber,
and the saving
of
water
for loo
king amounts to per cent
.
Each pair
of side p o
nds
of the Gleesen look
have
the same area as
the look chamber itself, and the saving in water amounts
to
50 per cent. To save time, however,
the
flow of water
from the side p onds is shut off when a difference of 15
centimetres (6 in .)
is
reached between the water levels in
the looks and the side ponds;
and
the saving in
water is
consequently reduced to about 52 and 47
{>er cent.
respec
tively
during ordinary working. The paus of side ponds
are
arranged symmetrically on
either side
of the centre
line
of
the
look.
The filling and
emptying
of the looks is effected
by
oulverbs, one on either side, formed in the side walls of
the look, and each having a sectional area. of 3.32 square
metres (35 square feet).
Each
culvert
is
connected with
the look chamber
by seven pipe
s,
having
·
an aggregate
se
c
tional
area of 3.71 square metres (40 square feet). They
are oval in section, and open out into the bottom of the
look chamber, a.nd are fixed ab regular intervals
along
the
look. Communication between
the side
pond
and
oul
vert
is
effected
by
cylindrioa, valves of 1.80
metres
(6ft.)
dia
meter.
The connection between the culvert a.nd the
high-level or low·level reach oa.n be shut off by sluice
gates working on
r?llers; the
side
p o ~ d s
can
be
filled _
or
emptied in five mmutes. To
do
t h t t : ~ ,
the
gates, slmoe
gates,
a.nd
cylindrical
valves are
o ~ k e d
by. l e ~ t r i o power.
Electricity is
generated
by
a turbme, wh10h m the case
of the Munster lock
is
driven by
the
water for looking,
flowing from the upper to
the
lower reach. The dy_namos
are
a,gsisted by an accumulator. The gates
are
mrcular
carves in
plan;
h e y
are made
of
steel plates, strengtb.ened
by horizontal g1rders and upright framework. The JUnc-
tion
between the gate and the hollow quoins and pointing
sill
is
made a t e r - t ~ g h t with strips of t i ~ b e r . .
The power requtred to
work
the slmce-gates
shuttmg
off
the
water from the upper
reach is
5.2
horse-power;
to
open the low-level sluice-gates, 3.4 horae-power ;
and to
shut
them
7.2 horse·power; to open or shut the look
gates, 6.7
horse-power;
and to work the cylindrical a l v ~ ,
4.3
horse
-power.
The
same arrangement of culverts With
openings in the
bottom of the lock chamber has also
been
adopted for the 67-metre (220-ft.) locks,
and
the 165-metre
f t ) looks for barge-trains, ~ h i o h
W 3re
built with
vertical side walls to sa.ve water
m
lookmg. The long
locks for
b a . r ~ e - t r a . i n s
along the Ems where the w a ~ e r
used for lookmg not to be r e s t r 1 0 t ~ d ,
has
mass1ve
hea.ds
in
masonry w1th
culverts
formed m
the
walls,
but
their cha.mb9ra h ~ v e sloped sides, p i t c h ~ d with blocks of
basalt. To insure the safety of barges m lock c h a m ~ e r s
with slo.J?ing s ides ,
they
are kept off the slopes by vertical
piles, dr1ven a . l o n ~
the
toe of
the
slopes
and
firmly .bra.?ed
~ o g e t h e r . Experience
has
already
p r o v ~ d that
th1s ptle
work will
require
constant
~ a r e ,
and will be yery co3tly
to wa.intain. The construct10n of the gates
IS
~ h e same
in a.ll the locks. The arrangement of
the s l m c e - ~ a t e s
working on
rollera
is
also
the
sa.me
everywhere
; ?ut
wherever the fall is small, both look-gates and slmce-
gates are worked
by
hand: .
Th e averaS 'e time requued for passmg a barge through
a
short
lock
is
16 minutes; and, .on
the
average, 30
minutea are required for
passmg
a tram of barges
t h r o ~ t g h
one of the long locks, including
in both
cases
the ttme
taken for getting into and out of t ~ e look. .
Weirs and Slwices
In
the cana.hsed Ems the_ water 1s
held up
in
four deep-water rea.?hes by need.le w e t ~ P . The
needles
are pine
spar_s.
