The Iron Age 1889-01-31: Vol 43

‘CHE The Buchanan Magnetie Rolly, a —_—-— te a paper descriptive of a number of iron ore concentrating plants and machin- ery published in the Journal of the United States Association of Charcoal Ironmakers, John Birkinbine, the editor, furnishes the following data relating to the Bu- chanan magnetic rolls: More thorough and systematic work has been done with this machine than on any other. The Edison machine has treated a arger number of ores than any other and SU i a SH IRON AG THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 1889. around the magnetic portion, adhe ‘ring | than to notice the merits of f the appliances until it passes beyond the magnetic influ-| used. It will be noted in the analyses given ence, while the non-magnetic particles | above that the sulphurincreased in the con- drop between the rolls centrates of Croton ore, owing to the fact The Messrs. Cheever have been experi- | that it passed over with the magnetite. menting with these magnetic rolls to de- | - cial termine the commercial problem of | Hoisting Engine. treating the dump-pile which represents } nine the lean material left after sorting out the Hoisting and conveying material by merchantable ore taken from their impres- | means of a suspended wire cable has been sive tunnel in the Croton hills. In con-|}so widely adopted as to call for ma nection with these experiments the} chinery more or less particularly adapted Messrs. Cheever have established a chemi-! for the service. The hoisting engine here Hi i NT MK ii i HOISTING ENGINE, BUILT BY THE LIDGERWOOD MFG. COMPANY, NEW YORK. shown its capabilities under varying con- ditions, and the Wenstrém machine has also been operated on several ores. The Buchanan rolls, on the other hand, havg’} been operated practically on one ore—\ ing, that obtained from the Croton mines An New York. The crushing plant at these mines has been utilized by the Meégsrs. Cheever to reduce ore from the extensive waste pile at the Croton mines to about 15-mesh size, and this has been passed through the Buchanan magnetic rolls. These consist of iron rolls revolving\ on journals which are carried on insulated standards wound with copper wire. | connecting these wires with a batiery the standards become electro-magnetic of op- posite polarity and the rolls are charged thereby, making a magnetic field between the rolls. The. ore being fed on the rolls, which revolve toward each other, is carried cal laboratory, and the following deter- | illustrated was designed to meet the re- minations are selected from a larger num- quirements of this character 30th drum?’ | ber of analyses made by Mr. Edwin K. | are loosely mounted and are entirely inde- Landis, chemist : | pendent of each other in operation. They Separation of Croton (Theall) Ore by Bu-|™ay be thrown in and out of gear with chanan Magnetic Rolls, Crudé Concen- Tail- |together, or one drum may be employed ore. trates. ings. | in lowering while the other is hoisting; o1 From. .....2«++. 37,968 64,504 15.207 | both drums may be thrown into gear and +: . 99 & 5 35 5 > . “ z a Silica.......... 3.) 3.00 0.20 | the) engine used as a regular reversible en- Phosphorus... .. 0.3838 0.050 0.492 ee + load thal . a hil is | Sulphur deveen 0.522 1.255 (mes SS SS ae ange aes re oe aaa . 31.28 62.56 4.66 | empty cage is being lowered. This inde- ee 35.50 6.825 58.05 | pendent construction permits of one drum or ~ ror . e ° Phosphorus.... 0.271 0,058 0.927 | being thrown into gear to wind up the Ss eer 0.78 .B20 0.945 ° 8 ‘ > ulphur. . is4 1.3 M5 | main rope, while the other drum, being EER —— : . , ° The analyses given In titsertiele are not) out of gear and loose on the shaft, pays necessarily comparative as applied to the | out the tail-rope. Reversing the engincs, various machines used, for with each ma-|of course, reverses their operations. The | chine the conditions are different, and the | drums are made in one casting, turned determinations are given to show the pos- | off true and spirally grooved for the rope. sibilities of magnetic separation rather ' The friction is of the double-cone type and Mh) a \ the engines in motion, either separately or ‘ 154 THE IRON AGE. January 31, 1889 is composed of segments of hard wood, bolted fast to spur-wheels and turned off conically to suit the flanges of the drum with which it engages. A very small movement of the drum along the | shaft is sufficient to engage it with the friction surface. This is accomplished by means of a powerful lever, screw and nut at the end of the drum shaft, attached to the side stand, and communicating motion to the drum by means of astee) pin, cross- key and collar. The friction is such that a comparativ ely light pressure on the lever is sufficient to hold the drum firmly in gear against any load the engine can hoist. When the pressure is removed the drum is | released by a spiral spring on the shaft between the drum “a gear-wheel. The te ti 2 x= | ingots is considerably behindhand. The | Engineer reports that Bell Bros. do not in- tend to adopt the usual cogging mill and | into blooms of marketable size and shape. | They are adopting the hydraulic squeezer system, which has been so successful in making forgings at Manchester, Sheffield and elsewhere. Blooms will be made for the generel market, and it is expected owners of ironworks who do not care to | put down a steel melting plant themselves. is exceedingly good for carrying ona trade of this kind. to any consumer’s works situated on the seaboard on the Northeast Coast, in full \ 1 | 1 HOISTING brake is a broad iron band, lined with blocks of hard wood, which encircles the flange of the drum. The gearing is the) usual spur-wheel and pinion type. The | engines are similar to those which are so | well known in connection with hoisting | machinery of this make. All movements | of the hoisting engine are controlled by | five levers plac ced side by side, as shown in | the perspective and plan’ views; the throttle is also within convenient reach of the operator. These engines are made by the | Lidgerwood Mfg. Company, of 96 Liberty | street, New York. cr The new staal works erected at Port | Clarence, England, by Bell Bros., of whom I. Lowthian