The Iron Age 1909-11-18: Vol 84 Iss 21

NOV 18 1909 THE IRON AGE Published every Thursday Morning by David Williams Co. 14-16 Park PI: ace, New York. Vol. 84: No. 212. New York, Thursday, November zé, 1909. $5 00 a_Year, including Postage Single Copies, 15 Cents. Reading Matter Contents...... page 1608 ~——"— Canalled List of Averters “202 — Remi ngton Power Advertising and Subscription Rates ‘“‘ 1615 INGOT MOLDS All Sizes ——— Capacity 250 Tons Daily | Photograph of IRON CASTINGS a hatchet 30/30 Rem REED F, BLAIR & GO,, Pitsourgh, pa, | Penetrated by ' soft point The original and only Genuine bullets from oa fem. . “STILLSON || Remington ) icunt WRENCH o° Autoloading ps Rem. oH Rifles. is manufactured by Autoloading WALWORTH MFG. CO., Beston, U.S. A. Cartridges And bears their registered Trade-Mark Used i ompan The ewe - y}.. Loads Itself’ Powerful shooter—powerful seller Send for Literature Bristol’s Recording Instruments REMINGTON ARMS COMPANY for Pressure, Temperature Ilion, N. Y. and Electricity Agency 31383 Broadway, New York THE BRISTOL CO, _Waterbury: Son" | WATER TUBE The Babcock & Wilcox Co., BOILERS See page 58 = poi ca HARDWARE DEALERS WHO FIGURE find that the Annual Profits on ‘* Capewell ”’ Horse Nails is far greater than on other brands. Cost of Handling Light: Horseshoers throughout the 0. land already know that ““Capewell” nails are the best in the world. Cleveland City Forge and tron Co.. Cleveland, 0 Dealers do not have to spend time educating them. TrURNBUCHIEES “Repeat” Orders: Buyers come back for more of the MERRILL BROS. same kind of nails. This saves Dealers time and money. The Quality Maspeth, of the nails brings ‘‘repeat’’ orders without expense to Dealers. New York, N.Y RESSENMER PIG Handle ‘‘ The Capewell’’! It’s Profitable! BESSEMER Pl TT Made by ——SSSSS====aoH— mtg. THE CAPEWELL HORSE NAIL COMPANY te Trust TR aesaenin. PILLING & GRAN Empire Bldg., New York. HARTFORD, CONN., U.S. A. The Largest Manufacturers of Horseshoe Nails in the World, TAPES OFAIN ADE IN AMERICA. ona THE ASEST IN THE WORLD IN RULECO., naw, Mich., U. a “a York London, ‘mee? Windsor, Can Jenkins Bros. Valves have the favor of engineers "because they are the easiest to keep tight Made‘of new steam meta! of best quality. Interchangeable parts. Con- tain genuine Jenkins Discs—either Hard, for steam and hct water use; or Soft, for cold water airor gas May we send you Catalog? OOM JENKINS BROS., New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago “APOLLO BEST BLOOM”’§| GALVANIZED SHEETS §|“Swedoh”’ Cold Rolled Stee a Drawing «« Stamping : THE AMERICAN TUBE & STAMPING COMPANY SEE oo made wr a in = (Water and Rail Delivery) | BRipegporr, Conn. PAGE 32 est equipped s . iin. a, MAGNOLIA rsitfx METAL The Standard Babbitt of the World We manufacture everything in the MAGNOLIA METAL CO New York: 115 Bank St. Chicago: Fisher Building, Montreal; 431 St, Nicholas St. | | world—a monumental evidence of their merit. AMERICAN SHEET AND TIN PLATE COMPANY Frick Building Pittebursh, Pa. See our ad on page 20 2 THE IRON AGE BR ASS Steep | he Plume & Atwood Mfg, Co. WIRE Manufacturers of Sheet and Roll Brass, Wire, GERMAN SHEET Rods, German Silver and Brass SILVER Goods in great variety WIRE Sales Office FOLLANSBEE BROS. CO. PITTSBURGH, PA. BRIGHT eae Deanchen Ouisuss ann Frencoee CHARCOAL Pat. Leveled Sign Brass ‘ticszrs, con. “Watery, Conn TIN PLATE No Buckles, Clean Surface, Polished or Plain STEEL STAMPS and DIES PAT. LEVELED GERMAN SILVER oanar Eeeupaned ane teted & Polished or Plain for Soda i Water and Bar Fixtures Matthews of Pittsburg ~~ Low Brass, Gilding and Bronze Metal, Sheet, Rod and Wire Manufactured Goods in Great Variety Waterbury Brass Co. WATERBURY, CONN. 1 Cliff St., New York Providence, R.I. Bridgeport Deoxidized Bronze & Metal Co. BRIDGEPORT, CONN. Phosphor and Deoxidized Henry Souther Engineering (0. Bronze HARTFORD, CONN. Composition, Yellow Brass and Alumi-| ©®aSulting Chemists, Metallurgists num Castings, large and small and Analysts. SCOVILL MFG. CO. Manufacturers of BRASS, GERMAN SILVER, Sheets, “— Wire, and ™ "SS rouiawenee LLANSBEE STEEL SHEETS BLU E Brass Shells, Cups, Hinges, Buttons, Lamp Goods, Special Brass Geode to Order. \ Sy, aS SRS x“. Factories WATERBURY, CONN. Depots: NEW YORK CHICAGO BOSTON Complete Physical Testing Laboratory. Expert Testimony in Court and Patent Cases. ArthurT. Rutter & Co, 256 Broadway NEW YORK SEAMLESS TUBE BRASS AND COPPER Small Sizes a Specialty BRAZED. TUBE || THE BRIDGEPORT BRASS CO. BRIDGEPORT, CONN. Pestal Telegraph Building, Broadway and Murray St., New York 85-87 Pearl St., Boston 17 N. 7th St., Philadetphie Manufacturers of BRASS SHEET AND TUBING THE SEYMOUR MFG. CO., Seymour, Conn. / HENDRICKS BROTHERS =|. ER | WIRE Manufacturers of Sheet, Rod, Wire and Tubing SheetandBar Copper, Copper Fire Box Plates Matthiessen & Hegeler Zinc Co. LA SALLE, ILLINOIS SMELTERS OF SPELTER AND MANUFACTURERS 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 Oard Makers’ use. Stove and Washboard Blanks ZINCS FOR LECLANCHE BATTERY ERMAN SILVER W27= In Sheet, Wire, Rods, Tubing and Blanks. Polished wide sheets, patent levelled, for soda foun- tains, bar fixtures etc. German silver for spinning. NICKEL ANODES 2245S. BRONZE, COPPER in all forms G and Staybolts, Wire and Braziers Rivets PHOSPHOR- BRONZE Importers and Dealers in GERMAN SILVER Ingot Copper, Block, Tin, Spelter, eeckemennennn Lead, Antimony, Bismuth, Nickel, etc, a ae. META 49 CLIFF STREET ° ‘ NEW YORK ™”” RIVERSIDE, N.J THE IRON AGE New York, Thursday, November 18, 1909. Chapman Electrically Operated Valves. Electrically operated valves offer many advantages as compared with the hand operated type. They can be operated from any point, often permit a simpler layout of piping, and in time of accident make it possible to shut off a valve that might otherwise be inaccessible on ac- count of fire, escape of steam, &c. The stopping and PEE UL ae eae tion for each section to be used like a fire alarm box or a police telephone station, such stations to be accessible to police officers or watchmen on duty. Manufacturing plants have opportunity for the use of electrically operated valves for such purposes as main taining between certain limits the hight, pressure or temperature of a liquid in a tank. When it is necessary to locate valves in places not easily reached they are not operated as often or as promptly as economy might re te ys \t a? eed “ee eae rx a " TOT 5 acs / TN ‘ Fig. 1.