The Iron Age 1889-01-10: Vol 43

‘THE IRON AGE THURSDAY, JANUARY 10, 1889. Pea Coal for Elevated Railroad | ¢levated railroads. Slack coal entails slow | must be thrown back 11 years, and the Locomotives. Commenting on the recent attempt to use pea coal on the elevated railroad loco- motives in New York, the National Car | performed on the elevated railroads is the and Locomotive Builder says: The locomotives used on the elevated | fuel. railroads of New York have always burned | prevent the officers of any railroad operat- a good quality of egg anthracite coal, and the small engines have never had much | experiments with fine coal, and the ele- margin of steaming capacity for the heavy | vated railroads of New York ought to be | Kuowing |the last to try anything of the kind, for this from intimate acquaintance with the | when everything is done to favor the en-| performance of the engines, we were very | much surprised lately to hear that it was | work they are required to do. the intention of the officers of the road to begin burning pea coal in the fire-boxes of the engines. A single engine was tried first, and with a great deal of favoring she was kept running, and this very meager | lated to derange the regularity of trains, measure of success was deemed sufficient | iW i i PS TM STAY BOLT THREADING AND excuse for supplying that kind of fuel to | unusual risks of accident. a dozen or more of the engines as a pre- liminary to putting the whole equipment on pea coal. But the experiment on a large scale, which put each engine on her own merits, soon demonstrated what burn- ing fine coal in small fire-boxes really meant. For the day it was tried the train service on the Third avenue line was very seriously crippled. The engines lost time so badly for want of steam that intervals as long as 30 minutes occurred between trains, which entailed a vast amount of | inconvenience upon the people of New York City who are dependent upon these roads for prompt and regular transit. Any one who is at all familiar with the combustion of anthracite coal, and has re- flected on the conditions necessary to its use, must have been aware that it could not be successfully burned on the limited grate area found in the elevated railroad locomotives. We do not believe that there ] HE HA MT i TAPPING combustion per foot of grate area and the | credit of the first construction awarded to use of a thin fire. Frequent starting from | Galileo. stations is fatal to the use of a thin fire, for | = the strong exhaust tears holes in the fire,| Stay Bolt Threading and Tapping consequently service like what has to be , Sachine ; TI — least adapted for the use of the inferior Considerations of this kind oughtto| Messrs. Nicholson & Waterman, of Provi- dence, R. I., a short time since designed ing trains that stop frequently from trying | and built a simple form of stay bolt thread- ing and tapping machine specially intended as a railroad shop tool. The engravings which we give of it in this issue explain | its principal features. gines there is too small margin for bad| The large number of.stay bolts used in weather and the numerous other exigencies | a locomotive boiler, the importance of that are ever arising to impair the regular- | having them fit and the difficulty in get- ity of trains. Moreover, the Elevated Rail- | ting uniformity especially when following road Company, of New York, have no| taps has made the need of this machine right to try experiments which are calcu-| apparent. The principle of operation con- sists in running dies at a slow rate of speed, causing delay to the public and incurring | well supplied with oil and in getting the uf a / vl i yon = zz : — ~_— i — ~ } 1 TM NATTA TA Late NH | iH ] on MACHINE, BUILT BY NICHOLSON & WATERMAN, PROVIDENCE, R. I. At some times | greatest economy by multiplying the num- of the day the train service is very much | ber of dies at work. By slow speed the behind the demands for accommodation, | best service is obtained from tie die, and and the attempt to-save a few dollars at the | ample time is allowed for testing and expense of making intolerable blanks be- | adjusting whatever change in size may tween trains is simply trifling with the|come from wear. A great difficulty ex- needs and rights of a vast multitude of| perienced by locomotive boiler builders people. | arises from the rapid wear of the taps used in threading for stay bolts, and the conse- M. Govi, an Italian savant, has presented | quent change in size. As usually equip- a paper to the French Academy of Sciences, | ped the threading machinery must get in which he claims for Galileo the dis-| several days ahead of boiler work and the tinction of having discovered the micro-| change in size of tap becomes very diffi- scope, as well as the telescope. He has| cult to follow. The Nicholson & Water- found a book printed in 1610, according|man machines now in operation seem to to which Galileo had already directed his | have entirely overcome these difficulties. tube fitted with lenses to the observation In detail, the machine consists of a bed, of small near objects. The philosopher | at one end of which is placed a short shaft himself stated, shortly after this date, | having two pulleys and a bronze pinion that he had been able to observe through} communicating motion to a large gear, - A — $$ is a single locomotive in the country burn- a lens the movements of minute animals and their organs of sense. In a letter, written in 1614 to a Signor Tarde, he states that he has with his miscroscope ‘‘ seen ing pea coal pulling passenger trains that |; and observed flies as large as sheep, and stop and start frequently, even in fire-| how their bodies were covered with hairs, boxes like the Wootten, that are specially | and they had sharp claws.” The date designed for small coal, and it was pure | usually assigned to the discovery of the insanity to pretend that it could be done in small fire-boxes of engines doing the hard work performed by the locomotives on the! microscope is 1621, and the invention is attributed to Cornelius Drebbel, a Dutch- man; but according to M. Govi the date | which in turn drives through pairs of bevel gears a number of upright