9 cet;lbtmetres (3 m.) th10k,
and
each of them is prov
tded
w1th t?e
n e o . ~ s a r y
hooks, by
means of which
it
can be placed m positt?n or removed
independently of the other needles. Th1s a r ~ a n g e m e n b
ma. be recomme
nded,
because
the
gradual
n se of
the
waler allows of ample time to remove the needles one by
onAt Herbrum
there is
a
set
of
six
sluices of metres
(28 fb.) span each. T h e ~ e . were c e s ~ a owmg to the
ne cessity of making pro_vlston f o ~ s h u t t u ~ g out.
the
water
in
the low
er reach, wh10h oocas10na.lly riBes. h1gher
than
the
wat
er-level in the
upper
e a . ~ h . The slmces
work on
r
>
ws of roller
3
,
in
a
manner
s1mdar .to
that
a.do.I?ed on the
Manchester Ship Canal (Stoney s ~ m c e s .
But
m stead of
baing hung on wire ropes,
the
slmoe
ga_tes on
the g.erman
Cd.na.l
are worked by a
raok
and
pmton,
by wh10h
the
downward
movement can
be
better o . n ~ r o l l e d .
.
Stop Gates. For the purpose of d1v.1dmg the canal mto
is
olated reaches, stop gates of an e n t i ~ e l y novel construc
tion have been adopted. I t was constdered necessary to
introduce s
uch
g a ~ e s , because every embankment of any
t h 'ghb lea.dmg through a. valley, fo
rms
a constant
graa
eft d"n'
ger.
and it was originally
thought advisable
source
o .. ' · b k t b 1 ·
t o isolate such lengths on high em an men s y acmg
self-acting
stop-gates a.t every change from cuttmg to
bank
so that at the moment of d_anger
the
gates should
' "·
lly
confine
the emptymg
of
the
ca
nal
to
the
a.utomautca. A h
the
reach i n t e r c e p t t between two gate3.
a,
owever, .
test care was subsequently bestowed upon ma.kmg
f h : ~ e very
length
s perfectly secure, regardless of any
* p per r
ea
d before the
In t
ernational Engineering
C
a Glasgow 1901
Section
I I
: Waterways and
n ~ r e s ' ·
M.1r1 time W ork3.
•
•
•
E N G I N E E R I N G.
expenditure
that
might thereby be incu
rred, and a.s
·the
method of
construction
proved entirely successful, there
was
no
longer any
ne
cessity for stop-gates for the isolation
of these lengths.
Yet,
to provide additional security,
stop-gates
were
pub
in everywhere in conformity
with
the
original scheme; but
it
was
no
longer considered neoes
S<.t.ry
to make them self-acting. The
purpose
for which
the stop-gates
on
the Dortmund and Ems Canal were
adopted was to
be
able to isolate a canal reach
in the
shortest possible time, with a. small expenditure of motive
power. When nob in use,
they
were nob
to
interfere
in
any way with the navigation. On future
canal
exten
sions, especially
on
reaches of great uninterrupted
length,
stop
-gates will most probably be placed systematically ab
regular
intervals, say about 10 kilometres 6k miles) apart.
Besides
their
value
in
preventing
serious accidents,
and
their ordinary use in dividing the
canal
into short
rea
ches,
when.in oase of repairs they make
it
possible to
run
off the
water from such a
short
reaoh, stop-gates will also be
found useful
on
very lo
ng and almost straight
stretches
of canal, because in sucli a case
they
can be used for
breaking the swell
pr
oduced by strong winds blowing
along
the oa.nal. Under special conditions, during strong
gales, there is a poss
ibility
of
the
level of the surfaca of
the
water being ra ised as much as a. centimetre
in
a kilo
metre ( t in. in a mile). The c:
msequen
ces of thi s
might
be serious, and its occurrence should be avoided if pos
sible. Another reason for dividing long stretches of
canal
into short lengths
is
for the better control of
the
water level
in
individua.l reaches ab
the time
of heavy
downpours
and fl
oods, when
any
dangerous
ri
se in
the
water
level caused
by natural
drainage can be
prevented by draining off the surplus water from
the ca
nal. At th e site selected for a stop-gate, the
canal was enclosed
between
two parallel vertical w a l l ~ ,
leaving a passage 18 metres (59 ft.) wide
between
them.
This passage
is
closed by a
curved
steel gate,
consisting of a single skin stiffened a ~ d strengthened b_y
a. suitable
fra.mewo
tk. When not m
use, the
gate 1s
swung
out
of
the
water (round a horizo ntal axis),
and
stretches like a hood
or
shield across
t h ~
a ~ e formed
by
the two
parallel
walls, and ab a suffi01enb height above
the water to give the necessary headway for b a . r ~ e s p tss
ing underneath. t is moved by two arms restmg on a
pair
of trunnions revolving
in
bearings
bedded in the
side
walls.
The arms
are prolonged downwards, and
oscillate in
slits
in the side walls
and
carry counterweights,
which automatically change their positions while the gate
is
being
swung round, and thus control it s movement.
