The Iron Age 1902-10-23: Vol 70

‘THE IRON AGB THuRSDAY, OcToBER 23, 1902. The Potter & Johnston Automatic Chucking Machine. The cut here presented shows the latest improved au- omatic chucking machine brought out by the Potter & Johnston Machine Company of Pawtucket, R. I. It is ntended for the automatic working of all kinds of cast- ngs, iron, steel or bronze, up to 10 inches diameter and } inches long. It possesses several new and valuable features heretofore unknown to this particular class of machinery. The turret has five sides, with 21-inch holes, and it withdraws, revolves and advances at 40 times the feeding speed. The feed is driven and con- trolled by the spindle. The cross slide can be operated \utomatically at any time in conjunction with the turret. Che turret slide is operated by a large cam drum driven readily run from four to eight machines, according to the class of work being done, making the labor cost of production a very small item in comparison with the increased output obtained. For gripping extra heavy or eccentrically shaped pieces a heavy scroll chuck is furnished. A pair of universal turning and facing tools is furnished as part of the standard outfit of the ma- chine and takes care of all ordinary pieces up to 10 inches diameter. The machine is made in three types—viz., machine with geared automatic change speed head, machine with belt driven change speed head, and machine with plain head. With geared automatic change speed head the spindle is driven by two trains of gears, each train hav- ing four changes of speed; with the belt driven auto- matic change speed head the spindle has four changes THE POTTER & JOHNSTON by spur gearing, the power being applied near the periphery of the drum. This arrangement is very sub- stantial and prevents any springing of the working parts. The cross slide tool blocks have a travel of 4% neches in each direction and have screw adjustment m the cross slide. The standard set of cams furnished with the machine covers all ordinary pieces up to 6 nches in length and requires no adjustment. The automatic back facing attachment shown in the ‘ut is a valuable addition to the machine. This attach- nent enables the hubs of gears, pulleys, &c., to be fin- shed on both ends at one setting, and in this manner a arge variety of pieces which would ordinarily require o be done in two holdings can be finished complete at ne setting. Another interesting feature in connection with the nachine is the automatic chuck. By the use of this huck pieces which can be handled with one hand can be laced in it and removed without stopping the spindle; hus the machine is running all the time and requires ery little attention from the operator, hence he can AUTOMATIC CHUCKING MACHINE. of speed; with the plain head machine the spindle is con- stant, but has four-grade cone. The machine is of lib- eral dimensions, has plenty of power, strength and rigid- ity; all working parts are simple and easy of access. While, cf course, automatic chucking machines show up their true value to better advantage when run in eroups of, say, half a dozen or more, yet if a concern has not a sufficient amount of work to keep several ma- chines going, as this machine requires so little attention it can easily be run in connection with some other ma- chine, say an engine lathe or a turret machine, and the additional product obtained upon the automatic chuck- ing machine is secured without extra labor cost. Al- though this newly designed tool has been on the market but a comparatively short time it has been favora- bly received by the trade, who fully realize the advan- tages to be gained by the use of such machines. ee The United States Cast Iron Pipe & Foundry Com- pany declared a regular quarterly dividend of 1 per cent. on the preferred stock, payable December 1. : : THE Central Pennsylvania News HARRISBURG, PA., October 18, 1902.—The contident expectation of the settlement of the coal strike has brought to the industries of this city and vicinity no relief. Indeed, fuel has been scarcer than week among the local mills than at any time since the beginning of the trouble in the anthracite region. Every industry in this district has been more or less affected. The uni- versal mill of the Central Iron & Steel Company has been closed for several days, but is expected to resume on October 20. The Chesapeake Nail Works have been closed and will not be able to begin gperations for a week. At Steelton the blast furnaces have been banked several days during the week. No raw material has been received at the works, except ore in small quan- tities, and the output of all the departments has as a consequence been restricted. At the Harrisburg Foun- dry & Machine Company’s plant the fuel famine has been seriously felt and the coal bins scraped. If coal does not soon arrive in quantity the works will have to be temporarily closed. The trouble seems to be more with the railroads than the mines. Large orders were filled this week at the Harrisburg Foundry & Machine Works. Two engines were sent to New York for use in the electrical plant of the new Stock Exchange Building. A 250 horse-power engine was shipped to the Carnegie Coal Company, near Pitts burgh. Orders have been received for engines from the George A. Fuller Company of New York and from the Paxtang Electric Company of Harrisburg. The new electrical department of the Pennsylvania Steel Company at Steelton will be operated within the next few weeks. The Altoona Iron Company’s plant at Allegheny Fur- nace has resumed operations after having been idle a month undergoing general repairs. The Columbia Stove Company have been compelled to put on a night force in order to keep up with the demand for heaters. Work has been started at the plant of the South Chester Tube Company, Chester, after a week’s shut down on account of a lack of fuel. The company have now a large supply of coke on hand and no further dif- ficulty is expected. The brick work on the threading mill of the new pipe works at Columbia is completed. The construc- tion of the lap and weld furnaces is now in progress. The foundation walls of the other buildings have been finished. The work has been greatly delayed by heavy rains. The