The Iron Age 1899-12-28: Vol 64 Iss 26

A Review of the Hardware, Iron, Machir : Published every Thursday Morning by David Williams Co., oe ge i oT eqats auetal Trades. .00 of i av! «ears 232-238 William S8t., New York. Vol. LXIV: No. 26 New York, Phwvedin: , December 28, 1899. $4.50 a Year, including Postage Single Copies, Ten Cents Reading Matter Contents .. ..... page .48 Alphabetical Index to Advertisers 123 Classified List of Advertisers... .. ‘1257 Advertising and Subscription Rates‘ 55) \, GENUINE RAWHIDE _ LAGE LEATHER ULTZ'S PATENT SHULTZ PATENT =\% WOVEN LEATRER LINK BELTING Dynano St Louis, Mo. Boston, cBELTING: New York. Phila Republic Iron & Steel Co., CHICAGO. MANUFACTURERS iron Sheets and Plates. DISTRICT SALES OFFICES : Buffalo, N. Y. New York City. Cleveland, O. St. Louis, Mo. Cincinnati, O. Birmingham, _See our adve rtiseme nt on inside back cover THE BRISTOL COMPANY, Waterbury, Conn, Bristol’s Recording Instruments, For Pressure, Temperature and Electricity. All Ranges, Low Prices and Guar- anteed. Send for Circulars, Ala. Also Massachusetts and Phenix Brands of Sash Cord. SAMSON CORDAGE WORKS, - Boston, Mass, TURNBUCKLES, a) BRANOH OFFICE: 11 Broadway, New York. Cleveland City Forge and Iron Co., - Cleveland, O TURN BUCKLES. 465 to 471 Kent Ave. BESSEMER PIG PILLING & CRANE. fx: Sue Lewis Hae MERRILL BROS., , Philada. ittsburgh. Look out for our trade- mark name on the top sheet of a bundle of galvanized Apollo Best Bloom, iron: Apollo Iron and Steel Company, Pittsburgh, Ud. MW. Z. Smokeless Shells Nitro Powder. «U.T1.C. No. 3”’ Primers. All sportsmen know that the hands and arms, in shooting, become accustomed to the recoil produced by any uniform charge and that unexpected variations in the load will make a perceptible difference in their marksmanship. The absolute uniformity of charge in U. M.C. and the close attention paid to every detail, insure Factory-Loaded Shells, their accuracy and reliability under all conditions. Union Metallic Cartridge Zo. Bridgeport, Conn. 313 Broadway, New York. panty ’ > GAHALL BOILERS s#** CAPEWELL HORSE NAILS. NEW YORK, PHILADELPHIA, CHICAGO, ST. LOUIS, BOSTON, DETROIT, CINCINNATI, SAN FRANCISCO, PORTLAND, ORE., BUFFALO, BALTIMORE, NEW ORLEANS. THE CAPEWELL HORSE NAIL COMPANY, HARTFORD, CONN. WE CLAIM THE FOLLOWING MERITS FOR JENKINS BROS.’ VALVES. BRANCHES 1. Manufactured of the best Steam Metal. ¥. No regrinding, therefore not constantly wearing out the Seat of the Valvee 3. Contain JENKINS DISC, which is suitable for all Pressures of Steam, Oil, an¢ Acids, 4. The Easiest Repaired, and all parts Interchangeable, 1 5. Every Valve Tested before leaving the tactory. 16. ALL GENUINE stamped with Trade Mark. JENKINS BROTHERS, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Bosten. Brass Prices High, So Use Bright “Swedoh” Stamp- see i ing Steel, Easily Brass Plated and Save Money. page MAGNOLIA METAL Best Anti-Friction Metal for all Machinery Bearings. Beware ot Imitations. Genuine Magnolia Metal is made up in bars of which this is a fac-simile: and trade- mark appear on each and the words ‘Manufactured in United States" and ‘Pacented June 3, '90,’ are stamped on the un- . der side of each bar. |} magnene at 4 _ he ing at the same price {t has always sold at— - advance.” rhe name nox and bar, MAGNOLIA METAL CO., 266 & 267 WEST ST.. NEW YORK, =A ag Re THE IRON AGE THE ANSONIA Brass re Oe Co: BRASS AND COPPER Ingot Copper. SOLE MANUFACTURERS - Tobin Bronze (TRADE-MARK KEGISTERED.) Condenser Plates Pump Linings, Round, Square and Hexagon Bars, for Pump Piston Rods and Bolt Forging 99 John Street, New York. Dati. a ¢ Randolph-Clowes (0..§ Main Office and Mill, WATERBURY, CONN. MANUFACTURERS OF SHEET BRASS & COPPER. BRAZED BRASS & COPPER TUBES. SEAMLESS BRASS & COPPER TUBES ‘ ‘ $ $ 7 TO 36 IN. DIAM, New York Office. 253 Broadway, Postal Tel- egraph Bldg., Room 202 ; oa ago ¢ nog 602 F isher Bldg oston Office, Cor. Oliver and Purchase Sts, Stim Sts Vewe sed Wateiney Brass Co. Established 1845. Sheet, Roll and Platers’ Brass, German Silver, Copper, Brass and Ger- man Silver Wire, Brass and Copper Tubing. COPPER RIVETS AND BURS. TAPE MEASURES, METALLIC EYELETS, Brass Kettles, Brass Tags, Powder Flasks, Shot Pouches, &c., AND SMALL BRASS WARES OF EVERY DESCRIPTION. Cartridge Metal in Sheets or Shells a Specialty. DEPOTS: 60 Sostre St., New York. 126 Eddy St., Provi- dence, R. i. 38 Mechanic St., Newark, N. J. MILLS AT WATERBURY, CONN. Deoxidized Genuine Babbitt used by United States Govern- ment in some of FASTEST TORPEDO BOATS. Write us about it. Bridgeport Deoxidized Bronze & Metal Co., BRIDGEPORT, CONN. THE PLUME & ATwooo M6. G6., MANUFACTURERS OF Sheet and Roll Brass WIRE PRINTERS’ BRASS, JEWELERS’ METAL, GERMAN SILVER AND GILDING METAL, COPPER RIVETS AND BURRS. Pins, Brass Butt Hinges, Jack Chain, Kere- sene Burners, Lamps, Lamp Trimmings, &c. 29 MURRAY ST., NEW YORK, 144 HIGH ST., BOSTON. 199 LAKE S8T., CHICAGO, ROLLING MILL : THOMASTON, CONN. | SCOVILL MFG. CO., Manufacturers of BRASS SHEET, WIRE, TUBES, FACTORIES : WATERBURY, CONN Hinges, Buttons, Lamp Goods, Nipples, Pumps and Oilers for Bicycles, Braziers’ Solder. Factories, WATERBURY, CONN. DEPOTS : Chicago, New York, Boston. JOHN DAVOL & SONS, AGENTS FOR Brooklyn Brass & Copper Co., DEALERS IN Matthiessen & Hegeler Zinc Co., LA SALLE, ILLINOIS, SMELTERS OF SPELTER AND MANUFACTURERS OF SHEET ZINC AND Specia] Sizes of Zinc eut to order SULPHURIC ACID. Rolled Battery Plates. Selected Plates for Etchers’ and Lithographers’ use. Selected sheets for Paper and Card Makers’ use Stove and Washboard Blanks. ZINCS FOR LECLANCHE BATTERY. co scree angers COPPER, TIN, SPELTER, LEAD, ANTIMONY. 100 John Street, New York, WILLIAM S. FEARING, 256 Broadway, NEW YORK, SELLS TO THE TRADE Sheet Brass, Fancy Sheet Brass, German Silver, Copper, Brass and German Silver Wire, Brazed and Seamless Brass and Copper Tubes, Brass and Cop- per Rods, Brass Ferrules, Pure Copper Wire, Sheet and Ingot Copper; Spelter, No. 1—Makers, Dodge Mfx. Co.; Adjustable Ball and | No. 3—Similar t« » above only wick = rs Ti An Lea Socket Double Brace Hangers, with chain oil- 114 20-in. drop, 16 in shaft, lis . «820.40 n, timony, d, é&c. ing be wage | , 2-in. drop, 27- 16 in. “ on . 