Chapter M: BERLIER, the well known engineer, has laid before the governments (1)

of Spain and Morocco a project for the construction of a tunnel under the Straits of Gibraltar. The execution of this plan would have immense economic consequences, so that its fate will be followed with interest. M. Berlier is the inventor of a new method of subterranean boring.

"THE SALE of the steamers 'Pennsylvania,' 'Ohio,' 'Indiana,' 'Illinois,' and 'Conemaugh,' by the International Navigation Company to the States Steamship Company for the Pacific trade leaves but five steamships flying the American flag crossing the Atlantic Ocean," says The Marine Record. "They are the 'St. Paul,' gross tons 11,629.21; 'St. Louis,' gross tons 11,629.21; 'New York,' gross tons 10,802.61; 'Paris,' gross tons 10,794.86; 'Evelyn,' gross tons 1,963.44, the latter three built in English shipyards and denationalized."

JOHN MURPHY, general manager of the United Traction Company, of Pittsburg, reports the average life of motor gears on his line as two years, and the average life of pinions, nine months. He is employing the gears and pinions of the Simonds Manufacturing Company. The service is an exceedingly severe one, on account of the many grades on the line. The average life of trolley wheels is 1,000 miles, and the conditions under which they operate are quite severe, as the company has on its main line eighteen railroad crossings. A tempered copper wheel is employed.

ACCORDING TO a recent correspondent of The Buffalo Express, in the Pennsylvania oil region during the last year over 300 gas engines have been placed on oil leases and are doing satisfactory work. The engines vary from 10 to 50 horse power. Every big machine shop in the oil regions is turning out gas engines. The machine shops are also using gas engines to drive their own machinery. During the last year twenty of the Standard Oil Company's pipe line pumping stations have been equipped with gas engines. In all the new stations and in old ones where new machinery is needed, the gas engine will be preferred. Where natural gas cannot be had and coal was formerly burned, gasoline is used. The pumping station engines are all provided with electric ignition.

IN A recent issue of The Railway Age is published the following, based upon the last report of the Interstate Commerce Commission: "Last year the railways of the United States carried over 13,000,000,000 passengers one mile. They also carried 95,000,000,000 tons of freight one mile. The total amount paid in dividends on stock was $87,603,371--call it $88,000,000. Of the total earnings of the railways, about 70 per cent. came from freight service and 30 per cent. from passenger service. Let us assume, then, that of the $88,000,000 paid in dividends, 70 per cent., or $61,600,000, was profit on freight service and $26,400,000 was profit on passenger service. Let us drop fractions and call it $62,000,000 from freight and $26,000,000 from passengers. By dividing the passenger profit into the number of passengers carried (13,000,000,000), we find that the railways had to carry a passenger 500 miles in order to earn $1 of profit--or five miles to earn 1 cent. Their average profit, therefore, was less than two-tenths of 1 cent for carrying a passenger (and his baggage) one mile. By dividing the freight profit into the freight mileage (95,000,000,000) we find that the railways had to carry one ton of freight 1,530 miles in order to earn $1, or over fifteen miles to earn 1 cent. The average profit, therefore, was less than one-fifteenth of a cent for carrying a ton of freight (besides loading and unloading it) one mile."

THE RAILROADS in the United States have cost about $60,000 per mile, and probably a considerable percentage of this has not entered into the construction of the railroads and the equipment of same, says "Signal Engineer" in The Railroad Gazette. The railroads of Great Britain have cost about $240,000 a mile, and yet we claim for the United States more luxurious travel than can be found in Great Britain; and this is true so long as the travel is safe. The difference in the cost of construction in the United States and England may be found in the item of safety appliances. The railroads of Great Britain carried during the last year 800,000,000 passengers, with safety to all but five, and this was possible because the railroads, instead of expending their capital in luxurious equipment and passenger stations, chose rather to equip their lines with the most improved signaling and interlocking. The railroad companies of the United States in expending large sums for handsome and convenient terminals and luxurious cars are placing monuments before the public eye which naturally lead to the belief that every appointment of such roads is on the same high plane, and it requires much less expenditure to furnish luxurious equipment to be carried over 1,000 miles of road than it does to equip 10 miles of the 1,000 so as to make it safe; and since the expenditure for safety appliances and permanent way is not seen and felt by the passenger so long as he is carried in safety, it is not, therefore, so prominent before the public gaze as is the handsome station and the palatial car. On one road in Great Britain, having but 2,000 miles of track, there are employed more men in the manufacture and installation of signal work than are employed by all the signal companies and in the signal departments of all the railroads of the United States, where we are now operating about 182,000 miles.

* * * * *

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES.

ORDERS FOR large quantities of aluminum have been received within the last few weeks by the Pittsburg Reduction Company from the principal foreign nations for the equipment of their armies. The contracts aggregate about fifty tons a month, Russia being the largest consumer.

ACCORDING TO the return published by the Minister of Agriculture, the consumption of horseflesh in Paris has decreased slightly in the last year, being only 4,472 tons, as against 4,664 tons for 1895-96. This was the meat derived from 20,878 horses, 53 mules and 232 donkeys slaughtered during the twelve months; but a very strict supervision is exercised, and 575 of these animals were condemned as unfit for human food. The flesh of the remainder was sold at 190 stalls or shops, and, although the fillet and undercut made as much as 9d. a pound, the inferior parts sold for 2d. or less, and most of the meat was used for making sausages.