Bell is a member, are | ready to commence operations so far as to | mase ingots; already been made. But, as in the other | case, the machinery for dealing with the ENGINE, BUILT BY and, indeed, a trial cast has | THE LIDGERWOOD MFG. | craft-loads, for about 2/ per ton. The pro- cess adopted by Messrs. Bell Bros. is that known as the ‘‘neutral” process, the hearth of the furnace being lined with chrome ore, or other material which is neither distinctly acid nor basic. M. Pour- cel, formerly of the Terre Noire Works, | in France, occupies the position of respon- | sible adviser to the firm on technical mat- |ters connected with the steel melting | plane. | A new cable street railway was formally | | opened for business in Chicago on the 22d |inst. It is the Lincoln avenue branch of the North Chicago Street Railway and is about a mile and a half in length, extend- ing a short distance beyond the city limits. The power plant consists of eight boilers of 750 horse-power and two steam engines built by Robert Wetherill & Co., of Chester, Pa. A complete electrical apparatus ex- | hot slab shears for reducing their ingots | they will be purchased by many of the) 1 The situation of the Port Clarence works | Blooms can be sent thence tends along the line tor instant communi- ‘cation with headquarters in case of acci- ‘dents or break-downs. The machinery started off very well, and the new line promises to work very satisfactorily. secre tance Butterworth on the Despotism of Labor. The alleged ‘‘ Despotism of Labor” was the occasion of a vigorous philippie by Representative Butterworth, of Ohio, last week, the special provocation being an at- tempt to banish steam printing presses from the Bureau of Engraving ard Print- ing at the instigation of hand plate print- ers. He wished to go on record as oppos- COMPANY, NEW YORK. ing any change in the presses at the behest or dictation of any combination or society or collection of individuals. Mr. Butter; worth said that he approved of the com- bination of labor, but he did not approve of force being used to exclude any Ameri- can from any walk of life or any calling. It was needless for members to shut their eyes to the fact that some of these organi- zations had starved widows and orphans into compliance with their behests. While he in no way objected to organizations in the interests of men, wherever and however employed, he protested against the utiliza- tion of those organizations for the purpose of compelling obedience to their high behests except by argument and the in- fluence of moral suasion. All he insisted upon was that members should stand by their deliberate judgment and not yield to the suggestion that it would shorten their political life not to do so. He denied the January 31, 1889 right of any association to say to his boy that he should not learn the trade of his father. Against that right he inveighed. ‘Tf this House had done its duty,” said the speaker, ‘‘the children of men who made and kept the republic would not be crowded out of work by the shiploads of lazzaroni from Europe who landed daily on our shores.” In brief, Mr. Butter- worth’s speech was a protest against the bulldozing of trades unions and a conten- tion that every man has a right to the management of his own affairs. I The St. Mary’s Canal. The report of Col. O. M. Poe to the Chief of Engineers, on the commerce of the St. Mary’s Falls Canal, Michigan, for THE IRON AGE. cargo of registered vessels in 1888 was 876.6 tons, as against 644 tons in 1887, an increase of 36 per cent. As to the quantity and value of the respective kinds of freight carried through the canal in 1888, as compared with 1887, Colonel Poe’s report gives the fol- lowing figures: Coal 2,105,041 tons, an increase of 56 per cent., valued at $7,367, - 643; flour, 2,190,725 barrels, an increase of 39 per cent., valued at $10,953,625; wheat, 18,596,351 bushels, a decrease of 19 per cent., valued at $18,224,423; grain other than wheat, 2,022,308 bush- els, an increase of 161 per cent., valued at $1,981,861; manufactured iron, 48,859 tons, a decrease of 20 per cent., valued at $2,442,950; pig iron, 14,844 tons, an increase of 5 per cent., valued at $252,- 348; salt, 210,433 barrels, an increase of 155 vides all that is necessary to render the Government absolutely independent of the world in the matter of building and equipping a navy. There is ample com- petition among bidders for the construc- tion of engines and machinery, and in this matter American enterprise and ingenuity seem likely to lead the world. American Patents on Foreign [nven- tions.--An important decision affecting the life of an American patent has been reached by the United States Supreme Court in the case of the Rate Refrigerating Company, applicant, against George B. Hammond & Co. By the statute of the United States it is provided that when a patent is taken out in a foreign country, and one subsequently is taken out in this country, the patent the last navigation season, gives fresh illustration of the magnitude of the com- merce which comes through the great 3 per cent., valued at $210,433; copper, | shall expire in the United States with the 28,960 tons, a decrease of 17 per cent., | expiration of the patent in the foreign valued at $5,792,000; iron ore, 2,570,-' country in which it first runs out. Under 4 TH * r =a x m PLATFORM \ Pn FLOOR sy Side Elevation. =e ra ‘ - go ey) HOISTING ENGINE, BUILT BY THE LIDGERWOOD MFG. COMPANY, NEW YORK. Th lakes. It was valued last season at $82,- 156,019, or $28,000,000 more than in 1885, $13,000,000 more than in 1886, and $3,000,000 more than in 1887. The fail- ure to keep up the proportionate increase in 1888 is attributed to the short crop of merchantable wheat, the diminished de- mand for railroad iron in the Northwest, a restricted output from the Lake Superior mines and shipments of iron by rail. It is assumed that these causes are only tem- porary and that the percentage of increase will probably be restored next season. As compared with the season of 1887, there was an increase in the registered tonnage of 233,061, or 5 per cent., and in the freight tonnage of 916,776, or 17 per cent. The total freight tonnage was 6,411,423 tons. It is