The Iron Age 1905-08-24: Vol 76 Iss 8

Vol. 76: No. 8. New York, Thursday, August 24, 1905. $5.00 Se “studing Postage. Reading Matter Contents......page 514 Alphabetical Index to Advertisers ‘‘ 171! Classified List of Advertisers.... ‘‘ 163 Advertising and Subscription Rates ‘“‘ 170 SHAFT COUPLINGS Manufactured by FORSTER PULLEY U. M.C. Cartridges and Shot Shells have U. M.C. Qual- ity behind them. Behind U.M.C. Quality are the most skilled ‘‘ Ammunition Specialists.’’ Standard goods always give satisfaction. U.M.C. Cartridges and Shot Shells have been the standard of excel- lence for nearly half a century. The American Mfg. Ropes and Twines 65 Wall Street, New York Sell Ammunition made by Ammunition Specialists— U. M. C. Ammunition. The Union Metallic Cartridge Company, BRIDGEPORT, CONN. Agency, 313 Broadway, New York City. Depot, 86-88 First St., San Francisco, Cal. CAHALL BOILERS * Capewell Horse Nails are used on the Race Tracks of the World THE BRISTOL COMPANY, Waterbury, Conn. Bristol’s Recording Instruments. Gold Medal, 8t. Louis Exposition. All Ranges, Low Pricee, and Guar. anteed. Send for Circulars. SAMSON SPOT CORD Alse Linen and Italian Hemp Sash Cord. SAMSON CORDAGE WORKS, Boston, Mass. TURNBUCKLES, THE CAPEWELL Horse NAIL Co., Hartford, Conn., U.S.A. Gentlemen:—| always use the Capewell, for I consider it not only the best driving nail, but when you send a horse to the post you can bet that he will bring all his shoes home with him. Very truly yours, FRANK SNELL, International Horseshoer and Plater, Hoppegarten, Germany. “py Lhe Capewell Horse Nail Co; “con” VAs SEREVER and whenever you may be in need of Valves, and desire _superior quality and reliability, insist on having the genuine, JENKINS BROS. VALVES All genuine bear Trade Mark as shown in cut. They are absolutely guaranteed. Write for Booklet. JENKINS BROS., New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, London. “SME CON” COM ROtLed Stet! cane x Drawing = PILLING & CRANE, foe ate ree ROOFING TIN ‘‘The Terne which turns the Elements.”’ THE —— TUBE & STAMPING COMP (Water and Rail Delivery BRIDGEPORT, Cory. ___ PAGE MAGNOLIA METAL. Best Anti-Friction Metal for all Machinery Bearings. el of Bar. t Bewar See ‘AMERICAN SHEET ee é & TIN PLATE imitations. : SS A GNOLIA METAL CO., COMPANY Ss Owners and Sole Manufacturers, 113-115 Bank Street. San Franciseo, Montreal and Pittsb Chicago, Fisher Bidg. mae you, _ We masters Jo all gseden of Shh bite Metals at Ad on Page 14, “QUEEN'S RUN” “Lock HAVEN” re Nie L rte lg ar HAPES Lock HAVEN, PA. ee ee COPPER —aNnD— SILVER AND GILDING METAL, COPPER RIVETS SILVER l WIRE eene Burners, Lamps, Lamp SEAMLESS BRASS AND COPPER 144 HIGH ST., BOSTON. MAN BRASS interes WiRE GERMAN { sHeeT | usr aw reat e ma Sheet and Roll Brass "aie PRINTERS’ BRASS, JEWELERS’ METAL, GERMAN LOW BRASS. SHEET BRONZE.| ® MURRAY ST., NEW YORK. THOMASTON, CONN. | WATERBURY, CONN, BRONZE TUBING. ::::::: s/5 TIN Sheet Plate STEEL MAKERS Follansbee Brothers Co. Pittsburgh, Pa. WATERBURY BRASS (€0., WATERBURY, CONN. 99 John St., New York. Providence, R. I. Bridgeport Deoxidized Bronze & Metal 9 BRIDGEPORT, GONN. Automobile Castings a Specialty. High Tensile Strength. Bronze and Aluminum Alloys. Write Us. Matthiessen & Hegeler Zinc Co., LA SALLE, ILLINOIS. SMELTERS OF SPELTER AND MANUFACTURERS OF SHEET ZINC AND SULPHURIC ACID. Special Sizes of Zinc cut to order. Rolled Battery Plates. Selected Plates for Etchers’ and Lithographers’ use. Selected Sheets for Paper and Card Makers’ use. Stove and Washboard Blanks. ZINCS FOR LECLANCHE BATTERY. ind) Dee Ah > oo YWest ae RIVA Babbitt Metals, He POETIC ree 1) ieee a ae CASTINGS W. G. ROWELL OG ONDER FINISHERS ridgeport, Conn. HENDRICKS BROTHERS PROPRIETURS OF THE Belleville Copper Rolling Mills, MANUFACTURERS OF Braxsicers’ Bolt and Sheathing Cor PwisR, COPPER WIRE AND RIVETS. Importers and Dealers in Ingot Copper, Block Tin, Spelter, Lead, Antimony, etc. 49 CLIFF ST., NEW YORK. SCOVILL MFG. CO., MANUFACTURERS OF BRASS, GERMAN SILVER, Sheets, Rolis, Wire Rods, Bolts and Tubes, Brass Shells, Cups, Hinges, Buttons, Lamp Goods. Special Brass Goods to Order. FACTORIES: WATERBURY, CONN, DEpotTs: WEW YORK. CHICAGO. BOSTON. Henry Souther Engineering Co. HARTFORD, CONN. Consulting ag eens and ysts ote Faysioal Testing Laborat eat es Br T Rte & T. Rutter & Go. 256 Broadway, NEW YORK. Small tubing in Brass, Copper, Steel, Aluminum, German Silver, &c. Sheet Brass, Copper and Ger- man Silver. Copper, Brass and German Silver Wire. Brazed and Seamless Brass and Copper Tube. Copper and Brass Rod. “PHONO-ELECTRIC” WIR EB. “it’s ToucH.” TROLLEY, TELEPHONE and TELEGRAPH LINES. neti BRIDGEPORT BRASS CO., Postal Telegraph Bldg. Conn. Broadway and Murray St, New York GEORGE KROUSE HEAVY CASTINGS 160 to 164 Morgan Street, JERSEY CITY, ®, THE IRON AGE New York, Thursday, August 24, 1905. Armor Plate Sawing. Modern armor plate presents formidable difficulties to the designers of tools for its machining. The initial high carbon of the material and the introduction of large percentages of nickel and other hardeners make it extremely tough even in its softer state, but when, as is frequently necessary, the plate is put through the proc- ess of hardening before machining the result is a re- sistance to cutting so stubborn that any but extraor- dinary means are totally useless. Planing machines, slotters and drill presses of a size and power beyond anything formerly contemplated are now built for this purpose, yet the strongest of these are overpowered ized by a very simple construction and preservation of the strength of the saw blade by keeping it solid through- out, especially at the cutter seats. No slots are cut through the plate. The cutters are imbedded but half way in the plate, the alternate ones being on one side and the intermediate ones on the other. Besides pre- serving a solid plate an advantage of this design is that the side thrust of the cutters is taken up by a solid back- ing. Another important gain in the construction is that of dividing the cut into halves and thus economizing power. ; The saw in action cutting armor plate is shown in Fig. 2, and a detail section showing the manner of in- serting cutters in the drawing Fig. 3. It will be seen Fig. 1.