spindles. There are six of these and they are all duplicates of one another. An enlarged view of one of these spindles with its bevel gear G attached is shown in Fig. 2. The top of each spindle C is made to receive the hardened head-holder D, which is made to suit the size of the head of the bolt. The under side of the head of the spindle is cupped to secure a tight joint under wear , - SSS » EP - ay aR 2), ; ss on ‘e Py, Pe sala eo a sn! * " ij “ iy 9 i - 7 , # ; f ' i } * 9 _ 44 and prevent the oil from leaking through. A sleeve, A, holds the spindle and is ad- justed in line and‘held in place by screws, E, and pins. To the bottom ofthe spindle is securely keyed the larger of the bevel gears, This gear is of cast-iron, and its driver of bronze. All the teeth are cut in order to secure the most perfect and smooth feed. Projecting from the top of the bed and on either side of each spindle are two rods used to guide the die holder. They are fastened at their upper ends by set screws and holes through the oil tank. The tap is shaped to form a holder for oil, which is fed upon the work from pet cocks over each die. The oil runs into a tank under the machine from which it is pumped into the upper feed tank by a rotary pump driven from the countershaft. An over- flow pipe prevents the upper tank from getting too full. The die holders slide loosely upon the rods, and the operation of the machine consists in placing the head of a stay bolt in the socket D, which is con- stantly in motion and pressing the die on the end of bolt. The die once started feeds itself along until it reaches the socket D, where, continuing to feed, it draws the head of bolt out and the oper- Stay Bolt Threading and Tapping Machine. —Fig. 2.—Detail of Bolt Spindle. THE IRON AGE, Besides these there are a number of private artesian wells in Paris belonging to manu- facturers. The La Chapelle well was finished in March last, having been begun 24 years ago, It reaches a depth of 720 m,, and the water, left to itself, rises to a hight of 35 m. above the mouth. | It fur- nishes 6000 c. m. of water in 24 hours. The proposal is to utilize the power fur- nished by the well in generating and dis- tributing electricity for lighting and motive purposes. One object mentioned is the lighting of the park of the Buttes Chaumont, which is situated near the well. Before now electricity has been generated in this manner. At Ponce de Leon, in Florida, there is a hotel having a power- ful artesian well which drives a turbine- wheel and dynamo, thus generating the current necessary to light the building and its grounds. At Yankton, in Dakota, there is a flowing well which drives the dynamos of an electric light company. The well is 600 feet deep, and the water on issuing from it is conducted to a reser- voir placed 30 feet above the turbine which | actuates the dynamos. THE CHICAGO IRON TRADE. ITS HISTORY IN 1888. The year which has just closed was one of peculiar experiences to members of the iron trade. It was a period of vacillation from oppressive quietude to very great activity and of fluctuations in price often bewildering to buyers and sellers by the abrupt changes made, Disturbing influ- ences were numerous and potent, some of a general character and others local in their nature. Principal among these stood the unsatisfactory condition of the railroads, usually the source of the greater part of the January 10, 1889. stoppage of the Western mills for a month relieved the market of a plethora of fin- ished iron, while their unlooked-for re- sumption started a sudden demand for raw material which advanced the price of pig iron and old rails and sustained the market in good shape for at least a quarter of the year. Tariff agitation in Congress and the Presidential election had their effect on business in the Northwest in common with other parts of the coun- try. The last two months of the year were unproductive of disquieting influ- ences, but, on the contrary, witnessed a condition of affairs which if continued will lead to much better business and possibly a restoration of activity. The closing in of winter was so gradual that no crops were injured by frost except in a very small section of the extreme Northwest, while the crop of corn garnered in the great corn-growing belt was never equaled in any former season, thus assuring pros- perity to farmers and business to the rail- roads, Already the influence of the ex- cellent crops has been felt in the demand for cars, and car-builders are again finding their order books filling up, some of them, in fact, now running to their full capacity. Managers of railroads are now more hope- ful of their ability to sustain rates, in view of the traffic passing over their lines, though in some cases it appears that they are somewhat too sanguine, as they are ad- vancing their tariffs above what shippers regard as a reasonable charge and they may be obliged to modify them. A slight downward tendency at present exists in the prices of many forms of iron and steel, but it is felt to be due to the season rather than any confirmed impulse in trade, and everywhere a feeling of confidence in the future is manifested, It would be a piece of unwisdom to suppose that 1889 will be wholly free from demoralizing influences, but a very careful survey of the situation discloses no domestic element of disturb- demand for iron and steel. The scanty | ance now threatening the prosperity of the : , crops of 1887, and the paralleling of old | country. ation removes it from the tap. The form | aq by new ones in that year decreased ; Pig Iron. of die used is the round split solid die ad-| the pet earnings of the Western railroad| The course of the market for Pig Iron justed by set screws. companies so heavily in 1888 that they} disclosed a number of new things and The machine is changed into a nut tap- mfr ~ : were forced to economize in every way, per by ee ot Bonar aye ee in purchasing even necessary supplies, a oa enex’ | while new railroad enterprises halted, reaffirmed some old ones, {among which may be enumerated the following: 1. The threatened inundation of iron from - a ee eee with a depressing effect on manufact-| the South failed to materialize. New fur- yes ts. The