Aurora Furnace, at Wrightsville, was banked on October 15 on account of a shortage of coal. The Vesta Furnace, at Marietta, has not been affected. Both furnaces are crowded with orders and can ill afford to lose a day. A company for the manufacture of metal cornices have been formed at Eberton, York County. Those in terested are P. C. Wiest, E. A. Rice and William Wiest. The corporation will be known as the York Corrugating Company and will be capitalized at $25,000. Ground has been purchased for a plant. Mrs. Mary Robinson and others of Brushvalley Township, Indiana County, have sold to the Lacka- wanna Steel Company 182 acres of choice coal and tim- ber lands in that township for $7600. The new puddling mill of the Duncannon Iron Com- pany, at Duncannon, will be completed and placed in operation by December. The new mill will be equipped with ten furnaces and will employ 125 men. The ol@ mill consists of 22 puddling and 7 heating furnaces and employs 400 men. The Geiser Mfg. Company of Waynesboro on October 13 resumed operations with nonunion machinists, lock- ing out all men who refused to abandon the newly formed union. The Frick Company of the same place, who some time ago posted a notice that they would not employ union men, undertook to operate without them, but later in the week rescinded the order and notified their old employees that they might return to work at their old places, the only stipulation being that union IRON AGE. October 23, 1902 men are not to disturb nonunion men at work or dis criminate against them. The Geiser Company refuse to reinstate any of the locked out machinists and as ; result some of them have removed. If some settlemen is not made with the Geiser Company about 75 familie will leave Waynesboro. S. The Present Condition of the Manufacture of Aluminum. Professor Joseph W. Richards, chairman of the Com mittee on Metallurgy of the American Aluminum Asso ciation, submitted a report at the Niagara Falls meet ing from which we take the following: The year past has seen very considerable activity in the production of this metal. This activity has not been so noticeable abroad. In Furope the industry has not progressed to anything like the degree which it has in America. As in iron and steel and copper, America has surpassed the rest of the world in the production ind utilization of aluminum. This activity in America is due almost entirely to the enterprise of the operators of the Hall process. The extensions which this compan) have already completed or which they have in contem plation are startling. The bauxite deposits of Georgia have been falling off in productiveness while those of Arkansas have been increasing. An exceptionally pure quality of bauxite has been found in Arkansas, but the quantity available is somewhat uncertain. If the quantity of this pure variety should turn out to be as large as is claimed by some it will furnish a decidedly superior material for this industry, better than any it has here tofore had at its command. The purification of the bauxite has been improved. ‘he old Bayer process has received several important improvements in its various details which have im- proved the quality of the alumina produced and reduced to some degree the cost of purification if not the selling price of the alumina. The Pittsburgh Reduction Com pany, owning themselves large tracts of bauxite lands in Arkansas, have erected this year and just put into operation a large and costly plant in East St. Louis for purifying bauxite, using the patented “lime process’”’ devised by Mr. Hall. This process produces a quality of alumina of exceptional purity at a slightly lower cost than that of ordinary alumina by the Bayer process, and enables the users to thereby enhance the purity of the metal which they commercially produce. The same company are also preparing to operate a new electrical method of purifying bauxite, which will be operated at their Niagara works and which may still further reduce the cost of making pure alumina. The reduction of the alumina to metal is now pro gressing in America on what would have been regarded ten years ago as a stupendous scale. With 11,000 horse- power operating at Niagara Falls and 5000 horse-power at Shawinigan Falls, in Quebec, America possesses 16,000 horse-power devoted to producing this metal. This will produce aluminum at the rate of 4500 tons yearly, or a production twice as large as that of the rest of the world put together. Not only is this rate of production actu- ally in force, but the same company have in contempla- tion the utilization of 12,000 horse-power additional at Massena, N. Y. This association cannot but view with gratification the suecess and the enterprise of this youngest of our nation’s metallurgical industries. The very large scale of production, the large amount of capital invested, and the enterprise and good business sense of those pro- ducing the metal, all unite to assure to the industry a nore constant and more satisfactory supply of the meta] than ever before, at prices leaving a fair margin to the subsequent user and of a quality continually improving without corresponding increase in price. sienna deacalllaessadaeaiaat A meeting of the New York section of the Society of Chemical Industry will be held at the Chemists’ Club 108 West Fifty-fifth street, on October 24. Dr. F. Haber will speak on ferrous and ferric acids. The chairman, Virgil Coblentz, will make an address. for fer 10 ng en an ne ter ra av on lon urs ns October 23, 1902 THE The Whiting Belt Power Riveter. The belt’ power riveter recently designed by the Geo. Whiting Company of Chicago has a gap of 48 inches and s intended for driving *<-inch rivets cold, the ram run ling 90 strokes per minute. ‘The rivets are inserted in he shell trom the outside and a special form of hold up s used to kcep the shell against the upper die as it de cends. This feature is preferable to the ivets from the inside. as it enables the operator to lrive the rivets at least twice as rapidly. The horn or inserting take is made from a heavy steel forging, and has a aper bearing in the frame, being held in place by a eavy steel taper key. One of the special features of this machine is the au omatie