14.00 . 2 a on og | No. 4—Plain ¢ —% Iron Box, not se it- tig. oe ee eee ro } 16-in drop, 23-16 in. shaft, list.. . 12.00 THE BRIDGEPORT BRASS C0 10 18in. “ > 15-16 in ra i O18 No. 5—Makers, Falls ing =~ es hive Co.; Wick Lh + > 7-16 f “ cabs 18 1) Oiling, Double Brace Jetachable Bo ttom. 2 ain a —_ 19 to 21 in. drop. 2 1516 in. shaft, list,....... 2420 BRIDGEPORT, CONN. lio. Same as above only single brace 9 19 to 21 in. 11.45 54 20-in. drop, 215-16 in. shaft, list 20 40 | No os Lane & Rodley, Chait Otling, Double Brace, 19 Murray St., New York. 6 14-in . “16 in. 11.40 etachable Botto 1 12-in ? 3-16 in. 10.90 30) 30-in drop, 2 15- 16 in. shaft, list,. 31.55 85-87 Pearl St., Boston. Discount, 7O, 10 and 5 per cent. MACHINISTS’ SUPPLY CO., ROCHESTER, N. Y. HENDRICKS BROTHERS PROPRIETORS OF THE Belleville Copper Rolling Mills, MANUFACTURERS OF Brazsiecrs’, Bolt and Sheathing COPPER COPPER WIRE AND R VETS. Importers and Dealers in ingot Coppar, Block Tin, Speliter, Lead, Antimony, etc. 49 CLIFF ST., NEW YORK. 17 N. 7th St., Philadelphia. MANUFACTURERS OF Brass {SHEET AND TUBING Copper | WIRE. Lamp Geeds of all Kinds. BRASS AND COPPER GOODS In Great Varieties. MOATA | ie) ~ i+ waae ee ae jj Coast Fortifications. The Gruson Chilled Cast Iron Turrets to be Manufactured in this Country. The Gruson chilled cast iron armor, which is used in many European countries for the shielding of heavy coast defense guns against fire from a hostile fleet, has heretofore been and is still manufactured only at the Ger- man works of Fried. Krupp at Grusonwerk. Operations are now under way, however, for the establishment of a plant at Eddystone, directly outside of Chester, Pa., where Gruson armor will be manufactured. This plant is being built by the Gruson Iron Works, which com- pany, it will be recalled, were formed under a charter from the State of New York several months ago. This ‘THE IRON AGB. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1899. casemates for 80 12-inch guns. The question as to the material of which the protective armor should be made was left open for further experience, although the board sent expert officers to Europe to study this question and had their reports on the subject. In the very year when the report was completed, 1886. Gruson’s armor was tested by the Italian Govern- ment, near the harbor of Spezzia, and with such success that an order for two 16-inch turrets was given at once. These turrets, the most formidable coast fortifications in the world, are now erected at Spezzia and at Tarento, Italy. The Spezzia trials, at which representatives of our War Department were present, one officer each of the engineers’ and ordnance corps, have demonstrated that for the purposes of the shore chilled iron armor was superior to any other and practically invulnerable. A , y J The Gruson Turret. COAST FORTIFICATIONS. company have by agreement with the German firm ac- quired the exclusive right to manufacture turrets and chilled armor plates for coast defense, and to use their processes, experience and information for the purpose of producing similar material for this country. The new works will in this wise introduce a new industry into this country and put within reach of our Government one of the strongest means of protection for our coast and the entrance to our harbors. The necessity of strong defenses for our own coast is growing constantly, but the knowledge of such neces- sity is not of a very recent date. It is now 15 years since the so-called Endicott Board reported to the War De- partment what was done in Europe for similar purposes, and laid out plans for a complete system of protection for our seaboard, indicating the places to be fortified, the number and caliber of guns, mortars, torpedoes and so on. The board’s recommendations also comprised armored protection for the large caliber guns which were in particularly important and exposed positions. Armor turrets were recommended for 44 16-inch guns and armor great number of such turrets have since been built for European countries and elsewhere by the German firm. Our Coast During the Late War. In this country, although the revolving iron turret for coast defense originated with an American (Th. R. Timby in 1841), war was considered such a remote possi- bility that little was done for the protection of our pros- perous seaboard. When the war with Spain broke out we had a number of modern guns ready and the work on others was pushed to the utmost; of gun carriages only a few were completed, and it took considerable time before even a very insufficient number of guns could be made ready for service. As to armor, there was noth- ing available and no time or opportunity to provide it. Fortunately our coast was in no real danger from such an enemy as Spain, and the fear which arose with the beginning of the war soon subsided. We have peace now in which to prepare in time for another war. Much of the work during the late war was of a temporary character, done in haste and for the ex- re Par ee ote or Sees + - THE IRON AGE. December 23, 1899 press purpose of meeting an emergency. It was recog- nized that it was necessary not only to have good guns of superior caliber and range, but also to give such mod- ern ordnance the right kind of mounting and proper pro- tection according to their location and importance. The famous Buftington-Crozier disappearing gun car- riage was designed to meet these requirements, and is in itself a masterpiece of mechanical construction, as it brings the gun under a protective plane running on an incline of 7 degrees backward from the top of the para- pet. There are many positions on the coast in whici it would well fulfill the conditions necessary to a proper defense, which, together with its mechanical excellence and ease of operation, leads to its use in positions where an angle of 7 degrees is quite insufficient, and where an open pit does not provide the necessary protection for the guns and gunners. Gruson armor turrets and special construction of gun carriages are now looked forward to as an adequate means to fulfill these requirements. ing on a number of conical flanged rollers, the axles of which have their bearings in a live roller ring, which keeps them