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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 1877)
November. THE WEST SHORE. 37 PRIZES FOB OAS KXoiXKKltS. We notice that the Society .if the L-as indus try in trance has offered tive prics for 1878 which are as inflows: I A TIM7P if G IKW) Imu ,.V1. il -- yTnn.j uj uh au thor of the bm paper upon iconomiotl heating of benches by either solid, liquid or gaseous fuel. !. A prize of I, OliO francs ijSXM; In thor of the beet ppcr upon arrangement of pipes, indtU means of (hoovering leak end :i A nrlu nf I On.) f..... iMiiai 1. - thor of the best paper upon exhausting gas in general, and the apparatus employed tor this purpose. 4. A prize of 1,200 franca (?:!40) to Ira di vided Iratween the authors of the two hist pa pers presented to the Congress, upon any other subjects iliaa the three preceding, u. tx ifiicc ii ipu irancs to the toreinaii ir workman having the longest and beat service n one gal works. rr nnnvii in rrenen, ami must be sent to the president of the committee before the 1st of May, 1878. Anyone, whether French or foreigner, mem ber of the Society or not, can compete. Tiu Sanitary Use or Them. A corre loiideiit of the American Areh'tWtt ealls at tuition to a phenomenon which he has observed in the outflow of waste from his own boOte. He has a close-built hnek cesspool eight feet in diameter and eight fiat deep, with an overflow thence for liquids into a percolating stone cess pool 10x10 feet; both are domed over at the top, closed each with a tlat stone, and covered with mil. Unlike his ncighlRirs, whoso cesspool are constructed in the Bame manner and in the same liindof soil, but who are subjected to the ne cessity of cleaning out both cesspools at fre quent intervals, his own have been in use for four years without being opened, and have given hiin no inconvenience. A few months ago a deep excavation in the Btreet near his percolating or overflow cesspool revealed the fact that the moisture from it was all absorlted by the roots of three large and very flourishing trees, a tulip and two maples, in its immediate neigooornoiKi. 'mere coulii be uo accumulation of water," he says, "where there were such channels to draw it up." This certainly is an im(rartaut point to be considered in locating tho e.ren of absorption for household waste. We do not remember to have seen elsewhere no ticed this very probable sanitary fuuetiou of trees; but if tlie theory is correct, it goes far to solve the most serious difficulty in the problem of drainage without common sewera. I ntox U'ati so fi hashes. Ir. Hanee gives in the Journal cj Botany for September a supple mentary note ou intoxicating grasses. The plant treated of on this occasion is offal Sibrrica, Monro, which had been found to poison horses at Gtalmnx Kashmir. Prof. Pyer BuggcBted that the Stiias may bo only mechanically poisonous, like JJortleum prattnxr, but Dr. Hanee thinks the Bymptoma opposed to bocIi a supposition. In the recently published Knglish translation of Przevalsky's travels, the Alaskan poisonous grass is atnted to be a species of Lolinm, but tho native herds carefully avoid eating it, as tho cattle of Kashmir refuse the Stipa. In part 22 of Messrs. Trimen ft Hcnt ley'e "Medicinal Plants," recently published, there is given a figure of I.othim tnnultntum. Linn., and an account of its so-called ioisonous projrarties. Mr. A. S. Wilson, of Aberdeen, ate large cjuantitioB of it daily for Borne time and found it quite harmless. It ia suggested that in this case the jraisonous property is due to ergot It would indeed seem that grasses are poisonous only in two ways - mechanically (like Ihrdfiim jiratinse ), or when atllictod with ergot or eome other disease. Farther experiments are much to be desired. DEPOSITION F COPPER BY BLEC TRIOITY. At the American Institute ot Engineers i meeting, lately, as 'reported by the Iron Ayr, j Mr. N. S. Keith, of New York, read a very in- resting rMtptr on the altove aubject. The bo , jeet sought to le accomplished was Um obtain log of copper from the mother liquor of a cop. j (r sulphate manufactory, the liqnora being the j result of several solutions of commercial scrap I ooppar onatelnlng impurities, the quantify of I which in the UqU0CI had increased by .the or ations until too large to allow the formation of pUra, or even merchantable popper sulphate. mere were silver, nukel, tin, nno, antimony and nousulphatt'siii solution. Iwsidee enough oop. er sulphate to represent 4 , of the total weight of solution as metallic OOpper, The qUMtiutl was to obtain tuta oopper in a aheap, practical and expeditious waybythv agency ul Ucaricity. Expenmcnti and ootnpanmoni showed that many of the different cells, such as DaniaU'i Hrunseu's, I i rove's and