The Iron Age 1912-06-20: Vol 89 Iss 25

THE IRON Established 1855 New York, June 20, 1912 Vol. 89: No. 25 Records of Motor Truck Transportation Comparison with Horse Drawn Vehicles for Exacting Service— What Questions to Consider in Weighing a BY ROLLIN W. The rapid progress of the motor truck industry and the present reliability of service provided by motor-driven vehicles are shown in their wide application to general contractors’ needs which are likely to be more varied and more exacting than the shipping and transportation prob- lems of the industrial establishment. Some typical cases of the capabilities of the motor truck to perform unusual and trying work will therefore be of interest. One of these is the use of motor trucks for removing muck and tunnel rock from a shaft of the Catskill aqueduct work in New York. The Pitts- burg Contracting Company is build- ing that part of the tunnel lying between 176th street and 206th street, and is using motor trucks to remove material from the lower shaft to the dump- ing ground at 120th street and the Hudson River. Two 6%-ton Sau- rer trucks are used. The dis- tance from the farthest shaft to the dumping gruund is about 2 miles. Every ef- fort is made to keep the truck in constant motion. To effect this the loading of the truck is done at the shaft mouth from chutes as shown*in one of the illustrations. The truck carrying a 4 yd. skip bucket is driven under these chutes and the material is loaded directly from bins into the skip. The trucks are equipped with special plat- form bodies désigned to hold the buckets rigid. It” is proposed to attach to each truck a trailer carrying a simi- lar skip so that the total load for each trip will be approxi- mately 13 tons. It is expected that by having the buckets suspended over the chutes leading from the bins they may be loaded while the truck is making a trip an@®a great deal Of ‘time saved in this way Phe skips age removed at the dumping ground by a derrick boom. Each truck makes an average of 12 trips per day carry- ing 42 cu. yd. when operating without a trailer. It is estimated that 300 working days in the year is the maxi- 5-Ton Truck Used for Hauling A oreeties ecm Motor HUTCHINSON, Ashes and Delivering Elevators 1505 Truck Proposition yR., M. E. mum that a truck may be expected to operate. This allows time for overhauling and holidays. Figuring the cost of hauling this material according to table I where the motor truck is operated without trailer, the cost per cubic yard is approximately 29 cents against 80 cents where horse equipment is used. The interest on this case is figured on the full investment and no depreciation is charged against the truck. Interest is normally figured on half the in- vestment as an average charge during the entire life of the truck; the depreciation is figured on a mileage basis covering the esti- mated life of the truck. If the fig- ures shown in table I were al- tered to conform to this standard, the sum of $432 should be added to the total yearly cost. This would. bring the daily cost to $13.74 making the cost per cubic yard 33 cents. From the standpoint of earn- ing power, these figures show that the track without the trailer hauling 42 yd. per day actually earns 47 cents per cubic yard or a net profit of $19.47 per day over the horse equipment. Among contract- ors the customary amount chargeable to depreciation on all kinds of equipment is said to be 60 per cent. on a three-year contract, making an annual charge of 20 per cent. If this method were used in figuring costs for operation of a motor truck in the same capacity as in table’ I, the amount, chargeable to depreciation would be $1,260 per year or $4.20 per day and the total eost per cubic yard increased to 39 cents. This would still leave a large margin of Prgbto the credit of the motor truck against horse drawn pment. », Estimating the cost of handling this material by motor truck with trailer when the interest is figured on half the investment and the depreciation is based on the mileage life of the truck, we find the cost per cubic yard to be 33 cents. By using a trailer in connection with the truck a much greater reduction gf fs a be made. The addi- SCHER & Mechames) and Ciyi] “TT TSBUR Fara 1506 tional investment. entailed and the main- tenance of the trailer would be niore than offset by the increased capacity and the cost per cubic yard would be re- duced to approximately 17 cents. Aside from this earning power of the truck, the ability of these trucks to move large quantities of material rapidly enables the other work carried on to proceed much more rapidly than if a horse equip- ment were used. Another contractor using one 6%4-ton truck, hauls cement and building ma- terial over 7 miles of very hilly country. Some of the grades encountered are one- half to one and one half miles long; and vary from 8 to 15 deg. Nine trips per day over these roads made an average day’s work for this truck. It is loaded with 110 bags of cement on each trip, making an average load of 10,450 lb. In this work the truck replaces 12 teams of horses costing $5 per day for each team. One of these teams making approxi- auately two trips per day over this roaa would carry 8000 lb. or 80 bags of ce- ment. Twelve teams would therefore carry 96,000 lb. or 960 bags for approximately $60 or 6.3 cents per bag. The motor truck carries 990 bags per day for approximately $17, or 1.7 cents per bag. Table I—Costs of a 6%4-ton Motor Truck in Contractors’ Service. The material is excavated from aqueduct tunnel and the time of loading and .unloading is 3 min. “he material is dumped into bins and then to buckets by chutes at the shaft mouth. At the dumping ground the bucket is hoisted off the truck and dumped. onditions: 300 days per year; 50 miles per day; 15,000 miles per year; 3% cu. yd. per trip in single bucket; 42 cu. yd. per day of 8 hr. Investment: TE, 65. Gs ob ng a Nia. dakeuy ess stds coseeebostenaes $6,000 Re RN So A 1s cies bain gnbiacnge snake 300 $6,300 Fixed Charges: i er ee SE GMS COR 6. occ cess ctnereccesvces $378 Insurance: liability. to persons........c..cecccesscvcens 75 Depreciation (not figured) ...........sseeeeeeeeeeeeens onan i et ie Ms ies oss ccv et cae srdeveeeseecues 1,092 ne OE WN 6 bv G os nee Seb¥ecnseesescas 210 1,755 Operating Charges: Maintenance at 4 cents a mile. .........ccccecccceecees $600 Gasoline at 2.4 cents (5 miles to a gal.)