Chapter XI: TECHNOLOGY--American Workshops.--The care of tools and practice (2)

Referring again to our stone step, let us imagine a case where this stairway runs between two walls. We have here each step fixed at each end and free only on the top, the bottom, and one face. Let us assume that there is a back seam, that is, that the step is not fixed at the back. In a quarry, this seam, unless a natural one, should be made by a channeling machine. In order to throw this step put of place it must be cut off at both ends, and for this purpose the V-shaped holes are put in at right angles to the face. It is well, however, to put the first two holes next the back seam in a position where the grooves will converge at the back so as to form a sort of key, which serves a useful purpose in removing the block after the blast. In quarries where there are no horizontal beds a channeling machine should be used to free the block on all sides and to a suitable depth, and then the ledge may be "lofted" by holes placed horizontally.

Where "pressure" exists in quarries, the new system has certain limitations. After determining the line of "pressure" it is only practicable to use the system directly on the line of thrust, or at right angles to it. It is much better, however, to release the "pressure" from the ledge by channeling, after which a single end may be detached by a Knox blast. It is well to bear in mind that the holes should invariably be of small diameter. In no case should the diameter of a hole be over 11/2 in. in any kind of rock. This being the case, the blocks of stone are delivered to the market with but little loss in measurement. It is a noticeable fact that stone quarried by the new system shows very little evidence of drill marks, for the faces are frequently as true as though cut with a machine.

A further gain is the safety of the system. The blasting is light and is confined entirely within the holes. No spalls or fragments are thrown from the bast.

The popular idea that the system is antagonistic to the channeling process is a mistaken one. There are, of course, some quarries which formerly used channeling machines without this system, but which now do a large part of the work by blasting. Instances, however, are rare where the system has replaced the channeler. The two go side by side, and an intelligent use of the new system in most quarries requires a channeling machine. There are those who may tell of stone that has been destroyed by a blast on the new system, but investigation usually shows that either the work was done by an inexperienced operator, or an effort was made to do too much.

A most interesting illustration of the value of this system, side by side with the channeler, is shown in the northern Ohio sandstone quarries. A great many channeling machines are in use there, working around the new form of holes, and when used together in an intelligent and careful manner, the stone is quarried more cheaply than by any other process that has yet been devised.

To a limited extent the system has been used in slate. The difficulty is that most of the slate quarries are in solid ledges, where no free faces or beds exist; but it has been used with success in a slate quarry at Cherryville, Pa., since 1888. Among notable blasts made by this system are the following: At the mica schist quarries, at Conshohocken, Pa., a hole 11/2 in. in diameter was drilled in a block which was 27 ft. long, 15 ft. wide and 6 ft. thick. The blast broke the stone across the "rift," only 8 oz. of black powder being used. At the Portland, Conn., quarries a single blast was fired by electricity, 15 holes being drilled with 2 lb. of coarse No. C powder in each hole, and a rock was removed 110 ft. long, 20 ft. wide and 11 ft. thick, containing 24,200 cu. ft., or about 2,400 tons, the fracture being perfectly straight. This large mass of stone was moved out about 2 in. without injury to itself or the adjoining rock.

Another blast at Portland removed 3,300 tons a distance of 4 in. Seventeen holes were drilled, using 2 lb. of powder in each hole, the size of the block being 150 x 20 x 11 ft. In a Lisbon, O., quarry a block of sandstone 200 ft. long, 28 ft. wide and 15 ft. thick was moved about 1/2 in. by a blast. This block was also afterward cut up by this system in blocks 6 ft. square. A sandstone bowlder 70 ft. long, average width 50 ft., average thickness 13 ft., was embedded in the ground to a depth of about 7 ft. A single hole 8 ft. deep was charged with 20 oz. of powder and the rock was split in a straight line from end to end and entirely to the bottom. A ledge of sandstone open on its face and two ends, 110 x 13 x 8 ft., was moved by a blast about 3 in. without wasting a particle of rock, 8 holes being used, drilled by three men in just one day, and 15 oz. of powder being used in each hole. A sandstone ledge, open on the face and end only, 200 x 28 x 15 ft., containing 84,000 cu. ft. stone, was moved 1/2 in. by 25 holes, each containing 1 lb. of powder.

* * * * *

THE TROTTER CURVE RANGER.

This little instrument was exhibited in a somewhat crude state at the meeting of the British Association at Newcastle in 1889. It has since been modified in several respects, and improvements suggested by practical use have been introduced, bringing it into a practical form, and enabling a much greater accuracy to be attained. The principle is one which is occasionally employed for setting out circles with a pocket sextant, viz., the property of a circle that the angle in a segment is constant. The leading feature of the invention is the arrangement of scales, which enables the operation of setting put large curves for railway or other work to be carried out without requiring any calculations, thereby enabling any intelligent man to execute work which would otherwise call for a knowledge of the use of a theodolite and the tables of tangential angles.

