Chapter I: Part 1

Transcriber’s Notes:

The spelling, punctuation and hyphenation are as the original except for apparent typographical errors, which have been corrected.

Italic text is denoted _thus_.
Bold text is denoted =thus=.
Bold, sans serif text, representing physical appearance e.g., of a
‘Vee’ shaped thread is denoted thus ^V^.
Subscripts are denoted thus _{1}.

Some page numbers printed in the original ‘Index to Part One’ do not appear in the body of the book . The transcriber has endeavoured to make assumptions as to the most appropriate anchor locations. The appearance of the original index has not been changed.

Examples (possibly relocated, by the author, into Part Two) are:

=Air=, des., composition of, 15, 16
=Air pump=, 13
=Nitrogen=, what part of air, 15
=Oxygen=, what part of air, 15

=Value of Reidler belt-driven pump=, ills. and des., 238-240
changed in the Index to:-
=Valve of Riedler belt-driven pump=, ills. and des., 238-240

All references to ‘Reidler’ pumps have been corrected to ‘Riedler’ (Alois Riedler, 1850-1936, Austrian professor of engineering).

PUMPS

AND

HYDRAULICS.

IN TWO PARTS.

Part One.

“_There are many fingers pointing to the value of a training in science, as the one thing needful to make the man, who shall rise above his fellows._”—FRANK ALLEN.

“_The motto marked upon our foreheads, written upon our door-posts, channeled in the earth, and wafted upon the waves is and must be, ‘Labour is honorable and Idleness is dishonorable.’_”—CARLYLE.

This work is respectfully dedicated to
MAJ. ABRAM B. GARNER,
of Newark, N. J.,

—AND—

ALBERTO H. CAFFEE, ESQ.,
of New York City.

‘Gentlemen without fear and without reproach.’

“_Thought is the principal factor in all mechanical work; the
mechanical effort is an incident rather than the principal equipment
in any trade or occupation._”

“_Any trade is easily learned by an apt scholar who uses his
reasoning faculties and makes a study of cause and effect._”—CHAS. J.
MASON.

PUMPS

—AND—

HYDRAULICS

—BY—

WILLIAM ROGERS

_Author of “Drawing and Design,” etc._

_RELATING TO_

HAND PUMPS; POWER PUMPS; PARTS OF PUMPS; ELECTRICALLY DRIVEN
PUMPS; STEAM PUMPS, SINGLE, DUPLEX AND COMPOUND; PUMPING
ENGINES, HIGH DUTY AND TRIPLE EXPANSION; THE STEAM FIRE
ENGINE; UNDERWRITERS’ PUMPS; MINING PUMPS; AIR AND
VACUUM PUMPS; COMPRESSORS; CENTRIFUGAL AND ROTARY
PUMPS; THE PULSOMETER; JET PUMPS AND THE INJECTOR;
UTILITIES AND ACCESSORIES; VALVE SETTING; MANAGEMENT;
CALCULATIONS, RULES AND TABLES.
_WITH ILLUSTRATIONS._

_ALSO_

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS; GLOSSARY OF PUMP TERMS; HISTORICAL
INTRODUCTION, WITH ILLUSTRATIONS; THE ELEMENTS OF HYDRO-MECHANICS,
HYDROSTATICS AND PNEUMATICS; GRAVITY AND FRICTION;
HYDRAULIC MEMORANDA; LAWS GOVERNING FLUIDS; WATER
PRESSURE MACHINES; PUMPS AS HYDRAULIC MACHINES, ETC.

PART ONE.

PUBLISHED BY

THEO. AUDEL & COMPANY

72 FIFTH AVE.,
NEW YORK, U.S.A.

7, IMPERIAL ARCADE,
LUDGATE CIRCUS, E.C.,
LONDON, ENG.

Copyrighted, 1905, by
THEO. AUDEL & CO., NEW YORK.
Entered at Stationers Hall, London, England.

Protected by International Copyright in Great Britain and all
her Colonies, and, under the provisions of the
Berne Convention, in

Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Tunis,
Hayti, Luxembourg, Monaco, Montinegro
and Norway.

Printed in the United States.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Part ONE.

The divisions of Part One are represented by the following headings: each subject is fully treated and illustrated on the pages shown:

