The Iron Age 1903-12-31: Vol 72 Iss 27

THE IRGH=AGE : A Review of the Hardware, Iron, Machinery and Metal Trades. i Published every Thursday Morning by David Williams Co., 232-238 William m_ St., New York. a, e— / soo a Year, includivig. gstage. ngle }Gopies, iS Cents ~ Vol. 72: No. 27. New York, Thursday, December 31, 190}. Reading Matter Contents........ page 54/-——— Alphabetical index to Advertisers ‘ 17! Clas List of Advertisers.... ‘* 163], Advertising and Subscription Rates ‘‘ 170) / The 32 Automatic Colt Pistol is loaded with a special) high power smokeless powder, giving high velocity and operating freely through the mechanism of the Automatic Colt Pistol (pocket model). Those with the.soft point bullets will be found desirable for sporting purposes, while the metal cased areaccurate for target ranges, suitable to pocket pistols. RIM FIRE CARTRIDGES. New 22 short, ungreased, 22 long. ungreased, and 22 Winchester, ungreased, are inexpensive rim fire cartridges loaded with the best grade of smokeless powder. Boys are calling for these cartridges, as they can be carried loose in the pocket with- out the old inconvenience of the greased cartridges. They will not lead the gun. i RE eR RN pe ey U. M. C. Ammunition shoots well in any make gun. Hristol's Patent Steel Belt Lacing} Frise UNION METALLIC CARTRIDGE CO. Time, Belts, BRIDGEPORT, CONN, Money. Agency: 313-16 Broadway, New York City. Depot: 86-88 First St., San Francisco, Gal. GrontestOtreng® TOAPmY FISHEDVOWT With Least M Send fer Circulars and Free Samples. THE BRISTOL CO.,. Waterbury, Conn. Conn, | - SAMSON CORDAGE WORKS, Boston, Mass. REGULAR PATTERN. | ) THE CAPEWELL HORSE NAIL COMPANY BASIC PIG. HARTFORD, CONN. Girard Bufiding, Faia. REGULAR PATTERN. PILLING & GRANE, tre side, ‘ow ork Ext Tt TORNBUCKLES. 9 i CAPEWELL HORSE NAILS 3 . : NEW YORK, Branches: PORTLAND, ORE., > : 2 <q 2&HLLADELPHIA, BUFFALO, . : bash. 2 CHICAGO, DETROIT, BALTIMORE, 5 ¢ Z> ST. LOUIS, CINCINNATI, NEW ORLEANS, eMrss w posToN, SAN FRANCISCO, DENVER. a eee" | las ; P| 4 a m 2 = CF Jenkins Bros.’ Valves. The metal and workmanship are the best. All parts are interchange- able. Need no regrinding, as they are more effectively repaired by re- Seung the disc, which can be easily and quickly done without removing r ac on a OL EIDE I RET ; se-ramneeuaatipenerainatinds YOU CAN’T MAKE valve from the pipe, and costs but atrifie. Insist om having the genuine, a silk purse out of a sow’s ear; which always bear our Trade-Mark. or a good job with poor galvan- ized iron. JENKINS BROS., New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, London. There is no money in trying | ¢¢ . (0; ’tism’t worth while to waste Swedol ; Cold Rolled Steel ‘sumer. OT rawing and Dla) ‘our chances. THE AMERICAN TUBE & STAMPING COMP NY Quick service. (Water and Rai! Delivery) a (Weer ends Peyey . eare See MAGNOLIA METAL. Best Anti-Friction Metal for all Machinery Bearings. Return a whole sheet of Apollo for any fault whatever, io matter how slight or - small, Pac-Simile of Bar. : Beware of American Sheet Steel Company imitations. Battery Park New York ~ "eR MAGNOLIA METAL C0 "9 Owners and Sole Manufacturers, 113-115 Bank Street, $82 ou Orieam, Montreal. Bost Chicago, Fisher Bidg. NEW YORK. | grades of naa Patagelpbta. it. —— i THE IRON AGE. # Covren Co: im Sheet and Roll Brass BRASS AND COPPER COPPER 71 Seamless Tubes, Sheets, Rods and Wire, ge ieee PRINTERS’ BRASS, JEWELERS’ METAL, GERMAN hi nine GERM AN SHEET pep - GILDING METAL, COPPER RIVETS Robin Brease)cavep ) eS (TRaDt-MarRk REGISTERED.) WIRE Trimmings, &c. Condenser Piates,Pump Lininge. hound, — and Hexagon Bars, for Pump |LOW BRASS. SHEET BRONZE.| 29 murray st., NEW YORK. Seamless Tubes tor Belen” |SEAMLESS BRASS AND COPPER| — #4 HIGH ST., BOSTON. » and Cundensers. 199 LAKE ST., CHICAGO, TUBING. BRAZED BRASS AND . 38 dohn Street, = > __New York) BRONZE TUBING. : :: i: :::|_TOmsSTON, conn, | WATERBURY, Conn, Rando!ph-Clowes Co., WATERBURY BRASS CO.,{ SCOVILL.MEG. Co.., Main Office and Ml, WATERBURY, CONN. _ WATERBURY, CONN. BRASS, 130 Centre St., New York. Providence, R.1.|9 CE RMAN SILVER _——_——_—— Sheets, Rolis, Wire Reds, Beits and Tubes, Brass Shelis, Cups, Hinges, Buttons, Lamp Goods. SPECIAL BRASS GOUDS TO ORDER Factories, WATERBURY, CONN. BRIDGEPORT DEOXIDIZED BRONZE AND METAL COMPANY, BRIDGEPORT, CONN. Largest oes Se Peer in DEPUTS: NEW YORK, CHICAGO, BOSTON. LARGE CASTINGS A SPECIALTY. Breuze, Brass, Aluminum and ee se eee ee Babbitt Metal». Ste Steen ||JOHN DAVOL & SONS. Brooklyn Brass & Copper Co., DEALERS IN “4 . ° COPPER, TIN, SPELTER, Matthiessen & Hegeler Zinc Co., LEAD, ANTIMONY. LA SALLE, ILLINOIS. 100 John Street, ~ New York. SMELTERS OF SPELTER Swddend ‘Arthur [. Rutter SHEET ZINC AND SULPHURIC ACID. SUCCESSOR TO | COURSE Uiktan Oc a Gna een WILLIAM S. FEARING Selected Sheets for Paper and Card Makers’ use. Stove and Washboard Blanks. 256 Broadway, NEW YORK. ZINCS FOR LECLANCHE BATTERY. Small tubing in Brass, Copper, Steel, Alaminaum, German Silver, &e. Sheet Brass, Copper and Ger- UNNI Snorer Copper and Brass Rod. Best ee Meta kK = Si rr Om ap eae “Cpareh II it 99 Bre kas’? CASTINGS #2 Aluminum 2 ble a tee FOUN DERS— FINISHERS. HENDRICKS BROTHERS Bicycle Lantems. PROPRIETURS OF THE Belleville Copper Rolling Mills, Send fer Circulars and Electretypes. mAWuPaceUnERS CF THE BRIDGEPORT BRASS CO., Brasiers’ Bolt amd Sheathing Bridgeport, Conn. SCOP PEF, aT COPPER WIRE AND RIVETS. Het Water Supply. A practical trestt Importers and Dealers in os of at a — sgoeratee oS ingot Copper, Block ‘Tin, Spelter, Lead, Antimony, etc. Bar edition” entirely rewritten. - 80 pages oy CLIFF ST.. NEW YORK. mcquinte tn ereeeceses Ss. Santimenes aT WO 36 IN. DIAM. New York Office, 28 Broadway, Postal mie he fl ‘FHE IRON AGE THurRspAY, DeEcEMBER 31, 1903. The Ball Crank Pin Grinder. The Ball grinder is a machine designed for finishing crank pins on the shafts of gasoline engines and similar motors for automobiles and other classes of service. The front view of the machine is presented in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 shows the rear, giving a good idea of the method of mounting the grinding wheel. A cross sectional eleva- tion is given in Fig. 2, showing particularly the mechan- ism for longitudinal traverse of the grinding wheel, as will be described later. In both Figs. 1 and 3 is plainly seen what is perhaps the principal feature of the machine—namely, the double of an adjusting device on the upper gear at the tailstock end. This device is on the left hand side of this gear, as seen in Fig. 1, and consists of a locking bolt and slot, by means of which the whole train of gearing may be adjusted and secured in proper. relative position. The work is held in the machine by means of draw- back spring collets in the faces of the cylinders rotating within the headstock and tailstock. €lamping of the work in the collets is affected by use of a spanner wrench on the draw nuts, one of which is plainly shown at the rear side of the tailstock in Fig. 3. These collets are placed at such radial distances from the center line of the rotating spindles and cylinders as to accommodate the throw of Fig. 1.