The Iron Age 1889-08-22: Vol 44

‘THE IRON AGE THURSDAY, AUGUST 22, 188 ’ , 9 U. S. Steam Whale-Boat. In our issue of July4 we presented drawings showing the engines and part of the hull arrangement of the United States gun-boats Concord and _ Bennington, which may be said to belong to the ‘ mid- dle line ” of boats being built for the Gov- ernment, as regards size and power. In this issue we present drawings of one ex- treme as regards size and power—namely, the machinery for the 28-foot steam whale- Loi ©) O®, otonentigees earworm Ome sl ae / Fig. 1.—End Elevation. COMPOUND boats. The arrangement of the engine and boiler and the water-tanks and coal- bunkers is shown in the plan view, Fig. 8. The boiler is placed forward of the en- gine, the center line of the latter being 7 inches to port, and that of the boiler 2 inches to starboard of the center line of the boat. The engine is of the vertical, inverted cylinder, direct-acting compound type, with a high-pressure cylinder of 3 inches and low-pressure cylinder of 6 inches in diameter, the stroke being 5 inches and the cranks being set at 90 degrees. The cylinders are of cast-iron, made in one) piece, which includes the valve-chest, steam-ports and passages. The valves are of the piston type, and are made of com- 'steam of the lower port. | valve is cast in one piece, with a central sufficient size for the live The face of the low-pressure valve is recessed at each end, and the recess fitted with bab- bitt-metal, which is turned accurately to the same diameter as the valve. The valve-stems are of forged steel, finished all over. At both the top and bottom of hole of each cylinder is a water-valve fitted with springs and screws for adjusting the loads the high- on the valves. The valves on ENGINES FOR U. 8S. STEAM WH | pressure cylinder are set to blow off at 160- | pounds pressure ; those on the low pressure ‘at 100 pounds. The pistons are solid, | made of cast-iron in dish form, and are |turned to fit the cylinders. The high- | pressure piston has three grooves for | water-packing, and there is a groove at the | periphery of the low-pressure piston for | packing rings, which are made of cast- ‘iron, turned, cut and _ sprung into |place. The piston-rods are of forged steel, finished all over, fitted with a shoulder at |the upper end, which is threaded and screwed into the piston and secured by split pins. The cross-head is forged on the lower end, which is also bolted and | fitted with a composition. bushing for the cross-head pin. The connecting-rods are position accurately turned to fit the bore | also of forged steel, forked at the upper of the valve-chest. The high-pressure | ends, and fitted for the cross-head pin. Each cylinder is supported on two cast- tron frames of T-section, the upper part of each frame on the inside being accu- rately planed parallel to the axes of the cylinder in order to form the cross-head guides. The valve-gear is that known as Marshal’s, the eccentric rod and os being made of phosphor bronze, an all the connecting links and pins of forged steel. All the bearings of the fitted with composi- formed so as to be valve-gears are tion cushions, Fig. 2.—Front Elevation. ALE-BOAT. easily replaced. The eccentrics are of forged steel, forged with the crank-shafts and set with the cranks. The reversing- gear consists of a reversing-lever, fitted with a quadrant and locomotive catch. The reversing-lever is connected to the valve-gear by links. quadrant are so placed that the lever can only be moved such a distance as will throw the fixed end of the radius link 27 degrees on each side of the perpendicular, midway between its two extreme posi- tions. The reversing-lever is pivoted on the horizontal tie-rod, as shown in the end ele- vation. The crank-shaft is made of forged steel, in one section. The thrust-shaft is of steel, while the propeller-shaft is made of Vesuvius metal. The screw pro- peller is made of composition as follows: 88 parts of copper, 10 parts of tin and 2 The stops on the a I ah mee + alt SD Ls z rs Wren A + | mae Pip ws Ewe. BSE at ©32 a & 4. we eet 3 oe =, -o —-.* «es oe \ FPS ez =e . a 9S ~mee 274 parts of zinc. Its diameter is 20 inches; | pitch, 24 inches; 4 blades. There is a} coil condenser made of copper pipe, Nos. 14 and 16, B. W. G., for the large and | small diameters respectively, the pipe being tinned on the inside. There is one vertical single-acting air-pump bolted to the engine body-plate and worked by links from the low-pressure cross-head. There is one feed-water tank on each side of the stern sheets, fitted under the thwarts, and one under the boiler. The | filter is on the port side of the machinery space. The boiler is a Ward boiler of the ‘‘ A” special type, placed forward of the engine | and fitted to work on the closed ash-pan | system of forced draft. It is fitted with | safety-valve, steam and water gauges, &c. A Blake’s vertical feed-pump, size 0, is placed on the port side of the engine | wi ' @ x = J 6° BORE 2 ° & | rr) ! LY A] We A , & eG A= ZV i yj Moelle a LS Fig. 5.—Section through Valves on Line G H, Fig. 4. THE IRON AGE. structed entirely of steel boiler-plates riveted together. The idea of the inventor is to so construct a car that it will not burn up and will not go to pieces in a collision. a The New Steamer Teutonic. The White Star Company’s new steamer Teutonic proves to be very fast, but she did not quite equal the speed of the City of New York, which started on the trip out from England at the same time. The Teutonic is a new type of steamer. She is the first merchant ship built in compli- ance with the conditions of the British Admiralty, so that in case of emergency she may be used as a war-ship. The vessel has twin screws, and was built at Belfast by Messrs. Harland & Wolff for Messrs. Ismay, Imrie & Co., of the White Star Cylinders. Fig. -—-7}" DIAM,--—- —- —- eee oS oN ce SSS 5 bj | a FEEL Axe Pz “ff A 3. ny Fig. 6.