The Iron Age 1888-08-09: Vol 42

‘THE New Geared Press. cently built by the E. W. Bliss Company, | of Brooklyn, N. Y., and specially adapted | by the end collar E. is enlarged on its inner side, The heavy | Fig. 2, to cover the projection M on the/ the treadle. heavy articles from and steel. for manufacturing sheet brass, iron NEW SINGLE-ACTION arch-shaped body is supported on iron table, having strong frame legs. The slide has long adjustable bearings, terbores are fitted two steel pawls, F binding | G, which engage against steel shoes H and and is provided with a steel | explain the action. is of hammered steel, is forged an arm or| passed over it. We present on this page an engraving | projector, M. of a new single crank geared press re-| bearing on the outer end of the shaft at | to the side of the press. |N, on which it runs loose, held in place| pawl F clear of the wheel. GEARED PRESS, an | shaft. THurspAy, AuGusT 9, 1888. Upon the shaft, which The balance-wheel takes a The hub of the wheel as shown in 1.—General View. Fig. BUILT BY THE E. W. The two sides of this projection | and into these coun- F and | are counterbored, = to hold the shank of the punches. L in the enlarged hub of the balance -wheel, A shaft running in bearings on the back | locking the wheel securely to the shaft in of the press frame is driven by pulleys 24 inches in diameter, and is provided with a fly-wheel to give steadiness of motion. On the opposite end of this shaft is a pinion which drives the large spur gear on the main shaft, and motion is communicated to the crankshaft at will by means of a new and very powerful clutch- ing device connected with the threadle. Details of this clutch are given in Figs. 2, 8 and 4, on the next page. These clearly both directions. The arrangement for dis- engaging the pawls from the wheel shown in Figs. 2 and 4. The pawls pro- ject beyond the hub of the wheel and are | shaped as shown at F and G in Fig. 4. The pawl G rests upon a latch, K, and when in this position is held clear of the wheel, allowing the latter to turn freely upon the shaft. The other pawl, F, would not require any mechanism to hold it out, except on ac- 1S | count of the click noise it would produce ! derangement, | every time one of the steel shoes, BLISS IRON AGE H andl, To obviate this a station- ary shoe, L, is attached to a bracket bolted This holds the The latch K is pivoted, as shown in Fig. 2, and can be thrown out sideways by a connection with When so removed the pawl CO., BROOKLYN, N. Y. G is thrown outward by means of a light |spring, not shown, and engages against | one of ‘the steel shoes in the whe el, caus- |ing the shaft to revolve. As soon as the | latter has turned a short distance the |other pawl F is carried from under the | shoe L and is allowed to engage in the op- posite notch of the wheel, thus locking thé | wheel to the shaft both ways. When the shaft has made one revolution the outer |end of the pawl G strikes the latch K (if the foot has been removed from the treadle) and throws the shaft clear of the wheel, allowing it to come to rest, as explained above. This makes a very powerful clutch, with small liability to and one which insures 194 great security in operating the press. A friction strap on the end of the crank shaft insures the stopping of the slide at the upper part of the stroke. The gen- eral dimensions of the press are fol- lows: Width between uprights, 32 inches; opening in bed, 14 x 18 inches, or as re-| quired by the work to be done; motion of slide 1 to 6 inches. The steel crankshaft is 5 inches in diameter, and the bearings are 10 inches long. The spur gear is 60 inches in diameter, with 6-inch face, and the ratio of gearing is 74 to 1. The fly-| wheel is 45 inches in diameter, 6 inches | wide and weighs 900 pounds. The total | weight of the press is 10,500 pounds, as a Tests of Homestead Steel. Carnegie, Phipps & Co., Limited, of Pittsburgh, Pa., have printed a neat little | pamphlet giving the records of 1057 tests of Bessemer and open -hearth steel in April and May, 1888, as made by the inspectors | of the purchasers. Out of all the tests | THE IRON AGE. strength and 20 per cent. elongation in 8 inches. For the Keystone Bridge Com- | August 9, 1888. the owners and capitalists and resulted in the above combination. The three min- pany 72 tests were made of 6 x 6 inch steel | ing companies are the Main Jellico Mount- angles, pounds elastic limit, 56,000 pounds to 64,- 000 pounds ultimate strength and 20 per cent. elongation in 8 inches. Here, as in the other cases, the requirements were far exceeded. Among the other lots tested were bars and billets for the Union Bridge Company, the Edge Moor Iron Company, N. F. Palmer, Jr. & Co. and the Boston Bridge Company, the latter being placed. All this metal was Bessemer steel. Among the open-hearth steel tests were a number of specimens for Government ship plate, calling for a tensile strength of 60,000 pounds and an elongation of 25 per cent.; also high boiler shell steel in which the requirements were 58,000 pounds to 67,000 pounds tensile strength, with an elongation not less than 20 per cent., and low boiler Hange steel for the Government, in which the specifications | were 50,000 pounds to 58,000 pounds ten- sile strength and 26 per cent. elongation. NEW SINGLE-ACTION only three rejections were noted. Among the articles so tested were steel slabs for the Phenix Iron Company, calling for an elastic limit of 30,000 pounds, an ultimate strength ranging from 58,500 pounds to 66,500 pounds, and an elongation of 20 per cent. in 8 inches. Out of the six tests the minimum elastic limit was 41,430, while the maximum reached 43,130, the} highest ultimate strength was 66,440 and the lowest 60,760 pounds per square inch. The elongation fluctuated between the limits of 25.62 per cent. and 28.75 per cent. Ten tests of slabs for the same com- pany in which the requirements were 32,- 000 pounds elastic limit and 64,000 to 70,- 000 pounds ultimate strength showed similarly excellent work. One hundred tests of steel bars, angles, billets and slabs were made for the Edge Moor Iron Com- pany, in which the requirements were | 35,000 pounds elastic limit 62,000 to 70,- 000 pounds ultimate strength and 22 per cent. elongation in 8 inches. For the} Union Bridge Company steel for bars and angles was made calling for 40,000 pounds elastic limit, and 67,000 pounds to 75,000 pounds ultimate strength. For the Edge Moor Iron Company 121 tests of steel blooms, billets and slabs were made, for which the specifications were 30,000 pounds to 34,000 pounds elastic limit, 60,000 pounds to 68,000 pounds ultimate GEARED Figs. 2, 3 and 4.