The instrument is intended to be thoroughly portable; so much so, indeed, that it is not necessary or even desirable to use a tripod. It may be held in the hand like a sextant, or may be carried on a light staff. The general appearance is shown in Fig. 1. It will be seen that a metal plate, on which two scales are engraved, carries a mirror at one end and an eye piece at the other. The mirror is mounted on a metal plate, which is shaped to a peculiar curve. A clamp and slow motion provide for rapid and for fine adjustment. The eye piece is set at an angle, and contains a half silvered mirror, the upper portion being transparent. This allows direct vision along the axis of the eye piece, and at the same time vision in another direction, after two reflections, one in the eye piece and the other at the adjustable mirror. Fig. 2 is an outline plan of the instrument when closed. In the first form of the instrument only one mirror was provided, but by the double reflection in the improved pattern, any accidental twisting of the rod or handle produces no displacement of the images, since the inclination of one mirror neutralizes the equal and opposite inclination of the other. No cross line is required with the new arrangement, since it is only necessary that the two images should coincide.

The dotted line A B represents the direct ray, and the line A C D the reflected one. Fig. 3 shows the different geometrical and trigonometrical elements of the curve, which can be read upon the various scales, or to which the instrument may be set. An observer standing at C sights the point B directly and the point A by reflection. A staff being set up at each point, he will see them simultaneously, and in coincidence if the instrument be properly set for the curve. If any intermediate position be taken up on the curve, both A and B will be seen in coincidence. If the two rods do not appear superimposed, the operator must move to the right or the left until this is the case. The instrument will then be over a point in the curve. Any number of points at any regular or irregular distances along the curve can thus be set out. One of the simplest elements which can be taken as a datum is the ratio of the length of the chord to the radius, AB/AO, Fig. 3. This being given, the value of the ratio is found on the straight scale on the body of the instrument, and the curved plate is moved until the beveled edge cuts the scale at the desired point. The figure of this curve is a polar curve, whose equation is _r_ = _a_ +- _b_ sin. 2 [theta], where _a_ is the distance from the zero graduation to the axis of the mirror, and _b_ is the length of the scale from zero to 2, and [theta] is the inclination of the mirror. In the perspective view, Fig. 1, the curved edge cuts the scale at 1. The instrument being thus set, the following elements may be read either directly on the scales or by simple arithmetical calculation:

The radius = 1.

AB, the chord, read direct on the straight scale.

AFB, the length of the arc, read direct on the back or under
surface of the plate.

FH, the versed sine, read direct on the curved scale.

ACB, the angle in the segment, read direct on the graduated
edge.

EAB, the angle between the chord and the tangent, read direct
on the graduated edge.

GAB, the tangential angle = 180 deg. - ACB.

AOB, the angle at the center = 2GAB.

AGB, the angle between the tangents = 180 deg. - AOB.

OAB, the angle between the chord and the radius = EAB - 90
deg.

AH_{2}
GF = --------- - FH.
HO

The foregoing elements are contained in a very simple diagram, Fig. 4, which is engraved on the instrument, together with the following references:

B = 180 deg. - A.
C = 2B.
D = 180 deg. - C.
E = A - 90.

Only one adjustment is necessary, and this is provided by means of the screws which fix the inclination of the eyepiece. This is set at such an angle that the instrument, when closed and reading 90 deg. on the divided limb, acts as an optical square.

It is not necessary, as in the ordinary method with a theodolite, that one end of the curve should be visible from the other. If an obstacle intervenes, all that part of the curve which commands a view of both ends can be set out, and a ranging rod can be set up at any point of the curve so found, and the instrument may be reset to complete the curve.

To set out a tangent to the curve at A, Fig. 3, set up a rod at A and another at any point C, and take up a position on the curve at some point between them. Adjust the mirror until the rods are seen superimposed. Then moving back to A, observe C direct, and set up a rod at E in the line observed by reflection. Then A E is the tangent required. Similarly, on completing the setting out of a curve, and arriving at the end of the chord, the remote end being seen by reflection, the direction observed along the axis of the eyepiece is the new tangent.

Any of the angles or other ratios already mentioned may be used for setting the instrument, but if no data whatever are given, as in the rough surveys for colonial railways where no previous surveys exist, it is only necessary to select points through which the curve must pass, to set up ranging rods either at the extremities of the desired curve, or at any points thereon, to take up a position on the desired curve between two rods, and to adjust the instrument until they are seen in coincidence. The curve can then be set out, and fully marked, and the elements of the curve can be read on the scales and recorded for reference.

Various other cases which may occur in practice can be rapidly met by one or other of the various scales. Suppose the angle A G B between the tangents be given, together with the middle point F on the curve, Fig. 3. Subtract this angle from 180 deg., the difference gives the angle at the center A O B. Take half this, and set the instrument to the angle thus found. Walk along the tangent until a rod set up at some point in the tangent, say E, is seen in coincidence with a rod set up at B. The position of the instrument then marks the point of departure A. A rod being placed at A, the first half of the curve may be set out; or, if B is invisible, the instrument may be reset for the angle E A B, and the whole curve set out up to B. No cutting of hedges is necessary, as with theodolite work, for a curve can easily be taken piece by piece. Inclination of the whole instrument introduces no appreciable error. If the eye piece be pointed up or down hill, the instrument is thrown a little to one side or other of the tip of the staff, but in a plane tangent to the circle. Errors made in setting out a curve with the Trotter curve ranger are not cumulative, as in the method of tangential angles with a theodolite. No corrections for inaccurate hitting of the final rod can occur, for the curve must necessarily end at that point. It should be observed that the instrument is not intended to supersede a theodolite, but it has the great advantage over the older instrument that no assistant or chains or trigonometrical tables or any knowledge of mathematics are required. The data being given, by a theodolite or otherwise, an intelligent platelayer can easily set out the curve, while the trained engineer proceeds in advance with the theodolite. No time is lost; as in chaining, since the marks may be made wherever and as often as convenient. In work where high accuracy is required this instrument is well adapted for filling in, and where a rough idea of the nature of a given curve is required, the mirror being adjusted for any three points upon it, the various elements may be read off on the scales. A telescope is provided, but the errors not being cumulative, it is rarely required. The curve ranger weighs 1 lb. 10 oz., and is manufactured by Messrs. Elliott Bros., St. Martin's Lane, London. It is the invention of Mr. Alex. P. Trotter, Westminster.--_The Engineer._

* * * * *

THE RAIL SPIKE AND THE LOCOMOTIVE.[1]

[Footnote 1: Abstract from the History of the Camden and Amboy
Railroad. By J. Elfreth Watkins, of the National Museum,
Washington, D.C.]

