The Iron Age 1888-11-22: Vol 42

~ HE THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 1888. improved Pipe Cutting and Threading | should not be exactly standard. To oper- Machinery. Every one who has ever done any cut- ing or threading of large sizes of pipe with the old style of die stock, with its ong handles, knows of the difficulties vith which the work is attended. improvements which have more recently ate the machine, the pipe 1s placed in the vise at the back, with the end to be cut against the back of the dies, and is clamped | by turning a hand-wheel at the top, which | brings it central. Then, having loosened | the thumb-screws on the face plate, it is | turned to the mark corresponding to the The | size of the pipe, which brings the dies to | standard size. A very slight pressure on been effected in machinery of this class! the lever on the top forces the gear back y Messrs. Curtis & Curtis, of Bridgeport, PIPE CUTTING AND THREADING MACHINERY, BUILT BY MESSRS. CURTIS & CURTIS, Conn., are, therefore, of some interest. In their Forbes die stock, the customary long handles have been replaced by gear- ing, by which compactness and power are vained. The No. 1 stock has a range from + to 2 inch, inclusive, both right and left hand threads, and weighs only 60 pounds complete, thus making it very handy to carry around from place to place. The vear that carries the dies fits into the main casting or shell and is supported on the outside of the teeth, while the pinion is imbedded in the side, and the pipe to be cut is held stationary in a self-centering vise at the back. The bits or dies are ad- justable and are drawn forward or back- ward by cams behind them, thus bringing them to standard size, or allow the pipe to be cut over or under size in case the fittings | the motion of the crank. ‘into the shell and the dies on the pipe, Fig. 1.—Power Pipe Cutter and Throuder. while the gear is revolved by the crank on the pinion. A change from right to left hand threads, or left to right, is made by simply changing the dies and reversing This size of ma- chine is made withcut a cut-off, as it is found that a three-wheel roller cut-off will do more work than it is possible for any hand machine to do on small pipe. Six- inch nipples can be made on this machine, and by using the ordinary nipple holders a short or close nipple can be cut. The No. 2 machine works on the same principle as the No. 1, except that a lead screw is used for forcing the dies on to the pipe instead of a lever. It is placed on the back of the gear and screws into a brass ring which has the same number of threads to the inch as the pipe. As the IRON AGE gear revolves it runs back into the ring and the dies are brought on to the pipe. Both jaws work on one screw, the top half lof the screw being right-hand and the lower half left-hand. By turning the hand-wheel on top of the machine it not only clamps the pipe but brings it central with the dies as well. The Nos. 2 and 3 machines are also made much heavier in some places than in the old style and the pitch of the gear is heavier. The machines thread and cut off all sizes BRIDGEPORT, CONN. from 2 to 6 inches, inclusive. They are arranged for power by the addition of a cast-iron base and a worm and gear at tached at the back of the pinion. The power machine which we show on this page is like the Nos. 2 and 3 hand machines, excepting that it is much larger and heavier, and, unlike them, and like the No. 1, only two sets of bits are used for all sizes. Speed and power are thus coupled with cheapness and durability. The No. 34 power pipe machine cuts off and threads all sizes from 24 to 6 inch, in- clusive; the No. 4, from 4 to 8 inch, and the No. 5, from 8 to 12 inch. ec The H. C. Frick Coke Company, of Pittsburgh, have purchased the Clinton | Coke Works on the Mount Pieasant branch wa. ames: tc a a Twa aA a as (iit ie ot Piss a ee oma - Saw ors) — Raton . — i eS oe eke : : i | ae ek, “ ee en ee ee A ee a a ee ee wa Ae BAe, ai. gros: eS Se at 79 ite of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, one mile above Scottdale, from B. F. Keister & Co. The plant consists of 110 acres of surface, about 80 acres of coal, and 44 ovens, including the old workings of ribs which may possibly be recovered. It is stated that the price paid for the property was $90,000. Work has already been commenced, firing the ovens and mining coal, A Manufacture of Wood Screws. A recent visit to an extensive works, manufacturing wood screws, aiforded us an interesting opportunity of witnessing the successive stages of development of a finished wood screw from the rough, raw material in the shape of steel wire rods. Though in a general way the method of manufacture is familiar to many, a brief review of the various processes may not be without interest. The wire rods, which THE IRON AGE. next blank. The finished blanks, having gone through a rattler, are then taken to the threading machine. In this also the entire Operation is automatic. The blanks pass along a slide, one by one, in the sane way, are properly gripped and presented horizontally to a cutting tool secured in a movable tool block. This has the neces- sary amount of longitudinal feed to give the desired pitch to the thread, and has a quick return motion, several cuts being taken before a finished thread is secured, Soda water is used as a lubricant. The finished screws are here also dropped into a receptacle underneath the machine and are then ready for packing and shipment. From the nature of the operations it is apparent that a large number of machines can be handled by one attendant. All| that is necessary is to see that the feed hoppers are kept supplied. The capacity of the machines, of course, depends upon the size of the screw to be made—that is, er JAN G74 at i NI Tn Fig. 2.