The Iron Age 1889-09-26: Vol 44

THE IRON AGE A New Hot-Air Engine. The air-engine of which we herewith present engravings has developed excep- tional efficiency according to tests made by George H. Barrus, of Boston. In con cluding his report Mr. Barrus states that ‘‘in view of the very large improvement that has already been made in the economy of the engine, and in view of the evident losses which have been referred to, which THIRTY-FIVE HORSE-POWER are still going on, it seems quite probable that an engine of this type can be made which will develop an indicated horse- power on a consumption of 1 pound of coal per hour, measuring the coal during a period beginning with the fires in a nor- mal condition and ending with the fires in the same condition.” The general form of the engine and most of its details are represented by the ac- companying engravings, Fig. 2 being a side elevation, Fig. 3 a plan and Fig. 4 a sectional and elevation through the centers of the working cylinders on one side. The engine consists of two working cylinders, which are double-acting, and two ‘‘reverser cylinders,” so called, all of which operate through beams and con- AIR-ENGINE, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1889 necting rods upon the same fly-wheel shaft. The bottom ends of the No. 1 reverser and No. 1 cylinder are connected by a pipe; so, also, the bottom ends of No. 2 reverser and No. 2 cylinder are likewise connected. The top of No. 1 reverser is connected by a pipe with the top of No. 2 cylinder, and the top of No. 2 reverser with the top of No. 1 cylinder. There is a_ furnace be- neath each reverser, and the flue from this furnace passes to a chamber surrounding BUILT BY WOODBURY, the bottom of the working cylinder and | thence to the chimney. Fig. 4 shows the | arrangement of the principal parts. The | furnace, heater and reversing cylinder are shown to the left, one above the other in the order named. The regenerator is below the cooler, both of which sur- round the reverserccylinder. The work- ing cylinder shown to the right. The only communication between 1s lower end of the same—that is, between the cold end and the hot end—is through the passages which form the regenerator and cooler. When the reverser piston moves downward, the air which is con- tained in this cylinder passes out of the space at the bottom, up through the re- MERRILL, the | upper end of the reverser cylinder and the | venerator and cooler, into the space left at t! top; and when the reverser piston moves upward, the air in the upper part of the cylinder returns first through the cooler, then through the regenerator, and finally into the space below the piston. The air in the reverser cylin- der is, by this means, brought into alternate contact with the heater at the bottom and with the cold space at the and it consequently alternately 1S top, — ‘aie _ PATTEN & WOODBURY. heated and cooled as the reverser piston works up and down. On its passage through the regenerator the air gives up its heat to the material of which the regen- erator is composed, and when the air re- turns through the regenerator it picks up the heat previously given up. Being thus alternately heated and cooled, the air in the reverser cylinder, which has no outlet excepting through the pipe leading to the working cylinder, has its pressure alter- nately increased and decreased by an amount proportional to the range of tem- perature. Now, if we suppose that the reverser piston and the working cylinder | piston are so connected by the mechanism that the working piston is made to move } upward when the reverser piston is at the 474 THE IRON AGE. September 26, 1889 (qu nsncnSEgSEEnEnEDEnEIgaasnnmeneasnonasnsanansoenssn=nnnasnnnandhaeseesseschepessiesh=ssss=aasaasenssstSasesesasstnslianassenasesalf-S=aessesusnsssssshasunasasasnssnsssssnsnessonsassscesisis-sskssesss=ssssslsssssssSSoesssseSse Sanassnsssisasaansasusensnasainaissssniasemsanesstesasneanapsnssnieaeeneeeeenineeeneeninemeseeeeeemameeea eae top of its stroke and downward when’ the | the inside diameter 214 inches, which is | stroke; reverser piston is at the bottom of its | filled with wire-gauze. This gauze is made | down-stroke; 3, | | of wire No, 25 B. W. G., which is about stroke, it will readily be seen that the working piston will be subjected to the high pressure on the upward stroke and to the lower pressure on the downward stroke, and this difference of pressure will enable a working force to be generated. The reverser piston, having both sides in open communication with each other, is in substantial equilibrium, witn the excep- tion of the resistance due to the passages in the regenerator and cooler, The reverser piston answers the purpose of a valve for the working cylinder, and its simple office is to transfer the air from the hot part of the chamber to the cold | tubes, and the water which is used for'can be worked at any desired ;y inch in diameter, 12 meshes to the inch each way, and it is placed in the regen- | erator in such a way as to completely fill |the space. It is wrapped spirally around | the center cylinder, and there are 102 | courses, The amount of the superficial area of this gauze before it is introduced |is approximately 1900 square feet. Each | cooler consists of 640 tubes, made of cop- | per, 18 inches long, ,’, inch inside diam- jeter, and No, 20 B. W. G., this last cor- responding to a thickness of 0.035 inch. The air passes through the inside of the 9 2, when it was at the end of the when the No. 2 re- | verser was at the top, and, 4, when the | No. 1 reverser was at the top. Measuring |the distances of these marks from each | other, it is found that the No. 1 reverser | is at the top of the stroke when ithe No. 2 piston has moved _ over |56 per cent. of its down-stroke, and | r . e the No. 2 reverser is at the top of its stroke when the No. 2 piston has moved , over 40 per cent. of its down-stroke. The draft of the chimney for the engine is regulated by hand, a damper being | placed in the flue leading from each fur- |nace. The engine is arranged so that it initial c THIRTY-FIVE Fig. 2.