The Iron Age 1889-06-06: Vol 43

‘THE IRON AGE THURSDAY, JUNE 6, 1889. : : general design of the work was adopted | nected by arches on each side of the square. Elevators ll the Eiffel Tower, poe well worked out, for unusual difficul- | These clear spans give architectural beauty | ties are presented by the nature of this de-| to the design, and to avoid obstructing | sign which render it impossible to use the| them, all means of ascent are placed in the With Supplementary Page of Engravings. ordinary lifts. legs and must conform to their curves and | The four great legs of the tower spring | inclinations. In this respect the elevators Now that the Eiffel Tower, the greatest | from the corners of a square which meas-| are of the nature of inclined railways of feature of the French Exposition, looking | ures about 375 feet on its sides, and they| very steep angle and varying gradients. down as it does upon all the high struct-| converge in a graceful vertical curve to-| The original design was to construct an THE EIFFEL TOWER ELEVATORS.—SIDE ELEVATION OF THE CAR. Fig. 5. ures and monuments of the world, has been | ward the center of the square, meeting at ; elevator which would rise from the founda- opened to the public, much interest centers | a point some 400 feet above the founda-| tion to the extreme top, but the construc- in the various means supplied for its as-|tion. Here is situated the middle landing, | tion of the tower was such that acontinuous cent. It would seem that little real|or second floor, and from this point the| well could not be obtained; therefore two thought was given to this necessary ad-|tower, more like ordinary structures, | elevators, each occupying a leg on the junct to the great structure until after the | tapers to the top. The four legs are con- | diagonal corners of the square, ascend to A. xslt kod 4 . — ie hy 840 the middle landing. cars is necessitated, and two elevators rise vertically in the center of the tower from the middle landing to the top. These could be of ordinary type, as only the usual conditions exist. The remaining two diagonal corners are occupied by ma- chines rising on a straight incline to the first story, which is about midway between the foundation and the middle landing. Of these six elevators the two that pre- sent the greatest difficulties of construc- tion, on account of their ascent at varying inclinations to the middle landing, are of American design, built by American manufacturers and successfully erected CG: o OG {0 Fig. 6.—View of One-Half of Rope Attachment through the Safety System. THE IRON AGE. June 6, 1889 Here a change of under main-track structure, and shows the; precaution is necessary to prevent their car as it approaches the level of the first | displacement; hence extra anchorages are landing. 544° from the horizontal; it keeps this in- clination for some distance, and then, con- forming to the shape of the leg of the tower, it passes by a vertical curve to an inclination of 784°. the end of the run, terminating at the middle landing, 395 feet vertically above the foundation. The length on the profile line, however, is about 420 feet, which is the actual distance traveled by the car. The track structure consists of two regular girders, built in the tower leg es- pecially for the elevator, upon which rest Fig. 9.—Safety Device and Frame. This is maintained to | The profile starts at an angle of | provided at intervals, so that the force of the descending car would be transmitted S720 Cc under their superintendence. Fig. 1 shows | the rails, which are of ordinary type and | directly to the girders without causing too are fastened to the girders in adjustable | long a section of rail to act as a column. chairs in order that perfect alignment may | The motor of the machine is a hydraulic a diagonal section through one leg of the tower to the hight of the middle landing, and gives a true profile of track and track structure upon which the car runs, It also shows hydraulic cylinder, multiplying gear, overhead work, position of counter- balance and track, which lies directly be assured. to butt, it being considered that the whole inner structure will expand and contract together. In the case of the safety-grips coming into action upon the rails, every The ends of rails are allowed | cylinder, 42 feet long and 38 inches inside diameter, shown in detail, Fig. 2. In this moves the piston, the machine being so geared that 1 foot of movement of the piston effects 12 feet of movement of the June 6, 1889 THE IRON AGE. Sil car. This is done by the use of the trav-| off the traveler to the overhead sheavesfl eler, Figs. 3 and 4, a large riveted iron frame on trucks, and supporting six mul- tiplying pulleys, each one 5 feet in diame- ter. To this frame the two piston-rods attach, and all moves directly as the piston. The multiplication of speed is made complete by the use of auxiliary pulleys, which are shown at the top of cylinder girders in Fig.1. These girders that sup- port the cylinder, and upon which the multiplying gear travels back and forth between cylinder-head and auxiliaries, form an independent construction, and are particularly designed for the peculiar duty they are called upon to perform. Owing to the multiplication of speed, the direct pull on the piston-rods, of which there are two, is about 200,000 pounds. It was not permissible to take this pull directly upon the tower structure; hence it is transmitted by the auxiliaries back through the cylinder girders to the found- ations, only such portion coming directly upon the tower, at the overhead work, as is required to lift the car and its load. The tower is, therefore, only called upon Fig. 10.