—Armor Plate Cold Saw at the Midvale Steel Company.— Machine Built by NilesBement-Pond Company; Saw Blade by Tindel-Morris Company. when their effectiveness depends upon the rigidity of cut- ting tools projecting necessarily some distance beyond their points of support. As the support varies with the position and depth of the cut, whatever the power of the drive, only such effectiveness can be secured as lies within the limit of the backward springing of the cut- ting tool. This limitation of straight line cutting tools has led to the adoption of a system of slotting and plan- ing by means of rotating cutters, with which a closer support of the cutting tools up to the cut is possible, and tool springing is practically eliminated. Herewith is illustrated a machine for sawing armor plate recently built by the Niles-Bement-Pond Company, New York, for the Midvale Steel Company, equipped with a Tindel high duty saw specially made for the machine by the Tindel-Morris Company, Eddystone, Pa. A ma- chine of substantially the same type has been installed for planing work. It will be seen from Fig. 1 that the machine is of mas- sive construction. The saw is fed to the work, its car- riage moving on broad, flat ways being traveled by a heavy lead screw. The carriage feeds are varied by change gears and range from 0.15 to 1 inch per revolu- tion of the saw blade. The mandrel carrying the saw blade is fitted into boxes with provision for taking up wear. It is driven by a Hendley worm meshing, with a large worm wheel fixed on the back end of the mandrel, and on the front end carries a solid forged collar, to which the saw blade is attached by eight 2-inch through bolts arranged in a circle 25 inches in diameter. Change gears are provided for six peripheral speeds of the saw ranging from 10 to 40 feet per minute. The power is supplied by a 50 horse-power electric motor geared direct to the machine, as shown in the illustration. The saw blade with its inserted cutters is a novel feature of the machine and is the invention of Adam Tindel of the Tindel-Morris Company. It is character- that the essential features of it are a steel plate 1% inches thick by 70 inches in diameter, milled half way through alternately on each side with the undercut rec- Fig. 2.—A Nearer View of the Tindel Saw at Work. tangular slots A. They are raked backward 20 degrees from a radial line, C. At the inner ends the slots are milled deeper into the plate so that when the cutters, slightly thicker than the depth of the slot, are bedded and driven home they have an outward inclination at the cutting end of 1 degree beyond the saw plate. This tenet ee CENT RTE | 466 _ THE IRON AGE gives clearance to the cutters, allowing the saw blade to run entirely clear of the work without any surface friction. All power reaching the saw blade is therefore expended in cutting alone. The slots as thus milled retain the cutters without any keeper or fastener. The cutters are forgings of high speed steel ground bevel on the edges to fit the slots into which they are driven. The direction of the pressure in cutting being inward there is no tendency of the cutters to draw or loosen. The dimensions of the slots and cut- ters as well as the angles of their insertion are shown in detail in Fig. 3. At the ends the cutters are ground to an angle of 66 degrees with their longest dimension. It is found that this is an effective angle for a clean parting cut, that does not weaken the cutting edges for the severest work. The cutters project only 1% inches beyond the plate, which is sufficient to avoid spring or vibration. The total diameter of the saw with the cut- ters inserted is 73 inches. With this machine and saw blade armor plate 4% inches thick, previously hardened, is cut at a feed of 9 inches per hour. Unhardened nickel steel plate 5 inches thick was handled at a feed of 40 inches per hour. In one case a 4inch plate was sawed at the rate of 49 inches per hour. By doubling up and sawing two plates piled so as to make a thickness of 8% inches an average feed of 14 to 19 inches per hour is cial 73 DIA. OUTSIDE OF CUTTERS BLADE 70 DIA. August 24, 1905 Tne Lake Superior-Colorado Ore Deal. DuLuTH, MiInn., August 18, 1905.—The 100,000 tons of Hibbing, Mesaba range, iron ore that is now being shipped to the Minnequa furnaces of the Colorado Fuel & Iron Company is paying a freight of $4.50 a gross ton. This ore is hauled over the Great Northern road from the Stevenson mine to Sioux City, the Chicago & North- western to Omaha, the Burliagton & Missouri Valley to Denver and the Denver & Rio Grande to Minnequa, a total distance of 1273 miles. The ore costs at mine $2.15, f.0.b., which is the Cleveland charge less the com- bined lake and rail rate from the Mesaba range to Lake Erie ports, and there is therefore no concession in price by the mining company. The rate of $4.50 a ton is an especially low charge for the distance hauled, prorated over four roads, and figures out at 3.1 mills per net ton-mile. It is not probable that any Western roads ever made a combined rate for so low a figure. With this rate the iron ore going into a ton of steel rails, for instance, will cost the maker, if he uses this ore alone, almost $13.25 a ton. Of course it is prob- able that this rich Bessemer ore is used in the furnaces to aid in carrying leaner ores that cost the furnaces much less per unit. But even if all Mesaba is used the cost of steel ingots should not be too high, considering the fact mong! : TVE IRON AGE ~ . Fig. 3.—Details of the Tindel-Morris Saw Blade. obtained. The following are a few day to day records of the performance of this machine: Material, 4%4-inch plate; peripheral speed of saw, 12 feet per minute: feed per revolution, 3-16 inch; rate of cutting, 9 inches per ‘hour. Material, 414-inch plate; peripheral speed of saw, 15 feet per minute; feed per. revolution, 5-16-inch; feed per minute, 3-10 inch; rate of cutting, 18 inches per hour. Material, 74-inch plate; peripheral speed of saw. 12 feet per minute; feed per revolution, 3-16 inch; feed per minute, 3-20 inch; rate of cutting, 9 inches per hour. Material, 5-inch nickel steel plate; peripheral speed of saw, 40 feet per minute; feed per revolution, 5-16 inch; feed per min- ute, 2-3 inch: rate of cutting, 40 inches per hour. Material, two 414-inch plates, 5 per cent. nickel steel, 8% inches thick by 7 feet long; cut at the rate of 17 inches per hour. Material, three shields, 414 inches thick by 57 inches long; cut at the rate of 10 inches per hour. Material, 414-inch plate by 15 feet long; cut at the rate of 23 inches per hour. (The saw made a cut of 50% feet without grinding.) Material, 4-inch plate, 15 feet long; cut at the rate of 32 inches per hour. Material, two 414-inch plates. 