in proper relation to each other. The conical shape of the rollers allows them to revolve, without the aid of a central pivot, on a stationary roller path im- bedded in the masonry. The cupola is surrounded by the so-called “ glacis armor,” which forms a ring of double curved chilled cast iron plates, somewhat similar to those used for the cupola, but which are stationary and protect the sub- structure gun carriages and the machinery by which the turret and guns are operated. The glacis armor is itself protected by a construction of granite and concrete. The turret can be revolved either by hand, steam, hydraulic, electric or other power. To revolve the turret by hand a capstan is provided which transmits its revoiutions through gearing to a pinion and racer fastened to the open roller path. The larger turrets are generally revolved by steam power, for which purpose a two-cylinder engine is placed in the OT yh el yi Memes mm: Fig. 2.— Vertical Section through Gruson Turret COAST FORTIFICATIONS. The Gruson Turret, In Fig. 2 we present a vertical section, showing the general details of construction. As will be observed, it consists of a dome shaped superstructure of armor plates mounted on a substructure of steel plate construction, somewhat similar to the drum and turntable of a modern swing bridge. The plates used in this construction are entirely different from those employed to protect battle ships. ‘They are made of a special quality of cast iron, being hardened by surface chilling to a considerable depth. The plates or sectors which make up the fortifi- cation or turret are double curved and of varying thick- ness, aS Shown in the illustrations, and are held together by large steel keys, imbedded in the contact surfaces, no bolts or rivets being used, and the whole presenting a smooth and unbroken surface. A number of such sectors, varying according to the size of the turret, form the circumference of the flat dome or cupola, and two half circular plates form its roof, its sectors giving protection on the breast and the roof plates giving protection overhead. The dome rests on a substructure made of steel plates and strengthened with angle irons. Large steel beams run across to carry the carriages on which the guns are mounted. This sub- structure is provided with a cast iron roller path, rest lower gallery. The starting lever for this engine is operated from the middle gallery. Both hand and steam power can be made interchangeable by suitable me- chanical apparatus, thus providing against a contingency of the failure of either. In order to stop the turrets from revolving sponta- neously, especially when the guns are fired singly, a suitable brake is attached to the substructure, consist- ing of hydraulic cylinders controlled by proper valves, whose pistons press against a brake ring cast on the lower roller path for this purpose. The hydraulic cylin- ders are connected by pipes to a pressure transformer in the center of the turret. The dome is perforated by two portholes from which protrude the guns, and which so closely surround them that no projectile from the out- side can penetrate into the interior of the turret. In order to make this possible the guns are mounted on special carriages, technically known as Gruson Minimum Port Carriages. These provide for the elevation and depression of the gun around a pivot near the center of the embrasure, instead of having these movements take place on the trunnions of the gun. Such an arrangement makes it necessary to lift or lower a considerable weight with December 28 1899 every change in the elevation of the gun. This is per- formed by means of accumulators which are kept in action by a special set of high pressure pumps. A counterpoise to the recoil of the gun is obtained by two hydraulic cylinders, one placed on each side of the gun. The cylinders are secured to the gun itself while piston rods are fixed to the substructure of the turret. This is shown in Fig. 2. It will also be observed that a link connecting the piston rod with the substructure of the turret allows for the elevation and lowering of the cylinders, wuich are fixed to the gun, as stated before. The traversing of the guns is effected by rotating the turret, the amount of such metion necessary to a proper sighting being regulated by the commanding officer, who has his station in the center of the cupola and makes his observations through an orifice in the dome, which also contains a sighting apparatus. THE IRON as tests have shown, the projectile will glance off in frag- ments. The smail striking angle causes only a fraction of the shell’s energy to take effect, while on a vertical armor surface the whole of it would have its effect. The local effect of a single hit on the plate results in a flat abrasnre of the surface and in some cases in the forming of fine cracks. Repeated hits on the same part of the plate will naturally increase the abrasures and number of surface cracks, but it is said do not produce any cousiderable change on the inner surface of the armor until four or more hits concentrate on one and the same plate. The great mass of the armor protects against a shat- tering effect from heavy armor piercing projectiles, and the displacement of any of the plates or the whole turret. A single plate in a coast defense turret weighs from 50 to 90 tons, and in a turret, for instance, there are 15 such Fig 3.