The Iron Age 1910-03-17: Vol 85 Iss 11

+ THE IRON AGE New York, Thursday, March 17, 1910. A Notable Gas Engine Installation. given in Fig. 1, while the side view of an engine in two parts is shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The engines The Tod Gas-Driven Blowing Engines at the operate with furnace gas and furnish the blast for Carnegie Steel Company. furnaces Nos. 5 and 6. Three engines are ordinarily : in service, with one held in reserve. Each engine has a rated capacity of 40,000 cu. ft. of free air per minute, against 18 lb. blast pressure The largest gas-driven blowing engines in opera- tion in Amefica are the~four installed at the Ohio BS —, Fig. 1.—Three of the Four Gas-Driven Blowing Engines at the Ohio Works of the Carnegie Steel Company. Fig. 2.—Side View of One of the Engines at the Gas End. Works of the Carnegie Steel Company, at Youngstown, when operated at 59 rev. per min., but operate satis- Ohio, by the William Tod Company, Youngstown, factorily up to 75 rev. or above. The engines are of Ohio. A view looking down on the installation is the twin tandem type, with opposed air cylinders. March 17, 1910 Fig. 3.—The Same Engine from the Same Side but Bringing in the Air Cylinder End. Each engine has four double acting gas cylinders, 42 in. in diameter by 60 in. stroke, and two air cylinders 8o in. in diameter by 60 in. stroke. Each engine is fitted with a flywheel 24 ft. in diameter, weighing 75 tons. The length of the engine is about roo ft. and the total weight about 1000 tons. : The engines operate on the four-cycle system. The of overload, due to excessive blast pressure or other causes, the air cylinders may be unloaded to any de- sired degree, the speed of the engine remaining normal or being increased or decreased at will. -This result is accomplished by the separate control of one of the main inlet valves, which can be caused to close at any desired point in the piston stroke; until it closes, the om 2 mm ZZ 2 Fig. 4.—Detail of the Air Cylinder and Its Valve Gear. gas valve gear is of the usual Tod design. The inlet and exhaust valves are operated by a common eccentric and no cams or tripping mechanism are employed. The gear is of the constant compression, constant mix- ture type and insures a properly proportioned explosive mixture at the igniters under all loads. On account of the low heat value of the gas three igniters are pro- vided for each end of each cylinder. These igniters are operated by solenoids. < The air valve gear is of special design, as the speed required for the economical operation of the power end is much greater than is usual in steam blowing engine practice. The general arrangement of the air cylinder and gear is shown in Fig. 4, from which it will be seen that no radical departure has been made from designs which haye been applied in the steam blowing engines built by the Tod Company, although modifications have been introduced which effectually overcome the diffi- culties due to high speed. A special feature of this valve gear is the unloading device, by which in case air in the cylinder does not begin to be compressed. A graduated index shows at all times the effective dis- placement of the air pistons. This method of control is particularly valuable on gas blowing engines, asthe overload capacity of a gas Blast Fressure Fig. 5—Two Superimposed Indicator Diagrams from the Air Cylinder.—Full and Part Displacement. engine is limited within rather narrow range, while the blast pressure on the furnace may fluctuate widely. Without a device of this kind it would be necessary to make the air cylinders small enough to insure that, when operating under the poorest conditions, the gas end would have sufficient power to drive the air end ~ March 17, 1910 against the maximum blast pressure. This would mean that under normal conditions the load on the gas cylinders would be much too light for best economy. With the unloading device the. air cylinders are made as large as the gas cylinders can drive under the most favorable conditions—i. e., with the lowest normal blast pressure and the highest mean effective pressure in the gas cylinders, a condition conductive to the high- est efficiency. If for any reason it is necessary to partially unload the air cylinders, no loss either in economy or capacity results, as the gas cylinders are loaded to their economic maximum, while the air ca- pacity is made up by increased revolutions. The indicator diagram, Fig. 5, shows two over- lapping cards, one taken at practically full displace- ment and the other at part displacement. Any per- centage of displacement desired between these two cards can be obtained by simply adjusting a hand wheel without slowing down the engine or interfering with its operation in any way. The first of these engines was placed in operation in May, 1909, and the last in October, 1909, since which time three engines have furnished all of the blast for two 600-ton furnaces. —_9-- Tests of a Manganese Steel Safe. Safes are intended to protect against fire and theft. Théy differ little in ability to resist fire, but the strong- est against thieves are those of the best material and design. Manganese steel appears to be the best ma- terial. It is fairly hard and exceedingly tough, and practically impossible to machine. A diamond-pointed drill run at high speed will in time pierce a manganese steel slab, but ordinary drills make no impression on it. There is thus slim chance of introducing an explosive, and even the effect of the latter may be limited, as was shown by a test made at the works of the Ely-Norris Safe Company, Perth Amboy, N. J., on January 21, 1910, before a committee representing a Western inter- state bankers’ association. This committee selected an Fig. 1.—The Manganese Steel Safe Built by the Ely-Norris Safe Company, Perth Amboy, N, J., Before Testing. THE IRON AGE 61% Fig. 2.