The Iron Age 1890-10-09: Vol 46

‘THE THURSDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1890, IRON AGE ‘Triple Screw Steel Protected Cruiser No. 12. [ With Supplementary Sheet of En gravings. | On Wednesday of last week the Navy Department received bids for the building of three battle ships and one high speed and it therefore becomes evident that the experiment on the part of the Government will be watched with exceeding interest in naval circles of both this country and Eu- rope. Great credit for the design of this boat is due to Chief Constructor T. D. Wilson, Naval Constructor Philip Hich- born, Engineer-in-Chief Geo. W. Melville, and Chief Engineer N. P. Towne. Since the protected cruiser is primarily intended to be a commerce destroyer, capable of driving from the sea or destroying the THE HULL OF THE CRUISER. The principal dimensions of the cruiser are : Length on load line................... 400 feet Beam (extreme)...........-. Se Bae 58 feet Draft (mean, normal) ....... ...----- 23 feet Draft (extreme, normal)............ a 24 feet Displacement (at 23 feet mean)... .. . 7,400 tons Coetticient of displacement......... ..... 0. Speed (sustained).................++- 21 knots Speed (maximum) .................. 22 knots I. H. P. (estimated, sustained) ..... .... 20, I. H. P. (estimated, maximum).......... 3, COON TUE cans. chs snvevccad! cecccss . 2,000 tons TRIPLE-SCREW STEEL PROTECTED CRUISER, No. 12, U. S. NAVY. protected cruiser. These boats show the wonderfully rapid strides which the de- partment has made during the last few years, since they represent a stage in ma- rine engineering more ambitious than was even hoped for by the strongest advocates of our so-called new navy. Further than this they may be considered as represent- ing the capabilities of the shipbuilding in- dustries of the country, especially in the appliances for the making of armor plate such as is here called for. That these boats will be completed in accordance with the specifications and that they will fulfill the requirements there can be no doubt. In the act of Congress authorizing their construction the cost of each of the battle ships was limited to $4,000,000, exclusive of armor and armament, and the cost of the protected cruiser was limited to $2,- 750,000, exclusive of armament. The contract for the construction of two of the battle ships and the cruiser has been let to William E. Cramp & Son, of Philadel- - the price for the battle ships being 3,020,000 each, and for the cruiser $2,- 725,000. The recommendation of the Cramps that the length of the boat be in- creased 12 feet was accepted. The Secre- tary of the Navy has also informed the Union Iron Works, of San Francisco, that the contract for one of the battle ships will be awarded to them provided they are willing to take the work for $3.180,- 000, that being the price at which the Cramps offered to build one vessel, plus $190,000 allowed for transportation. The protected cruiser, of which we here- with present very full drawings of the | most important features, is the first vessel built upon this side of the Atlantic which contains three screws, driven by three in- dependent triple-expansion engines. Al- though this form of propulsion has been tried in Europe, there is still considerable doubt as to the exact advantages gained, | swiftest passenger steamer afloat, high speed and great coal endurance are the chief qualities aimed at. Her builders, therefore, will have to guarantee a speed of 21 knots, and in order tostimulate them a premium of $50,000 will be paid for each quarter knot she may make in excess of this on a four hours’ trial, so that if she reaches a speed of 22 knots an hour, her builders would receive a premium Fig. 13.—View of Stern, Looking Forward. of $200,000. A penalty of $25,000 will be exacted for each quarter knot below the 21 knots stipulated. The battle ships are to be heavily armored, and will each mount four 13-inch guns and four 8-inch guns, in addition to large secondary bat- teries of rapid-firing machine guns. They must obtain an average speed of 15 knots per hour in a four-hour trial, and for each quarter knot in excess of this a premium of $25,000 will be paid, the penalty being of like amount. All these boats are to be completed within three years from the signing of the contract. Number Of SCrews.. ......--eee025 seeeess ween 2% Outboard screws in diameter... 13 feet 9 inches Center screw in diameter....... ....----- 12 feet All the steel entering into the construc- tion of this vessel must comply with the specifications approved by the Secretary of the Navy September 1 last. The flat keel plates are in two thicknesses, the outer plate being of 25 pounds and the inner of 22} pounds to the square foot, this being reduced at the ends to 22} and 20 pounds respectively. These are to be worked in lengthwise, as long as practical, and the butts to be planed and fitted in the most careful manner metal to metal; each thickness to have treble riveted straps of the same thickness as the plates and to be 16} times the diameter of the rivets in width. The edges of the inner thickness are to be single riveted to the outer thicknesses. The vertical keel is of steel plate 20 pounds to the foot, and is in depth 42 inches. Forward and aft it is to be well connected to the stem and stern pieces, and made continuous throughout. The stem is of cast steel formed in two pieces, with the scarf in the neighbor- hood of the load line. The stern post is to be of the best hammered iron or cast steel, as approved, and to be shaped as outlined on the drawings. The forward portion is to be bossed out for the recep- tion of the middle shafting. The frame of the rudder is to be of cast steel or best hammered wrought iron, as may be se- lected, the side plates to be of steel 15 pounds to the foot, the space being filled in with white pine. From frame 29 to frame 82, or the space occupied by the machinery, the oe is to be 4 feet between centers, while for- ward and abaft these lines it is to be 34 feet. The outside plating is to be 25 pounds to the square foot on the outer flat keel, and 224 pounds to the foot on the inner flat keel plates, except at the 566 THE IRON AGE. October 9, 1890 ends, where they will be reduced as stated. — compartments for the machinery, | port one left handed when the vessel is The remaining strakes of plating up to | which is protected by the side coal bunk-| going ahead. These engines will be of the outer deck stringer will be 224 pounds | ers. Compartments are formed forward | the vertical inverted cylinder, direct act- to the foot. Thesheer strake on each side | and abaft the machinery space and between | ing, triple expansion type, each with a from between frames 20 and 21 and frames! the inner and outer shells of the hull. high pressure cylinder 42 inches, an inter- EEE aa geld TU a ec Ss SSS 1K———- —§ Of - —-—- ay Fig. 4.