—Chapman Blectric Valve Installation for the Brooklyn, N. Y., High Pressure Fire Service. starting of large unit upon short notice is expedited by motor driven valves for the large exhaust piping, and when installed between the boilers and steam header, or the header and the engine, and between sections of the header, they enable any break in the piping to be isolated at once, or any other trouble checked, by closing switches which may be located a safe distance away from the piping. It is sometimes necessary in steam plants, be- ‘cause of limited space, to locate valves in places difficult of access, and in such cases valves worked by motors are desirable. In hydraulic power stations electrically operated valves have also been found to be of value, as frequently it is possible only by considerable special gearing, &c.. to arrange the control of hand operated valves so that it is conveniently situated for the switchboard attendant. This may be eliminated by electrical operation, and the control can be located on the switchboard if desired. An objection to hand operation of large sluice gates is that they either require several men to operate them or are geared so slow that it requires a long time for one man to perform the action. In municipal water supply systems motor driven valves can be employed with good results and are claimed to reduce operating expenses. There have been several instances where water mains have burst, causing con- siderable damage before the water could be shut off. Such emergencies may be taken care of by a system of electrically operated valves, which will disconnect the supply from any given section. It is possible to place the control of the valves under an operator at a centra! point available by telephone, or to provide a control sta- Fig. 2.—One of the New York Fire Station Valves with Horizontally Mounted Motor. a ae acme RR EARLE 1 Tete Fin HS SRS om aS em tc cr 1548 THE IRON AGE November 18, 1909 Fig. 3.—A Valve for Either Hand or Electric Operation, Showing Manner of Disengaging the Gearing. quire, and it has been found advantageous to equip them with motor drive, which eliminates difficulty of operation. An important feature of the electrical opera- tion of valves is that it dispenses with the large force of men necessary to open and close hand valves. For fire protection around mills and factories the valves can, by the use of thermostats and special circuits, be arranged to open with a given rise of temperature, or for any other purposes valves can be either opened or closed auto- matically—that is, independent of human agency—under any given conditions or at specified times, by clock con- trolled switches. Installations of electrically operated valves in both the New York and Brooklyn high pressure fire stations have been made by the Chapman Valve Mfg. Company, Indian Orchard, Mass. In Fig. 1 the motor is shown mounted vertically on valves in the Brooklyn station, and in Fig. 2, a valve in the New York station, with the motor mounted horizontally. The valves are controlled from the switchboard in both plants, as are also the motor driven centrifugal pumps, thus giving the operator per- fect control of each unit. The power of the motor is transmitted to the spindle of the valve through two in- termediate gears mounted on a rocker shaft working in an axial plane. When it is desired for any reason to operate the valve by hand the motor and gearing can be disconnected, as shown. in Fig. 3, by simply loosening the clamp on the rocker shaft, which throws the gears out of mesh. To adapt Chapman hand operated valves to motor drive requires only a change in the construction of the yoke and spindle. The method of operation does not require the use of contact devices to cut out the motor at the end of the travel of the valve. The plug is forced to its seat and the motor stops, causing the overload device on the con- troller to release and the handle to fly back to off posi- tion. This does not injure the valves or motors and in- sures the valve being full open or full closed unless it is desired to stop at some intermediate position. The rise in current above normal is not great and is limited by the high resistance of the special high torque windings. A feature of the valve is the lost motion or hammer blow device, which allows the motor to bring the gears to speed, at which point the yoke nut receives a heavy hammer blow, starting the plug from its seat. This de- vice enables the valves to be operated without the use of a large and expensive motor, which would necessarily require a considerable starting torque to start the plug from its seat by a steady pull. Various forms of controlling devices are furnished, but the hand operated drum type controllers in most cases fulfill all requirements. They are made for mount- ing on the wall or the front or back of switchboards and have asbestos lined covers and fiber barriers between seg- ments. The valve may be stopped at positions between full open and full closed by a tripping rod at the top of the controller. There are but three positions—off, open and closed—and in operating it is only necessary to throw the handle to open or closed position, as desired, and it is held there until released by the tripping coil, at the end of the travel of the valve, and is then returned to the off position by a strong centering spring. Where the valve is out of sight of the operator and it is desired to know its position, it can be equipped with contact de- vices to indicate this by lamps or other means. i -Q————— Harron, Rickard & McCone’s New Building.