ACCORDING TO La Propriété Industrielle, 5,372 Austrian patents were granted in 1896 (5,215 in 1895). Of these, residents of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy received 2,070 (2,031 in 1895), Austrians coming first with 1,813 (1,683 in 1895), Hungarians second with 254 (347 in 1895), while residents of Bosnia and Herzegovina secured 3 patents (1 in 1895). Among foreigners the following show an increase over 1895: United States, 394 (335); Great Britain, 355 (313); France, 244 (243); Switzerland, 94 (79); Belgium, 66 (48); Sweden and Norway, 60 (40); Italy, 50 (45); Russia, 47 (40); Australia, 32 (10); and Netherlands, 26 (18). A decrease is shown by Germany, 1,887 (1,950); Denmark, 10 (17); Canada, 7 (14); and Spain, 6 (10). The total number of Austrian patents granted to foreigners in 1896 was 3,302, as against 3,184 in 1895.

ENGLISH AND FRENCH LIGHTHOUSES.--An English engineer named Purves has just made a comparison in regard to the intensity of light of the lighthouses on the English coasts and those which illuminate the shores of France. The comparison shows results which are altogether favorable to France. The average illumination intensity of eighty-six English lighthouses of the first class is 20,680 candle power, while thirty-six first class French lighthouses give an average of 34,166 candle power. The difference is more striking if the lighthouses constructed within the last ten years be considered. Since 1886 France has built eleven lighthouses, whose average intensity of light is 8,200,000 candle power; the new lighthouse of Eckmühl gives 40,000,000. According to Mr. Purves, the superior intensity of light of the French lighthouse lies in the use of the flashing rays, which have not yet found favor in England.

IN AN address by Thomas Morris, before the Staffordshire, England, iron and steel works managers on the remarkable achievements that have been reached in the manufacture of fine wire, the interesting fact was mentioned that the lecturer had been presented by Warrington, the wire manufacturer, with specimens for which some $4.32 per pound were paid, or more than $8,600 per ton--drawn wire, largely used in the construction of piano and other musical and mechanical instruments. Among these specimens also was pinion wire, at a market price of $21.60 per pound, or $43,200 per ton. It took 754 hairsprings to weigh an ounce of 437½ grains; 27,000,000 of these were required to make a ton, and, taking one to be worth 1½ cents, the value of a ton of these cheap little things ran up to over $400,000. The barbed instruments used by dentists for extracting nerves from teeth were even more expensive, representing some $2,150,000 per ton.

AT A fête in the Elysée Palace the other day one of the features prepared for the entertainment of the guests was a cinematograph, which contained views taken during President Faure's visit to St. Petersburg. One of the pictures settled for the President a question which had been troubling him considerably. Several months ago a German paper printed an interview with Bismarck, in which the ex-chancellor commented on M. Faure's visit to St. Petersburg, saying that the Frenchman had conducted himself according to etiquette except on one occasion, when, on his arrival in the Russian capital he had been saluted by the Cossack guard of honor, he had returned the salute with the hand, not with the hat. M. Faure being a civilian, this was a serious breach of etiquette, Bismarck said. The interview was reprinted in the French papers and caught the President's eye. He was much concerned about the matter and asked several friends who had been present if he had actually committed the breach. No one could remember. Then came the cinematograph show. As the small audience gazed upon the screen they saw the President's image advance with slow, dignified step before the Cossacks, then all at once raise his hand to his hat, which he lifted with the quick motion so familiar to Parisians. The guests burst into applause and the President smiled. Bismarck was mistaken.

"WE HEAR a great deal regarding the decline of our shipping interests, and so far as our shipping in the foreign trade is concerned it is unfortunately true," says The Boston Commercial Bulletin. "But few people realize the immensity of our coastwise commerce. The Custom House figures on the shipping of the port of New York for 1897 show that there were 4,614 arrivals of vessels from foreign ports, 7,095 from Eastern domestic ports, and 3,798 from Southern domestic ports. Of the foreign, 2,313 were British, of which 1,667 were steamships; 952 were American, of which 323 were steamships, and 517 were German of which 444 were steamships. This statement shows that the arrivals from American ports were nearly three times those from foreign countries, though of course this proportion is not borne out in tonnage, vessels on the deep sea trade averaging larger. But it will be doubtless a surprise that of the shipping from foreign ports more than one-fifth were American. At other Atlantic and Gulf ports this proportion undoubtedly does not hold true, but these figures show a less doleful condition of the American marine than some people have been led to expect. When it is remembered that the coastwise fleet numbers many steamers of 2,000 to 3,000 tons and many sailing craft of 1,000 tons and upward, it will be seen that we are yet a sea power of the first class, in fact exceeded only by England."

* * * * *

SELECTED FORMULÆ.

ESSENCE OF PEPSIN.--

1. Pepsin (pure) 128 grains.
Dilute muriatic acid 5 drops.
Simple elixir 3 fl. ounces.
Glycerin 1 "
Water 16 "
Angelica wine 6 "

Dissolve by agitation and filter through purified talcum.

2. Glycerole of pepsin 3 parts.
Sherry wine 5 "
Glycerin 1 "
Simple elixir, to make 16 "

3. Pepsin in scales 64 grains.
Glycerin 1 fl. ounce.
Elixir taraxacum compound 1 "
Alcohol 2 "
Oil of cloves 1 drop.
Sirup 2 fl. ounces.
Dilute hydrochloric acid 1 fl. drachm.
Water, to make 16 fl. ounces.

--Pharmaceutical Era.

