The Iron Age 1907-04-04: Vol 79 Iss 14

THE Published every Vol. 79: No. 14. Reading Matter Contents Alphabetical Index to Advertisers ‘‘ C'assified List of Advertisers -" Thursday Moraing by New York, Thursday, IRON David Williams Co. 14-16 Park Place, New York. $5 OO a _ Year, including Postage. Single Copies, 15 Cents. April 4, 1907. Advertising and Subsoription Rates‘ 1114 rece FORSTER PULLEY WORKS, Cube, &. Y. The American Mfg. Co. Twines 65 Wall Street, New York Ropes and THE BRISTOL COMPANY Waterbary, Ceun., U.S.A. New York: 114 Liberty 8t. Chicago: 158 Monadnock Bldg. Bristol’s Recording Instruments For Pressure, Temperature and Electricity. Simple, Accurate, Reliable. All Ranges, Low Pri and Guar- anteed. Send for Catalog R. SAM SAMSON SPOT CORD Also Linen and | Htallan seme Sash Cord SAMSON CORDAGE WORKS, Boston, Mass. TORNBUCKLES ea Branch Office, 11 Broadway..New York. Cleveland City Forge and tron Co., - Cleveland, O. Machesney Bidg., Pittsburg ( 0 K = Sa te ape Giny.. Row Vere Bidg., New York COVER YOUR ROOF with M.F. Roofing Tin If you want your house doubly protected against fire, storm and the ravages of time. Hn. Y. DROP HAMMER MERRILL BROS, BROOKLY®, PILLING AA AVLF PP PILLING & CRANE Girard Building, Philada. See AMERICAN - SHEET & TIN PLATE COMPANY’S Ad. on Page 17. SHOT SHELLS Arrow and Nitro Club brands were carried by the thousands to the game fields last fall. Their popularity and the partiality of shooters for them is not ac- cidental. True merit in manufacture, from primer to crimp, has won such a con- fidence in the U. M C. trade-mark that it means A PREFERENCE. U. M. C. Shells give satisfaction. Carry a good stock. The Union Metallic Cartridge Co., Bridgeport, Conn. Agency, 313 Broadwny, New York City. WATER TUBE O64e Babcock @ Wilcox Co. 85 Liberty Street BOILERS See page 66 New York Hardware Dealers! You can—each and all—derive many and great BENEFITS by SPECIFYING ‘“Capewell’’ Horseshoe Nails Horseshoers find them the dest to drive. Horse Owners find them the safest to use. Hardware Dealers find them the easiest to sell. ALL THREE CLASSES find **Capewell’’ nails the MOST PROFIT- ABLE AND BEST ADAPTED TO THEIR PECULIAR NEEDS Made by The Capewell Horse Nail Co.,“"v’S:""" JENKINS ’96 SHEET PACKING Flexible enough to bend easily without cracking, soft enough to fill up any slight unevenness of surfaces, but sufficiently strong and tough to resist all pressures of steam. Has been used for years under all conditions, and has proved its merits in thousands of plants. All genuine bears the Trade Mark, and w guaranteed- JENKINS BROS., New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, London. “DMCON” Cold ROG SUG! acetic Da Wing 2 stamping celled for SEE THE AMERICAN TUBE & Sipe. COMPANY PAGE MAGNOLIA METAL. Best Anti-Friction Metal for all Machinery Bearing. & ryospumee of Bar. Horseshoers! Horse Owners! MAGNOLIA METAL CO. 113-116 Bank Street, NEW YORK. 7S Owners and Sole Manufacturers, Chicago, Fischer Bidg} Ban Francisco, Montreal and Pittsburg. We manufacture all es of Babbitt Metals at competitive prices. UR BOOKS are filled with the orders of discriminating buyers— buyers who insist on hav- ing the VERY BEST GRADE TIN PLATE and SHEET STEEL obtainable They know the Superior Quality of our product. Hammered Onen hearth Steet is what we use. FOLLANSBEE BROS. 60., PITTSBURGH AGE ae THE IRON BRASS. COPPER GERMAN |**= SILVER | “we = WIRE WIRE LOW BRASS, SHEET BRONZE, .|| SEAMLESS BRASS AND COPPER TUBING, BRAZED BRASS AND BRONZE TUBING : +: : 3 WATERBURY BRASS C0., WATERBURY, CONN. 99 John St., New York. Providence, R. I. Bridgeport Deoxidized Bronze & Metal Co. BRIDGEPORT, CONN. Phosphor and Deoxidized Bronze Composition, Yellow Brass and Alumi- num Castings, large and small /Matthiessen & Hegeler Zinc Co., LA SALLE, ILLINOIS. SMELTERS OF SPELTER 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. ALN PAE Le 195-109 So.Jefferson St.. Chicago. NAG TUOIPACmE SE UECa ACTS te RSE TIMEOUT EIT) Macken a GERMAN SILVER The Seymour Mfg. Co., - - Seymour, Conn. On Sho HENDRICKS BROTHERS PROPRIETORS OF THE Belleville Copper Rolling Mills, MANUFACTURERS OF Brazsicrs’ Bolt and Soa emia COPPER, ; THOMASTON, CONN. NICKEL ANODES BRASS, BRONZE, aad GOPPER The Plume & Atwood Mfg. Co. MANUFACTURERS OF “| Sheet and RollBrass WII R E Printers’ Brass, Jewelers’ Metal, German Silver and Gilding Metal, Copper Rivets and Burrs. - - -« Pins, Brass Butt Hinges, Jack Chain, Kerosene Burners, Lamps, Lamp Trimmings, &c. 279 Broadway, NEW YORK. Room 508 Heyworth Building, East Madi- son St., CHICAGO, ILL. Rolling Mill: Factories : WATERBURY, CONN. SCOVILL MFG. CO. MANUFACTURERS OF BRASS, GERMAN SILVER, Sheets, Rolls, Wire Rods, olts and Tubes, Brass Shells. Cups, Hinges, Buttons, Lamp Goods. Special Brass Goods to Order. FacPorres: WATERBURY, CONN. D EPOTS NEW YORK. CHICAGO. BOSTON. Henry Souther Engineering Co. Consulting ia ‘ici gists and Analysts. Complete Physical Testing Laboratory. Expert Testimony in Court and Patent Cases. Arthur T. Rutter 860 256 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. 1“ Search-Light”’ | GAS '| Bicycle Lanterns Send for Circulars and Efectrotypes. ee The BRIDGEPORT BRASS CO. BRIDGEPORT, CONN. Postal Telegraph Building, Broadway and Murray Street, NEW YORK PHOSPHOR -BRONZE GERMAN SILYER CoorPKPrERnR vv TEE} AND *RIVETS,| mporters and Dealers in Ingot Copper, Block Tin, Spelter, Lead, Antimony, etc. 49 CLIFF ST., NEW YORK. THE RIVERS'DE METAL CO. RIVERSIDE, W. J. THE IRON AGE New York, Thursday, April 4, 1907. Special Handling Appliances for the Shop. The Truck and Crane Systems of the B. F. Sturtevant Company, Hyde Park, Mass. BY H. The handling of work through the shop in a way thai shall preyent congestion at any point and at the same time keep down handling expense to a minimum is a problem which must be solved in every manufacturing establishment. Where there is work enough to warrant it, a special truck is often a money saving device. In some shops it is the rule never to pile work on the floor, but always to keep it on some wheeled truck, so that it may be readily shifted from one place to another. Of course there are always exceptions to this rule. The application of the truck system to one style manufactur- ing is well illustrated by the practice worked out at the plant of the B. F. Sturtevant Company, at Hyde Park, Mass. Some of the trucks used for special purposes in ihis shop are shown in Fig. 1—a varied collection, certain- Fig. 1.