5 per cent. nickel steel, 8% inches thick; cut at the rate of 14 inches per hour. Material, two of the same plates as above; cut at the rate of 19 inches per hour. Material, 4-inch mild plate: cut at the rate of 49 inches per hour. (Saw made cut of 45 feet without grinding.) The endurance of the high speed steel cutters, which were made by the Midvale Company, is shown by the fact that as much as 50 feet length of cut has been taken without regrinding them. that they will originate in Colorado, for conversion into rails at a very profitable figure, so far as the Colorado Fuel & Iron Company is concerned. The remarkable thing about this contract is in the rail rate made on the ore. This cre is being hauled in 50- ton steel cars, good for almost no other class of freight, and it will probably tie up 400 or 500 of them continu- ously. The Great Northern is the only road engaged in the traffic that has the cars to use, and it would seem to an outsider that these could earn a bigger return if en- gaged in the Lake Superior trade exclusively or in that from Butte to smelters and concentrators at Anaconda, Great Falls and Basin. It is understood among iron ore men that the latest underground properties of the Colorado Fuel & Iron Com- pany, near Sunrise, Wyo., now being extensively de- veloped, will in the course of the coming year provide a source of supply that will obviate the need of Eastern ores. Some figuring is now going on in connection with the rich ores of Madera County, Cal., which are located about 1400 miles from Minnequa, and it is possible that these may be hauled to the Colorado furnaces. It is probable that the Santa Fé and Huntington interests combined will shortly have road connection to these ore deposits. D. E. W. ——_o+-o Arrangements are being made for a competitive ex- hibition in Germany in October of freight and omnibus automobiles. Foreign autos will be admitted. August 24, 1905 Railroad Statistics for the Fiscal Year 1904. From summaries which will be included in the sev- enteenth annual statistical report of the Interstate Com- merce Commission, prepared by its statistician as the complete report for the year ending June 30, 1904, the figures in this abstract are obtained. This report is in general similar to preceding reports in the series, and will constitute a volume of about 700 pages. The sev- eral tables containing details of mileage, capitalization, earnings, expenses, &¢c., by roads form the bulk of the report, though the text contains many summaries of railway statistics. Mileage. The total single track mileage in the United States on June 30, 1904, was 213,904.34 miles, having increased 5927.12 miles in the year ending on that date. This increase exceeds that of any previous year since 1890. The aggregate length of railroad mileage, including tracks of all kinds, was 297,073.34 miles, being classified as follows: Single track, 212,243.20 miles; second track, 15,824.04 miles; third track, 1467.14 miles; fourth track, 1046.50 miles, and yard track and sidings, 66,492.46 miles. Thus it appears that there was an increase of 13,251.82 miles in the aggregate length of all tracks, of which 4932.40 miles, or 37.22 per cent., were due to the extension of yard track and sidings. The number of railroad cor- porations included in the report was 2104. In the course of the year companies owning 5600.18 miles of line were reorganized, merged, consolidated, &c. For the year 1903 the corresponding item was 10,486.37 miles. Then length of mileage operated by receivers on June 80, 1904, was 1323.28 miles, showing an increase of 137.83 miles, as compared with the previous year. The number of roads in the hands of receivers was 28, and at the close of the previous year 27. Equipment, On June 30, 1904,.there were in the service of the railroads 46,743 locomotives, the increase being 2872. As classified, these locomotives were: Passenger, 11,252; freight, 27,029; switching, 7610. There were also 852 not assigned to any class. The total number of cars of all classes was 1,798,561, this total having increased 45,172 during the year. The assignment of this rolling stock was, to the passenger service, 39,752 cars; to the freight service, 1,692,194 cars; the remaining 66,615 cars being those employed directly by the railroads in their own service. Cars used by the railroads that were owned by private companies and firms are not included in this statement. Only 602 cars in passenger service were without auto- matie couplers. Of 1,692,194 cars in freight service 1,- 434,386 had train brakes and 1,674,427 automatic coup- lers. Employees. The number of persons on the pay rolls of the rail- roads was 1,296,121, or 611 per 100 miles of line. These figures, when compared with corresponding ones for the year 1903, show a decrease of 16,416 in the number of employees, or 28 per 100 miles of line. The classification includes, enginemen, 52,451; firemen, 55,004; conductors, 89,645, and other trainmen, 106,734. There were 46,262 switch tenders, crossing tenders and watchmen. The amount of wages and salaries paid to employees during the year was $817,598,810. Capttalization. The par value of the amount of railroad capital out- standing on June 30, 1904, was $13,213,124,679, which represents a capitalization of $64,265 per mile. Of this capital $6,339,899,329 existed as stock, of which $5,050,- 529,469 was common and $1,289,369,860 preferred, and the remaining part, $6,873,225,350 as funded debt, which consisted of mortgage bonds, $5,746,898,983 ; miscellane- ous obligations, $723,114,986; income bonds, $229,876,687, and equipment trust obligations, $173,334,694. Current liabilities are not included in