—Tenth Explosion of Charges of Nitro-Glycerine Without Serious Effect on the Safe. expert, who was permitted to make numerous attacks with nitroglycerine upon a finished safe ready for its purchaser. There is probably but little difference in the castings of Manard manganese steel supplied by the Pennsylvania Steel Company and it had been in- tended to use a safe that had not been painted nor com- pletely finished, but the suggestion that this might be better than the average led to the selection of a safe of the committee’s own choosing, shown in Fig. 1, weighing about two tons. Fitted with the combination mechanism and the automatic locking and unlocking device, its price is $1600. The safe proper is of the form of a flattened sphere. The door is a huge plug or bung and fits into the open- ing with a ground joint which is scarcely discernible. The bolts controlled by the combination and the auto- matic locking device are not depended upon to hold the door shut. That is accomplished by a system of interlocking lugs, the bolts serving to prevent rotation and consequent disengagement of the lugs. The safe consists of two castings, the body and the door, and an attack on the steel sphere must be made through a wall having a minimum thickness of about 3 in. or by way of the door. Stripped of fittings, the door consists of an external slab about 2% in. thick and an internal ene about 5 in. thick, connected by heavy sections of metal, the whole being one casting, except for the bolts imbedded in the door and the manganese steel spin- dles belonging to the combination device. The space between the slabs not occupied by the connecting webs is partly taken up with the apparatus of the combina- tion. The obvious line of attack is by way of the joints and the point selected on the present occasion was on the line between door and body a little to the right of the top. Here an oblong cavity was made with a ham- mer and chisel and % oz. of nitroglycerine exploded in it. The joint apparently was not sprung at all. Upon exploding a second charge of 1 oz. a very slight widening of the joint, 0.002 in. possibly, on each side of the indentation was observed. The hammer and chisel were again used and a third charge, also 1 oz., exploded. The wedge-like indentation made by the 612 chisel had a maximum width of about 3-16 in. before this explosion. The crack on the side of the broad part of the wedge was widened, being now about 0.004 in. and extended for perhaps 3 in. on this side. Charges of 1, 1% and 1% oz. were next exploded in succession, the crack on the blunt side of the wedge increasing to approximately 0.008, 0.015 and 0.027 in. in width. The opening that had now been made extended for perhaps 5 in., with possibly some reduction in its width for part of the distance. Apparently, the way into the explosion chamber back of the front plate was now open, for after firing the seventh charge, consisting of 2 oz., the protrusion of the front plate was observed to be general and not local. The connecting lugs, holding the front and back plates together, had, no doubt, stretched somewhat and permanently. Charges of 3, 4 and 5 oz. were exploded successively and the door then protruded considerably, but not evenly. For some reason the top and one side protruded much less than the bottom and the other side, but the maximum protrusion was only about 3-16 in. Fig. 2 shows the safe at the time of this last explosion. Four charges of 7 oz. each were now ex- ploded in succession, and the maximum protrusion in- creased to about % in. A final charge of 8 oz. was now discharged, but with practically no increase in the dis- placement. In the last nine attacks, in which the nitro- glycerine seemed to have been advantageously placed, a. total of 50 oz. was cénsumed. Even if it were possible to blow the front plate completely off, as has been done, the inner slab of solid manganese steel, 5 in. thick, would still remain, held in its tapered hole by the interlocking lugs. To dis- engage these, the door must be rotated and the bolts of the automatic time device would prevent this. —_———__~>--e The Scullin-Gallagher Iron & Steel Company. In connection with an offering of a portion of the $600,000 first mortgage 5%4 per cent. bonds of the Scullin-Gallagher Iron & Steel Company, St. Louis, a statement of President Harry Scullin dated February 9, 1910, is published. The plant is spoken of as the largest individual steel casting plant in the world. Mr. Scullin says: “The capital stock has just been in- creased from $750,000 to $1,500,000, the increase being paid for in cash, which, together with the proceeds derived from the sale of $600,000 bonds will be used to take up the floating debt and to furnish sufficient addi- tional working capital to carry on our steadily increas- ing business. It is not our intention to issue any addi- tional bonds, so that in all probability the $900,000 bonds of this issue held in escrow may never be sold. The company’s properties occupy 80 acres, located between the Missouri, Pacific Railway and the St. Louis & San Francisco Railroad, about 5 miles from the heart of the city. The buildings, all modern, steel and brick, cover an area of 275,000 sq. ft. A fully equipped pat- tern shop has just been added. The power house equipment is most modern and more than sufficient for the production of all electricity and compressed air needed. The net profits for the five years prior to January I, 1910, were $541,102, or an average net earn- ing of $108,220 per year, which is equal to three times the interest on these $600,000 of bonds. This period includes 1908 and 1909, two most unfavorable years. By the introduction of labor-saving machinery, the ca- pacity of the plant has been so largely increased that I consider it more than conservative to estimate that our earnings during the next five years will show an in- crease of 100 per cent., which will make our annual net earnings over six times the interest on these bonds.” +e The exports of steel rails from Belgium in 1909 were I11,429 metric tons, against 118,852 tons in 1908 and 153,694 in 1907. The largest amount to one coun- try last year was 24,342 tons to Brazil, against about 25,000 Ib. to Brazil in 1908. THE IRON * AGE March 17, 1910 The Trans-Andine Railroad Completed. Valparaiso and Buenos Aires Linked Together. BY THADDEUS S. DAYTON. Valparaiso, the commercial center of the copper and nitrate interests of Chile, is a seaport whose com- merce approaches that of San Francisco in importance. On the other side of the continent, within