—Group of Trucks and Other Handling Appliances Used in the Works of the B. F. ly, but such a grouping tells the story of the engineer’s effort to design each truck to meet some special require- ment. It will be noticed that the ordinary standard baggage truck has a place in the system, as has also the standard coke charging barrow. The latter is found ex- ceedingly handy for transporting small scrap in the shape of punchings. In studying the handling appliances as worked out in the Sturtevant shop it may be well to start at one section and follow the work through. Handling Devices for Pipe. One of the principal lines manufactured by this com- pany is heaters, which are made up largely of pipe. For transporting the pipe from the storage sheds in the yard to the cutting off room a telpher or overhead trolley system is employed. This is equipped with an electric hoist, as shown in Fig. 2, and the hoist is equipped with a special hook carriage consisting of three parallel hooks suitable for supporting pipe. Travel along the trolley rail is effected by the workmen pulling by means of the M. LANE. chains or by pushing the pipe itself. Full lengths of pipe are passed directly to the cutting off machines, where by means of suitable stops they are cut to the proper lengths. The sections of pipe when cut are never laid on the floor, but immediately placed on special trucks, some of these being shown in Fig. 3. For the first operation the pipes are simply cut to length and stacked on the trucks. The latter are made of suck a width that they hold a given number of pieces of pipe across the body, and the stock is cut in such proportion as to fill the truck. The next operation is threading. Each piece is passed from the first truck to the threading machine and then immediately loaded on another truck. This is then run to the place where elbows are attached as required. This done, the pipe is placed on another style of trucks, shown Sturtevant Company. in Fig. 4. It is to be noted that the first style of truck handles the work in masses, while the second separates the different lengths and also to a certain extent pro- tects the threads from injury. Another advantage of the truck in Fig. 4 is that the divisions are so arranged that the workman can tell at a glance when he has completed the number of pieces required to fill a given order. The pieces necessary for one or more heaters being assembled on oue of these trucks, it is pushed to the assembling floor, where the work is put together. The Use of Large Wheels, A first principle in truck construction is to make the wheels for carrying the load of as large diameter as con- ditions will permit, since the larger the wheel the easier it will mount or pass over obstructions. A study of the trucks shown particularly in Figs. 3 and 4 will show that this principle has been followed out as far as circum- stances would permit, the small casters on the end serving merely as supports and being arranged with universal swive:. so as to allow the truck to turn in its own length. 1034 THE IRON This is an important point in truck design and one often neglected. An exception to the large wheel idea is the small tri- angular truck in the foreground of Fig. 3, carrying a keg Fig. 2.—Telpher System Equipped with Electric Hoist and Special Carrier for Pipe. of fittings. This truck will be found exceedingly handy for transporting. a keg or.small steel barrel of fittings from place to place on the erecting floor. It is supported on three casters, each fitted with a universal joint, so it can be shifted or shoved in any direction.» Such a truck is Fig. 3.—Trocks for Handling Pipe and Fittings in the Heater Department. not fitted for long distance transportation, but simply as a handy means of keeping the small parts near the erecter or fitter, and hence the use of the small wheels is not so objectionable. Another example of a truck which violates the large wheel principle is shown in Fig. 5. All engineers know AGE April 4, 1907 that for the moving of heavy parts rollers have certain de- cided advantages, as they permit of the work being shifted at a low level. When rollers are ordinarily used it is nec- essary to place a plank under the work and constantly to shift the roller forward. The truck in Fig. 5, which has been adapted from the builder’s timber truck, obviates a number of these difficulties by providing a single roller, which accompanies the piece being moved. The piece shown is the base for a heater section, and the truck shifts such pieces from the storage piles to the machines at which they are drilled and tapped. Being supported on a single roller this truck can be twisted and turned and pushed in any direction. After the heater sections have been completed and Fig..4.— Special Pipe. Truck -with \Divisfons for Separating Different Lengths and Assembling All. the*Pipe for One Job, boxed they form large, awkward pieces which are rather difficult to handle. Most of them are handled by a spécial overhead traveling crane, and: transferred to car loading jib cranes outside the building. For transporting such as go to-a distant part of the building a special two-wheel truck with wheels of Jarge diameter is used. It is shown with a section on it in Fig. 6. This truck is inexpensive in construction, and very’ efficient for the purpose for which it was designed. Trucks for Fan Materials. In the fan department a radically different set of con- ditions is met. Here the material employed in fans, hous- eee ee ened Fig. 5.—Small Single Roller Truck for Handling Heater Bases. ings, &c., is first received in the form of large plates, some of which have considerable weight. The runways in this se aaa April 4, 1907 department are largely covered with iron plates, so that small wheeled trucks can be used to advantage. For transporting sheets or plates to the various machines a small two-wheeled truck is provided, shown in use in Fig. It consists of a pair of cast iron wheels, connected Vig. 6.