noteworthy, how- ever, that while both the registered and freight tonnage increased, the number of vessels passing through the canal was less by 1552, or a decrease of 17 per cent. The average tonnage of registered vessels in 1887 was 574.2, but in 1888 it was 703, an increase of 22.4 per cent., although the number of registered ves- sels in 1888 was 216 less. The average 517 tons, an increase of 3 per cent., valued at $8,996,809: lumber, 240,372,- 000 feet, an increase of 45 per cent., valued at $4,326,696; silver ore, 3385 tons, an increase of 867 per cent., valued at $520,579; building stones, 33,541 tons, an increase of 150 per cent., valued at $335,410; and unclassified freight, 345,- 854 tons, valued at $20,751,240, or about 5 per cent. of the total freight tonnage. A The condition and prospects of the United States Navy are referred to by the House Committee on Naval Affairs, which quotes the Appropriation Committee as saying that the appropriation of $625,000 for extending the gun plant at the Wash- ington Navy Yard will be all that is neces- sary to put three different navy yards in condition to build the hulls of the finest modern vessels, armored and unarmored, as well as for the equipment of a great plant for the assembly of heavy ordnance. Satisfactory progress is being made by the private contractors for supplying heavy gun and armor plate forgings and for rapid- fire machine guns. The bill reported pro- Cc the Canadian law patents are granted for five years, with the privilege of renewal for two -periods of five years each. The question in this case was whether the life- time of the American patent expired five years from its issuance in Canada or at the end of 15 years, which is the limit to which the life of a patent may be extended in Canada. The Supreme Court holds that the lifetime of an American patent first taken out in a foreign country does not ex- pire until the extreme limit of time for which an extension of patent may be se- cured in the foreign country. The de- cision of the Circuit Court of Massachu- setts is thus reversed. —_ SS — Several of the big buildings of Philadel- phia have recently had placed in them scales with a hopper receptacle for holding several tons of eoal. They are situated under the sidewalk shutes, and the coal is dumped directly into the hopper from the cart and then weighed. The engineer of one of these buildings says that thus assur- ing full weight in the coal he buys he saves the value of the scale many times during the year. a ij 9 i oe ry : BBLS) Ba uy T PS} * ea cay ree 6 : tee. a - 1a _— 4 ere ia . | PPB ae % ae ee | i Ire. epee Se | SSB Ve ent | > 5 ins S ij ‘ , ae et { : H i ‘2. f ~ < { Atk baa. : Ng r= 156 THE IRON AGE. January 31, 1889 HUNT'S RAIL SPECIFICATIONS. The Views of Railroad Men. We print below the opinions expressed by railroad managers and engineers on the subject brought up by the paper of Cap- tain W. R. Hunt in the yolumns of the Railroad Gazette. One chief engineer of a trunk line writes: Instead of tests made by the company, we accept a guarantee for a number of years from the manufacturers, which is evidently the simplest way of getting good rails, and no cor- poration can nowadays exact both. In other words, we must either tell the manufacturers how to make the rail and then stand by the re- sult, or leave it to him and accept his guar- antee. Under our contracts we have the right to examine the results of analyses made at the shop, and we see to it that the rail is properly rolled to the standard section, is straight and without flaws. Mr. Katté concurs generally with Mr. Hunt’s views, as given in the paper quoted from. Mr. W. H. Brown, of the Penn- sylvania, says: ‘‘From our observation and experience we find that the rails now furnished this company improve in the wearing quality and strength. We have very little or no trouble of late years from broken rails, since we keep the amount of carbon within the limits of 0.30 to 0.50 per cent. of the company.” Mr. J. T. Richards, Asst. Chief Engineer of the Pennsylvania, speaking of the specitications, Sayss These have been formulated gradually and from experience in the wear and breakage of rail, gathered through a long series of years, and if they are not perfect they are the best we can put forth at this time. As you know, there is a great difference of opinion among engineers and managers of railroads on this subject, and, in my opinion, it is right that there should be, as the traffic and also the ex- tremes of temperature are so widely different on the railroads of the United States, even though they be not many miles apart ; hence it would be manifestly impossible to establish an absolute rule as to the chemical and physi- cal characterists of rails to which all the rail- roads could conform. Mr. Jas. O. Osgood, Chief Engineer Lake Shore and Michigan Southern, says: I am not aes to state just what chemi- cal tests I should recommend, but in my opin- ion it is very desirable that chemical tests should be made which will secure uniformity of material and regulate the amount of carbon and phosphorus, Rails as ordinarily furnished I have generally found too soft to wear well, and I believe, with proper care in regard to the chemical constituents, that a hard rail can be obtained which will be much more service- able than the ordinary product of the mills, and which will not be subject to much break- age. In addition to any chemical tests which may be required, much more than ordinary care should be taken in straightening rails and in inspection for surface defects. No doubt physical tests of the material should be had also. I consider the present practice of rail in- svection entirely inadequate to secure proper results. Mr. J. D. Hawks, Chief Engineer Michi- gan Central, who is known as a careful ob- server and student of rail wear, writes: I am entirely at sea in regard to proper speci- fication for steel rails. Iam satisfied in my own mind that the difficulties we have had of late years from soft rails are largely owing to mechanical construction. I cannot learn that any less pains are taken with the quality of material than formerly, and never yet have seen a soft rail myself with a thin head, our trouble in that direction having been entirely with the 65-pound rail, which has a head out of all proportion to the size of the rest of the rail. The head is so large that in order to get the rail through the rolls before the neck and flanges get too cold for rolling, the head has to be kept at altogether too high a heat to produce satisfactory results. Our new 80- pound rail* is designed to obviate this difficulty. If itis not a success in this direc- tion, then the rolling mills have got to get up some other excuse for making poor rails. 