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Nov. I, 1901.]

LITERATURE. The La w of Contract3. A Te;ct-Book for Tcchnioal School3

of E11gineering and Archi tectttre. By JOHN 0AS8AN W A t'r, M. C. E., LL. B. New York : J obn Wiley and Sons ; L ")ndon : Cba.pman and Hall, Limited.

Tal · is an Atuerica.n book, written primarily for young members of the industrial professions, and with a. view of cultivating a proper understanding and appreciation of business and business relations. It will be of interest to English readers as showing the sirrularity of the American laws to our own, and also the wide differences which exist in spite of that general similarit.y.

The book is di\•id~d into three parlP, which may usef u1ly be regarded separately. Part I. dea.Js with the law of contracts in gen eral, and is more or less an introductvry text- book: a resume of the principles underlying all contracts. Part IL deals with more strictly engineering and works contracts, and it is this part which will be of most use to American and of most interest to English students. Part Ill. de~ls with t he duties and liabilities of engineers and architects to their employers.

\Vi th regard to Part I., Mr. Wait has Jittle to say which is new to the r eader of any good English text-books , such as tho~ e of Sir William An son or Sir Frederick Po1lock. The American law being founded so much on our own, it is more useful, perhaps, to note the points of difference than those of resemblance. In considering the contrac­tual capacities of parties, the English law is more stringent in regard to contracts made by infants than the American : in England all contracts made by infants, other than contracts for necessaries, are made void by statute, with few exceptions; in America it seems that the old common law rules still apply, and an infant's contracts are not void, but merely voidable unless ratified when the infant attains his majority.

The law of agency is dealt with comparatively fully, and to the English mind the American doctrine as to implied authority seems to open the door to ~isdealing rather widely. "Authority," says Mr. Wait, "cannot be implied from business relations." (Sec. 38.) A contractor enters into relations with the officer of a company, for instance, at his peril, and even the combined assent of a director, the engineer, the company's land com­mittee and a shareholder do not make the contract valid. The lot of the contractor to a company in Ame-rica is an unenviable one, if the company may throw over the contract on the ground that the secretary had no power to enter into it. The English law, while giving sufficient protection to the companies, has settled that where a company holds out or permits a person to appear as their agent, they are bound by his acts as such, even though he be informally appointed, with regard to persons dealing with him in good faith. The general tendency in fact, of the American law seems to be to throw less resp on sibility on corporations, especi­ally municipalities, and more on cont.r!actors. The object aimed at- the public good- is a laudable one, but it may be doubted whether the means employed will not rather tt-nd to carelessness and irresponsi­bility on the part of the corporations, t.han to in­creased economy and eJliciency.

Upon the question of the liaLility of unincorpo­rated bodies the American law happily seems to agree with the principles lately Jaid down by the HouEe of Lords in the case of the Taff V ale Rail­way Company v. the Amalgamated Society of Rail-1vay Servant~, a case which excited a good deal of comment at the time, but which in reality only applied logically principles which were well esta­blished in the common law.

Another maxim of the English common law which seems to have recei\·ed considerable extension in America is that laid down, so long ago as 1788, by Ashurst, J., in the case of Russell v. the Men of Devon. "It is better, " said that judge, "that an individual should sustain an injury than that the public should suffer an inconvenience., .And this rule has been so developed that even the hone~t mistake of a public officer m~y leave a conb actor without a remedy ; and a duty has been imposed on him of watching or knowing t!le deliberations of the corporation for which he works on pain of finding himself unable to obtain payment for his work if there has been any irrPgularit.y in its pro­ceedings. It may, in passing, be noticed that the American law with r egard to Sunday contracts is far more stringent than our own, though whether

E N G I N E E R I N G. 6or

it is any the more a dead letter is a matter of doubt. tions by the engineer, it would have its ~ood. side. Mr. Wait does not seem to be quite clear as to the This is a point the importance of whiCh 1s. not real doctrine of adequacy of consideration for con- enough insisted on by Mr. Wait. Much t1me, tracts . He says truly that, in the a.hEence of fraud, trouble, temper, and often litigation,. would be the parlies themseh es are left to judge of the r~la- saved if consulting engineers and arch1tects drew tive value of the considerations which they fur- up specificativns more carefuJly _and fully. r_r:he nish ; but, he continues, if the agreement be s uch absurdity of one contractor tendermg for one-thu_d 1 hat the consideration cannot possibly be eq uiva- or one-quarter the price of another, for what 1s lent to ~ho prollJise, the contrac~ will not hold. supposed to be the same work, would ~lso . be Now, unless tho Roman Law doctrines as to con- avoided. Again, from the form of speCificatiOn s ideration have got gr,.fted into the American law, g iven on page 144 (13) it seems that the contra~t or which is improbablo, this is not so. A grossly JS r equired to make personal inspection of the SltP, inadequate consideration may be, and often iR, &c., of proposed works, so as to satisfy himself p1'imct .fucie evidence of fraud or duress in the of the accuracy of the specification as far as pos­making of the contract, but the common law has sible. This is not usual here, but is a legitimate never on~rthro " n a contract simiJly on the ground development of the tendency, noted above, to of inadequate consideration. Again, it is surely r~lieve municipalities of respon~ibility and its con­erroneous to say t hat a consideration is implied sequences. The requirement o~ a cheque on a sta~e in a contract under seal : a contract under seal or national bank accompanymg the tender 1s without consideration is valid, not because a another instance of this, and is, of course, not the consideration is implied, but because no con- r.ustom here, where the only deposit required from sideration is necessary in contracts under seaL the contractor is in payment for the drawings and An interesting point is raised in Section 76 as specification. to contracts for patented processes. Suppose a It seems a pity that the frequent cautions against contractor has tendered to certain specifications canvassing by engineers, or permission by him to and drawings which, unknown to him, are of the contractor to alter his estimate, and other acts patented manufactures. If he is stopped by the of this nature, should be necessary. But if they patentees obtaining an injunction while the work is are, it cannot be said that Mr. Wait insiats on in progress, has he any retnedy against his em- them any too strongly. · ployer '? On first principles it would seem not, since The third part of the book under notice the contractor's work was in itself illegal ; but Mr. deals with the employment of engineers and Wait seems to think the question doubtful. architects; and though it does not contain much

In Chapter IV. there is again some slight con- that is novel, it yet seta forth the relations existing fusion between the necessity of a· fact's existence to between engineers and their employers, their re­make a valid contract and the difficulty of proving spective rights and liabilities, clearly and in the such existence. Mutuality, as is well known, is main concisely. On page 200 we find the following : necessary to establish contractual relations. The '' An employe may have a right of action against a parties mu~t be in substantial agreement when third person who maliciously procures his discharge, the contract is made. But it is hardly correct to though the emr,loyer violates ·no legal duty in dis­say that the "mental state signifies nothing ; it re- charging him. ' This is directly contrary to the quires manifestation." True, it is difficult, may be doctrine laid down by the House of Lords in Alien impossible, to prove a mental state wi:;hout mani- v. Flood, and cannot be brought into the exceptions festation ; but, as was said in an old case, the state to this doctrine, to speak popularly, introduced by of a man's mind is as much a matter of fact as the the later recent case of Quinn v. Leathem. state of his digestion, only more difficult to prove. Briefly, the English law at present is as follows : The mental state is the essential ine-redient of Boycotting is illegal, but a mere intimation by one mutuality. ~ man to an employer that if a certain employe is

The difference between English and American not dismissed the rest of the employes will strike, law is again exemplified in the difference of doctrine does not give the employe a right of action against as to the acceptance of a contract by letter. The the first party if the employer dismisses him. It English doctrine and that adopted in many parts of appears from the judgments of Lord Halbury and the States is that by maJring an offer by post the Lord Lindley in Quinn v. Leathem (17 1.'i'1nes Law offerer permits the acceptor to make use of the same Reports, 249) that if any threats had been proved, mode of communication, and the contract is corn- or any combination shown, in Alien v. Flood the plete when the letter of acceptance is delivered to result might have been diff~rent. And the Ameri­the postal authorities. The Massachusetts rule, on can doctrine seems more consistent with justice the other hand, is that the contract is not complete and common sense. Mr. Wait omits to notice the till the acceptance is actualJy communicated to th6j important case of Vegelahn v. Gauter (167 Mass., original offt'rer. The importance of this distinction 92).on this point. will be manifest wh en it is remembered that a tele- 'r.he author, on page 253, recommends some graphic withdra wal of the offer might reach the rather sharp practice as to avoiding injunctions on acc~ptor &fter he had posted his letter of accept- t~9linical~tie~, which are hardly advisable; but on the ance, but before this had reached the offerer.t next page he enjoins fair and honest obedience to According to English law this withdrawal would be1 .an injunction issued by a competent court. The of no avail [Hehthorn v. Fraser, 92, 2 Ch.J; but

1 latter course is the more profitable in every way.

by the Massachusetts rule no contract would On the point of expert evidence Mr. Wait has some have been created. strong views to express. These apply probably

Mr. 'Vait has some sensible rema1ks as to the more in America than in this country, where many necessity of reducing contracts to writing, and omit- of the most eminent engineers and scientists fre­ting nothing that is material, which are equaJly quently appear as experts. Sufficient importance applicable to all kinds of contracts. But he intro- also is not attached to experiments which, if fairly duces a needless confusion in Section 130 as to inde- carried out by a well-known man, have great weight pendent parol agreen1ents. " Parol evidence will in a court of law. be admitted of an oral agreement entered into subsequent to the written contract if the oral con­tract is supported by new considerations, &c." In this case it is simpler to say that if an oral agree­ment is made, parol evidence may be led to sup­port it. This has nothing to do with the written contract, which cannot be varied by parol at all.

Part II. of the book, which deals more specifica1ly with works contracts for municipalities and other corporations, will be of more inter£s t to the ~n­gineer. And the thing which will probably btrike him as most unusual is that it seems customary in the States for a municipality to be obliged by statute to accept the lowest tender to a contract, provided the contractor is a responsible person. This does not seem, on the face of it, an improve­ment on the Eoglif>h practice, though the lowest tender is, of course, most frequently accepted here. But it must 6ure1y be a serious thing to accept a tender invariably if it be the lowest, and the contractor able to carry out the work. Though if it lead to more careful drawing up of specifi.ca-

---BOOKS RECEIVED.

I

GesteinsJ..unde fur Techniker, B f.rgingf.nieure 'Ulna Stu· dierendt der Naturtoissemchaften. V on Professor Dr. F. RINNE. Hanover: Gebr\ider J anecke. [Price 9.60 marks.]

~fichaet and Will on the L6/UJ Belati,ng to Gas ancl Water. By JOHN SumE s WILL. Fifth Edition. London: Butterwor1h and Co.

Primer of Geomt.try. By H . w. CROO?tlE s~nTH, B. A. London: Maomillan and Co., Limited; New York: The Macmillan Company. [P1ice 2~.]

Commeroial Knowledge: A Manual of B11sin(SS Mtthods and Transactiom. By ALGRRNON W ARRRN. London : J obn Mu ~ray. [Price ~. 6d.l

Die Werkze'11gm.aschintn. Von HERMANN FISOIIER. Zweiter-Band die Holzbearbeitwngsmaschincn. Berlin : J ulius Springer. [Price 15 marks.]

Electrical Engineeri11g Testing. B_y G. D. AsriNALL PA•RR. London : ()hapman and Hall, Limited ; Philadelphia: J. B. Lippinootb and Co.

A Poclut-Book of Electr-ical Enginttri'11g Formtdre. By W. GErPRL and M. H.AlfiLTON KlLGOUB. New and enlarged edition. London : The Electrician Printing and Publishing Company, Limited. [Price 7~. 6d.]

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6o2 E N G I N E E R I N G. I •

THE TOOLING OF MACHINES . •

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THE TOOLING OF MACHINES. FIG. 51.

By JoHN AsHFORD, M. Inst. Mech. E. (Concluded from p age 542.)

will consider, are the small brass stop- valve (Fig . 49), and the combined cover and stuffing-box I &

for same (Fig. 50). This is an excellent specimen . I : ------· z 7~ - ·-----~" ~71read6~t:r ~-----r-

of the work that can be done on a capstan lathe :1 : : ~ ~ T 1 by brass valve and cock makers, on the machine ill us- 't-i, ---------+~ . ..j--. ..x... :

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the work, it may be noted that both the inlet and :r· -..x..----.r- -· ('-----~~-----------li\ ,~-discharge openings to the valve are threaded, as is I ---I l ! ~ ~~ also the part of the body to receive the cover. In : : ! 1 l addition to the machining of those parts, the l"al ve ~ l :._"='----t'~-----------=----=-~ --- ' seating has also to be bored and faced. It is in- ~_.. - - 1i-l--'-, __ -__ -~---'-} ____ _: ______ t:-.-: - I :

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at every quarter revolution. The jaws for this 1.--- ' ' .. , ,..,' ._.. ..... , pt:r Ut,

chuck are illustrated in Fig. 52, where it will be ,,_, _______ ,., seen that they are made to span the body of the valve, and fit the hexagons at its two ends. When t he valve has been fixed in the chuck, it is held in position for the valve seat to be machined. The tool (Fig. 53) is then brought up at the front on t he cross-slide, to face the top of the valve body. This tool is shaped so that it may be used for both shaping and chamfering, but for the first operation t he facing part only of the tool is used.

F or the second operation, the rough boring and turning tool detailed in Fig. 54 is brought up by the turret. This tool consists of a bar carrying two cutters and a cast-iron collar, which acts as a tool-holder for an outside turning tool. As this does its work, it bores the valve seat and faces the top of same ; it also rough-bores the part of the casting which has to be screwed, and at the same time rough-turns t he exterior of the flange.

For the third operation, the tool in Fig. 55 is brought up by the turret, to fin ish the work

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already roughed-out. This tool will be seen reamer to bevel the seating ; a cutter to finish-bore to be built upon a bar-like shank, and to have a the par t to be screwed, and also three other tools cutter for finish-boring the valve seat; a conical held in a cast-iron holder fitted to the bar. Of

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these last cutters, one finish turns the exterior of the flange, a second countersinks the inside of flange, and a third- V-shaped- puts a little groove in the face to make a better joint with the insertion.

The lathe, as will be seen in Fig. 61, has a chas­ing saddle. The latter receives its motion from a leader screw on the front of the machine. This saddle was illustrated in detail in ENGINEERING for March 8, 1901, page 317, Fig. 83.

The fourth operation in machining the valve bady consists in cutting the thread for the cover ; and that is done by a chaser, held in a chasing tool­holder on the back of the cross-slide.

There is considerable difficulty in rapidly chasing an internal screw to an exact diameter, so for the fifth operation a sizing tap (see Fig. 56), which is held in a sliding holder in the turret, is brought up to finish the thread.

The top part of the valve body is now finished with t he except.ion of the sixth operation, which consists in forming the shoulder at the back of the turned flange ; and for that purpose a form tool, held on the back of the cross-slide by the side of the chaser, is brought forward.

For the seventh operation, the chuck, together with the valve, is rotated through a quarter of a revolution to bring one of the ends into position. The tool previously used for facing the top flange 1s then brought up by the cross-slide to face and chamfer the end.

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The boring bar (illustrated in Fig. 67) held by the turret and fitted with the cutter, is next brought up to rough-bore the part to be threaded, and slightly countersink the end.

A similar tool to the last is, in the ninth opera­tion, brought up to finish the boring.

Two more operations-the tenth and the eleventh -are requisite to finish the one end of the valve body. They are to chase the interim· thread with he same chaser as was used in the fourth operation,

and to pass in a sizing tap similar to that used in he fifth, but somewhat smaller.

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t The chuck is rotated through half a revolution

o bring t he other end into position, when the

l procedure for machining from the seventh to the ~st operations is repeated. Although there is con­lderable work on the valve body of this kind, yet 11 the tools can be held in a six-place turret, to­

s a gether with the front and back of the cross-slide.

c When the method of machining the · combined

over and stuffing-box for the same valve has been xplained, not only will the reader be familiar with he way in which the machines on Messrs. Alfred

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b Herbert's stand at the Glasgow Exhibition have

een t ooled, but they will also have a fair idea of ome of the possibilities in machining work on utoma.tic screw machines and capstan lathes.

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e The cover (Fig. 60) has to be screwed at both

nds, in order to screw into the valve body and to eceive a union-nut gland for the stuffing-box. r

t The flange has to be machined bright, a square hrea.d screw cut in the interior for the spindle, and he stuffing-box machined out. The job is firstly eld by the hexagon in the three-jaw chuck, and he large end is faced off with a tool on the back of

t h t t he cross- slide. The centring and facing tool Fig. 68) is then brought up by t he turret, o prepare the casting to receive a fiat drill

( t w hich has to follow and bore out the hole. A econd such flat drill is also used for finishing the ole. A special tool (Fig. 69) then rough-turns he outside and face of the flange, and it is followed y a similar tool to finish the turning and facing, nd also to cut a V -shaped groove in the flange, nd chamfer the part to be screwed. It should be oted that each of these tools has a steady-peg at s centre, to fit the hole in the casting which had reviously been finished. A turning tool upon the ack of the cross- slide is next brought forward to ut the recess at the back of the thread, finish face

s h t b a a n it p b c th e flange, and put on a part of the radius. The hread upon the outside of the large end is now based by a chaser held on the front of the chasing oes-slide. With this, the first process of machin­g is complete.

t c er • 1D

p For the second process, the machine has to be

rovided with a fresh set of tools, or else a. second achine of a similar type must be used. The chuck r this second process is illustrated in Fig. 60,

m fo p CO

age 606, and it will be seen to be of the pull-in llet type of rather large diameter. A set of ild steel liners are attached to the interior of the llet, and they are screwed to the same thread as e large end of the valve cover. The collet must

m CO th ha\e a. considerable amount of spring, to open suffi-

ciently to pass over the thread. The first turning operation in this second process is to rough-bore and face the diameters with a flat drill, held in a small flat drill-holder in the tun~et. A second such drill is used for finish-boring and facing. The formed tool (Fig. 61), held upon the back of the cross-slide, is now brought forward to turn the collar and end of hexagon, and to cut the recess at the back of the thread. The part to be screwed has now to be both rough and finished-turned with a pair of s imple turning and chamfering cutters held· in two box tools (see Fig. 62, page 604).

When the thread has been chased by a chaser on the front of the cross-slide, the second process is complete. There is still a third process to com­plete the job, and for this another set of collet liners are put into the chuck, and screwed to fit the small end. A ch9tser with a square cutter, held on the cross-slide, is then used to cut the square thread in the interior for the spindle, a sizing tap being used to get it to the right gauge. The several jobs dealt with in thi~ article are so very different from each other, that they cover quite a wide range, and many machinists will no doubt find considerable interest in examining the details of the tools. Other things there are to be seen of this nature at the Glasgow Exhibition, but sufficient has been put before the readers of ENGINEERING for the present.

THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. (Continued jr01n page 576.)

THE EDUCATIONAL SECTION. THE new Section L, added this year to the British

Association, is devoted to Educational Science. It was presided over by Sir John Gorst, M. P., Vice­President of the Board of Education, who was sup­ported by an influential body of Vice-Presidents, comprising Sir W. Abney, Professor H. E. Arm­strong, Rev. G. C. Bell, Dr. J. H. Gladstone, Sir Henry Craik, Profeseor L. C. Miall, Professor John Perry, Dr. Story, Sir John Cuthbertson, and Sir Philip Magnus. The secretaries are also all well­known in connection with educational matters. They were Messrs. R. A. Gregory, W. M. Hellier, Robert Y. Howie, Dr. C. W. Kimmins, and Pro­fessor H . L. Withers, the latter being Recorder to the Section. Most of the other sections appointed delegates : The Mathematical and Physical Section, A, sending Professor Forsyth; Chemistry, B, Sir Henry Roscoe ; Geology, C, Professor Watts ; Zoology, D, Professor J. A. Thomson ; Geography, E, Dr. J. S. Keltie; Economics, F, Mr. L. L. Price; Engineering, G, Professor Hudson Beare; .A.nthropology, H, Sir John Evans ; and Botany, K, Professor J. W. H. Trail. Section I., Physio­logy, does not appear to have been represented by a special delegate.

Starting under such distinguished guidance, it is to be hoped the new Section will maintain the high reputation for usefulness of which its opening session gives undoubted promise. There is a wide outlet for its energies, and an ample field for all the hard work it can do for many years to come. This, however, is a matter we refer to more fully in an article on another page, so we will at once pro­ceed to our record of the proceedings.

THE PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS was delivered on Thursday, September 12, the first day of the Section's n1eeting.

As the representative of a Government Depart­ment which controls "the larger, but perhaps not the most efficient, part of the education of the United Kingdom," Sir John Gorst thought the most suitable subject for his opening address would be "The proper function of national authority, whether central or local, in the education of the people ; what is the limit of its obligations ; what is the part of education in which it can lead the way; what is the region in which more powerful influences are at work, and in which it must take care not to hinder their opera­tions ; and what are the dangers to real education inseparable from a general national system." Gene­rally the public instructor can only play a secondary part in the most important division of t he educa­t ion of the young- the development of character. The character of a people is by far its most im­portant attribute. It has a great deal more mo­ment in the affairs of the world, and is a much more vital factor in the promotion of national power and influence, and in the spread of empire, than either physical or mental endowments.

E N G I N E E R I N G. The character of each generation depends in the main on the character of the generation which precedes it; of other causes in operation the effect is comparatively small. A generation may be a little better or a little worse than i ts forefathers, but it cannot materially differ from them. The chief causes which produce formation of character are met with in the homes of the people. The teacher, it is true, exercises his influence among the rest, but his power grows feebler in the enor­mous schools and classes. The author exclaimed against permitting dissolute pauper parents to re­move their children from public control to spend the summer in vice and beggary at races and fairs, to be returned in the autumn, corrupt in body and mind, to spread disease and vice among other chil­dren of the State. Better dwellings, unadulterated food, recreation grounde, temperance, and sanitation will affect the character of the rising generation. Not until seven years of age should the work of serious instruction begin, and that at first for not more than two or three hours a day. Some effort should be made to develop such faculties of mind and body as are latent in the scholars. U nfortu­nately, the various methods by which children's minds and bodies can be encouraged to grow and expand are still imperfectly understood by many of those who direct or impart instruction. Exami­nations are too often regarded as the best instru­ments for promoting mental progress; and a large proportion of the children in elementary and secondary schools are not really educated at all­they are only prepared for examinations. The delicately-expanding intellect is crammed with ill­understood and ill-digested facts, because it is the best way of preparing for an examination test. Learning to be used for gaining marks is stored in the mind by a mechanical effort of memory. Intel­lectual faculties, of much greater importance than knowledge, are almost wholly neglected.

The power of research, on which the most advanced science depends, may by a proper system be cultivated in the youngest scholar of the most elementary school. Curiosity and the desire to find out the reason of things is a natural and, to the ignorant, an inconvenient propensity of almost every child. The faculty of finding out things for one's self is one of the most valuable with which a child can be endowed. There is hardly a calling or business in which it is not better to know how to search out information than to possess it already stored. Things discovered stick in the memory ; mere acquisition of knowledge does not necessarily confer power to make use of it. In actual life a very scanty store of knowledge, coupled wit h the capacity to apply it adroitly, is of more value than boundless information which the possessor cannot turn to practical use.

Advanced instruction is for the few. It is the interest of the commonwealth at large that every boy and girl showing capacities above the average should be caught and given the best opportunities for developing those capacities. It is not to the public interest to scatter broadcast a huge system of higher instruction of which any one, however unfit , can take ad vantage. The broadcast education is necessarily of an inferior character, as the ex­penditure which public opinion will, at present, sanction is only sufficient to provide education of a really high calibre for those whose ultimate attain­ments will repay the nation for its outlay on their instruction. It is essential that these few should be selected from the mass of the people, and be really the intellectual elite of the rising gene­ration. The arrangements for selecting are most imperfect. No capacity-catching machinery had been invented which does not perform its func­tions most imperfectly. Competitive examina. tion, besides spoiling, more or less, the educa­tion of the competitors, fails to pick out those capable of the greatest development. I t is the smartest, who are sometimes the shallowest, that succeed. ''Whoever thinks in an examination,, an eminent Cambridge tutor used to say, "is lost." The dunce of the school sometimes becomes t he profound thinker of later life. Some of the most brilliant geniuses in art and science have only developed in manhood. They would never in their boyhood have gained a county scholarship.

There are, the address continued, two 1nain divisions of the higher education- the secondary and the t echnical. The former is directed to the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake, of which the practical result cannot yet be foreseen ; the latter to preparing the craftsman, the designer, and

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[NoV. l, I90L

the teacher. The aim of the secondary school is to develop the potential capacity of each individual scholar to the highest point, rather than to give, as does the elementary school, much the same modicum to all. For these reasons it is necessary to have small classes and a highly-educated staff. In the formation of character the old secondary schools of Great Britain have held their own with any in the world ; and it is not unscientific to conclude that the gift of colonising and administering de pen­dencies is the result of the system of self-government to which every boy in our higher pub lie schools is early initiated. But while we boast of the excellence of our higher schools on the character-forming side, we must admit there is room for improvement in their intellectual side. Classics and mathematics have engroRsed too large a share of attention ; science, as part of a liberal education, has been but re­cently admitted, and is still imperfectly estimated. Too little time is devoted to it as a school subject; its investigations and its results are misunderstood and undervalued. Even in scientific studies, lack of time, and the obligation to prepare scholars to pass examinations, cause too much attention to be paid to theory, and too little to practice; though it is by the latter that the power of original re­search, and of original application of acquired knowledge, is best brought out. In many schools the time given to modern languages is inadeqt:Iate, and the method of teaching antiquated.

A national system of education has its drawbacks as well as its advantages. The most fatal danger is the tendency to absorb all other agencies, and to substitute one uniform mechanical system, destruc­tive alike to life and progress.

In applied, or technological, education Great Britain is behind most of the rest of the world ; and the nation in its efforts to make up for los t ground fails t o recognise t he fact that real technical instruction cannot possibly be assimilated unless a praper foundation has been laid previously by a thorough grounding of elementary and secondary instruction. In such institutions as the Poly­technics at Zurich and Charlottenburg we find the students exclusively drawn from those who have already co.mpleted the highest branches of general education.

Sir John Gorst concluded his address by pointing out that the special function of the British Associa­tion was to inculcat e a scientific view of things. With its established philosophical character, it can afford to reduce popular cries about education to their true proportion. Any attempt to construct a national system arouses burning controversies, economical, religious, and political. If the Associa­tion can succeed in establishing in the minds of the people a scientific conception of a national edu­cation system, such as has already been evolved by most of the nations of Europe, the States of America, and our own colonies, it will have rendered a service of inestimable value to the British nation.

At t he conclusion of t he address, the President of the Associat ion, Professor R\icker, moved a vote of thanks to the author, welcoming the new Section in the name of the Association. In England we were, the speaker said, too often given to spending time, which ought to be devoted to doing something, to talking about how it should be done. He hoped it would be the determinat ion of the Section to be nothing if not practical. He hoped it would make up its mind to deal not with purely theoretical questions, and realise that it was more important the thing should be done, than it should be done in a particular way which this or the other person thought best.

Dr. Story, Principal of Glasgow University, in seconding the motion, said that during the last few years education in England had been the victim of religious and political parties. Scotland bad had a happier destiny. He gathered with great satisfaction from what Sir John Gorst had said in regard to technical education, that he did not adopt the view, prevalent in so many quarters, that in order to admit technical education to its proper place it was necessary to expel much of the provi­sion for the humanities. He believed that a man properly t.rained and developed by contact with classical literature, and the traditional literature of the education of the world, was the best prepared to assimilate all sorts of instruction, technical and other.

ORGANISATION OF SECONDARY E DUCATION.

The first paper read in the new Section was, most appropriately, by Sir Henry Roscoe, one who has

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Nov. I, 1901.]

been a pioneer in modern educational development, the subject being "The Organisation of Secondary Education., He said that, perhaps, one of the most important deficiencies in the modern system of oduoation was the absence of co-ordin~tion and systematisation of our secondary education. But b~ginnings had been made, and local authorities had in many instances already taken the matter up. More than three million pounds had been spent on the foundation and improvement of technical and secondu.ry schools during the last decade. At last the Oa.binet seemed to have made up their minds that something must be done to place our secondary education on a national and uniform basis ; but so far, although their efforts appeared to be on the right lines, great success could not be said to have attended them. The measure intro­duced last May was founded on the principle of municipal action, and therefore was in harmony with the legislation which had achieved so much for technical instruction. The Technical Instruc­tion Acts, which had been so useful, would have to be repealed; but that need not cause anxiety, provided that certain safeguards were introduced into any future Government measnre. Another equally important addition must be made to next session's Bill. The one which was dropped last July contained no compulsory clause whereby the fund available under the Local Taxation (Oustoms and Excise) Act, 1890, was to be devoted to educa­tional purposes. Such a clause was a sine qud non in any future measure. In the history of educa­tional effort in the above direction during recent years nothing was more remarkable than the steady advance which had characterised the development and organisation of technical and secondary educa­tion. There had not been any sign of reaction in any direction, a fact which pointed to the firm hold which the rnovement had upon our people. The Government- which, in this country, almost invariably followed rather than led- need not fear now to legislate on broad and duly educational lines, for it could now rely upon the steady support of the country as a whole.

In the discussion which followed the reading of this paper, Sir Michael Foster, M. P., said he would not try to draw a sharp distinction between primary and secondary education, as there would be danger in the attempt. Our primary educa­tion, though capable of improvement, was good. Our secondary education, though susceptible of much improvement, was not altogether bad. The great want was the provision of the lower parts of secondary education for those who could not afford to pay for it. Any machinery of national education should form a complete bridge between the primary and secondary systems. Secondary education, no doubt, could be profitably given only to those who were fit for it; but how was it possible to find what children were fit for secondary education without trying them in it ?. He hoped that Parliament would do something for education next Session, and that the measure would have the effect of tying the secondary education on to the primary.

Sir Philip Magnus said that to have the educa­tion of a locality under two separate authorities gave rise to overlapping, rivalry, wasteful expendi­ture, and inefficiency.

Professor Sylvanus Thompson also dwelt on the need for continuity of authority, not only between primary and secondary education, but between the latter and university education. It was also to be remembered that the area covered by the authority for one purpose was not necessarily the area for other purposes. There must be a primary school in every village, but secondary schools and colleges served for large districts. It must be realised that the highly organised technical instruction of foreign countries could not be provided in this country by distributing small doles of money to village schools. Continuity of policy was impossible as long as the educational authorities were elected only for three years.

SCOTTISH EDUCATION. Three other papers were read on this day : the

first by Mr. J ohn Adams, on "The Mechaniem of Education in Scotland ;" the next by Dr. Jacks, ''On the Organisation of Education in Glasgow ;" and the third by Dr. l{err, on "The School Training of the Practical Person. "

Dr. Kerr, in the course of his paper, dealt chiefly with the training of boys who were to face industrial or manufacturing work, and in time take high rank as practical men in the larger sense. He sketched the changee that had been introduced,

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

contrasting the new methods with the character of the formal knowledge with which the primary school course terminated. The merit certificate, which was the objective of the primary school, was borrowed from France, but the inflexibility of the French system was guarded against by the condi­tions of liberal and practical training demanded in the schools which presented candidates for that certificate. There was not much wrong in our primary schools, Dr. Kerr thought. Dealing with those who remained from 13 to 16 or 17 at schools, he described the style of training specially ar­ranged for youths prior to apprenticeship in the shops. He approved of the very practical discip­line of higher grade schools, and explained the scope and aims of schools of science. He pointed. out the difference in the duration of secondary school education in England and Germany ; and asked what inducements could be used to extend the scientific and practical training of young men. It had been suggested that well-educated youths who could show, after a short trial, that their skill as craftsmen was not likely to suffer from a re­duced apprenticeship, might have the term curtailed by a year or so, and the school life in this way ex­t ended. The aitn of the educational and appren­ticeship system should be the discovery and train­ing of first-class brain power, and for that purpose, as well as in the interests of economy, there would need to be devised prudent and skilful methods of eliminating the unfit from point to point in a system of progressive selection. This plan had been fol­lowed in France with ad van tag e. The suggestion had been made to an employer of labour who said he was going to establish classes for apprentices, in order that they might become more skilful in the special work of the firm.

Mr. McCracken, the Chancellor of New York University, in the discussion on these papers, expressed his gratification at the establishment of the new Section. He spoke on the progress of technical education in America, and said that the City of New York was engaged in the erection of a. large commercial high school which would accom­modate 500 or 1000 boys. His university estab­lished a year ago a faculty of commerce. Another speaker said that under the present code there was provision for scientific and commercial educa­tion such as did not exist before. If properly worked, it would afford a wide development of higher secondary and technical education. Mr. Barrett complained that debates on education were lacking in definiteness. A practical curriculum should be devised to suit the various scholars.

THE WORK OF THE SECTION.

The proceedings in Section L on Friday, Septem­ber 13, opened with an address by Professor H. E. Armstrong on "The Future Work of the Section." As is well known, Professor Armstrong took a leading part in the establishment of the Educa­tional Section. His paper will form a useful and authoritative guide for future presidents and secretaries; but beyond this, it was a thought­ful and suggestive monograph on education for practical purposes. He said it would be the function of the Section to deal with the science of education, and not merely with science in education; in other words, it would devote itself to the scientific treatment of education in all its branches, and its object would be to introduce scientific con­ceptions into any sphere of educational activity. Science implied a thorough and exact treatment of a subject-a treatment involving full know­ledge. i'he power of research, the art of acquiring information for one's self, should be cultivated by all, because it was that power upon which advance in life depended. Too much was said about the superiority of the German system of education as compared to our own. The actual superiority, such as there was, depended on the thoroughness of the work in German schools ; but the Germans had made research the corner-stone of their educational edifice, and to that their success was mainly due.

Two great questions needed immediate considera­tion : firstly, the preparation of a national programme of education; and, secondly, the training of teachers. The t reatment accorded to boys in the schools which lay themselves out to prepare for the big public schools had been exposed by a report of the Educa­cation Department. Such a travesty of education would never have been allowed to rank as education if a proper programme had existed and an under­standing were arrived at us to what constitutes a

6os liberal education. Existing teachers could not a.l~ne prepare such a programme. Their own educ~t10n had been too one-sided, and they had neither the knowledge nor the broad sympat.hies f~r the task. The humanists must ente! 1nto alli­ance with the naturalists, and the alliance must be upon equal terms. We are, the s~eak~r con­tinued, on the eve of a great revoluti.o~ m edu­cation one that must lead to the recognition of the fact that our system is entirely one-sided. We call ourselves a practical people, and yet we allow our schools to be conducted in such a way that the development of the practical ~acul~ies ~ a~most left out of account. The educat10n gtven IS In no way a preparation for the multifarious duties of life. Reform will come by the development of workshop and laboratory methods. He pad ~o doubt that the fight would be on granting Its proper place to what was commonly c~lled science. The British Association had exercised a most important !nfluence in bringing a~out t~e introduc­tion of ratwnal methods of teachmg sCience. The schools still at best suffered science ; they did not love it, and the universities did not even regard it as a necessary element of culture. In this respect we were as slow to learn our lesson and as much behind the times as China was in assimilating Western civilisation.

In the discussion on Professor Armstrong's paper, Mr. W. H. Rouse, of Rugby, said that the author had expressed himself in a liberal manner upon the relation of the scientific and humanistic branches of education. If others were to show the same liberality, there would be less antagonism between the two parties. He thought that the method of teaching followed in the past by the humanists had, perhaps, been faulty.

Professor Minchin gave details of the course of study at a typical public school. English grammar, spelling, and writing were not systematically taught. He had compiled a diagram from details at his disposal as to the time occupied in teaching various branches of study. Out of 10,000 class­hours, science occupied less than 300, more time being devoted to classics than to all other subjects. He blamed Americans for the methods of spelling they had introduced, and for debasing the English language. He thought the teaching of science was advantageous even for small boys, and held that athletics should have a place in a discussion of education.

Sir John Gorst also expressed opinions on the teaching of science. The present methods in the schools did not realize Huxley's ideal ; in fact, the only Government institution in which that standard had been reached was in the Royal Oollege of Science at South Kensington; an establishment of which men of science considered the country had reason to be proud.

' ExPERIMENTAL TEACHING.

Professor L. 0 . Miall next rend a paper on "The Experimental Method of Teaching.'' This was a most interesting contribution, and we regret space limits will only allow us to give a too brief abstract, The author pointed out that boys always wanted to be doing something. Their uncontrolled activity was the first thing to be noticed, and it was called restlessness or impatience. The boy learned by doing, and besides his restless activity and energy he was imitat ive. He should therefore be taught by example and by doing. The natural bent of his mind could be hindered and thwarted by compressing his natural inclinations, and in the course of eight years he could be made into something very dif­ferent from what he had been destined to be. All the spring could be taken out of him by thwarting and subduing his faculties and propensities, and though a useful product might be obtained, it was not the most useful.

A long and animated discussion followed the reading of this paper. Mr. Fletcher, of the Depart­ment of Agriculture in Ireland, pointed out that if science had not taken its proper place in education, the way in which it had been taught might gene­rally warrant its exclusion. Teachers had been too much occupied in imparting facts instead of cultivating the scholar's reasoning powers.

Mr. J. H. Leonard pointed out the absence of botany in the list of school studies, and blamed the examination syllabuses for the want of success in science teaching. Mr. Blair spoke of the greater value of laboratories as compared to lecture& rooms ; and Professor Hartog, of Owens Oollege, Manchester, said that boys who had been in-

6o6 E N G I N E E R I N G. [ N 0 V. t' I 90 t. structed in classical studies were more success£ ul

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as science students than those who had followed a scientific course from the first. THE TOOLING OF MACHINES.

Mr. McCracken, of New York, advocated ~heory and practice going hand in hand. He gave Instances. of succdss in this direction reached by students In New York and Chicago universities.

(For Description, see Page 602.)

Fig.58. Sir Michael Foster said that thirty years ago

he. was appointed to teach physiology at Cam­bridge. When asked what lecture-room he wished for, he had said all he needed was a laboratory. He could understand that those who had been prepared in the older learning, when they were brought to science, took it up more readily than others, because the teachers of the humanit ies had th~ experience an~ training of generations at the1r command, while men of science were only beginning to learn how to teach. A lad might go into a laboratory and perform with ex­a<:tness all the exercises, and yet not receive the shghtest good; on the other hand, another might carry .out the operations clumsily, and make his experiments badly, and yet might profit largely, because the work had led him to think. One great test of the value of any science teaching was whether the student had been led to think.

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Mr. W. H. Eve said that the humanistic method applied mainly to the elementary stages of science teaching. Detailed and minute observations were well in their place, but to appreciate . the larger conclusions of science it was necessary to read ex­tensively and know the principles of many branches. . Dr. Kimmins urged the necessity of moderate­

sized classes-40 children should not work in one laboratory. Miss Waiter pointed out the need of simplicity in equipment. Mrs. Shaw said the first need was to teach the teachers. Mrs. Parker Smith dwelt on the advant-ages of teaching girls practical science. .

Professor Withers stated that though there had been grave faults in the past in the way science had been taught, yet the humanists welcomed the influence of science. Mr. W. H. Helier considered that much of the science teaching of the present day might be better left out.

Professor Armstrong said that the advocates of science teaching only claimed equality with the humanists in the scheme of education. Hitherto the humanists had dealt with the brain alone, and had forgotten that there were exeouti ve powers belonging to the human being which also required to be trained. The humanist had never taken his coat off and a done piece of practical work.

Sir John Gorst understood Professor Miall to advocate the application of the method of experi­ment not only to scientific but to every kind of education. He had met with a remarkable in­stance of the application of the heuristic method in France. In a small French village school he found the children in the lowest class learning to write. Each had hand writing placed before it and was told to imitate the hand writing. The method was pursued through the different classes, until in the highest class the pupils were found to write a most excellent hand. They taught them­selves.

This brought the morning's sitting to a con­clusion.

THE ScoPE oF E oucATtoN.AL Scr~NoE. On the Sect ion meeting again in the afternoon,

two papers were read and discussed together. The first was by Professor H. L. Withers, of 0 wens College, on '' The Scope of Educational Science ;" and the other, by Mr. P. A. Barnett, was entitled '' Some Considerations Bearing on the Practical Study of Educational Science." An ex­cellent discussion followed the reading of these papers, but failing space does not permit us to deal with the subject here.

THE TEACHING OF MATHEMATICS. The Educational Section was the only one, besides

Section A, that met on the Saturday of the meet­ing, when, in conjunction with the mathematical division of the latter Section, t here was a joint dis­cussion on "The Teaching of Mathematics." This we haYe already dealt with in our report of Sec-tion A.*

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SOIENOE IN ELEMENTARy S c HOOLS. The only business relating exclusively to the On Monday, September 16, the Educational Section was the presentation by Dr. J. H. Glad­

Section again met in t he Students' Debating Hall, stone of the report of the Oommittee on the Teach­of Glasgow University, Sir John Gorst presiding. ing of Science in Elementary Schools. This report

I we shall print in full shortly.

* See page 472 ante. (To be c<mtinued.)

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Goto I N Wxs'l'ERN AusTRALIA.-The production of gold in Western Australia. appears to be considerably increas­ing, having amounted in September to 180,663 oz., as com­pared with 148,305 oz. in September, 1900. Of the 180,663 oz. forming the yield of September, 93,261 oz. were exported, and 87,402 oz. were sent to be minted atl Perth.

Nov. I, 1901.]

THE ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT OF MESSR ., , PAL1\1ER'S HIPBUILDING \VORK .

THE Palmer hipbuilding and Ir.>n Company is one of the olde t established and best ·known en­gineering concerns of t he world. The extensive

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

carried out mm~t completely, right up from the iron ore to the perfectly-finished ocean-going steamer.

The shipbuilding department and the engine department have recently been equipped with electr ic apparatus for all power purposes.

By the old power-distribution methods, banks of Lancashire boilers were located at various parts of

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6o7 independent engine fed by underground steam

• mama. The greater part of the steam-boiler plant was

worn out, and the necessity for a new power equip­ment became urgent. I t was decided to adopt electrical driving, and 1.1essrs. Clarke, Chapman, and Co., of Gateshead-on-Tyne were called upon to

FIO. 3. THREE-PHASE T YPE C MoToR CouPLED TO CENTRIFUGAL P uMPS. Fro. 4. THREE-PHASE MoToR DRivrno MaCHINE TooLs.

carry out t he new arrangement and provide the requisite apparatus.

Under any conditions the conversion of the power system of works equipped as t hese were is necessarily a la rge and expensive undertaking ; to equip t hem electrically on t he most modern principles, whereby alone the greatest economy in operation is to be secured, is a task entailing very high expense, due not principally to the cost of t he apparatus required, but mainly to the necessity of keeping certain parts of t he works idle during the alterations. I t is when works are busy and the manufacturing plant is being pushed to its utmost capacity, that the need of the best driving arrangements is most severely felt. When the works are compara­tively idle and business is dull, the manufacturer

. keeps his expenses low and, as a rule, will not embark on any large scheme of works improvement: there are doubts as to the wisdom of this, but t he question cannot be discussed here. The outcome of this state of affairs has beeR that in the majority of works where electricity has supplanted other forms of driving, the best possible results of electric driving have n ot been obtained, alt hough in most, or all, cases economical advantages have followed even the changes made.

FIG. 5. THREE-PHASE MoTOR DRIVING WINCH. In the case of the shipbuilding works under notice, at t he t ime when new power p lant was urgen t ly re­quired t he works were exceedingly busy, and,

works at J arrow-on-Tyne are very complete in t heir t he works, and fed, by an extensive system of steam naturally, a system the installation of which inter­arrangement and facilities for the building and mains, a multit ude of small steam engines distributed fered least with the continuous output of the works finishing throughout of all classes of steamships. throughout the various shops and yards. In the was chosen. The long lengths of shafting and the The various departments of the works cover a. shops t he engines were mostly of the wall type, numerous belts and pulleys were practically r e­field ranging from blast-furnaces to machine shops each driving by belt a long length of overhead tained in t heir entirety, the steam engines were for finishing the small work required for deck and shafting; in t he yards t he individual machines each replaced by an electric motor, and the steam cabin fittings. Thus, the building of vessels is were, for the most parL, d riven each by an plan t centralised at one point-the electric generat-

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6o8

ing station. With this arrangement the economies resulting from the change were at once apparent; although no definite comparative tests have yet been taken, there is a considerable reduction in the q.uantity of fuel consumed for the power genera­tion.