—Side Elevation. HORSE-POWER ATIR-ENGINE. part and thereby to secure the desired in- | cooling circulates around the outside. The | pressure of the air, a pressure-tank being crease and decrease of pressure. The ob- ject of the cooler, which is simply a tubu- lar apparatus through which the water circulates, is to deprive the air of the heat which the regenerator fails to absorb and utilize. This sketch shows in a simple way the principles on which the engine works. The engine is made double-acting by employing two sets of these cylinders and by connecting them together by pip- ing, as shown in the drawings, so that at the beginning of the stroke of either work- ing piston, in either direction, one side of the piston will be in communication with the hot end of one reverser and the other side with the cold end of the opposite re- verser. The regenerator consists of an annular space 3} inches wide and 16 inches high, the outside diameter being 29 inches and | tive positions of the reverser pistons and vertical line with the indicator-pencil at 4 - . . ‘piston was at the beginning of the down- tubes are held by means of heads 1} inches | thick, and the amount of surface exposed | to the air between the heads is 60.8 square | feet on each side. The engine is fitted with a governor, | shown in drawing Fig. 2, which 1s of the | ordinary centrifugal type. It acts upon a valve that opens communication between the top ends of the two working cylinders. The crank which drives the reverser pis- tons during the test above referred to was set about 70° ahead of the crank which is | driven by the working pistons. Therela- working pistons at different points in the | stroke was determined by turning the en gine over by hand and drawing a short four points, namely: 1, When the No. 2 | shaft, provided, which is kept supplied with air by means of a small air-compresser, which is worked by an eccentric on the main shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The diameter of the cylinder of this compressor is 4 inches and its stroke 6 inches, and it is single-acting. The dimensions of the pressure-tank are—diameter 24 inches, length 5 feet. This engine is built for a working pressure in the tank of nominally four atmospheres—that is, 45 pounds by the gauge; but it has been worked for a short time at a pressure in the tank of five atmospheres. It is claimed that there is no limit to the pressure which can be varried in the machine, except that which relates to the strength of the parts. The pressure in the tank is that of the lowest | pressure in the engine, corresponding to the back pressure in the ordinary steam- September 26, 1889 THE IRON AGE. engine, and the heating of the air serves; tions. This opinion is offered for the rea- | to carry the highest extreme of pressure | above this point. The pistons of the en- gine for all the cylinders are packed with simple cast-iron ring packing, each set out with springs. It will be noticed by re- ferring to Fig. 4 that the pistons of both cylinders are very deep, the packing be- ing located on the top, and this provision is made so as to keep the rubbing-surface | of the packing as far as possible away | from the hot end of the cylinder. The lubrication of the cylinder is effected by means of cylinder-oil in the manner of or- dinary steam-engines, though the oil re- quires to be pumped into the cylinders rather than fed automatically The furnaces are lined with fire-brick, and beyond this there is no protection against radiation, all the cylinders and exterior of the furnaces being bare. The engine which was tested—that is, the No. 13—occupies a floor-space of 7.1 x 11.6 THIRTY-FIVE feet. feet and the weight is 12 tons. In our opening paragraph we quote Mr. Barrus’ opinion regarding the possibilities of the engine. We quote as follows from his report: show that the engine is capable of trans- mitting through the belt an effective horse- power for not more than one-half of the coal required for the best steam-engines of small power which are commonly used, the assumption being made that ordinary engines of this size use about 5 pounds of coal per indicated horse-power per hour and about 6 pounds per brake horse-power. These results do not appear to be the best that can be obtained from this type of en- gine, for there is a considerable loss of heat from the unprotected exterior surfaces of the furnaces, due to radiation, which might easily be prevented by the use of suitable covering. There is also loss from the exterior surfaces of other parts of the engine, from the same cause, which might also be prevented. It is believed, also, that the engine is capable of giving better results with some changes in the propor- ‘‘The results of these tests | son that the present engine is so far in advance in the matter of economy of fuel over a previous engine, which the w riter tested several vears ago.” This engine 1s built by the Woodbury, Merrill, Patten & Woodbury Air Engine Company, of Boston, Mass. a ——— —_ The New Norfolk Doek. The new Simpson dock at Norfolk, Va., is 530 feet over all, and will take a vessel of 430 feet in length of keel, 26 feet § inches draft, and in width will take any- thing now afloat. The depth of water at the entrance to the dock at high water will be 26 feet 6 inches, and at low water will be 23 feet 8 inches, the rise and fall of the tide at the navy-yard being 2 feet 10 inches. The average depth of the southern branch of the Elizabeth River, lan Fig. 3. HORSE-POWER is about 35 feet at high water, and this will allow the largest ships of the navy to come up at any time. The site of the dock, which is near the southern end of the yard, was chosen on account of the width of the river at the point and its close prox- imity to the various shops of the yard. The axis of the dock lies about northwest by southeast, and it is protected on three sides from heavy gales, which makes it possible to dock a vessel in the roughest weather. The dock when full holds about 8,000,000 gallons of water, and at the official inspection of the dock by the board, headed by Capt. F. M. Bunce, United States Navy, it was emptied in the short time of 1 hour, 5 minutes and 26 seconds. The two centrifugal pumps were built by the Southwark Foundry and Ma- chine Company, of Philadelphia. They have an average capacity each of about 52,000 gallons per