the same geographic parallels, is Buenos Aires, the metropolis of Argentina and the largest city in South America. Between them rises the giant wall of the Andes, which hitherto has effectually separated the two countries and the two coasts from a free interchange of their land-borne commerce. In Argentina there are vast plains rich in cattle, corn and wheat. In Chile are in- exhaustable deposits of nitrate of soda and an incal- culable amount of copper and other mineral treasures. A great new railroad, the first transcontinental high- way of steel in the southern hemisphere, has now joined these two cities on the Atlantic and Pacific oceans for the first time. From Ocean to Ocean in 29 Hours, Until the completion of this line—the Trans-Andine Railroad—Valparaiso and Buenos Aires were a week apart overland and from Io days to a fortnight distant by water via the Straits of Magellan. When the Trans- Andine is formally opened for traffic, which was to be March 15, passengers can cross the South American continent between these two important seaports in 29 © hours, and for the first time a quick and free inter- change of the products of Chile and Argentina will be possible. The Trans-Andine Railroad is a pigmy compared with the great transcontinental systems of the United States. It is but 880 miles in length from coast to coast, but its completion means the beginning of an era of unprecedented development for the lower half of the South American continent. Not only that, but it will also have a great influence in the commercial im- pulse it will give to the countries that lie north of Chile and Argentina. It should be remembered that Chile is more important commercially to-day than was the Pacific slope of the United States before the completion of the first of the North American transcontinental railroads. At first the principal freight traffic westbound will by cattle and wheat. from Argentina to Chile, but the opening of this quick route overland will also cause a tremendous expansion of the trade between all the agricultural countries on the east coast of South America and the long, narrow, arid strip between the Andes and the sea on the west side of the continent. Each region has natural resources that the other does not possess, and it is from the interchange of these that the Trans-Andine Railroad will derive a large and steadily increasing share of its freight traffic. The great wheat farmers of the pampas of Angen- tina, for example, will take a tremendous and steadily increasing tonnage of Chilean nitrates. They are an essential in fertilizing and building up the soil. The large agriculturists of Argentina are progressive and scientific in their methods. Though their lands are still naturally rich and productive, they have found that the nitrates not only make them more so but conserve their fertility. Nitrates and the other products of Chile therefore will move east and across the Andes in ex- change for cattle and foodstuffs. How the BRalilroad Will Stimulate Trade, Except for “time freight” from Europe bound for Chile and Australia, the tonnage of the new line will be, for the first few years at least, largely made up of South American products. In this respect alone, how- ever, a tremendous amount of traffic will be created, as March 17, 1910 is always the case with the opening of any important line of communication. The development of the vast region that is tributary to this transcontinental railroad will mean that machinery of all sorts will be needed. New agricultural, mining and industrial interests will spring up and flourish. All of these will have to be supplied with manufactured iron and steel products from America or Europe. The statistics of five years hence doubtless will show a business expansion in that part of South America such as has never been known before. Even now new railroads are being planned. One of these projects is to build another transconti- nental railroad several hundred miles to the northward of the Trans-Andine, crossing the mountains by a pass that has been discovered recently. Surveyors are lay- ing out the route now. While the Trans-Andine Railroad will be of in- estimable benefit to Chile and Argentina in promoting their intercontinental and domestic commerce, still greater benefits will accrue to both countries as regards their international relations. The inhabitants of both come from the same Spanish stock and speak the same language. They are somewhat like New Englanders and Canadians in their business relations. The Chileans, by the way, are called the Yankees of South America. The Trans-Andine Railroad will shorten the dis- tance between western Europe and Australia by about 1000 miles and effect a saving of about nine days in its connection with Europe, and the journey from Chile to the Eastern ports of the United States will be ma- terially shortened. Rivers Hitherto Supreme as Highways of Commerce, While the completion of the Trans-Andine Railroad is especially memorable because it is the first line that has conquered the hitherto impassable Andes, it also marks a step hardly less important in the breaking away of South America from the dominion of the rivers that as commercial highways have been supreme for centuries. The Oronoco River on the north, navi- gable for 1000 miles; the Amazon and its many branches in northern Brazil, comprising 15,000 miles of streams available for commerce; the San Francisco River in central Brazil, the Parana-Paraguay system on the south, the Magdalena River in Colombia, the Rio Negro in southern Argentina and the River Plate— these are the great streams that have made up an un- rivaled though detached chain of waterways. In the earlier stages of civilization and development these rivers fulfilled their mission. Under modern conditions, it is needless to say, they have become inadequate. Until to-day, except in Argentina, the railroads of South America have been comparatively short, discon- nected lines that have been inconsiderable factors in transportation, except locally. Plans are already afoot, however, and are likely to be consummated soon, whereby the roads of Argentina will be connected with those of Uraguay and southern Brazil. Before the completion