stop and clatch. The latter is of the positive aw type designed to have the faces lined with hardened ool steel plates, and is also provided with an adjustable am ring which causes it to be disengaged at the end »f each stroke by means of a hardened steel roller on the [RON AGE. 3 owh requirements. |! However, it has not been definitely decided to erect a stack. Plans for it are being drawn by George W. McClure, Son & Co., engineers and con- tract Smith Block, rs, Pittsburgh. —_ The [Manufacture of Ferromanganese in Russia. At the meeting of Russian ironmasters to be held at IXharkoff in November the principal subject to be dis- cussed is the best way in which the manufacture of spiegeleisen and ferromanganese may be developed in In 2 note presented to the Russian Department Russia. of Mines by Mr. Ourbanovitch it is pointed out that up to 1900 no ferromanganese was made in Russia, al- though that which was made in other countries was largely obtained from ores from the Caucasus, which sold at Batoum for 14 copecks per pood, while the ferro- imported manganese cost 2.60 to 3 rubles per pood. THE WHITING BELT POWER RIVETER stop plunger, and as the clutch is not thrown in by Since that date the managers of the Donetz-Jouriefka springs, as is commonly the custom, there is no tendency Works, after expending much time and money, have for the points of the clutch jaws to strike when disen zaged and thus loosen or break the jaw liners or cause the machine to make a stroke when not desired. This form of clutch and automatic stop is a very desirable feature on quick acting machines, as it permits them to work with remarkable smoothness and precision. The upper die is so made as to be quickly adjusted for different thicknesses of stock be riveted or dif ferent lengths of rivets, otherwise the machine requires 10 adjustment and there are no consequent delays. The rank shaft is made from a double hammered steel forg ng with the main bearings bronze bushed and of ample ength to insure good wear and service. This machine to an be furnished with any length of stake from 12 to 60 nches. —— A New Blast Furnace.—The Monongahela Iron & teel Company of Pittsburgh, manufacturers of fine rades of muck bar and merchant sizes of bar iron, are aving plans drawn for a small blast furnace. If the encern decide to build the stack it will located longside their present works at Hays Station, near Pitts- urgh, and will be a small stack, turning out about 150 ms per day of pig iron of special quality to meet their be succeeded in producing ferromanganese from native ores in of their ordinary large blast furnaces. At the present time this furnace produces 1,000,000 poods of selling at 2.30 rubles per pood and less. however, the exportation of this some- is not practicable, and other coun- 16,000,000 to Mr. one ferromanganese, In the meantime, what costly material take mansanese Caucasus some According from annually. Lo continue of ‘TAS poods ore Ourbanoviteh it would be more advantageous for Russia to replace the exportation of raw iaterial by that of the tinished product, and with this view he advocates that the import duty on foreign coal or coke used for the manufacture of ferromanganese for export should be refunded, and that a bounty of 15 copecks per pood should be paid on ferromanganese exported. Discussing hese proposals, the Moniteur des Intéréts Vatériels points out that of late years the manufacture of ferroman- vanese has rapidly developed in the south of Russia. In vidition to the Donetz-Jouriefka Company, the Hughes, Russo-Belge and Dnieprovienne companies produce spiegeleisen, the price of which has fallen considerably. l“erromanganese with 78 to 80 per cent. of manganese now fetches 1.75 rubles per pood, and ore with 50 per cent. of manganese is now worth 20 copecks per pood at Batoum., ‘ rHE The Crucible Steel Company of America. The annual meeting of the stockholders of the Cruci- ble Steel Company of America, of Pittsburgh, was held in Jersey City, N. J., last week. Five of the directors, Reuben Miller, A. W. Mellon, Frank B. Smith, Charles E. Clapp and William H. Singer, whose terms had ex- pired, were re-elected. The annual reports of Reuben Miller, president of the Crucible Steel Company of Amer- ica, and W. P. Snyder, president of the Clairton Steel Company, a subsidiary interest of the Crucible Steel Company, were read. The report of President Reubeu Miller in part was as follows: The result of the past year shows net earnings $3,552,- 467.94, and there is no doubt but that this amount would have been larger had your company been able to secure prompt delivery of raw material ordered and contracted for. This, and the delays incident to severe congestion of freight traffic, for both incoming and outgoing prod- uct, has reduced the aggregate output for the year by at least 50,000 tons. The raw material deficiency will be largely corrected by the product of the Clairton Steel Company’s works, and we trust the delays in transpor- tation which still exist may in time be overcome by the railroad companies. ; A complete plant for the manufacture of cold rolled steel and fine wire is in process of erection on the prop- erty adjoining your West Bergen works, and it is pro- posed to consolidate in that plant all the cold rolled and wire production of the subsidiary companies. The sale of the Portsmouth and Cumberland plants was effected in order to more fully consolidate the opera- tions of your company and decrease the cost of the man- agement and production. The plants of the company have been maintained in good condition and all repairs have been charged to operating expenses. The betterment, including the paid portion of the unfinished West Bergen, the cold rolled and wire drawing plant, amount to $503,766.48. Your company are the owners of all the capital stock of the Clairton Steel Company and expect to receive from this company the manifest advantage ot a supply of suitable raw material and whatever profit may be incident to its manufacture. The Board of Directors at a meeting held October 7 resolved to charge off for depreciation and allowances $1,000,000, and carry balance of net profit for the year after payment of dividends on the preferred stock to the surplus account. Arrangements with the holder will enable us to pay off the mortgage on your La Belle works on December 31, 1902, in amount $150,000. This, when pa‘d, will re- duce the outstanding mortgage or bond indebtedness on your plants of $700. A beginning has been made for trade in foreign parts, especially in Japan, South Africa, Australia, Mexico and South America, and the encouragement given in all of these countries would indicate a market of considerabie value in the near future. The orders being received and on file justify the be- lief in the continuance of a demand for the maximum output of your works. The condensed balance sheet of the company shows: Assets. Real estate, plant and equipment. .