—Side Elevation of Safety Device. and thence to the car. The water-pressure necessary to run the machine, 180 pounds per square inch, is obtained from tanks located near the mid- dle landing, which are kept filled from a The pressure is pumping system below. thus admitted through the valve and cir- culating-pipe, Fig. 2, to act on the top of the piston, and the discharge being open from the bottom of the cylinder the piston descends, lifting its load. The valve being reversed, the bottom of cylinder connects with circulating-pipe, and the discharge being closed the car descends by its own overbalance, raising the piston and causing the water to circulate from the top of the cylinder down through the circulating- pipe to its original position under the piston; one charge of water thus answer- ing for the complete round trip, which is the regular Otis system. The cylinder is made of sections of cast- iron pipe 2 inches in thickness. Four 9-foot sections are jointed on the ends and bolted together through the flanges, as bestos gaskets being used bet ween the joints to make them tight. Although 180 pounds is the working pressure, each section was tested to 450 pounds before shipping: In addition to the four 9-foot sections there is a short section at top and bottom where connection is made with the circulating- pipe and water-chest. The cylinder-head has a circle of screw-plugs, which, when removed, permit of the introduction of a long socket wrench by which the piston- packing can be tightened without remov- ing the cylinder-head. On account of the inclined position of the cylinder and its length to avoid the consequent deflection of the piston-rods, which are 5-inch steel and over 40 feet iong, supports are intro- duced both inside and outside of the cyl- inder. When the piston is at the bottom | the inside spider is at the center of the cyl- inder and the outside spider near the cylin- der-head. When the piston has risen to one- half its stroke it picks up the inside spider, which being connected with the outside spider by a rod through the cylinder-head, both are pushed along to the end of the stroke, the outside spider then being the support to the piston-rods at the midway point outside the cylinder. On the down stroke this is just reversed, the traveler at one-half the stroke picking up the out- side spider and carrying it back to the cyl- inder-head, the inside spider being also pushed to its original position. Thus at no time during the stroke are the rods un- supported for a length of over 20 feet. The traveler with its six heavy sheaves weighs in all about 24,000 pounds, and is supported by a truck at each end, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. A track is provided for these trucks, much the same as for the car trucks, the rails being on the cylinder girders. The position of the traveler at one-half stroke is indicated in the section Fig. 1. Fig. 5 shows a side elevation of the car frame, with a section of the car, through the aisle and landing projections. The car is a double decker the arrangement in both top and bottom compartment being somewhat similar to an ordinary railway coach, having an aisle with the seats at right angles to it, one back of the other. The cabinet work is simply self-supporting, merely a protecting wall from the elements, and rests in the iron frame, which is de- signed to take all strains due to lifting or to the check of rapid motion in case the to support the cylinder girders and their | safeties are brought into action and grip load by means of hangers in the inclined | the rail. To this iron frame the floor- position shown in Fig. 1, which is made | beams of both decks are braced, upon it as nearly vertical as possible to avoid fric-| the ropes take their hold and in it the tion aud the deflection of piston-rods be- | safeties are attached. The most peculiar tween supports. Four 1-inch steel ropes | feature of the car is the aisle floor, which are fastened to an equalizing bar at the | projects out in front of the car from both top of the cylinder girders, and after pass- | upper and lower stories to meet the land- ing back and forth around each sheave of | ing platforms, which are also double, one traveler and auxiliary system they lead ' above the other, at each landing. This aisle D oor is constructed like a shutter, the position of the slats being under the con- trol of the operator, by the lever in- dicated in the dotted lines. When the car is at the bottom it is in its mosttipped-back position, The lever then being put in the proper slot, each floor slat is horizontal and makes a stairway which the passenger descends to enter the car. At the first floor the lever is placed in the middle slot; the slats are then hori- zontal, but form an even floor, the position of the car being a mean between its two extremes of inclination. This position is shown in the drawing. When the car is at the middle landing or the top of its as- cent it may then be said to be in its most tipped-forward position. The lever being again adjusted, the slats when horizontal form a stairway which the passenger must ascend to enter the car. Thus the change of angle of the car frame is compensated for to effect landings. The seats, however, are stationary, but with such a curve to back and seat that the sitting passenger need experience no inconvenience from the change of inclination. When he takes his seat in the car at the hottom he leans well back. Upon reaching the top he finds his seat more like a straight-backed chair and his body erect. In the lower part of the iron car-frame, down below the body of the car the safeties are attached, and through them the ropes take their hold as shown in Fig. 6, which is a view of one-half the attachment system looking at right angles to the general plane of the car-frame. It will be seen that six ropes pass from the center to the edges of the frame, three on each side, thence around saddles on the frame and up along each side of the track to the overhead work. Here by a system of sheaves they are collected and redis- tributed, four ropes, two from each side, passing to the first sheave on the traveler. The remaining two ropes, one from each side, passing over and under the main car girders lead down to attach to the counter-balance, which is a riveted iron truck, Figs. 7 and 8, running on a track structure similar to main track structure and immediately back of it or below it. This loaded counter-balance frame, being thus directly connected to the car, forms a partial and adjustable balance to the weight of the car, thus de- creasing by its gravity the actual load to be lifted by the action of piston in cylin- ders. The car, however, must not be fully counter-balanced, for as already stated a