thight of the seachine ad. |Urers dependent to # great extent on |naces in that section were put in blast so sem. g the demand from that source. Early | gradually that cage os aaa was absorbed mits of stay bolts being threaded of single | in the year, however, a noticeable activity | without seriously or multiple lengths. EE The question of brakes for locomotive engine trucks is a live one, in view of the attempted introduction of large eight- wheel locomotives for fast passenger ser- vice, having 40,000 pounds and over upon their trucks. In the present designs of such engines, this is an unbraked weight, and gives rise to excessive strains on the draw bars of the first few cars of the train, and also increases the length of both the ser- vice and the emergency stops. ecting prices. It is prevailed among carbuilders who were | reported on very good authority that quite called upon to equip the new lines of road |a number of the leading Southern com- built in 1887, but such a demand natur- | panies now have contracts on their books ally exhausted itself ina few months. The | covering 50 per cent of this year’s prod- freight war in the Northwest, which in-| uct. volved a number of the most important railroad systems in the country, decreasing | the steel-rail trade does not always rule their earnings and curtailing their purchas-|the iron trade generally. Prices of vig ing power; the Chicago, Burlington and | iron and of other iron advanced quite in- Quincy engineers’ strike, which lasted for | dependently of steel rails in August, Sep- many weeks and affected an important | tember and October. section of the West; legislation hostile to railroads in some of the Western States,|advance without regard to stocks in which was brought upon them through |maker’s hands. Pig iron seems to be as aay their own acts, yet was both directly and | sensitive to trade influences as the needle 2. In defiance of previous experience, 3. When the demand improves prices Electricity and Artesian Wells.—The | indirectly injurious to railroad invest-| is to the magnetic current. The impulse discharge of water from artesian wells has for many years been employed as a motive ments; wars between great East and West | in one direction or another sways it almost through lines, which resulted in the estab- | instantly without regard to statistics of power in France. In the city of Tours | lishment of unremunerative rates on freight | stocks. there is an artesian well which drives |and passenger service—all had their effect 4. Declarations by makers that cost can- a hydraulic wheel 7 m. in diameter and | in decreasing the consumption of 1ron and | not be forced any lower do not check a works the machinery of a silk factory. At Grenelle the heat of the water issuing from a deep well is utilized in warming buildings. A project is now before aCom- steel and reducing prices. The builders|downward tendency in prices. Supply of Chicago suffered to some extent from the | and demand regulate prices in the main effect of the great 8-hour strike in 1887, of | when they are not artificially affected by which capitalists feared a repetition in some | combinations, and protests by individual mission of the Municipal Council of Paris | degree in 1888 and were chary about begin- | makers against a further decline, because having for its aim the utilization of the | ning new enterprises. Hence, the local ar-| actual cost has been reached, are without power obtainable from the new artesian well in the Place Hébert, at La Chapelle. | but partly engaged during the building sea- son, decreasing the consumption of iron | were Jargely independent of the influences There are now three important artesian chitectural iron works found their capacity | influence on the market. 5. Chicago prices during the past year wells in the Paris basin, that of Grenelle | quite noticeably. The dispute over the| existing in other markets. Bessemer pig being the oldest, and that at Passy the most productive. The new La Chap- < elle well is particularly adapted for the|a very serious matter, but it was experiment of producing motive power. annuai adjustment of rolling-mill wages|iron sold at as low a price as any- schedules in July was expected to prove| where in the country, and coke foundry a| pig iron as low as, if not lower, than in veritable blessing in disguise, as the/ anyother Northern market. The course of January 10, 1889. THE IRON AGE. prices of leading varieties of iron during the year is shown in the following table of monthly averages, terms cash, f.o.b. ‘ S ‘ . Chicago: | s Sua as = S | at be ot ~~ | 23 20 25 .| -a4 55 | 54% | 53 \ 5 Months. ne wD aMwo} OrzZ S © o7 a A z= of gS |S5 = |@e46d | 22 “ a Ene January..........| $22.00 | $19.50 | $20.50 $19.50 February........ 21.50 | 19.25 20.50 | 19.00 oo 21.00 | 18.50) 20.25 18.50 April..... .......| 2.50 | 18.50; 20.00| 18.00 May.. 20.00 | 18.00) 19.50) 17.50 RPT eee 19.50 | 17.50) 19.00 17.50 ME givasee 18.50 | 17.00} 1825 16.50 August... .....| 19.00} 17.00 | 18.25) 17.00 September ......| 19.50 | 17.50 | 18.75 | 17.75 October. .......| 19.75 18.00 | 20.00 17.75 November... ...| 20.00 | 18.00 | 20.00 | 17.50 December....... | 20.00 17.50 19.50 17.00 The lowest reported sale in Coke Iron for the year occurred in July, when a quantity of Lake Superior Mill and of Southern Mill brought $14, cash. The lowest reported sale of Bessemer Pig Iron was at $16.60, cash, f.o.b. Chicago, Or- dinarily, the price of Bessemer Pig Iron is about the same as of Lake Superior Coke. An event which attracted some attention at the time was the sale in July of 600 tons of Lake Superior Charcoal Pig Iron for export to England to be used in the manufacture of Malleable Castings. nical history of 1888 was the successful introduction of the use of oil for fuel in these works, a regular supply being assured by the completion of a pipe line | | from the Lima (Ohio) oil field to Chicago. The course of the local steel rail trade during the year is well indicated by the following table of monthly prices: Jan.... $35.00 May.... $32.50 Sept..... $30.00 Feb.... 34.50 June... 32.00 Oct...... 29.00 March. 33.50 July.... 31.50 Nov..... 29.00 April.. 