1 think the Michigan Central has met * This rail was shown in the Railroad Gazette, December 7, 1888. It has a head 2% inches wide and 1% deep, containing about 42.4 per cent. of the total metal. This head is relatively consid- erably lighter than mcst modern sections 'grain. A piece taken out of the head, or even every excuse, except this latter one of the large | head, that the steel men have offered. We | have shown them that their rails are laid on a good road-bed with an abundance of ties and good joint fastenings, and have also shown them that the excuse they make of heavier and faster traffic is no excuse at all on our road, as we run the heavy and fast traffic over some of our old 60-pound rails with the same conditions as to road- The soft rail that I have had trouble with has always been very coarse Col. H. 8. Haines, general manager of the ‘* Plant” lines, writes: I have the disposition and I wish I had the time to express my views at length on ‘this subject; they would not be very technical either. I started out years ago with that en of the investigation, and the further I have gone the less occasion I have found for apply- ing my information either chemically or math- ematically to the determination of the qualifi- cations of a good steel rail; or, to put it in a different way, to find out in advance the best rail for our ay aye and to know when we have got it. Of late years the impression has the entire head, and forged down under a steam hammer, will show fine grain. There have been, of course, a great many suggestions of- been growing on me that the designers and manufacturers will have to specialize in this branch of railroad engineering, as has been found necessary in other branches. That is to say, that what is wanted in the way of a rail for a rock-ballasted road is not what we want in our territory, where, for instance, in 1000 miles of road in our system there is not one mile of rock or gravel ballast or any proba- bility of obtaining it. When we first began to use steel rail, its cost being so excessive as compared with iron rails led us to use a light section—that is, 50-pound. As our equipment and trainloads increased in weight, we have replaced it in a great measure with a 60-pound section, On taking up the 50-pound rail, we found them bowed at each end, as if the base had become lengthened under the rolling of the trains, and yet very little wear on the heads. For instance, in taking upa number of rails near Savannah, where our traffic was the heaviest and where they had been down 10 years, we found a loss by wear of about 3 pounds per rail of 30 feet. This may be ac- counted for by our exceptionally low gradients and long tangents, but it isa fact, or at least we consider it one, that the trouble with us is not the wear of the head, but the bending up- ward of the rails at the ends, which would seem to show that rock ballast will wear off the head of a rail faster than it would wear on an unballasted road, and that in designing a heavier section for our sandy road-beds, we do not need so much metal in the head of the rail, but we must seek to make the rail higher and srhaps broader. With that end in view we Lowe recently designed a section of a 70-pound pattern, 5 inches high and with a base of 5 inches, using the same metal in the head that we now use in our 60-pound rail—that is to say, we are providing for increased stiffness and not for increased wear. A Western engineer says: For physical test of rails the Pennsylvania Railroad specification seems to be in the right direction; as to the chemical test I am not pre- pared tosay. The question of the constituent properties of rails is still in doubt. ‘The condi- tions under which rails are used, laid in track and taken care of vary so much on different roads, and the experience is so different that the matter has scarcely received sufficient at- tention for any one to say just what is the proper make-up for rails. fered as to manner of inspecting rails. We try to have our rails carefully inspected for flaws, splits at the ends and crooked or lumpy surfaces and lines. The physical tests have not so far amounted to much, and I am at sea as to what really constitutes a proper ee test, especially in view of the fact that where I have undertaken to specify certain physical qualities that the rail should possess, the roll- ing mill has refused to sign the contract. It is true that it has been my misfortune to under- take to insert these qualifications in the con- tract on a rising market. If I could catch the market on the drop after the rail contract was as good as closed t might be more successful. I have, of course, great hopes that our new 80- pound section will give us much better results than the 65-pound section. The mill peeple have only of Tate years complained about the 65-pound section being too large in the head. This theory of the large head was perhaps good enough at the time the large head was first adopted. I inclose sketch showing how the large head came to be adopted on the L. S. and M.S. You will notice that the section of 60- pound rail is, in the light of the present experi- ence, a very good one. The same distance be- tween flange and head was maintained on the 65-pound rail, and the five pounds were added to the head, except a very small bit on the ex- treme end of the flange. The rolling-mill peo- ple did not object to this at the time, and since then, on many roads, the idea has been carried still further by adding more weight to the head in a 70 and 75-pound rail. While the theory of this addition to the head is that after 14 or 44 inch of the material is worn off the head there will still remain as good a section as the