portion of its weight is necessary to the down trip and the raising of the piston. Owing to the construction of the tower the counter-balance track is but one-third of the length of the car track and does not extend above the first in- clination of the grade line, hence the counter-balance frame is so geared as to travel but one foot while the car travels three feet. The weight!of counter-balance is necessarily increased in the same propor- tion to be effective. The weight of the empty car uncounter-balanced, with all its attachments, safeties, &c., is 24,000 poands; with full load 32,000 pounds. The water pressure is therefore required to overcome all friction, weight of ropes, &c., and lift the live load of 8000 pounds, plus the over-balance of car, at the rate of 400 feet per minute, which illustrates the net working power of the machine. The safeties are an adaptation of the compound wedge safety used on Otis passenger elevators, the action of these wedges when called into operation being to grip the rail, not with full power at once, but with constantly increasing force until the re- sistance becomes sufficient to overcome the momentum and weight of the car. In the present case these wedges are arranged upon shoes which when not in action clear the rail, the whole mechanism being contained in a riveted iron frame ee y en) a % ) ~ a Lye ce w - o pote os ~ 3% CALE i$ i Pat Se Bie Ome ax ; i et Baty Hay “ vk . 842 THE IRON AGE. June 6, 1889 TTT nn TTT TT 88. pivoted to the car-frame at lower end, and| sons, Clarkson C. in Detroit, Fred F. in; Association, Mr, Weeks replied that there was supported by gavernor-wheel at upper} Chicago, and Theodore K. in St. Louis. pwtvtn by which oe Se J td ue eee running upon| The failure is laid wholly at the door of | facturers of ‘Iron, Steel and Nails, as it is not ail, ¢ aving a speed due to the| the Chicago branch. The Detroit house | now in existence. There is nothing now left velocity of the car. This is indicated in| has been well managed and can meet all | for the Amalgamated Association to do but Fig. 5, and Figs. 9 and 10 show two] its liabilities, but the Chicago branch | formulate its new scale and present it to each views of safety frames more in detail. The| is badly off, and St. Louis is also somewhat | #"™ through Se preeet committees, Now let initial power on’ the first wedge. which| behind 1 liabilities laced at | CYeTY member 0 the Amalgamated Associa- initia I on the first wedge, which} behind. The tota liabilities are placec at tion keep his own counsel. Do all your busi- starts the compounding action of the} $130,000, with assets estimated at $45,000. | ness with your firm through the proper com- wedges, is obtained from springs in car} The Detroit manager asserts positively that | mittee, and in no other way, and await results. rh . 2 s 7 r frame, Fig. 6. These springs are released | he will resume as soon as he can get freed! The members of the Amalgamated Asso- from two causes, (1) the breaking of one | from the present entanglements, and it is , ciation do not anticipate any trouble this or any number of the ropes, and (2) by un-| highly probable that the St. Louis branch | year, notwithstanding the fact that the » 2 ‘ i > . as c e . ! . . due speed from any cause. This latter is | will open again also, ,manufacturers will not confer with them. affected; by the wheel-governor already ' None of them will venture a prediction as - , ec 7 mentioned, to which there are attached | to what demand they will make, but all The Western Wages Seale. toothed weights. These weights, up to a car speed of 400 feet per minute, remain in the center of the wheel, but greater velocity throws the weights by centrifugal force to the outside rim of the wheel, where their teeth engage the necessary Advices from Pittsburgh state that there will be no conference this year between the iron manufacturers and the workers on the annual wage scale. This will be /agree that it can be safely stated that the present scale, with some slight modifica- | tions, will be presented, The only hitch | will be with the steel scale. The an- /nouncement of Carnegie, Phipps & Co. | that they will postpone the date fixed for mechanism to release the springs. Figs. 11| the first time in the history of the Amal- signing the Homestead scale until June and 12show device for operating hand-rope. | gamated Association of Iron and Steel | 10, in order that the Amalgamated con- This is under the projecting aisle of car,| Workers, which was organized in 1874, | vention may consider it, is an indication a i a 4 os ' i. eee FO, + = iti = RS —— a wit a er ta a 3 7 a — aan ————~} Se Sepeeeeenpened 1) tT) or a. ee rn, CRO FRE ee pee Se JT Dy PV — ad - — Dt Ooi ———— ops “a - = - 19} --—+ aici | fae a Pee ane oe ere = ~—~th¢s ere eae = | pis -—- —_- —_- _- __-___ - __ Length overall 27°7--- — - —-- —-——- —— 2b 4 with hand-wheel for operator, as shown | in Fig. 5. The operating rope is con- tinuous, and passes around the valve- | sheave at foot of cylinder. This valve- sheave is balanced in position by a weight, which, if operating rope should part, would in falling close the valve. Thomas E. Brown, Jr., chief en- gineer of Otis Brothers & Co., has devoted the better part of two years to the design, manufacture and erection of these ma- chines, and it is due to his untiring energy that this American company supplied the great tower with these powerful inclines, for which no foreign competitors were able to present, even to theirown governments, designs which could be accepted. mc The old-established machinery firm of G. 8S. Wormer & Sons, of Detroit, made an assignment on the 31st ult. A dozen years ago it started branches in Chicago and St. Louis. All three stores are in- cluded in the assigninent. The firm handled engines, boilers, wood-working machinery, &c., but the St. Louis house made a specialty of engines and heavy mining machinery. The senior partner retired several years ago, and the three houses have been since managed by as many a Fig. 8.