—Back View of No, 2 Die Stock. “~«< November 22, 1888 improved Corrugated Steel Tires. A year or two ago we referred to thy corrugated rolled steel tires, invented }, Mr. William Fox, of Leeds. At that tin) these corrugations ran in parallel lines that is to say, the depressions and projec tions of the wavy line occurred alternate) on opposite sides of the tire. Experienc: has, however, shown that by making th, projections to correspond on opposite sides the tire was materially improved, and })\ this slight alteration in the design My Fox gets over an wsthetic difficulty, fo) while the old type of tire was acknow! edged to be of immense service on thy tram lines, it had the general appearance: of being caked or thickly encrusted wit}, road dirt, and this, taken in conjunctio) with its unsightly, serpentine configura tion when in motion, has been probably the main drawback to its general adoption By the adoption of this tire, which is snit Ns s a 9 Fig. 3 —Front View. PIPE CUTTING AND THREADING MACHINERY, BUILT BY MESSRS. CURTIS & CURTIS, BRIDGEPORT, CONN to a great extent are imported, are first cleaned and drawn into wire of desired gauge for the different sizes, or rather diameters, of screws to be turned out. This wire on reels is next fed into what are known as heading machines, in which the screw blanks are partially formed, the proper length of wire for a screw being cut off and a head being formed by one or more blows from a header. These rude blanks are then dumped into a form of hopper attached to a machine for cutting the slots in the heads and shaving off the latter so as to present a finished appear- ance. The necessity of this latter opera tion becomes apparent when it 1s consid- ered that the beveled heads as formed in the heading machine are not sufficient]; smooth to meet the requirements of prac- tical work, the metal flowing more or less irregularly. The rough blanks are fed along a slide automatically, each one in turn being held firmly by suitable gripping dies, presented to the milling cutter for cutting the slot in the head, and the tool for turning the circumference of the head and the beveled surface on the under side, and is then released, falling into a recep- tacle underneath to make room for the the length and diameter—the amount of metal to be removed varving in each case. The work throughout is of an exceedingly interesting character, and furnishes a strik- ing illustration of the perfection to which automatic mechanism has been carried. ee Mr. Michael Longridge suggests the use of the following formula for the safe- working pressure for cylindrical furnaces and flues, as applicable to all cases likely to occur In practice: a0? =D Safe working pressure = VLD L ¢, the thickness of the plates being taken in thirty-seconds inch; if ¢ be taken in sixteenths, the No. 200 should be used instead of 50. D = diameter in inches. L = length in feet. The Hughes Steam Pump Company, of Cleveland, Ohio, have been awarded the contract for all the pumps—five in num- ber--for the new Pioneer Press building in St. Paul. One of the pumps is to be of the compound, duplex type, the balance being high-pressure duplex pumps. . able for the wheels of all classes of vehicles, the constant violent and injurious skid ding of the wheels of vehicles when en- deavoring to cross, and coming in contact with the edges and grooves of street car tracks is entirely avoided, to show-how inventions such as these are worthy the appreciation of the public. The frequent lateral projections on the edges of the tire instantly cause the vehicle to mount the rails. Safety and economy are thus effected —safety because the risk of the occu- pants of the vehicles being thrown out or sbaken is avoided; economy because there is no shock to the wheels, the life of the nave, the spokes, and the felloes is prolonged, the paint is preserved, the springs, pins, and other parts of the vehicle are not twisted or contorted, and conse- quently last a much longer time without needing repairs, attain The Hill Clutch Works, of Cleveland, Ohio, have just made a contract with the Jenney Electric Light Company, of Fort Wayne, Ind., to furnish them a complete plant of power transmission machinery for a station they are putting in that city, to be put in according to their designs. November 22, 1888. ———— Natural Gas in Iron Making * The prominence which natural gas has recently attained as a fuel in the manu- facture of iron and steel in the United States naturally directs attention to its re- ‘ation to other kinds of fuel which are used in tnis great American industry. It may be premised that no other country, not eyen Great Britain, is so richly endowed as this country with fuel adapted to the various processes used in the manufacture of iron and steel, in both their crude and fimshed forms. We have in some sections extensive forests for the supply of char- coal: in others there is an abundance of bituminous coal, much of which makes ex- cellent coke; in Eastern Pennsylvania are extensive fields of anthracite coal; and in Western Pennsylvania and neigh- boring territory is the natural-gas region. {s iron ore is also widely distributed in the United States, no natural obstacles exist to prevent this country from becom- ing in all respects the most conspicuous leader in the world’s iron and steel in- dustries, and this position it is rapidly at- taining, as the figures already given abundantly show; in many respects it has already attained this distinction. Originally all our iron and steel was made with charcoal, which remained our principal fuel for making iron and steel for many years. In the last century bitu- minous coal was sparingly used in heating furnaces; in the early part of this century | it began to be used in puddling furnaces; in 1839 we commenced to make pig iron | with bituminous coal in the form of coke, and in 1845 we successfully introduced the use of raw coal in the blast furnace. To- day most of our pig iron is made with coke, either alone or as a mixture with anthracite or raw bituminous coal. early part of this century we began to use anthracite coal in the heating furnace, and subsequently in the puddling furnace. A few years before 1840 we successfully experimented with the use of anthracite | coal in the blast furnace, and in that year | its use inthe manufacture of pig iron was fully established. Anthracite coal is no longer used in puddling furnaces, except in | very rare instances, and its use in heating | furnaces is rapidly yielding to the en- croachments of bituminous coal. Except | where natural gas is used, bituminous coal is generally used in our