original lighter section, practice shows altogether a different state of affairs. The 60-pound rail that we still have in track has a thin and light head. It has been subjected to very heavy traffic for 15 or 16 ears, and will not show \ inch worn off the ead during all that time. If the 80-pound rail will give us as good service as this old 60- pound it is all that Task. I do notexpect any better service, but shall be very well satisfied with rail that will last under our traffic for 15 years. We certainly have not had anything of the kind since we have adopted a 65-pound sec- tion, either of American or English make. The 80-pound rail will be laid with a very much im- proved joint fastening as compared with the short four-hole splice of the 60-pound rail, and should give better results on that account. In fact, much of the 60-pound rail was laid origin- ally with chairs with only a two-hole splice. It stood this kind of a joint very well, and _be- cause it did stand with a chair for an anvil, it shows to me that the railmen are paying alto- gether too much attention to the style of joint that should be used. The joint being outside of their contract, they have found it conven- ient to lay a good share of our trouble from soft rail to poor joints and joint fastenings. Another Western engineer, who is much more than commonly well informed, writes : I think the drop test for rails a good one, so far, that while it does not prove that a rail is a good one, it does indicate what are worthless ones—that is, those that are quite too brittle to to be safely laid in track, and I think the same may be said of chemical analysis of rails. It may show whether a rail contains too high a proportion of an element which is well known to be injurious to the metal, without, however, showing just what ‘oor of elements con- stitute a good rail. Our analyses of rails so far have not been very satisfactory, but from the work in that line which we now have in progress, we hope to obtain some valuable re- sults. I would attach more importance to phy- we can return any failures. The only specifi- —eee ai ane canvas, ane ay “4 cation I have is with regard to the carbon. I t A f th oh ical treatment of the metal have raised this from 0.40 to from 0.50 to 0.55, in Gln easaaaianeaaarae Ge : a tp cert and am Ss = ey of limiting it prescribe neither physical nor ea nas to 0.60, lieve this right. As we use a alt : : ‘le heavier rail [think we can use a higher carbon pe nny = but take their rails on and get better results. I think there has been somewhat of an im- provement in the wearing qualities of rails made within the last two or three years, though not yet up to the standard of 10 or 12 years ago. One reason for the failure of rails of re- cent manufacture is the excessive weight per car wheel which is brought upon them; while old rails which have become ‘ case hardened,” so to speak,under lighter rolling-stock are better able to stand the crushing force of the present heavily weighted wheels. An engineer, who has had large experience with English rails, finds those made now much inferior to lighter rails made a dozen years ago. This has been true for several years, and many rails have been taken out of track after 18 months’ serv- ice. They failed chiefly from flattening at the points, The rails are too soft. Mr. Robert Sayre, second vice-president Lehigh Valley, is another engineer wha has given especial attention torails. He writes: I have never prepared a specification for the test of rails, for the reason that we obtain al- most all our rails from the Bethlehem Iron Company and depend upon it furnishing us with a good rail, and as we are near the mill The chief engineer of an Eastern line carrying a very heavy and fast traffic writes: This company has been trusting the mills that roll the rails, and I do not think they are up to the proper standard. They are consid- erably inferior to English rails—at least those made some 15 or 20 years ago. We have taken out of this company’s main line this summer John Brown rails that have been in the track since 1868, 60 pounds per yard, and they were not so much worn but that they will be good for a number of years yet. I have doubts if our new rails, which have only been in the track a short time, will last 15 years, especially | those put in on the main line. January 31, 1889 A Canadian engineer writes: I have almost reached the conclusion that the inspection of rails is a useless service, as, under the same specifications and the same in- spector, and, I may add, under the same con- tract, one delivery of rails may turn out hard and brittle, while another delivery may prove to be as soft as lead. My belief is that under the present process of manufacture the makers are unable to insure a specific quality of rail. Mr. E. P. Hannaford, Chief Engineer Grand Trunk Railway, writes: First let us look at the position of the manu- factures now and as existing some 1S years ago, when steel rails were first introduced on this continent as a system. In 1870 the en- gineers of railway companies accepted steel rails on the good faith of the manufacturers, with some misgivings and anxiety, it is true; but in those days railway engineers knew but little of the manufacture of steel rails, and, as arule, everything was left to the good faith and | integrity of the manufacturer, and in some cases a guarantee for a term of years was given. The imported English rails of early years, from 1870 to 1875, gave satisfaction; their wearing life under a heavy traffic was yut down at 15 years, and time and service nave proved their durability to be equal to the anticipation. Even up to the year 1880 the imported English rails were good in quality, although not so good as during the first five years. From 1880 to the present time there has been a gradual falling off year by year in the wear- ing quality of imported rails, until their life 157 THE IRON AGE. fold rails made by the same makers ten years later. . Now, inasmuch as railmakers of early years | under the Bessemer process know all about the | cause of the decrease in wearing ability, I ap- proach the point of endeavoring to set them |right, with a great deal of diffidence in my ability to do so. It seems to me very much like a patient prescribing for himself and the doctor looking on with placidity, well knowing | that he (the doctor) is master of the position. | I consider about the best constituent parts for a 65-pound rail, gathered from the reports of the composition of rails that have given good and bad results, bearing in mind I dv not run the laboratory: 1.10 to 1.20 “eador 0.07 Carbon ..