APPLICATIONS TO INSECT BITES.--Brocq and Jacquet (Indépendance médicale, October 20) recommend the following for the bites of bugs, fleas and gnats:

1. Camphorated oil of chamomile 100 parts.
Liquid storax 20 "
Essence of peppermint 5 "
M.
2. Olive oil 20 parts.
Storax ointment 25 "
Balsam of Peru 5 "
M.
3. Naphthol 5 to 10 parts.
Ether, enough to dissolve it.
Menthol ¼ to 1 part.
Vaseline 100 parts.

BEAD FOR LIQUORS.--In the liquor trade, anything added to liquors to cause them to carry a "bead" and to hang in pearly drops about the side of the glass or bottle when poured out or shaken is called "beading," the popular notion being that liquor is strong in alcohol in proportion as it "beads." The object of adding a so-called "bead oil" is to impart this quality to a low-proof liquor, so that it may appear to the eye to be of the proper strength. The following formulas for "bead oil" are given:

1. Sweet almond oil 1 fl. ounce.
Sulphuric acid, concentrated 1 "
Sugar, lump, crushed 1 ounce.
Alcohol, sufficient.

Triturate the oil and acid very carefully together in a glass, Wedgwood or porcelain mortar or other suitable vessel; add by degrees the sugar, continue trituration until the mixture becomes pasty, and then gradually add enough alcohol to render the whole perfectly fluid. Transfer to a quart bottle and wash out the mortar twice or oftener with strong alcohol until about 20 fluid ounces in all of the latter has been used, the washings to be added to the mixture in the bottle. Cautiously agitate the bottle, loosely corked, until admixture appears complete, and set aside in a cool place. This quantity of "oil" is supposed to be sufficient for 100 gallons of liquor, but is more commonly used for about 80 or 85 gallons. The liquor treated with this "oil" is usually allowed to become clearer by simple repose.

2. Soapwort, coarsely ground 13 ounces.
Diluted alcohol, enough to make 1 gallon.

Extract the soapwort by maceration or percolation.

This is also intended for 80 gallons of liquor, preferably adding to the latter one-half gallon of simple sirup.

The ingredients of the above formulas, according to the "Manual of Beverages," are not injurious--not at least in the quantities required for "beading." It is said that beyond a certain degree of dilution of the liquor with water, these preparations fail to produce the intended effect. The addition of sugar or sirup increases their efficacy. --Pharmaceutical Era.

QUININE HAIR TONIC.--

1. Quinine sulphate 1 part.
Tincture cantharides 10 "
Glycerin 75 "
Alcohol 500 "
Tincture rhatany 20 "
Spirit lavender 50 "

2. Tincture cinchona 50 "
Tincture cantharides 25 "
Peru balsam 20 "
Tincture soap 150 "
Cologne water 250 "
Cognac 2,000 "
Oil bergamot 10 "
Oil sweet orange 10 "
Oil rose geranium 3 "

3. Bisulphate of quinine ½ ounce.
Vinegar of cantharides 2½ "
Spirit of rosemary 18 "
Lavender water 8 "
Glycerite of borax 1 "
Glycerin 14 "
Distilled water 80 "
Caramel, sufficient to color.

--Pharmaceutical Era.

SOAP FOR REMOVING RUST.--
Parts by Weight.
Whiting 9
Oil soap 6
Cyanide of potassium 5
Water 60

Dissolve the soap in water over the fire and add the cyanide, then little by little the whiting. If the compound is too thick, which may be due either to the whiting or the soap employed, add a little water until a paste is made which can be run into an iron or wooden mould. This will remove rust from steel and give it a good polish.--Oils, Colors and Drysalteries.

* * * * *

THE NEWFOUNDLAND AND NOVA SCOTIA PASSENGER STEAMER "BRUCE."

Messrs A. & J. Inglis, shipbuilders and engineers, of Pointhouse, Glasgow, have recently built a somewhat unique and certainly interesting steamer, for the conveyance of passengers between Port an Basque, in Newfoundland, and Sydney, Cape Breton, in connection with the Newfoundland and Canadian systems of railways. The distance from port to port is about one hundred miles, and the vessel has been designed to make the run in six hours. Messrs. Reid, of Newfoundland, who have founded the line of steamers to perform this service, intrusted to Messrs. Inglis the task of producing a vessel in all respects suitable for the work to be accomplished. The steamer "Bruce," the pioneer steamer, an illustration of which we are enabled to produce, is the result. The navigation of the waters in which this vessel will be employed is attended with some difficulties. Not only are storms of frequent occurrence, but in the months of winter and spring large quantities of drift ice are commonly encountered.

To obtain the necessary speed and carry all that was required on a suitable draught of water, it was essential that the "Bruce" should be built of steel, but in view of the severe structural and local stresses to which she must inevitably be subjected when at sea, it was necessary to afford adequate stiffening and means for preventing penetration or abrasion by ice. Hence the frames are more closely spaced than is usual in vessels of her size, numerous web frames associated with arched supports at the main deck and adjacent to the waterline are fitted throughout her entire length, and a belt of 3-inch greenheart planking, with a steel sheathing over it at the fore part of the vessel, is further provided. Indeed, throughout the vessel, every precaution has been taken with a view to insure her efficiency and safety when running swiftly from port to port, while at the same time the materials employed have been most wisely, judiciously and economically distributed.