3.00 Aug.... ®.50 Dec..... 30.00 The lowest steel rail contract known’‘to have been taken in Chicago during the | extreme depression of October and Novem- ber netted the mill probably $27.50. The present price is $30, and it seems very probable that it can be sustained if not advanced. Old Material. The price of old iron rails declined in sympathy with the finished pro- duct until July, when the unexpected starting of the Western mills precipitated a demand which so hardened prices that a very material advance was made in August. This caused considerable specu- lation in old rails and led to very active trading, limited only by the short supply | and the speedy absorption of visible stocks for consumption. Other old material sym- pathized. The advance was not held, however, and prices are now lower, but not so low as in May and June, in the 45 delivery, and when the usual demand for | the spring appeared, they at once realized | the benefit of their policy through the ad- vance in prices which took place naturally, | and not through any artificial means. The | effect of this continued to be felt for al- | most the entire first half of the year. Fore- | seeing the depression which would ensue ‘from the usual midsummer dullness, the {leading manufacturers endeavored to se- | cure a general decrease of production in | July and August, but this plan was not | properly supported, and _ predictions | were quite freely made that in con- isequence of the large unmarketed production prices would be ruinously jlow before the close of the year. | An attempt was made in September and | October to avert this by the organization of the manufacturers into a pool, but this scheme met with no greater success than previous efforts of the kind, and com- petition proceeded unrestricted. In No- vember and December large contracts were made for the sale of Barb Wire to the merchants, some of them understood to |run up to May. The prices realized are said to be the lowest made in the history of the trade, the vear closing with the manufacturers asking 2.75¢ tor large lots of Painted. Manufacturers’ prices for Painted during the year have ranged about as follows: wh a BP Dp? a a 2 . Jan..... 3.25¢ May..... 3.05¢ Sept .... 2.80¢ * Seatsieed. tren depth of the depression. The course of | Feb .... 3.10 June.... 3 Oct...... 2.75 mae ‘ ae prices was as follows in the leading classes | 8"; --- 3: MK ee Sa ee ee aN Prices of Bars, Plates, Sheets and Angles | 5¢ old iron b sens Se ee ene 8.200. BE = fluctuated remarkably. In the summer ieee Nails BY months Bars and Sheets were unduly | -———————— 3 | In both Steel-Cut and Wire Nails the i“ depressed, touching prices from which ? ze = , |trade of the past year was unsatisfactory es a rapid recovery was effected. Contracts Mouths = Z = % | as to price, though in volume it was nearly VaR - = > of on ian yt - " - ~ |up to the average for Cut Nails, while Es placed in August as low as 1.50¢, ha s Z Wire Nails scored a handsome increase ’ extras, f.o.b. Chicago, while No. 27 ee rious years Sfforts w > ies Sheet Iron, Common Black was sold at January.......... $21.00 | $21.00 | $16.00 | $16.00 ‘ep as eaceealanloaion to cue tae Ea 9 : Ma . iJ I 7 he 1 f February ........ 22.00 | 21.00 | 16.00 | 16.00 |.» . : e . ae i aR, 2.80¢ in May and June. In the last four) Maren. ° 20.22. 21.00 | 20.50| 15.50) 16.00 | Nails up to a remunerative basis through id m months of the year, Bar Iron has ruled} April... .... .... 20.00 19.50 M4 00 15.00 combinations. The Cut-Nail manufactur- ABTA very steadily at about 1.70¢ @ 1.75¢, with | jive. '°0"""|| ison) isso) aso i300 | ers did not succeed in their plans in this i oh, some sales at 1.80¢. An excited condi-| July. ...... ..... 19,00 | 16.50 | 12.00) 12.00 | respect until nearly the close of the year, DAS at » Ghaet. avai August. ........ 23.00 | 17.00) 13.50 13.50 | y ve eentianhad iia atl ; a tion of the Sheet-Iron trade prevailed from Sontumbes enemies 25.00 19:50 1530 1409 | When they perfected an organization which ne’ July to eee ——- a oo of October. sa 24.00 20.50 16.00 14.50 | has thus far shown decided strength and LY d.) mill, whi ad taken a | November........ 23. 20.5 15.50 14.50 thic >] 2 r i i ae the Aurora (Ind.) , c oo gaia us| cae | uame| ue which will be of great benefit to them if ‘ine large numbe: of contracts at low prices ae ————— | its details are faithfully carried out. The ce ae ‘ : A rT: . Ty . ‘ . af - f - that had to be transferred to other mills} J, the above table old rails are quoted | Wire-Nail manufacturers effected a combi- : already well supplied with work, and also caused by a heavier demand for Light Sheets from several classes of consumers er gross ton, and the other classes of iron per ton of 2000 pounds, Merchant Steel. nation in August, but it was disrupted in December just about the time that stocks bought by jobbers at low prices ) ne - than had been anticipated when season contracts were placed in June and July. The stoppage of many mills in July, as above referred to, also had its effect in stiffening the views of manufacturers. The course of prices during the year on mill lots of Common Bar Iron, Angles, and No. 27 Sheet Iron, is indicated in the following table of monthly averages, f.o.b. were being exhausted and manufact- turers could reasonably expect to reap the fruit of their new arrangement. Very heavy sales were then made to jobbers at lower prices than prevailed before the com- bination was formed, and the activity pre- vails up to this time. A disturbing iu- fluence in the Western nail trade was the Does Prices were sustained, with but slight variation, from the beginning of the year to nearly the close of October, on all the leading and higher-priced grades of Steel. The only episodes worthy of note in that entire period were the contracts for sea- son’s supplies by manufacturing consum- iA is i ag 5 o1 cS yp ers, which made the market more active | freight war whick prevailed in March and my Chicago: at some times than at others. In October, | April between railroads running to Mis- ~y === = ——= | however, a change occurred in the situa-|souri River points and was the direct aK) = , . | tion, and a break was made in the price | cause of inducing the jobbers of that sec- ae gg ]| 