................ 360 Tires at 5.5 cents (8000 miles guarantee)............... 825 Oil and grease at 1 cent per Mile.......cccccccccsccsess 150 ee eee fe rere $3,690 Rass os 6 0 tia N 055 $50 sd SAE R Sw hoa. 0 ed 12 Total cost per yard.......... ii bo + AM 5 RE Aa a 6 aids 0.292 EE ED bo ohn aU Bows cvs cc kbeu de eee pod ibaa 0.256 With horse teams it cost 80 cents per cubic yard to haul this material. * The Empire Engineering Company, working on a.con- tract requiring the constant haulage of large quantities of cement and lumber, installed two 5-ton Mack trucks. THE IRON AGE Arrangements for Delivering Excavated Material to the Truck These trucks made two trips per day over 18 miles of good road, replacing a horse equipment of ten teams. These trucks, loaded only one way, hauled approximately 20 tons of building material a day, at a maximum total cost of $40 or $2 a ton. If this work had been done by the ten teams the total cost would’ have been approximately $50 per day or $2.50 per ton. The Keystone State Contracting Company, Yonkers, N. Y., uses a 6%4-ton Saurer truck, with hand dumping body, hauling cement, coal and miscellaneous supplies. This truck makes local deliveries over good roads but in a very hilly section where the grades are constant and heavy. It replaces ten teams and the service rendered by this truck enables the company to carry on the building operations much more efficiently and economically than when a horse equipment was used. A 5-ton truck is used for transporting steel and pipe by the Merrill Ruckgaber Construction Company, Cumber- land, Md., which is constructing the dam and the hydro- electric system of the Evitts Creek Power Company. The truck is used exclusively in hauling pipe line material as well as concrete used in the construction of the dam and the truck is doing the work of four double teams, carry- ing as an average load, 100 bags of cement each weighing 100 Ib., three sections of 36-in. iron pipe, five men and grocery supplies for the commissary department. The truck makes three daily trips from Cumberland to the site of the dam, a distance of 9 miles. In other words, the average daily mileage of this truck is 54 and its average load is as stated. A 5-Ton Truck, Tioga Steel & Iron Company, Philadelphia, Replacing Three Double Teams June 20, 1912 so perenne ts Sire arenas 25 NNR SE EN View Showing the Platform Which Carries the Skip One of the views shows the wonderful versatility of the motor truck in building construction. This particular truck is a 5-ton machine equipped with a power winch operated by its engine; it hoists the brick, mortar and iron material used in the construction work. The truck also hauls the material to the site. The illustration on page 1505 shows a 5-ton Mack truck used by the Otis Elevator Company, which employs it pot only for carting away the ashes from the boiler plant, hauling coal and supplies, but also delivers its elevators to customers in and around Greater New York. Another picture shows a 5-ton truck in the service of the Tioga Steel & Iron Company, Philadelphia, which claims that it has been operated for fifteen months ‘at a cost for repairs of $10, and that it has done the work of three double teams in delivering to customers in and around Philadel- phia. The opportunities for utilizing the motor truck in con- tracting work are many and varied. Aside from the in- creased speed and capacity obtained by using motor trucks the auxiliary devices with which the motor vehicle may be equipped are of great value in general contracting work. These devices have been in use a long time. with horse drawn carts and their application to contracting work is well known, but their development as applied to motor driven equipment is not generally realized. Too much stress cannot be laid on the importance of time in connection with motor truck work. The horse during the course of the day’s work requires many rest THE IRON AGE 1507 periods, especially after a long haul over a severe grade and the efficient use of horse equipment demands that fully as much of the working day be given over to stops as is devoted to keeping the team in motion. For this reason the capacity of the horse is limited to his endurance and this in turn is dependent on conditions which are not under the control of the contractor A period of very hot weather or a sudden fall in temperature, covering the streets with ice or snow, may render the horse almost useless; while if the weather conditions are favorable a number of heavy grades may necessitate either a reduction in the amount of work done by a single team or an in- crease in the number of horses required to pull a single load. It is therefore clear that the time taken in unloading such teams or the time spent by the teams in waiting to be loaded is not in reality wasted time but a necessity in the efficient handling of such work. Attention Needed to Loading and Unloading The motor truck has none of the limita tions of the horse. While it is kept well oiled, well adjusted and supplied with fuel, ‘it is always ready to work. It is not affected by hot weather nor do heavy grades require that it take a rest at the top of the hill. If it is to make money, however, it must be kept in motion. For this reason a motor truck should not be given the same treatment accérded to horses even though it may be worked on the same job. Motor trucks should not be allowed to stand for hours in line with horse teams and then blamed for not doing more work than the horses. It is quite as important to ‘arrange for the constant movement of a motor truck equipment after it has been bought, as it is to use great care in the selection of that particular make or type of truck most adaptable to the work that it is to do. By far the greater part of time unavoidably lost is lost in loading and unloading by methods that were used in connection with horse trucks; often no attempt being made to make use of the devices already available for saving time. Any device that can be installed to shorten the time necessary