The dimensions of the "Bruce" are 230 feet long, 32 feet 6 inches broad, and 22 feet deep, her gross tonnage being 1250 tons. She has been built with very fine lines, a considerable rise of floor, and with a graceful outline, which gives her the appearance of a large yacht. Our illustration shows the "Bruce" when running at a speed of upward of 15 knots on the measured mile at Wemyss Bay. Not only has the structure of the vessel been skillfully designed, but her internal fittings are admirably arranged. It is really most interesting to note with what ingenuity passenger accommodation of a somewhat extensive character has been provided in so small a vessel. The "Bruce" has berths for seventy first-class and one hundred second class passengers, and the accommodation is of a very luxurious kind. The berths are between the awning and main decks, where there is also a special apartment set apart for ladies, and at the fore end for the officers' quarters. Besides these a large and handsome dining saloon is situated on the main deck, richly upholstered and fitted with unique little window recesses, which besides adding to the appearance of the apartment, furnishes additional dining accommodation. It is done up in dark mahogany panels, fringed with gold. The chairs are upholstered in blue morocco, and the floor is laid with a Turkey carpet. All the other rooms are in dark polished oak. A large smoking room is also provided on the main deck.

The "Bruce" is further fitted with a complete installation of electric lighting, together with an electric search light; has Lord Kelvin's deep sea sounding apparatus and compasses, also Caldwell's steam steering gear and winches, Weir's evaporators and pumps. Alley and McLellan's feed water filters, and Howden's forced draught. She is steam heated throughout, and in every detail of the sanitary arrangements the health and comfort of the passengers have been attended to. Six lifeboats, having accommodation for 250 people, are hung in davits. When fully laden she carries 350 tons of cargo in her holds and 250 tons of coal in her bunkers.

The contract speed for the "Bruce" was 15 knots--and to obtain this Messrs. Inglis fitted her with triple-expansion engines, which we shall illustrate in another impression, having cylinders 26 inches, 42 inches and 65 inches in diameter, with a 42 inch stroke. Steam is supplied from four boilers loaded to a pressure of 160 pounds per square inch. When on the measured mile a mean speed of about 15¼ knots was obtained with an indicated horse power of 2200, the engines running at 90 revolutions per minute.

The vessel has arrived safely at Newfoundland, having performed the voyage at a mean speed of very little under 15 knots, a most satisfactory performance. She has been running some little time on her route and been giving most satisfactory results.--We are indebted to London Engineer for the cut and description.

* * * * *

HEAT IN GREAT TUNNELS.

One phase of the construction of tunnels through the Alps was recently discussed by M. Brandicourt, secretary of the Linnæan Society of the North of France, in the columns of La Nature. He showed that only a few thousand feet below the eternal snows of that region so high a temperature may be found that workmen can scarcely live in it. Nearly all of the other difficulties encountered in those enterprises had been foreseen. This one was a great surprise. It shows how the interior heat of the earth extends above sea level into all great mountainous uplifts on the earth's surface.

During the tunneling of Mont Cenis, says M. Brandicourt, the temperature of the rock was found to be 27.5 degrees C. (81.5 degrees F.) at about 5,000 meters (16,000 feet) from the entrance. It reached 29.5 degrees (86 degrees F.) in the last 500 meters (1,600 feet) of the central part. The workmen were then about 1,600 meters (5,100 feet) below the Alpine summit, whose mean temperature is 3 degrees below zero (27 degrees F.) Thus there was a difference of 32.5 degrees: that is, one "geothermic" degree corresponded to about 50 meters.

This elevation of temperature was not at first regarded with anxiety. Soon a draught would be produced and would ameliorate the situation. It was time, for the disease known as "miner's anæmia" had begun to claim its victims.

The situation at St. Gothard was much more serious. As at Mont Cenis, a temperature of 29 degrees C. (85 degrees F.) was found about 5,000 meters from the portals of the tunnel. But there remained yet 5,000 meters of rock to pierce. In the center of the tunnel there was observed for several days a temperature of 35 degrees (95 degrees F.) Generally it did not vary much from 32.5 degrees (90.5 degrees F.), a sufficiently high degree, if we remember that the men's perspiration was transformed into water vapor, and that the air was nearly saturated with humidity. In these conditions work was very difficult, and the horses employed to remove the debris almost all succumbed.

Man can bear more than animals. In an absolutely dry air he can endure a temperature of 50 degrees (122 degrees F.) But in an atmosphere saturated with water, underground, where the breath of the workmen fills the narrow space with poisonous vapors, a temperature of even 30 degrees (86 degrees F.) entails serious consequences. In a large number of workmen the bodily heat rose to 40 degrees (104 degrees F.) and the pulse to 140 and even 150 a minute. The most robust were obliged to lay off one day out of three, and even the working day was itself reduced to five hours, instead of seven or eight.

According to Dr. Giaconni, who for ten years attended the workmen at Mont Cenis and St. Gothard, the proportion of invalids was as large as 60 to the 100.

More strange yet, the report of the physicians who dwelt at the works notes the presence among the workmen of the intestinal parasites called "ankylostomes," which have been observed in Egypt and other tropical countries, and which are the cause of what scientists call "Egyptian chlorosis" or "intertropical hyperæmia." This pathologic state is observed only in the hottest regions of the earth. The victim becomes thin, pale and dark. He is bathed in continual sweat, devoured by inextinguishable thirst, and the prey of continual fever. And thus, adds Mr. Lentherie, "the most robust mountaineer had only to pass a few months in the depths of the Alps to contract the germs of a tropical disease. Under the thick layer of snow and ice that enveloped him he had to work naked like a tropical negro or an Indian stoker on a Red Sea steamer; and in this Alpine world, where everything outside reminds one of the polar climate, he sweltered as in a caldron and often died of heat."

