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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (July 1, 1877)
202 THE AVE ST SHORE. JJ? THE ANALYSIS OF THE DIAMOND. LftVoiiitr, the gnat Prench cbetnhtt, under took the oaamlnatfon of the diamond (Prof. Jtoicnc remark!), and it ii worth while noticing how carefully ha want to work how lie pTO ooortod ilowly from nna step to another in aba logical Hqnanoa until he arrived at the true mIu tion of the question which be had undertaken to investigate that la, until ho wm nbla to tell exactly what happen! when the diamond evap orates in the lire, and why it iliil not doao when Hurroiinlel witli oharooal In tho in--: place, he evaporated the diamond by manna of the bornmg'glaai, and ha obaarved that no visible vapor or smoke was given off, hut that the dbv roond disappeared. He thought that perbapa the aolld diamond had In Home way been dta- solved hy the water, ami that hy evaporating the water which wan in the lower part of the liell jar in which he hiirut the diamond he inightob- tain the constituents of the diamond, in a aolld form; hut he found that no ttoliil residue WM left on evaporation, ami thus no trace of the diamond could he found. Hi next experiment waa that of pladug a diamond in a fooui of it less powerful leni than the one he bad formerly lined, ho that the diamond waa not heated to no high a temperature as before, again placing it however, in a hell-jar over water. He then found that the diamond, when not heated quite ho strongly, lost only about one-quarter of its weight; it did not disappear altogether, hilt the reuiarkahle fuel wan noticed that it became covered with a black ubetance, whioh Lavoiaier deaorlbet m being exactly like lampbleok or booL so that it dirtied hit lingers when touched, and made a black mark upon paper, Hence be con eluded that the diamond is susceptible of being brought, under certain drcunutanoM, into the oonditl if oharooal, ho that It really belong! to the olaai of oomonaUble bodies. He waa, however, yet far from having proved thin point, and he w out on experimenting. He neit mCM 11 red tin- volume ol air in which he wan going to hum tin- diamond, and found it about eight onblo Inches, Then he burned the diamond in thin Volume of air hy menus of a letin, and found that tic air had dimlniahad to a volume of ill euhie inches, Mil. showing that the air had un dergone aome change hy the eninbuation of the diamond, and (hat two nut of eight volume! of air had diuppeared. The nexl axperin the made wan to examine the condition of the air ill which tlx- dla nd had been evajwrated. What change! had gone on in the air in conse quence of the evaporation of the diamond! -After allouiti ' the .(- in which he had burned the diamond to atand for four daya, he poured tricar lime water into the jar in which tnedhv mond had hern ovaporatedi and he tayi thti lime-water was at mice precipitated. In the lalUO manner at if it had been brought into oontaot with gas evolved into Bthrveieenoe and for mentation, or that given off In DUN ol metallic reduction. Here, then, he had gut OU the track of what he wanted. Hitherto Die diamond had apparently dlaappeared, and nothing wai found to account fur its ditappearanoe; hut now he had found that there WM something contained in the air in which 'the diamond nan burned which wai not contained In the air before. The next atop he took WM to examine the white pre Oipltate or powder Whioh formed, and he found thai the luuetanoa tbua precipitated from lime water by the air In whioh the diamond bad been evaporated efferveaoed on treatment with acid, and evolved what wan then known as fixed air, hut which we HOW know an carhoiilc acid gas. Here, then, in hll last experiment, In oomplltM hit proof, abowlng that exactly the MUIfl effeote are obeerved when charcoal in experltnentetl upon tnatead of diamond. Lavoiaier had now ronhla quarry inearth; he had determined ex actly what it tl that in formed when a diamond in burned. He hat nhowii that a diamond, when burned, prod u cm exactly the aame iub tanM tint Ii produced when coniuioii oharooal it burnetl, and he, therefore, legitimately eon oludM that the diamond It only another rorui of the element carbon, The reason that the dia mond did not I tutu in the furnace when sur rounded by a meal of charcoal WM that the air, or nthar the oxygen of tho air, could not gel to the diamond, because it wan kept off hy the charcoal, which hurned instead of the diamond, PUDDLING WITH CULM, Experiment! are being mad! at the worki of the Towanda Iron Manufacturing Company, at Towanda, Pa., with the culm or dual of the lioyitUiK'k mlnea Thin coal it called semi anthracite; it look very much like the hitiimin. oils coal in the vicinity of the worki, but hickt the Intumiu, m rcinarkahl lice from milphur, and contain over W id carl oit, The lirst trial made with the culm WM under the boilers, and it was quickly dciuomt litd llut more team could lie generated with it than with coarse coal; nud not only ho, hut that it could le done in lent tune and