of the Trans-Andine Rail- road, passengers had to make a long and toilsome jour- ney by stage or by muleback over the Cumbre Pass be- tween the Chilean and the Argentine end of track. This took 6 to 12 hours, and, if the weather was bad, even longer. During four or five months of the year the deep snows on the summit of the Cordilleras blocked the pass entirely and travelers between the two countries had to go by ship “ around the Horn.” Dramatic Chapters in the History of the Road, There have been many dramatic chapters in the story of this Trans-Andine Railroad. It had its be- ginning in the plan on paper of one William Wheel- wright, back in 1860, and its ending in the systematic and businesslike financing and construction work during the past seven years by the great commercial and bank- ing houses of W. R. Grace & Co. and J. S. Morgan & Co. of London and New York. All the world said it was impracticable until these great financial interests THE IRON. AGE 613 took it up. They did not indulge in fantastic theories, but with millions at their command secured the best engineering talent obtainable and pushed the work for- ward with all speed year after year. While the heavy mountain section was 160 miles long, the difficulties that had appeared insurmountable were crowded into one little stretch of 13 miles high up at the top of the Cordilleras. In these 13 miles are 15 tunnels, many of them short, but one—under the Cumbre Pass—is 2 miles long. A few of the tunnels are straight, a few are curved and a few are almost as crooked as a corkscrew, but all of them were driven through solid rock. The principal problems were on the Chilean side, where the Andes tower highest and most precipitously. During the winter the snow lies from 10 to 60 ft. deep in these high altitudes, and hardly a foot of the line would be safe from disaster when the snows began to melt. It was comparatively easy to build a railroad along the steeps, but the question was how to guard it after it was constructed and how to keep it from being destroyed by the avalanches. For that reason the un- usual amount of tunneling was necessary and the ir- regular line of the tunnels was caused by the broken contour of the mountains. The last long tunnel runs directly under the boun- dary of Chile and Argentina, 3000 ft. below the surface. Exactly above it stands the great statue of the “ Christ of the Andes,” the monument that was erected at the summit of the pass as an emblem of perpetual peace between Chile and Argentina. If a line could be dropped through the earth from the base of the statue it would strike the center of the tunnel. Nowhere else in the world is there such an imposing religious and commemorative monument as this, among the perpetual snows of the Andes. It is of bronze and of great size. The figure is wrapped in flowing robes and bears a tall cross. It stands on a massive pedestal of granite, through whose center passes the boundary line between the two countries. Travelers across the pass go within sight of it. Now that the line is finished, the pass will be abandoned entirely, and no one, except explorers or curious travelers, will see this historic monument in its mountain solitude. —_——¢+o——__—— Copper Production and Stocks. The official statement for February of the Copper Producers’ Association, issued March 10, shows an in- crease March 1 in the stock of marketable copper in the United States of 8,724,653 Ib., as compared with the stock February 1. The statement is as follows: Pounds. Stock of marketah'e copper of all kinds on hand at all points in the United States February 1....... 98,463,339 Production of marketable copper in the United States from all foreign and domestic sources during Feb- ROIs 06a iss CORKS Onan oda Heb bE da hea eeReE aaee 112,712,493 Deliveries of marketable copper during February : For domestic consumption............ 66,618,322 POG GEGOTE ok cede icedees boas vtevsuee 87,369,518 ————— 108,987,840 Stock of marketable copper of all kinds on hand at all points in the United States March 1.......... 107,187,992 The large sales of copper made in the past two weeks, being for future delivery, will probably have a favorable effect on the April statement. ——_++e—____ The First Steam Turbine Locomotive.—The new type of steam turbine electric locomotive, where a tur- bine of the impulse type is directly coupled to a direct current variable voltage dynamo, which was mentioned in The Iron Age December 30, 1909, as being in course of construction at the works of the North British Loco- motive Company, Glasgow, Scotland, has been com- pleted and tested. It is stated that these tests were very satisfactory and confirmed the theoretical claims made by its designers. sO) 3 THE Postal Reorganization. The agitation begun by the President’s suggestion that the rate of postage on periodicals be raised, to meet the current deficit in the operation of the Post Office Department, has given rise to an extensive dis- cussion in and out of Congress. The present situation seems to be most intelligently analyzed and summed up in the following paragraphs which closed a speech on the post office delivered in the House of Representa- tives February 22 by Congressman Victor Murdock of Kansas, who is a member of the Postal Committee of the House. It appears to be proved that a reorgan- ization of the Post Office Department is necessary be- fore any logical readjustment of rates shall even be proposed. “T am in favor of a reorganization of this great department. In any reorganization of the system there are many antiquated things which must be discarded, and there are many new and serviceable things which should be added to make the system fully responsive to popular needs. And that brings me to a consideration of the deficit. There have been annual recurring deficits, with a few exceptions, for nearly 70 years. Occasion- ally in postal history a Postmaster-General, striking a balance at the end of the fiscal year, on June 30, has announced that the department had a surplus. “ But outstanding accounts for the fiscal year are not in until September 30, and in the year 1882, the banner year, where a surplus was claimed, there was in fact a draft upon the general