for stops will pay for itself and earn money right along. Two loading and unloading devices that have been used for years by contractors are readily available for use in a modern form with motor trucks. The dumping body and the winch have been used by contractors as an important part of their equipment for years, but they did not reach their highest development until after the introduction of the motor truck into this field. The use of the power driven winch on motor trucks is becoming more common every day. This device is operated by the engine and is A 7-Ton Truck Doing the Work of Eight Teams of Mules on Long Island Road Construction 1508 connected with the driving shaft and controlled by the truck driver. It is used in many cases with a crane or derrick for loading or unloading trucks. This crane or derrick may often be attached to the truck itself and so arranged that any part of the load may be removed with- out disturbing the surrounding units. A truck equipped with a power winch may be driven along the side of a building under construction and may hoist its load to the upper stories, saving much time in doing away with the labor and expense of re-handling the material. It is possible in many cases to use removable bodies or racks as a means of saving delays due to loading or un- loading. These bodies may be loaded and unloaded by means of the winch and may be placed in any position that may seem convenient. If the motor truck is operated in connection with horse trucks, the winch may be found to be extremely valuable in assisting the horse trucks over rough places or where foundations are being dug, in pull- ing them up the steep incline leading out of such excava- tions. The power dump truck on which the body of the truck is raised by a shaft geared to the main engine drive is one of the greatest labor and time saving devices used in connection with motor truck work. It is operated by the Truck Used to Deliver and Hoist Building Material driver without leaving his seat and may be stopped and held at any desired angle. This body, however, is avail- able for hauling ordinary builders’ supplies and is par- ticularly desirable where some of the material used is of such character that it slides readily and is not injured by rough handling. In dumping stone, -sand, asphalt and other road building materials, the body may be elevated by the driver without leaving his seat and when the de- sired elevation is attained the machine may be driven slowly ahead, spreading the load over a considerable sur- face. The full load may be dumped in this manner from a 7-ton truck in 35 sec. from the time of its arrival at the dumping ground, without the necessity of the driver leav- ‘ing his seat. Questions to Be Answered in Considering the Motor Truck If you are not using motor trucks, ask yourself the following questions and answer them honestly: 1. How many horses have you? 2. How much money have you invested? 3. How much does it cost per day to operate your teams? (a) Including interest on total investment for horses, trucks, harness and other equipment? THE IRON AGE June 20, 19) (b) Stable charges? (c) Drivers, etce.? What is the life of a horse? Do you figure depreciation on this basis? How many tons can you haul per day? Are you willing to be convinced that motor truck can do this amount of work at a lower cost? 8. Can you improve your loading and unloading faci! ities to reduce time lost in this way? 9. What is your average length of haul? 10. How many trips can you make with horse trucks 11. Do you know that a single automobile truck is doing the work of four horse teams in your business? 12. Is there any reason why the automobile truck can not do as much for you? 13. Isn’t it worth your while to investigate this situa tion ? MOMS New Steel Piling For meeting the requirements of braced piling struc- tures the Lackawanna Steel Company, Buffalo, N. Y., has brought out an arched web type of sheet steel piling. The characteristic feature of this section is the curling or arching of the web so that the mass of the metal lies to one side of the neutral axis of the section. The inter- lock is practically the same as that of the straight web piling which was illustrated in The Iron Age, June 8, IQII, in connection with a description of the raising of the battleship Maine in Havana harbor. Referring to the accompanying engraving it will be noticed that the outer face of the web or what might be termed the extrados of the arch is flattened to lie in the same horizontal plane with the extreme outer faces of the members of the interlocked joint. In the piling wall the arches reverse with each pile with reference to the neu- tral axis of the wall and the total thickness of the wall Arched Web Steel Sheet Piling and the Junction and Corner Sections Made by the Lackawanna Steel Company, Buffalo, N. Y. The New at the center of each web is equal to but not greater than the thickness of the wall at the interlocking joint. At the same time it is pointed out that the arched section transmits the load to the support without as great a tend- ency to flatten out, as is found in corrugated sections made of rolled or bent plates. The haunches of the arch are thickened, giving increased strength at this point against spreading and also distributing the metal in the web with reference to the neutral axis so as to increase the inertia and modulus of the section. Where pressure comes on the exterrial part of the arch it is transmitted to the waling timber through the interlocking members of the joint and in those piles where the internal part of the arch is subjected to pressure this pressure is trans- mitted directly through the metal to the waling timber throughout a wide contact. The New Duff Jack Factory The Duff Mfg. Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., exclusive manufacturer of Barrett lifting jacks, has purchased five aeres of ground on Preble avenue, North Side, Pittsburgh on the lines of*the Pennsylvania and Baltimore & Ohio railroads, and will start at once the erection of a new factory, which is expected to be the largest in the world devoted solely to the manufacture of lifting jacks. The new.'site of the Dufffactory and the new site of the Pittsburgh Screw & Bolt Company occupyssthe Riter- Conley Mfg. Company’s old property and adjacent ground, totaling about 12 acres, and lying close to the plants of the Pressed Steel Car Company, Standard Sanitary Mfg. Company and Edith furnace of the Carnegie Steel Com- pany. The construction werk on the factory and office buildings will commence about July 1. The Duff Mfg. Company’s products are claimed to comprise the largest line of lifting jacks in the world, these jacks ranging in capacity from 1ooo Ib. to those capable of lifting 500 tons and over. ‘ ine 20, 1912 The Oxygraph for Cutting with the Oxy- Acetylene Flame The most recently developed piece of apparatus in- ided for use in connection with the oxy-acetylene cut- g process is the Oxygraph, which has been placed on SR EO ee THE IRON AGE 1509 an oxygen regulator and either a high or low pressure acetylene regulator. The geared tracer is driven by ah electric motor attached to the head of the machine, the current being taken either from a small storage battery or a wire attached to the electric light fixture. With a high quality of oxygen it is pointed out that ‘the kerf is very narrow and the cuts are clean and sharp. The cutting is done with the oxy-acetylene fiame, the oxygen cutting jet being the same as in ordinary practice except that the torch is designed espe- cially for use with this machine. In operation the drawing is laid on the tracer table and the operator turns on the current and guides the tracer along the lines of the drawing and _ the torch cuts an exact re- production in the steel which is one-half the size of the drawing. The machine can cover draw- ings measuring 18 in. across, and this dimen- sion can, of course, be increased by moving the piece being cut. The capacity of the Oxygraph is steel 3 in. in thickness or less at a speed of 6 in. per min- ‘Fig. 1—The Oxygraph, a Machine for Cutting Irregular Shapes, Curves, Ete., by the Oxy-Acetylene Process ute. The crank shaft, Developed by the Davis-Bournonville Company, New York City. which is. shown. under- the market by the Davis-Bournonville Company, 96 West street, New York City. It is constructed along the lines of the pantograph, its novel and most valuable feature being a mechanically propelled tracer. With this machine it is possible to cut curves and right-angled corners and it can be used for die making and cutting crank shafts of moderate dimensions. Fig. 1 is a view of the machine and specimens of its work are illustrated in Fig. 2. The apparatus consists of a heavy cast-iron standa:d and base for supporting the machine, supports for the work while being cut, the tracing table, the motor-propelled tracer, the machine cutting torch and hose connections Fig. 2—Some Specimen Pieces Turned Out by the Machine neath the machine in Fig. 1, was cut from a I-in. steel plate in 8% min. The pieces A, B and C, Fig. 2, were cut from a 3-in. piece of steel at the maximum cutting speed, and D, which required 22 in. of cutting, was turned out in less than 4 min. Foundry and Machine Shop Census There were 13,253 foundry and machine shop estab- lishments in the United States, employing 615,485 persons, when the thirteenth census was taken, according to sta- tistics given out June 14 by the Census Bureau. Of the total employed 9851 were proprietors and firm members, 21,754 were salaried officers, superintendents and managers, 42,242 were men and 10,627 women clerks ; the average number of wage earners was 531,011. The value of products was $1,228,475,148. The value added by manufacture, which is the difference between value of products and cost of materials, was $688,464,000. Pennsylvania, with an average of 86,821 wage earners, $210,746,257 value of products and $109,735,517 value added by manufacture, was considerably in the lead. The other leading States, with the exception of New York, held the same relative rank with respect to all three of the items mentioned. New York held second place, with $154,- 370,346 value of products and $92,749,146 value added by manufacture, but with regard to its average of 64,066 wage earners was third in order. Crucible Steel Company’s Earnings The statement of profits of the Crucible Steel Com- pany of America, Pittsburgh, for the nine months ended May 31, 1912, is as follows: Quarter ended: November 30, 1911.....+-.se-e00+ #@$1,141,007.48 Petey DOr Bes 6c kéboec tcccuese 1,142,767,42 Bea Obj Wa Bisksctdscvedsnckgvenes 1,393,112.15 $3,676,887.05 Deduct char: and appropriations for . the following 2 eer and repairs...... AS rashawaaatata ontingencies, corporation tax a interest on bonds of subsidiary COMGUMEED: 6.n64:5 Ka dKabeRseeaes 217,374.95 1,291,014.16 Net profits for nine months......... $2,385,872.89 geri: seek re . fee w 2 Sgr a ES 2 Ore Transporting on Island of Elba Aerial Tramways and Other Arrangements for . Unloading and Conveying Materials for Elba’s Coke Ovens, Blast Furnaces and Steel Mills The works of the Societa Anonima di Miniere.e di ~ Alti Forni Elba, commonly known in Europe as the Elba Company, which are located on the island of that name in the Mediterranean, may be considered as among the most self-contained of any in the world. Besides operating blast furnaces and steel mills, it has its own coke ovens, by-products plant, etc., and the iron ore is obtained from mines belonging to the company on the island itself. Only coal, from Wales or Germany, is purchased outside. The most noteworthy features of the plant, however, consist in the modern arrangements made for the handling of material, in- cluding power. The iron ore is recovered from open workings in the mountains above Rio Ma- rino on the East coast, as shown by the actom- panying map, Fig. 1, in what are known as the Marina, Portello and Albano districts and also in the Calamita dis- trict at the S o ut heastern extremity of the island. The deposits of Elba are quite varied, including red hematite, brown hematite as limonite, magnetite and some siderite. The most common and valuable ore, how- ever, is a hard, spathic, brown ironstone, crystalline in its © structure and found to a large extent in a fibrous forma- tion with ochre veins. While the principal deposits lie along the East coast, the blast furnaces