—View of One of the Dome Tlates. COAST FORTIFICATIONS. A hoisting mechanism and hydraulic ram connected with the ammunition chamber below is provided for loading the guns. The points which make the Gruson turret practically invulnerable are its extreme hardness of surface, its shape of flat curved dome or cupola, its great thickness and mass, and the iron glacis ring surrounding it. Composition, Tests, &c,. The hard surface is obtained by a special composition of the best charcoal irons as raw material and casting in very heavy iron chilling molds. A depth of the hard crust or chill of several inches, grading off very gradu- ally into the softer mass of gray iron, is thus obtained. The chilled surface is so hard that it can only be worked by emery, and it is impossible for any projectile to pene- trate it. The curve of the dome is so designed that any projectile arriving with a high velocity and, therefore, more or less horizontally, will strike the plates under an acute angle not over 45 degrees. The point of the shell will therefore be of no avail and find no hold on the armor, nor will a soft steel cap on the projectile help it, but the side of the shell will strike the hard surface, and, plates forming the circumference and two half circular plates, the sides of each circumference plate converging toward the center, making the plate a gigantic wedge, carefully fastened to its neighbors by strong steel key plates. Comparing such a construction with a ship’s cylindrical steel plate turret, the difference is at once apparent. An experiment made at the Indian Head Proving Ground in 1896 with a ship’s steel turret for two 8-inch guns showed that a 12-inch projectile dis- lodged the whole structure. As for the use of Gruson turrets on board ship, the chilled cast iron armor is much too heavy and takes up too much room. On a war vessel the armor must be of material which combines resistance to penetration with lightness, because it must stand the impact of armor piercing shells under an angle of 90 degrees, or approxi- mately that. The ship’s turrets must take the risk of displacement in order not to imperil the ship’s buoyancy and then the ship has the advantage of changing posi- tion. On shore there is practically no restriction as to weight, shape and size of the armor construction, but the shore turret must be prepared against a concentrated fire and cannot change position. AGE. 3 fod Bn a ee 3, See Rec 7 eee ——— ee 1 rrmeneaeg eer At the trials near Spezzia, Italy, in 1886 the sides of the Gruson plate were set into solid rock, its back being left free and its hardened convex surface facing the at- tacking gun. It received a fire of a 100-ton Armstrong gun with Krupp steel armor piercing projectiles weigh ing 1 ton each at a distance of only 150 yards without noticeable disintegration. The four guns in the turrets at Spezzia and Tarento, Italy, are similar to the so-called “big gun” exhibited in the Krupp pavilion at the World’s Fair in Chicago, 1895. The first of the American 16-inch guns is to be com- pleted some time this year, and it is expected that it will be more powerful than the Krupp gun of like cali- ber. It will be recalled that the forgings were made by the Bethlehem Steel Company, and the gun is now being assembled and machined at the Watervliet Arsenal. It will, when finished, be mounted at the Sandy Hook Prov ing Grounds on a provisional carriage for trial purposes before further orders for this type of gun are given. After the trials are completed it is believed that this gun will be mounted at Romer Shoals, at the entrance of New York harbor, and covering the new channel. This THE IRON AGE. December 28, 18£9 tem of the works. The plates are brought by truck to this point, whence they are taken by the crane and placed around the stationary arm or pivot in the center of the pit. By various adaptations of the temporary rig- sing shown directly underneath the bridge of the crane the key seats and faces of the plates are milled and ground so as to insure a perfect fit. The position of this apparatus in the engraving shows the operation of mill- ing the grooves for receiving the top plates of the dome. This performance consists simply in the proper adjust- ment of the milling tools and a merry-go-round move- ment of the locomotive half of the crane. After the sec- tors haye been thus erected and made to fit together they are unlocked by taking out the steel keys, are taken apart and shipped to their destination. A crane similar to the one shown in the illustration is usually shipped with the turret Lo aid in its erection. The bridge of this crane is long enough to span the entire dome, and straight parallel tracks instead of the circular ones are built on each side of the spot where the turret is to be erected. Then both halves, or locomotives, of the crane are operated simultaneously. Fig. 4.— View of the Drum of the Turret with the Dome Above. COAST FORTIFICATIONS. is an exposed position for which the Gruson turret is considered especially adapted. The fact that it could only be obtained abroad has until now been a serious impediment to having chilled iron armor in this country, and the War Department was not allowed to give contracts to a foreign maker. At the same time Congress could not be expected to make ap- propriations for this material as long as there was no one here to manufacture it. But, encouraged by. the ex- perience of the war with Spain and the outlook for the future, and convinced of the necessity of armored forti- fications, American enterprise has established the means to provide for building Gruson armor from American materials by American labor in this country. Fig. 1 shows the dome with plate containing half of perforations for guns taken out.” It also shows the method of machining the top and erecting the turret at the Krupp works. It will be seen that this work is per- formed through the agency of a novel sort of double locomotive crane connected by a truss. A circular pit built up with brick is formed in the center of the shop. A set of curved rails surround this pit forming a track. One part of the double crane is run into the center of the circle and fixed there as a pivot. The other half of the crane runs around the pit on the track just mentioned. The intersecting track shown at the extreme right of the engraving is a portion of the general railway sys- Fig. 2 shows a vertical section of the entire turret erected with guns in place. Fig. 3 represents a side view of one of the dome plates, showing the seats for the steel keys which fasten the plates together. Fig. 4 shows the drum of the turret with the dome built above, guns pro- jecting, one of the glacis armor plates in position and the granite foundation. Fig. 5 presents a rear view of the Gruson minimum port carriage, indicating position of one gun and showing saddle for the other. The hydraulic ammunition ram is also shown. Fig. 6 is a side view of the carriage with one gun in place. SSS ee The Emlyn Iron Works.