—Details of Clutch. PRESS, BUILT BY THE Fire-box steel was made for the Baldwin Locomotive Works, the Pennsylvania Railroad, Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and the New York Central Railroad. There were also tests of marine flange steel for Dunham, Carrigan & Hayden Com- pany, the New England Ship ge Company, the Atlas Engine Works an the Erie City Iron Works. For Riter & | Conley tank steel was made, for which the requirements were 60,000 to 65,000 pounds | tensile strength, with an elongation in 8 inches of 18 per cent. Open-hearth bridge steel was produced for the Phoenix Iron Company, the Edger Moor Iron Company, the Massillon Bridge Company, the King Iron Bridge and Mfg. Company, the requirements Varying considerable in the different cases. The tests throughout show an excellent metal, very uniform and generally far above specifications, oe The United Jellico Coal and Iron Com- pany, of Louisville, Ky., have been formed by the consolidation of three of the min- ing companies of the Jellico district. The scheme was devised recently by a coal man, . . | the requirements being 380,000 E. W. BLISS CO., who entered into correspodence with sev- | eral Eastern capitalists. Coal experts were sent to Kentucky to thoroughly investi- gate the deposits, and on their favorable report negotiations were entered into by /to meet demands, ain Coal Company, the East Tennessee Coal Mining Company and the Jellico Coal and Coke Company. These corporations have been operating for some years, and have worked up a demand for the Jellico coal, which is of such superior quality and free from slate and clinkers as to bring in the markets even price with the Pitts- burgh article. The combination will oper- ate on a larger scale than the three mines collectively, and will now probably be able The directors of the consolidated company are Moritz Lipp- man, M. E. Thornton; J. E Redfield, B. A. Jenkins, Chas. F. Johnston, Thos. | Corcoran, W. N. Culp, St. John Boyle, Ed. F. Madden, several incorporators and directors being Eastern men. Louisville will be the headquarters, with sub-quar- ters in New York and Philadelphia. Be- sides the interests of the three companies the new corporation have purchased over 100,000 acres of mineral lands in Bé\\ BROOKLYN, N. Y. Harlan, Knox and Whitley counties, and a large tract in Tennessee. The capital stock has been placed at $6,000,000, the largest part of which has already been taken, and the balance will be put on the New York Stock Exchange. a The Pittsburgh Steel Casting Company have produced at their works a cast steel shell, the first ever made in the United States. Superintendent Hainsworth says a few hundred steel shells have been made in England, but they were cut from a forged ingot and then bored, necessarily making them very expensive. The shells which the Pittsburgh works are manufact- uring are conical in shape, 6 inches in di- ameter at the largest and tapering to a point 2} inches, and weigh 95 pounds. Fifty pounds of powder will throw the projectile a distance of 64 miles and it will travel at the rate of 2000 feet per second. Mr. Hainsworth has experimented two years and is now confident that his shell will fulfill the expectations of the world. The Pittsburgh Steel Casting Company have received an experimental order for 500 shells, which will be followed by,one of 2000. General Duane is permanent chairman of the new Aqueduct Commission. August 9, 1888, THE IRON AGE. 195 The Coke Fields of Connellsville, Pa. From the Connellsville (Pa.) Courier | we take the following interesting descrip- tion of the Connellsville coke regions: The famous coke region to which Con- | nellsville has given aname and of which it is the geographical and business center is embraced in a long, narrow strip of land stretching away almost in a bee line from Latrobe, Pa., on the north, to Morgan- | town, W. Va., on the south, a distance of 50 miles or more. It varies in width from less than 1 mile to more than 5 miles, being widest in the vicinity of Connells- ville, which is the basin, and averag- | ing 2 miles. Its area is_ therefore approximately estimated at 100 square miles, or 64,000 acres. of this acreage has been worked out and another fourth consists of barren measures, leaving but 30 odd thousand acres of coal intact. Prices vary from $200 to $600 per acre, according to loca- tion, depth, thickness and pitch of vein, railroad facilities and surface advantages, | but it is safe to place the average value at $300 per acre, making the aggregate value to-day of the coal yet unmined in the Connellsville region at a round $10,000,- 000. As the coal continues to be worked out, however, its value continues to in- crease. Though such increase in value has not been marked thus far because of the comparatively insignificant consumption until within a very recent period, it is now becoming quite apparent to the dullest | mind, and the next decade will witness a decided advance in the price of coal lands. The most reliable data indicate that the coal supply will last about 40 years at the present rate of consumption. This con- tingency was foreseen several years ago by some of the largest operators in the region, notably the Connellsville Coke and Iron Company, and the H. C. Frick Coke Com- pany, which firms have succeeded in se- curing an aggregate acreage equivalent to one-half the coal remaining in the coal region to-day. Though the prices paid were sometimes liberal to the point of ex- travagance, the wisdom an 1 foresight of the investment is now generally conceded. Though the Connellsville coke region embraces but a few thousand acres, its | financial oper tions aggregate millions. Its average annual capacity is 5,000,000 tons | of coke, valued at from $5,000,000 to $10, - 000,000 