of the company are located at Portoferraio on the North coast, with rugged mountain ranges between. It is impracticable, as a commercial undertaking, to carry the ore overland; hence it is transported by two aerial tramway systems to the coast and conveyed by bridge ex- tensions to ship loading stations in deep water, as indi- cated on the map at Albano and Portello. This method of handling the ore is made necessary by the precipitous Fig. 1—Island of Elba; Ore from Albano, Portello and Calamita and Steel Mills at Portoferfaio —_—_—___—_———— BY C.. A. TUPPER character of the coast and shallows which prevent carvo vessels from approaching very closely to the shore. Fur- thermore, the high, rock-bound coasts of Italy and Ella are separated only by a narrow strait, through which th, wind sweeps with terrific violence during much of the time; and, under the most favorable conditions, there are not more than 150 days in the year when vessels can be loaded in this exposed roadstead; hence it became neces- sary to replace the old system of lighterage between ves- sels and the shore and to devise some rapid mechanical means of trans- porting the ore without _inter- ruption from the mines to the steamers in order to meet the company’s increasing _re- quirements. For the un- loading of the ore, on arrival at P or toferraio, the Elba Com- pany was con- fronted with difficulties simi; lar to those in- volved in its loading. While there is a point jutting out into deep water, this is occupied by a fortification, as shown in Fig. 2, and a pier straight from this tongue of land would not, in any case, have made a favorable land- ing place for the area occupied by the blast furnaces, ovens and mills. Nor did the depth of water in the bay permit any near approach to the only available shore. Besides, it was essential to provide means for the quick unloading of cargoes in the intervals between the storms which are so frequent on the North as well as the East coast. This might have been done by building an inner harbor and cutting a channel to it; but, as the writer understood when there, this would have involved great expense, including heavy blasting of the rock bottom of the bay; hence it was decided to build an unloading pier out into the roadstead, nearly parallel with the fortifica- tions, and combine with the emptying of the vessels a con- Fig. 2—Unloading Pier Extension to Shore 1510 June 20, 1912 THE IRON AGE I5tt Fig. 4—Elba Furnaces and Mills, Showing Unloading Pier in Distance tinuous automatic system of conveying the ore, as well as coal, limestone and other supplies, directly to the smelting works. This last was, in fact, the principal object to be accomplished from the standpoint of economy, and has in in the greatest suggestive value to Americans, by whom the same system might be applied to advantage in many places on the ocean or Great Lakes. The essential features of construction, at the outward end of the system, are graphically illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3, although, from the foreshortening of the view, the pier appears much closer to the castle on the promontory than it really is, there being a wide stretch of water be- tween. (See Fig. 4.) It was built on masonry piles pneu- matically sunk. The pier is 985 ft. long and has a width of 53 ft. at its extremity. On one side are five swinging cranes, with grab buckets, for unloading iron-ore and limestone, and on the other four extension bridge cranes, which can be turned in any position, for receiving coal. For each of these there is a hoisting drum with overwinding safety device, the sets on either side being placed in one engine house. These two structures are the outer ones shown in Fig. 2. The rope, in each.case, passes up throtigh the hollow crane column, so that it is not necessary to provide for any lengthening or shortening of the cable as the crane is turned. The coal buckets, rising from the vessel hold and dis- charging at the lower end of the extension bridge, are returned to the upper end, for lowering again, by counter- weights which are raised as they come in. The coal buckets, which hold about 1% tons each, dump auto- matically to a loading hopper for the furnace conveying system. Each crane, at the ordinary slow speed of opera- tion, has a capacity of 30 tons hourly; so that four cranes, working simultaneously at the four holds of the average cargo boat can empty one of, say 2400 to 2500 tons capac- ity, in 20 hours; but, when necessary, the operations can be considerably accelerated. A great deal of the trans- port of coal, ore, etc., in the Mediterranean is undertaken by small sailing vessels at very low rates, and the system was designed with a view to accommodating this class of traffic as well as the regular steam freighters up to about 8000 tons. The four swinging cranes for ore and lime- stone have about the same handling capacity as the coal unloaders and operate similarly. They also dump to hoppers. From thé pier to the smelting works there is a double aerial tramway, which comes out on each side of the pier, as shown in Fig. 3, to the loading hoppers. Here the car- riages are uncoupled from the traction cables, turned in on a switch and their buckets filled. Given a push to the main line, they automatically couple again,.passing around a loop to begin their return journey. One of the lines carries the ore and flux material and the other the coal. The tracks consist of overhead rails for the length of the pier and steel wire cable the rest of the way. Fig. 4 is a bird’s-eye view of the company’s property. The iron ore, limestone and coal are conveyed to stock piles, where the buckets automatically discharge at the positions fixed by the trips, which are the only thing that require attention from an operative, all of the curves being taken by the carriages without their being loosened from the traction cable. Hence, only one intelligent laborer is required to oversee the system. A noteworthy feature of it is the very light construction feasible in moving light loads under conditions of practically continuous traffic, in- stead of heavy loads intermittently. If the pier had been adapted to steam or electric haulage, it would have neces- sitated