capital. Current liabilities for the year amounted to $881,628,720, or $4288 per mile of line. Of the total capital stock outstanding $2,696,472,010, or 42.53 per cent., paid no dividends. The amount of THE IRON AGE 467 dividends declared during the year was $221,941,049, be- ing equivalent to 6.09 per cent. on dividend paying stock. For the year ending June 30, 1903, the amount of divi- dends declared was $196,728,176. The amount of funded debt (omitting equipment trust obligations) that paid no interest was $300,894,215, or 4.49 per cent. Public Service, The number of passengers reported as carried by the railroads in the year ending June 30, 1904, was 715,419,- 682, indicating an increase of 20,528,147, as compared with the year ending June 30, 1903. The number of tons of freight reported as carried (including freight received from connecting roads and other carriers) was 1,309,899,165, which exceeds the tonnage of the previous year by 5,504,842 tons. The ton mileage, or the number of tons carried 1 mile, was 174.- 522,089,577, the increase being 1,300,810,584. The num- ber of tons carried 1 mile per mile of line was 829,476. The average revenue per passenger per mile for the year mentioned was 2.006 cents, the average for the pre- ceding year being the same. The average revenue per ton per mile was 0.780 cent. The average for the pre- ceding year was 0.763 cent. The average cost of running a train 1 mile appears to have increased between 4 and 5 cents. The ratio of operating expenses to earnings, 67.79 per cent., also increased in comparison with the pre- ceding year, when it was 66.16 per cent. . Earnings ard Expenses, The gross earnings from the operation of 212,243.20 miles of line were $1,975,174,091, being $74,327,184 greater than for the previous year. The operating ex- penses were $1,338,896,253, or $81,357,401 more than in 1903. Gross earnings from operation per mile of line averaged $9306, the corresponding average for the year 1903 being $48 less. The income from operation, or the net earnings, amounted to $636,277,838, a decrease of $7,030,217. Net earnings per mile for 1904 averaged $2998; for 1903, $3133. The amount of income obtained from other sources than operation was $212,933,990. In this amount are in- cluded the following items: Income from lease of road, $109,694,361 ; dividends on stocks owned, $44,969,794; in- terest on bonds owned, $18,702,245, and miscellaneous in- come, $39,567,590.. The amount of dividends declared during the year (including $115,546, other payments from net income) was $222,056,595, leaving as the surplus from the opera- tions of the year $56,729,331, that of the previous year having been $99,227,469. Casualties, The total number of casualties to persons for the year was 94,201, of which 10,046 represented the number of persons killed and 84,155 the number injured. Casual- ties occurred among three general classes of employees, as follows: Trainmen, 2114 killed and 29,275 injured; switch tenders, crossing tenders and watchmen, 229 killed, 2070 injured; other employees, 1289 killed, 35,- 722 injured. The number of passengers killed in the course of the year 1904 was 441 and the number injured 9111. In the previous year 355 passengers were killed and 8231 injured. The total number of persons, other than employees and passengers, killed was 5973; injured, 7977. These figures include the casualties to persons classed as trespassing. —_——_2--o———___—_- The United States Transportation Company, Syracuse, N. Y., has given the American Shipbuilding Company a contract for a freight steamer to be a duplicate of the Elbert H. Gary, recently built for the Pittsburgh Steam- ship Company. Water ballast capacity of 8500 tons will be provided. There will be 34 hatches, 12 feet centers. The steamer will be 569 feet long over all, 549 feet keel, 56 feet beam and 31 feet depth of hold. The carrying ca- pacity will be 12,000 tons. The American Shipbuilding Company has also contracted to build a freight steamer 545 feet over all and 55 feet beam for the Hawgood in- terests of Cleveland. This makes 14 vessels booked by the company for delivery in 1906. Other steamers are under negotiation. a 7 1 } | 468 THE IRON AGE The Niles Extra Heavy Driving Wheel Lathe. The locomotive driving wheel chucking lathe illus- trated herewith and built by the Niles Tool Works of the Niles-Bement-Pond Company, New York, is intended for extra heavy work. It is designed to take two cuts % inch deep with a 3-16-inch feed at a speed of 20 feet per minute in steel tires, removing about 540 pounds of metal per hour, and in actual practice has done even better. In a day of ten hours it is capable of turning six pairs of driving wheel tires, which is about three times the average capacity of the best older types of machines. The manner of holding the work is one of the special points of individuality of the lathe. On each face plate, as may be seen from the engraving, are mounted four patent “sure grip” drivers. The wheels are bolted firmly against these drivers and wedges are driven in, forcing the saw teeth of the drivers directly into the outside faces of the tire rims. By this means the wheels are held absolutely rigid under the heaviest cuts and chattering is eliminated, such as is likely to result when the driving is Niles 90-Inch Driving Wheel Chucking Lathe through the spokes or the hubs of the wheels. The driving arrangement also has the effect of relieving much of the strain which was formerly imposed upon the driving shaft of the machine, as the face plates are rigidly con- nected through the work. The principal dimensions of the lathe are as follows: Distance between face plates, 6 feet 8 inches to 9 feet; swing over bed, 92 inches; diameter of face plates, 90 inches; diameters of work admitted, 60 to 84 inches; length of bed, 22 feet 8 inches; greatest width of bed, 100 inches. The bed is of very rigid box pattern, with double web box girths; the tool rests are of heavy pattern, newly designed, and have swiveling bases. The feed mechanism is conveniently controlled from the operator’s position in front of the work. It comprises a horizontal rock shaft at the front of the bed, driven from the head of the machine, which makes