-0.40 | Manganese.. Silicon... ...0.06 | Phosphorus. And by increasing the weight of rails, say, to 75 or 80 pounds per yard, the carbon may be increased to 0.50 to 0.55, Now, as to the falling weight test. Iam not a believer in such, aptly called ** barbarous,” usages as have been sometimes practiced. The great object to arrive at is the toughness of steel at its maximum of hardness. A weight of 2000 pounds from 18 to 20 feet, two or more blows applied will test this; and if the material is tough, that is sufficient; but if it snaps off then there is the presence of two much phos- phorus or sulphur in the ore—i.e., when the above quantities of carbon, silicon and man- ganese are used; and it mustalways be remem- bered that the bulk ore should be chosen with a natural minimum percentage of phosphorus The Rail Head Described by J. D. He cannot be depended upon with any certainty. The same experience is applicable to rails made in the United States—the earlier made rails are better than those of more recent years. This falling off in the quality of steel rails has led railway engineers to study the component parts of the rails, with a view of helping the manufacturers in their endeavors to turn out good wearing rails. Now, why are the rails of late years inferior in quality to those of earlier years? The answer is to be found in the demand for rails increasing the competition, and in turn de- creasing the price. Thus, rails in 1880 to 1885 at the mills’ mouth, in England, worth from $80 to $50 per ton, and in the United States States from $115 to $80 per ton, are now down to $20 in England and $30 in the United States. It is useless for railmakers to say that the same ore is used and the same care in manu- facturing Bessemer-steel rails is exercised now as in previous years, because facts prove the contrary. The failing wear of rails of re- cent years’ make is evidence against such asser- tions. The manufacturer who was in business in the early years knows all about the reasons of the falling away in quality, but he cannot re- store the lost elements of wear. The enormous demand and output exacts his attention, and the competition in price%precludes his reverting to what are termed the old-fashioned methods of 20 years ago; but, nevertheless, these orig- inal makers know all about it, and the why and wherefore rails are not so good in lasting pow- ers as at their first introduction. Some of the makers have said: ‘‘True, the rails of early years wore well; they were hard; so hard that they caused accidents by breakages, which now happily are almost unknown.” Not so. Rails did not break more in the early years than those in later years; but the fact is that the rails of late years are not nearly so good as those of earlier date. And my experience goes to show that rails made by the same maker in wks, Chief Engineer Michigan Central. | and sulphur, and that if ores are used with a natural high percentage of phosphorus and sulphur, then the extraction or reduction of these injurious elements has to be done by what is known as the “ basic process,” and a good rail cannot be relied upon. I cannot divest myself of the feeling that much of the failure of latter years is the result of using ores inferior to what were used when Bessemer rails were first introduced, and in| closing I desire again to say that while we main- tenance engineers can give railmakers results, yet we are only secondary to them in knowing now to overcome the cause of failures. All the engineers’ prescriptions and rail inspectors’ elaborate reports will not, in my opinion, se- cure wearing service equal to rails made 15 and 20 years ago. I believe that railmakers are desirous of making good rails, but the market price and tonnage output limits these condi- tions, and that if a railmaker turns out rails as good as those from his neighbor's mill it satis- fies his conscience, and, if they are not as good, then the railway engineer or inspector will pos- sibly come in for a good share of the failure as participating in manipulating the ingredients making up the rails, and the more the patient interferes with the doctor the worse in my opinion it may be for him. Let us look at net results, the doctor to effect the cure or blame him for incompetency. Mr. W. F. Mattes, chief engineer and manager West Superior Iron and Steel Company, writes : Physical tests upon specimens cut or forged from pieces of the rail, or forged from sample castings of the heat, have little or no value. The an wet undoubtedly gives some indica- tion of the toughness and safety of the rail, but throws little light upon its wearing qualities, I am inclined to think that a torsional test upon specimens several feet long, recorded by a large Thurston machine, would give much Having given you the task that railway en- | gineers have before them, I will give you what | | | 1870 to 1875 will outlast in wear and time two-| more information than a drop test. The de- mand for harder rails which has set in withina | comparatively recent period will very likely result in some of our leading railroads estab- lishing a test for hardness. If | were purchasing for a large railroad lL would analyze occasionally. I would want to know that phosphorus and sulphur were within bounds, and that the manufacture was sys- | tematical; and yet, after all, we find ourselves unable to tell very much about the value of a rail from the record of its constituents. Within the proper limits for the various elements there is room for very wide differences in the actual qualities of the rail. There are two objects in inspection—first, to see that the rails are mechanically perfect, and, second, to know that they are made of good steel. The first is easily accomplished by a man having such experience as hes usually been acquired by the ordinary