puddling and heating furnaces. Charcoal is still used in the manufacture of ‘‘ charcoal” blooms, whether made from ore or pig iron and scrap, and it is used in the manufacture of our very small annual product of cemented steel, but itis not used in the manufact- | ure of any other finished forms of iron or steel. In the production of gas for use in Siemens and other regenerative heating furnaces our dependence was chiefly upon bituminous coal and very slightly upon an- thracite coal until the advent of natural gas. | In 1854 the United States made more pig iron with charcoal than with anthra- cite coal. The next year charcoal wa; passed by anthracite coal, and in 1869 it was passed by bituminous coal. Anthra- cite continued, however, to be the leading fuel until 1875, when it too was passed by bituminous coal, which has since con- tinued to be the favorite blast-furnace fuel. In the following table the production of pig iron in 1883, 1886 and 1887, classified according to the fuel used, is given in tons of 2000 pounds: Fuel used. Net tons. 1883. 1886. 1887. Bituminous.... ..... 2,689,650 3,806,174 4,270,635 Anthracite and coke 920,142 1,655,851 1,919,640 Anthracite alone.... 443,746 418,749 ee 459,557 578,182 cat iat cca ee 5,146,972 6,365,328 7,187,206 _ *From a paper by James M, Swank, printed in the ‘Mineral Resources of the United States,” published by David T. Day, Chief of Bureau of Statistics and Technology, United States Geological Survey. In the | THE IRON AGE. 773 The development of natural gas in this|in any State, not even in Pennsylvania, country as a fuel in the the finished forms of iron and steel dates from 1874. (It is scarcely necessary to say that natural gas is not used in the manufacture of pig iron.) At the Siberian rolling mill of Rogers & Burchfield, at Leechburg, in Armstrong Co., Pa, natural gas, taken from a well 1200 feet deep, was tirst used as a fuel in connection with our iron and steel industries. In the fall of 1874 it was announced that during the pre- | ceding six months the gas had fur- nished all the fuel required for puddling heating, and making steam at these works, not one bushel of coal having been used. Between 1874 and 1881 natural gas for puddling was successfully used at the same | rolling mill; at the mills of Spang, Chal- fant & Co. and Graff, Bennett & Co., in Allegheny County, Pa., and at the rolling mill of the Kittanning Iron Company, at Kittanning, Pa., In each instance the manufacture of | where natural gas is most used. On the contrary, the production and comsumption of bituminous coal in this country have steadily increased in recent years. In nearly every State and Territory, including Pennsylvania, the production ef bitumin- ous Coal in 1887, according to Mr. Ash- burner, was greater than in 1886, while the aggregate for the country at large was much greater. The greatly increased pro- duction in 1887 of pig iron manufactured with coke and with coke mixed with an- thracite will account for a large part of the increased production of bituminous | coal in that year. gas used at these | works was obtained from wells that were | sunk for oil but were found to produce only gas. Jn 1883 the substitution of natural gas for bituminous coal in rolling mills and steel works received much attention at Pittsburgh, owing to the discovery of nat- ral gas in large quantities at the neighbor- ing town of Murrysville, in Westmoreland County, Pa., but as late as September, | 1884, there were in all only six rolling mills and steel works in the United States which were using the new fuel. During | the next two years the use of natural gas |in the manufacture of iron and steel made rapid progress. In August, 1886, there were 68 rolling mills and steel works which used the new fuel. During the next 15 months still further progress was made. In November, 1887, there were 96 rolling mills and steel works which wholly or in part used natural gas as fuel, and }over 100 are now using it. The whole | number of rolling mills and steel works in the United States in November, 1887, com- pleted or in course of erection, was 445, of which, as will be seen from the above fig- ures, nearly one-fourth used natural gas as fuel. Of the total number of rolling mills and steel works which were using natural gas in November, 1887, 57 were located at | Pittsburgh and elsewhere in Allegheny County, Pa., 15 were in the western dis- trict of Pennsylvania outside of Allegheny County, 7 were in Wheeling or its vicinity in {West Virginia, and 17 were in Ohio. The territory in which are located the iron and steel works which use natural gas for fuel extends as far east as Johnstown, Pa., |79 miles east of Pittsburgh. In Ohio natural gas is used in the mills at Youngs- |town, in the northeastern section of the | State, piped from wells in Pennsylvania, and at Findlay and Bowling Green, in the northwestern section of the State, ok | tained from local wells. In the interven- ing country between Youngstown and Findlay, which contains many largeiron and | steel works, including those at Cleveland, natural gas is not used. At Steubenville, | Bridgeport, Bellaire, Martin’s Ferry, and a few neighboring places on the Ohio side \of the Ohio River, natural gas, piped | from wells in Pennsylvania, is used in iron ‘and steel works. Natural gas has been found at a few points in the central and eastern parts of Indiana, but at the end of 1887 the supply, was so small that no roll- ing mill or steel works in that State was using this fuel. The gas used in West Virginia is obtained from wells in Wash- ington County, Pennsylvania. Natural gas not having been found in the anthra- cite coal region cr its vicinity, its use has not interfered with that of anthracite coal in rolling mills and steel works, but wherever it is used it displaces bituminous coal. It displaces no other fuel. Nor has the use of natural gas as a fuel ‘reduced the production of bituminous coal In 1888 the consump- tion of bituminous coal for this purpose will be less than 1887. We do not think that the consumption of natural gas in our iron and steel works will increase in 1888. It did not intrease in 1887 as much as in L886. The remarkable increase in our produc- tion of iron and