much heavier construction. There are 220 coke ovens, of 3 to 4 tons (metric, 2040.6 lb.) each, the most modern of which are of the Koppers regenerative type. They are charged either with loose or compressed coal, which has been crushed and prepared in the usual way, and the daily production is about 700 tons Fig. 3—Unloading Pier at Portoferraio OA, oy Kadeh atest OBR FSO eS AS PRR I ROME RIO A ie PN: eNO MIRE ARF ta ee at 1512 or upward, which is more than that required by the fur- naces. Some of the excess is sold, but it is ordinarily stored for the periods when the ovens are not being used. In the by-products plant, tar and sulphate of ammonia are recovered, principally. Gas not used for regenerative heating is applied to raising steam in boilers. Three blast-furnace units are in service, with a com- bined capacity of about 540 tons daily. Each furnace has an electric charging hoist. and the practice in general is along well-known European standards, with recent im- provements. There is also a steel plant of corresponding capacity, which includes converters and a small electric refining furnace modeled along the lines of the Stassano type. The electric power plant consists of gas-engine driven units, all operated on blast-furnace gas. The Maschinen- fabrik Augsburg-Niirnberg, Nuremberg, Germany, supplied this company with three 4-cycle double-acting engines of 5040 hp. aggregate capacity to drive alternating-current generaotrs and two, of 770 and 520 hp., for direct-current generators; but the writer only noted one 1280 hp. and one 770 hp. machine here, the others probably being at another property in which the Elba Company is interested at Piombino on the mainland. There are also Cockerill, Klein and Palmer gas engines, including blowers, having an aggregate capacity of 5200 hp. and reserve steam units of about half the gas engine capacity. In addition to steel, the company produces some cal- cium carbide in electric furnaces and also ships Elba ore to furnaces at Piombino and Bagnoli, where the new works of the Societa Siderurgica di Savona, of Naples, are located. It has control of practically the entire output of the Elba iron mines, which produced, in 1910, 533,000 tons, or over 96 per cent. of the quantity credited to all Italy, and during 1911 nearly the same. The production, as the writer understood, is limited to about these figures, an- nually, by a governmental regulation which seeks to prevent exhaustion of the Elba supplies. The company’s transportation system is not confined to the aerial tramways mentioned above, but includes con- siderable industrial railway trackage, with locomotives, dump cars, shops, etc.; yet the systems described are those of the greatest practical interest to a visitor. The unload- ing pier and aerial lines were all designed, fabricated and erected by Adolf Bleichert & Co., London and Leipsic, whose American licensee is the Trenton Iron Works, Trenton, N. J. Motor-Driven Wheel Press A motor-driven hydraulic wheel press for which the special claims of convenience in operation and simplicity in construction are made has been placed on the market Although de- by E. R. Caldwell & Co., Bradford, Pa. An Hydraulic Wheet Press with the Driving Motor Mounted on, the Frame |Built by,,E. R. Caldwell & Co., Bradford, Pa. signed primarily for car and locomotive work, it can also be used in coal and lumber yards, mines, machine shops, foundries, cement plants and shipyards and by dock com- THE TRON AGE June 20. ic panies and other firms using a considerable amount machinery or rolling stock. For convenience in handling heavy work such as | motive driving wheels and irregularly shaped work {| cannot be rolled to or from the press, the upper h zontal parallel bar is not located in the same verti plane as the lower one, but is set slightly back of it permit handling the work with an overhead crane. 1 plungers, which are not shown in the accompanying «: graving, are operated by eccentrics on the back shai; which is driven by a Westinghouse 7%-hp. direct-curren - motor through cut gears having a ratio of 3% to 1. Th operate without vibration and are practically noiseless As soon as the pressure is shut off from the pumps the ram is drawn back automatically. An extra valve to connect with the city water supply is furnished when it is possible to have such a connection and by opening this valve before applying the pressure from the pump, the stee!- faced ram is moved out against the work more rapidly than would be possible with the pump. As soon as the ram bears against the work this valve is closed, the pump valve opened and the plungers started. The press is equipped with both high and low pressure pumps, the cy]- inders of which are cast from a special semi-steel mixture which it is emphasized gives great strength and at the same time renders them proof against leakage. A safety valve to prevent overloading also forms a part of the pump equipment. The low pressure pump operates the ram up to a certain pressure with a greater speed than the high pressure one and consequently increases the amount of work over that which could be handled by using the high pressure pump alone. This low pressure cylinder is arranged with a relief valve so that the pump works until a pressure of about 50 tons is being exerted. At this time it is automatically cut out of service and the pressing operation is continued at a slower rate with the high pressure pump. This automatic device, it is pointed out, is especially efficient in forcing work off. The low pressure pump works until its limit of 50 tons is reached, when the high pressure pump begins to operate and exerts pressure until the work is forced off far enough to enable it to be finished with a lower pressure and consequently with greater speed. The Still By-Product Coke Ovens and Benzo! Plant. —Bagley, Mills & Co., 92 Victoria street, London, and 50 Church street, New York, agents for Carl Still, Reck- linghausen, Germany, have booked an order for a large Still benzol recovery and refining plant in Engiand. The two batteries of Still by-product coke ovens at Heaths’ Birchenwood mines in England are nearing completion, and the benzol plant at the same properties has recently been