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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (July 1, 1877)
208 THE WEST SHOEE. July. A NEW THANSANIHNK RAILWAY. A revival seems to be approaching the South American railway building industry; Wo notice that our Kriglish exchanges are writing articles on the enterprise anil industry of Harry Mciggs, and he may lc an object of renewed interest to Kuglish capitalist. Mure than thin, we read of a new road ICTOU the A ml en, which will complete the connection between Valparaiso and ItiienoM Ayreit. The section between Santa Uonaile In Andes, the present terminal of the Valparaiso railway, and the town of Mendoa, at the other side of the A mien, comprises the most difficult part of the road. Starting at Santa Uoea, situated at the entrance of the L'spallata pans, on the Chilean side, at 3,704 feet above the level of the sea, the; line follows the con rue of the river Aconcagua for a distance of XI miles, until it reaohes the font of the pasH at 78tfi fact alsive tint level of the IM In Llns point w Here the Aconcagua river receives the, finical the line follows the course of this river, turning to the south, and after 1 1 1 miles turns .1. mi to the cast until reaching the west ern Mirtal of the large tunnel at the summit, situated at a bight of 1 1,484 f set The differ ence hutwecu Junes! and the mouth of the tunnel isjf miles, a grade of 31 percent The length of the ( ii ii iii'l is estimated to he iD.o'll, fcut. The top of the mountain is HJliU feet higher. Crossing the tunnel the line descends to the CueroM valley, with a uradc ol ocr cent. for eight miles to the bridge over the river COB rot. The altitude of Cueros valley is 10,957 feet. From this point to I'ncnte del I nca, a distance of 1'J miles, the grade is 'J per OOllt, ainl continues softening tiliit reaches the town ol MendOSa, ItrJ miles from I'licnte del Ima, and 3,000 fat nhiivu the level of the sea. An Italian engineer, Mr. Olhieri, has recently made a new survey of this route, comprising only the mountain region between Junoal and the Cueros river, and has jiropused to shorten the line n kilometer!, avoiding all the ilifHoult part, and thus reducing tint cost of construct ion considerably, Mis plan is to start at Junoal river, 8,840 meters high, with an inclined plane, an inveliteil by the celebrated engineer, Mr. Agudio, and recommended by the several engineers commissioned by the Italian ami French government, as Well as by the dele gales of various railway companies who at tended the series of practical experiment that took place in I he nioiith of August, 1875, at lAnilebourgi SuVOV, The inclined plane would have a length of nearly li.iHHi meters, with only one curve of 400 meters radius, ami of various grades, tin- heaviest being one in live. An altitude of I.1HHI meters being filled in this manner, the line would tinue 3,000 meters further with a grade of 1 in !M, to the entrance ol a tunnel which Would have a length of about ;t,7.Mt meters, and emerging a! the side of the Cueros river at 8,180 meters high. This shows that the valley at the eastern sids of the mountain is about I. turn meters high, which is, to a certain point, mi advantage) requiring only grading on one side, iioih the Junoal and Uuoros riven would at all times fuiUllll ample Mater power to work the turbine water wheels, with which po WOT the ,ai Would be lifted. There is also a small lake at the untmlt of the incline, the water of which can with facility DO applied to the same purpose. With this system the cost of construction would be reduced s 14,000,000, ami, accord log to the report of the joint committee of engi neers, the working expenses of aline of this chins, taklllg into consideration th' correspond- iug development required in the other lystem, an in proportion very muob less. m:v ItlllDOKS AT ItOTTKHDAM. hutch engineering skill and enterprise have just oomdeted an undertaking of a magnitude second to none of the many great works achieved bj the Dutch before, It is well known that for centuries the Dtttoll people have w Rgfd constant m ar against the em iroai hmcnts of the sea am) the rivers by which their country ii intersected. The hydraulic works tit the first in the world: their bridges at Kutpheu, Kuylonbun and Macsdijk rival those of Amor- ica The Bnikltr says: Another, the new mil way bridge which crosses the Maas at llntter dam, has pit bten added, which was formally opened on April '-".Hh. and the Importunes of which for Holland need hardh be pointed out The work, after an expenditure of '.'