2 &£ |of Open-Hearth Spring Steel, which had| tion to stock up heavily on both cut and dm. Months. Es 68 . . . Ext) BS i 6s 52 | been steadily held at 2.90¢. Through the| wire nails, which they were unable to -~ al * | competition of several prominent manu- po of for several months following, =. Be ae | 235e | ange | facturers the price was cut to 2.50¢ @/thus depressing prices im an important eee peanense ie 235° 50) 2.60¢, and roo orders were taken at 2.35¢| part of the country for a very considerable a March Perr ahee sz antes 170 | 2.00 3.00 @ 2.40¢. Machinery Steel suffered in| period. At present the cut nail trade is in coe May..c.2c2 I!) leew | 235 | 385 | sympathy, Open-Hearth dropping to 2.40¢, | very good condition, prices are being ru JUNE... oe eee seers ees ‘ br | Lr although some manufacturers resisted the | firmly sustained at the rate fixed by the f ye ee ee ee | 225 | 295, |decline and maintained their quotations | manufacturers’ association, and the possi- ” September 1.75 2.30 | 315 | steadily at 2.75¢ @ 3¢. The prices of| bilities are strongly in favor of small ad- i omens rene ste 1 oi | 31) | leading qualities of Steel which were/ vance in the manufacture. The course of 4 December.............| 172%| 215 | 3.05 | maintained throughout the whole year are | manufacturers’ prices at Chicago for large t | Steel Rails, Specials, 18¢ @ 25¢; Crucible Sheet Steel, | lows during the year: Chicago being the Steel Rail City,|}7¢ @10¢. At the close of the year the | —— aes a the slack demand for this class of| prices of other qualities which had suf- Months. Steel. Wire. te. railroad material was severely felt in| fered fluctuations as above described were} January..... .... $2.0 $2.70 es Y 1888. The mills ran but for a part of the | as follows: Crucible Spring, 3.75¢; Open- | February.............. 2.05 2.60 ees year, and one of the North Chicago Roll-| Hearth Spring, 2.50¢; Open-Hearth Ma- | Margie: -----------. 4 He EN le ing Mill Company’s Rail mills was diverted | chinery, 2.40¢ @ 2.75¢. May 1.95 2.60 x BR to the manufacture of beams. The produc- Barb Wire. ere to = + tion of steel rails by the Chicago mills| The year opened most auspiciously for| August . penens 1.90 2.45 7 was nevertheless quite large, amounting |the manufacturers of Barb Wire. They —— Addesiitantes = ca to 419,850 gross tons in the year. An| had succeeded in controlling the trade by Weveuter 1.80 2.55 event of some importance in the tech-| refusing to sell large quantities for future | December..... 1.90 2.40 as follows: Tool Steel, 8.50¢ @ 9.50¢; lots of steel cut and wire nails was as fol- Ri N : 2) se ns) Mae iie = 2 r . ¥* Se ROR So gees ES ee ape ae pes _ al RIMS, ys << “ ~~. eee The Flat Top Coke Trust. . It has been a continual mystery to Con- | nellsville coke producers, says the Pitts- | burgh Times, why coke made in the Flat Top region of Virginia and West Virginia usually commands higher prices in the Southern and Western markets. Flat Top coke has never sold for less than $1.75 per ton, and when Cornnellsville coke was auoted at from 90 cents to $1 per ton the Flat Top coke stil! continued in the market at $1.75 to $2. To solve this mystery a member of the Coke Producers’ Association went down to Flat Top, and this is his report : The Flat Top coke is in the hands of a trust, and there is absolutely no competition be- tween producers. The 14 coal and coke com- panies now operating in the region are work- THE IRON AGE, The Durant-Kane Automatic Engine and Boiler. | Messrs. Thos. Kane & Co., 137 and 139 | Wabash avenue, Chicago, IIl., are putting /on the market a compact power outfit, of which we annex an engraving. It em- | braces several features of interest, the most | noteworthy feature being its special adap- | tation to the use of oil as fuel. rant porcupine, the general design of which is not unknown. It consists of a main central upright column, with welded ends, and with a fire tube in the center, | Arms with smaller pipes radiate from it. |The steam is run through a superheater before going to the engine. A drain pipe ing on leased property owned by two land | companies. Formerly the field was operated under leases made by the Southwest Virginia Improvement Company, the Bluestone Coal Company, the Flat Top Coal Company, Crane Creek Coal Company, &c. Last month these companies became absorbed into one organi- zation, under the title of the Flat Top Land Trust, with the following officers: President, E. W. Clark ; vice-president, S. F. Taylor ; secretary and treasurer, C. M. Clark; gen- eral manager, C. H. Dubring. This com- — propose to move their offices to Pitts- yurgh and enter into competition with the Connellsville field. They own 10,000 acres in Tazewell County, Va.; 50,000 acres in Mercer County, W. Va.; 65,000 acres in McDowell County, W. Va., and over 100,000 acres in Wyoming County, W. Va, in which no leases have yet been made. The other com- pany is the Crozer Land Company, who control 12,000 acres on Lower Elkhorn. These companies now employ a mine inspector to see that no coal is unnecessarily lost, and by a recent provision require that all lessees of their property build 100 coke ovens. The Pocahontas Coal Company sell the entire product of the Flat Top coal field. In 1887 their shipments were 1,025,880 tons ; for 1888 they were about 1,250,000, and expect in 1889 to ship fully 2,000,000 tons. From 50 to 60 ears of coke now leave the region daily, but when the new ovens are completed in May, the trust expect to go into the market with fully 1000 cars per week, or about one-sixth of the Connellsville output. They claim that | an analysis of their coke shows 3 per cent. more carbon or heat molecules than does the Connellsvile article, and they will eventually drive the latter from the Southern market. rr The Mining Engineers.