The bad conditions found at St. Gothard will be met also, very probably, in the new Alpine tunnels that have been projected in recent years--those at the Simplon, St. Bernard and Mont Blanc. It can be predicted that for Mont Blanc in particular the temperature of 40 degrees (104 degrees F.) will be far exceeded. M. de Lapparent even considers that the figure of 55 degrees (131 degrees F.) proposed by some geologists is moderate, and errs by defect rather than by excess.

The engineer Stockalpa, who for four years has directed one of the workshops at St. Gothard, and has made a profound study of this temperature question, does not hesitate to say that under Mont Blanc the temperature will be 33 degrees (91 degrees F.) at three kilometers from the entrance, that it will reach 50 degrees (122 degrees F.) under the Saussure Pass, and 53.5 degrees (128 degrees F.) under the Tacul Peak, falling again to 31 degrees (88 degrees F.) under the White Valley.

These are only probabilities, but they are founded on facts, and we may imagine all the preventive measures that they will render imperative.

The experience that has been acquired in these latter years has indicated the best methods of ventilation and cooling. The compressed air used in the workings produces by its escape a very sensible lowering of the temperature, which can be made still lower by using saline solutions whose freezing point is as low as -20 degrees (4 degrees F.), and which will circulate through pipes along the tunnel. The removal of the debris can be effected by electric locomotives; thus the horses, which use up the precious air, can be done away with. The electric light, which can be operated without contamination or consuming the air, will also render great service; these improvements can all be carried out with ease. Together with the preceding, they will form a group of processes that will enable us to gain the victory over the interior heat of the great Alpine tunnels.

* * * * *

AN ENGLISH STEAM FIRE ENGINE.

The machine which we illustrate has lately been constructed by Messrs. Merryweather & Sons, of Greenwich Road, with the view to combining the advantages of both horizontal and vertical steam fire engines. Hitherto the horizontal engine has been considered by some firemen to be less handy of access than the vertical, and the vertical engine has had the undoubted disadvantage of not being stoked from the footplate. By shortening the length of stroke and constructing a special pump, the makers have been able to keep the engine sufficiently high in relation to the boiler to enable the firedoor to be placed directly in the rear of the boiler and underneath the engine, thus enabling the boiler to be stoked en route, and allowing access from the footplate to the starting valve, the suction and delivery connections, the whole of the boiler fittings and feed arrangements. This enables one man to drive and stoke the engine, and to attend to the suction and delivery hoses, and it does not interfere at all with the stability of engine in traveling or at work, as the center of gravity is well below the top of the side frames. Another feature is the absence of a main steam pipe, a bracket being arranged on the cylinders containing the steam passages, to bolt directly onto the top of the boiler. The close proximity of the engine to the boiler renders it peculiarly suitable for cold climates, and times of frost, reducing the chances of the pump or feed arrangements being frozen up. The pump valves are arranged between the barrels, and are all accessible by the removal of one cover, which weighs but 12 lb. The engine, we understand, may be stopped, the cover removed, a damaged valve replaced, the cover put on again, and the engine restarted in two minutes. A slotted link is used with a crankshaft for regulating the length of stroke. All the bearings have large wearing surfaces, and substantial eccentric straps are used, the whole of the motion being simple and accessible. There are three different methods of feeding the boiler, viz., by feed pump driven by the crosshead of the main pump, by forcing water directly into the boiler from the main pump, and by an injector taking its water from a tank either supplied from the main pump or by a bucket when pumping dirty water. All the feed pipes are fitted with strainers where attached to the main pump. Drop feed lubricators are fitted on the cylinders, and an efficient system of lubrication is provided for the rest of the working parts. The carriage frame, hose box, etc., are of the same design as usually employed for engines of this class, with the exception of the fore carriage, which is fitted with a cross spring in the rear, as well as the two longitudinal springs. This arrangement makes the engine run more lightly, and removes much of the strain on the side frames when traveling rapidly on a rough road. The wheels are fairly light for the weight they have to carry, and have gun metal stock hoops with diamond pent rims to prevent the men slipping when mounting in a hurry. The engine and boiler work is brightly polished where-ever possible, and the whole machine has a handsome appearance.--Engineering.

* * * * *

APPARATUS FOR OBTAINING THE CUBATURE OF TREES.

In the exploitation of forests it is an important matter to be able to measure the cubature of trees, and the process most generally employed consists in determining their height and mean circumference, the apparatus used for this latter measurement being compasses having the form of the calipers used by mechanics. The figure indicated is read upon the graduated rule and is called off in a loud voice to another person, who at once writes it down. There are several causes of error: it is possible that the reading may be incorrectly made or improperly called off, or be misunderstood or incorrectly noted. Finally, it is a somewhat fatiguing operation that is often dispensed with and the measurement made by estimate. In order to do away with all such causes of error, M. Jobez, a mining engineer, has had M. Peccaud construct an apparatus that automatically registers all the measurements upon a paper tape analogous to that used in the Morse telegraphic apparatus.

The registering mechanism (Fig. 1) is fixed to the movable branch that forms the slide of the instrument. It is so arranged that when this branch is slid along the rule carrying the graduations, a gearing causes the revolution of a wheel, D, which carries figures corresponding to such graduation. At the same time, two feed rollers, E, cause a small portion of the paper tape (which is wound upon a spool, A) to move forward and wind around a receiving spool, B. After the apparatus has been made accurately to embrace the trunk of the tree to be measured, it is removed and a pressure given to the lever, H, which applies the paper to the type wheel, D. A special button permits, in addition, of making a dot alongside of the numbers, if it be desired to attract attention to one of the measurements, either for distinguishing one kind of a tree from another or for any other reason.