.tnnt.tKiti Hortna (100,000), of which rather more than half has been expended on the superstructure, ami less than hall for the substructure, ban been completed within eight yean, about the same time required for the construction of the similar bridge at Hamburg, and that between Venice and the continent. Five gigantic wrought-iron arched girder, resting on granite piers, and ol spin- ranging from 818 foot si inches to SOB feet four inches, and a bight of nearly 80 fast above ordinary bin water level, connect lbs city with an IsUndin the middle of the stream, two other arches uniting this (laud wfth the Opposite shore. Another great work at Rotterdam is now 111 course of comple tion, which has attracted general attention on the contient. A few p , - Mow therailwav bridge, another bridge, the so called Willmw brug. ' to serve for the ordinary carnage t rathe of the city and fboVpeSSSngSfl, Is In OOUrSS of construction. The foundation t of this bridge was Ian) three years ago bj the king of Holland in peeenn. Tale, Rks ths reuway bridge, it maided with two pivot arrant" menu, ol which one l within the cil and the other in the canal sailed the King's Harbor iKeeung's Haveui. un fwt wide, Utwoenthe oppite shore and the Island ahoVS mentioned, to imit the )wagv of the largest dnp. I nk .Uiiio From the latest rv-rt. from I 'apt Mb it IMMMn that in 00 dan a ship drawing feet of water can ih from New Orleans to the ao. Th addition of another foot or two to the depth of the channel will only Iw a matter of tun HOVINa CLKUl'ATKA'S NEEDLE, Engineers of the present are about to attempt a problem wliich Cleopatra's workmen success fully solved, A correspondent writing from Alexandria, Egypt, gives the following account of the arrangements prepared for transporting Cleopatra's needle to England The '"needle" is a monolith Hit feet long and eight feet si pi are -not uniformly, but at the base. It weighs alsiut I.'!) tons, and lies in tin; i-and l." feet ebovs high-water line. To get this muss safely into the sea and across the sea. it is intended to build up around it on shore a cylindrical iron case or slop, ami tuen to roll the entire mass, nearly 800 tons, into the Mediterranean, and .when the necessary ballasting am) additions I have been made to the ship in dry-dock, to have I her towed to England. The iron vessel is now lieing made at the Thames Iron Works, and when ready will Is- sent out here in pieces, to be built around the obelisk, under the supeiin- Itendenceof Mr. VYavnman Dixon, broth n, Mr. John Dixon, the enterprising designer and contractor. The vessel must be considerably longer than the obelisk, beoaUSS of the shape of the stone. It will be 98 feet long and 18 feet ill diameter, with plates three-eighths of an inch thick. It will be divided into nine water tight compartments by eight bulkheads; tidal w eight of iron, 78 tons. To lift the end of the obelisk jacks of immense power w ill have to he sent from England, and after the cylinder is built tremendous tackles will be required to roll it into the sea. It will llout in nine feet w ater, and to reach this depth it must lie rolled 400 feet. Once utlnat ami in dock itwilllie litted with bilge keels, rudder ami steering genr. It will he cutter-rigged, with one mast and two sails, and will have a deckhouse for Mr. Carter, who will have charge of it on the voyage; for, although it will lie in tow of a steamer, it will be in every resect a ship, and able to take care of itself for a lime in case of accident or breaking away of the low lines, w hich are to lie of steel wire. If the undertak ing is a success, the entire excuse w ill be borne by Mr. I'rasinus Wilson, the eminent surgeon. Immense care and nicety will have to he exer cised in obtaining the necessary strength and rigidity; the obelisk must lie SO (Mieked, form ing with the iron cylinder one solid mass, as to avoid any strain from the rolling Into the water, or from the heavy working of the ship after ward. I presume the most anxious part of the work will l- to oct the vessel and her nreeioiis cargo into the sea. Once afloat other difficul ties will lie mastered. I luce thousand live hundred years ago this obelisk formed one of the pillars in front of the great Temple of Tum (the setting sun), at Heliopolls (near Cairo), and was brought to Alexandria during the reign of Cleopatra. No accounts exist of the appliances used; but if this and larger monU Riente could be safely moved about some l.liOO years n. ct it la not possible to doubt our abil ity to do likew ise in the 19th century , n. M'UTTINt; WIUK8P0H BHI1XJE CAHI.Ks. Work is progressing rapidly on thu Brooklyn bridge, The wire, as it comes from the factory, is in coils, containing nbout I.IHHI feet. As each coil is oiled it is drawn to the top of the anchor- age and placed on a Hat drum which moves horizontally. Prom this drum the coil is wound w ith grcut care over a wheel four feet In diam eter, moving abotlt a horizontal axis. This w heel and its carriage are placed in position be fore one of the drums. It is then ncccssarv to fasten the end of the wire to that already on the drum. K workman steps up with a dou ble vise, in which he puts tile two ends of wire llieb have been nreviouslv threaded, ami ioins them by a hollow nut of crucible steel two inches long and an eighth of an