according to the mood of the coke operators and the tendency of the iron market. Last year coke remained at $2 per ton for the better part of the year. | To-day it is just one-half less in price. This ruinous reduction was inaugurated by a bad iron market. and completed by the failure to form anew the old coke pool, under which prices had been judiciously kept to a plane of reasonable profit by con- eerted action. There are 74 coke plants in the region, varying in size from 16 ovens at Great Bluff to 707 at Standard, and ag- gregating 13,047, which, together with the pit cars, larries, locomotives, tipples, tene- ment houses and other adjuncts, represent an outlay of $6,000,000. The surface is worth another $4,000,000. Thus it will be seen that this slender strip of Pennsyl- yania territory is worth the sum of $20,- 000,000, or more than enough to build and equip the South Pennsy.vania Railroad. The coal is taken out from drift, slope and shaft mines. Drift mining is the oldest, the cheapest and the easiest method, and slope mining comes next- Both are in the most general use, but shafts, though very expensive, have sometimes been found ne- cessary. There are 12 shafts in the regior varying in depth from 50 feet at Snewedl to 550 feet at the new Leisenring No. 3 works. Estimated on the basis of figures taken | from the books of one of the largest coke Fully one-fourth | 10,000 employees of $500. /quent strikes and lockouts of last | average price for mining was $1.05 per 100 'than those larger. | capacity from 30 to 50 bushels, and the | alone is now 80 cents per ton and has long | | amount paid out annually for labor, when | the region is running full, is $5,000,000, or an average annual wage for each of the But the fre- greatly reduced these figures, the per cent. yage scales of last year from 15 to 25 During the boom in trade the bushels; now it varies from 75 cents to 90 cents. There is, in fact, no longer any uniformity in wages. Each operator is trying to get his work done as cheaply as possible in view of the ruinous price of coke. The H. C, Frick Coke Company pay the highest wages, based on $1.35) coke, as follows: Miners, 90 cents per 100 bushels; coke drawers, 53 cents per 100 bushels charged, or from 60 to 75 cents per oven; other labor from $1.35 to $1.95 per day. Other employers pay as follows: Miners, per 100 bushels, 80 cents; coke drawers, from 55 cents to 70 cents per oven, and other labor from $1.124 | to $1.80 per day. The Connellsville coal averages 8 feet in thickness, the maximum being 9 and | the minimum 7 feet. There are 375,000 | bushels of coa] in an acre, but it is im-| possible to mine more than 300,000 bush- | The ovens are charged with from 110 | to 140 bushels of coal and yield from 3 to 4 tons of coke every 48 hours, except those charged on Friday which burn over Sunday, making 72-hour coke. In order to restrict the output a general suspension of work for one and sometimes two days in the week is often observed, in which case 72-hour coke is the product two and three times in the week. This slowly burned coke has long been regarded as superior to the 48-hour product, but the notion is being exploded. Forty-eight- | hour coke is now regarded equally good, if not better, for furnace purposes, while the 72-hour product is preferred by foun- drymen. The ovens vary in size from 104 to 124 feet in diameter, the standard size now being 12 feet. Experienced coke makers question the wisdom of building them larger, saying that their observations lead them to the belief that the 12-foot ovens give a proportionately better yield Pit wagons vary in els. iron larries from which the ovens are charged from 120 to 190 bushels. The standard larry holds 130 bushels and the| standard pit wagon 334 bushels. Both are usually moved by mule power, but wire rope haulage is gaining much in favor, especially in the pit. At large works the charging is done by small locomotives which. run ‘on top of the ovens and haul several larries ata time. A great deal of water is used in cooling down the glowing coke when it is pulled from the oven, and the lack of it has often been severely felt by more than one operator during the dry season. Thos. Lynch, Superintendent of the H. C. Frick Coke Company’s works, estimates the consumption at those works at 600 gallons per oven daily. At this rate it would require 7,500,000 gallons per day for the region. But the Frick company have a water-works of their own, supplied from the Yough River, and their consump- tion is therefore not limited, so that more water is probably used at these works than | at others where the supply is scarcer. Three trunk line railroads penetrate the coke region and grow fat upon its im- mense and immensely profitable tonnage. The rate from the region to Pittsburgh | been $1. It is safe to say, therefore, that | the Southwest Pennsylvania, the Baltimore and Ohio’s Pittsburgh division and the Pittsburgh, McKeesport & Youghiogheny railroads divide not less than $4,000,000 year | and the | present low price of coke has cut down | annually for tonnage from the region, feeders earn many millions more in carrying this coke to the Eastern and Western mar- kets. There are 8000 cars employed in the coke trade, over 3000 of which are individual cars, and these branch railroads alone give employment to several thousand additional men. SS Coating Metal Plates With Tin. — A patent has recently been granted in England for a process of coating metal plates with tin which possesses cer- tain features of interest. The inventor, we presume, was instigated by the com- plaints concerning pin holes in tin plates, which trouble is generally ascribed to the imperfect washing, which allows enough acid to remain to corrode the plate after coating. The principal object of this in- vention, however, as stated by the patentee, is to reduce the amount of dross which is occasioned by passing the wet plate through the bath of molten tin. The wet plates, according to this method, after being taken out from the acid pickling bath, are washed or swilled with an alkaline solution for the purpose of removing every trace of acid. This neutralizing solution consists of a mixture of ammonia and palm oil. The next