minute. The for the building of the dock specified that these pumps should have a capacity ol 40,000 gallons, but the test sl be largely above this figure. contract 1iows them to tj. The foundation of the dock is piling, over which, to the depth of 3 feet, is a solid bed of concrete. Above the con- crete floor the dock is of wood, and 1,000. - 000 feet of Georgia heart-pine and almost as much other timber was used in its con- struction. Where any of the timber is ex- posed to the salt water it was creosoted to prevent it from the destroying attacks of the toredo worm. The caisson which closes the mouth of the dock is an iron structure ribbed and riveted like a modern cruiser, and it is worked with water bal- last. There are eight feeding valves and culverts through it, and by them the dock has by actual test been flooded to a depth of 25 feet in 55 minutes. All of the bilge blocks are operated from the top of the dock. The sides of the dock, which are constructed with steps which have 8 inches rise and 10 inches tread, makes shoring ; This dock is 100 feet shorter than the one recently constructed at Newport easy. ATR-ENGINE The extreme hight over all is 10| which forms the approach to the new dock, | News for the Chesapeake Dry Dock and Construction Company, but the other di- mensions are about the same, while the one opened at the Norfolk yard has the ad vantage in the ease with which large ves- sels may be docked, and also in the depth of the water which forms the approach. This is the first of the three dry-docks contracted for with the Government by J. E. Simpson & Co., and its completion before any of the others is due to the favorable conditions of climate which have allowed the work to progress throughout the winter months almost without interruption. The docks con- structed to this date by J. E Simpson & Co. are three at Boston, which have been working ever since 1856 and have only had $5000 spent on them in repairs since completed: two at Brooklyn, N. Y , completed in 1864; one Wilmington, Del, and owned by the Harlan & Hol lingsworth Company; one at Philadelphia owned by the Messrs. Cramp; Baltimore, owned by the Baltimore Dry Dock Company; the one Newport News, and one at St. Johns, N. F., at one at at 476 THE IRON AGE, September 26, 1889 owned by the colonial Government, which | was completed in 1884, and no repairs have been made on any of them except those at Boston. Almost alongside of the Simpson dock lies the stone dry-dock which was completed in 1833 after six vears and a half of work at a cost of $974,356.65, and which in length is only 300 feet. This gives a very fair chance for a comparison of the cost of the two classes of docks, the Simpson dock, 530 feet long, costing only $495,707.57 and being completed in just 22 months from the time of the signing of the contracts. — A Famous Lumber Barge. The barge Wahnapitae, Capt. William Patterson, left Duluth lately with the largest lumber cargo ever carried by any vessel. She was built in Bay City, Mich., | in 1836, for the Emery Lumber Company for the purpose of carrying logs. Her | length over all is 270 feet and beam 51.5 feet. In the United States vessel register | her gross tonnage is 1431.54, net 1359.97. | Her molded depth is 11.9 feet. She has B1 rating and an insurance valuation of $35,000, although she cost $53,000. Her owners soon took her out of the log trade, because while she was a success she could make a great deal more money carrying lumber, ties, telegraph poles, &c., and an idea of her money-making capacity may best be obtained froma glance at the following list of cargoes carried while in command of her present captain, Wilham | Patterson, who has been on her since the opening of navigation last year: Gross | Cargo. Amount. Earnings. I oo SS ig ate 2,000,000 feet $4,000 Railroad-ties.......... 44,069 3,966 | SO cc eaten! wives 2,000,000 feet 5,000 | Seer: 1,800 tons 1,260 | ROD cw sacbne is ... 2,000,000 feet 5,000 Telegraph-poles. ...... 10,000 6,800 Telegraph-poles. .... 10,000 6,800 Block EON: a tate ain 1,800 tons 3,600 Lumber....... .... 2,000,000 feet 6,500 Railroad-ties.......... 40,000 3,200 Railroad-ties...... .... 40,000 3,200 Railroad-ties...... .... 40,000 3,200 Ee 2,042,000 feet 4,084 NS ere 2,042,000 feet 4,594 | Lumber...... .. «+... 2,600,000 feet 5,850 | Fifteen cargoes; total gross earnings. . . $67,054 | Previous to these two seasons she had | once or twice carried 2,500,000 feet of | ijumber out of Duluth harbor, antl the | largest cargoes she has ever carried, | 49.069 ties and over 2,500,000 feet of | lumber to-day, were into and out of Du- luth. Here is a large vessel earning con- siderably over her cost in two seasons, without losing a single item of cargo, a record unequaled by any vessel in the general-commodity trade. She has had no mishaps to speak of beyond a slight grounding, and also being cast adrift while her tug ran to the shelter of the Apostle Islands for safety. It was asevere | test for any vessel, that hard storm last year, and this great craft weathered it well. With her small cargoes of coal and stone, as shown in the foregoing table, she drew, with the former, 9 feet 3 inches of water, even keel; with the latter, 10 feet 2 inches aft and 9 feet 3 inches for- ward, and she can carry over 3000 tons on less draft than any other vessel on the lakes can carry 2000 tons. ee At a meeting of the business men of Wheeling, W. Va., held on Thursday, the 19th inst., nearly $12,000 was sub- scribed for the purpose of making a thorough test for natural gas in that city or immediate vicinity. Quite a number of manufacturing concerns in Wheeling who have been using natural gas piped for some miles have been compelled to | return to the supply of gas It was inadequate, then decided to raise some money and endeavor to get gas in Wheeling or vicinity. It is expected that drilling will be commenced in a short time. a aoe A New Railroad Signal. A successful test of a new automatic block railroad signal was made on the tracks of the Pittsburgh and Western Rail- road, at Allegheny City, Pa., a few days avo, The signal is the invention of T. D. Williams and J. S. Luevek, two electri- cians in the employ of the Western Union Telegraph Company at