—Transverse Section at Frame 82. Fig. 8.—End Elevation of Starboard Engine, Looking Aft. 85 to 86 to be double, of 22} pounds| From the specifications we take the fol-| mediate pressure cylinder 59 inches and a to the foot. Forward and abaft these | lowing general description of low pressure cylinder 92 inches in diam- points to be 30 pounds to the foot. | enn meneenner eter—the stroke of all pistons being 42 Above the protective deck the plating | oe : inches. It is estimated that the collective will be flush jointed, single riveted at| There will be three sets of propelling| indicated horse-power of propelling, air- the edges, the breadth of edge strips to| engines, each set being complete in all re-' pump and circulating pump engines should be seven times the diameter of the rivet. For alength of from 140 to 150 feet on each side of the vessel amidship the sheer strake and strake next below it will be fitted with triple riveted butt straps. All the strakes of the inner bottom are to be of 124 pounds to the foot. There will be worked on the top of the beams for the whole length and breadth of the vessel, except under the gracis plates, where it will be worked as shown on the drawings, two courses of plating of 51 pounds to the square foot, or 14 inches thick. These form the protective deck plating. On the slope from frame 29 to frame 82 on each | se! side an additional course 14 inches thick | will be worked. The platform plating will be 10 pounds to the square foot. The armor protection to the 4-inch guns is to be 4 inches thick, and that to the secondary battery guns 2 inches thick, and the broadside machine guns will have plate armor 2 inches thick. The conning tower, located on the super- structure deck, is to be of forged steel, 5 inches in thickness, and having a clear diameter of 8 feet. This is to be forged if possible in one piece, and secured to the foundation plates by angle bars. The towers are to be fitted with a top cover 14 inches thick. Extending from frame 29 to 63, and in 5 j " hight from the vertical keel to the plat- Fig. 5.—Transverse Section at Frame 72. forms, protective, and gun decks is a cen- ter line bulkhead and passage 2 feet wide in the clear and between the forward | spects and placed in separate water tight | be about 21,000, when the main engines engine rooms isa center line bulkhead. | compartments, as shown on the draw-|are making about 129 revolutions per On each side below the protective deck | ings, Figs. 2 and 3. The amidship en-| minute. The high pressure cylinder of are formed double bulkheads abreast the | gine will be placed abaft the port and/| the after engine will be forward and the boilers. These, together with the trans-! starboard engines. The amidship and|low pressure cylinder aft, and the high verse bulkheads, form separate water starboard engines will turn right and the pressure cylinder of each forward engine October 9, 1890 ill be aft and the low pressure cylinder oe The main valves will be of the piston type, worked by Stephenson link motions with double bar links. The alve gear of the intermediate press- rrr rT TY eee aon we Nf A See Wd S ee TY i b To tals a pes | tana — aC 7 se ed * ‘ THE IRON AGE. 567 The condensers will be made of com-|11 feet 8 inches diameter and 18 feet 8} position and sheet brass, one for each pro- | inches long for the main boilers, and two pelling engine. Each main condenser | single ended auxiliary boilers about 10- will have a cooling surface of about 9474 | feet diameter and 8 feet 6 inches long. square feet, measured on the. outside of! The boilers will be of the horizontal re- eA) a ai 7 = Zizza tee rest 4 53 2 a, ep YS ure and low pressure cylinder will be interchangeable. There will be one piston valve for each high pressure cylinder, two for each intermediate pressure cylinder and four for each low pressure cylinder. Each main piston will have one piston rod, with a cross head working on a slipper guide. The framing of the engines will consist of cast steel inverted Y-frames at the back of each cylinder and cylindri- cal forged steel columns at the front, as shown in Figs. 7 to 10. The engine bed plates will be of cast steel, supported on wrought steel keelson plates built in the vessel. The crank shafts will be made in three interchangeable and reversible sections. All shafting will be hollow. The shafts, piston rods, connecting rods and oe generally will be for, of mild open hearth steel. : a Fig. 7.—Elevation of Starboard Engines. the tubes, the water passing through the | turn fire tube type, all constructed of steel tubes. For each propelling engine there | for a working pressure of 160 pounds per will be a double vertical, single acting air} square inch. The main boilers will be pump worked by a vertical simple engine. | placed in four water tight compartments, The main circulating pumps will be of the | and the auxiliary boilers on the protective centrifugal type, two for each condenser, | deck, as shown on the drawings. There worked independently. Two of the pro-| will be three athwart-ship fire rooms in pellers will be right and one left, to be|each of the main boiler compartments. made of manganese bronze or approved | Each of the double ended boilers, 15 feet equivalent metal, 6 inches diameter, will have eight corru- Fig. 10.