—Side Elevation of Counter-Balance. that a conference has been refused by the manufacturers. In past years the Manu- facturers’ Association handled all such questions and appointed committees to meet the workers. A. F. Keating was | | president and Joseph D. Weeks was secre- tary of the organization. This associa- | tion, however, went to pieces last year, | _and when President Weihe, of the Amal- | /gamated Association, addressed a formal | note to Secretary Weeks announcing that | they were about to draw up a scale of | wages for the coming year and would ap- point a committee to confer with a like committee of manufacturers, he received a reply from Secretary Weeks that there was no association of manufacturers and /no committee could be appointed. There | will, therefore, be no conference with the iron masters this year, and the lodges in each mill will present the scale to the dif- ferent firms. The scale will be uniform, and if any firm objects to a clause in the scale and it is modified all other firms will have the same advantage. Secretary Mar- tin has issued the following to the mem- bers of the association: In reply to the request of President Weihe to the manufacturers, through Mr. Joseph D. Weeks, toname a day when they could meet a conference committee of the Amalgamated —- —- 11 - —- — that the firm Go not intend to adopt a rough-shod course. This trouble may be satisfactorily settled. If war is declared it is claimed that the workers can stand a siege of eigh t weeks very comfortably, as the funds in the treasury are Jarger than usual. The Labor Tribune, in comment- ing on the wage question, editorially says: There seems to be considerable trouble in the newspapers about the arrangement of the fig- ures of the coming scale year, and it may be that this may extend into the iron and steel in- dustries before the annual signing is done; however, it is hardly within the probabilities that there will be difficulties equal to those that have been in some yearsinthepast. The situa- tion has its main peculiarity in that trade has been so very good in England that wages have been advanced materially, while in America this has not been the case. As might be ex- pected of business men, the mill owners take the opportunity presented by these conditions to endeavor to make a few points on wages and | on the terms of labor. There is nothing sur- | prising in this; it would be surprising were | they to permit the chance to pass unimproved, While it is yet a little early to predict the outcome, it is the impression among the manufacturers that a shut-down of the mills for two or three weeks will take place, after which a scale will be agreed upon that will be satisfactory to both manufacturer and workman . June 6, 1889 Cambria Iron and Steel Works. Magnitude of the Establishment. The following description and history of the Cambria Iron Company’s works, at Johnstown, Pa., partly destroyed by flood on May 31, is mainly taken from a report prepared by the Pennsylvania Bureau of Industrial Statistics : The great works operated by the Cam- bria Iron Company originated in a few widely-separated charcoal furnaces, which were built by pioneer iron-workers in the early years of this century. pany’s charter was granted year 1852. lage of 1300 inhabitants. The Pennsyl- vania Railroad had only been extended thus far in 1852, and the early iron manufacturers rightly foresaw a great future for the industry at this point. Coal, iron and limestone were abundant. In 1853 the construction of four coke fur- naces was commenced, and it was two years before the first was completed, while some progress was made on the other three. A mill for rolling iron rails was also built. England was then shipping rails into this country under a low duty, and the iron industry, then in its infancy, was struggling for existence. The fur- naces at Johnstown labored under greater difficulties in the years between 1852 and 1861 than can be appreciated at this late day. Had it not been for a few patriotic citizens in Philadelphia, who loaned their credit and means to the company, the city of Johnstown would probably never have been built. Notwithstanding the protect- ing care of the Philadelphia merchants, the company in Johnstown were unable to continue in business, and suspended in 1854. Among their heaviest creditors in Philadelphia were Oliver Martin and Mar- tin, Morrell & Co. More money was sub- scribed, but the establishment failed again in 1855. D. J. Morrell, however, formed a new company with new credit. The year 1856 was one of great financial depression, and the following year was worse: To render the situation still more gloomy, a fire broke out in June, 1857, and in three hours the large mill was a mass of ruins. So great was the energy, determi- nation and financial ability of the new company that in one week after the fire the rolls were once more in operation un- der a temporary structure. When the war came and with it the Morrill tariff of 1861 a broader field was opened up Industry and activity in business became general; new life was infused into every enter- prise, in the STEEL PLANTS ERECTED. The Cambria Iron Company began the erection of Bessemer steel works in 1869, and sold their first steel rails in 1871 at the ruling price of $104 a ton. The history of the company from that time on shows a constant increase in plant. About ten years ago the Gautier Steel Company, Limited, were organized to manufacture, at Johnstown, wire and various other forms of merchant steel. Within less than a mile from the main works extensive mills were erected, and the business soon grew to great proportions. In a few years much additional capital was required, owing to the rapidly-increasing business, and the Cambria Iron Company became the purchaser of the works, now known as the Gautier Steel Department of Cambria Iron Company. THE WORKS IN THEIR LATEST DEVELOP- MENT. The blast-furnaces, steel-works and roll- | ing-mills of the company are situated upon | what was originally a river flat, where the | valley of the Conemaugh expanded some- what just below the borough of Johns- The com-| Johnstown was then a vil- | THE IRON AGE, 843 town, and now forming part of Millville | borough. | blast-furnaces to their present character. The Johnstown furnaces, Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 75 feet high, 16 feet diameter of bosh. Nos. 5 and 6 blast-furnaces form