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By Eckley B. Coxe

The subject of this paper will be treated as briefly as possible under the following heads : I. The latest designs of some of the machinery used at these collieries in the preparation of coal. 11. The means employed for elevating, conveying and transporting the coal and slate in and about the breaker. 111. The means employed for raising the coal from the mines to the top of the breaker. IV. The iron breaker as a structure. V. The preparation of the coal as effected in the iron breaker. A key to the plates and the letters and numbers designating different parts, will be found at the end of the paper. I. Preparing Coal. Anthracite coal as it comes from the mines is not marketable. The "run of mine" cannot, as in the case of bituminous coal, be sold. Anthracite, being very compact and practically free from volatile combustible matter, burns only at the surface, and it is, therefore, deemed important to have the lumps as nearly of a uniform size as possible, so that between them a large amount of surface will remain exposed to the action of the air without checking the draught too much, or allowing enough air to pass to cool the coal below the ignition-point, In other words, if the pieces of coal of the size of a chestnut and smaller are mixed with lumps of the size of an egg they fill the air-passages and prevent a free draught. It has long been recognized, therefore, that one of the most important points in preparation is to have a uniform sizing, and also to make as large a number of different sizes as can be produced without too

Jan 1, 1891

By A. E. Seaton

In this paper it will be my endeavor to trace the development of the marine engine and its appurtenances, and the general progress that has taken place in marine engineering generally during the past fifteen years, rather with the object of attributing much of it to the successful efforts of the makers of iron and steel, thereby rendering my thanks to them for the valuable service they have contributed to my profession, than to recount what has been achieved by the skill, ability and perseverance of my colleagues in shipbuilding and engineering. The engineer has been at all times dependent on the ironmaster, and on more than one occasion his progress has been barred by the inability of the latter to overcome some obstacle to success in his manufacture. But on the other hand, it is equally true that the ironmaster has often been ahead of the engineer, and has been prepared, long beforehand, to supply that which would make a success for the marine engineer if he would avail himself of it.

Jan 1, 1891

Jan 1, 1891

By Elihu Thompson

The subject of welding by electricity has been so recently and so ably treated by Sir Frederick Brsmwell before the Institution of Civil Engineers* as to render evidently superfluous there-statement on this occasion of many facts and considerations which might be appropriately advanced, had they not been so well discussed in his paper already. The electrical arts grow rapidly in these days—a fact which is strikingly illustrated in the development of electric railways. In

Jan 1, 1891

By William P. Shinn

MR. GAYLEY'S admirable paper on the " Development of American Blast-Furnaces" has set forth very fully the history of the development of the Edgar Thomson furnaces since the construction of Furnaces A and B ; but it throws no light on the genesis of these furnaces. That earlier history it is the purpose of the present paper to record. Mr. Gayley truly says: "A new era in the manufacture of pigiron began in 1880 with the putting in blast of the Edgar Thomson furnaces." That era had its beginning with the construction of

Jan 1, 1891

By Oberlin Smith

The use of cast-iron tools, with chilled cutting-edges, for lathes, planers, boring-mills, etc., is not, as Gar as I can learn, very extensive in the United States, or perhaps in England and other parts of Europe. I have, however, no data to guide me in regard to foreign

Jan 1, 1891

By John W. Langley

In the summer of 1888 it was the fortune of the writer to present the subject of the desirability of establishing a set of samples of steel, which should be analyzed with extreme care, in order that they might become standards to which scientific and commercial analyses of iron and steel could be subsequently referred; also, that greater uniformity in the results of analyses might be brought about, since these standards would bear towards analytical methods somewhat the position which the original units of weight and length, the gramme and meter, or the pound and yard, preserved in Paris, London, and Washington, do to the mechanical arts. The plan met with hearty co-operation, with the result that com mittees were appointed in Sweden, Germany, France, England, and America, to receive the material and to see that the necessary au alyses were executed. In England, the British Association for the Advancement of Science appointed a committee, which subsequently published a plan