—Front View, Showing Work in Place. THE BALL CRANK PIN GRINDER. drive of both headstock and tailstock by positive geared connection. This construction has been adopted with a view to obviating the difficulties of a single drive, by doing away with the driving of the tailstock mechanism by transmission of power through the work itself. In a machine of this nature, where the tailstock must neces- sarily involve moving parts of appreciable weight and offering more or less resistance to rotation, torsion and unequal grinding are unavoidable where single driving is used. The illustrations plainly show the arrangements for double driving, equal gears being mounted upon the spindles of headstock and tailstock, each gear meshing with one of another pair of equal gears upon the con- necting shaft extending the full length of the machine. Synchronous working of the gearing is secured by means the crank whose pin is to be ground. By arranging sev- eral sets of collets in the faces of the cylinders, up to the limit of space available, a corresponding number of crank throws may be accommodated without change of the machine. In the case here illustrated there are four collets in each cylinder, which might provide for four different crank radii. Two sets of these collets, however, are for 3-inch throw and the machine as fitted is designed for cranks of 214, 3 and 4 inch throws. As shown in Fig. 1, the headstock cylinder is of ribbed form back of the collet face, thus allowing a con- siderable length of crank shaft to extend backward to the left through the cylinder. Similarly, at the tail- stock end the crank may protrude to the right, as seen in Fig. 1, as far as the gear of the double drive. These THE IRON AGE. provisions for protrusion of the crank shaft make it possible for the tailstock on most work to be brought so closely to the headstock as to allow slight chance for flexure of the crank or shaft between them. This feature — Tue Iron Act Fig. 2.—Transverse Sectional Elevation. is easily recognized as of value in contributing to the rapidity and accuracy of work done by the machine. At the rear end of the headstock, but in front of the double drive gearing, is the main driving pulley, which December 31 1903 work. Driving of the grinding wheel, also as shown in Fig. 3, is by means of a belt from a drum constituting a second overhead countershaft. The work driving counter- shaft and the drum countershaft are driven by any suitable means at speeds whose ratio is about 1 to 10; that is, the arrangements should be such that for 100 revolutions per minute of the work in the machine the grinding wheel turns 1000 revolutions per minute. The grinding wheel is supported upon a cross slide carried by a suitable carriage traveling upon independent ways parallel to those upon which the tailstock is mounted. Longitudiual traverse of the grinding wheel is effected either by hand or power. Hand traverse is under control of the handwheel in front of the middle of the bed, as shown in Fig. 1.. Connection of the hand- wheel with the grinding wheel carriage by means of a shaft and rack and pinion gearing is evident from Fig. 2. Power driving of this mechanism is derived by worm and bevel gearing, also shown in Fig. 2, the worm shaft being driven by belt connection from the main spindle of the machine, as shown at the left of Fig. 1 and at the right of Fig. 3. This power traversing gear is controlled by means of the lever protruding from the bed of the machine below the tailstock and between the two hand- wheels seen in Fig. 1. With this lever in central position the power drive is disconnected; with the lever in ex- treme position to right or left the power drive is engaged for traversing the grinding wheel in one direction or the other. The movement of this lever throws either forward or back a positive jaw clutch, shown in Fig. 2, causing it to engage one or the other of the two reverse motion bevel gears. Cross feeding of the grinding wheel is under control of a small handwheel attached to the vertical spindle seen in Fig. 3, extending upward from the slide. On the lower end of this spindle is a worm, Fig. 2, meshing with a worm wheel upon a short shaft extending crosswise of the slide and carrying a pinion whose teeth engage those of a rack attached to the recessed space between the ways upon which the cross slide travels. The spindle, while here shown vertical, may be inclined toward the front of the machine by loosening the lock nut in the circular slot at the lower end. By inclining the spindle Fig. 3.