—The fifty- third meeting of the Institute of Mining | Engineers will be held in this city, begin ning Tuesday evening, February 19, with an open session, to be followed on Wednesday by an excursion to the Spiral Weld Tube Works and the Edison Labora- tory, at East Orange, N. J. At the lat- ter place a special session will be held, devoted to the discussion of the applica- tions of electricity in mining, x. P. Rothwell, editor of the Engineering and Mining Journal, having special charge of the programme of this session. The even- ing will be given over to papers and dis- cussions connected with iron and steel: members intending to present papers on these subjects being asked to corres »ond with Charles Kirchhoff, Jr., editor of The Tron Age; the secretary, Dr. R. W. Ray- mond, requesting that members notify him of their intention to take part in the dis- cussions. Thursday is set aside for ses- sions, there being a subscription dinner in the evening. Friday is to be devoted to Jocal excursions, and the evening to a social reception, while on Saturday an op- portunity will be given to visit the differ- ent works in this vicinity. TI The Tariff League Bulletin was issued for the first time last week as the American scope, and the ultimate aim to establish it firmly as the leading weekly journal ad- vocating the American system of econo- mies.” It is the purpose of the American Protective Tariff League to strengthen the American Economist in many respects dur- ing the present year. 4 returns any water carriéd iato the super- heater to the base of the boiler. The pipes are of the best qnality charcoal lap- pounds hydraulic pressure. An exhaust steam heater is used to heat the feed water. | A pump is employed for feeding. Ordinary kerosene of from 110 to 150| test is used, though cheaper grades can be | satisfactorily burned, Crude petroleum also is available, the burners being fitted for either. The oilis drawn from a tank and passes to a trap near the boiler, from which it cannot escape unless drawn out |a strainer and is conveyed to an atomizer, heated steam. The engine is a double crank vertical jengine. There are two bearings for the |crank shaft which are cast solid with the frame, and are long and large in diameter. The cross-head slides are also cast solid with the frame. The crank is of steel, and is balanced against one-half of con- The boiler is what is known as the Du- | welded wrought iron type, tested to 400 | by some pressure; it then passes through | | where it is atomized by a jet of super-| Economist, ‘* the idea being to broaden its | January 10, 1889. nection rod. The connection rod is of , Steel, with brass boxes. The main valve is of the rocking type, and balanced. | The motion of the valve is obtained by an intermediate rocker-arm which brings all | the work and strain in a straight line with the center of the crank shaft. By the use of the rock shaft the motion is short, ena- bling the engine to run at a high rate of speed without strain or jar. The piston is hollow and has snap packing rings which are turned larger than the diameter of the cylinder, then split and sprung to- gether and turned the same diameter as the cylinder, making a perfect fit at once. They are self-adjusting, tight, yet free in their action. The piston rod and cross- head pin are steel. All wearing parts of this engine are made adjustable to wear. AUTOMATIC ENGINE AND BOILER, BUILT BY THOS. KANE & CO.,, CHICAGO, ILL. |The engine is made in sizes ranging | from 2 to 12 horse-power. The outfit is adapted also for marine use, in which its compactness and the convenience of oper- ating readily commend it. We understand that for more than a year a plant of 150 16 candle-power lights has been run by one of these outfits, the engine used be- ing a 6x 6 cylinder, run at a speed of 508 revolutions, cutting off at 1-6 stroke and belted direct to the dynamo. I Early Coal-Burning Locomotives.— The National Car and Locomotive Builder, /says Mr. William Buchanan, superintend- ent of the motive power of the New York Central Railroad, who is the inventor of one of the most successful soft-coal burning | fire-boxes ever applied to a locomotive, is particularly well acquainted with all the | experiments made in this country and in | Europe by railroad men and other in- |ventors who have labored to produce a | furnace perfectly adapted for the economi- January 10, 1889. THE IRON AGE. 47 cal combustion of bituminous coal. old Hudson River Railroad Company, with which Mr Buchanan was connected, ap- plied to their locomotives many of the so- called improvements designed for the pur- pose of burning soft coal properly. Among other devices, the combustion chamber was tried in numerous forms, It was trned from 1 foot to 5 feet long. Large flues and flues as small as 14 inches were tried with it. plied in various forms to protect the chamber, and various adopted to mix air with the gases in the combustion chamber, and nothing that The | Japan, 2, and Russia, 1. /in maximum thickness. The Piemonte, skill directed by zealous intelligence could | do to make the device a success was | spared, was found that the plain fire-box did as well as the ftire-box with a combustion chamber, and most of the engines did bet- ter when the combustion chamber was abolished and flues put in place of it. Mr. Buchanan applied a brick arch to one of the engines as early as 1857; but he used common fire-brick and the arch did not stand well. oe TT — The State of the Navy. The year 1889 will be an important one in the history of the new navy of the United States. The trials and experiments of the great cruisers Baltimore, Chicago and Charleston, to say nothing of the gun- boat Yorktown and the dynamite cruiser Vesuvius, will keep the public at large more cognizant of the developments in the naval establishment than did the announce- ment in the year past regarding the prog- ress of the work on these new vessels During the year 1888 the great shipbuild- ing yards of Cramp & Son, at Philadelphia, the Union Iron Works, of San Francisco, and the Columbia Iron Works, of Balti- more, have been rushing to completion the | But it all availed nothing. It; work of construction on the war vessels in | their charge. On April 28 the Cramps successfully launched the dynamite cruiser Vesuvius and the gunboat Yorktown; on the last Thursday in July the Charleston was slipped from the ways of the Union In this summary | could be driven through 154 inches of iron | the position of the United States is second, | if propelled by this description of powder. and considering the short growth of the} As it is, a projectile