Early in October, 1830, and shortly after the surveys of the Camden and Amboy Railroad were completed, Robert L. Stevens (born 1787) sailed for England, with instructions to order a locomotive and rails for that road.

At that time no rolling mill in America was able to take a contract for rolling T rails.

Robert Stevens advocated the use of an all-iron rail in preference to the wooden rail or stone stringer plated with strap iron, then in use on one or two short American railroads. At his suggestion, at the last meeting held before he sailed, after due discussion, the Board of Directors of the Camden and Amboy Railroad passed a special resolution authorizing him to obtain the rails he advocated.

ROBERT L. STEVENS INVENTS THE AMERICAN RAIL AND SPIKE.

During the voyage to Liverpool he whiled away the hours on shipboard by whittling thin wood into shapes of imaginary cross sections until he finally decided which one was best suited to the needs of the new road.

He was familiar with the Berkenshaw rail, with which the best English roads were then being laid, but he saw that, as it required an expensive chair to hold it in place, it was not adapted to our country, where metal workers were scarce and iron was dear. He added the base to the T rail, dispensing with the chair. He also designed the "hook-headed" spike (which is substantially the railroad spike of to-day) and the "iron tongue" (which has been developed into the fish bar), and the rivets (which have been replaced by the bolt and nut) to complete the joint.

A fac-simile of the letter[2] which he addressed to the English iron masters a short time after his arrival in London is preserved in the United States National Museum. It contains a cross section, side elevation and ground plan of the rail for which he requested bids.

The base of the rail which he first proposed was to be wider where it was to be attached to the supports than in the intervening spaces. This was afterward modified, so that the base was made the same width (three inches) throughout.

[Footnote 2: This letter reads:

LIVERPOOL, November 26th, 1830.

GENTLEMEN,--At what rate will you contract to deliver at
Liverpool, say from 500 to 600 tons of railway, of the best
quality of iron rolled to the above pattern in 12 or 16 feet
lengths, to lap as shown in the drawing, with one hole at each
end, and the projections on the lower flange at every two
feet, cash on delivery?

How soon could you make the first delivery, and at what rate
per month until the whole is complete? Should the terms suit
and the work give satisfaction a more extended order is likely
to follow, as this is but about one-sixth part of the quantity
required. Please to address your answer (as soon as
convenient) to the care of Francis B. Ogden, Consul of the
United States at Liverpool.

I am
Your obedient servant,
ROBERT L. STEVENS,
_President and Engineer of the Camden and
South Amboy Railroad and Transportation Company._ ]

DIFFICULTY OF ROLLING THE AMERICAN RAIL.

Mr. Stevens received no favorable answer to his proposals, but being acquainted with Mr. Guest (afterward Sir John Guest), a member of Parliament, proprietor of large iron works in Dowlais, Wales, he prevailed upon him to have rails rolled at his works. Mr. Guest became interested in the matter and accompanied Mr. Stevens to Wales, where the latter gave his personal supervision to the construction of the rolls. After the rolls were completed the Messrs. Guest hesitated to have them used, through fear of damage to the mill machinery, upon hearing which Mr. Stevens deposited a handsome sum guaranteeing the expense of repairing the mill in case it was damaged. The receipt for this deposit was preserved for many years among the archives of the Camden and Amboy Company. As a matter of fact, the rolling apparatus did break down several times. "At first," as Mr. Stevens in a letter to his father, which I have seen, described it, "the rails came from the rolls twisted and as crooked as snakes," and he was greatly discouraged. At last, however, the mill men acquired the art of straightening the rail while it cooled.

The first shipment,[3] consisting of five hundred and fifty bars eighteen feet long, thirty-six pounds to the yard, arrived in Philadelphia on the ship Charlemagne, May 16, 1831.

Over thirty miles of this rail was laid before the summer of 1832.

A few years after, on much of the Stevens rail laid on the Camden and Amboy Railroad, the rivets at the joints were discarded, and the bolt with the screw thread and nut, similar to that now used, was adopted as the standard.

The rail was first designed to weigh thirty-six pounds per yard, but it was almost immediately increased in weight to between forty and forty-two pounds, and rolled in lengths of sixteen feet. It was then three and a half inches high, two and one-eighth inches wide on the head and three and a half inches wide at the base, the price paid in England being L8 per ton. The import duty was $1.85.

The first shipment of rail, having arrived in America, was transported to Bordentown, and here, upon the ground on which we stand, and which this monument is erected to mark forever, was laid the first piece of track (about five-sixths of a mile long) in August, 1831. The Camden and Amboy Company, following the example of the Manchester and Liverpool Railroad, laid their first track upon stone blocks two feet square and ten to thirteen inches deep. These blocks were purchased from the prison authorities at Sing Sing, N.Y. Some of these stone blocks have been used in constructing the foundation for this monument.