with a lighter weight of fuel. Bxptrimenti were next madi la puddling iron. A common doulde puddling furnace wan lined, temporary alteration having been made fur the pUrpOMi The lirehox wm lengthened from l'J feel to 'J1 feet, no at to in crease the grate surface, this being necessary from the fact that the lire mutt hi kept very thin not over three imhet; the gralet were place.) eloM together, and contained numerous small holes, their diameter being about the eighth of an inch 111 a Imr three to four inches wide and two and one half to ihnv feet long, there would be from 400 to 500 of thM bolea, and there was aU'llt two feet ol dead MrfUM between the grate and the bridge wulL TheM Wi re the only alterations made, the furnace it sell not having bean changed The fuel wot in traduced in the ordinary way, only it WM mves Mry to -i I it very evenly over the ciatc, and a hlast WM ucd. The person who is con ducting the experiments says he can get up Moan and melt mm quicker with this fuel than with any othrr cil he over mod, and the iron pro lie . I is elaiuiad to he of superior quality, owing to the treedom ol the fuel from sulphur. The works are M or .Hi miles from the mines, hut the owners of the Utter offer to deliver the culm at a price not to exceed s. cents per ton. further eiporiaawUaai are to Ik made. OmJ 7nif. eurusU AMERICAN LOCOMOTIVES ABROAD. THE PROTECTION OF CARS AGAINST LIGHTNING. KRUPP'S WORKS AT ESSE. Apart from the steel works of the Messrs Krupp, the town of Eaten, in Prussia, hu very little interest for the traveler. As all the importance of Stratford -on -Avon is derived from the accidental circumstance that Shakespeare was Isjrn there, ao all the interest that centers around Raien arise! from the fact that it is the location of thit remarkable steel-producing establishment. It is not always that the visitor can obtain an order of inspection, hut very for tutatcly Dr. Kilward Young, chief of the United States Kureau of Statistics, was able to do ao some few yean ago, and has given a record of what he saw in his admirable work entitled "Labor and Capital in Europe." published by Meeere, Trubner & Co., of Ludgata Hill. The population of Ksten consists of some 52,000 inhabitant!, nearly all of w hom, directly or in directly, derive their means of livelihood from these works. The number of men actually employed in the worke at Eaeen ii l&000Taua in coal mining, etc., 5,000. Tho east-steel pro duced last year was 120,000 ton The whole taluu of ateel, steel gum, shafts, tires, rails, wheels, axles, etc., produced in 1871, w&g I '2, 000, 000 thalcrs; the iron and iron-ore used w as 200,000,000 pounds; the coal used per day was 80,000 centner, or nearly 600,000 tons per annum. The coal now costs 24 thalers per f 00 centner, tivo tons, or nearly 400,000 thalers. The number of oruclblei used per day is r,000; the total cost of coal per annum is 'J5O,00O thalers; and the total cost of labor is 5,000,000 thnlers. The wages of the men average thalen per day, hut the wagu are regulated according to the skill of the work-people those in the forging and finishing sho)s receiv ing the highest pay. The unskilled WOrknUM only receive four thalers per week, though how they contrive to keep body and soul from divid ing upou this payment is a problem which it would uutlle in economist to solve. The num ber of hours worked per day is 11, and the works are continually going. To increase their earnings many of the men work extra houra, and even on Sundays. We should be very sorry indeed to see Knglish workmen paid so badly as to render the temptation to work on Sundays so great. At the end of the year Mr. Krupp dis tributes it large BRIOUttt in benefactions, and these, like the weekly wagea, are regulated according to tho results. Workmen when sick get half Wagea, and are cared for in hospitals without cost. The tirm contributes one-half as much as the aggregate contributions of the men. Mr. Krupp is building houses for his work-people, and in a variety of ways evidences his interest in their Welfare. Speaking of theipial Ity of the ateel, Dr. Young says: "With regard to the ionndnoM ami good quality of the steel castings made in this establishment, thoyiipear to be entirely faultless. I saw immense guns, nearly completed, Intended for exhibition at Vienna next year; an immense shaft for a steam ship of one of the German lines to New York, WhToh seemed the very perfection of workman ship, and for which one thaler per lb. was to be paid; and great numbers of other manufacture of steel, either completed or in progress, all of whioh appeared to possess great excellence. In regard to tools, machinery, and appointments, these w orks do not, in my opinion, surpass in excellence those of the steel works of Messrs. Firth .V Sliiis, of Sheffield. Hut as the products have obtained a higher reputation than those of any other manufacturer, liow is this admitted excellence obtained ? No doubt it is in part due to the analyses of the various ores from his mines in Germany and Spain, nud from (ireat Dritaiu and