PAGES

INTRODUCTORY CONSIDERATIONS 1-16

GLOSSARY OF PUMP AND HYDRAULIC TERMS 17-34

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION 35-70

ELEMENTARY HYDRAULICS 70-104

FLOW OF WATER UNDER PRESSURE 105-116

WATER PRESSURE MACHINES 117-154

WATER WHEELS 119-125

TURBINE WATER WHEELS 126-135, 141-144

TURBINE PUMPS 136-139

WATER PRESSURE ENGINES 145-147

HYDRAULIC MOTORS 147-154

HYDRAULIC APPARATUS 155-184

HYDRAULIC JACK 159-168

HYDRAULIC PRESS 169-170

HYDRAULIC ACCUMULATOR 171-173

HYDRAULIC RAM 175-180

PUMPS AS HYDRAULIC APPARATUS 181-184

CLASSIFICATION OF PUMPS 185-345

HAND PUMPS 189-204

POWER PUMPS 205-224

BELTED PUMPS 225-240

THE ELECTRIC PUMP 241-276

THE STEAM PUMP 227-330

THE DUPLEX PUMP 331-343

UNDERWRITER FIRE PUMPS 344

SPECIFICATIONS OF THE NATIONAL BOARD OF FIRE
UNDERWRITERS RELATING TO THE DUPLEX FIRE
PUMPS 347-398

READY REFERENCE INDEX TO PART ONE

“_Among the first things a practical engineer should know, and among the last things he will, after becoming such, forget, is that in handling water within pipes he has a fluid which, while it is flexible to the greatest extent and is susceptible of the influence of power, or force, of greater or less intensity, and while it may be drawn from below and raised to the heights above, can be turned to the right or to the left at will, and while, with a seeming docility which is as flattering as it is deceptive, it bends itself to the will of the engineer, still there are some things it will not do, and which all the complicated appliances of the engineer have as yet failed to compel it to do. When inclosed within chambers and pipes, to an extent that fills them, it will not permit the introduction of an added atom without bursting its bounds. While inclosed within long lines of pipes it will not suddenly start into motion, or when in motion suddenly come to a rest, without shocks or strains more or less disastrous; and so, while it seems to be handled with the greatest ease, it is only in the manner it chooses to go, and all mechanical appliances not designed with reference to following these imperative laws are sure to meet trouble, if not disaster. In other words, when an unyielding force meets an unyielding resistance, their coming together means a shock to all about._”

INTRODUCTORY
CONSIDERATIONS

“_Whenever a full mind meets an empty one, it is a call to teach, not to scoff._”—ANON.

“_He who sedulously attends, pointedly asks, calmly speaks, coolly answers and ceases when he has no more to say, is in possession of some of the best requisites of man._”—LEVATER.

PREFACE.

It should be a matter of thankfulness to author and reader, or rather to both instructor and student, for this is designed to be an educational work, that the Laws of Nature are unchangeable.

From age to age and co-extensive with the globe the immutable principles underlying and actuating the physical states of all matter remain steadfast; gaseous bodies expand by unchanging laws which are obeyed down to the merest atom, fluids flow by law and the earth to the smallest particle remains firm, all things at all times responsive to the mandates of the Author of Creation.

The silent, mighty, unanswering physical characteristics of Gravity, Cohesion, Tenacity, furnish an agreeable contrast to the din, discord and frequent argument, to the verge of hatred, that have too often accompanied the efforts of mankind to co-operate with the forces of Nature. But now, between author and reader, let it be hoped, that in the unfolding of the subject-matter of this work that kind consideration will be extended and that some of that peacefulness and trust which existed on the earth, when flints were the weapons and the gourds the only goblets, may prevail from beginning to the “finis” of the volumes.

The author in planning the outlines of this work has aimed to keep close to real things belonging to the practical side of hydraulics, pumps, pumping-engines, and to the simple explanation of the Natural Laws pertaining to their industrial application. A knowledge of the real things in the objective world about us and the laws that govern them in their inter-relations is of practical value to every man; all branches of science are simply branches of one great science and all phases of human activity are touched by it; man is so constituted that he must have something to be interested in, and if he has no resources within himself he looks elsewhere, and often to his own disadvantage.

And so, the author has aimed to make the subjects of this book interesting as well as useful; 1, by their self-help arrangement; 2, by the illustrations, and 3, by leaving very much to the further research and investigation of the reader, as, in a well-told story, many things are left to the imagination of the listeners.

It should be borne in mind by the reader, that the work is designed to be seriously Educational in its plan and scope, and Progressive in the presentation of its subject-matter; nothing has been withheld that might add to its lasting value.

This is said in the way of an introduction to the _Table of Contents_ to which the student is referred as showing the method of treatment, in the wide range of the theory and practice, of this important branch of Industrial Science.

In the back of the volume may be found a _Ready Reference Index_ which by its admirable method of arrangement affords a speedy key to the contents of the book when occasion requires.

WHAT A STEAM PUMP WOULD SAY IF IT COULD TALK.

_The well-known pump expert, Mr. F. Meriam Wheeler_, writes us saying that if the manufacturers of steam pumps would send out with their pumps a card reading something like the following, it would probably impress the men who run the pumps more forcibly than anything that could be said or written in the ordinary way of giving instructions:

“_Please do not gorge me with oil, as it will give my steam chest indigestion. What I like is a steady diet and thus enable my valves to work smoothly and with durability. A very small amount of oil fed to me steadily is the thing—it saves oil and repair bills._

“_Two or three times a year give me a good dose of kerosene, to clean out any obstructions that may have accumulated in the passageways of my steam chest, or on the face or working parts of the valve and valve-seat, or on the chest piston._

“_Do all you can to help me make a full length of stroke, as it means that I will use less steam and do better work. The adjustable collars on the valve rod will allow you to regulate the length of my stroke to a nicety._

“_By allowing me to make short strokes, you prevent my steam piston from getting in its proper cushion, which it would do if it could complete its full stroke. My steam piston is supposed to run up to the end of the cylinder and pass across the exhaust port, cushioning on the confined steam between said port and the cylinder cover._

“_The hand wheels on the side of my steam cylinder are for controlling the amount of this cushion. For slow speeds these cushion valves should be shut tight. When running at ordinary speed or a high rate of speed, these cushion valves should be slightly opened._

“_Once in a while take a look at my water cylinder. See that the packing of the water piston is not set up so tight that it makes me grunt, producing unnecessary friction and wear. Or, perhaps the packing is too loose a fit, or is worn out and needs renewing._

“_Please see that my water valves are seating properly, because if they are not tight I cannot pump as much water as I ought to do for a given speed. Sometimes the springs on the backs of my water valves need renewing or looking after._

“_If you have not already provided a good suction air chamber for my water cylinder, you ought to do it, because it will prevent the water column in the suction pipe from slapping the face of my water piston at the end of each stroke in a harsh manner and so produce ‘water hammer.’ A good suction air chamber, properly located, saves wear and tear, and makes a pump quiet running._

“_Please keep me nice and clean. I may not be of as much importance as your big engine, but there is no reason why I should not be kept free from dirt and grease. I hate to have oil slobbered all over my steam chest, or my stuffing-boxes left leaking._

“_You will find it pays to keep me in good condition, like a well-groomed horse. Treat me well and I’ll serve you well and long!!!_”—THE ENGINEER.