When the
gate is being opened or
shut, the
whole mass
in
motion is always
in perfect
eq Jilibrium every pos
i-
tion the
gate
may assume.
Vanous
experiments were
made with
these
gates, which
gradually
led to a
m_or
e
and more simple construction of the a p p a r a t u : ~ , u ~ t 1 l a
form was finally
arrived
ab of both gate and ma.ohmery
for moving
the same
that perform
in
a satisfactory manner
the work for which they were designed.
The stop-gates and the machinery for working them
were made by the Gute Hoffnungshlibte of ~ k r a d e .
Eaoh stop-gate is closed by
an
a t t e n d a n ~ , who
hves
on
the
spot, and is
bound
to
shut the ~ a t ~
Immedtately
rece
iving
a
warning signa
l,
by
~ h e
rmgmg
of
an ~ l ~ c ~ r 1 c
bell, from the inspecting officer m. chat:ge of t h ~ adJOtmng
canal section. Culverbs are prov1ded m the stde walls of
each stop-gate, by means of which ib is possible to adjust
the level of
the
water in
the
two reaches separated b y
the
gate.
Culve
rts and
Syphons.
The watercourses crossing the
canal
where it
was nob possible to divert them or lead
their water
into the
canal, were carried under
the
canal,
either
with their
~ b t o m levels
unaltered
wherever there
was enough
headway
to do s
o, or
otherwise in syphons.
U p to 0 90 metre (3 ft. ) diameter the
p ~ p e s
u n ~ r the
a ~ a . l
are of ca
st
iron. and beyond. hat SJZ9 of r1veted
mtld
steel pla.te3.
The
a.rgesb
dtameter.
was 1.3 metre s
(4
ft.
5 in.). Acoordmg to
the quantity
of. water t? be
discharged, th ere were ~ e v ~ r a l pipes latd stde
by
s1de;
in one case as many as Six ptpes.
The larger-sized brooks are carried through ~ a l l e d cul
v e r t : ~ . The largest of these culverts
ha
s a seob10n_al area.
of 59
square metres
(635 square feet), and carnes th e
River
Em3cher under the canal. These walled culverts
were carried out
with
the utmo3b c a r ~ , both as
r e g a r ~ s
materials
and
workmanship.
Th
e
shghtest
neglect m
this respeob ma.y lea1 to serious interruptions of traffic.
When
any slow-setting mortar is used for
the
masonry,
no water is
allowed
to
a ~ s
t h r o u ~ h
the culverb 0 :1
any
account, not even temporarily durmg the
c o n s t r u ~ b 1 ? n
of
the works if as in the case of syphons, the water IS hkely
to exerb upward pressure against the arched roof, unless
there is a. sufficient
weight
of ea.rth and wat
er
above the
arch to counteract the upward pressure.
Water Supply for the
O a n a l . - I ~
calculating the_ quan
tity of water required for feedmg the canal, _1t was
assumed that
the
loss of water _t
hr
ough eva.pora.t10n and
percolation would amount to 8
htres
per second ~ o r
every
kilometre
of
canal
(2.83 gallons
per
se.cond
per
mtle) . A;t
the
outset,
af ter the canal had been open for traffic, th s
lvss was found to be 10.4litre3 (3.68 gallons) or 1.56 cub10
metres (343 gallons) for 150 kilometres 9 3 ~ miles) of
canal
in round
figures. 'fo this
quantity had
to be added
the
amount lost through looking
at
t ~ e ~ n d lock. T h ~ total
amount thus required for replemshmg the
canal
IS ~ u p
plied by a. pumping station on the b a n ~ s of the R_1ver
Lippe,
where
the feed wd.ter has to be rai s 3 d to a. hetght
of 15.75
me t
res (51§ fb .).
the
present t1me there are
three
centrifugal
pump3
d ~ 1 y e n
by
steaf: l power,
ea
oh
pump being
capable of ra1smg ~ . 8 8 . cubic
metres
(194
gallons) per second. Each pump 1s dnven by a ~ 0 0 horse
power engine. Although two pumps are suffi01ent to do
the
ordinary work, it is proposed
_to
set
up
a fourth pump
of the
same
size as
the
others, m o r ~ e r
to
ha.ve am_ple
pumping
pow
er
in reserve for
all
poss1ble oontmgen01es,
•
[SEPT. 20, I 9 r.
in case there should be
an
extraordinary call upon the
pumping power, as, for example, in case of having to refill
long lengths of canal which, for some or other, had
to be emptied. Besides
the
water
supplied by
the pumps,
the canal is also fed Ly natural wa tercouraes, which it ha.s
been possible
to
utilise for that ·purpose. Although
the
area naturally drained by these
waterc
ourses only amounts
to
about
60 square
kilometres
(23.17
square
miles),
whi
ch
is
comparative
ly
small, the water derived from this supple
mentary source forms a valuable
addition
to the quantity
which has
to
be
pumped.
t may be assumed that, on
the average, for four months in the year the quantity
supplied by
these
watercourses is sufficient t o keep the
canal replenished without pumping. During exce
pt i
o
n-
ally
wet seasons especially
they
a . r ~ able to
in
crease con
siderably
the
volume of
water
whi
ch can be
stored
in
the
canal
to make up for any deficiency in the supply during
the dry season.