other countries, and from experi ments made by the experienced and analytical chemists in his employ. Hut, in my opiniun tho opinion of an inexpert in metallurgy and mechanical engineering this lirm has no secrets in regard to the admixture of various kinds of iron which, if known, would enable manufacturers to produce as good steel. The superiority la, I believe, owing to the following causes: Most of Ins workmen have been for e long time in bis employ, ami have great expe rience and skill; his foremen thoroughly under stand their business, possess technical training, and practical knowledge. These are all at tached to thfl proprietor by his practico of giving extra pay lor skilled work, by his annual gratuities, by his generosity exhibited toward the men in every possible way, and hii sympathy with them. Ins workmen are thus warmly attached to him, and strive to promote his interest by performing their several dutin thoroughly and well. In the reputation of the establishment for excellence of workmanship, they are, therefore, interested." The worki were established by Mr. V. Krupp in 1810, who died w hen the present Alfred Krupp was little more than 14 years of age. Leaving school, he seems to have continued the works on a very small scale at lirst, but gradually the quality the work turned out brought the name of Krupp into repute, so that to-day anything that leave! his works is regarded as little abort of perfec tion. The works have Wen so developed that at this time they cover a continuous area of more than 4,784,000 sipmro yards, of which about 5HK),000 square yards an1 covered in. I must Ite evident from the circumstances under which the present Mr. Krupp took possession of the works that he is a man of DO ordinary talent ami business energy. Kve-n since Dr. Young visited the works they have liecn devel oped still further, and it ia impossible to predict w hat their ultimate dimensions will be. MinmQ WorU, BmoKBUUUI Fr knack. We learn from M Knglish exchange that Krskine's patent smoke less furnace is an invention, the novelty of which consists of peculiarly constructed rire lrs, resting directly Upon ttlDM arranged ia Mich a manner that heated air is admitted inte the furnace in such prOpOVtiOM aa to aecur! combustion of the gasea before the smoke is actually made; it is so arranged that the sir passing under the tire, and returuiug througa the tubea, is so neatly batted m to generate team ipnckly and give a steadier supply . TM lrs also afford more air Ipuoe, which is said t! secure entire consumption of the fuel, and t! greatly economize the seme. The I ,mihIi.ii CoUfary fiiiiirtliiin says: Our American advices informed us last week that l! locomotives had left the Baldwin locomotive works, Philadelphia, this month, for Brazil. Kach engine was accompanied by an engineer and fireman; a number of machinists also went with the engines. We further learn that more engines are to he despatched, in the course of this year, from the Baldwin works to the great South American empire. The Baldwin works have forwarded besides a specimen loco motive to one of the Australian colonics, and the New Zealand government is also alwut to make a trial of one of the engines of these now celebrated works. Such facts as these show forcibly enough the energy and enterprise with wbtoh American firms uro endeavoring to lind fresh outlets for the products of American industry. Jonathan is rubbing shoulders w ith John in all the great markets of the world, and UnleM John beetln himself he w ill find Jon athan rather a formidable rival. One circum stance whioh. perhaps, tells in favor of Amer ican locomotive iniiniers in south America, is tin; dtil null nation whioh hngiisii capitalists not. display and imt unnaturally to embark their savings in the securities, ho called, of South American governments. We call them South American governments partly by habit and partly by courtesy, but what is a South Amer ican government only too often ? What but a knot of desperate adventurers who have con trived to seize the helm of State for a time, ami who hold it until they are shot down or dis persed by a fresh baud of lawless conspirators. Ve have been Heeoed too smartly and too recently by lUoh Wretched republic! as Venezu ela, Honduras, Beuatlor, Uruguay, Coata Rloa and IVrn, to be very eager to acquire any more South American bonds. Brazil anil Chile cer tainly maintain a good credit at present, but neither of these States could raisu new loans upon the Knglish market so readily or ao advan tageously M they once did; and the consequence is that American locomotive builders compete with Knglish linns upon rather more equal con dition! than formerly. They ought certainly to do no, since they have not to carry their en gines so far over the sea. Perhaps Otte cause whioh has rendered the Americans more eager competitors against us - not merely in the mat ter of locomotive buildlUff, but in almost every other branch of human effort is the dullness of trade within the American republic itself. The Americana have been