six vibrations to one revolution of the work, in this way dividing the feed of the tool into the work and making it more nearly continuous. The rock shaft is easily connected or disconnected from the ratchet wrenches on the cross traverse screws on the tool car- riages. August 24, 1905 The face plates are driven by internal gears and are provided with openings to admit the crank pins of the driving wheels, so that the latter may always be chucked close to the face plates. In placing wheels in the ma- chine or taking them out it is not necessary to change the position of the carriages. All that is required is the moving of the tail stock sufficiently to the rear to with- draw the crank pins from the openings in the face plates. To provide for the quick removing of the wheels an in- dependent 5 horse-power motor is furnished for traversing the tail stock. It takes only from 10 to 15 minutes to chuck a pair of wheels in the lathe ready for turning. The main drive is from a 40 horse-power Westinghouse motor having a speed variation of one to two, which, in combination with the gear changes, gives cutting speeds of a minimum on a diameter of 84 inches of 10 feet per minute and a maximum on a diameter of 48 inches of 25 feet per minute. J aiciciaaciialiiah inl csinaciacee The Scranton Bolt & Nut Company.—The Scranton Bolt & Nut Company. Scranton, Pa., which purchased Driven by a 40 Horse-Power Westinghouse Motor. the rolling mill and spike factory of the Timmes & Hecht Company, located in Keyset Valley, at West Scranton, last April, has been operating the works since the absorp- tion of the property. It expects to dismantle the mills during the month of September and reconstruct them on a site adjacent to the bolt works and have them running in October. Foundations for the new buildings are pre- pared. They will be of steel construction. One will be 122 x 200 feet and the other 50 x 150 feet. These mills when completed will consist of an 18-inch bar. mill and a 10-inch combination mill, all new and containing the latest improvements. The engines will be of the Allis type and the boilers the Hyde vertical tubular. In these new mills special attention will be given to the manu- facture of refined bar iron and also to the making of track, mine and dock spikes. By the addition of these two mills the output of the present plant will be doubled, the capacity being increased to about 40,000 tons per year, giving employment to about 600 hands. Many new features will be introduced for the handling of both raw material and the finished product. A substantial in- crease is also being made in the puddle mill capacity and output. August 24, 1905 The Backus Suction Gas Producer. Among the new gas producers brought out lately as a consequence of the growing interest in gas power is one built by the Backus Water Motor Company, Newark, N. J. The accompanying engraving shows the arrange- ment of a plant having a capacity of 75 horse-power. The general principle of the operation of the plant is identical with that now familiar to the public, but there are certain new features in the details of design on which special claims are based. Suction gas producers depend upon the inhaling ac- tion of the engine to generate the gas in only such quan- tity as is demanded and the gas generation ceases when the engine is stopped. During its operation air laden with steam is drawn through the generator, and the com- bination of the two in contact with the heated fuel in the producer liberates gas. This gas passes from the generator through a cooler, then through a scrubber, and THE IRON AGE 409 be adjusted by turning the swiveling goose neck on the overflow, and will thereafter be automatically maintained at a uniform hight. Above the water batb is a bed of coke upon which a spray of water is constantly thrown. The gas holder is in effect a reservoir and aids in mak- ing the draft through the apparatus constant instead of pulsating, as it would be if the intermittent suction of the engine communicated directly. A comparatively small gas holder is sufficient, as the scrubber acts in Some measure as a reservoir. On shutting down the plant the generator is cut off from the scrubber and opened to the atmosphere through the flue shown. Natural draft keeps the fire burning moderately until it is time to start up again. Over night the fire is maintained, and ten minutes’ blowing in the morning is enough to put the producer in operation. While the producer is idle air is excluded to prevent its mixing with the gas and forming an explosive mixture. The low pressure on the appuratus, characteristic of the fl —) A --_— ond | | —- ------ ' | | | | OF P | I WATER |TO COOLER \ oY rs " ee tetas ; | ae ee SCRUBBER ee ————; % | ee > 1 * : z : | | COOLER ; zi : = <7 ° tt (4 \ O | BLOWER GENERATOR ' Sbendie ve ak’ wb Sb ae ie ae ae chi aes eat on! at i a be as GAS HOLDER y | FLOOR UNE OVERFLOW TO SEWER Elevation Showing the Parts and Arrangement of a Backus Suction Gas Producer Equipment. finally into a gas holder from which the engine draws its supply. The generator is a cylindrical stove, lined with fire brick, into the top of which the fuel is introduced through a bell and hopper. The latter admits the fuel without letting in air and distributes the fuel evenly, making it easy to maintain a level fire and avoid the formation of holes or pockets. Anthracite pea coal is the most suita- ble fuel and may be had at fairly moderate cost. Almost any kind of coal will do, however, except soft coal high in oils and volatile matter. In passing through the cooler the gas gives up heat to the water, forming steam, which is partly taken up by the gas, enriching it by the addition of hydrogen that is freed when the vapor is decomposed, and its oxygen combines with the carbon of the coal to form carbon monoxide (CO). The excess of steam in the cooler is piped to the bottom of the producer to facilitate com- bustion. The cooler catches the hydrocarbon impurities in the gas, including tar, and these are removed as the gas passes through the scrubber. The gas is piped from the bottom of the cooler to the bottom of the scrubber, where it is purified and put into condition to be used by the engine. A water bath