inspector. To be of much value in the direction of the second re- quirement, the inspector should be thoroughly familiar with every stage of the manufacture, and conversant with the various conditions that affect the ultimate conditicn of the steel. To sucha man the ordinary physical and chemical tests are useful only as an occasional check. I believe the average output to be more uni- form in quality that formerly. With some mills I know this to be the case. While much has yet to be learned, the years have brought their lessons, and the various processes are now under better control. I think, also, that most of the mills are now turning out harder rails than they were, perhaps, one year ago. Of course such steel will show higher resistance under test. Whether it will be more liable to breakage in the track remains to be seen. There is some danger in going too far in this direction with the light sections generally used. — Our contemporary Industry states that Mr. John Heald, proprietor of the ma- chine works at Crockett, Cal., has discov- ered that rust may be prevented by paint- ing the work with turpentine and white lead. ‘‘It is found that when surfaces are coated with finely ground lead thinned with spirits of turpentine no corrosive ac- tion or scaling takes place, even when heavy coats of paint are afterward put on the outside. Mr. Heaid says that common paint mixed with oil is too thick to pene- trate or close the imperfections of the sur- face and penetrate beneath the scale where it exists, thus leaving places for corrosion to begin beneath the paint. With turpen- tine and white lead mixed thin the very pores of the iron are closed. The inter- stices, to so call them, are too minute to receive the body which oil gives, but are closed by the thinner compound. This is the theory, but that is a matter of no con- sequence so long as the fact is knowa.” From the New Castle (Pa.) Guardian of the 14th inst. we take the following in- formation: ‘‘ A series of experiments were tried at the Etna Iron Works, this city, Monday, in the manufacture of steel spikes The object is to make a finished article by rolling the bar so that its width will be | the length of a spike and in such a shape that the spikes may be cut from it witn shears, pretty much as a cut nail is made, except that the head is formed in the roll- ing process. The rolls were turned by Charles & James Mathews, of this city, and were set and operated under the di- rection of Mr. R. Garvin and Superintend- ent T. M. Sweeney. At noonthe first test was made by running through some steel rails that had been slowly heated for two and a half hours. The result was fairly successful, and it is thought that a few changes in the rolls will make the operation entirely satisfactory.” The freight rates from Pittsburgh to ali Texas common points have been advanced and took effect on the 20th inst. The new rates are as follows: First class, $1.63; second, $1.42; third, $1.21; fourth, $1.06; fifth, 85 cents. Class A, 91; B, 82; C, 72; D, 58; E, 50 cents per 100 pounds. Iron and wire are in carloads fifth class. a " aid He 2 EE = oe THE IRON AGE. January 31, 1889 Coal Distributer. This machine was designed by Richard Ramsay, superintendent of the Braceville (Ill.) Coal Company, to facilitate the load- | do not concern Sheftield productions. exports forthe year ending 31st January last amounted to £634,773, against £883,084 for 1887. These figures, however, include the district of Lincoln and Barnsley, = e ing of coal or other material into box cars. | exports of steel during 1888 amounted to It is sold by the inventor and the Ottumwa (Ia.) Iron Works as manufact- urers, The machine is mounted upon a stone foundation elevated to the level of the car floor. The vibrating beam A is pivoted upon a portable platform which, by means of chains attached to its oppo- site ends and secured to a shaft provided with a crank arm, may be moved toward or away from the shute shown in the sec- tional elevation. The platform enters that door of the car furthest from the shute. The outer end of the beam carries a V-shaped ‘‘ nose,” upon which the coal falls and is distributed to the car by the vibrat- ing motion imparted to the beam by the double engine. This insures the loading of the car to the extreme ends and places the weight over the trucks instead of at the center of the car, When the car is loaded the platform is withdrawn to give place to anempty one. It is claimed that this machine will load box cars as rapidly as it will flats, and that its use increases the capacity of the shaft or slope without in- creasing the number of shutes or scales. It is further stated that it does not break the coal as much as dumping into the car and then shoveling back, and that it thor- oughly mixes the fine with the coarse coal. —— Sheffield trade with the United States in steel and cutlery shows a slight increase in 1888 over the preceding year. The total + ENTRE LINE OF TA ZI YY Y Hy Pes BLE ‘ THE RAMSAY COAL in cutlery for 1887. leading specialties, steel and cutlery. an immense diminution having taken place in the gross value of steel exported from English steel centers to the United States. The point is that while the competitors of Sheffield in other districts have gradually lost their business, the old steel capital not /| , | ae nl 8G 2 9—- — K6> £319,118, and cutlery £215,569, as com- pared with £312,210 in steel, and £211,832 It will thus be seen that the increase is in the two Sheffield This is particularly gratifying as regards steel, Fig. 1.