inch thick. The inside of tna nut fa threaded in opposite direc tions, to conform to the threads on the ends of the wire. The nut is thin fastened in a baud vise, by which it is screwed Up so its to bring the two ends of the wire al st together llv aid of this contrivance the joint is given !Hi per cent of the strength of the wire. When the fastener steps to another drum, a man, with a box of chemicals and sottls, cleans the joint. Then another, with a sit of melted line, gives the joint a bath, in which some chloride of am moma has been thrown to destroy the dross. Another man, with a tool, runs the line well on to the win- to galvanise it thoroughly. Next n man. with a pan of linseed oil and a piece of sheep's skin rug dripping with oil, seizes the win- where it has been joined and holds it fast in his oily grasp, w hile the other w orkmen care fully wind it trom the small reel to the large drum. Although the jmpular impression is that the cable is to bsof twisted brands of wire, the contrary is true The wires are kent naralUL and as soon as 1X1 w ires are sent across the river they will W tied with temporary wrap luuir. theSS will make one of the 10 strands of which one cable is made. There are siisiK-nd- lag peodulum nds from one of the w ires to pre vent the etitaucliin: of the wires as thev ias to and fro and are fanned by the wind. I Iiere are imw lour wires in isisition on each of the down stream cables. These are the lirst w ires that have leen put up that w ill enter into the lug bridge's ultimate ntnicture. It will take about two vears to carry aoroSS the 84,000 wires. Aaf aSUOCT I'trKH. A nun of science, writing to the ipV. explain what i the prin cqiat nee to which the bundles ..! white amka ol asaragus. Iron which the UpS aaVS Uvu bitten, may bS pt The) may U-made into pa -l i . and that not ordinary brow n napcr, or even fooUcaii, hut letter paper of the (meat descrip tion. It appear that in a few favored places there are manufactories: where the Mwragus cuds are tiied in this way, and where the care ful hotiiekcepvr hoards up the scraw w ith a dil bg'lic unknown elsewhere. Hut the work of collecting them is an up loll taak as yet, and it will be years More, in the natural" order of thing, the practice of saving them and packing them off to nsh facUvie for aak is at all gn nJI) adopted CODD STUKAtiK OF DAIRY PRODUCE. The BtltUr, Ohm nml Eijij ItrjiortiT in ita last issue says: .Messrs. .Mackenzie, Aewmun & Co. leased the entire building, No. ft- Warren street, from May iBt, and at once fitted on the three upper lofts with a refrigerator, which is practically one room, the floors lcing simply slatted, and the walls being titled up continu oitsly from the roof to the floor of the first loft. The interior measurement of the rooms is liox'ii feet, with ante-rooms on the first ami second lofts. The top loft is used for the ice, and con tains layers to tne inghtol lour leettwoiucnes, covering the entire surface lietweeu walls. About IfiO tons are now In the room, though it is constructed with a capacity of ;100 tons. The side walls from the roof down to the lirst tloor are eased with matched pine boards, hack of w hich a space of eight inches to the brick walls is tilled with sawdust. On the ends a thickness of 14 inches of sawdust is used. Tim roof and tirst tloor are ceiled iu the same manner. in constructing the refrigerator l.ilUO barrels of sawdust were used. The two ante rooms are intended chielly for showing goods, and are kept at higher temperature than the storage rooms, in order to make them comfortable to customers and salesmen, but if necessary, they can be kept at as low a temperature as the other rooms, ami used for storage. The capac ity of the two storage rooms is 10,000 packages. There is uu abundance of daylight in each room to admit of the inspection of goods. The temperature is kept at from -111 to 42, and there is u tine circulation of dry air in every part of the rooms. The ice rests on a rack just above the beams of the top Hour, and free con tact of the air with the ice, and ut the same time perfect drainage, is secured by rooting the floor beams with galvanized Iron projecting into a gutter of the same material between the beams. As the ends overlap but do not come in contact, there is no hindrance to the circula tion of the air. Tiie dr ipiugs from the ce fall into the gut ters, which are slightly inclined toward the cen ter, and then empty into a conducting pi which passes down through the building ami finally leads into the sew er-pipe. There is no Opening at any point into the open air, The princijile iihui which the refrigerator works depends upon the gravity of cold and heated air, and as the ice covers every inch of surface, it will Is.' seen that there must necessarily be a constant and Uniform circulation from the lloor to the ice, and dow nward. The cost of the re frigerator is between 0(1,000 and $7,000. A steam elevator is Is-ing erected