—The Emlyn Iron Works have been incorporated under the laws of Illinois with a capital stock of $145,000, for the purpose of manufac- turing iron and steel. The intention of the incorporators is reported to be the relocation at East Chicago, Ind., of a small rolling mill in the South, which has not for some time been in operation. George R, Stewart of Marion, Ind., is said to be among the parties interested, but the names are withheld from the public by the Chicago pa- pers which have been favored with advance information. These papers convey the impression that a vast under- taking is contemplated, much larger than the erection of a small mill to roll merchant iron. East Chicago land companies have given the site, requiring the company to be turning out iron within 90 days, and giving employ- ment to at least 200 men. December 28 1899 Openings for [Mechanical Engineers in China.” BY LORD CHARLES EERESFORD. Although the civil engineer must first clear the way, there is a great scope even now for the mechanical en- gineer in China, and the future offers an almost un- limited field of operations. Imagine an empire which, THE IRON AGE. 5 pose, in this paper, to divide the principal openings for the mechanical engineer under three heads, and to short- ly touch upon each. I may class them as follows: (1) Railways and electrical engineering, (2) mining and al- lied works, (3) manufactures. Railways. Under the first of these headings I venture to sug- gest that the immediate development of China will most Fig. 5 Rear View of Gruson Gun Carriage. Fig 6. - Sid. View of Fig 5. COAST FORTIFICATIONS. with its dependencies, covers an area of over four and a quarter millions of square miles, and has a population of nearly four hundred millions of people, and then con- ceive this vast expanse of territory and this multitude of people still pursuing the arts and industries with the primitive tools, methods and ideas of two thousand years ago. The vista of untapped possibilities for the modern engineer is seen to be extensive and promising. I pro- * Abstract of paper before the Institution of Mechanical En gineers rapidly proceed. As already shown in iny book, “ The Break-up of China.” at the date of my visit 317 miles of railway had been completed, 2270 miles were building, 2507 iniles were projected and had been or were then be- ing surveyed by the pioneers of your profession—the civil engineer—and 1070 miles had been projected but no sur- veys had yet been made, so that altogether in the next few years we ought to see over 6000 miles of track laid, and a new and important department will have been cre- ated for the mechanical engineer in running, building, 5 { 4 i (i THE nbd repairing the locomotives and other rolling stock used by the Chinese and foreign proprietors of these rail- ways. I may mention that the energy, the pluck and the signal abilities of C. W. Kinder, who is a distinguished ornament to your profession, have already led to the erec- tion of most extensive works at Tongshan. These works all their rolling stock except locomotives, but engaged on the first engine ever attempted to be built in China at the time oft ny visit. Mr. Kinder esti- mated to be able to build engines at £1600 which would cost £2850 at home—with a 24 months’ delivery. His great est difficulty is the lack of skilled labor. Mr.Kinder pays COUSTruct were good wages. The Russians who tempted some of his en- gineers away are now paying less than Mr. Kinder, and he told me that the men wanted to come back to him. The engines already running on the Shan Hai Kwan Rail- way are made by Dubs of Glasgow and Baldwin of America. The American engines are much lighter, and not so good as the British, but are quite good enough for the work. The Americans use steel instead of copper or brass for fittings, and the axle, instead of being one piece of metal turned so as to leave a solid collar for the wheel, is made in three parts, the collars being separately made and screwed on to the axle. The idea that skilled native labor is cheap is quite fal- lacious as far as North China is concerned, the native workmen getting sixty dollars a month. During the twelve months prior to my visit, two locomotive boilers had been replaced and four retubed, while five locomo tive fire boxes had been replaced with the assistance of native labor. Mr. Kinder estimated that the 300 miles of rail to Shan Hai Kwan cost for everything—including, that is, the admirably fitted workshops I saw at Tong- shan—about £6000 a mile. Close by the machinery shops were some cement works, but the machinery there was rusting and doing nothing. The works had been started by Chinese, but owing to their curious inability to under take mechanical or manufacturing work without Euro- pean supervision, the works had been a failure. Mr. Kin- der told me that the railway alone took 60,000 or 80,000 barrels of cement a year, and there was a great demand for it elsewhere, but the works were now closed. In addition to the labor difficulty, which can be easily overcome when skilled mechanics realize the advantages offered to them in China, there is also another difficulty to contend with—the Chinese hatred of the “ foreign devil.” Phere was some rioting and ill-feeling at the time of my Visit. and two of Mr. Kinder’s engineers were fired at and also badly beaten at Fungti. As an example of the futil- ty of British methods in China, my attention was drawn to the fact that, instead of at once demanding the punish- nent of the ringleaders, and the withdrawal of the Chi- Ikan Suh troops who were responsible for the out- rage, the British authorities summoned a conference of the whole of the foreign Ministers, and as a result of their united action two of the offenders were mildly whipped, receiving exactly the same punishment as some coolies Who damaged a pump handle and a piece of hose pipe total value $2—a few weeks before. Mr. Kinder was so dissatistied with this that he at once withdrew his engi- neers, ald the soldiers, emboldened by the mild treatment awarded to their comrades, proceeded to damage winches and boilers at Pei-ho-tien, and to strip off some copper tubing rhe matter was, however, soon afterward settled, and the Kan Suh troops withdrawn. Electrical Eogineering. | have placed electricity