—Plan View of Starboard Engines. Each engine room will have angauxiliary | gated furnace flues, 3 feet 3 inches internak condenser, made of composition and sheet | diameter; each of the double ended boilers,. brass, of sufficient capacity for one third | 11 feet 8 inches diameter, will have four the auxiliary machinery, each condenser | corrugated furnace flues 3 feet 6 inches being connected with all the auxiliary | internal diameter, and each single ended machinery. Each of these condensers will; boiler will have two furnaces 2 feet 9 have a combined air and circulating pump. | inches internal diameter. The total heat- There will be six double ended boilers, | ing surface for the main and auxiliary Fig 9, about 15 feet 6 inches diameter! boilers will be about 43,272 square feet, oa 21 feet 8 inches long, and two about! measured on the outer surface of the tubes, ————— — — 568 THE IRON AGE. October 9, 1890 and the grate surface 1285 square feet. There will be in each fire room in which the check valves are placed an approved main and an approved auxiliary feed ump, and in each engine room an auxil- lary feed pump. There will be three smoke pipes. The forced @raft system will consist of ‘one blower for each fire room, discharging into an air tight fire room. Air-tight bulk- heads will be fitted, so as to reduce the space to be maintained under pressure. There will be steam reversing gear, ash hoists, turning engines, auxiliary pumps, engine room ventilating fans, engine for work shop machinery, evaporators and distillers, and such other auxiliary or supplementary machinery and tools as may be required. The three screws and their shafts will be arranged as shown in Figs. 11, 12 and 13. The normal supply of coal will carry the vessel 9840 knots, or 41 days steaming at 10 knots. The full coal supply of 2000 tons will give the vessel a radius of action of 26,240 knots, or 109 days steaming at 10 knots per hour. The armament will consist of four 6- inch and eight 4-inch breech loading rifled guns as the main battery, and 12 6-pounder rapid firing guns, and six ma- chine guns as the secondary battery. I Triple Screw Propulsion. BY HORACE SEE, NEW YORK. There is no subject upon which such a diversity of opinion exists as that of screw propulsion. He who designs a propeller or system of propulsion is likely to meet with more adverse criticism on his scheme of work than the poor Indian did on his canoe. In the latter case this was con- fined to the shape of the boat, but in that of the screw propeller the shape is only one of a great number of subjects to be criticized. These multiply and become more complicated by the addition of each screw. It is fortunate that the United States Government is coming forward to make an experiment with triple screws, as it is far better able to suffer loss if the effort uable addition to the navy, as there aremany advantages to be gained by the use of the three screws, even if the hight of extreme speed calculated upon is not reached. The speed of a war vessel varies with the condition of the service in which she is engaged. To-day at full speed, to over- take or escape an enemy, or to-morrow at an easy jog, while making a tour of duty -}—— es | prove on this, either by duplicating the engines on each shaft, discontinuing the forward set when low speeds are desired and running the after ones at full speed, or by running the port or starboard en- gines separately at full speed. With triple screws we can go still fur- ther than this. By their use the speed can be cut down in two ways, either by running ee. |) I Fig. 9.—Elevation and Section of Boilers. where time is no object. In the first case the end must be attained at any cost, but in the last at the least. The engine is built to secure the primary object—extreme speed. This means with ( —+ |_| \ = - | at “aetete | 1| b— -——-—7 47 —-—- 4 | - —— - — —-—— + —-— Total length 21 3 —-— - —— - ——-- —- —- the middle screw alone or either one of the outside screws separately at full speed. The idea of running the middle screw sep- arately has governed the adoption of the triple system in the 7300 ton cruiser to be apa $--+-42--=--4 ty = Fig. 6.—Transverse Section at Frame 54. is not a perfectly successful one than the| the use of the single screw a reduction of | built for our navy. Some points, however, merchant or the builder. revolutions at low speed, and with it a| in their application to this vessel are open In building this experimental vessel they | proportionate increased coal consumption | to criticism. We refer to the position and may not attain what is expected, but are| per horse-power employed per hour. It|diameter of the middle screw. If in sure to secure a vessel which will be a val-'is possible with twin screws to im-| dropping this screw the shaft is inclined October 9, 1890 THE IRON AGE. 569 eee. “OOOO ees] its pitch will vary through every part of its revolution in proportion to the amount of inclination. Consequently its action will be irregular and the speed of the ship re- tarded. By making the middle screw less in diameter than the outer ones we will have this vessel of 7300 tons displacement pro- pelled, if the engine is worked up to .ts full natural draft power, by a12-foot screw to which about 5000 indicated horse-power will be applied. This will no doubt act with some loss of efficiency and consequent waste of fuel, so that the end aimed at will be but partly secured. If, however, it is correct to employ such a small diameter here, it is all wrong in the merchant prac- tice to employ a 16 or 17 foot screw to do work of a similar character. The rivers of our country, on account of shallows in some places, present a field for the use of the multiple screw as great as that on the ocean, so that we shall await with some interest the building and trial of this vessel. RI NEW ENGLAND NOTES. The entire stock and fixtures of the Troy Machine Company, of Fall Rixer, Mass., were sold at auction September 30. The framing floor at the Bath Iron Works, at Bath, Maine, is being surrounded by walls of corrugated iron so that there may be no danger from the hot metal. The walls will make the building practically fire proof. The Leavitt Machine Comeeny of Orange, Mass., have or; ized, with W. M. King, presi- dent; G. E tes, secretary and treasurer ; directors, W. M. King, G. E. Bates. J. B. Far- ley, T. E. Leavitt; superintendent and general manager, T. E. Leavitt. They have leased Bingham’s factory, on East River, and