Pittsburgh. To conduct the test ual TY, SSSSSSSSSSS cha aes ; oss SSE EES \ VA Y 7 -+-./ ¢ ZZ a CASES ORRTITALAAIIA TA s eH TTT LB rere Rss xt iy N Y ‘ N battery in the engine to a steel brush, and one runs from the battery at the pole to a piece of copper about 4 feet long which is securely fastmed near the outer edge aad at a slighi:elevation above the rail, |The brush coming in contact with the copper forms the current that releases the weight in the signal-pole and the board on top of the pole flies up. When it does soa bell in the locomotive tells the en- gineer that the signal has been displayed properly. The board remains in a hori- zontal position until the train reaches an- other block, when it falls to its old posi- tion, showing that the track is clear. The mechanism of the invention is sitaple and a number of common: not likely to get out of order, but should a SRY | SSSI q Ny LLL 2 PELPLE POLLO at 0 « \x 0 B 273 mS eo [LLL OLLI ILLITE III III I U VG N 0 4 [eer 4 ptt. i ise Go Reerreeererereeeeeeed y Z A : : Uj sees «+s Does Ly POLIR IIIT LISI ILE YZ Yj Y 4 A y y Yj 4 Fig. 4.—Vertical Cross-Section through Cylinders. THIRTY-FIVE block-signal poles were erected on both |sides of the track, at regular distances, and exhibitions were made of all the dif- ferent ways ir which a train could protect itself. The first was atrain on a single track displaying danger signals rear and front. When the train entered the block a steel brush which came in contact with an insulated piece of copper formed a cir- / cuit and weights in the poles were released by electricity, causing the danger signals to be displayed at either end of the block. | In the same way a broken train ona single | track was protected. Another test showed two trains approaching each other on a single track, each protected front and rear. The final exhibit was a train on a double track protected in the rear. The entire apparatus works automatic- ally. A small battery is carried on the use Of coal because the} locomotive and one is concealed near the was | foot of every pole. A wire runs from the HORSE-POWER ! } | AIR-ENGINE, anything happen a danger signal is dis- played on the block where the trouble ex- ists. Each block works independent of the other, and one being out of order does not interfere with the operation of the balance. Quite a number of railroad men and electricians witnessed the test and all were well pleased with it. ————— _$____— The offices of the H. C. Frick Coke Company, of Pittsburgh, are about to be removed from their present quarters, at the corner of Fifth avenue and Smithfield | street, to the new Hussey Building, in Fifth avenue, in that city. The McClure Coke Company have pur- chased the Colonel Evans coal property of 2200 acres, near Uniontown, Pa., and will immediately erect new ovens. September 26, 1889 The Cruiser Baltimore. We have already mentioned the official trial of the cruiser Baltin re, built by Wm. Cramp & Sons. The en: ‘nes were run at full speed for four hours, under the man- agement of the contractors, the data being taken by naval engineers. The Baltimore has twin-screws, is 335 feet long 484 feet beam, and draws 194 feet of water when fully loaded. On the occasion of the trial the steamer did n over all, have her guns and stores, but was loaded to the same dis placement as she would have shown if fully equipped. The designs of this steamer were obtained from England, and called for engines to develop 10,500 ind cated power. The Navy Depart- ment, in letting the contract, did not re duce the size of the engines, but only re- quired the development of 9000 indicated horse-power, offering a bonus of $100 for each additional indicated horse-power de- veloped during atrial of four hours. The trial was made with forced draft, on the closed fire-room system, the air-pressure varying from 2 to 2.7 inches of water. Picked coal (Pocahontas bituminous) was used in the furnaces. It is reported that the machinery worked well, with the ex- ception of slight priming in some of the boilers, little water being used on the bearings. The official report of the trial has not yet appeared, but it is surmised that the average indicated horse-power was about 10,300. in which case the contract- ors will receive the substantial bonus of $130,000. During the run the contractors were allowed 5 minutes in every 15 to fire and adjust the machinery, nothing being touched after each horse THE IRON AGE. 1 eae ee anne yield in the Vermilion district at 1,000,000| Phe Work of the Patent Office tons, the Menominee at 1,500,000 tons and the Marquette at 2,750,000 tons, giving ' : : . ee ; a total of 7,000,000 tons for these North- C. E. Mitchell, the Commissioner of interval of five min- | utes until a signal was given, and during | this time indicator diagrams were taken | and observations made of steam pressure, vacuum, counter, &c. The following are the particulars of each hour’s run: Revolutions per minute. ounds Knots s : | 3s o5 > a - : Hour. pe = |8&¢6 a Zo oo af L 25 5 | &s2/ 2 = ~ wa'5,| 2 i = S pA S z * |g88| £ Zw —_ First 118.0 116.6 118.0 | 20.7 Second 118.6 119 4 120.5 71.1 Third. . 118.8 22.7 118.5 | 21.5 Fourth.. 113.7 113.7 109.0 ” Averages 117.3 118.1 116.5 20.9 The above speeds are calculated from the pitch of the screws (20 feet), making an allowance of 10 per cent. for slip, and may be modified somewhat in the official report. Some experiments on turning the vessel when going at full speed were made after concluding the speed trial. Using both screws the steamer turned in 6 min- utes 58 seconds, and with one screw in 7 minutes 2 seconds, the diameter of the turning circle being 220 yards. When the engines were working in forward gear at full speed they stopped and reversed in 15 seconds. TT Output of Gogebic Ore.