The work in changing over the power system has been carried out well and methodically ; in the arrangement of the electrical circuits there is a commendable simplicity which renders the chances of any breakdown very remote, and a total or serious breakdown practically an impossibility. ~h~ powe~ .P~ant is located in an independent

butldtng, a d1v1dtng wall across the centre separat­ing the boiler plant from the engines and genera­tors. In the boiler-house there are installed four Lancashire boilers, working normally at a pressure of 150 lb. to the square inch. Three of these boilers are kept constantly in use for the power load. They are hand-fired. The two feed-pumps are of the vertical high-pressure type (Woodeson's patent) manufactured by Messrs. Clarke, Chapman, and Co. With the exception of driving these pumps, and a small engine working the economiser scrapers, the whole of the steam generated at the power-house is used fo'l" operating the electric generating sets.

The main electric supply is generated by two steam-driven alternators. Each generating set consists of a triple-expansion open type marine engine of about 1000 horse-power capacity, operat­ing in conjunction with a condensing plant, and direct-coupled to a W estinghouse three - phase alternator, yielding 750 kilowatts at a pressure of 440 volts. A flywheel, 11ft. in diameter and weigh­ing 22 tons, is set on two bearings between the engine and the alternator; a flexible coupling forms the shaft connection between the engine and the flywheel. The normal speed of the generating set is 160 revolutions per minute.

Each alternator is of the rotating armature type. The field consists of a ring, bearing twenty-two internally-projecting pole-pieces. The pole-pieces are built up of thin soft-steel stampings, which are cast in the ring, thus ensuring the most efficient magnetic circuit and rigid mechanical construction.

Each pole-piece carries a coil of the field wind­ing : the coils are machine-wound on forms and insulated before being placed on the pole-pieces, where they are secured by lugs bolted to the field­ring. The field-ring is horizontally divided through the centre, giving ample facilities for the inspec­tion of every part of the armature and field wind­ings. The armature is built up on a cast-iron spider. It is of the iron-clad type, the conductors being buried in slots below the periphery of the core. The core is built up of soft-steel laminations, and its outer surface is slotted to receive the con­ductors, which are of copper bar cut into suitable lengths, insulated, and then passed through the slots or channels of the core, where they are held in position by the overhanging edges of the slots. The end connections are made with copper straps bolted to the ends of the conductor bars. This form of construction insures perfect and uniform insulation for the conductors, since they are placed and secured in position without bending or hammer­ing, and also gives facility for the easy removal or repair of any part of the armature winding, should that ever be necessary, and that without disturbing any other part except the one actually at fault. Fig. 1 (page 618) gives a very clear idea of the general form and arrangement of the main generat­ing steam alternator sets.

For exciting the fields of the two larger gene­rators, two small direct-current generators are in­stalled. Each of these is a self-contained set, con­sisting of a W estinghouse compound steam engine, direct-coupled to a multipolar direct-current gene­rator of the same make. The two sets, one of which is shown in Fig. 2, are of the same capacity, each engine having cylinders 8 in. and 13 in. in diameter respectively and a stroke of 8 in. The W estinghouse compound engine is not by any means conventional in design. It has single­acting cylinders, and only one steam valve, which works horizontally across the upper ends of the two vertical cylinders.

Introduced on the market about thirteen years ago, this engine has establishe~ a reputati~n for great economy in steam consumpt10n over w~dely vary­ing loads, and for the excellence of 1ts mec~a­nical construction, as shown by the low main­tenance and repairs expenses entailed by its use. The two side- by- side cylinders fo.rm a single casting; the lower flanges of the cylmders

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

rest on the crank-enclosing case, and on the upper flanges the steam chest rests, which also is a. single casting of simple form. The cylinders are double-walled to prevent condensation; they are smooth and free from ports or passages of any kind throughout their lengths. The shaft of the engine is extended beyond the crank-case bear­ing, at the opposite end to the valve eccen­tric and governor wheel, to an outer bearing. This extension carries the flywheel and the gene­rator armature, the engine and the generator both being set on one cast-iron bed-plate. The generator consists of a field-ring having six laminated pole­pieces cast on the interior. The field ring. is vertically divided, and the two halves set on guide­plates on which they can easily be drawn apart, leaving a sufficient space for the inspection or repair of any part of the machine. The machine is built on the same mechanical principles as the alternators described. The field-coils are wound and insulated on formers before being placed on the pole-pieces. The armature and commutator are built upon one cast-iron spider which is pressed and keyed on the engine shaft extension. The armature core is built up of annealed steel discs clamped be­tween end-plates, and is slotted to receive the arma­ture conductors, which are forn1ed and insulated before being placed in position, where they are secured by hard fibre wedges, driven in the slots above the conductors. Both the spider and the core are traversed by channels through which a constant cooling stream of air is forced around the coils of the machine while it is running. The brush­holders are fixed to a ring supported by and concen­tric with the field-ring, t his form of support leaving the outer end of the commutator free and open for cleaning and inspection.

Each of the exciter generators installed has a capacity of 25 kilowatts at 250 volts, running at a normal speed of 375 revolutions per minute, and is capable of providing exciting current for the two main generators together. The main switchboard is located in the power house. It consists of five marble panels: one exciter panel, two gene­rator panels, and two feeder panels. Provision is made for the parallel running of the alternators. Above the switch panels are twelve fuse blocks, arranged in four sets of three each ; they are placed in the generator circuits, and in the main feeder circuits.

The switchboard is of similar manufacture to the generating plant, and the instruments, switches, and general construction are in accordance with the well-known principles of Westinghouse practice.

The distributing circuits, with two exceptions, all branch from two large main feeders, one feeding the engine department, and the other the shipyard department. Two smaller independent circuits run from the engine department panel-one to an auxiliary board in the power station, the other to a pair of electrically.driven centrifugal pumps situated about 80 yards away in a small shed by the water side. These pumps are each direct coupled to a 40 horse· power alternate-current motor, and draw water from the river for the main engine con­densing plant. The lift at low water is about 15 ft., with a rise at the condenser of a further 10 ft. One set is sufficient to provide for a maxi­mum load on the engines, and the practice is to run each one continuously on alternate days. The motor-starting switches are arranged alongside of the motors.

The auxiliary board in the power-house has, in addition to the main switch in circuit with the feeder from the main board, five motor-circuit switches. One of these is in circuit with a. pa.ir of 50 horse-power motors, each operati!lg a dry-d~ck centrifugal pump by a downward vert1cal belt-dnve about 20 ft. deep. Another switch is in circuit with a 20 horse-power motor, oper~ting a win~h f.or lifting stern-posts, &c. Other sw1tches are 1n ~u­cuit with two 8 ·j horse-power motors, operat1n.g winches for lifting material aboard, and another 1s in circuit with a portable stern-tube boring gear of about 8 horse-power. These pumps, winches, and boring gear are all located near the power-ho~se ..

The enoine works department feeder, whiCh 1s a three-co~e cable 0.33 square inch conductor, runs direct without break or branch to the machine shop of the department. The feeder ends in a large switchboard panel, where, through a 1~00-ampere switch, is fed a set of bus-bars, from whiCh, through five other ~wi~che~, branch feeders are taken direct to the distnbut1ng boards. There are in all five of these branch feeders, the boards being

[Nov. I, 1901.

placed at convenient centres in the department. The first distributing board is located alongside the main receiving board just mentioned, to which it is precisely similar in its arrangement of switches. Thus there is a main switch receiving the current at the board, and putting it on to a set of bus-bars, from which circuits are taken to the various motors in the machine-shop, each motor having a con­tinuous main, and each having a switch on the distributing board. There are in all nine motor­circuit switches on the machine-shop board, in addition to the main switch.

The motors in the machine-shop are arranged as follow:

One 30 horse· power motor set on the ground drives a 90-ft. length of overhead shafting. The speed of the motor is 860 revolutions per minute, the drive being by a belt 9 in. wide on to a 5-ft. pulley on the end of the shaft. Connected with the shaft are about twenty small lathes and slotting machines. One 15 horse-power motor, running at 570 revolu­tions per minute, drives by belt a fan running at 800 revolutions per minute, providing draughts for the smithy hearths. A 20 horse-power motor, hung on its side to a column of the building, drives a length of shafting in the machine-shop extension ; this shaft transmits power to several large planers, band-saws, and milling machines. In the ma­chine-shop extension there is also a 10 horse­power motor, driving a very large boring mill. This motor is hung on the wall and drives the mill by belts and countershaft. A 25 horse­power motor drives a length of shafting operat­ing :;!Ome 30 machine tools in the middle and lower bays of the machine-shop. There is· also a 30 horse-power motor, driving large lathes of from 4ft. 6 in. centres downwards, and one 20 horse­power motor driving shafting. Two of the over­head tra veiling cranes of the machine-shop are being converted to single-motor electric cranes, and two other three-motor cranes are being installed. Just outside the machine shop is an electric winch, driven by an 8 horse-power motor through a worm-and­pinion gearing. The winch has two warp ends and a barrel, and is used for general hauling purposes.

In the erecting-shop the distributing switchboard has thirteen mbtor switches in addition to the main switch. There are installed a 15 horse-power motor, driving a large planing machine and two large lathes ; a 10 horse-power motor, driving a large milling machine; another of 10 horse-power driving by a length of overhead shafting several large lathes; a 40 horse-power motor, driving by belt and countershafting an electric arc lighting machine; and a 30 horse-power motor coupled by belt to the overhead shaftin.g, extending through the length of the erecting shop; this drives, among other machines, several large side and vertical planers. From this board in the erecting shop there run also the circuits for a 30 horse-power motor, driving the whole of the plant in an independent shop, known as the top fitting-shop, and also a 15 horse-power motor, driving all the machine tools in the brass machine-shop. The pattern-shop is to be fitted with a 30 horse-power motor, and in the yard a winch for metal-breaking is to be installed, both of which are also to be fed from the same board.

Another distributing board is located in the foundry. It has five motor-circuit switches, together with the usual main switch. In the foundry proper are installed t wo 50 horse-power motors ; one, hanging from the roof, drives two blowers, and the other, on the ground, drives two sand mills. A 20 horse-power motor is also fitted up for driving three 20-ton cranes. There are in all six cranes, three in each bay, and all are to be fitted eventually with an 1nctependent motor fed from the board in the foundry. Circuits are run to two motors in the copper shop, each of 20 horse-power capacity, one driving a fan, the other the shafting. Another cir­cuit runs to a 15 horse-power motor, driving small machine tools in the jetty fitting-shop.

The other main feeder from the power station supplies current for the whole of t he shipbuilding department. It runs direct to a switchboard in the No. 2 Shed, where all the platework is carried out. Here it is split by switches into five circuits, four of which pass direct to other boards at convenient centres for the subdivision of the current to the various motors. An ammeter is placed on the board in each of these four circuits. The fifth switch is in circuit with the two 50 horse-power motors which operate shafting driving the punching, shearing, planing, bending, a;nd rolling machinery in Shed No. 2, and also operate, by an extension of

Nov. I, 1901.]

the shafting, two sets of hot rolls 9 :n. by 9 ft. and 17 in. by 12 ft. in No. 3 Shed.

Of the other four circuits, one leads to a sub­dividing board alongside, where current is received through a main switch and split up into eigh t distinct motor circuits, each with an isolating switch on the board. One circuit feeds a 30 horse­power motor, providing power for half the plant in shed No. 1, where platework, such as rolling, punching, sawing, grinding, drilling, &c., is under ­taken. Other motors fed direct from this board are two of 20 horse-power, each driving a winch for lifting material to vessels on the stocks, and four of 8 horse-power each, also driving winches for similar work.

F rom the main distributing board a circuit runs to another board in Shed No. 3, where angle­iron bending, punching, shearing, &c. , is carried out by separately driven machines. This distri­buting board bears eleven switches in addition to the main incoming switch. The circuits from this board are led to motors as follows : One 30 horse­power motor, driving, by belt and countershaft, an air compressor for a riveting machine; one 10 horse-power motor, operating a large combined punch and shears-this machine shears. 1!-in. material , and punches up to 12 in. in diameter; it is on regular work on l in. by 3!- in. ; a 5 horse­power motor driving by b elt a horizontal angle-bar cutters and squeezers ; three 5 horse-power motors, two pinion-geared and one belt-coupled, driving combined shears and punches; one 5 horse-power driving by belt a portable angle-bar beveller; a 5 horse-power driving by belt a horizontal squeezer; and a. 15 horse-power motor driving by bel t a cir­cular fan for smiths' fires .

A distributing board is also fixed in Shed No. 1, having six motor switches and a main switch. A 30 horse-power ri1otor (in addition to the one pre­viously mentioned, connected with t he board in Shed No. 2) drives the overhead sbafting, operating the remainder of the plant in shed No. 1. There are also one 10 horse-power motor driving the plant in the plumbers' shop , principally pipe-cut­t ing and screwing machines, and also the plant in the pattern-shop, principally circular and band saws ; two 16 horse-power motors driving fans for smiths' fires in Shed N o. 1 ; and three 8 horse­power motors coupled by worm-and-pinion gears to winches ; one of these is in Shed No. 3, and is used for hauling heavy forgings on trucks, one is for hoisting materials aboard, and the other is for general lifting at the jetty side.

Two cables enter the joiners' shop and terminate at two distributing boards ; one is fitted with three motor switches and a main switch, the other with two motor switches and a main switch. The motors connected with the first board are two of 30 horse-power each, drivir1g a length of overhead shafting for operating saws, planers, &c., and one of 16 horse-power, operating a jib crane for lifting heavy logs of timber.

The two motors connected to the other board are of 30 horse-power each, and they are coupled together, driving by belt a large frame saw and other wood-working machinery.

A distributing board is installed for splitting up the circuits for the various machine tools distri­buted about the yard. There are in all thirteen switches on the board, including the main switch, together with two ammeters, one of which indi­cates the total current coming to the board, the other indicat ing the current passe~ a.lon~ through one of the switches to another dlBtrtbut tng board in the shipyard fitting-shop.

The motors of the outside circuits consist of one of 8 horse-power coupled to a winch for hauling v~s~els into dock · sev~n of 6 horae-power, each dnvmg combined 'punches and shears- two belt-driven, the rest pinion-geared; one of 6 horse-power, operating horizontal squeezers ; and one of 6 horse­power, operating a combined squeezer and angle-iron cutter. ·

The distributing board in the shipyard fitting­shop has eleven switches, including the main switch. Here a 60 horse-power motor is installed, dtiving maohin~ry used in the production of rudder frames, stern-posts, &c. A 30 hors~· power motor has. also been installed to assist at th1s work when requtred. A 40 horse-powe~ motor drives the ov~r~ead shaft­ing for running cucular saws. In add1t10n to these there are seven small motors used in this depart­ment- one of 6 horse-power, driving squeezers ; three of 8 horse-power each, driving winches for hauling purposes ; two of 5 horse-power each,

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driving by pinion- and- spur gearing combined punches and shears ; and one of 10 horse-power, driving the fan for a small forge.

There are in all upwards of 80 motors in use, aggre­gating a total capacity of over 1600 horse-power.

The motors used are all of one kind. The largest siir.es-those of 20 ho1·se-power each and upwards­were supplied by the B ritish W estinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company, and are of their well­known '' C " type ; the rest were built by Messrs. Clarke, Ohapman, and Oo., under W estinghouse licence. This polyphase induction motor has two main elements- the primary, which is fixed, and receives current from the main supply ; and the secondary, which is the rotat ing part, and is not actually connected to any electrical circuit. The windings of the primary are so arranged that the polyphase current produces in it a rotating mag­netic field. The rotation of the secondary is pro­duced by the induction of low-pressure currents in its series of closed circuits by t he magnetic field of the primary. This principle was discovered by TeAla, and the patents connected with it are under Westinghouse con trol. The extreme mechanical simplicity of the type "C" motor is one of its most important characteristics.

The primary, the fixed part, or the stator, con­sists of a hollow cylindrical core of soft steel ring stampings, carrying the electrical winding in slots on its inner surface. The winding is built up of coils, machine-wound, and thoroughly insulated before being placed in the slots. In the larger sizes of low-pressure machines, copper straps or bars take the place of wire in the coils . The core and winding, or shell, of the primary is rigidly secured in a cast-iron enclosing cylinder, which forms the frame of the motor. The enclosing end­plates or brackets of this cylinder carry the two shaft bearings of the rotating secondary. The core of the secondary is built up of soft steel ring lami­nations on an open spider. R ectangular copper bars are laid in slots in the core periphery, and are bolted at each end to a massive copper ring. No current is led to the rotating part ; t here are no commutators, collecting rings, or rubbing elec­trical contacts of any descript ion ; the only fric­tional surfaces in the machine are at the shaft bearings. The secondary conductor, being short­circuited purposely in the end rings, cannot develop any electrical fault, and the whole construction of the rotating part is one which gives extreme sim­plicity, rigidity, and durability. It is thus per­fectly adapted for work in dusty and exposed posi­tions, and requires the minimum of attention.

Of the motors installed at Messrs. Palmar's works, the smaller sizes up to 10 horse-power are started by coupling direct to the 400-volt mains ; the larger are started through an auto-starter, which consists of a double-throw switch working in conjunction with a pair of small t ransformers. With the switch on in one position the t wo transformers are placed be­tween the main supply and the motor circuit, the motor receiving current at a reduced pressure. The transformers are arranged with a series of loop wires from the winding so that the value of the starting pressure may be adjusted to give the most suitable starting torqu e. Throwing the switches over in the other direction, after starting, places the motor d1rect on the supply circuit . The auto­starter consists of a cast-iron box, containing the transformers, on the lid of which the two-way switch is fixed. These starting switches may be placed at any distance from the motor, an advantage when motors are necessarily installed in places diffi­cult of access. The various motors distributed about the shops have, as a rule, their starting­switches or auto-starters placed close alongside. The starting switches of the tools in the yard are generally placed in a small galvanised iron box fixed against t he standard of the machine tool.

The economies resulting from the change in driv­ing power have proved to be considerable. Oom­pared with the steam power as before used, the prin­cipal saving in the cost of energy is due to: (a) The centralisation of the power plant; whereby the plant operates economically in large units at about full load; t ransport cost of fuel and refuse and also at­tendance and maintenance costs are reduced to a minimum ; (b) the efficiency of the transmission of electric power along wires; idle lengths of wire, although coupled to the live supply circuit, do not use up any energy; (c) the current paesing into an electric motor is pract ically in direct proportion t o the load on the motor ; (d) motors are eo easily started and stopped by the simple closing or open-

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ing of the switch that there is no excuse for leaving one running empty for oven a shor t space of time ; (e) no export attendance and very little attention is required by the motors or any part of the distribut. ing apparatus.

It is interesting to compare these economical advantages with t he similar conditions of steam engine distribution practice: (a) Several steam boiler installations, each with its attendants, and each requiring fuel delivered, which fuel is wastefully consumed in comparatively small steam­generating units operating for the most part under light and intermittent loads; (b) the loss of power due to condensation and the various long lengths of steam piping required between the various engines and the steam power-house; (c) the steam consumed by the numerous small engines is not by any means proportional to the work being done by them; the steam consumed at all loads approaches nearer to the maximum constant ; (d) steam engines, especially of the type used for workshop driving and fed by long lengths of steam mains, are not quickly and easily started conse­quently they are usually run cont inuously through working hours, whether the machines driven are in use or not; (c) constant and, to a cer tain extent, expert attendance is r equired by the steam engines, and the running expenses of materials, attendance, and repairs are, as a rule, very heavy. It will be seen, therefore, that for such work as the independent driving of the many machines­punches, shears, hoists, pumps, &c.-in the yard, electric power introduces enormous advantages and economy. Also, t hat in shops considerable saving is sure to result by the substit ut ion of an elect ric motor for each steatn engine previously used for driving shaft ing and the several machines connected thereto.

I t must not be overlooked that the motors labour under the disadvantage of having the long lengths of power-absorbing shafts and belts between them and the machines to be driven, and it is here t hat further improvements will undoubtedly be made in the near fut ure. The principle, as adopted in the yard, of " one motor, one machine," could, with judgment, be applied to give excellent results in many instances in the workshops.

The probable reason of the selection of the method adopted has been mentioned in the begin­ning of this article ; at t he same t ime, it will be gathered that, although the best results of electric driving are not now being secured by workshops so equipped, the step taken is the most important Nle in the advancement of an old-established con­cern to up-to-date methods, and that the future steps to the perfection of the equipment are com­paratively small, involving very little disarrange­ment of the routine of work, and, what is, perhaps, more important still, the customary excess of caution, almost amounting to fear, attending the first use of electricity will not be present.

In conclusion, the writer wishes to acknowledge the kindness of Mr. Christie, of Messrs. Clarke, Chapman, and Co., in showing him the installation described, and in furnishing many of the parti­culars included in this article. The illustrations on pages 607 and 618 are respectively: Fig. 3, a three~ phase W estinghouse type C motor coupled direct to centrifugal pumps; Fig. 4, a similar motor driving machine tools; Fig. 6, a three-phase Westinghouse motor coupled to a winch.

OuR RAILS A BROAD.-Notwithstanding American efforta to develop an increased ex·porb trade, the ship· menta of British rails to external markets were well main­tained in September, the movement for the month being returned at 45,277 tons, as compared with 30,305 tons in September, 1900, and 47,077 tons in September, 1899. The principal exports of last month compare as follows with those of the corresponding months of 1900 and 1899:

Country.

Sweden and Norway Egypt.. .. .. Argentina . . . . British lodla .. Australasia . . . • British South Afrlo~ Oanada •• . .

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Sept. 1901.

tons 6,018 7,377 6,642 7,073 6,194 1,604

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- -Sept. 1900. Sep t. 1899.

tons tons 8 tl 7,33'

3191 318 2808 1,997 7439 9,986 9267 4,898 8466 168 1568 12,556

It will be observed that the increase in last month's figures was due boa. rather increased demand for British rails on foreign rather than on colonial account. The aggregate exports for the first nine months of this year were 345,605 tons, as compared with 277,809 tons in the corresponding period of 1900, and 354,737 tons in the corresponding period of 1899.

6ro E N G I N E E R I N G. •

VERTICAL COMPOUND AIR- COMPRESSOR AT THE GLASGOW CONSTRUCTED BY MESSRS. DUNCAN STEvVART AND 00., LIMITED, GLASGOW.

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WE illustrate above a compound vertical air· com­pressor shown at the Glasgow Exhibition by Messrs. Duncan Stewart and Co., Limited, Glasgow. The machine has steam cylinders 12 in. and 24 in. in diameter by 12 in. stroke, and air cylinders 13 in. and 22 in. in diameter by 12 in. stroke. The steam cylinderd are supported at the back by strong cast-iron columns, a.nd a.t the front by steel columns. The air cylinders ~re placed ~irectly above their respective ste~m cylinders, bemg supported therefrom by substa.nt1al mild-steel columns. The whole structure is mounted on a. cast-iron bedpla.te. The crankshaft is of mild steel, with cranks at right angles and webs forged solid. The high-pressure steam cylinder is fitted with an ordinary slide valve, with a variable expansion valve of the ~Ieyer type fitted to the back thereof, and the low-pressure steam cylinder has a similar attachment for steam distribution. EacQh pieton rod is in one forging, from the crosshead through the s t.eam cy lind~r up to the air cylinder. From the detatl of t he atr cylinders giv~n in Fig. 4, it will be ~een that the inlet and dehvery valves are placed 1n t he covers at both top and bottom ends. Elaborate precau-

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tions are taken to ensure that the valves c9.nnot by any possibility fall into the working portion of the cylinders. The moving parts of the valves, which are for the sake of strength made of manganese­bronze, are held in position by springs whose tension is adjustable. The valve seats and guardq are made of best phosphor~ bronze. The barrel of each air cylinder is surrounded by a water-jacket, and there is also a tubular cooler, through which the air pn.sses on its wa.y from the low-pressure to the high-pressure air cylinder. The air inlet valve on the low-pressure cylinder has an auto­matic adj ustment for controlling the volume of air passing, depending on the quantity required.

The compressor is designed for a. steam pressure of 120 lb., and when running at lOO revolutions per minute has a capacity of 400 cubic feet of free air per minute, which it delivers a.t a pressure of 100 lb. per square inch,

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[Nov. I, 1901.

EXHIBITION.

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Nov. I, I9or. ] E N G I N E E R I N G. 6r r

H. f. ARMOURED CR ISER "KIN ALFRED." CON TRUCTED BY VICKER, , 0

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THE armoured cruiser King Alfred, one of four vessels building for the Navy, was launched on Monday from the Naval Construction ' Vorks of Messrs. Vickers, on~, and ~Iaxim, Limited. The four new ships re­

r,em ble t he Powerful and Terrible, the apparent differ­ences being that t hey have no military tops on t heir mast~, and the poop has been cut away t o increase the weight available for armour and guns; but great t ha.nges have been otherwise made, and the vessels of the King Alfred type are practically without equals. 1,be speed has been increased to 23 knots ; there are four more 6-in. quick-firing guns, but as each indi­vidual gun is of greater power, and attains a higher rtlte of fire, the weight of projectiles which may be discharged per minute has been increased from about 6.:1 tons in the P owerful to about 9 tons in the ICing Alfred, while t he muzzle energy has been more t han doubled. The Powerful was a protective deek cruiser, with 6-in. casemates for her 6-in. quick-firing guns, and similar protection for t he bow and stern 9.2-in. guns.

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FIG. 5.

In the K ing Alfred the armout• protection is most effective. The main and auxiliary machinery and boilers and the magazines are protected by a water­line belt 11 ft. 6 in. deep, extending over half the vessel'e length, and varying in t hickness from 6 in. amidships to 4 in. at the ends. At the after end of this belt a 5-in. armoured bulkhead iEt fitted, and 2-in. nickel steel protective plating is fit ted on t he bows. Abaft the screen bulkhead is a protective deck 2i in. t hick, affording protection to the steering gear and after capstan, &c. Within the citadel two protective decks are worked, the upper being l i in. thick, and the lower 1 in. thick. The 9. 2-in. guns are protected by 6-in. barbettes, in addit ion to gun shields. The 6-in. guns are each enclosed in a separate casemate, these being formed of 6-in. hard-faced armour. The conning tower is of 12-in. armour, with an armoured tube 7 in. t hick, affording protection to the controlling gear, &c.

The main armament includes two 9. 2 in. V ickers

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guns, the perfection of the mechanism and mounting of which enables a rate of fire of four aimed round"' pf' r minute with 380-lb. shot, developing a muzzle energy uf 17,830 foot-tons. The improvements which the V1ckers Company have effected in this and other departments of ordnance were, however, fully dealt with in Litm­tenant Da.wson's paper read at the Barrow meeti£lg of the Institution of ~Iechanical Engineers, so that i t is not necessary to refer t o the guns here. Besides t he two 9. 2-in. guns mounted as bow and st ern chasers, the King Alfred has t welve 6-in. guns, which are mounted in a series of two-storey casemates, four on either broadside, and these 6-in. guns have on trial fired eight aimed rounds per minute, the projectile being of 100-lb. weight . Four of the 6-in. guns, as well as one of the 9.2-in. weapons and t wo 12-pounders, fire ahead in line wit h the keel, while the same number of guns can discharge astern, the total n umber of pro· jectiles being thus 116, with an aggregate weight of 5720 lb. per minute ahead or astern ; while the broad·

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side fire totals 11,190 lb., a weight of shot which is not equalled by any other type of cruiser thus far con­ceived. There is also a large number of 12·pounder and machine gtms.

The King Alfred is to mainta in a speed of 23 knots. The propelling machinery consists of two sets of four­?Ylind~r triple-expansion engines ; each of the t wo sets ~~ ~es1gned to .devel?P 15,000 indicated horse-power, &tvmg . a com~med 1ndicated horse-power of 30,000. Steam 1s supphed by water-tube boilers of the latest Belleville economi~er type, working at a pressure of ?OO lb. per square _1nch. Eac~ ~et of engines is placed In a separate engme-room, d1v1ded by a longitudinal watertight ~ulkhead, which extends the whola length of the enJpi?-e-rooru. Each ~ngine-room is in all respects s1m1lar to,. but ~ntll'ely independent of, the other. The mam engtnes are of the inverted type, supported on cast-iron columns at the back and inclined wrought-steel columns at the front: The sole-plates or main bearing frames are of cast steel strongly bolted together, so as to form a stiff fouudati?n for the engines. All the cylinders are fitted .wtth separate ~iners and are steam-jacketed. The dtame~er of th~ h1gh-p~essure cylinder is 43~ in., that of the 1ntermed1ate cyhnders 71 jn., and that of the two low-J?ressure c~linders 81! in.~ all having a st~oke of 48 m. The htgh-pressure cylinder is fitted w_1th one .Pis toll: valve of t he inside type, the interme­dt~te cyhnder 1~ fitt~d with two piston valves, having adJ~stable packmg rmg~, whilst the two low-pressure cylinders are fitted wtth double-ported flat slide valves, having a special type of relief ring. Ther~ are two air pumps on each engine worked by

levers In the usual manner from the main engines. The main condensers are four in number, of cast gun­metal, having a collectiYe cooling surface of 32,000 equare feet. There are two condensers to each set of

. engines, one forward and one aft, bolted to the back · columna and resting on a seat. At the aft end of

each engine-room is placed an auxiliary condenser having a .c?oling surface ~f 1830 square feet. Unde; each auxthary condenser Is placed a combined air and cir~ulating pump. Water is circulated through the ma1n condensers. by four ~i-in. centrifug~l circulating pumps, each dnven by mdependent engmes, having, in addition to the auctions from the sea, the usual bilge connections.

~'he boilers are placed in four separate compart­ments, there being in all eight stokeholds running athwartships. The forward group in each boiler-room consists of a single row of boilers, and the after group in each are placed back to back. There are thus 43 boilers with economisers, viz. : Five boilers haviug lOelements, with eight element economisers; 28 boilers having nine elements, with seven element economisers; and 10 boilers having eight elements, with six element

• economisers. The other auxiliary machinery in the engine-rooms

comprises four electric light engines and dynamos, two steering engines, two reversing engines, two turn­ing engines, two hotwell pumps, four fire and bilge pumps, one drain tank pump, one latrine pump, four feed and brine pumps, two circulating and fresh water pumps, four sets of evaporators, two distilling con­densers, two ventilating fans and engines. In the boiler-rooms are eight Weir's feed pumps, six air­blowing engines for supplying the furnaces with small jets of air under a pressure of 15 lb. per square inch, sixteen forced-draught fans with open double-acting steam engines, and eight double-cylinder ash-hoist engines. In the outside machinery space are two coal­hoisting engines, two air-compressing engines and pumps, and four air reservoirs with valves complete; one ice-making machine, one workshop engine, and one hydraulic pumping engine.

The length of the King Alfred is 500 ft., width 71 ft., and when in fighting trim she will displace 14,100 tons, the draught then being 26 fli. The vessel carries 2500 tons of fuel in her bunkers, and will therefore be able to steam at a cruising speed of 14 knots for 12,500 sea miles, equal to a voyage from Portsmouth to Melbourne, without renewing her fuel supply. According to the Navy Estimates she will have cost when ready for sea 1,0ll,759l. Her com­plement of officers and men will be 900. She is the fiftieth warship built or engined at the Naval Con­struction Works at Barrow-in-Furness.

As launched on Monday, the vessel is in a forward state; all her side armour with the 2-in. nickel steel, had been built into the hull, and the after barbette and the casemates on the main deck constructed. The launching weight was about 8070 tons, but the ways were of the unusual width of 6ft. 6 in., and the pres­sure was thus only 1. 723 tons per square foot. We have on previous occasions described the launching arrangements adopted at Barrow, and need only now remark that they were again most effective. The time taken by the ship from the first movement until she was afloat was 59 seconds; and the drags 400 tons of chains-brought her to rest in 70 ft. from t he end of the ways. We reproduce this week, on our two-page engraving and page 611, a series of photographs illus­trating the launching arrangements. The Countess of

E N G I N E E R I N G. [Nov. I, 1901.

La~hom launched and named the ship, and at the lunch whiCh f~llowed the floating of the ship, at which Colonel ~·E. V1ckers, C.B., the chairman of the company, pre­stded, l\1r. 4rnold Foster, M.P., the Financial Secretary of the Ad.miralty, referring to the admirable equipment of ~he V~cker~ Works, urged a fuller recognition of thetr _nattonal1mportance; and Mr. Albert Vickers, in replymg, made the happy suggestion that as the law of royal succession was the most cherished article in the British Constitut ion, it might not be inappropriate that the _Place vac3.ted by the King Alfred should soon be occupted by the new battleship King Edward VII.

600-volt current. There were two main considerations that musb not be lost sight of: First, the system must be a ~afe one; and, secondly, there must l?e a ce~t~inty of um~terrupte? traffic. Next to loss of hfe or InJury, came mterrupt10n of traffic ;. certainty of traffic, next to safety, was of the greatest Importance. This system was perfectly manageable, as well as eafe.

The m.etho_d of regulation use~ by far the greater number of electnc railways was the series parallel continuous cur­rent. It had been followed on the Central London Railway and on all the important British lines, and worked welJ. The difficulties in practice have been overcome, and there was no substantial complaint about it. Given the amount of ex~eri~nce demons~rating the ?ertainty of the system, the D1str10t were ent1bled to advlBe their shareholders to make the change, the other cases giving good financial results. They decided to make the alteration on their line.-on the 25 miles and on that part jointly owned. Owmg to the solidarity between the District and the Metropolitan, the change must be considered as a whole, the advantages of a uniform system being evident . . But the Metropolitan showed a reluctance to adopt this system ; the system they advocated differed from this : instead of changing the current to direct cur­rent of 500 to 600 volts, they propoEe to keep it at three­phase, at 3000 volts, name!J, to use it in the cars ab three­phase and 3000 volts. Now with this the danger was kept all through the traffic part of the railway. What expe~ience was there of it ? There was not one single yard of ra1lwa.y working under this system ; it was absolutely untried. The system was thoroughly known, but not us~d . . It was nob a qt._Iestion _of a new discovery ; every­thmg IS known about It; but 1t has been put on one side. T~ere is no possible comparison between the experience gamed in direct cnrrent, and that gained in three-phase. Three-phase was not used above a 750-volt pressure in Switzerland, this limit having been fixed by the Govern­ment. It was more dangerous than continuous current. The Zermatt-Gornergrat three-phase railway was a tourist railway, the trains crawling along at 5 miles an hour, the current being generated by waterfalls. It did not matter whether 50 per cent. or 2 per cent. of the current was wasted, or whether there were delays in the traffic. There was no comparison possible between this railway and the Inner Circle. The Burgdorf-Thun Railway was also a tourist line; and here also the current was generated by waterfalls. The Engleberg Railway was also .a mountain line of 11 miles. Electricity there cost nothmg; there was no need for the cost of sub-stations. there was no trouble about loss. These lines were not comparable to the District under any feature. Could it be dar:ed to trust this system to take the traffic of 220 Circle trams a day, and about twice the number of trains running over a portion-say, 800 trains a day-without fear of stoppage and los~.

THE ELECTRIFICATION OF THE METRO­POLITAN ANDMETROPOLITANDISTRICT RAILWAYS.

QN. Tu~day lastJ the Hon. Alfred Lyttelton commenced Slbtmg m the Lord Chief Justice's Court to decide what system o~ electri? traction shall be employed on the M~tropohta~ Rallways of London. He has been ap­po~nted UII~J:nre by the Board of Trade, the arbitrators bemg Mr. Horace F. Parshall and Mr. Thomas Parker

The Metropolitan Company was represented by M.r C. A. Cripps, K.C, M.P., Mr. R. W . Wallace, K.c.: and M~. ] '. G. Thomas, while Mr. Fletcher Moulton K.C., M.P., and Mr. J. W. Gordon were counsel fo; ~he District Company. Mr. Ernest Moon watched the mterests o_f the Great Western Railway.

In openmg the case on behalf of the Metropolitan Dis­trict Railway Company, Mr. J. Fletcher Moulton K.C. st~ted that the District did not only own a. portio~ of th~ Cucle, but a.lso a considerable section beyond it. A map was handed the arbi bra tor and the various sections were indicated. These railways extend outside the Inner Ci.rcle over ab9ut 25 miles. In the Inner Circle the Dis­triCt owns 4 miles; there is a.bout 1 mile which is owned jointly; the Metropolitan owning about 7 miles. The traffic on all the lines is naturally very dense and on the Inner Circle especially so ; the outlying co~nections are partly feeders and partly independent traffic lin~.

Mr. Moulton's clients had had under consideration the changing of their lines from steam to electric traction following in this the lead of American lines and of som~ of our own. But the converflion of aboub 30 miles of London ~raffic fr~m s~eam . to electricity was, afber all, a ser10us cons1derat10n : 1b meanb a radica.Uy dif­feren~ motive power an? radically different applications. The rlBk was not comphcated by the electrical difficulties but thE\re was a financial risk, which depended on the pro: bable traffic to be secured by the change. There was pro­perly ~o electrical risk, owing to (>Xperience gained. In Amenca there were about 21,000. miles of electric lines not all railways, most of them of the lighter system we cali here tramways, for passenger traffic. Of the21,000 miles however, there was a large mileage of railways as op: posed to tramways, and Mr. Moulton referred to those of Ne'! York, .Cbic~go, &c., .as comparable to this case. All thiS electnficat10n of railways had been done during the la~t twenty years. Large·sums had been expended on expenments. Numbers of systems had been suggested and tried and put on one side ; numbers of devices bad been worked on paper and lefb alone. There had been, however, a steady and gradual approach to one definite type of electric traction, which had been found to answer all requirements. Electrical engineers had unanimously adopted a broadly characteristic system, with which most satisfactory results had been obtained.

In a di.scussion of this nature, it was impossible, Mr. Moulton said, to avoid entirely the mention of the elec­trical points. In continuous current- the system uni­versally adopted-electricity generated in one dynamo went through another dynamo, styled a motor; the motor took in the current, which passes out again, and was con­ducted back to the generatmg station through the rails. There were various plans utilised for driving the car; sometimes the motor was geared to thew heels, wmetimes it was on the axle, or, again, there is an intermediate method of fixing i b, through spring connections. But all the methods were characterised by this-the continuous cur­rent flowed through the motor. The size of the conductors depended solely upon the quantity of electricity, and nob on the pressure, while insulation depended upon the pres­sure. r.rhis was the cause of a struggle between electri· cians and the public: electricians wanted a small con· ductor to save expense, while the public object to the danger, and compelled electricians to have small pressure in the condu~tors. The means arrived at were practi­cally universally observed and the pressure allowed was from 500 to 600 volts, a. suitable one to enable the electri­cians to instal their plant at a. reasonable cost and not en. danger life in ordinary circumstances. A momentary touch of current under this pressure would not be dangerous. In the system advocated by the Distric ~, alternate­current electricity was sent at a high pressure in very small conductors, insulated and buried out of the way; the curre:nt was then transformed, and a low tension is obtained for a larger quantity. This was carried out at a sub-station, which took the place of the distant gene­rating station; it received the current at a high tension and brought the tension down. This took place with absolute safety; the initial tension was12,000 or 15,000 volts-a fatal one; however, there was no risk of the lines being touched. The current was then converted into direct current by rotary converters. The system was uni vera ally adopted. In short, the current is ~enerated as three-phase, sent at a high pressure to vartous places on the track, trans­formed, and changed to direct current with a pressure of 500 to 600 volts in rotary converters.

This was a great ad vantage. All the troubles likely to attend high pressures w~re on the generating side; the current, as far as the line is concerned, was the 500 to

There was every reason to believe there would be fre­quent stoppages and dangers and difficulties with the ~igh-pressure cu~rent, and it would be madness to apply It to t~e Inner Cucle. There were reasons for stating that the d1rect·current system was far better. Ib did not matter what promise the three-phase system had; it was a new system, surrounded with probable diffi­culties; the saving was supposititious, and it would be folly to adopt i~. Millions have been spent in direct­current applications; there was no anxiety with re­gard to them ; and to go and give up a position of safety to the pablic for fancy saving, and take a. new experimental system, was madness; it was under­taking responsibility on behalf of the ~hareholders and a higher one on behalf of the public. Continuous current showed a margin of profH, and the JYietropolitan wished to take an untried system. ~hree-phase current required three conductors; one

mtght ~e put to earth, the others being charged with alternatmg currents and placed above the cars along the top of the tunnels, two on each side. The space between the top of the cars and the top of the tunnels was very small : ab parts there were girders across, and there would not be more than 4 in. or 5 in. clearance. The presence of these conductors in the tunnels wou1d be dangerous; repairs would be rendered difficult and awk­ward. At one part- Aldgate Ea-et-there would be a special difficulty. Ab that part the trains could nob be sent tJuough, keeping the trolley on the line, without reveramg the current through the motorP, a difficulty which would not occur with direct current. With three­phase. the driver would have to time the reversing most exactly. This is a serious point which might have grave conseq uencee.

The danger with three-phase current was greater still at yards and stations through the two lin&~. With direct-current conductors in the middle, or on the side, of the track, this was not the case, as had been proved over and over again. There were also numerous other considerations: the system of control was different from that which was constantly in use. It t ook the con­trolling power out of the bands of the driver ; gave the train acceleration withouo his control; the driver could make up time; it was difficult to slacken in case of danger and go on again. Ib was quite different from working on a locomotive where the driver has absolute control.

In the underground rail ways, delay is cnmulati ve ; there is little time margin, and delays becomes cumula­tive. Traffic working was particularly com~licated, owing to the large number of interpolated tramft, and the schedule must be kept to, otherwise traffic would be thrown into confusion. There was no elasticity in the untried three-phase system.

Mr.l\IIoulton next gave a brief description of tbeLondrio· Lecco Railway. Its opening had been several times de· layed, and it was nob yet open to traffic. There again the motive power was water power, and economy was nob

Nov. I, 1901.] E N G I N E E R l N G. the main question. With rapid acceleration the waste of On the ground of economy, practical workin~ and energy was tremendous ; the system would be particularly speed, Mr. Perks was convinced and so were his friends, b&:d where there was a perspective of stopp1ges; traffic nob merely Mr. Yerkes but every large shareholder of w~th three-phas~ should he .run always on consta.nb speed, the District, that they dare n0b take the experimental w10hout neoesstty for qmckening and stopping. As sys tem advocated by Ganz. He would allow o~her above referred to, the size of the conductors depended psople to make experiments. The District Company was upon the am·m nt of electricity sent through, and in three- losinS' 1500l. a. week by the delay in a.dopting electric phase the current sent through was nob all useful. The tra.ot10n, and the Metropolitan Company wa.s losing more. conductor h9.s to be large enough for a currant 40 per He had no interest whatever in the Traction Company; cent. greater than the useful current; in other words, it his interests were wholly and solely in the Dastrict must allow for 4~ per cent. useless current. There are Railway. He had never had anything in the Traction dozens of other dtsad vantages. Company pecuniarily.

Mr. Moulton then proceeded to give the history of the Mr. Perks was further cross examined by Mr. Cripps proposed chang~ from steam to electricity, and spoke of j as to the history of the matter, the reports made by Sir t~e small experamental lin~ at E:~.rl's Oourt. He men- William Preeoe and Sir ,John W olfe Barry, the appoint­ttoned the tenders received, and stated that all tenders, ment of the Joint Committee, and the journey of Sir ex~ept tha.b from Ganz, kept to the Board of Trade regu- William P reece and Mr. Parker to Budapest to view and lataont~. The engineers, he said, did nob realise that the test the method of Messrs. Ganz & C0. Mr. Cripps rea.d the tender from G anz was nob comRa.rable wi th tba b from the report made by these engineers, after their visit, in favour other firms. H e s tated thab Ganz spoke of 14,000 kilo- of the system propo3ed by Ganz and Co. According to Mr. watts, and Thom~on-Housbon of 10,00'0; and he asked Perks, Sir William Preece had nob had any experience whether the engme6rs had examined the steam plant in railways. Mr. Perks protested, at the time- at a meet­proposed, to see what wdrs called a 14,000-kilowatt insballa- ing held in Chariog Cross Hote1, ab which !VIr. Forbes, tion.. '!'here was a disc~epancy and a difference in the Colonel Melior, and others were present-aga:insb the heatmg surface of the botlers, 80,000 square feeb for the letter above referred to, signed by the secretaries of the Thomson.H ouston Compan~,~ against 48,000 square feet Metropolitan and the District Companies, being sent to for Ganz. The Thomson-Houston plant was a more Ganz, but he was toJd that ib contained such protective p owerful one; they knew what was required for the in- clauses that it would be within the province of the st~a~ion. The one of Gan~ would come to more. The Boards to do whatever they chose later on. As to the D1sbr10t Company would nob take the Ga.nz offer- would manufacture of three-pha~e machines. any firm could not take an unbrted system. There was no performance manufacture them as well a.s Gani'. ; 80 per cent. of the to j ustify th~. ~reference for Ga.nz, and their tender had work-probably more- could be executed by any firm. passed uncnb101sed. In concluding his cross examination ab the meeting of

Mr. M oulton added that the confertmce was not sitting the 30th ins b., Mr. Perks stated that his sole wish was ., to because of Ga.nz's skil1, bub solely owing to the audacity get the best thing at the cheapest price, and a thing that of G a.nz's .tender. Sir William Preeoe could not have would work. " The Traction Company would make no seen anythmg ab Ganz's to j ustify the adoption of their profit out of the cost of any installation. He told the tender. Nothing hub experience could show what scheme chairman and Colonel Mellor repeatedly tha.t the District should be chosen. Prudence and responsibility pointed Company were not going to have an untried system; that to the system that had been tried and found successful. he himself had no interest whatever in any electrical 'fhe ris.k would be oa.lam~tous if one were condemned to system; that the District had no interest either in any an untned sy~tem. The direct-current system had been system. Two per cent. of shares were held by a man who thorougJ:tly tned and was thoroughly known. has an interest in the Traction Company, and no special

Mr. Perks, M.P., the present chairman of the District interest in either direct or alternating current. R ailway, called upon by Mr. Moulton, proceeded to ex- Mr. Yerkes, Mr. E. W . Rice, and Mr. James Swin­plain from a map of the District and Metropolitan Rail- bnrne were next exs.mined, hub we are ·unable to deal ways the wa.y in which the bwo lines stand with regard to with their evidence this week. The arbitration is being ea?h other- as to track held both independently and continued day by day; we shall report the further jomtly. He gave also figures as to traffic on both railwar.s proceedings in future issues. and joint traffic. He stated that directly the District Rail-way makes the junction with the Tilbury and Southend, ========== ab B ow, they expect to carry a very large new traffic from the Tilbury R ailway over the jointly-owned rail­way to Whitechapel and Bow, for distribution over the line. The District Company are now making junc­tions wibh the Great Centra.! Company by a. line from Ealin~ to Harrow, which is practically finished, and the D1s trict propose to apply to it electric traction, even in anticipation of the electrical working of their main lines. B etween Sudbury and South Harrow, the Great Central from the north are making a junction with the Dis trict, and the latter expect by that j unction to carry a very large amount of goods traffic, but probably nob much passenger traffic, from the Great Central. Mr. Perks mentioned also the connection with the Great Western ab Addison-road and Earl's Court. They have a.lso a connection with the N orth-Western to complete the connections for goods ab Eul's Court.