—Har- ron, Rickard & McCone, conducting the largest general jobbing machinery business on the Pacific Coast, have moved into their new and permanent headquarters at 139-149 Townsend street, between Second and Third streets, San Francisco, and now claim to have the finest machinery store in the country. The building is five stories, covering an area of 96 x 125 ft., thus providing 60,000 sq. ft. of floor space. A spur track runs parallel to the rear of the building, and a 25-ft. private right of way on the west side facilitates team deliveries Each floor is served with a traveling crane, thus greatly decreasing the cost of moving the heavy machinery which is handled by this firm. All the floors are well lighted and afford a splendid opportunity for a display of machinery. The office arrangement could not be improved upon, and the whole aspect of the place impresses one with an air of business. New San Francisco should certainly feel proud of the enterprise and confidence that has been shown by the re-establishment ofthis firm after the losses suffered in April, 1906. —_—_—+o—____ The Cyclops Foundry Company.—This company, which was incorporated last September with a capital stock of $100,000, has purchased the former idle plant of the Monongahela Casting Company at Monongahela, Pa., including 5 acres of ground, buildings, foundry equipment, &c., located on the Monongahela Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad. The main foundry building contains 35,000 sq. ft. of floor space, boiler room, engine room, machine shop, chipping room, cleaning room, in- spection room, coreroom and molding room, with pattern shop, storeroom, drawing room and office on the second floor. There is a detached building occupied by the pat- tern storage room, blacksmith shop, grinding room and brick core ovens. The machine shop is entirely new and is equipped with modern high speed machinery. The plant is electrically lighted and heated by a hot air system throughout. The new company intends to do a regular foundry business, making a specialty of machine molded castings of large size and weight. Its main office will be in Pittsburgh. —_-— +e. The United Engineering & Foundry Company, Pitts- burgh, has added a new department for the building of forging machinery. A number or orders have already been taken. The company’s extensive plant equipment enables it to furnish forging machinery of practically all capacities, and it is in a position to build board hammers up to 5000 Ib. and high speed hydraulic forging presses from 100 to 12,000 tons, or special designs of any ca- pacity. James A. Eden, Jr., formerly connected with the BE. W. Bliss Company, Brooklyn, N. Y., is manager of the new department. eae RCH ae Lek oes MRS, Re ise eaeh elles Baad SO NTRS WR 2 SA ORS SMA a 1 ASA Pad Ako 1 SS RMON AE LY LG IIR MI I ay November 18, 1909 THE IRON AGE 1549 Iron and Coal Development in Mexico. John Birkinbine, Philadelphia, contributes to the Pro- ceedings of the Engineers’ Club of Philadelphia a paper on the “Industrial Progress of Mexico.” It presents much valuable information on various developments in that country in the past decade. Mr. Birkinbine pre- sented before the same society ‘‘ Notes on Engineering in Mexico” in 1893. The data in the later paper were gathered in connection with trips in 1905 and 1909. The following extracts are made from the pages which deal with iron and coal, the greater part of the paper being devoted to railroad and hydro-electric development : The first Mexican journey was through sections then remote from railroads, and the one made a few months ago was distant from both roads and wagon roads, where the crude methods noticed in northern Mexico 27 years ago were found in use in the mountains of Oaxaca. Among these is the ancient Catalan forge, in which iron ore is fed to an open charcoal fire intensified by blast supplied by trompe, in which falling water entrains air. The bloom made in the fire is wrought under a helve ham- mer operated by a water wheel, and rewrought into bars or anchovies, which are marketed locally for from 3 to 5 cents, gold, per pound. Some of the charcoal blast furnaces mentioned in “Notes on Engineering in Mexico” are also active, and the delicate castings from furnaces or iron puddled with pine wood are produced in the manner therein described. In several prominent cities scrap furnaces are operated with fuel supplied by gas producers and connected with rolling mills producing merchant iron, and foundries and machine shops furnish much of the repair and some of the new work required. As a rule, these industries are inclosed to prevent pilfering, and workmen are searched upon leaving the plant. The Monterey Steel Plant, At Monterey, in the State of Nueva Leon, a modern iron and steel industry was established in 1901 by the Cia. Fundidoro de Fierro y Acero de Monterey, 8S. A. The plant consists of one blast furnace, 18 x 80 ft., one Besse- mer converter, three 35-ton open hearth furnaces, one composite mill to roll beams and shapes or rails, a mer- chant mill, spike works, foundry and machine shop and other accessories. The blast furnace is fed with iron ores obtained in northern Mexico, the mixture ranging from 57 to 62 per cent. of iron, and closely averaging 60 per cent. iron. The coke used is one-half domestic, one-half foreign, and limestone is brought from nearby quarries. The domestic coke is produced from coal mined in the State of Coa- huila, 200 miles from Monterey, and for smelting pur- poses, owing to the percentages of ash and sulphur, is mixed with cokes shipped from the United States and Europe to Tampico, and from thence 322 miles by rail- road to Monterey. Pig iron is cast in sand when not supplied as direct metal in ladle cars to the Bessemer converter (formerly a feature of the Pottstown, Pa., basic Bessemer plant), where it is partly blown, and is then carried by ladle to open hearth furnaces already charged with scrap. This duplex process accelerates the rate of conversion and augments the open hearth output. The cast ingots pass through soaking pits to the blooming and roughing mills, heating furnaces, and then to the composite trains. When visited, the mill, which has a capacity double that of the blast furnace and converting equipment, was running on an order for 20,000 tons of 85-lb. open hearth steel rails for the Mexican National railroads. The general management is by Mexicans and most of the employees are natives, but department heads and many skilled workmen are foreigners. The labor basis at the plant is $1.50, Mexican, per day, equivalent to 75 