Thi
s oan be done by raising the water
level 50 centimetres in.)
in
the two long reaches of
67
and 37 kilometres (41} and
23
miles)
resp
ectively. The
summit reach, the water level of which
is
70 metres
(230
fb
.) above zero,
i3
fed from the main reach
by
two
pumps, each of which can raise 250 litres (55.3 gallons) per
second. On
an
average, during
the
summer
m o n b h t : ~
the
water
lo
st
from the canal
through
evaporation
and
per
colation amounts
to
a depth of 27 millimetres (1.063 in. )
daily. As the greatest total loss by evaporation amount3
to 22.3
centimetres
(8g in.) during the month of August,
that is, 7.2 millimetres lr in. ) per day, this lea.ves abo
ub
20
millimetres (t in.) per day for
the
amou nt lost
by
pe
r-
colation per da.y;
whi
ch quantiby,
it
is
expe
cted, will
diminish as the canal gets more and more watertight in
the natural course.
tf-let
s I n order to drain off any surplus wate r tbab
may
find
its
way into
the
oa.nal during extraordinary
hea.vy rains, off-lets have been provided in suitable places,
the positions of which have been fixed wi
bh
due regard to
the situations of the stop-gates. The off-let of the
largest
size
on th
e
midland
reach can
di
scharge 13 cubic
metre3
(2861
gallons) per second from
the
canal into the
River
Ems. All the off-lets together oan drain off
27 cubic
metres
(5492 gallons)
per
second from the canal.
The large off-let on the
midland
reach, in c o n j u n c ~ i o n
with the two stop-gates provided there, proved very
useful on the occasion of a breach of
the bank in
1899.
With
their hel.J? it was found possible to lower quickly
the water level m the rea.ch lying between the two stop
gates in question, having a length of 11kilometres (7 miles),
sufficiently to prevent a
ny
serious dam
age
, as the flow
from the breach could be s t o p ~ e d in a comparatively
short time.
t
was found posstble to
do
this
with
out
drawing off
any
water from the reaches lying beyond ·
the stop-gates.
Canal
P orts
.-There
are ma.ny ports along the ca.na.l
for the interchange of traffic. There are large ports at
the
commencement of the canal at
Dortmund,
and at
its
termination
ab
Emden. Dortmund has spent
5
million
marks
(27
5,
OOOl.) on establishing a port suita.ble for every
kind of traffic. The port is e ~ p e c i a l l y well
equipped
with
the necessa
ry
appliances for loading coal on a large scale.
Before
the
end of this year Emden will be connected with
the
sea
by a.
well-lighted
channel10 metres
(33 H.) deep
at
high
water.
To enable large sea-going vessels to load
and unload tha.t cannot pass th rough
th
e lock on account
of their deep draught, extensive quays and wharves have
been constructed outside
the
lock, with electric
coa.l
tips,
goods sheds, and railway branch lines
and
sidings. In
the inner harbour, with a. depth of water of 6.5 me£res
(21 ft.), there a r ~ e x t e n ~ i v e quaJ:S and wharves
whi
ch·
will accommodate mdustna.l esta.bhshments of every de
scription.
Bonded
warehouses also are to be construobed
shortly in
the
outer
harb
our. Besides these
tlwo
large
ports a. dock has been constructed
at
Miins
ter
800 metres
{2625 ft .) long by 60 metres (197f t.)
a . v e ~ a g e
width. There
is also a. large port at the
Herne
termmus of
the
canal.
The
boats at Dortmund and MUnster have been builb
with a.
Government subsidy, but are worked
by
the muni
cipa.lities of the two towns. There
are
also ports
at Leer
and Pa.penburg for the accommodation of the sea-going
trade. The other ports, especially
the
greater pa.rt of
the
smaller ports along
the
canal,
are
fiscal establishments.
Th
ese ports, or
rather
wha.rves, are formed by widening
out the canal on one side
ab
the·
point
s in question
by
a.bont 10 metres (33ft.) for one or more
boat
-lengths. To
provide
berbhage for from four to
eight
vessels, tria.ngula.r
shaped basins have been hollowed out,
in
which ships
ca.n
be swung round.