Mr. Perks gave particular-s as to the number of trains running. He stated that the District R ailway first gob power to use electricity in 1897; in 1898 the Metropolitan gob powers which were more extensive and in a betber form than those of the District. In 1900 the District obtained fr.>m Pt1.rliament similar powers to t hose of the Metro­politan.

In the final report of the engineers, dated August 20, 1900, they recommended the twocc1mpa.nies to choose for the electrification of the Inner Circle the same system which they had tested at Earl's Court-the direct-current system. In that same month, an advisory committee formed from the two companies issued an invita tion for tenders for the work of electrifying the Inner Circle Railway. This was on Auguat 3, 1900, before the last report of the engineers. One of the conditions was that! the Board of Trade Rules should be adhered to. Nine firms tendered. There are two reports on these tendera--one from Sir William Preece and Mr. Parker, of December 19, 1900 ; and a se~ond, by the same engineers, of February 2, 19011 after they had paid a visit to Budapest. There is no evidence on the minu lies of the District Railway Board to show that Ga.nz'd tender was ever ratified at all.

On ~!arch 22, 1901, the secretary of the District and the secretary of the l\1etropolita.n companies wrote a letter to Messrs. Ganz, viewing with favonr their proposal, sub­ject to the approval of the Board of Trade, and subject to various reservations pub forward. Mr. Perks did not approve of this letter, except so far a.s the reservations were concerned.

Mr. Perks next gave historical data. concerning the for­mation of the Metropolitan District Electrical Traction Company, and stated that the District Railway Com­pany had to raise anything between 600, OOOl. and a million of money; they could not have raised any money at all upon a purely experimental system. The District could not put themselves in the hands of the Metropolitan for the purpose of raisin~ capital for the Ganz system, even if they had been sat1sfied that the Ganz system wa.s more tha.u a pure experiment. They were therefore compelled to raise the money themselves, and on the beat terms they could. The Traction Company would mak~ no profit at all, either in providing the generating station or equipping the road, apart from the profib they would get by the stooks which they would take in payment.

LAUNCHES AND TRIAL TRIPS. ON Tuesday, the 15th ulb., the steel screw steamer IVIer­

chiston, builtl by Messrs. Wm. Gray and Co., Limited, for Messrs. Waiter Scott and Co., of W est Hartlepool. bad her trial run. The vessel has been built to Lloyd's highest class, her principal dimensions being: Length over all, 290 fb. ; breadth, 40 fb.; and depth, 20 fb. 7~ in. The engines are from the Centlral Marine Engine Works of the buildere, having cylinders 20 in., 31~ in. and 53 in. in diameter with 36 in. piston stroke, and two large steel boilers working ab a pressure of 160 lb. per square inch. The average speed was 10 knots.

The new passenger steamer R ajah of Sarawak, of 1450 tons, built by Ramage and F arguson, Limited, for the Borneo Company, Limited, London, for their trade be­tween Singapore and Sarawak, eailed on Tuesday, the 22nd ult., direct for Singapore, after having run her offioialloa.ded trial trip, when a mean speed of 11~ knots was obtained on the measured mile-a. knob more than the guaranteed speed. This steamer has been specially designed for the accommodation of native and European passengers.

On Tuesday, the 22nd ult., the s.s. Apolda proceeded from the yard of the builders-the Flensburger Schiffsbau­Gesellsohaft-for her officials trials. She is a cargo steamer, built to the order of the Deutsch Australisohe Dampfschiffs Gesellschaft, having a dead weight carrying oo.paoity of 6700 tons. L engbh over all, 406 fb. 6 in. ; breadth, 47 ft. 8 in. ; depth, 32 ft. The engines are of the quadruple-expansion type, with an indicated horse­po wer of 3400; the cylinders being 26 in., 37~ in., 55 in., and 80 in. in diameter by 60 in. stroke, and have been fit ted by the Flensburg Company. On the trials the speed was 15~ knots.

The s.s. Colonian ran her trial trip off the Tyne on Tuesday. the 22nd ult. She has been built by_ M essrs. R. and 'rV. Hawthorn, Leslie, and Co .• Limited, H ebburn­on-Tyne. to the order of Messrs. F. L eyland and Co. (1900), Limited, of Liverpool, her dimensions being 450 ft. Ion~, 54 ft. beam, and 43 fb. deep. and she carries the except10nally large dead weight of 9300 tons, but has a. shelter deck which can be arranged for cargo or cattle as required. The main engines have been supplied from the Northumberland Engine Works of the North-Eastern Marine Engineering Company, Limited, Wallsend-on­Tyne, and are of their latest triple·expa.nsion type, having cylinders 27 in., 46 in., and 76 in. in diameter by 60 in. stroke, supplied with steam from two double·ended boilers working ab 200 lb. pressure. A series of runs were made over the measured mile off Whitley, during which a mean.. speed of 13~ knots was obtained~

On Wednesday, the 23rd ulb .• the screw stea.wer H olme­side had her trial trip. The Holmeside is another of the recent and extensive additions made to their fleet of steamers by the Pyman Steamship Company, Limited, West Hartlepool, and is from the yard of Meesrs. William Gray and Co., Limited. 8he takes Lloyd's highest class, and her dimensions are : Length over all, 358 ft.; breadth,

40 ft. 6 in.; and dept~, 28 ft . . 3 in. Her engines ~re from the Central Marme Engme Works of the ~htp­builders, and have cylinders 25~ in.,. 40i in., a~d 67 m .. In diameter, with a piston stroke of 45 m. Steam JS supphed by two large steel boiler s working ab a. pressur~ of 180 lb. per square inch, a speed of lli knots bemg registered.

On Saturday. the 26th ult .• the e.s. F ortunatus )eft the T,Yne for her official trial. She has been builb by ¥~sra. Sar W. G. Armstron2'. Whitworth, and Co., LtmJted, Elswick-on-Tyne, for M essrs. Arohibo.ld Currie and C?·• Melbourne, Australia) and is 358 fb. long by 47 fb. 6 m. bro1d by 33 ft. 6 in. deep. Triple-expa.ns~on engi~es h~ve been fitted by the N orth-Eastern Manne Engmeermg Company. L imibed, Wallsend-on-Tyne, the sizes of the ovlinders being 24! in. by 41 in., by 68 in. in diameter by 48 in. stroke, with three large boilers working at 180 lb. per square inch, fit ted with Howden's forced d~aught. A See's patent ash-ejector is also fitted. The trial was a most successful one, the machinery working very smoothly and without a hitch.

On Saturday, the 26th ult .• there was launched from the works of Messrs. Short Brothers, Limited, Sunder­land, a large and handsomely modelled steel screw steamer built for the America and Japan trade, to bhe order of the American and Oriental S teamship Company, Limited, of New Y ork, of which :Messrs. B arber and Co. are the managers. The vessel, which has been con­structed of steel under special survey to the highest cla.~s in Lloyd's register, is of the following dimensions : Length, 382 fb.; breadth, 48 ft. 8 in. ; and depth moulded, 30ft. ; having a large dead weight and carrylDg capacity. On leaving the ways the vessel wa.s named Shimosa, the ceremony being performed by Mrs. T. Ho~an, of New York. The vessel is to be fitted with trtple­exp:l.nsion engines by Messra. John Diokinson and Sons, Limited, of Sunderland. These will have cylinders 26 in., 43 in., and 7l in. in diameter respectively, with a stroke of 51 in., a.nd there 'vill be three steel boilers of 180 lb. working pressure. During construct ion the vessel has been supervised by Messrs. Squa.nce and Ingram, and the machinery by Mr. J. Houston, of Sunderland.

A new addition to the fleet of the P tinea line of steamers wa~ launched on Monday, the 28th ult., from the yard of Messrs. William Dobson and Co., Newca~tle. The new vessel is named the Soldier Prince, and is of the following dimensions: Length bebween perpendiculars, 330ft. 6in.; breadth, 44 fb. 3 in.: depth moulded, 27ft. 3 in.; and she will have a deadweighb capacity of about 4500 tons. The propelling machinery is being built by M essrs. Blair and Co., of Stookton, and is of the triple-expansion type, steam being supplied by two large single·ended boilers, working ab 180 lb. pre3sure under natural draught.

On Monday, the 28th ult., Messra. R opner and Son, Stockton-on-Tees, launched a steel screw steamer of the following dimensions : Length, 383 ft. 7 in. ; breadth extreme, 50 fb. 6 in. ; depth moulded, 31 fb. The vessel is built to the highest class at Lloyd's, and is on the spar· deck rule, and fitted with 9-ft. ' tween deck~. Triple-expan­sion engines will be supplied by Messrs. Blair and Com­pany. of Sbookton-on-Tees. havin~ cylinders 25 in., 43 in., and 73 in. in diameter by 48 m. stroke, steam being supplied by three single-ended boilers. each 15ft. by 11 ft., with a working pressure of 200 lb. The vessel is to the order of bhe Britain Steamship Company, Limited, London, and is the third steamer of the same type built for this company by Messrs. R opner and Son this year. The vessel was christened Epsom by Mrs. R. Ropner, of Hartburn.

On Tuesday. the 29bh ulb., Me&srs. Irvine'd Shipbuild­ing and Dry D ocks Company. Limited, launched, from their shipyard a t W est Hartlepool, a steel screw steamer named the Thistledhu, and built to the order of M essrs. the Albyn Line, Limited, the managing directors and managers being Me~sra. Allan, Black, and Co., Sunder­land. She is of t.he following dimensions : Length, 360 ft. ; breadth, 47 fb. 9 in ; and depth. 30 ft. 2i in. Engines of bhe triple-expausion type are bPing supplied by Messr~. Richardsons, Westgartb, and Co., Limited, Hartlepool, with cylinders 25 in., 40 in., and 67 in. in diameter, with a stroke of 45 in., steam being supplied by two single-ended boilers constructed to work at a pressure of 165lb. '

On Tuesday, the 29hh ulb., Sir Ra.ylton Dixon and Co., Limited, launched from their Cleveland D ockyards, Middlesbrough, a cargo and cattle steamer, built to the oraer of Messre. Lamport and Holt, of Liverpool, for their Brazil , New Y ork. and Liverpool trade, Her prin· cipa.l dimensions are 390 fb. by 50 fb. by 29 ft. 6 in. moulded, and she has a dead weigh t carrying capacity of about 6450 tons on a. light draught of water. Triple­expansion engines will be supplied by M essrs. Richardsons, Westgarth, and Co., Limited, of Hartlepool, having cylinders 27, in., 46 in., and 74 in. in diameter by 54 in. stroke, provided with steam by three large double-ended boilers working a.t 200 lb. pressure. On leaving the ways she was named Thespis.

R OYAL !NS'I'ITUTION.-The Ohristmas course of six leo­t ures to young people, ab the Royal Institution, will thia year be delivered by PrOfessor J. A. Flaming, F .R.S., profeseor of electrical engineering in U niversity College, London. His subject is "Waves and Ripples in Water, Air, and lEther," and the first lecture will be delivered on Saturday afternoon, December 28, a t three o'clock. The remaining lectures on December 31, 1901, and January 2, 4, 7, and 9, 1902.

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PNEUMATIC TOOLS. Pneumatic Riveting, a;nd, Other Useful Applications of

Pneumatic Tools.* By M R. J. C. TAITE, M ember, of L ondon.

TnE author, having been asked to write a. short paper on ":fneumatic T ools," and having regard to the com­parattvely recent one read by Mr. E . C. Amos t when a. l.en~bhy discussion followed, has confined these : emstrks prmctpally t? pne~~atic riveting, with special regard to the pneumatno exhtbtts ab the Glasgow Exhibition.

Shell Riveter.- With the int roduction of the '' Boyer " long-stroke hammer for shell riveting, rivets up to l i in.

FIG. 1.

I

FIG. 3. •

can be successfully knocked down, and the pneumatic bolder-up has overcome the difficulties of the old method. The length of this paper does nob allow of a full descrip­tion of the appliance ; the most noteworthy feature, bow­ever, is that the riveting hammer is mounted, and has a. travel of 3~ in. in an outer cylinder, to which air is admitted when the hammer trigger is depressed, the pressure acting on a collar surrounding the hammer barrel,, shoots the tool forward on to the rivet head, the notched bar at the other end of the rigging being adjusted to provide the reaction necessary for the enap to be con­tinuously preesed on to the rivet, while the percussive rivetbing action is performed by the hammer. T he

* Paper read before the I nternational E ngineering Congress, GlaeSgow, 1901. Section Ill. : :Mechanical.

t See ENGINEERING, vol. lxix., pages 280, 304, 335, 365, 398, 403, and 425.

•

E N G I N E E R I N G. ha~mer with i~s casing is mounted in a spherical bearing whtch el?a~les 1b to be t.u ~ned about through any desired angle w1thm .the requtstte limits. Another and later development. IS ~he N o. 9 long-stroke hammer, in which the bngger 1s dtspensed with, and air is admttted by a throttle valve.

Riveter .with . Tajl-Piece. -Fig. 1 shows a r iveting hammer w1th tatl-ptece l argely used in shipyards for beam ~nees ; the length of the bail-piece is suited to the spao­mg of th_e fra~es. so that when air is admitted the hammer J!'-ms ttself between the r ivet and the adjacent bea~ durmg the percussive riveting operation the pneu­ma.tt~ ho!der-up exerting pressure in a siruilar 'manner on the rtvet head from the other side.

•

Fra. 2.

•

Deck .Ril'cting.- Tbese tools have been in longer use in the American yards than here, but they are now being gradually introduced, and already on the Olyde a very considerable amount of rivets have been put in with tools similar to that shown in Fig. 4. Samples of riveting done with pneumatic riveter3 are exhibited, and from the fact that a longer rivet is required than tbab used by band, it follows that the hole must be ruore thoroughly filled.

Bridge Work.-For this description of work pneumatic tools (Figs. 2 and 3) are eminently adapted. inasmuch as a. satisfactory plant for riveting in situ, easily moved from one place to another, has long been wanted. Ab the con­struction of the Godaveri Bridge ab Ra.jahmundry, :Mr. F. T . G. Walton used pneumat ic tools, and an extract from his report is con tained in Appendix I.

Mr. A. B. M anning (Missouri, Kansas and Texas Rail­way), in a report to the Oommittee of the Association of

[Nov. t , I90J.

Railway Superintendents of Bridges and Buildings at the Annual C~nvet?tion, S~. L ouis, 16th October, 1900, gives the follo.wn~g 1~terestmg figures, comparing hand and pneumat10 rtvetmg:

"Men with pneumatic riveter will average 500 rivets per day for 8.12 dols. = 33s. 3d., or 1.62 dols. = 63. 7d. per hundred.

"Men with hand power average 250 rivets per day for 9.20 dold. = 37s. 8d. , or 3.63 dols. = 15s. per hundred. " ( 3ee Aopendix I I. )

In En~land t he cost of ~-in. rivets with pneumatic ham~er ·~ 4e. 6d. per 100, as against 103. 6d. by band. An mgemous arrangement for carrying a drill, used on the Greab Eastern Railway, is shown in Fig. 6; a 'ld

• •

-

•

_.. -

... ....

•

- - , ..

FIG. 4.

• •

A' • •

FIG. 6 .

Fro. 6 .

the same arrangemenb would be equally useful for drilling holes in the long girders of bridges which cannot be drilled under the ordinary machine.

Locomoti1.'e Wor~.-One of the most recent develop· menta in pneumatic tools is the motor shown on Fig. 7 with tube oubter. This tool is similar to the ordi­nary drill, but having in addition an air cylinder and piston, which forces oub a taper mandrel, thus preesing the cutting ed~e of the tool against the tube. By the u~e of this tool 2i-m. diameter steel tubes oa.n be out through in five seconds. The reversible drill with the ordinary tube expander is now also largely used for tube· expanding. Pneumatic rlrills are employed for drilling oub stay bolts and re-tapping the holes, and give every satisfaction, a. saving of 7l. per boiler having been effected in the cosb of re-staying the fireboxes ab one of the principal yards. R ailway-wagon floors are r iveted pneumatically, a saving nf 15s. per wagon being effected. A report from the shops

~ov. r, 1901.] -of one of the French railways states the 16-in. manhole doors are out in the locomotive boiler in fifteen minutes, the plate being ~-in. thick, and 1~-in. tubes are rolled in 27 seconds each.

General Boile·r Work.- The long·sbroke hammer is used for riveting up the end circumferential seams of L an­cashire, Cornish, and verbioal boilers, air recei vera and superheaters of water-tube boilers where the hy­draulic riveter cannot be used; also on manhole rings, Galloway tubes, combustion chambers, and rivebs con­necting furnace tubes to the fronb plate; and one firm is employing a gap riveter for the furnacPs themselves. ThPse are also used in making large tanks (Fig. 5}.

With the extension of the use of pneumatic tools, the

• Fig. 7. T itbe Cutter . •

1

•

•

0 J =

sizes of compreesors employed ha-s been materially in­creased, and many works which have started with either a Westinghouse air pump giving 40 cubic ftet of air per minuU>, or an oscillating compressor ~i ving 60 cubic feet per minube, have now compressors giviDg 300 to 350.

The fullest advantages in increased ouliput and economy have not yet been reached in this country, owing to the t rades unions nob having, up to the present, allowed rates to be made sufficienlily remunerative to the masters, bub the enormous saving (:ffeoted in other countrieR by pneumatic riveting particularly mnst soon have its effect 10 this country.

APPENDIX I. Ab the construction of the GodavE:ri Bridge ab R ajah­

mundry, Mr. T. F. G. Walton used pneumatic tools, and the following is an exbracb fr om his reporb :

" Riveting was J?artly done by hand and partly by Boyer pneumatic nveters These machines did mosb ex­cellent work, and on cerbain parts of the girders did the work much quicker and cheaper than could be done by band. The riveting of the bottom booms, and the diagonal and verbical joints in ib could be almost entirely done by the ma~bines ; but there was difficulty in suspending them for working on the top boom, and as they could be kept continu­ously at work on the bottom booms alone, they were shifted on from span to span as those booms were riveted up, and band riveters got to work on the upper booms. For workiog these machines the air was compressed to 100 lb. pressure and passed into a. receiver. Four machines could be worked ab one time from this receiver without reducing the pressure below 80 lb., and on straightforward work from 900 to 1000 1-in. ri vE:t3 could be pub in daily, and aboub 600 rivets when t he machines have to be oon~tantly shifted about for joints for diagonals and verticals. The cost of working them per day is 17 rupees, or reckoning 750 rivets as a day's work, the cost works out to 2.27 rupees p~r 100. ThlS is nob allowing anything for the heating fuel or prime cost of the pneu­matic installation, but only the labour and the cost of running the compressorl'. As compared with this, hand­riveting wa'4 paid for at an all-round rate of 5 rupees per 100, 53! per cent. being 1-in. rivets, 9~ per cent. ~.in., and 37 per cenb. i-in., and therefore the rate for band riveting l ·in. rivets may be put ab 6 rupees per 100, without cost of fuel or tools, or nearly three times the cost of machine riveting. For hand riveting contractors were allowed 1 lb. of coal per rivet. The loss of rivets amounted to 0.9 per cent. of the botal issues. An excess of 10 per cent. on the net quantity of rivets was s£>nt from Eogland, and there is therefore a. very large surplus of rivets and 1 i vet-rod, amounting in all to 69 tons. Very little ri veb­ing was done over water, and therefore the usual excuse of "lost in the river " for rivets and tools was nob avail­able, and, I think, with careful check on the issues, that the l.:>ss has been kepb as low as one can expect.,

The following are extracts from the report of the Oom­mibtee of the Association of R~ilwa.y Superintendents of Bridges and Buildings ab the Annual Convention, S~. Louis, October 16, 1900, and furnish some interesting figures for comparison .

Mr. A. B. Manning (Missouri, Kansas, and Texas Rail­way). the chairman of the committee, reports :

"'\Vith pneumatic riveting hammers I find two men and one heater can average daily (10 hours) 600 rivets, whereas by band 250 rivets per day was a. good day's work (more often le3s) for three men and one heater. One day we drove 700 rivets by using an additional man to take out fitting·up bolts, &c. This was the work of one air hammer only. In inspecting rivets I find the work far superior to band work- less loose rivets, heads inv~ria.bly perfect, shank of rivet filling hole, and in every way far superior to hand work done by our men or by others in the past; also work can be done readily in places where ~r_ea.t difficulty has been experienced with band tools. Men with pneumatic riveter will average 500 rivets per

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

day for 8.12 dols. = 33s. 3.3d., or 1.62 dols. = 6s. 7d. per hundred. Men with band power average 250 rivets per day for 9.20 dols. = 37s. 8d., or 3.68 dols. = 15s. per hundred. In pubbing in staging or falsework for riveters we find the cost is less, and by doing the work faster by air enables ~low orders, or delays to movement of trains, to be reduced."

Mr. Edinger, of the Southern Pacific Company, mem­ber of the committee, reports :

"Two men and a heater form a riveting gang, and they drive double the number of rivets per day that the gang of three men and a. heater were driving by hand. With pneumatic tools a grea.b many rivets can be readily driven in places which would be inaccessible to hand tools, from the

• •

I

prices are usually greater, as shown heavier construction : Size of Rivet. L ocation.

• 1n.

! Vertical keel • • • ... W. T. vertical keel (C. K.)

1 Keel between blocks ... 1 Keel seam .. . ... .. . 1 Shell on bottom ... ... 1 Shell side ... ... ... ~ F rames on ground ... ...

1 Inner bottom ... • ••

i , , ... .. . Floors on ground ... ...

(1- {----r~-

• I I ~ )

• •

below,

Hand. Cents •

3 6

12 8 5 5 3 5 4 3

615 :

due to the

Machine. Cent e.

21 4 1 5

~ 1~ 3~

~~

I

• •

(J JJ 12 ::IGHCS I • ,.. ~

~c

facb that the rivets oa.n be driven where there is room to in­sert the hammer, which it5 about 20 in. long. The chipping hammer is frequently useful in trimming and capping, and with it all anchor bolt holes in masonry up to lm. in diameter are drilled by simply inserting a. pointed drill and hold in,z ib up to the work. Larger boles are drillE:d with the heavier hammers. There is a saving of about 25 to 40 per cent. over the cosb of band work in drilling these holes. In fitting up the work ready for riveting a. reamer is used in the drills. which one man readily handles, and which insurt>s a. full bearing for the rivet, and does not burr and separate the plates as is the case where drifb pins are used. 'fhie, while perhaps nob reducing the cost very much, improves the character of the work. We also use the air drills for boring all bolt holes in bridge floor timbers by inserting an auger in place of the drill . This results in a saving over the cost of hand boring of about 50 per cent., which would be further increased, I think, by using the pneumatic boring machines, wbiob run at higher speed and are more convenient to handle. The cost of fittin~ up and riveting on new steel b ridges (all rivets ~ in. ) averages to date 35 per cent. less than if the work had been done by hand for all work done since we have bad the pneumatic tools in us£>. Work now being done with pneumatic plant costs 40 per cent. less than on band work, and we expect to still further increase this percent­age as the men become more experb with the tools. The character of the work is much better than we have been able to do by hand. The amount of staging required from which to drive rivets with pneumatic tools is very much less than is required for band riveting, as it is only necessary to provide seats or standing room for two men, for which, ofbentimes, a. single plank suffices. In riveting viaduct towers, latera.ls in S.Pa.ns, &c., where there are only a. few rivets to be dr1 ven in a place, the saving on erection of staging alone is a very con­siderable item."

APPENDIX II. Mr. A. Hamilton Church has drawn* attention to the

policy of the British working man. Mr. Church asks if there is no one to undertake a. cam­

paign to convert the British artisan to a proper appre· ciation of the true prinoi plea of progrE~ss? · MiJlions are spent in the course of a few years in the strife of politi­cal parties to decide whether A or B shall occupy a certain office ; bn b the far more vital question of bringing the interests of masters and men bo one focus, uniting 11hem in defence of their own industqr, permeating them with a desire to increa-se the effio1ency of their own powerfl, meQtal, physical, and mechanical, so that they may keep to the front in spite o[ all opposition and com­petition, is wholly neglected.

As an ex11mple of the appreciation of pneumatic tools for shipbuilding in America, the followin g is a. list of tools in use in Cramp's Yard at Philadelphia.: 4 compressors, 43,500 ft. of hose. Throughout the yard there are 142 hose connections, and aboard ships now ab the yard there are 494 hose connections in addition. Pneumatic tools now on hand are: 236 drills, 75 shell riveters, 22 deck riveters, 41 jam riveters, 144 holders-on, 87 "Boyer " L S. ha.mmerP 173 " Boyer " No. 1 ha.mmera, 110 chipping machines: 91 '' Boyer " No. 2 hammers, and 39 '• Boy er" No. 3 hammers.

F or comparison of prices the following is valuable, as ib shows the less cost of machine riveting :

Rivets. Total Cost. Cost per Rivet. Machine piece- Dole. Cents.

work . .. ... 37,428 990.49 2. 64 Hand piecework 56,797 2672.72 4. 71

. From this it will be seen tha.b the coat per machine rivet 1S but 50 per cent. of that of the hand.driven rivet.

The above refers to battleship and ordinary merchant work. On the new American liners in the lower yard the

* Gassier's M agazine, Marcb, 1901.

\ ____ • I

The hand prices given are those which would have to be paid, but all riveting on 'these ships up to date has been done by ma.obint s

At the Coltness Iron Works, in Scotland, where they for merly employed a.boub 90 men for dressing castings, they now have only 20 trimmers and 23 labourena, the latter working the tools and the former being gradually teduced as new hammers are introduced.

ADMIRALTY WORKS DEPARTMENT. W E learn that some important changes have just bee-n

made in the head office staff of the Admiralty Works Department. This Department is responsible for the design and construction of all the engineering and a.tohi­tectural works in the naval establishments, at home and abroad, as well as for their care and maintenance.

These works include docks, wharves, slips, brea.kwa.terE', dredging, barrack~, hospitals. magazines, stores, work­shops, dwelling~, drainage, lighting, and water supply. &o. The care and management of Admiralty lands and property is also dealb with in this Department.

The increase of the Fleet during recent yeara has neces­sitated a. corresponding growth in the shore establishments, and this has involved a. large increase in the staff of the Works Departmen.,.

With the changes lately made, the authorised perma­nent staff of the Depart ment under the Direcbor of Works is as follows :

Two assistant directors of · works (with an addition of 200l. a year to the senior) ... .. . ... from 850l. to lOOOl. a. year.

Engilneering Sta.ff. Eleven superintending

civil engineers .. . ... from 600l. to 700l. a. year. Twelve civil en~ineers ... , 400l. , 500l. , Twenty-two ass1~tant civil

engineerg, 1st grade . . . , , 300l. , , 400l. , , Twenty·one assistant civil

engineers, 2nd grade . . . , 180l. , 300l. ,

Su,rveying Staff. O.ne chief surveyor .. . from 800l. to lOOOl. a year. Stx surveyors . . . . . . , , 400t. , , 500l. T . " en a!!ststa.nt surveyor~,

1st grade.. . . .. ... , 250l. , 350l. Nine assistant surveyor", "

2nd grade .. . .. . Ooe surveyor of land .. . One surveyor of coa-st-

11 125l, 1 1 250l, 1 t 600l, 11 800l,

, ,

guard buildings .. . , 500l. , 700l. One clerk of works for "

coa.st .guard buildings.. . " 215l. , 300l. ,

Many of these appointments carry in addition a house London or Colonial, allowance. '

E?tries t<? ~he sta!J are made in the lowesb grades, viz. : AsslSta.nt 01 vtl engmeer, second grade, or a.ssistan t sur­veyor, second ~ra.de, by open competitive examination held by the Civil Service Commissionerl'. The limits of a.g~ at enb!~ are ~wenty-three to twenty-eight for the a..sststat;lt ctvtl engmeers, and twenty-three to thirty for the ass1sba.nt surveyors.

Promotions are made by selection as vacancies occur t~rough the successive .grades up to senior assistant dueotor of works and ch1ef surveyor respectively.

All officers of the staff are liable for duby either in London, at ~ome stations, or at stations abroad. ~ull .pa.rt1cula.rs ~f the subjects and oondibions of ex­

a!Dmatton ~re o):>tama.ble at the Civil Service Commis­SlOn! 68, V 1o.tort~-street, ~ondon, S. W., and notice of commg exammat10ns are gtv~n by public advertisement.

'Ve. understand there are likely to be examinations for entry m both branches before long.

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~ \J

NOTES FROM THE UNI'fED STATES. PHILADELPHIA, Octob er 23.

THE situation in the iron and steel industry is most satisfactor y . R~ports from all sect ions dur ing the p ast few days show that a la rge volume of business is being placed. T he most acti ve feature of the steel trade is the demand for steel rails. Most of the larger r a ilway systems will, i t is believed, p lace their orders for next year's r equi rem ents before or d uring December. T he orders in m ost cases will be for larger quan t it ies t han last year. T he r ailmaking cap acity for next year will be crow ded. P rice is still 28 dols. p er ton. The great activi ty in pig iron con­t inues, especially in basic and Bessem er. T he United Sta.teR Steel Company has purchased 50,000 tons for November delivery. Rods have advaneed in p r ice, but wire rails have declined . T he b illet production is overta.xed, and urgent buyer s a r e again obliged to p ay p remiums for prompt d eliveries. T he extra­ordinary ca.pacity is ever ywhere fully engaged , and each week w i tnesses new capacity fa lling into line. The volume of incoming cn.paci ty is enoug h to a larm all except t hose who are in close touch with the phenomenal requirements of t he dll.y, and t he great exp!l.nsions contemplated in a ll lines. New r ailroad requirements are la rge. I n California 500 miles will be constructed, and a. 700-mile line is to be buil t as ~oon as p ossible in the sou t h-west, beginn ing in Kansas a nd extending to Mexico. The present expansion of capacity cannot cer tain ly cont inue indefini tely. A t u rning-p oint must come ; but t here are at present no evidences of over -production. T he greatest mining activity prevails in every d irection. Complaints of car shortage a re un iversa.l. Vessels are in demand a ll a long Lake and Atlantic coast ports. The r ush of anthraci te is heavier than last year. P reparations a r e being entered upon t o meet t he heavier Mediterranea.n dem!Lnd for bituminous . Coke production is expa.nd­ing, and there are markets for every ton that can be produced as fast as i t is cool enough to load.

-· NOTES FROlVI THE NORTH.

GLASGOW, W ednesday.

G 1 NEE R 1 N G.

to be firmer in demand. F or prompt deliveries the quo­tation is about 10l. 16s. 3d. per ton f.o.b. L eith, while business ha been done at 11/. and 11/. 2 ~. Gel. p er ton for January to March next year. L a t week 's shipments from L eith amounted to 599 tons.

Fini.<~hed I?·on and Steel. - There i .. much complaining here as to the competition which makers of finiRhed iron nnd steel are experiencing at the htl.nds of Continental makers, which is said to be as keen as ever. But prices seem to be such as to defy all foreign competition, even the increasing landing of material from the Canadian competitors .

Exten:;ion of H yde P alrk L oc01notivc W01·ks.-~Iessrs. Neilson, R eid, and Co., of the Hyde P ark Locomotive Works, Springburn, are just completing some large ex­tensions of their works which should add materially to their capacity. Additional ground has been acquired, and new buildings of the most moden1 description have been erected thereon by Sir W. Arrol and Co. That does not look much like succumbing to Lord George Hamil­ton's German competitors in the locomotive trade.

Royal Sodety of E clinbwrgh. - The annual meeting of the Royal ocie ty of Edinburgh has just been held, when office bearers for the new year were elected. L ord K elvin was elected for the fifth or sixth time as president, and the vice-presidents were numerous. They included Sir Arthur ~Iitchell, LL.D. ; Sir vVilliam 'Turner, M .B. ; F.R.S. ; Professor Copeland, A stronomer-Royal for Scot­land ; the R ev. Professor Duns ; Professor J ames Geikie, LL.D., F.R.S. ; and the H on. L ord McL aren, LL.D., general secretary, Professor .George Chrystal, LL.D.; secretarie to ord1nary meetings, Professors Crum Browne, F .R .S., and Ramsay H . Traquair, M .D., LL.D., F .R.S.; Mr. Philip R . D. :tviaclagan, F .F.A.; cura tor of librar_:y and museumh Alexander Buchan, 1\ILA., LL.D., F.R.S. Twelve of t e fellows were elect ed to form the new council, and include as new members Sir J ohn Mm·ray, LL.D., F.R.S., Mr. R. T . Omand, :Mr. li'. Grant Ogilvie, :tvl.A., B.Sc., and Dr. George A. Gibson, F .R .O.P ."E.

0 1·d e1· j o1· N ew T u1·bine Stea1ne1·. - It is stated by the Dumbarton pa_per that Messrs. D enny Brothers, L even Shipyard, are building, to the order of Cn.ptain Wjlliam­son, the present manager of the turbine steamer King Edward, an improved steamer on the sn.me principle for the further devel~.pment of the passenger service to Campbeltown v id, ] airlie next summer. '!'he dimensions of the new steamer will be considerably g reater than the King Edward's-namel~, 20 ft. longer, 2 ft . broader, and 1 ft . gr eater draugh t. The vessel is to steam at the rate of 22 knots. The route, in fine weather, will on the outward journey be vi{i the sou th end of Arran, re­turning by Kilbrannan Sound. Owing to the increased speed passengers will have considerably longer time to spend at Campbeltown and Machrihanish .

I nst itt,tion of Ert{J·inee·rs and Shipbt,ilckrs ·in ScotlancL.­The opening meeting of the forty-fifth session of this Institution was held last night. ::Nir. William Foulis, C. E ., the new president, occupied the chair. The annual report of the Council was read by the secretary (~lr. E. H . P arker), and after some remarks upon it by Professor Barr, it was unanimously adop ted. Then fol­lowed the tre~urer's financial statement, which was also adopted. Two premiums of book , which were awarded last session for papers read by Mr. A. B . M cD onald. :NI. Inst. C.E., and Mr. D avid Cowan, for ­merly of Carron, were presented to those ~entlemen. Subsequently the new president delivered lus opening address, which was largely devoted to the gas manufac­ture, the development of heat and light from it, the gas e~ne, 1\tiond gas, and other forms of producer gas. The address was most favourably received by a large meeting of members, who, by the way, now amount to practically 1400 in the various grades. ::Nir. A . Mar­shall Downie, B .Sc., rea,d a paper on "The D esign and Construction of Flywheels for S low-Speed Engines for Electric Lighting and Traction Purposes." A paper by ::Nlr. George Johnstone on ' 'Notes on the Serious D eterio­ra tion of Steel V essels from the Effects of Corrosion " was held as read.

The Douglas Coalfield.-It is stated that the lessees. of the Carmacoup section of the Dougla~ coalfield, havmg proved it by numerous bores, have now commenced sinking operations ; and they have just struck the valuable 4-ft. seam. This seam is a bright lustrous coal, and tests of the samples taken aro said to prove it to be a coking gas coal of consirlerable value.

NOTES FROM SOUTH YORKSHIRE. SHRt-'FIELn, W ednesday.

N e·w llfanui actwrcr of A 1"ntO'!JA'-Plates.- It is announced tha t among tbe manufacturers who will submit armour­plates to be tested shortly by the Admiralty, is a new maker in the person of Mr. J . Bedford, of Meadow Steel W orl<s, Sheffield, and other local firms will be M essrs. Vickers, Sons, n.nd :tvlaxim, and Messrs. Cammell and Oo.

[Nov. I, 1901.

nuts, bolts, and similar accessories have gone up during the lagt two months from 10~t to 15s. per ton . o..: ome of the heffield tradesmen would have been put in a very awkward po ition had there been a normal demn.nd for Swedish il·on and teel. There ha~ be~n the se,·erest drought in werlen ever known, and work haYe been practically a t a st~'Lndstill for several months. There nre no stocks. n.nd manufacturer~ have been q uitP unable to make any deliveries. The reRult is tha t what i..~ held by local importers is less tha-n has heen known for a long time.

South Yo1·kshi1·e Coat T1·ade.- There is no percep t ible change in the coal trade of the district. A steady busi­ness, al though on the small side, is being done with forei!P1 markets, more particularly in the Mediterra.nean, and m the inland demand is maintained, railway com­panies drawing full supplies under their contract . The average price for bards now being secured is 9s. 6d. per ton, but some special lots have made up to lOR. 6d. per ton. Although the demand for house qualities lu.ck the strength of a fortni~ht back, a good business i still being done. L ondon 1s proving a good customer for the higher qun.lities of coal, but inferior sorts are not_fin~ng such a ready market . Froml3s. 6d. to 14s. per ton lS bemg paid for best Silkstones, and Bunsley house stands a t 12s. to 12s. 6d. per ton. Gas qualities are also selling freely, both on contracts and in the open markets. Engme fuPl is becoming a drug, there being but a small demand with supplies unusually hwge. aScreened lack is quoted at 5s. to 5s. 6d. per ton, and pit slack at 3s. to 4s. per ton.

NOTES FROM CLEVELAND AND THE NORTHERN COUNTIES.

MtDDLRSBROUGB, Wednesday The Cleveland I1·on T1·ade.- Y esterday the attendance

on 'Change was fairly numerous, but there was not much business doing, buyer being backward and sellers being very un.willins- to reduce tbeil· rates. Produce1. of most descript10ns reported tlu~.t they were ~·ell off for work, and not a t n.ll necessita ted to pre..c:;s 1ron on the market. N o. 3 g. m. b. Cleveland pig- was weak a t 45s. for prompt f. o.b. delivery, but the other qualiti~ of Cleveland n on were strong in price, and the . upply was not at all plentiful. No. 4 foundry wa 44s. 9d . ; grey forge, 44s. Cid . ; mottled, 44s.; and ,,,bite, 43.~ . Gd. Eas t Coast hematite pig could not be bought for delivery before D ecember, the whole of next mon th' output having been fully di. po. ed of. 'l'here were buyers read y to pay high rates for early delivery, but they could not find any body in a position to sell. N ?S· 1, 2, and 3 were put u,t GOs. for D ecember dehvery. Rubio ore was steady a t 15s. 9d. ex-ship T ees. T o-day there wa.s very little new in the mn.rket, and whn.t change there was wM not for the better. The general market quotation for prompt f.o.b. delivery of No. 3 g.m.b. Cleveland pig was 45s., ttnd several sellers adhered veyy firmly to that figure, but buyers would not pn.y 1t . Tr.:..nsactions were recorded a t less, and in a t least one instance N o. 3 was bought a t as low as 44s. 9d. The lower qualities were stead y at yesterdn.y's rates, but foundry 4 was not quite o firm at 4.-ts. 9d. a it was yesterday, owing to No. 3 having been bought at that figure. Grey forge wa very stiff, as it was needed for purposes for which neith~r foun~ry 4 or. No. 3 .are suitable. The month closes w1th affau-s certamly qmet; but a lot of work is being turned out, and it is satisfactory to be able to state that a good few firms have contracts secured which will keep them busily employed over the winter.

!Yla;nuj actwrecl I 1·on ancL Steel.-~lanufactured iron and steel prices keep steady. D emand is only quiet , but pro­ducers of ruost descriptions hu.ve well-filled order books, and they a re reluctan t to make concessions in order to secure new work. Common iron bars are 6l . 5s.; best bars, 6l. 15::;. ; iron ship-p lates, 6l . 17s. 6d.; steel ship­plates, 6l. 5s.; steel boiler -plates, 7l. 15s.; steel ship angles, 5l. 17s. Gd.; iron ship angles, 6l. 5s.; iron sheets. 8l. 5s.; steel sheets, 9l .; and heavy steel rails, 5l. 10s. - all less the customary 2~ per cent. di count, except rails, which are net at works.

The W ea1'Clale b·on, Steel, ctnd Coal Company.-It is a genera.lly accepted fact that the W eardale Iron, teel, and Coal Company intend removing their Tudhoe Iron Works from 1pennymoor to Middlesbrough, notwith­standing that the statemen t hns been contradicted. The Cargo Fleet Iron W orks at tl~is town b~lo?g t<? the same firm as the Tudhoe undcrtakmgs, and 1t lS rund that the works at Spennymoor will be transferred to a si te ad­joining the Cargo Fleet furnaces. The cl~rks and SOJ!le of the workmen at Tudhoe are under not10e to tennmate their engagements, and the firm are going to make Rn early start to dismantle the works.

Glasgow P ig-Iron .Llfa·rket.- Only a small amount of business was done in the pig-iron warrant market on Thursday forenoon, but the tone towards the finish was strong. Scotch, on L ondon buying, rose 1s. 3d. per ton, whicn was one of the smartest advances that had been made far some time. The settlement prices were : Scotch, 52s. 10~d. p er ton ; Clevel81nd.A 45s.; Cumberland hema­tite iron, 50s. 6d. p er ton. un Friday forenoon, in the warrant market, some 3000 tons were dealt in. F or Scotch iron the demand was quite pronounced, and with next to none offering, the price rose 10~d. per ton. _At the afternoon market about 12,000 tons were dealt m, and prices were easier, Scotch giving way 8d. p er ton, and Cleveland 3d. per ton from the forenoon quotations. The closing settlement prices were: 54s., 45.s. 1~d., and 59s. 7 ~· p er ton. On Monday forenoon the Glasgow pig­iron warrant market was moderately active, and from 12,000 to 13,000 tons changed hands. Scotch warrants were steady at 54s. 9d. p er ton cash buyers, but Cleve­land, a fter being ld. per ton up at 44s. 11d. per ton cash, left off at 44s. Bd. per ton buyers ; Cumberland hematite iron to the extent of 59s. 8d. p er t on cash, len.ving off at 59s. 7d. pH ton buyers. Only 2000 tons of iron changed hands in the afternoon, the quotation closing as in the morning at 44s. 8d per ton cash buyers. The settle­ment prices were : 54s. 9d., 44s. 9d., and 59s. 7~d. per ton. A fairly brisk business was done on Tuesday morn­ing, when some 10,000 tons were sold in the forenoon. Scotch was unchanged in price, but Cleveland left off 1!d. per ton. In the afternoon about 3000 tons changed hands. Scotch was steady, but Cleveland was a shade off. The settlement :Qrices were : 54s. 9d., 44s. 7~d. and 59s. 9d. per ton. The market was quiet and stead y this forenoon, and only about 3000 tons were d~alt in. cotch left off at 54s. 8d. per ton cash. About 4000 tons changed hands in the afternoon, and the tone was better. Scotch closed up 2d. per ton on t he day a t 54s. 10d. per ton cash. Clev.eland finished up ld. better on the day. The settlement pnces were : 54s. 9d., 44s. 7, d., and 59s. 9d. p_er ton. The following are the quotations current for No. 1 makers' iron : Clyde, G6s. 6d.; Gart­sherrie, 67s.; Langloan, 69s. 6d.; Summerlee, 71s.; Colt­ness, 72s.-all the foregoing shipped at Glasgow i Glengar nook (shipped at Ardrossan), 66s.; Shotts (snipped at L eith), 70s. ; Carron (shipped at Grangemouth), 67s. 6d. p er ton. A fain t show of inter est has been imparted to the market by the action of the London holders of Scotch warrants, and prices have fluctua ted between 53s. and 54s. p er ton. These fluctuations are due entirely to manipula tions by holders, or to the necessities of the bears and not to trade requirements. D ealings in Cleve­land 'warrants have been dull, fluctuations varying very little. W est Coast hematite iron has been scarcely men ­tionedl-n and the price remains nominally a t 59s. 6d. per ton. The continued arrivals of Canadian iron are exert­ing a depressing effect on local dealm~. The number of furnaces in blast is 83, against 80 a t th1s time last year. From America t he advices continue strong, and latest cabl~ report active markets. The stock of pig iron in M essrs. Connal and Co.'s public warrant stores stood at 57 108 tons yesterday a fternoon, as compared with 58, 028 to~s yesterday week, thus showing for the pas t week a decrease amount ing to 920 tons.