cents, gold, but the number of employees exceeds that usually found in similar works in the United States. In 1907 nearly 18,000 tons of steel ingots were produced and 30,000 tons of manufactured steel, mostly open hearth. Coal and Coke, Practically all the domestic coal produced in Mexico is mined in the State of Coahuila, near the United States boundary, where about 1,500,000 tons are obtained an- nually. In 1907 the output of the Coahulia coal fields was 1,265,719 metric tons, about one-third of which was converted into coke. Exploitations have followed the mineral for 4500 ft. on a slope, and a shaft 930 ft. deep is in use. The towns, railroads and other improvements, for which these coal deposits are responsible, have trans- formed a desert country into an industrial center, most impressive to one who first knew the coal as a mere pros- pect. The coal costs about $2, gold, per ton to mine, and, owing to the percentage of ash, washing is necessary to prepare it for coking, 20 to 25 per cent, passing away in the tailings; hence, 2 tons of coal as mined are neces- sary to produce 1 ton of coke, and this product commands about $6.50, gold per ton at the ovens. But the fuel requirements of Mexico are more than double the output of the Coahulia fields, and domestic coal and coke compete with foreign fuel at the capital and other centers of consumption on the main plateau. The railroad freight rate from the Coahulia mines to the City of Mexico, 835 miles, is $4, gold; the same amount is charged on foreign fuel carried 264 miles from Vera Cruz, but in the latter case the fuel is elevated from sea level to the capital, 7500 ft. Fuel is, therefore, an important problem, and one purpose of the recent journey was to inspect prospecting work and reconnaissances in Oaxaca, which for one and a half years have been carried on un- der the direction of my son and associate, J. L. W. Bir- kinbine. This is neither the time nor the place to discuss the details of the exposures made by the use of diamond drills and many exploratory workings in searching for coal and iron ore in the State of Oaxaca. But it may be of interest to state that three bituminous coal basins of considerable extent and large deposits of rich iron ore Lave been located, and that from one of the fields a dense eval, burning without smoke, is obtained, intimating a close approximation to anthracite. In this coal the vola- tile matter is low, but, as in all Mexican coals, the ash is high. The Coahuila coals are classed as cretaceous, while the Oaxaca coals are believed to be in the Upper Jurassic formation. As the Oaxaca coals are found at altitudes ranging from 6000 to 7000 ft. above sea level and within 300 miles of the capital, they offer opportunities for cheap transports as compared with the Coahuila coals mined at an elevation of 1500 ft. and carried over 800 miles to the City of Mexico. Reconnaissances demonstrate that, notwithstanding the mountainous character of the country, satisfactory railroad routes are obtainable which, besides bringing the Oaxaca coal into market connection, can be extended t the Pacific Coast. While the mines of Mexico have been the cause of many extravagant statements, the country is rich in min- eral, and most of the States are producers of impor- tance. In the paper which this article supplements one of Mexico’s great iron ore deposits was described, and a résumé of important mines or quarries would fill many pages of the Proceedings. In the mountainous sections of Oaxaca and Guerrero covered in the last visit the mines produce gold, silver, copper, lead, antimony and other minerals. One lead smelter visited was equipped with American impulse water wheels working under a head of water of 60 ft. and operating American rotary blowers. This smelter was supplied with water jacket and metal tuyeres, and all of this installation had been transported on the backs of animals for 75 miles. Peopled by a succession of generations, which for cen- turies have depended upon wood or charcoal made there- from as fuel, little valuable timber remains, although the Oaxaca Mountains sustain a fair growth of gnarled and stunted trees; the herds of sheep and goats preventing the development of any decided new growth. lt The La Follette Furnace, La Follette, Tenn., which has been leased by the La Follette Iron Company, is to be equipped with a Baker-Neumann rotary distribter of standard design for double skip hoists. —e~ nr naia =a EE. SK Cee snaee Se a a 1550 THE Electric Drives and Electric Control in Rolling Mills. The November Proceedings of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers continues the discussion on the various papers on electric drives, electric control and other questions relating to the employment of electric- ity in steel works, as presented at the Frontenac, N. Y., meeting of the institute, June 30, 1909.* A résumé of the oral discussion at the Frontenac meeting has already appeared in these columns (7he Iron Age, July 8, page 128). Below are given extracts from the contributions by letter: Clark 8S, Lankton, Mr. Specht says that in motor driven sheet mills the nutomatic control cannot be used to advantage, that it would do more harm than good. I wish to take the ground that a proper control for induction motors driv- ing sheet mills is a very much desired feature. The ad- vantages of control do not make themselves felt in the way it was first intended they should—that is, to smooth out the peaks. This is not practical, because, as Mr. Specht says, the fluctuating load is too quick for the automatic feature to act. The control is practical, how- ever, in that it affords a large amount of protection. A sheet mill has from 4 to 10 stands of rolls connected to the same shaft and each set of rolls is manned by a separate crew, each working independently of the other; hence the total load on the motor is made up of as many components as there are mills. Each unit requires power over and above its friction load, for but a relatively short period of the total time—that is, the actual time that iron is being passed through the rolls is short, say, one-eighth of the total time, or 3 hours out of 24. The different crews have no relation to one