—Special Two-Wheeled Truck for Sections After Crating. Handling Heater with a yoke upon which the plate is supported on edge. With this device two or three men can move the largest plates required in the department. The angles, castings, &c., are transported on flat top or rack trucks, similar to those used in the pipe depart- THE IRON 1035 AGE which is a slow and dangerous operation. With a truck, however, a spider can be taken from place to place easily The design is such that the spider can be simply rolled upon the truck, one of the arms sliding over the pipe support, which acts as a fulcrum, while the man lifting on the ends of the opposite and rapidly. loads the spider by arms. For transporting finished fans, the truck in use in Fig. Special Truck for Fan Spiders. 9 has been designed. Several styles of this general type are used, two being shown in Fig. 1. One of the prin- cipal advantages of this truck is that a man can load a very heavy piece himself. If he can get the nose of the truck under the feet of a fan he can pry the feet up several inches from the floor and then drop the truck Fig. 7.—Two-Wheeled Truck for Handling Plates. ment, some of which are shown in Fig. 1. For the fin- ished product a number of special trucks have been de- signed. One of these, shown in Fig. 8, is employed in transporting fan spiders. When the truck is not used it is necessary for a man to roll the spider upon its arms, G very quickly and shove it forward a few inches. By peating this operation he can jump a large fan upon the truck in a few seconds. In this way one man can load, transport and unload such product with great ease. The truck, of course, violates the large wheel principle, but re- 1036 THE IRON AGE in this case the easy loading and the fact that the work transported is light compared with its bulk, justify the small wheels. The trucks and handling appliances thus far shown Fig. 9.—Special Type Low Wheeled Truck with Sharp Edge to Facilitate Loading. bave all been intended for handling work or finished product from one department or machine to another, or in other words, for handling the material while not being operated upon. For handling large, irregular pieces, hig. 10.—Combined Steel Truck and Work Table for Holding Pieces for Machinery Vise Mounted on End of Truck. such as angle iron frames, for drilling or special opera- tions, the truck in Fig. 10 has been designed. It will be noted that at one end is placed a vise of the swivel type. April 4, 1907 Besides being used as shown in Fig. 10, this truck would be found exceedingly handy on the erecting floor in some Cuses, Devices for Serving Machines. Much careful thought has been given to the handling of work while being operated upon, and some of the de- vices shown have proved exceedingly efficient. For sup- porting plates at the punches a small jib crane of the type shown in Fig. 11 has been developed. This con- sists of a piece of ordinary gas pipe mounted on top of the punch, and carried at the top by a suitable socket bolted to the ceiling. The jib is supported at the outer end by a diagonal tie rod. The illustration shows the construction of the trolley and the method of trussing or bracing the upright or mast. A large number of these jibs are in constant use and have given excellent satis- faction. For serving machine tools of the larger type it is important to have appliances such that a tool will at no Fig. 11.—Gas Pipe Jib Crane Mounted Over a Punch. time have to stand idle, waiting for the carrier which serves its section. In most cases the work on two or three of the larger types of tools can be so arranged that a single handling appliance will serve them, the work being brought to the floor adjacent to the tools on trucks or on cars on the industrial railway, and the fin- ished product removed in the same manner. Fig. 12 shows a traveling crane on a circular track, intended to serve three large lathes. <A sufficient amount of work can be kept piled on the. floor adjacent to the lathes to keep them in constant operation. The radial traveler is provided with a direct current electric hoist, and the outer end traversed by a mechanism operated by a hand chain. The particular device shown has proved itself efficient in this instance, but the way in which local con- ditions have to govern circumstances is well illustrated in this shop. In the background in Fig. 12 is a small jib crane made of large sized pipe, with a flat iron jib, supported by truss rods and used for serving a single machine. All interested in mechanical appliances are familiar with the ordinary means of handling work on the erect- ing fléors. In the shop under consideration many sheets and angles must be suspended in the air until they can be bolted or riveted in place. To provide for this two April 4, 1907 light cantilever cranes bracket cranes to travel under a regular 5-ton traveling crane, as in Fig. 18. Each of these cranes is provided with an electric hoist on the cantilever or transverse traveler, but the longitudinal traverse is by hand. One object in this is that the cranes being light in structure are so arranged that if they are in the way of the main traveling crane it can simply sweep them before it to one end of the shop. If some rigid means of traverse had been adopted, it might result at some time in a wreck of one of the canti lever cranes by the traveling crane. In Fig. 14 is illustrated a series of traveling cranes, mounted over lathes and with hand operated chain hoists. Each of these cranes has a longi- tudinal travel equal to the distance between the head- stocks of two lathes which are placed right and left on the opposite sides of the aisle. The transverse travel along the I-beam is, of course, sufficient to enable the trolley have been arranged as small provided Fig 12. to pass over both lathes. The work is brought down through the aisle, either back of or between the lathes, on trucks, taken up by the chain hoists and placed in the machines. The use of individual handling appliances of this kind over machine tools reduces the helper work, or old