Sulphate of A mmonia.- Trus commodity is reported

I1·on Q/IUL Steel.- Business in the large iron and steel works at the east end of the city is tapering off in a very marked manner, and considerable numbers of men are being discharged. Practically all the earlier work in con­nect lOn with the product ion of armour-plates ordered ome time ago by the Government has been completed, and although there is still plenty to do in the finishing shops, further contracts are urgently needed if the steel furnaces, forging presses, and other plant is to be kept going. The wood.en-wagon builders are complaining of v~ry sev~re scarcity of orders, the run a t the present t1me bemg rather for steel wagons. ome excellent orders for these have been placed both on behalf of home railways and South Africa, and the res\.llt has been tha t prices of

Mess1·s. Riohcvrdson.~, Westgarth, wnd Co., L imited. ­Sir Thomas Richardson who presided at the annual meeting of shareh~lders: in th~ course of hi remark , said that the directors cons1dered that the share­holders had every reason to be ~ery w~ll satisfied with the result of the first year s workmg ?f tl~e company. All the work~ had been fully occup1e~ ; m fact each brn.nch had had such a continuous success10n of ord~rs that but little time had bee~ availa~le for inte,r· working and standardising, but tlus wa. bemg ta.ken m hand as rapidly as p_ossible, and econom1c results would gradually follow. No doubt many ba.reh~lders would think that, wi th a total profit of 84,47ol.,_ ~ larger dividend might be declared, but he wa~ of opim<?n tha t on con ideration they would agree with the dnectol'~ that the wisest course, and the one that would be the best for the ult imate interest of t~e company, was t_o begin a t once to adopt a conservatlVe pohcy, and th1s they had done by allowing 20,000/. for reser ve and depre-

•

•

Nov. I, 1901.]

cia.tion, and carrying forward 7000!., or a totu.l of 27,000t. The dire~ tors were very ea.tisfied wi th the prospects of the commg year, a very large amount of work being on order, 0f the approximate value of 750. OOOZ , at pro­fi table prices. This satisfactory position had been largely brought a.boub by their close association with the large and varied interest 1 of their chairman, Sir Cbrieto­pher FurnesQ, partioullnlr with regard to the shipyards he controlled. They mighb therefore reasonably look forward to another prosperous year. ir Thomas concluded by moving the adoption of the report, which recommended a dividend on tlle ord inary shares for the period ending August 25 at the rate of 6 p er cont. per annum. calcu­lated fron. the dn.tes of the payment of instalments.

NOTES FROM THE SOUTH-WEST. Cc.trd~tf.-Tbe demand for steam coal has been prebby

good. hub the market has shown no increase of sbren~tb. Smalls have been in strong demand. and for prompt ship­ment la. per ton h~s been paid for the best qualit ies, while inferior have made 83. per ton. The beat steam coal has been quoted ab 16!. to 16s. 9d. per ton, while secondary descript ions have made 15s. to H>3. 3d. per ton. House coal has shown no noticeable change ; No. 3 Rhondda. large has been quoted a.b 1os. 6d. per ton. Foundry coke has brought l!h. to 20s. per ton, and fur­nace ditto 163. Gd. to 17e. Gd. per ton. As regards iron ore. the besb rubio has made 14s. 3d. to 148. Od . per ton, and Tafna. 153. to 15s 01. per ton.

Newport Docks.- The work of widening the g raving dock ab the Alexand ra D ock£1, Newpor~, has been com­menced.

Pembrokc.-The Navy estimates for nexb year wiJl probably include a provision for the erec tion of an elec­trical engine-house and storage station ab the rear of the new electr ic shop ab P embroke.

llfonste1· Warships.-Tbe next line-of-babble ship builb at Devonport will bA the largest war vessel in the world. She will have a displacement of 17,500 tons, and a. length between perpendiculars of 425 fb. U p to the present the largesb ships builb for the Navy are those of the Queen cla~, with a displacement of 15,000 tons and a length of 400 f t . T he name of the new vessel has not yet been de· cided on, hub she is to be one of a cl~s which will be known as the King Edward VII. class, and ib is nob un­likely that this name will be given to the Davonporll ship, or to a similar vessel which is to be built ab P ortsmouth. The monster vessel will be laid down in March, 1902, on the slip now occupied by the Queen.

Welsh Coal llfines. - F or the purpose of inspection of collieries in South Wales, the districb is in future to be divided, and will be known as the Ca.rd~ff and . S wansea districts. Mr. Robson, the present chief engm eer for South Wales, will take charge of bhe latter, and Mr. F. G ray who for fifteen years has been an assistant inspector, has b~en appointed to be chief of the Cardiff district, which will comprise the eastern portion of G lamorgan, extending to the parisbe.~ of Aberda.re, Ystradyfodw~, Lla.nt risan t, Coychuroh (Higher and L ower), down to Sb. Donat'~ and the eastern parts of Brecon (from Hirwain to Erw~od), and the counties of Ra.dnor and Cardigan. The resb of the counties of G lamorgan, B recon, Carma.r~ then and Pembroke will be within the Swansea. disbricb. The enormous develo~ment of mining industry is the reason assigned for this division. JYir. Gray has been an inspector for fifteen year3. In 1886 he was appointed to the Manchester district, where he r emained a few months before being transferred to South Wale.Q, where he has since acted as assistant to Mr. Robson. 1vir. Dyer L ewis and M r. G . E. Ada.ms will acb as assistants to Mr. G ray, and M~. White will remain with Mr. Robgon. Mr. Gray will restde at Penarth.

Briton Ferry.- There ha.s been about an average out­put of hematite iron at the ~riton Ferry Works, and ~he same may said of the product10n of steel bar~ ab the Albton and Briton Ferry Steel \Vorka. The tmplate works have been well employed. Several large cargoes of Spanish ore have corr.e to band.

MANCHESTER ELECTRIO RAILWAY.-A meetins- to con­sider a proposed Manchester suburban electric h ghb rail ­way was held ab Manchester on T.u~day, Mr. _C . . H . Berry engineer of Manchester, prestdmg. Tho d1str1cts which' would be' served by the first section of bhe proposed line are the southern and soutb-ea~tern suburbs of Man­chester from Sale to Stalybridge, a distance of 26 miles. Ibis proposed to lay a single line with the overhead trolley system of traction. A commibte~ was formed to p~ooeed with the re~Pstration of u. synd10ate and to obbam the necessary Board of Trade order .• The promoters hope to commence work in about twelve months, and to have bhe whole line completed in two years. The capital propo~ed to be raised, in the first instance, is 300,000l.

---YORKSHIRE COLLEGE ENGINEERING SOCIETY, LRRDS.­

The second meeting of the session was held on Monday, October 28, 1901; P rofessor G?~dman pre~idcd. Mr. R. ,J. Isaa.oson read a. paper descr1bmg the }Vtgi'.ell;balanced engine, which he claimed to be spemally smtable. for marine purposes on account of economy of space, hght weight, small amount of friction, freedom from crank­shaft fracture, and abs~nce of _vibration, ~u~ to the balo.ncin~ properties wh10h are 1ts characten st10. Mr. H. M. Hallsworth contribu~ed ~ pap~r on ."The G re.ab Nor thern Railway Locomot.tves, deahng w~bh the das­tingushinS, points of the v~r1ou.s types o~ engmes adopted by this ratlwa.y company smc~ ttsmcep~ton. Both papers were illustrated by lantern shdes and dtagrame .

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

MI 'CELLANEA. T u& wedish Government have contracted with Messrs.

Yarrow and Co., of Poplar, to consbrucb for them a 31-knot torpedo. boab destroyer. She is to be of the mo~t modern type, and will be fit ted with oil-burning appli­ances.

The President of the Board of Education has appointed P rofessor Hugh L. Callendar, F . R.S., to the Professor­ship of Physics in the Royal College of Science, vacant by the resignation of Profeseor Riicker, who ha!-\ become principal of the University of London.

The traffic receipts for the week ending October 20 on 33 of bhe principal lines of bhe U nited Kingdom amounted to 1, 796,465t., which wa~ earned on 20, l o3.j: milee. For the corresponding week in 1900 the receipts of the same lines amounted to 1,873,485l., with 19, 885~ miles open. There was thue a. decrease of 77,020l. in the receipts, and an increase of 267~ in the mileage.

The Great Northern Railway of America is about to adopt electric t raction for the working of bhe GG miles of its line between L eavenworth and Skykomish. This stretch of road is characterised by severe gradients and includes the Cascade Tunnel, the ventilation of which has given trouble with the large steam locomotives needed to operate the heavy trains passing over the sec­tion. Water. power will be used for generating the eleotrici ty.

Mr. F. J . Allen, R oa.dma.ster of tha Chicago, Burling­ton, and Quincy R ailway, states tha.b bhey have had several years' experience with tracks la id with "broken , joints and tracks laid with " S<J.uare" joints. He finds that the former arrangement is m every way superior. The con­dition of the road is better, as tb is much easier and less expensive to keep bhe track in proper shape. This is especially the case on curves. Mr. Alien's experience is also confirmed by Mr. Bradley, of the Aibchison, Topeka, and Santa ~.,e Railway.

The Boston Elevated Railway, which is operated by electric power, has been provided with automatic block signals throughout by the U nion Switch and Signal Company. The signals are lowered by an electro-pneu­matic arrangement, the current merely controlling the valves governing the supply of air to the si~nal cy­linders. The normal position of the signals 1s "line clear, , but each train as i b enters a block raises the signal behind it, and these signals are again lowered when the train leaves the section. The planb has now been in successful operation for some time, and the densiby of the traffic is such that the signals are, ib is abated, each operated fully 660 times daily.

In an interesting article in the Philosophioal llfagazine, Professor Trowbridge gives reasons for believing bhab pure hydrogen ga.s is an insulator of electricity, and nob a con­ductor, as has been somewhat too readily assumed. He holds tha.b an electrical discharge cannot be passed through an atmosphere of pure hydrogen, or, indeed, of a.ny other gas. In ordinary cases the spark is, he con­tends, conveyed by the ions resulting from the decom­position of traces of water. Moreover, ~chumann has shown that pure hydrogen ab atmospheric preseure trans­mits the ulbra.-rays as well as the mosb perfect vacuum attainable. Hence, on Maxwell's theory, it should be an insulator. Profeador De war has also shown that liquid H is an insulator. In his researches, Professor Trowbridge has made use of a battery of 20,000 storage cells.

The BoaTd of Trade J owr'ft.al abates bhat a dispatch has been received from the High Commissioner for South Africa. giving bhe foJlowing particulars relnting to the railways ab present being constructed in Sou thern Rhodesia: (1) A line, 3 h. 6 in. gauge, from Bula.wa.l.o, through G welo, to the Globe and Phmnix Mine-loo:mtles long ; (2) a. line, 3 ft. 6 in. gauge, from Salisbury to the Globe and Phamix Mine-150 miles long; (3) a. line 2 h. gauge, from Salisbury to the Ayrshire Gold Mine, L oma.­gondi district-78 miles long ; ( 4) a line, 3 ft. 6 in. gauge, from Bulawayo to the G wanda district, MAtabelela.nd-120 miles long ; (5) a. line, 3ft. 6 in. gauge. from Bula­wayo in the direction of the Wankies Coalfield and Victoria Falls-160 miles long. The Administrator of Rhodesia states in regard to the lasb of these lines that it is intended to extend this line through the W a.nkies Coalfield bo the Victoria Falls, and thence across bhe Zambesi; but as the survey has nob yet been completed, no contract for the extension ha.s been given.

In a nobe published in La Merou1·e Soientifique, M. Marcel Guedra.s remarks thab petroleum should never be used as a disincrustanb in boilers already covered wibh soaleifthey are fired externally; hub wi bh internally fired boilers there is no danger. Petroleum added to the feed wat er forms an emulsion inside the boiler which prevents the particles of lime agglomerating, so thab ib does not form a. hard scale on bhe plates, hub merely a. sofb ruud, which can be readily washed oub. If scale already exists, the petroleum will _ _penetrate the pores of the mass and reach the plate. Under the action of continued beating the lighter portions volatilise, ancl the heavier decompos­ing, swell and detach the scale from the plates. The car­bonaceous deposit thus formed may, however, give rise to overheating in the case of an externally-fired boiler, as in thab case ib tends to resb on the hottest plates. The petroleum can be readily introduced with bh{' feed by means of a. sight-feed displacement lubricator similar to those commonly used for cylinder lubrication.

Certain American ra.ilroa.ds have experimented with 60-fb. rails in place of the 30-fb. commonly used. The ad­vantage claimed is a reduction in the number of joints. The matter has recently been discussed ab the annual meeting of the !W~dm4'tster aud Maintenance of W ar Aasoci~tion

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by Mr. F. R. Coa.tett, of the Chicago and Greab Western line. He states that his experience is thab these long rails are more costly both in the first instance and in main­tenance. He quotes a manufacturer to the effect thab these long rails are also troublesome in the rolling mills, since whilst one man will straighten a 30-fb. or 33-ft. rail. four are needed to handle a GO·fb. rail, and it is difficult in the end to say whet her it is straight or nob. When in the track, Mr. Coa.tes states thab unless special care is taken the " expansion will run in bunches;" that is, ab some points there will be very wide joints, and ab others t ight ones. In cold weather bolts are broken by the contraction. Summing np, he states that, in the first place, rails more than 33 fb. long cosb more per ton to handle and more to maintain, these conclusions being the reaulb of experience on 100 miles of 60-fb. rails.

In cold countries double glazing is sometimes resorted to, in order to reduce the heat losb from a room to the exterior through the windows. Some experiments made by H. Schoentje3, of Ghenb, show thab there is a certain dtsbance of separation between the glasses, at which the heat lost is a minimum. The glass used in his experi­ments was 2 millimetres (.079 in.) thick, and the loss wa.s least when the d istance between the opposing sheets was somewhere between 67 millimetres and 117 milli­metres (2. 64 in. to 4. 61 in. ). The loss in calm air through one thickness of the glass was at the rate of about .415 British thermal units per square foot per hour for each degree Fa.hr. of the difference of the temperature on the opposite sides of the sheet. The experiments were made over a range of 12.6 deg. to 40 deg. Fa.hr., and the rate of loss was somewhat greater as the differences of temperatures increased, hub the mean was as stated. With double walls ab the best distance aparb, bhe rate of loss was aboub halved. Wet­ting the outer surface of the glass increased the rate of loss by about 39 per cent.; wh1lsb if, ab the flame time, a. current of air was directed over the outer surface the rate of lo:rs was still further increa-sed up to about. 93 British thermal units per square foob of glass ~r hour. The utility of bhe second layer of glass wbtch can be kepb dry and in still air would, in such a oa.se as this, be very marked. Similar experiments on the rate of transmis­sion through wood 3 centimetres (1.18 in. ) thick, showed thab for the ordinary range of atmospheric differences o( temperature the loss of heab by transmission was at the rate of .23 British thermal units per degree per hour for mahogany, .20 British thermal units for oak, and .18 British thermal units for pine.

PERSONAJ.~.-The British Electric Car Company, Li­mited, announce that they have moved their offices from 18, S b. Swithin's-lane to Oxford-court. Cannon-streeb­Mr. J. G. Fiegehen, of the Bedford E ngineering Com­pany, informs us that be has taken into partnership his son, Mr. E. G. Fiegehen, and M r. B. W. Preston. The business will be conducted under the same style a.s hitherto.

THE SUEZ CANAL.-The transit revenue collected by the Suez Canal Company in September was 346,400l., as com­pared with 331,200l. in September, 1900. The number of ships which passed through the canal in September was 307, a.s compared with 310 in September, 1900. The aggregate transit revenue collected in the first nine months of this year \Vas 3,019,010l., as compared with 2, 693, 270i. in the corresponding period of 1900. The number of ships which passed through the canal from J a.nuary 1 bo September 30 of this year was 2795, as com­pared with 2576 in the corresponding period of 1900.

HAMBURG.- The number of ships which entered the port of Hamburg in bhe fi rsb nine months of this year wa-s 9937. of an aggrfgate burthen of 6,418,593 tons, as compared with 10,121 ships, of an aggregate burthen of 6,099,687 ·bone, in the corresponding period of 1900. Steamers figured in these totals for 5, 722,246 tons and 5,460,647 bona respectively. The number of ships whioh cleared from Hamburg in the firsb nine months of this year was 9824, of an a.ggre~ate burbhen of 6,355,813 tons, as compared with 10,106 sbtps, of an aggregate burthen of 6,140,234 tons in the corresponding period of 1900. Steamers figured in these totals for 5,670,599 t one a.nd 5,483,174 tons respectively.

THE M oRRAY TELRGBAPH.-Mr. Douglas Murray has j usb completed a series of experiments with his "long­distance high-speed page-printing telegraph system," with which be has been conducting trials on an English post­office wire between London and Glasgow. He expresses himself well pleased with the results, having obtained a speed of 120 words per minute under highly un­favourable conditione. This is only ten words less than the highest speed claimed for the invention. lb was found that the automatic typewriting transcriber, although capable of a. speed of 110 words per minute, showed a ten­dency to drop letters ab thab speed ; and ib wa.s decided to employ two transcribers workmg at 70 words per minute, and transcribing alternate batches of messages. This arrangement gave excellent results. Mr. Murray claims that his demonstrations prove the superiority of his system over those ab present in use, on account of the mechanism being more simple, durable, and easy to keep in order. There are only seven electrical contacts in the whole receiving apparatus, including relays. In addition, the messages are more legible and reliable, and the amount of skilled labour is materially reduced. The postal engineera are said to be very pleased with the a~pa.ratus. We understand bha.b Mr. Murray is taking hts system to Vienna for trials on the Government wires there, as soon as the English experiments ~re completed.

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E N G I N E E R I N G. [Nov. I, 1901.

THE ELECTRICAL EQUIP~1ENT OF MESSRS, P ALMER'S WORKS AT J ARROW .

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Frn . 1. WESTI NGIIOUS E TrrREE-PHASE M AI N GENERATORS .

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ENGJNEER.I NG, NovF.MRER 1, 1901.

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THE LAUNCH OF H. M. ARMOURED CRUISER " KI NG ALFRE D." CO N STR UC 'l'ED AND F.N G IN E D BY ME SS R S. \IC KER S, SO N S, AND M ,!XDI, l, J.Ml'f ED, KAYAL CO N S TRU C T I ON W OR K S, BARROW- I N - FUR NESS.

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AGENTS FOR "ENGINEERING." AOSTJUA, Vienna: Lehmann and Wentzel, Kirntnerst rasse. OAP& TowN : Gordon and Gotoh. E DINBURGH : J ohn .Menzies and Co., 12, H anover-street. FR.ANOB, Pa ris: Boyveau and Obevillet, Libra.irie Etrang~re, 22,

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Oftlces f "''r Publication and Advertisements, Nos. 35 and sa; Bedford Street, Strand, London, W.C.

TKLBGB.APmo Al>DRR.Ss-ENGINEERING, LONDON.

TBLRPIIONB NUYBBR- 3663 GePrard.

CONTENTS, PAGE PAGK

Literat ure .... .. .. .. ...... 601 Overhead Wires .. .. .. .. .. 620 Books Recei ved . . . . ... . .. 601 South African Coal .. .. .... 621 Tbe Tooling of Machines Notes .. .. .. • • .. .. .. .. .. .. 621

(Jllrutrated) .. ... • .. ..•. 602 The Llte Herr J osef Vin~g 622 Tbe Brit ish Association .. . • 604 Tractora for Military Pur-Tbe E lectr ical Equipment po3eq .... . .... . .......... 622

of .Me~srs. P .. lmer' tt Ship· Tbe Westingh ouae Friction building Works (Jllus. ) .. 607 Draught Gea r .. .. .. .. . . 623

Vertical Air Compressor at Gyroscopio Ac tion anct t he th*' G Japgow Exhibit ion Loss of the 11 Oobra" (ll· cillustrated) .. .. .. . . .. .. 610 l1utTated ) .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 623

H . M. ArmourPd Cruiser The Elect rificat ion of t be •· 1\ing Alfred " (I ll us. ) . . 611 .MeLropolltan Rail ways . . 626

The Eleotrifico.t.ion ol the Testing Dowson Gas .. . .. . 026 Metropolitan and Metro· The Vibration of Eng ines .. 626 ooliLan Dist r ic t Railways 611 Radiation of Heat from

Launchf8 and Trial Tripe .. 613 Polished and Dull Sur· Pneumatic T<'ols (l llus. ) . . 614 faces ...... ... . ... . .... . . 626 Admiralty Works Depart· Tbe Glasgow Autocar Trials 626

ment ......... . ........ .. 616 26-Ton Bogie Wo~on a t; the Notes from the United Glas2ow Exhibition (Il·

States ...... .. .. .. .. .. .. 616 lustr ated) .... .. .. .. .... fl27 Notes from the North . . . • 616 Industrial Notes .. .. • ... .•• 627 Notes from South York· Gas· E ogine ResearJ h (l l·

bhire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 616 lu.st·rated) . . • . . . . . . . • • . . 628 Notes from Cleveland and Tbe Physical Society . . . . . . 631

the Nort hern Counties . . 616 Tbe Correct T reat ment of Notes fr<.m the South-West 617 Steel (I llustrated) ..... . 633 Miscellanea.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 617 " Engineering " Patent Re· Education .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 619 cord (lllustrated) . ... ... 636

With a Two-Pogt Eng,a'tJing of THE LA. U:N OH Oli' H.~l.

.ARJfOURBD CRUI SER "ELNG .ALFRED!'

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

TRACTION and TRANSMISSION. (Publilhed on the first Tuuday in UJ.ch montA.)

PART VIU. READY NOVEMBER 6. PJUOB 28., Net; PosT FB.Ea 2e. jd,

Published at the Offictl8 of ENGINBBRtNG, 86 and 86, Bed1ord Street, Strand, London, W.O.

CONTENTS OF No. 8 P£n~ ~ PAn E

Tho Juntr Clrolu ......•.. ...... .. • 129 Berlin Tl"'\lllWI\)'11. By .J. ZJ\oharltl.'\ 171 The l£conomlcs of Street Railways. 1 Tbo J{l'l~gor J~ l~otromohllo. By

J~y t h e Hon. Robert P. Porter : Comnd W. Cook e. M. r. E. E .• H .-Rnpld 'J'n:m~lt of Now I (PIIlto XLI. , XLII. ,und l lluatra·

York (Pinto~ XXXIV. t.o tloua In 'l'oxt) .............. .. .. 17!l XXX VJI I., nod Jllustmtlon Now Locom otive tor tbe <.:entm l In Tuxt) •.....•....•....... 140 I,ondou lltdlwi~Y (Plates XLil I. ,

H hth·St>rod Electric 'rn1ctlou In XLlV .. llUd XLV.) .............. 180 Oonnuny (Plates .·xxrx., X'L. , l'he Now Rlootrlc Pnwer Plnu t for and l llustrntlons In Text) ... ... 1152 t he llro<1klyn R:\phl Tm1111lt Com-

.Munlclpal Trndlng: paoy (Pill to XLVI . ) ... .... ..... le2 (I) B.r W. Valentine Ball. ..... lGO T he Gold11ohmldt Process (I f (}) By r\ notber Borough Engl· Electrlo llnll Welding (Pinto

tleet· •••........•... ...•... • 1&:& X LVII.) .•.•... .•.••••.•••...•• 1S.'5 (k) Th~ Newca.:stle·on-Tynu h n· Tho Croyclou Electric 'l'11unwnys

hrogllo .............•..... 100 nnd Llgb tlug Sy11te111 IPinte The hlluu:heshr 11nd LIYerpool XL VIll., nnd Dlu•tm t lona ln

F.leotrlc ExpreM Railway .... .. JGS Text ) ......................... JSS

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-NOTICES OF MEETINGS.

INSTITUTION OF MBCIIANICA L ENGINERRB.-F riday, November 1, a t 8 p.m., ad journed discussion on the cc Second Report to the Gas-Engine kesPa rch Committ ee," hy Professor F . W. Burstall, of BirrninJtham U oiversity.

SOCIETY OF ENG IN'BRRS.-Monday, November 4, at the Royal United Ser vice Institu tion, Whiteha ll, a paper will b e read entitled cc The Main Drainage of Ilford," by .Mr. Roger Oo.skell IJethering t on, M A. The chair will be t nken at 7.30 p .m . vre· cisely.

TIIR INSTITU'rJON OF Cn ' JL ENOlNEERS.- Tueeday, November 5 at 8 p.m ., inaug ural address by Mr. Obarles Hawksley, P resident; and presente.tion of medals and p r izt>s awarded by t he Council. Recepti on by t he P resident in the library after the meeting.

RONTGEN SOOIETY·-Thursday, November 7, a t. 20, Hanover· squnre, the P residential Address, by Mr . Herbert Jack~on, F .O.S. 'l'he chai r will be taken at 8.30 p .m.

THE 0 1VJL AND ?tiEonANIOAt. ENGlNl;BRS' SOCIItTY.- Thursday, November 7, a t 8 p.m ., at S t. Ermin's Hotel, Oaxton-street, West· m inster, when a paper will be read on 11 Electric Traction," by Mr. B. Poot ifex, M.C.M.E.S.

ENGINEERING. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1901.

• EDUOATION.

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to the educational problem. It is a question that has not hitherto been attacked with any conspicuous degree of success by the Legislature. This is hardly to be wondered at, for educativn is a matter so largely social- it depends so greatly on the teachers and the taught-that laws and regulations can do no more than supply the tools ; the value of the product depends on their proper use.

Such being the case, it is with unfeigned satis. faction that we notice the inaugural meeting of the new educational section of the British Asso­ciation, a report of which we commence in our present issue. IL is to be hoped that the guidance it will give to the public and Parliament will result in a much-needed improvement in educational pro­cedure and practice. Before commenting on the new section, however, we will refer to one or two concrete examples of the practical value of educa­tion abroad which have lately been put forward.

The Council and Senate of University College, Liverpool, recently invited Mr. R. B. Haldane, M. P ., to deliver an address on ''The Function of a University in a Commercial City;" and in the course of the address which was delivered the author pointed out that we are forced to realise that courage, energy, and enterprise are, in these modern days, of little avail against the weapons which science can put into the hands of our rivals. This is true; but we would venture to point out that even scientific weapons must be weilded with "courage, energy, and enterprise." These are the industrial virtues upon the possession of which Britons have always prided themselves. We must not, however, allow national conceit to blind us to the fact that other nations also share these qualities.

Mr. Haldane gave a few examples of the manner in which higher education has enabled foreign countries to more successfully compete with us in branches of manufacture we once considered our own. For instance, thirty years ago Germany exported no beer, but to-day she ships almost as much as Great Britain. This the lecturer attributed to the admirabl~ instruction given in the German technical schools, illustrating how closely the academic training of that country is in touch with industrial life ; a circumstance which is also true of the United States, but, we fear, applies only in a minor degree to the United K ingdom. 'l'he aniline colour industry is another example. This branch of chemical activity is founded on an English discovery, but we had not a body of suffi­ciently well-trained manufacturing chemists to enable us to hold the start we obtained, and the industry has almost wholly passed to German factories. In Germany the manufacture has been fostered by research in the laboratories of universities and technical schools ; with the result that great producing institutions, such as the

WHAT has not inappropriately been called "The Badische Anilin Fabrik, can command an endloss Industrial Invasion of Great Britain," which means supply of managers and workmen trained in a the increase of manufacturing activity in foreign fashion which we have not been able to equal. countries, has led to wholesome introspection and It is doubtless a sound doctrine that the end of a useful overhauling of our industrial armour. technical education should not be to teach the On impartial examination, our equipment has been student a trade, but it is none the less true that found to need considerable furbishing. Among the aim should be to so equip him with knowledge other details lacking in efficiency is the system of and adaptability that will enable him to master his education pursued in Great Britain. Mr. Morley trade with greatest facility, and consequently fit said on Wednesday last, at Dundee, that we are, at him to mount to the highest position. To draw the moment, on the top of a great wave of national the line between abstract principles and practical interest in education. It is to be hoped that the example is one of the most difficult t asks placed interest will be more than momentary, and that upon those who direct technical studies. the impetus given to the subject will keep it A prominent feature connected with the higher at the crest of the wave for many years yet ; interests of German industry in its relation to for unless our educational system is much im- applied science is the '' Central Stelle," of proved in some directions, our industry will which Mr. Haldane gave as an example that suffer still more than it has yet done from the established in connection with the manufacture of competition of countries that have developed more explosives. Several years ago the rival makers of practical educational systems. Mr. Morley doubt- explosives combined together and subscribed about less recognises this, for he later said that "all lOO,OOOl. to found an establishment to be devoted those who had inquired into the conditions of scien- to the investigation of the scientific problems on tific training in Germany and the United States which the successful manufacture of higher ex­were reg,lly dismayed when they found the corn- plosjves is dependent. The work is under the parat ive shabbiness and meagreness of the buildings direction of one of the most distinguished pro­and funds and equipments in this island." Although fessors of chemistry of the University of Berlin, in many respects English schools are models who has under him a staff of highly-trained as­that all foreign countries might envy- and may sistants. The establishment is maintained at a continue to envy until they get scholars of the , subs~ription of about 12,000l. a year ; and to it are character of English schoolboys- yet it is a fact referred, as they arise, problems by which sub­that the country is sadly deficient in those educa- scribers in their individual work a.re confronted, tional methods which prepare young men for whilst there is carried on a regular system of re­business life. search, the results of which are communicated to

It has been stated, by those who study the pro- the subscribers. gress of politieal events, that Parliament is likely We have heard of the institutions in Germany of in the near future to devote considerable attention ·this nature before, ·but we must confess that we did

E N G I N E E R I N G. • : [Nov. I, 190I. not know they were carried to the extent which Mr. Haldane tells us is the case. That a not very large,. although r.apidly increasing and doubtless lucrattve, trade hke that of the making of explo­sives should be able to collect for t he purpose of research such a handsome sum as 100, OOOl., and then add the equally important subscription of 12,000l. a yoar, speaks volumes for the liberal­minded enterprise of German manufacturers. It is the more surprising because the makina of explo­sives has always been one of the most ~e01·et arts and it might well have been expected tlat mutualjea~ lousies would have prevented the successful forma­tion of the Central Stelle. Mr. Haldane in his Liverpool address, went on to say that ~e have nothing of the same kind in this country. That is true, but it is to be hoped that before Iona a commencement will have heen made in this dir~c­tion. · No doubt our readers will remember that at the summer meeting of the Institution of Naval Architects held in Glasgow this year'*' a proposal was m~de by Mr. Yarrow thll.t an experimental t~nk for testing ship's models, of the same nature as that owned by the AdmiralLy at Ha.slar, and by the Dennys at Dumbarton, should be established by subscription amongst those interested, and should be available not only for shipbuilders of this country, but for all willing to pay for the informa­tion obtained, irrespective of nationality. We believe the preliminary steps for puttina Mr. Yarrow's suggestion- which arose out of o some remarks made by Dr. Elgar-into practical shape ha. ve already been taken, and that there is every prospect of the scheme being brought to a success­ful issue. It would certainly be a shame to us if we could not do for our chief industry- on which, indeed, the fabric of our commerce chiefly depends -what the Germans have done for a relatively minor branch of manufacture.

cedure has been encouraged to grow without form or plan ; something added here, something there, as the fancy struck its creators, or as the loudest shouting of the public insisted. An engineer who designs a ml\chine, a surgeon who performs an operation, or a lawyer who argues a case, has to consider each point in its bearing on t he rest, and, to succeed, must so plan that every detail con­tributes to the harmonious structure of the whole. That is the true scientific method.

On page 604: we give as many passages from Sir John Gorst's presidential address as our space permits. We think our readers will admit that the views expressed are worthy of all acceptation · indeed, the address throughout was so sound, and so full of enlightened sentiment, that it was a pleasure to listen to it. But though this is true, yet on reading it again, with leisure to ponder on what it indicates, .a feeling of disappointment, if not of despair, is aroused; and this is strengthened by the further proceedings in the Section. Sir John Gorst is Vice-President of the Board of Education. The vote for education, science and art for the United Kingdom for last year was over 12t millions (the G~r~an vote w:a.s 25 millions), and in the appro­priatiOn of thlS enormous sum the President of Section L of the British Association played the chief part. When one compares the senti­ments expressed in the address with the actual prac­tice of public education- the liberal and scientific spirit of the one, and the narrow empiricism of the other-one can only conclude that it is something far beyond want of knowledge on the part of the ultimate educational authority that allows of such enormous sums being annually wasted by our imperfect system of public educa­tion. If our rulers did not know, if they were simply ignorant, one might hope t hat procedure would be improved ; but when one reads in the address so admirable an epitome of what should be, and, moreover, when one finds sound educa­tional doctrine common to a large number of persons-as appeared by the subsequent papers and discussions- one loses hope of amendment. What can be done with those who are not even wilfully blind, but knowing the right, re­fuse to follow it ~ No doubt Sir John Gorst's actions are tramelled by political considerations. There i'3 the Treasury, with its thought of the voting mob; there are the permanent officials, the reactionary schoolmasters, l"ested interests ; there is the indifference of Parliament and of the public. But surely Sir John Gorst's hands are not altogether tied. Has not the Vice-President of the Board of Education some influence ? Seeing his way so clearly, has he no power to choose the right path 1 One wonders whether he has any administrative functions, or whether he is simply an amiable gentleman who makes an ornamental figurehead in the Commons, with a companion effigy in the Lords.

These matters may seem a little aside from the educational question, but i& may be said that the German Central Stelle would be impossible were not the system of technical education in that coun­try sufficiently well organised to give a staff of competent investigators and assistants. We would also like to further point out that the admirable instruction given in one of the earliest and most admirable technical schools-the school of naval architecture-produced a class of ship designers that placed England in the front of nations in this field. In a past era, it will be remembered, we were dependent on the French for our best models, and that, again, was due to the then superior tech­nical education of our neighbours.

Returning to the proceedings in t he new Educational Section of the British Association, we think that the Glasgow meeting of 1901 is likely to be notable from the addition of this Section, which will, if properly conducted, become one of the most valuable of all. Certainly there can be nothing more strictly within the province of an association devoted to '' the advancement of science, than the t raining of t he young; indeed, scientific investigation is so dependent on aduca­tion that one is to the other what vict uals are to a meal. Now that we have the Section, we wonder how the Association has gone on so long without it ; and, being wise after the event, are apt to think that had the early fathers been so systematic in their plan as scientific methods should have made them, they would be given an educational, and not a mathematical, division the first place, as Section A, in the programme. Instead of that, the Educa­t ion Section follows eleven elder sisters in the family of science, and is just 70 years younger than the seniors of the group.

If, however, we are inclined to sit in judgment on the great founders of the Association, we may be reminded that in t heir t ime education as a science was little thought of in England; even now it barely exists, at any rate as a practical factor in our indus­t rial system. Instead there has grown up a vast un­systematic methodless method of teaching lessons, and of late years we have spent on it millions in a. haphazard at;td piecemeal fashion. Through ~he action of Parliament there has t hus, by the Educatwn Acts, been erected an imposing enough edifice, but it is built on no good foundation. Those who have been entrusted with the carrying out of the programme have been chiefly anxious to teach something of a stereotyped form, little caring, hardly thinking, w~at would be .the value of the instruction. In t hts way educatwna.l pro-

See page 4 ante.

The educationists have worked on a different plan. They have accepted what they have in­herited as an article of faith; patchina and piecing with blind persistence, and hav: pro­duced at last that amorphous mass of procedure which we call education. The teaching of the few thoughtful men who have had visions of better things has been ignored, with the result that educ~tion, so called, too often becomes a gift of doubtful value, and may be less of a blessing than the reverse.

If this appears to anyone an extravagant thing to say, let him consider how far the average School Board education has benefited many of its recipients, to what extent it has helped them in their daily task, and how largely the time spent at school has hindered the gaining of handicraft skill or has checked physical development . Let t hose who think that the ability to read and write is neces­sarily an unmixed blessing make themselves ac­quainted, by personal observation, not by hearsay, with the uses to which these accomplishments are often put; above all, let them follow the squalid literature that forms the chief, if not the only, reading of a considerable part of the lower classes.

It will not be thought, we trust, that because the teaching of the primary schools is often wasted, and sometimes harmful, that we advocate national education should therefore cease. We have pro­gressed too far in ci vilisa.tion for that. No country that aspires to be in the van of nations can afford to throw away chances, and we, like others, must sift finely to let no considerable quantity of native genius or talent go to waste. National education ought to do this, and it is not because our system is defective that we should have no system at all.

The task Section L, the new educational section, has before it is to so improve the teaching system of the country as to make it, firotly, an effec­tive net for gathering in those who give greatest assurance of usefulness in various spheres of aetivity; and, having secured the most promising subjects, to offer them knowledge chiefly useful in their walk of life, imparting it in a way that will develop their mental faculties to the most advan­tageous degree.

No section of the Association has a more serious and more difficult task to perform. Prejudice, self-interest, and public indifference will have to be encountered and overcome. The last will doubtless prove the chief obstacle to progress ; in fact, if the Section can enlist the active sympathy of the public, its work will be more than half done. Perhaps the greatest danger ahead is that the Section may be captured by a class of schoolmasters, who­wedded to stereotyped methods- are less able to judge of the value of ways of teaching than most other persons, for they see little of the results. Moreover, those schoolmasters w:ho have the control of affairs are generally men fairly well on in years, and have a natural disinclination to change their methods at the bidding of others outside the profession. In addi­tion to this they hold their office in virtue of what they have t hemselves been taught, to the educa­tion they have received. To render their present knowledge and acquirements .non,-prod~ctive by changing the course of educatwn IS equtvalent to taking away their occupation or sending then1 to school again. The vested interest of the class most concerned will therefore probably be often arrayed aaainst reform. There are, of course, many school­;asters so naturally wide minded as to see these dangers, and there are very many conscientious enouah to ignore personal considerations; but one must

0 not expect t he combination to be over

plentiful in a profession that does not tend to broaden the mental horizon by bringing its followers into contact with their equals. The teaching profession, moreover, is in close alliance with, and largely forms a part. of, another pr?fes­sicn in which, at times, one may fancy there Is to be traced an echo of the claim to infallibility which is still advanced by the hierarchy frotn whence the Church has sprung.

If its first president would have told Section L where the break existed between his admirable theory and his department's very indifferent prac­tice, he would have been rendering a. service to education that could hardly be equalled.

OVERHEAD WIRES. THE case of the Finchley Electric Light Com­

pany, Limited, v. the Finchley Urban District Council, which was heard by the Lord Chief Justice in the V a.cation Court on Octooer 16, raises an interesting question with regard to the right of a district council to interfere with a private electric supply company who have erected over­head supply wires across the highway. It appears that the plaintiff company were incorporated in 1900 with the object (inter alia) of carrying on at Finchley and elsewhere the business of an electric light company, and to supply electricity. The company never held any license or provisional order under the Electric Lighting Act, 1882, nor was it vested with any statutory powers. It has, however, been served by the Board of Trade with a copy of the regulations is3ued under Section 4 of the Electric Lighting Act, 1888, and with a notice to comply with such regulations. The de­fendants are one of the numerous local authorities who hold a provisional order from the Board of Trade for the supply of electricity in their district, but have never exercised their rights ; but in this instance the local authority have not only failed to exercise their own right of supplying electricity in the district, but have endeavoured to prevent the present plaintiffs from meeting the publio needs. Thus in an action in the Chancery Division, in which the present plaintiffs were defendants, the council sought an order to restrain the company from breaking up any streets within their district for the purpose of laying thereunder electric cables, wires, or pipes, or for any other purpose without their consent. The company, without admitting that they had threatened to open up any road, un­dertook no~ to open up any ro~d WJthout the

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Nov. I, 1901.]

council's consent in writing. Application was accordingly made to the council for leave to lay wires, and to open up the streets for that purpose, but this was refused. The company t hereupon commenced to ~upply electricity by means of over­head wires, and on September 28 last the com­pany's workmen c!lrried an overhead wire across the Regent's Park-road from a pole already erected on private land at the corner of the East End and R ?gent's Park roads . to a point on private pre­ln,ses at t he other s1do of the road, in order to supply eertain private premises with electricity. On October 1 the defendants' surveyor gave orders for this wire to be cut, and it was cut accordingly. The company naturally sought an injunction to restrain this interference with their property. It was argued by the defendants' counsel, in j ustifica­t ion of their conduct, that t hey were en­titled to cut t he wires as protectors of the public interest, and t hat a body without statutory powers cannot be in a better position than one who has them. The Lord Chief J ustice, in the course of his judgment, said : ''I must aqsume that in some way the plaintiff~ have obtained the assent of t he owners adjoining the high way to the wires being put up: The defendants are willing to give an undertaktng 11ot t o cut any more wires; but t hat will not maintain the status quo. I must grant an injunction in the terms of t he motion.'' The inj unction was as follows : "1'o restrain the defendants, their officers, sen•ants, ec., from breaking, cutting, severing, or otherwise inter­fering wit h, or causing to be broken, cut, severed, or otherwise interfered with, t he electric lines or cables of the plaintiffs over or across the Regent's Park-road, or any other road or street within. the urban district of Finchley, or elsewhere, or from doing any act whereby the plaintiffs might be hindered or obstructed in erecting or carrying electric lines or cables over or across any of such roads or streets at a height not less than t hat required by the regulations prescribed by the Board of Trade in t hat behalf. "

T hose who are interested in t he development and progress of electricity supply cannot but rejoice at this decision. True, it is only an interim inj unction that has been granted ; no final decision as to the right of a private supply company to suspend wires over t he high way has been pro­nounced by the Lord Chief Justice. We a-nticipate, however, that t he injunction will be made perpetual when the case is fully heard. The Electric Lighting Acts give a local authority no right to interfere with wires suspended over t he highway ; t he Highway Acts confer no right upon the highway authorities to interfere with any property which is not an obstruct ion to the wayfaring public. Where, then, is the chart~r of the Finchley Urban District Council which justifies the action of their surveyor in the present case ? They will have to produce it at the hearing if they wish the injunction to be dissolved. There seems to be an impression in some quarters that electricity cannot be sup­plied to the public except under the auspices of a Provisional Order or Act of Parliament. This is quite a mistaken view. There is nothing in any of the Electric Light ing Acts which renders it compulsory for those who wish to supply electricity to their neighbours to seek P arliamentary or other powers.

So long as the regulations laid down by t he Board of Trade for the safety of t he public are duly observed, there is nothing which can interfere with the right of supplying electricity for profit. In the present case the landowners on either side of the road, in whom the soil of the highway is vested '' 1tsque ad medi1tm filum 'IYiae," had allowed the company to erect the posts on their lands. What public interest could have been affected by the sus­pension of the cable high above t he reach of the traffic ?

One other matter calls for remark. In many of the articles which have recently been written upon the great subject of municipal trading, complaint has been made that in many cases local authorities having obtained provisional orders, to the exclu­sion of private enterprise, have placed t heir orders on t he shalf and have made no use of them. Here the local aut hority, not content with lying in the manger like the proverbial dog, have adopted a militant attitude towards a company which has endeavoured to meet the public need. Let those who advocate municipal t11ading consider whether the methods of their clients are worthy of commendation.