another, and, with several mills operating, combination loads of almost any magnitude might result. A motor of gigantic proportions would be required to meet every possible combination of peak loads which occur, although the square root of the mean square load would not require so large a motor. The advantage of a large flywheel reserve is apparent. It has been suggested that a permanent amount of external resistance be inserted in the circuit of the motor secondary in order to obtain slip enough to allow the utilization of the flywheel energy. By this method the motor would run with lessened efficiency, not only at times of heavy load, but also at times of medium and light loads, which is by far the greater part of the time. The efficiency could be improved by installing a larger motor which would allow of less slip; but, on the other hand, it would have increased capacity and greater first cost. It would not be so bad to sacrifice efficiency for a few seconds during a heavy jam, and with proper control it would be possible to hold the motor to the load until the load became excessive; then to allow the motor to give way and receive aid from the wheel. Thus the lower efficiency would be operative only occasionally and then for only a few seconds at a time. I have seen a sheet mil] successfully operated in this way and no trouble from control for some period of time. Let us give up trying to smooth out every fluctuation, but do not discard the control feature. Set the control to operate at a high load, however, and use it as a pro- tection against the unusual peak rather than to level all peaks. If the source of supply is a little larger than the capacity of the mill, these smaller fluctuations will not be troublesome, and because of their frequency with the added number of mills the resulting load approaches a continuous load. H. C. Specht. The amount of flywheel effect of an induction motor, with wound rotor particularly, is fixed mainly by the design itself, and it is very difficult to add more fiy- * The following papers read at the Frontenac meeting have appeared in The Iron Age: “ Power Requirements for Rolling High Carbon Steel of Small Section,” July 1, p. 12; “ Rolling Mill Motors.” July 8, p. 111; “ Electric-Driven Rolling Mil’s,” July 8, p. 129: “ Electric Power Problems in Steel Plants,” Sep- tember 9, p. 764: “ Electric Control for Rolling Mill Motors,” September 9, p. 778. IRON November 18, 1909 AGE wheel effect unless the additional weight is placed on a smaller radius, where it is not as effective. Further, it is not often desirable for mechanical and other reasons to put all the flywheel effect in the motor. Assuming, for instance, that a motor has to drive certain machinery, and a specific flywheel effect is desirable, also that at some later date the machinery driven by the motor is to be changed or the motor has to be used otherwise; under these circumstances the flywheel effect first placed in the rotor may be no longer the right one. Then the mo- tor would have to be changed, and in such a case it would be more desirable to make the motor a normal design in the first place without particular reference to the re- quired flywheel effect. Any additional necessary flywheel effect is then secured by coupling to a separate flywheel. A further advantage of this arrangement is that the motor is relieved of any sudden shocks. H. K. English, Mention is made of the fact that the time required to accelerate or decelerate a heavy flywheel must not be overlooked. This is especially true in plate mill work, where it is often desirable to increase the rolling speed considerably after the first heavier passes are through. As an illustration, take the example used in the paper. Should it be decided to change at the end of the ninth pass, from 52 to 104 rev. per min. for the remaining 10 or 12 passes, the 120,000,000 Ib.-ft.? flywheel would obviously be out of the question on account of the time and en- ergy required to accelerate it to 104 rev. per min. Again it is an advantage, where possible, to have in the flywheel enough stored energy to clear the rolls should the power fail, or should the motor, for any rea- son, become momentarily inoperative. Referring once more to the data sheet [as given in the paper], pass No. 9 represents some 11,700,000 ft.-lb., while a 20,000,000 lb.-ft. flywheel running 52 rev. per min. has but 9,250,000 ft.-lb. stored energy. Should the power fail just as the steel is entering for pass No. 9 the rolls would not be cleared, making it necessary to loosen the rolls, reverse the motor and back out the steel. This consideration is of more importance in a rail mill with a number of motors in a train, and large quantities of steel in differ- ent stages of completion in the mill at one time. I men- tion these two points to emphasize the fact that the choice of a flywheel for any given installation will be governed more by an all-round practical consideration of the case in hand than by any mere efficiency calcula- tions. There has just been completed a series of tests on an electrically driven rail mill which has recently been put in operation, and it has been very gratifying to see how closely the test values check the original calculations both as to power required for the several passes and as to motor performance. In view of this fact, and the successful record this mill is making, it would seem that Mr. Specht is scarcely justified in assuming that careful study has not been given these first installations. Arthur ©, Eastwood, I believe attention should be directed to the condi- tions under which controllers must operate in a steel mill. I refer to the controllers described by Mr. White and Mr. Henderson in which a separate series relay is associated with each contactor in a controller, the clo- sure of each successive contactor being governed by the current flowing through the motor, and each series relay being susceptible of individual adjustment. In steel mills I believe it is common practice when records are in view to doctor the controller relays with bolts, nuts and wrenches. In other words, under mill conditions a controller designed automatically to limit the current input of a motor may in a few seconds