under the first heading be cause | learn from the ordinary channels of information that since my return from China it has been rendered pos sible for the traveller to go from the railway station to the gates of Pekin by electric traction. I, personally, was carried into the city in a Mandayin’s chair, while my staff rode on Chinese ponies; and, judging by the then state of the roads, to have so soon laid and started an electric tramway is very creditable to the promoters of the enterprise In the European settlements electricity is already used lighting purposes, and even fi at Hlankow, 600 miles up the Yangtse River some of the firms were laying down electrical plant. The abundance and cheapness of coal will render this branch of industry—electrical engineei ing—a very profitable one in a short time. The Chinese of the better class are very fond of luxury after European modes, and I have no deubt that they will be ready consumers of electrical power for lighting and manufac turing purposes. Of course all the plant must, in the first instance, be imported, and I would like to point out his institution that we re far behind Japan and America in the use of electrical power, and unless we are much more energetic the vast electrical plant which China will require will come from those countries. It is more n probable it Japanese and American engi neers who accompany e plant to China will be em ployed there hereaft nstead of British engineers. The IRON AGE. December 28 1899 reason of this I have shown by examples in my bvok, ‘The Break-up of China.” At Kioto, in Japan, I saw the great electrical plant which, in addition to lighting two- thirds of the town, also supplied the motive power for the city trams, for the pumping machinery at the water works, and for no less than sixty different industries in or near Kioto. The electric energy is produced by water power from a fall of 120 feet. The plant is chiefly Amer- ican, but the Japanese are now beginning to make their own, relegraphs already exist all over China, and are the Government property. They are badly managed. I was eredibly informed that it is often possible to go from Pekin to Tientsin and thence to Shanghai. and to arrive before a telegram you had dispatched at starting. $y paying treble rates it is possible to get reasonable speed, but the service is very inferior. Telephones exist in of the settlements, but one manager of a telephone company in China told me that all their copper wires were stolen by the Chinese, so that they had a very ineffi cient with wires. Solute service steel Mining. The mechanical engineer who has adopted that branch of his profession which has to do with mining machinery, boring machinery, hydraulics and allied works will find that there is plenty of scope for him at this moment in China. The country is full of minerals; coal, iron, gold, silver, copper, mercury, lead and salt are all to be found in paying quantities, and only skilled workers and the latest machinery are needed to develop the rich re- sources of this marvelous country. Labor can be had for mining work at the ordinary coolie pay of 200 cash, about 514d., a day. Our friends the Russians are prob- ably much alive to this important feature in Manchuria, where an Englishman showed me specimens of gold ob- tained by himself in the interior, and another English- man who has lived for years in the country told me that Manchuria was a white man’s country, very healthy and bracing, and with a climate, soil and resources closely resembling Vancouver. But Manchuria is not the only place where minerals are found. All over China there are great deposits. 1 need only allude to the marvelous coal fields of Shansi, with seams 80 feet thick, which the Pekin syndicate are about to work: to the re- sources of Shantung, where I have seen a German mis- sionary map marked in all directions with notes of gold, coal, iron and other minerals, also to the coal fields and iron mines of Ranyang and other places in the Yangise, and the many other districts where minerals have been found, to show that the riches of China in this direction are incaleulable. All of these vast stores of underground wealth belong to the Chinese Government. Imagine if the British Government owned all the mines in this country, and could charge a handsome royalty for the right to work them, and it will be seen how great are China’s undeveloped sources of revenue. The mining engineer must necessarily understand all about pumping machinery and hydraulics, and if at first there is little opening for him in his proper sphere, I should suggest that he make use of his knowledge in an- other direction. There is a great field for mechanical engineers in most of the old and all of the newer conces- sions and settlements, in supplying water to the Euro- pean community. At a place like Hankow, for instance, where there are no water works at all, there is not only the Eurepean community, but the Chinese, on the other side of the river, who would be glad of water works. At present all water has to be boiled before use, and is even then unpleasant. There is a project for supplying Can- ton with water, which a countryman of mine, a former M. P., is now actively engaged on. lor mining machinery, engines, pumps, and all other plant of this description there is a great demand, and only capital and British mechanical engineers are need- ed to give a great impetus to our manufactures of these goods, Manufactures. it ab- become a The abundance of coal and iron in China make solutely that China will day great competitor with us in the industrial market. But from fearing this competition, British manufac- turers should reflect that if they are wise and take time by the forelock China will for many years to come be an enormous buyer of machinery and tool steel, while be- fore the necessary reaction can come about and we be- gin to feel the effects of her competition China will have become so rich that the increased amount of our prod- ucts which she will take in one direction will counterbal- ance our There are other points for us toremember. (1) A poor country can never buy very much from cther nations; (2) supply creates demand, despite the seeming paradox: and (38) the volume