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

SOUTH AFRICAN COAL. BY reason of the war the coal-mining industry

of the Transvaal has been passing through a very t rying and unprofitable time. It depends mainly for its market on the gold mines, and only a few of these have been permitted to resume operations. The consumption on the railways has been above the average, but it has not sufficed to compensate for the reduction in the gold-mining requirements, and, besides, there has been a shortage of trucks, owing to t he pressing of t he bulk of t he rolling stock into the service of the military. Th~ reader may be reminded that t he bulk of t he coal con­sumed on the Rand comes from mines which are rdadily accessible, being sit uated in t he East Rand, not more than 25 or 30 miles distant. To supplement supplies from the East Rand district, coal is also brought from Middleburg- a locality which, though richer in fuel, has the disadvantage of being about 100 miles distant from Johannesburg. This did­ability is partially offset, however, by the superi­ority of its coal, the calorific value of two bags of Middleburg being equivalent to three bags of East Rand. The Netherlands Rail way granted the Middleburg mines rg,tes which were in a sense pre­ferential, as compared with those charged to the coal companies in t he East Rand district, and whereas t he latter had to pay something like 3d. per mile freight, the charge to Middleburg com­panies was upon the basis of 1d. per mile per ton. But this reduction was not sufficient to neutra­lise the great difference in distance to the Rand market .

Still, in normal times a material quantity of Middle­burg fuel got into the Rand, and for the rest there is a sea outlet at Lorenzo Marques, where it is grow­ing in popularity. The East Rand mines are cent red round Boksburg and Springs, of which, however, only t he last counts for much nowadays, Boksburg coal being of very inferior quality. The principal companies are the Clydesdale, Transvaal Coal Trust, G reat Eastern, Cassell, and Springs. F or the time being, the rail ways are the best customers for both t he East Rand and the Middleburg col­lieries. W hen peace is finally restored and the demand r eaches a normal level again, it is intended to open a number of new collieries in the last­named district, where there is plenty of coal un­tapped. At Balmoral, the seams reach nearly 30ft. at Brugsprnit the Anglo-French Exploration Com­pany has proved 48 ft. in four seams, at '\Vitbank t here is over 13 ft., while t he working thickness at the Transvaal and Delagoa collieries is quite 12ft. In the eastern part of the district the Belfast mine has a seam the thickness of which averages 26 ft. It must not be assumed that the coal is continuous throughout the area. But before any liefinite idea of the actual superficial extent of the coal forma­tion can be arrived at a great deal more exploratory work is necessary.

Natal is possessed of very extensive deposits of coal, for which the years to come are likely to see a considerably enhanced demand. E stimates of the workable areas of coal under present conditions can only include the districts from Glencoe to Newcastle, or about 560 square miles out of a total area of 1800 square miles. ]'rom that also large deductions must be made for the area of coal affected by igneous act ion, for areas from which the coal has been denuded, and for areas of inferior fuel, which would leave about 150 square miles of workable and saleable coal under present conditions. With an allowance of 25 per cent. for waste, including aban­doned pillars and unsaleable dross, there is left a total of about 764,000,000 tons of available coal. The report of the Mining Commissioner for 1900, recently published, shows that the output in that year was 241,330 tons, as compared with 328,693 tons for 1899. Seeing t hat posses­sion of the principal collieries was not ob­tained until May after the Boer invasion, and that some t ime was occupied with repairing the damage done by the enemy, the decrease of 87,363 tons is easily llccounted for ; in fact, the Cotnmissioner thinks the result ,. speaks well for the energy displayed in reopening the mines. ,, The average value of the output was 20s. per ton ; but this was due to quite abnormal circumstances, and it compares with 8s. 6d. per ton before the outbreak of the war. The exports to the Transvaal and the Orange River Colony in the twelve months were 9984 tons, in comparison with 7758 tons in 1899, an increase of 2226 tons ; whilst the coal bunkered was 118,7 40 tons, as compared with

621

156,267 tons in 1899. The amount of foreign coal imported during last year was 31,582 tons.

Recent repr>rts state that the collieries cont inue to be actively employed, and although the supply of trucks do~s not permit of full-time working, the output is steadily rising. Further north in Zulu­land are coalfields, the full importance of which has never yet been fully appreciated. The most important measures yet discovered are those of St. Lucia and Ntambanana, owing to their proxi­mity to the coast . Some time ago we heard of a scheme for connecting the St. Lucia fields with Durban- adistance of about 170 miles- by means of an extension of the North Coast Railway. U nder t he terms of this railway concession, however, the Ntambanana coal, though 40 miles nearer Durban, would still have to pay the same rates as the St. Lucia coal, unless ad vantage were taken of the proximity of t he Ntambanana to the mout h of the Umhlatuzi River. I t is said that with a compara­tively small outlay it would be possible to utilise the lagoon at the mouth of the Umhlat uzi River as a harbour for lighters, which would be loaded with coal and towed during favourable weather to Durban. A good deal remains to be done, how­ever, in connection with the development of t he carboniferous resources of Zululand. A hydro­graphical surrey of the mout h of the U mhlatQzi River and lagoons in connection t herewith should be made. The sinking of a series of boreholes should be undertaken, and arrangements made for the proper testing of the quality of every seam of coal· of practical importance.

NOTES. THE LIABILITY OF MoToR-CAR DRIVERS.

FROM a recent case in the Bungay County Court, it seems that motor-car owners cannot be held responsible for the remoter consequences of their user of automobiles on the high road. It appears that, on October 9, Robert Murton, a farmer of Lowestoft, sued the Hon .. John Mulholland for the sum of 19l., by way of damages ari')ing from in­juries sustained by hi9 horse and cart, due, it was alleged, to the negligent and furious driving of a motor-car. The horse and cart were passing over a narrow bridge across the Waveney at Oulton Broad, when the defendant , who was in a motor­car with two ladies and a little girl, being unable to pass the other vehicle, sounded a horn twice. The plaintiff's horse was frightened, and broke away from the driver, striking a gateway and up setting t he cart. It was urged on behalf of the plaintiff that the speed of the car was excessive, that the blowing of the horn was unreasonable, and that the defendant dicl not use proper care and caution in the circumstances. Without calling ing on the defendant's counsel, J udge Eardley Wilmot gave j udgment for the defendant. He said : '' Motor-cars are now recognised by the Legislature, and they have as much right to use the highway as any other vehicle. Horses must get used to them. It is quite clear that in the present case the horse was frightened by the horn ; but sounding the horn is exactly what the law says drivers of motors must do, and I fail to see any evidence of negligence. ,, It will be noticed that the learned juclge was apparently satisfied, in this instance, that t he speed of the motor was not excessive.

FRENCH E NTERPRISE IN Y UNNAN.

The agent of the French Government, and also of French capitalists, is endeavouring to push on his pet scheme for a rail way from Laokai to Yunnan-fu, for which he has already secured the approval of the French Cabinet to the conven­tion he has made with a syndicate of P aris bankers to build the line at a cost of 70,000,000 francs. At present the greater part of the export and import trade of Yunnan is carried through the open town of Mengtse, about 160 miles south of Yunnan­fu, or Yunnan-sen-as the French call the capit~l­and quite near the Tonkin border. Mengtse is distant from Yunnan-fu eight easy stages for pack-horses, over a table-land sloping up to northwards. Ita climate is excellent ; but a day and a half,s journey to the south from Mengtse brings the traveller into the low-lying and tropical valley of the Red River at Manhao, whence t here is direct communication wit h the sea. Goods are brought from Hong Kong to Haiphing on the Tonkin coast, and thence up the Red River in junks. Small stef\mers can reach Laokai on t he Chinese frontier, where M. Doumer

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-means to start his railway, but the navigation is so uncertain that shippers prefer junks. The diffi­culties of navigating the Upper Red River and the two days' mule transport, from the river valley up to the plateau of Mengtse, are serious hindrances to the trade ; yet Mengtse is the commercial key of the best districts of Yunnan, and the chief town of a district containing a population of about 2,500,000. Its trade has been increasing rapidly. In 1897 it was valued only at 560,000l., while last year it was probably over a million. Withal, the town of Mengtse is neither large nor wealthy, being little more than a forwarding station. Its chief pro­duct is tin, and it exported nearly 250, OOOl. worth of thab metal in slabs during 1899. The mines of Kuo-chin are conveniently situated not far from the town, so that the expense of transport is small. When we note that the exports of tin from Singa­pore during 1899 were valued at 1,200,000l., while Mengtse exported slabs valued at more than one­fifth of that amount for the same period, it will be realised that Yunnan very possibly possesses rich mineral resources, which may render M. Doumer's railway a commercially profitable, as well as strategically important, venture. .

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THE CHEMISTRY OF PRODUCER GAs. It has long been known that at certain tempe­

ratures carbonic acid gas in contact with carbon is unstable, and, taking up an additional atom of carbon, becomes carbon monoxide. It is less gene­rally known that the latter gas is also unstable under certain conditions, reverting to C02 with deposition of carbon. These cases of dissociation and combination have recently been carefully studied by M. 0 . Boudouard, who, in a recent issue of t.he Bttlletin of the Paris Ghemical Society, discusses the bearing of his researches on the metallurgical indus­tries. He has ascertained in what proportions the two gases form stable mixtures at different tempera­tures when iri contact with fue1, and claims that a comparison of his results with analyses of producer gas, will, in any case, give useful information as to the working of the apparatus. His results show the maximum proportion of carbon monoxide which can be obtained with a producer working at a given temperature. These maximum results are in practice never attained. The ideal producer should yield merely CO and N in the proportion of 24.3 volumes of CO to 65.6 of N. Owing to dissociation of the CO, the 8QS in practice always contains 002, and in

· greater proportion as the working temperature is lower. In fact, the conditions of working can be so arranged that the whole of the carbon is obtained as 002• For instance~ a high velocity of the air through the furnace is favourable to the production of 002, since insufficient time is given for its re­duction, after formation, to CO by taking up more carbon. A porous and finely-divided fuel, on the other hand, promotes a good yield of CO, as does also a high tem~erature of working.. In Ia:boratory ex­periments 1t was found that 1n passmg 002 over carbon at the temperatures noted below, the follow­ing proportions of CO were obtained:

Deg. Cent. Per Cent. of CO. 600 ' 23 700 58 800 93 900 96.5

1000 99.3

Thus, at 1000 deg. the 002 is practically com­pletely broken up, but producers never work at so high a temperature, and hence always ~ive a certain proportion of 002• In actual prachce the o-ases are of course, largely diluted with nitrogen, ~hich m;kes a longer time necessary for the estab­lishment of equilibrium. Simila:r!y,. the. kind of fuel used is of importance. Equ1hbnum IS estab­lished pretty quickly when wood carbon is used, but with coke, and, above all, bone carbon, the stable state is not reached after several hours' heating at 800 deg. Cent. Su~ming up, to get a uood yield from a producer, the air current through the furnace should be slow, the temperatur~ ~igh, and the combustible porous and finely dtVlded. In blast-furnaces the carbon monoxide is formed in the hottest part of the furnace, near the tuyeres, since here the temperature is too great for 002 to exist. This CO, proceeding upwards through the furnace, picks up oxyge~ fro~ the o.re, forming C02, ~nd th~n, meetmg Wlth glowing carbon, is agatn partially reduced to 09. If the quantity of this latter gas produced m the neighbourhood of the tuyeres is already suffi­cient to reduce the ore, this second production of

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

CO constitutes a useless loss of heat. Hence; within limits, the loss of heat through the comparatively thin walls of the upper portion of the furnace may be made up for by the lessened production of CO in this portion of the furnace, following the re­duction of the tern perature consequent on the loss of heat. Again, the less the time the 002 is in contact with the hot fuel the less the carbon monoxide formed ; hence high air pressures should be used with high furnaces, though too great a rate of flow of the air may prevent the proper reduction of the ore. The fuel should also be in as large pieces as possible, so as to expose a sma.'' surface to the carbon dioxide.

THE LATE HERR JOSEF VIRAG. WE regret to record the death of Herr Josef Virltg,

on October 24, after a very short illness. Herr Virag, who was only thirty-one years of age, was joint inventor of the Pollak-Virag telegraph, a description of which appeared in E NGI NEERING of December 7. 1900, page 750. He was born in 1870 at F oldvar, and died in Budapest. He was educate:i in the schools of Brasso and Kolosvar, and obtained the engineering diploma of the J osef Polytechnic, of Budapest. Four yea.rs ago he was assistant to Professor Wittman, and remained with him for three years. He then entered the service of the State as ministerial engineer, and was appointed patent judge in the Royal Hungarian Patent Office, in which position he was still employed at the time of his death. In his leisure hours he occupied himself with many experimental researches; and in 1898, at the inshnce of the United Electrical Company of Budapest, he com~enced experiments with Anton Pollak's telautograph. As a result of these experiments, an apparatus was devised, capable of sending and re­cording 800 to 1000 impulses per second, and of trans­mitting m£ssaaes in Morae code at phenomenal speeds. The fame of the apparatus spread abroad, and experi­ments of a highly F>uccessful character were carried out between Berlin and Budapest, and later between New York and Chicago. L9.ter on, the apparatus was so developed that instead of Morse signals it was made to write directly in L9.tin chara.cters ; and re.cently _a working line has been esta.bhshed employmg th1s system between Budapest and Fiume, a distance of 600 kilometres, upon which a speed of 40,000 words per hour was obtained, in good legible writing. Virag was much liked among Hungarian engineers, and is much lamented.

TRACrORS FOR MILITARY PURPOSES. WE have received from the War Office the following

announcement : ItJ being essential thab tractors for military purposes

should be capable of a much greater radiu~ of action, withoub replenishment of fue~ or water, than IS at pr~ent abbainEd by any such eng1nes constructed for e1ther military or commercial purposes, the Secretary of St~te for W a.r offers prizes as under for the best tra'Jtors meetmg the requirements mentioned hereafter: . £

First prize .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1000 Second prize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 50 Third prize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 500

To eaoh prize will be adde~ ~ bonus of 10.l. for e':ery complete mile beyond the mmimum of 40 mtles requued by paragraph' 2 of the "Requirements," tha~ ~he tractor awarded such prize can travel under th~ cond1t10ns there­in de~cribed. The total amount of this bonos shall not exce ed the value of the particular prize to which it may be added.

2 The trials which will be conducted by the War office Committ~e on Mechanical Transport, will commence in the spring of 1903, and will extend over a considerable period so that the tractors may be thoroughly tested. The e~acb nature of the trials will be determiJ?-ed upon by the above Committee. A g~neral scheme will b~ drawn up a.nd issued to all compe t1tors, but the Committee r~­serve to themselves full powers to carry out any ad~I­tional t e3ts that they may deem necessary, w he the~ m­eluded in the general programme or not. The Commtttee reserve to themselves the power of rej.eoting any tr!lotor which does nob comply Wlth the requuements pu~hshed herewith or of suspending, ab any stage, the. trials of any tractor which in their opinion has proved Itself un-suitable. .

3 The decision of the Commtbtee on all matters con-nec.bed with the competition shall. be final. . .

4. Forms of entry will be supplied on ~pphoa.t10n to the Secretary, Mechanical Tranapor~ Commit.tee! Y' ar Office, Horse Guards Whitehall. Fums or tndtv1dua.ls who intend to ent~r must send in these forms, duly com­pleted. to bhe Secretary, not l~ter than J anu~ry 1, 1903.

5. No tractor will be a.dm1t~ed to the tr1als .unle~ a. fully-dimensioned seb of draWinga.. and ~ speorfioatt?n, giving complete details, exactly as Elubmit~ed for trial, together with a statement of the puro.hase priCe, have been lodged with the Secretary, Meohamcal ~ransporb Com­miotee before the commencement of the trtals.

6. A firm or individual may enter more than one traotor, bub the conditions of paragraphs. 4 and 5 musb be com­plied with for each separate maobme entered ..

7. His Majes ty's Government to have bhe right of pur-

[Nov. I' 190 J.

chasing all or any of the competing tractors ab bhe price stated by the competitor under paragraph 5.

8. All designs and speoificattons lodged under para. graph 5 will be c:>nsidered confidential, and those of the tractors that may be purchased will be retained for the purposes of the Government, hub wibhoub prejudice to patenb rights. Thm:e of the tractors nob puroha.s€d will be returned to the competitors after the trials.

STATEMENT o~· REQUIREMENTS oF TBAOTOR FOR MILITARY P URPOSES.

1. Nob to exceed a gro~s weight of 13 tons when fully loaded whh all i os fuel and water, and with all store.q necessary for its proper manipulation on the march, and must be independent of any extraneous machinery for the supply of its motive power.

2. To be capable of hauling a gross load of 25 tons for not less than 40 miles over ordinary roads, having, so far as may be possible, grades nob exceeding approximately 1 in 18, ab an average speed of 3 miles an hour wibhoub ab any time exceeding a speed of 5 miles an boor, using only the fuel and water that can be carried on the tractor itself, without being re{>lenished during the journey from einher a separate vehiCle or from any other source; and, in the case of a steam engine, without reducing the amount of water in the boiler below a safety level to be fixed upon by the Committee. -

3. To be capable of hauling a. gross load of 12~ tons along a good level road for a distance of not less than 1 mile at a speed of 8 miles an hour.

4. To be o~pable of hauling a. gross load of 12~ tons up a. slope of 1 in 6 (for this test the tractor can be fully loaded with fuel and wate r).

5. To be so designed and constructed that ib shall be capable of travelling on all classes of roads and over rough ground without excessive wear and tear or injury, either from shock or from any of its lower portions strik­ing obstacles projecting from the surface of the_ground, or from the wheels s inking into the ground in sofb places, or from other causes, and to be capable of being driven through water 2 fb. deep without itd motive power being seriously affected.

6. To be capable of being driven either ahead or astern.

7. To be fitted with efficient brakes on all driving­wheels.

8. To be efficiently spring-mounted on all axles. 9. Provision musb be made..for rapidly looking together

each or every pair of driving wheels. 10. To be capable of being steered by one man, and ·

entirely controlled and manipulated by not more than two men, who musb b9 placed in convenient positions for the work they are req oirad to do.

ll. To be provided with adequate covering to proteob the men from the weather.

12. The handles, levera, or other arrangemenbs for con­trolling the mechanism to be so arranged that the tractor may be driven either ahead or astern, chang-ed from one speed and from one direction of movement to another, steered, have brakes applied, and have any oiling or adjustments, necessary whilst travelling, carried out without the driver or assistant (if employed) leaving his normal position.

13. Proper arrangements to be made tbab no parb of the machinery be liable to damage from mud or dust. When casings ate used these should be dust-proof, and readily removable for inspection and repair.

14. To be fitted with a winding gear, carrying 75 yards of flexible galvanised steel-wire rope, 21 in. in circumfer­ence, the creaking strain of which must be not less than 15 tons, with suitable leading sheaves arranged so that a fair lead may be obtained for the rope from the drum to either the forward or after end of the trac()tor, and from thence in any direcbion within an angle of 90 deg. on either side of the fore-and-aft centre line of the tractor. The winding gear to be arranged so ~bat the wir~ ro~e can be paid out from the drum whtlst the engme IS moving- ahead.

15. The driving wheels to be nob less than 6ft. 6 in. in diameter, nor less than 18 in. wide across the tyres.

16. To prevent the tractor being stopped by its weig-ht being taken on under surfacAS, should the wheels stnk into the ground, the clearance between such under sur­faces and the ground must nob be less than 18 in.

17. Nob to exceed the following outside overall measure· menta:

Height from the ground level

Width Length

• ••

... • • •

• • •

For the fi x~d parts of the engine .. . . . . . . . 9 fb.

For removablep!utS~, such &l3 chimney, roof, &o. ... 12 , ,

. . . .. . . . . . .. 7 h. 4 in. • • • . . . . . . . . . 20 f b.

18. No restricbions are placed on nature of fuel or class of engine, whether ~team, ~nternal comb';lstion, or other­wise, except tbab 01ls havmg a flash pomt of less than 75 deg. Fahr. (Abel's clOf!e test) must not be employed.

19. As the tractor is intended primarily for hauling purposes, ib is no.t ~senti~l that a flyw~eel should be provided from which machinery can be dr1ven by a belt; but if a flywheel is fibted. it must be made of steel.

20. No armouring need be arranged for. 21. In the case of steam engines :

(a) The boiler may be of any form or materia.), hub the construction musb be such that ib will comply with the requirements of the Manchester Steam U sera' Aesociation. Boilers normally working a.t exceptionally high pressur~ are not des~rable.

(b) The boiler mnso be so designed thab 1b can be easily washed out.

(c) An efficient a~ra~gemenb must be fitted f?r pre­venting the emiSsion of sparks from ~he cbu~ney.

(d) The boiler feed apparatus must be m duphoate.

•

Nov. r, rgo1.] •

{c) A reliable waber-lifter for filling the engine tanks must be fitted.

(f) If coal fired, means must be provided to deal with fuel that clinkers freely, and the grate area must be sufficien t to enable coal of a very inferior quality to be used.

(g) If condensing apparatus is employed, it must be subsbantiallr, constructed, and nob liable to damage from vibra~ion or to be ologgej up by dust.

{h) If a condenser is used, means must be provided for properly filtering the lubricating oil. if any used in the engine, from the condensed water before returning it to the boiler.

22. If internal combustion engines are used, it is desir­able that means should be provided for starting the eosine, putting it into gear, and starting the load Wlbhoub notse or shook.

23. If friction clutches a re used, tha material forming the working surfaces of the clutch must be auoh that io will not require frequently renewing, and provision must be made that the clutch can be easily adjusted on the road.

24. If liguid fuel i3 ueed. means muso be provided for rapjdly fillmg the tanks on the tractor.

N OT.E.-In considering the merits of competing vehicles, special importance will be paid to the following point3:

(et) Distance over which a gross load of 25 tons can be hauled ab 3 miles an hour with the fuel and water tbab can be carried on the tractor without replenishment.

(b) Prime cost, havin~ due regard to efficiency. (c) Economy in workmg and maintenance. (d) E 1.se of steering and manipulation. (e) Simplicity of design, a~cessibility of parts, and

the readiness with which repairs can be effected, or worn parts replaced on the road.

{f) Ab~ence of noise, vibration, smoke, or visible vapour.

{g) The men.ns by which the working parts are prevented from being d amaged by mud and d usb.

(h) Ull.pa.bility of working with fuels varying in desorip jion and qualiby.

THE WESTINGHOUSE FRICTION DR!.UGHT GEAR.*

IT ba<3 been generally claimed b.v the advocates of epriog draught ges.r that the friction draught rigging is an unnecessary expense, and that the econom1oal results claimed for it could only be det~rmined afber many yeard of experience, if ab a11, Io is interesbing to learn, tbere­forP, tha~ a record has been kepb on the Bubte, Anacooda,, and Pll.oifio R?.ilw"y, where an opportunity was offered for direct co:npuison, which provas that this claim id nob true. Should future experience continue to be the same -and there is no a.ppuanb reason why it should not­there o1.n be no quesoion a<3 to the beneficial resulti of the use of friction draught rig~ing. If it is admitted that the condi t ions under which thts record wa9 made are exces­sively severE>, i t must be aho admibted that the principles are the same in lighter service, and it is only a. question of bow mnoh longer it will take for the friction dra.ugho rigging bo pay .for itself. . .

The subject ts one of the grea.test Importance, and m­creasing ia ~ra.viny daily as more car.i and locomotives of great capaCity are pub into service. The report which we give below wa9 taken with great care from the car foreman's record and verifird by the operating officers of the road, who vouch for its correctness. It will be noticed that the ch.im mad~ for theW estinghouse draught gear that ib greatly reduces the draught g~r stresses in the direction of its greatesb weakness, pulhng or exten­sion is fully sustained. It is evident that nearly all the bre~kages reported were from puJJ ing stresses rather than compre3sion strains. For instance, about one-third of all the breR.kages were of the yokes, which, of course, are only broken in pulling.

REOORD O~<' FmoTION DRAUGHT GEAR ON BuTT&, ANACONDA, A~O PAOIFIO RAILWAY CABS.

The Butte, Anaconda, and Pacific road has 520 60-bon Pressed Steel Oar Company's ore cars, all of which are fitted wiLh the Westinghouse friction draught gear, and u3ed in ore traffic between the mines in Bu tte and the smelters in Anaconda, Montana.. The compara­tive records given b3low are for 155 of the above 620 cars, five of which were placed in service in August, 1898 and the remaining 150 in June, 1900 ; the remainder of the 520 oars h~ving been pla~ed in service more recently. The couplers on these oars have 6-in. shanks, excepting the five c1rs firab in servic9, which have 5.in. shanks.

One of the connecting lines of the Butte, Anaconda, and Pd.oifio has a number of similar steel oars, equipped with twin-spring draught gear, also having couplers with 6-in. shanks, and used in the coal traffic over the Bubte, Anaconda., and Pacific Railway, to t he smelters in Anaconda and the mines in Bubte.

The record of draught-gear failures and mileage made for the six months from November, 1, 1900, to Msty 1, 1901, on 50·bon steel oars, both foreign and home, on the lines of the Butbe, Anaconda, and Paoifio Railway, is given in the Table in the next column. It therefore appears that the average monthly mileage

of foreign 50-ton steel oars on the Butte, Anaconda, and Pacific Road was 15,738 miles; while the average monthly mileage of the Dubbe, Anaconda, and Pacific oars was 135,650, or 8.6 times greater.

The yokes on the foreign oars were of 1 in. by 4 in. iron, while nearly all of those on the Bubte, Anaconda., and Paoifio oars 6tbed with friction draught gear were of

* From the RIJ,ilway and Engineer jng Review.

E N G I N E E R I N G . 1 in. by 4t in. iron. Of the nineby breakages of draught gear on foreign oara, 25 were broken yokes. Deduobmg this number on account of yokes being unlike, we have 65 couplers and knuokle breakages on foreign oars to three on the Bubbe, Anaconda, and Pacific care, or more than 21 times as many. On an equal mileage basis, the break­a~es on foreign cars were 185 times as many on the ButtP, Anaconda, and Pacific cars, fitted witJh the friction draught gear.

* Three (3) B. , A., and P., and three (3) forei~n cars bad sills damaged in a collision, and two (2) of the latter bad C)Uplers broken.

t Friction draught- gear cylinder found oraoked two weeks earlier.

W e are a~uming that the couplers on foreign oars were of egua.l strength with those on the BubtP, A nnoonda, and Pacific cars, and as all of the former bad the extra larRe 6-in. shank, and therefore were designed for especially severe service, this a~umption seem~ ~mply justified. The breakagea on foreign cars were dt v1ded as follows : 35 couplers, 30 knuckles, 25 yokes ; total. 90.

On Butte, Anaconda, and Pacific cars bub three couplers were broken and no knuckles or yoke~, this comprising the entire breakage of draught attachments in six months' service. Compared with bhirby-five broken couplers on foreign oar~, and allowing for the home oars making 8.6 times greater milea~e, the breakage of couplers only, on an equal mileage ba.s1s, on the foreign cars with the double­spring draugbo gear was 100 times as great; or 300 couplers, instead of three, would have been broken on Butte, A na­conda, and P acific cars had they been equipped with the spring draught gear.

The saving in coupler bre9.kages only in six month&' service by the use of the friction draught gear on 155 oara, a.s shown by the above record, was enough to pay the entire cosb of the friction draught gear with which they were equipped, the saving in broken knuckles and yokes bein~ addttional and in the nature of an increased interest -and a large one-on the investment.

The ore service on the Butte, Anaconda, and Pll.oific is M severe as the grades are steep, reaching 132ft. per mile, while the locomotives are very heavy and powerful, those used between terminals being eight-wheeol connected Scbeneotady compound~. Trains of fifty and sixty loads are handled one way and empties the other, all the air brakes on the latter rarely ever being used, resulting in additional severe strains on the draught gear.

Ab each oerminal the powerful s witch engines employed work on heavy grades. enabling them to handle bub few cara ab a time, which causes a e-reat deal of switch­ing and a.n unusually severe serv10e for the draught attachment£!. The use of heavy locomotives on steep grades, handling cars of large c?.paci by-conditions which are rapidly becoming common on many roads-probably accounts for the inadeq uacy of the spring draught gear, although of the sbrongesb type and greatest capacity, to protect the couplers from breaking. The record at the same time brings out very clearly the ~reab value and really indispensable character of the friction draught gear under these conditions.

GYROSCOPIC ACTION AND THE LOSS OF THE '' COBRA."

To THBI EDITOR OF ENGINEERING. Sta,-I do not wish to take up your valuable space

with useleEs discussion on the question of bhe possible effect of gyroscopic action in the ca9e of the Cobra.. In this connection, however, there are already some points brought out which are worth noting. In the letter of Sir Hiram Maxim of October 9 we find the essential elements of the gyroscope in question abated concisely, as follows :

"When two gyroscopes u,re mounted in the sa.me frame, provided that they are of the same weight, and are rotated ab the same velocity in opposite directions, they do nob offer any real or apparent stability or stiffness to the frame."

To secure this desirable result all the conditions abated must remain constant, or the resistance to changing the plane of rotation begins to appear. The only element in the above whioh is subject to change by the conditions in question is that the rotation in opposite directions must be ab the sa.me speed.

"Then a~ain, a single gyroscope spinning in a frame offers no res1sbance to being tilted in a vertical direction, providing that the frame is sufficiently rigid to prevent the gyroscope from moving to the righ t or to the lefb. It is the freedom of the angle to change in horizontal direc­tion, which gives the stiffness or resistance against a vertical movement."

In the above statements we have the essential condi­tions necessary for the development of gyroscopic aobion.

In calculating the strains to which material may be subjected it is uoual, I believe, t0 make the ca.loulabions for the ~orsb possible oon<iibions that may occur, and if

this be done in the present instance, I think the problem will assume a phase where the equation 0 = 0, suggested by S ir Hiram, ~ill not be an important fa~t9r. !~ ··: ··

There is a difference between the condttions 1n which the gyroscope has been tested in the past, and the condi­tions of a ~vroscope floating upon a liquid, subject to every conce1vable change .of motion and direction. Ther.e is an equally great dtfference between the condi­tions of the illustration where supposing " that the Cobra had been provided with trunnions passing trans­versely through the centre of gravity, and tha.t she bad been mounted on ball bearings so as to be trained freely in any direction, " and the actual conditions which must have existed when bhe Cobra. was labouring in a heavy sea. In the one case .the gyroscopes are moved in some arc round a fixed pomt, and subsequently both gyro­scopes are moving oub of their planes of rotation invari­ably a.b the same rate of speed. In the oase of a ship afloat the point around which the gyroscopes are moved 18 a continually changing one, never fixed. The ship may take a violent pitch, move in a borizontal_plane, and make a heavy roll all ab one time. Whether or nob the moving of one gyroscope out of its plane of rotation ab a greater speed than that of the other gyroscope rotating in the opposite direction, would be eq_uivalent to a ohange in speed of rotation or nob, is a ~mb which does nob seem to be touched upon. I thmk it would be quite within the possibilities to Imagine a. movement of a ship in a heavy seaway whereby two masses, although fixed to the same rigid frame, would describe an aro around a moving point ab different rates of speed. This is a hard matter to describe

1 but when it

is remembered thab the centre round which the gyro­scope frame moves id nob a fixed point, and that the frame is subject, not only to a pitching motion, but to a rolling motion as well, suob st condition of affairs is con­ceivable.

Another possible condition is that where the stern of the boat is raised, accompanied ab the same time by a heavy roll of the ship, under which condition one set of propellers revolving in one direction would be oub of the water, and their rotation naturally accelerated, while the other pair of propellers rotating in the opposte direction would be more deeply submerged than usual, and their speed of rotation would be correspondingly retarded. H ow much gyroscope resistance would be developed by this would, of course, depend upon the differences in speed of rotation. It can readily be understood that these various strains

might occur singly for an indefinite length of time, hub tbatJ a. moment might occur ab any time when all the strains might exert their maximum effect at the same instant. For the added strains due to non-synchronous rotation of these heavy m~ses ab high speeds to exert a strain upon a ship beyond that which the hull may have been designed to resist, ib would be necessary for them to ?ccur ab the instant of tim~ when the. hull was being sub­Jected to all the obher maxtmum sbrams. Such a strain might occur ab the time when the stern of the boat was being supported by one wave and the bow struck by another. The evidence at the court-martial in this connec­tion is interesting, as it appears therefrom that consider­able difficulty was experienced in keeping up steam on aocouut of the excessive rolling of the ship, another point being that one captain, either of a passing boat or of the lighthou3e boat, gave evidence that jusb before the Cobra collapsed she was struck by an enormous wave, which completely buried her forecastle.

From the various letters which have already appeared in t~is dis?ussion, it is appa.re~t that the idea. of gyro­sooptc actton may have contnbuted to the peculiarly sudden conapse of the Cobra. has occurred to various en­gineers. If even the possibility be shown that such may have been the case, one should be extremely diffident in expressing any opinion that might reflect upon those upon whom responsibility lies for the design and acceptance of the Cobra. The introduction of the rapidly-revol vmg steam turbine inbo naval architecture has mtroduced a. new ele­ment, in regard to the actual working of which, in practice the naval designer has little, if anything, of value fo; reference. When the same time and study, verified by actual practio~, has been spent upon the steam turbine afloat that has been spent upon the design of the hulls of vessels, then an error on the part of those respon­sible would be a9 serious a reflection in one direction as in the other. It is plain, I think, that through differences of speed of rotation, and, perhaps, from other causes nob well understood, gyroscopic action to some extent was set up. To what extent cannot of course, be calculated by the engineers, especially practical engineers, by whom the whole question IS so little under­stood. Tbo statement is made by Mr. C~rter that with a 6-in. wheel weighing 6 lb. rotating singly it was practi­cally impossible to move it, &a., wlien held m the bands. In other words, the power which developed the rotation was unable to move its plane of rotation. The guesbion naturally suggests itself: How muoh, or how httle, variation in speed of rotation of the tons of revolv­ing masses of .the Co~ra would l~e necessa~y to set up a dangerous stram, posstbly unprovided for In the design of the bull?

Yours faithfullL E. F. CASSEL,

56, Broad-street Avenue, London, E.O., Oobober 30.

To THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING. Srn,-Absorbed in other s budy just now, it seems that

I must have neglected your correspondence columns for some weeks pasb, as I did nob know, until a friend told me in the tea-room ab the meeting of tlhe Meohanicals on Friday evening, that one of my clan had written euggeat. ing that I should bake a band in th~ discussion of the poa. sibili ties of gyroso')pio aobion having provokeq the Cob~

•

disaster. My friend added thab Sir Hiram Maxim alone had replied to the letter ; '• bu b he does nob understand it." I have now read the correspondence, and I assure my friend that, to my thinking, the letter of Sir Hiram Maxim shows that he has a very full and clear under­standing of the action of the gyroscope. He does not, indeed, gratify the reader by wheeling him jn a perambulator through a maz9 of mathematical analysis; but, ~aided intuitively by that remarkable "horRe· sense' with which he is proud to have been endowed, he strikes out and ab once hits the right nail right on the head.-The gyroscopic action was in the Cobra on the whole nil, because '• the two sets of screws that were em­ployed in the Cobra revolved in opposite directions at the same speed," and therefore the gyroscopic couples of the one sen would j usb cancel those of the other set>.

This statement of Sir Hiram Maxim ought to satisfy any one in regard to the question of gyroscopic action in the Cobra. AP, however, many of your readers are keenly desirous to have this, their firs tl mecha­nica.l paradox, explained to them-in England. "Why does a top stand whipping when spinning?" iu Scotland, "Hoo diz a peerie sta.und up whun itl's soondin ? " and as the lack of this knowledge cost a London syndicate, prin­cipally engineers, a quarter of a million sterling jn 1874, and it is probable that those of them who are still on this side-I cannot speak for the others-may nob even yet_ have come into possession of the knowledge for which they paid so much, I will in this letter give a somewhat elaborate ex,Plana.tion of how the gyroscopic couple is set up, and 1ts magnitude.

Other remarks by me on this subject are in this journal ab pages 307, Octobqr 16, 1874 ; 347, October 30, 1874; and 421, l\IIay 21, 1875. In the second of these, W uv ought to read W uv.

i% Fig. 1, let R Q S T te a disc rotating in itEl own plane in a frame mounted on gimbals, free to be tilted in any direction. When the apindle is being inclined in any plane there is thereby a force couple set up in a plane at right angles to the firsb plane, tending to tilt the disc, that edge of the disc which is moving in the same direction as the end of the spindle is moved tend­ing to move towards that end of the spindle. For example, if the upper end of the spindle 0 be inclined towards S, the couple then set up tends to raise Q, which is moving parallel to 0 S, and to depress T which is moving in the opposite direction. Again, in a spinning top, if R is falli ng, the couple, thereby set up, raises T and depresses Q. The rising of T, however, moves 0 in the direction in which the circumference of the disc at R is rotating, and thereby a righting couple is set up, tending to raise R. The faster R descends, the greater becomes the couple tending to raise it. When the condition of balance is attained, the disc having then aequired momentu?l. in the dir~~tio~ of depression, passes beyond that pos1t10n of eqUI~Jbnum, increasing the righting couple beyond the magn1tude of the static couple, due to weight and overhang ; so that the centre of. gravit~ is again elevated with a .sli.ght vel?­city which 18 suffi01ent to carry the upward t1ltmg aga.m past the position of static eq_uilibrium, and so the ~op keeps on spinning but wavermg continually to one o1de and the other of the position of inclined balance. I have now to explain bow this force ~ouple is .created. .

Restrict the thought to a dtsc rotatmg as F1g. 1. but now free to be tilted only upon the Q T axis. When not tilting, the rotation of the disc is made up of two sets of uniform rectilineal motions- one in, say, the direction R S, and the other in the direction Q T. Let the rotation about the spindle be n radians '(>er second. The velocity in the R S direction in any line parallel to R S, as in U .B o~ W V, at ~istance. x !rom t~e centre is n x, at any pomt m these hnes. Stmlla.rly, m lines parallel to 9 T. ab ~ist~nce '!I from th~ centre the velocity in the Q T duect100 1S n '!/,at any po~nt. ~hen the disc is tilting about t?e a.x1s Q T With. ';lmform angular velocity •. say. m. rad~ans per second, ~ r1~1~g, the velocity-in-any-hne l[B JS unt~orm, = n x ; but th~s 1s com­pounded with a varymg velo01ty = my, perpend1cular to the plane of the disc, and it ts not obvious how the force effects of theee changes of velocity at different points can be snmmed up and expressed as o~e de~nite f!Jrce co~ple. Along UB thelartic~es are ~ovm~ wt~h um.fo'rm l.mear velocity n x, t!'n the lme UB IS also movmg w1th umform angular veloctty m. Observe that these are components only of the actual motion at any point, but i b ~s necessary to take the components se.pa.ra~e~y. .T~e mot10n parallel to Q T, the axis of th~ tlltm~, 1s el~mm~ted altogether, for it is uniformly n y m the Q T d~rect10n compoun~ed with ·n~ y vertically without v~riation, and therefore ~1b~ ­out force. Substitute for this problem ~nother whJC.h 1s yeb the same problem. Let U B J:>e a rlfle b~rrels~mg­ing in a vertical plane on a trunmon at A, w1th .umform angular velocity m ; a bullet t~avels along t?Is barrel at uniform velocity ?.t.: What IS the accelert~y of t~e bullet upwards at any instant ? The answe~ 1s :. ltJ 1s 2 m u, wherever the bullet may be, ~hether ~t be 1n the ascending portion or the descendtn~ port10n of the barrel and whether near to the trunn10n or at a great distan'ce from it, its direction is ~he same as that ?f the part it is going to. Qn the Q s1de of R S t~at ~ up­ward on the T side ib lB downward. Up to tb1slomt I have 'only enunciated what ha-s yet to be prove • The proof comes now. .

In Fig. 2 A is the trunnion, A 9 1~ the ba.rr~l, a~d t~e bullet is shown with an arrow to md1~ate the d1rect10~ m which it moves. In a short interval.of t1me the ba.~relswmgs from A C to AN, and the bulleb m the same t1me passes from B to C, C having then reached N. At B ~he bul!et had velocity B H upwards and BC outwards 1n the .m­terval. The actual velocity was therefore B E, th~ h.ne .00t drawn, at that instant. As the angle N A C 18 m-

E N G I N E E R I N G. tended to represent an indefinitely small angle, the ver­tical straight line B H is taken instead of the arc B H . Similarly, at N at the end of the intervc~.l the upward velocity is B J = C N, and the onward velocity is J M, parallel and equal to H N, and therefore the actual velocity at N 1s equal to t he straight line from B to M and parallel therewith. The difference of the two velocities at B and at N is the upward velocity E M . This is the whole acceleration for the interval, and it does nob matter where the bullet is in the barrel. If d t is the intercval of time, H N = u d t and the arc EN = mud t, the acceleration is therefore E M = 2 mud t, or the accelerity is 2 mu. As u = n x we have therefore the accelerity = 2 m n x for any point in the disc. If the weight of a particle be w, and if g = the gravitation accele­rity, the upward force of the inertia of the particle

is 2 m n x '!!!, and as its point of application is where the g

particle is, the arm with which ib acts in the gyroscopic couple is also x, therefore its contribubion to that couple

has the moment 2 m n x2 .:!!. Her~, perhaps, some reader g

will be thinking the arm is y, the distance from the axis of tilting. He is quite righb in that thought for resist-

PiA). 7. )>>-i"'"~

T

J

F0.2. R

-- A" (111&8)

B

J. K

Fig.3. Jj

::::::.. -A

~~

...... b. .J.1

M ~

L

m ~ ...

.B •

E p

c

--.N

' I

-0

G

F p

ance to tilting; hub for every particle a.t distance y in any line U B, there is an equal particle at - y in the same line also actin~ upwards, these mutually cancel out as moments about Q T, and the only gyroscopic couple is that tending to tilt the disc about R S, the arm is there· fore x . I am treating the disc as free to tilt on the Q T axis only, and as the forces are all upward in direction on one side of R S, and all downward on the other side where x is negative, and equal from end to end of any line parallel toRS, and in pairs equally distant from the axis of tilting, it is evideut they produce no resistance to tilting beyond what the friction may be in the bea.ringa. This non-resistance holds true only while the tilting is restricted to one plane; allow the disc to tilb on both the axes of the gimbals, and each would then produce a for~e-couple tending to stop the other's tilting.

The contribution of each particle to the force-couple

is therefore 2 m n x2 ~ , for whether x is positiye or ne-g

gativ~, its Equare. is positive. Bub, the force is d<;>w~ on one half and up on the other half; yes, and so 1s 1t with a positive couple or a negative one, its force has contrary signs at the opposite sides of the axis. To sum these elements of the couple, it has to be noticed that the central distance or radius for any particle is p = J x 2 + y'2.

The summation of all the m n :_u x2 is evidently equal g

to the sum of all the rn n ~ y2 ; therefore if W be the g

whole weight of the disc, we can write ~ 2 m n x2 ~ = g

m n p?. W where p is the mean-square radius, called

the radiu~ of gyration about the spindle axi~. Now, m p is the lineal velocity of tilting at that radius, n p is the lineal velocity of rotation. If, there­fore, 'lt. and v are written for these two velocities,

we geb W u v =the gyroscopic couple set up by tilting.

The u he~e is nob the u of the earlier part of the de-• monstratwn.

Some reader may dislike the liberty with which limit considerations have been applied to simplify B J and J M in Fig. 2. I shall therefore repeat the demonstra·

'

[Nov. I, 1901.

tion acc)rdin~ to Fig. 3. in which the respective velo­cities are strictly plainly represented. In the jnterval d t the barrel describes the angle CAN = m d t = a, and the bulleb travels BC = u d t, arriving a~ N at the end of the interval. Draw B D perpendicular to AB, and equal to the arc length B H; draw D F equal and parallel to B C. The actual velocity of the bullet ab B for the timed t is the straight line which would join B F. Next dra.w B J perpendicular to AN, make B J equal to the arc length of C N, and draw J M equal and parallel to H N. The actual velocity of the bullet at M is the straight line equal and parallel to the line which would join B M. We want now the difference in upward velocity for the two instants. Draw the horizontal lines J L, D G, E F, and the verticalline3 B K, ME, G F. The difference of upward velocities at B, and at N is E M in the time d t.

Analytically Fig. 3 gives, collecting the symbols,

m= angular velecity about Q T, n = angular velocity about spindle axis, u = linear' v~looity of bullet m the barrel, or along UB. x = distance from centre line R S, y = distance from centre line 0 T, a = indefinitely small angle CAN, r = distance AB at the commencement of interval, h = BC the distance travelled in the barrel in the

• • mtervaJ, d t = the indefinitely short interval of time.