With this apparatus one man can make all the measurements and inscribe them without any possible error and without any fatigue. It is possible for him to inscribe a thousand numbers an hour, and the tapes are long enough to permit of 4,000 measurements being made without a change of paper. There is, therefore, a saving of time as well as perfect accuracy in the operation.

In order to make the calculations necessary for the estimate, M. Laurand has devised a sliding rule which facilitates the operation and which is based upon the method that consists in knowing the height and mean circumference of the tree. The circumference taken in the middle is divided by 4, 4.8 or 5 according as one employs the quarter without deduction or the sixth or fifth deduced. This first result, multiplied by itself and by the height, gives the cubature of the tree. As for the value, that is the product of this latter number by the price per cubic meter. It will be seen that there is a series of somewhat lengthy operations to be performed, and it is in order to dispense with these that has been constructed the rule under consideration, which, like all calculating rules, consists of two parts, one of which slides upon the other (Fig. 2). Upon each of these there are two graduated scales, or four in all, the first of which is designed for the circumference and the second for the height of the tree, the third for the price of the cubic meter and the fourth for the total result, that is, the value of the entire tree. The arrangements are such that, after the number corresponding to the circumference of the tree has been brought opposite that corresponding to its height, the result will be found opposite the price per cubic meter.

Thus, in the position represented in the figure, we may suppose a tree having a circumference of 2.5 m. and a height of 3.2 m.; then, if a cubic meter is worth 25 francs, the tree will be worth 20 francs.

In order to simplify the calculations and the construction of the rule, no account is taken of points; but this is of no importance, since the error that might be made in misplacing one would be so great that it would be immediately detected. A 2 franc tree would not be confounded with a 20 or a 200 franc one. As an approximation, the first two figures of the result are obtained accurately; and that suffices, because, since the whole is based upon an approximate measurement, which is the mean circumference of the tree, we cannot exact absolute precision in the results. The essential thing is to have a practically acceptable figure.--La Nature.

* * * * *

EGYPT'S POPULATION, according to the census taken last June, is 9,750,000, more than double the population in 1846. The foreign residents are 112,000; of these, 38,000 are Greeks, 24,500 Italians, 19,500 Britishers, including the army of occupation, and 14,000 French subjects, including Algerians and Tunisians. Twelve per cent. of the native males can read and write; the other Egyptians are illiterate. Cairo has 570,000 inhabitants, Alexandria 320,000, Port Said 42,000, and Suez 17,000.

* * * * *

MACHINE MOULDING WITHOUT STRIPPING PLATES.[1]

[Footnote 1: Paper presented at the New York meeting (December,
1897) of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and
forming part of volume xix. of the Transactions.]

BY E. H. MUMFORD, PLAINFLELD, N. J.

(Member of the Society.)

Moulding machines may be classed under three heads. First, machines which only ram the moulds, and, when the ramming is done by means of a side lever, by hand, are generally called "squeezers." Second, machines which only draw the patterns, the ramming being accomplished by the usual hand methods. Third, machines which both ram the moulds and draw the patterns, ramming either by a hand-pulled lever or by fluid pressure on piston or plunger and drawing the patterns through a plate called a "stripping plate" or "drop plate"--till recently the usual method--or without the use of this plate fitting everywhere to pattern outline at the parting surface, the patterns being effectively machine guided in either case.

It is to the third class that the machine which is used to illustrate the subject of this paper belongs, and which would seem to have enough that is novel in the application of machinery to the foundry to merit the attention of the society.

At the risk of appearing pedantic, but with a view to developing an appreciation of the true function of the method of pattern drawing used in this machine, attention is called to the following sectional views of moulds and ways of drawing patterns occurring in machine moulding. Fig. 1 shows an ordinary "gate" of fitting patterns being drawn from the drag or nowel part of the mould by means of a spike and rapper wielded by the moulder's hand after cope and drag have been rammed together on a "squeezer" and cope has been removed. Frequently the pernicious "swab" is used to soak and so strengthen joint outlines of the sand before drawing patterns, in such cases as this. In this case, before cope is lifted, these patterns must be vigorously rapped through the cope; an amount depending (and so does the size of the casting) upon the mood and strength of the moulder.

Fig. 2 shows the stripping or drop plate method of drawing patterns.

In this method the patterns are not rapped at all and are drawn in a practically straight line so that the mould is absolutely pattern size.

The stripping plate is fitted accurately to every outline at the joint surface of the patterns, obviously at considerable expense, and, of course, at the instant of drawing the patterns, supports the joint surface of the mould entirely. This is, at first sight, an ideal method of drawing patterns, and it has for years been the only method practiced on machines. It has two disadvantages. The patterns are separated from the stripping plate by the necessary joint fissure between the two. Fine sand continually falls into this and, adhering to the joint surfaces more or less, grinds the fissure wider. This leads to a gradual reduction of size of patterns on vertical surfaces and a widening of the joint fissure often to such an extent that wire edges are formed on the mould, causing, on fine work, "crushing" and consequently dirty joints. A nicely fitted but worn plate of twenty-four pieces which had cost, at shop expense only, $250, was recently replaced by a plate of twenty-eight pieces, fitted ready for the machine under the new system about to be described, for not more than $25.