treasury of $6000. Now, the ordinary impression of a deficit is that it is caused by innovations in the system. In a sense this is true, but it is in the sense in which Sancho Panza remarked that he had observed that large rivers usually ran by large towns. The first deficit was caused by a surplus in the postal system, and from that day to this as a deficit disappears and a surplus is anticipated imme- diately something new and useful is added to the system. “ Postmaster-General McLean had a surplus of $100,000 in 1827, a tremendous sum in those days. Congress was unwilling that this should go into the general treasury. It was used in the extension of star routes. Before Congress had satisfied itself with star route extension there was a deficit of $315,000 and a scandal. In answer to the storm of public indignation, Amos Kendall took hold of the department and gave it the form it has to-day. But he made the system. so rigidly business-like for a time that he wiped out, not only the deficit, but wiped out also the postal business. Revenues remained stationary or fell off. In one year one-third of all the postmasters in the country resigned. By 1840 the express companies, then new, were distanc- ing the Government in the mail business. In that year in Boston and New York more letters were deposited and called for in the principal hotels there than in the local post offices. It was during this period that the Government, overanxious on the score of business-like economy, gave up the telegraph, a surrender the nation must always regret. “But the eventual disappearance of the deficit led _ to an innovation—cheap postage. The deficit again ap- peared, increased, and, as it began once more to decline, city delivery was added, and when it was made city free delivery the deficit again mounted, and after a period again subsided. And as it fell nearer and nearer the point of a balance and a possible surplus, a new depart- ure, in the form of 2-cent first class postage and. 1I-cent per pound for second class publications was added. Once more the deficit leaped upward. Again, after a period it declined, and again invited innovation, which came in the form of rural free delivery. Now, in the light of this history, I submit that the function of a deficit is this: A check upon innovations while it is in- creasing, an invitation to innovation and addition to the system when it is on the point of disappearing. IRON AGE March 17, 1910 “It is a frequent charge that this or that branch of the service is accountable for the deficit. The parts of the system are so interrelated that these charges are largely gratuitous guesswork. Undoubtedly the time has come when a reorganization of the service would be useful and profitable to all concerned. It has been over 70 years since a complete reorganization took place. The reorganization should include consideration of the following features, among others: “1, A new classification into bureaus of the work of the department, with a modern method of cost ac- counting. py “2. The creation of a commission of postal appeals wherein questions of admissibility to the mails and chal- lenged fraud orders could be heard and decided. “3. A new definition of the Government’s monopoly in the carriage of the mails and economic changes in the present methods of compensation for the ‘trans- portation of the mails. “4. A complete reconsideration of the rates on all classes of mail, not only as to the rate of one class by itself, but as to its relation to the rates of other classes. “5. A thorough review of the present standards of classification of mail matter. “6. The elimination of all antiquated methods which are out of harmony with the needs of the modern sys- tem, and the addition of such progressive features as will make the machinery of the present system of com- plete utility to the nation. “ All or any one of these changes must be attempted with extreme care, and Congress should not pass upon them without the opportunity of thorough research and of unhampered deliberation, with unrestricted right of separate votes on items and the privilege of amend- ment. Until such research and reorganization occur we will continue to grope, more or less, in the dark.” ———_9+e—__—_— The Improved Lambert Hoisting Engine. The Carlin Machinery & Supply Company, San- dusky and Lacock streets, N. S., Pittsburgh, has just received a repeat order for a Lambert hoisting engine from the Jones & Laughlin Steel Company, the first engine having been supplied to that concern about five years ago. The engine just ordered is a 50-hp., double cylinder, double friction drum erector’s engine, with four independent spools. The engine supplied five years ago was then a modern one of its type. Formerly all makes of engines with jaw clutch operated spools or cat heads had the pawls on spools supported by studs or pins in the stand bearings. The engine bed is now lengthened to support this stand, where formerly the stand overhung. The pawl pins for supporting the load on drums are, wherever possi- ble, supported on both ends by the engine bed frame. The dead end of the brake band is attached and ad- justable at the engine bed. More and larger studs are used in the crank and drum bearings, and an improved method of boring cylinders prevents the distortion of the cylinder when being bored. When the engine is erected on the testing floor, steam is blown through the cylinders freely before the pistons and rings are put in. The drum shafts have been greatly enlarged, as from tests on this and other makes of engines it was demon- strated that the shafts spring in the center between the drum bearings. Several orders have lately been filled for contract- ors’ and coal works use. The improvements constant- ly being made in the Lambert output extend through the shop equipment, and modern methods are notice- able everywhere. The line covers 500 sizes and styles of engines for an enormous field of operation, such as cableways, many of which are in use in the Pitts- burgh district; logging engines, shaft sinking and hoisting engines, &c. March 17, 1910 The Blevney Tube Polishing Machine. A machine for finishing brass tubing of all sizes from % to 3 in. in diameter, built by John C. Blevney, 216 High street, Newark, N. J., is shown in the accom- panying illustrations. This machine is primarily in- tended to finish round brass bedstead tubing, but tubing of a rectangular cross section or small metal punchings can also be polished by employing special types of belts. Fig. 1 shows the machine polishing %-in. bedstead tubing and Fig. 2 shows the different parts of the ma Fig. 1.