The Iron Age 1893-05-11: Vol 51

The constantly increasing demand for passenger elevators operated by electric motors has stimulated inventors to produce something which should at once be com- pact, durable and not liable to get out of order. We illustrate with this article the latest type of machine, in which the motor is connected directly to the worm shaft of a winding apparatus, which is now being placed on the market by Morse, Williams & Co. of Philadelphia, Pa. Tuurspay, May 11, 1898. current from any cause should be cut off, when the brake would be instantly applied, The brake is so constructed as to act as a governor in checking the descent of the car, should it thus stopping the machine. be accelerated beyond the normal speed at which the motor is designed to run it. The drum upon which the cables wind is grooved in the lathe and keyed fast to the heavy shaft, to which the worm wheel is also keyed. This shaft is provided with IRON AGE weight. The special advantage of this | elevator to start easily and ‘gently with and arrangement is shown in case the electric | without a load. | The whole apparatus is placed upon a heavy cast-iron bed plate and the motor is thoroughly insulated therefrom when a high tension current is used to obviate danger of shock in the car. The efficiency |of the machines has been tested under varying ccnditions, and the makers claim that the average amount of current con- sumed both in raising the load and lower- ing the empty car has been found to be low. These machines are designed to MORSE, The machine has bee designed espe | stop collars and nuts arranged to stop the| ad pe | I P cially with a view of obtaining simplicity of construction, accessibility of parts for repair and smoothness in running—the latter exceedingly important feature being attained by the use of the Hindley worm gearing, the manufacture of which has been made a specialty for years. The ma- chine consists of a worm of bronze or steel and a wheel incased in an oil-tight hous- ing; the thrust of the worm shaft is taken on hard-metal buttons revolving in oil. The motor is attached to the worm shaft by means of a coupling. The worm shaft is provided with a powerful double-shoe | brake, which is released by the action of | WILLIAMS car at terminal landings independent of | the operator. The slack cable stop arrangement is also a feature of this machine; it stops the machine automatically in case the car should become obstructed in its descent and stop. Without such an attachment there would be an unwinding and conse- quent entanglement of the cables with the machinery. The motor is of the low speed, multipolar type; the bearings are self oiling; carbon brushes are used, requiring a minimum of attention. The reversing switches and controlling apparatus are of simple and an electro magnet and is applied by a| improved forms, their action causing the E & CO/’S ELECTRIC ELEVATOR. raise average loads at speeds as high as 250 feet per minute. A —— The Poughkeepsie Bridge, which was to secure the New England coal traffic and complete Reading’s triumph turns out to be the principal obstacle to suc- cess in securing a reorganization of the dismembered fragments of the general wreck. Judge Torrey of St. Louis, author of the Torrey Bankruptcy bill, is hopeful of the success of that measure in the next Congress. ae ll SS - 1054 THE IRON AGE. May 11, 1895 Electric Machine Tools. all of the larger machines are run by | In most machines there is some place on motors mounted upon their own frames. | the frame where the motor can be placed. How this is accomplished will be readily| From an article on this subject by 8. 8. At the new works of the Crocker- | understood by reference to the engravings. | Wheeler of the Crocker- Wheeler Company, Wheeler Electric Company at Ampere, |The electrically driven machines include] in a recent number of the Electrical En- East Orange, N. J., all the power is sup-| planers, blowers, multiple and single| gineer, we take the following: ELECTRICALLY DRIVEN LATHE. Madar PC ce ame ION gE es oa ELECTRICALLY DRIVEN PIPE-THREADING MACHINE, plied by electric motors. The peculiar | spindle drills, sheet-metal shears, shapers, I have concentrated no little time and feature of the equipmeat is that, with the | lathes, presses, pipe-threading machines, | money onthe many different problems of so exception of a few short lines of shafting | &c. With only two or three exceptions, | adapting or modifying el ctric motors that placed to operate small machines requiring | it was not found necessary to change in| they may be built directly into such tools as only an insignificant amount of power, | any way the form of the machine driven. | lend themselves to the purpose, in place May 11, 1893 THE IRON AGE. 1055 changes now being introduced by the use of electric power in this direct manner. This important class of improvement is immediately suggested by the appearance of the temporary rigs, in a shop using electric power, but, like many other things, it had not been given attention by most persons until the use of electricity for power had become pretty general. After adopting a line of electric bars or mains through a shop in place of the ordinary revolving shafting, and after belting a few motors to lathes and other tools and con- necting them to the bars, it is easily seen that much better mechanical arrangements could be made by building in the motors as an integral part of the several tools. This construction gives rise to directly connected machine tools, a new line of machinery destined, in my judgment, to be of very great importance. The ma- chines employed at the Crocker-Wheeler works are the regular standard tools of the market, but with motors combined, both being properly proportioned for their purposes, so that when the small flexible cable or lamp cord is connected to them from the power line they become operative and are self-propelling tools, readily port- able if desired. Machinery of this kind obviously bas a number of important ad- vantages. It requires no setting up. It can be moved and then used so readily that it makes temporary shifting of ma- chinery to meet requirements of extra work in one department practicable. A