together a second plant, with stacks 75 feet high, 19 feet diameter of bosh. The Bessemer States (July, 1871). The is 102 feet in width by 165 The cupolas are six in number. There are two vessels of 84 tons capacity each, the products being distributed by a hy- draulic ladle crane. The best average, although not the very highest work done, in the Bessemer department is 103 heats of 84 tons each for 24 hours. The best weekly record reached 4847 tons of ingots, the best monthly record 20,304 tons, and the best daily output 900 tons ingots. All grades of steel are made in the con- verters, from the softest wire and bridge stock to spring steel. All the special stock—that is, other than rails—is carefully analyzed by heats, and the physical prop- erties are determined by a tension test. A new two-vessel Bessemer plant was just completed this spring, and had corporated in it the very latest improve- ments and appliances for the manufacture of steel. The open-hearth building, 120 feet in width by 155 feet in length, contains three Pernot revolving-hearth furnaces of 15 tons capacity each, supplied with natural gas. A separate pit, with a hydraulic ladle crane of 20 tons capacity, is located in front of each pan. In a portion of the mill building, originally used as a puddle mill, is located the bolt and nut works, wherein are made track bolts and machine bolts. This department is equipped with bolt-heading and nut-making machines, cutting, tapping and facing machines, and eager about 1000 kegs of finished track 0lts, of 200 pounds each, per month, be- sides machine bolts. Near this also are located the axle and forging shops, in the main building has threesteam hammers to forge and ten machines to cut off, center and turn axles. The capacity of this shop is 100 finished steel axles per day. All axles are toughened and annealed by a patented proc- ess, giving the strongest axle possible. In the forging plant, located in the same building, there is an 18,000-pound Bement hammer and a 10-ton traveling crane to convey forgings from the furnaces to the hammer. There are two furnaces for heat- ing large ingots and blooms for forgings. The blooming- mill contains two “large blooming trains and eight Siemens heating- furnaces. The rail mill has six trains and ten heating-furnaces. The mill plant also comprises’ a wire-rod mill, making 80,000 pounds each turn. A ventilating fan sup- plies fresh air to the mills through pipes lo- rated overhead and having outlets near the heating-furnaces. One hundred thou- sand cubic feet of fresh air per minute is distributed throughout the mills. The mill has in addition to its boilers over the heating-furnaces a brick and iron build- ing, located near the rail mill, 205 feet long and 45 feet wide, containing 24 tubu- lar boilers, aggregating about 2000 horse- power. The Gautier Steel Department, situated | in another part of the town, consists of a | brick building 200 x 500 feet, where wire annealed, drawn and finished; a | brick warehouse 373 x 43 feet ; many shops, | offices, &c.; the barb-wire mill, 50 x 256 feet, where the Cambria link barb wire is | made, and the main merchant mill, 725 x 250 feet. These mills produce wire, shafting, springs, plow-share, rake and | harrow teeth and other kinds of agricult- is 4, form one complete plant, with stacks | feet in length. | the | The arrangement of the works | has been necessarily governed by the fact | that they have gradually expanded from | the original rolling-mill and four old-style | old puddle mill building. The axle shop | ural-implement steel. In 1887 they pro- duced 50,000 tons of this material, which was marketed mainly in the Western States. Grouped with the principal mills are the foundries, pattern and other shops, drafting offices, time offices, &c., all struct- ures being of firm and substantial char- acter. The company operate about 35 | miles of railroad tracks, employing in this service 24 locomotives, and they own 1500 cars. In the fall of 1886 natural gas was | introduced in the works. plant was the sixth started in the United OTHER ENTERPRISES UNDERTAKEN. Anxious to secure employment for the daughters and widows of the employees of the company who were willing to work, the management erected a woolen mill which now employs about 300 persons. Amusements were not neglected, and the people of Johnstown are indebted to the company for the erection of an opera- house, where dramatic entertainments are given. The company own 700 houses, which are rented exclusively to employees. The handsome library erected by the company and presented to the town was stocked with nearly 7000 volumes. The Cambria Hospital is also under the control of the beneficial association of the works. The Cambria Club-house is a very neat pressed- brick building on the corner of Main and Federal streets. It was first opened in 1881, and is used exclusively for the enter- tainment of the guests of the company and such of their employees as can be accom- modated. The store building is a four- story brick structure on Washington street, with three large store-rooms on the first floor, the remainder of the building being used for various forms of merchandise. Including the surrounding boroughs, all of which are built up solidly to Johnstown proper, the population is about 30,000. The Cambria Iron Company employ, in Johnstown, about 7500 people, which would certainly indicate a population of not less than 20,000 depending upon the company for a livelihood. A large pro- | portion of the population of Johnstown are citizens of foreign birth or their im- mediate descendants. Those of German Irish, Welsh and English birth or extrac- tion predominate, with a few Swedes and Frenchmen. As a rule the working people and their families are well dressed and orderly ; in this they are above the average. Most of the older workmen of the com- pany, owing largely to their liberal policy, own their houses, and many of them have houses for rent. | THE PARTIAL DESTRUCTION OF THE WORKS BY FLOOD. Having passed through financial re- verses, overcome losses by fire and reached a most important position in the indus- trial world, the company have now en- countered the severest check to their pros- perity in the