of trade keeps increasing, even if individual industries suf- fer. To explain what I mean: (1) If China is a good customer of British goods now eertain some so far losses elsewhere. December 28 1899 she will become a better customer still more money to pay for them. She can only get this money by exploiting her minerals and becoming a manufacturing country with large exports. The richer China becomes the more she will bocome a purchasing power, when she has (2) Again, it is an undoubted fact that an increase of supply increases the demand for an article. This partly arises from the increased supply cheapening the cost both to the manufacturer and consumer. The introduc tion of machinery, although at first opposed by the more ignorant, has thoroughly proved this, especially in the cuse of Arkwright’s invention of the spinning jenny in England. Another instance of this is the case of all uncivilized races, or races where civilization has stood still, as in China. A few men only can live, and barely live, on a huge expanse of country if each subsists by the food he himself produces, but if on that same extent of country a number of men congregate and set up ma chinery and workshops, each becomes a specialist and supplies the whole community with an article which he and a few others alone produce, and the land supports more people than when each person supplied his own necessities. ‘(3) If China becomes a manufacturing country she will undoubtedly hit individual British industries, but as long as the volume of our trade increases we need not fear. Our manufacturers will make money in fresh directions. Coventry is an example of what I mean. The destruction of the ribbon trade seemed to threaten Cov entry with bankruptcy, but the rise of the cycle industry has made the town ten times more prosperous. I visited a great many mills in China manufacturing both cotton and silk. In every case I found that the mills under entire Chinese management were complete fail ures. Their system is to pay high dividends and put nothing aside for depreciation of machinery, and so the whole place goes to rack and ruin, and when the inevi table crash comes it practically means laying down com- pletely new plant. The silk industry is being killed by ad- hering to old fashioned methods, and the Japanese, by in- troducing modern machinery, are competing to the disad vantage of China’s silk trade. The tea trade is declining for similar reasons. Some remarkable facts were lately brought to my notice about the tea industry in India. ‘The improvements which have been made from hand to ma chine manufacture have undoubtedly played a very great part in the steady advance in popular favor of In dian and Cingalese teas. The old hand made process took up an enormous amount of room, required 15 people to produce each 100 pounds of tea, and took a great deal of time. The introduction of British machinery by Davidson has led to a cleaner, more satisfactory and more rapid mode of manufacture, which occupies a quar ter of the time and requires only one-fifth of the labor. Thirty years ago it was impossible to land tea in Lon don under is. 6d. per pound; to-day the grower, by the aid of machinery, can land and sell tea wholesale in London—at a profit to himself—for the price of 8d. per pound. I think it only right to direct the attention of mechanical engineers to these important questions of the manufacture of silk and tea, as I believe that Brit- ish companies, established in China at treaty ports on British concessions or settlements, could buy up from the small Chinese farmers large supplies of raw silk and green tea, and by improved methods of manufacture and modern machinery produce in each of these indus- tries a superior article, which would find a ready sale. The Chinese were also very delighted with me at other arsenals having no European superintendent, when I showed them how to set their speed and feed gearing for the steam tools. In referring to the openings for mechanical engineers in China, in assisting to establish manufactories with modern machinery, and under European supervision and direction, the native wage is, of course, an important point to be considered. I found that in South China the current rate of wages for common coolies was 40 cents a day; fitters, 75 cents a day to $1.25 a day; smiths get 60 cents to $1.50 a day; carpenters, 50 cents to 80 cents a day; masons, 60 cents a day; and mill and refining hands, 30 cents a day. Another opening for the mechanical engineer is to establish himself as an agent for British machinery in the foreign settlements and concessions. Over and over again I saw British machinery with the name plates re- moved and German and Belgian names substituted, or where the name of the British firm was stamped in, it had been covered over by German and Belgian name plates. This was notably the case at the iron mines at Hanyang and at one of the arsenals, where I saw some of Whitworth’s tools so treated. I pointed this out to a Chinese merchant, and he explained it by saying that the Chinese usually bought their machinery through local agents in preference to sending abroad for it. These agents, he said, were more often than not Germans or Belgians, who understood machinery. The advantages THE IRON AGE. ~) of buying locally from an agent were threefold (1) Quicker delivery, as the machinery was often in stock. (2) No trouble about the rate of exchange increasing the cost after it was ordered. (3) The local agent could be held responsible for defects, and was available for re- pairs if anything went wrong. I think this is a very im- portant point for engineering firms who are members of this institution, and it also offers an opening for young men who are good mechanical engineers to take up the sale of British machinery, and to push it in preference to that of other countries. In connection with this matter I wish to draw the attention of engineering firms in Great Britain to the im- mediate necessity of establishing an exhibition of British machinery in China, with mechanical engineers to ex- plain and show its capabilities. The Chinese are a very practical race, and if they see what machinery can do, they will often buy it. Both the Americans