—Vertical Section through Low- Pressure Cylinder and Valve. a KH y : : | | N sss | Ny Ny { | N y N N N JN | , N i Se N N ° ° N N N N 1 y N N | | XC . { | XX YQ) \\ | SY MW August 22, 1889 stoke-holes are duplicated, and the dupli- cate is under the control of the captain on deck. When liberated they are self-clos- ing. Inthe event of water flowing into the ship the doors will close automatic- ally. In accordance with the Admiralty re- quirements, all the machinery has been placed below the water-line. The boilers are 12 in number. Some are 12 feet and some are 12 feet 6 inches in diameter and 17 feet long, with six furnaces in each and a grate area of 1163 feet. The twin pro- pellers, which are 21 feet 6 inches in diam- eter with a pitch of 28 feet 6 inches and a superficial area of 128 feet, are especially interesting on account of the unusual man- ner in which they are placed. They over- lap each other to the extent of 5 feet 6 inches; or, in other words, they each ex- tend over the central line 2 feet 9 inches. ' AN 7 = SS SS . OT k—- —-——7#' BET.CENTERS—-——» 4,—Sectional Plan of Cylinders. WEEE EA sad | Fig. 7.—Vertical Section through High- Pressure Cylinder and Valve. COMPOUND ENGINES FOR U, 8. STEAM WHALE-BOAT. space. It has suction-pipes leading to| Line. She isof 10,000 tons displacement, each of the tanks and filter and a delivery- | and her actual gross tonnage is 9685 tons. pipe leading to the feed check-valve on| Her dimensions are: Length, 582 feet the boiler. Placed on the starboard side | of the engine space and driven by an | (nearly 200 vyards)—the longest ship afloat ; 57 feet 6 inches broad and 39 feet 4 inches independent direct-acting engine is a | deep. She has accommodations for 1200 Sturtevant boiler, No. 1 Monogram. The! passengers—300 first-class, 150 second- blower engine is a direct-acting vertical, | class and 750 steerage or third-class pas- 2 inches in diameter and 1} inches stroke. | sengers. She is fitted with 12 guns of the Taking into consideration the size of the engine, and the boat it is designed to | propel, the machinery as a whole is| as complete and well-adapted for its | work as that of one of the cruisers. | No attachment considered essential to the perfect working of the compound engine and which might add to its efficiency and | economy has been omitted in the con- struction of these small engines. In ad-| dition to this, the material and workman- | ship are of the highest grade. comnemnnsepetaiiaiasan It is stated that the Chicago Forge and Bolt Company, of Chicago, have built for a Missouri company a passenger car con-’ type usually known as 5-inch guns, which have a range at extreme elevation of more than five miles. The vessel, notwithstanding her great size, may from the peculiarity of her con- struction be considered as one of the safest ships afloat. The whole of the ma- chinery, engines, boilers and coal for work- ing either of her twin screws is shut off completely from its neighbor by a fore- and-aft bulkhead, which intersects the six | largest of the 12 water-tight compart- ments. This fore-and-aft bulkhead is pierced by only one locked door, the key of which is held by the chief engineer. The doors between the engine-rooms and the The Teutonic carries only two masts and three funnels. The poles, however, carry no yards, as it is believed her engines are strong enough to propel her in any weather without the aid of square sails. LT Our Consular Service.—The necessity for seeking a higher standard in the char- acter of our foreign consular offices is broadly hinted at by a prominent mer- chant of this city, D. A. De Lima, in a letter to the New York Board of Trade and Transportation. He says: ‘‘ The fact is notorious that we deem our relations with our neighbors of the South of so little importance that we have, with very rare exceptions, always sent men to represent us who, though perhaps capable for other things, have been entirely unqualified to till their positions, The majority of them are men who before their appointment have never been interested in the South American States; they have been entirely ignorant of their history; the previous re- lations with the United States; they know August 22, 1889 _THE IRON” AGE, 275 nothing of the trade, and in consequence | will that can ong endure. All public Billet-Car. have no ideas as to the means of improv- | evils here continue ‘only upon the common ; ; ing it, and, finally, they lack the means of | sufferance, or because of the general in-| The billet-car here illustrated is de- intercourse with the governments to/| difference. When they become oppress- | signed especially for use in wire and rod which they are sent. In almost every in-| ive, unendurable, they are dealt with, and, | mills, the gauge of track being 24 inches. stance they do not possess any knowledge of the Spanish or the Portuguese lan- guage.” The suggestion is one that com- mends itself to the attention of the Wash- ington Government under every adminis- tration. Se The Law and the Trusts. Deprecating the predictions of a portion | of the public press that trusts will be sum- marily ended by violent methods at the hands of the people, the Philadelphia Ledger Aiscusses the question very sensibly as follows: Trusts and combines, whenever and wherever they exist for the purpose of re- stricting the output of any necessary of living—of anything needful to the well- being of society—in order to fix upon it an arbitrary and artificial price, become op- pressors and as such are to be got rid of. In this country they are evils comparatively ROLLER BEARING OF BILLET-CAR. new. Their injurious influence has scarcely begun to be felt as yet by the people. ; Wait till they do, and then they will go} as they should be, by the law which has , The entire car is made of metal, the bed down as surely as the dead Alpine pine goes down before the sweep of the ava- lanche, but not by violence, not in a tem- pest of angry lawlessness, of anarchy let Fig. 8.