[Footnote 3: A list of the vessels chartered to transport the rails,
with dates, tonnage, etc., is given below:

No. of Tonnage. Rate of
Date. Ship. Bars. tons. cwt. lb. Duty.

May 16, 1831. Charlemagne 550 504 0 14 $1.85
May 19, 1831. Salem 963 744 2 14 1.85
April 7, 1832. Caledonia 38 63 3 07 1.85
April 23, 1832. Armadilla 525 1,000 3 21 1.85
May 4, 1832. George Clinton 624 986 2 14 1.85
June 2-18, 1833. Henry Kneeland 204 377 3 21 1.85
May 8, 1832. Cumberland 1,464 2,790 1 00 1.85
June 2, 1832. Gardiner 601 1,136 0 00 1.85
June 5, 1832. Globe 499 943 1 14 1.85
June 6, 1832. Jubilee 70 130 0 21 1.85
July 18, 1832. Hellen 1,080 2,004 3 21 1.85
July 19, 1832. Nimrod 937 1,745 3 00 1.85
Aug. 2, 1832. Emery 240 454 2 00 1.85
Aug. 7, 1833. Ajax 364 700 0 21 1.85
Aug. 13, 1832. Concordia 622 1,174 3 14 1.85
Aug. 14, 1830. William Byrny 1,120 2,138 1 07 1.85
Aug. 20, 1832. Mary Howland 932 1,755 3 07 1.85
Aug. 23, 1832. Pulaski 488 924 1 00 1.85
Aug. 24, 1832. Robert Morris 1,985 3,732 0 14 1.85
Aug. 27, 1832. Ann 506 961 2 27 1.85
Sept. 3, 1832. Montgomery 1,369 2,959 0 14 1.85
Sept. 4, 1832. Marengo 534 1,004 2 07 1.85
Oct. 12, 1832. Vestal 237 460 2 07 1.85

This iron proved to be of such superior quality that after it was
worn out in the track, the company's mechanics preferred it to new
iron in making repairs. Some of this rail is still in use in side
tracks. It is pronounced equal in durability to much of the steel
rail of to-day. ]

FIRST JOINT FIXTURES.

Mr. Stevens ordered the first joint fixtures also from an English mill, at the same time. The ends of the rails were designed to rest upon wrought iron plates or flat cast plates. The rails were connected at the stems by an iron "tongue" five inches long, two inches wide, and five-eighths of an inch thick. A rivet, put on hot, passing through the stem of each rail near the ends of the bar, fastened it to the tongue and completed the joint. A hole oblong in shape, to allow for expunctral contraction, was punched in the stem at each end of the rail.

THE FIRST RAILROAD SPIKES.

The first "spikes six inches long, with hooked heads," were also ordered at the same time. These were undoubtedly the "first railroad spikes" (as they are known to the trade) ever manufactured.

Mr. Stevens neglected to obtain a patent for these inventions, although urged to do so by Mr. Ogden, American Consul at Liverpool, and the credit of being the inventor of the American rail was for a time claimed for others, but the evidence brought forward in late years fully established the fact that he was the originator of the American system of railway construction.

The "Stevens rail and spike" gradually found great favor everywhere in America--all the roads being relaid with it as the original T or strap rail became worn out.

In England the T rail still continues to be used. The London and Birmingham Railway, opened in 1838, was laid with Berkenshaw rails; part with the straight and part with the fish-bellied rail, and the remainder with reversible "bull-headed" rail, both types being supported by chairs.[4]

[Footnote 4: The experiment of laying the Stevens rail in chairs
was tried on the Albany and Schenectady road in 1837, on the
Hudson River Railroad 1848, but the chairs were soon afterward
discarded, nothing but spikes being used to attach the rail to the
tie.]

Sixty years have elapsed since this rail was adopted by the Camden and Amboy Company, and with the exception of slight alterations in the proportions incident to increased weight, no radical change has been made in the "Stevens rail," which is now in use on every railroad in America. Many improvements have been made in the joint fixture, but the "tongue" or fish plate improved into the angle splice bar is in general use, and nothing has yet been found to take the place of the "hook-headed" railroad spike which Robert Stevens then designed.

The track upon which we stand was the first in the world that was laid with the rail and spike now in general use.

MR. STEVENS EXAMINES ENGLISH LOCOMOTIVES.

Mr. Stevens divided his time while abroad between arranging for the manufacture of track material and examining the English locomotives that were being constructed or had been in service.

A year had elapsed since the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, and the English mechanics had not been idle. The "Rocket," although successful in the Rainhill contest, when put to work had shown many defects that Stephenson & Co. were striving to correct in subsequent locomotives.

The "Planet," built by that firm, was tried in public December 4, 1830, shortly after Mr. Stevens arrived in England, and at that time was undoubtedly the best locomotive in the world.

THE "JOHN BULL" ORDERED.

Mr. Stevens was present at a trial when the "Planet" showed most satisfactory properties, and he at once ordered a locomotive of similar construction, from the same manufacturers, for the Camden and Amboy Railroad. This engine, afterward called the "John Bull" and "No. 1," was completed in May and shipped by sailing vessel from Newcastle-on-Tyne in June, 1831, arriving in Philadelphia about the middle of August of that year. It was then transferred to a sloop at Chestnut Street wharf, Philadelphia, whence it was taken to Bordentown.