—Rear View, Showing Grinding Wheel Mounting. BALI. CRANK PIN GRINDER. is. of broad face, so as to enable the use of a wide belt, with its attendant advantages. As. shown in Fig. 3, power is delivered to this pulley directly from a counter- shaft, thus providing for quite positive rotation of the the handwheel at its top may be brought within easier reach of the operator of the machine. The range of moyement of the tailstock upon the bed of the machine is such as to give a maximum opening of December 31, 1903 THE 40 inches between the collets. The tailstock is, of course, moved by means of the handwheel shown in Fig. 1 and a pinion meshing with the rack fastened by screws to the front of the ways. The grinding wheel used is 22 inches in diameter and % inch thick on the face. The machine illustrated is one of a line built by the Ball Mfg. Com pany, Stamford, Conn. SS Key Seat Milling and Routing Machine. In adding to a horizontal milling machine for keyway cutting a vertical attachment for routing out the ends of key seats to suit feathers and drop keys the makers of the machine here shown may be considered as having BURR KEY SEAT. MILLING produced a valuable and efficient tool. The milling cutter rotating upon a horizontal shaft is recognized as a most satisfactory means of forming keyways of almost any length. This cutter, however, cannot form a com- plete key seat of definite length without overrunning the desired distance with a partial cut. This feature is a material disadvantage when marring of the shaft beyond the necessary key way length must be avoided, or when one or both ends of the key seat are wanted to fit a feather or drop key. For recociling these features of the matter the addition of a vertical spindle for carrying and rotating an end milling cutter, by means of which the incomplete job of the horizontal miller may be fin- ished, has béen made in this machine. Here is a small but heavy horizontal milling machine, the cutter arbor driven. by gearing in the usual way and the table traversed by rack and pinion, actuated by a suitably arranged feeding mechanism, clearly shown in IRON AGE. 3 the engraving. The vertical attachment is secured to the cross rail in such a manner as to be quite independent of the horizontal spindle and not interfering in any way with its operation. Either spindle may be brought into use independently of the other. The power for driving the machine is delivered by a two-speed friction counter- shaft to a 14x 4% inch pulley. The driving mechanism is on the left hand side of the machine and is entirely hidden from view in the engraving. The large gear carried by the outer end of the horizontal cutter spindle receives the power from the connecting gearing, driving the spindle directly and also rotating the smaller upper sear from which the vertical routing spindle is rotated through bevel and spur gear trains, as shown. This Pa AND ROUTING MACHINE. large spindle gear is 20 inches in diameter, 2%4 inches face, 6 pitch. As already noted, the countershaft pro- vides two speeds for the spindles, and additional changes are provided for in the gearing connections. The main cross rail and the vertical routing spindle are provided with independent elevating screws, con- trolled by pilot hand wheels seen at the top of the machine. By rotation of these hand wheels the center line of the main spindle may be brought within 1% inches of the table surface, and may be elevated to a hight of 11% inches above it. Thus its total vertical travel is 11% inches. The router spindle has a total independent vertical adjustment of 3% inches, which, in combination with that of the cross rail, enables it to be lowered to touch the platen or raised to a clear hight of 13% inches above it. The router spindle also has an independent horizontal travel of 34% inches, controlled by the balanced crank handle at the upper right hand ai eR NN et eee 4 em | THE IRON AGE. corner of the cross rail. ‘thehorizonta}] spindle is of crucible steel, 3 inches in diameter. in the gear and through the main bearing: Cutters with’ standard hole— 1% inches diameter—and up to 5 inches outer diAmeter may be used.. The router spindle has a No. 7 Brown & Sharpe standard taper hole. The table, or platen, is 9 x 48 inches in size, has three T-slots and is provided with oil channels and pockets. The length of traverse of the platen is 48 inches, an automatic trip releasing the feed driving gearing at any desired point or at the limit of the travel. The feed gearing is quite fully illustrated in the engraving, show- ing the. step cone pulleys which provide three of the total of 12 speed changes for each of the two spindle speeds. The first of these step cones is arranged for driving at four speeds for each spindle speed, thus making the 12 changes mentioned. The double worm gearing, through the vertical shaft shown, drives at a greatly reduced speed the loose half of the dental clutch on the horizon- tal shaft carrying the pinion meshing with the rack underneath the platen. The clutch may be engaged or released by hand, and may be released by the stop dog secured at any desired point of the length of the slot in the side of the platen. For supplying lubricant to the cutters a rotary oil pump and a flexible tubing system are provided. The pump is attached to the base of the machine at the floor, as shown, and is driven by belt from the horizontal worm shaft of the feed mechanism. The limits of size of work are set by the space between the housings and beneath the spindle bearing at its maximum elevation. This space is 10% inches wide and 9% inches high. The highest center distance of the spindle above the platen being 11% inches, as stated, the largest shaft diameter which may be accommodated underneath a 5-inch cutter is 9 inches. The rated capacity of the machine is said to be the cutting of a key way of standard dimensions in a steel shaft 6 inches in diameter. Keyways may be cut simultaneously in two 3-inch shafts, or in three 2-inch ones. The machine is furnished either with or without the vertical routing spindle. The weight complete with the routing attachment is: stated to be about 3200 pounds, while omission of the attachment reduces this amount by 200 pounds. The designérs and builders are John T. Burr & Son, Kent avenue and South Sixth Street, Brooklyn, N. Y. —-—~»-______——_ The Pacific Coast Iron Trade. San Francisco, Cat., December 18, 1908.