will commence operations November 1, manufact- uring general machinery. The Mount Washington Glass Company, at New Bedford, are experimenting in the use of a combination of steam and crude oil as fuel in their melting furnaces. It has not yet been perfected, but bids fair after some adjustment to be a grand success, ° A new industry, to be known as the Nashua Lock and Hardware ey, has begun op- erations at Nashua, N. H. e organization has just been completed, and is capitalized at $20,000. Work will be begun in the vacant building of the Nashua Lock Company Frederick Jeffts has purchased for about $90,000 a tract of land including over 55,000 feet on Union street, Worcester, adjacent to the Boston and Maine tracks. The purchase includes a three-story brick factory, with adja- cent shops, formerly occupied by the Pond Machine Company, now at Plainfield, N. J. The plant will be used for manufacturing pur- poses, in which Mr. Jeffts is interested. The Lyman Cotton Mills, Holyoke, Mass., are having constructed the largest iron pen- stock in that section of New England. It is 350 feet long, 11 feet in diameter, and the iron is 144 inch in thickness. When completed it will cost over $10,000. The copper mines at Versline, Vt., in the eastern part of the State, have been pum dry, A large gangs of miners are workin in them night and day. To light the mines an the smelter, an electric light plant has been put in. The mines formerly employed 300 men. The Lowell Machine Shop, Lowell, Mass., is fitting out a new cotton mill in Brazil, gnd it is also equipping a factory in Georgia for the manufacture of cotton bagging. The com- pany are now running their works full time, with orders enough to keep them busy for a good while to come. The Cleveland Machine Works, Worcester, have been awarded the contract to furnish the machinery for a new woolen mill on Prince Edward Island. In the equity session of the Supreme Judicial Court, at "lee. on Friday, there was a hear- ing on a motion for a preliminary injunction torestrain the American Loan and Trust Com- pany from selling under foreclosure proceed- ings on October 14 the property of the Boston Steam Heating Company. The plaintiffs are Irving A. Evans & Co., who have a claim of $25,000 against the company. During the hearing it was stated that the company would reorganize and resume business, and that the real cause of the suspension was that the re- turn pipes were not of sufficient strength to withstand the pressure. Conn., have been cate, which has a cerns, and of which Mr. Whittemore, of the Tuttle & Whittemore Company, of Naugatuck, The Vulcan Iron Works, of New Britain, urchased by a large syndi- rbed several similar con- Conn., is manager. They will shortly take possession of the works, and William Bacon, of Brooklyn, N, Y., will take up his residence here as local manager. It is stated that the Dexter Machine Com- ny, one of the most thriving industries of exter, Maine, has been sold to New York capitalists, and will soon be removed to Ams- terdam, in that State. The English electric welding syndicate has just — an order with the Thomson Elec- tric Welding Cempany, of Boston, for 16 welding plants for various classes of work from wire to 2-inch shafting. Each plant is to be complete in itself and a be placed with different manufacturers in England, who are waiting for them. It 1s the intention of the English company to establish works of their own near London, but until this can be done the American company will assist in every way possible. A contract for the mutual in- terests and protection of both companies has been executed, which will bring the companies into close relationship in the future. The En- glish company are to be brought out probably in November. It is a fact that the most economical method of supplying steam boilers with water is by the use of a pump driven by a belt. The Davis patent economic boiler and tank feed pump, for which Joseph Whitaker, 95 Oliver street, Boston, is agent, is designed especially to meet this want. It is a double pump, made in the best manner in all its parts, has inter- changeable shafts and gears, and is complete in itself, ready to work by attaching the feed pines toand from it and putting on a driving It. The four valves, the only parts that can possibly get out of order, are so constructed that they can be got at by simply unscrew- ing a brass —_ The cut poets are noiseless in action, and, being double acting, makes it much easier on the driving belt and its action much smoother, and also makes it cost for the same capacity and workmanship much below any single acting pump. It is espe- cially valuable in sandy and muddy water, as the plain valves can be ground in by any one in a few minutes, rendering them as per- fect as when new. I The purchase of the Milwaukee and Northern Railroad by the Chicago, Mil- waukee and St. Paul Railroad Company is an event of considerable importance to the Lake Superior iron ore districts. The Milwaukee and Northern is a short line connection between Milwaukee and Northern Michigan. It taps both the Menominee and Marquette ore ranges and connects with the other ore districts by means of the Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic. Terminating at Milwaukee, its southern connections depended on the ar- rangements that might be made with other lines running thence. Its acquisi- tion by the St. Paul road makes that line at once an all-rail competitor for the transportation of iron ore to Chicago, as there will be no division of receipts with another line and no conflict of interests. The Lake Superior iron ore region is now better supplied with railroads than many of the older mineral sections of the country. The Fox Solid Pressed Steel Company, whose works at Joliet, Ill., are the largest ot their kind in this country, have passed into the entire control of Samson Fox, of England, under whose patents the com- pany were operating. The works have hitherto been Jargely owned by the Illinois Steel Company. It is the intention of Mr. Fox to greatly enlarge the capa- city of the plant and to extend its operations in new directions. Additional machinery has been ordered and is now on the way. The works have achieved a