$41,849,437.30 Betterments 504,276.38 —$42,353,713.68 1,806,022.57 Advances on account of ore and metal contracts... 3,224,542.35 1,139,989.27 6,246,459.46 Cash : Inventory .... Total $54,770,727.33 Capital stock, preferred Capital stock, common Mortgage and bond obligations (not due) 150,700.00 Accounts payable 1,914,972.84 Park Steel Company account... * 68,102.60 Preferred dividend No. 8 (payable September 30, 1902) Profit and loss balance August 31, 1902........ 25,000,000.00 25,000,000.00 437,500.00 2,199,451.89 $54,770,727.33 [RON AGE. October 23, 1902 Profit and Loss Account. Net earnings from operations...... $3,503,161.69 Dividends 49,506.23 Less dividends 5, 6, 7 and 8....... $1,750,000.00 Paid to outside holdings, Park Steel Company preferred stock 16,689.75 -——-- — 1,766,689.75 $1,785,778.19 1,000,000.00 Balance: 20: SUCHIN. 6 i vedere eccstie sons $785,778.19 President Snyder, in his report of the affairs of the Clairton Steel Company, says that six of the, company’s 12 50-ton open hearth furnaces at Clairton are in opera- tion. Two more are completed and dried, and the re- maining four are anal to be ready for operation by November. The new blooming mill is rolling all the steel furnished by the open hearth department. In the blast furnace department the shells of three stacks are completed. The brick work on furnaces Nos. 1 and 2 is well along, and the stoves for both furnaces are com- pleted. Furnace No. 3 is to be in operation early next year. Arrangements on a favorable basis have been made for all the ore needed by the furnaces. The start- ing of the latter, however, may be delayed because of the company’s inability to get ore handling machinery. EE Amount charged off The Ransom Electrically Driven Grinder. The Ransom Mfg. Company of Oshkosh, Wis., are in- troducing an electrically driven grinder carrying two RANSOM MFG. CO. ~ OSHKOSH, WIS, USA. 2 THE RANSOM ELECTRICALLY DRIVEN GRINDER 18 x 2 inch emery wheels. The motor is attached direct to the spindle and is entirei:y inclosed, but means are provided for adjustment of the brushes by allowing part of the shield to be removed whenever necessary. The armature is wound on a sleeve which is keyed to the arbor. The journals are of cast iron and are provided with ring oilers. The motor and journals are well pro- tected against emery dust. A 5 horse-power motor capa- ble of an overload of 50 per cent. is used, which is re- garded as of ample capacity to insure against injury to the motor from the heavy pressing of two men simul- taneously against the emery wheels. The starting box ean be placed inside the machine or in any other con- venient place close at hand. Solidity and therefore steady running is one of the principal points of this tool, the large base contributing to this feature. The journals, which are long and close to the wheels, are very rigid. The emery wheels are in- closed by permanent boxes. ————— — —_ Rudolph Ruben has been admitted to partnership by Robert Ganz, under the style of Robert Ganz & Ruben, agents of American manufacturers at Hamburg, Ger- many. The Standard Roller Bearing Company have removed their office to their new factory, Forty-eighth street and Girard avenue, Philadelphia. October 23, 1902 THE A New Plant for Handling Blast Furnace Slag. The blast furnace operator, as well as the rest of the uanufacturing world, has awakened to the fact that a saving in the cost of handling material is all clear gain, and, like the works manager in other lines, is on the lookout for new tools and machinery that will assist him to cut down the cost of production. For this reason there has been a demand for some time past for labor saving machinery of all kinds for blast furnace work, and especially for a machine to handle the furnace slag both cheaply and effectively. When it is considered that for every ton of iron taken from the furnace there is produced from 1000 to 1600 pounds of slag, and that this slag occupies from two and one-half to three times as Sk hehe! WNL oes woe ae IRON AGE. or uses for this material may be mentioned ballast for rail- ways, filling for roadways, bricks and artificial stone for building and paving, fertilizer, and others less im- portant. Fig. 1 is a view of the plant at Sharpsville, ’a., Showing the bucket loaded and ready for dumping into the car. This runway as built will cover six gon- dola cars of average length. Fig. 2 shows the bucket open ready for lowering into the pit. Fig. 3 is a side view of trolley and bucket as they appear on the run- way. Fig. 4 is a general view of the machinery from above, with the cover and hoisting motor removed. The runway proper, as will be gathered from the il- lustrations, is constructed entirely of structural shapes, and is thoroughly braced to withstand all stresses due to dead and live loads and wind. pressure. It is built either with or without a corrugated iron covering, the trolley in the latter case being completely inclosed in a ae 3 4 > Dy De ee Oe eel Bucket Dumping Into Car. A NEW rLANT much space as an equal weight of iron, it is easily seen that the problem is of no small importance to the eco- nomical working of the plant. During the past three months three improved plants for handling blast furnace slag have been installed by the Browning Engineering Company of Cleveland in the works of the following companies: The Ohio Iron & Steel Company, Mary Furnace, Lowellville, Ohio; the Youngstown Steel Company, Tod Furnace, Youngstown, Ohio, and Perkins & Co., Mabel