—Half Plan of U. WATER TANK 25 GALLONS not yet been superseded by lawlessness, nor is it likely to be while intelligence and patriotism, respect for order and love of peace control the masses. These trusts COAL BUNKER CAPY. 8.46 CU.FT. OR 440.8 LBS. ANTHRACITE 6.9 CU. FT.366.7 L8S. ANTHRACITE S. Steam Whale-Boat. loose, but before the strong, though quiet, | are becoming dangerously numerous and | some of them aggressive to foolhardiness. orderly irresistible force of the law. When was it that this people during its hundred years and more of life found the want of law, or, having law, found it in- | adequate to put down any wrong that threatened their prosperity, or their happiness ? more patient, enduring, people than those of this country ; but, though they move slowly, they move surely. They have done it regarding other wrongs ; they will do so regarding this new one. violence. Already in Congress, in Legis- latures, in constitutional conventions, their rights | There never was a} long-suffering | But not in lawlessness and | in courts, they are beginning to move | against the selfish, greedy trusts and combines, They are moving along wise, | But the tide of public sentiment is al- ready rising against them, and before it ebbs it will sweep them out of existence. But, unless all precedents of the history or platform consisting of two heavy steel T-rails, with cross- heads in proportion, and the parts riveted together. The length of the frame is 7 feet 2 inches, the width 15 inches and the hight from the track to the top of the bed 21 inches. The wheels are 18 inches in diameter, have a 38-inch tread, and are shrunk on the axle. The axle is formed of 2,%,-inch round steel, each spindle being prov ided with 12 rollers 4 inch in diameter and 44 inches long, which construction constitutes an anti-friction bearing, per- mitting the car to be easily moved even when heavily loaded. The construction of the bearing is shown in the upper view. The weight of the car complete is 1000 pounds. ‘These cars are made by the Jacob Hoffman Wagon Company, of Cleveland, Ohio. — The new French twin-screw steamer La Touraine, in course of construction for the American trade, will be faster and larger than any of her predecessors. She will be of 8000 tons burden, or 1000 tons larger than the Bourgogne, Bretagne, Gascogne and Champagne, while her horse-power will be increased from 8000, as in the older boats, to 12,000. She will be provided with twin screws and with the triple-expansion engine of the type which was first introduced on Atlantic lines by the French line. The metallic ~ oe : ay ~~ we siete : Lape itigage” onl erie peaceful, certain lines against these f a enemies of society. What is needed to ee make their victory sure, to bring it about a the more speedily, is not that the news- a paper press shall threaten these trusts with BILLET-CAR WITH ROLLER BEARINGS. F predictions of popular uprisings against “ their promoters, but that it shall, by truly | of this people are to go for nothing, there| portions of the hull are of the highest ; representing them and their purposes, | will be no violent, tempestuous uprising| grade of steel from the foundries of create a common public sentiment an-| against them. They came quietly; they | Terre Noire. Like all French mail steam- <¥ tagonistic to whatever is wrong in them, | will go quietly. To believe otherwise | ers, the Touraine is built under contract ahd which sentiment, acting upon the law-| would be to doubt the wise moderation of| with the Government, and will be making powers, will remedy the wrong. | the masses—to question the abiding faith| fitted for the carrying of heavy guns. ' There has been, there can be no public | of the people in their own power to right | |It is expected that La Touraine will be wrong which is inimical to the spirit of| by peaceful, lawful processes the wrongs | completed in time to make her maiden : our institutions, to the popular interest or | that oppress them. | | trip in April next. ; | ;' ae ie a aie = a i ee ae Fa ss Me - ‘ a siete + i , mee © 3 a ME pas te = Le Oa mm se 8 ae aneseaus * en ee ane ee Se ee re — tae eet — SS Nee = = er ee 2S? Tees | -=3 Bae - — ce 276 THE IRON AGE. August 22, 1889 | ficient to substantiate the statement made TWO DAYS IN MIDDLESBOROUGH. |in behalf of this method that it results in — an important saving annually. An interesting and, so far as your cor- respondent is aware of, a unique co-opera- During a hasty trip to England’s great- | tion of two industries has been undertaken est iron-making district—the Cleveland—a | jy Middlesborough. Under the initiativ e | correspondent of The Iron Age gathered of the Bells the salt deposits of that sec- | a few impressions, one day’s stay in Mid- | tion were discovered and their develop- dlesborough making it impossible to col-| ment was begun. It may be remarked in- | lect data which might be placed before cidentally that the Bells have lately sold | your readers asinformation. There is some- | out their interest in the salt business to | thing impressive in the great number of |the new trust which has been capturing | mills, furnaces and works crowded together | that industry in England. At one plant | in alimitedarea. The blast-furnace plants jn the Cleveland district the waste gases | particularly are striking. Your correspond- | of the blast furnaces are utilized for boil- | ent does not remember having seen any jing down the brine. group smaller than four, while rows of six Your correspondent paid a hurried visit | and eight are numerous, and ten ina line} to two of the great steel works of the | were more than once observed. It is true | district, the North Eastern Steel Company that, generally speaking, the capacity Of and the Eston Steel Works, of Bolckow, the furnaces is small, in spite of dimen-| Vaughn & Co. The former, the largest | sions which are greater than ours in many | and among the oldest of the basic Besse- cases. Their product does not usually | mer plants in England, was visited at a exceed 500 to 600 tons a week, except | time when work was to some extent inter- when on foreign hematite ores, and in| fered with by a guerilla warfare on the some cases on native ores goes down to part of the workmen with the manage- 350 to 400 tons. The latter are lean, and | ment, No general strike was in progress, from the stand-point of the quantity of but from time to time all the men of one stock smelted the furnaces, of course, com- department dropped their tools. another pare more favorably with our crack set in another taking its turn when work | plants on rich Lake ores. The hand-| had again fairly got under way. The plant | ling of the materials, for. which years | has four 12-ton converters