to perform the heavy work, and also to connect w ith the cellar and sub-cellar of the store, which are used by Messrs. MeKensie, Newman A Co. for their II ' and egg trade, and are both well lighted and w ell ventilated rooms. OLD AND STICKY BDTTK1L Prof, 1,. It. Arnold. Secretary of the Ameri can liairvmeu's Association w rites to the New York TrMM as foil ows: Of the great mass of butter which timls iti way to the general mar ket ami is reckoned as ''good," the tirst and most obvious defect is an old taste, derived, probably, from too much or too longexposnre of the cream to the air before churning. Kvcrv IhmIj Understands the fact that butter exposed to the air soon acquires an old and disagreeable taste) but everybody diss not seem to appreci ate the fact that cream deteriorates the same ns butter by standing oien to the air. Itnt it cer tainly d.H-s so, ami very much more rapidly than butter, and esjtecially if exposed to air winch is warm, or which contains any bad odors or va pors. Owing to the nitrogenous matter mingled with i ream, it is very susceptible to eluuigd. Kxih.m.1 to warm and damp air, cream will de cay about as much in one day as butter would in a Week in the same situation. It is, theie fore, very easy, and certainly ery common, lor butter to acquire an old taste by too much ex- iHMire of the cream before churning. The but- laoeol cream which is exposed to the atmos phere, especially to a faulty atmosphere, is all the tune changing and working toward decay while stunning for the llower particles to get up and ready for the skimmer. The longer tins exposure conti the greater the change and the more is the flavor ,.t the resulting but ter allected. It i eof the striking advan tages of the more modern modes ol raising cream that they bring it to the surface .piicklv and Improve the butter hy shortening the posure of the cream to atmospheric tnttocnoes. The cleanest flavored butter, that which has the fullest, freshest ami most delicious taste, and the Ust keeping ipiality. is now made by heat ing the nulk to exjsd objectionable islors, mid then, under an air-tight covering, towering the temperature to hasten the ascent of the cream. If cream must he exposed to the air while ris ing, it wdl do very much toward avoiding the old taste, so often found m butter, to have the air in contact with the cream as cool as possible, t old retards change, and the csder the surface is kept the less progress toward decay. The cooler air now sought in imnleni creameries makes a marked improvement iu their butter over tboos who have used cold water hut warm air in their nsuns for setting milk. ,. All;,,,u;r defect is indicated by the word tii'lty. Tnii is occasioned by over-churning or over working, and the grain 'Weonies consul eral.ly injured. Hotter is Domposed principally Of three fats: ole.u, inarganii and stearin. lIMna tatsexiit in the milk in very minute glob ules, one two tlmiisatidtliof ,-ui inch in diame Jer. not each fat in a separate ajieck by itself, tut all DOmbinod In one atom of cream. When the little grams are unuiahlil the hut ter breaks short and with a distinct fracture; ut when they have I wen mashed or broken the butter appears Sticky and handle more like lard iu Bavor bicossss at onoa ohaaged, and it lose greatly m keeping quality. Ft it difficult to work hotter without mashing some of iu grains of fat. but the lew it is worked the tew of this there is done. The mode of working, too. has much to do in producing this objectionable con dlUon; a sliding or drawing stroke of the lever or ladle injures the ltih most. In the most improved pro. , . butter-making the butter nulk is got out and the salt iiiiiad in without wording the butter at all. The first step in ac compUshing this is to cool the butter in the churn, Just before it is ready to gather, down to about 55", iid then churn very slowly until it forms into minute, lumps or grains, as it wilt soon do at that low degree, and the lumps so formed will le perfectlv solid butter, with not a particle of buttermilk inside of them, These lumps are then wasiieil in cold water or brine and the Imttermill all washed off of them! which can readily be done without having the granules of butter stick together. After taking the granulated I. utter from the rinsing water it is laid on an inclined table mid drained and salt stirred in, which is easily dune with perfect evenness. Hy leaving it npon the table till it warms up to about 60 , tie lumps or grains are pressed together with the lever or ladle, and a solid mass of butter, evenly salted ami with a perfect grain is the result, without a particle of working. RlioTRIC l.lotu iNii. Or.e of the late English improvemPiit in the application of electricity to lighting, promises to enable us to admit the lightning to our houses. We read that a nov elty has been introduced which consists in plac ing the carbons side by side in an insulating but fusible envelope, the