- chine removed from it. The tubes are fed from left to right on rubber covered roller shafts and are polished by passing under the abrasive belt running over the two outer pulleys. Inside of this abrasive belt is a corrugated cushion leather belt running over the left and middle pul- leys. The belts are brought in contact with the tubes by dropping a platen which is built in the form of an iron frame having a series of weights which act inde- pendently of each other. The feed shafts or rods are provided with properly spaced rubber covered pulleys and are made in two sizes. One size is spaced for tubes from % to I in. in diam- eter and the other for sizes from 1% to 3 in. The abrasive belt is of car- borundum, while the corrugated cushion belt is of leather and has V-shaped ridges extending across its entire width. This belt provides a cushion and allows pockets in the abrasive belt to hold the grindings and carry them off the work without scoring the latter. The weights on the platen are sufficient to keep the belt in contact with the surface of the tubes being polished and permits the abrasive belt to follow the irregularities in the surface of the tubes. To operate the machine the tubes are placed on the THE IRON AGE The Two-Belt Tube Finishing Machine, Built by John C. Blevney, Newark, N. J., Polishing %-In. Brass Bedstead Tubing. E 615 feed rollers at the left and the table raised by means of the hand wheel and adjusting screw at the left of Fig. 1 to within about \% in. of the belts. The platen is dropped by the small lever above it, and the tubes are carried through by the friction between them and the surface of the abrasive belt. The rollers are in- clined as shown in Fig. 2, so as to revolve the tubes while they are being passed through, and so present all parts of their surface to the grinding belt. To prevent the belt from becoming worn out quickly by always grinding in the one place, the table is automatically shifted during the grinding and thus distributes the wear over a larger area. The proper belt tension is secured by the count- erweighted levers shown near the right and left pulleys which force them in or out. The machine ordinar- ily produces what is known as a velvet finish on revne (ubing, if, how- ever, it is desired to color the tubes the table is set at a slight angle to the path of the belt and a felt belt contain- ing rouge is substituted for the carborundum belt usually employed. For tubing of a rectangular cross section an endless belt is substituted for the feed rollers, and for small metal punchings an endless belt contain- ing notches into which Fig. 2.—View of Machine with Platen Removed. Extra Weights for Securing Additional Tension Are Shown at the Right. the articles may be slipped is employed to hold thent. For t-in. tubes requiring three cuts to finish, the proper rate of feed is 36 ft. per minute, and with the right grade of abrasive belt gives a capacity of 12 ft. per minute of finished tubing. One boy feeds the tubes to the machine and another removes them after they pass from under the abrasive belt. In this way quite a saving in cost and time is secured over the old method of having a man operate the grinding wheel, and fin- ished tubes appear perfectly straight and not wavy, as when polished with rag wheels. THE IRON AGE Ferrosilicon Manufacture. The Process and the Furnace Used—The Dan- gerous Grades. The dangers incident to the shipment of ferro- silicon containing high percentages of silicon have been referred to in these columns from time to time, with some account also of the appointment by the British Local Government Board of a commission of experts to investigate the subject. Several of the leading shipping companies had refused cargoes of ferrosilicon from European ports to Great Britain. The inquiry was in charge of Dr. S. Monckton Cope- man, medical inspector of the Local Government Board, and with him were associated Samuel R. Ben- nett, an inspector of factories, and Dr. H. Wilson Hake, Fig. 1.—Ferrosilicon Furnace, Drawn to Scale. A, Walls; B, C, Electrodes ; D, Tapping Hole. chemist. The fatal accidents which had resulted from the giving off of gases from casks of ferrosilicon stored in the holds of vessels led four of the manufacturers of ferrosilicon in France—the Giffre, Ugine, St. Mar- cel and Livet works—to give up making the dangerous grades, which were found to be those ranging from 30 to 40 per cent. silicon and from 47 to 65 per cent. It was found that there was no tendency on the part of the grades below 30 per cent. in silicon to disinte- grate spontaneously. In the same way the grades containing from 70 to 96 per cent. silicon, while they are more or less brittle, are not so easy to break up and to reduce to powder. Dr. Copeman in his report takes the position that the manufacture of ferrosilicon should be restricted even more than was decided by the manufacturers; he would limit it to grades containing 70 per cent. and upward and to those containing 30 per cent. and less of silicon. Until an international agreement on the matter can be obtained, he suggests that special regulations should be made by the Board of Trade in order to prevent as far as possible further accidents in transmission. The report of the British commission contains in- teresting data, some of which are given below, as to the manufacture of ferrosilicon. March 17, 1910 Materials of the Charge. Originally the charge of ferrosilicon furnaces was composed of a mixture of (1) iron pyrites or other form of iron ore; (2) siliceous material in the form of quartzite or sand; (3) carbon in the form of char- coal, coal or coke, together with (4) some lime as flux. Owing, however, to the obvious impurity (espe- cially high phosphorus and sulphur content) of earlier samples of electric furnace ferrosilicon, scrap iron and steel shavings are now preferred to iron ore, and quartzite to sand, as being less productive of obstruc- tions in the furnace. Further, the purer the material used the less slag will be formed. The addition of lime seems to have been entirely abandoned as unneces- sary. This is noteworthy, since the calcium phosphide in the ferrosilicon is one of the principal sources of poisonous gases, being decomposed in contact with water or moist air, with evolution of phosphoretted hydrogen. The materials employed at the Keller- Leleux works at Livet, France, are as follows: Iron and steel shavings, quartzite containing 94 to 96 per cent. silica; anthracite coal (averaging 7 per cent. ash, 0.013 per cent. P., 0.41 per cent. S.