contained in the bottom of the scrubber catches any heavy particles of ash which may be carried over. The level of the water in this bath may suction type of producer, is conducive to the greatest safety. There is very little, if any, possibility of ex- plosions, and such precautions as are necessary are pro- vided in the way of valves and safety devices. It is interesting to know that the regulations of the Board of Fire Underwriters with regard to the use of producer gas are inclined to favor suction producers. These require that pressure systems must be located in independent buildings, while suction producers up to 250 horse-power may be placed in a separate inclosed, well ventilated room in any building where the natural light is good. While the plant is not in operation the connec- tion between the generator and scrubber must be closed and the connection between the scrubber and vent pipe open, so that the products of combustion can be carried into the open air. The opening for admitting fuel must be provided with some charging device so that no con- siderable quantity of air can be admitted while charging. SORES At the time of its convention at Atlantic City in the last week in June the American Society for Testing Materials had 677 members. Since then 45 applications for membership have been approved and there have been two losses, so that the present membership is 720. The oxecutive Committee is entering on a campaign for a membership of 1000 before the next annual convention. be og 470 THE IRON AGE The Electric Furnace in Steel Making. In a recent issue of the Engineering Supplement of the London Times, F. W. Harbord writes of the place the electric furnace may be expected to take in the British steel industry. Already one electric furnace has been operated at a Sheffield steel works, and it is reported that another Sheffield company has acquired the exclusive patent rights of the Héroult process for Great Britain. We quote from the article as follows: While on the one hand the extravagant claims urged on behalf of electric smelting—that it will revolutionize the manufacture of structural steels as at present made by the Bessemer and open hearth process—may be dismissed as nonsense, the attempts on the other hand to prove that it cannot compete with the crucible process in the manu- facture of tool steels or the open hearth furnace for many of the higher class steels intermediate between these and common structural steel may equally be disregarded. The truth lies between these two extremes, and the manufac- turer who realizes this and takes advantage of the great possibilities which the electric furnace offers to meet very many of the special steel requirements of to-day and who does so with judgment and knowlefige will, without doubt, be in a most exceptional position, not only to meet foreign competition, but to more than hold his own against his British competitors. Since the Canadian Commission visited Europe last year, rather more than a year has elapsed. During this time very considerable quantities of electric steel have been made both in Sweden and in France and have been used with most satisfactory results for all classes of tools and cutlery and for various other purposes for which the highest class crucible stee] was formerly employed, con- firming in every way the conclusions of the commission that “ steel equal in all respects to the best Sheffield cru- cible steel can be made.” Considerable quantities of this steel have been supplied to Sheffield firms who have thus been able to convince themselves of its exceptionally high quality, and it now only remains for our Sheffield people to make the stee] for themselves rather than import it. The manufacture of crucible steel for tool purposes, im- portant as it is to the country, owing to the world-wide reputation for quality which it has acquired, is, however, only one comparatively small branch of our great steel industry, and perhaps the most important question is to what extent electric smelting can be employed for the manufacture of the numerous classes of steels between this and ordinary Bessemer or open hearth steel. A Large Field for the Electric Furnace, We import annually very large quantities of Swedish Bessemer steel for tube blanks for the solid drawn tube trade, and for other purposes too numerous to mention ; again, large quantities of Swedish pig irons are imported for use in our open hearth furnaces for the manufacture of special qualities of high class steel for large forgings, axles, tires, special wire and other purposes, and in many cases steel of the required composition can only be made by using, either entirely or in part, these very high priced pig irons. Another very important branch of the steel trade is the production of dynamo steel of exceptional purity and low hysteresis, and in this direction the elec- tric furnace promises great things, as steel of the greatest purity, low in carbon and manganese, can readily be pro- duced. If we add to these the manufacture of all kinds of ordnance, armor plate, projectiles, rifle, bayonet and other high class steel, we see that without attempting to compete with Bessemer or ordinary open hearth struc- tural steel] there is an immense field open to the electric furnace. Numerous experiments have shown that electric steel is not only extremely pure, but it is also exception- ally homogeneous, and this is a most important point in the manufacture of large steel castings. When it is re- membered that for special purposes castings, sometimes of 50 to 60 tons, have to be made by mixing the contents of a number of crucibles not containing more than 1 hundredweight each, the advantages of being able to make steel equal in all respects as to quality, in quantities of 15 tons and possibly more, will readily be apparent. If steel to satisfy the exacting requirements of the August 24, 1905 highest class of tool steel can be produced, there can be no question as to the production of steel of a quality suitable for what we may term medium class steels, and it then becomes simply a question of cost, and whether the elec- tric furnace can compete in this respect with Swedish Bessemer steel, or steel made from Swedish pig