lose all semblance of current limit acceleration, the cutting out of the resistance being governed solely by the time element of the contractors or magnetic switches. Fur- ther the larger the number of adjustments provided, the greater the chance for maladjustment where uneducated and electrieally unskilled rollers, table men, shear men, millwrights, &c., have access to the controller, and where the adjustments are purely mechanical, consisting in weighting a plunger or tightening a spring. Even in the November 18, 1909 hands of a skillful electrician to secure accurate ad- justment of a controller having a relay on each switch a recording ammeter is almost a necessity. As to the advantage found by Mr. Henderson for the multiple relay system of acceleration—that is, the ability so to adjust the relays as to interpret the commutation curve of a motor—it is conceivable that this is an ad- vantage under some conditions but not one which is likely to appear in a steel mill. A steel mill engineer would hardly install a motor so near the limits of com- mutation that special provisions would be required to help it out, and if such a motor were inadvertently in- stalled it should be very promptly torn out and a motor installed better suited to conditions. There is another system of automatic relay accelera- tion not described by either Mr. White or Mr. Henderson, which was specifically designed to meet conditions as they exist in steel mill service, and it is extensively used in many of the largest steel works in the country. In this system only a single accelerating relay is employed. Hence there is but one adjustment; and accurate ad- justment as to maximum accelerating current can be determined by the use of an ordinary indicating ammeter. The relay has a single winding of coarse wire, controls only a single pair of contacts, and in service is ordinarily inclosed in an iron box, which can only be opened by a key in the form of a special horseshoe magnet with which only those properly qualified to make the adjust- ment are provided. This prevents tampéring with the adjustment on the part of those not properly equipped to do so. Further, the adjustment for varying the maximum accelerating current is electricak and not mechanical. Consequently an unskilled worker*who would not hesi- tate to hang a weight on the ordinary form of relay is very likely to keep hands off, since he will hesitate to tamper with electrical connections. The adjustment is obtained by varying the portion of the total motor current which passes through the wind- ing of the relay, and is accomplished by shunting the winding of the relay. The constants of the relay itself re- main fixed. It will always lift its plunger when a certain definite current flows through its winding. Assuming this current to be 50 amperes and the desired maximum motor current to be 100 amperes, the relay will be so shunted that one-half of the motor current will pass through its windings. If the desired maximum motor current be 200 amperes the shunt will be so adjusted that one- quarter of the total motor current will pass through the winding of the relay. This method of shunting the winding of the relay not only provides means for adjusting the maximum ac- celerating current in case of a given motor and control- ler, but also permits of adapting a standard relay for use with motors varying widely in capacity. In an equip- ment installed in one of the large steel works of the country, embodying some 65 automatic magnetic con- trollers for motors varying in size from 25 to 250 hp. duplicate relays were used in all of the controllers, the adjustable shunt in each instance adapting the relay to operate at the required maximum motor cur- rent, © .% * As to the Hulett unloader, which was described by Mr. Henderson as offering particular advantages for auto- matic control, the writer can speak with some authority as he designed and installed the controlling equipment for the first electrically operated Huleft unloaders in 1902 and 19038. On the first Hulett unloaders (installed at Conneaut, Ohio) the machines were driven through- out by steam and hydraulic power.. The next machines (the first three installed on the Lackawanna Steel Coim- pany docks at Buffalo, N. Y.) were driven electrically with the exception of the bucket-closing and rotating mechanisms, which were operated by means of hydraulic cylinders. This necessitated mounting on each machine a motor-driven pressure pump operating at 1000-lb. pres- sure, a motor-driven air compressor, an air-hydraulic accumulator, and an elaborate system of high pressure piping, swivels, valves, &c., which was a prolific source of troubie not only in itself, but on account of damage THE IRON AGE 1551 to electrical apparatus, which occurred through frequent leaks in the hydraulic system. Hydraulic power was selected for the operation of the bucket because of the absolute necessity of limiting the torque or pull which occurred in closing and rotat- ing the bucket. The bucket of the unloader is suspended from a structural leg some 40 ft. in length. In scraping ore from between hatches, or in case the bucket should entrain more ore than it could hold, or in case the bucket should foul a stanchion or other obstruction, obviously the torque or pull must be limited, as the bucket has a leverage of some 40 ft. on the frame of the machine, and a wreck would result if a definite maximum pull were exceeded. An electric motor with its ability to increase its torque to perhaps 10 times full-load value before stalling appeared altogether unsuited to the purpose. After experimenting with a number of other schemes a form of controller was devised by the writer which gave to the operation of a motor substantially the char- acteristics of a hydraulic cylinder. In this controller a series relay was introduced, which weighed the load, and when a given normal current was exceeded, automatical- ly cut resistance into the motor circuit, thus limiting the current, and consequently the torque, to a safe maxi- mum value. The arrangement was such that current would not be cut off from the motor when an overload occurred, but the current would be automatically limited and the current limiting resistance would be automatical- ly cut out when the load was relieved. This arrange- ment successfully displaced the hydraulic cylinder and all subsequent Hulett unloaders have been similarly equipped. The Hulett unloaders on the docks of the In- diana Steel Company at Gary are equipped in this way, and are also equipped throughout with the system of current-limit acceleration. ——-—.