step in the process to which the plates are subjected is passing them through a series of rollers. The first pair of rollers are of metal, and are used to flatten and straighten the black plates. The second pair of rollers are of India rubber or of some other soft material, which squeezes off the moisture on both sides of the plates, and the final pair through which the plates are passed are kept coated with grease. After passing through this series of rolls the plates are dipped in molten tin and treated in the usual manner. The two features especially noticeable.an the above process are the use of an alkaline solution and the soft rolls for drying the plates, though we are not positive that this is the first time that the former has been applied. rr Announcement is made of the formation of the Redstone Coal and Coke Company, at Uniontown, Pa , with a capital stock of $50,000. It is composed mainly of Phila- delphia capitalists. Jacob E. Ridgeway, of Philadelphia, is president, and George Douthert,‘of the same city, is secretary and treasurer. The Board of Directors are as follows: Jacob E. Ridgeway, General Lauffer and Dr. Brewn, all of Philadel- phia, Col. A. L. McFarland and F. C. Shallenberg, of Irwin; James McKay, of Pittsburgh, and Samuel 8. Graham, of Brownsville. The company own 3300 acres of coal land on the line of the Pitts- burgh, Virginia and Charleston Railroad, and have recently purchased the Parkhill mill property, consisting of 46 acres of surface, on which a plant will be erected for the mining and shipping of coal on a large scale. A shaft will be sunk and a few coke ovens built to utilize the slack. The attorney for the company states that operations will be begun at once to open up the territory. The new gas plant of Henry Disston & Sons, at Tacony, Pa., to which we referred at some length in The Iron Age several months ago, was started last week. The plant has cost over $40,000, including | holders and pipes, and is intended to sup- ply with fuel, not only the great estab- lishments of the Disston’s, but any other of the manufacturing concerns in the neighborhood which may wish to use it. It is of general interest to note that the Pennsylvania Railroad Company in- tend trying one of the Webb compound locomotives for their fast passenger traffic. We understand that an engine has been finished at Manchester, England, and is ready for shipment. The experiment will firms in the Connellsville region, the| while the main lines to which they are but | no doubt be attentively watched. Cc 193 The Rich Hill Fire-Damp Explosion. | | Under date of June 9 Oscar Kochtitzky, | Commissioner of Labor Statistics and In- spection of Missouri, has submitted a special report to the Governor of that State on the investigation of the mine explosion at Rich Hill, Mo., on the 29th of March, 1888, in shaft No. 6 of the Keith & Perry Com- pany’s coal mines, by which 23 persons were killed and a large number injured. | The report in question is accompanied by reports of Hon. M. L. Wolf, State mine inspector; by Prof. W. B. Potter, mining engineer of the- Washington University, | St. Louis, and Messrs, E, A. Scammon and | Robert Craig, experts. Practically they | all agree in the verdict formulated by Pro- | fessor Potter, whose report contains the prin- cipal features. The mine was thoroughly equipped with machinery for ventilation, was properly opened up, and seems to have been under very careful officers. The fa- | mous disaster, from the testimony submit- | ted, was due principally to the use of ex- | cessively heavy shots in the system of get- | ting the coal without under-cutting, and entirely by blasting in the solid. It seems | that contrary to orders three very heavy | shots were put into one heading, which caused certainly one and possibly more to blow out. This led to an explosion, in | which the coal dust of the dry mine must have played an important part. Professor | Potter has made a series of analyses of the lump, nut, pea and dust coal which showed that the proportion of volatile matter, even in the lump coal, is quite large, and that the fine dust is nearly one- third of its weight of volatile matter, not- | withstanding the large increase in the pro- | portion of the incombustible mineral matter or ash. After the first explosion | THE IRON AGE. hour time. Orders very fair. At the shovel works of H. M. Myers & Co. the rolling mill department is running on double turn, and the balance of the work on single turn, The axe works of Hubbard & Co. are running on full time in every department.” TT New Caliper Gauge. Messrs. Tickell & Dyeson, of Cleveland, Ohio, are putting on the market the new caliper gauge shown on this page. The engravings clearly explain its ar- rangement. The gauge is specially de- signed for measuring recesses, in doing which the taper pin, as shown in Fig. 2, is pulled out and the tube H is slid out- ward until the opening, marked 3, registers Fe ON a ie seriel the ventilating system was stopped, and the concussion of the explosion, and pos- | sibly the few shots fired subsequently to it | in other rooms, as well as unburned gas | accumulated in the workings, brought | about a second explosion, which killed | some of the men who had escaped the first | disaster. The system of mining seems to | have been extremely wasteful of powder, 337 kegs of 25 pounds each being used | during the month of March in producing 6340 tons of coal. This is equivalent to an average of 18.81 tons of coal per keg of powder, while the average for the whole | State in 1887 was 82.12 tons, and in St. | Clair County, Ill., 194.3 tons. Professor | Potter urges that the mining laws be modi- | fied so as to prohibit this system of get- | ting coal by working in fhe solid without | under cutting, and concludes his report by stating that in his judgment the disas- ter was due to criminal carelessness on the | part of the miners, and a persistent use on their part of methods of getting the cecal which cannot be too severely condemned, and which, from the evidence submitted, seems to have been contrary to the rules and regulations of the officers of the com- pany. - i From a recent issue of the Beaver Falls, Pa., Tribune, we take the following in- formation regarding the industries at that place: ‘**The hammer department is the only department running at the Beaver Falls Steel Works, and it is doubtful whether it will be enabled to shut down or not, orders are so pressing. The rest of the mill is being put in good repair. At the Penu Bridge Works a number of car- loads of iron have beer received and the full complement of men are working. The firm have a large number of orders on hand. The Hartman Manufacturing Company | have got settled down in their new quar- ters, and everything running very smoothly. Orders for wire picket fence eontinue to pour in, also for wire mats. The saw works of Emerson, Smith & Co. still continue to run full handed on ten- is == ey eg M Fig. 1.