the gravity lottery were too expensive in use. This una the same with dynamo-electric machines, though the coat was much less. Iron, when Used in the well known way, gives OOpptr deposited in a pow dcr, mixed with ItUOlubU twsic salts of iron, These considerations led to the abandonment of the idea of using these for the purpose de aigncd. By a plan which he put into use, iron was placed in less than a saturated solution of sul phate of imu (free from copper) contained in an ordinary porous cell such as is used in various galvanic batteries. The porous cell and con tents were placed in a larger vessel containing some of the copper liquor and a uhcet of metal lic copper. The iron and copper were con nected externally to the solution by means of a clamp. In 36 hours the liquor was oompletuly freed from copjrar, which was deposited UH"n the OOpper sheet as a beautiful velvet-like coat, pure, reguline ami coherent. Occasional dis jdaceinenta by water of the nearly saturated solution of sulphate of iron formed in the porous Cell were made. No formation of basic salts of iron; no copper powder; none of till defects of the ordinary precipitation of OOpper by means of Iron, By means of enlargements and inodili cations of this simple mode of treatment, any amount of copper solutions may le made to pro duce tine merchantable OOpper by inexj tensive apparatUB'at, aay, one cent per pound of copper more or less, as scrap iron (which may lie placed loosely in the pOTOUl vessels) may Ira worth more or leaa than ISO per ton. A Costly Kailkoaiv- A costly railroad will be the extension of the Metrojtolitan District line in London a section one mile and sixteen roda long, known aa the "inner circle comple tion," as it will connect the Metropolitan and Metroxilitan District roads (both underground lines) at their eastern ends, and mako it possi ble to run trains entirely around the ellipse formed by the two roVla, which at present are link is estimated to coat t'2, 100,000, or at the rate o about ?IO,t00,(XMl per mile. The city will, however, allow ?2,o00,000fora new street which has to be constructed in connection with the work, and which hue to be done by August 7th, 1879. Coatly aa this work is, says the 7ron A'jr, we have something quite comparable to it in expense in this country in the gnat St. Louis bridge, which, however, has but the merest fraction of the tariff which supports the I,ondon underground roads. Thia single mile of road will cost more than the entire system of ele vated mads proposed for New York. How QUI M AicrrAiTTKiw (Iain Kmranck to Kviiuvn.- In a large carriage manufactory in Kngland, a few moutha since, says au exchange, the directors wished to introduce an Amencau machine for the manufacture of wheels. A number of workmen were iuclined to use it, aa they could earn higher wages and thsir work woa lets laborious, but they were ordered by their trades unions not to use it, and the ma chine waa, consequently, set aside. Since then American machine-made wheels have leen im ported, and their importation increases every day. Italian Hailwayh. Considering the state of its tinancta, the Italian government is cour ageous in its desire to buy off the three chief eomttanies which now have railways in their hands the Alta Italia, Romaue aud Merid ional! and either work thorn itself on behalf of the Matr, or farm them out like the tobacco monopoly. There great merit in State pur chase or State resumption of railways if done at the proper time, that it to say, MM the divi drndt have become an large at to encourage un holy greed in th are holders. At present the Italian lines pay an average of a little more than two er cenL, and their pruprivtora wonld probably prove tractable enough. A PLEA FOR UNIVERSAL TIME The interest of those who own railroads and atcamboats, as well as the interest of the peo ple, requires that they all lie run in unison with system and regularity. A writer for the Hail roatt (iaztlte says: One of the great inconven iences attending an Arrangement of this kind is the want of a common, or, as wu shall term it, universal time. It will not be neenssary for ub to refer to any particular place, where per haps trains come and go by Now York, 1'itta burg, Cincinnati, Chicago and local time; the traveling community are well aware of these annoyances, as are also those whose duty it ia to inaKo un a time tame mat snail connect ttieir r-il- advantageously with others. And oltentimes when we Bee n cablegram in the papers, from aonie foreign country, afUr considering the dates and figuring on the time elapsed from time of sending to time of receiv ing, wo are not sure but we may be out 24 hours one way or the other. To obviate these difficulties we will offer the following suggestions: KMtablish a