damage wrought by the flood of May 31. The latest telegraphic dispatches state that the Gautier Steel Department has been completely wiped out of existence and that the Cambria Works proper have been very seriously jana The extent of the damage will not be known for some time, but a very large outlay of capital will undoubtedly be required to put these works in running condition, while the Gautier Department will have to be wholly rebuilt. The com- pany announce that operations will be resumed as quickly as possible. They are fortunate in having assets largely beyond their investments at Johnstown. The greatest loss which they suffer is real'y in the loss of officers and men who have de- voted their lives to the prosperity of the company. ~ eee The Buffinton steel works, at Burling- ton, Iowa, were destroyed by fire on the 29th ult. Loss, $50,000; insurance, $27,- 000. The works employed about 100 men. in re ‘2 ie =! bh p» » xi $e Mek a Ss a * ALAR pth Sven. mt (or w& LP b> } a 3 ’ 5 ti ‘a. >y eee ernie i fanny 5 a —~ ST . Pn D7; * ore < eee — CALE BAT Bh Oe SE SO OE ant SD - — ae Sw —< H)e rt Be / a ait the DP sv eet 2 ~*~ ee ar 844 THE IRON AGE. June 6, 1889 Bits of Engine-Room Experience.* About the middle of the year 1888 I had charge of a Buckeye engine, in which a mysterious pounding noise one day ap- peared. It proved upon examination to be in the cylinder, and was caused by the packing rings striking against a shoulder which had been worn at each end of the bore. How this occurred will be quite clear from an inspection of Fig. 1, which ‘and stopping at 6.30 a.m.; so it will be | cylinders so that shoulders could be worn understood that the cylinder did not have |at the ends. I mean this to apply to time to cool sufficiently to make the inte-| pumps of all descriptions and air com- rior a very desirable place to work in, The | pressors, as well as to steam-engines; for I way we did it was this: A rod, B, of 3-| have met and remedied this same diffi- inch round iron was provided with an | culty time and again in overhauling various eye turned on one end, to slip over the|kinds of machinery, I remember on offset file-handle C, generally used by ma-|one occasion, where the cross-head gibs chinists for filing flat surfaccs. This rod jon a certain steam-engine were adjusted was left sufficiently long to reach outside | when the piston stood at half stroke, ‘the cylinder, as shown, so that a workman | there was a shoulder worn on each end of the guides, so that when the engine started the cross-head was split open when it reached the shoulders. So it will be seen that this principle applies not only ? cylinders, but to guides as well. In short, where there is reciprocating motion great care should be taken to have the gibs or slides wipe over to prevent the for- mation of shoulders. To be sure, such in- stances are becoming more rare on ac- Fig. 1.—Longitudinal Section of Cylinder. represents a longitudinal section of the cylinder of an 18 x 36 inch Buckeye en- gine. The shoulder is represented at AA, and it was formed in this wise: The piston-packing was of the type shown in Fig. 2, where A represents a cross section of the cylinder and B the piston. The two piston-packing rings were cut to Fig. 2.—Piston Packing. break joints, and occupied a_ groove f-inch wide in the center of the piston, as shown at C. It will be seen at once that these rings do not travel the entire length of the bore, but stop in this case 14 inches short at each end, as shown by the dotted line D. From the center E upward this shoulder was worn quite sharp, while from E downward the shoulder was less marked, for the reason that the piston wore the bottom of the cylinder, as shown by the dotted line extending from E downward. An exaggerated case is shown by the dotted lines in the cross section of cylin- der, A. The Buckeye Company, I am glad to learn, have abandoned this style of packing, and now use spring rings similar to those that I put in place of the kind removed. These rings were }-inch square, and traveled over each end of the bore 7s inch, as shown by the dotted lines FF, To put this packing in the shoulder shown at AA had to be removed. It was a com- paratively easy matter to file off the shoulder at the back end when the head was removed; but to file off a belt of cast iron 14 inches wide, 4 inch thick and 56.70 inches long in the crank end of an 18 x 36 inch cylin- der is not such an easy job. This engine had to run every night, starting at 4.30 p.m. * Paper read by Lewis F. Lyne, of New York City, at the Erie meeting of the American So- ciety of Mechanical Engineers. count of the better diffusion of practical knowledge through our technical schools ; but there are hundreds of steam-engines and pumps where these shoulders should be taken off and recesses cut in their places. VALVE-STEMS. A common mistake is made in turning valve-stems of a uniform diameter throughout, so that, after they have been in use a year or so, one has to either throw away the stem and get a new one or resort to some such wrinkle as I am about to de- standing close to the end of the cylinder, at | scribe. The valve-stem, as it wears, D, could work the 14-inch bastard file | assumes the form shown in Fig. 4, so that which was used on this occasion. it is entirely out of the question to keep it I used what is known as a safe-edge | tight, except at each end of the stroke, file, on account of its having a broad end, | where it jams so tightly that one is in thus giving more surface for cutting. I | danger of tearing some of the valve-motion had an old rubber spring which was cut |apart. I once knew a locomotive rock- ‘in two; then with a tenpenny nail one|arm to be sprung inch out of its | half of this spring was fastened to the end | original shape by screwing the packing ‘of a broomstick, as shown at E. The too tight on a badly worn valve-stem. A broomstick was sawed of a proper length, | valve-stem of the kind first described be- \so that when placed across the cylinder came badly worn upon an engine under my inside a sufficient pressure could be thrown | direction, and its shape very much re- upon the end of the file. We were now | sembled Fig. 4; so I put it in a lathe and ready for business, so a sperm’ candle | trued it up, letting the cut run about 2 was placed in a J-inch hexagonal nut, and | inches each end beyond the point where after being lighted was placed close to the | stem would travel when in use. The job head of the cylinder. A rubber hose was | was to get a gland and junk-ring on that attached to a common bellows, and sup- | stem so that they would fit. This is how plied fresh air through the stufting-box. |it was done: A brass bushing was sawed In just two and a half hours from the time | through longitudinally, and the joint filed of commencement the shoulder at this | toa fit. I then with soft-solder sweated end of the cylinder was removed. . | them together, using the slightest quantity While I am on this subject I cannot re- | of solder. [I then bored this bushing to frain from condemning all forms of piston- | fit the stem, and turned it to easily fit the Figs. 3 and 4.