Private
owners also are permitted
to establish such wharves
or
docks, with Government
sanction and no charge is made for loading or unloading
cargoes any of these pr iv
ate
landing-places. At
a :U
public quays and wharves a charge of t ~ o , f o ~ r , or s1x
pfennig (.24d., .48d., and . 72d.) per
ton
lev ed
on
all
cargoes, according
to
the
thre
e classes of tar1ff.
No
vessel
is allowed to load or unload anywhere else along the canal,
except ab a. wharf or
in
port.
Co
sT.
Th e law authorising the con
st
ruction of the oan<.t.l
sanctioned an expenditure of 64.68 mil lion marks
(3,23 ,000l) for the canal. By .a. supplementary g ~ d . n t
thi s sum wa.s sub3equently ra.tsed to 79.43 mtlhons
(3 971
500l.)
The
firsu
grant
was sanctioned
in
1886,
the
w ~ r k 'was
begun in 1893.
and
on August 11, 1899, the
ca.nal was opened by the Emperor.
The various items of expenditure was in round figures
as und e
r :
Purchase
of land
. . . . . .
Eu tbwo rks and slopes . . . .
Maint . nanoe during co n
struc-
t on
. . . . . . . .
Looks, bridges, & . . . . .
Subsidiary
works,
porliB,
&c. . .
Reservoirs, pumps,
&o
. .• . .
Marks.
£
8.2
million
= 410,000
23.4 • "
=
1,170,000
1.S
22 .8
5.8
1.1
•
= 66,000
= 1,140,000
= 265,000
=
65,000
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432.
give
a vessel
armed with
th is weapon, how to
th
ese qualities in these
fast
little pinnaces, with a
to utilising them in
connection
with torpedo work.
The ' 'double-rudder turnabout
boat
was evolved
and
t
e
nt
ed by
Mr.
White; and in 188l ·2 a single-
sc
rew 48-ft.
o
at fitted
with
th i
s sys tem was purchased by the Go vern
and
formed part of
the
boat equipment of H .M.S.
in
her first
commission.
The
d ie
ct
of th e turnabout principle is remarkable,
is readily appreciated by tho3e who witness
the
ss
of a boat so fitted ab all rates of
speed
ejther
or te rn.
To reduce the comparison of boats fitted with ordinary
and those fitted
with
dou b le-
balanced
rudders,
form
tho
turnabout principle,
to
figures, we will
the following records:
Type
of
Boat. Ordinary.
Turnabo
ut.
Length of
boat...
48 ft. 56ft.
Engines
... .. . Single-screw, Single.screw
full
power
To St arbd. Porb.
Angle o£ rudder 40 deg. 40 deg. 45
deg.
Full circle time
..
1 m. 2l s. 1 m. 19 s.
28
s. 37 s.
Number of revo-
lu tions per circle 508 456
Diameterof circle 170 yard:J 153
yards
182 177
126ft .
Thus the shorter ordinary boat wis
hing
to turn a. circle
full power requires four times
the
room to turn in, and
ccupies more
than twice
as
long a.
time in turning
than
the turnabout boat.
The next
departure
(in 188
3)
was to increase the length
the 48-fb. b :>
ats
to 56 fb., and
the beam
to 9 fb. 6
in.
these dimensions bring us to the
present day,
as the 56-ft.
vedette boat
is
the largest boat carried by first-class ships
ow
), the
double-rudder
system
was
retained, a single
rcrew
was fitted.
In
December,
1883, one of these 56-ft. boats was offi·
tried
on
the
me
as
ured mile
in
Stokes Bav; th
e
indicated
horse-power devel
ope
d
wa
s 142,
and
the
speed
15.562 knots, with 385 revolu
tions
p er minute, the boiler
pressure was 125 lb.
per
square inch,
and the air
pressure
in
stokehold
2.
75 in . of water. rhe coal carried was 6 w ~ .
This class of
boat
was known in 1883 as Torpedo
Boats wood. They were fitted
with
side dropping gear
for
Whitehead
t o r p e d o e ~ , and
with their relatively high
speed and extreme
handin
ess were not to be despi
se
d
when taking
part
in a night attack.
Torpedo warfare was
now attracting
r e a t interest, and
the steel second-class torpedo-boats built
by Me
ssrs.
Y arrow and Thornycroft were
designed
to form part of
the
steamb
oat equipment of
the
firsb.class ironclads, of
special
torpedo
dep
Ot ships, and cruisers of the Lea
nder
type. These little craft, weighing aboub 12 to 14 tonll,
were hois
ted
in to
the
ships, to which th ey were attached
by
means of s p e c i a . l l y - a r r a . ~ g e d denicks and a ~ · hoisting
engines, and were stowed m crutches on each stde of the
funnel casing.