—The in- ports of pig iron from abroad have been particularly large this fall; in fact, much larger than for many a year, as Eastern pig iron has been for months somewhat of a rarity in our markets. The fall in the prices of iron and steel will be a benefit to all the California industries in which they figure as raw material. Our foundrymen and ‘builders in particular will be grateful. This year, ac- cording to statistics kept here, will show an expenditure ot over $17,000,000 in new buildings, a big increase over any other year in our history. The “ Nantes,” from Hull, recently brought 1000 tons of pig iron, and the “ Earnmount,” from Newcastle-on- Tyne, 1300 tons. The “:Abydos,” from Hamburg, had a large quantity of merchant iron. The imports of pig ‘iron for the five months ending November 1 were 14,784 tons, as against 11,428 tons for the game time last year. ‘The total for the year will much exceed that for 1902. With the development of. our iron and steel industries during the past year there is good hope that we shall be able to successfully: manufacture some of this class of material, instead of importing it: With the development of our oil. fields, which this year have yielded over 20,- 000,000 barrels,. there should .be some means found of using it in the reduction of irom ores from Shasta and Madera. We have been promised it for a long time, but ‘the promises haye' all failed. to materialize as yet. But it was some time before .we, were able to manufacture pipe or do anything satisfactory in the way of making wire rope and ‘other: materials of: that nature so as to compete with the East, but at last the man and the occa- December 31, 1908 sion came, and now we are practically independent in this regard. Our export trade keeps up, principally to Australia and China and Japan. Our late exports of machinery to Australia and the Hawaiian Islands have been heavy, and we have also sent a great deal of pipe to the latter. Our exports of bicycles to Australia have been very large, especially by the last steamer. J. 0 L. A Court of Patent Appeals Proposed. WasHIneTon, D. C., December 29, 1903.—A bill pro- viding for the establishment of a court for the adjudica- tion of all controversies arising over patents, trade- marks or copyrights was presented in the Senate a few days before the holiday recess by Senator Platt of Con- necticut, and an attempt will be made early in January to secure a favorable report upon the measure from the Senate Committee on Patents. The purpose of the bill is to create a tribunal composed of judges having an expert knowledge of the patent laws, and such familiarity with the arts and sciences as will enable them to deal intelligently with the important technical questions which usually underlie actions relating to patents, trade-marks, &e. Terms of the Bill. The bill in question, known as S. 2632, “ for the estab- lishment of a court of patent appeals and for other pur- poses,” provides for the creation of a court to consist of a chief justice and four associate justices, of whom any three may constitute a quorum, and which shall be a court of record with original and appellate jurisdiction. The term of the court is to be held annually at Washing- ton, beginning the second Monday in October. The chief justice and his associate justices are to be appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate. They are to be “learned in the law and in the practice and rules of decisions of the patent law and the law of copyrights.” A salary of $7500 is to be paid to ‘the chief justicé, while the associate justices are to receive $7000 each. The tenure of office will be for life _ or during good behavior, with the same regulations as to retirement that now prevail as to the United States Supreme Court. The original jurisdiction of the court of patent ap- peals is limted to suits in equity brought by patentees, their assigns or legal representatives against the United States for infringement of any letters patent where the cause of action accrues less than six years prior to the filing of tke bill of complaint. All previous existing laws relative to suits in equity for the infringement of patent right are to apply to such suits, except that no injunc- tion may be issued to prohibit the use of the alleged in- vention in the service of the United States. Upon ren- dering its decrees, finding infringement and adjudging the letters patent in suit to be good and valid, it is provided that the court shall award to the owners thereof such sum of money as may seem just, such award to be in full for the use of the invention by the United States during the entire term of the letters patent. The court is re quired in rendering its decisions to state separately its findings of fact and its conclusions of law, and the latter only may be reviewed by the United States Supreme Court. The judgments of the court of patent appeals in such cases are to be certified to Congress for appropria- tion in the same manner as is now followed by the Court of Claims. Appellate Jurisdiction. The appellate jurisdiction of the court covers the en- tire field of patent litigation, and is defined in the follow- ing sections of the bill: Section 5. That the court of patent appeals established by this act shall exercise appellate jurisdiction to review by ap- peal or writ of error final decisions in the Circuit Courts of the United States, the Territorial or other courts of first instance having jurisdiction of patent or copyright causes, and the Su- preme Court of the District of Columbia in all cases involving the validity or infringement of or the title to any letters patent of the United States for any invention or discovery, in all suits brought by the United States seeking the cancellation of any let- ters patent for any invention or discovery, and in all cases in- volving the validity or infringement of or the title to any copy- December 31, 1903 right protected by the laws of the United States. The decisions of the court of patent appeals in any case within its jurisdic tion shall be final. On any subject within its appellate jurisdiction the court of patent appeals, at any time before entering its final order or de- cree disposing of a case, may certify to the Supreme Court of the United States any questions or propositions of law concern- ing which it desires the instruction of that court for its proper decision. And thereupon the Supreme Court of the United States may either give its instruction on the questions certified to it, which shall be binding on the court of patent appeals in such case, or it may require the whole record and cause to be sent up to it for its consideration, and thereupon shall decide the whole matter in controversy in the same manner as if it had ‘been brought there for review by writ of error