Jan 1, 1891

By Burdett Loomis

The advantages of gaseous fuel have been too fully set forth during the past few years to need recapitulation. Papers, arguments, and editorials have been issued, in a more or less general way, that would make volumes. Systems have found zealous advocates, and many promises of results that have sounded strangely in the ears of old-fashioned gas-makers, have been born of theory, and have died in the earliest throes of trial; while in some few instances success has demonstrated the value of practical effort. With few exceptions, however, everything attempted or accomplished has tended towards the one end-—the realization of more perfect results than we can

Jan 1, 1891

Jan 1, 1891

By James C. Bayles

The ideal pressure-tube is obviously the one which combines the greatest strength with the least weight of material consistent with the uses for which it is designed or employed. The inside of the pipe is the first concern of the engineer. It should be cylindrical, smooth, and of the requisite capacity for the purpose in view. It should be in lengths as great as can be oonveniently handled, so that the couplings may be as few as possible. With the walls of the tube the engineer has no further occasion to concern himself than to make sure they are adequate to carry the internal and external pressures to which they will be subjected. It is as true of a pipe as of a truss, that when it is strong enough to give the requisite factor of safety, nothing is gained by having it stronger. Anything more than this means dead weight, which has to be paid for many times, first as material, and again and again in the costs of transportation and handling, until it reaches its place in the trench or on supports. In use it must be and remain tight against all leakage, and must sustain whatever is placed over or upon it, or suspended from it, without deformation or injury. Finally, in addition to meeting all the immediate requirements of service, it must possess qualities of durability which warrant a reasonable expectation of a long life of usefulness. The wise engineer no longer regards it as reasonable to depend upon mere bulk of its own material for the protection of a metal as readily impaired or destroyed by oxidation as iron or steel. The metal must have a coating which will be and remain impervious and indestructible. When all these conditions are met, we have as near an approach to the ideal tube as can be attained with the materials now available for their manufacture. Steel wed constructively, to the best advantage, meets these requirements most perfectly. Gold alone would do it better. If we search through the whole list of metals and alloys we find nothing available which so perfectly meets the requirements as a pipe material as steel. Mr. Hamilton Smith, Jr., in a paper on the expedients adopted on

Jan 1, 1891

Jan 1, 1891

By Clemens Jones

The peculiar property of the lode-stone has been known for many centuries. It was very early observed that, by contact with it, iron is magnetized; and it is needless to dwell here upon the history allied to this discovery, now constituting the wonderful science of magnetism. Deposits of magnetic ore are distributed all over the world. The ore is sometimes very rich and comparatively free from gangue, sometimes sparsely disseminated in the native rock. These bodies of lean ore often cover large areas. Modern ingenuity has utilized the principle of the magrtet, originally derived from the ore itself, and really belonging to the time of Plato and Theophrastus, to separate the magnetic ore-particles from the rock which has previously been crushed. This process recovers the ore in the state of a concentrate very rich in iron and, in some cases, desirable for Bessemer purposes. The magnetic separator is no longer a novelty. It was only at the last meeting of the Institute in New York, that Messrs. Birkinbine and Edison (Trans., xvii., 728) and Mr. Robert Cook (Ib., 599) described some of' the principal designs of apparatus in use. E. S. Dana classifies the natural magnetic minerals in the following order: magnetite, pyrrhotite, franklinite, almandite and minerals " containing considerable FeO." Of these, ferroso-ferric oxide, or magnetite, is the type. The proportionate amount of ferrous oxide essential to magnetize the compound, is not established. Ferrous oxide appears to be the only magnetic oxide of iron. Tissandier (Compt. Rend., lxxiv., 531) produced ferrous oxide in the anhydrous state, by the action of carbon dioxide on pure iron at a red heat, according to the equation : Fe + CO2 = FeO + CO. This is black, crystalline and magnetic. Heated to redness in the air, it is converted into Fe3O4. Sidot (Compt. Rend., lxvii., 175) has also produced an oxide exhibiting magnetic polarity, by heating ferric oxide to a temperature