GLOSSARY OF PUMP AND HYDRAULIC TERMS.

_Air-bound._ This word applies to both pump and piping and expresses
the confinement of air between the discharge valve of the pump and
the check-valve or the point of delivery.

_Air-cock._ Is the same as a pet-cock and is used to relieve pipes
that are air-bound.

_Annular Valve._ From annular—a ring—_i. e._, a round valve with a
hole in the middle.

_Area._ The extent of surface, as the area of a piston.

_Assembling._ Putting together the parts of a machine.

_Atmospheric Pressure._ The pressure of atmospheric air, not only
downward but in every direction, this amounts to about 14.7 lbs. per
square inch at the sea level. Usually taken at 15 lbs. to facilitate
calculations.

_Auxiliary._ Something to “help out,” as an auxiliary cylinder or an
auxiliary piston.

_Ball Check-valve._ One in which a metal ball is used in place of a
poppet-valve.

_Balanced Valve._ A valve having an equal pressure on all sides. See
equilibrium valve.

_Basket._ The outer casing or netting of a foot valve which forms a
strainer on a pump suction pipe.

_Bends._ In pipe, the turns in lines of pipe may be angle bends
(called “elbows“) or offset bends.

_Bibb-cock._ This is a plug cock having an elbow or curved outlet
directing the outflow downward.

_Bibb Compression._ A bibb-cock having in place of the plug a stem
with thread and handle to open by unscrewing; the valve contains
fibrous packing and is made tight by compression.

_Bonnets._ These are covers for the opening into valve chambers of
pumps.

_Boss._ Any round protuberance on a casting to support a stud or to
strengthen a steam chest cover, etc.

_Bushing._ A nut used in pipe fitting, threaded inside and outside to
accommodate two sizes of pipe.

_Check Valve._ A valve through which fluid can pass only in one
direction; used between pump and reservoir or boiler. See swing-check.

_Check-Nut._ A second nut screwed against the first to hold it firmly
in place; also called a lock-nut.

_Circulating Pump._ A pump arranged to force water through the tubes
of a surface condenser. Frequently a _centrifugal pump_ is used as a
circulating pump.

_Clack Valve._ This takes its name from the noise it makes in
seating; it is made of leather with a metal weight on top, the
leather forming a hinge on one side. In the cut the lifted valve is
the “clack.”

_Clearance._ The space or distance by which one piece clears another.
The space between piston and cylinder head.

_Cock._ A faucet or device for opening or closing a passage. The
illustration shows a straight-way cock.

_Column Pipe._ A column may be considered as a beam set on end and
a column pipe may, similarly, be defined as a pipe set on end. The
pipes leading from a water column to boiler.

_Compression Gauge Cock._ A device having a threaded steam spindle
and made tight by compression. The figure exhibits an outside view of
a locomotive compression gauge cock.

_Corrosion._ Rusting or wasting away of the surfaces of metals.

_Crow._ A claw with a screw attached to support and feed a drill
brace for drilling holes in pipes.

_Cup Leather Packing._ The leather packing used around the ram of a
press. In section it resembles a cup—hence the name.

_Cushioning._ This term applied to the operation of pumps, etc.,
is the imprisoning of steam, water or air between the piston and
cylinder head to prevent the piston from impact with the head.

_Cylinder Head or Cylinder Cover._ A plate which encloses or covers
the end of a cylinder.

_Dead end of a pipe._ The closed end of a pipe or system of pipes.

_Disk or Disc._ A cylinder, whose length is very short in proportion
to its diameter; a round plate with a hole in its center.

_Double-eye or Knuckle Joint._ A joint formed of two forks or jaws
with a cube of iron between them, with a bolt or pin through each jaw
and the cube at right angles. Will work freely in all positions from
a straight line up to 45°.

_Double seated poppet valve._ A poppet valve having two valves on one
stem, with two seats in the same shell.

_Drafting water._ Another term for “raising“ water by suction, in
distinction to “forcing water.”

_Drip-pipe._ A device used to draw off the water of condensation from
systems of piping, steam cylinders, heaters, etc. Drain-cocks are
used for similar purposes.

“_Dutchman._” A piece “fitted in” to restore a worn part or to hide a
defect.

_Duct._ A passage or conduit.

_“Duty” of pumps._ This indicates the measurement of the work
performed by pumps. “Duty trials” are careful tests of the work done
by the larger pumping-engines.

_Elbow._ This fitting is used for uniting two pipes together at right
angles. The illustration shows a malleable-iron gas-pipe elbow.

_Equilibrium Valve._ A valve balanced by an equal pressure on both
ends.

_Expansion Joint._ A telescopic slip joint having a packed stuffing
box, permitting the parts it connects to expand and contract under
variations of temperature.

_Face._ The broadest flat surface of a piece of work, or the one
having the greatest area.

_Factor of Safety._ When a calculation of the ultimate strength of a machine is to be made it is necessary to provide for contingencies—this takes the form of a multiplier, and is called the factor of safety, or the margin of safety.

_Feather, or sunk key._ A key that is fast in one piece of work, and an easy fit in the other, as a feather in a shaft.

_Flow._ Motion of a fluid or liquid in one direction. “Flow-gate“ is a term sometimes applied to a riser.

_Flume._ An open trough for conveying water.