—Elevation. Fig. 2.—Section. New Caliper Gauge, Made by Messrs. Trickell & Dyeson, Cleveland, Ohio. with the opening in the case through which the transverse pin is passed.’ This pin locks the tubes together. The arm R is then drawn out until the point comes in contact with opposite side of the recess to be measured, and is clamped by the nut S. Fine adjustments can be made by means | of the nut M, which is provided with an index moving over a scale, as shown. In order to remove the gauge from the recess the stop pin is withdrawn and the tube H moved inward in the outer tube A, so as} , 7°“ : | shipping of all kinds. to shorten the gauge and permit its easy removal. The tube H can then be moved out in the tube A until the openings in them register as before. The stop pin being then inserted the gauge will indicate the exact diameter as before. Fig. 1 is a front elevation showing the slot and the finger which is attached to the inside tube H and is adapted to sweep over the scale, moving in the longitudinal slot. The finger registers exactly with the holes 1, 2 and 3, Fig. 2. é of the divisions swept over by the index on the nut M represent ;,')5 inch longitu- dinal motion of the gauge rods. The gauge will be made in sizes ranging from 2 to 40 inches, Every one | August 9, 1888. Pumping Oil Long Distances. The grand experiment of pumping crude oil from Lima, in Ohio, to Chicago, a dis- tance of 206 miles, is being practically tested, and the result will be known per- haps to-day, when the flow of oil, which 1s traversing the pipes at the rate of 20 miles a day, is expected to be announced. The preliminary test made with water gave promise of success. The longest distance which oil has been piped heretofore is 87 miles, from Bradford to Buffalo, but, as it appears 10 be necessary only to add to the number of intermediate pumps to corres- pond with the distance covered, the indi- cations are that. oil-pipe lines can be in- definitely extended, unless intervening mountains or streams presept an insuper- able barrier. The proposition to pipe gas from the in- terior of Pennsylvania to New York City was generally regarded as wholly chimeri- cal, but since then views have changed to conform to established facts. Oil for fuel purposes in Chicago, if available in ade- quate supplies, will have a deep signifi- cance not only as bearing upon the in- dustrial interests of that but other cities. If a barrel of Lima oil is the equivalent of 1 ton of coal, and can be provided at 60 cents for that quantity, it will become ne- cessary to revise calculations respecting the costs of manufactured products, Ee Plea for the American Ship. An earnest plea for the American ship is made by F. J. Babson in the Marine Journal, He says: From the launching of the iron pro- pellers on the Clyde dates the decline of the American ocean marine, The first cost of iron vessels in 1845 was $100 per ton in Great Britain, and in 1887 it had been re- duced to $50 per ton, and some were built for $40. The same disparity exists in favor of England in the cost of iron ships that insures to the United States in wooden ships. The shipbuilders of the United States have grappled with this problem with a skill and perseverance that deserves better consideration than has been awarded it. They have reduced the cost of first- class iron ships from accst of $100 per ton in 1850 to $65 in 1884. The American shipping interests find themselves confronted by a majority of the House of Representatives that propose to destroy American shipbuilding by passing the Dunn Free Ship bill by which English owned ships can, by the whitewashing proc- ess, be placed under the American flag and without the actual purchase of a single vessel but merely by the transfer process will completely neutralize and de- stroy the building of iron ships by Ameri- can mechanics, Our coasting trade and coast lines of steamship transportation that since the formation of the Government have been protected from foreign invasion will also be open to the competition of British built and British manned vessels under the same process, and the fisheries share the same fate. Great Britain has 17,000,000 tons of The United States has 4,000,000 tons, of which 3,000,000 is domestic or coasting tonnage. Great Britain must of necessity develop her power and wealth by means of the ocean. She will subsidize to the last dollar to keep every ton of her shipping afloat, nor will she scruple at any means to take possession | of the trade of any country. I An employee of the A3tna Iron and Steel Company, of Bridgeport, Ohio, has gotten up a device which enables rolls to be dressed in the hous’ng without decreasing the speed of the engine so as to necessi- tate the closing down of the departments | connected with the powgr. August 9, 1888. Steam Feed Engine for Sawmills. The Filer & Stowell Company, of Mil- waukee, Wis., have recently made some improvements in their steam feed engines for sawmill use, the latest design being shown in the engravings on this page. The engines are of the oscillating type, and hence have no links or eccentrics to slip or get out of order. The first feed of this general design was placed in the mill of Messrs. R. J. Brent & Co., Pensacola, Fla., nearly three years ago, handling a 60-foot carriage. The engines have a smooth, uni- form motéon, are easily controlled, and economical in the use of steam. The cut illustrates a size designed especially for Improved Steam Feed Engines for Saw