oomnuled wr fbrtt to seek for fresh tichls and pastures new because tlicy nave Hot DOeU doing quite so well at home. The annearanoe of American hwrnnotivM upon the railways of Australia is perhaps even a still more serious matter to KnglHi mechan ical concerns than the dispatch of Baldwin en gines to Brazil. Hitherto our Australasian friOUu! have miturally almost entirely relied UpOU iis, their kinsmen, for lUch locomotives as they required. They have certainly made do ultory efforts to build UXOmotiVM for them selves, but they have not been very successful in doing so, and in tho main they have applied to ui when they have Wanted some of those mighty iron horses which may be said to Ih- the proudest results of British mechanical skill, But now our Australian friends have listened In the blandishments ol Jonathan even in the matter of locomotives. One at least of the Baldwin bouie eueines has gone to one of the British settlements in Aus tralia properly so-called, ami the New Zealand government is nlso diapoeed to give a Baldwin origine a trial. I he introduction of American bogie engines upon Australian and New Zea land railways fairly suggests the question whether Knglih mechanical lirms are not too rigid and perhaps even too antiquated in their eas ami notions, i in- no-ic in, ..tn e mal.i i little progress uxm Knglish railways, but it is (nil the tiling for young colonies and thinly inhabited countries, in which railways are con- tructeil ill a licKlcr an. I m..i,. , k sli t laili- on than oonld pbaaibly be introduced iii (ireat hrilani. A hoeie engine uill run with satetv upon a rougher road bed, and w ill overcome harper curvet, than an engine w itb an indexible frame of the ordinary Bngliih type, botany one watch a train rushing along even upon a well appointcil KnglUUt railway, ami he will see that it sways more or less alsmt, although in 000 CaaM out of t.OOn it contrives to keep to the track. Such an observer w ill lie fain to ask himaelt whether our express trains would not be safer even when they glide over a lirst class iiennanent way it they wen-draw n by bogie locomotives readily adapting themselves to the little obstacles ami difficulties of a line Kveu if the inflexible framed engine holds its own pretty well upou a permanent way of the excellence of the London ainl Northwestern, its bogie Competitor is far more adapted to a lightly baUaatad Australian road-1 ted, or to a line which has to climb some of the hills or mountains of New Zealand. When young Australian colonies map out new lines it is of supreme Importance that they should 1h able to OOUatrUOt them cheaply. SJiarp curves and seven' gradients have a tendency to reduce con struction expenses; the Wgie locomotive is at home UpOU such curves and gradients, and therefore it is just the engine for the antipodes. We may admit this readily enough, localise we ought to be able to make imgie teeoaawth i Jul as easily they are now made by our Amer ican comiwtitors. A Railway I'm -nun km. a pile driver m ute in Nebraska is thus described The engine, hi iiiuiera, derrick, ladders, eu , and hoisting vmtratus are all conlincd within an ordinary SUwd freight car. Heavy timber and Wain make a strong frame-work for the foundation of the bed of the car. It is built on a cmular turn table winch is worked on the ear. and it can lie turned cither way. the pde dntct reaching out gQ feet Ivyoud the widtli of the tra. k I'ibiig lor i'i : Ui - . in itn en on cml or si.le ot tin track simply by shifting the DM of the car aroiin.t. I lie tn.icmin i i H i. e.l w 'it tun in th most coinpict and convenient total pwuuhle, and cm unices all tin- in. Mem improvement in th latest unproved pile-drivers. It works with uuuiual rapidity, and it is but the work of a moment to atucn it to an engine or train The following is from Spang's "Practical Treatise on Lightning Protection," a work re cently published hy Liaxton, uemsen a. nanei tinger, of Philadelphia: A locomotive, with its escaping smoke and steam, moving or at rest, in a thunderstorm, will alsu invite a lightning discharge, and the liability of damage thereto dtqieiiils upon the quantity of water that has fallen previous to the discharge, the electrical connection made by the rails with the road-bed, the conducting nature of the road-bed and the earth licneath it; also whether iron cars are in the train. When a number of iron cars, like fchnu nsarl in the transportation of petroleum, are in a railway train, a lightning discharge will lie diffused over them and greatly weakened, and thereby lessen the liability of damage to, or ignition of, the contents thereof, lint in the ease of a wooden car, the discharge will inva riably pass through its interior ami over inmates or contents in order to reach the earth, the con tents being generally a path of much better conductivity than the wooden body of the car. The liability of injury or death of passengers and live-stock, and the ignition of powder or other combustible matcii.! by liglitliing can be greatly lessened hy provniing two metallic pauis