single tool can be run at any time without run- ning others, thus saving all shafting fric-. tion, &c. The tool having no belts, and the power being generated in the head stock just where it is consumed, the ma- chine runs much more quietly, &c. Quite a variety of direct connected ma- chines have already been built and put in use with such success that we now pro- pose and are prepared to design motors for all classes of machine tools. A brief de- scription will, I think, be found of general ELECTRICALLY DRIVEN PRESS. interest. The electric lathes, for example, ELECTRICALLY DRIVEN SHEET-METAL POWER SHEARS. of belting the motors to the countershaft-|in the future I believe that the tools of are built on this principle, the motor ing here and there. Some tools invite this | newer design will owe their specific shape | armature taking the place of the belt pul- treatment much more than others do, and'and construction very largely to the ley and the field magnet frame being part 1056 THE IRON AGE. May 11, 1893 of the lathe bed, securing simplicity and | rigidity. The tool possesses many advan- | tages suggested by the hints above, and | I recommend it for all machine shops, laboratories, &c., where electric current | can be obtained. Other small tools, such | as monitor or screw machines, are, of course, fitted up in the same way. I illus- trate a large screw machine provided with its own motive power or motor which is capable of delivering 4 horse-power. Motors have been applied to portable | shapers in the manner shown in the illus- tration, the use of electric power rendering it possible to carry the tool to the work in | cases where the work is very heavy, such as dressing armor plates when in position on vessels, trimming very heavy castings, &c. After all, it is often more natural to take the tool to the spot and use it there, and this innovation may lead to some change in factory construction. The tool is taken to the work and clamped to it by the bolt slots on the under side of its bed plate, and a sufficient amount of power (1 horse-power) to operate it, even with the heaviest cuts, is carried to it from the electric mains through a small flexible cable wherever it may be moved about. The reversed motion of the shaper is pro- duced in the usual way by a crossed belt, and the high motor speed is converted to | the slow speed for the tools by means of a | worm gear. | The electric drill press is still another ap. | plication of the same idea. The spindle of | the drill press becomes the shaft of the | motor, and while continually revolving with | the armature may be moved downward to follow the drill when boring a hole. The | operator starts and stops the machine by turning a switch attached to its side, so that current is consumed only when the drill is in actual operation. A drill press, as usually set up, requires two counter- shafts, four belts and two mule pulleys. That is really a serious array of power- wasting parts. The direct connected motor saves all this, The power ab- sorbed by the motor when doing full work is not much more than that required for an ordinary incandescent lamp, and may be conveyed through a flexible wire not | larger in diameter than an ordinary darn- ing needle. This combination, obviously, | can quickly be moved from one part of the | shop to another and put to work imme- diately without the usual trouble of lining | up to main and countershafts and belting, as required by the ordinary drill press. Having no belts it runs much more quietly and easily. I am glad to be able to show also another very interesting direct application, namely, the operation of sheet metal power shears. The } horse-power motor while attached directly to the tool is geared up| by belting, passing over intermediate pul- | leys, which at the same time serve as belt | tighteners by being adjustable vertically. The power required for the work is much reduced by the directness of application. The machine can be stopped and started in an instant by the switch knob near the motor, and can be moved to any part of the shop and used at once without the troubles incident to lining up. In shops already provided with a num- ber of tools driven by belting, and where In connection with these direct driven tools it may be well for me to call attention to the absolute practical results which have already been obtained by the use of electricity in machine shops, than which no subject can be of greater interest to manufacturers. Under the usual manufacturing con- ditions involving the driving of tools or machines intermittently operated, only 15 to 25 per cent. of the total power sup- plied by the engines is expended in useful work. It is well known that a very large portion is required simply to move the great pulleys, belting and shafting, which, starting from the engine room, convey the power from floor to floor, and distribute it to the different wings and parts of the factory. Owing to the heavy and cumbersome na- ture of the system of shafting, pulleys and belting alluded to, not only does the great expenditure of power required to move these mere carriers or conveyors of power go on constantly, whether the whole fac- tory is in operation or only the most dis- tant part of it, but so great is the friction of the great moving mass that no propor- tionate effect is felt at the cut-off of the | engine by the minor and constantly occur- | ELECTRICALLY ring stoppages in the use of a large part of the individual machines, lathes, looms or tools. These single and short stoppages aggregate an enormous amount of time and therefore of power and coal wasted. An electric system can be furnished so connected with the cut-off of the engine, so perfectly responsive and sensitive to all such changes of intermittent work, even to the most minor ones, that the amount \of energy demanded from the engine is | only that actually being employed in the | doing of useful work. it is found desirable to introduce electric} Any candid and fair-minded manu- power, the motors are simply bracketed | facturer can be shown, I think, that he to the ordinary form of tools, and con-| will save, by a properly designed and in- nected by means of belting. An idea of | stalled