from the 6-inch | hew navy, the above standard is very high. | breech-loading rifle, when propelled by During the past year the fastest, largest | the regulation American powder, pierces and most powerful protected cruisers yet} 12 inches of iron. Experiments are in laid down arethe Blake and the Blenheim, | process to obtain a higher grade of pow- of the English service. The displacement | der, and when found the efficiency of the of these vessels is 9000 tons each, the indi-| guns will be proportionally increased by | cated horse-power, 20,000; trial speed, 22 | its use. Brick arches were ap- | | 20 knots. methods’ were | knots, with a continuous sea speed of | a These vessels have heavy, pro- . . : Ree ae oe areas Connellsville Coke Wages. tective decks, ranging from 4 to 6 inches : of the Italian navy, is the fastest cruiser After holding numerous meetings the built during the year just past. Sir|coke-workers in the Connellsville region William Armstrong & Co. were the build- | have prepared a joint scale of wages, sim- ers, and she was bought from the Arm-|ilar in many respects to the scale now in strongs by the Italians. Her displacement j anes between the H. C. Frick Coke Com- is about 2500 tons, and it is expected, with | pgny and their employees. Like the Frick Table I.—Unarmored Vessels. Name. Condition. Guns. ao ge ag NE as.0cs ve venesiade In commission, . 1 6-inch rifle........... .--| 1,485 2,240 SN oe Snitscuduntin ka znee In commission. . 2 8-inch rifle, 6 6-inch rifle...) 3,189 3,780 PUN sh cbcidisecckencce In commission. . 2 8-inch rifle, 6 6-inch rifle. .' 5,189 3,350 Ce gia e In commission. . 4 8-inch rifle, 8 6-inch rifle, 2 S-inels rifle. ....06 666. .---| 4,500 5,084 CIN oi a wiivkns Ckes Launched ...... 2 8-inch rifle, 6 6-inch rifle... 3,730 7,000 SIs oe odes ace dees Launched ...... 48-inch B. L. R., 6 6-inch B. Ra eeegrieecdecicadaael sed 4,413 9,000 MORMON s590.0%48dadee ea Launched ...... CO Cie Ee Ra Beas deectdvaes 1,700 3,000 Nie pnkososwee oh aawe Launched ...... CE i as Devi vonedvess 890 1,100 CONE eae. dusiawoavewan Building ....... TA: GG Ts Be se ccccisied 4,085 8,500 Ly eee Tree Building ....... 13 Gineh B. la BR. .....2-2s. 4,524 19 knots San Francisco............ Building ....... pg RD eee 4,083 19 knots CANNON aos Civ che ee 5 ig LC cared oe a Pe | Se 1,700 3,400 DORON. uae oc cer eecices Building ....... 8 SS See 1,700 3,400 WON cnc cece caocuen tus Launched ...... 3 15-inch dynamite guns..... 725 20 knots First-class torpedo boat... Building ....... 8 automobile torpedoes...... 99 23 knots Sr ates Oras ck cones cclaceavencacatacadedcdaneedenavad debe miawenet 5,300 20 knots Ce cee. OI EN ok wacaraasuesweleeicusnaeswentaweud@amancnls 3,000 19 knots CoOEG Ot SOMO ING: 10) 8s ccccavdivcacddsledsceccdeavceswebecs ¢eenvards 2,000 Speed not fixed cpacleudhegaulieadacadacksateeeeoasateiaee | ree ae PYGOCEICS VONOOs 025i ss ices} os her 12,000 horse power, that she will | scale, the new scale is based on coke at develop a speed of 214 knots. $1.35 per ton. When coke is selling at Of the new vessels for the American navy | that price the wages to be paid are as fol- which have been under trial none have de- | lows: Mining room coal, per 100 bushels, veloped such remarkable speed as the dyn-| 89 cents; mining heading coal, $1.04; /amite cruiser Vesuvius, now undergoing a| mining wet heading coal, $1.12; coke series of trials before a board of United) drawing, per 100 bushels charged, 54 States naval officers. The Vesuvius has | cents; cagers, 10-hour run, $1.99; drivers | developed a rate of speed equivalent to|in shafts and slopes, $1.99; drivers in Iron Works, and in September following | the powerful cruiser Baltimore was added to the hst of vessels launched by the Table II.—Armored Vessels. “Horse | Ton- Cramps, of Philadelphia. In the Govern- | Name Condition. Guns. power. | nage. ment yards at Norfolk and Brooklyn the | ——————_+ ——&—_________| —_—— —————_ —_—__—_ work of construction has been, with a few Maine eccccccsccesce oe ee eccesccescee 4 ie = : “% : — _ _ . ea pom exceptions, uninterrupted on the new bat- Texas eee seeeeee Building. ............. 2 12-inch B. L. R., 6 6-inch B. L. R.. : i, ; , : | Coast Defense...... |Plans ee 1 16-inch 115-ton B. L. R., 1 12-inch tle ships Texas and Maine, and in those 48-ton B. L, R., 1 15-inch dynamite private yards throughout the country Cina Kin dane po acneesKeshandwes 5,400 | 4,000 where contracts for war vessels have been | — Terere >< es in ee ore . oe > = Peecicuenwaawadaess = oo — sa hei Py | aaa SE Sc ctaiewendccne ompleted in hull .... WO ae Wade vs cwraxtedenacens 8 3,815 —" = work ” being —_— — |Miantonomoh ..... Completed in hull ....|4 10-inch B, L. R................... 1,030 | 3,815 — € association Of old wooden | amphitrite.... ....|Completed in hull ..../4 10-inch B. L. R..........0c0e eee 1,000 3,815 craft and battered hulks with all pertain- | Monadnock......... Completed in hull ..../4 10-inch B. L. R............ eee eee 3,000 | 3,815 ing to our navy has been so common with | Armored cruiser... .|Not_commenced......|..... anes avenue tone ski cneeedieb eas clecceoses! Tee a large class of people that to them the rapid changes made of late in the type of vessels and style of armament are wholly incomprehensible. That the navy of the United States is making rapid strides toward the front rank of armed forces on the sea is undeniable, and if Congress will but exhibit the same spirit of liberality shown in its appropriations of the last four sessions the supremacy of the navy will result in a comparatively short space of time. It may not be without interest here to again present a list of the vessels of the new navy. The list has been published at different times, but will well bear repe- tition. The unarmored vessels, with their armament, tonnage and power are detailed in Table I. In the list of armored vessels we have the vessels mentioned in Table II. To compare the vessels of the new navy, as given in the above, with those of other countries, it may be interesting to know that of the 19-knot war ships of 3000 tons | and upward Great Britain has 10, the United States, 8; France, 5; Spain, 3; | 21.47 knots per hour, and what with the! drift