THE "JOHN BULL" ARRIVES AT BORDENTOWN.

The following circumstances connected with the arrival of the engine at Bordentown, N.J., are related by Isaac Dripps, Esq., for many years master mechanic of the Camden and Am boy Railroad, and afterward superintendent of motive power of the Pennsylvania Railroad, who is now, after a busy life, enjoying a peaceable retirement at his pleasant home in West Philadelphia.

Mr. Dripps, who is now in the eighty-second year of his age, was employed by Robert and Edwin Stevens in repairing and assisting with their steamboats on the Delaware River and at Hoboken as early as 1829. When the "John Bull" arrived in Philadelphia he was detailed by Robert Stevens to attend to the transportation of the engine to Bordentown, where it was landed safely the last week in August, 1831.

The boiler and cylinders were in place, but the loose parts--rods, pistons, valves, etc.--were packed in boxes. No drawings or directions for putting the engine together had come to hand, and young Dripps, who had never seen a locomotive, found great difficulty in discovering how to put the parts in place, alone and unassisted, as Robert Stevens, who had returned from Europe, was absent at Hoboken at the time attending to other matters.

DIMENSIONS OF ENGINE AND PARTS.

The bronze bass-relief upon the monument, made from the working drawing furnished by Mr. Dripps, is an exact representation of the locomotive when it arrived in America.

The engine originally weighed about ten tons. The boiler was thirteen feet long and three feet six inches in diameter. The cylinders were nine inches by twenty inches. There were four driving wheels, four feet six inches in diameter, arranged with outside cranks for connecting parallel rods, but owing to the sharp curves on the road these rods were never used. The driving wheels were made with cast iron hubs and wooden (locust) spokes and felloes. The tires were of wrought iron, three quarters of an inch thick, the tread being five inches and the depth of flange one and a half inches. The gauge was originally five feet from center to center of rails. The boiler was composed of sixty-two flues seven feet six inches long, two inches in diameter; the furnace was three feet seven inches long and three feet two inches high, for burning wood. The steam ports were one and one-eighth inches by six and a half inches; the exhaust ports one and one-eighth by six and a half inches; grate surface, ten feet eight inches; fire box surface, thirty-six feet; flue surface, two hundred and thirteen feet; weight, without fuel or water, twenty-two thousand four hundred and twenty-five pounds.

After the valves were in gear and the engine in motion, two levers on the engineman's side moved back and forth continuously. When it was necessary to put the locomotive on the turntable, enginemen who were skilled in the handling of the engines first put the valves out of gear by turning the handle down, and then worked the levers by hand, thus moving the valves to the proper position and stopping the engine at the exact point desired.

The reversing gear was a very complicated affair. The two eccentrics were secured to a sleeve or barrel, which fitted loosely on the crank shaft, between the two cranks, so as to turn freely. A treadle was used to change the position of this loose eccentric sleeve on the shaft of the driving wheel (moving it to the right or left) when it was necessary to reverse. Two carriers were secured firmly to the body of this shaft (one on each side of the eccentrics); one carrier worked the engine ahead, the other back. The small handle on the right side of the boiler was used to lift the eccentric rod (which passed forward to the rock shaft on the forward part of the engine) off the pin, and thus put the valves out of gear before it was possible to shift the sleeve and reverse the engine.

Great similarity will be noticed in the American locomotives built for many years after the arrival of the "John Bull," especially in the matter of making the keys, brasses, etc., on the connecting rods, and in the construction of valves, fire box and tubes. Even the old plan of setting the ends of the exhaust nozzle high up in the smoke box, which was discontinued when the petticoat pipe came in use, is now again resorted to in connection with the extended smoke box of modern locomotives.

FIRST TRIAL OF THE LOCOMOTIVE.

Mr. Dripps informs me that, after many attempts, he succeeded in putting the parts of the engine together, and when it was placed in position upon the track he notified Robert Stevens of the fact. Mr. Stevens came at once to Bordentown, as his anxiety to see it in operation was very great. Upon his arrival the boiler was pumped full of water, by hand, from the hogshead in which it was brought. Benjamin Higgins made the fire with pine wood, and when the scale[5] showed thirty pounds steam pressure, Isaac Dripps opened the throttle, Robert Stevens standing by his side, and the first locomotive on this great highway _moved_. It would be difficult to describe the feeling of these three men as they stood upon the moving engine--the first human freight drawn by steam on what was afterward destined to be the great highway connecting the two most populous cities of the American continent; a most important link in the chain of intercommunication between the North and South and West. What possibilities must have dawned upon them if they cared to lift the veil of the future!

[Footnote 5: The dial gauge was not in use at that time.]

During the next few days after this preliminary trial the engine was again taken apart, and as a few of the parts needed modification some time intervened before it was again in running order. It will be remembered that young Dripps had never seen a locomotive before and there were no "old engineers" to consult in regard to the construction or management of the engine.

A TENDER IMPROVISED.