high reputation for the excellence of their product. They manufacture car-truck frames, locomotive boiler extensions, and a large line of railroad specialties. E. W. M. Hughes wil! continue in charge of the establishment, as heretofore. VIRGINIA IRON NOTES. Stanley is among the new industrial towns that is coming prominently to the front. The Development Company there have recently signed the contract for the removal to Stanley of one of the largest saw and file works in the country. It is also stated that a ferroman- ganese plant of 100 tons capacity will be estab- lished, and preparations for an iron furnace of 200 tons capacity are reported to be under way, It is stated at Roanoke that the Duval Engine Works, of Zanesville, Obio, has signed the contract to move its plant to Roanoke. The Boiler and Engine Works Company, So reported in this correspondence as aving been incorporated at Buena Vista, is stated to have a capital stock of $300,000 Plans are now being pre for the buildings of this company, and it will not belong before the contract for their erection will be given out. The Rockbridge Company, whose president. is Ex-Governor —— Lee, and under whose auspices the industrial town of Glasgow has: been built bron increased its capital stock from $500, to $2,000,000, the additional $1,500,000 having recently been subscribed in cash by an English syndicate. The town will now develop with great rapidity and the air is full of reports of the organization of man various iron-working enterprises, the details of which will be furnished for publication at an early date. Two thousand acres of valuable mineral lands, containing large deposits of iron ore and manganese, have been bought by the Little Valley Iron and Manganese Company, whose formation was recently reported in these columns. This company are now perfecting their plans for the extensive development of the sone and one or more iron furnaces are likely to be built. During the last fortnight parties have pur- chased a $20,000 tract of valuable mineral land, in Smyth County, not far from the town of Marion ; a company will be organized and the property developed. The American Bridge Works, at Roanoke, are having plans prepared for an addition which they propose to erect to their works at an early date. The dimensions of this annex are 75 x 100 feet. The Humbert Nut Lock Company, recently incorporated at Staunton, will increase their capital stock from $10,000 to $50,000. Work on their new plant is expected to begin shortly. J. H. Gill, of Raleigh, N. C., is negotiating with the Rockbridge Company, looking to the establishment at Glasgow of machine shops and iron foundry. A new iron mine, on Cripple Creek, near Speedwell, is being developed by a company, composed of J. W. Wilson, D. C. Buford, R. i Ward and others. At Luray, the Luray Mining and Mineral Company have been o ized, with a mini- mum capital stock of $100,000. A company with $160,000 capital stock are reported organized at i City for the urpose of manufacturing an automatic alarm ger signal for railroad crossings, the in- vention of J. W. Richardson, of Marion. It is stated that the Iron and Nail Works Company, of Lynchburg, intend discontinuing the manufacture of nails, and will substitute a different plant for that department, increas- ing at the same time their other business. A large force of hands are now busily at work night and day on the furnace at Buena Vista, and a correspondent from that place writes that it is expected to go into blast some time next month or early in November. The Loch Laird Mineral Company, of Buena Vista, have recently closed negotiations for the estab- lishment on their property of a furnace of be- tween 80 and 100 tons capacity. The plans for the railroad machine shops to be erected at Lambert’s Point by the Norfolk and Western Railroad Company have been completed, and #ork will probably begin on the buildings the first week in October. A $750,000 development company has been organized at Gordensville to devel several thousand acres of mineral land and to estab- lish iron and other industries. N. W. Rowe is president of the company, W. L. Fleming is Vice president and C. B. Linney is secretary. The Junction City Land and Improvement aeeey with $2,500,000, have been in r- ated by C. C. Lewis, Frank Woodman, J. S. McDonald and others, to develop ore properties and establish a furnace, rolling mill, stove works and other iron industries. This com- pany own 1300 acres of land near New Castile. Work on the great Baltimore Belt Line Road, much of which will be underground, has begun. hangs fire. The Philadelphia project 570 American Meeting OF THE IRON AND STEEL INSTITUTE. The first session of the first meeting of the Iron and Steel Institute of Great Britain begun at Chickering Hall, New York, on the morning of October 1, the president, Sir James Kitson, being in the chair. As guests were many of the most prominent members of the several Amer- ican Engineering societies and of the Verein Deutscher Eisenheuttenleute. The matter presented at this the first meeting ever held by the Institute in this country was a surprise, and outlined in part what could be expected from the extended tour of the country thus initiated. The first paper read attracted great attention, because of its direct bearing upon a sub- ject in which all were interested and be- cause of its direct variance, both in the methods pursued and the results attained, with the practice common in Europe. It is, therefore, fair to assume that the trip now begun will result in further surprises, and will show, especially in the handling of iron from the ore to the completed product, some direct copies of foreign practice, some modifications, and some innovations. But as was expressed later in the day, the long journey of 10,000 miles will not have been without good results, even if nothing further be gained than the information presented at this meeting. The first speaker was Mr. Carnegie, who welcomed in most hearty language the distinguished visitors from the other side. [The most essential portions of this address we presented in our issue of last week.] In reply, Sir James Kitson said, in part: Gentlemen of the Iron and Steel trade and of