fashioned lubber lifting system, to a minimum, and greatly increases the output of the machine, as the workman never has to wait for some one to help him change work. In many cases where two or more lathes of this kind are served by one handling appliance they can be operated by the same man, especially where long cuts are required. Other Trolley Service, For passing small work into stock bins a handy de vice, shown in Fig. 15, has been provided. The lipped box, which is suspended from a trolley, can be taken to any machine, filled with work and then brought to the front of the bins on a truck. The chain hoist serves to raise the box to the front of the bin where the material is to be stored; the lip is shoved into the bin and the mate- THE IRON AGE 1037 vial dumped. This method suit is capable of elaboration to manufacture In would undoubtedly be advantageous to support the box by connecting with trunnions on the box, so that it would dump easier. Stock of the character stored in these bins is usually drawn a few time, to suit different orders. For loading finished material on trucks or wagons the various classes of some Cases it a bale sides ot the pieces at a overhead trolley shown in Fig. 16 is used. This travels out through one of the doors and serves either for un loading trucks or loading material on trucks. A general principle in arrange the handling appliances which pass from the inside to the transportation work is so to outside of the buildings that a minimum amount of cold air will be admitted when work is being carried on out of doors. This trolley fulfills this requirement very nicely on account of the small opening necessary for the trolley itself to pass through the transom portion of the door, Circular Traveler for Serving Three Lathes. and the provision of small swinging doors which auto matically after the trolley has through. For storing and handling the material in the yards proper an industrial railroad system has been installed, and for piling up bulky material, such as economizer or heater sections, foundry flasks and the like, ordinary der close passed ricks of the boom type are used. These are operated by electrically located in a suitable house. which protects them from the weather, and are controlled by a whistle signal. driven drums The boom derricks have been found very eflicient for handling certain classes of work and ar‘ much cheaper to install than a The ordinary traveling crane system. industrial railroad does not greatly from that installed in many hence does not need special attention in the turntables system vary similar plants, and this article, as and other devices have been illustrated heretofore in the technical press. cnnsticsencheillipiigiapeenietnininbat A noninflammable celluloid is said to have been pat- ented in Italy by a British ‘nventor. It is expected to be y THE IRON AGE a keen competitor of tortoise shell, the working of which has long been largely a monopoly of Naples, Italy. The invention, it is claimed, at most will merely car- bonize, and unlike celluloid it will not flow when heated, like a stream of melting sealing wax, setting fire to com- bustible substances it encounters, —_—— oe eo Central American Notes. San JUAN, CENTRAL AMERICA, March 7, 1907. News from Valparaiso and all the Chilean coast recently devastated by the earthquake shows that the people are working hard to reconstruct their dwellings, public build- wharves and custom houses. Several iron and steel structural material have arrived, and cor rugated iron is much in use, as it is in other places in the earthquake zone. Business in general seems as brisk as ever; the copper output will be greater than last year; all the mines near Chanarcillo are increasing their pro- duction, and four new plants have arrived from England rew ings, cargoes of April 4, 1907 States. Not only do we lose the sale of these goods, but it is working havoc with our reputation for first-class products. There has been considerable brawling between Hon- duras, and Salvador, over the question of limits principally, which has led to some bloodsaed. The work on the Eastern Coast Railroad has meanwhile stopped, and many interested in schemes in Nicaragua are holding off till things clear up a bit. Guatemala is trying to get back to a business basis again. A survey is being made for a railroad in the northwest section of the coffee country, and several new steel have been ordered for the Vera Paz Dis- trict. The precautions taken on the east coast will prob- ably prevent another outbreak of yellow fever this season. The Tehuantepec Railroad in Mexico is doing much to develop that region between the two oceans. Both Salina Cruz and Coatzacoalcos are getting new wharves and steel and iron buildings for the custom house. storage houses and establishments. Something is also being Nicaragua bridges business Fig. 13.—Single I-Beam Traveling Cranes Serving Two Lathes Each. and the United States. An American cyanide plant is also being put up in the same gold. silver and copper region. The gold mining industry in Tierra del Fuego and on the mainland is steadily improving, and quartz mills and other machinery have been ordered from the United States. Argentina is a the belief that much in little at odds with Brazil because of the latter favors the United States too its commercial treaties. There is a large pro- portion of Italians in Argentina, and they lean toward European products and ways. If we can afford to treat Brazilian products (coffee, sugar, &c.) in a liberal way, there is surely an immense reciprocal market open to our goods in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Bahia, Santos, Kio Grande and a number of other important places. Too much attention cannot be paid to the matter of protecting our trademarks in all these countries. Our representatives should be instructed to negotiate special treaties for this purpose. There is scarcely an article from an ax to an engine or other machine that is not partly or totally counterfeited. The worst offenders seem to be the They often go so far as trademarks we use in the United telgians and Germans. to imitate the very done to make all this section more sanitary. Much busi- ness is expected in freight from the United States, going both eastward and westward between New York, New Orleans and Galveston in the east and San Francisco, Seattle and San Diego in the west. A number of western mines are figuring on sending their products eastward over this route. C. —_———__¢-e——____— Government Rights in Swedish Iron Mines.