electric plant, from 30 to 50 per this may be had from the illustration of a| cent. of his coal bill, besides having a sys- + horse-power electric punch press. The | tem greatly superior in every respect to machine shown is aspecial one ingeniously | the old one. The manufacturers of these arranged with a dividing head or index | electrical tools have given especial study for notching armature plates consecutively, | to this branch of the practical application according to the number of teeth in the| of electricity, but are very glad to be index plate used. Still another variety of | favored with the advice and suggestions application is shown in the electric pipe| of manufacturers and factory owners, threading machine, which needs no special | many of whom have noted instances in description, as its operation is precisely the | their own experience of opportunities thus same as with all machines of this character. ! to economize in the use of power, and, at the same time, by instant and close regu- lation of the power, to obtain a Maker quality of product, At the new Crocker-Wheeler works the lines of jack shafting and counter-shaft- ing, with belts and pulleys, have been re- placed by copper bars from which current is tapped at any point, and the tool is at once available over a very large floor area. Where it would take, say, an hour or two to bring the work to the tool, with con- sequent interruption of other work, these tools can often be ranged alongside the work in five minutes. And whether moved or not they still present the inherent features of economy and utility that Ihave been seeking to emphasize. It seems to me that what we have found so eminently suited to our purpose as builders of ma- chinery must be equally desirable in other large machine shops ; and in that faith we have gone quietly to work to ascertain the best forms and to demonstrate the actual elements of saving and benefit involved. —_— oh ha American inventors of small arms on trial before the Army Board, at Spring- field, complain of discrimination in favor of the Norwegian gun. It is asserted that tN, DRIVEN BLOWER. the board has receded from the position that it took with the Krag-Jorgensen arm, where it not only permitted the inventor to make improvements but suggested them to him, and has now refused to al- low American inventors to replace any small and unimportant part of the arm which may be accidentally broken during the trial, claiming that only what was sub- mitted prior to March 31 was to be tested. The loss of two consecutive crops in Mexico causes much general hardship, and operates to curtail the Government reve- nues. The State Department estimates for the present year, including new taxes, raise the total receipts to nearly $42,000, - 000, as compared with less than $40,000,- 000 last year. But with the expected new additions there is a prospective defi- ciency of about $3,000,000, and as it would be difficult to place a Mexican loan while credit is so much impaired by occurrences in South America, the Government is liable to experience much embarrassment. The depreciation of silver aggravates the situation. May 11, 1893 The Cooper Engine. The principal features of the high- speed, self-contained, center-crank, auto- matic engine, built by Cooper, Roberts & Co., of Mount Vernon, Ohio, are illus- trated in the accompanying engravings. The engine is provided with two outside overhanging wheels, one of which con- tains the governor, the other being used for the driver, though either or both wheels may be used for driving, In designing an engine of this kind one of the most important considerations is the type of bed plate. The frame of this — is a combination of both the girder and straight line, with the metal so dis- tributed as to receive the varying strains without either deflection or vibration. THE The frame is strong and rigid, having a broad, heavy, flanged base to rest upon the foundation; it is ribbed internally, and so formed as to allow the working parts to be incased, keeping them free| from dirt and preventing waste of oil. The head end is bored, faced and fitted to receive an intermediate head, and the guides are bored out on the same line of centers. The main bearings are lined with babbitt metal, which is hammered in, bored ovt and scraped perfectly true for the re- | ception of the shaft. Removable liners are | provided for the purpose of taking up any wear. The cylinder is secured to the end of the bed plate and overhangs; it con- tains in one casting the steam chest, which is on the side and bored perfectly true, and fitted with two bushes for the recep- tion of the valve. Both the cylinder and steam chest are covered with a cast-iron jacket, the intervening space being filled with a non-conducting material. Loco motive water relief valves are fitted to the cylinder for the purpose of relieving any THE IRON AGE, undue pressure that may be caused by condensation or an overflow of water from the boiler. The back head of the cylinder and both ends of the steam chest are cov- ered by caps, covering all nuts. The front or intermediate head is bolted between the frame and cylinder. The shaft is of forged steel, having cast iron counterbalancing disks fitted and keyed upon it. The shaft and crank pin are of the same diameter, the length of the pin being the same as the diameter, and are so proportioned as to be one-half the diameter of the cylinder. | The piston is hollow and fitted with a bull ring for the reception of two self- adjusting packing rings. The piston head is forced on the piston rod up to and against a shoulder, and is further secured by a jamb nut on the end of the rod. The | head, follower plate, and rings are made | steam-tight by ground joints. The crank- | pin box and cross-head boxes are of phos- |phor bronze, the first being lined with babbitt metal, hammered in and accurately fitted to the crank pin. Provisions are made for taking up the wear in both boxes. The cross-head has phosphor bronze shoes, the length being equal to the length of stroke of the engine and the width being equal to one-half the length. The valve is of the hollow piston type, as shown in the plan view, with self-ex- panding rings, making