The Iron Age 1905-05-18: Vol 75 Iss 20

Wie 1 Trade® OS Published every Thursday Morning by David Williams Co., 232-238 William St., New York Vol. 75: No. 20. New York, Thursday, May 18, 1905. Oe a ey Tee Reading Matter Contents...... page 1644 Alphabetical Index to Advertisers “ 183||. Classified List of Advertisers... ‘ 175] Advertising and Subscription Rates *‘ {82 Forster Pulleys turned inside and out on their own center. Forster Pulley Works, Cuba, N. Y. CORDAGE THE AMERICAN MFG. CO., 65 Wall Street, W. Y. SEE PAGE 128. Bristol’s Patent Steel Belt Lacing. saves |The Union Metallic Cartridge Company, Time, Belts, BRIDGEPORT, CONN. oo FINISHED Jour areatentse ce Agency, 313 Broadway, New York City. Depot, 86-88 First St., San Francisco, Cala. Send for Circulars aud Free Samples. SS nana treo ror ont CAHALL BOILERS # carson santa """" |) CAPEWELL HORSE NAILS TURNBUCKLES. ‘THE BEST IN THE WORLD” HIGHEST AWARD IN ALL COMPETITIONS ; GOLD MEDAL Se AT LOUISIANA PURCHASE EXPOSITION BASIC PIG. St. Louis, 1904 MADE BY PILLING & GRANE,/ic:cius<cvot|) THE GAPEWELL HORSE NAIL CO., Hartford, Conn. are preferred by pa- triotic boys because they are Sure Fire Noise Makers Every dealer sells U. M. C. blanks. Boys always call for the ‘‘U’’ kind. ® Experienced Dealers know U. M. C. Blanks insure quick sales. 11 Broadway, New Y Gtovetand Oily Forge ond en Onn Cnet From HEREVER and whenever you may be in need of Valves, and desire superior quality and reliability, insist on having the . genuine, Ore Mine JENKINS BROS. VALVES All genuine bear Trade Mark as shown in cut. They are absolutely guaranteed. Write for Booklet. to JENKINS BROS., New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, London. MF Tin “Secon” Gold led Stet Deg» Stamping THE AMERICAN TUBE & STAMPING COMPANY SEE (Water and Kat! Delivery) BRIDGEPORT, Conn. pArt./ . £9: > ee os MAGNOLIA METAL. Best Anti-Friction Metal for all Machinery See AMERICAN SHEET & TIN ea PLATE COMPANY'S MAGNOLIA METAL CO., cisco, treal, Boston Owners and Sole Manufacturers, 13-115 Bank Street, fp e- 4 8 of Babbitt Metals te Ad on Page 25. Chicago, Fisher Bidg. NEW YORK. competitive prices, THE IRON AGE so ake reciente BRASS mm Sheet and Roll Brass COPPER: ey wee — GERMAN GERM AN ( SHEET mn ay GILDING METAL, COPPER RIVETS ROD Pins, Brass Butt Hinges, Jack Chain, Keree sene Burners, Lamps, Lamp MHijistis w SILVER | WIRE Trimmings, &c. QUEEN'S RUN ALUM MAU ZOCLIG) |LOW BRASS. SHEET BRONZE.|# MURRAY sT., NEW YoRK. eae 144 HIGH ST., BOSTON. “LONG” SEAMLESS BRASS AND COPPER 90 LAKE #F., cINCAGO. Lock HAVEN, PA. JBI eas A008. COP) ———|BRONZE TUBING. ::: 231 _TwoussTon.cows._|_waTERBUMY. Com, WATERBURY BRASS CO.,|J oo vece-me cs OO Plate STEEL WATERBURY, CONN. ‘ GERM ag LVER. heets, , wi 99 John St., New York. Providence, R. I. scat = Pemageare’ bd . Bridgeport Deoxidized BionZe &| "severe. ime ceoa Metal (0., Special Brass Goods to Order. BRIDGEPORT, a WATERBURY, CONN, Automobile Castings a Specialty. | new vor«. —_cicae CHICAGO. BOSTON. High Tensile Strength. Follansbee Brothers Co. Bronze and Aluminum Alloys. Henry Souther Engineering Co. an Write Us HARTFORD, CONN. a. r Consulting Chemists, Metallurgists and Analysts. : | seme aerator: on Matthiessen & Hegeler Zinc Co., A ’ NOIS. eunirees or Uppsten Arthur T. utter & Go, AND MANUFACTURERS OF 2 a SHEET ZINC AND SULPHURIC ACID. OF eee Special Sizes of Zinc cut to order. Rolled Battery Plates. NEW YORK. Selected Plates for Etchers’ and Lithographers’ use. Selected Ghecte for cueae nd Gee Taber ene. Small tubing in Brass, Copper, Stove and Washboard Blanks. Steel, Aluminum, German Silver, &c. Sheet Brass, Copper and Ger- ZINCS FOR LECLANCHE BATTERY. man Silver. Copper, Brass and German Silver Wire. Brazed and BR ASS wa |, i RYAN g HN Manin INISHERS “e 99 883-72 West Monroe St. Ct t= ae e barch-Light OME UAL UTD TUaE AC URE CNMI TICH Nel inum ere OIL and GAS Brs'.tcemeg's CASTINGS Bigg [anes Ww. G ROWELL CO., Bridgeport, Conn. LLL HENDRICKS BROTHERS THE BRIDOMPORT. BRASS CO.. ss PROPRIETORS OF THE li z B Gucin. Belleville Copper Rolling Mills, | »:-s.57 rxz.me,rumsnion Pear! 8t., Bos’ MANUFACTURERS OF Braziers’ Bolt and Sheathing GEORGE KROUSE COPPEHR, HEAVY CASTINGS 3 a Mannfactorer of all kinds of COPrPRPwrER. wa: oe ET RIiVvVvbTs Brass and Composition C astings Ingot Copper, Block Tin, Spelter, Lead, Antimony, etc. Brazing Metals, Hard Composition ap ’ “49 CLIFF ST., NEW YORK. Phosphor Castings Specialty. 160 to 164 anna JERSEY CITY. N. J THE IRON AGE New York, Thursday, May 18, 1905. The Hicks Gasoline Electric Motor Car. In the scheme for its operation the gasoline electric railway motor car herewith illustrated is similar to the forty passenger automobile described in The Iron Age September 22, 1904. The essential features in the equip- ment of both are the same, consisting of a gasoline en- gine driven generating set, motors for imparting power to the wheels and storage batteries for equalizing the load on the generator and starting the engine from rest by driving the generator as a motor. The car was recently designed and built in the locomotive and car shops of F. M. Hicks & Co., Chicago Heights, Ill., for the St. Joseph Valley Traction Company. An exterior view of » the car is shown in Fig. 1, and an interior view in Fig. 2 The car is 34 feet long over the end sills, 9 feet 8 inches wide over the side sills, 14 feet high over all, and is divided into two compartments, an engine room and a baggage room. Externally it is finished in Pullman stand- ard color with gold striping and lettering. The trucks are the heaviest design of street railway trucks, with 35- inch wheels and were built by the St. Louis Car Com- pany. Power is supplied by a four-cylinder gasoline engine of the marine type, built by the Marinette Gas Engine Company. Under factory tests this engine developed an electrical horse-power of 70 at 325 revolutions per minute from one pint of gasoline per horse-power-hour. The cylinder jacket water is circulated constantly by a rotary pump belted to a pulley on the engine shaft and is cooled Fig. 1—Gascline Electric Railway Motor Car, Built for the St. looking from the center toward the left end of the car in the position in which it appears in Fig. 3. The