Steel
torpedo-boabs, however, rapidly
in
creased
in
. s ize
and speed,
and
were deemed c&pa.ble of accom a n y m ~ a.
fleet ab sea. · and as the second -class bo3.bs were nob Butt
able for the'general
work
of
the
sh ips to which they were
attached. they
were gradually discarded as p a r ~ of the
boat equipment, and wooden boats are c a r n e ~ mstead;
these aro better sea. boats, are all-round workmg boats,
and can do the
special
se
rvice
for which
the second-class
boats were intended .
The derricks and boat-hoisting engines origin ally pro
vided for the steel second-cla
ss
torpedo-boats have been
retained and developed, and are now
fitted
to
all cla <
ses
of ships carrying heavy b
oa
ts. , . . .
The experimental
'·torpedo-b
oat wood havmg JUSti
fied her construc bon, the title was allowed to
drop
out
as reaards boats carried by ship3 ; and as ships increa
se
d
in the 56-ft. dimensions was
retained, and the
boats
included under the head of Vedette B o a ~ s . .
From 1883
onward,
the progress
mnd
e m manne engi
neering
and
shipbuilding has been reflected on
the
de
signs
of the small crafo under review. Obanges have
gradually been made in . t be 56-ft . boa:t de
sig
n, the hulls
have been modified, a
nf i
e
-pr
oof c o n n m ~ tower ha:s ~ e e n
fitted forward,
the
side ai r-casings.
<?r
hfeboa:t
pr m
mple
hag been abolished, and the boats
d1v1d
ed up m.to
water
tight
compartments by bulkh
eads.
The
e ~ g m ~ s
and
boilers
are cased over,
and the
boat deck
ed
m r1ght ~ f t
to
the cockpit. The i ~ d i c ted h<?r
se
-power has been m
creased, water-tube boilers sub3t1tuted for ~ h e locomo
tive
ty pe,
and
a.s a result the 56-ft. s e ~ V I c e vede_tte
boat of
to
-day will travel
at
16
kf?-ots, whtle
developmg
250 indicated horae-power, carrymg a. load of twelve
persons
and with
25 cwb. of coal m t h ~ b u n k r ~ : .
The w ~ i g h t
of
ma
c
hinery with steam up
bemg 7. tons
15
cwt.
The turnabout principle has r e t a m
and this very fast handy
type
of boat m1ght easily
be called
the hansom cab
of
the
fl
eet , as
com
pared with the next size, the ~ s e f u h ~ r d w o r k m g , four
whee
le r
40-fb. pinnace.
This
boat
lB
a dead o o d . b o ~ t
as distinct
from
a turnabout , .has
a.
spemfied mdt
cated
hors
e-po
wer
of 75, and
obtams
a speed of aboub
:t knots. . d f ft
E N G I N E E R I N G.
barge for
the
Admiral Cv
mmander-in
-Chief, unless the
flagship has
no
boat-hoisting
derrick,
as
in
second-ola.ss
cruisers, when a 32-ft. barge only
is carried.
The barges
are more
ornamental
than the
pinnaces, and
have
no
armament fitbings. The other
standard
'3team
boa.ts are the 32-ft. cutters and 32-fb. barges, 27-ft. cutters
and
23-ft. cutters. Th ese, from
the
32·fb. boats down
wards,
greatly
resemble the 32·ft . lifeb
oat
pinnace
built
in 1867 : except
that
the lif
eboat
princ
iple
IS nob always
followed, although
the
steamboats of
the
new
' 'Vict
oria
and
Albert
are
on
the old
lines,
and
lifeboats
through
oub.
The surveying boats are also
li f
e
boats.
The
machinery
of
the
vu.rious sizes of
boats
has been
brought up to date, the engines compounded, a pipe sur
face
condenser
fitted outside the boats and a fan worked
by
a steel spring belt from
the
main
engines
disc
harges
air
into
the asbpits. The boilers
are
of much the same
type as the 1867 b o a t ~ , but, working in
conjunction
with
condensed water, are more efficient
and
last longer
than
in the old
high-pressure
days.
The noi
se
of the funnel
exhaust,
togebher with its
occasional shower of sooty waber from
the
top of
the
funnal, a
re
things of the pas
t.
The
establi
shment of boats of the various classes of
ships in the British
Navy
is as follows:
-
Pinna.ces.
Buges
.
O
uttera.
I I -
56 F t.
40 Ft
.
tO
F t. 32 F t. 32 F t.
27
F t. Z3 F t.