or appeal: Pro- vided, That in any case made final in the court of patent ap- peals it shall be competent for the Supreme Court of the United States to require, by certiorari or otherwise, the case to be certi- fied to that court for its review and determination, with the same power and authority as if the case had been carried thereto by appeal or writ of error. Sec. 6. That an appeal may be taken from the ultimate trib- unal of the Patent Office as now existing, or as hereafter estab- lished by law, to the court of patent appeals created by this act, under such rules as the court may establish, in any ewe parte case in which the final decision of such tribunal refuses to issue letters patent to the appellant for the supposed invention or discovery defined in the claims annexed to his specification, or in any of them; or in any interference case in which the final decision of such tribunal awards priority to another than the appellant; or in any interference case where such final deci- sion awards priority to the appellant, but refuses to issue to him letters patent for his invention or discovery as defined in the interference issue or issues or any of them. In interference cases all parties may be heard in person or by counsel, and in er parte cases the court may hear counsel for the Commissioner of Patents in opposition to the grant of letters patent. A certified copy of the decision of the court shall be filed by the appellant with the Commissioner of Patents, and shall govern the further conduct of the case. In ew parte cases the appellant shall pay the entire costs of the appeal; in interference cases the court may award costs in whole or in part, or may apportion them among the parties as to it shall seem just: Provided, That the United States shall pay no costs. Transfer of Cases. The bill provides for the transfer to the court of patent appeals of all cases that muy be pending in the courts upon the organization of the proposed tribunal. No appeal, by writ of error or otherwise, shall afterward be taken from a circuit court to a circuit court of ap- peals, nor shall any appeal be taken from a Territorial court of first instance to any appellate tribunal other than the court of patent appeals ; nor shall any appeal be taken from the Supreme Court of the District of Co- lumbia or from the Commissioner of Patents to the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia as at present; provided, however, that cases that may be docketed be- fore the date to be fixed upon the passage of this act shall be proceeded with by existing courts with the same ‘power and authority as if this act had not been passed. ‘Other provisions are made for the issuance of writs of error, for the preparation of records and for the housing of the new court. Much attention has been drawn to this bill because of the fact that it has been introduced by Senator Platt of Connecticut, for many years chairman of the Senate Committee on Patents, a post now occupied by Senator Kittredge of South Dakota. The Connecticut Senator is regarded as a thorough expert in patent law and pro- cedure, and his advocacy of this measure will give it great weight in both houses of Congress. The patent committees of the House and Senate will be asked to give hearings upon several measures after the holiday re- cess, and it is expected that the bill for the creation of a court of patent appeals will be among those urged for a favorable report. Ww. L. C. ————__- e___——_- A. V. Kaiser of the firm of A. V. Kaiser & Co., Phila- delphia, has just returned from Cuba, where he has spent the past 12 months looking after the dismantling of the Cuban Steel Ore Company’s plant at Chirioico, Cuba. It will be remembered that this firm purchased the whole plant a little over a year ago, nearly all of which was reshipped to the United States and sold, with the exception of about 80 hopper ore cars of 8000 pounds capacity and a 50-foot double track standard steel bridge. The large pier and viaduct were sold to the Bethlehem Steel Company, to be used by them in connection with the mines they purchased from the Juragua Iron Company. THE IRON AGE. or Notes from Great Britain. The State of Trade. LONDON, December 19, 1903.—The amount of business doing at the present moment is insignificant. Next week a number of mills will be closing down, and it is proba- ble that they will barely be in working order before the new year. It is hoped that with the turn of the year trade will be a little more brisk. In any event, in closing down for the Christmas holiday producers are more hopeful than they have been for some weeks. There is a feeling, whether justified or not, that we are near the end of what is sardonically termed the “seasonal stag- nation.” Standard prices remain purely nominal, and have practically no relation to actuality. If standard prices are misleading, wages ascertainments are valuable indices to the trend of trade. Compared with the pre- vious audits and those for the corresponding periods of last year, prices show but a slight decline, the fall being most marked in the case of West of Scotland pig iron, the price of which is 10 per cent. lower than a year ago. As a result of these ascertainments no change has been made in the wages of the work people employed in the Midlands, North of England and West of Scotland iron works. The last official reports on the condition of the min- eral, iron and steel trades for this year are to hand. They bring us down to the end of November, and as De- cember is a broken month owing to the Christmas holi- days, they probably give the most accurate indication of the present state of trade. Summed up they are as fol- lows: Employment in coal mining during November showed little change compared with a month ago, but was not so good as a year ago. Employment in iron mining con- tinues good. Employment in the pig iron industry shows, on the whole; no change compared with a month ago; but, as compared with a year ago, there has been a decline, mainly in the Cumberland and North Lancashire dis- trict. Employment in iron and steel manufacture con- tinues to show a falling off compared with a month ago and a year ago. Employment in tin plate manufacture shows little