Mills, Built by the Filer & Stowell Company, Milwaukee, Wis. the Pacific Coast. With this the carriage | carrying two 12-inch guns in revolving | THE IRON AGE. while this switch also started and stopped the vessel. Practically the same arrange- ment is found in the launch used in New York harbor. The time has not come, of course, for any general substitution of electricity for other motors on shipboard. Nevertheless, there are certain advantages in the electric launch that may gradually increase its use, especially for specific pur- poses, ee The Navy. If all the vessels provided for by both Senate and House bills are agreed to in conference and their building will be authorized, the foundation of the new navy will stand about as follows: One sea-going armored turret ship of 7500 tons, carrying four 12-inch guns, and developing a speed of 17 knots. The armor will be made up of 16-inch steel plates. One armored rigged cruiser of 6600 tons (the Maine, building at New York), to} carry four 10-inch guns in revolving tur- rets and six 6-inch guns in broadside mounts. One armored turret ship (the Texas, building at Norfolk), about 6600 tons, turrets, with six 6-inch guns in broadside mounts. One 5300-ton protected cruiser, of the | Reina Regente type, in pending bill, and carrying four guns either 8 or 10 inch— which has not yet been decided—and eight 6-inch guns, capable of steaming 20 knots | an hour and having a maximum coal Cca- | pacity of 1200 tons, Five steel cruisers, all now building and heretofore fully Gescribed—viz., the New- ark, Philadelphia and Baltimore at Cramp & Sons’, and the San Francisco and | Charleston at San Francisco. The aggregate armament of the above- named vessels will be 54 guns, mostly 6- inch, with powerful secondary batteries. Two steel cruisers in the bill now pend- ing of 3000 tons each, to have 19-knot speed, each armed with main batteries of six 6-inch guns, but to have also second- |ary batteries of extraordinary power. The steel cruisers in the bill now pend- ing of 2000 tons displacement, speed not | | specified in the law, but probably not un- der 18 knots, main batteries of six 6-inch | guns and also heavy secondary batteries. | They will probably have a light three- may travel to suit length of any log up to| 150 feet. ——E—EEEE masted schooner rig, similar to the York- town. Three 1700-ton gunboats are the York- | town, nearly completed at Cramp & Sons’ Electric Launches.—A_ novelty seen | in New York harbor a short time ago was a trim little pleasure boat, 28 feet by 6, driven by electricity. But unfamiliar though it may be on this side of the ocean, this motor has more than once been used for small boats. Several years ago a launch was fitted with electric motors on the} Thames, and made many trips there, carry- ing a large number of passengers. Soon after, at the Vienna Exposition, eithcr this same craft or another of English make, plied constantly in pleasure trips, working to general satisfaction. An elec- tric boat was then built by Yarrow & Co. for the Italian torpedo service. It was 36 feet long by 64 feet beam, its propeller being driven by a duplex Reckenzaun motor, and it achieved a speed of about 84 miles. It was put in service at Spezzia. This vessel was surpassed in celebrity by the volta, which first achieved the distinc- tion of a trip across the British Channel and back, between Dover and Calais, a dis- tance of about 24 miles each way. The Volta was about 37 feet long by 7 feet beam and 34 deep, and had a battery of 61 cells. It could be worked by a single person by simply turning an iron handle to the right or left for steering yard; the other two, the Concord and Sennington, about four-tenths com- pleted at’ Roach’s old yard, Chester, under the management of Mr. G. W. Quintard and N. F._ Palmer, Jr. These vessels will have a speed of | about 16 knots and carry six 6-inch guns and suitable secondary batteries. The Bennington and Concord will be in the water about the close of the year. The Petrel, building at Baltimore, has about 870 tons displacement, is six-tenths done, and, it is expected, will soon be launched. She will carry four 6-inch guns. In addition there is the dynamite cruiser ready for trial next month, and the torpedo boat Stiletto, built by Herreshoff; | two submarine torpedo boats, recently bid | for by Cramp & Sons, and which bids are now under consideration, two single-tur- reted monitors of about 3500 tons dis- placement, to carry each one 16-inch 110- | ton gunina revolving turret, together with one pneumatic tube in the bow to be capa- ble of discharging an aerial dynamite tor- pedo containing a charge of } ton of the highest explosive. The designs for these two vessels are now being finished in the Bureau of Construction at the Navy De- partment, and bids for them will shortly | be called for. 197 | The Motive Power of the World. The statistical office of the German Gov- ernment has recently published some interesting particulars on the present state of mechanical power, from which we select the following: Four-fifths of the engines working at present have been built during the last 25 years. The total steam- engine power of the United States repre- sents 7,500,000 horse-power ; of Great Britain, 7,000,000; Germany, 4,500,000; France, 3,000,000; Austria, 1,500,000. In these numbers the power of locomotives is not included; these number 105,000, and represent a total energy of 3,000,000 horse-power. This, added to the other engines, produces a total of 46,000,000 horse-power for the entire globe. Taking an engine horse-power as equal to the power of three actual horses, and a horse as equal to seven men, the steam engines of the earth equal approximately the labor- ing power of 1,000,000,000 of men, which is more than double the entire working population of the earth. The total popu- | lation of the globe is calculated at nearly | 1,500,000,000, two-thirds of which, in- | cluding children, are not engaged in any mechanical work at all. We must, how- ever, take into consideration that the use of steam-power is up to the present almost exclusively in the hands of Europeans and their descendants in the New World, and that Asiatics, who form by far the greater part of