iron or steel of specially selected English brands. In the electric furnace of the resistance type, which may be said to be represented by the Héroult and Keller furnaces, the highest class steel can be made from ordinary English scrap, such as rail ends, but against the saving effected in this direction has to be set the cost of the elec- tric energy required. The electric furnace, even under the best conditions, is not a cheap melter, but as a refining furnace toward the end of the operation, when a_ very high temperature is required, it is far more efficient; it therefore seems probable that the future development of the electric furnace will be in combination with some form of continuous open hearth process in which molten pig iron is first converted into what we may term “ molten scrap steel” in a gas-fired furnace and then transferred in the molten state to the electric furnace for final puri- fication. By this means the additional cost over ordinary open hearth steel would be comparatively small, the melt- ing and preliminary refining having been done in the gas- fired furnace, and the electric furnace being employed only to do the final refining at such high temperatures as those at which it alone is able to work most efficiently and economically. Héroult, Stassano aud Kjellin Furnaces, The design of the Héroult furnace, so far as_ the general construction is concerned, is particularly well adapted to work in combination with an open hearth tilting furnace, and if, instead of charging cold scrap or even molten pig iron, converted metal were charged on some such lines as suggested, a steel superior to best Swedish steel, or steel made from Swedish pig iron, should be obtained at a less cost. Given a large output so that labor costs are reduced to a minimum, the price at which such a steel could be produced would no doubt induce many manufacturers to employ it for purposes for which at present they are content to use inferior steel; and thus it would soon create a demand for high class material apart from that already existing. It is not suggested that a simple refining of ordinary steel in this way would be sufficient for the production of the highest class of tool steels. For the production of these it would no doubt be necessary to carry on the operation in the electric fur- nace in a way similar to that employed at La Praz, at a considerably greater cost as to expenditure of electric energy, time and labor; but in these cases the process is not competing with the open hearth method but with the crucible process, in which, although the output may be comparatively small, there is a much greater margin as regards cost of production, and the question of a pound or so a ton is of no great consequence. There are two other types, the induction furnace and the are furnace, which are now compcting with, the re sistance furnace for the favor of the English stee] maker. The former is represented by the Kjellin furnace, which has been at work for several years in Sweden, and the latter by the Stassano furnace, which has been at work for a considerable time in Italy. The Kjellin furnace is quite distinct both in principle and construction from the Héroult furnace, while the difference between the prin- ciple of the latter and are furnaces generally is not so clearly marked, and they merge one into the other. In general arrangement, and also as regards electrical and other details, the Stassano furnace is totally distinct from the Héroult, and it was primarily designed for the direct smelting of iron ore rather than for steel making, al- though it has been producing steel most satisfactorily for some time. From a practical engineering and wmetal- lurgical standpoint, however, there can be no doubt that. the Héroult furnace is far better designed to meet the general requirements of the steel manufacturer than either the Stassano or the Kjellin furnace. It is understood that a furnace of the latter type is already at work in Sheffield, and there can be no question sas to the quality of the steel produced, provided high class y y August 24, 1905 material, such as Walloon scrap, is used for its produc- tion. In Sweden, where a furnace is attached to works producing this high class scrap, probably this furnace is as good and may under such conditions be even better than the Héroult: but the objection to it under English conditions is its lack of adaptability both as regards the materials which can be used and any variation in design to suit the conditions of our practice. In reality it is a large melting crucible, and to get the highest class of steel it is necessary, just as in the crucible process, to charge the purest materials, as the amount of purification which takes place during the operation is practically very small. On the other hand the Héroult process can deal with ordinary English scrap or pig iron, and by the re- peated addition of suitable fluxes to form new slags the impurities can be removed so that a final product is ob- tained equal if not superior to much that is made from Swedish materials in a crucible. Superior Properties of Electric Steel, That steel made in an electric furnace should possess superior properties to steel of similar composition pro- duced either in a Swedish Bessemer converter or in an open hearth steel furnace may seem at first to be claim- ing a great deal, but such appears to be undoubtedly the fact, and this is due probably to its production in what may be regarded as a practically neutral atmosphere, under conditions in which the occlusion of gases and overoxidation are reduced to a minimum. It is frequently urged that the cost of electric energy in this country makes the production of steel in anything like quantities a commercial impossibility ; but with elec- tric energy at £10 per kilowatt year, at which price it can be produced under favorable conditions from coal, and by using the gas furnace for the melting and the electric furnace only for the final operation, the difference in cost as regards electric energy will probably be more than met by the lower price of our raw material and our proximity to markets for the sale of the finished product. When the irregularity in supply due to the change of seasons and the generally inaccessible position and remoteness from sources of supply and from markets for the sale of the finished product are taken into consideration, the much talked of cheap production of electric energy from water power will often be found to be more apparent than real. +e Drying by Fan Blowers.