framing of the car was designed to afford suf- ficient strength to support the concentrated loads upon the floor and avoid all unnecessary members. It com- prises two center sills of 6-inch 14%-pound I-beams, two side sills of 5 x 8 inch, and four intermediate sills of 4 x 6% inch yellow pine, these eight sills forming the longitudinal under-framing, while the transverse under- framing consists of two end sills of 8 x 12 inch oak, two transoms, each made of two wrought iron plates 1% inches thick by 10 inches long, and several 2% x 6% inch floor joists. The under-framing is tied with transverse 5g-inch wrought iron tie rods. The floor is two thick- nesses of %-inch pine separated by a layer of Neponset paper. The side-framing is extra heavy and is rein- forced by continuous blocking. Although the under- framing is proportioned with a large factor of safety, additional provision has been made to transmit stresses due to excessive bending moments upon the under-fram- ing to heavy wrought iron car lines which serve as trusses across the deck of the car. The body is trussed by two 1%-inch rods with 1%-inch ends. The structure as a whole is so solidly and compactly built that vibra- tion is practically eliminated. Joseph Valley Traction Company by F. M. Hicks & Co., Chicago. by passing through 800 feet of %-inch automobile radiator pipe and a supply tank of 190 gallons capacity. Radia- tion of heat from the radiator is augmented by two 42- inch fans placed horizontally under the radiator, run- ning at 300 revolutions per minute and exhausting the air through ventilators in the upper deck. The engine is direct connected to a Sprague 50-kw. 250-volt direct current generator, which supplies cur- rent to four 35-horse-power motors mounted upon the trucks. A battery of 120 chloride accumulators provides for the heavy load which is thrown upon the generator for an instant while accelerating when starting. The normal rating of each cell is 2.08 volts, and the 120 cells connected in series give a combined potential of 249.6 volts. The cells are placed in well ventilated lockers painted internally with asphaltum paint. The gases aris- ing from the battery are drawn from the lockers and ex- hausted through the ventilators by the fans previously mentioned. The leads from the battery are carried to a switch- board of special design and there connected in multiple with the generator leads to the main controller leads. By this method of connecting when a heavy pull comes upon the generator and its voltage drops below that of the battery the latter shares the load, and when the load gata — 1578 THE IRON AGE does not require the full normal output of the generator the excess current recharges the battery. Circuit break- ers, adjustable for a series of amperages, are connected in the battery and generator leads to the switchboard to remove the necessity of replacing blown out fuses. In addition to the traction Joad the generator sup- plies current to a 4-horse-power motor compressor con- nected with the air brake system, current for lighting Fig. 2.—Interior View in the Engine Room Compartment. and for charging a smal] storage battery used in the gas engine ignition. The car is equipped with the National Electric Company’s automatic air brake system and an emergency hand brake rigging. In the upper deck, di- rectly over the gas engine cylinders, are two hinged trap doors through which the cylinder heads and pistons may be removed. These also serve as a means for ventilating - el Se so je - “ Bea eES a May 18, 1905 by means of a single pole four-point switch, connected with a series of resistancés, current may be gradually introduced into the armature, causing the generator to run as a motor. The switch is thrown to its other posi- tion when the engine has started, placing the field cur- rent under the control of the rheostat. The second method of starting employs compressed air to drive the engine pistons until the engine is in operating condition. The air is supplied by a compres- sor belted to a pulley on the engine shaft. The compres- sor has a capacity of 5.9 cubic feet of free air per minute at 165 revolutions per minute and maintains a pressure of 200 pounds per square inch in two cylindrical steel reservoirs. The latter are also connected with the reservoirs of the air brake system, in which 90 pounds presstre is maintained, through a reducing valve, so that if the motor compressor should be disabled the air brakes could still be operated. The mechanical and electrical equipment of the car occupies one-third of the floor space and has a total weight of about 25 tons. The following are the separate weights: Pounds. NE TN Py ee eT ee re ee ee ee 18,000 PEE Sh reebaGeeskiwelskeekese. doacnteenasyenee 6,000 I, occ enw SaRbbON bow ee's Dee ties ovens bes 9.250 Motors ..... NE oe a ee eee ee er 10,000 ee Sh se ck OEM SNe se MOS ee eee eeenee 33,600 I I Ria oa 2 oes Walaa ees 00s 60 0.0 004.6 00 we 2,000 ee IN ee cacbhew rad eeceebecvesvenes 2.000 Sa eae ead eR Ah ob CLK RA Rete ee eee 4,000 pe EEE ee ee eee ee eee eee eT ee 84,850 It is believed that the car will easily meet the condi- tions for which it was designed—an efficient interurban service. No efficiency test has as yet been made, but in a trial trip through the yards at the shops a speed of 25 miles per hour was attained with ease. ———9---o—___—_—. The Engineering Agency was started in 1893 by Fred- erick A. Peckham, Monadnock Block, Chicago. During the twelve succeeding years this bureau has filled ap- proximately 10,800 positions with competent technical men. One feature has been the supplying of instructors and professors for the principal colleges of engineering. It is significant that all these 10,800 men have been placed at maximum salaries. The agency now has 500 SSeS . ee Fig. 3.