Then we have

a (1· + h) cos~ + h tin !! = B K + L M, 2 :&

a r cos ~ - h sin { = B H - F G,

difference = ah cos~ + 2 hsin ~ = EM, 2 2

At limit E M = a h + 2 h ~ 2

= 2 a h = d2 v, v being upward velocity, or 2 m d t . u d t = d,2 v,

or d2 v I . 2mu = = acce enty, d t2

or 2 m n x = accelerity, as befvre. For those who have the trigonometrical brain sense, it

would be simpler to take a particle in the disc in Fig. 1, which is in the fixed horizontal plane ab time, t = o, and which is at timet at x, y, the disc tilting on Q T only, and, consequently,

z = y sin m t dx d'!J

d t = n x, - = -n y dt ,

d z . - = nxsmmt + mycoamt ctt

d2 z " . - .; = - n2 y sin m t + 2.m n x cos m t- m.- y em 1n d t.·

As the angle m t is ~ractically nil, the sine vanishes, and the cosine= 1, leaviDg

as before.

d2 z d ., = 2 1n n x = accelerity

t-

I must leave it to tbo3e who know the weights and the speeds to calculate the gyroscopic couple in the Cobra. Without pretending ab all even to guess at the right figures, I ~ve an example of the calculation, aiming only to be outs1de of the possible actual figures.

Say that the rotatling weight on each shaft was 5 toDP, at radius of gyration 2 fb. It is immaterial where the weight was along the sha.fb. Say that the pitching was 20 ft. up at one end when the other was 20 ft. down, and take as the maximum velocity that the 40 fb. at each end was described in one second. Say that the shafts revolved ab 1800 revolutions per minute-I thought the speed wa-s more, but one of your correspondents says itl was 1200. We have then the following data : ·

Angular velocity of pitching = 40 ...;- 100 = . 4 , , rotation 1800 x 271"760=188.5

Radius of gyration .. . .. . . . . = 2 ft:. W eight .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . = 5 tons

~-=-----=--w U V 5 X 188.5 X 2 X .4 X 2 . - -----~~-----. . -g 32

= 47 foot-tons

or 9! foot-tons for each pair of shafts. The forces would be applied to the journals at more than 20ft>. distance, so that the lateral forces might amount to 4.7-sa.y 5-tons dis­tributed over the whole engine foundations. This would be at one side and there would be the same at the other side acting in 'the opposite direction, makin~ up one in­ternal stress, tending to rend the engine frammg laterally, bub less than the strength of any one bolt, even the smallest used in the construction. These weights are, however, absurdly in excess. I have s-iven figures merely to take away from the mysterr wh1ch seemed to hang over this insinuated cause of failure. Although I have written this I ask it> to be remembered that I was called upon to do ibo I am sure that Mr. Parsons, the inventor, knows far more about gyroscopic ac tion .than I do, but I think he will be better pleased to see th1s work done by an outsider.

Yours faithfully, London, October 22, 1901. J. l'v!AOFARLA.NE GRAY.

To THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING. Snt -In your issue of the 25th inst. Sir Hiram lVIaxim

has given some interesting fig.ures under the ~hove head­ing. Will you allow me to pomt out the actwn of some forces which must break the monotony of those figures by

-

Nov. I, I 90 I. J pucting some life into the plus a11d minus quantiti~. I base my statements on an exhaustive experimental nn&lysis of gyroscopic action wbioh I made in the year 1877, when the firat double gyroscope ever made was O)nstruokd for me by ~Ieasra. Griffiths.

L et the circles in the annexed diagram represent a reotion of the rotating portion of two turbines. looking forwards so tbn.b starboard is on the right band and lar­board on the left band of the diagram. The arrows A A A represent the direction of the action of gravity on every p:ntiole tending to give a velocity of 16.1 ft. per second. L et the arrows B and 0 represent a mean velo­city of rotation of 16.1 fb. per eecond, wbioh is a fraction the actual velocities attained.

There are then two equal forces acting on the rota­ting p9.r tiole3. One is the force of gravity acting in the same direction on every particle. The other is the mechanical force, which impresses the motion of rotation and acts ab B in the s1me direction as gravity, but ab 0 against gravity. The two forces ~herefol'e counteract each other ab 0, and combine to con· stitute a foroe equivalent to a velocity of 32.2 fb. per second at B. Therefore, though the asgregate down ward force is the same, whether the turbmes are ab resb or rotating, the rotation tends bo change the str~ss on the

A A A

11 H

c E B B E c

K

V '" " '

axis ~; and, v.. i oh the direobions of rotation as shown in the diag ram, that tendency is to force the turbines farther apart. whilst no other motion is impressed on the turbines ; and ab the same time the momentum of rota­tion counteracts that stress as long as the vessel is pro­pelled in a straight line on an even keeJ. But every rolling or pitching motion of the ship alters the ratio of forces on opposite aides of eaoh turbine, and consequently the character of the stress on each axis .

I n the pitching motion the outward stress is intensified as the turbine drops with the ship's motion, and is re­versed to an inward stress as the turbine is lifted with the ship's motion, so that there is no alternation of stresses outwards and inwarda with each pitch; and by the rolling motion the stresses caused by the pitching are increased in the starboard, and diminished in the larboard turbine as the shiJ? rolls to starboard, and that action is reversed as the ship recovers from the roll.

In addition to the foregoing vertical actions of force and the corresponding horizontal stresses caused by the pitching and rolling of the ehip, horizontal actions of force accompanied by verbical stresses on the bearings of the turbines, a re caused by the latter motion. As the ship rolls to starboard the aug_mented forces of motion at Kin the starboard, and ab H in the larbonrd turbine, resist the rolling motion and create stresses in the direc­tion K H in the starboard, and H K in the ll\rboard tur­bine, which are reversed as the ship recovers from the roll.

I o~nnob suppose that the direob action of the force generated in the above m~nner can be such as to be of any g reat importance amon~ the stres3es which actually broke the back of the Cobra) but it seems evident that suoh alternations of strees may gradu­ally create mischief if nob clearly understood and provided for when fixing the engines i n the ship. If the stresses 1 have described were sufficient to contribute materially to breaking the back of the Cobra, there would have been a. perceptible oha.nge in the character of the vibrations of the turbines every time the ship's helm was pub over to change her course, and also a real8ta.nce to the change of course which could nob have failed bo be practi­cally apparent to any na.visating officer accustomed to other ship~. This latter aotaon is distinct from the gyro­scopic action I have described, being due only to the necessity for the exertion of force to change the direction of the momentum of the rotating turbines, whereas the gyro· scopic action above deRoribed is an effort to force .changes of the plane of rotation, and is due to reaction against motion. ·

I a.m, Sir, your obedient servan t, • October 28, 1901. \Vli. LKIG H'l'ON Jono~N.

'fo '1' 11 11: Emron Oil' BNOINJ1:EUtNo . SIR,- ir J:liram S. Maxim's letter in your issue cf

October 18 is nob a very eatisfactory answer to the inquiries (iu the two previous numbers) of •' Ignoramus and ~Ir. 1•~. ,V. Serrell, Jun. Sir Hi ram is quite right in saying that two equal gyroscopes revolving ab equal speeds in opposite directions (of course, with their shafts parallel) have no effect in displacing the frame containing them, in this o&Se the ship: nor do they oppose any resistance to its motion. Bub nevertheless, large stresses are set up, n.ud I take it thab your inquirers wish to have some idea of the magnitude of these stress~, which they think may in some way have helped to cause the disaster. Ibis hardly norreot of Sir Hi ram to say that there is no g1rosta.tio effect in the case of the two oppositely -turning bod1es ; suppose the bear­ings heated when the frame was swung, and nob when it was at rest, would that be a gyrostatic etfeob ? Suppose the shafts were bent, or theframetornasunder,aswould happen if the bodies ran fasb enough and the frame were displaced

•

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

angularly fast enough, would bhab ? Nay, if the stresses induced in the bearings by the forced change of t~e direction of the exie, prod.uced no ill resu~te, i~ not t~etr very existence a gyrostat10 effeob '? Your mquuers thmk these str~ses '11ULY have been severe enough to oaveWTeoked the ship. I do not; 1 am sure they had nothing to do with it. But the question is quite a legitimate one for these ~entlemen to raise, and it should be answered satis­faotorlly. There must be no mystery, and no false doctrine, on a. subject of suoh national importance.

t.hid prevents the apparatus from tumbli~g off. When spun rapidly and placed on the ~up~rb, 1t does not faH d own. as one might expect, eyen 1f ~etghted ab the ~uter end of the axis, but precesses m a honzontal plane ; tf the rotation is in the direction shown by the arrow on the top, the precession will be as indicated by the arrow a in Fig. 2.

Anticipating the inevitable question, "Why d oes nob

What couple, then, is called into existence when a b~y of a. given weight and radius of gyration, and revolvmg ab a given speed, has its axis forcibly displaced angularly ab a given rate '! .

I ~ay disputoed angulartv, because, of coursP, bodtly t ranslation of the axis parallel to itself produces no gyro· static etfeo~.

It facilitates the proof if we first ask the converse of the above question, viz : At wha.b rate .will~ give':' couP,le cause a given gyrostab to change the dJreot1on of 1ts axas, or " move in precession," or more shortly " precesa " ? '\Ve can hardly do without this verb.

Fig. t.

Fig Z

I I I

l. I J '

I '

z Fig.3.

0

ex

The formula CJnnecting the rate of precession wi~h the daba of the revolving body is-

C = "'yV K2 a w, (/

where 0 is the couple in feet and pounds applied to change the direction of the axis :

W is the revolving weight. K the radius of gyration. .n the rate of rotation aboub axis, in angular measure,

i.e., a radians per second. w the rate of prec~s10n, in angular measure.

The ana.lye.is of the formula is this :

W KZ a is the couple required to produce the rot u.ry

spoedgn in one second. I think it unnecessary to demon­strate that here, as it is a piece of elementary dynamics generally known. Well, this couple, if applied in a plane passing through the axis, will, as I shall presently show, cause precession in a. plane at right angles to that of the couple, ab the rate of one radian per second.

Therefore the oou{>le necessary to produce w radians per second of precess10n is w times ns great, or

'v K ::l n w --- . u

So all we have to prove, in order to establish this for­mula, is thab "the couple which would produce the observed degree of rotation in a revolving body in one second will, if applied to the axi~1 produce precession ab the rate of one radian per second. '

To fix the ideas. consider a gyrosta.b of simple construc­tion, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. A metal ring c.ontains a top running in centres, and at. one end of the. a.xts of. the top there is attached to the rmg a. crooked p1ece which rests on the sharp point of a. fixed vertical support the centre of gravity being thus brought a little below the supports

•

the axis d escend in a. vertical plane, as c~~mo~ sense would indicate?" I will just say tha.b If It .d1d, t~e rotation would have a component about a ver~cal axts, and we have no couple about a vertical a~is. ~t is im­possible to have a rotation about any ax1s w1thout a CO\l_ple about that axiP.

Fig. 3 is a plan of the machine, 0 being the point of support, and 0 A the position of the tlxis of the top at any moment. It is prS?esaing, as shown by the ar~ow, 0 ,. and 0 Z are co-ordJDa.te axes of reference at r1ght angles to one another.

Now we have the axis 0 A rotating at a speed n radians pt-r second, and a. couple consisting. of a. dow.n· ward force ab A, and an ( q ual upwl\rd reaot1on at 0, Its magnitude bein~ C, suoh as would, if applied to twist the axis a.b:mt 0 A, accelerate it n rad1ans per second every second.

' Ve may resolve the rotation about 0 A into two com· ponen b rotations about 0 .. "r and 0 Z. If 8 be the angle between 0 A and 0 X , the component about 0 X (call it the 0 X rotation) is a cos 8; and the 0 Z rotation is a sin 8.

Also we may resolve the couple 0 into an 0 Z couple C cos 8, and an 0 X couple 0 sin 8.

Then so far aa concerns the 0 Z rotation, its rate is already n sin 8, and it is being increased ab the rate of n cos 8 radians per second per second. because an 0 Z couple in the same direction as the rotation is acting, of magnitude 0 cos 8. Since C couple produces n rotation c cos 0 couple will produce n cos 0 rotation.

Similarly, as concerns the 0 ... ' rotation, its amount is n cos 8, and it is being diminished a.t the rate n sin 8, because a couple in the opposite direction to the rotation, of magnitude C sin 8, is acting.

Ab what rate then mus t the ax is 0 A swing round the quadrant, for the component rotations to be accelerated and retarded r espectively, at rates proportional to the respective component couples? Why, ab one radian per second ; because for uniform motion of the radius of a oirole the rate of increase of the sine is the cosine, and the rate of diminution of the cosine is the sinE:. If your inquirers ever learned e ' ·er so little of the differential cal­oulus, however well they have forgotten it, it will aureJy come back to them that the differentia l coefficient of the sine is the cosine, and that of the cosine, minus the sine ; the minus meaning merely that the cosine diminishes as the angle increases. If the conception is new to them, any of their friends who know the calculus will explain it to them. It hardly requires the calculus to eee that if the I?Oinb A moves uniformly round the circle, the line A () lB lengthening ab a rate represented by 0 0, to the same scale as the radius represents the speed of the point, and 0 C is diminishing ab a rate A C.

Suppose the radius is 1 ft., and at every point the fraction of a foot, a.b the rate of which A C is lengthen­ing per second, is equal to the cosine of the angle A 0 .... ~ ; .707 h . per second ab 45 deg. (cosine 4G deg.=.707 ft.) ~ ft. per second at 60 deg. , and so on, then the point A must be moving ab 1 ft. per second, or one radian per second. If instead of takmg the radius as unity, we take it a t n feet, and if everywhere the rate of 1norease of A C is n oos 8, then the radius swings ab one radian per second.

So in the case of the 0 Z rotation, n is represented by the radius of the circle : A 0 represents the 0 Z rota· tion, or n sin 8. 'Ye have seen that this last is always increasing at a. rate 0 cos 8 ; therefore the line 0 A swings through one radian per second.

I hope that makes the mat ter clear for the free gyro­stab. When we come to a constrained gyrosta.t, like the steam turbine in a pitching ship, it is only necessary to considel\ what couple would be needed to produce the pitching motion of the gyros tat if it were free and make ib follow the motion of the ship; that is, the couple which is called into existence when the ~yrosbat is forcibly com­pelled to change the direction of u s axis.

So, then, to give a. numerical value to the stresses in the Cobra, all we want is the weight of the revolving parts, their radius of gyration, and the number of revolutions per minutP, and the maximum rate of pitching. This maximum rate of pitch is probably double the mean rate observed by taking the number of degrees pitched through in so many seconds. While it would be interest­ing to know the amount of these stresses, I would ask "Ignoramus" and Mr. Serrell, how could stresses of this nature have caused the loss of the ship ? Their tendency is to draw the forward ends of the port and starboard shafte together, and separate the after ends\ one moment; and the next to do the contrary. If tne gyrostatio couples were great enough to disintegrate the structure, they would begin by loosening the attachments of the turbine beds to the floors on which they rested ; or if those attachments were too strong, break the floore, and split the ship fore and aft, like a haddock. How could they possibly have helped to break her transversely, ab a point a long way forward of the engine· room?

Your obedient servant, C. A. 1\la'ITHEY.

Rue Basseinaya 15, Kriff, 12, October 25, 1901.

P . S.-After reading over the above it occurs to me to add-let your inquirers take an imaginary case, to form some conception of whab the stresaes are likely to have been in this ship. Take a revolvin~ weight of 2 tons, for instance, for one turbine, and a radius of gyration of 1 fb. This would mean a. solid cylinder of cast iron 34 in. in

•

diameter and 19 in. thick. Assume about 1000 revolutions per minute for the turbine, say 100 ra.dia.ns per second ~nd a.. rate of pitching <?f about 6 deg. per second, sa.y TlJ ra.dtan. The gyrosta.btc couple would then be

4480 X 12 x 100 32 x 10 = 1400 foot-pound$.

If the bearings were 5 lb. apart, this would mean a. pressure on each of 280 lb.-a mere trifle. If I ba.ve not a.ssumed sufficient weight or speed~, let any one take ~ouble or three times ~he above weight, and two or three trmes the spe.ed, and mcre~e the radius of gyration and the rate of p1toh as he wlll; he will find it difficult to show any dangerous stress. C. A. M.

THE ELEC~RIFICATION OF THE METROPOLITAN RAILWAYS.

To THE EDITOR oF ENGINEERING. Srn,-We have read your interestin~ leading article on

the "Electrification of the Metropolitan Railways , which a.p~ea.re~ in your issue of October 11, and sho~ld feel obhged ~f YO';l would allow us apace for a. few remarks in connectton Wlbh th~ three-phase syste!D for tra.?tion pur­poses. We feel entttled to say somethmg on tbtS subjecb beca~se we, as the pioneers of three-phase traction, are certat!llY the onl.v: firm that can speak from practical expenence extendmg over several years. and also because the two lines which you quote as instances, viz., the Stansstad Engelberg, and the Burgdollf-Tbun lines were designed and equipped by us. ,

We d J nob want! to discuss the advantages and dis­a.dvantag~s of the three-phase syst~m as compared with the contmuous-current system, netbher do we wish to exprees our opinion as to the adaptability of the three­J?hase system to the electrification of the Metropolitan Railw~ys; we onl;r want to raise the question whether there IS any necessity to call the proposals which Messrs. Ganz and Oo. made for this scheme a new system, and to give it a special name-the Ganz system.

As a rule, a new name is only given to something original, but we really do nob see that there is anything new in tbe proposals of Messrs. Ganz and Co.

The adoption of a. low periodicity cannot be considered new. Indeed, low periodicities have been in use ever since the introduction of polyphase currents, and their advantages and disad ·1antages ara known to every elec­trical engineer. We ourst'lves bad occasion to study the pro and contra of this question in 1892, when we adopted a periodicity of 16 cycles per second for all the crane motors in our workshops. One of the reasons why we have nob adopted a lower frequency than 40 cycles for any of our three-phase railway lines i2 simply this, that we did nob want to exclude the possibilioy of feeding incandescent and arc lamps from the same supply.

As regards the tension in the contact lines, we think we have the ri~hb to claim to have done some pioneer work in this dtrection also, seeing that we succeeded, wibh the help of reports drawn up by Mr. Gisberb Kapp, ProfessorS. P. Thompson, and Professor Weber, in per­suading the Swiss Government to allow us to employ a much higher tension than usual. U nforbunately, we were nob able, here in Switz~rland to get the Government to sg,nction the use of several thousand volts in the contact line, which is the only re~on why we did nob employ a higher tension than we did.*

With regard to the control of three-phase motors, there can be no doubt that it would be mosb desirable to have a system analagous to the series-parallel control used in continuous current traction work. Bub we do not think tbab the ca~oade control can be said to be the solution.

When, in 1895, we studied our first three-phase line, the Lngano t ramway, we tested the cascade system, hub found that ib presented no advantages, and that the total starting torque obtained by switching two motors in tandem was smaller, instead of greater, than that obtained with one motoD alone. Later on, when designing the Burgdorf-Thun Railway equipment, we repeated theee experiments, and obtn.ined the E!ame result~. These were not encouraging, and it is really no wonder tbab thid should be the case when one considers the action of two in­duction motors in cascade. As far as we know, other workers in the field have come to the same conclusion. Under these circumstances, and in consideration of the com­plication of the apparatus necessitated by the above system, we preferred to adhere to t~e ordinary resisba!lce control until we could find an eqUivalent to the series-parallel control, wbicb is sure to be invented sooner or later; in­deed, we have already made successful experiments in this direction. As regards the simple resistance control! this is nob nearly such a bad system as some people woula like to make out; it may be of interest to your readera. to hear in this connection that on the Burgdorf-Thun hne we start heavy trains on the level wit~ an accelE~ration as high as 1~ ft. per second per second, w1thout takmg more current from the line than the normal current.

Lastly, referring to another feature of the so-called Ganz system, the flexible suspension of the motors with hollow axles driving direct, we need scarcely point out that this again is nothing new. We do nob kno'! who was the originator of this arrangeme~t, ?ut would hk~ to mention that we adopted a very s1m1lar construot1on many years ago for the motors of the Heih?Jann loeomo­ttves which were so much talked of at the ttme. t W~ began by mentioning that our firm is the only one

*The beat proof that ~Iessra. Ganz and C?. have been guided by us is that in the early part of thlB. year they obtained permission from us to employ for tbetr own par­poses the reports of the above-mentioned experte.

t The same method of suspension was later on adopte.d by the Compagnie des Chemins de Fer de l'Ouest on thetr "ligna des Invalid ea a Meudon.,

E N G I N E E R I N G. •

which can speak from actual experience concerning three­phase traction, and we believe tbat some practical results, although not bearing directly on the question raised by uez, may be of interest to your readert~.

The B.urgdorf. Thun Railway has now been running on fuJl serv10e for two years a.nd a half, and during this time no repairs whatever have been necessary on any of the motors. The windings a.nd slip rings are as good as new. We have not ha.d to replace a. single bearing bush, and the small air gap, which everybody declared would turn out to be a. continual source of trouble, has caused none whatever-not even a minute's stop.

In fact, the wear and repairs of the whole equipment are so insignificant that many of the continuous-current traction engineers, who frequently visit the Burgdorf­Thun Railway, are absolutelf incredulous when given data concerning the cost of mamtenanoe.

Yours faithfully, Aktiengesellscbaft BROWN, BoVERI, ET Cm.

Baden, October 26, 1901.

TESTING DOWSON GAS. To THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING.

SIB,-Referring to "Anthracite's, letter on page 589 of your last iesue, may I ask if he will kindly describe the simple method of testing boiler flue gases that he refers to, or say in what book it can be found.

I am, &c., October 29, 1901. STOKER.

THE VIBRATION OF ENGINES. To THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING.

SIR,-! have just read Mr. H. Tecbel's letter on page 589 of your last issue rega.rdins my balanced engines, and trust the following will be in time to be published in nexb issue of ENGINEERING :

His criticism is correct. There is a slight difference in the movements of the two pistons in one of the designs, Figs. 2 to 13, given in my paper. The stroke of the engine being 48 in., the variation has a. maximum value of about ~ in. only. On noticing the difference a short time ago, in order to obviate any possible doubt as to the success of my method of balancing. I modified the design to make the movements of the pistons exaobly opposite, as it is in the others published in my payer.

In modifying the plan I found that al the advantages I claimed for this form of engine could be fully retained.

I send herewith a. blue print showing the new design, and I anticipate that a paper containing it will be pub­lished in the course of next month.

I am, yours faithfully, J OBN H. 1HAOALPINE.

Viewfield, Kilmalcolm, October 29, 1901.

RADIATION OF HEAT },ROM POLISHED AND DULL SURF ACES.

To THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING. SIR,-Will you permit me to make two remarks on

your kind and appreciative notice {on page 511 of your 1ssue of October 11) of my paper to the .British Associa­tion on "Radiation of Heat! and Light from P olished and Dull Surfaces?,

The first is this. Your reporter says : " There was also a suspicion that the two platinum s trips were nob quite alike." So far M I know, there is no ground for this suspicion. The two strips were cub from one length of a platinum strip, specially prepared, and rolled oub from a platipum wire by Messrt-. Johnaon and Matthey. My tests snowed that they were as nearly identical m every quality as platinum strips could be expected to be. They had the same breadth, the same thickness, and almost the same electrical resistance per unit of length. I cannot think that there was any difference in quality between them. I have tried many sucb strips, all made by Messrs. J ohnson and Ma.tthey, and in my paper, which, owing to the latene3a of the hour, was only read in abstract, I expressed my thanks bo Messrs. J ohnson and Matthey for the great trouble which they had taken in endeavouring to provide me with platinum strip of which bhe quality could not be questioned.

The second remark that I have to make is on the criticism of Professor Bailey, who "thought that the resulbs were hardly compatible with the experience of incandescent lamp makel'fl, who found no difference in the efficiency of flashed and unfiashed filament~. " I can only say that I do not think that Professor Bailey is correct in this supvosition. The makers of incandescent lamps naturally g~ve very little information to outsiders as to their results, but my belief is that they all know that there is a very great ditierencA between a properly flashed filament and an unflashed filament in the matter of economical production of light.

My paper was given only m very shorb abstract, as the meetmg was a.boub to close for the day. I have a great many results, all of which confirm my conclusione. I hope to publish the papershorbly in a somewhat modified form, probably in the '' Philosophical Magazine.,

I am, Sir, yours faithfully, J. T. BO'l"l'O~lLEY.

13 University Gardens, Glasgow, October 26, 1901. ['Dr. Bottomley, eo far as we remember, did say that

notwithstanding all precautions-be appeared to have been exceedingly careful-there wa~ a. possibility of the two strips not being under identical condibione.-ED. E.]

THE GLASGOW AUTOOAR TRIALS. To THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING.

SrR,-The official report recorda particulars of about 218 day~' runs made by the competmg cars. Stoppages due to tyre troubles are not recorded. Apart from these,

[Nov. I, 1901.

from stoppages of the locomobiles for water and fueJ, ard from two oases in which the cara are said to have b£en frequently stopped by ignition troubles, there are about 110 a.coidenta.l stoppages on the road recorded as due to troubles which may be classified under the following ten beads : Brakes, 7 ; Carburettors, 3 ; Circulation, 6 ; Fuel, 12; Engines, 21; Ignition, 23; Lubrication, 7 ; Sundries, 23; TransmissiOn, 7 ; Wheels, 1. Thus on the a.verag~ the cars were each stopped from all these causes a.pproxtmately once every second day, the average length of the stoppages being about twenty minutes; but ten were finalbnecessitating the abandonment of the run, and of these t ree were due to byre troubles.

One set of pneumatic tyres were entered for competition by the Dunlop Company which failed five times through three punctures a.nd two leakages, and alohough the report says the tyres behaved well, the committee do nob recommend any award in respect of them.

Mr. Sturmey, in hie reporb on the trials, estimates that 80 per cent. of all stoppages were due to byre troubles alone, which would give about 100 stoppages from this cause, the stoppages under none of the other heads above given having been more than 23.

Had all the ca.rs suffered a.s many troubles with their tyres as that with the competing set, there would have been altogether over 180 stoppages due to this cause ; and had all the cars been stopped as often by troubles due to each of the above ten chief sources of trouble as the oar using the seb of competing tyres was stopped by troubles with them, tbe total number of stoppages would have been about 1800. On this basis the relative effi­ciency or non-efficiency of the tyreez, as compared with the other parts of the cars, may be estimated to be ab 1 ii to 18; or taking Mr. Sturmey's figure of about 100 actual stoppages due to the tyres, as compared witb tbe very similar number due to all the ten chief sources of trouble, this may be estimated to be as 1 is to 11.

Surely it should be possible to devise tyres which will not be so far behind in efficiency all the other parts of the cars, as those still in common use thus prove to ~. But how can efficiency be expected so long as, while all other parts of the cara have been continually modified and specialised to secure the high degree of efficiency now attained with them, pneumatic tyres remain in all essentials the crude device of 1845, which is really nob a tyre at all, but merely an air cushion applied boa wheel, qtiite ·devoid of any special adaptation for the particular function it has to fulfil as a tyre.

Yours truly, London, October 28. 1901. THoMAS D uNN.

THE INSTITUTION 0~' JUNIOR ENGINEERS - The annual general meeting of this Institution was held ab the West­minster Palace Hotel on October 25, the chairman, :N!r. Percival Marshall, presiding. After the usual prelimi ­nary business was di$posed of, the Council's report on the work of the pa sb year and accounts relating to that period were presented and adopted. Tbe report stated that there had been no fewer than 103 elections, bringing up the total membership bo 652. The names of Professor G. F. Fitzgerald, F.R.8., hon. member, of Dublin, ::1\;Ir. L ouis F. Awde, d London, and Mr. E. H. S. Cooper, of Rugby, membera, had been removed by d eath. In addi­tion to the seven monthly meetings, an additional meet­ing had been held under the title of "Engineering Question Nighfl," when a number of different engineer­ing questions were dealt with, this new feature in the programme proving very successful. The Institution premium had been awarded to l\Ir. Samuel Cutler, Jun., for his paper on " C~~trburetted vV ater G~., The C ... mncil bad accepted the offer of the sum of five guineas made by Mr. W. H. Norbhcobb, hon. member, to be competed for by the m em bars in the preparation of a paper on the "Mutual Relations of Employers and Employed;" and the three adjudicators, consistin~ of Mr. Northcobb himself, Mr. J. A. F. Aspinall, and Mr. Archibald Denny, bad awarded the prize to Mr. W.illiam P owrie. Refer­ence wa~ made to the opening last June of the Institution offices a.b 39, Victoria-street, the rooms having been suitably furnished as library, reading and writing rooms, &c. There had been elev~n visits to engineering works in London and the vicinity, and during the summer meeting ab Plymouth, the Government establishments ab Devonpor~, and a number of engineering and other works had been inspected. Acknowledgments of the courtesy meb with on all these occasions were recorded in the reporb. R eference wa& also made to the Engineering Congress ab Glasgow, which the Institution bad been invited to take part in, a. number of the members being pre!!enb. To the provincial technical societies an invita­tion had been addressed, enabling any of the member~, who might be temporarily resident in London. to attend the meetings of the Institution. The- council were co­operabin~ with the German Society of Engineers in the compilatiOn of a German-English·French technical dic­tionary. It was announced that the premier position in the Wbitworth Scholarship Examinations for 1901 had been obtained by a member of the Institution, Mr. C. E. Hardy

1 of Plymouth. Allusion having been made

to the appombment register, the utility of which was being much improved ; to the library, which, now that the Institution bad offices would be considerably deve· loped; and to tbe accounts, which showed that t he finances were in a satisfactory condition. The report concluded with some observations as to future arrangements, in­cluding the delivery, on November 1, of a presidential address by Sir John Jaokson, F.R.S.E., to inaugurate the new session. The election of officers was announced as follows : Cbairma.n, Mr. P. Marsba.ll; vice-chairman, Mr. Kenneth Gray i hon. librarian, ~1r. L . H. .Rugg ; members of Councll, Messrs. S. Cutler, Jun., Ada.m Hunter, C. J. McNaught, and H. C. Reid, in addition to those remaining in office; seoreba.l'y, !vi". 'V. T. D:1nn.

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the miners' secretary. The object is t o restrict sup­plies, and thus force up prices. As a matter of abstract right, t he working miners have as much r ight to restrict production as coa.lowners have, or merchants to produce an ar t ificial scarcity in order to maintain or increase prices. But t he policy is a very question­able one, m ore especially so on the part of the men. Others may be able t o exploit t he ma rket wit h impu­nity ; the men cannot do so. If the ooalowners take no action, the suspicion will be that t hey wink at the course t a ken. The manifesto puts it as a protest against t he making of contracts at lower rates than the average prices declared at the last sliding-so~le audit. But if the coalowners and miners, as repre­sented on the sliding-scale committee, endeavour to use that committee as a monopolist organisation to rule the markets, in what sense are they better than the great American t rusts, except in name? Truly, some of the present labour leaders take a strange view of the situation. Their action invites legal r e­straint, and yet t hey loudly complain if restraint is applied. Here is a case of alleged breach of cont ract by thousands of men, but numbers cannot sanctify such an act, or justify it.

--"The Anti-Aliens Bill," the outcome of the cry for

a. "White Australia," only interests us here as an in­dustrial question. It.s political side may be left severely alone. W hat strikes one as passing strange is that with the loud cry for the " solidarity of labour , -only preached as an English labour policy since the new unionism dawned upon the land, and by Social Democrats who pronounce in favour of the brotherhood of man-comes this urgent demand for the limitations of human rights in t he field of labour. The British Empire covers a vast space of the habitable globe, and i t has within it races of all kinds and colours, and yet the cit izen of the Brit ish Empire is not to be allowed to carry his labour to all parts of it as he may t hink fit. China. can be invaded and to some extent dismembered, but the Chinaman is not to be permitted to work where he wills. Japan, whose emergence from barbarism to a civilised state has been fostered by England, cannot send her skilful sons to work in parts of t he British Empire, except by the permit of the part to which he bends his steps. On political grounds it might be defended, but on the broad ground of labour we fail t o see the justice of the demand.

The iron trades in the Wolverhampton district con­tinue fairly brisk in both . cr~de and . rolled iron. Quotations are also well mam tamed, owmg, perhap~, to the fact that the output a t t he blast-furnaces IS little more than sufficient to cover existing COJ?-tracts. Consumers find it difficult to obtain fresh supphes, and those whose stocks are low have to ma ke an advance on quoted rates to secure early delivery. Marked bars a re firm at full rates, and the leading makers of un­marked bars can command full list rates. U~marked iron generally is in active. demand. qa~ v~msers are reported to be buying heavily. Gas stnp IS tn demand at advanced rates. Hoops and rods are also firm. Steelmakers report active inqui~y, and quotations are somewhat higher. Generally, 1t woul~ seem, both crude and finished iron and steel show ant~prove~ent. In the engineering and allied trades t~ere 1s c_onttn:ued activity. E lectrical engineers are. st1ll W?rkmg ~1ght and day shifts. Employ~ent w1t~ engm eers, u on · moulders, boilermakers, brtdge ~nd gtrder co~structors, t ank and gasholder makers, sm1t~s ~nd .str1k~rs, con­tinues good ; with motor makers It Is. fatr ; w1th cycle makers not quite so good. In the rall~ay sheds there is continued activity. The malleable-~ron ~or~ers at Walsall are fairly busy ; but the engmeermg mdus­tries at Coalbrookdale and Madeley are reported to be slack. In the hard ware industries fourteen branches report employment to be good, eleven report t rade to have improved, fifteen report t rade as moderate, fo_ur as quiet and five as slack. Nearly all the ch1ef branches' are busy ; i t is only in ~he s~all~r that ther_e is any complaint. In the l?ottor1es d1strwt the engi­neering trades report a declme. At Crewe all branches are busy, as are the bra~s and copper workers at Oaka­moor and Froghall. On the whole, t he reports are

• encouragmg.

In the Birmingha m di~tri?t busi.ness in the iron trades is reported to be st1ll.1mprovmg. M~kers are, it is said, well supplied _w1th o~ders. Prtces have been firm, new business bemg dechned at rates below the standard lists. In unmarked bars .a keen com-etition by Belgian and German makers 1s reported at

~onsiderably below the standard rates. There haCJ been a steady demand for marked bars at full rates. Good inquiry is r eported for . bl9:ck sheets ~nd

alvanised iron. Makers of strip Iron are bus1er, ~bile tinplate makers ha.ve orders on hand to last to the end of the year. There has been also a moderate demand for steel. In ~he gene~al branches of trade employment shows a shght declme. In branches of trade unions, with 18,653 members, 641, or 3.4 per cent., were reported to be unemployed, as compared

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with 3 per oent, in the previous month. In the engineering industries the reports are fair. Engineers in one branch report trade as good, in eight as moderate, in one as bad; electrical workers, smiths, and strikers, as good ; boilermakers as good; tool­makers, pattern makers, and iron founders, as moderate; at West Bromwich all branches as good ; at Coventry and Redditch as moderate. The cycle industry is quiet ; the motor section at Coventry bad. The brass and copper trades are fairly good. The fender branch is quiet, but improving, at Dudley. T hirteen of the other iron, steel, and metal trades are good, ten are fair, one is moderate. In the outlying districts the various industries are reported to be good , fair, or moderate. In t he lighter and more costly metals employment is good, fairly good, or moderate. Taken as a whole, the posit ion is fairly good, and the prospects are encouraging. There are no serious labour disputes in t he district in any of the iron, steel, and other metal trades.

In the Lancashire districts it is reported that in some directions there is a decided decline in the engineering industries as r egards orders to replace those running out. At the same time many of the firms are fully engaged upon work in hand, which in some cases will last for some time. There is, how­ever, a decided slackening off in respect of over time. This has been, in many instances, continuous during t he past two or three yeare. There are also more unemployed, t hough so far the list has not greatly extended. A good deal of new work is still coming forward in connection with electrical engineering for tramways and light ing purposes. The pressure, how­ever, is mostly as regards work already in hand. Locomotive and rail way carr iage and wagon builders are still full of work ; in most cases the orders on hand will last for another year. The principal toolmakers are st ill well engaged, but they are not securing any large accession of new work. Boilermakers are scarcely as busy as they were, and the textile machine industry is depressed. The iron trades are inactive in so far as heavy orders are concerned. The general condition of employment in the Manchester and Salford district is even blightly better. In branches of trade unions, wi th 24,677 members, only 895, or 3. 6 per cent., are returned as unemployed, compared with 3. 7 per cent. in t he previous month. The reports of the engineering t rades describe t rade as moderate generally , some good, one branch quiet, at S tockport only quiet. At Oldham moderate generally, boiler­makers good, plate moulders slack. In the Bolton district fair, in the Bla.ckburn district slack, but not in all sections. This r epresents most of t he other districts.

I t is often extremely difficult to understand indus· trial movements in Frauce. They are often dominated by polit ical or ot her influences, so that labour dis­putes cannot at all t imes be sepa'rated from the political movements that are for ever shifting t heir base. The French miners had resolved by their representatives t o inaugurate a general strike on November 1. Then the matter was referred to the miners as a body, and the referendum resulted in a substant ial majority for a. strike. But it was found that only a moderate pro­portion of the .whole had voted ; still the \·ot~ was con­sidered suffiCient. Then the men, or the1r leaders, or p ersons who supp?rted the stri~e, contriv~d to get a considerable quanttty of arms mto t he d1saffected d istricts. The fact of such preparations soon became known to the police. \Vhether t he promoters of toe movement for arming the miners were at the same t ime the spies who made known the facts, is a ques­tion which will not, perhaps, be solved. Then the Government made preparations on a large s~ale for the maintenance of p eace. At the same ttme the Government pursued a. moderate policy and promised consideration of t he men's demands. In the end the policy of a general strike was provisionally ab~n­doned. A little later the arms, or a la rge proport10n of them, were given up; then the t roops ordered to be in the locality were withdrawn. The ~hole proceed­ings seem like a tangle. In any case 1t would seem that t he general strike is abandoned. Now_the Govern­ment will have to initiate measures to paCify the more ardent of the malcontents. However brought about, the abandonment of the strike is to be commanded, as violence was at least threatened.

The di$pute between the shipwrights and engineers employed by :Messrs. Laird Brothers, of ~irkenhe~d, which a t one t ime was such that a ser10us stnke was anticipated, has been settled. I t arose out o_f a question aslo whom belonged t.he work ~f secur~ng the electric dynamos on board sh1p, both umons clatm· ing the right, as being within the scope of the ~ork respectively done by the members of such. um?us. Fortunately, the dispute was referre~ to arb1trat10n. The court has decided that the engmeers shall take charge of, and be responsible for, the ~roper placing and adjustment of dyn9.mos on board eh1p.

• [Nov. I, I go I.

The curious colliery dispute in the Swansea Valley has ended curiously. The dispute arose over the acci­dental lighting of a match by an overman, the match being brought into the mine by a workman. The men demanded the dismissal of the man who by accident ignited the match, and not the man who brought it into the mine. The company refused, and some 1200 men ceased work. The company then paid off the whole of the pit hands, but posted a notice to the effect t ha.t the pit was open for the men t o return to work. After being idle about three weeks, the men at a mass meeting, held last week, accepted t he em­ployers' terms.

The Master Builders' Association of Swansea have decided against the acceptance of the Mayor as mediator between the master builders and the builders' labourers. The dispute has been going on for a con­siderable time, and t he employers state that they can obtain sufficient labour for all present requirements. The dispute is therefore reduced to this: The men who went out on strike are supplanted; many of them are idle, and therefore they have to rely upon union funds and subscriptions.

--The horse-keepers, yardmen, washer~, stablemen,

and carmen of London, have formulated a general de­mand for a minimum wage of 5s. per man per day. The London Carmen's Union has been asked to notify this demand to all t he London 'bus and t ram com­panies, railway companies, cab proprietors, and others employing horses, with the view of obtaining the wages demanded.

I t is said that the number of unemployed in the Metropolitan district is increasing so rapidly that there is a probability of another unemployed agitation t his winter. A long spell of good t rade does not neces­sarily mean that workmen are able to stand some weeks' idleness without help. This is especially t he case wit h what is called casual labour.

A report has been published t o the effect that a general Anarchist movement in favour of a universal strike is being organised, supported by all t he Euro­pean and American committees. It is eaid that a leading anarchist of Barcelona has, in an interview, confirmed the rumour. Spain seems to be the camping ground for the movement at present. But the said anarchist is but a vain man if he is righ tly reported. He stated, so it is said, that there were 90,000 committees, representing 8,~00,000 workme.n, who were only awai~­ing the fina l stgnal for a stnke. The statement 1s absurd, utterly unworthy of credence. W here are the 90,000 committees? Where are the 8,000,000 of workmen ? It may suit some Continental Govern­ments to exaggerate this scare, but it need not cause a flutter in Great Britain. Some anarchists seem to be capable of any atrocity, but real working men, cra fts­men, are not likely to be led by blood-thirsty assassins.

GAS-ENGINE RESEARCH. Second Repo·rt to the Gas-Engilne Researoh Oorwmittee. * By Professor FnEDEBIO W. BunsTALL, Member, of

Birmingham University. (Continued jrorn page 595.)

THE TEl\lPERATURE T ESTS. ONE of the principal objects which the Research Com­

mittee had in view was the determination of the tem­peratures at all points of the Otto cycle by me~ns _of a direct measurement, in place of by the usual mdtr~cb method of calculation. The reporter made a. series of experiments on the measurement of cyclically varying temperature, and the results were published in the Philosophical Magazine for September, 1895 ; but for the sake of completeness and ~n order to make clear so~e of the methods of working, tb has been thought adv1sa.ble to give a full account of the temperature measurements even ab the risk of some repetition. Among the many methods that ha.ve been employed for the practical measurement of temperature, is t?at me.thod w?ich depends upon the change of electr1cal res1sta.nce m a metal conductor due to the change of the temperature. This electrical resistance meth?d seems to ha_ve been used by Sir W illiam Siemens wt~h rather un~a.t1sfactory results, due mainly to the defe~t1ve consbructton a.nd. to imperfect apparatus for mea.surmg the changes of resist­ance. The method has, however, always had a great fascination for physicists, owing to the ease and great aoouraoy with which resistance measurements can be made. . d . 1 The credit of construcbmg accurate an praot1ca. resistance thermometera is due to Pr<;>fessor H. L .. Cal­lender, F.lt.S., who compared the ren.dmgs of a platmum thermometer with that of an air thermometer 'll;P to about 600 deg. Cent., t and he then showed that, wtth ~roper precautions, temperatu~es could be measured wt th a precision nearly tmposstble by any other the~mometer. For temperatures above 600 deg. Cent. no dueot oom-

* Paper read before the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.

t Royal dociety, Philosophical Transactions, 1887, p1ge 8.

Nov. I, 190 1.]

parison of. the pl.atinum and air scales has a.s yet been ma?e, ~amly owmg to the almost insuperable difficulties wh1ch a1r thermometers present when used a.b high tem­perature. Much indirect evidence has been accumulated and strengthens the belief in the accuracy of Oallender'~ formula., ev~n when exterpolabed beyond the range of his own. exp~r1ments. If th~ resist.anc~ of a piece of pl~t~num lS measured both m melbmg 1ce and 10 steam b01hng und~r a pressure of 760 milhmet!es of mer<?Ul'Y and the ~es1stancea be R 0 and R 1 respectively, and 1f R be the res1stance ab a.ny other temperature, than the plati-

te .. R- R 0 • num mperauure Pt = IS defined in the same Rt- Ro

man~er as a degree in the mercury scale. There still rema.ms the correct~on bo be applied, beca.use the tem­perature on the an scale and the platinum soa.le are nob the same. The difference between the two scales is expressed by the formula t - pt = D

( t 'J t ) .

1002 - WO , where t IS the temperature on the air

scale and the D a. constant. To find D, the thermometer is calibrated by measuring

its resistance at a very high temperature, generally the

Fig 8

I

E N G I N E E R I N G. •

but the pressure which such a. thermometer had to with· the thermometer was protected from direct contaoo with stand was also great, and the total duration of the tem- moisture by a. thin copper tube. The general principle pera.ture not more than one-third of a. second. If it used in measuring the temperature was to cause the en­~were required to measure the temperature at different gine itself to complete the galvanometer circuit at the points of a. stroke, it became cloar that the measuring particular point of the stroke a.t which the temperature wire must possess a very small thermal c&paci by. A was required to be measured. This would be a. simple very small thermal capacity necessitated the abolition of matter with a steam engine, a.s all that would be neces­any covering to the wire. Ab fi rst ib seemed probable sary would be a circuit maker placed on the shaft. that to expose a. very fine wire to the erosive influence of With a gas engine an explosion can occur ab most hub the burning gas wonld be likely to le&d to inaccuracy in once in two revolutions, hence some mea.ne must be de­the measurements. Such, however, has not befn found vised whereby the circuit shall be closed nob only a.b the to be the case. The cha.nae of resistance of a wire when definite point in the stroke, but also only when an explo­it has been exposed to several hundreds of explosions is sion has taken place. Moreover, a.s the size of the mea­almost too small to be measured. The form of the bhermo- suring wire musb of necessi ty be very small~ ranging from meter finally selected is shown in Fig. 7. Ib consists of 0. 0025 in. to 0.0015 in., it becomes of the h1gheat import­a. solid drawn steel t ube about 1 in. in diameter and 18 in. ance to expose the wire to the high temperature for as in length, the thickness being about h in. The outside small a number of explosions as possible. All attempts

rooc::u~ Cap {UU.t J){ain, ~1$

Scale J4 c.\,

La¥ Shaft

F~. 7. Section of PyrontR.i:er

ThrecuiA/d 36 threads to tlu-., irtcJt. Jtp-ll), CXJUar 3crund ih.~~

• F'9.10.