_Gate Valve._ A valve which opens the full area of the pipe, on the principle of a gate in a water flume.

_Globe Valve._ A valve having a round ball-like shell as shown in the engraving.

_Gland._ The sliding bushing for holding packing into a stuffing box, adjusted by studs and nuts.

_Goose neck._ A pipe fitting having two bends in opposite directions which resemble the neck of a goose.

_Gridiron Valve._ A type of slide valve familiarly called a “grid,”
which may be circular or rectangular, consisting of alternate bars
and spaces, sliding over a similarly formed seat, the object being
to obtain the necessary steam way with a diminished amount of valve
travel.

_Hand-Nut._ A nut having wings or projections so that it may be
screwed up by hand without the aid of a wrench.

_Head of water._ In hydraulics “head“ means pressure due to height of
column of water.

_Heat Units._ The unit of heat is the amount of heat required to
raise one pound of water one degree, usually from 32° to 33° Fahr.

“_Hesitates._” A pump is said to “hesitate” when the motion becomes
uncertain.

_Horse-power of a pump._ Is the same as is used to designate that of
a steam engine, with this exception: the initial pressure in the pump
remains constant throughout the stroke. Formula is the same as for a
steam engine.

“_Hump._” This is an arch or bend which causes an “air pocket” in a
water-pipe line.

_Hydrant._ A valve and spout connecting with a street main.

_Hydraulic Belt._ An endless woolen band for raising water. The lower
bight is immersed in water, and the upper bight passes over a roller.
The belt travels about 1,000 feet per minute, and discharges at its
upper turn.

_Hydraulic Jack._ A lifting device in which a ram, a pump, and liquid
is used instead of a screw.

_Hydraulic Pivot._ A “slippery liquid support” for an upright shaft,
a film of water being introduced beneath it by pressure to support
the weight thereof and prevent the usual friction of the shaft on its
step.

_Hydraulic Shears._ A machine for shearing or cutting metals, etc.,
by the force of water pressure operating cutters.

_Hydraulic Valve._ A valve for regulating the distribution of water
in the cylinders of hydraulic elevators, cranes and other water
pressure machines and devices.

_Hydraulic Wheel._ One for raising water by applied power, as the
Noria Scoop wheel, tympanum, etc. See illustrations in section
relating to the history of the pump.

_Impact._ The single instantaneous shock of a body in motion when it
strikes against another body either in motion or at rest.

_Leakage._ The loss of water from any cause.

“_Lift and drop of a valve._” This term indicates the amount of
“play” up and down, designed to be given to a valve by its designer.

_Liner._ A piece of iron or other metal put behind or on a piece to
take up its wear.

_Lost Motion._ Motion that is not transmitted on account of the
looseness of the parts, hence it is lost.

“_Losing water._” A term used when the pump stops, caused by air
leaking into the suction pipe, or foreign matter clogging the
strainer at the end of the suction pipe.

_Low pressure steam._ Steam which is either below 30 lbs., or but a
few pounds in excess of the atmospheric pressure.

_Lug._ That which projects like an ear, especially that by which
anything is supported, or against which anything bears, or through
which a belt passes.

_Main._ A principal pipe or duct as distinguished from lesser ones,
especially a principal pipe leading to or from a reservoir or a
fire-main; a “forcing main” is the delivery pipe of a pump.

_Mean gradient._ The grade of a pipe-line which should be made as
nearly straight as possible to avoid air pockets.

_Miner’s Inch._ The amount of water that will flow per minute through
an opening one inch square in a plank two inches thick, under a head
of four inches of water above the upper edge of the opening, and is
equal to nine United States gallons.

_Mississippi River gauge cock._ A cock without a handle or thread
upon the stem and designed to be opened by pressure upon the top end
of the stem as shown.

_“Modulus” of a steam pump._ The _measure_ or multiplier of power
used in operating pumps. _Modulus_ has nearly the same meaning as
measure.

_Nipple._ A short connecting piece of pipe threaded upon both ends.

_Outboard delivery pipe._ The pipe which leads, in steam vessels,
from the condenser through the side of the ship.

_Pipette._ A small tube used to withdraw and transfer fluids or gases
from one vessel to another. The shape differs with the special use to
which it is adapted: some are graduated to measure fluids accurately
as well as to transfer them.

_Penstock._ The barrel of a pump in which the piston plays and
through which the water presses up; also the conduit or trough from
the source of supply to a water wheel.

_Pet-cock._ This is an air-cock. See air-cock.

_Pipe-clamp._ A device for connecting one pipe to another without
cutting the pipe and inserting a tee; a _pipe-saddle_ performs the
same office as the above, but for larger pipes.

_Pitcher Pump._ A hand pump which takes its name from the shape of
its discharge.

_Plug-valve._ This is a tapering plug which turns in a shell,
example, the _plug of a faucet_. See Cock. A _fire-plug_ is a street
hydrant to which a hose may be attached.

_Plumb-bob._ This is a device for testing whether anything stands
exactly vertical; a _plumb-rule_ contains a plumb-bob.

_Pressure-reducing Valve._ A valve for reducing high boiler pressure
to low pressure, for steam heating, etc.

_Priming._ To fill a pump with water when it refuses to lift of its
own action, is called “priming the pump.”

_Pump-brake._ The handle or lever by which a pump is worked.

_Pump-box._ A cap or case covering the top of a pump; the casings of
the upper and lower valves are the _upper_ and _lower_ pump boxes.

_Pump-chain._ An endless chain with discs forming valves at proper
distances, working on two wheels, one above and one below, and
passing down outside and returning upward through a wooden tube like
a belt.

_Pump-cheeks._ A forked piece serving as a fulcrum for the handle of
a pump.