result Iwing that clockwork regulation can le entirely dispensed with. The insulating matcrinl used is kaolin, w hich, iu its solid state, is an insulator, offering ollering high resistance to the electric current, but which, under the influence of a powerful electric current, liecomes heated and liquilies, in which state in is no longer an insulator, but conductor, offering a slight resistance to the cur rent, which, when passed through in this con dition, adonis a light which is soft, steady and brilliantly white, although it may be colored by mixing with the kaolin the color required. No inechaniHiii is required to regulate this light, wliich, once set up, continues to bum during passage of the current until the carlmns are con sumed, when they are replaced by others. The electrical arrangement consists of an ordinary magneto machine, which sends positive and negative currents alternately. From this ma chine radiate wires by which the current evolved is conveyed to the buildings or points at which it is required for use. The illuminating ar rangement is nut in circuit with these wires. and on the current traversing the carlion elec trodes it fuses the kaolin and produces the light. Thus, given a means. of producing the necessary electric current, any number of Tights may be obtained from the same electro-motor, each de pendent upon itself, and all entirely indepen dent of each other. Any one light may be brought into use at pleasure, and extinguished when required by merely connecting or discon necting the wires in connection with them, whilst a light consumed may be replaced by an other with equal ease. As many ns BO lights have been set lip in one circuit with success. PnoposKD Nabrow Qadqb. The st. louis Hoard of Trade is urging the project of the con struction of a narrow gauge railway from St. Louis to Colorado, through Missouri and Kan sas. The construction of this proposed railway through Kansas to Trinidad, iu Colorado, will give St. Iauiis direct railroad connection with the entire system of narrow gauge railways in southern Colorado and open up to their smelt ing interests tin; w hole range of valuable min ing country of Colorado, Utah and Arizona. This mad is but one item of a grand onslaught which St. luiis proposes to make upon outly ing regions, uie M. LOUIS Journal oj Com iiirnr says: "The jetties of South nas's havd assured ample water for all vessels to cuter the Euinunppt nyer ami made a direct trade be tween St. Lonls and all Kuroncan norts man. ticable, and it becomes the duty of St. Uuis to seize upon this advantage and develop herself a commerce w hich shall absolve her from all de pendence on the Raatern seaboard. Her efforts in tilts direction will be greatly assisted hy the building of the proposed narrow gauge railway, penetrating, r.s it eventually will, by means of the numerous branches proposed to lie connected with its main line, the most fertile regions of Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and Colorado." No Limit TO MlOROflCOFIc Piuumtws. As we have formerly remarked, Helmholta and other tunthenrntinsna of the Brat order who have applied their methods of analysis to the subject, have alleged that the limit of visibility with the microscope has been reached. This Iwlief is baaed on the theory that light itself is too coarse to permit the subdivision by which yet smaller objects may lie revealed to our most isiwerful lenses. The limit of visibility has Ih cii named as the 180,0U0th of an inch. But this view is not wholly accepted by mieroscop isU. The Rev. Wm. II. l)allmgerhns made experiments which point to a very different con clusion. He employs a new method of practi cal observation srjeoially adapted to testing this question, and has constructed lenses which carry the limits of distinct visibility far be yond the boundary announced by the mathe maticians. Much smaller objects are thus re vealed than the theory referred to would Indi cate as capable of lie'ing seen. Furthermore, Mr. Dallinger does not lielieve that he has yet reached the limit of division and visibility by instrumental means. ThkThai.kin Hutu iLun.-The trade in nUMO hair continues to increase at Marseilles, and has now become a staple article of com- " ' v,fcJ- seen years ago tne annual quantity imiK.rted did not exceed lti tons, but It o,. r. ... .1 l IU 1 4.. M : I - to Nt. and in im to 9i tens. Formerly all the hair iniH.rted Into Marseilles came from Italy, but that country has been unable to meet the increasing demand, ami a brisk trade has been opened with the extreme Kast Thus, of the if. tens imported last year, 43 came from Italy, while ( huu supplied M, Turkey , and Japan I tons, the remainder Wing made up of imnor Utioiu from i hgypt, India, Germany. Belgium. Spain and Algeria. The total unantity of hair imported into rranee last year is estimated at l'-.' tons, value H.0U, , that Marseille with !r- ten. has three-fourths of the trade in her owu hands.