steel in 1886 and 1887 was, of course, possible without the pos- session of natural gas, but the cheapness and abundance of this new fuel, and the temptation which it offered to enlarge old plants and construct new ones, are influ- j ences which have certainly had much to do with the present tendency to glut the market with finished iron and steel prod- ucts. Natural gas is, however, not now supplied at as cheap rates as a fe-v years ago, The possession of natural gas, desirable and valuable as it is, does not imsure any of the localities which use it in the manu- facture of iron and steel against the sharp competition of other localities which do not have it, but which possess other ad- vantages, as, for instance, proximity to markets of large consumption. This fact is well illustrated by «a comparison which we recently made of the produc- tion of Bessemer steel in Allegheny County, Pa., which includes Pittsburgh, and in Cook County, Ill., which in- cludes Chicago—the former possessing natural gas and the latter lacking it en- tirely. Chicago made more tons of Bes- semer steel ingots in 1887 than Allegheny County, Pa. And it made many more tons of Bessemer steel rails. The figures are as follows: Chicago—ingots, 531,054 gross tons; rails, 439,345 tons. Allegheny County—ingots, 518,694 gross tons; rails, 287,363 tons. Joliet is a near neighbor of Chicago, in the same State, and Johns- town, Pa., is ahear neighbor of Allegheny County, the former lacking natural gas and the latter possessing it. Adding the production of Bessemer ingots and rails at Joliet in 1887 to the figures for Chicago, and adding the production of Johnstown to that of Allegheny County, we have the following totals: Chicago and Joliet ingots, 748,271 gross tons; rails, 642,580 tons. Allegheny County and Johnstown —ingots, 728,797 gross tons; rails, 414,- 027 tons. Who would have predicted ten years ago that Chicago would make more Bessemer steel in 1887 than Allegheny County, Pa.? But natural gas, strange as it may ap- pear, has a rival as a cheap and cleanly fuel in water-oil gas produced from petroleum, which is steadily growing in popularity among our iron and steel and a few other manufacturers It is claimed that this fuel is cheaper than coal or than gas made from it, and that it possesses all the desir- able qualities of natural gas, and is far safer. This new fuel possesses also the advantage that it can be produced and used where natural gas cannot be ob- tained, and even where the cost of coal may be too expensive to justify the use of the latter fuel. No section of our country possesses a monoply of all the advantages for produc- ing iron and steel. Pittsburgh has natural gas for its rolling mills and steel works, and is close to the Connellsville coke field, a” Se - —o_ eta Ee —. aby ‘pane alt ere mths tee Fer . neers wily wie ts an - = as ats ee ie no sens sd ha! % ti ete hh nae te ae Oe ad Gee! Ub. Gee A a a eek 12 ae oe * fs power eee eee es Matin wii 1 ae a iee.f Ce a A Ce J lia tai i / a ‘ ’ ; lend THE IRON AGE. but it brings its ores long Chicago nearer than Pittsburgh to Lake Superior ores, but it hun- dreds of miles away from Connellsville coke, and it lacks natural gas as a substitute for raw bituminous coal. In Alabama and Tennessee ores and fuel are found in close proximity, and unskilled labor is cheaper than in the North, but much of the pig iron made in these States must be hauled to distant markets at great expense. In New England but little iron and steel in their crude forms is now made, but the skill in their manipulation which has been accumulated in 200 years | yet remains. The iron industry of the Rocky Mountain region will always have the stimulus of a home market remote from destructive competition. There is room in almost every section ef this great country for the iron and steel industries which we have in late years so wonderfully developed, and which aré destined to ex- pand still further as the years roll on. is 1S I Triple-Expansion ys, Compound Engines. Speaking of the adoption of triple-ex- pansion engines by the Union Steamship Company, Engineering remarks: There are now ten steamers of the fleet fitted with the improved engines, and the saving in consumption of coal varies from f6 per cent to 32 per cent., according to the age and character of the ship at the time of alteration. For instance, one of the newest mail steamers only shows a saving at present of 16 per cont, while the Anglian in the intercolonia) service shows an increase of 32 per cent. The! average saving on the whole fleet is about 21 per cent. of actual consumption. As the bunkers only admit of a part—say two-thirds or three-fourths—of the coal | needed on the voyage being taken from | England, the saving 1s on the fuel shipped | on the voyage, so that the monetary gain even greater, One of the last vessels converted was the Tartar, which has recently made the *‘ record” passage from Algoa Bay, South Africa, to Ply-| mouth, her gross time being 17 days 6| hours and 15 minutes, and net time 17 days and 52 minutes, and it may be inter- esting to note the results of coal con- sumption. Her engines during the pass- age, we are officially informed, developed 3839 indicated horse-power, the revolu- tions per minute averaging 64, and the average speed per hour 144 knots. The coal consumption was equal to 1.6 pound per indicated horse-power per hour. The old engines used to require 1,99 pound per hour per indicated horse-power, and even then the speed was not so great. This a saving of 20 per cent. on the actual coal consumed. becomes Is I - The Colonel Seranton, a locomotive re cently rebuilt from a wood-burner to a culm-burner at the Delaware and Lacka- wanna shops, at Scranton, has, according to the _Vationa/ Car and Locomotine Builder, a new feature that will be a de- cided convenience to the enginemen. Heretofore the engineer and fireman of locomotives of this make have had diffi- culty in conversing with each other, owing to the fact that they are so far apart, but this trouble has been obviated in the Col- onel Scranton by the introduction of an alarm bell and speaking tube, which ren- der prompt communication possible. The important improvement was introduced | by