-—In an inter- view in the Duluth Herald, J; Parke Channing is quoted as follows concerning the Gogebic range: ‘All the ‘leading mines are making good records, and the Norrie will beat any previous recard. It looks now as if it would take out fully 575,000 tons. The Ashland will yield about 200,000 tons; the Aurora, as much; the Pabst, about 100,000 tons, and the Iron King, Brotherton and Hennepin, 75,000 tons each. There will be a total from this district of 1,750,000 tons in round numbers. I should estimate the } western iron districts this year. Some of our mines are shipping now by rail through all the winter months, and the Brother- ton, in particular, has a contsact for 25.000 tons to be delivered this winter. now to Chicago and Milwaukee ire down to $2 ver ton.” Ore rates ———————— Automatic Steam-Trap. It is claimed that the ip we here illustrate will take care of the condensed water as fast as formed, without blowing steam or requiring a regulated steam pressure. This end is attained by the use of a balanced valve placed in the steam chamber and operated by a float. The valve is formed with annular flanges, the surfaces of which have inclined so as to open and close gradually lower planes OUTLET Blake Automatic Steam-Trap. in the valve-chamber and thereby allow a steady flow of water. Incase of an ex- cessive flow the valve will lift high enough to give a double discharge of water through both parts in the valve-chamber. The pin at the top of the float is designed to guide and prevent the stem from bend- ing during transportation. The dome in the top of the trap, directly under the inlet, deflects the water from the float. The waste-cock in the bottom can be used to clean the trap from scale sediment deposited from the pipes without passing through the valve opening; it also pro vides a means of draining the trap of water. A waste-pipe from the air-valve into the discharge is arranged shown. This trap is made by W. L. Blake & Co., of Portland, Maine. I as Application was recently made to the Treasury Department for an allowance of drawback on the exportation of bent window-glass made from imported plain window-glass by the process of merely bending the imported sheets. The De- partment has decided that such articles are not entitled to drawback, on the ground that the bending referred to does not constitute a manufacture within the meaning of the law. Patents, has filed with the Sec retary of th Interior the preliminary report of the operations of his bureau for the year ended June 30, 1889. There were re- ceived during the year 36,740 applications for patents, 808 applications for design patents, 101 applications for reissue pat- ents, 1281 applications for registration of trade-marks, 772 applications for registra- tion of labels, and 2345 caveats, total of 42,047. The granted in the year, and designs, was 21,518; number of trade- marks registered, 1111; number of labels registered, 312; making a total of 22.941. The number of patents withheld for non payment of final fees was 2858; number of patents expired, 11,920. The receipts from all sources for the year aggregated $1,186,557; the expendi- tures, including printing and binding, stationery and contingent expenses, $999, - 697; leaving a surplus for the year of $186,860, which makes the total amount in the United States Treasury to the credit making a of patents including reissues number of the patent fund $3,524,526. At the close of the fiseal year 1888- 89 the business of the Patent Office, says the report, was in a satisfactory condi- tion as compared with former years. The ex- aminations of applications for patents car- ried on in 24 of the 30 examining divisions had been brought up to within two months of that date, and of the remaining six divis- ions one-half were less than three months in arrears. Thisis a satisfactory showing |as compared with former years. The Com- | missioner believes, however, that the ar- rears in work in all the divisions can be | practically done away with at an early date |through the cordial co-operation of the force with the efforts of the Commissioner. | The Commissioner says that an opinion has found expression that the policy of the Psetent Office in adjudicating upon ques- tions arising in the granting of patents should conform more nearly to the decis- ions of the Federal courts. There can be no doubt of this view, and accordingly the Commissioner believes it would be wise for |Congress to require the clerks of the | Federal courts to furnish certified copies | of all decisions and opinions in patent cases for publication in the official gazette. cg Windom and the Tariff.—Secretary Windom will have a considerable mass of valuable data upon which to construct a Tariff bill if he decides to lay one before Congress. He has called on the Collectors of Customs at New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Chicago and San Francisco for their opinions on necessary improvements, and in most cases hds asked the opinions of the Surveyors and Naval Officers also. He has sent to each of these officers copies lof the Mills Tariff bill and the Senate Tariff bill, and asked them to give their opinion on different regarding sections g which they have special information, the advantages and disadvantages of specific, ad valorem and mixed duties, with special reference to the feasibility of imposing and collecting them, the practical effect upon importations and upon the revenue of the rates of duty in the two bills, and which of the provisions relating to administration are likely to prove most convenient and beneficial. Only one or two replies have thus far been received, although they have been requested before September 30. Sec- retary Windom has already begun the prep- aration of the general features of h's re- port, and will take up the tariff features. soon a By a large majority the Common Council of Philadelphia have fixed the tax rate at | $1.85. he BS M4 ‘| = ee ~ — ee oR ISP. 478 Electric i Paris Exposition. The Engineer, of London, describes and illustrates the 10-ton electric traveling- cranes which form such an interesting feature of the exposition. With the ob- | ject of making all the working parts of the exposition as modern and attractive as possible, it was decided to operate the 10- ton traveling-cranes in the Palais des Ma- chines by means of electricity. The prac- ticability of this application of electricity has thus been visibly demonstrated, dur- ing the erection of the heavy machinery in the hall, to many who up to the present had not been able to investigate its utility, the interest being greatly furthered by the fact that cranes are worked on completely different