—The agitation in Sweden over Government limitation of ex- ports of iron ore has resulted in the presentation by the Crown to the Swedish Parliament of a proposition that the State acquire an interest in three of the largest iron ore deposits in the Kingdom, situated in Lapland and now controlled by private companies. The cablegrams do not name the mines, but presumably they are the Gellivaare, the Kiirunavaara and the Luossavaare in Lapland. The plan provides for the acquisition of a one- third interest by the State in these mines for 25 years, with, the option to acquire another third after 30 years. _In return the Government permits the mines to export ore without any restrictions as to quantity. Heretofore the limitations on exports have been such that the own- ele ee April 4, 1907 ers have claimed no profit could be made, and German buyers of Swedish ores were much hampered. -_——_sa oo Electric Ship Control. That the helmsman may have direct control of the operation of the propellers of his ship an ingenious de sign has been perfected and put into service in Europe in which electric motors are utilized as the direct driving agent. The propeller shaft carries the motor, while the crank shaft carries the generator and the prime mover, which, on account of its economical features, is a Diesel engine. The two shafts are in alignment with each other, and a magnetic clutch is provided, so that when the pro- peller has been brought up to full speed it may be driven directly by the engine, thus doing away with the losses inseparable from the operation through the two electrical units. It is, of course, while the generator and motor are in operation that the helmsman has a chance to exercise direct control for maneuvering purposes. This cannot be Fig. 14.—Cantilever Bracket Traveling Cranes Used Under Large Traveling Crane. done when the clutch is in service, because the Diesel engine is irreversible and will not work well over any considerable range in speed of revolution. Direct drive is therefore utilized only for steady running. One important question in connection with such an installation has been that of applying it to large powers. The largest at present available is a four-cylinder engine of 1000 hp. By using three propellers, 3000 hp. for pro- pulsion may be obtained. It has been proposed, however, to operate the engines on the two-cycle principle, instead of the four cycle, and at the same time to make them double acting. This, it is said, would raise the power of each engine to 3000, and, by mounting two on each of three shafts, an aggregate of 18,000 hp. would be obtained. No such powers are at present contemplated for actual service, but a number of installations of about 360 hp. each have been put into commission, and the results are said to have proved very satisfactory. In some cases the arrangement above noted has been adopted, while in others the engines are placed amidships, or in some other convenient position, and the shafts actuated by THE IRON AGE 1039 the electric motors only. This scheme would lack the maximum ultimate efficiency features of the other one, but it would be preferable under certain conditions, where convenience might dictate a central location of the prime movers. 2 Among about a dozen American and Canadian cities New York stands at the head for immunity from typhoid, the figures covering a number of years. Since 1890 the as aD we Fig. 15.—Scoop Bucket for Placing Small Stock in Bins. greatest number of deaths from this disease in any one year were 22 per 100,000 population, as compared with 37 for Milwaukee, 43 for Boston, 57 for Baltimore, 64 for Detroit, 75 for Philadelphia, 89 for Washington, 90 for Toronto, 91 for Buffalo, 114 for Cleveland, and 160 for Chicago. The average for 16 years was: New York, 18; Detroit, 21; Milwaukee, 22; Boston, 28; Toronto, 29; Buffalo, 37; Baltimore, 38; Philadelphia, 44; Cleveland, 45; Chicago, 47, and Washington, 66. In all cases ex- cept Buffalo, Cleveland and Philadelphia the worst fig- Fig. 16.—Unloading Crane at Machine Shop Door for Handling Work to and from Industrial Railroad. ures occur during the first four years of the period under consideration. During the final eight years of the period Toronto (15), Detroit (16) and Milwaukee (18) showed better results than New York (19). “ ; 1040 Design of a Cast Iron Pipe Foundry. BY J. B. NAU,. In the Engineering Magazine for November, 1906, peared a design of a pipe foundry plant by James V. V. Colwell, that embodies some new features in the arrange- ment and shape of casting pits intended to reduce labor and facilitate operations. The design is very similar to one proposed by the writer several years ago in a pre- liminary sketch that accompanied a report on pipe foun- dries and which he still further developed in 1905 in a drawing submitted for a pipe foundry then contemplated. Thinking that it might prove of interest to some of the readers of The Iron Age, a drawing is herewith given illustrating the principle on which the work was laid out and the reasons that led to the adoption of such an arrangement. ap- Both Circularand Longitudinal Pits Discarded, After a visit to some of the best known American pipe foun- dries in the summer of 1904, with a view to gathering information on the best features to be eim- bodied in a new layout of a pipe foundry, the writer proposed this design in which both circular and jongitudinal pits are discarded. In this, as will be observed, he was principally guided by the de- I rr] sire to reduce labor, to utilize the room to the best advantage with- | — | shosrero out crowding and to prevent the j----}4-4-----4- ‘work in one department from in- | _SCALE ER TRANSFER TRACK F ede terfering with the operations in another one. The circular pits were abandoned unsuited to traveling