—IDlan of the Plant in the Hicks Gasoline Electric Motor Car. the car in fair weather. The gasoline supply is carried under the car in a heavy galvanized iron tank of 125 gallons capacity. Gasoline is fed to the engine by a small reciprocating pump. The supply is always greater than the engine requires, and the surplus drains to the reservoir through an overflow pipe. The difficulty of starting the gasoline engine is over- come by two methods, either of which may be used in- dependently. The one which will probably be used and was alluded to in the first paragraph is that of driving the generator as a motor from the storage battery until the engine takes up its load. A switch is connected in the field leads between the generator and the field rheostat. In one position of this switch the field of the generator is connected with the storage battery and excited; then ‘ open positions on its books. Applicants give complete records of past experience and furnish such references as will guard the bureau in placing only skilled men. The Abner Doble Company, San Francisco, announces that arrangements have been made with the John Me- Dougall Caledonian Iron Works Company, Limited, Mont- real, Canada, whereby .the latter becomes sole licensee for the manufacture of the Doble system of water wheels in the Dominion of Canada. The McDougall Company has extensive machine works, and its plant is therefore well equipped for the manufacture of water wheels and other hydraulic machinery. The McDougall Company has retained the Abner Doble Company as consulting engineer. May 18, 1905 The Hastings Tunneling Shield System. There are two subjects that have received more than ordinary attention from the engineering profession dur- ing the last few years and in that time have undergone a wonderful development. One of them is the construc- tion of tunnels, particularly subaqueous tunnels, and the other the use of reinforced concrete in structural work. Each is :nd has been a very important line of work, bat there has been nothing in common between the two. It has remained for C. G. Hastings, a tunnel engineer of many years’ practical experience, to propose an associa- tion of the two in a subaqueous tunnel wherein reinforced concrete takes the place of cast iron or steel in the walls or shell. While the scheme has not yet been put into actual use its feasibility seems reasonable, and at any uy et THE IRON AGE 1579 rear end of the shield, where they are united by a series of radial perforated segment plates. Intermediate of the ends the cylinders are mutually supported by longitudinal stiffeners, between which is formed a series of compart- ments, wherein are placed the hydraulic jacks that are used to advance the shield. These extend through the holes in the segment plates, being secured to them by lag screws passing through the bearing collars of the jacks. Within the hood, which is a continuation of the outer cylinder of the shield, the lining of the tunnel is built up, and to advance the movement of the shield the several hydraulic jacks react against the tunnel lining. The interior of the shield is divided by vertical and horizontal walls into convenient working chambers of dimensions depending upon the size of the tunnel diam- eter. The vertical partitions are of truss construction gt P ean NE iF WZ TL — SSO Ss SAY WY iY Tue lnon Ace Fig. 1—Section of the Hastings Reinforced Concrete Tunnel.—'The Broken Parts Show Successively the Reinforcing in the Molded Blocks, the Circular Beams, Their Tying Connections, the First Coat of Concrete, the Woven Wire Reinforcing and the Finishing Coat of Cement. rate the idea offers suggestions that make it worthy of investigation. Whatever may be said of the tunnel system the tun- neling shield with which the inventor intends to construct the tunnel is no experiment, as it has been used with great success in the building of a noted tunnel which is now completed and in use. The tunnel lining is to consist of metal reinforced con- crete, forming an impervious artificial stone, molded into convenient segment blocks. The several parts entering into the construction of the reinforced concrete tunnel walls are shown in the section, Fig. 1, which is partly broken to expose them successively. Before taking up the tunnel proper, however, it will be well to thoroughly un- derstand the construction and manner of using the shield. The tunneling shield, shown in Figs. 2, sists of two concentric cylinders, one inside the other, united at the cutting edge by a series of radial ogee plates. Both cylinders extend from the cutting edge to the 3 and 4, con-- and the horizontal partitions of plate metal, all being substantially reinforced by curved steel plates extending rearward from the cutting edge a certain distance to best resist any strains that may be brought to bear upon the partition members. The curved plates are so arranged as to deflect all soft sliding or inflowing material and to prevent excavated material at the heading from becoming lodged against flat or abrupt surfaces in the chambers. In this manner the material is caused to pass through the shield to the bulkheads, where any treacherous material may be easily controlled. It should be mentioned that the strength of the shield is not dependent upon these divid- ing walls, as the concentric cylinders forming the shield proper are sufficient in themselves, and when the shield is of small enough diameter to require no more than one chamber the dividing walls may be and have been dis- pensed with. . The bulkheads are provided with sectional perforated doors carried on heavy hinges, and can be conveniently 1580 opened in whole or in part as the occasion or condition may require. If saturated or unstable material is en- countered the doors can be quickly closed in any or all chambers of the shield, leaving the perforations of the doors open for the passage of the material. This permits the continued forward movement of the shield, and so does not arrest the progress of the work. If the material outside of the shield is of such an extremely soft character as to flow too freely through the door perforations, which might cause a settlement or dis- placement of the earth enveloping the outer periphery of the shield, the perforations can be quickly closed in any chamber, independently of the others, or in any part of a single door by sliding gates attached for that purpose, thus arresting the inflow of matter until the shield has THE (RON 468 THE IRON AGE May 18, 1905 the tunnel] and removes very largely the likelihood of later deformation. It may be seen that the elementary features of the Hastings shield are of a practical character well adapting it to working where the conditions which will be met with cannot be definitely determined in advance, as in most underland and submarine construction. Its practicability through a soil of varied character was demonstrated when it was used in the construction of 4139 feet of 24 foot 9 inch bore on the main conduit of the Chicago inter- cepting sewer system. The strata formation consisted of | varying materials, one underlying the other on part of the work, while on another section the work passed en- tirely through running gravel and saturated quicksands. The ‘impervious reinforced tunnel] lining has for its Fig. 2.