placed in a line, since Sir I. Lowthian Bell claimed striking | and commanded by an overhead traveling superiority, is certainly carried to grest| crane, so that they can be bodily lifted perfection. The railroad cars bringing the | out of their trunnions in accordance with stock are elevated bodily to the tracks) Holley’s designs. The iron ladle passes running along the ore-roasting kilns and! jn front of them. Originally it was in- the stock bins, from which the ore is| tended to use direct metal, and that prac- drawn without shoveling it. So far as | tice was carried out for some time, but was equipment is concerned, the brick stoves | finally abandoned in favor of remelting. are gaining ground, even Sir I. Lowthian| The only point of interest 1n connection Bell, the famous advocate of the iron! with the cupola plant is that hydraulic stove, being at work erecting Cowper lifts take up entire railroad cars. There stoves. No new plants have been put up | is nothing new in the method of renewing in the district for some time past, so that | converter linings or bottoms. The latter, (Editorial Corre sponde nce.) attention of American Bessemer men. In the rolling-mill proper the first object of interest was a 60-inch reversing blooming- train, rolling slabs with two edging passes, with tables on both sides and a vertical hydraulic shear. Near it is a 36-inch slabbing-train. A somewhat pe- culiar practice was observed. The loco- motive which brought the 4-ton slab to the train after depositing it backed up a few rods, and then starting forward liter- ally bucked it into the rolls, a proceeding which was repeated whenever the slab made its appearance on that side of the train. On the other side was a roller-table mounted on a track, servi.g alternately the slabbing-train and theadjoining plate- train, the power being transmitted by a square shaft running the entire length of the trains in front of the housings. On this side of the train the plate is forced into the rolls by means of a vertical pusher-bar. In both trains the rolls are worked by an hydraulic cylinder and rack engaging with the screw. By the side ofthis train was a 36-inch plate-mill. The whole of the finishing side of the two trains is com- manded by an overhead traveling-crane, which carries the plate to the great shear. The latter, the largest in the world, is a very interesting and massive piece of ma- chinery, weighing 289 tons and having a capacity to cut cold 3-inch-plates 10 feet long. One wrinkle noticed in connection with the plate-roiling was the use, already alluded to in The lron Age, of a series of gas-jets playing on the rolls to keep them hot while the train is not rolling. All the steel used in making plates is now made in the open-hearth furnace plant of the company, there being four in a line cast- ing into one long pit. The latest furnace built is in accordance with the designs of Francis Hilton, the general manager of the works. Another interesting class of work going it is not possible to ascertain readily in| however, do not show the life which|on at the mill was the rolling of sleeper- which direction furnace managers of long is generally reported in Germany, the | plates in one heat from the bloom, the suc- experience would seek improvement and | probable cause being that the blow gener- | cessive passes showing a rapid approach make modifications. Generally speaking, | ally lasts longer and that the phosphorus|to the dish section of the sleeper plates. the Middlesborough furnace men persist | contents are greater, requiring a larger} The rounded channel as rolled is cut into in slow driving. At the works belonging | proportion of lime additions per unit of | lengths, which immediately are delivered to the Cochranes however, higher blast | product. The steel is cast into ladles, one | to a press which bends down the ends and pressures are employed, running up to 7 to each two converters, from which it is} is then passed to another press in which pounds, against 44 to 5 pounds as the/ transferred to a Wrightson casting-crane|the lugs are punched up between which general rule of the district, The result | commanding a large pit. The Wrightson | the rails are fastened. In the yard your has been a heavier output—up to 800 tons | crane, which is regarded with satisfaction | correspondent was shown a number of a day, coupled with good fuel economy— at the Northeastern Steel Works, has been | sleepers made in accordance with the the Cochranes making a ton of iron | described at length in the pages of the| patents of James Riley, the well-known with about 2000 pounds of coke. The Jron and Steel Institute. In spite of many | manager of the Steel Company of Scotland. firm named some time since intro-| features which commend it, it has not duced the systematic determination of | found further applications, so far as your moisture in the blast as an aid in running correspondent could learn. The ingots . 5 the furnace. The moisture runs up as | are heated in furnaces possessing no special Beaver Falls, Pa., have been granted a 64 to 7 grains per cubic foot, averaging | features, a series of soaking-pits not being | Patent on a new process of galvanizing about 4 grains. The determinations are | in use at the present time. The blooming metals, by which they are dipped in lead made twice daily. Besides, like other | is done in a very powerful reversing train and drawn out through zinc. After being plants in the district, gas analyses are fre-| without any special appliances worthy of treated with acid the material passes quently made. notice, the principal feature of interest | through a bath of lead, at one end of During the past year at a number of | being the very heavy reductions made in which a small body of zinc is confined. furnaces the enormous mass of cinder | the first passes, The works have a rail- | The lesser specific gravity of the zine per- which is produced is handled with the | mill with ample accommodations, but there | ™!ts !t to be so separated. The material aid of a machine designed by an engineer | is not rarely enough work on the order- | !