the earth’s population, up to the present hardly use it at all. Bearing this }in mind, we shall not be far out by con- }cluding that the mechanical power of Western nations has been increased s1x- fold by the invention of the steam engine, while the productiveness of this power in maaufacture has been further increased by all kinds of manufacturing machinery. I A Colorado Line of Two Feet Gauge. |—The experiment of building a railroad | of 2 feet gauge was undertaken a few years ago in Massachusetts, but the road (the Billerica and Bedford) was not a financial success, and the rails and rolling stock were removed and laid down in Maine, where a line of some length is now in operation. The first road of this miniature gauge in the West has just been opened in Colorado, running some 10 miles from Black Hawk into a mountain mining lregion. The average grade is about 190 | feet to the mile, reaching in some places |as much as 264 feet; and curves as short as 90° are operated. The largest loco- | motive, with tender loaded with fuel and | water, weighs only 20 tons, and another is half that weight. This little road carries }a good deal of ore, and is expected also | to develop a considerable excursion traffic. } | — | | J. H. Ralston has submitted to John A. | Kruse & Co., of Chicago, a report on the iron ore deposits of Marion County, Texas, | which is printed in the Texas Iron News, of Jefferson. Mr. Ralston figures the cost |of charcoal iron at $12, putting 50 per | cent. ore in at $1.50, 110 bushels of char- coal at 6 cents a bushel, limestone 75 cents, and salaries and labor at $1.05. An analysis by Chauvenet & Blair, of St. Louis, shows the ore to contain 53 per cent of iron, 5.45 per cent. of silica, a trace |of phosphorus, and 0.53 per cent. of sulphur. The Tamarack-Oseeola Copper Mfg. Company, Dollar Bay, Mich., will erect two wire mills. There will be two build- ings, 100 x 50: feet each, joined together at the ends, with an open court between. The capacity of the wire milis will be 10,000 pounds of fine wire per day of ten }hours, or 20,000 pounds when working day and night. oo eae La nn a , r 3 198 Cost of Mining Iron Ore. Gogebic and Menominee. Last year Mr. George W. Maynard, of New York, made a thorough examination of a number of properties on the Gogebie and Menominee ranges. The very elab- orate report contained a number of state- ments of cost of mining which are of par- ticular interest, since they give actual figures. They show how many items en- ter into cost which those not familiar with mining work do not think of including. Cost at Iron King, July, 1887. NE ass cteicesncwere Fuel Oil and waste. Timbering Mining Interest and discount tbc cetchus nies kasraabankssscabees ‘ Office expense Landing and Tramming Surface labor Blacksmithing Hoisting and pamela Captain, bosses and clerks............. . Management expense 9976 tons mined, Total mined to ton. 1.625 per ton. uly 30, 62,247 tons, $1.896 per Mr. Maynard gives costs, also, for the Kakagon Mine, but, as they were for an exceptional period, when nothing but extraction work was going on and no out- lays were being made for development, we omit them. The following figures deal with the cost at the Iron River Mine, in the Menominee region. Cost at Iron River, Menominee: Labor cost. Total cost. Dec., 1885, to Dec., 1886. Dec., 1885, Dec., 1886, to to Dec., 1886. Dec., 1887. $0.561 $0.342 107 .149 052 157 5 142 423 021 057 021 071 025 029 052 $0.715 105 063 052 Mining.... ... Surface Sinking Drifting...... Isabella........ Teaming...... Engine No.1 Steam Pumps Carpenter eae Blacksmith .. General ex- penses..... Fuel Filling and timbering.. Sundries. .... Zotel ..... “016 ‘11 064 $0.978 $1.738 $1 204 Dec., 1885, Supplies. to Dec., 1886. UE chs vas 0s dben'skeo re $0027 IOUS 5. 5:00 p wsr eens Oil Dec., 1885, to Dec., 1886. $0.126 132 O27 021 .019 Total $6.149 $0 .325 From December, 1885, to 1886, the total labor cost was $77,550.65, the tonnage mined being 78,590 tons. The number of days’ labor was 37,319, so that 2.111 tons of ore were mined per day’s labor. In 1886-87 the labor cost was $89,938.20 on 51,901 tons of ore, the cost of supplies in the two years being $11,683.13 and $16,- 873.50 respectively. In July, 1887, the labor cost on 14,399 tons was 84.3 cents, while the total cost was $1.204. For the first eight months of 1887 the total cost was $2.426. The Iron River pays a royalty of 30 cents per ton. From December, 1886, to July, 1887, both months inclusive, the Florence mine, also on the Menominee range, mined 47,263 tons, at a total cost of $82,963.39, or $1.75 per ton, this including dead work estimated to be sufficient for getting out 80,000 tons of ore. What effet a small amount of dead work has is shown by the fact that in the month of August, 1887, the total mining cost was THE IRON AGE. August 9, 1888 90 to 95 cents a ton. three-quarter interest and pays 6 cents royalty on the other quarter. For the Youngstown mine, like the two preceding, producing non-Bessemer ores, the cost for the period of May 1 to Decem- ber 31, 1886, was as follows: Cost at Youngstown Mine. Mining Surface labor Drifting No. lengine Steam pumps Depreciation and repairs of buildings.. Cars, skips and derricks General expense Carts, wagons and sleighs............... Teaming Shaft houses and skip roads, Boarding house equipment............. Portable machinery Machinery Wire rope OE sc adveacseenetachacesccs Taxes ‘001 "002 026 $1.230 Credits by explosions, steel supplies, &c .080 Royalt Freight to Escanaba Escanaba to Cleveland Commission Insurance 4.25 These figures taken from the books of companies will convey a clearer idea of costs than the usual rough estimates, which are generally too low. I The Economy of Naphtha Engines. Bearing further upon the a of ov as a working fluid in engine cylinders, to which we have of late referred several times, is an article contributed a few weeks ago to our British contempor- ary Industries, by G. R. Bodmer, and en- titled ‘‘Petroleum Vapor Engines.” Mr. Bodmer, after a mathematical analysis by which he shows that there is nothing in the general principles applying to the action of heat engines worked by vapor to account for the superiority of petroleum