change compared with October, and con- tinues worse than a year ago. Employment in the en- gineering trades generally is bad, worse than a month ago and a year ago. Employment in the shipbuilding trades is bad, worse than a month ago and considerably worse than a year ago. Going a little more into detail, returns relating to the works of 113 ironmasters show that 314 blast fur- naces were in operation at the end of November, as com- pared with 324 a year ago.. For finished iron and steel works returns furnished by employers respecting 199 works show that they employed 799 less than a year ago. The following reports relating to the different branches of the iron and steel manufacturing industry have been furnished by local correspondents and others: Tyne and Wear District—Employment with steel smelters has been fair. Plate mills generally have worked full time, and bar, cogging and sheet mills less than full time. At forges employment was moderate, and at. finished iron and steel works bad. Cleveland and Hartlepool District—With Hartlepool iron and steel workers employment has been good, and better than a month ago and a year ago. At rail mills and metal expansion works employment continues good. At plate and angle mills it is moderate. South Yorkshire——With Siemens steel smelters em- ployment is moderate, and with steel workers at Park- gate fairly good, but the steel trade on the whole is slack. With iron workers employment is bad at Park- gate, and moderate at Rotherham and Masboro’. Em- ployment with steel workers at Leeds is worse than a month ago, rolling mills and finishing departments being on short time. At Bolton (Lancs.). employment with steel smelters is slack. Midlands.—In certain works in Derbyshire nearly full time is being worked in the iron department, and less than half time in rolling mills. Steel smelters in 6 THE IRON AGE. South Staffordshire are working full time, but employ- ment at iron works. has declined in some branches. In Shropshire employment with iron and steel workers was fairly good, and moderate in the West Bromwich and Smethwick district. North and South Wales.—Employment with steel workers in North Wales has been fully maintained. In South Wales employment has been fairly good, except at works stopped for the renewal of plant. Scotland.—_Employment with steel smelters and iron and steel workers has been fair generally, but slack at most of the malleable iron works. The Shipbuilding Trades. Compared with a month ago trade union reports for most districts show a decline in the number of men em- ployed, but some improvement is indicated on the South Coast. As compared with a year ago a still greater de- cline is shown in most districts, but there has been con- siderable improvement in the Tees and Bristol] Channel districts. On the Tyne employment is bad, and worse than a month ago and a year ago. At several firms three-quarter time is being worked. On the Wear em- ployment is very bad, and worse than a month and a year ago. In the Tees and Hartlepool district employment with boilermakers, though bad, is slightly better than a month ago, and much better than a year ago. On the Humber employment is very slack, and much worse than a month and a year ago. Some short time is reported. On the Thames there has been a considerable decline as compared~with the previous month, and employment is also worse than a year ago. Generally it is bad, but it is reported fair at Sheerness, good at Chatham. At Portsmouth and Devonport, on the South Coast, employment is good with shipwrights; with iron ship- builders it is reported as slack at the former, as mod- erate at the latter place. Employment is dull at Plymouth. At Southampton fewer men are unemployed than a month ago, but short time is still reported, and employment remains bad and worse than a year ago. At the Bristol Channel ports employment generally is bad, rather worse than a month ago, but not so bad as a year ago. Shipwrights at Pembroke Dock report it as good. At Bristol it was fair until the last week of the month, when it became bad. On the Mersey employment shows little change as compared with the previous month. On the Clyde employment on the whole is bad, worse than a month ago and much worse than a year ago. A few branches, however, report it as fair. Some short time is reported. On the East Coast of Scotland em- ployment generally is very bad, worse than a month ago, and very much worse than a year ago, especially at Dundee, where much shorter time is reported. At Bel- fast employment is quieter than a month ago and not so good as a year ago. At Barrow employment shows little change as com- pared with the previous ‘month, but is worse than a year ago. At Yarmouth and Lowestoft employment is fair; at Cowes it is dull. At Dublin it is fair with shipwrights. The Engineering Trades, Information obtained from employers’ associations, trade unions and other sources points unmistakably to the fact that the state of the engineering trades is bad and worse than a month and a year ago. Nearly all the districts show more or less decline as compared with a month and a year ago, with some short time in places. The returns, however, indicate some improvement in the Belfast and Dublin district a8 compared with a month ago, and in the Northeast Coast, London and South Wales and Bristol districts as compared with a year ago. Northeast Coast.—Employment generally is bad and rather worse than a month ago, and some shops are working short time. It is, however, moderate with some sections in the Newcastle district, and at Gateshead pat- tern makers report it as improving. At Hartlepool and Stockton pattern makers report employment as moderate. At Middlesbrough it is good with ironfounders, mod- erate with engineers. At Stockton it is moderate. with ironfounders; with engineers, though dull, it is much better than a year ago. Machine workers at Sunderland report employment as fair. With boilermakers at Dar- December 31, 1903 lington it is moderate. In the Tees district bridge build- ers report employment as good and better than a year ago. On the Tyne and Wear enginemen and firemen re port employment as fair. Manchester and _ Liverpool District—Employment generally is dull and worse than a month and a year ago. At Manchester nearly all branches are slack, and core makers report employment as declining; with machine workers it is stated to be fair. At Crewe short time is be- ing worked. In the Liverpool district brassfounders and bammermen report employment as good; with most other branches it is dull. East Midlands.