Furnace, Sharpsville, Pa. The plant consists of an overhead runway span- ning the slag pit and railway track, and an electric trolley, which carries the hoisting machinery and oper- ator’s cab With this apparatus the molten slag is run from the furnace into a brick lined pit prepared for the purpose. As the slag enters the pit it strikes on a flat jet of water, which comes in from below, and is disintegrated by the contact and becomes of the consistency of fine gravel. It is then dug out with the clam shell and loaded into cars which stand directly beneath the runway, or it may be carried to the cement plant or other of the various works which make use of this material. Among other and handles a clam shell grab bucket. FOR HANDLING BLAST FURNACE SLAG weather proof housing. The length of the runway va- ries from 120 to 300 feet, according to the room avail- able, the number of cars to be loaded and the size of furnace. The trolley is constructed with a structural steel frame supported on four track wheels All bearings and the hoisting and traveling mechanism are placed on the tcp of this frame, which allows ample and convenient room for inspection. The hoisting and lowering are done with one motor, and the traveling along the track with a separate one. An electric brake in series with the hoist- ing motor automatically clamps the motor shaft when- ever the current is cut off, either purposely or accident- ally. The operator rides with the trolley in a cab which protects him and his controllers from the weather. The eab is built of steel and has glazed windows, which may be used in the winter and removed in the summer if de- sired. The clam shell bucket was built especially for this work and is of very heavy and rigid construction. It is operated by a single line of wire rope for closing and hoisting, and by two lines, one on either side, for low- ering and opening. This arrangement prevents the bucket 6 THE IR from twisting around and wrapping the ropes about one another. The jaws of the bucket are well filled with small holes which drain out the surplus water. The capacity is 2 cubic yards on the level. One feature of this machine which is worthy of par- ticular attention is the simplicity of its operation. That is, all the movements of the bucket are accomplished by means of a single lever, one operator only being re- quired, and no foot brakes or clutches being necessary. A bucket of this type requires two sets of drums for its operation. One set must remain stationary and hold the bucket in position while the other opens or closes the bucket, and then both must act together to hoist or IN AGE. Oaiobor 28, 19/ at the point where the bucket is tightly closed, the san device starts the side drums, and the whole is hoist« to a position for dumping. In this position the load: bucket is carried along the runway to the car, bin, dun or other place of disposal. Another feature worthy of mention is the combir tion of mechanical brakes with the drum shafts, in ad: tion to the electric brake, which makes it impossible 1 lower the bucket except by means of the motor, and thi absolutely does away with any danger of dropping t! bucket or load through failing current or careless ha dling. The pit is usually built large enough to hold abot ~ ; N \ > y io , ‘ og S / - y/ e a nN . a Te 4 Fig. 2.—Open Bucket Ready to Be Lowered Into Pit. A NEW PLANT FOR HANDLING BLAST FURNACE SLAG. lower the bucket, as the case may be. That is, the bucket is held and opened, discharging its contents, then lowered while open, then closed, digging into the per trip, or 40 trips per hour, and will load a train of granulated cinder and filling itself as it then this size made up of the regular run of gondola cars hoisted ready to be opened and dumped. The automatic in 34 hours actual running time, or at the rate of 1% operation of these movements is accomplished by a cars per hour. The bucket average betwee! patented starting device, which, when the controller 1% and 2 tons in weight. lever is thrown to the lowering side, allows the bucket With to open and one drum to unwind to the point where the bucket is fully open. It then starts the other two drums down at the same speed as the first, thus lower two days’ run of cinder, to cover cases of emergency For a five-car train the trolley will average 1% minutes closes, lone will Thus, this machine working 4 to > hours per day, can do the work of 10 to 20 men work ing in a cinder yard in two shifts, where the handling entirely by hand. At the the saving thus effected will pay one and a half or much less time. ole liah, is done smaller furnaces even for the installation il two years, and at the larger ones i! ing the bucket with its maximum opening until it rests on the material to be loaded. The next opération is to reverse the controller, which causes the hoisting drum to wind up its rope and close the bucket, at the same Some of the advantages claimed for this machine are time digging into the pile and loading the bucket. Then, that it occupies only the yard room required for one ire ne October 28, 1902 THE [RON AGE. 7 rack, and is up in the air out of the way of other work nthe yard. The runway may be built to cover enough ars to hold the slag for 24 hours’ run or more, so that 1 switch engine is required but once a day to bring in he empties. The pit and loading track in many cases nay be located so that the runway may be extended nto and through the cast house, where it can be hung rom the roof trusses. The bucket may then be used for inloading sand from the cars and carrying it into the ast house and for carrying out scrap, flue dust, &c., and oading into cars or depositing elsewhere as may be re juired. Being electrically operated and so simply con rolled the machine does not require an engineer or skilled nechanic to runit,any man of ordinary intelligence doing he work satisfactorily after one day’s practice. No fire nan or other assistant is needed and one man can easily iandle all the slag which the furnace makes. By the use if a suitable bucket this machine may also be adapted to handling sand, cement, fertilizer, coal, ore, lime- stone, and other substances in bulk and of a granular character. S$ a ———_ The Technolexicon. The National Society of German Engineers are en- gaged in the work of publishing a technical diction- ary under the title “ Technolexicon,” and ask the co- operation of other technical and industrial societies, do- mestic and abroad. Being aware of the great diffi- eulty of such a task, and in order not to make the work too voluminous, the Society of German Engineers de- cided to publish the dictionary in the three languages, English, French and German. Belgium, France, England and the United States, the collection will provably not be completed before the end of the year 1904, when the compilation of the contribu- tions will begin, which will occupy about two years nore, so that the manuscript will be ready by about Fiy. 4 General View of Wachinery with Cover Removed. 