---- ·--1 ----
:
---- - - - -
1
Fi rat-class battle-
ships .. ..
First-class battle
ships,
if
flngship
First-classcruisers
,
if flagship
..
Second-class
crui
·
sers .. . .
Second-class crui-
sers, if flagship
Third-class crui ser
Torpedo
-gunboat
Sloops . . . .
Surveying ships
..
2
2
1
1
• •
..
• •
}
••
I
1
1
1
1
••
•
•
• •
• •
• •
1
1
• •
••
1
••
1 1
• •
••
• •
1
•
• • •
••
• •
1
• •
•
•
• •
1
I
With the construction in this country of warships for
foreign navies,
the
question of equipment of steamboats
is brought forward,
and
we find the Japanese
Navy
adopting
two
16 -knot
56- fb.
vedette boats and an
open boat, as the stea
mb
oat equ ipment for b ~ e ba ttleship
Mika
sa, building at Barrow
by
Messrs. Vtcker3,
So
ns,
and
Maxim.
The Russian
Governmen
t require
tw
o 56 -ft. ved
et
te
boats and two
40
-fb. pinnaoes for a vessel
building
for
them in France. These four boats
are
of sbeel, and very
fully
equipped
.
The
r i a n Government use a 47-fb. wooden turn
about
bo
at
with a
speed
of 11
knot
s,
and are
now a
dopt·
ing a specially fast wooden vedette
boat
56 ft . in length.
In
connection
with
the
vessels
recently built by Mes
srs.
Armstrong,
Mitchell,
and Co. for
the
Japanese
Navy,
four 56-ft. vedette boo..ts were
required.
Messrs. Armstrong,
being
always
in
the front
where
speed is
wanted, asked
us to cons
id
er
the
possibility of
gtv ing
th ese four boats a s
peed
of 1 7 ~
knots under
certain
specified c o n ~ i t i o n s .
These reqmred ca reful look ing into, and
the
final design
bec
ame
a
56
-
ft
. boat,
with
a
ram
bow which increased
the
water-line length about 9 in.
The hull was very carefully lightened consistent with
durabili
ty where possible,
and
the total
weight
of
ma
chi
ne r
y kept down to 8 tons. The engine
wa-s
c0mpound,
with ;
1
8 cylindera; a water-tube boiler of our own
ty pe, with a working pressure of 190 lb., was fit ted....
Oa our own private tr ial the boat gave us an exhibttton
of
speed
that we
sca
rcely hoped for, viz.,
1 9 ~
knots . The
engines devel
ope
d 320 indicated horse-power
ab
565 revo·
lutions without vibration.
A series of progressive trials
were carried out with
this
first boat, the results of which
are plotted
on
the_
curve
a t tached on the official trials of the four boats, wtbh the
]o
a.d
conditions
as
specified,
the
means
result:J were
as
follo
w:
I
I
Indicated
Revolu·
ll
orse·
Speed.
Date.
t ioos.
Power.
-
-
Nos 1
..
548
297
18.322
May 2, 1900.
•
•
May 2. 1900.
2 ..
510
297
18.1
• •
18.25
June 6, 1900
3 ..
538
302
••
June 6, 1900.
4 ..
643
292
18.32
• •
Th ese four bo
1.t
s are,
we
b9lieve, the fastest vedette
bo
ats
in
the
world. .
We are building a similar boat for the Au sbr1an Govern
ment;
this
will s
hortly
be compltted, and
we
anticipate
equally satisfactory results.
[SEPT. 20, I 901.
nection with
the
ship
and
boat -
building
shops)
in
the
direct ion of
their Quick
revolution electric light ma
chinery; a la ter development of which
is
closing in the
engine
and a . p p l y i n ~ forced lubrication to the bearings,
with
a view
to
runnmg
for long
periods
a.t
a high number
of revolutions without excessive wear and
tear.
This
class of machinery is doing its work satisfactorily for
electric
light
ste.tioas
and
on shipboard;
and
now a.
30-knot torpedo -boat
destroyer,
built by the Palmar Ship
bu ilding Com{>any, of Jarrow-on -
Tyne,
fitted with a
forced lubricatiOn sys tem, and
with
engines closed in, is
about to be officially tried in the Solent.