Jan 1, 1891

By F. P. Dewey

The first systematic attempt of the National Museum to gather material representing the economic geology and metallurgy of the country was made in connection with the Centennial Exhibition. The department may be considered as having originated then, althongh it was not formally inaugurated until December, 1882. Previous to the Centennial, all the illustrations of economic geology had been included in the mineral collection, and the illustrations of metallurgy were so very few that they had also been included with the minerals. When the museum began its collections for the Centennial, the subject of the mineral resources of tile United States was placed in the hands of Professor Wm. P. Blake, who was eminently fitted to undertake the work by his experience at various international exhibitions and his extensive acquaintance with the mining industry of the country. Professor Blake prepared a broad and exhaustive plan for this purpose, and the very large collection shown at Philadelphia was well calculated to set forth the vast mineral wealth of the country. The history of the department proper may conveniently be divided into three periods : first, the formative period, during which the Centennial material was mainly administered upon, ending Jnly 1, 1884, with the beginning of the preparation for the New Orleans Exposition; second, the New Orleans Exposition period, from July 1, 1884, to June 30, 1887, during which the collections for the New Orleans Exposition were made, exhibited at New Orleans, returned to Washington, and installed permanently in the museum; third, the southwest-court period, from July 1, 1887, to October 1, 1889, during which the collections were arranged in the southwest court of the museum.

Jan 1, 1891

By H. C. Spaulding

The rapid increase, during the last few years, in the number and magnitude of applications of electric power-transmission to commer cial uses in this country, has been due principally to three causes: first, the ability and enterprise of those who have been identified with the progress of electrical industries, since electric illumination became an economic fact instead of a laboratory-experiment: sec ondly, the readiness of the American people to adopt new and ad vanced methods as soon as their superiority has been fairly demon strated; and thirdly, tile economy and flexibility of the apparatus employed, when properly designed and constructed, and installed under suitable conditions. Basing our judgment on the world's advance in scientific devel opments during the past century, we may reasonably conclude that in no other country would the pioneeis of electrical invention, whose names have now become household words, have received the prompt and plentiful financial support which has enabled them to inaugurate undertakings of exceptional magnitude, even in this era of tremendous monetary organizations. And, on the other hand, we have seen, in the numerous financial and engineering failures inseparable from such rapid development, the natural results of a too implicit faith in electrical omnipotence. It is not to be wondered at that conservative engineers have been slow to adopt this new and mighty agent in the solution of exten sive problems, and under circumstances where a single failure means not only a greater or less financial sacrifice, but the loss, in a greater or less degree, of professional reputation. Be mechanical engineer, while recognizing the fact that thousands of horse-power are to-day transmitted by electrical means, from sunning the lathe in a dentist's office to the operation of a fifty-ton travelling crane; from passing a cooling draught of air through a

Jan 1, 1891

By J. P. Carson

THE Croton water-shed furnishes the source and storage of watersupply to both the old and the new aqueduct. The Croton river rises in the southern part of Dutchess county, about 68 miles from the lower end of New York city. Its three main branches, called the East, Middle and West branches, flow southward across Putnam county, joining, near its southern boundary, to form the Croton, which continues thence in a general southwest direction across Westchester county to the Hudson river at Croton Point, about 35 miles north of the city. The water-shed above the proposed site of the Quaker Bridge dam extends about 33 miles north and south, with an average width of 11 miles, making in all about 362 square miles, from which, by complete storage, an average daily supply of 250,000,000 gallons may be collected—sufficient for the needs of the city, probably, for the next fifteen years. The water-shed above the Croton dam is 23 square miles smaller, and furnishes the present daily supply of 100,000,000 gallons. By referring to the map it will be seen that the shortest approximately straight line between the proposed site of Quaker Bridge