4] 1 | i i er Te te eet - Serer x Fig. 3.—Side View cf Trolley and Bucket as They Appear on the Runway A NEW PLANT FOR HANDLING BLAST FURNACE SLAG Dr. Hubert Jansen, whose name has already become onnected with other encyclopedic works, was elected “ditor in charge of this great new undertaking, and at he forty-third general meeting of the Society of German ‘ngineers in Diisseldorf, Germany, reported progress. An idea of the comprehensiveness of the work can © concluded from the statement of Dr. Jansen that, hough words have already been gathered for one and * ha@€ years by societies and individuals in Germany, the end of the vear 1906, after which it will go to the press. According to Dr. Jansen, not only contributions of technical terms with the translation for them are val- ued, but also such contributions as, in giving mere- ly the technical term, give at the same time an ex- planation thereof—viz., in which sense or in which con- nection the term is used—and also contributions re- garding customary phrases, as used in the technical lan- : 4 ‘ : : 8 THE guage of the country, are highly appreciated. If very uncommon terms are communicated it is desirable to give at the same time the source where the term may be found. The principal sources for the Technolexicon are, of course, these contributions, but of great value are also catalogues, price-lists and other printed matter of indus- trial firms, from which catalogues, c., the technical terms can be gathered by the assistant editors and other collaborators of the editoral staff of the Technolexicon in Berlin, and it is highly desirable, therefore, in order to further the work of this dictionary, that all the manufacturing firms publishing printed catalogues, price-lists, &e., send a copy of their printed matter to the “ Editor of the Technolexicon, Dr. Hubert Jansen, Berlin, N. W. (7), Dorotheenstrasse 49,” as the Techno- lexicon, once completed, will undoubtedly prove a most valuable help in the work of translating catalogues from one language into another. All those who may desire to contribute through col- lecting terms and phrases may apply for note books, es- pecially arranged for that purpose, and for letters of in- formation directly to Dr. Jansen or to Dr. Alfred Mueller, 150 Nassau street, New York City. _ An Englishman on American Rolling [lills. Henry Crowe of the South Durham Steel & Iron Com- pany, West Hartlepool, has recently published an ac- count of a visit to this country. So far as it is descrip- tive it possesses little interest to American readers. Some general remarks on points of difference are worthy of consideration. Mr. Crowe says: With regard to ‘he mill engines, the reversing en- gines are very fine indeed and of ample power. If the Americans are behindhand at all it is that they have not yet adopted the three-cylinder cugine instead of the two-cylinder ones. There can be no doubt about the economy—capable of being started easily in any position of the cranks, worked expansively, with its even turn- ing moments, meaning that a less engine will do the same work and less liability to break rolls. Condensers are being rapidly fitted to most mill engines—Carnegies favor the Weiss type. The screws of the housings were always worked by electricity or hydraulic power. Perhaps the most noticeable difference from the Eng- lish practice was the speed of the rolls, reduction gear- ing generally being conspicuous by its absence. Gen- erally speaking I should say the speeds are double ours. Having high pressures and powerful engines they put a heavy draft on the piece, bringing it rapidly down while hot. With regard to their slabbing mill, their latest practice seems to be instead of turning the ingot to edge it, which means both time lost by tilting and screwing up the rolls, to edge the piece by vertical rolls driven by a smaller and separate engine. The two operations are thus done simultaneously, saving time in addition to the time saved in not opening the main rolls. With regard to the fly wheel mill engines, these were all very fine types, all fitted with some economical ap- pliance of some kind. Many were compound condensing fitted with Corliss or other automatic cut off valves. A common slide valve engine with an ordinary throttle was hard to find, and many of our English mills would be more economical if they purchased some of the second- hand engines which the Americans offer for sale, al- though I do not approve of this policy. Horizontal furnaces with power worked reheating slabs were the rule. doors for Gas Fired Heating Furnaces, Gas fired regenerative heating on the Siemens prin- ciple was universal. It might be said that the abundant supply of natural gas prohibited the adoption of the or- dinary direct coal fired furnace, but at the various works which were without the natural gas, gas regenerative furnaces are always adopted. Their advantages over the coal fired furnaces are very numerous. I do not be- lieve that the outputs of the American mills would be so great, or their mills run so smoothly if it were not for [RON \GE. October 23, 190: the regenerative furnace. The unequal heating of in gots in a coal fired furnace is liable to cause the piec to come out anything but straight from the rolls. With a reversing engine the mill can be stopped eased down, but with a continuous running three-hig! rail mill I do not believe that such huge outputs coul be accomplished with steel heated in coal