—The general state of employment is dull, and worse than a month ago and a year ago. In general engineering work it is bad, and at Derby boiler- makers report short time. With lace and hosiery ma- chine builders at Nottingham employment is reported as fairly good, with lace machine builders at Long Eaton as moderate, and with boot and shoe machinery makers at Leicester as fairly good. West Midlands.—Employment shows a slight decline as compared with the previous month, and is not as good as a year ago. Generally it is moderate. At Coven- try it is fair with pattern makers and tool makers, good with ironfounders, bad with engineers. With boiler- makers it is slack at Birmingham, moderate elsewhere. With ironfounders it is bad at Wolverhampton and Dud- ley. With electrical engineers it is fairly good. Hmploy- ment at Birmingham is quiet with military gun makers, fair with sporting gun makers. In the cycle industry it is moderate at Coventry, quiet at Redditch; in the motor industry very fair. South Wales and Bristol District.—Employment gen- erally is rather worse than a month ago, but better than a year ago. At Swindon it is moderate. At Bristol it is dull with iron and brass founders, moderate with en- gineers and boilermakers. At Swansea and Newport engineers report employment as bad. The Chamberlain Tariff Commission A distinct fait nouveau has to be announced this week in connection with the fiscal agitation. Speaking at Leeds last Wednesday, Mr. Chamberlain said: We are going to form—we have gone a long way in the di- rection of forming—a commission, not a political commission, but a nonpolitical commission of experts, to consider the con- ditions of our trade and the remedies which are to be found for it. This commission will comprise ‘leading representatives of every principal industry and of every group of industries, repre- sentative of the trade of India and the crown colonies and the great self governing colonies. It will invite before it witnesses from every trade, and it will endeavor, after hearing all that can be said, not merely in regard to the special interests of any particular trade, but also in. regard to the interests of all the other trades which may be in any sense related to it—it is go- ing after that to frame a model tariff. You know the principle I laid down at Glasgow was that we should have a tariff aver- aging 10 per cent. on manufactures, and that that tariff should be arranged se as to put the highest rate of duty on the imports which have most labor in them as compared with partly manu- factured goods the importation of which does not deprive us of so much employment. Now, whenever the country is ready to give us the mandate for which we ask and a Government is in power which is prepared to accept our principles, we will have ready all the information, or at all events a great part of the information, that it will desire, and it will have before it, at all events, a tariff which has been presented to the country, and upon which the people have had every opportunity of express- ing their opinion, The first list of names of this commission has now been published, and the most striking fact in connection with it is the presence of an unusually large number of iron and steel and engineering magnates. Charles Allen is a nephew of the late Sir Henry Bessemer, and has been associated with the heavy steel trades since the early days of both the Bessemer and Siemens processes of making steel. Some ten years ago he became connected with the Ebbw Vale Steel, Iron & Coal Company, Limited, and is managing director of the concern. He is also vice-president of the Sheffield and Hallamshire Bank, Limited. Sir Alfred Hickman, M. P., for Wolverhampton West, is an ex-president of the Brit- ish Iron Trade Association, chairman of the firm of Alfred Hickman, Limited, member of the council of the Iron and Steel Institute, and also of the Mining Asso- Arthur Keen is chairman and ciation of Great Britain. December 31, 1903 managing director of Guest, Keen & Nettlefolds, Limited ; a director of Bolckow, Vaughan & Co., ironworkers and colliery owners; chairman of the London City & Mid- land Bank ; vice-president of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, and vice-president of the Iron and Steel Insti- tute. Sir William Thomas Lewis is a large employer of labor in connection with collieries and manufactories in South Wales, past president of the Mining Association of Great Britain, past president of the Institute of Min- ing Engineers, and vice-president of the Iron and Steel Institute. Sir Andrew Noble is vice-chairman of Sir. W. G. Armstrong, Whitworth & Co., Limited. The Hon. Charles Parsons, who has developed the steam turbine and made it suitable for the generation of electricity and the propulsion of war and mercantile vessels, is pro- prietor of the electrical and engineering works of C. A. Parsons & Co. at Heaton, Newcastle-on-Tyne, and is man- aging director of the Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company and the Newcastle & District Electric Lighting Company. Other names known to Americans are Charles Booth, whose statistical inquiries into the condition of the British population have become classics, and Alfred Mosely, whose commissions to America have made him known to many on your side. W. A. S. Hewins, until recently Director of the London School of Economics, and Professor of Economic Science and Statistics at King’s ‘College, who resigned these posts in order to co-operate with Mr. Chamberlain, will act as secretary. A Large Forged Screw. W. Somers & Co., Haywood Forge, Hales Owen, have just completed a forging which, it is said, holds the world’s record. It is a gigantic screw 85 feet 7 inches long and 1144 inches in diameter, and has been forged for a 150-ton “ sheer leg,’’ a mechanical contrivance used in dockyards for lifting heavy weights which are beyond the power of ordinary cranes. It was forged from one ingot of steel, has a 2-inch thread extending nearly its entire length, and is 171% tons in weight. This piece of workmanship is regarded as a triumph of English, and particularly Midland, engineering skill. There are only a very few places where these long screws can be cut, and the one just completed by W. Somers & Co. is believed to be the largest ever made under a hammer. 