lone near each end) DOtween me meiai rwi nun the pedestals, uxles ami wheels of each wooden .ar used for their trans strtation. This can be done at a small expense by applying Hat iron liars, two inches wide and one-eighth of an inch thick or four inches wide and one-sixteenth of an inch thick, along one of the sides and bottom of the body of the car, and connecting them with the metal roof and center plates attached to the body, and also metallically connecting the center plates of the trucks with the nearest or most convenient metal rod or bar communi cating with the pedestals, thereby forming con tinuous metallic paths from the metal roof to the center plates, thence to the Pedestals, axles. wheels and rails to tin- earth, imring me sum mer season the rails of a railway track do not constitute very good earth terminals for a light ning conductor, owing to the dry condition and poor conductivity of the road-bed, which gen erally consists of broken stone or furnace cinder, a foot or more in depth, ami their capacity for diffusing a lightning discharge will depend principally upon the quantity of rain that has (alien previous to the discharge and the ennduc tivity of the road-lied and the earth beneath. BTEKL lOCOMOTIVK BOILERS. One of the toplci under consideration at the bite meeting of railway master mechanics, at Cleveland, was the relative quality of iron and steel as material for railroad boilers. The testi mony was almost unswerving in favor of steel m the beat material for the shell of the boiler. We quote from a report of a committee as fol lows: With two exceptions all express them selves decidedly in favor of steel for the shell of the boiler. It is superior to iron in strength, and less ditiictilt to shape and put together, and seems to be in every way preferable. Those who have used it most extensively for this pur pose are the most decided in preferring it. Not a single instance is reported where steel in the shell of a iMiiler has ruptured when eohl, or in heating up, or from putting cold water m the Isiiler while hot, M so frequently occurs in the case of the sheets of the tire-box. Mr. Sedgley, of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern, reports one steel sheet in the shell of the boiler to have cracked or broken in the way common to iron sheets in such eases, caused by imperfect construction or form of the boiler. Mr. Howard Kry, of the Philadelphia and Kriu road, reports live steel sheets in the shell ol boilers on that road to have cracked dining the year 1870, but that in every case it was Itelieved to lie the result of bad workmanship or bad design in the form and bracing of the 1 toiler, ami md from the quality of the steel. Your committee believe that the material ill the shell of the Imilers should he heavier than that in general use; that a greater stillness and surplus of strength would add greatly to the length of time that they can ordinarily he used with safety, and lessen the cost of keeping them i:i repair from year to year. As the elatic limit of steel such as used in boilers ia imt much. if any, above that of iron, the same thickness of steel should io adopted as in the case ot iron, notwithstanding its superior toughness. It is important that boilers should be so formed and stayed that with the highest pressure carried no part of one wiil change its original shape in the least hy reason of the pressure. A change in ehape in one direction by pressure, and return ing again to its original poitioii when the press ure i released, will sooner or later result in a crack. The same is true when braces are attached in such a way that the sheet is drawn from its true position by the strains from the brace. Ia designing and constructing boOtn, these matters should always receive the most caretul attention. Those w ho have had much experience, ami have given the matter close attention, give it as their opinion that steel, being more compact than iron, is less liable to waste away from cor rosion, and in that rMpOOt is to M preferred. From the expressions made to your committe. we find that steel is rapidly taking the place of mm ior tne sncii M me Holier. KUUTT JlLUaW. 1 the fruit jelly aeeu so often on the hotel table, uaed so frequently for dessert, and sold so abundantly by the grocer, healthful: Ueemine fruit jelly is a whoteaome .lessen, and make-, a pleasant drink when dilu ted with water, but most of the so-called fruit jelly put up so neatly in glass jars, so prettily colored, is not jelly at all, but a preparation from the feet and legs and Union of dead ani mals, that should find their way to the bono aoOar or the manufacturer of bone dust for the fanner. It ia very cheap when compired with the time fnnt jelly, and is made to resemble it by the color ao easily given by the chennit. t'hemistry is an art which has done much for civiluation, but it has also done a great deal for dishonest dealers, and a great deaJ to A. stroy the health of the teoplc. Vet strange to say, most of them are Uki thougbtleaa to use their Prams to protect thcmaelvea.