mines, $1.89; roadmen, horseback- | posed of navy officers. | terrible destructive powers possessed by | men, and timbermen in drift mines, $1.89; her three 16-inch dynamite guns she will| in shafts and slopes, $1.99; inside labor- be one of the most formidable vessels in| ers, $1.53; trappers, per day, 714 cents; the navy. rope-riders, per turn, $1.89; leveling, per The advance in the type of guns has| oven, 9,3; cents; yard laborers, $1.36; been one of the most marked features of | car-forkers, 20-ton cars, 92 cents; 40-ton our naval development. The guns now in|cars, $1.12; dumpers and _ tipplemen, course of construction for the new vessels | $1.53; firemen, $1.73. are the designs of an ordnance board com-| Under the Frick scale, at the same basis, These guns have} wages are as follows: Mining room coal, attained remarkable success, and the ve-| 90 cents; heading coal, $1.05; wet head- locity obtained compares favorably with|ing coal, $1.12}; cagers, $1.95; drivers, the best results of those of Armstrong’s| shafts and slopes, $1.95; in drifts, $1.85; and Krupp’s build. The principal devel- | roadmen, horsebackmen and timbermen in opments during the year in the department | shafts and slopes, $1.95; in drifts, $1.85; of ordnance have been in improved pow-| inside laborers, $1.50; trappers, 70 cents; der and projectiles. The greatest im-|rope-riders, $1.85; dumpers and tipple- provement in the manufacture of gun-|men, $1.50; firemen, $1.70; coke draw- powder has been made in France and_/| ers, 53 cents; leveling, 94 cents; yard la- Germany, whereby, in case of the former, | borers, $1.35; car-forkers, 40-ton cars, initial velocities of 2400 and 2600 foot- | $1.10; 20-ton cars, 90 cents. seconds have been obtained. Such an} A comparison of the two scales shows increase in velocity increases the energy of |that the minimum wages under the joint the projectile. In the case of the new| scale are slightly in advance of those un- 6-inch breech-loading rifles a projectile ' der the Frick scale for all classes of labor D a pee — wy ences > By 2 mip B 5 Pww oe * ‘ y Wik i P —— oe 833, 2) DEY: h ails ee as Bes 3. ~* Ane. £ A ghe ~ - ae Des: iA. eae. — ae be at anes ey a SoS =" = uk EM ed 6 ores & a es pre Sede ¥ * —_— et uo at se egp) -- saan zs A ll A 48 THE IRON AGE. January 10, 1889, timbermen. As compared with the scale recently adopted by the Amalgamated As- | sociation, there is an advance over all | classes of work except mining room coal, | mining in wet headings, trappers, forkers | and yard laborers. Under the last-named scale the minimum wages are as follows: Mining room coal, 95 cents; heading coal, $1.12; wet heading, $1.20; cagers, $1.95; | drivers in shafts and slopes, $1.95; in| drift mines, $1.85; inside laborers, $1.50: trappers, 80 cents; rope-riders, $1.85; dumpers and tipplemen, $1.65; roadmen, timbermen and horsebackmen, $1.95; fire- men, $1.70; coke drawers, 54 cents; lev- elers, 94 cents; yard laborers, $1.40; car- | forkers, 95 cents and $1.15. For every advance of 10 cents in the | selling price of coke, wages under the new | scale will advance 4 cents for mine®, cagers, drivers, roadmen, horsebackmen, timbermen and rope-riders. For inside | and yard laborers, dumpers and tipplemen | the advance is 3 cents. The advance for | coke-drawers and trappers is 14 cents, car- | forkers, 2 cents, and firemea 384 cents. Under the Frick scale the advance is 24} cents per 100 bushels on mining, 1} cents | on drawing, and 2 per cent. on all other | labor for every advance of 10 cents in the | selling price of coke. The Amalgamated | except miners, roadmen, horsebackmen and | | | Waterous Engine Works, of Brantford, Ontario, the largest exporters of engines of the dominion. The South Park Bridge and Bolt Works is also an important manu- |factory, making specialties of railroad work and architectural iron forgings. Its president, Joseph W. Morgan, was of the Hall & Morgan Iron Works, of Wilming- iton, Del. He built Memorial Hall, at the Centennial Exhibition, and numerous bridges over the Schuylkill and other rivers were constructed under his personal supervision. He invented the Morgan nut lock and bolts for railroad work. SE Slab Truck for Rolling Mills. Messrs. Riehlé Bros., proprietors of the | Philadelphia Scale and Testing Machine Works, 413 Market street, Philadelphia, Pa., are adding to their already extensive assortment of products articles suitable for rolling mills, steel works and blast fur- naces, The annexed illustration repre- sents the Riehle slab truck. This truck | was designed and constructed by them for the Carbon Iron Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., and it is offered with confidence to rolling mill managers and superintendents. Itis built in a substantial manner and is well adapted for the rough use to which it SF hi poet are to attempt anything like a general in- troduction of manual training in the 'schools in the near future, we must first | teach the teachers. To do this our normal schools must be prepared in equipment /and instructing force for the demands which will be made upon them. Some of them are already anticipating this demand, and are putting into operation, in a | moderate, tentative way, a system of in- | dustrial training for their scholars who are |to be the future teachers of our schools. | The ability to do this should be placed in the hands of all our normal schools as fast as they are ready to carry the system into practical effect. It isa great mistake to suppose that this will require large build- ings and expensive outfits. All that is de- sirable in this direction cannot be accom- plished in a single year, and it is therefore recommended that reasonable appropria- tions for this specific purpose be made to “ach and all of our normal schools if it should be deemed wise to begin such training at once.” a Under the new agreement adopted by the general managers of the Western Freight Association roads December 20, 1888, and which the presidents, at their meeting in |New York a day or two later, pledged SLAB TRUCK FOR ROLLING MILLS, MADE BY RIEHLE BROS., PHILADELPHIA, PA. scale provides for an advance of 5 per cent. in the wages of miners and drawers, and 4 per cent. for