spirit over steam in the matter of economy, says: The two chief sources of loss in the pro- duction and utilization of steam power are, first, the waste of fuel in the gener- ator, and, secondly, the condensation of steam before the cut-off takes place on its admission to the cylinder. Any marked improvement in the performance of a given eng.ne is, in all probability, due to a re- duction in one or both of these losses, and if, therefore, a motor when using vetroleum spirit is more econoraical than waen using steam under otherw‘se similar conditions, the natural inference would be that the generator is more efficient for the produc- tion of petroleum vapor than for that of steam, and that the initial condensation in the cylinder is less for the former than for the latter. In a small engine, such as that with which Mr. Yarrow’s trials were made, there is plenty of room for improvement under both heads when working with steam. It is not at all unlikely that the boiler when used simply &s a steam bath for heating the coil through which the petroleum spirit was circulated was more efficient than under ordinary conditions. Owing to.the fact that only about one- ninth of the quantity of heat was required to evaporate a given weight of the fluid, the circulation in the tubes would be very rapid and favor the more effective utiliza- tion of the heat supplied; but it is prob- | ably to a reduction in the initial cylinder |condensation that we must look as the | chief source of improvement. | To perform a given amount of work a | vapor than of steam at the same tem pera- ture has to pass through the engine. ~ As- The company own | suming the efficiency to be twice as great | with petroleum vapor as with steam, the proportion of the former to the latter re- quired would be 44:1, the heat of evapor- ation being taken as one-ninth that of steam. The initial pressure of the spirit vapor is about one and a half times that of the steam at the same temperature, and, roughly speaking, therefore, with the same expansion ratio, the work lone in the cylinder per stroke will be about one and a half times as great with spirit vapor as with steam, and consequently the weight of the vapor admitted at each stroke 44 x14 = 6.75 times that of the steam. The surface of the cylinder walls concerned in producing initial condensation is the same per stroke in both cases, and at a given speed the time of exposure would be equal. The rate at which heat is transferred from the petroleum spirit vapor to the cylinder metal must therefore be much less than for steam, in order to account for the observed greater economy. It 1s well known that the rate of transmission of heat through a plate of, for instance, cast iron, from one fluid to another, varies considerably ac- cording to the nature of the latter; but no data are available on this point with re- gard to petroleum spirit or similar vapors. That such substances would, however, part far less readily with their heat that wet steam seems highly probable, and the film of the condensed spirit once formed upon the surface of the cylinder walls must act as an effective non-conductor, whereas a similar film of water would facilitate the transferenceof heat. If it be assumed that the quantity of heat ab- stracted by the walls of the cylinder, in a given time and for a given exposed area, with a certain range of temperature, is the same whatever be the vapor used, then there would still be an advantage in favor of the petroleum vapor, on account of the greater quantity of work done per stroke —that is to say, the condensation would be, approximately, no greater for 14 horse- power with vapor than for 1 horse-power with steam. In the absence of detailed particulars it is, of course, impossible to come to any definite conclusion as to the causes of the reported superior economy of the Zephyr engine; and for this purpose it would be necessary to know, not merely the quantity of petroleum spirit circulated in the gen- erator per indicated horse-power per hour, but also the specific volumes of the vapor at various pressures, so that the amount of condensation at any point of the stroke could be determined in the same manner as has been done in the case of steam. One other point, which very possibly tells in favor of petroleum spirit, may in con- clusion be mentioned, It is very gen- erally believed that in steam engines the re-evaporation of a film of water adhering to the walls of the cylinder, on connecting it with the condenser, is largely instru- mental in cooling down the metal, and thus causing subsequent initial condensa- tion. If we assume a similar phenomenon to occur with petroleum vapor, it is toler- ably certain that the adhering film of liquid cannot be thicker than in the case of steam; and as its specific gravity is less than that of water, the actual weight of the film must also be less. The heat of evaporation, however, is only about one- ninth that of steam, so that less than one- ninth of the cooling effect occurring with steam is produced by the re-evaporation of the film of petroleum spirit va the cyl- inder metal, and the capacity of the latter for subsequently absorbing heat is propor- tionately less. I At a meeting of the board of directors 'of the Decatur Car Wheel and Mfg. Com- [much greater weight of petroleum spirit pany, on July 28, the resignation of E. B. Tippett as vice-president and general man ager was accepted. ° August 9, 1888. THE WEEK. The Memphis Bridge across the Missis- | sippi River, according to the final decision of the Secretary of War, will have a chan- nel span of 730 feet. Capt. Haarstick, President of the St. Louis barge line says, so narrow a span will cause irreparable in- | jury to the grain trade of the river above that point, on account of the increased | cost of transportation, and that if four or five such bridges should be built between | Cairo and New Orleans the Government might as well discontinue the improve- ment of the channel. The progress of factory inspection in | this city is not satisfactory to the Work- ing Woman’s Society. Miss Van Etten, who presided at a recent meeting, said that, as shown by the figures of Chief In- spector Connolly, only 800 out of the 12,- 50