—Half Transverse Section and Longitudinal Section of the Hastings Tunneling Shield. been advanced into the heading sufficiently to compress the mud within the belled periphery of the shield, where it is concentrated, and may then be deflected in the regu- lar course to the working compartments and, coming in contact with the sectional bulkheads, may be removed through the doors. If rock bowlders or other hard material is encountered the doors in a plane with such material may be thrown open while ihe obstruction is removed by drilling and blasting. When working in dry clay in a normally safe state the doors are entirely open for a free and rapid pas- sage of the excavated material. The rear hood of the shield is designed so thin that the tunnel lining in course of erection conforms very closely to the bore made by the shield and prevents any greater displacement of the surrounding earth than is necessary for the convenience of proper construction. This is particularly of advantage where the tunnel runs under streets or buildings and any settlement would be dangerous. Moreover, it insures a more uniform load on foundation structure a series of metal reinforced seg- ment blocks molded into a crystallized mass by an im- proved method without the use of tamping or pressure. The reinforcing is imbedded in proper positions to dis- tribute the strains to which it is to be subjected. There are also imbedded in the concrete blocks appliances to assist the work of erection. Each block is placed in posi- tion by a rotary segment hoist connected with the shield and pressure is brought to bear upon the blocks to force them into proper position by the hydraulic jacks which shove the shield forward. Elastic water proof pads are inserted in all circumferential and abutting joints of the blocks to aid in imbedding each ring of segments in per- fect conformity with the erected work and to render al} seams water proof.. A coating of water proof material is applied to the inner surface of the segment blocks when each ring has been completed, after which a rein- forcement of circular steel beams is placed in position. There is one beam to each ring of blocks, which is se- cured to them by appliances molded in the blocks at the May 18, 1905 time they are made. The circular beams are reinforced and stiffened by connecting longitudinal bars of special form attached at equal intervals around the circumferen- tial beams. A suitable distance from the inner periphery of the beams and their connecting bars is placed a cylinder of expanded metal in spiral form or a netting of heavy steel wire, such as Page woven wire fencing. The inventor favors the latter as having some advantages over expanded metal. Over the netting is applied a homogeneous coating of cement concrete, completely im- bedding all the metal reinforcement. The interior surface is then troweled to a smooth finish. This system of concrete tunnel construction is recom- mended for tunnels for railways or traffic purposes of any kind, and is claimed to be of extreme durability and of de- cidedly moderate first cost as compared with tunnels made TE Ly THE IRON AGE Fig. 8.—Half Front View of the Hastings Tunneling Shield. - in accordance with present day practice. The inventor, Cornelius G. Hastings, has secured patents covering the essential parts of his inventions for the United States, Canada and Great Britain, and has other patents pend- ing applicable to construction work of a mechanical and civil engineering nature. ~~ +e New Illinois Laws. The Illinois State Legislature, which has just ad- journed, passed, among other enactments, a bill per- mitting the city of Chicago to sell surplus electricity and to regulate the maximum price at which electricity and gas may be sold by existing corporations. It also author- ized the West Park Commissioners of Chicago to issue bonds to the amount of $2,000,000 to pay for completion of the small park system. This appropriation will be ex- pended largely in the purchase of ground and the erection of gymnasiums and other buildings for public education THE IRON F AGE 1581 and convenience. Another bill made Saturday after- noons and Election Day legal holidays in Chicago. Di- rectors of public libraries were authorized to issue 6 per cent. 20-year bonds in order to raise money for the purchase of sites and the location of branch libraries. Coal operators and manufacturers were authorized by bill to form mutual casualty and insurance companies. Another bill made wages and salaries of officers and em- ployees of county, city, township, village and school dis- trict subject to garnishment. The city of Chicago is authorized to submit to its citizens at the next genera} election a new charter, which charter provides, among other things, for the increase of the term of Mayor from two to four years; the abolition of all fees formerly col- lected by officers of the city; the compensation of officers to be only on a salary basis; all fees and moneys collected Fig. 4.