started. The Still interests have some important contracts under way for by-product ovens and benzol plants for European iron and coal companies. The test of a 300-hp. peat- gas producer and gas engine, built by the Goerlitzer Maschi- nenbauanstalt and installed in the exhibition in Posen in I9II, was reported recently in the Zeit- schrift des Vereines Deutscher Ingenieure. The peat consump- tion per kilowatt hour at the switchboard was about 2 kg. (4.4 lb.). The peat was notably low in moisture, the analysis being carbon, 41.65 per cent.; hydro- gen, 4.1 per cent.; oxygen, 26.35 per cent.; ash,, 4.1 per cent.; water, 23.8 per cent. The engine was double acting with a cylin- der diameter of 25% in. and a stroke of 29% in. and a speed of 150 r.p.m. The mean_ heating value of the peat was given as sbout-7100 B.t.u. per pound. . The Naulty Smelting & Refining Company, 2616 Martha street, Philadelphia, Pa., has been adjudged a bankrupt in the United States District Court in that city. June 20, 1912 A Large Reducing Gear Recently a very large helical reduction gear has been but by the DeLaval Steam Turbine Company, Trenton, N. J. While in general construction this gear follows the one which was illustrated in The Iron Age, April 13, 1911, t is nevertheless of interest on account of the power which it transmits as well as the fact that it is built with three pinion bearings instead of two. The speed ratio of this gear is 6 to 1, 3600 to 600 r.p.m., and the power transmitted is 2000 hp. This gear is the culmination of an experience extending over more than 25 years in the production of high speed double helical gears for use with turbines. The results of the study of this problem and the experience gained are briefly that the gear must be of the helical type so that the transmission of pressure from one tooth to another may be uniform and without shock or vibration, the angle of the teeth should be such that several teeth are always in contact, a true involute tooth should be used to secure line contact with each tooth as long as it is in mesh, the gear should be of the twin or double pattern that is with two sets of spiral teeth inclined in opposite directions to neutralize end thrust and elim- inate axial pressure upon the bearings, the unit pressure must be reduced to a point where the film of oil will not be squeezed out from between the teeth, the gear and the pinion must be rigidly supported in the same plane and at the proper distance between the centers, and finally a gear and its pinion must be cut so that they will have the correct tooth contours, pitch and angle so that the pressure on the teeth may be uniform. The speed reduction gearing comprises a large gear which is coupled to the shaft of the driven machine ‘and A Three Bearing Helical 6 to 1 Speed Reducing Gear Transmitting 2000 Hp. at a Speed of 3600 R.P.M. Built by the De Laval Steam Turbine Company, Trenton, N. J. the pinion which is coupled to the shaft of the turbine or driving machine, the two being held accurately and rig- idly at the proper center distance and in alignment by a heavy cast-iron gear case. The main gear consists of a rigid cast-iron center or hub upon which two seamless rolled steel bands are shrunk and in which the teeth are cut. These bands are of a special grade of steel and the center or hub, which is shaped so as to be free from dis- tortion caused by strains or rapid temperature changes, is mounted on the gear shaft by a taper fit and key. An open-hearth steel forging is used for the shaft which is ground on all surfaces, and after the complete assembling of the gear bands, center and shaft the whole is tested for static and running balance, after which the teeth are cut. The pinion is cut directly on the pinion shaft, which is of a special nickel forging, and all its surfaces with the exception of those of the teeth are ground. The bearings supporting the gear and the pinion are cast-iron shells thoroughly tinned before the babbitt metal lining is cast and all of the parts are interchangeable. The directiot of rotation is such that the pressure on the pinion bearings is always in a downward direction and at the same time the pressure of the pinion tends to lift the gear, the weight of which is slightly greater than the up- ward’ pressure, thus reducing the load on the “bearings. The oiling system for the gear and the pinion provides a spray of oil projected on the gears at the line of contact on the entering side, and the pinion bearings are oiled from a gravity system, a sight feed oil glass being pro- vided for each bearing. After passing through the pinion THE IRON AGE 1513 bearings the oil flows into the reservoir of the ring oiled gear bearings, an arrangement which replenishes the sup- ply and insures the proper level of oil. The gear case and its cover as well as all the bearing ¢ups have recessed oil grooves to prevent the oil from creeping through the joints to the outside of the case. The overflow oil. is drained to a common receptacle and returned through a strainer to a positive gear type pump*driven by worm gearing from either the main gear shaft or the shaft of the driving machine. In the case of turbine-driven ma- chines a single pump. supplies both turbine and the gear. The gear case, which is a single casting, is made heavy so that it may be entirely free from springing, distortion or vibration and the gear and pinion will be kept rigidly in alignment. The bearings are ground to limit gauges and their seats in the case are carefully scraped to corre- spond. All parts of the reduction gears that can be dis assembled for inspection are furnished with taper dowel pins to insure alignment in reassembling. The gear case is supported on a heavy bed plate of the box type arranged for connection to the bed plates of both the driving and the driven machines, its weight and strength tending to prevent any distortion or disalignment of the working parts. For connecting the pinions of the turbine shaft and the shaft of the gear to that of driven machine flexible couplings consisting of two forged steel disks ground and polished on all surfaces are employed. The driving half is fitted with a number of rigid studs which project into corresponding holes in