8. G. H. - ee The British Westinghouse Company. LonpoNn, December 19, 1903.—There has been con- siderable doubt as to whether the British Westinghouse Company would pay the preference dividend. These doubts crystallized in a fall in the shares to £4%. At one time these preference shares had been worth £64. The shareholders will, however, receive their dividend, although for some time the directors hesitated whether they ought not to reduce the bank overdraft and pass the dividend. From a recent visit to the works I gained the impression that the company were busy, although they had facilities for turning out more than they were doing. H. 8S. Loud, the general manager of the company, who is well known to many American iron and steel men, told me they were employing last week over 6000 men, but that they could, when pressed, utilize the labor of 10,000. It is now possible to take a clear view of the present position of the British Westinghouse Company. The company were formed to establish on a larger scale than had hitherto been done in this country works for the manufacture of electrical machinery and appliances, and the rights and patents for the United Kingdom and its colonies, except Canada, were acquired from the Ameri- can parent company. Further, for a period of ten years the American company agreed to communicate all im- provements they may make and supply all plans, specifi- cations and information to the British company; in short, closely to co-operate. The American company guaranteed that the profits resulting from the business for the period ending August 1, 1902, should amount to a sum not less than sufficient te pay 6 per cent. dividend on the preference shares. The price paid to the Ameri- can company was £500,000 in ordinary shares. The capi- tal of the British company was fixed at £1,500,000, di- vided into £1,000,000, 6 per cent. preference shares and £500,000 ordinary shares. A further issue of 25,000 THE IRON AGE. 7 ordinary shares was made in August, 1899, to the West- inghouse Machine Company of Pittsburgh, to purchase that company’s business for the manufacture of gas en- gines for the United Kingdom and its colonies, except Canada. This company joined with the Westinghouse Electric & Mfg. Company in guaranteeing the payment of a 6 per cent. dividend on the preference shares of the British Westinghouse Company over the period ending August 1, 1902. In March, 1902, an issue of £500,000, 4 per cent. mortgage debenture stock was made, since in- creased to £566,353, and last year the preference capital was increased to £2,000,000; so that the capital of the company at the present time consists as follows: 300,000 6 per cent. preference shares, fully paid... .£1,500,000 100,000 6 per cent. preference shares, £1% paid..... 150,000 Installments paid in advance............cceeecees 98,065 TONNE DECTNTUNEE GOON ona oc Ke eidccesewecnced £1,748,065 Oraimary SUGTER, TUT POM « occ ccvccccccsccscsewes 750,000 4 Per COME: GebemiePG BCOCM. 2 occ cdicccsccccdcscccpe 566,353 SU ci Gbncac cbs deasuetctecwadegueneedestas £3,064,418 On July 31 of this year a temporary loan of £141,250 was on the books, while creditors amounted to £540,839. Thus the company are once more short of working capi- tal. The report issyed this week states that “In order to make provision for maintaining a sufficient supply of stock at the company’s works, and for other purposes to meet the requirements of the increasing business of the company, the directors will propose to the meeting that an additional 100,000 6 per cent. preference shares of £5 each, ranking pari passu with those already existing, shall be created. Arrangements have been made under which the subscription to these shares will be assured.” Financial men over here think that the amount asked for is insufficient to place the British company on a thoroughly satisfactory basis, and that probably a fur- ther capital will be required. As to the growth of the business, there can be no doubt of it, judged by the fol- lowing : Orders received during the year ended July 31, 1899.. £279,000 Se Ba, TRO as ¢ PWa 65 4 ee tewct Obese cacceeus 547,000 Sune: Gh SO is ccdies Ee cals Uecnwgecseds Saveut 738,000 Dale BE: MO. ta Bis to + ink onenncanen 932,000 FOP Bh, FOOD s oo. s dees. chs eeecctideccadeceous 1,657,114 The first year of the company’s working ended in a profit of £10,777.. The following year there was an im- provement, the figures rising to £49,533. In the following year the profits rose to £60,686, while for last year there was a trading profit of £107,609, which “includes about £60,000 special discounts allowed by the American com- panies on orders executed at Pittsburgh. It was felt by the American companies that these discounts should be made in view of the fact that the Manchester factory could turn out only about one-third of the electrical ap- paratus needed for its orders, and had therefore to pur- chase the balance from the Pittsburgh factories.” The report specifies a number of important contracts secured during the past year. The works have been planned on such a scale that it is in a position to take on the largest possible contract, and therefore should be able to work at the lowest cost. Ss. G. H. a The Lebanon Chain Works Are Now Attwood Chain Works. Eli Attwood, formerly president and general manager of the Lebanon Chain Works, Lebanon, Pa., has pur- chased the Lebanon Chain Works from the Standard Chain Company, and they will be known as the Attwood Chain Works until the Standard Chain Company have abandoned the name of the Lebanon Chain Works, a matter of several weeks, when papers will be filed to secure the old name. All patents pertaining to the new link bending ma- chine, of which Mr. Attwood is patentee, were included in the sale, thus enabling the new company to meet