_Pump-well._ A compartment extending from a ship’s bottom to the
lower or the upper deck, as the case may be, to contain the pump
stocks, etc. The _bilge water_ collects in the _limbers_ and is
discharged through a spout called the _pump-dale_.

_Rain-gauge._ A vessel graduated to measure the fall of rain in a
given period.

_Reducing-coupling._ A fitting for connecting two sizes of threaded
pipe.

_Resistance._ The force that a pump has to work against, caused by
gravity, friction, head of water, etc.

_Right-hand Thread._ A screw thread in which, with the threaded end
of the bolt towards you, _the top of the nut_ must revolve from left
to right like the hands of a watch, in order to cause the nut to
screw upon the bolt.

OPEN. ROPE SOCKETS. CLOSED.
]

_Rope-socket._ A device fastened to the end of a rope by means of
which the rope may be attached to its load. The socket may be open or
closed.

_Rust-joint._ A joint which is made by being filled with sifted
cast-iron borings, mixed with sal ammoniac, sulphur and water; this
causes the cuttings to rust and form a solid cement.

_Sea Injection._ The pipe and valve through which sea water is
injected into the condenser of a marine engine.

_Screw jack or lifting jack._ A screw working in a threaded base or
stationary nut and turned by a lever inserted into holes near the
top, of which there are usually four. A loose plate or swivel is
placed on top of screw.

_“Slams” and “Shocks.”_ Banging, clanking and jarring noises
indicating a derangement of the action of a pump.

_Sleeve-coupling._ A threaded connection for uniting the two ends of
pipes of equal size.

“_Slippage._” The difference between the calculated and actual work
performed by a pump.

_Sluice._ A water-gate; a channel to run off waste water.

_Slurry pump._ A special pump for handling a mixture of earth water.

_Socket-wrench._ A wrench for turning nuts, having a socket in the
end made to a special size and shape of the nut to be turned.

_Spanner._ Is a wrench for turning round nuts having holes or slots.

_Spline or feather._ A key made fast in a shaft.

_Split-pin or cutter._ An iron pin divided at the end which is to be
spread apart after inserting in the hole.

“_Spread._” A term used to indicate the distance from center to
center of the cylinders of a duplex pump.

_Spring-seat._ An elastic seat for a valve.

_Steam thrown valves._ Valves moved by steam only.

_Steam end of a pump._ The end operated by steam.

“_Sticking of valves._” Inability to work caused by the introduction
into the valves of sand, soil, etc.; or it may be caused by too tight
a fit of the moving parts, rust or corrosion.

_Street elbow._ An elbow having an extension piece at one end.

_“Stroke” of pump._ The distance traveled by the piston in one motion.

_Stud-bolt._ A piece of round bar metal with a thread upon each end.
A represents thread for nut; B body of bolt and C thread to fit in
casting.

_Stub-end._ Either end of a connecting rod.

_Strainer._ A device for separating solid particles from the liquid
which contains them.

_Stuffing box._ A recess to receive the packing around piston rods,
plungers and valve stems.

_Submerged pump._ A pump which works under water.

“_Sucking wind._” A leakage of air into the suction part of a pump.

_Supplemental piston._ The piston which operates the main valve in
the steam pump.

_Swing check valve._ One which swings upon a pivot or hinge in
opening and closing.

_Switch cock or valve._ A device for conducting exhaust steam into
the smoke stack or atmosphere. A three-way cock.

_Syphon Cock._ A cock having a combined chamber which is partially
filled with water of condensation, attached to a steam gauge to keep
steam from entering and damaging the works of the instrument.

_Thumb-nut._ The same as a wing-nut, but a smaller size of the two,
shown above, applied to hand-vice.

_Tobin-bronze._ An alloy of copper, tin and zinc treated in a special
manner; it is non-corrosive, has great tensile strength and can be
forged at a cherry red heat.

“_Trailing Water._” Water can be trailed, _i.e._, carried through
pipes to pumps a very great distance so long as “the lift” is not
over 25 to 33 feet.

“_Trompe._” The term used to designate a water-blast—a form of pump.

_Turbine._ A water wheel driven by the impact or reaction of streams
of water flowing through it or by the impact and reaction combined;
it is also distinguished by the manner in which it discharges the
water, as _outward, vertical or central discharge_ turbine wheels.

_Turbine-pump._ A pump in which water is raised by the action of a
turbine wheel driven by exterior power in the opposite direction from
that in which it is turned when used as a motor.

_Tube-plug._ A tube stopper to be used in case of a leak in a boiler
tube; it consists of two wood pistons joined together so that the
leak will come between them. Tube plugs are frequently made of turned
tapered cast iron, one of which is to be driven into each end of a
leaking tube.

_Union._ A fitting designed to unite the two screwed ends of a pipe,
with a single nut to secure them.

_Vacuum._ A void space; an inclosed chamber from which the air (or
other gas) has been very nearly removed, as by an air pump.

_Valve._ Any device or appliance used to control the flow of a
liquid, vapor, or gas, or loose material, through a pipe, outlet
or inlet; the term includes air, gas, steam and water-cocks of all
kinds; water-gates, air-gates, etc. One hundred and fifty of such
devices are named by Knight in his “Mechanical Dictionary.”

_Viscosity._ Glutinous, adhering, or sticky, as tar, gums, molasses.
Internal friction or resistance to change of shape.

^V^ _thread._ A thread on a rod or bolt cut in the form of a letter
^V^.

_Washer._ A circular piece of leather, rubber, metal, or other
material with a hole in its center, through which a rod or bolt may
pass.