systems, both as regards the dy- namos and motors in use and the mechan- ical gear for controlling the different movements. The position of the traveling-cranes and supporting girders, with respect to the span of the hall, is indicated in Fig. 1. There are four lines of girders extending the entire length of the building, which | are supported on cast-iron posts 20 feet | high, arranged in pairs asshown. On the | top of the girders, at a hight of about 2: feet from the ground, the rails for the trav- elers are laid, and some 6 feet below these the main lines of shafting are sup- ported by pendant brackets from the | girders. The cranes each cover a span of 59 feet, and are indicated in the figure as | they appear seen from the Labourdonnais, | or northeastern end of the hall. The in- stallation of that on the right-hand side has been intrusted to the engineering | tirm of Messrs. Bon & Lustremant, while the other, on the Ecole Militaire side, has been carried out by the firm of Messrs. Mégy, Echeverria & Bazan, engineers, both houses being of Paris. A separate building erected in the motive- power court, outside the machinery hall, contains the generator plants for supplying both cranes with electrical power. The Gramme generator, supplying the Bon & Lustremant crane, is driven by belting direct off a 25 horse-power Westinghouse engine running at 375 revolutions, and is identical in all respects with the motor fixed on the crane. The current is led from this station by insulated cables under- | eround to the Suffren end of the hall, | where the cables are jointed to the bare | solid copper conductors, running along the length of the track. These two conduct- ors rest on the top of porcelain reel insu- lators, fixed along each side of one of the main rails on the girders, as shown in Fig. 3; the last pair of insulators at the distant end being attached to the girder through ascrew | adjustment for taking up the slack. It was originally proposed to work with a THE IRON AGE. Traveling - Cranes at the | manufactured and supplied, together with | mate of 11 stone per person, this adds to |other electrical accessories, by the Com- pagnie Electrique, whose works are in the Brake Tos ies Fadi Ba ower, rest Ampéres, Volts. Speed. a per sec, f... 48 242 500 900 IT, 40) 275 600 904 I1l. 36 BOK 700 910 Avenue Philippe-Auguste, Paris. The motor, which was calculated to be capable September 26, 1889 the weight of the crane by 8} tons for 120 passengers, which is the average number. The net weight of the crane ‘tself is 30 tons. During the performance of these journeys the motor runs at 750 revolutions, absorbing a mean current of 25 amperes. The length of track from one end of the hail to the other is about 320 m., or 1050 feet, and this distance is traversed in 11 minutes, giving a speed of travel of 954 feet per minute. The current at starting is about 50 amperes, and the mean current during the run is from 25 to 27 amperes when moving toward the Suffren end, while it Fig. 1.—Position of Electric Traveling-Cranes. CRAMME DYNAMO | Cross FAit silicium-bronze wire, owing to its greater | mechanical resistance to wear. A copper- stranded cable was, however, first laid | down, but owing to the heavy continuous | work to which the crane has been subjected since the opening of the exhibition in the carrying of passengers and the consequent exceptional wear of the strands, this has now been replaced by a No. 5 B. W. G. solid copper c maductors. The current is taken from the two lines of bare conductor by stout brass heoks hanging vertically from the under side of the body of the crane. The manner in which these are insulated by a wooden block will be seen in the figure, where it will also be observed that the hooks are tixed a little above the level of the por- celain reels, so that they not only puss clear of them, but lift up the conductors with a certain slight amount of strain suf- ficient to msure good contact. The elec- tric generator and motor which are used for the working of this crane are of the improved Gramme type, and have been THE BON & LUSTREMANT of supplying 12-brake horse-puwer, was before leaving the works subjected to brake tests of which the results were as shown in the table given above. One French horse-power being equivalent to 75 kg. m. per second, we have 900, ex- actly equal to 12 horse-power, and a mean mechanical efficiency for the three tests of 75 per cent. This was calculated for the heaviest load the crane would be required to raise —viz., 10 tons, which it has fre- quently lifted and even sometimes ex- ceeded, These details were hindly supplied us by M. Dehenne, director of the Com- pagnie Electrique. | tributed; but allowing a moderate esti- Fig. 2. Now that passengers | are carried, the weight is, of course, dis- | —Plan. ELECTRIC TRAVELING-CRANE, is amean of 23 onthe return trip. The motor and dynamo are both series wound, and a resistance is fitted on the crane to adjust in the main circuit. A Desruelles and Chauvin voltmeter, capable of reading up to 350 volts, is fitted to the resistance board, together with an ammeter, as shown in Fig. 3. We may now discuss the mechanical gear for controlling the three cifferent movements. (1) Travel, or the movement of the crane bodily along the track; (2) traverse, or the shifting of the burden across the span of the track, and (3) hoist, or raising and lowering the burden, By reference to the plan of the mechanism given in Fig. 2 it will be seen that the motor is coupled on to a short length of September 26, 1889 shaft carrying two pulleys of different di- ameter. In line with these are two paper surface friction-pulleys, F F, which each carried by a forked lever at either end of a lever pivoted at P. Fig. 4. Again, in line with these pulleys are two different-sized pulleys keyed on to the main power-shaft. A forked lever keyed to the other end of the pivot-spindle P carries a block between the fork-arms, into which a vertical S, works. It follows, therefore, that when the screw is turned are screw, AMMETER THE the forked lever is raised or lowered, and either of the two friction-wheels F F made to bear down upon the two contiguous pulleys, so making mechanical connection between them. This movement