the master mechanic, Mr. Charles Gra- ham, and this is the only engine in the country that has such an outfit. One of the most successful cable roads in the West is the Olive street branch of | Missouri Railroad Company, St. Louis, | distances, | Mo. This line has been in operation con- tinuously for’ the past nine months, and the inspectors report the cable as being in perfect condition and not a strand broken. The entire length of the cable is 24,250 feet, and was made by the Broderick & Bascom Rope Company, St. Louis, Mo. a ———— Stock Car Works. The Burton The Burton Stock Car Company have an extensive establishment at Wichita, Kan., for the construction of their improved cars for the transportation of animals. These cars are so arranged that their dumb passen- | gers are carried with proper provision for their comfort, and are thus not only treated humanely, but are delivered in | good condition at the end of their journey, which is an important consideration, even if they are only consigned to the slaugh- ter house. These cars are covered by a number of patents, issued at intervals from 1880-87, with others pending. The com- ‘pany have a capital of $2,000,000, and | maintain offices at Boston, Chicago, Port- land, Me., Washington, D. C., and Kan- sas City, Mo. J. T. Chamberlain is super- intendent of the works, at Wichita, and W. A. Caswell is assistant superintendent, |The plant comprises a number of build- ings, the most important of which are as follows: 1. The wood-working shop, one-story brick, 125 x 300 fee® iron truss roof, supplied with a great variety of ma- chinery of the most improved pattern; all lumber delivered at the works mill- sawed; 220 horse-power engine, built by the Fitchburg Steam Engine Company; Thomson-llouston electric light plant ; will shortly put in an exhaust fan for carrying away shavings, &c. 2. The blacksmith and machine shops, ‘occupying one brick building, 125 x 300 feet, cut into two parts by a partition; 20 forges, one Bement & Miles double shear, one 500-pound Bradley trip hammer, a bolt furnace and bolt-cutting machine, a ‘*bull dozer” and furnace for shaping iron built by Williams, White & Co., of Moline, Ill., a horizontal drill, double- acting Bement & Miles lathe, Bignall & Keeler Mfg. Company’s pipe cutter, to- gether with the usual lathes, planers and | punches, most of which were made by Bement & Miles: foundations have been laid for a brick addition, 80 x 120 feet. 3. Iron foundry, built of brick, 75 x 300 feet, containing two cupolas. Other buildings comprise a coreroom, a brass foundry, atin shop and a storeroom, each 50 x 60 feet. The tin shop is needed to manufacture watering troughs, with which each car of this system is supplied. No foundry-work, either in iron or brass, has yet been done, but these departments will probably be in operation by January. The | |force employed at present numbers 175 men, which will soon be enlarged. ‘capacity of the works is now 10 cars per The day. Refrigerator cars are to be added to the line now made and probably street cars will be undertaken later. EE Bearing Plates for Rails.—In con- sequence of the enormons consumption of timber for railroad ties various methods have been experimented with for increas- |ing the life of the ties by reducing the wear close to the rail, and thus enabling | softer and cheaper timber to be used. The 'most promising of these methods is the use of the Servis tie plate, which has been ' tried on a number of roads since 1886, and | which has given satisfactory results. The plate consists of an iron or steel plate, of channel form; this is put on the tie under the rail and hammered down, and the first | | heavy train brings it to a solid bearing. The flanges cut into the timber and pre- | vent the shifting of the plate. In some November 22, 1888, cases it is made narrow, and the spikes are driven at the side; in other cases jt is wider, and has holes for the spikes. [t has been urged that with one metal raij on a metal plate there would be liability fo, the former to shift, causing extra strain oy the spikes. This objection, however, does not seem to be experienced in practice, as testimonials state that the line is kept in better line and gauge with these plates than when the rails rest directly on cedar ties. These plates are used on the Cana dian railways, Maine Central, Fitchburg, New York and New England, West Shore, Manhattan (Elevated) and other railroads, -_-—— ESE The Niedringhaus Memorial Building. Messrs. W. F. and Fredenck G. Nied ringhaus have at present in process of erection on the northwest corner of Cass avenue and Seventh street, St. Louis, Mo.. }a structure which will be known as the Niedringhaus Memorial Building. This structure is being erected as a place of in struction and amusement for the em- ployees of the company, and as a fitting tribute to the memory of Walter, son of William F. Niedringhaus, secretary of the St. Louis Stamping Company, whose death occurred about two yearsago. The build- ing, which is at present in course of con- struction, is designed to havea frontage of 65 feet, with a depth of 110 feet, and will be two stories in hight, with a French gabled mansard roof. The plans call for a front of pressed brick, with stone trim mings, on wide stone steps leading to the main entrance. The windows are of the Gothic style of architecture, and are suf- ficiently numerous to render the interior light and pleasant. In the arrangement of the rooms, an apartment 15 x 20 feet at the right of the main entrance is set apart for the ‘use of the directors; to the left of the main en- trance is a library and reading-room, 28 x 20 feet in size, both having high ceilings and windows extending from the floor al- most to the ceiling. On either side of these rooms are wide stairs leading to the gallery and basement. In the rear is the lecture-room, an apartment 60 x 69 feet in size, and of an elongated semi-circular shape. The stage, which is planned to occupy a space 25 x 18 feet in size, has on each side class-rooms, which are each 12 x 17 feet in dimensions, and which can be utilized as dressing-rooms in case the lec- ture-room is being used for amateur the- atricals or entertainments of a similar nature. The