—Half Rear View of the Hastings Tunneling Shield. by any officer or department to go to the city treasurer. Interest on funds in the hands of the city treasurer is to belong to the city and the comptroller shall deposit city funds in whatever bank makes the highest bid as the result of public letting to be made each year. This char- ter will also empower the city to acquire by purchase or otherwise municipal parks, playgrounds, beaches, bath- ing places and to build improvements thereon. Nearly all of these enactments will serve to stimulate industrial activity, particularly in the line of building. The Illinois- Michigan Canal Commissioners were empowered to sell the section of their canal extending from Chicago to Joliet, Ill, about 35 miles in length, as the drainage canal offers a better channel for commerce. It is expected that this right of way will bring more than $1,000,000, which money the commissioners will expend in enlarging and improving the plant below Joliet. A State Highway Com- mission was created and an appropriation of $25,000 was made for the purpose of conducting experiments in good road making throughout the State, 7 Soman —— 2. EW epee cae as MN Bi 1582 THE IRON AGE A Review of Metallurgical Progress. R. A. Hadfield, the well-known steel manufacturer of Sheffield, has just delivered before the Iron and Steel Institute an able address as the new president, in which he deals with many interesting questions affecting the iron industry. We abstract from this paper the follow- ing passages relating to recent progress in metallurgy: Whether electro-metallurgy can be applied to the eco- nomical production of iron and steel remains to be proved. Unfortunately there seems to be fixed in the minds of some of those exploiting such processes the idea that all steel now made is radically of bad quality. This, I need not say to this audience, is not the case. It is wonderful how modern steel meets the varied and com- plex requirements of the times. Besides, with the alloys of iron and carbon which we call steel, it matters little in what form fusion:takes place, so long as the product gives off the analysis needed. Cost is the chief practical consideration. Mysterious virtues have been claimed for electrically produced steel, but its very freedom from some of the elements which it is desirable should be present has been a defect. The Canadian Government appointed a commission to report upon various electric smelting processes, and its report states that electric energy need be very cheap indeed to enable these processes to compete at all with the blast furnace. In fact, such methods may be termed, at any rate for the present, not practicable; so that blast furnace owners can breathe freely. The French Electro-Metallurgical Company of Froges and La Praz, under the superintendence of M. Héroult— who has recently received a reward from the Société d@’Encouragement pour I’Industrie Nationale—has done excellent service in studying the many problems to be solved in connection with the use of electric energy for metallurgical purposes. He deals chiefly with smelting, either for producing the metals themselves or such alloys as silicon, chromium and other ferro alloys. He also treats of pig iron and steel of various kinds and quali- ties. The company named, with its new works at St. Michel de Maurienne, will have about 35,000 horse- power at its disposal. “ Electric steel ” has a catching sound, but there is no virtue in the electro-metallurgical process. It is to the quality of the product we must look in order to see whether this steel can show superiority over ordinary kinds. Whether the cost of production is lower than that of older systems has yet to be proved; the energy must be generated at low cost or it certainly will not compete with existing methods. When the day comes in which electric energy can be produced more cheaply—and this is perhaps not far dis- tant—we may have a different state of affairs, and the process of electric smelting may then be of value com- mercially. It has been worked out theoretically that with no loss of heat energy about 131 electric horse- power days (24 hours) are required to produce a net (2000 pound) ton of iron from 65 per cent. pure ore, but in actual practice it has been found in Sweden that 362 electric horse-power days were required for the purpose. A. J. Rossi states that he has, in the Adirondacks, pro- duced iron from titanium iron ore at a rate of $12.50 per ton; this, he says, equals blast furnace practice. But this ore was reckoned at 75 cents per ton, and that, in a comparison cost for the blast furnace at $2.50, is not reasonable. Further, this estimate was based upon the cost of $10 per year for 1 horse-power of electric current delivered, night and day, week in and week out. This is probably much too low. There are, moreover, other con- siderations which will put the electric method out of court. A complete blast furnace producing 350 tons of pig iron per day would cost about £200,000. It is stated that an electric furnace plant to produce a similar quan- tity would require a water power electric plant with a capacity of at least 60,000 horse-power. There are few places where this could be obtained ; besides, the cost of the plant would be excessive. Pig iron has been pro- duced by the blast furnace at as low as $8 per ton. It may be interesting to add that the total of the world’s water power electrical installations is now estimated May 18, 1905 at about 1,500,000 horse-power, of which one-third is in America, one-sixth in Canada, one-tenth in France and about one-seventh in Italy. Great Britain has only about 144 per cent., or about 12,000 horse-power. J. W. Richards, the president of the American Electro-Chemical Society, in his opening address last year dealt in an able manner with “The Continuous Advance of Electro-Chemistry.” He seemed to think that the possibilities in this direction were very great. On first seeing “half a ton” of silicon isolated, he said: “Can it become as useful as iron, or applications be found for an element of which the earth is so largely composed? In any case it is only the electro-chemist who could have made it.” Great credit is due to the early workers in this important branch of scientific manufacture, the Brothers Cowles, Waldo and Hunt, who fought their way to success through difficulties innumerable. Mawufacture of Ordinary Steel. Improvements in the manufacture of steel have been of late in the direction of producing new types and in methods of treating, working and using these new types rather than in processes of manufacture. The handling ot enormous steel plants in America has been in connec- tion with comparatively old systems, which, in them- selves, remain much as they were many years ago. Changes which