cranes. The longitu- dinal ones were discarded because they require long buildings and cut up the foundry. floor, and un- less the buildings are very wide the clear room left on either side will be narrow and crowded, Be- sides, for the rapid handling of flasks, core barrels, &c., over long distances, fast and powerful trav- eling cranes are a necessity. To remedy these defects, par- alle] transverse pits of sufficient length to give ample capacity were adopted. With their use the foundry building has to be as CLEANING SHED Wr tit PTAA NSER THE IRON = TESTING MACHINE TARRING TANK oe DEPARTMENT April 4, 1907 AGE the same manner as in any other pit. The design con- templates a molding machine on each group, but, when necessary, molding by hand can be resorted to. Ample space should be left between the two branches of one group for pouring purposes and the distance be- tween two contiguous groups must be wide enough to accommodate cores and core barrels coming from or going to the coreroom adjoining the foundry. At the head of the coreroom stands the cupola depart- ment, on an upper floor or raised.foundation, with an overhead track for liquid iron in front. This track built on a bridge running the whole length of one side of the foundry and is high enough to leave a clear passage underneath for the handling of the cores between the foundry and the coreroom. With this arrangement, the liquid iron and the core services are kept entirely separate and will never interfere with each other. is tT a MACHINE 4 mk ae Eee TARRING TANK Tron | f HEATING sumace Q | R BAD PIPES TRANSFER TRACK FOR BAD PIPES DERGROUND CON EVOR TRAVELING CLEANING SHED ° ae I ® ° = z < ws os 3 CLEANING SHED MOLD oY GAS PRODUCERS FOUNDRY FOUNDRY ; DEPARTMENT ; wider, but its length can be con- siderably reduced, and with the same area covered it will no- ticed at a glance that the avail- | able space outside of the pits is in much better shape for all pur- poses than with longitudinal ones. Naturally, the bridge travel of the cranes will be considerably reduced, less time will be lost in the handling of material and, the main work being done by the lighter trolley, less power will be spent. be One Molding Machine Serves Two Transverse Pits, Later, when inspecting some of the pipe molding ma- chines and their operations, it was learned that all of them were able to mold much more than the capacity of one single pit. The consequence was that two adjoining pits were formed into one group, with a connecting branch at one end, in the middle of which was placed the molding machine, which was thus enabled to attend with the greatest ease to either branch of the corresponding group. The diagram shows a foundry with three groups of such pits in a building of from 80 ft. to 90 ft. clear span. The pits of each separate group must be made wide enough to accommodate two pouring rows of the size of pipe that it is intended to make there with enough space between the rows to handle the flasks in ORE OVEN A Sb i OTT 5, EN AND —CORE MAKING ROOM—_ tien. = Design of a Cast Iron Pipe Foundry. THE IRON AGE It should be stated here that transverse pits and over- head liquid iron tracks are not new. When in Europe a few years ago, the writer saw a number of the most modern pipe foundries, the best of which are always laid out with transverse pits for big pipes and circular pits for smaller ones. In some, both small and big pipes are made in transverse pits in buildings of generally less than 70 ft. span and in older foundries even considerably less. Overhead tracks are used in some places for tak- ing the iron from the blast furnace or cupola to the foundry. In this country, the writer understands, an overhead liquid iron track is used at the Chattanooga plant. He thinks, however, that he is the first one to propose these long transverse pits, in the shape here presented, Producer Gas for Drying Molds and Cores. The diagram also shows the use of producer gas for the drying of molds and cores, which is a practice that April 4, 1907 has been followed very successfully in Europe for many years. The flasks are shaken out in the usual way over cleaning tracks that extend sufficiently inside the foundry to receive the pipes. Under the track ends are sand pits, into which the sand is shaken out, passed through screens and then removed by conveyor to a sand mixer, from which, after having received a sufficient supply of new sand, it is taken back again by a conveyor into overhead sand hoppers, one of which is placed behind each molding machine, outside of the foundry proper, to avoid inter- ference with the traveling cranes. The molding machine is placed at the end opposite the liquid iron and core services, thus avoiding any inter- ference with the latter and affording at the same time the advantage of shortening the’ molding sand service between the shaking out pit and the feeding device of the molding machine. Each group is provided with two parallel cleaning tracks, on which the pipes run down by gravity, where they are cleaned by hand or by machine., then still further down emptied over an underground con- veyor and after having reached a transfer track, where bad pipes are sorted and good ones transferred to the only skid of the group that is provided with the necessary finishing appliances, they are heated, tarred, weighed and tested and then taken either to the shipping yard or to the machine shop. Each Group Complete in Itself, Thus each group, with its cleaning tracks and finish- ing appliances, constitutes an entity in itself, connected on the finishing ends with the two other groups by means of the transfer tracks, thereby facilitating the transfer of pipe from one to another finishing department, should necessity call for it. The distance between two contiguous groups also de- termines in a measure the distance between the two cor- responding cleaning sheds. This latter space can then be kept wide enough to be used as a very convenient storage room for flasks, &c. An overhead traveling crane, running the whole length between two sheds can attend to this service and over the upper or lower transfer tracks the flasks can be taken with the greatest ease either