seating capacity of the lecture-room is 1300. The second story is practically a gallery, with a seating capa- city of 400. -The front portion of the basement is designed for a dining-room, with accommodations for feeding from 300 to 400 people at atime, It is 50 x 81 feet in size, perfectly lighted by English base- ment windows. In the rear is a kitchen 22x 18 feet in size, and along one side adjoining the kitchen and dining-room is a bowling-alley. It is the purpose of the projectors of this enterprise to erect a gymnasium in the rear ofthe main structure. The plans, we understand, are not yet completed, but they contemplate everything necessary to a perfectly equipped gymnasium, includ- ing baths. It is estimated that the total cost of the building and furnishings, ex- clusive of the library, will approximate $20,000. While the building is designed primarily for the use of the employees of the St. Louis Stamping Company, we un- derstand that its privileges may be enjoyed by any eligible person residing in the city. It will be absolutely free to those for whose benefit it is being erected, the run- ning expenses being borne by the Messrs. Niedringhaus, November 22, 1888. New Two-Spindle Milling Machine. We show, on this page, a milling ma- chine of new design, recently built by the E. W. Bliss Co., of Brooklyn, N. Y., for use in their own works, As will be seen, the general arrange- ment is that of a planer, but, in the place of ordinary pliner tools are sub- stituted vertical spindles for butt milling. The table has a longitudinal travel of 36 inches, and is fed by a screw, which may be operated by the hand-wheel shown at the right side of the bed, or fed by power, in either direction. Four speeds for feed for the table are provided, and, in addi- tion, there is a power ‘‘ rapid transit ” motion, which is operated to run the table in either direction, by means of the hand- lever shown at the right of the bed. The quick motion is especially intended for TWO-SPINDLE MILLING running the table back after the cut is finished, and, being entirely independent of the cone feed, both can be in operation MACHINE, at one and the same time, thus saving the} trouble of throwing off the cone feed in THE IRON AGE. required, and the builders are now filling several orders for machines with 5 to 6 foot lengths of table. The driving-shaft, carried by the cross-head, is spindled its length between bearings, to allow for the lateral motion of the saddles, and is driven from the floor counter-shaft by the familiar arrangement of belting shown, which dis- penses with the necessity of a tightener to make up for the vertical adjustment of the cross-head. In some of the machines now in course of construction the arrangement is such as to allow the floor counter-shaft to be dispensed with, and one at the top| of the machine to be substituted, which, | in some cases, might be considered prefer- | able. By the use of the two spindles on | the work for which this machine was de- | signed, and with special attachments to facilitate the setting, this tool is now doing work that heretofore required the use of ate 5 : . : - - f 3 o . u Depew on Rates. Respecting competitive rates on rail- road lines, which are causing so much dis turbance among shippers of merchandise, more than counterbalancing any advantage arising from temporary reductions, Presi- dent Depew, of the New York Central, ‘The differential rate is all wrong in theory undoubtedly, but, after several disastrous wars to get rid of the system, ninety-nine one-hundredths of the railroad men of the country believe that there is no other way of promoting staple rates or of protecting railroad investors. A. railroad tariff between two points should be as well known and as staple as the postage rate.” ‘* I believe,” he says again, ‘*‘ that in time the theory to which the country is now committed, that the Government, through an interstate commission, shall prevent SuVs: WII EW.BLISs co, BROOKiYN NY BUILT BY THE E. W. five planers, thus proving itself a most val- uable addition to the equipment of a ma- chine shop. ra Sometimes the fastenings of crown gear order to run the table back for starting a! wheel on the upper end of a turbine water- new cut, lowered by power, much in the same man- | ner as in a planer, and, in addition, each | spindle has an independent vertical adjust- ment of 2 inches, operated by the hand- cranks shown at the upper boxes on the saddles. Each saddle is capable of in- dependent lateral motion, operated by the large hand-wheel at the front, and has also a power attachment for feeding, sup- plied with four changes of speed. As in the case of the table, the saddles may be moved independently from the power feed while the latter is in operation. The cross-head is made of sufficient length to allow the saddles to be run out far enough to bring the milling cutters outside of the housings, between which the distance is 54 inches, The machine illustrated was built for special work not requiring a long table, but the latter can be made of any length The cross-head is raised and} wheel shaft are neglected, and allowed to get loose, and the wheel to slip down and out of gear. It does it gradually until when nearly out of gear, and then if the cogs are pretty well worn the points un- able to stand the strain give way, and the whole wheel is stripped. General Dumont, Supe rvising Inspector- General of Steam Vessels, reports inspect- ing 6425 vessels last year, an increase of Nearly There were 202 lives lost by accidents to vessels dur- ing the year, a lower number than in any previous vear. There were 50,000,000 passengers earried during the year. The expenses of the bureau were $257,000. He recommends that ferryboats be limited in the number of passengers carried, and that yachts and all small steam craft be inspected. 