have occurred have related chiefly to improvements in machinery rather than to processes. Although modifications of minor importance are gradu- ally being introduced, it is difficult to see where further radical departures can take place in existing processes themselves or in the machinery employed. It is rather to the material produced that attention is now being specially devoted. We are told that American practice is now to “squirt”—it can hardly be called rolling— rails through the mills at the rate of 15 feet per second, or over 10 miles per hour; but, wonderful as this is, it is only an improvement in practice and not in principle. The Talbot continuous method, the Bertrand-Thiel " process, each finds supporters, but important as these are they are in the main modifications of systems long at work—that is, they involve no important new principles. With regard to the Talbot furnace, one used by the Jones & Laughlin Steel Company, Pittsburgh, has pro- duced in four months 21,000 tons of steel, exceeding by 3000 tons the previous best record. The furnace ‘was operated continuously for four months, only going out of use for repairs. An interesting method of producing basic open hearth steel without the use of scrap is being tested at Ensley, Ala. A 250-ton rolling open hearth furnace, which may be described as a sort of metal mixer or “ primary” furnace, is charged with direct metal. In addition there is a standard 15-ton Bessemer converter, which enables material to be finally delivered to the regular basic open hearth furnaces after the removal of silicon and carben. The phosphorus elimination can thus be rapidly carried out in the open hearth furnace. The many improvements in the composition of special steels will be dealt with in other sections, but reference may be here made to the Harmet method for producing ingots free from piping.and settling, with consequent avoidance of waste. F. C. Fairholme, one of the manag- ing directors of Cammell, Laird & Co., informs me they have found this method of practical advantage. It would be interesting to know whether these ingots show any signs of “streaks,” a cause of difficulty which has been found to give much trouble in the manufacture of gun steel. The American Navy and Army bureaus have both dealt with this phenomenon in several reports. Riemer, with the hot gas blast pipe, and Goldschmidt, with his aluminum-thermo process, also aim at producing results similar to those of Harmet in quite different manners. Steel Making in Japan.—Our friends the Japanese, with characteristic enterprise, have taken up the manu- facture of steel, and although the Government works have not been altogether successful, there is no doubt that in time they will prove of great service in supplying local requirements. One of the Government works, Wakamatsu, the largest undertaking of the kind in the country, has manufactured during the year over 30,000 tons of steel rails. It is in the neighborhood of an abun- May 18, 1905 dant coal producing district and is conveniently situated for the importation of iron ore from China. Alloys of [ron with Other Elements, High Speed Tool Steel——In America Messrs. Tayior and White, by their researches, not only upon the com- position of steel, but also upon its treatment, have shown how to apply some of these special steels to important uses, including the production of high speed tool steel, a subject upon which great advances have been made lately. To these investigators is largely due the im- portant advance in practice from which to-day nearly every machine shop in the world is benefiting. J. M. Gledhill, in his paper on the “ Development and Use of High Speed Tool Steel,” has given valuable in- formation to the world. He indicated that this steel was in many ways so much in advance of the design of ma- chine tools that makers of the latter had to increase the efticiency of the machines in which high speed tools were used. Mr. Gledhill stated that with this steel turning can be done in certain instances at the rate of 500 feet per minute; a wonderful advance on past practice. High speed tool steel is most difficult to produce, the waste, cost of rolling and preparation being very high; and the rarer elements which have to be used necessarily make the material costly if it is to be trustworthy. It is satisfactory to find that Sheffield still maintains its ancient renown by the advances it has made in this new and important branch of industry. The Wide Use of Alloy Steels—When it is remem- bered how large has become the demand for alloy steels it is noteworthy in how short a time the work bearing on their composition has been accomplished. The year 1888 may be taken as that in which systematic and use- ful practical work commenced. In about 17 years this remarkable and indeed revolutionary advance has been made. Metallurgists can proudly claim they have not been wasting their time or their efforts. The world at large hardly realizes the great debt owing to them, though through their labors it is deriving some of the greatest benefits it now enjoys. If alloy steels were taken away there would be an end of progress, so much does advancing civilization depend upon the work of the modern metallurgist. Many of our conveniences, our comforts and—in war material—many of our defenses are directly due to metallurgical research and the practice that springs from it. Npecial Ferro Alloys.