prime merid ian to pass through Behring's strait, and let tin; day by local time commence at this line, and also the day universal, but 12 hourB later, or when the sun is on this line, the hours of the day universal to number from 0 to 24; and also let longitude Ira reckoned from this line, num bering from 0 westerly around the globe to M0, the universal time to lie given daily by telegraph to the principal cities throughout the Union by the astronomer at Washington. All schedule time of railroads and steamboats and ocean steamers, as well as ollicial documents and telegraint should Ira mode out in universal time. The local publication of time tables for railtoads and steamboats, however, should also be made out in local time. SriMt'LATlMI PROQftM AMUNi; YlU'SO Mk- 'HANH". Honorable competition in actual work is a great incitement to progress. Thia we think is well applied by an Knglish tociety of turners. The subjects of competition were turning 111 ivory, pottery, stone and jet ; ami steel, brass and gold for horological purposea. The comjratition in ivory included vegetable ivory. 'I he qualities considered in awarding the prizes were : Beauty of design, symmetry of shape, utility, and general excellence of work manship ; eiot't copying, to that two objects produced thould tie foe similes in every part, or exact measures of capacity ; fitness of the work or design for the pur)NBe propwed ; ability to turn, whether circular or oval; and novelty in application of turning or in design. Carving was admissable. but it was to Ira sulsiidiary to the turning The candidate was to make hit own selection from the alove conditions ; but the one who best fultilted the largest numtier, including the mmt imortant uuolitiee, woa preferred. The work to Ira all hand turning, produced in the lathe without sjiedal rest or tool apjtaratus, and the carving to Ira the work of the exhibitor. It ELATION Of lUlLKOAl" TO NfW IsVKNTJOHS A recent decision by a Judge of the Supreme 1 oun 01 Illinois contains trie loiiowtng aen j tence : "While it ia the duty of railroad cntnpa niea to furnish good, we I -constructed machinery, j adapted to its due uses, and made of good ma terials, and of the kind found to lie mint safe I when applied to use, they are not required to I seek out ami apply e-ery new invention, ! ' though they matt adopt auch at are found by experience to combine the greatest safety with practical use." AMERICAN AND BRITISH BRIDGE BCILDIMI. In an vldress delivered at a late meeting of the LiverjKiol Kngiueenng Society, by the pres ident, C. tirnhain Smith, we find the following contrast: Bridges on the American system have a decided advantage in new countries on account of the small weight of the various portion! and the Ipeed with which they can Ira put together, It is mi uncommon circumstance to Hnd Ameri can engineers speaking and writing of putting up spun of 100 feet tu feet in from two to tour dftys. According to Mr. Uivett, chief engineer to the Ohio and Mississippi railway, the last iqiau of tho Medore bridge built lor thai wuiHHi; otw t m:e nver, ami momrtni t4, feet I' inches between center and center of end pins, was erected by four foremen and ;)7 men 111 one day. In England a few weeks more or less for the erection of .1 bridge in not generally a mutter of trrvat m.m,nt, bur for foreign work speed le often tif paramount imiMrtanee. as the streams which cm i.. walked across dry-shod hub uj iuv 01 uie spool "i ice Hours convcrietl Into roaring torrenU capable of washing away both the temporary staging and the girders in course of erection uImui it. Another mlvnntacti of ipeed in construction in foreign countries is ww 1 out Li at me new roan is olteu tlie only ineani of communication with its own more ad. vanned porilotut, and until a certain bridge can be oouitruotnd it may be difficult to convey materials for the advancement of distant works. There is a further OOUajderation which may even make it desirable to introduce this class of bridge into EllgUud, namely, that nearly tho whole of the work 111 the construction is per formed by mai'liinc, and the erection may Ira carried ou by unskilled labor directed by coui iratent foremen. These are matters worthy of some attention in these days of strikes and inconsiderate and arbitrary restrictions imposed upon labor by various unions. For instance the day's work of a iHiilennakcr allowed by the boilennaker's club can be put in by 12 or one o'clock by a gooil average nun working piece work. Thia, of course, enhances the valuo of riveted work, and it therefore Irahooves engineers to reduce as much as they consistently can the number of rivets in their bridge designs. Till-: MANUFACTURE OF MOSAICS. The modern process of making mosaics now commonly followed in