to the foundry proper or to the machine shop. Thus, without crowding, this space is made to serve a very useful prupose. The flasks are kept within easy reach of the pipe foundry proper and they can be handled with great facility and little trouble. It is not proposed to cover in this description the general plan of a pipe foundry, with all the different accessory departments, such as machine shop, special foundry, &c., as the loca- tion of these departments will depend largely on local conditions, railroad connections and other shipping fa- cilities. It is enough to say that the design should be so ar- ranged as to have all the raw materials come in on one side on tracks that, without interfering with each other, would deliver such materials directly to the department where they are needed and that all departments should be located toward each other in such a manner as to have the material during its transformation into finished prod- uct always go forward, without a step back, until the pipes are delivered either to the pipe yard or to the ma- chine shop before they go to the shipping yard. The ship- ping yard should be provided with traveling or other cranes to load the product on cars, or on boats when shipping by water, without interfering with the tracks of the incoming material. Wherever possible, traveling cranes should also be used for handling pig iron and coke in the cupola service, so as to reduce labor to a minimum. Minor departments and storerooms of every kind should be located in immediate proximity to where they are most needed. ————++ oe — —— The Frank Thomson Railroad Scholarships.—At a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company March 27, the offer of Anne Thomson, Frank Graham Thomson and Clark Thomson of a fund of $120,000 to establish what are to be known as the “Frank Thomson scholarships” was accepted and ap- proved. The purpose is to afford to “sons of living or deceased employees of all the lines of the railroad an THE IRON AGE og. opportunity for a technical education, so as better to enable them to qualify themselves for employment by the company.” Competitive examinations are to be held, open only to sons of Pennsylvania employees, “ corre- sponding in general to the entrance requirements of the scientific departments of the higher class universities, col- leges and technical schools.” After passing the exam- inations held by the company the winner of a scholar- ship must qualify for admission to one of the technical schools or departments approved by the company before he receives his certificate entitling him to draw upon the scholarship fund. Beginning this year two scholarships, each of which amounts to $600 a year, are to be filled, and every year two will be added. After four years two will be graduated annually, keeping a total of eight men in college all the time. ~~ o———_—_—__ How a Great Railroad Increases Its Trackage. In view of the suggestion of James J. Ilill that rail- road coustruction had fallen off in recent years figures have been compiled showing that during the year 1906 the length of lines of the Pennsylvania Railroad was increased 64.01 miles, but that 660.91 miles of new track were constructed. Energies of late have been devoted to building sidings, terminals, third and fourth tracks and relief lines to take care of the enormous quantity of freight traffic with which the company has been burdened. These facts indicate that, while recent figures made public by the Interstate Commerce Commission show a small in- crease in mileage of the railroads of the country, the actual increase in railroad facilities is very much greater. Foliowing the policy of making extensive improvements rroposed by President Cassatt the Pennsylvania Rail- road has, during the past six years, increased the length of its lines 359 miles and built 3631 miles of new track— more than 10 times as much as the increase in length of line. More than half the increase in trackage on the Penn- sylvania’s lines, or 1863 miles, is in company sidings. This does not include private sidings connecting with the company’s lines, but merely represents the improved facilities offered to the public for taking care of the rapidly increasing traffic. The remainder of the increase in trackage, representing 1409 miles, was laid to relieve congested points. For instance, relief lines have been built to divert freight from points where traffic is par ticularly heavy, third and fourth tracks have been added in several places, until to-day the Pennsylvania is a four- treck live from New York to Pittsburgh, with the excep- tion of two short stretches of three-track line in the mountain divisions. The increase in capacity of its lines, due to the addi- tions of this 1409 miles of track at congested points, can- not be calculated accurately, for the reason that a very short stretch of double or triple track may cut down enormously the operating efficiency of an entire division of four-track road. At such a contracted point freight trains will have to be held up to allow to passenger trains the right of way, and when a passenger train runs in sections, taking possible 15 or 20 min. to pass, several freights may be stalled before the tracks can be cleared for them. The policy of the railroad company has been to pro- vide enough tracks so that freight could be pushed through without stops, except those necessary for coal. To-day the slow freight trains going from Altoona to Harrisburg, a distance of 131 miles, stop only once for coal; the fast freight trains run through without any stop. While the Pennsylvania system operates to-day 10,- 977 miles of line, it has in reality 23,109 miles of track. It operates 4.88 per cent. of the total mileage of the country. but it has 7.2 per cent. of the total trackage of the country. The lines are situated in 14 States, of which the following nine contain the major part: Penn- sylvania, 4048 miles; Ohio, 1829 miles; Indiana, 1495 miles: New York, 814 miles; New Jersey, 766 miles; Illinois, 635 miles; Maryland, 548 miles; Michigan, 435 miles; Delaware, 273 miles. a ow SL OR Sa See SLOT { k ; 1042 THE IRON AGE An Important Seamless Tubing Decision. The