—The importance of the class of metallurgical products known as special ferro alloys is now very great. It is largely by their aid that special steel and iron alloys can be produced. J. H. Pratt of the United States Geological Sur- vey in his recent interesting report, under the heading of “ Steel Hardening Metals,” gives a list of the various elements, among them chromium, nickel, molybdenum, vanadium, cobalt, titanium, uranium. The term “ hard- ening” is not, however, altogether correct, as these metals, unless carbon be present, do not really harden iron. Ferromanganese, containing 80 per cent. manganese, first produced in 1875, and costing, even 20 years ago, £100 per ton, can now be obtained for about one-tenth that price. It was originally produced in 1865 by Hen- derson in England and by Prieger in Austria, the alloy being made in crucibles. The Terre Noire Company pur- chased the Henderson patent rights and originated the manufacture of rich alloys in the blast furnace. Ferrosilicon is now very valuable in its many uses, and can be obtained of almost any desired percentage as well as combined with manganese in the ferro alloy known as silicon-spiegel. Ferrochromium is also sup- plied of various percentages and at comparatively mod- erate prices; the almost pure form of the metal itself is produced by the Goldschmidt process. Ferrotungsten, ferromolybdenum and ferrovanadium may also be ob- tained, although, owing to their greater rarity, at higher prices. Nickel and ferronickel are now made on aslarge scale and at reasonable rates, compared with the almost prohibitive prices of but a few years ago. Many of these special ferro alloys are being largely produced by means of the electric furnace in France, in America, in Canada and elsewhere. THE IRON AGE 1583 Heat Treatment, One of the most important branches of the metallurgy of iron and steel to-day is that relating to heat treat- ment, and in using the term I am here referring to some- thing apart from heat treatment for hardening purposes. Why, it may be asked, is heat treatment found to be so important? It is because on the temperature em- ployed to produce a particular condition in the steel rest the final physical and mechanical properties of that mate- rial. For example, a nickel-chromium-iron alloy as forged may appear to be of no commercial value, but by judicious heat treatment, with or without quenching in oil or water, its elastic limit may be made to vary from 22 to 60 tons per square inch, its tenacity from 40 to 96 tons per square inch, and its ductility from 8 or 10 per cent. to 30 or 35 per cent. We still understand but dimly why these effects are produced, but in the main, no doubt, they are owing to resultant variations in the form of the carbide, or hardening carbon, present, or to almost infinite shades of conditions or combinations of the two. Seeing that there are now already more than 80,000 different carbon compounds known to exist, the extraordinary and mar- velous influence and power of carbon when alloyed with iron need not be a matter of wonder. While other metals are affected by variations in tem- perature, not one of them seems so sensitive as iron and its alloys. It is stated that even the temperature of boil- ing water at atmospheric pressure will gradually soften hardened carbon steel; certainly at 200 degrees C. changes occur. Not long ago, in a discussion before the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, S. N, Brayshaw stated that he could detect differences in the quality of steel hardened at temperatures only varying from each other by 2 or 3 degrees C., and specimens since submitted to me by him appear to bear out his claims. We know that there is a variation of only a few degrees between the temperature at which ordinary hard carbon steel will or will not harden; and, no doubt, equally fine shades of difference prevail at higher temperatures. The facts we have already learned in this field em- phasize the universal lesson of all scientific research, of how important it is not to rest satisfied with the known, but to explore minutely and exhaustively beyond the bounds of present knowledge. Metallography. This now very important branch of scientific research has been found of great value, and although some have been disappointed with the results obtained, it must not be forgotten that those best able to handle this weapon for exploration work point out that its results must be correlative—that is, they should be taken in conjunction with both chemical and mechanical work. It is not often that the real pioneer of an important advance can be so clearly indicated as in this case; but the metallurgists of the whole world have generally ad- mitted that we are indebted to one of Sheffield’s citizens and a member of this Institute, Dr. H. C. Sorby, for this valuable aid to metallurgical research. As far back as 1857 he made the first application of microscopy to the examination of the structure of iron and steel. There has, unfortunately, been a tendency to multiply the names of micro-constituents. Owing to the many varieties of structure met with this has been to some extent unavoidable; but many of these names give a wrong impression to the student, although the constitu- ents have been usefully defined. It must be remembered that a student at the commencement of his career has to learn from what he is is told and not what from what he himself knows. For example, no one has ever yet sepa- rated martensite; and while the designation is useful it would be less liable to misconstruction if this supposed constituent were known as martensitic structure. The same remarks apply to sorbite; it would be much better to speak of sorbitic structure. The currently accepted designations of the various constituents of steel used in metallography must be taken with some caution, as there is at present much difference of opinion as to their meaning. The following names of constituents are well recog- nized: Ferrite, cementite, pearlite, sorbite, martensite, dint omnes é ? 1584 troosite and austenite. Professor Arnold also speaks of the supposed compound Fe,,C as “ hardenite.” Percy Longmuir of the National Physical Laboratory in referring to metallography has made the remarkable statement that the practical steel hardener of to-day, with his purely traditional methods, is actually in ad- vance of the man of science. H. M. Howe has ably dealt with the microscopic an- alysis of metals. Mr. Osmond in his interesting work entitled “The Microscopic Analysis of Metals,” edited by Mr. Stead, states that in metallography subdivisions may be found almost analogous to those of medical science, viz. : 1. Anatomical, as it distinguishes and defines the different constituents of each alloy by observing their optical, chemical or mechanical characteristics. 2. Biological, because it enables the composition, forms, dimensions and relations of the different constitu- ents to be determined. 