—Valve Stems. packings that do not wipe over the entire | original junk-ring, which had been pre- ends of the bore, to avoid the slightest | viously bored out and recessed, as shown possibility of wearing a shoulder. I re- | in Fig. 4. member an instance that happened on a| When finished the bushing was warmed tugboat in 1882, where a 20-inch cylinder to melt the solder, when it fell apart. was split the entire length because the I then slipped the ring H over the valve- piston-ring swedged against a shoulder | stem I, ms placed the two parts of the worn at the end of the bore. The engineer | bushing G in place. It will of course be had been taking up the main-rod brasses | understood that when in the stuffing-box the day before, and in so doing the rod |the packing will prevent this bushing was lengthened so that the packing rings, | from moving, so that for all practical pur- which were of the old-fashioned spring | poses it is as good as if it were all solid. type, being stuck fast, split the cylinder | The ring J which fits in the bottom of the If the rings travel over the | stuffing-box is made in the same manner as that of G, except when put on the stem adrop of solder is used to joinit; but when once inside the stuffing-box it does | as described. _end into the counterbore there is no possi- | bility of such an accident. I never could ascertain why apy engineer could design June 6, 1889 THE IRON AGE. 45 not matter whether it is in two pieces or OM « + + The practice of making the threads on the cole of piston-rods of equal diameter with the rest of the rod ought to be con- demned for several reasons. The principal one is that the rod cannot be trued up and used without resorting to a split gland bushing ; and when metallic packing is used it is necessary to remove that packing whenever the piston-rod is taken out of the cylinder. The reason is that the threads on the end of the piston-rod would tear it all to pieces in drawing it back through the stuffing-box. If the thread were of a smaller diameter than the body of the rod, as it should always be, then there would be no necessity of disturbing the packing, and the rod could be trued and replaced, requiring only a plain bushing for gland and for junk-ring. RENEWING ENGINE BED. The above engine, when first set up, rested on a bed of sulphur, which after a time began to disintegrate and work out. Mr. Lyne’s method of remedying this evil was simple and effective: ‘‘ Four pieces of flat iron, 4x 4 inches, were cut off. These we reduced in thickness so as to just fill the space between the top of the cap-stones and the cylinder feet. We Sg yy TL WL, STEAM a | om Z KK THE METROPOLITAN dug out the sulphur by the side of each anchor bolt, of which there were four, two in each foot; we slacked tae nuts of the foundation bolts, then put in the liners, one for each bolt, and screwed them fast. The sulphur was then removed from one foot at a time, and the space thoroughly scraped out. We then took two strips of lath and wrapped sufficient paper around each of them to fill the space between the stone and foot, thus dividing the space into three equal parts. This was done because it would take more metal to fill the space than could have been conveniently handled. We placed strips of laths edgewise all around the foot and backed them with fire-clay. An opening was left at each of the four corners—two for risers and two diagonal corners for uring metal, leaving a head of about 2 inches, to better insure a solid casting. Some powdered resin was thrown into the gates to absorb the moisture and prevent the casting from blowing. Hav- previously melted in an iron pot a mixture composed of nine parts of lead, two of antimony and one of bismuth (commonly known as expan- sion metal), we poured from two ladles, and in about ten minutes had the satisfac- tion of finding that our cylinder was as securely held as if it had been originally bedded on the solid stone. We poured the outer spaces of each foot first, then removed the two strips of lath and poured the middle space, the two outside castings forming the dam preventing the metal from running out at the sides. No one who has seen it doubts that this cylinder is fixed forever.” i Automatic Injector. The automatic injector of which we herewith present an engraving has few working parts and is extremely simple in operation. Steam enters through the jet S, passes into the chamber G through the jet L, causing the auxiliary check R to slide along the tube C; the steam, lifting the valve V, passes out freely through the overflow E, drawing the air out of the chamber T, in which a vacuum is created that lifts the water from a lower level. As soon as the water reaches the chamber T the steam is condensed and a veiocity im- parted to the water, which passes on into the chamber G, and as the velocity in- creases passes through the tube C and spills through the openings F F, forcing the auxiliary check R back on the tube C. When it reaches the projections g q the vacuum carries it on by the same to its original position, as shown in the drawing. As soon as the water attains sufficient ve- locity to overcome the boiler pressure it passes on through the tube D, thereby Gs |) SSSSSSSSSSSSNS DS SAAR ASN ISN Y NS AUTOMATIC INJECTOR. causing a vacuum in the chamber