—Plan. DISTRIBUTER, BUILT BY THE OTTUMWA IRON WORKS, OTTUMWA, IA. only retains its pre-eminence, but is even doing more work. The secret of the fall- ing off in steel, says the Engineer, from which we quote, is undoubtedly the im- provement the Americans themselves have made in their own productions, and it is January 31, 1889 THE IRON AGE. not improbable that the time will come when they may be able altogether to dis- pense with supplies even of the finest tool steel, which they now get from Sheffield. - <ainaiaianie Portable Power Drill. This drill can be readily and tirmly held to the work and will drill in any position, at any angle and at any direction from the power. The construction of the drill is clearly shown in both the accompanying engravings. The larger, or driving gear, is operated by a grooved pulley, with which a clutch is adapted to engage to operate the small or feed gear. The feed is auto- matic and sufficiently powerful to stand the greatest strain a twist drill can be sub- jected to. At the base of the drill is a threaded hollow stud for securing the ma- chine to the brace, or jig, after the latter has been properly adjusted for the hole to be drilled. The illustrations show the method of holding the drill to the work by means of the jig and dog. It is evident that with jigs of suitable ferm the drill Drilling Engine Bed. PORTABLE may be held in almost any desired posi- tion. These drills are manufactured by J.J. McCabe, of 121 Liberty street, New York, — = Roasting Hudson River Carbonates.* BY INGERSOLL OLMSTED, BURDEN, N. Y. The Hudson River carbonate ores are of two classes, Bessemer and non-Besse- mer, existing in separate, though adjoin- ing beds. Both are carbonates, with small admixtures of oxides and other combina- tions. To prepare them for market they are roasted in kilns 60 feet inhight. They have wrought-iron shells 24 feet in diameter; are lined with fire-brick, and supported by cast-iron mantel and columns. As originally built, the draft was wholly from the bottom; but afterward two rows POWER of small circular holes were cut in them, a } little short of half way up, and encircling the kila. The kilns are 10 in number, with an estimated roasting capacity of about 100 tons daily each. The richer of the two classes of ore is a true Bessemer, containing only 0.035 per cent. of phosphorus. It is uni- form in character and unmarked by any specially interesting features. In the present paper I purpose to spe: ak mainly of * A paper read at the Buffalo meeting r of the American Institute of Mining engineers. | ithat Nos. I | another | that the line becomes hard to draw. | features. | these clinkers form in the ling about the non-Bessemer ores. From my own notes I am not able to furnish many com- plete analyses, such being seldom required of me, but I subjoin two which may serve to show the character of the two classes. Analyses of Roasted Ores. Bessemer. Non-Bessemer. I. Il. eee 9.20 17.18 Carbonic acid and Ws xin euanee oo undet [ron \ FeO.... 2.85 Bisulphide iron 1.47 oxide. | Fe.Os. . 6: 3.08 } 65.73 Alumina.......... 2.19 3.02 BR cece staeas 6.80 4.35 Magnesia......... 7.15 5.72 Oxide of manga- WN vedi ctccnce ee 2.66 Phosphoric acid.. .102 19 | 1.788 Oxygen with sul- phur teneheaeses 1.58 99,12 100.449 Metallic iron..... 46.34 46.70 Phosphorus. ..... .044 139 | 786 The ore always contains a considerable amount of water—sometimes, when it has wie jest , 5 j . Hh mM ih i hee i Drilling DRILL, MADE BY J. J. Mc been exposed to rain, as much as & per cent. It is but fair to say that the sul-| phur in Tis much higher than the aver- age, and that the iron in II is a trifle higher than I have generally found. The| form of the roasted ore is varied, but ex- | amination shows four main characteristics, which may be classified thus: I. A rough, shapeless mass. Il. A fine-grained, flat slate. ITT. mixture of white silica-grains with red or black ore-grains, occurring | mainly in thick, flat slabs. IV. ‘* Clinkers,” so-called. The analysis of many pieces of each class points to the rough generalization and IV are the richest, the others mostly lean, though stray pieces of one class occasionally approach those of so closely in percentage of iron Class IV presents the most interesting | For some reason not yet clear, kilns, and, de- seending to the gates, give trouble by be- ing too large to pass through, and requir- blasting. They are, in the main, roughly rounded masses, from 18 inches | to 3 feet in diameter, composed of pieces of ore, rock, coal ashes, &c., cemented to- gether with fused ore something simi- lar. But there are many of a different | nature. One appears as Ayman formed | from a single ore lump; nearly gray | or is | wall when the a co ee “ : e ah “ ‘ABE, lalthough I 159 in color, very hard, has a glazed surface, from which the hammer rebounds sharply, and occurs in lumps the size of a man’s head, attached to other clinkers, but plainly of separate nature. In the mortar it yields a yellowish powder, separable by the magnet into a yellow-gray earth and a sharp, black, glittering sand. The earth contains about 42 per cent. of metallic iron. The black sand contains about 53 per cent. of metallic iron. Another clinker is apparently also from a single ore lump, but has no evidences of fusion, no glazed exterior, and retains its original form. It very hard and heavy, presents a_ glistening _ black fracture with evidence of sulphur, and often contains 60 per cent. of metallic iron. Another resembles a slag-finger seen at the tuyere of a chilling furnace, or an ore-stalactite formed on the bottom of something and then broken off. These I have occasionally seen forming at the kiln- gates, the fused matter trickling down the kiln was ‘‘in trouble,” a condition corresponding to a scaffolding furnace, 1S rm ba a i i | | fg ora Locomotive Fire Bowes. NEW YORK. A prominent characteristic of the ‘‘ ce- mented” clinkers is that they often con- 'tain pieces of Class III; but such pieces show no evidences of fusion or alteration, and are only stuck to the rest of the mass. In spite of close study with a magnifying | glass I have not been able to connect any | other particular form of ore—the slate, for example—with this clinker formation, nor have I ever seen any fused or altered rock. Moreover, the lum ps of ore never seem to show the beginning of fusion arrested there. All these facts point to complete | change taking place in one kind of ore. The reason for this clinker formation remains an open question. Too much heat has been the cause commonly as- signed; but that of itself would not pro- duce the metallic iron visible in them. To test the action of heat upon the ore | placed some, in inch-cube size, mixed with coal, in a Hessian crucible, and exposed it to the full heat of a gasoline furnace, keeping the crucible at an almost white heat for hours, but failed to produce any effect ex