and Ger mans are already taking steps to provide such exhibi- tions of their goods, and it will have a serious effect on British machinery if we allow them to forestall us. New Machines Needed, There is one other point to which I should like to re- fer before leaving this subject, because, although it con- cerns the manufacturer of goods more than the mechan- ical engineer, it also affects the latter, who would be ben- efited by any change in the state of things I am going to draw your attention to. From various points which were brought to my notice I was satisfied that one of the reasons why the British manufacturer fails to supply what the Chinese really want, and is losing ground against American competition, is the fact that our ma- chinery is so often old and nearly obsolete. The British manufacturer does not write enough off his profits for depreciation of machinery, and he does not avail himself of the latest machinery, from an idea that it will not pay. The United States is far ahead of us in this respect. I recently saw a wire machine in New York which cost £1800, and was consigned to the scrap heap after 12 months, to be replaced by improved machinery. In great Britain one man controls one block for wire pulling ma- chinery, whereas in the United States one man controls four blocks. ‘The United States workmen get higher wages, but their food, clothing and rent are proportion- ately dearer. In Pittsburgh 11 to 14 kegs of nails are turned out by one man in a day, and the man gets 8s. a day wages. In this country only six kegs of nails are produced for 6s. a day. Improved machinery means a larger output for less cost, but it does not necessarily mean that the workmen suffer. On the contrary, the in- creased output and the reduced cost of production so cheapen the article that the demand increases, and in the end more men are employed than before, and wages are also higher. Learn the Language. In conclusion, and by far the most important point for the mechanical engineer to deal with, in my humble opinion, is the question of learning Chinese. I venture to invite the attention of this institution to the imme- diate necessity of traiaing young mechanical engineers to learn Chinese, which can only be properly done by establishing a school of mechanical engineers in Hong Kong. ‘The oflicial Chinese should be studied, as all well educated Chinese learn this, but for practical purposes, and conversing with laborers, each man must become a specialist in the dialect of the province in which he pro- poses to work. Americans and Germans are both doing this. For the benefit of mechanical engineers who are pre- pared to earn their livelihood in China, and to assist in the opening up of the country which is now going on, 1 will summarize the points where I think there is the best prospect of immediate openings. (1) Railways.—Yorallworkinconnection with railways the advice of M. Kinder, the engineer-in-chief of the Chinese Imperial Railways, should be sought, and ap- plications for employment should be made to the various syndicates financed by the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank, particulars of which can be obtained in my book. (2) Mining work is heing undertaken by the Pekin Syndicate, which is the most promising venture at pres- ent, and by Pritchard Morgan’s Syndicate, which has ob- tained valuable coneessions in the Yangtse Valley. Both f these syndicates are well supplied at present with civil engineers, but there will doubtless be many open- ings for mechanical engineers in the near future. Elec- trical and hydraulic engineers should look out for the prospects of employment by the municipalities in the European settlements, and by large firms. (8) Advertisements in the Anglo-Chinese papers in Tientsin, Shanghai, Hankow and other places should for the present be the best means of securing billets in China for mechanical engineers willing to enter the em ployment of British or Chinese manufacturing firms. “ —_ ae THE IRON AGE. Pacific Coast News. SAN FRAN IsSco, December s \ } is, 1899.—The year which laS Deen fraught with so much of interest not only to the se ngaged in the specialties represented by The lron ige but to those interested in every line of trade now lraws to a close, and by the time this communication will have reached your readers will have altogether passed way. It has been a year of unwonted prosperity for our people in the iron and steel trade and all those things appertaining thereunto. It has also been a year of strug gle for the right, as our people here regard it, in the mat ter of transcontinental freights. The contest is a mighty one—nothing less than a struggle for the trade of the ‘oast—for it will last as long as most of our supplies con tinue to be manufactured in other parts of the United States and to be imported here and distributed by some one agency or another. When we shall have arisen to the full hight of our moral and material manhood we shall manufacture most of these goods for ourselves, but that time is not yet. Some one must do the distributing among our people, and up to the present the jobbers of the coast have done most of it. Will they continue to do so or will the jobbers of the Middle West take their place for the most part? Or will the jobber also become the retailer of the goods he imports and in which his capital is invested? This is affected not only by the question of whether terminals will be allowed to exist but also by the burning question of differentials. These had been down to a pretty low figure, but at the remonstrance of the job- bers of the coast, irrespective of business, had been settled at figures which gave a reasonable advantage to the man wh» had hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in lands, buildings and stock and who carried enough goods of every description to last the trade for months, and who necessarily imported by carloads at atime. All the roads agreed on the settlement effected, but suddenly the two Northern roads backed down. This not being sufficient for their purpose the Middle West jobbers invoked the interposition of the interstate commissioners. The job- bers of the coast had meanwhile made an ineffectual effort to pursuade th