fired furnaces Their other advantages are, no stoppage for cleaninz grates, less labor, cleaner work, less coal consumptio1 (even after deducting any allowance for steam raise from waste heat), less repairs and—not least—less wast of steel, and I think I might rightly add, less steam t roll the piece down. Rapid Building, Although their plants are very expensive, there is m™ useless expenditure. Everything seems just right fo: the work it has to perform, neither too strong nor to: weak. Every item, from the largest to the smallest, w: could see had been carefully considered and worked out The astonishing rapidity with which they build a whole works is remarkable. After the designs are completed they work on the foundation day and night. During this period every particle of machinery required is or dered, and the steel structural work for the sheds is got on the way and column foundations put in. The overhead cranes they will crect first, and use them as soon as pos sible for the erection of the various machinery; thus in a year they erect a works, which they say “ operates ”’ before it wants “tearing down” for something more modern. What the Americans consider worth doing they do well. There is no makeshift principle. The American mills are all about 3 feet higher up than our mills; thus the slabs or blooms have not to fall 2 or 3 feet from the furnace to the rolls. Another advant- age is that all the roller gear is not underground, or th: mill engine so low down. Machinery is thus more easily kept clean and in good repair. All mill spindles are carefully balanced, resulting in smoother running and less wear and tear on the roll wobblers. Electric generators giving 250 volts continuous cur rent were the rule, with an inclination to fairly larg: units, driven by open vertical high class engines in du plicate sets. Perhaps it is hardly fair to tell you that while watch ing one of the Homestead reverse mills running a piece broke off the emergency valve and stuck in the regulat- ing valve su that the engine ran away with 150 pounds of steam behind it. The engine and mill raced backward and forward at an alarming speed until the steam was shut down on the mains. We very politely left the mill The very next day we were asked if we would like to se that mill operating that got away a bit yesterday. We did see the mill working and in full swing, not a tooth out of any of the pinions or a breakage of any sort. | think this fact not only speaks well, and very well, for the design, but for the excellence of the material and the minimum amount of slackness in the boxes and spindles, and also for the enginemen in charge; they stuck to the engine and did not run away. I think their system of having an engineer in charge continually going round seeing that all is right, oiling here and there, tightening up this and that, is a better plan than ours of having a highly paid engine driver sitting on a stool in a cabin simply working a couple of levers. The Americans go in for large outputs to get their costs down. In the plate mills they do in one stand of rolls what we do in two. In our plate mills when rolling in the soft rolls the hard rolls are going round doing nothing; when finishitig in the hard the soft are doing nothing. This they could not stand, and would not be long in putting down another engine, and so greatly in- creasing the output without proportionately increasing the toal cost. All the important plate mills were equipped with cold straightening machines. The mill seems to me to be the proper place for straightening plates instead of the bridge or ship yard. The American works are newer than ours. When they put tkeirs down they no doubt copied all the good things we had, and at the same time introduced as many improvements as possible. It is now time we did the same thing. Oetober <3, 1902 THE IRON AGE. 9 I have not touched on the difference of the British and American workman; this would be a paper in itself. I might say, however, they all seemed to have their heart in their work. If any new machinery or process is about to be tried they all do their best to make it a success. The managers would not be troubled with sev- eral union officials on their tracks to know what benefit the men will get out of it before the job is started. That in America standardizing as much as possible is of the greatest value to them there is no doubt, as it leads to cheap production and quick delivery. When all our Great George street engineers, together with manu- facturers, agree on standard specifications for steel, on siandard designs for bridges, &c., as far as possible, so much the better for England. What contractor is not frightened at the words in a specification, ‘‘ The Consult- ing Engiueer,” and often the most difficult part of a wanufacturer’s estimate is to know what to put on for that gentleman’s power, but this again is outside the scope of this paper. ee The Columbus Iron Works.—The Columbus Iron Works, Columbus, Ga., have completed the rebuilding The Rio Grande River Bridge, Costa Rica. The people of the United States are particularly in terested at this time in their near neighbor, the re public of Costa Rica, on account of the building of the interoceanic canal. The population of Costa Rica is composed, in the main, of small farmers, who own their lnnds, and who, in consequence, form a contented and peaceful nation. The soil is particularly rich and pro- ductive. The principal products are coffee, bananas, cocoa, rubber and lumber. The country is far from be- ing opened up, owing largely to the present poor condi tions for transporting merchandise. The only means of transportation at present between the Facific Coast and the interior is the slow going ox cart at a cost of $1.60 per hundredweight, and the fact that hundreds of these primitive conveyances can be seen daily on the national highway is more than suffi- cient to demonstrate to even a casual observer the great advantages that will accrue to the country and its com- merce by the completion of the Interoceanic Railway, as nearly all the principal towns and villages and all the mining camps and centers, with fully two-thirds of the THE RIO GRANDE RIVER of their plant, which was