per- formed from the working platform by the hand-wheel marked ‘‘speed,” and _ by means of this gear the speed with which any of the three movements are aceom- plished can be altered in the ratio of 1 : 2. That is, the power-shaft can run at either one and one-half times or three times the speed of the motor-shaft. The slow speed is required in starting a heavy load, and the change in speed may be made when the movement well under way, the gear being arranged so that contact must be made by one or other of the friction- pulleys, The power-shaft lies parallel to the di- rection of the track and is fitted with three nests of triction-cones. Each pair of cones on the shaft is mounted on a sleeve in the ordinary way. which slides along a feather on the shaft and can be shifted cne way or the other by a forked lever acting at the center of the sleeve. The three intermediate cones which take off the power from one or other of each pair of cones are larger in diameter, so reducing again the speed, and are keyed to shafts running at right angles to the power-shaft. Again, the speed is further reduced and safety insured by worm gearing between the three shafts above mentioned and the final shafts directly connected to the move- ments. In the figure the nest-gear on the left controls the hoist by the fork A and that in the center the traverse movement by the fork B, and that on the right the travel movement by the lever L. In the first two the firiction-surfaces of the cones are of leather, while that of the cones for! is is AGE. THE IRON the travel-movement is of paper, this hav- | ing been found to work better. In the plan the shafts for the two first movements are seen, being in the same plane, perpen dicular to the plan, and therefore not The latter delivers its power through worm gearing to a shaft fixed in bearings the crane in a direction he track, so that the propulsion movement of the crane is delivered through spur gear- ing to the The move ment of the seen. icrTross tT on wheels on each rail. is effected by traverse RESTO MOTOR wren , Spa Ae A EE nA 4 way _’% } \ HOIST Fig. o.— View from Worl ing Ptatform. BON & LUSTREMANT ELECTRIC CI pitch chains passing around the shaft as shown. The upper turn of each chain passes to the carriage and is there fixed, while the under sides are continued across the crane, where they pass over pulleys and return to the other side of the car- riage, where they are fixed. The hoist movement is effected by a chain fixed at the further end of the crane, SLOW Fig. 4. which passes over a pulley on the car riage, through the falling block, over a second ptlley on the carriage, and then round the shaft supplying the power. The free end of the chain then through an iron trough or casing, sufficiently large to contain it, which extended to a considerable distance hori- zontally, and contains the slack. A view of the interior of the working box below the crane on one side is given, Fig. 3 where the levers to control the movements shown. These, together with the re- commutator, which switch for making and breaking circuit, are all within the reach of one man. D passes up only is are aiso a is sistance two \ 179 The mechanism is such as to permit of very gradual movements and the capabil- ity of working all three or any two of the movements together 1f required, While the erection of machinery in the hall was voing on the crane was in continual use, and was found to be capable of verv nice adjustment; for instance, the large Edison dynamo, weighing about 11 tons, was lifted and lowered accurately on to the toothed wheel-gear, mounted in three places on the bed plate for the purpose of stretching TRAVERSE ANE. its driving-belt in a vertical direction. Another piece of work was the fitting up of a fly-wheel to its shaft. Next week we shall describe and illus- trate the electric crane constructed by Mégy, Echeverria & Bazan, and which travels upon the other pair of girders. = a The attendance at the Paris Exposition continues excellent. The following totals for the first four months of the years 1878 and 1889show how much greater was the attendance this year: 1878. 1889. Da ccétsedie Wade ancek 1,269,675 2,208,045 WR awacwacdcwnwennyaniee 1,929,768 3,786,529 (EE i ntsc ae tauken enue 1,803,344 4,057,669 BUNGE 6 osc oicncckcuaions 1,947,397 4,529,619 OGM doc ccnwneneuased 6,950,184 14,561,862 The numbers given represent the paying attendance. The number of tickets issued was, of course,considerably greater, because during the morning hours the entrance costs two tickets, and on special occasions three and even five. Bids have been opened at the War De- partment for the supply of 100 7-inch and 50 11-inch steel cast shells to the Ordnance Bureau. The bids were as follows: Stand- ard Steel Casting Company, Thurlow, Pa., $59.50 and $64.85 each; 11- $137 each (each size of into classes with 7-inch shells, inch, and shell being divided tagonal and round cavities, respectively) ; Midvale Steel Company, Philadelphia, 7- inch shells, 40 cents and cents per 11-inch shells, 37 and 30 cents per pound; W. H. Long, Goodhue & Co., Burlington, Vt., 7-inch shells, $46 08 and $51.84 each; 11-inch, $132 and $145.20 each. The shells are to be delivered one- third in 60, one-third in 75 and one-third in 90 days after contract. $127 OC- pound ; 480 THE IRON AGE. TH E WE E K the same view Sir John Macdonald at first | ' took, that it might stand in the way of a securing a full extradition treaty with the sei err . United States, who by this bill will obtain The will of the late Prof. Elias Loomis, all they want without reciprocating in the the astronomer of Yale University, UVES | ctummlon Of Cha Wet of sateniitaiie of: $1000 to each of his sons, John C, Somaen Loomis, of Somerville, Ga.; E. V. Loomis, | Bi ot Stillwater, Minn, The income of the} The Omaha Be reports that all the residue of his estate, amounting to about | ja)hor unions and brotherhoods of the em $300,000, he leaves as follows: One- | | ployees on the Pacific system of railroads third to his son, Henry Bri adford Loomis: | aye formed an organization which is to one-third to his son, F. E. Loomis, and ve known as the Brotherhood of Railway one-third to the Yale Observatory. Upon Employees. The