it perfectly steam- tight. Itis entirely surrounded by live steam, pressing equally on all sides, thus keeping it in perfect equilibrium. The governor, shown in the side eleva- tion, differs from the usual type of shaft governor in that it has a parallel move- ment across the shaft instead of a pendu- lum movement. This parallel movement is obtained by one arm of the eccentric | being connected to the arm of the wheel by a link and the other by a lever mechan- 1057 ism, by which the eccentric has its center moved nearer to or further from the cen- ter of the shaft, but always in a straight line, thus maintaining a constant lead or admission at all points of the cut-off, ob- viating all possibility of the engine’s }racing. Another feature is that the ad- justable weights on the levers are such as to practically counterbalance the weight of the eccentric. The object of this 1s to prevent the weight of the eccentric from disturbing the proper circular path through which the eccentric rotates, and thus obviate | the disturbance that would occur from the | tendency of the eccentric to fall toward | and below the shaft in the path of revolu- tion. The parts are so arranged in rela- tion to one another that when the eccen- tric is at its point of greatest travel and most rapid motion the links and levers are COOPER ENGINE.—GOVERNOR SIDE. at right angles to its arms, to which they are connected, so that the increased thrust of the eccentric falls upon the links and levers, and thus prevents the springs from being put to an unequal tension. This equalizes the connected parts and steadies them. The equilibrium thus obtained is practically sufficient to relieve the springs and levers from the disturbing element always found in a varying, unbalanced, centrifugal force generated by the gov- ernor mechanism when moved to different positions to answer the requirements of | varving the point of cut-off. The levers are | of the same power and combine on one pivot, one on each side of the arm of the wheel. The spiral springs are attached to one end of the levers by means of a swinging link, and the other ends of the springs are hooked in an eyebolt passing through an opening in the head of a swivel bolt, piv- | oted through a boss on the wheel, and en- gaged by a nut on the opposite side of the boss, for the purpose of adjusting the ; springs. This arrangement of the springs i vp re Tee IO FT eS OP 1058 THE IRON AGE. May 11, 1893 permits the swivel bolt to adjust itself, and allows the springs to move outward in ‘@ straight line without the buckling caused by centrifugal force. The eccentric is without straps, thus speculators the difficulties in obtaining ac- curate statistical information are manifold. For this reason official reports are received with hesitation, especially since it is known that last year’s crop was greatly in excess making it entirely free from friction. To | of the estimates of the Agricultural Bureau, its side and covering the end of the shaft 'as shown by the surprising amount that Engineering and Literature. One of the most interesting speeches given at the recent annual banquet of the Institution of Civil Engineers in London was that of Prof. James Bryce, M.P., the is secured a polished pin plate, to which | now remains in farmers’ hands. After a|eminent historian and author of **The is fitted a wristpin for the eccentric rod, | careful survey of the wheat situation a| American Commonwealth.” Mr. Bryce, in leading to andfmaking the connection to the valve through the rocker shaft. The construction of the governor is such that the friction of the bearings carrying the links and lever mechanism has no in- fluence on the springs and levers and does not disturb the eccentric moving me- chanism. scteicacemaaiciiiiaiy Among grain traders conjecture is al- ready active respecting the present condi- tion and final outcome of the winter wheat crop that in some sectiorfs will soon begin to mature. Where interests are so conflict- ing as between producers and professional Sectional Plan. THE COOPER ENGINE, definite conclusion is warranted. Briefly | ( 4 q 4 | HAN Wil | replying to the toast of *‘ Literature,” said stated it is certain that the United States | that he felt a little difficulty in speaking, has on hand more than 200,000,000 bushels | due to the apparent remoteness of litera- of wheat, not including large quantities of | ture from the work and business of the flour, and there is not the slightest proba- bility that as much as 140,000,000 will be wanted for home consumption, or export, before July 1. If 60,000,000 bushels is carried over, that will compensate for a de- crease of 30 per cent. in the yield of win- ter wheat, in the States where injury is reported. Butif winter wheat is really injured, and prices are advanced, increased sowing of spring wheat will make up some proportion of the loss. Institution of Civil Engineers. Literature must appear to them, as practical men, a vague and unsubstantial thing, and he could not even find any points of similarity in the results which the two professions of engineering and literature produced upon those who followed them, Engineers were nearly always men of great wealth, whereas most literary men starved in their garrets. And if he came to the great branches of literature, if he began with May 11, 1893 THE IRON AGE. 1059 the highest form of literature—poetry—he found what seemed to be an antagonism between it and engineering. Wordsworth was most anxious to keep engineers and railways and everything connected with them out of his Lake Country, and Lord Tennyson was no less anxious to keep them out of his end of the Isle of Wight. He believed that our two great living poets, Mr. Swinburne and William Morris, were of the same opinion as the two last laureates. They might perhaps consider that they had met with better treatment from the writers of imaginative fiction, whom they had enabled to transfer their characters from place to place and give them an opportunity of striking scenes in railway and colliery accidents. He had never yet heard of an engineer being represented in a novel as a villain. Clergymen were often represented as hypocrites, lawyers as betraying the in- terests