3. Pathological, because it deals with the diseases of metals arising from errors of treatment and improper composition. Low Temperature Experiments, Some time ago in studying the interesting experiments of Sir James Dewar with liquid air it occurred to me that it would be of great importance to obtain the me- chanical and other properties of my various alloy steels from the series produced during the last 15 years. Practically at this low temperature pure iron has its tenacity more than doubled; its well-known ductility falls very low; its magnetic properties remain almost the same as at higher temperatures. This represents the general behavior of all the alloys excepting those containing nickel, which are less affected as regards loss of ductility, while an iron alloy containing 5 per cent. of manganese and 25 per cent. of nickel has its extraor- dinary ductility, about 60 per cent., still further in- creased, and the tenacity also largely increased. Man- ganese steel has its ductility lowered, but its nonmag- netic properties remain apparently unaffected. Steel Castings. This important branch of steel production is an in- dustry which has practically sprung up within the last 40, certainly with the last 50, years. In other words, but a few years before the great International Exhibition of 1851 steel castings were practically unknown, and yet to-day it would hardly be possible for constructive engineers of any class to carry out their work without the use of steel castings. There seems always to have been a glamour over the practice of steel casting. Probably more heartbreaking and disappointment have occurred in the exercise of this art than in any branch of steel industry; partly because those entering into the arena have been totally unaware of the many difficult conditions and problems that had to be overcome. Cast iron and cast steel have seemed to many almost the same, and only after bitter experience has their great difference been discovered. The ease with which steel could be produced on a large scale for ingots, when probably half a dozen or a dozen large ingots used up a whole heat, gave no foretaste to early workers of the extraordinary difficulties in pouring a heat of the same steel into many separate castings. The want of fluidity caused much trouble, and wasters by the score were produced. Then, too, the great contraction, double that of cast iron, which had to be dealt with, added to the difficulty of obtaining castings free from cracks, to say nothing of the apparently intense desire of fluid steel when poured into a sand mold to assume that beautiful honeycombed form so sadly familiar in earlier days. Happily, however, many of these difficulties have been overcome, and though the industry is still one requiring more than usual care and skillful management, the satis- factory advances made during the last decade have been of the highest importance. The great advantages derived from the use of alumi- num and silicon as solidifiers have enabled most of the defects due to unsoundness to be overcome. Increasing knowledge of the analyses and qualities of the various sands and fire resisting materials used in molds has THE IRON AGE May 18, 1905 been equally important. A range of product varying from that having a ductility almost equal to that of soft forged steel up to the hardest type is now readily ob- tained. . Many of the difficulties still met with would be large ly overcome if the engineer would consult the steel founder when preparing his designs and patterns. Slight differences in design will insure the production of a casting in steel which could not otherwise be satis- factorily made; in other words, the steel may be of the best, the mold properly prepared, and yet all be entirely spoiled by failure to appreciate the necessity for adapt- ing as far as practicable the design of the article re quired to suit the peculiar nature of fluid steel. As an example of the difficult castings now produced my firm recently made a number of hydraulic cylinders 30 feet in length, with walls only 1% inches in thickness, the contraction in the molds on this length amounting to the very considerable figure of 744 inches—that is, the mold had to be 30 feet 7% inches in length to produce a casting of 30 feet. War Material. This address would be hardly complete without some reference to the use of steel for war material. Much as war is to be abhorred, it has some compensations; and those who prepare weapons of offense and defense have have largely assisted ian the perfecting and introduction of special steels having very valuable qualities which have also been turned to good account in the arts of peace. In armor plates the advance from those of wrought iron to the modern cemented hard face type has been marvelous. Armor of to-day has a figure of merit not far from three times that of wrought iron, and this, as will be readily understood, has meant in itself a revo- lution in the building of war vessels. There is no ques- tion that had the vessels engaged on either side been clad with wrought iron during the recent naval engage- ments in the Far East hardly one would have survived the contest. We are told that but little perforation of armored parts was effected. Armor Plates.—Compound plates for a time struggled hard against mild or tough steel, but it was Harvey, the American, who introduced the bold idea of applying and improving the old process of cementation to the produc- tion of armor having a hard face, practically impene- trable to any type of projectiles excepting those with caps. Great credit is due to him for the steps he took, His efforts were wisely fostered by the American Navy Bu- reau. Then Ehrensberger and Schmitz of Krupp’s works, with all the wonderful resources of that great establish- ment at their disposal, perfected this system and im- proved the steel of which the plates were made to such a degree that Harvey plates in their turn had to give way to what is now known universally as “K. C.,” or Krupp cemented, armor. As an example of the great superiority of this new description of armor it may be mentioned that a 6-inch plate affords equal resistance to more than 18 inches of wrought iron. It will be seen from this what a revolu- tion has been produced in the designing of war ships by the savi