§-—_—_—_—— The Dodge Mfg. Company’s Branches. Service is one of the chief characteristics of the Dodge Mfg. Company, power transmission engineer and manufacturer of the Dodge line of transmission machin- ery, Mishawaka, Ind. This is largely based upon the maintenance of large stores and warehouses in many of the principal cities of the country, in connection witb expert engineering departments, which make possible im- mediate deliveries and the solution of knotty transm)s- sion problems without delay. From time to time the Dodge Company has enlarged and extended this service until it took in nine points, Boston, New York, Brooklyn, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Chicago, St. Louis and London, England. An- nouncement has just been made of the addition of Minne- apolis, Minn., and Atlanta, Ga., to the list. These two branches will serve the two-fold purpose of local stores and distributing stations for the Northwest and the Southland. The Minneapolis store is located at 202-204 Third street, South, and the warehouse is at 312 to 320 First street, North. The agency arrangement with the Minneapolis Steel & Machinery Company has been dis- continued. Burke Richards, former resident salesman at Cleveland, Ohio, has been promoted to be manager of the Minneapolis branch. The Atlanta warehouse is lo- cated at 54 Marietta street. §S. L. Dickey, resident sales- man at that place, has been appointed manager. No change has been made with any of the agency connec- tions in the South. +e The Montreal Steel Works, Ltd., Montreal, Canada, is to establish a new steel plant at Longue Pointe, the property for which has been purchased. The site ac- quired extends from the river to the tracks of the Cana- dian Northern Railroad. It is not the intention to locate all the company’s works at Longue Pointe, but the new plant is to be operated in conjunction with its works in Pointe St. Charles. In the latter place the company manufactures four or five different lines, and it is the intention to concentrate two or three of these in the Longue Pointe plant as soon as it can be completed. WE CERES ee SS a re et rer wei erie cw _ ee Ft ee amr oar ere Stee one 1552 A 16-in. Lodge & Shipley Lathe with Multiple Stops. The feature of adjustable multiple stops for the lon- gitudinal and cross feeds on the Marvel lathe, made by the Lodge & Shipley Machine Tool Company, Cincinnati, Ohio, and described in The Iron Age July 29, 1909, has now been applied to the company’s 16-in. patent head lathe. The Marvel lathe is for turning pieces of rela- tively small diameter in proportion to their length. For example, the two sizes illustrated in the earlier issue were capable of taking pieces 2% in. in diameter by 36 in. long and 4 in. in diameter by 48 in. long, respectively. Now the multiple stops are available on lathes capable of turning larger diameters. For example, the one illus- trated in Fig. 1 will take work up to 16 in. diameter. Where these stops have their important value is in the production of duplicate pieces where rapidity and ac- curacy are essential, enabling the operator after once making proper setting for the first piece, to reproduce any number of parts without stopping to caliper diameters or measure distances between shoulders. Five stops of THE IRON AGE November 18, 1909 > Fig. 3.—A Detail of the Stops for the Cross Feed of the Carriage. Fig. 1.—A 16-In. Patent Head Lodge & Shipley Lathe with Multiple Stops for the Cross and Longitudinal Feeds. each kind are regularly furnished, so that any number of diameters up to five on a single piece and the same num- ber of lengths may be quickly turned. The longitudinal stops are adjustable along the dove- tailed upper sliding surface of the stop bar, which is Fig. 2.—A Detai) of the Longitudinal Stops, Showing Their Action in Disengaging the Lead Screw. carried along the front of the lathe bed, beneath the apron. The entire bar, with stops, is shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 2 shows a detailed view of that portion of the lon- gitudinal stop mechanism beneath the headstock. The lead screw is-divided beneath the headstock and there driven through a jaw clutch, clearly shown in Fig. 2. The left half of the clutch is fixed and the right half is movable against a spring contained in the sleeve fitted over that portion of the lead screw. When the carriage feeds up to one of these length stops it moves the stop bar, disengaging the clutch at the lead screw, thus throw- ing ont the feed. As soon as the latch at the lower left hand corner of the apron is raised by the operator the spring throws the jaw clutch and the stop bar back to their original positions, thus re-engaging the feed. The longitudinal feed then remains in until thrown out by the next stop. Two special features of these longitudinal stops are that the stops are so arranged that they can be set tel- escoping when required, so that even the shortest shoul- der lengths can be obtained, and that these stops do not depend for their accuracy upon the tripping of a clutch. After the length feed is thrown out automatically the operator by about 0.003 in. hand movement of the car- riage brings the stop bar up against an absolute stop, shown just below the jaw clutch, so that different lengths are duplicated easily. The diameter stops are best shown in Fig. 3. They are carried in T-slots milled in the rotating bar, which November 18, 1909 is parallel with the bridge of the carriage. Each stop can be set to any desired position in its slot, and the entire bar is easily rotated by the star knob at the front of the apron, thus bringing the different stops suc- cessively into position, where they will be engaged by the lug on the cross slide, as the tool is fed up to the eut. —————_- U. S, Piling in Bridge Building. St. Louis River