_Water Arch._ A chamber of plates or of pipes over the furnace door
of brick set boilers to take the place of the usual cast iron or fire
brick arch, and connected with the boiler to supply it with water.
The feed water is often introduced through the water arch.

_Water-bellows._ A form of pump, like a bellows—of great antiquity.

_Water-cap._ The cover for discharge valves on a steam pump.

_Water-end._ The pump end of a steam-pump; in distinction from the
steam end.

_Water-hammer._ A noise caused by the pulsative motion of water
inside a steam pipe, resembling the blows of a hammer.

_Water Ram._ A hydraulic ram.

_Working Barrel._ The water end of a pump.

_Whirlpool-chamber._ A chamber attached to the discharge end of the
centrifugal pump in which the whirling water gradually loses its
rotation, thereby reducing friction.

_Wing-nut._ An iron nut having a wing at each side. Sometimes called
a “butterfly nut.”

_Yoke._ A branch pipe, or a two-way coupling for pipes, particularly
twin hot and cold-water pipes that unite in their discharge.

^Y^.—A pipe fitting for uniting two pipes at an angle of 45°.

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION.

The very small degree of antiquity to which machine tools can lay claim appears forcibly in the sparse records of the state of the mechanic arts a century ago.

A few tools of a rude kind, such as trip-hammers (worked by water wheels), and a few special ones, which aimed at accuracy but were of limited application, such as “mills” for boring cannon, or “engines” for cutting the teeth of clock wheels, were almost their only representatives.

The transmission of power was unthought of, except for the very limited distances which were possible with the ill-fitted “gudgeons” and “lanterns and trundles” of the old millwrights.

The steam-engine, however, changed all this; on the one hand the hitherto unheard of accuracy of fit required by its working parts created a demand for tools of increased power and precision, and on the other it rendered the use of such tools possible in almost any situation.

Thus, acting and re-acting on each other, machine tools and steam engines have grown side by side, although the first steps were costly and difficult to a degree which is not now easy to realize. James Watt, for instance, in 1779 was fain to be content with a cylinder for his “fire-engine,” of which, though it was but 18 inches in the bore, the diameter in one place exceeded that at another by about 3/8 of an inch; its piston was not unnaturally leaky; though he packed it with “paper, cork, putty, pasteboard and old hat.”

_The early history of the pumping-engine is the history of the steam-engine_, for originally and for many years the only way in which the steam-engine was utilized was for pumping water out of the coal mines of England and from the low lands of the Netherlands.

In 1698 Capt. Thomas Savery secured Letters Patent for a machine for raising water by steam. It consisted of two boilers and two receivers for the steam, with valves and the needful pipes. One of the receivers being filled with steam, its communication with the boiler was then cut off and the steam condensed with cold water outside of it; into the vacuum thus formed the atmosphere forced the water from below, when the steam was again caused to press upon the water and drive it still higher.

This engine was used extensively for draining mines and the water was, in some instances, made to turn a water wheel, by which lathes and other machinery were driven.

In 1705 Thomas Newcomen, with his associates, patented an engine which combined, for the first time, the cylinder and piston and separate boiler. _This soon became extensively introduced for draining mines and collieries_, and the engines grew to be of gigantic size, with cylinders 60 inches in diameter and other parts in proportion.

This engine was, in course of years, used in connection with the Cornish pump, whose performance in raising water from mines came to be a matter of the nicest scientific investigation, and adopted as the standard for the duty or work, by which to compare the multitudinous experimental machines very soon introduced by many inventors.

But there is an earlier history which long antedates the achievements of Savery, Newcomen and Watt, which belongs, however, principally to the domain of hydraulics. Before proceeding to discuss the advancements made within the memory of men now living, it may be well to take a glance backward and occupy a few pages with their appropriate illustrations, with the facts recorded in history.

It were vain to even try, to trace the advances made toward the mammoth city pumping stations, from the early beginning hereafter described, which have inspired the words recorded by J. F. Holloway, M. E.:

“In looking upon the ponderous pumping engines which lift a volume of
water equal to the flow of a river, sending it with each throbbing
beat of their pulsating plungers through the arteries and veins
that now reach out in every direction in our great cities, bringing
health, comfort, cleanliness and protection to every home therein, we
cannot but wonder what is the history of their beginning, what the
process of their evolution out from the crude appliances of long ago.

Just who the first man was, and by what stream he sat gazing on his
parched fields, on which the cloudless skies of the Orient shed no
rain, and where the early rising sun with eager haste lapped up the
dew drops which the more kindly night in pity over his hard lot had
shed, and who, looking on his withering grain stalks on the one side
and the life-giving waters which flowed by on the other, first caught
the inspiring thought that if one could only be brought to the other,
how great would be the harvest, we shall never know. Knowing, as we
do, that such still is the problem that confronts the toiler on the
plains of that far-off Eastern land where man’s necessities first
prompted man’s invention, it does not require a great stretch of the
imagination to conceive of such a situation, and to believe that,
acting on the impulse of the moment, he called his mate, and tying
thongs to the feet of a sheep-skin and standing on either side of the
brook, with alternate swingings of the suspended skin they lifted
the waters of the stream to the thirsty field, making its blanched
furrows to bloom with vegetation, and at the same time introducing to
the world the first hydraulic apparatus ever invented, and certainly
the first hydraulic ram ever used.”

The figures shown on the opening page of this section of the work represent the very first utensils used for collecting and containing water. The _gourd or calabash_ was undoubtedly the very first; it was common among the ancient Romans, Mexicans and Egyptians, and in the most modern times continues to be in use in Africa, South America and other warm countries. The New Zealanders possessed _no other vessels_ for holding liquids, and the same remark is applicable to numerous other savage tribes.