As no tender came with the locomotive, one was improvised from a four-wheel flat car that had been used on construction work, which was soon equipped to carry water and wood. The water tank consisted of a large whisky cask which was procured from a Bordentown storekeeper, and this was securely fastened on the center of this four-wheeled car. A hole was bored up through the car into the barrel and into it a piece of two-inch tin pipe was fastened, projecting below the platform of the car. It now became necessary to devise some plan to get the water from the tank to the pump and into the boiler around the turns under the cars, and as a series of rigid sections of pipe was not practicable, young Dripps procured four sections of hose two feet long, which he had made out of shoe leather by a Bordentown shoemaker. These were attached to the pipes and securely fastened by bands of waxed thread. The hogshead was filled with water, a supply of wood for fuel was obtained, and the engine and tender were ready for work.

STEAM OR HORSE POWER?

At that time the question whether the railroad should be operated by steam locomotives or horse power had already become a political issue. The farmers and other horse owners and dealers, who had made money by selling hay and grain and horses to the stage and freight wagon lines, were discussing the possibilities of loss of business.

TRIAL OF THE ENGINE BEFORE THE LEGISLATURE.

Many of the members of the New Jersey Legislature were farmers. The management of the Camden and Amboy Railroad was anxious to give these gentlemen and other prominent citizens an opportunity to examine a steam locomotive at work and to ride in a railway train.

Sixty years ago to-day, on the 12th of November, 1831, by special invitation, the members of the Legislature and other State officials were driven from Trenton to Bordentown in stages to witness the trial. Among them were John P. Jackson (father of the present general superintendent of the United Railroads of New Jersey division of the Pennsylvania Railroad, who afterward took a prominent part in the affairs of the New Jersey Railroad, whose termini were at New Brunswick and Jersey City); Benjamin Fish (director for fifty years for the Camden and Amboy Railroad), afterward president of the Freehold and Jamesburg Agricultural Railroad; Ashbel Welch, chief engineer and superintendent of the Belvidere and Delaware Railroad for many years, and president of the United Railroads of New Jersey during the years immediately preceding the lease to the Pennsylvania Railroad; Edwin A. and Robert L. Stevens, afterward managers of the road.

FIRST CARS.

Two coaches built so that they might be drawn by horses were attached to the locomotive. These coaches were of the English pattern. They had four wheels and resembled three carriage bodies joined together, with seats in each facing each other. There were three doors at each side. These cars were made by a firm of carriage manufacturers, M.P. and M.E. Green, of Hoboken, and were thought to be very handsome. The New Jersey law makers were somewhat dubious, it is said, about risking their lives in this novel train, but at last they concluded to do so and the train started and made many trips back and forth without accident or delay. Madam Murat, wife of Prince Murat, a nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte, who was then living in Bordentown, insisted on being the first woman to ride on a train hauled by a steam locomotive in the State.

In the evening a grand entertainment was given to the Legislature by the railroad company at Arnell's Hotel, Bordentown, and it has been whispered that the festivities kept up until a late hour in the night. Whether that be true or not, it is generally conceded that from that time to this the Legislature of New Jersey have always been more or less interested in the affairs of the Camden and Amboy Railroad and its successors, or _vice versa_.

This first movement of passengers by steam in the State of New Jersey was regarded as a success from every point of view, and in commemoration of the important events here enacted the boundaries of this first piece of railway laid between New York and Philadelphia, which were identified and staked out by Isaac Dripps a half century afterward, have been definitely marked for all time by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, who have erected these handsome stones.

EARLY DIFFICULTIES.

Among the earliest troubles of the young engineer and his employer, Robert L. Stevens, was the fact that as there were only four wheels under the engines, they were derailed frequently in going around curves; so it was necessary to provide an appliance to prevent this.

THE FIRST PILOT.

The first pilot was planned, 1832, by Robert L. Stevens. A frame made of oak, eight by four feet, pinned together at the corners, was made. Under one end of it a pair of wheels twenty-six inches in diameter were placed in boxes, and the other end was fastened to an extension of the axle outside of the forward driving wheels, it having been found by experience that a play of about one inch on each side on the pedestals of the front wheels of the pilot or engine was necessary in order to get around the curves then in the tracks. For years afterward there was very little change in constructing the pilots from that originally applied to the "John Bull."

The spiral spring, which held the front wheels of the pilot in place, acted substantially as the center pin of a truck. The turntables in use on the road were so short that it was necessary to unconnect and take off these pilots before turning the engine. After the pilot was adopted the forward large wheel on right of the engine was made loose on the shaft in order to afford additional play in going around curves. Other[6] changes and additions were also made in the locomotive.

[Footnote 6: Changes in the locomotive "John Bull" since date of
construction, 1830:

Steam dome changed from rear of boiler forward to a part over what
was called the "man-hole," and throttle valve placed therein.

Steam pipes changed to outside of boiler, connecting new dome with
smoke box, entering it on each side.

In the beginning the reverse gear was changed from one single
eccentric rod on each side to two on each side, connecting on to
the same eccentric wheel, and the lifting rod, in pulling back,
lifted the forward gear hook off the rocker arm, and the back
motion hook then connecting on the rocker arm reversed the engine.

Side rods were never used.

Driver spring was changed from a bearing under the pedestal boxes
to a point over the boxes.

The pilot was attached in this manner:

Right forward wheel being loose, forward axle extended eight
inches beyond box on each side; to this was attached the beam of
the pilot, having play of about one inch between box and pedestal
plate to act while going around curves. The weight of forward part
of engine rested upon a cross brace of the two-wheel pilot, which
took bearing by a screw pin surrounded by a spring, by turning
which pin the weight on the drivers could be adjusted.

A brace used as a hand rail was added on top of the frame, bracing
frame and acting as a guide to the driving springs.