Shelby Steel Tube Company Wins Its Patent Suit. For several years litigation has been in progress be- tween the Shelby Steel Tube Company, Pittsburgh, and the Delaware Seamless Tube Company, Auburn, Pa., and others, involving the validity of the original Stiefel piercing mill, which is the foundation principle in the manufacture of seamless steel tubing. A decision in this case has been handed down on final hearing by Judge Archbald in the Circuit Court of the United States for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, sustaining the claim of the Shelby Steel Tube Company. The decision is as follows: The Decision, ‘he patent in suit is for a mechanical device for making metal tubing. It was granted to R. C. Stiefel, De- cember 19, 1905, and title is now vested in the complain- ants by sundry mesne conveyances. This is denied by the answer and contested here, but is sufficiently established. The objection to the assignment from the patentee, that it was not proved by both the subscribing witnesses, is captions. It is elementary law that but one need be called, except where there is some special reason. (17 Cycl. Law and Pres. 435.) Still less there is in the sug- gestion that there is no proof of delivery. Not only was the assignment put on record, which is itself evidence of the delivery, but it was produced before the examiner by the complainants, showing that it is in their posses- sion and is presumed to have got there regularly. Pray what would the respondents have more? It is further said, however, that the immediate as- signment to the complainants is ineffectual, because there is no description of the patent and because it was not recorded. But the assignment, in terms, is of all the property of the company executing it, in whom title was vested at the time, specifically including also, “ the good will, patents, trademarks,” &c., which certainly was good as a conveyance between the parties, and much more as against a stranger. It has been held that a sale on execution of all the property, rights and franchises of an insolvent corporation was effective to pass title to a patent owned by it. (Hrie Wringer Mfg. Company vs. National Wringer Company, 63 Fed. 248.) And if so, why not also a voluntary conveyance, in similar terms? It is of no consequence that in this indefinite shape the assignment was not in a condition to be recorded, the only purpose of this being to protect subsequent bona fide purchasers for value. (22 Am. & Eng. Encycl. Law 2 Ed. 418.) It is somewhat strange, however, that so im- portant a matter should be left open to question, when it was So easily remedied. HISTORY OF THE ART. The standing, if not the validity, of the patent is also challenged. Turning for its determination to the earlier art, it is interesting to observe that metal tubing came into vogue with the invention of illuminating gas in 1815, in England, the discarded musket barrels thrown out by the termination of the Continental wars being utilized for that purpose. This was followed at a later stage by lapweld and buttweld tubes, which were made by heating a strip of sheet iron or steel to a proper heat and then bending it into tubular form, with overlappng edges, and welding them together on a mandrel, for the one, and by drawing the sheet through a ring or bell- shaj‘ed die and forcing together and welding the abutting edges. for the other, the strength of each depending upon the cuccess of the weld. This was the condition of things until 1885, when it was discovered by Mannesmann, a German, that tubes could be produced without seam or weld by passing a metal billet or blank between converging beveled disks er rolls, revolving in the same direction, by which it was flattened and compressed and subjected to a_ violent kneading action, which ruptured and opened up the center, and the billet in that condition, being forced forward against the point of a piercing mandrel located April 4, 1907 at the axis of the pass, was further opened and shaped between the rolls and the mandrel, a hollow seamless tube being the result. This was a notable advance, to which everything that follows must bow. But it still left something to be desired. THE CHARACTERISTIC OF THE MANNESMANN PATENTS. A great variety of devices is shown in the numerous Manuesmann patents taken out upon it, but the one char- acteristic which appears in them all is that the rolls are symmetrically placed with their axes in parallel planes and the same sized diameters always opposed. The con- sequence is that the surface of the billet, being subjected to a different speed of rotation as it advances between the converging lines of the rolls by which it is gripped, a violent spiral wresting or twisting of the particles or fiber of the metal is produced. This seems to a certain extent to have been regarded as an advantage, and patents based upon it are found. And it may, indeed, impart a certain structural strength to the ‘tube. But steel billets are cast and so are crystalline in char- acter, and the twisting opens up cracks or flaws, because of the extreme surface tersion. Superficial defects fre- quently exist, and, being aggravated in this way, an elong- ated, longitudinal seam is produced, winding around the tube and making it worthless, a material percentage of the product having to be consigned in consequence to the scrap heap. Mannesmann seems in the end to have rec- ognized that this more than offset the other advantages, and sought to overcome the twist by providing barrel shaped rolls, with larger diameter in the middle than at either end, the one being supposed to undo the effect of the other, the twist given by the converging lines of the rolls at the beginning of the operation being taken out by the diverging lines at the other end. AN IMPROVEMENT NEEDED TO OVERCOME THE TWIST. But this only made matters worse. It may have taken out the twist, but “with the knife.” The metal being first twisted one way and then twisted back, if a seam was started by the one it was only increased and aggravated by the other, doubling instead of removing the defect. It was to remedy this situation that the patent in suit was designed. The device stands