Although not strictly connected with the subject, it may be observed that the gourd is probably the original vessel for _heating water, cooking, etc._ In these and other applications the neck is sometimes used as a handle and an opening made into the body by removing a portion of it, as shown in the engraving, its exterior being kept moistened by water while on the fire, while others apply a coating of clay to protect it from the effects of the flame. When in process of time vessels for heating water were formed wholly of clay, they were fashioned after the cauldron as shown.

The above illustrations are representations of ancient vases; it is curious to note their conformation to the figure of the gourd. The first three on the left are from Thebes. _Golden ewers_ of a similar form were used by rich Egyptians for containing water to wash the hands and feet of their guests.

Similar shaped vessels of the Greeks, Romans and other people might be easily produced.

In Egypt, India, Chaldea and China the _clepsydra or water-clocks_ date back beyond all records. Plutarch mentions them in his life of Alcibiades who flourished in the Fifth Century B. C. when they were employed in the tribunals at Athens to measure the time to which the orators were limited in their addresses to the judges. Julius Cæsar found the Britons in possession of them.

_The clepsydra is a device for measuring time_ by the amount of water discharged from a vessel through a small aperture, the quantity discharged in a given unit of time, as an hour being first determined. In the earlier clepsydras the hours were measured by the sinking of the surface of the water in the vessel containing it. In others the water ran from one vessel to another, there being in the lower a cork or piece of light wood which as the vessel filled, rose and thus indicated the hour. In later clepsydras the hour has been indicated by a dial.

Fig. 53 shows a water-clock described by Hero of Alexandria, Egypt, made _to govern the quantities of fluids flowing from a vessel_. The note below gives the exact wording of the description which has come down to us.

“A vessel containing wine, and provided with an open spout, stands
upon a pedestal: it is required by shifting a weight to cause the
spout to pour forth a given quantity,—sometimes, for instance,
a half cotyle (1/4 pint), sometimes a cotyle (1/2 pint), and in
short, whatever quantity we please. A B (fig. 53), is the vessel
into which wine is to be poured: near the bottom is a spout D: the
neck is closed by the partition E F, and through E F is inserted a
tube, G H, reaching nearly to the bottom of the vessel, but so as to
allow of the passage of water. K L M N is the pedestal on which the
vessel stands, and O X another tube reaching within a little of the
partition and extending into the pedestal in which water is placed
so as to cover the orifice O, of the tube. Fix a rod, P R, one-half
within, and the other without the pedestal, moving like the beam of a
lever about the point S; and from the extremity P of the rod suspend
a water-clock, T, having a hole in the bottom. The spout D having
been first closed, the vessel should be filled through the tube G H
before water is poured into the pedestal, that the air may escape
through the tube X O; then pour water into the pedestal, through a
hole, until the orifice O is closed, and set the spout D free. It is
evident that the wine will not flow, as there is no opening through
which air can be introduced: but if we depress the extremity R of
the rod, a portion of the water-clock will be raised from the water,
and, the vent O being uncovered, the spout D will run until the water
suspended in the water-clock has flowed back and closed the vent O.
If, when the water-clock is filled again, we depress the extremity R
still further, the liquid suspended in the water-clock will take a
longer time to flow out, and there will be a longer discharge from
D: and if the water-clock be entirely raised above the water, the
discharge will last considerably longer. To avoid the necessity of
depressing the extremity R of the rod with the hand, take a weight Q,
sliding along the outer portion of the rod, R W, and able, if placed
at R, to lift the whole water-clock; if at a distance from R, some
smaller portion of it. Then, having obtained by trial the quantities
which we wish to flow from D, we must make notches in the rod R W and
register the quantities; so that, when we wish a given quantity to
flow out, we have only to bring the weight to the corresponding notch
and leave the discharge to take place.”

THE SYPHON.

_The Syphon_ is a bent pipe or tube with legs of unequal length, used for drawing liquid out of a vessel by causing it to rise in the tube over the rim or top. For this purpose the shorter leg is inserted in the liquid, and the air is exhausted by being drawn through the longer leg. The liquid then rises by the pressure of the atmosphere and fills the tube and the flow begins from the lower end.

The general method of use is to fill the tube in the first place with the liquid, and then, stopping the mouth of the longer leg, to insert the shorter leg in the vessel; upon removal of the stop, the liquid will immediately begin to run. The flow depends upon the difference in vertical height of the two columns of the liquids, measured respectively from the bend of the tube, to the level of the water in the vessel and to the open end of the tube. The flow ceases as soon as, by the lowering of the level in the vessel, these columns become of equal height or when this level descends to the end of the shorter leg.

The atmospheric pressure is essential to the support of the column of liquid from the vessel up to the top of the bend of the tube, and this height is consequently limited; at sea height the maximum height is a little less than 34 feet for water, but this varies according to _the density of the fluid_.

FIGS. 54 55 56 57 58 59]

_Syphons are necessary in numerous manipulations of the laboratory_, and modern researches in chemistry have given rise to several beautiful devices for charging them, and also for interrupting and renewing their action. When corrosive liquids or those of high temperatures are to be transferred by syphons, it is often inconvenient, and sometimes dangerous to put them in operation by the lungs. Moreover cocks and valves of metal are acted on by acids, and in some cases would affect or destroy the properties of the fluids themselves.

Fig. 54 shows how hot or corrosive liquids may be drawn off from a wide mouthed bottle or jar. The short leg of a syphon is inserted through the cork, and also a small tube, through which the operator blows, and by the pressure of his breath forces the liquid through the syphon.