The stripping plate method has another drawback, not always appreciated, probably because accepted as inevitable. Stripping plate patterns are not rapped, and there frequently occur on surface of patterns, remote from the action of the stripping plate, rectangular corners just as important to mould sharply as those at the parting line. Such corners have either to be filleted or "stooled" in stripping plate work, and neither method often is practicable. When the entire pattern and plate are vibrated so that the corners where the pattern joins the plate draw perfectly, as they do in the machine to be described, it is obvious that similar corners anywhere on pattern surface will draw equally well.

The vibrating of patterns, or rather of moulds, during the operation of drawing the patterns possesses little of novelty. Ever since a bench moulder's neighbor first rapped the bench while he lifted a cope or drew a pattern, the thing has been done in one way or another. In fact, machines are now and then found on the market in which a device like a ratchet or other mechanical means for jarring the machine structure during pattern drawing renders the working of easy patterns without stripping plates possible.

The idea of applying a power driven vibrator directly to the plate carrying the patterns to thus vibrate them independently of other parts of the machine and the flask and sand has been the subject of the issue of patents to Mr. Harris Tabor, and the various figures shown will serve to illustrate the mechanism.

Briefly, the operation of the machine is as follows: The ramming head shown thrown back at the top of the machine is drawn into a vertical position after flask has been placed and filled with sand. The 3-way cock shown at the extreme left is then quickly opened, admitting compressed air of 70 to 80 pounds pressure to the inverted cylinder shown at the center of the cut. The cylinder, with the entire upper portion of the machine, is thus driven forcibly up against the ramming head, flask, sand and all. Often a single blow suffices to rain the mould--often the blow is quickly repeated, according to the demands of the particular mould in hand. Gravity returns the machine to its original position, as the 3-way cock opens to exhaust. After pushing the ramming head back and cutting sprue, if the half mould is cope, the operator seizes the lever shown just inside the 3-way cock at the right, and, drawing it forward and down, raises the outer frame of the top of machine containing the flask pins, with flask and sand thereon, away from the patterns, thus drawing them from the sand. Just as he seizes the pattern drawing lever with his right hand, he presses with his left on the head of a compression valve shown at the left side of top of machine, thus admitting air to the pneumatic vibrator already referred to.

Fig. 3, a rear view of the machine, shows at the top center, with its inlet hose hanging to it, this vibrator, which is shown in section in Fig. 4. It consists simply of a double acting elongated piston having a stroke of about 5/16 inch in a valveless cylinder and impacting upon hardened anvils at either end at the estimated rate of 5,000 blows per minute.

The method of communicating the rapid yet small oscillations of the vibrator to the patterns and yet keeping them from being transmitted to the rest of the mechanism is this:

A frame, called a vibrator frame, to which the pneumatic vibrator is bolted and keyed, is shown in Fig. 5. To this frame the plate carrying the patterns, often, in cases of patterns having irregular parting lines, forming one and the same casting with the patterns, is fastened by the four machine screws, the small tapped holes for which are shown in the corners. In fact, in changing patterns, the process consists of simply removing these four machine screws, taking up the pattern plate and screwing to the vibrator frame the new pattern plate. The vibrator frame itself is secured to the machine structure by the four larger bolts, the holes for which are shown in the inner corners. These bolts are, as shown in Fig. 7, surrounded by thick bushings. These bushings are elastic to such a degree as to absorb the sharp vibrations of vibrator frame and patterns, while so firm and well fitted as to hold patterns accurately to their position.

The action of the vibrator is such as to give to the entire pattern surface an exceedingly violent shiver, making it impossible that any sand should adhere to this surface, while the magnitude of the actual movement of the pattern is so slight that it is found to fill the mould so completely that it is impracticable to draw it a second time without rapping. Yet, so truly are the patterns held and so little disturbed from their original position, that it is perfectly practicable to return patterns to a mould having the finest ornamental surface in the ordinary practice of "printing back."

In cases where deep pockets of hanging sand occur, which cannot be held during lifting off and rolling over, machines are arranged to roll the flask over in their operation and draw the patterns up under the influence of the pneumatic vibrator, though, owing to the time consumed in the rolling over process (and each operation counts in seconds on a moulding machine) this style of machine is not usually as rapid in its working as the simpler type, in which the flasks come off in the same way they go on.

Fig. 6 shows a set of patterns as they are ordinarily fitted to plates for this machine. Round holes will be noticed at places in the plate surface. These are openings for the insertion of what are called "stools."

When it is found necessary to support the sand surface at any point, or generally, round holes are drilled through either plate or pattern surface and loose cylindrical pieces are dropped into these holes, their upper end surfaces being flush with the plate or pattern surface and their lower ends resting on the plate called, from this use, a stool plate. This plate appears in Fig. 7 at A and is hung solidly by the brackets shown at B from the frame which carries the flasks, so that it has the same upward motion as the flasks, and the upper ends of the stools remain in contact with the sand of the mould until same is lifted from machine. Fig. 7, showing a vertical section through a machine, will make perfectly clear the position and action of these stools.

As illustrating the importance of being able to work without stripping plates on a line of work which is much more extended than that possible with them, we may say that a machinist with a drill press supplied with split patterns and planed pattern plates has matched and fixed five sets of from four to eight pieces in a day: and wooden patterns fitted for temporary use in the same way are of frequent occurrence when it is not thought wise to go to the expense of metal patterns on account of the relatively small number of castings to be made from them.

It is not perhaps too much to say that pattern expense is not the final evil of the costly and not durable stripping plate patterns.