Water-cocks changed from right to left side of the boiler.

Bell, whistle and headlight were added.

Balance safety valve scale was changed forward to a point over
barrel of boiler, the secret valve being over the new dome.]

IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCOMOTIVE BUILDING.

During 1831-35 the company's shops were located at Hoboken, N.J., and during the winter of 1832-33, three locomotives were commenced at these shops (two completed before March, 1833, the other in April), the valves, cylinders, pistons, etc., coming from England, the boilers being made under the direction of Robert L. Stevens. It was his opinion that the "John Bull" was too heavy, and the new boilers were built smaller and lighter, so that the engines, when completed, weighed eight instead of ten tons. With these three engines, which were delivered to the railroad company at South Amboy, the stone blocks and other material for the permanent track was delivered along the line of the road.

BALDWIN'S FIRST LOCOMOTIVES.

The importation of the locomotive "John Bull" was destined to have a far-reaching influence in moulding the types of early American locomotives.

After the demonstration of November 12, 1831, the engine was taken from the track and stored in a shed constructed to protect it until such time as the track should be completed.

It was about this time that the proprietor of Peale's Museum, in Philadelphia, applied to Matthias Baldwin, an ingenious mathematical instrument maker, for a small locomotive to run upon a circular track on the floor of the museum. Mr. Baldwin had heard of this locomotive. He came to Bordentown and applied to Isaac Dripps for permission to inspect it. Mr. Dripps tells me he remembers very well the day that he explained to Mr. Baldwin the construction of the various working parts.

Mr. Baldwin built a toy engine for Mr. Peale, which was so successful, that in 1832 he was called upon by the Philadelphia and Germantown Railroad Company to construct the old "Ironsides,"[7] which was similar in many ways to the "John Bull," as an examination of the model preserved in the National Museum will show. The success of this engine laid the foundation for the great Baldwin Locomotive Works, which is in existence to-day, sending locomotives to every part of the globe.

[Footnote 7: A handsome model of the "Ironsides" was presented to
the United States National Museum by the Baldwin Locomotive
Company in 1888.]

THE LINE FROM BORDENTOWN TO SOUTH AMBOY.

The Camden and Amboy Company having obtained control of the steamboat routes between Philadelphia and Bordentown, and between South Amboy and New York, directed their energies to completing the railway across the State.

Although the grading of the road from Bordentown to Camden had been commenced in the summer of 1831, work on that end of the line was abandoned for about two years, the entire construction force being put on the work between Bordentown and South Amboy.

The road from Bordentown to Hightstown was completed by the middle of September, 1832, and from Hightstown to South Amboy in the December following. The "deep cut" at South Amboy, and the curves of the track there, gave the civil engineers great trouble.

THE FIRST AMERICAN STANDARD TRACK.

The laying of the track through the "deep cut" led to an event of great importance to future railway construction. The authorities at Sing Sing having failed to deliver the stone blocks rapidly enough, Mr. Stevens ordered hewn wooden cross ties to be laid temporarily, and the rail to be directly spiked thereto. A number of these ties were laid on the sharpest curves in the cut. They showed such satisfactory properties when the road began to be operated that they were permitted to remain, and the stone blocks already in the track were replaced by wooden ties as rapidly as practicable. Without doubt the piece of track in "deep cut" was the first in the world to be laid according to the present American practice of spiking the rail directly to the cross tie.

THE LINE OPENED BETWEEN BORDENTOWN AND SOUTH AMBOY.

Among the memoranda compiled by Benjamin Fish, published in his memoir, I find the following:

"First cars were put on the Camden and Amboy Railroad
September 19, 1832. They were drawn by two horses. They took
the directors and a few friends from Bordentown to Hightstown
and back.

"On December 17, 1832, the first passengers were taken from
Bordentown through to South Amboy. Fifty or sixty people went.
It was a rainy day.

"On January 24, 1833, the first freight cars were put on the
railroad. There were three cars, drawn by one horse each, with
six or seven thousand pounds of freight on each car.

"Freight came from New York by steam boat to South Amboy. I
drove the first car, John Twine drove the second car and
Edmund Page the third one. We came to the Sand Hills (near
Bordentown) by railroad, there loaded the goods on wagons (it
was winter, and the river was frozen over), arriving in
Philadelphia by sunrise next morning. The goods left New York
at 12 o'clock, noon. This was done by the old firm of Hill,
Fish & Abbe."

Immediately after the road from Bordentown to South Amboy was completed, and as late as the summer of 1833, passengers were brought from Philadelphia to the wharf at White Hill by steamboat, and from there were rapidly driven to Amboy. Two horses were hitched to each car, and as they were driven continuously on the run, three changes of horses were required, the finest horses obtainable being purchased for this purpose. The time consumed in crossing the State (thirty-four miles) was from two and a half to three hours.

Early in September, 1833, the locomotive "John Bull" was put on the train leaving Bordentown about 7 o'clock in the morning, and returning leaving South Amboy at 4 P.M. This was the first passenger train regularly run by steam on the route between New York and Philadelphia.

* * * * *

THE BRITISH CRUISER AEOLUS.