amalgamation includes the death of his sons the entire income | goes to Yale to assist in the payment of the salaries of observers and the pubh- cation of scientific works on astronomy. This, together with the moneys received | from the Sheftield estate, make Yale richer | by about $1,500,000 than during the first six months of this year. There is such a pressure of work in the Hornellsville shops of the Erie Railway that the Saturday half-holiday has been abolished and the working hours increased from nine to ten There are reports from Honduras of a| new attempt to orgamze a confederation of the five Central American republics. It believed that the three northern governments, Guatemala, Honduras and San Salvador, have already come to an agreement upon the subject, and that | Nic caragua and Costa Rica can be induced to join them in forming the United States of Central America. The efforts made in other times to bring about this result were unsuccessful, but the separate republics have had several experiences within recent years that have given them a new dis- position toward it, It is reported that our own Government is to be asked to aid in the promotion of the project, and it is likely to be taken up in Washington by the Central American delegates to the Congress of the Three Americas that will be held there next week. is ienry R. Van Keursen, superintendent of tolls of the Brooklyn Bridge, has testi- tied that the heavy rush of foot passengers is between 6.30 and 7.30 a.m. and from 5.30 to 6.30 p.m. The record shows that there were 8,828, 200 passengers in 1884 and 21,843,47 0 during the first eight months of 1889. The average number of passen- gers taken during the ‘‘rush” hours is 14,000 or 156 per minute. There is some talk among the window- glass manufacturers of the Pittsburgh dis- trict the project to build tank-fur- | naces. over Philadelphia has a story that the scheme of organizing an anthracite coal trust is not by any means dead. Mr. Corbin and his friends are given as the prime movers in the matter. Mr. Corbin’s friends in New York and the representatives of the other anthracite mining companies say that nothing new is transpiring in regard to the scheme, nor has anything been | | the neers, jmen’s Union and Knights of Labor. jan address before the ‘dead, equal to 1425 cattle. September 26 1889 Locomotive Enygi- Brakmen; Switch- The action has not yet been indorsed by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, but the subject will be presented at the annual meeting of the order in Denver, on October 16. It is expected that this move will be followed by consolidation on all the roads in the United States. Brotherhoods of Firemen and St. Louis merchants claim that in spite of their efforts toovercome the tendency by bidding higher prices for corn, they are being excluded from the trade by dis- criminating on the part of railroads. Powderley has at last been heard from. In National Convention Miners and Laborers at Wilkesbarre he reported to have said: ‘+The great battle of the Knights of Labor in the fu- ture will be fought in the halls of legisla- tion. of is At a depth of 530 feet natural gas was struck in a well six and a half miles from San Antonio. It is claimed that the flow is 50,000 cubic feet in a day. It is rumored that Coxe Bros. & Co. are making arrangements for the transfer of the transportataion of their output of nearly 2,000,000 tons per annum to the Reading Railroad as soon as their recently projected extension shall be finished. The exposition at Detroit hs opened with a great flourish. is been The Board of Trade and the Manufact- urers’ Club of Philadelphia are agitating the scheme to provide for that city a be it line railroad, under conditions which will insure access to the river fronts of Phila- delphia by rail companies upon exactly equal terms. The steamship England, of the National Line, has sailed with the largest single shipment of live cattle ever carried out of this or any other American port. She will carry across to Liverpool no less than 1022 live steers, averaging fully 1400 pounds each, shipped by ** Nelse”’ Morris, of Chi- In addition, Eastman & Co. ship by the same steamer 1700 quarters of beef, making the beef cargo carried, alive and The boom that has for a year back revived the export cat- tle trade in this country shows, it is seen, no sign of diminution. Something like cago, done ‘ny connection with it since Mr. F. B Gowen originally proposed it. The sash, door and blind manufact- urers of the Upper Mississippi, from Bur- 16,000 head of cattle are shipped from American ports every week to Europe, from the ports of New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Boston and Montreal. lington, lowa, to Minneapolis, have a pool. It is claimed that none of the St. Louis concerns are interested. | burgh Electric cars have given rise to a few ac- cidents. There was a runaway in Pifts- lately, which, however, caused no | serious injuries to anybody. Considerable surprise is expressed in of- ficial « at Ottawa at the manner in which the British Government are treating the Extradition bill passel by the Ca- nadian Parliament last session, which can- not become a law until it has received im- ircles perial sanction. It was submitted for ap- proval to the British Government, and now it is intimated that the British au- thorities wish to hold it in abeyance for some unexplained reason, From what can be gathered the imperial authorities take! The Secretary of Public Works Mexico has made a contract with José Maria Varlea and José Roman Seal, whereby the latter agree to set out 15,000,000 rub- ber trees on their estate in the State of Oaxaca, with 15 years’ planting, 300,000 the first year and 1,000,000 in each of the | remaining years. to pay, by way of subvention, 3 cents per The Government agrees tree planted, and allows the free importa- tion of the necessary machinery and appli- of ances. The concessionaries, or the com- pany they may organize, are authorized to | operate the pli intation for 90 years, at tle end of which time it may be “acquired by the Government on equitable terms, A little railroad war is progressing be- tween the Schuylkill Valley and the Read- ing railroad com