the Engineering Profession of the United States: It is very pleasant and agreeable to hear that word ‘‘ welcome ” spoken in the mother tongue. It has been my duty to answer messages of welcome in other lands. I remember to have de- scended at the station at Buda Pesth and to have been addressed in eloquent lan- guage, which I was not able to under- stand. It was Hungarian. It was my lot also to respond last year, as presi- dent, to the words of welcome which were offered to us by our French hosts. It is doubly pleasant and agreeable to res- pond here in the United States to that word ‘‘ welcome,” spoken in the mother tongue, and offered to us in such eloquent terms by your representative, Mr. Car- negie. Mr. Carnegie ‘has pointed out to you that the circumstances under which we meet here are very remark- able. The invitation which we have ae- knowledged by our presence in New York has long been offered to us and has long been discussed. I believe as far back as 1873, when we met at Liege, under the presidency of Sir Lowthian Bell, your Secretary, Dr. Raymond, who still, I am glad to see, continues his arduous and scientific labors offered us then an invi- tation on behalf of the Mining Insti- tute. .Well, gentlemen, the perils of the voyage and the difficulties of transport made us somewhat timid in accepting your invitation, because we were afraid it might not be possible, owing to those difficulties, to give you here a full and true representa- THE IRON AGE, tion of the great industries which we represent. For example, we fondly hoped that our friend Sir Henry Bessemer would have been able to be with us, but of course the difficulties of the sea passage and his age have prevented him from being here; but he desired me to say to you that it was with the greatest reluc- tance that he has given up all hope of being able to undertake the voyage. Well, gentlemen, Mr. Carnegie, in his terse manner of speaking, has said that this is A Day of Firsts. Well, gentlemen, we are met in the year when the United States has become the first producer in iron in the world. For the first time the production of pig iron in the United States has exceeded in the year past the production of Great Britain, and I fear from what we see and what we are to see, that you have attained in that respect a pre-eminence which we shall never be able to regain. However, as Mr. Carnegie said, two of a trade can agree; and I always consider that when my neighbor is prosperous, when my com- petitor is full of work, the conditions of commerce must be favorable to me, and if the United States 1s producing and con- suming this enormous quantity of material, rest assured that its superabundant prosper- ity cannot fail to react upon other nations and other competitors. Gentlemen, thisis a day of firsts, because we have had an address of welcome offered to us by the first iron producer of the world. I believe I am well informed in stating that Mr. Carnegie is the largest producer of iron and steel in the world. This is a day of firsts, because on all hands we hear of the stupendous prepara- tions which are being made for our recep- tion, and we know that the eloquent eel which Mr. Carnegie has spoken do not in any way foreshadow the wondrous wel- come which we are to receive throughout the United States. It 1s very pleasant, and it gave food for reflection to hear our host lay so much stress upon the hereditary principle. Mr. Carnegie very rightfully laid great stress on the hereditary principle in the iron trade; and we may take to ourselves the credit of representing, if not in our own persons, yet in a glorious past, the iron trade of the world. I think I may fairly claim for us that the British iron trade has been everywhere the pioneer of invention and of improvement in the iron and in the steel trade, and therefore, although we may not here together be a full representation of the great interests which we represent, yet, looking to the past we accept thank- fully the gracious welcome which you, sir, have offered to us. Sir James Kitson, in his more formal address, said that the predictions and conclusion of Mr. Cobden, who in 1835 said that ‘‘if knowledge be power, and if education gives knowledge, then must the Americans inevitably become the most powerful people in the world,” have been realized and surpassed. We meet here on the invitation of the members of the American Institute of Min- ing Engineers, with whom are also asso- ciated the societies of mechanical and civil engineers, representing fully the metallur- gical interests of the United States. This invitation was repeated to us in eloquent terms by the Hon. Abram §8. Hewitt, at our meeting in London in May of this year, and further supplemented personally by Major Bur«xe, who conveyed to the In- stitute an invitation to visit the principal ore and coal sections of Alabama. e come to examine the industrial condition and to inspect as fully as our time will permit, the natural advantages and the October 9, 1890 manufacturing capabilities of the iron and steel trade of the United States. We come here simply as the guests of the iron and steel trades of the United States, but the welcome we have received, and the re- markable reception which has been ac- corded to us since we landed on these shores, gives us ground for believing that we are also welcomed by great numbers of the people of the United States. Following the establishment of many scientific institutions, which are among the distinguishing characteristics of the times in which we live, we have had a great creation of scientific societies de- voted to special subjects. Among them the Iron and Steel Institute, whose Autumn session I am now privileged to open in New York; which was founded in the year 1869. Through its agency many in- ventions, new machinery, new method, and processes, which would otherwise have been but tentatively and tardily adopteds have been appreciated and acquired promptly, and made rapidly and advan- tageously the property of the whole world ; and what has been, too, of almost equal practical service, errors, mistakes, and misleading methods have been discussed, exploded and discarded. The Iron and Steel Institute, Our first president was His