Viaduct—Interstate Transfer Railway Company, Minnesota. There is now under construction across the St. Louis River, near New Duluth, Minn., a steel viaduct and drawbridge which will be an important link in cénnec- ting the tracks of two terminal systems. The combined trackage when completed will form the most complete THE IRON AGE 1553 of steel in the draw span will be about 1072 tons. The approaches consist of 14 70-ft. plate girder spans, alter- nating with 30-ft. plate girder spans, forming towers, there being altogether 13 of the latter. The end spans at both abutments are 90-ft. plate girders. The foundations will consist of concrete piers sup- ported on piles. In the construction of the easterly pier of the draw span, now complete, the Carnegie Steel Com- pany’s United States steel sheet piling, in units 12 in. wide, weighing 40 lb. to the square foot, and in lengths of 40 ft., was used, a quantity of about 110 tons being required. <A single wall of piling was driven, reliance being placed upon the water tight qualities of the inter- lock instead of using the customary bank of puddle or berm around the exterior of the cofferdam, the current of the river being so great that it was doubtful whether any material could have been retained for this purpose without recourse to an external wall of sheeting. At the outset this method of construction was criticised by East Pier of the St. Louis River Viaduct for the Interstate Transfer Railway Company near New Duluth, Before Removing the Forms and Cofferdam. The Latter Is of 12-In. 40-Lb. U. S. Steel Sheet Piling. and perfect terminal and transfer line which could be laid out at the head of the Great Lakes. The new line runs from Adolph, Minn., on the Duluth, Missabe & Northern Railway, a short distance north of Duluth, around to the St. Louis River, crossing the same near New Duluth, and thence across Wisconsin to Allouez Bay, on the shore of Lake Superior, crossing and connecting with every railroad line which runs into both Duluth and Superior except the Duluth & Iron Range Railroad. The plans contemplate a double-deck steel structure with a total length of 1889 ft. between abutments. This will carry the two railroad tracks of the Interstate Transfer Railway Company on the upper deck, with sidewalks for pedestrians, and two street car tracks with roadways on the lower deck. The base of rail of the railroad tracks on the upper deck is approximately 53 ft. above low water in the river and the ground on the west side of the river is only about 1 ft. above low water, being a marsh practically level with the surface of the river at ordinary stages of water. The main span, the center of which is 340 ft. from the east abutment, is a pivoted drawbridge 300 ft. long, of the parallel chord Warren truss type with intermediate bottom chord sus- penders, the upper and lower railroad tracks being in close relation to the top and bottom chords. The weight various contractors and engineers who regarded it as likely to be a failure, nevertheless the work was carried out along the original lines contemplated with entire satisfaction and success. Preliminary work on the pier was done during the winter of 1908; the river was then 26 ft. 3 in. deep at the site of the foundation, which is in the edge of the main channel. For driving the steel piling a cast iron driving hood was procured to fit the leads of the pile driver, shaped to fit the piling on the underside, and hav- ing a recess on top for a wooden striking block or cush- ion. Strips of fir 36 ft. long, sawed 14% x 1% in., were provided for driving with the steel piling in the interlock- ing groove so as to form an absolutely water tight joint after some hours’ immersion in the water had caused the wood to swell, but these strips were found to be some- what too large, 14 x % in. being preferable. The di- mensions of the pier are 19% ft. wide by 44 ft. long to the beginning of the nose; the nose itself is 9% ft. long. The piling was started at the nose, and the closure was made on the point of the latter with a right angle piece. The driving had been so carefully done that this last piece entered and was driven with perfect ease. Previous to the driving of the sheet piling the bearing piles for the foundation had been driven inside the area inclosed by He nn a 1554 the cofferdam, and it was attempted to put in the top set of braces, lower the water by pumping for the next set of braces and so work down to the bottom. This plan failed, as a 10-in. centrifugal pump was unable to lower the water sufficiently fast, and the services of a diver were then utilized to cut off the bearing ‘les at the ground level. After this was accomplished the various sets of bracing were built up in order from the bottom up, being framed at the river surface and sunk in suc- cession by the weight of those above. At this time the cofferdam was still leaking very badly, and two sleigh loads of horse manure were therefore dumped in the river outside the dam. Within an hour after this mate- rial was placed the water inside the cofferdam was 12 ft. down from the surface of the river and the pump was shut down for the dinner hour. On resuming work after dinner it was found that the water had raised about 2 in. It was completely pumped out in the afternoon, and from that time on it was only necessary to run the pump for a few moments at a time. The centrifugal pump was dis- carded and a 4-in. Emerson vacuum pump substituted. After the footing of the pier was in place and the forms set up, it was found desirable to use the pump only about once a day. On reaching the bottom of the cofferdam, the discovery was made that a great deal of the water which had caused trouble had been coming in underneath the sheet piling, through a pocket of gravel at the nose of the pier; the balance of the area exposed consisted of red clay with a little quicksand in one corner, but this gave no trouble, as the manure appeared to have been drawn in sufficiently to stop the leak. The steel walls were almost perfectly dry. It is expected that the same sheet piling will be pulled and used again for the west pier of the drawspan; also for the central pivot pier and for 60 small piers, consti- tuting the foundations