G, which closes the valve V. When the machine is working there is a direct communication between the secondary spill F F and pri- mary overflow through the ports ~ ~ on the auxiliary check R, which enables the in- South America and Mexico that now come by the way of New York and the Atlan- tic seaboard, passing out of the Culf of Mexico and the Carribean Sea through the dangerous reefs of Florida and by Cape Hatteras to reach New York, entailing an extra insurance of 24 per cent., and a loss on vessels of $10,000,000 yearly, saying nothing of the $1,500,000 loss per year on perishable goods by long shipment. It has also been shown that $265,000,000 worth of commerce passes and repasses yearly to the Eastern seaboard over this dangerous route, and that out of this amount $165,000,000 worth is consumed, handled and manufactured west of and in- cluding the State of Ohio. Attention is then called to the advantages of Tampa Bay as a harbor, and to the fact that by making use of it all this heavy loss and in- creased cost ot insurance can be saved to the consumer, and at the same time a large volume of business can be given to the Southern and Western roads in carrying these goods direct to St. Louis, Chicago and Cincinnati, the neutral inland mar- kets of the country. Congress is asked for $1,000,000 in aid of the scheme. A New Sound Steamer. The Providence and Stonington Line have added another handsome steamer to their already large fleet. The new boat has been christened the Connecticut. She was built at the yard of Robert Palmer & Sons, at Noank, Conn., and is in every way a fine piece of marine architecture. In many material respects she differs from ‘| all other steamers plying on Long Island Sound. Her principal dimensions are: Length over all, 357 feet; length on 11- foot load-line, 345 feet; beam outside of hull planking, 48 feet; extreme width over guards, 87 feet; depth of hull, 17 feet 3 inches; extreme depth forward, 26 feet; extreme depth aft, 20 feet; extreme hight from bottom of keel to top of pilot- house, 60 feet. The bow lines are 171 feet long, about half her length, then a short parallel body, then the stern lines, which are sharper than ever seen in other boats of this class. By this arrangement the center of displacement is so far for- ward that all freight may be stowed for- ward of the main deck saloon. The en- gines are about 40 per cent. lighter than the ordinary beam engines of same power, and were built by the Wm. Cramp & Sons Ship and Engine Building Company, of Philadelphia, Pa. The engines are of the type known as double expansion, com- jector to work very hot water. In start-| pound, inclined, direct-acting, surface ing the injector the passage between the primary and secondary overflows is auto- matically closed for an instant, then auto- matically opened when the injector is working. The steam-supply pipe and the suction-pipe are provided each with a valve to regulate the flow of steam and water respectively. A valve is also placed on the delivery-pipe. It will be seen that while the parts are few and easy of access the injector is automatic and reliable in its action. This injector is the invention of John Desmond, and is manufactured for Jenkins Brothers, of New York, Boston, Chicago and Philadelphia. SE Proposed New Steamship Line.— Western men are interesting themselves in a proposed steamship line from Tampa Bay to Aspinwall, designed to promote direct trade between Southern points and the West at the expense of New York. A memorial, signed by members of the St. Louis Merchant’s Exchange, cites the fact that it has been shown that many millions of dollars can be saved to the people of the Western, Middle and Southern States on goods from Cuba, Central America, condensing oscillators, with cylinders 56 inches and 104 inches diameter and 11 feet stroke of pistons. She also has feathering paddles, two air-pumps, four feed-pumps and _ two bilge- pumps, worked by independent com- pound engine, and an independent surface condenser fitted to work with all pumps, dynamos and donkey-engines. Steam is supplied by six boilers, 12 feet 6 inches diameter, 20 feet 3 inches long, set fore-and-aft in two nests of the boilers each, having athwartship fire-rooms at ex- treme ends. The boilers are of steel, built to carry 120 pounds of steam, and have two smoke-pipes placed fore-and- aft, 8 feet 6 inches outside diameter. When working full power, with engines making 30 revolutions per minute, this machinery is expected to develop nearly 6000 horse-power. To do this the vessel will be fitted with two blowers, each hav- ing a capacity of 40,000 cubic feet of air per minute, which will be used for forcing fires. The total weight of this machin- ery, including water in boilers, will be about 1000 tons. The vessel is expected to make 20 miles an hour when working full power. la ” ag ‘~~ a - s ae i. ns JF SB Be - a ee PP reas ~ ened i at Be 33 + <A LEF » POT Se BOG GR eh Se oe, Se sr CAM ip 5 ih fei # =a a | “ csi = * rin iene ; i 846 THE IRON AGE, June 6, 1889 An Important Railroad Decision. The decision of the Executive Board of the Interstate Commerce Railway Associa- tion, on the request ot the Alton and Bur- lington railroad companies for a reduction of the lumber rate from Chicago to the Missouri River, was made public on the 28th ult. by Chairman Walker. The de- cision is an extremely voluminous one, and refuses the request for the reduced rate. The summing up is as follows: ‘We do not feel justified in autheriz- ing the Chicago and Alton and Chicago, Burlington and Quincy companies to make the proposed reduction to 10 cents per 100 pounds. Such a step would greatly dis- turb the lumber rates of all the lines and would almost inevitably result in great loss, even to some which are not involved directly in the controversy. It would probably be met by reductions on the part of the Southern lines which could not be confidentially affirmed to be altogether un- just. It would no doubt for a time afford increased tonnage to the roads which are seeking it, but the tonnage without profits is of no value except for advertising and statistical purposes, and to inflict direct losses upon the income of associated lines for the purpose merely