The new twin screw cruiser AEolus was launched from the Devonport Dockyard on the 13th November. The first keel plate of the AEolus was laid in position on the 10th March last year, and up to the present time fully two thirds of the estimated weight has been worked into her structure. Says _Industries_: She is built of steel, with large phosphor bronze castings for stern post, shaft brackets, and stem, the latter terminating in a formidable ram. The hull is sheathed with wood, and will be covered with copper to enable her to keep the seas for a lengthened period on remote stations, where there is a lack of docking accommodation. All the vital portions, such as machinery, boilers, magazines, and steering gear, are protected by a steel deck running fore and aft, terminating forward in the ram, of which it virtually forms a part. Subdivision has been made a special feature in this type of vessel, and the hull under the upper deck is divided into nearly 100 water tight compartments. Between perpendiculars the AEolus measures 300 ft. in length, the extreme breadth being 43 ft. 8 in., and moulded depth 22 ft. 9 in., with a displacement of 3,600 tons on a mean draught of water of 17 ft. 6 in. She will be supplied by Messrs. Hawthorn, Leslie & Co., of Newcastle on Tyne, with two sets of vertical triple-expansion engines, capable of developing collectively 9,000 h.p., which is estimated to realize a speed of 19.75 knots. As vertical engines have been adopted, the necessary protection of the cylinders, which project above the steel protective deck, is obtained by fitting an armored breastwork of steel 5 in. thick, supported by a 7 in. teak backing, around the engine hatchway. Provision is made for a bunker coal capacity of 400 tons, and this is calculated to give a radius of action of 8,000 knots at a reduced speed of 10 knots. The armament of the ship will consist of two 6 in. breech-loading guns on central pivot stands, one mounted on the poop and another on the forecastle; six quick-firing 4.7 in. guns, mounted three on each broadside; eight quick-firing 6-pounder guns, four on each broadside; besides one 3-pounder Hotchkiss and four 5-barrel Nordenfeldt guns. In addition four torpedo tubes are fitted, one forward, one aft, and one on each broadside. All the necessary appliances for manipulating the engines, guns, steering gear, etc., when in action, are placed in a conning tower built of steel 3 in. thick, and situated at the after end of the forecastle. The AEolus will be rigged with two pole mast, carrying light fore and aft sails only. Her total cost is estimated at L188,350, of which L100,000 is regarded as the cost of hull. When complete she will be manned by a complement of 254 officers and men. In the slipway vacated by the AEolus a second class cruiser, to be named the Hermione, will be laid down forthwith. The Hermione may be regarded as an enlarged AEolus, and will measure 320 ft. in length, 49 ft. 6 in. in breadth, with a displacement of 4,360 tons, on a mean draught of water of 19 ft. The new cruiser will be supplied with propelling machinery of the same power as the AEolus, to be constructed in the dockyard from Admiralty designs. The coal capacity of the Hermione is to be 400 tons, and her estimated speed is 19.5 knots.

* * * * *

TRIALS OF H.M. CRUISER BLAKE.

Special interest, says _Engineering_, attaches to the trials of the protected cruiser Blake, in view of the assertion frequently made by Admiralty authorities, from the first lord downward, to the effect that with her sister ship Blenheim she would surpass anything hitherto attempted. The condition of steaming continuously for long periods and over great distances at 20 knots per hour was made a ruling condition in the design, and with forced draught she was to be able to attain 22 knots when occasion required. But all idea of getting these high results has been abandoned. Our readers do not need to be reminded of the frequent failure of boilers in the navy. Although in the newer ships, profit has been gained by experience, larger boilers being provided with separate combustion chambers for each furnace; the Blake's boilers belong to the type of defective design, with the result that, were they pressed under forced draught, the tubes would leak. It was, therefore, decided some time ago to be content with natural draught results, and on Wednesday, Nov. 18, the vessel was taken out from Portsmouth, and ran for seven hours with satisfactory results, considerably exceeding the contract power. But the speed was but 19.12 knots, and 22 knots can never be attained, except, of course, new boilers be provided, and when an expenditure of 5 or 6 per cent. of the first cost of the vessel (433,755_l._) would give her new boilers, it seems a pity to be content with the lesser speed, more particularly as the vessel is well designed and the engines efficient.

Before dealing with the engines and their trials, it may be stated that the vessel is of 9000 tons displacement at 25 ft. 9 in. mean draught. Her length is 375 ft. and her beam 65 ft. She was built at Chatham, and the armament consists of two 92 in. 22-ton breech-loading guns, ten 6-in. 5-ton guns and sixteen 3-pounder quick-firing, and eight machine guns, with torpedo launching carriages and tubes. The propelling engines were manufactured by Messrs. Maudslay Sons & Field, Lambeth. They were designed to develop 13,000 horses with natural, and 20,000 with forced draught. They consist of four distinct sets of triple expansion inverted cylinder engines, and occupy with boilers, etc., nearly two-thirds of the length of the ship. They are placed in four separate compartments, two sets being coupled together on the starboard and port sides respectively for driving each screw. There are four high pressure cylinders, 36 in. in diameter; four intermediate cylinders, 52 in.; and four low pressure cylinders, 80 in.; with a stroke of 4 ft. Each set of engines has an air pump 33 in. in diameter and 2 ft. stroke, and a surface condenser having 12,800 tubes and an aggregate surface of 2250 square feet, the length of the tubes between the tube plates being 9 ft. There is also in each compartment one centrifugal circulating pump driven by a small independent engine, of the diameter of 3 ft. 9 in., and capable of pumping from the bilge as well as the sea. The screw propellers are 18 ft. 3 in. in diameter with a mean pitch of 24 ft. 6 in.