—no arsenic). A summary of the process of manufacture and de- tails of the construction of furnaces employed are given as below by Metallurgical and Chemical En- gineering: Furnace Construction, Resistance furnaces are used throughout for the manufacture of ferrosilicon. The furnaces which Dr. Copeman saw in operation at the different works vis- ited were, for the most part, of very similar character and size, the main differences being in the external shape—usually circular (as are all internally), but in one or two instances square in section—in the size and shape of the upper electrode and in the mechanical means adopted for raising and lowering and usually for water cooling this electrode. The furnaces at the Bozel works, one of the plants of the old ferrosilicon syndicate, are provided with two tapping holes, from which the molten ferrosilicon is run alternately, whereas in the case of the furnaces at other works one tap hole only is provided. The furnaces are built up of firebrick, sometimes lined with “a composition of _ "oO cS cook eo 000 5 ltlesessore’ lilt Lee: Fig. 2.—Keller Furnace. graphite somewhat similar to that employed in the manufacture of the electrodes,” and the exterior of the furnace is usually braced with iron “stays” or com- pletely inclosed in a circular or square iron casing made up of sections bolted together. Figs. 1 and 2 show different designs of ferrosilicon furnaces. Fig. 1 is a drawing to scale of the usual type of furnace. Fig. 2 shows the design of the Keller furnace. Except in the case of this furnace, specially designed by Keller, the second lower electrode is March 17, 1910 placed beneath the floor of the furnace, its upper sur- face being flush with the level of the furnace hearth. At the Giffre works, for instance, this lower electrode is formed in situ by ramming into an open space in the floor of the furnace a mixture formed by heating together powdered retort graphite and coal tar. The power employed in each furnace ranges from 250 or 300 hp. to as much, in some cases, as 750 or 800 hp. The type of furnace used in the Keller-Leleux works is such as to obviate the use of the furnace hearth as a conductor. Further to ensure the continu- ity of working, several electrodes are placed in paralle! in the system, any one of which is renewable without the necessity of stopping or varying the working of the furnace as a whole. Keller’s furnace, constructed on these principles, contains at least two groups of two electrodes each, the two latter being arranged in parallel, and the two groups themselves in series. These four electrodes of equal capacity project through re- fractory walls, and each electrode is provided with in- dependent mechanism by which it can be raised or lowered at will. The voltage and amperage employed (the former especially) varied somewhat widely at the different establishments inspected, ranging from 40 to 75 volts and from 10,500 to 15,000 amperes. When once charged and started the furnaces are run continuously for an average period of a couple of years, although, as stated at the Keller-Leleux works, the period may be extended to as much as four years. While running, the furnaces are tapped at in- tervals of one to two hours, the men working in shifts so that the furnaces can be attended to by night as well as by day, fresh amounts of charge being shoveled on the top of the furnace around the upper electrode as often as is rendered necessary by the melting and con- sequent shrinkage of the underlying mass. The Process of Manufacture. In practice the requisite amounts of the three in- gredients of the charge are weighed out separately, the quartz and anthracite coal having previously been reduced to small fragments of a size varying roughly from that of a filbert to that of a walnut. After weighing, the different materials are thrown together into a heap on the floor of the furnace house, where they are mixed as thoroughly as possible with a shovel. The resulting rough mixture is then thrown on to the top of the furnace, a shovelful at a time, care being taken to heap it up around the vertical electrode or electrodes, as the case may be. To receive the molten material when the furnace is tapped a shallow bed of sand is prepared, either on the floor or, as was the case at one of the manufactories visited, in an iron box on wheels, which accordingly can be removed as soon as the tappings shall have to come to an end. Usually, however, immediately the flow of white hot liquid has ceased, the surface of the resulting pool of molten alloy is skimmed to remove the layer of slag on the surface, a short, thick log of green wood fixed crosswise on the end of a long iron bar being employed for this purpose at the Keller- Leleux works. As soon as the cake or slab of ferrosilicon has solidified, it is broken up with heavy iron hammers into comparatively small pieces, which in the case of the 50 per cent. grade, at any rate, it has recently be- come the custom, at several of the works Dr. Copeman visited, to treat, while still hot, by immersing in a bath of kerosene oil or melted crude paraffin. This “ pickling ” treatment has been adopted on the assump- tion that by thus preventing contact with the air by means of a coating of oil or paraffin, it would prove possible to obviate the well-known tendency of certain samples of 50 per cent. ferrosilicon to disintegrate spontaneously, and thus, incidentally, to prevent evolu-~ tion of noxious gases, mainly phosphoretted and ar- seniuretted