§ drawn out through the zinc in the connected with the works of Sir Bernhard | books to give it full employment. The | usual manner. The surface of the zinc Samuelson. The apparatus consists prac- | works, theref-re, roll a good deal of steel | exposed to the air is thus very small, and tically of a link-chain running over two) in the form of wire and other soft. billets, | Consequently there is but little oxidation. wheels, there being attached to it a series | slabs and tin-plate bars, competing vigor- | Various other advantages are claimed for of flat dishes about 24 inches wide by 15 | ously in the Welsh market with the local | the Dew Process. inches long. The cinder is allowed to flow | steel works in spite of their distance from | a Thomas Midgley and Walter B. Nye, into these dishes and is carried along, the | the market. | The Western railroads are doing an sag of the chain being allowed to dip into| In the afternoon your correspondent, | enormous business this month in transport- a water-tank. Ata further point, as they! with a small number of other engineers, | ing grain and live stock, with premoni- rise to the second wheel, which is located | drove out to the Eston Steel Works, of | tions of a short supply of cars in Sep- higher than the one below the cinder run, | Bolekow, Vaughn & Co., a few miles|tember. Grain deliveries at Chicago last a series of jets spray upon the cinder, below Middlesborough. The works, which, ! week were the largest known in the his- chilling it thoroughly. Below the second | after Cammell’s, rank as the heaviest pro-| tory of the city. The total receipts of all wheel is the track upon which the cinder- | ducers in England, have ten Bessemer con- | kinds of grain for the week were 4,855,000 cars are run. The apparatus is run by a) verters, of which four are acid and six are | bushels. For the same week last year small independent engine. The cinder, basic lined, the metal being carried direct | they were only 2,863,000 bushels. It was which is in the form of small pieces, is | from several groups of blast-furnaces in | estimated that the comparative increase dumped direct into barges and is utilized | the immediate vicinity. A hasty glance at | for August would reach nearly 7,000,000 in harbor works. A glance at the moun-|this part of the plant did not reveal any- | bushels. At the present rate of deliveries tains of cinder which surround nearly thing which, so far as appliances were|this estimate will be considerably ex- every furnace plant of the district is suf- | concerned, would be likely to attract the | ceeded. August 22, 1889 Electric Railway. The Weems railway system of rapid transit is intended for the transportation | of mails, express matter and light freight. The general arrangement of the track and motor is given in the accompanying side and end elevations. The motor car 18 feet long and 24 feet square at each end. It is pointed in front, the point being be- low the longitudinal center, so that the | greater air-pressure upon the upper surface of the wedge has a tendency to keep the car on the track. To reduce atmospheric pressure to a minimum, all the wheels and driving apparatus are placed within the! is LLL ddd ddd dda the passenger system applied in the same way. Te — Canadian Statisties. The Cananian Statistical Abstract and Record, for 1888, recently given to the public by the Government at Ottawa, con- tains a great deal of useful information for business men with relations on both sides of the boundary line. According to this document THE POPULATION £972,101, when the OF CANADA »») I~ was against 4,: census is at present $10 in 1881, as last S VMAS Sb VAC End Elevation. ELECTRO-ATI car body. The electric motor is geared to drive the large wheels shown by the dotted outline in the end view, which also shows the frame carrying the overhanging wheels which guard against derailment. The gauge of the road is 24 inches. In put- ting the road into practice it is expected to have stations at intervals along the line for the generation of the current for driv- ing the motors. All the trains will be controlled from the stations, and will be started, stopped and their speed regulated is desired. special form of rail serves a conductor for the current in both (directions. In making up a train the ends of the cars are telescoped together, thereby forming a continuous and unbroken ex- terior. The Electro-Automatic Transit Company, of Baltimore, who control this system, have built an experimental cir- cular track at Laurel, Md., some two miles in length. Thé track has excessive grades and curves in order to test the possibilities of the system. On this track trains have been found to work well and a speed of over two miles an hour has been attained. as TTOMATIC | organized | districts which eral Assembly meeting at Regina and pre- = | square Europe. | miles than the United States, | Alaska. \the revenue for 1888, $22, | from | $3,167,564 from | $27 THE IRON AGE. 277 | A much larger track is being built to test | miles in Prince Edward Island to 188,688 | square miles in Quebec, Ontario containing 181,800 square miles, Nova Scotia 20,907, | New Brunswick 27,174, Manitoba 60,520 } British Columbia contains 341,305 square | miles, double the area of The districts of Al- and Saskatchewan are territories, having electoral return members to a Gen- having any other berta, nearly province. Assiniboia as sided over by a lieutenant-governor. There are in unorganized territories the following areas: Keewutin, about 400,000 miles; Athabasca, about 122,000: remainder of territories, 1,816,730 square |miles. Canada has nearly one-half the | territory of the whole of the British Em- pire. It is nearly as large as the whole of It is larger by 600,000 square exclusive of THE PUBLIC DEBT AND REVENUES. The gross public debt of Canada June 30, 1888, was $284,513,842; the net pub- lic debt, $234,531,358. The increase in the gross liabilities ia the previous year was $11,326,216, made up of railway and canal expenditures, railway subsidies, pub- llic works, assumption of expenditures for the navigation of the St. Lawrence, &c. | The gross public debt when the Dominion was established in 1867-68 was $96,896,- | 666, so that the debt has trebled in 21 | years, | 1876-78 have | The | $13,6 | The revenue in 1888 was $35,908,463; | expenditure, The assets of $21,139,531 ot increased to $49,982,483. revenue of Canada in 1867-68 78,928; expenditures, was $13,486,092. the $36,718,495. The revenue in 1888 was the highest of an, year since |the union of the provinces, but the ex- | penditure rose to $39, 011,612 in 1888, ow- |ing to the rebellion in the Northwest. Of 105,926 came $6,071,926 from excise, Government railways, 477 from canals, $2,379,242 from the Post-office and $932, 025 from invest- ‘ments. Of the expenditures for 1888, customs, i 7 a TTT "2 VE: FEZ. wT) Te Side Rkleration. RAILWAY FOR MAIL AND taken. was 1871 and 1881 annum. <Ac- The gain between about 2 per cent. per cording to the abstract, 671,519 immi- grants have entered Canada since 1881. In estimating its present population, al- lowance is made for the considerable emi- gration to the United States that has been going on and for doubtful immigration statistics. The population of Montreal is increased from 140,747, in 1881, to 200,- 000 in 1888; Toronto, from 77,034 to 166,809: Hamilton, from 35,359 to 43,082; London, from 19,725 to 26,960; Ottawa, from 25,600 to 40,000; Halifax, from 100 to 40,000; Winnipeg, from 6249 to 22,098, and other cities in the same pro- portion Qe ob~.- The city of Vancouver, the ter- minus of the Canadian Pacific Railway on the Pacific C has gone up in three years from nothing to 10,000 population. oast, THE EXTENT OF CANADIAN TERRITORY. The area of Canada is placed at 3,610,- 257 square miles, of which one-third under organized government in provinces land territories ranging from 2133 square PACKAGES. $11,967,754 went for interest on the pub- lic debt and sinking fund, $4,188,513 for subsidies to the provinces, $807,422 for legislation, $1,258,618 for civil govern- ment, $2,162,116 for public works and buildings, $1,273,179 for militia and de- fense, $1,009,802 to the Indians, $862,965 for mounted police in the Northwest Ter- ritories, $1,000,000 for penitentiaries and the administration of justice. The fisher- took $416,182; lighthouse and coast service, $489,259; mail subsidies and steamship subventions, $342,613; the rail- (operating expenses), $3,621,077, the Post-office, $2,889,729. It cost $851,025 to run the customs and $360,491 for ies ways and c x¢ ‘se RAILWAY STATISTICS. The Inter-Colonial fax to Quebec, owned by the of Canada, with its branches, Dominion about $45,000,000. from Hali- Government has cost the The Gov- Railway, ernment alsoowns the railways in Prince building several The policy Edward Island and local railways in Nova Scotia. z ' ; > =m oe ~~. ——_— -—- a LE EL Be 4 se a i-_ ae hi Seas ae —_—— eee ees cams come ane ae st —_ 7 a to ~J Q® of granting Government subsidies in aid of railway construction by private com- panies was begun some years ago, and under it there had been voted tothe end of November, 1888, $10,918,665, besides 19,787,744 acres of the public lands, ex- clusive of the 25,000,000 acres granted to the Canadian Pacific Railway. The greater number of these subsides has _ been claimed by railway companies. The Do- minion Government has contributed alto- gether to railways in bonuses $134, 278, 219, or nearly one-half of the public debt. A large proportion of this has gone to subsi- dize the Canadian Pacific Railway, on which the Government has expended altogether over $61,000,000. There has also been extended to railways, in the shape of loans, assistance to the extent of $20,920,035. Provincial governments have aided railways to the extent of $23,342,758, and municipalities have given them $13,044,224. When the Dominion was formed in 1867 there were in operation 2258 miles of rail- way, and on June 30, 1888, there were 12,163 miles running and a total of 12,701 completed. was $160,471,190, and in 1888, $727,180, - 449. Exclusive of Government aid the sources of capital are: Ordinary share capital, $231,623,891, preference do., $95,870,491; bonded debt, $228,617,728, about 25 per cent. of the total capital being State and municipal aid. The train mileage has increased from 17,680,168 in 1875 to 37,391,206 in 1888, the number of passengers earried from 5,190,416 to 11,- 416,791, the tons of freight hauled from 5,670,836 to 17,173,759, the earnings from $19,470,539 to $42,151,153, the working expenses from 15,775,532 to $30,652,048. The mileage of the several railway com- panies in Canada alone stood as follows last year: Canadian Pacific system, 4562 miles; Grand Trunk system, 3093 miles; Dominion Government, 1184; New Bruns- wick system, 4154; Canada Southern, 3624; Southeastern system (in the Prov- ince of Quebec, under control of the Can- adian Pacific), 2604; Manitoba and North- western, 207 miles, in addition to a large number of smaller roads. The Northern and Northwestern, in Manitoba, had, in 1887, 493 miles of road; mileage for 1888 is not given. The proportion of expenses to receipts was as follows: Canadian Pa- cific, 71; Grand Trunk, 69; Canada Southern, 61; New Brunswick system, 67; Canada Atlantic, 57; Government railways, 114. The proportion for all Canadian railways was 72. IMPORTS AND EXPORTS. The imports of Canada have risen from $73,459,644 in 1868 to $110,894,630 in | 1888. The imports of 1888 were exceeded in value by some former years, notably 1873, but applying the values of 1873 to | JU the quantities of 1888 the imports of 1888 the United St would be shown to be the largest in the history of the country. risen from $57,567,888 in 1868 to $90,- | The year 1882 was high- 203,000 in 1888. water mark in Canadian exports in point of value, and applying the values of 1882 | to the quantities of 1888 would give the largest total value of any year. “~~ imports of 1888 $77,784,037 was dutiable, $33,110,593 free. ports were the following: $1,322,783; leaf tobacco, $1,489,357; agri cultural products, $2,020,356; cotton woo and waste, $3,222,943; tea, $2,940,515:| laughs at all ministerial subterfuges to | coin and bullion, $2,175,472; tin, $1,045, 395; steel rails, $1,252,531; dye stuffs anc chemicals, $1,239,193. The free coal, to bacco, wool, agricultural products anc dye stuffs were mainly from the Unite States, Among the exports produce of the min increased from $1,446,857 in 1868 to The paid-up capital