of their clients, doctors as poison- ing their patients; but he had never yet read in a novel of a wicked engineer, not even if that engineer happened to be a baronet, and they knew, he said, that of all grades of society baronets were most frequently wicked men in novels. Engineers, in changing the face of this globe, were, he said, supplying new ma- terials for the historian and the student of economic science, and were creating new factors in commerce and the history of commerce. They pierced mountains, changed the course of rivers, and con- nected islands to continents. There was perhaps another aspect in which he might compare engineering with literature, and it was that by their work they developed and represented one side and aspect of the life and efforts of an age, as literature did another side and another aspect. Litera- ture claimed to be the fullest and the truest exponent of the thoughts and emo- tions of each generation. Literature was the record by which each generation trans- mitted its intellectual life to those who were to come after it, and similarly the engineer, inscribing upon the face of the earth in enduring characters of stone and iron the records of his skill, was handing down to future generations one great part of what our age was doing, and making it memorable and intelligible to them. As ancient Rome had left for herself a per- petual memorial, not only in the enduring influence of her law, and the works of her great poets, but also in the roads and bridges and aqueducts with which she decked her empire, and which had been constructed with such strength as scarcely to feel the touch of time, so our production in this Victorian age would live into a dis- tant future, not only by the brilliance of its literature, which, as we hoped, was des- tined to last as long as the calculations of Lord Kelvin would allow our globe itself to last, but also by those monuments of skill and industry with which British engineers had filled not only this island of ours, but our wide dominions beyond the sea, Sometime ago D. E. Park of Park Brother & Co., Limited, of the Black Diamond Steel Works, Pittsburgh, pur- chased the old post office property in Pittsburgh. When the time arrived to make the final payment Mr. Park notified J. G. Carlisle, Secretary of the Treasury, that he would send gold to the amount of $390,150 in case the Government would accept it. Mr. Park has been notified to make the payment in gold, and it will be forwarded to the sub-treasury in New York City this week. The Lake Superior iron companies at Ishpeming, Mich., employing 1200 men, began work on the eight-hour system last week, giving the same wages for eight hours as they formerly paid for ten. The Frech Punching and Forming Press. Among the more recent improvements in this class of machinery is the press built by the Frech Machine Company, 75 and 77 West Van Buren street, Chicago. As shown in the perspective cut—from photo- raph of the No. 4 machine the general eatures of design embody the two essen- tial qualities of strength and convenience in operating. The depth of throat per- as ground to fit. Owing to the close grain of the quality of iron used in the casting and the large amount of bearing surface, the accurate fitting of the journals remains intact for an indefinite time, as no appre- ciable lost motion is caused by several years’ continuous use. The shafts are of hammered steel and of large diameter— the latter, of course, being proportionate to the stroke of the head—and the crank- pin is turned down from the solid metal. The size of the shaft used with the No. 4 machine is 6 inches diameter for 14-inch mits the handling of wide sheets, while | stroke, thus permitting the diameter of the arched opening through the base of |the crank-pin to be 4} inches. In the a 2 ag Ss CHICA THE FRECH PUNCHING the housing allows the passage of sheets | lengthwise to a width not exceeding 13 | inches. The bottom plate of the housing is securely bolted to the supporting frame, which is made very heavy and affords a large amount of supplementary strength and rigidity to resist the springing tend ency from working the machine at its maximum capacity. The housing is made solid from the top of the opening to the crank-shaft bearing, the latter being heavily ribbed at the crank end to resist the tensile strain of the working stroke. No bushings are provided for the journal bearings of the shaft, they being formed | AND FORMING PRESS. actuating device there are no peculiar feat- ures, the engagement of the shaft and its | automatic release at the end of the up- stroke being by means of the treadle operating the ordinary pin-clutch. The most important feature of the ma- chine, which has been made the subject of a recent patent, is in the method of ad- justing the stroke of the head—or, more |specifically, the device for maintaining |the adjustment. The designer of the original machine, Wm. Frech, consider- ing the use of the ordinary eccentric bush- ing on the eye of the pitman to be objec- tionable, substituted therefor a screw de - of the cast-iron surfaces, lapped perfectly | vice for lengthening or shortening the pit true and smooth, and the shaft journals|man. The adjustment was made by means- 1060 THE IRON AGE. May 11, 1898 of a cylindrical nut, which was retained in position after setting by a spring pawl or keeper attached to the pitman. This ar- rangement, however, after several years’ use, was considered unsatisfactory for several reasons. Of course, the ratchet teeth engaged by the pawl limited the adjustment, as the latter could not be made finer than the pitch of a screw 4di- vided by that of the ratchet—i. ¢., with a screw of }-inch pitch, and 25 ratchet- teeth, it would be limited to ;4,-inch. For ordinary through punching this would be sufficiently close; but the many other uses for which such machines are designed —such as stamping, pressing, straighten- ing, &c.,—require that the fineness of ad- justment possible shall not be restricted to any arbitrary limit, which would ne- cessitate recourse to some such makeshift as packing under the punch or die with paper or other thin material. Also, as the thread in the nut was required to fit the screw