hydrogen. But as regards the prevention of disintegration THE IRON AGE 617 (the precise cause of which is still to seek), the kero- sene or paraffin bath treatment has not proved success- ful; while the fumes given off when ferrosilicon which has been “coated” after this fashion is subsequently heated (as seems to be considered necessary before being utilized for its specific action by addition to a bath of molten steel or iron) are most objectionable, owing to the crude material usually employed. In ad- dition, this heating of the alloy before use at iron works must obviously promote in special degree the evolution of poisonous gases, and thus prove a special source of danger to workmen. In view, therefore, of the complete futility of this process of “pickling” for the intended purpose, coupled with the fact that it may actually involve, later on, an added source of danger to workers in the iron foundries, it is desirable that the method should be abandoned. a ep Improvements of A. M. Byers & Co. Inc. A. M. Byers & Co., Inc., Pittsburgh, makers of iron pipe, and also operating puddling mills and Mattie blast furnace at Girard, Ohio, have decided to make large additions to their plants in Pittsburgh and at Girard. At Pittsburgh they will rearrange their ware- house facilities in a building 125 x 218 ft., while the following will be entirely new buildings: Pipe mill, 198 x 308 ft.; boiler house, 51 x 144 ft., and gas house, 24 x 120 ft. In addition a new 20-in. bar mill with engine, heating furnaces and an additional lap weld furnace, &c., will be contracted for. When completed it will permit making lap weld pipe to 12 in. Four Hughes gas producers are to be furnished by the Well- man-Seaver-Morgan Company, Cleveland, Ohio. Ad- ditional water tube boilers, aggregating 2500 hp., en- gines and electrical machinery for power and lighting of from 700 to 1000 kw., &c., will be required. The bar mill will be located in the space now occupied by the old plate mill, which is to be dismantled. In the lap weld department the capacity will be considerably increased, Contracts for the equipment will be award- ed within a week or two, and the new lap weld furnace is expected to be ready for operation by November 1, the other work to follow later. At the Girard plant 46 new puddling furnaces, a puddle mill and a new 26 x 66 in. plate mill, with en- gines, &c., are to be added. The plant there now has 42 puddling furnaces, so that it will more than double its puddling capacity. New boilers of about 1000 hp. of the waste heat or direct fired type and electrical equipment for operating the roller tables, shears, &c., will also be required. The McClintic-Marshall Con- struction Company, Pittsburgh, has the contract for the new buildings at Girard, which include one 80 x 450 ft. for the puddle department and one 102 x 250 ft., with a 15-ton electric traveling crane, for the plate mill. Ground will be broken about April 1, and it is ex- pected that the Girard improvements will be completed by about September 1, when about 300 men will be em- ployed there. The Girard plant furnishes the muck bar and skelp for the Pittsburgh pipe mills. It is estimated that the additions noted above will cost about $500,000 and will make A. M. Byers & Co., Inc., one of the largest producers of iron pipe, in all sizes up to 12 in. in diameter, in the country. a A complete equipment of rivet rod furnaces and rivet heating furnaces has just been installed at the Lackawanna Bridge Company’s new plant in Buffalo, N. Y., by Tate, Jones & Co., Inc., Pittsburgh, Pa. It consists of 12 portable oil burning rivet heating fur- naces of the same type furnished by this company for many bridge and structural plants, and one large oil burning rivet rod heating furnace. Absence of smoke, ease of regulation of the fires and saving in fuel cost have been accomplished by this installation. ‘ 618 THE IRON AGE March 17, 1910 COPIPRESSED AIR AND ITS USES.—III. Horizontal Excavation (Continued). The Pennsylvania Tubes, The Pennsylvania Railroad’s tunnel system consists of two tubes beneath the Hudson River to the station on Thirty-third street, near Broadway, connected by two and three-track tunnels to four tubes beneath the East River to the Long Island side. Of chief interest, so far as pneumatic construction goes, are the six river tubes. Those beneath the East River constituted perhaps the more formidable part of the undertaking. The profile, Fig. 15, shows that the line passes on a down grade beneath Bergen Hill, on the New Jersey side, to a point nearly 100 ft. below the surface of the Hudson or North River, then rises to the station, and passes by another dip and rise under the East River to its exit on Long Island. The latter is not shown on the profile, and it is to be noticed that the vertical scale is exaggerated with respect to the horizontal. The lowest depth beneath the surface of the East River falls distinctly short of 100 ft. Notwithstanding this, the East River tunnels presented the greater problem, partly because of the close approach to the bottom of depressions in the river bed and partly because of the character of the material. From the New York station to the Long Island portal is about 4% miles, and to expedite construction more than one shield at a time for each tube was driven. For this reason and to provide access for men and material, permanent vertical shafts were construct- ed both on the New York and Long Island sides. As all these shafts were to go far below the water line, four caissons suited for either open or pneumatic ex- cavation were planned. Two tubes corresponded to each. On the New York side it was unnecessary to use compressed air, the rock strata being sufficiently solid to permit both caissons to be stopped above the tunnels and the excavation continued without either compressed air or the caissons themselves. It was desirable to have not only the bottoms of all four shafts in rock, but to have a sufficient body of it along the line of the tubes to provide suitable locations for bulk- heads and air locks. On the New York side there was no difficulty in meeting these conditions, but on the Long Island side the rock surface was considerably depressed, a