the driven half of the coupling and the torque is transmitted through steel-lined rubber bush- ings which compensate for any defect in alignment and supply the necessary flexibility to prevent strains on the shaft or the bearings. The couplings can be disconnected quickly, after which one shaft may be removed without disturbing the other. Each half coupling is mounted on a taper, being prevented from turning by Woodruff keys that-are secured in place by lock nuts. Power Proposed from «a Sewer A plan is being developed by the municipalities of the Niagara frontier for the building of a trunk sewer, or sewerage tunnel, between Buffalo and Lewiston, to take care of the sewage of the cities in that locality and at the same time prodyce electric power in large quantities. A joint commission, with representatives from the cities of Buffalo, Lackawanna, Tonawanda, North Tonawanda, Lockport and Niagara Falls, is to be formed to prepare detailed plans to place before the New York State Con- servation Commission and secure the co-operation and necessary action by that body. Chairman Van Kennan of the commission has stated that he is in favor of the pro- posed sewer and power development plan and considers it practicable. The flow would be rapid in the deep under- ground tunnel sewer, as there is a fall of 250 ft. between Buffalo and the escarpment at Lewiston, and engineers figure that 250,000 hp. or more could be developed. The projett includes a sewage disposal plant at the foot of the escarpment to treat the sewage and manufacture it into fertilizer. Tests of a Hilger revolving grate gas producer with lignite coal were reported briefly in the translations from foreign sources printed in the Journal of: the American Seciety of Mechanical Engineers. With the fuel contain- ing 52.7 per cent. moisture and about 60 per cent. culm, 25.5 cu. ft. of gas were obtained per pound of ftel, with the gas showing about 125 B.t.u. per cubic foot..The gas was found to be rich in moisture and tar but comparatively poor in sulphur. The efficiency of the producer is claimed to be 80 per cent. atl “a e. * ey Dependence on automatic fire prevention apparatus was recently justified in an experience with a fire in a New York building. The operator ‘of an electric flatiron neg- lected to turn off the current, leaving the iron resting on an ironing board. At 7:27, about two hours after the building was vacated, an alarm was i sent to a fire station installed in the building, and three minutes later _ when the firemen arrived the fire had been extinguished by the automatic sprinklers. 1514 ‘Continuous Card Indicator To give an accurate record cf the performance of an engine by taking an uninterrupted set of indicator cards, the Trill Indicator Company, Corry, Pa., has placed on the market a continuous card indicator. Among the ad- vantages claimed for this new device are that a record of each stroke is secured instead of one out of possibly every 25, and the trouble and time incident to putting A New Type.of Indicator for Taking Continuous Cards Made by the Trill Indicator Company, Corry, Pa. on a new card are done away with. One of ‘the special fields for this indicator is for use on gas engines where the conditions from stfoke to stroke vary considerably more than they do in steam engine practice. By taking continuous cards it is possible to see just how the mixing valves work and if the proper mixture of gas and air is furnished for each stroke. It is pointed out that it is also possible to learn whether backfiring or preignition occur or if the timing device gives absolutely accurate ignition for all conditions of load and speed. This indicator is attached to the engine -in the same way as an ordinary one and it is equipped with a reduc- ing mechanism which enables the same indicator to be used on different engines having strokes ranging from 6 to 72 in. In operation after the indicator has been placed on the engine a roll of paper is placed on the smaller drum D and the free end is fitted around the larger drum E on which the diagram is traced. To do away with the necessity of tracing a separate atmospheric line on every card a second pencil, B, is provided which is set at the atmospheric line given by the moving one. After this has been done a continuous atmospherie line will be traced for the total length of the indicator card. The card is then pulled out to its full length and held there by the detent C, after which the cord hook is at- tached to some part of the crosshead from which the driving motion is obtained. By releasing the detent C the indicator is started. If a continuous card is desired the nut A is screwed down which sets the paper trans- lating device into action and a series of cards will be traced as shown in the accompanying engraving. This strip can be torn off at any point and the cards examined and integrated. A spring and catch hold the tracing pen- cil against the drum when taking continuous cards and insure an absolutely uniform pressure on the pencil point. If a continuous card ds not desired.the nut»A can be loosened while one card is being, traced and then tight- ened while the engine makes two revolutions, which brings an entirely new sheet of paper on the tracing cylin- der, and another complete card can be traced by loosen- ing the nut A. In this way separate diagrams can be taken whenever desired and the trouble incident to plac- ing new cards on the indicator eliminated. The equipment of each indicator includes two cylin- ders, one having an effective area of % sq. in. for low pressure work and the other having an effective area of THE IRON AGE June 20, 19: % sq. in. for high pressure work sich as is met wit! gas engines. The spring is of the outside type and entirely outside of the cylinder, thus being removed fr high temperature steam or the cutting action due to \ drawing. Six of these springs are furnished with e:z indicator. The Little Giant Tap Grinding Machine A new tap grinding machine which is known as Little Giant has been put on the market by the Wel Brothers Company, Greenfield, Mass., to meet the economi: necessity of keeping taps sharp and properly ground. In this way the disadvantages of a dull tap which are drag ging and cut