—The necessity of ample air and good circulation in drying is emphasized by the fol- lowing statement made at a recent meeting of the Ameri- can Society of Heating and Ventilating Engineers: “ The philosophy of drying or evaporating moisture by heating air rests upon the fact that the capacity of air for mois- ture is rapidly increased by rise in temperature. If air at 52 degrees is heated to 72 degrees its capacity for moisture is doubled and is four times what is was at 32 de- grees. For each 15 pounds of water required to be evapo- rated per hour in a drying room 1 horse-power of boil- er, 130 square feet of steam pipe and 14,000 cubic feet of air are required under good conditions.” Although 20 years ago Baldwin, in his book “Steam Heating for Buildings,” stated that “it is not profitable to dry by forcing air, as with a fan or blower, in connection with steam coils,” it is true that since then drying by fan blowers has practically superseded all other methods. —»--e——_—— The Financial Chronicle refers to one source of the recent advance in stock market values—namely, the in- crease in the country’s bank note circulation in the last five or six years. The volume of outstanding circula- tion, based on bonds, has more than doubled, the addition reaching over $255,000,000. In this same period the gold holdings of the Government have increased fully as much as the national bank notes, and of the $2,901,791,907 composing the general stock of money in the country, coined or issued, on August 1, $1,368,427,343, or not far from half of the total amount, is in gold coin or gold cer- tificates. Whatever inflation there has been going on thus far has therefore been a gold inflation rather than a paper one. THE IRON AGE 471 The New Commercial Electric Induction Motor. Since the expiration of the basic patents on induction motors, which prevented competition in this country, a number of new motors of this type have been brought out by companies which heretofore confined themselves to direct current machinery Among the latter is the Commercial Electric Company, Indianapolis, Ind., which has recently developed a constant speed induction motor, illustrated herewith. The company’s previous experience in the manufacture of direct current motors has been of use in the mechanical designing of this new machine, and its electrical features are claimed to be not of an experimental nature, inasmuch as advantage has been taken of the knowledge gained in European countries, where there has been the keenest competition. The motor is made in two classes, M. T. and H. T., for constant speed work, the selection of the class de- pending upon the nature of the work to be performed. Among the points of special advantage on which em- phasis is laid are the high power factor, large nominal break down factor, high efficiency at both heavy and light loads, low working temperatures, small idle cur- rents and high starting torques. To obtain a high power factor it is necessary that the clearance between the rotor and stator be limited and uniform. To this end New Constant Speed Induction Motor, Made by the Commercial Electric Company. the stator frame and stator head have been designed to give an equal division to this clearance, which is always maintained. It is stated to be impossible to assemble the machine so that the air gap on opposite sides of the rotor will be unequal. To reduce the wear of the rotor shaft very large bearing surfaces have been provided. The bearings are self oiling and self aligning, and are reversible to allow the machines to be inverted when it is desirable to suspend them from ceilings. Their ar- rangement is such that carelessly flooding them with oil can cause no damage to the machine. When required the bearings are made dust proof. The bearing linings are duplicate and interchangeable, so that the replacing of the bearing is simpler and less expensive than ac- curately adjusting the ordinary adjustable bearings. The shaft is of crucible steel, of large diameter and as short between bearings as it is possible to make it, consequently it is rigid and not easily sprung. The shaft is ground and the bearings are carefully polished. The rotor is forced on the shaft with hydraulic pressure. Ventilating apertures, as may be seen from the cut, are provided across the faces of the stator and rotor, so that the freest circulation of air is secured, insuring cool operation. Special attention has been given to the start- ing device, as a result of which the starting current is stated to be reduced practically to that used in a direct current motor of an equivalent capacity. The types of motors referred to are manufactured in all standard capacities from 5 to 200 horse-power. For smaller sizes the company builds a line of single phase, self starting induction motors made in capacities of 1 to 5 horse-power. The machines are made for all stand- ard voltages and frequences in both two and three phase forms for 25 or 60 cycles per second. ps eer \ } ; i . — Peer 472 THE IRON AGE The Niagara Automatic Can Seamer. There are two distinct parts in the process of manu- facturing cylindrical vessels such as powder kegs, oil cans, &c.—namely, the forming of the cylindrical body and the attaching of the two ends. A description of an automatic machine for making cans, built by the Niagara Machine & Tool Works, Buffalo, N. Y., was contained in The Iron Age February 18, 1904, and the accompanying illustration shows a new machine made by the same con- cern for simultaneously seaming both ends of the cans. This machine is also automatic, as the time during which the seaming rolls remain in action and the pres- sure exerted by them are in no way dependent on the operator. A great saving of labor and time is effected with the machine and a clean and uniform product is obtained. From the accompanying engraving the principles of the operation of the machine may be