We have looked into this olass of mac
hinery
for the fast
ve
dette
boats, and
have
a design ready for use ;
but
as we
are already running up
to
560 revolutions wibh
a.n
open
engine,
it
will
probably
be some t ime before this number
will
need
to
be
increased ;
and
as
the
matter
of wear
and
te
ar is
hardly
one
which
se
riously affects boats
with
small .
coal supply and rnnning shorb t r i p ~ ,
it
becomes a q ues
tion
whether it is necesPa.ry to close
in
a. small engine and
rnA.k
e
ib
less access
ible
for examination.
rhe Admiralty bo3.ts are
all
builb of ~ k , and un.
doubtedly this
is
a. most serviceable wood for
all
con
ditions
of service and exposure to tropical weather;
but
in a11 the
early
boats mahogany was invariably u
se
d,
and we now prefer
it
for high-speed boats, as it m a k ~
size for size, a lighter hull, and may be considend, for
all
practical
purp
oses,
equally
durable.
s an
instance
of this, a. g entleman who had come into
possession of one of our old boats, built of m 1hogany
30 years ago, recently asked us to fit new machinery to
her as the hull was perfectly sound.
I a.m afraid this
pap
er must seem, to many of the gentle
men pre
se
nt who
are
occupied
with large undertakings,
rather of the order of Jight literature; bub when we con
sider that ib is
in
these
fast small craft that future
Admirals
who may command enormous fleets first
gain
their experience (as
Mid
sh ipmen of a. boat ) of inde
pe
ndent
command,
and learn
to
handle
a vessel
under
st
eam,
often in
very close quarters, the
subject
is not.
an
unimportant one
and this
37
years'
work, developmg
from a
7-knot
27-fb. steam lifeboat cutter to a. 19 knot
66 -ft. vedette boat, has given an up -to -date steamboat
equipment, and
the opportunity
to
:provide for young
Naval officers the best possible school m which to lay the
foundation of those q u a l i t i ~ of nerve and rapidity_of
thought and
a-ction so essential
to
the successful carrymg
out of Naval operations.*
LAUNCHES AND TRIAL TRIPS.
ON Saturday,
the
_ 1st ul t., Messrs. R. qra.ggs and Sons
launched from their dockyard, Mtddlesbrough, a
st e
el cargo steamer named the Darendrechb,
and
measur
ing 341 ft. 3 in. in length over ~ 1 1 47 fb. beam, and
28 ft.
in
. depth moulded.
The
machinery will ba
fitted by
Ri
chat:dsons, .W estg_arth, and . ~ . ,
Limited, the ~ m d e r s bemg 24 m. 38 m., ai?-d 64 m. m
diameter by 42 m. stroke, steam bemg supphed by two
extra large boilers
working at
a
pre
ssure of 160 lb.
to
the
equare inch.
Mes
sra. Ramage and
Ferguson, Limited,
shipbuilders,
Leith
have just completed the twin-
sc
rew t u ~
Helen
Peele: for the service of the Royal National Lifeboab
Institution ab Padstow, Cornwall.
The
has been
builb to the plans
and
under the superintendence of Mr.
G. L. Watson, naval architect:, G l ~ g o w and
is
of _the
follow ing dimensions : L ength, 95ft.; breadth, 19 fb. 6 m.
and depth
moulded, 11
fb.
6 in. The machinery consists
of
two
sets of compound surface-condens
ing
engineEI,
with cylinders 11 in. and 22 in.
in
diameter by 15 in.
stroke steam
being s
upplied by
a boiler working
at
100 lb.'
pr
essure. On the trial trip in the
Firth
of F o r ~ h
the guarant
eed
speed
was exceeded by one knot. Oa.ptam
Nepea.n chief
insp
ector of
lifeb
oats, represe
nted the
Royal National Lifeboat In
st
itution
at
the trials.
•
ARGENT
INE RAILWAY
S.-An electric tramway
is
aboub
to be const ructed from Quilnes to Buenos Ayres by
Messrs.
Bemberg
and Oo. The line will be
ab
out
miles in length.
THE Suxz CAN AL.
-The tran
sit revenue collected by the
Suez Canal
Company
in
the
first e ight months of this
year was 2.671,394 l. , as compared wi th , 3 6 1 , 5 1 ~ l . in
correspo
nding
period of 1900. Th e num
ber
of shtp3 wh10h
passed through the c11
nal to
.August
31
,
this _yea
r,
'Ya
s
2438, as compared with 2266 m the correspondmg penod
of 1900.
B U
EN
OS AyRESGnEAT Sou•rHRRNR AILWAY.- The Buenos
Ay res Great Sout he
rn
R a . . i ~ way Ooml?a.ny,
~ i m i t e
is
pu
s
hing
forward work as
a p t d ~ y
as
o s s i b l ~
9n 1ts P r m ~ l
extension ,
but there is
now httle
pr
obab1hty of the hne
being opened to Pringles by the close of the year. T ~ e
line is expected, however, to be to Fortm
Pavin Station and perhaps beyond, m ttme for the
.
wheat traffic of the commg season.
•