freely enough to permit of its being turned with comparative ease, it was found that the strain of working prersure was sufficient to cause the nut to turn gradually but surely, and either throw out or break the keeper. As this might, and frequently did, happen unobserved by the operator, the loss of adjustment was liable to cause considerable damage and annoy- ance; and the device was, therefore, dis- carded in favor of the one shown in the drawings, Figs. 2to5. From an exam- ination of the arrangement, it will be seen that the objectionable features of the original device are corrected, while the simplicity of construction has been re- tained. The lower end of the pitman or body being of the size of those in the nut. | Steam will be supplied by three boilers. By then turning the latter to right or left, as required, the exact adjustment may be obtained, and the nut is then closed tightly on the body of the screw by the compression band and screw /. It is ob- vious that this clamping of the nut must hold it securely, as it has a powerful frictional grip internally on the screw and externally in the band, the lugs of which are accurately fitted in the opening in the bearing 2. The adjustments are easily and quickly made without necessity for the operator to leave his seat at the front of the machine, as the head is moved as required by rotating the crank shaft with a short bar provided for the purpose. In all changes of work the punches, dies, &c., and the entire operation of setting the machine, the only tools required are the A A bd Shp Ly ea . WS S\ % > Fig. 3.— Vertical Section on Line D D. THE FRECH PUNCHING AND FORMING vibrator is shown with the adjusting and retaining devices and the cylindrical bear- ing by which it is connected with the head. The vibrator a and screw stem ¢ are formed in asingle steel forging. The screw is made of length to admit of adjustment of 14 inches, and it is accurately centered in the oscillating bearing 4 >, made of forged steel. A concentric recess in the latter receives the split nut c, the thread of which is chased to form a snug fit on the screw without compression. Embracing the lower half of the length of the nut is the split collar or compression band d d, whose lugs, d’ d’ passing through to the front of } are provided with a screw, /. It is seen—Figs. 4 and 5—that both nut and collar seats cut through the front and back faces of 6, but in such a manner as not to impair its strength under compres- sion, To make the adjustment the screw } is loosened by means of a short bar fitted at one end to the holesin the head, the Fig. 2.—Front Elevation. two small bars mentioned and a single open-end wrench fitting all nuts and bolt heads necessary to the purpose. It should be mentioned that the holes i i in the split nut are hardened to prevent wear from the careless use of the adjusting bar, while the thread remains soft and unaf- fected by the process. The presses of all. sizes made are provided with covered brass oil cups to all bearings, and the latter may be regarded as practically dust proof. a . The largest vessel on the northern lakes is the steamship ‘‘Curry,” launched from Wheeler’s yard in Bay City April 27. The new boat marks a return to the early principles of marine architecture, in that her boilers and machinery are placed amid- ships instead of far in the stern, as has been the common practice on the lakes. The ‘*Curry’s” dimensions are: Length of keel, 360 feet; length over all, 3784 feet; molded depth, 25 feet; beam, 45 feet. The estimated carrying capacity of the ves- sel is 4000 tons. hr The Armour Institute. President F. W. Gunsaulus of the new Armour Institute, Chicago, is now enthu- siastic over the rapid progress now being made by the different scientific depart- ments of the institute. He said in a re- cent interview: ‘‘The need of greater facilities for work in physics, as prepara- tory and supplementary to the more tech- nical training of students in the various departments of engineering and other branches, is being felt more and more every year. To meet this demand courses have been arranged in mechanics, heat, light, sound and the elements of electricity. Laboratories equipped with the most re- cent forms of apparatus are nearing com- pletion and will be open to students in September. In the earlier grades general outlines of the elements of physics will be taken up, laboratory methods studied, and habits of observing phenomena and de- pending upon en observations culti- vated. Quantitative work will be intro- duced as early as possible. Physics is a science of measurements and will be treated as such from the beginning. More ad- vanced work has been mapped out for the students who have had preliminary train- ing, and every advantage and incentive will be offered for original investigation.” The directors of the Armour Institute announce that Prof. W. M. Stine, for- merly of the Ohio State University, has Fig. 5.— Vertical Section on Line C,C. PRESS. accepted the position of professor of elec- tricity, magnetism and electrical engineer- ing. The institute will be formally opened for class and laboratory work Tuesday, September 14, 1893. Professor Stine has consented to take charge of the depart- ment of electricity and electrical engi- neering during the World’s Fair, so that the students may benefit by the unex- ampled opportunities there afforded. ctiaiinceialltaamaianions British manufacturers of agricultural machinery and hardware acknowledge that in South America the United States are in keen competition. The country offers a large and rapidly growing market, but to succeed the British are told by their consul at Santa Fé, Argentina, that they must adapt themselves to circumstances and comply with the conditions of credit ruling in the country, and especially be prepared to exhibit samples of goods by agents on the spot. May 11, 1893 THE IRON AGE. 1061 WORLD'S FAIR NOTES. The claim steadily made by its promot- ers, that the Chicago Exposition would surpars its predecessors in every respect, has been strengthened by the enormous at- tendance on the opening day. There were nearly 400,000 visitors present, not count- ing employees, exhibitors and their attend- ants and