destroyed by fire last April, and have the Southern plow department in full opera tion. The new works occupy two entire squares and are much larger and more modernly arranged than the old, special attention having been given to their construc- tion for the quick and economic handling of goods. The river, only a block away, and eight sections of railroad tracks in and about the premises furnish ex- cellent shipping facilities. The plant proper, the manu- factures of which include steam engines, saw mills, mill and gin gearing, boilers, pumps, absorption ice ma- chines, &¢., consists of machine shops, 112 x 300 feet, two stories; boiler shop, 60 x 150 feet; blacksmith shop. 10 x 60 feet; wood working shop, 60 x 160 feet, and foundry, 112 x 240 feet, equipped with two large cu- polas and a 25-ton electric crane. In addition there are the plow works, 180 x 300 feet, composed of two and three story buildings, and an agricultural and wood working department, 75 x 100 feet. The plant will be operated by independent motors, the power being fur- nished by a battery of four large boilers and a 400 horse-power Corliss engine driving two direct current generators of 150 kw. each. The officers are G. W. Brown, president; A. J. Teague, vice-president, and G B. Whiteside, secretary and treasurer. BRIDGE, COSTA RICA. »+ population of the entire country, are situated on the Pa- cific slope. It can readily be seen that a road of this character should be an assured success from the start In connection with this matter it might be of inter est to state that the present tariff of the Alantic Rail- way from Port Limon to San José is as follows: $19.78, gold, per ton, first class; $17.90 second class; $12.43 third class, for a haul of about 100 miles. The passenger tar- iff is 4 cents per mile. The Pacific Railway of Costa Rica is a road which is needed, and which when com pleted will be 60 miles long, and extend from San José, the eapital of the Republic, which is connected by rail with the Atlantic Coast, to the Pacific Coast. This con necting line will give easy and quick communication be tween the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. The gauge of the road is 3 feet 6 inches, with a maximum grade of not to exceed 2% per cent. through the mountain district The total cost of the road, when completed and equipped, will be $3,000,000, gold. The Government has paid up to April 1, 1902, $1,126,925.75 gold in cash, and has issued a corresponding amount in bonds. With the exception of a few small streams, the great obstacle to be overcome was the crossing of the Rio Grande River. At the particular point where this cross- ing was made a bridge was required approximately 800 10 THE IRON feet long, with the rails not less than 340 feet above the water. Some idea of great hight can be appre ciated when it is stated that it is almost twice as deep as the Niagara gorge. The sides of this canon are al most vertical. The road is now completed and in op eration from San José to a point 20 miles beyond the Rio Grande River crossing, a total distance of about 46 miles. The grading and masonry are also finished for some distance beyond this point, which includes all the heavy and mountainous work. The Rio. Grande River bridge, which is particularly the subject of this article, is probably the largest and finest bridge in Central America. Realizing the many difficult engineering problems connected with a canti- lever arch bridge, the railroad company placed the or- this Fig. 2 THE RIO GRANDE der for the whole construction of the steel work with Milliken Brothers of 11 Broadway, New York City, who are so largely interested in exporting work pertaining to structural steel work for bridges and buildings. The entire work was executed by them. In order to avail themselves of the advice Milliken Brothers called in consultation Theodore Cocper, the well-known consulting engineer, of 385 Broadway, who, in conjunction with Gunvald Aus, civil engineer, made all of the actual calculations. It was decided to adopt a design calling for a riveted deck single track bridge, consisting of a braced arch of 18 panels, each 24 feet 10 inches long, or 448 feet 84 inches center to center of pins, and two cantilevers, each of two panels 23 feet 744 inches long, making a total length between end pins of 684 feet 1144 inches. The accompanying illustrations, Figs. 1, 2 and 3, con- vey an excellent idea of the bridge and the cafion which it spans. The character of the anchorage, trusses, the floor system bracing, &c., are shown on the diagrams, Figs. 5, 6 and 7. best engineering RIVER AGE. October 28, 1902 The bridge is designed under Cooper's specification for a live load of 2800 pounds per lineal foot of span and a dead load of 8000 pounds per foot. The top latera} a stationary wind load of 150 pounds per foot of bridge. The moving wind load system is proportioned to resist is supposed to be transmitted through the sway brac ing into the bottom lateral system, so that this latter is proportioned for a stationary wind load of 150 pounds per lineal foot of bridge and a moving wind load of 300 pounds per foot. The three panels at the end were formed into supported spans to prevent the possibility of any hammering at the abutments. The braced arch was originally figured in strict accordance with the methcd given in Professor Greene's book on arches The method is exceedingly tedious for such a great num Cableway Used for Transporting Material Across the Canon BRIDGE, COSTA RICA refigured on account of a change in the length between end piers a ber of panels, and as the bridge had to be modified method was used, which, in the meantime, had developed by Mr. The temperature stresses were caiculated for a total variation of tem perature of only 70 degrees, as the bridge is built in a been Cooper. country where no great variations occur. There were two or.three changes in the ordinary de In the first place, the shoes carrying the main span are constructed entirely of rolled steel, so that no cast steel or cast iron was used in the construction of this bridge. The main pins were 15 inches in diameter. Fig. 4 shows two of these shoes in Milliken brothers’ shops in South Brook- lyn just before shipment. A