Jan 1, 1891

By R. A. Hadfield

It seems a specially fitting opportunity to present a paper on the alloys of iron and aluminum at the New York meeting of this Institute, owing to the fact that America has, more than any other country, originated and developed the manufacture of cheap aluminum. The Cowles, Castner, and Hall systems have all originated in the ever-busy brain of our cousin across the water. The problem of cheaply producing this valuable metal has been a difficult one, but to the writer it seems that the more arduous the task the greater the delight with which our American friend attempts to overcome the difficulties surrounding it, and the more vim he throws into the work. Another and equally striking proof of this is to be found in the recent appearance of the already wellknown remarkable work, The Mefallurgy of Steel, by Mr. H. M. Howe, of the Institute of Technology, Boston, Mass. It is to be hopel that this Institute will not be slow to recognize by some special mark its appreciation of this signally valuable and original work. The writer has been led to describe the following experiments, believing that so far no full and exact report has yet been presented to this Institute as to the effect of aluminum alloyed or combined with the metal iron. It has been a special object to make the material as far as possible a true alloy or combination of aluminum and iron, with as small quantities as possible of other disturbing ingredients, such as silicon, manganese, etc. In the material described in these experiments, the total amounts of other elements present (sulphur and phosphorus being disregarded as present in such small quantities) do not exceed about 0.5 per cent. Such material may therefore be probably taken as fairly illustrative of the effect of the metal aluminum upon iron. Since completing the experiments the writer

Jan 1, 1891

By John W. Cabot

In the manufacture by the Bessemer process of soft steel suitable for rolling into fine sheets, tubes and 60 forth, a difficulty is sometimes met with, in the tendency of this kind of metal to rise violently and boil in the moulds while being cast; this results in hollow-topped ingots, and consequently in an undue amount of scrap in the subsequent rolling. It has been noticed that this peculiarity does not pertain to all pig-irons, some grades producing a blown metal which pours quietly, while others, in whatever way the blow may have been conducted, give a metal which rises in the moulds, accompanied by the evolution of large quantities of hydrogen and carbonic oxide gases, and requiring a long time to solidify. This difference in behavior has been some-

Jan 1, 1891

By A. S. Hewitt

After an interval of fourteen years, saddened for all of us by the death of David Thomas, the father of the anthracite iron-trade, first president of the Institute, and by the untimely loss of his successor, Alexander L. Holley, whose memory we are about to honor by loving services, the members of the American Institute of Mining Engineers have conferred upon me for the second time the office of president, under circumstances similar to those which led to the choice in 1876. Then the whole world was represented at the great exposition of industry which was held in Philadelphia to celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of our declaration of political independence. In 1890 it is our privilege to receive as guests the members of the British Iron and Steel Institute, who, with singular and graceful felicity, have appointed a meeting in the United States in the year when we pass from the second to the first place in the international column of the production of iron, and thus celebrate our industrial independence. For the honor of being chosen to extend to our distinguished guests the right hand of fellowship and a hearty welcome I return to my associates the grateful acknowledgment of one whose chief claim to your favor is to be found in his love for the professional occupation in which we are all engaged, and in his efforts, public and private, to promote its advancement into new fields of usefulness. In order to indicate the full significance of the visit of our foreign guests at this time, it will be proper to explain briefly the origin, aims and work of the Iron and Steel Institute. It unquestionably owes its birth to the International Expositions held in London in 1851 and 1862, and in Paris in 1867. These expositions served to break down the jealousies of nationality and to diffuse a better knowledge of industrial processes. Trade-secrets, which had been carefully guarded, became common property; manufacturers who had previously regarded themselves as rivals formed bonds of union and ties of friendship, as the results of an intercourse which

Jan 1, 1891

By R. Henry Norton

The State of Oregon, although admitted into the Union February 14, 1859, is to-day, so far as any practical knowledge of its mineral resources is concerned, almost terra incognita, as compared with the other Western States and Territories. This is partly to be accounted for by the class of emigrants who first settled in the country ; they seem to have been, as they still are, a pastoral community, to whom the terms " mines " 'and " mining " are synonymous with bankruptcy and disaster, and who discourage all attempts to develop the mineral resources of the State. This statement is emphasized by the fact that Oregon has no State Geolo-

Jan 1, 1891

Jan 1, 1891