305 vessels over the year prey ious, 30,000 licenses were issued. D BLISS | CO., BROOKLYN, N.Y. railroad abuses and extortions and dis. criminations upon line, will be ex- tended to legalize a pool, by which method alone precisely the same evils can stopped when practiced by ecompeting lines against one another. So far as the public is concerned, all routes from one point to another are one, and a system which simply prevents one line from dis- criminating in favor of one of its own cus- tomers as against one another, and on the destruction of the pool promotes still more violent discriminations to one.shipper as against others by different lines, has enormously exagyerated the evils which it was created to remedy. The whole of the existing trouble is the impossibility of railroads legally forming a pool. A recog- nition of a proper system will settle the whole difficulty in 24 hours.” The Interstate Commerce Commission has addressed the New York Central Rail- road asking for information regarding the illegal cutting of rates which has been al- leged against its competitors. Chairman Cooley is desirous of proving the facts with a view to ascertaining if there is one be | sufficient ground for proceedings by the — Swe oA Se US eee ak Sse. s Meu. 2 Se Pe ee ee a we rows z oA Ti ee i i Jee. s%.. wes set Be ct = GBD S ated se es i et ee cee -i bi iw SE Bh om — . a oh tl Sc Sia Bed = Fh MT Bea ehh ieee ek, ae | * lie ea eam ay | ee Re se ot oom a oe oe ee _ SPL Semcaerncej ae i es =— SEW weit Atte ih ‘G VA 2S PGR Pe a -F — ». “_ a ntl il et a Pore i z = a herr 3 bat ho ad Federal Commission. It is understood that the Central has replied that it can furnish no specific evidence from the nature of the case, but has been satisfied, from the course of its traffic, that the tariff was not being lived up to by its rivals. gE Calumet and Hecla Stamp Mills. We are indebted to the Houghton Min- ing Gazette for the following description of this plant: The Calumet and Hecla stamp mills, at which the immense product of the mine is stamped and made ready for smelting, are situated at the village of Lake Linden. The site occupied consists of lot No. 4, comprising about 25 acres of land, which is occupied with their buildings, docks, vards, &c. There are two separate stamp mills, the Calumet and the Hecla, into which, however, the rock from the mine is put indiscriminately, The Calumet Mill is said to be the largest single dressing plant in the world, covering as it does 14 acres of ground, It was very much en- larged last its total length now being 460 feet, with a width of 105 feet, its hight being 66 feet. Connected with the mill on the east side are three annexes 100 feet wide, in which is the slime plant for this mill, two of them being 75 feet deep and the other 50 feet deep. Its stamping plant consists of eight head of stamps now running, with three new stamps in process of erection, making 11 in all. There are 272 jigs now in operation and when the three new head of stamps are completed 374 jigs will be employed. There are 28 slime tables in use and with the three ad- ditional heads there will be 44. There are also two Heberle mills for recrushing a coarse gangue, discharged from the rough sieves and rejiggers. The Hecla Mill build- ing is 300 feet long, 105 feet wide and 66 feet high, with two annexes 100 feet wide by 70 feet deep, one of them being erected during the past season and will contain the slime plant. The mill operates seven head of stamps, 238 jigs and will have 28 slime tables, which will probably be running before the close of 1888. The slime tables are all double deckers without a dead head and have been shown to yield 60 per cent. more ingot from the same amount of slime than tables using a dead head. The mill also contains two Heberle mills similar to those in use at the Calumet Mill, During the last year the whole method of handling the mineral in the matter of season, sending to smelting works has been changed; where it was formerly sent in barrels it is now sent in ears, the first cars being sent from the Hecla mill in Decem- ber, 1887, and from the Calumet mill in July, 1888. There are now 10 cars em- ployed in carrying the mineral from the Hecla mill and 15 from the Calumet: cars hold about 5 tons each. The cars are loaded in the mills and run directly into the mineral storehouse at the smelting works over an elevated track, dumping their load into bins for its reception. In the old method of sending the mineral in barrels about 4000 barrels were used each month. This new system was originated by the Calumet and Hecla Company, and as yet is used nowhere else. The cars bringing the rock to the mills from the mine to be stamped run into the upper story of the mill over an elevated track and dump their load into the rock bins, the bin capacity of the two mills being 10,000 tons. The stamps used at the mills are the Leavitt stamp. The present capacity of the stamping plant is about 3200 tons rock per day, and when the three additional heads are working the total capacity of the two mills will be about 3900 tons rock per day. Recently, as a matter of experi- ment, a solid anvil has been placed under [IRON THE AGE. about 57 tons, diane on the main founda- tion. So far this solid anvil is working | I very satisfactonly and is crushing 260 tons per day without an increase in the consumption of steam. This shows a gain of from 100 to 120 tons over the old style of ‘‘ Ball” stamps and an increase of about 40 tons over the same head when | using spring timbers as a foundation for the anvil. In addition to the driving en- gine Wabeek, later, which will be mentioned | each mill has its own driving engine. So if any accident should happen to the | driving engine Wabeek or to the wire rope | transmission, the small driving the mill avoided. house is a building 210 feet long by 70 teet wide and contains 10 tire-box boilers, with | The steam is conveyed | a capacity for 14. to each mill through a 24-inch pipe run- ning through a 7 foot tunnel. The feed plant is comprised of two Worthington feed pumps, 12 x 6 x 10, and one Hyatt 8-foot filter, of water each 24 hours, amount the boilers are now evaporating. The chimney for these boilers is of wrought iron, brick lined, 12 feet in diameter on the inside and 185 feet high. There are two sand-wheel each about 60 feet square, in which are sand-wheels 43 feet in diameter with a bucket width of 6 feet. These sand- wheels lift all the water and sand passing through the mills to a hight of 35 feet into a launder 4 feet wide which conveys it to the lake. The electric light plant con- sists