others connected with conces- sions, &c., whose numbers ran well up into the thousands. It was the greatcst day thus far in the history of international expositions. Encouragement has thus been given to the somewhat extravagant ex- pectations which have been indulged in by the i of Chicago who are most directly interested in the success of the fair. The attendance on the followin day fell to 14,000 paid admissions, an perhaps doubled this number for the remainder of the week, but that was expected in view of the incomplete con- dition of the exhibits and the disagree- able weather. Chilly blasts have swept down from the nortb, and heavy rains have fallen, making a visit to the grounds extremely unpleasant. In some respects such weather has been more welcome than days of balmy sunshine. Attention has thus been diverted from the tardiness of exhibitors, who have meanwhile busily pushed the work of installation. From a general survey this work has made slow progress, and is still far from being com- lete, Going more closely into details, owever, one finds a vast multitude of ex- hibits in perfect order and ready for the most critical inspection. But their un- kempt neighbors detract from their ap- pearance, and until all booths are finished, all exhibits installed and all rubbish is cleared away the visitor will overlook that which is pretty and think of that which is unsightly. The exhibitors are not alone to blame for this tardiness in completing installations. The transportation depart- ment on the grounds must take a large part of the censure. A great deal of ma- terial has been in the grounds on cars for days, and the utmost exertions of exhib- itors have been unavailing to secure the delivery of such cars at the points where they are to be unloaded. The writer has met a number of these, whose experience has been most exasperating. They have lost days of valuable time, merely waiting for the shifting of a car for the space of three or four blocks, and meanwhile hear themselves denounced as a class for hin- dering the completion of exhibits. In due time these matters will all be straight- ened out, but it does take time and more of it than had been anticipated. The Director. General has ordered that no more exhibits will be received after the 12th, so that at least the end of shipment to the fair is in sight, and the work of installing cannot extend much beyond that. The W. Dewees Wood Company, Among the completed exhibits in the Min¢s and Mining Building is that of the W. Dewees Wood Company of Pittsburgh, manufacturers of patent planished sheet iron. Their exhibit is very striking and most appropriate. It is composed wholly of patent planished sheet iron, In the first place, the inclcsure is surrounded by a tubular railing with square posts, very ingeniously constructed of sheet iron. The posts have ornamental caps, sur- mounted by a nickeled knob. The bars of the railing are made with a lock seam, laced on the under side so as to be invis ible. The chief feature of the exhibit is —_ column with a square base, on which stand four pillars, one on each cor- ner, with a heavy fluted pillar in the center, supporting a roof, which recedes by grad- ual rises to a pedestal. Here is placed a large gilt representation of the company’s trade-mark—an eagle with outstretched | wings triumphant over a prostrate bear. | In another part of the inclosure is a rack | filled with sheet-iron oven doors, stamped in pretty patterns. Stove pipe, stove cylinders, elbows and specimens of plain sheet iron are tastefully arranged near by. A sheet-iron table, of the parlor center | table type, is a very interesting specimen of the ingenuity and skill of those who designed this most interesting display. The Mines Building in General, While great progress has been made in the installation of exhibits in the Mines Building during the week, much still re- mains to be done. The official catalogue has been issued, but it is by no means com- lete or accurate. Reassignments of space | ave been made within a few days in con- | sequence of some exhibitors having failed to make their appearance. eign countries have just begun the erection of their pavilions. izgto Chief Skiff, but he has been unable to control everything. The visitor to the building finds on all sides exhibits covered with muslin, behind which workmen are busily engaged putting affairs in order. Enough is visible, however, to confirm the opinion heretofore expressed that the display in this department when complete will be superb. The Charge for Power. The assertion has been made in some of the daily papers that exhibitors in Ma- chinery Hall are complaining because they are obliged to pay for power when they run their machinery continuously. It is rather singular that such complaints should be made now. This whole matter was settled a long time since, and intend- | ing exhibitors were advised of the fact that a charge would be made of $60 per) horse-power for the wholeterm, In an in- terview on the subject last week, Chief Robinson said : ‘The question of charging for motive power has been thoroughly canvassed and the basis of rates was established three or four months ago. There was no special committee appointed, but the matter was discussed by the Director-General, Mr. Burnham, Mr. Sargent and myself, and the amount to be charged was then re- ferred to the commission several times for | ratification. The result was that the limitation of power was embodied in rule 1 in the classification and rules of the de- partment of machinery, which is as fol- lows : Exhibitors will not be charged for space; a limited amount of power will be supplied gratuitously. This amount will be settled definitely at the time space is alloted. Power in excess of that alloted gratuitously will be furnished by the exposition at a fixed price. Demands for excess must be made before the allotment of space. ‘* Now this is plain as can be and there is no possibility for akick. The interpre- tation of ‘a limited amount of power’ is the amount of power necessary to turn a machine over to show its workings. The maximum amount under this construction is the amount necessary to turn the heavi est machine. The power is to be furnished at the discretion of the chief to prevent overstraining the shafting. If the ex- hibitors wish to run their machines con- tinuously they must pay for the extra power used pro rata. If they only need a half horse-power it will cost them $30 for the season. There is no other alternative. This department is not run on a philan- thropic basis, but is business, and we ex- pect to make $40,000 or $50,000 out of power furnished. We furnish light and power free to the grounds and big build ings, but the State buildings, individual exhibits and concessionaires must pay for | light and power or they will not get it. This is very dishearten- | The exhibits will stay in their places and they will not be covered up, either.’’ An Accident in Machinery Hall. Three men were injured on Friday by the bursting of a head on a 16-inch steam main in Machinery Hall. The escaping steam seriously scalded a railroad em- ployee, coupling cars near by, and two laborers were painfully, but not severely, hurt. Huge timbers in the foundations were cut by the flying mass of metal, and considerable damage would have been done if the steam had not been quickly cut off. It is stated that the head which gave way was a perfectly sound casting, and that it must have been too thin to withstand the heavy pressure. The Question of Sunday Closing. Although Congress imposed upon the fair authorities the condition that the ex- Several for-| position should be closed on Sunday, the /matter is not regarded as absolutely set- tled, but seems even yet a debatable ques- | tion. Local influences are being exerted |very strongly in favor of ignoring the /action of Congrcss and braving the con- /sequences. At a meeting of the National | Commission last week this topic was dis- | cussed, and Commissioner Massey said : | ‘The whole matter, in my opinion, has | passed beyond the power of this commis- sion to deal with. The commission had a | duty to perform which it has discharged according to the mandates of the statute. |I deny that the commission can hereafter lawfully make an order modifying the rule 'of Sunday closing. When Congress speci- fied the conditions of the $2,500,000 gift |and declared that the exposition should be | closed on Sunday, it commanded us to pass a tule; and when it made it mandatory on this commission to make a rule clos- ‘ing the gates on Sunday, it limited the | powers of the commission in this mat- ter and we are powerless. Wecan’t touch the matter until Congress says so, or until a court of proper jurisdiction shall declare the act of Congress inoperative. The ' commission is bound hide, hand and foot, and its powers in this regard are absolutely |ended. No matter where or how or when the question originates, the commission is powerless to make a rule permitting the opening of the exposition gates on Sun- | day.” Sementitene St. Clair, who is a pro- nounced advocate of Sunday opening, and believes that a way will be found at an early day by which an open fair can be secured, made the following declaration : ‘*When the act of Congress appropriat- ing $2,500,000 to the fair was passed, it had in it the condition that a rule should | be made providing that the gates be closed on Sunday, and that if the money were accepted the commission should make this rule. Subsequent to the passage of that act there was in the sundry civil bill the provision that more than $500,000 of the 2,500,000 should be withdrawn and turned over for the payment of awards. Congress therefore broke the Sunday. clos- ing condition, as it took from the direc- tory more than $500,090. ‘* When the time comes—if it ever does come—for the question to be passed upon, I shall undertake to show that the exposi- tion company stand to-day as they stood under the original exposition act, and that the commission has the power to pass on the question regardless of the act of Con- gress, as the conditions upon which the mandate was issued has been removed and the mandate is therefore inoperative. ‘*Under the existing rule of Sunday closing, 1 am frank to say, the directory hasn’t any power to open the gates unless a majority of this commission assent to it, and there is no danger of any attempt be ing made. If it is madeI will exert my efforts, in the courts if necessary, to en- force the present rule ”’ 1062 —_— The commission sustained the position taken by these gentlemen, but it remains to be seen what will be done by the local directory, on whose shoulders the actual burden rests of practically conducting the affairs of the exposition. The impression prevails that in June, if not earlier, the gates will be thrown open, not to be closed on apy day until the term of the exposi- tion is ended. It is somewhat signiticant that the term passes which have been issued contain a coupon for every day in the week, including Sundays, for the en- tire period. The Wisconsin Monolith, The World’s Fair loses an interesting exhibit, which has been announced as one of the assured features of the display to be made by Wisconsin. For some reason there was a hitch in the arrangements for the transportation of the great monolith from the brown-stone quarries, near Ash- land, to the fair grounds, and Milwaukee has captured it. A committee of citizens THE IRON AGE, connection, transmits power to spur gears at either end of the pump, driving the two outside plungers and at the same time, through the single throw supporting the crank shaft, drives the center or middle plunger. The advantage claimed for this system is that the discharge is isochro- nous, the tbree plungers keeping the sup- ply continuously steady, which must be done to obtain the highest efficiency in power pumps. When a column of water is once given a certain velocity of dis charge, it is evident that any deviation from this constant velocity will result in loss of power in overcoming friction and inertia of the moving column. The cylinders of these pumps are made with outside packed plungers. The plung- ers are outside, galhed above, relieving them of excessive wear or strain. They have brass bushed connecting rods of forged steel, of the locomotive type, with an adjustment at either end for wear. Brooze suction and discharge valves are grouped in the valve cha