Grace, the Duke of Devonshire, whose acceptance of this position conferred a prestige on the Institute, and on the iron and steel trades, by securing the recognition of a true rep- resentative of social rank, vast metal- lurgical interests and high intellectual attainments. This recognition of the great importance of the aims of our Institute, and the unbounded possibility of the value of its inquiries, discussions and communica- tions, which were to be undertaken for the advancement of the iron and steel trades, was at this moment most valuable. He was succeeded by Sir Henry Bessemer, whose brilliant discovery of a process for the pro- duction of steel, with which his name will forever be associated, has revolutionized the trade and led to vast industrial developments throughout the world. Next came Sir Lowthian Bell, de- scribed, and justly so, by your Profes- sor Howe, as ‘‘ Magister magnus in igni- bus,”’ whose interest in our work _e - ceedings has been maintained with unflag- ging zeal for one-and-twenty years, whose scholarly attainments and scientific and practical knowledge have been of infinite service tu this Institute. These three first presidents happily still remain to us. Sir William Siemens has passed away, but his contribution to the Institute, his scientific attainments, his discoveries and developments of the re- generative furnace, the process of open hearth steel making, and the production of a description of mild steel, so generally applied in commerce; are among the ines- timable advantages conferred on the world by the labors and discoveries of our great metallurgists. The knowledge and the experience of our engineers, our chemists, our scien- tific and practical iron and steel work- ers, has been freely and wungrudg- ingly communicated to the world in our Transactions. The rapid progress in the development of the Bessemer process has been materially contributed to by the expositions of Sir Henry Bessemer and his co-workers, made at the — of this Institute, and published through its me- dium. It is very interesting, too, to note the rapid progress of the Basic process, invent- ed and developed by Messrs. Thomas and Gilchrist, materially assisted by other members of this Institute. Our works are well known to members of the trade in the United States, and I think we have collectively done something, as British Iron and Steel manufacturers, to ee ke eee ee tL: October 9, 1890 Seee ey ny or eaneaeeeeeesiiaieienanmeeeninnesnenaneesisieeiieieneepemeeainieeaeniiatianiiteiaeeememeeea justify to some extent the opportunities you are now so generously opening up to us. The rulers of my native land have not all been wise, or generous, or unself- ish, Their treatment of the American Iron Trade in the last century was stupid, illiberal and grasping. I read in the his- tory of the United States of America that in 1750 the manufacture of Iron in New England, which had already been started with some prospect of success, was forbid- den by an Act ot the English Parliament under very severe penalties. Consumption of Iron. We have grown wiser since that time; we can see that in this wide world there is room for the iron and steel manufacturers of England, the United States and Ger- many. The world must have iren and steel. That nation is the wisest and most civilized which consumes the most of them. The United States and England are not likely, at all events, to dispute this asser- tion. The average consumption of iron (pig iron) per inhabitant in the United States, taking the ponulation at 60,000, was in 1889 about 310 pounds per head; in the United Kingdom of Great Britian and Ireland the average consumption was about 300 pounds per head; but of this a large quantity was exported in the form of machinery. In the United States it goes almost entirely into consumption. The consumption is steadily increasing, having risen between 1881 and 1889 in the United States from 270 pounds to 310 THE IRON AGE. ent. The speech prepared by Mr. Hewitt, and which we published in The Iron Age of last week, was then distributed in pamphlet form. Sir Frederick Abel was then elected president of the Institute. The first paper read was by James Gayley, Braddock, Pa., on The Development of American Blast Furnaces with Special Reference to Large Vields.* The development of blast furnace prac- tice in America in the direction of large yields is mainly the history of our work- ing since the year 1880, as the advance- ment that has been madein the last de- cade is greater than that in the third of a century previous. A new era in the manufacture of pig iron began in 1880 with the putting in blast of the Edgar Thomson furnaces. These furnaces at once leaped to the front as pig iron pro- ducers, and have maintained that position —with but one brief interruption—ever since. I shall, therefore, confine myself mainly to a description of these works, showing the changes in design and practice by which these results have been achieved. In order to show more clearly the progress that has been made since 1880, I shall refer briefly to the best work that was done in the ten years previous to that time. The Struthers furnace, in Ohio, was one of the first to attract atten- tion in the matter of large outputs. This furnace was 55 feet high, 16 feet diam- pounds; in the United Kingdom from 287! eter of bosh, 9 feet hearth, stock line pounds to 300 pounds. Although vast multitudes of the human race will long rest outside the sphere of the producers of iron and steel, there are regions now rapidly awaking to a knowl- edge of the resources which the engineer has it in his power to develop within them. In Scuth America, in Australia, China, India and South Africa we can see| diameter and 4 feet stroke. {about & feet 6 inches. The fuel was raw coal. This furnace in December 1871, made 1602 tons of iron, and in January 1872 made 1642 tons. The best output in a single week was 400 tons. By March 1876 the product had increaseG to 2032 tons. The furnace was blown by one en- gine with an air cylinder 72 inches in The only possibilities of demand which lend them-| change made from 1871 to 1876 was the selves to a consumption of iron and steel | addition of a second blowing engine. The