CcntaetMaker

----

0

kb&rlol and Jfi,cQ, wa.rlr.~t.('W 9/A.n.LL

0 e e

0 •

APPENDIX I . to use these measuring wires with an engine firing every TABLE I.-Analysis and P-roducts of Combustion of Coal

Gas by Volwme. Mean of Eight Samples.

-Carbonic Oxygen Steam Per Cent. Aoid Required. Produced. Produced.

Carbon dioxide C02 .. 0.16 0. 16 Heavy hydrocarbons,

CsHa·7 • • • • 4.48 13.43 20.93 15.0 Oxygen, 0 . . . . 0.13 Carbon monoxide, CO 9.46 9.46 4.78 Marsh gas, CB4 • • 88.67 33.67 67.34 67.3! Hydrogen, H .. • 43.40 • • 21.70 43.40 Nitrogen, N . . • • 8.70

Totals • • • • 100.00 56.72 114.70 125.74

One volume of coal gas requires 6.49 volumes of air, and pro­duces 0.5672 volumes of CO! and 1.257 volumes of steam. After combustion the volume dry is 4.996.

Weight of 1 cubic metre of gas dry at 16 deg. Cent. 760 milli­metres = 0.600 kilogrammes.

Weight of 1 cubic metre of air dry at 15 deg. Cent. 760 milli· metres = 1. 290 kllogrn.mmes.

-boiline- point of sulphur being chosen, as it is one of the h1~hest boiling points which has been accurately determmed.

The value of D ranges from 1.3 to 1.5 according to the purity of the platinum wire; different samples of plabmum wire will nob in general give the same platinum temperature when placed in the same source of heab ; but when the correction to the air scale is applied, the two wires will generally be found to agree. This remark­able consistency of the platinum thermometer is one of the greatest points in its favour, and it is nob unreason· able to suppose that its consistency is real. The con­struction of the ordinary platinum thermometer does nob fall within the scope of the present paper; but it may be generally described as a. coil of platinum wire wound on a mica croes, the ends of the wire being soldered on stout platinum leads. A pair of dummy lead~, generally called compensators, a.re provided to cancel the heating up of the main leads i the whole of the wires are enclosed in a portJelam tube to protect the wire from possible injury which might resulb from the nature of the heating. When the reporter commenced the research to determine the temperatures reached in Lhe ga.s engine, it seemed as if the best method to employ was that of the electrioa.l thermometer in a modified form. The clifficulties were considerable, as nob only were the temperatures to be measured very high,

TABLE !I.-Heating Value of Ooal Gas. second revolution have resulted in the destruction of the The heating values are taken less the latent heat of water vapour, wire before a sufficient number of observations could be

and are in calories. taken. The temperatures have therefore been measured ?n ~n engine run~ing dead l.ighb; tha.tJ is, firing about one m SIX of the poss1ble explooton@. There is also the diffi­

Per Cent. HeatinEr V o.lue of One

Cub1c Metre at Heating Value of

Each Constituent i - by Volume. 15 de~r. Cent. 760 One Cubic Metre of Millimetres. Coal Gas.

--calories oalories

eo .. 0.16 CsBi1 4.48 20,090~ 900

0 0.13 CO 9.46 2,878 272

CH4 83.67 8,030 2i04 H 43.40 2,440 974 N 8.70

Total • • 100 00 • • 4850

n culty of insur~ng thn.t t~e wire f<;>llows the temperature of the gas d~rmg expa:os1on. Th1s can be done provided the gas engme does nob run at a speed much exceeding 120 revolutions per minute. The arrangement of contact makers is shown in Fig. 8. The galvanometer circuit was. broken in tw<? places, one of which was completed dunng every workmg- stroke, and the other ab a. definite point in each revolut10n. Thus rea.din~s of the galvano­meter can only be obtained a.b the parb1cular point of the working stroke for which the mechaniqm 1s set. The contact maker, called a relay, is arranged to close the galvanometer circuit by the movement of the gas admis­sion valve, ab the commencement of the suction stroke, when the electro-magnet is excited, the lever is depressed, and the galvanometer circuit closed by means of two mercury cups. To prevent the lever lifting before the

* Heating value of 1 cubic metre of C3Ba·1 = 1000 + 10,500 d = 20,090.

d = densi~y being 1.912. working stroke is over, ibis arranged that when the lever has moved through a small distance, the break on the gas lever is short-circuited by a third mercury cup, the relay

Hea~ing value of 1 cubic metre of coal gag = 4850 calories. , , 1 cubic foot ., = 553 B. T. U.

of the tube is threaded from end to end and has upon it a pair of nuts. This allows the measuring wire to be placed ab any distance from the wall of the cylinder, the nuts also serving to bold the thermometer in position by means of an ord inary screwed gland packed with asbestos. The inside of one end of the tube is bored out for a short distance and internally threadEd. A circular elate block fibs into the bored-oub portion of the tube. The four leads, which are of platinum, pass through the holes in the slate block ; to prevent the leads being blown out of the tube by the pressure, each lead is provided with a small platinum collar which bears against the out­aide of the slate block. The whole is made gas-tight by meaus of alternate layers of asbestos and mica, wh1ch are forced down by a screwed gland. This construction packs itself by the pressure, and no trouble has been experienced from the gasJea.king through the slate blook. The leads are insulated from each other a.nd from the iron tube by mica. washers a.b short intervals. The leads t erminate in an ebonite head fastened to the outer end of the steel tube and provided with suitable terminals for atba.chmenb to the measuring apparatus. This form of thermometer has been in use for its special purpoae for a. number of years, and has been found to stand a.t the same time high tem­peratures and pressures exceeding 200 lb. per square inch. Moisture by wetting the asbesto9 destroys the msulation, and therefore in finding the r88istance 1n ice and steam

circuit remaining closed until broken by a contact on bhe exhaust valve on the engine. This arrangement ensures the closing of the galvanometer oircuib from the com­mencement of the suction stroke until the exhaust valve orens. Two forms of contact makers for fixing the point o the stroke at which the temperature has to be measured were employed ; the first was used in the tests marked from X to Y. It was then replaced by the one shown in Figs. 9 and 10, which consists of a. wooden disc a ttached to the lay shaft; let into its circumference is a small brass block ; bearing on this block are two COJ?per springs which are arranged so that they can be set 1n a required position. To make a determination of the temperature, all that is required is to set the lay shaft contact maker to t he required point in the stroke; there­sista.nce-measuring apparatus must then be adjusted until the swings on the galvanometer circuit can be read. As the temperatures vary slightly from stroke to stroke, it is impossible to get an accurate balance. The method employed was to put such a resistance into the resistance-box that the galvanometer would throw con­stantly to one side. Ten readings were made of the ~alva.nometer throws, and then a second resistance put mto the resistance box of such a magnitude that the gal­vanometer throws are all on the opposite side to that of the previous determination. Ten throws were again ob­served and the resistance interpolated from the mean of these readings, thus eg,ch observed temperature is found

from o~serving the t~mperatures of twenty explosions. The ~1stan~e-mea-surmg apparatus consisted of an ordi­nary wue brtdge and a. resistance box (Fig. 8). The gal­vanometer was a 9rompton d' Araonval. The testing current ~a.s supphed by a. secondary cell, with a added resistance ?f about 50 ohms. The results of ~ number ?f exper1ments are shown in the three Tables {Appen.d1x VIII.). In those headed X the measuring wire had a. dtameter of 0.0025; in Y of 0.002 and in z of o 0015 The length of the mea.suring wire w~ about l in· th~ compensatoro being joined by a small length of a.bou't 1 in Repeated attempts were made with wires having a dia: meter of 0.001 in.,, but the wire wa.s always fused after

la very few explosiOns. In Plates 5 and 6 (bo be given ater) the full line is a line drawn throu h th a~tual o~served points, while the dotted line g is th: hne obtamed by assuming that at some fraction of the stroke the thermometer has actually reached the exact temperat.ure _of the charge. In the case of the X test the fr~ct10n IS 0.3, for Y tests 0.5, and z 0.6 of the strokes As Will b3 expe.cte~, the lines show that for the first ..ra str<?ke the ~Ire IS probably re&ding too low, at an rate With. the thwkest w.ire ; towards the latter end of th~ &troke with the finer wires the coincidence between the measured t~mpera.ture and that obtained by calculation on the ordma.ry gaseous laws are remarkably closE', and

FIG. 11.-EXPERIMENT SHOWING VARIATION OF

TEMPERATURE WITH THERMOliiETERS AT DIF­FERENT DEPTHS IN CYLINDER.

Temp. at ,:'h of

stroke. 977 deg. Cen~.

1110 deg. Cent.

904 deg. Cent.

Temp. at i'n of

stroke. 714 def'. Cent.

765 dflg. Cent.

624 deg. Cent.

lead to the belief that during expansion the charge behaves approximately as a perfect gas. In addition to measuring the temperatures during the explosions stroke, the suction temperature was also measured; having now b~th the pre~sure P, volume V, temperature T, at the end of the suction stroke, and a.lso ab various points on the expansion curve, it is possible to calculate the product p TV both before and after explosion (Appendix IX.).

This was done, with the result that, a.ssuming that the suction temperatures were correct, the measured tempera­tures during expansion were very much too high. This is found in the whole of the tes~, and is more strongly marked with the very fine wire. With a view of checking the way in which the wire followed the temperature, the temperatures were measured from beginning to the end of compression, and the results are shown on the Table; they prove that the wire actually followed the temperature with a. very reasonable degree of accuracy. lb is also conjectured that a.s the indicator diagrams were taken with the indicator open, while the temperatures were mea­sured with the indicator shut, perhaps the leak through the indicator was sufficient to account for the higher temperature as shown by the thermometer. An experi­ment was made wibh the indicl.tor open and shut, with the result that the indicator open showed a slightly higher temperature.

It> occurred to the reporter that possibly the discre-pancy might be accounted for on the hypothesis that the temperature throughout the cylinder was not uni­form. A ll the temperatures were measured on wire almost in the centre clearance space, which naturally would be the hottest part. The calculated temperatures are of course, the mean of the whole temperature thr~ughout the cylinder.

Three experiments (Fig. 11 ab')ve) were made with the measuring wire i~ different ~ositioos : the first case . on a level with the mner wall, 1n the second case standmg out some! in. and in the third case with the measuring wire bent back as near as '{>Ossible to the steel body of the thermometer, so as to imttate the cooling a{)tion of the wall. The temperatures thus. obtained show a very decided falling off as the wire IS brought closer to the wall amounting in one case to nearly 200 deg. Ce.nt. U~u btless the wall action in the case of a very low speed

of some 90 revolutions per minute would be much more

E N G I N E E R I N G. [Nov. I, 1901.

APPENDIX II. TABLE I.-A Trials (P1ate 1, page 632).

Clear­ance

Vol. io Litres.

Stroke Vol. in Utres.

Ratio : Olea.r. Vol. Oyh·. Vol.

Olearanoe Surface. Compreesioo.

Total. Jacketed. ------------·----

sq. om. sq. om. kg. per 1\b. per sq. om. 3Q. in.

3.146 6.52~ 0.67 1680 1200

Absolute about 1'\bout

3 as 65

T<st No.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

TABLE II.

Revolutions per Explosions per Minute. Minute.

191.5 9. 7 J. 190.3 9,.4 200.6 96.2 201.5 95.7 207.5 89.9 197.1 9:1.3 206.8 99.2 201.3 91.7

TABI.E III.

Compression.

Per Cent. of Full Power.

100 99 96 95 87 96 96 91

Test No.

Suotion Pressure.

Suction Tempera­

ture.

n io Pressure Tempera.- P Vn = Const.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

• • 8 ::s z

· ture.

kg. per sq. cm.

1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00

deg. Cent. kg. per deg. Cent.

318 290 291 286 295 227 311 204

sq. cm. 153 3.82 140 3.75 130 3.85 121 3.98 111 4.07 102 3.67

99 4.32 85 3.67

TABLE IV.

8 Q) s ~ ::s.. ::s~

Exhaust. ~8J4 ::Sa.

• ,Cl)

Cl) Cl) a~O ...... ~0

1.322 1.3( 3 1.331 1.863 1.386 1.28t 1.445 1.284

• s:l 0

CO 8 ~ 8 ~.

~ t ·~ ~ ·~ e f! ~..o ~~ ;:a~E

G)8QI S·- ~ .

X8Q)

i ::s~ ... - Qlo 0 8 ~ Pres­sure.

Tempe­rature

·- 11 .. ~~c

p.$ ~Cl)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

> ---1 ---1----1·----___ , _ _ _ _

kg. per sq. cm.

10.39 10.19 10.10 9.23 8.78 9.13 7.35 8.67

deg. 0.

1761 1694 146~ 1394 1282 1269 1145 1119

litres kg. per sq. cm.

3.97 3.22 3.85 3.04 3.71 3.01 S.98 3.1(l 4.00 ::U4 3.91 2 99 4.60 3.04 8.93 2.82

TABLE V. • Cl)

Mean Pressure, Gross.

Ql • ..... ~z s:IQI cew QI ::S :alii

deg. 0.

1097 982 937 947 932 847 857 737

kg. per sq. cm.

4.51 4.20 4.00 3.92 3.76 3.82 3.33 3.50

1.501 1.491 1·426 1.400 1.328 1.405 1.347 1.410

I .H.-P. I B.H. ·P. ~ ~· ·- c

I ..: I ..: c Cl) Ql Q) ..: Q) Q) .; ce ·-w~ ·~Cl)~ • .._..,eo ... o oce .. o oce c;IS ~~ ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~ ~~

- --1--------1---1-- --1- - 1-lb. p er kg. per

1 95 7 2 94.4 8 96.2 4 95.7 5 ~9.9 6 94.3 7 99.2 8 91.7

sq. in. sq. cm. 64.1 4.51

kg. per kg. per sq. cm. sq. cm.

0.10 4.41 5.11 3.81 3.98 2.97 0.78 0.10 4.10 4.68 3.49 3.61 2.62 0. 75 59.7 4.20

66 9 ,,00 56.7 8.92 63.5 3.76 54.3 3.82 47.4 3.33 49.8 3.50

0.11 3.89 4.53 3.88 3.30 2.46 0.78 0.11 3.81 4.41 :3.29:3.65 2.65 0.80 0.13 3.63 3.95 2.95 2.98 2.22 0.75 0. u 3. 71 4 24 3.16 2.88 2.15 0.68 0.11 3.22 3.86 ·l.88 2. 72 2.03 0. 70 0.12 3.38 3.752802.f51.90l0.68

TABLE VI. •

Test Gas Air Number per ~xplo- per ~xplo-

Ratio of Air to

Gas.

Heating Value of Gas

Calories per Litre.

Calories per

Litre of Mixture. Ston. ston.

---1---:- - -- ---- -----(-~' --

0 z ., ~ 8

1 2 3 4 6 6 7 8

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

litres litres O.f\86 3. 76 5.5 0.610 3.93 6.4 0.561 4.03 7.2 0.540 4.25 7.8 0.510 4.20 8.2 0 527 4.28 8. 1 0.460 4.62 10.1 0.493 4.24 8.6

T ABLE VII.

4.993 4.993 4.993 4.864 4.864 4.993 4.861 4 993

0.768 0.675 0.609 0.668 0.529 0.549 0.438 0 520

------------• .,

s:l Ql 0 ... Q)

~ C't

.. Q Q)

0 ... Q)

~

0

... CID • .,... c<l

~0 •

.. 0 . 2 8 ~ e P! -0

0 --- - - 1---1---1 10.38 8.71 7.69 7.28 6.64 5.71 5.83 4.94

1.64 4 .. 74 6.84 8.67 9.70

10.07 11.11 11.64

5.'85 6.87 7.72 8.62 9.43

10.22 10.58 11.73

5.98 7.07 8 05 8 66 9.49

10.30 10.79 11 96

• Q ce Ql

~

59 7.0 7.9 86 9.5

10.3 10.6 11.8

• "'

Kr. ~

I

~ .1856+ .000115 T .0719 .1827 +. 000111 T . 0713 .1807 + .COO LOS T . 0710 .1795+ .000106 T .0709 .1781+.C0010l T .0706 .177t +.C.001v2 T .o1o5 .1767 + .000102 T .0705 .1757+.000100 T .0703

marked than ab the ordinary speed of 200 revolutions per minutE>, but the experiments prove that there is a com­paratively wide range of temperature in the cylinder ttself; if it were possible to place one of the measuring wires at 0.01 in. from the wall, it is probable that even when the core was standing at some 1300 deg. Oent., the temperature at the wall might nob exceed 800 deg. Cent. or 900 deg. Cent. The exietence of even e. thin layer of

• ... Q)

..0 8 ::s z ., Cl)

~

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Test No.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

TABLE VIII.

Ge.s per Hour.

cub. ft. cb. m. 139 3.94 122 8 45 114 3.23 110 3.11 98 2.77

105 2.97 95 2.69 96 2.72

27.2 26.1 25.3 24.9 24.8 24.8 24.6 2s.6 I

1.03 0 99 0.96 0.95 0.9.& 0. 9.& 0.)3 0.97

35.0 3&.8 84.7 80.9 82.8 36.6 3~.9 37.6

TABLE IX .

Weight ! of Air

per Explo· si on.

kg. .00461 .Oo482 .0049! .00521 .00515 .00525 .0055.& .00520

Weight of Gas per Ex­plosion.

kg. .000389 .000346 .000318 .000307 .0002e9 .000299 .000265 .l00280

Air +Ga.s per

Explo­sion.

.00j999

.005166

.006258

.005517

.005439

.005549

.006795

.005480

Air Tem­pera­tu re.

deg. 0. 15 15 15 16 16 16 15 15

TABLE X.

1.33 1.32 1.32 1.17 1.25 1.39 1.32 1.43

18.6 17.4 17.9 18.7 18.7 18 3 18.9 17.7

-------

Exhaust Tem­pera­tu re.

deg. 0. 1097

982 937 947 9a2 847 857 737

Calories RPjeoted

to Exhaust, per l!:x­plosion.

calories 1.35 1.18 1.13 1.1Sl 1.18 1.02 1.08 0.84

Jacket Temperatures. Heat Given to Jaokets.

Test Number .

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Inlet.

deg. Oent. 15 15 15 9 9

16 11 16

Outlet.

deg. Oent. 63 64 62 66 CO 58 64 6!

TABLE XI.

Per Explosion.

calories 1.43 1.29 1.10 .78 .74 .83 .64 .74

Per Oent

'

42 42 39 29 so 32 29 30

Test No. Temperature at End of Heat Lost by Residue at Adiabatic Expansion. Exhaust per Explosion.

• ... Ql ~ e ::s z ~ Ql

1 2 3 4 6 6 7 8

deg. Cent. 1497 1327 1187 1127 1052 1027

9152 897

TABLE XII.

calories 0.10 009 0.09 0.09 0.11 0.10 0.09 0.11

... 0... • ... ~ .... ~ci +> ~.ci ~ ~ c:

0' ~ci >< Q) • o - o .... - c: o ~ ~g

·- . .... . .... 0 ..... Cl) ., Cl) 0 <11 • - Cl) 't:S • Ci) Ql. 0 +>QIO ..,..,o ~0 QIO

.b4 - ce ..:.: - ., ~~> -;::: aS - • 00 - u ... ~ Q ~ - ~ ~ ·- ~ ""'i ., .... ,... 9 ~ 4>ce>C ......... OO>< 2 ce ... )( ...

8 ~~ =~~ ~~~ ~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ - 1---1---- - - --- ------!---

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

~ Ql

..0 8

calorie calories calories calorie calories calories per oent 0.57 1 43 1.35 0.06 3 5 l 3.43 + 2.3 0.63 1.29 1.18 0.06 3.15 3.05 + 3 3 0.50 1.10 1.13 0.06 2.88 2.80 + 2.9 0.49 0. 78 1.19 0.06 2.61 2.65 - 1.6 0.47 0.74 1.13 0 06 2.61 2 49 + O.B 0 48 0.83 1.02 0.06 2.49 2.62 - 5.0 0.42 0.64 0 08 0.06 2.29 2.19 + 4.6 0.44 0.74 0.8A 0 06 2.19 2. 47 -11.3

T ABLE XIII.

Weights. _., ... o ce Q) ,

~Q +'10

Q) CD• ...

•

~ Air per 1Ga.s per\ Clear-

~ Ex- I Ex- ance ~ plosion. plosion. Residue

• c; ... c .,a>o 0 ,... ..... 8 -Cl)

>.bt.::SCI) !:ID .. ce~ t~~ e­~0~~

- - ---.----1--·--1--·- - --- --- 1----

1 2 3 4 6 6 7 8

klr. .0046l .00482 .0049~ .0062 l .00516 .00526 . 0055. .00520

k~. .000389 .000346 .000818 .000307 .000289 .000299 .000265 .000280

k~. .00143 .00164 .0016'1 .00159 .00188 .00195 .00182 .002U

kg. .006429 .006706 .006918 .00710':' .007319 .007499 .007615 .007890

deg. 0. 153 140 130 12 l 111 102

99 85

de~. 0. 1097

982 937 947 932 8&7 867 737

1.66 1.38 1.33 1.39 1.40 1.26 1.80 1.12

comparatively cold gas on all the clearance surfaces would be sufficient to reconcile the temperatures ca.lculated by m~ans of pressures, volumes, a~d temperatures of exhaust w1th those observed i bob unttl the law of variation of temperature througnout the cylinder has been deter­mined, such a calculation would be of comparatively sma.ll value.

Mr. J. B. Wood has taken a very large share of the

•

•

Nov. r, 1901.] E N G I N E E R I N G.

APPENDIX TABLE 1.- B Trials (Plate 2, page 632).

III. TABLE VIII.

THE PHYSICAL SOCIETY. AT the meeting of the Physical Society, held on

October 25, P rofessorS. P . Thompson, President, in the chair, a paper " On the V01ria.tion with Temperature of the Therm.o-Ekotr(YJT't,otive Force, a;nd, of the Electr'UJ Resista·nce of Nickel, I ron, and Copper between the Temperatures of - 200 Deg. and + 1050 Deg. ," wa.s read by Mr. E. P. Harrison. In this paper the changes with temperature of the thermo-electromobive force and the resistance of nickel and iron are traced over a. wide range, and the singularities present in the curves representing these changes are invf'sbiga.ted. In all expenments the same specimens of metal were used. Previous work on this subject has been performed by Ta.ib, Flaming and Dewar, Holborn and Day, and Stansfield. In the author's experi­ments on electromotive force an ordinary potentiometer method waa used, bhe poten tia.l difference due to the thermo­couple being balanced against e. portion of that due to two accumulators. Before each reading a standard cadmium cell was balanced on e. definite resistance in the accumu­lator circuit. Readings of electromotive force of copper­nickel couples were accurate to 1.8 microvolts, while those of copper-iron couples were accurate to leas than 1 microvolt at moderate temperatures. The heating arrangement was designed to give a uniform temperature, which was measured by a platinum thermometer, and recorded automatically by Ca.llenda.r's recorder. The cold junctions were placed in a large best-tube full af water, the test-tube being placed in a larger vessel, also containing water. The temperature of the cold junctions varied with that of the room, and all observations were reduced to cold junction 0 deg. Cenb. Finally, in each case observations were taken by placing the junctions in liquid air, with the platinum thermometer beside them. To prevent oxidation of the metS~ls forming the junctions at tempe­ratures above 500 deg., it was necessary to exha.uf!b the porcelain tubes which contained them. The curves for variation of electromotive force with temperature of cop~er-nickel and copper-iron couples are, roughly, a sbratghb line and a parabola respectively. The differences between the actual curves and a. selected straight line in the former case and a parabola in the latter case ha. ve bsen plotted against temperature. These difference curves show that the maximum variations occur in the case of copper-iron ab 70 deg., 230 deg., and 370 deg. The temperature of inversion (cold junction 0 deg. Cent.) is 536 deg. Cent., and the neutral point is 262 deg. Cent. In the case of copper nickel, maximum variations occur ab 70 deg. and 340 deg., and there appears to be a small hysteresis effect at the latter pomb. The temperature of inversion does nob occur within the limits of the experiments, and there is no neutral point. The electromotive force curve for a nickel­iron couple up to 700 deg. has been obtained from two previous experimental curves by addition. Above this temperature direct observations have been taken. This

Ole"r· Stroke Ratio: Olearance Surface. Compression. ance Vol. in Ole"r Vol. Vol. in Litres. Abso-Litres. Oylr. Vol. Total. Jacketed. lute. -

sq. cm. Eq. om. kg. per lb. per 2.609 6.622 0 46 1490 1086

sq. cm. sq. in. 6.02 7l

Test No.

1 2 8 4 6 6 7 8 9

TABLE II.

Revolutions per Explosions per Minute. Mlnute.

196.3 93.9 197.5 90.7 199.8 05.0 196.2 87.1 205.9 92.8 197.0 00.8 206.6 94.1 202.3 95 5 203.6 97.3

Per Oent. of Full Power.

96 92 95 89 90 92 91 04 96 -----------------

T ADLE lii.

Test Suction Suction Compression. •

Tempera- 'n lD No. Pressure. Tempera- P Vu = Oonst. tu re. Preesure. tu re. -

kg. per deg. Cent. kg. per deg. Oent. sq. om. sq. cm.

1 1.00 156 4.96 302 1.376 2 1.00 143 tl.99 376 1.382 8 1.00 138 4.92 860 1 36S> 4 1.00 136 4.86 347 1.359 6 1.00 123 4.90 384 1 3o6 6 1.00 119 4.86 323 1.359 7 1.00 108 6.05 329 1.892 8 1.00 99 5.29 842 1.431 9 1.00 90 5.86 336 1.443

TABLE IV. • • • Cl)

a a a> s• ~a· Exhaust. 'CD = cG cG mo 0 Q) ... 1:1 1:1 ... ::st ::s ... e O Q)aQ) &::o z a='

..... ·- ~ - ~ n+> • sp. ·

• a:: 8 ·~ p. • =' SQ) ea> ~ .. ~f Pres- Tempe- ;: = CDQ) <GQ).B ~:a~B ~ ... t>~ a>,.o ~~ :s ~ :::ag ~ sure. rature. ~Cl)

kg. per deg. C. litres kg. per deg. C. kg. per sq. cm. sq. cm. sq. cm.

1 16.79 1948 2.6j 8.04 10~7 4.90 1.483 2 14.00 1746 2.85 8.08 1007 4.66 1.461 8 12.45 1567 2.89 2.91 922 4.22 1.425 j 11.87 1668 3.22 2.98 942 4.44 1.616 5 11.00 1508 3.28 3.18 987 4.34 1.385 6 12.14 1465 2.93 2.81 829 4.06 1.464 7 10.65 1364 3 21 3.01 877 3,g7 1.377 8 9.92 1212 3.24 2.9\l 817 3.61 1.341 9 9.05 1093 3.35 2.81 747 3.34 1.338

TABLE V. • I.H.·P. B.H.P. le; ;:.:, • = m$ • • •

= .~ m.-t:3:;s Mean Pre88ure, 0~

QIQ) uo • 0 ~z • .... t:3 0 ·- c .,.. ()

z Cl)• .. Gross. ~ ::s • • t:3 Cl)

.2~ ~en . ... . <D ~ • ce ·-.. Ql Q) • .p Ca> f~ ·~.cl() .p

~~ t: ... f ~ 0~ Cl) ~ ... o cG u!S Q) oo :ag o o a~ 0~::: ~ Q)~ ~ f;r:!c:lo o- ~~ ..... ~ ~ :.a - -

lb. per kg. per kJt. per kg. per • sq. m. eq. cm. sq. cm. sq. om.

1 93.9 69.7 4.90 I o.u 4 79 5.44 4.06 3.93 2.93 0.72 2 90.7 66.3 4.66 0.11 4.55 4.99 3.72 8.96 2.95 0.79 3 95.0 60.0 4.22 0.11 4.11 4.72 3.52 4.07 3.04 0.86 4 87.1 63.1 4.4l 0.13 4.3l 4.64 3.39 3.41 2.54 0.75 6 92.8 61.7 4.34 0.12 4.22 4.75 3.64 3.45 2.57 0.73 6 90.8 67.7 4.06 0.12 3.94 (.33 3.28 2.90 2.16 0.67 7 94.1 56.4 3 97

I 0.12 3.85 4.~ 3.27 3.20 2.39 0.73

8 95.5 61.3 3.61 0.11 3.60 4.05 3.02 2.83 2.11 0.70 9 97.3 47.6 3.84 0.11 3.23 3.81 2.84 2.51 1.87 0.66

T ABLE VI.

Gas Air Ratio I Heatinl{ Calories Test per Explo- per Explo- of Air to Value of Gas, per

Number Calories Litre of eion. • Gas. 810D. per Litre. Mixture.

litre Jitres 1 0.680 3.65 6.4 4.813 0.752 2 0.650 3.84 5.9 4.813 0.698 8 0.569 a.s9 6.8 4.813 0 617 4 0.677 4.07 7.0 4.813 0.601 6 0 560 4.22 7.7 4.86j 0.559 6 0.512 4·17 8.1 4.813 0.629 7 0.490 4·32 8.7 4.864 0.601 8 0.460 4·42 9.8 4.864 0.460 9 0.410 4.29 10.6 4.864 0.423

TABLE VII. • .p

= • • • ... , fl .~ I :J o a Q) .p

~ ~8 0 g • I:' Q) ~"a ., ... 0 Ku. ~ Q) .. El .. 0 p. •

• .. 0 0 0 ... fi I ... <I Cl) .... :s -\) p. .... l: Ql ~ I 0

~ ~ Ql

~ 0 0 ;a - -

1 10.55 1.06 6.47 6.64 5.6 .1865+.000117 T .0721 2 8.60 5.07 6.69 6.93 6.7 . 1834+ .000112 T .0715 8 8.00 6.26 7.04 7.46 7.2 .1822+.000110 T .0712 4 7.80 6.65 7.21 7.6<1 7.4 .18t7+.000109 T .0711 6 7.40 8.11 8.89 8.37 8.4 .1798+.000106 T .0709 6 6.44 9.19 8.62 9.19 8.9 .1790+.000105 T .0708 7 1 6.~ Q.98 9 80 9.72 9.8 1777 +. 000108 T .0706 8 6.78 10.85 10.61 10.58 10.6 .1767+.000102 T .0706 9 5.36 11.78 11.41 11.49 11.4 .1760+ .000LOO T .0708 - ---

)&boor of both making the experiments and working out the results ; the reporter wishes to express his thanks to Mr. Wood for his valuable assistance.

The experiment& were made in the Engineering Labo-

• Cl)..:. ... Cl) • Q) ., . Ql .... ., . <»<»..., lE .0 Q) 0-4 • lS~ Q)~ ... ,.bd ....

a Q) o i3 Q)l

~f ~ r:a:l ~ - a>o ~~ c ~0 ~== ;;ii ~ ~ -cG •

z ol-i ~ • • • ~g Oas per Hour. .s~ ~ () ~ ... o o a.

li .,... ...... ... I:' ....... - ::s ..OQ)Q) .0 ... 0 ..0 ... 0 ..0 Q)' .. 0 Q)Q)

8 c:lo c:lo ea>~ ='Cl)~ 0~~ ~·o f-4 o s:l. o s:l. 0

cub. f t. ob. m. 1 135 8.82 24.8 .94 34.4 1.31 19.0 2 125 3.64 25.1 .96 81.7 1.20 18.7 3 115 3.26 24.3 .92 28 2 ] .07 19.4

' 107 3.03 23.6 .89 3L.3 1.19 20.0 6 108 3.06 22.7 .86 31.3 1.19 20.5 6 99 2.80 22.8 .87 3!.0 1.29 20.7 7 99 2.80 22.6 .86 30.9 1.17 20.6 8 91 2.58 22.4 .85 3·~.0 1.2l 20.7 9 84 2.88 22.0 .83 33.6 1.27 21.2

- -TABLE I X .

• ... Calories Ql

Weight D a Weight of Air+Gas Air Exhaust Rejected of Air =' Oas fcer per Tem- Tem- to z per Expo· Explo· per a· pera- Exhaust Explo-.,

si on. • tu re. tu re. per Ex-Ill si on . SlOn. Ql plosion. ~ -

kg. kJt. deg. C. deg. 0 . calories 1 .00447 .000386 .00!86 15 1027 1.21 2 .00471 .000869 .00508 15 1007 1.21 3 .00477 .000328 .00509 4 .00499 .000327 .00532 6 .00617 .000312 .00548 tS .00511 .000291 .00540 7 .00630 .000278 .00558 8 .00512 .000265 .00567 9 .00526 .0002~3 .00549

TABLE X .

Jacket Temper"ture. Test

Number. Inlet. Outlet.

1 deg. Oent.

16 deg. Cent.

63 2 14 66 3 17 67 4 15 61 6 13 62 6 15 61 7 13.5 66 8 13 62 9 l4 6l

TABLE X I.

Test Temperature at End of Number. Adiabatic Expansion.

1 deg. Cent.

1567 2 1402 a 1237 4 1372 6 1217 6 1187 7 1062 8 932 9 852

TABLE XII. ... Q) ... 0 ... . ... P. . Cl) •

_..,CI.Ic:i X a> • c:l.Q ~ c:lo g c§ 0 ~:lo o

• .,... ·- ..... 0·-0 ~ .,.,Cl) 11) :si1J z CI.IO .s .... o

~~ ,!d- cG ,!d- ~~~-..., ~s Cl) ~i .,::se-

~ <GIG Q)..Qr;a;l

~ ~ till-) ~

calorie calories calories calorie 1 0.62 1.48 1.21 0.06 2 0.69 1.30 1.21 0.06 3 0.53 1.08 1.08 0.06 4 0.66 1.07 1.14 0.06 5 0.55 0.88 1.24 0.06 6 0.61 0.92 1.05 0.06 7 0.50 0.71 1.07 0.06 8 0.45 0.76 1.00 0.06 9 0.42 0.69 0.86 0.06

16 922 1.08 15 9\l'l 1.14 15 987 1.24 15 829 0.98 15 877 1 07 16 817 1.00 15 747 .86

--

Heat Given to J aokets

Per Per Oent. Explosion.

calories 1.43 44 1.30 4l 1.08 39 1.07 38 0.88 38 0.92 37 0.77 ~2 0. 76 35 0.59 29

t curve is nearly linear up to 900 deg., ab which point a decrea-se in electromotive force occurs. Curves of thermo­electric power have been derived from the electromotive force curves by drawing tangents, and these show that a. considerable range of the copper-iron curve can be repre­sented by straight lines, but that the remainder is approxi­mately parabolic. The copper-nickel power curve can be represented by bits of straight lines. The Pelbier co­efficient variation curve for iron-copper is at first para­bolic, and can then be made up of straight lines ; for copper-nickel it can be made up of bits of parabolas. Considerable difficulty was experienced ab high tempera­tures in getting concordant results, owing to chemical changes and other effects. The experiments were there­fore carried oub under different conditions, and the result3 are discussed in the paper.

Heat Lost by Residue a Exhaust per Explosion.

calories 0.06 0.06 0.06 0.055 0.06 0.06 0.07 0 07 0 08

... IQ) Xp. ' ~ g

"0 ·a; <»o

• .,"0-a c; <Gt:3 ;.; .,

0 Q)Q)~ E-4 ~~

calories calories 3.38 3 28 3.22 3.15 2.81 2.75 2.88 2.77 2.79 2.67 2.63 2.47 2.41 2.42 2.34 2.17 2.01 1.99

•

• Ql CJ Q cG -;; ~

p. cent. + 3.0 + 2.2 + 2.2 + 4.0 + 4.5 + ].6 - 0.4 + 7.8 + 1.0

In the resistance experiments a potentiometer method was employed, a manganin resistance coil immersed in an oil bath being used as a standard. The resistance of nickel increaees with temperature almost pa.ra.bolically up to 370 deg., when a. change of slope ocouna, and the re­sistance increa-ses much less rapidly and almost linearly up to 1050 deg. In the case of iron, the resistance curve does nob change its parabolic form till nea.rly 800 deg., when it becomes linear, and remains so up to 1050 deg. The author concludes from his paper that the thermo­electric chan~e in nickel-copper coincides appr0ximately with the resistance change, but that no thermo.electric peculiarity exists fol' iron-copper ab the temperature of the iron resistance change.

TADLE XIII. Mr. A. Campbell said that with purer iron the change in thermo-electric properties might correspond with the change in resistance. Dr. Knotb had performed experi­menba on nickel in 1886, and gob results similar to those of the author. His results with thick wires were different to those with thin, probably because he did nob exclude air and prevent oxidation. Mr. Campbell said that he had himself made experiments upon two samples of nickel differing in res18tivity, and although thetr tem­perature coefficients were also different, the change in slope of the curve connecting resistance and temperature occurred at practically the same tempera.tllre in both specimene. Their thermo-electric powers were identical u~ to 300 deg. Cent., but above they differed slightly .

Weights. • I Cl) ... Q) Ql bi)QI p. c:lo :;;c:lo • a s • ., .cl +!> ...

Q) I .cl Ql Q) OCD· .0 Ole"r·

bO ~ E-t _::s= s .... !GO Q) 0 ~ ·;; Air per O"s per ~ • ., .

=' ance Ca> IIIQI z Ex- Ex- Residue 0 ... =' ... ~~ .2

3 :sE ~B ~.,g ~ plosion . plosion. per Ex· Cl) ()<G >j iG Q) plosion . 0 :::1,.. r:a:l ... f;r:I<G ~ E-t m

- -kg-. kg, kg. kg. deg. C. def C. calories

1 .00447 .000386 .00103 .00589 166 1 27 1.81 2 .00471 .000869 .00104 .00612 143 1007 1.31 3 .00477 .000823 .00116 .00626 188 922 1.18 4 .00499 ,000327 .00099 .00680 135 942 1.22 5 .00tH7 .000812 .00104 .00652 123 987 1.34 6 .00611 .000291 .00122 .00662 ll9 877 1.16 7 .00530 .000278 .00127 .00696 108 877 1.20 8 .00542 .000256 .00137 .00'70! 99 81i 1.13 9 .00526 .000238 .00176 .00724 90 747 1.04

ratory of the University; the reporter desires also to thank the University for plaoing a.b his disposal suitable rooms for the work.

(To be contmued. )

Dr. D. K. :tviorris pointed out that the thermo-electric fore!:', the resistance, and the magnetic properties should be observed ab the same time. In taking a thermo-elec­tromotive force there must be a temperature gradient, and in the interesting parta of the curves differences of magnetic properties may arise and produce discrepancies. He drew attention to the caution which must be exer­cised in differentiating by drawing tangents, except when the curves are smooth. Dr. Morris said the connection between resistance and magnetic qualities was interest­ing. T he temperature coefficient of resistance of a m~-netic body rises with temperature so long a.s the body 18

r E N G I N E E R I N G. [Nov. I, rgor.

GAS-ENGINE RESEARCH. (Fo'r Desc'ription, see Page 628.)

Test A_, Trials A. Test A M.P.- 4 ·51 Kg.cm~·64~. o. I.P.-3·81 Kw. S·lliP. MP.-4·20K9cm~ 59·7/k.o" i .P.·3·4eKw. 4·68W. TestA8

MP. tOO K9cm! 56·9lh$. o~ J.P.-3·38.Kw. 4·53 W 12

("ooo 160 ~

~ 10 140 •

'~120 • 8

~ ~ 100 .., 6 c., c., 80 ~~

n 4- 60 ~~ ~ iO .. 2 20

150 150 iO 10

PV t ·+Z& C 5 5

50 5

56 CUar-(U'I.U, 0 50

' Test A4o • •

M.f:-3·92 &;. ~m! S5·71JJ.r. o~ 10~ .

5 5 5

o~.-~-.4-~~~~~~~ 56~ <> 50 100

O+T-r,-t~r+-.1-.-~~~+-~ 56 CUara.n.ce. 0 SO 1QO

~Cl~ 9 so 19<) • •

: : Test Ae : MP.·3·50.Ag.an~ 4-9;6lhs. o~ I.P.-2·80Kw. 3·75 H~

• • •

; !Test~ : M.~·3·33Agcm' ~1'4/JJs o: 1.P.-2·88Kw. 3~J:P.

• •

1

5 p V I · f. tO (;

5

c =

M.P. -l .P ....

I • I

I Perct?.ntage of Stroke :

CQTtSta.n.b

Meatl/ Pressure, •

I~ Power

·~.-ro-.~;-.-~-+~+-~~~

Kgcm~ "" Lbs. o,. -

Kilogram.rr~.U per square cenli.metre

PquruJ.s per squ.q,re ~ .56 Olep:raru;e- ~ so 100

(?olu) ; Pereutia!J'-' if Stroke · 56 Ckararu;e, ~ 50 t · o

I Percentage (// Stroke

DIAGRAMS FOR TRIALS A (SEE APPENDIX !I., pAGE 630).

' Trt.a "l-s B . Test B1 Tes-t Ba 16

220 14 ~ 200

~ ISO ~ 12

~"'c; 160 • • 10 ~ ~ 140 10 ""0 10 ~ c., 120 .., 8 0)

t ·+BJ c., ~ PV c lOO 100 ~ "f (') 6 ~

~ 80 '" 5 .., ("' .

60 ~ 4 ~ 50 ~ 2 ~ 20

0 -0 tqo & 1'?0 ~6 so 100 • I •

Test B 150 M.B ISO •

l 44 Kt. . rn} 10 10 ISO 63·1 lbs

.. 0

J.P.- 3·39 Kw. 4·5 fP.

5 s 5 so 50

-· 016 ·~ ~6 0 50 I G)() ~6 f) so lOO • I I

I I I I I I

•

1 150 tn z 1 150 • mz 10 • 0

lOO 100 10

5 5 s

~ 100 46 o so 100 Percentage of Stroki!/ . Ckuruu.ce Percen/Q.ge W' Stroke. ·

DIAGRAMS FOR TRIALS B (SEE APPENDIX Ill., PAGE 631). •

ma~oetio. hub reverses when the body becomes non -mag­netlO. He asked for information on the subject.

Professor H. L. Oallendar said he had followed the re­search with interest, and referred to the experimental difficulties, especially at high temperatures. He should like to have said something in reply to Dr. M<?rris, but he was afraid the subject was a large one, and mtght well b<3 discussed at some future meeting. There were several points to clear up, and the fact that bhe curves described cannot be represented by straight lines or parabolas showed that the subject was beyond the range of a simple theory.

The Obairman suggested that it might be well to re-

examine more carefully some of the curves which are accepted as straight lines, and on which there is no compli· cation due to magnetic properties. He hoped the author and others would continue working at this subject.

Mr. E. P . Harrison, in reply to Dr. Morris, said be thought the number and accuracy of his observations justified him in drawing tangents to form his power and Peltier effect curves.

A paper on "Asymmetry of the Zeema;n, Effect,, by Mr. G. W. Walker, was read by Mr. W. Watson (secretary).

Professor Voigt predicted an asymmetry of the normal triplet which has been verified by Zeeman. The author has considered the subject mathematically, and finds that asym.

mebry may arise as a second order term due to the mag· netic field. The asymmetry would be more distinct the greater the field, which is opposed to the theory of Voigb. By giving numerical values to the symbols it is shown that the effect is extremely small. The author points out that his theory can provide an explanation of why a line may not be resolvable.

The Society then adjourned until November 8, 1901.

ITAI.IAN MINERALS.-The value of the minerals pro· duoed in Italy last year was 3, 402, 400t. The corresponding value in 1899 was 3,655,299t , and in 1898 2,872,163&.

Nov. I' I 90 I. J THE CORRECT TREATMENT OF STEEL.*

By Mr. C. H. RIDSDALE, F.I.C. (Middl~brougb). (Continued from page 600.)

SEOTION V.-SA~IPLES 0 1<' PROCES "ES AND TREATMEN'l' S ·r EE r, llAcs ·ro UNDERGO IN PRESEN'l' PRACTICE, WITH SUCH MOU llt'IOA'l'IONS AS S OI:IilN'l' IFIO PRINCIPLES SEEU 'fO 8UGGES'l'.

Treatment by the Maker till i t lea11es his hamds. RoLLING I NGOT .

(a,) For steel which is going to be reheated and worked further exac tly as ibis sent away, without! undergoing any preliminary . pro~ess, the limits of the temperature at whtob work ~s fintshed ar~ not s~t by, and are immaterial so far as thetr effect on tts ultimate properties are con­cerned, since whether it is finished hot or cold and the grain is too large or two small, the resl?ective effects of this will (as has previously been shown) be completely removed on reheating and working further.