Fig. 55 represents a syphon sometimes employed by chemists. When used, the short leg is first placed in the fluid to be decanted, the flame of a lamp or candle is then applied to the underside of the bulb; the heat rarefies the air, and consequently drives out the greater part of it through the discharging orifice. The finger is applied to this orifice, and as the bulb becomes cool the atmosphere drives up the liquid into the void and puts the instrument in operation.

Fig. 56 is a syphon charged by pouring a quantity of the fluid to be decanted into the funnel, the bent pipe attached to which terminates near the top of the discharging leg. The fluid in descending through this leg bears down the air within it, on the principle of the trompe, and the atmosphere drives up the liquid in the reservoir through the short leg.

Fig. 57 is a glass syphon for decanting acids, &c. It is charged by sucking, and to guard against the contents entering the mouth, a bulb is blown on the sucking tube. The accumulation of a liquid in this bulb being visible, the operator can always withdraw his lips in time to prevent his tasting it.

Fig. 58 is designed to retain its contents when not in use, so that on plunging the short leg deep into a liquid the instrument will operate. This effect however will not follow if the end of the discharging leg descend below the bend near it, and if its orifice be not contracted nearly to that of a capillary tube.

Fig. 59 is a syphon by which liquids may be drawn at intervals, viz., by raising and lowering the end of the discharging leg according to the surface of the liquid in the cistern.

Figs. 60, 61, 62 are syphons described by Hero of Alexandria who lived 120 B. C.; the descriptions of the figures are the translation of the original.

Let A B C D (Fig. 60) be a vessel open at the top, and through its bottom pass a tube, either an inclosed pipe as E F G, or a bent syphon G H K. When the vessel A B C D is filled, and the water runs over, a discharge will begin and continue till the vessel is empty, if the interior opening is so near the bottom of the vessel as only to leave a passage for the water.

As before, let there be a vessel, A B (Fig. 61), containing water. Through its bottom insert a tube, C D, soldered into the bottom and projecting below. Let the aperture C of the syphon approach to the mouth of the vessel A B, and let another tube, E F, inclose the tube C D, the distance between the tubes being everywhere equal, and the mouth of the outer tube being closed by a plate, E G, a little above the mouth C. If we exhaust, by suction through the mouth D, the air in the tube C D, we shall draw into it the water in the vessel A B, so that it will flow out through the projection of the syphon until the water is exhausted. For the air contained between the liquid and the tube E F, being but little, can pass into the tube C D, and the water can then be drawn after it. And the water will not cease flowing because of the projection of the syphon below:—if, indeed, the tube E F were removed, the discharge would cease on the surface of the water arriving at C, in spite of the projection below; but when E F is entirely immersed no air can enter the syphon in place of that drawn off, since the air which enters the vessel takes the place of the water as it passes out.

Let A B C (Fig. 62), be a bent syphon, or tube, of which the leg A B is plunged into a vessel D E containing water. If the surface of the water is in F G, the leg of the syphon, A B, will be filled with water as high as the surface, that is, up to H, the portion H B C remaining full of air. If, then we draw off the air by suction through the aperture C, the liquid also will follow. And if the aperture C be level with the surface of the water, the syphon, though full, will not discharge the water, but will remain full: so that, although it is contrary to nature for water to rise, it has risen so as to fill the tube A B C; and the water will remain in equilibrium, like the beams of a balance, the portion H B being raised on high, and the portion B C suspended. But if the outer mouth of the syphon be lower than the surface F G, as at K, the water flows out, for the liquid in K B, being heavier, overpowers and draws toward it the liquid B H. The discharge, however, continues only until the surface of the water is on a level with the mouth K, when, for the same reason as before, the efflux ceases. But if the outer mouth of the tube be lower than K, as at L, the discharge continues until the surface of the water reaches the mouth A.

_The Syringe_ is an instrument of very high antiquity and was probably the first machine consisting of a cylinder and piston that was especially designed to force liquids. In the closed end a short conical pipe is attached whose dimensions are adapted to the particular purpose for which the instrument is to be used. The piston is solid and covered with a piece of soft leather, hemp, woolen listing, or any similar substance that readily imbibes moisture, in order to prevent air or water from passing between it and the sides of the cylinder. When the end of the pipe is placed in a liquid and the piston drawn back, the atmosphere drives the liquid into the cylinder; whence it is expelled through the same orifice by pushing the piston down: in the former case the syringe acts as a sucking pump: in the latter as a forcing one. They are formed of silver, brass, pewter, glass, and sometimes of wood. For some purposes the small pipe is dispensed with, the end of the cylinder being closed by a perforated plate, as in those instruments with which gardeners syringe their plants.

WELLS.

Long before pumping devices were conceived, wells existed as the invention of prehistoric man. Herewith is a sectional view of _Joseph’s Well_ to be seen at the present time at Cairo, Egypt. Scientists think it the production of the same people that built the pyramids and the unrivaled monuments of Thebes, Dendaroh and Ebsambone. The magnitude of the well and the skill displayed in its construction is perfectly unique.

This stupendous well is an oblong square, twenty four feet by eighteen, being sufficiently capacious to admit within its mouth a moderate sized house. It is excavated (of these dimensions) through solid rock to the depth of one hundred and sixty-five feet, where it is enlarged into a capacious chamber, in the bottom of which is formed a basin or reservoir, to receive the water raised from below (for this chamber is not the bottom of the well). On one side of the reservoir another shaft is continued, one hundred and thirty feet lower, where it emerges through the rock into a bed of gravel, in which the water is found, the whole depth being two hundred and ninety-seven feet; the lower shaft is not in the same vertical line with the upper one, nor is it so large, being fifteen feet by nine.