which shall task the resources of our great | size of the hearth was much in advance of industries in either Continent. While in| the construction usual at that time, and the Umted States continues to find its | was in fact as large as would now be put market in ever-growing demands from a| in a furnace of the same size. The good civilized and prosperous people at home, | results obtained at this furnace were we in England shall have in more distant | largely due to the fact that the manager, field, easily accessible to us from ourin-|Mr. Thomas W. Kennedy, broke away sular position, a great market for our pro- | from the traditional practice of regulating duce. We can look forward, each in our | the quantity of blast by the pressure gauge, own sphere, to a growing commerce to cope | and substituted instead the revolutions of with which our united skill, aided by in-| the engine—a practice that obtains to- vention shared, and knowledge freely com- municated, shall confer lasting benefits on the world Announcements, James F, Lewis, Chairman of the Local Committee, then briefly outlined the pro- gramme which had been prepared for the entertainment of the visitors, after which Wm. P. Shinn, President of the American Society of Civil Engineers, gave the details of the arrangements made by the Commit- day. A record of No. 1 furnace of the Isabella furnaces, located at Pittsburgh, has been furnished me; and, as these furnaces have since become famous in the annals of pig iron manufacture, a return of their work at that time will be found interesting. I have not been able to secure the lines or detail construction of this furnace, but the general dimensions were: Hight, 75 feet; diameter of bosh, 20 feet; cubical capacity about 15,000 feet. The furnace was tee on Transportation. Cordial messages of | ‘‘ blown in” in January, 1876, and con- invitation were received to visit Canada. Archibald Blue, Deputy Minister of Agri- culture for Ontario, presented the earnest request of the Government of Ontario and of the Board of Trade of the City of To- ronto, that the Institue would visit in a body the country of the Great Lakes. Dr. Zelwyn, Director of the Dominion Geo- logical Survey, followed Mr. Blue and spoke for the entire Dominion Govern- ment in offering the freedom of the whole colony to the Institute. At this stage of the proceedings the president said that it had been the inten- tion to present to the Hon. Abram §. Hewitt the Bessemer gold medal, which had been awarded to him by the Council at their meeting in London. Sir Lowthian Bell explained the absence of Mr. Hewitt, whose guest he was, by stating that it was physically impossible for him to be pres- tinued in blast until May, 1880—making a total output of 117,575 tons of pig iron, or an average of 2264 tons per month. The consumption of coke per ton of iron averaged 3000 pounds; the temperature of blast ranged from 1000 to 1100 degrees, with a blast pressure of 4 to 6 pounds. No record was kept of the amount of air blown. Also located in Pittsburgh are the Lucy furnaces, owned by the firm of Carnegie, Phipps, & Co. These fur- naces ranked with the Isabella as the largest producers in America. I have been so fortunate as to obtain the lines of one of these furnaces, the Lucy No. 2, built in 1877, which I show in Fig. 1. The generel dimensions are as follows ; Total hight, 75 feet; diameter of bosh, 20 feet; diameter of hearth, 9 * All tons are gross tons of 2240 pounds, and all temperatures are Fahrenheit. 571 feet ; cubical capacity, 15,400 feet. This drawing shows a bell 12 feet in diameter, but Mr. H. M. Curry, who was then manager of the works, advises me that the bell generally in use was 11 feet in diameter. During a part of the blast a bell 12 feet in diameter was tried, but not proving to be of advantage was aban- doned. In the construction of this fur- nace, the noticeable features are a nar- rower hearth and a wider top than are now put in furnaces of the same cubical capac- ity ; but at that time it was considered an excellent shape, and certainly did produce some excellent results. As early as 1878 this furnace had made a monthly output of 3286 tons, on a coke consumption of 2793 pounds per ton of iron, and in one week shortly afterwards made 821 tons. The furnace was ‘‘ blown in” in September 1877, but after running a few months was blown out in order to repair the bosh walls which for some reason had rapidly given way. In the following March the furnace was again started, and continued in blast for nearly 34 months, making in this time an output of 92.128 tons, or an average of 2737 tons per month, on an average coke consumption of 2865 pounds per ton of iron. For the first 12 full months the output was 33,552 tons, on a coke consumption of 2850 pounds. The amount of air blown was 16,000 cubic feet per minute, which entered the furnace through six 8-inch tuyeres; the tempera- ture of blast was 915°, and the pressure at tuyeres 5 pounds. The ore mixture yielded in the furnace 60 per cent. iron. The work that was done at this furnace was unquestionably tbe best, all things con- sidered, that had been accomplished prior to the starting of the Edgar Thomson furnaces. Furnace ‘‘A” of the Edgar Thomson works was originally a charcoal furnace at Escanaba, Mich., but was removed and erected on its new foundations in 13879. The dimensions of this furnace, as will be seen by a reference to Fig. 2, are as fol- lows: Hight, 65 feet; diameter of bosh, 13 feet; diameter of hearth, 8 feet 6 inches; cubical capacity, 6396 feet. Six tuyeres, 4 inches in diameter, were 572 THE IRON AGE. October 9, 1890 ~ used ; these, projecting 7 inches side the crucible made the efficient diameter of hearth 7 feet 4 inches. The tuyeres were placed 5 feet 6 inches above the hearth line. In Volume VIII of the ‘‘Transactions of the American Institute of Mining Engineers,” a descrip- tion is given of the ‘*‘ blowing in” and subsequent working of this furnace, by Mr. Julian Kennedy, who was thea man- ager of the furnaces. The following points of construction are emphasized in his paper. The interior lines make very small {C9 — —— > + angles with each other—so small, in fact, that the arc of a circle drawn from the to