in 1868 | AGE. ies from $3,357,510 to $7,793,183; produce of the forest from $18,262,170 to $21,- | 302,814; animals and their products from peo to $24,719,297; agricultural | THE IRON products from $12,871,055 to $15,436,- 360; manufactures from $1,572,546 to | $4,161,282. Nearly all Canadian minerals j} are sent to the United States. Nearly one- | half the Canadian fish comes here. The total exports of lumber were $21,302,814, |of which the United States took just half, | |The total exports of animals and their | produce were $24,719,297, of which the | | United States took $7,595,743, the bulk of these going to Great Britain. Of the | total of agricultural exports, $15,436,360, ithe United States took two-thirds—viz., | | $10,306,278. Over half the total imports of Canada in } 1888 were from the United States, viz., 50.06 per cent., the figures being: Total | imports, $110,894,630, of which the United States sent $55,518,790. Of the total ex- ports from Canada, $90,203,000, there was jsent to the United States $42,572,065. Compared with the year 1887 the trade of Canada with the United States in 1888 showed an increase of $9,419,333 and | formed 48.77 per cent. of the total trade; | the trade of Canada with Great Britain de- lcreased $10,220,285 and formed 39,54 per | | cent. of the total trade. CANADIAN SHIPPING. The shipping owned in Canada on De- | cember 31, 1888, was as follows: Steamers, | 1285, with gross tonnage, 207,142, and 7142 sailing vessels, the total net tonnage being 1,089,642. During 1888 there was a de- | |crease of 36 sailing vessels, 40,605 tons, and an increase of 45 steamers, 28,953 tons. The tonnage of vessels remains about the | same as in 1873, although in the interval | —in 1878—it rose to 1,333,015 tons. The | |three maritime provinces—particularly New Brunswick and Nova Scotia—own the bulk of the shipping, viz.: New Brunswick, 239,332 tons, Nova Scotia, | 1 485,709 tons. Quebec Province comes next with 178,520 tons, then Ontario, 139,- | |tons, British Columbia, 14,249 tons, Man- jitoba, 5,744 tons. At $30 per ton the lvalue of Canadian shipping would be | $32,689, 260. 264 vessels, 25,130 tons. The number of vessels arriving at and departing from all Canadian ports in 1888 was 64,303, of 15,217,308 tons register, an increase of 6368 vessels and 1,126,310 tons over 1887. Men employed numbered 640,911, or 51,- 1/115 more than in 1887. Over one-half was Canadian, and most of the remainder foreign. Of the vessels, 30,807, r present- ing 9,197,803 tons, were sea-going, the |remainder being lakers and coasting ves- Canada stands the fifth ship-owning |country in the world, the figures being: |The United Kingdom, 7,123,754 tons; ates (including licensed and 1,105,844; Sweden and Nor- | sels, | enrolled), 182; Canada, 1,089,642 tons, exclusive of | non-registered vessels, EE Speculation in the Argentine Re- ‘| public.—The wild spirit of speculation forced up the premium on gold to 76 per Among the free im-|cent., a point never before reached and Anthracite coal, | maintained stationary. The Buenos Ayres $5,290,412; hides, $1,619,822; raw wool, | Standard says: ‘*Nobody in or out of -| power dreams of retrenchment, and the 1}result is an unbridled speculation that -}avoid the dilemma of meeting the situa- 1}tion in earnest by stringent legislation -| with regard to issues ot greenbacks and 1| mortgage bonds. In this helter-skelter 1} race of new issues and new companies the gold premium is shooting ahead at a e| tremendous pace, and the very worst feat- $4,110,937 in 1888; produce of the fisher-|svmptoms of any sensible slackening in 502 tons, Prince Edward Island, 26,586 | Last year there were built | August 22, 188+ the speed of this advance. Under such circumstances, though the Argentine Re- public appears to be on the crest of a tidal wave of prosperity, distrust is rampant in the commercial body, and nobody believes in any steady or permanent decline in gold or appreciation of paper.” Despite the sudden rise that has already taken place there is a growing conviction in Buenos Ayres that gold will rise. still higher in view of the rumored issue of 60,000,000 more National and 100,000,000 more La Plata cedulas, and an advance to 100 per cent. premium is not improbable. A — Steamship Subsidies. As the question of subsidies in aid of steamship navigation is likely to have a prominent place in the discussions of the next Congress, it is well that the public should know what the Government has done heretofore in this direction. In 1845 the Postmaster-General was autho- rized to contract for ocean service in steamers whenever the public interest re- quired it, and he was left to decide upon the routes and ports of the several lines. He contracted with Edward Mills for four ships and 20 trips a year from New York to Bremen and Havre for $400,000, and with E. K. Collins & Co. for four ships and 20 trips from New York to Liverpool for $385,000. Contracts were also made for service from New York to New Orleans and the Isthmus of Panama and from Panama to California and Ore- gon for $489,000. Congress approved the contracts and advanced part of the money upon them to assist in building the ships. In 1850 a line was established from Charles ton to Havana under a payment of $50,000 ayear. The subsidy to Collins was in- creased in 1852 to $858,000 a vear. In that year the Government was expending #1,840,250 in subsidies, as follows: To Liverpool, $858,000; from New York to Charleston, Havana and New Orleans, | $290,000; for the Panama and Oregon | service, $348,250; to Bremen and Havre, $294,000; between Charleston and Havana, $50,000. In 1853 the opposition to sub- sidies became serious. In 1856 the subsidy | to Collins was reduced to $385,000, and in |the following year his contract was | allowed to come to an end; the Bremen ‘and Havre contracts expired at the same |time. No further subsidies were granted until 1865, when one of the $500,000 was given to the Pacific Mail Company for carrying mails to China and Japan, and another toa New York company to carry mails from New York to Brazil for $150, - 1000. Both of these contracts were termi- | nated at the end of ten years. I The Treasury Department has granted an