* * * * *

ARTIFICIAL INDIA RUBBER.

One of the most recent important events in the history of chemistry was the discovery by an English professor that a substance corresponding in every respect to India rubber may be produced from oil of turpentine.

Dr. W. A. Tilden, professor of chemistry in Mason College, Birmingham, began a series of experiments with a liquid hydrocarbon substance, known to chemists as isoprene, which was primarily discovered and named by Greville Williams, a well known English chemist, some years ago as a product of the destructive distillation of India rubber. In 1884, says The New York Sun, Dr. Tilden discovered that an identical substance was among the more volatile compounds obtained by the action of moderate heat upon oil of turpentine and other vegetable oils, such as rape seed oil, linseed oil and castor oil.

Isoprene is a very volatile liquid, boiling at a temperature of about 30 degrees Fahrenheit. Chemical analysis shows it to be composed of carbon and hydrogen in the proportions of five to eight.

In the course of his experiments Dr. Tilden found that when isoprene is brought into contact with strong acids, such as aqueous hydrochloric acid, for example, it is converted into a tough elastic solid, which is, to all appearances, true India rubber.

Specimens of isoprene were made from several vegetable oils in the course of Dr. Tilden's work on those compounds. He preserved several of them and stowed the bottles containing them away upon an unused shelf in his laboratory.

After some months had elapsed he was surprised at finding the contents of the bottles containing the substance derived from the turpentine entirely changed in appearance. In place of a limpid, colorless liquid the bottles contained a dense sirup, in which were floating several large masses of a solid of a yellowish color. Upon examination this turned out to be India rubber.

This is the first instance on record of the spontaneous change of isoprene into India rubber. According to the doctor's hypothesis, this spontaneous change can only be accounted for by supposing that a small quantity of acetic or formic acid had been produced by the oxidizing action of the air, and that the presence of this compound had been the means of transforming the rest.

Upon inserting the ordinary chemical test paper, the liquid was found to be slightly acid. It yielded a small portion of unchanged isoprene.

The artificial India rubber found floating in the liquid upon analysis showed all the constituents of natural rubber. Like the latter, it consisted of two substances, one of which was more soluble in benzine or in carbon bisulphide than the other. A solution of the artificial rubber in benzine left on evaporation a residue which agreed in all characteristics with the residuum of the best Para rubber similarly dissolved and evaporated.

The artificial rubber was found to unite with natural rubber in the same way as two pieces of ordinary pure rubber, forming a tough, elastic compound.

Although the discovery is very interesting from a chemical point of view, it has not as yet any commercial importance. It is from such beginnings as these, however, that cheap chemical substitutes for many natural products have been developed. Few persons outside of those directly connected with rubber industries realize the vast quantities imported yearly into this country. Last year there were brought into United States ports, as shown by the reports of the customs officers, no less than 34,348,000 pounds of India rubber. The industry has been steadily progressive since the invention of machinery for manufacturing it into the various articles of everyday use. The wonderful growth of the India rubber interests in this country will be seen from the statistics compiled in the tenth census.

In 1870 there were imported 5,132,000 pounds at an average rate of $1 per pound; in 1880 the imports were 17,835,000 pounds, at an average price of 85 cents per pound; in 1890 31,949,000 pounds were imported, at an average price of 75 cents per pound. The present price of India rubber varies from 75 cents per pound for fine Para rubber to 45 cents per pound for the cheapest grade.

It will be seen that, notwithstanding the increase in importations, the price of the raw material remains at a comparatively high figure. Many experiments have been made to find a substance possessing the same properties as India rubber, but which could be produced at a cheaper rate.

Many of the compositions which have been invented have been well adapted for use for certain purposes and have been used to adulterate the pure rubber, but no substance has been produced which could even approach India rubber in several of its important characteristics. There has never been a substance yet recommended as a substitute for rubber which possessed the extraordinary elasticity which makes it indispensable in the manufacture of so many articles of common use.

Great hopes were at one time placed in a product prepared from linseed oil. It was found that a material could be produced from it which would to a certain extent equal India rubber compositions in elasticity and toughness.

It was argued that linseed oil varnish, when correctly prepared, should be clear, and dry in a few hours into a transparent, glossy mass of great tenacity. By changing the mode of preparing linseed oil varnish in so far as to boil the oil until it became a very thick fluid and spun threads, when it was taken from the boiler, a mass was obtained which in drying assumed a character resembling that of a thick, congealed solution of glue.

Resin was added to the mass while hot, in a quantity depending upon the product designed to be made, and requiring a greater or less degree of elasticity.

Many other recipes have been advocated at different times to make a product resembling caoutchouc out of linseed oil in combination with other substances, but all have failed to give satisfaction, save as adulterants to pure rubber.

Among the best compounds in use in rubber factories at present is one made by boiling linseed oil to the consistency of thick glue. Unbleached shellac and a small quantity of lampblack is then stirred in. The mass is boiled and stirred until thoroughly mixed. It is then placed in flat vessels exposed to the air to congeal.

While still warm the blocks formed in the flat vessels are passed between rollers to mix it as closely as possible. This compound was asserted by its inventor to be a perfect substitute for caoutchouc. It was also stated that it could be vulcanized. This was found to be an error, however. The compound, upon the addition of from 15 to 25 per cent. of pure rubber, may be vulcanized and used as a substitute for vulcanized rubber.

Compounds of coal tar, asphalt, etc., with caoutchouc have been frequently tested, but they can only be used for very inferior goods.