of two No. 7 Brush dynamos supply- ing power for 60 odd lamps. Another is soon to be placed to be used on an outside circuit, The water-works building contains three pumping engines—‘‘ Ontairo,” a vertical double-expansion compound pumping engine with a nominal capacity of 20,000,000 gallons, but is now pumping 23,000,000 gallons; ‘* Erie’? pumping en- gine, same type as the ‘‘ Ontario,” with a capacity of 10,000,000 gallons, ani ‘** Huron,” a horizontal pump geared back on to a horizontal engine with a capacity of 20,000,000 gallons, used as an auxiliary engine, The aggregate capacity of the pres- ent water-works is 50,000,000 gallons every 24 hours, of which the mills are now using about 33,000,000 gallons, The addition to the water-works, for which the piles are now being driven, is designed for two vertical, triple-expansion compound pump- ing engines with a pumping capacity of 40,000,000 gallons each per 24 hours; only one, however, will be placed the coming buildings, season. ready on the ground, The foundation of the building will be laid as early in the spring as practicable. The aggregate ca- pacity of all the pumps will be 130,000, - 000 gallons every 24 hours; the mills, however, will probably not need much over 60,000,000 duplicated for the sake of safety. In the present water works building is also the driving engine Wabeek, mentioned pre- viously, of the same general type as the | Ontario. sand-wheels were all designed by Mr. E Leavitt, Jr., the company’s consulting en- gineer, The boiler plant for the water works consists, for the present, of two 90- inch fire-box boilers 34 feet long, a pressure of 120 pounds, of which is to be placed this fall. The addition for which the piles are now being | driven is to be 70 x 64 feet, and will be | The | built of iron as far as practicable. building will be supplied with a 30-ton heavy ing the machinery. Mr. F. G. No. 1 Calumet head, the anvil weighing | Coggin, the superintendent in charge, has engine | could be at once started and a stoppage of | Countries. The stamp mill boiler | _ which filters 200,000 gallons | | Roumania. that being the | Bulgaria.. which is | November 22, 1888, held his position with the Calumet and Hecla Company nine years, during which the entire stamp mill plant, as at present arranged, has been set up under his super- vision and largely in accordance with his plans. a The World’s Wheat Crop of 188s. | The Paris Echo Agricole presents the fol- lowing estimate of the production, exports and imports of wheat of the world for th current crop year : Probable expor\s’ | |-—— —— } Y vobable production, Probable imports, bushels, bushels, bushels, | Russia ...... 246,960,000 me 109,760,000 France... 244,216,000 68,600,000 Austria- Hungary. 156,408,000 ees 16,464,000 to Se 115,088,000 6,860,000 ‘ P BRREY <sicecs 101,528,000 38,418,000 | Germany... 82,520,000 30,184,000 | United | Kingdom. 62,682,000 150,920,000 | Turkey 39,046,000 ae 5.495.200 21,952,900) ...... 13,720,000 13,720,000 = 13,720,000 Portugal... is 6,860,000 1,920, 000 aoa | Greece 4,664,000 2,744,000 | Servia. 4,390,400 1,372,000 Holland.. 4,116,000 12,348,000 | Denmark... 3,567,200; ..... Sweden and | Norway. 2,744,000 2,744,000 Switzerland 1,646,400 = 11,792,000 Total bushels. 1,311,868,000 = 340,250,000 146,811,200 United States and Canada.... 409,320,000 96,040,000 Chili and Arg Re- public..... 27,440,000, =... 10,988,200 Totals... 1,548,628,000 340,250,000 25 53,83 834,400 i Wee 260,680,000 27,440,000 Asia Minor.. 37,044,000 see 2,744,000 Persia....... 21,952,000; ...... 2,744,000 re 13,720,000; ...... 1,372,000 S. E. Asia... 8,252,000| ...... 1,872,000 Totals... 1,906,2° 56,000 340,250,000 289,506,400 Australia... 38,416,000 Raease 2,348,000 Algeria..... 19,208,000 re 2,744,000 Egypt....... 13,720,000 4,116,000 Grand _ totals... 1,977,600,000 Sem) 000 308,714,400 These engines are to be called the | Winnipeg and Michigan, the latter to be | the one first set up, part of it being al- gallons, the plant being | carrying | Two more boil- | ers of the same size, but to carry a press- | ure of 180 pounds, are to be added, one | The deficit is only 31,535,600 bushels, according to the foregoing statement. An English estim: ite mi: kes the defic it 71,618, - 100 bushels. The continent of Europe in 1887 had a good wheat crop, both as re- gards quantity and quality. The visible and invisible stocks August 1, 1888, were in excess of any deficit yet established. There was in France alone, exclusive of flour, on August 1, 1888, 32,728,000 bushels of wheat, according to the author of the French estimates. ——— Walston Coke in Cleveland.—It is stated that the Connellsville coke operators have recently encountered a rival for their product in the market at Cleveland, Ohio. The coke manufactured by the Rochester and Pittsburgh Coal and Iron Company has recently been introduced into that market. An analysis of their.coke shows a decidedly good average. The head- quarters and mines of the company are at Walston, Jefferson County, Pa. They control about 20,000 acres of coal lands. The engines, stamps, boilers and | The lower Freeport, which in many locali- _D, | ties is worthless, here thickens, giving not | less than 6 feet of clean coal. T he capacity of the mines at Walston and Adrian is about 7000 tons a day. There are over 700 ovens at Walston and 450 at Adrian. The coke reaches Cleveland by way of Salamanca and the New York, Pennsyl- vania and Ohio. rm —— The number of locomotives in use in German railroads was 12,450 in the year 1885-86, the average age being 12.49 years. Fifty engines built previous to the | traveling crane, for the purpose of erect- | year 1850 were still in use at the date re- ferred to, the oldest of which dated from 1845. November 22, 1888. THE IRON AGE. 777 Combination Machine. Messrs. George C. Keene & Co., of Cin- cinnati, Ohio, are offering the trade a combined shear, punch, band-iron former and bending machine adapted to the use of sheet-metal workers. A general idea of the appearance of this machine may be gained from‘an inspection of the engrav- ing presented herewith. By means of the lower lever, shown at the left of the en- graving, the shear attachment placed di- rectly forward of i