Bub the maker is forced for his own sake to observe certain limits ; for if he rolls too hob or before his ingobs are seb, he will make defectives, whils t if he rolls too cold. he will strain his machinery, and in either case his seobtons will be wrong, and these limits more than cover the requirements of the properties of the finished steel.

(b) If the steel is nob going to be re-heated and worked till it has received some preliminary treatment (suoh as cold shearing). or if ib will be used without further trea.b­menb, the finishing temperature and rate of cooling do

C:tmpion s " l imi ts for best resu lts for carbon- 0 ·44

E N G I N E E R I N G. as standing them alternately on their flanges and heads, this ought to be beneficia.!.

An arrangement of this nature is ado~ted ab Homestead on the intermediate cooling bench, and 18 being introduced ab other Amerioa.n works.

Girders and other " Sections., -Theee being used for sbruotnra.l purposes or without further treatment than drilling, the finishing temperature and coolins- may usua.lly be regulated, mainly with reference to givmg the righb tests, so long as the extremes mentioned in the general directions nre avoided. This will generally be from " low,, to bright cherry-red.

Plate1.-Muoh the same may be said 'o(these, but they may receive breabmenb which will develop brittleness that it will proba.bly be out of the power of the maker to anticipate and counteract. (This to be described for users of plates.) As these may have to be sheared, note nexb paragraph.

Bars ·which have to be Cold Sheared before Re heatin g.­As these should out sofb, in is very important, especially the la.rger the mass, that they should be finished ab a good cherry to bright red (say 800 deg. to 900 deg. Centt. ), well above anything like blue heat, and cooled slowly, and should nob be in any way chilled, especially ab or near blue heat, either entirely or locally. Even chillin~ right oub from red-hob would nob ha.ve half so injurious an effeob.

Any chilling of a ma.ss by which a. parb is chilled for some time may be particularly detrimental, as the hotter parts may maintain the part being chilled ab a blue heat

per cen t . to 0 ·20 per cent. for reheating ( = " w ,, Connecting line.

markctl . . . • • • . • . C - • • ------ ---------- 1500

fEMPERATU RE S BY COLOUR.

Hillstlulc's t li mits for best r esults for co.rbon - O·l G per ccn t . to 0 '03 per cent . fo r con t inuing wo1 k dow n to

mnrkccl · . . . . . . R Conn ecttng h ne. H, us per Howe,::: 30 degr<'cs 1s deduct ed (from Cam pion 's

figu res) to give tempera t ure to continue work down to, t'. e. for rnatcr io. l cooling (=" V " ).

'r ho best fi nishing t empera ture may be h igher or lower accor ding to moss, &c. , and not always withi n these li mits.

·r hus t he finish ing tempera t ure given by Runt § for SO-lb. rails a.t Edgar-Thompsoo Are marked . . . . . . . . . . . . . . E T

T he fi n ishi ng temperoture gi ven by Hunt for roils n.t Jolie t are marked . . .J The cri t ical t etn pet-atu res (R.t which gra in begins t o be appreci o.b ly a ffected by work)

will be nbove t ho top limit of t he " best " t em peratures, and if it corresponds wi t h

1450

1400

1350

1300 WElOINC

1250 WHIT£

1200

1150 YEllOW

? DIW'I-IT IAANCE 1100

~ \' 050

5""1000

ORANCE

OAR~ 01 ANC£ UCHT Cl EARY

Masses, such as in~ots or blooms large enough to cra.ok by very sudden heatmg, must, of course, be heated more cautiously, and also require proportionately more time and musb have- .

2. Sufficient T ime to H~at aU Th,rough, . otherwise w~rk will cause unequa.l extens10n and lead to mternal tearmg or separation (lamination and so-called "hollowness , } of the mass. At the same time do nob soak, i.e., leave in the furnace, any longer than is jusb necessary to heat all through ; two to three hours at " ha.rmle~s ,, temperature (and perha.ps less, according to mass of piece and .tempera.­ture of furnace) is quite enough to make the p1ece very coarsely crystalline,* and this, if rolled. qui~kly, so as to finish hot, and cooled slowly, may easily g1ve e. product which has coarse grains and is more or less brittle or "rotten., Remember that if there is dela..y (from break­down or other cause), damping down till ready for work will (by allowing very gradual cooling) permit and not prevent growth of gra.m.

The best pla.n is to draw the blooms, &o., a.nd spread them so thab they cool rapidly, then later, when re-heating, the grain will a.ga.in be broken up. Failing tbia, when they are worked, finish them rather cooler than usual, to reduce the grain more (but nob below red or blue heat), and spread out so as to cool rapidly. This is somewhat risky, however, a.s, if the grain has already grown large, and the steel is worked to a.t a.ll too low a. tempera.ture so tha.t strains are seb up, ib will be still more brittle.

The best and only certain course to determine the mosb suitable temperatures for finishing is for each ueer to make

·~. ~~o~o • 1180 111U)

' • • • ~~~;~ will probRbl y fo llow the line t t t 11111111 111111 I(/) 950

RII.Oo . -. . 900 • • * J ournal of the West of Scotland l 'lutitu.te, January, 1901, "Some Experiments en

the Annealing of Steel." t Discussion of Oampion's pa per, "Best Temperature for R eheating of Steel," 0.03

to 116 per cent. 0., 900 deg. Oent. Discussion of Stead's paper on " Brittleness in Soft St eel produced by Annealin~," J ott?·nal of the h on. and Steel I m titute, 1898, No. H., "Best Temperatures for Working down to Lower Limit, 760 deg. Cent.

t Harbord and Twynam, J ou-mal of the West of Scotland Institute, No. 6, Much, 1898.

§ Iron and Coal Trades' Review, June i, 1901, page 1186.

ja:; 850 1-

J 800

1- 7!>0 < a: 7.00

I.&J 650 'K

a.. ~ ~600

BRICHT 0~ rulL ---w ---CHER~Y ---I COOO CHERRY 8 70 '

OAAV. OR lOW CHERRY o:lO

REO HEAT R

LOW RE 700

.. .. BLOOD

•• • • R DULL RED •

• • • . . I • I · • ; .' 'J'to.l..360 ~ £1C•owl Ce.so -- --J C~JI•onl r - - -I ' ... ao&j ~ I .....

~~30 770

C 7~ .. --- .. l"ooo.. .... ,e 720 ---- --- .. ... ... 670 •

870 , , ..... .., c i'o... .. 1120

~0 matter. There should, of course, be sufficient work ab a sufficiently low temperature tlo well knead the material and reduce its grain, thus making ib bough, hub it must also be finished at a sufficiently high temperature to avoid inducing brittleness or undue rolling hardness. Unless in exceptional instances, and for special purposes, a.bove bright red 860 deg. tlo 900 deg. Cent. is too high, and below low red 600 deg. to 700 deg. is too low. The exa.ob tempera.ture musb be determined for each particular case and a.~cording to tests required. For example :

IL&Jsso K DARV. RE " INCIPIEier' 'REO -F'IMifHINC TE1'4PERATURE SHOULD NEVER BE BELOW THIS

RAILS.t So long as these meet the specified tests without diffi­

culty, it may nob be thought worth while taking any ate~ to follow exaob scientific principles, even though the quality of the material would be rendered still better thereby. Medium heavy sections generally finish within the right limits a.nd meeb the teats easily, hub it some­~imes happens, with the two extreme weights, they a.re not so readily met.

Heavy Sections, particularly double-head and bull-head, 90 lb. to lOO lb.- The tendency is to finish ab too high a temperature and get too large a grain, especially as they are hard (carbon, 0.36 per cent. to0.50 percent.), and pack on the ba.nk inoo e. close solid mass, and thus cool slowlr. They may be quite soft to dead load, hub wanting m toughness under ba.ll test on account of this large grain.

When they oa.nnot be rolled cool enough (say low red), they might perhaps be a.ir-cooled more rapidly, by spread­ing or ot.her means.

Light Section1, particularly flange rails, 36 lb. tlo 60 lb. - The tendency is to finish o.t too low n temperature, especially for the fia.nges. This is the Dlore so as they do nob pack so solidly together. They may be ver~ rig~d under dead load and show too hard, or be wantmg 1n toughness under ball test, owing to the thin parts being rolled too cold, and the strain set up by the unequal finishing temperature and rate of cooling. If they can be finished hotter, say the heads "good , or cherry-red, or by any means massed more, and the surplus heat from the head ma.de to retard the cooling of the flange, such

* Paper read before bho International Engineering Congress, Glasgow, 1901. S ection V. : Iron and Steel.

t For full particulars re rail questions, see Sauveur, "Miorosbrucbure of Steel, ,, Transactions of the American Institute of Milning Engineers, August, 1893; Hunt, "Finishing Temperatures for Steel Rails," Tra.M aotions of the American Sooiety of Civil Engineers, vol. xvi., pa.ge 283, and others (list of Hunt's papers in his latest). See Iron and Coal Tra.cleB' Review, June 7, 1901, page 1186.

lt 500 I

• • " •• •• k: •• LOWEST OR BAR L Y VISI8 E REO- BlAC\4 REO

K 450 BLACK

400 •

350 LUE

K 300 STRAW

V 250

200

ISO

lOO

so

I 0 COU>-A'fNDSPH~C TENP rRATUAE

0 -os •I 0 .. s •20 -25 ·30 ·35 •40 ·45

I' · 'I')

all the time the mass is cooling, and the strains be intensi­fied thereby. As a.n instance, on a wet day, a. leaky roof letting water trickle on to a bar or plate all the time ib is cooling-. or chilling with a. hose if in haste bo load the matenal, may set up very great stra.ins. Cooling strains are well recog-nised in oa-stingP, and great attention is paid to proper str1pping, &o. However, even should the bar cub brittle through finishing too bot or too cold, or through chilling, the harm ends here, as once it is re­heated a.nd re-worked, all injurious effects will be com-pletely removed. . .

The top and bottom hmtts of tempera.ture between which work should be finished a.re shown approximately on the accompa.nying di&ffr&m.

Ib should be borne in mmd that the lar~er the mass the less work ib will have received (besides bemg hotter inside than it a.ppears to be), and hence the larger its grai~ and the more slowly it will cool; so ib should be fimshed cooler tha.n a smaller mass. which will cool more rapidly, or else the large sections should be sprea.d oub and cooled more rapidly, and small sections massed and cooled more slowly.

TREATMENT DY THE U SER.

Bolting after Re-heating. The main points to observe are : 1. Re-heat as rapidly tl.S possible consistent with ~he

mass in order to break up the grain. Gradual heatmg does 'not do this so effeotuaUy.

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CAR BON

aotua.l experiment with the various sizes be rolls, so that when such circumstances arise be ma.y know exactly wha.t to do. It is very little trouble to bry a few shorb pieces of the same bar at different finishing tempera.tures and rates of cooling, and make meoha.nioa.l bending tests, &o., on these. The best test, when the pieces are nob too large, is the ehook test on a V -block-no nicking; nicks are not uniformly deep-whilst slow bending or tensile tests do not always show up the changes.

3. Do not Burn, if using hot furna.ee, or with thin goods, such as meroha.nt "iron,, small sections with a lot of work on them, &o. There is more likelihood of this when rolled into thin deep I or 1 1 sections, and the pieces a.re rolled very hob. It may seem superfluous to give this caution, but instances are sometimes meb with where only one edge out of two or more (and this perhaps only in parts) ia cracked, the others bemg quite sound, and yeb the steel is blamed.

4. Do not Over-wnneal, if the produob is to be a.nnealed. If it is of large mass, &o., unless it has received plenty of work and been finished ab fairly low temperature, sa.r., low red (600 deg. to700 deg. Cenb.), do not pub whileb still hob in e. pib in the ground, or in an annealmg furnace, or even stook in large hea.ps, lest the very slow cooling may cause the grain to grow. This would do good to small sizes finished at low temperature (dull red or lower);

* Ridsdale, "Brittleness in Soft Steel,,, Journal of the Iron and Steel Insti tute, 1898, No. 1.

but by far the best annealing is to let the steel get cold ~rat and then re-heat rapidly to cherry-red for a short ~lme, afterwards let cool again fairly rapidly ; do nob chill if hard carbon.

THE FORGE. Forging.-Wh~b ~as been said as to rolling of the tem­

peratures for fintahmg work as well as of cooling applies he~e, th~ugh even greater attention is required to these po~nts, smce ~he shapes of the. finished forgings are re· lat1vely ~ess s1mple, and thus Internal strains may have more senous results.

It is, of course, particularly important that the steel should be sufficiently plastic for work to thoroughly pene­trate the ma-ss and cause the material to flow evenly otherwise separa.tion of the fibre or "hollowness" may occur in places.

. Bear in mind .th~ lines .of flow already existing in the p1~ce, as when 1b 18 ~sa1ble ~o get the required shape w1thout too sudden mterrupt10n of these the forging should be stronger a.nd tougher. For insb~nce a crank­shaft bent gradually so that the lines of flow are' also bent ~ound_, as in .the. dot~ed line, should be stronger than one 1n which theu duect10n abruptly changed, or continuity was interrupted by machining.

:When a ":hole piece .is heated, and only part of it re­c~lves wo~k, 1f the ~eatmg is gradual and lasts long (~n.r­tlCularl~ If there IS more than one heating, the p1ece not gettmg below low red each time}, a large grain may be developed, which is not broken up in the unworked parts.

On the other hand, if only part of the piece is heated. as it passes thr~ma-h all gradations to cold, there must be a place where 1t 18 at blue heat, and the jar from each blow will reach this part. Thus in the one case the large

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grain, and in the other the strains set up, may result in fracture, though perhaps not till some time after. See­ing, therefore, that there is a weakness or internal strain in every forging, it is desirable to remove- thitt, and the most effective way is to let it cool and then reheat from the cold as rapidly as possible consistent with the mass to cherry-red, taking care that either the whole is re­heated or that re· heating overlaps all parts which had previously been at a blue heat, or had been re· heated whether with or without work.

E\•en though the area to be so re.heated is too great to do all at once, i b will suffice to do i b in successive portions. Re-heating thus conducted will break up the grain, and cooling can take place naturally in the air with no special care to retard it. unless it contains over 0.30 per cent. carbon, or is rendered necessary for some sl'ecial reason (such n.s a very irregular distribution of mass). It will be noted that although detrimental effects might arise during forging, when, owing to the entire piece not being heated, there was a parb at blue heat, these ill effects would not arise in re-heating as above, although there might then also be a part ab blue heat, because in the latter c:1se there would be no work and no vibration to affect such part.

From the foregoing it is obvious that work should never be continued on any p1rt which is below fair to cherr:r­red (say 800 deg. to 900 deg. Cent.}, though sometimes m practice it is continued to or through blue heat to give it a good finish. Any one who has by practical experiment seen what light blows at this temperature will render a comparatively large mass brittle will realise how unwise such treatment is, and how very necessary an annealing by re-heating as described becomes in cases where work has been con~inued to these low temperatures.

Drop or Press Forgings.-The numerous small articles which are forced into shape between dies with one or more blows or rapidly applied pressure, whilst the steel from which they are made is, in order that it may be sufficiently softJ, ab .a welding ~eat, are liable to have a. coa.rEe grain and consequent br1ttleness or "rottenness, " because- of the high temperature at which the work on them is finished, there being frequently no work below critical temperature. As an instance of this, the writer can cite one of the cranks of a bicycle of well-known good make, which, though of excellently pure composition

Per Cent. Oar b )n ... . .. . .. . .. .. . .. . 0.12 S 'l ' Trace l lCOn . . . . . . · · · · · · · · · · · · Phosphorus ... . .. . . . ... .. . 0.04 Manganese . . . .. . . .. .. . .. . 0. 60

broke short off whilst he was riding en level ground, and

E N G I N E E R I N G. exhil:>ited a very coarse fracture. There was clearly n<?thmg whatever th.e matter w~th the s teel ~tself, but <?nly w1th the treatment It had received. Had 1t been rapidly reheated to cherry-red a.a described, its grain would have become fine, and touvhness been restored.

THE BLACKSMITH'S SHOP. Forging3.-What has been already said as to these

applies with as much or greater force here. P~rhap.s the practic~ of "putting a. nice finish " on

forged p1eces by keepmg on hammering them through low red and blue heats is commoner here than in the forge, and_ needs special attention called to it. ~be wnter has often seen eye-bolts and other articles

wh1ch had to bear cJnsiderable weight treated in this way, and has also seen numbers of the same when they had '' mysteriously " broken.

Welding.-Every blacksmith understanda that if he continues to ''sizzle " a piece to be welded too long he wil} burn it, but a. great many do not know, or do not act as 1f.they knew, that any parb which has been raised for a. mmute or two to welding temperature, and has not afterwards received sufficie!lt work .at a low temperature, has developed a coarse gram, and 1s probably brittle or "rotten," particularly if the pieces have been cooled very slowly. ~his applies. to iron as well as steel. Anyone who

notiCes the ~ar10us fractures that can be seen in any large works <?f :!.rb1cles ~hat have ~een welded- pieces of rods, bolts, hnks of chams, &c.-willsee that a. large proport ion of them have very coarse grain, the coarseness havjng probably arisen from this cause. But whether a piece has been worked too hot or too cold, or has not received work. after having beet?- at a welding temperature, the cure 1s as already descr1bed-reheating the whole of the parts so affected rapidly from the cold to cherry-red, and then letting cool naturally in air.

Every blacksmith also knows that if he wants to make a good sound weld-practically as strong as the unwelded part-he must use sand or some other flux to cause the mfusible scale or oxide to flow away from bebween the faces to be welded, and let them unite cleanly.

The writer is aware that in many works, and in different processes of manufacture, owing to the excellent nature of soft steel and the gx:eat ease with which it welds a flux is not used, and that notwithstanding this, on the wh_ole, it gives satisfactory welds. For inst~nce, the ~nter has seen 3 in. by ! -in. bars being simply looped t1ll one part lay on the other, and then welded without any flux at the parts touching each other. But it is easy to understand that a very slight increase in the temperature of the piece or the len~th of time it is exposed to that temperature (and it IS not conceivable that these conditions are always quite uniform), may so increase the thickness of the scale or burn the "nature, oub of a thin piece. that, if it welds ab all, the weld is imperfect. If this is the case, the steelmaker is probably told his steel is ab fault. However justifiable or desirable for convenience welding without a flux may be, it is not treating the steel in the way to get the best results from it, and the writer cannot think that such welds, as a. whole, can be made with equal certainty, or be as reliable when made, as those made in the good old-fashioned and at the same time scientific way, viz., with a flux, and he would like to have this point discussed fairly and squarely by some one who does x:ob use a. flux.

Tubes.-These are generally made from slabs which are first rolled to strip-perhaps ab a. different works to the tube·maker's. The strip is re-heated, bent approxi­mately to the shape of the tube, and the lap formed, after which it is heated for a ehorb time to good welding heat, drawn over the mandrel, and welded without a flux being employed

None of these preliminary re· beatings need be very high, and ib is obvious that ·where material is heated several tiwes and finally subjected, whilst only thin, to a very high temperature, that great care is necessary throughout to avoid burning the nature out of the steel.

The writer has been told by a. tubemaker of the highest standing that the furnaces at his works in which this final heating was received were often at a temperature of 1800 deg. Cen~., and that 1~ minutes might be sufficient, whilst two minutes would spoil the steel; aho that the temperature was constantly varied at the workmen's dis­cretion, and there were generalLy several tubes in at once-.

Often steel receiving such treatmen~ is nob more than A in. thick, and the work is done so rapidly as to be finished above critical temperature, resulting in the grain being coarsely crystalline, which is unfavourable for cold expansion tests.

Such conditions, viewed in the light of all we know, seem very severe, and the writer cannot help thinking that whenever Eatisfactory results are nob obtained, unlees analysis shows the steel to be decidedly unsuitable, the cause should be unhesitatingly assigned to the treat­ment.

The precautions whioh seem to suggest themselves are: First, great! attention to all the beatings to avoid the formation of scale and burning out of carbon from the surfaces to be welded, and unleEs the objections are insuperable the use of a flux, as this would admit of less beating and protect the steel ; and secondly, that either work should be pub on the material after it is below critical temperature (eay n.t low red ), or the tubes after cooling rapidly should be rapidly heD~ted to cherry-red for a minute or two and allowed to cool naturally in air.

Gas Cylilnders a11d other W elded Goods.-The same pte­cautions should be observed as described for tubes, and when only a part of the material is heated to welding, so that another parb is at blue he~t and may suffer accordingly (as described for forging and welding, see pages 32 and 34}, the re-heat ing of those parts as just referred to should be adopted to remove any harmful effects.

[ N 0 V. t ' I 90 l.

~lates.-T~e treatment these receive which may affect the1.r properties are.usually b~nding, pres.sing, or flan~ing (hob or cold), punchmg, sheanng or p1ercmg, and weld1ng. . All these may set up more or less severe strains, result­mg from work at too low or too high temperature affecting p~rts only. Flanging by continued hand-hammering e1ther. at a blue heat or cold, is particularly trying to th~ matertal.

All these strains may be removed by re· heating rapidly to cherry redness for a minute or two and allowing to co?l naturally in air. When the makers know that plates thm enough to have much rolling hardness must stand any severe work, if they can finish them hotter, say at a good cherry-red (say 800 deg. bo 900 deg. Cent. ), and let them ~ool slowly in masses, they would be able to supply them m a somewhat softer condition.

The effect which the finishing temperature and the amount of work have on the hardness and toughness of a plate, and on the tests it will stand, are widely understood and can be largely controlled by regulating them. (See also paragraph on '' Tests," Section VI.)

(To be continutd.)

THE RussiAN NAVY EsTIMATEB.-The Kronstadtslti Viestnik publishes particulars of the Russian navy esti­mates for 1902. The total amount of the estimates is 98,318,984 roubles, against 97,097,666 roubles for 1901. Th~ division of the estimates into 60,500,000 roubles for ordmary expenses and 37,818,984 roubles is of no parti­cular value for the purposes of comparison, as may be gathered from the fact thab the sum estimated for the year's expenditure on the building of Port Imperator Alexander III. is included in the ordinary expens~, and ~he sum estima ted for the year's expenditure on the Improvement and fortification of Port Arthur is included ~n ~h.e ext~aordh?ary expenses. E~act c.omparison ~f md1v1dual 1tems 18 also rendered a little d1fficulb on th18 occasion, as in several cases items which were given sepa­rately in previous years are now lumped together. Thus the important items- for shipbuilding, 17,805,439 roubles in 1901 ; armament, 11,965 roubles in 1901 ; and repairs of ship~, 7, 797,676 roubles in 1901, together 37,568, 222 roubles, appear in the 1902 estimates, now published, in one amount as "shipbuilding and armament, 36,903,856 roubles." Wages, clothing, and victualling, which also appeared as three items, amounting to 10,165,190 roubles for 1901, now appear as" wages of officers and men on shore, 10,891,845 rouble~." Expenses of ships afloat is still a separate item. Ib rose in the 1901 estimates to 20,31R,803 roubles, from 14,297,769 roublfs in the 1900 estimates, and the amount for 1902 is 20,485,003 roubles. O~her single items which permit of comparison are: Administration, 1901, 2,349,020 and, 1902, 2,402,674. roubles; educational, 1901, 1,132,767 and, 1902, 1,128,638 roubles; medical, 1,203, 777 roubl~s for 1901 and 1,214,063 roubles for 1902; survey of mouths of Yenissei and Obi, 54,700 roubles each year; hydro­graphy and lighthousett, 1,307,609 roubles for 1901 and 1,215,809 roubles for 1902; yards and workshops, 5,822,669 and 5, 740,523 roubles; Porb Imperator Alexander Ill.. 3,200,000 and 4,026.738; Port Arthur, 3,000,000 and 3,200,000 roubles; Vladivostok, 2,0QO,OOO roubles eaoh year.

CATALOGUES -We have received from Messrs. Chal'les Churchill and Co., Limited, of 9-15, Leonard-street, Lon­don, E.O., a copy of a new edition of their catalogue of American machine tools. This catalogue is now so well known to engineerS' tbab a description of ib is almost superfluous. The tools listed range from heavy turret lathes costing hundreds of pounds down to hacksaw frames valued at a few pence. As originally introduced on this side of the Atlantic, American tools consisted mainly of calipers, gauges and small hand tools generally; but whilst this department has maintained its importance, machine tools of the heaviest description have for some years past been imported in considerable quantiti~. Both classes of goods are fully described and illustrated in 'IVIessrs. Churchill's capitally illustrated catalogue.­Messrs. Green and Boulding, of 105, Bunhi11-row, E.C., have sent us a copy of their new catalogue of injectors, metallic packing, tube cleaners, and other engineering sundri~. This firm also supply the Shipman marine en~ne, which has an oil-fired boiler, the sboking and feed bemg automatically controlled. Steam can be raised, it is stated, in ten minutes, starting all cold.-Messra. Isa.ac Dixon and Co., of the Windsor Iron Works, Liver· pool, have issued a catalogue of designs for steel and iron buildings of all sizes, from small single-roomed huts up to large warehouses. A number of the designs illustrated are for hospitals, which have the advantage of being very quickly erected in case of a sudden emergency.-Tbe Tandem Smelting Syndicate, of 97, Queen Victoria­street, E . C., have sent us a price list of their anti-friction metals. These they supply of every variety, and under­take to produce to any analysis if desired.-The Inter­national Pneumatic Tool Company, Limited, of London and Ohippenham, who are the British manufacturers of the Little Giant series ·of pneumatic tools, have issued a catalogue describing them in some detail. Special atten­tion is directed to their portable pneumatic drilling machines, which are claimed to be exceptionally light in comparison wibh their power.-The Prometheus electric cookin~ and heating apparatus are illustrated in a cata­logue 1ssued by Messrs. 0. Berend and Company, Ltd . ., Dunedin House, Basinghall-avenue, London, E.C. The electric resistances are films of gold or platinum depositfd on mica strips, and any strip can be readily renewed. There is therefore very little danger of the apparatus being spoiled afber a few days' use, an experience which has often been found in connection with electric kettl~s and dishes. A large varieby of apparatus is illustrat£d, both for culinary and scientific purposes.

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Nov. I, I 90 I. J

"ENGINEERING" ILLUSTRATED PATENT RECORD.

COMPILED BY w. LLOYD WISE. BRI.JOTED ABBTRAO'rS OF REOENT PUBtiSHE.D BPEOlFIOATIONB

UNDER THE AOTS OF 1883- 1888. Th_e nunwer oj views given in the Specification Drawi?l(JS is stated

tn each C<tBt ; where 1ume ewe mentioned, the Speciflc«tio1~ is t&.ot illustrated.

Where inventi<ms are communicated jrO'm abroad, the Names, &o., oj the Commtt.micat~rs ewe giv(}n. in italics.

Copia of Specifications may be obtained at the Patent Ojfice Sal6 Branch, S6, Southampton Bui«iitl(Js, Cha11cery-lam.e, W.C., at the uniform price of 8d.

The date of the advert<Ulem..ent of the acceptance of a Complete SJJeo-i{wat~ is, in each C<tBe, given ajter the abstract, unless the Patent has been sealed, when the date of sealitl(J i8 given.

A ny person mav, at any time ·within two months fr~m the date of t~e advertisement of the acceptance of a Complete Specification, gtve notice at the Paten.t Ojficc of opposition to the grwnt of a Patent on any of the grounds mentioned in the .Acts.

ELECTRICAL APPARATUS.

15,095. A. Wright and The Reason Manufacturing Co~pany, Limited, Brighton. Demand lndlcatora. [4 Figs.] August 23, 1900.-According to this invention an electro-magnetically-operated demand indicator comprises an electromagnet having a larger mass of iron than would be suit· able for a modern dead-beat ammeter, in order that the appa­ratus may not answer too rapidly to ourrent fluctuations, and t hat the energy available may be sufficient for the purpose

,....._J:·: = = ~:=~ ... ·_.. - 0! --------- -yy

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..

desired. The invent ion may be applied to an indica.tor of t he kind described in Patent Specification No. 18,371 of 1897. The indicator pointer may be detained at the point of maximum de­flection by means of a. ratohet clutch, or an auxiliary band may be detained friotionally upon the index in the position into which it may have been moved by the maximum deflection of the indioaror pointer. The magnet preferably works by repulsion, and a dnsh ·pot device can be _applied to the moving part. (Ac­cepted ..4 ugm t 21, 1901.)

10,505. T. A. Edlaon, Llewellyn Park, Orange, N.J., U.S.A. Storage Batteries. [16 .F'igs.] May 21, 1901.- This invent ion relates to storage batteries of the kind described in Patent Specification No. 2490 of 1901. In place of the monoeulpbide of iron used for the oxidisable electrode, and which required " forming" in order to produoe ferrous oxide, a sufficiently pure ferrous oxide is made by subjecting dried ferric oxide to the aotion of hydrogen at a temperature of 260 deg. Oent., flow of hydrogen being continued for some time after the ferrous oxide has been allowed to oool. It is stated that" the object

Fig .2. FVJ . t.

of continuing to pass the hydrogen for many hours after the oxide hM reached atmospheric temperature is to prevent the spon­taneous combustion of the oxide when it comes in co)ltaot with t he air. The continued aotion of the hyd rogen performs some obsoure and unknown effeot which renders t.he oxide non-pyro­pboric." Nickel hyd roxide for the "positive" elect rode is made by adding to a. boiling solut ion of niokel nit rate sufficient llllli'· neaium hydroxide to throw down the niokel as a non-colloidal precipitate. The blocks of aotive material and graphite are Jrripped between spring contact plates of corrugated steel. (Ac· cepted .August 21, 1901.)

13,036. B. F. Joel. Forest Gate. Field Magnets. (20 .Figs. ) July 19, 1900.- Tbe multipolar winding of a field magnet is according to this invention made of zigz1g or sinuously

~.I.

(tt.m)

annular form, the ring being either wound in to its final shape or afterwards pressed thereto. A four-pole machine is deflcribed in which tbe fleld magnet is divisible for the int roduction or withdrawal of the magnetising coil. (Accepted AtL!Jti.St 28, 1901.)

E N G I N E E R I N G. 18,865. J. A. Flemlng and Marconi's Wireless

Telegraph Company, Limited, London. Producing Electrical Oscillations. [2 .Figs.) October 22, 19CO.­Apparatue for the production of Hertzian radiation& accordinsr to this Invention comprises a series of Tesla transformers and

dischargers, the first discharger being operated mechanically for the discharge of comparatively low-tension ourrent of great quantity. The circuits are preferably tuned in harmonic rela· tion. Means are provided which insure that signalling interrup­tions of the firs t oircuit do not occur when current is fl owing. (A ccepted Attgust 28, 1901.)

17.243. L. Sterne and s. C. Cotes, London. ReD· dering Silver Untarntshable. September 28, 1900.­ln order to g ive silver the surface appParance and characteristic of silver cadmium alloy, the previo\lsly cleaned silver articles are first made anodes in a cadmium bath, and t hen after a short period of time the ourrent is reversed and cadmium (and part of the dissolved sil ver with it) is deposited. The cadmium bath may be made either electrolytically from a solution of cyanide of potas· sium, or ohemioatly, and should oontain 10 grammes of cyanide and 4 grn.mmee of metal to each 100 o.o. of water. (Accepted Septem· ber 4, 1901.)

15.920. Britlah Thomson • Bouaton Company, Llmlted. Lond.on. (P. St~inmetz, Schenecf.ady, N . Y. , U.S.A.) Electric Furnaces. (2 Fi ,s.] Sept'lmber 7,1900. A furnace tor the manufacture of artificial ruby and emerald, and for other applications requiring high t~>mperatures short of the temperature of the electric aro, and absolutely con trollable within

.1.

··---- ...

Fig. 2.

0

wide limits, according to this invention comprises a heat-commu­nicating member or a wall or walls of pyroelectrolyte heated to incandescence by passage of the eleotric ourrent. A described form of furnace comprises a block of pyroeleotrolyte having ter· minal contacts of oarbon rod, a thin carbon bridging the two con­tact oarbons as a means of iniMally heating the pyroelect rolyte to conducting temperature. (Accepted Septembe1· 4, 1901.)

9731. S. 0. C. Coles, London. Electro-Deposition. (3 F igs.] May 26, 1900.- In order to oause vigorous circulation of the electrolyte in a depositing bath, and at the same t ime rotation of the cathode, electrolyte is forced through a nozzle

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• 15,470. A. J. Boult, London. (B . .A nd1'CM, Dresden,

Germany. ) Forming Storage· Battery Electrodes. . August SO, 1900.- In order to elect lically 11 form" storage-battery plates with rapidity by a process somewhat analogous to that in d' · 11 h i t · which dilute sulphurous acid is used as the electrolyte, accordi ng pro~ru mg tntero~ Y .fro.m t e ~ de of the vat, he Jet of liq~td to this invention the solut ion used is 6ne of hydror¥en proto- •ssutng t ht!refrom 1mpangmg against vanes on the cathode carrier .

· i d~ A form of combined carrier and cathode suspended from a ball sulphide slightly acidulated "ith vit r!ol. I t 8 et~te . that ~be bearing and 0rovided with vanes as described is described and hydrogen proto·aulphide is •• oxidised mto sulphurac amd, whtch .1 ' d S b . ) ' nseist.a in t he electrolysis," and that the solution is better than 1 lustrate · Accepted cptem C> 4, 1901. one ofsulphurous acid , beoau~:~e with lhe latter sulphur is precl· 19,951. G. E. Beyl Dla, Warrlngtou, Lancs. pitated and energy absorbed in producing hydrogen proto-sul-j Electric Cables. [2 Figs. ) November 6, 1900.-In order to phide." (Accepted At\9U8t 28, 1901.) improve the insulation and decrease the inductive capa.clty of

paper·insulated cables, the paper is P.ressed into su.oh a. shape that t he wire is touched nt points or hoes only, and lA therefore praotioally insulated by air. Strips of paper are preferably "cross batohed," so that on the side to be plaoed next th~ cable the paper forms a series of closely assembled hollow pyramtds. Preferably two or more of such strips are used in covering the oable. (Ac­cepted September 11, 1901.)

GAS ENGINES, PRODUCERS, HOLDERS, &c. 19,061. w. T. Sugg, London. lncande~cence Gas

Burners. [2 Figs.] October 24, 1900.-ln this mcandesoenoe

• . ) .

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gas burner of the injector (DJ Mare) type, an atomiser is added and is of dome-shape, and situated •• in a rounded 'bhamber about 1~ in. in its largest diameter." (Accepted Au:~ust 28, 190l.)

18,527. Sir C. S. Forbes, Stanatead. Essex. Air Carburettor. [2 Figs.] October 17, 1900.- The carburettor for use with vapour-burning explosion motors according to thi~ invension comprises a metal joylinder having a series of dia~onal slots cut in its walls and fi tted exteriorly with a similarly slotted sleeve provided with means by whioh it may readily be r Jtated . A vaporising wiok is mounted on an oil-supply tube within the cylinder, and the quantity of air admitted t hereto and impinging

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on the wick is regulated by adjustment of the sleeve. The oil· supply tube is adjustable as to height, and pasees through the base of t he cylinder, and has a funnel pipe dipping into and con­necting it with the oil supply. A pipe leads exhaust gases into the lower part of the tube, which is eeparated from the upper part , containing oil by a diaphragm. The flow of oil or spirit is automat ically regulated by the differential pressure within nod without the funnel tube. (Accepted Septembe1· 11 , 1901.)

GUNS AND EXPLOSIVES. 235. B. B. Grenfell, Alverstoke, Hants. Sighting

Guns. [llf!igs.] J anuary 3, 1901.- According to this invention, and in order t hat the captain of a gun need not remove his eye from the sights or his left band from the O.riug key, and t hat the utmost rapidity of fi re may t herefore be attained ; the sighting,

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turning, and elevating gear are disposed in such a manner that the gun is turned relatively to the sights when making adjustments for range, the gun and eigh ts bein~ turned too:ether when al tering the alignment in a lateral direotton. An additional operator is required. (.Accepted .August 21, 1901.)

14.339. c. P. E. Schneider, Le Creusot, and J. B. G. A. Canet., Parls, France. Sighting Appa. rat us. [10 Pigs. 1 July 13, 1901 - This invention is described

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lt;t reference to a. gun-eight apparently of the kind in which the SJghts are const1tuted by fine wires whose axes cross at right angles in planes a short distance apart upon and at l'ight angles

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• E N G I N E E R I N G. bar such as was described in Patent Specifications Nos. 14,124A of 1!92 and 23,872 of 1896. .By these means, it is stated, one can out both horizontally and vertically at the same time. When a. saw is attached to Hurd's cutter bar, it is directed that the recipro­cating motion should be made as small as possible, in order that it may not interfere with the proper working of the saw. (Accepted A ugu.st 28, 1901.)

PUMPS. 15,287. s. w. Bodgkin and the Pnlsometer Engi·

neerlng Company, Limited, London. Direct Steam· Pressure Pumps. [3 PigB. } August 28, 1900.-Acoordlng to this invention, and in order to prevent the bolts and nuts used for fastening on the cover of the chamber of a. direct steam­pressure pump from becoming lost when detaohed from the

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cbam~er cover, the co,·er and the flange to which it is bolted

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to the line of sight. A level and a micrometer are included in the device in order that angles may be accurately measured, vernier-like scales being used where necess·u y for fine adjust· mentor measurement:. (Accepted August 28, 1901.)

16,003. A. T. Dawson and G. T. Bnckham, London. Percussion Firing Gear. [7 F igs. ) September 8, 1900.­In order to replace the somewhat inconvenient lanyard usually used for firing large guns, by an arrangement of a more safe and convenient nature, a pistol grip with a trigger is fixed upon some

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convenient non-recoiling part, and coonect_ed by a wire .or the like, pa.eaiog through a· protecting cover, ~Jth a part wbJCh er:t· gages with the. back tri~nr:er only at .s?ch t1mes ~ the breech JS olosed and the ~un is 10 firing posttton. A parttcular arrange­ment of the kind is described and claimed. (Accepted Sep-tember 11, 1901 )

1360. A. A. Common, Ealing. Gun-Sight Tele· scopes. (4 Figs.) January 21, ~90 1.-Th~ ~elescope specially designed for use on guns, aocord10g to this mve~t10n, has the eye-piece and the objeot-glass nrran~· rl at a _fix_ed dutance aJ?art, and focussing is accomphthed therem by tw1stmg the eye-ptece, which, by a screw motion, is adap~ed to slide the "erector"

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longitudinally when !t is turned .. An indica~r and a scale are applied to the eye·p)ece and t~ 1ts s_uppor t. In orde_r that each gunner knowing the scale readmg suttmg hiS own stght may be n.l>le rapidly to bring the teles~ope to adjustment. The tele­scope case is practi<'.ally bermettcl\lly S('O.\ed, a small hole covered with filtering material only remaining open. A ccepted September 11, 1901.)

MINING, METALLURGY. AND METAL WORKING.

18 965. Baron Masham, Masha.m, Yorktr. Coal· MtntDg. October. 23, 1900.;-:rbis inv~ntion is in.tended to pro­vide improvements 1n ooal-mintDg and 10 coal-cuttmg apparatus. In coal-mining, after the d irt between the seams has. b~en scooped out a sufficient distance (say 3 ft. or 4 ft.), ~ saw 1s J_nserted. to cut or nick the coal at the back of the scoopmg ; an~ m pract1_ce it is found that a certain portion of the coal (depcndmg _upon Its character) is liable to fall and blook the saw shaft as 1t moves along in the space from which the. dir~ has been rem?ved by t~e scooper. In order to obviate t h1s rlJffioulty acco~dmg .to t h ts invention teeth are fixed in the saw shaft., so that 1n theu revo­lution they may clear away any fallen coal that ohst.ruots Lhe abaft. Another <and for some purposes a better) arrangement, according to this mvention is to fix a saw aL the end of a. cutter

15287.

are slotted outwards from the bolt holes, in order tha.t t he bolts, when loosened, may be thrown rapidly out of engagement, the said bolts having expanded ends, so that the nuts cannot be taken from off them, and the bolt beads being all pivotally connected together by a. wire passing through them. The end of the wire can be held in a. ~ripping device on the exterior of the chamber wall. (Accepted .Avgttst 21, 1901.)

STEAM ENGINES, BOII.ERS. EVAPORATORS. &c.

11,276. w. Bornsby and D. Roberts, Grantbam, Lincs. Steam BoUers. [8 Figs.] June 21, 1900.- In a steam boiler according to this im·entioo, and in order to econo­mise floor space and increase efficiency, a second furnace and ash· pit are provided below the usual furnace and ash-pit, the corn· 'bustion products from the lower furnace passing into the corn·

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bustion chamber of the upper furnace, and from thence to the boiler. Tubes arranged in one or mor~ rows over t he . lower furnace are connected by headers. and ntpp!e~ to the ~am part of the boiler. In a. water-tube boiler compr1smg thee~ ~mpr~ve­ments, the upper or main stock of tubes !llay be d1v1ded mto two halves, between which the superheater 18 placed. (Accepted August 28, 1901.)

MISCELLANEOUS. 17,922. T. J. McTighe, New York City, U.S.A. F~ex·

ible Conduit. [2 Figs.} October 9, 1900.- In order to prov!de a flexible conduit for fluid under high pressure, small tubes tw1sted

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or laid together and having their ends connected to junction chambers, are ~sed. The conduit may be j~cketed, bound, or covered, and may have a core of hemp or the hke when maximum flexiblity is desired. (Accepted August 21, 1901.)

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16,004. W. S. Rawson, London, and R. D. Little· field, Thornton Beatb. Infusible Bricks. SeptembH 8, 1900.-Tbis invention relat('S to the manufacture of arlicles capable of st.nndin~r very high temperatures, such as bricks and linings for furnac~s, crucibles, retorts, and cupels. For this pur· pose magneeite or magnesium oxide is calcined and finely J?.Ul· verised, and there is mixed with it a smaU quantity of a. fue1ble boron compound, such as boron trioxide or boracic acid. The mixture is preferably made by grinding the calcined magnesite with the boron compound, the quantity of which vnriesaccordiog to the composition of the magnesite. For m"gnesite containing little lime about 2 per cent. of the boron compound may suffice ; but when the ma~nesite contains a considerable proportion of lime, the proportion of boron compound may have to be as much as 12 per cent. The mixture is moistened with water just suffi­cient to make it into a paste capable of being moulded, and it is then shaped into the desired form, the finished articles being dried and afterwards baked at a very high temperature. Furnace lining9 and bottoms may be made by ramming the mixed material in place and baking it by the beat of the furnace itself. (Accepted Septembe1' 11, 1901.)

16,120. F. G. Bampson, London. Variable Speed Gear. [14 Figs.} September 11, 1900.-This invention provide~t modifications in the variable speed gear described in Patent Specification No. 107 of 1900, and its objects, among others, are to decrease the weight and increase the strength and efficiency of

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the apparatus. In the complete gear illustrated, three clutch devices actuate the driven shaft, and are set in motion from a three-throw crank arrangement on the driving_ shaft and ~hrough links pivoted to rockers supported on a trunmon bar whtch may be raised or lowered hy the operation of a handle. (Accepted Augtt8t 21, 1901.)

17,119. A. Lndwlg. Bernberg. ~aklng ~~~mon~s. [1 F ig. ] September 26, 1900. - Accordmg to this mvenuon, diamonds are made under g reat gaseous pressure in hydrogen. As carbon in the form of diamond is a non-conductor of tlec-

tricity, melal oondu~tors or electrodes are used to beat the C'at bon to its cr) stallit~ing temperature, which, it is stated , is lower than the melting point of iron. The requisite pnssure is imparted to the hydrogen by a series of operations. The crystal­lising vessel is water-cooled. (~ ccepted A.ugtut, 21, 1901.)

9261. E. Peterson. LoDdon. 011 and Water Sepa· rator. [1 lt"'ig.) May 19, 1900.-The t\ltt!r, according to tbiH lnYention. is for tbe purpose of absorbing oil from water, ~nd comprises a. roll or rolls of cotton f~bric aw~n~ed on a verttoal axial line. When two or more coils of fabrto are used, each

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L' -..&1 I)~ ' J• - ..... succeeding coil in the path of t:he fluid is rolled mCJre tightly than tbe one before and above lt. In one arrangement means are provided for oompressing t he lower roll, the upper rolJs beln~ bound upon perforated t rays, by means of which the roUe may be withdrawn for cleaning. (Acctpted ..ttugtut 28,1901.)

UNITED STATES PATENTS AND PATENT PRAOTIOE. Descriptions with illustrations of inventions patented in the

United Stntes of America from 184J to the .present time, and reports of t.rials of patent law cases m the Umtcd States, may be consul ted, gratis, at the offices of ENOINBSRlNO, 85 and 36, .Bedford· street, Strand. ·.

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