application by a New Orleans firm to have a consignment of copper percussion The exports have | WV“: 2,024,471; German Empire, 1,240,-| caps intended for transmission to interior points taken from the list of explosives, so that they may be forwarded under bond in the ordinary manner. This action has | been taken upon a report from the Col- lector at New York that actual tests show Of the|in the Argentine Republic has at last | that these caps, used for sporting purposes |only, are not explosive articles, and are ‘not, therefore, properly included in the | list of explosives, but that blasting caps /and detonators used for blasting are dangerous. Under an advertisement issued by the |Ordnance Office, War Department, for ‘*sabots,”’ the only bid received was from |the South Boston Iron Works at $1.30 a pound for the 11-inch sabots and $1.50 a pound for the 7-inch sabots, to be de- livered withia six weeks after the signing of the contract. A sabot is an arrange- ure of the situation is that there are no| ment to center shot in guns to make them fit to the bore. 99 August 22, 1889 Aluminium.* In a lecture delivered by Sir Henry Roscoe recently on this subject, the lec- turer reminded his hearers that 33 years ago Mr. Barlow delivered a lecture on aluminium in which he stated that the metal was then worth £3 per ounce, while now it is sold for 20 per pound, It manufactured by the ton by the Alumin- ium Company at their works at Oldbury, near Birmingham. The capacity of the works is 100,000 pouncs per annum, to produce which requires not only that at least 400,- 000 pounds of sodium, 800,000 pounds of chlorine and 1,000,000 pounds of double chloride should be annually manufactured, but in addition that each of these mate- rials should be produced at a very low cost, in order to enable the metal to be sold at 20/ per pound. The company’s works now cover a space of nearly 5 acres. They are divided into five separate de- partments—(1) sodium, (2) chlorine, (3) chloride, (4) aluminium, (5) foundry, roll- ing, wire-mills, &e. In each department an accurate account is kept of the produc- tion each day, the amount of material used, the different furnaces and apparatus in operation, &c. In this manner it has been found possible to ascertain each day exactly how the different are progressing and what effect any modifica- tion has, either on cost, quantity or qual- ity of product. By this means a complhi- cated chemical process reduced to a series of very simple operations. so that, while the processes are apparently compli- cated and difficult to carry out success- fully, this is not the case now that the details connected with the manufacture have been perfected, and each operation carried on quite independently until the tinal materials are brought together forthe production of the aluminium. is pre CeSSeS is MANUFACTURE OF SODIUM, The first improvement occurs in the manufacture of sodium by what is known as the Castner process. Practically, the proc- ess consists in heating fused caustic soda in contact with carbon while the former sub- stance 1s ina perfectly liquid condition. By the process in vogue before the intro- duction of this method it always deemed necessary that special means should be taken to guard against actual fusion of the mixed charges, which, if it were to take place, would to a large extent allow thealkali and reducing material to rate. Thus having an infusible charge to heat, requiring the employment of a very high temperature for i was sepa- Its decomposition, the iron vessels must be of small cireum- ference to allow the penetration of the heat to the center of the charge without actually melting the vessel in which the materials are heated. By the new proc- ess, owing to the alkali being in a fused or perfectly liquid condition in contact rectly with carbon, the necessity of this is avoided, and consequently the reduction can be carried on in large vessels at 2 Com- paratively low temperature. The reaction taking place may be expressed as follows: 3NaHO + C Na.CO, + 3H + Na. The vessels in which the charges of al- kali and reducing material are heated of egg-shaped pattern, about 18 inches in width at their widest part and about 3 feet high, and are i the lower one | in the form of a crucible, while the upper one is pro vided with an upright stem and a protrud- ing hollow arm. This part of the ap paratus is known as the cover, menecing the operations raised in the heated furnace through apertures provided in the floor of the heated chamber, and are then fastened in their place by an attachment adjusted to di- are made In two portions, iT ing actually In com- these covers are * Abstract of lecture delivered by Sir Henry Roscoe, M.P., V.P.R.S., before the Royal Insti- tution of Great Britain. THE IRON AGE. ”) - . 9 the stem; the hollow arm extends outside | pounds of sodium and about 240 pounds the furnace. Directly below each aperture in the bottom of the furnace are situated the hydraulic lifts, attached to the top of which are the platforms, upon which are placed the crucibles to be raised into the furnace. Attached to the hydraulic lifts are the usual reversing-valves for lowering or raising, and the platform is of such a size as, when raised, completely to fill the bottom aperture of the furnace. The charged crucible, being placed upon the platform, is raised into its position, the edges meeting those of the cover, forming an air-tight joint, which prevents the escape of gas and vapor from the vessel during re duction, except by the hollow arm pro- vided for this purpose. The natural ex- pansion of the iron is accommo- dated by the water-pressure in the hy- draulic lifts, so that the joint of the cover and crucible not disturbed until it intended to lower the lift for the purpose of removing the crucible. The length of time required for the first operation of reduction and distillation is about two hours. <At the end of this time the crucibles are lowered, taken from the platforms by a large pair of tongs on wheels, carried to a dumping-pit and thrown on their sie The residue is cleaned out and the hot pot, being again gripped by the tongs, is taken back to the furnace. On its way the charge ilkali and reducing material isthr