Rome is this: A plate, generally of metal, of the required size is tirst surrounded by a margin rising aloiit three quarters of an inch from the surface. A mastic cement, composed of powdered stone, lime and linseed oil, is thon spread over as a coating, per haps a quarter of au inch in thickness. When set, this is again covered with plaster of Paris rising to a levul with the margin, Upon which is traced a very careful outline of the picture to bo copied, and just so much as will admit of the insertion of the small pieces of smalto or glass is removed from time to time with a line chisel. The workman then selects from the trays, 111 which are kept thousands of varieties of color, a piece of tho tint which ho wants, and care fully brings it to thu necessary shaira. The niece is then moiltened with a little cement and bedded 111 its proper situation, the process Whig repeated nntil the picture is finished, when the whole, lttiog ground down to an even face and liolislieil, iN'i'iitin-H ati nninTisli.iliIr work of art. the process is the same for making the small mosaics so much employed at the present day (or boxes, oovera or articles of jewelry, and this work is sometimes upon almost a microscopic scale. The Florentine mosaic which is chietly used for the decoration of altars ami tombs, or for cabinets, tons of tables, coffers and tho like, is composed of precious materials iu small slices 01 veneers, ami oy taking advantage o( the natural tints ftiid shades which characterize the marble, the agate or the jasper, very admirable etlecta may Ira produced in imitation of fruit, tloweri or ornaments. The use of tint kind of mosaic it extremely restricted, on account of the imiat value and cxiranne not mile of the mate rials but of the falxir which is sraiit uhiii tJiem. .'Uic Mil trie liiir.lcst stone are ueil every separate piece must lie liackod by thicker slices o! slate or mart'le to obtain additional strength, and every minute portion must Is groiiud until it exactly OOrmpoadl with the pat tern previously cut. Tiik TvnvtL Bunu 1 h Tiir. I'-' i.i.ii Cham HKL.Tbo London Dailtt NtWt savt: Oirara- tious connected w ith the submarine, tunnel have already been commenced; ou the other tide of the channel, several pits having Iraeti sunk to the depth of 1 10 yards. At the same time the French and Knglinh committees havu definitely drawn up the conditions of working for the route. I 111' prid HTtV Ol the tlHIfM'l 1, lie ill vided iu half by the length that it to say, each company will possess half of the line, reckon ing thu distance iroin coast to coast at low tide Koch eouiiwiiy will cover tlioexiraute of its imr tion. Tho general work of excavation will Ira done, on the one hand by thu Oreat Northern uf France, and on thu. other by the Chatham and Southeastern Companies, the two Utter having each a direct route from Indon to Dover. All the materials of the French and Knglish lines will pass through the tunnel in 'T'I.t I" rituni! 1, j 1 in . . -.,tf 1 v" n-e and d lay of transhipment, as in Kugland and in r ranee railway eouiianiea use each otlier s lines, and gooda can jiass from one line to another without changing vans. It is understood that an arrangement will lie established for a similar exchange of lines Iratween all the Knglish and continental railway companies when the tunnel is completed. The tunnel will Iraloug U lU founders. At the expiration uf 30 yean the two governments will he able to Uke sitaea tiou of the tunnel upon certain conditions. Maoktikm or Nickel AMB Corrrn. -Mr. Hall athrms in the Monttmr fttlmdtylfJWt that with feeble rurrents the magnetic pOWtf of nickel is qaal t- that of toft iron, but with stronger contents it it comeratively futile, Coder any circumstances, however, the mag netic power of cobalt is much inferior to that of the other two metals. TUAN'SMII'TINO POWER I'rof, Otborni Reynolds' delivered a long and valuable address before the Manchester Scion tilic and Mechanical Society, on the transmis sion of power long distances. He nnnlyacd all the means proposed carefully and arrived at the follow ing conclusions; Twenty miles apjraars to lie the outside limit to which power may h eoonomioiUl transmitted, even when the power can Ira had for nothing, and the most econom ical means of doing this is probably the wire rope. This review, therefore, shows the hope lessness of our ever utilizing the natural sources of (tower, touch as tidal rivers for mechanical purposes, unless we conduct them on the banks of those rivers, lint as regards the substitu tion of n general source of power for the small steam engines now in use iu our towns, the case appears more hopeful: and, what is more, this has already been done in some instances. In the most notable instance, that of SchatVhauspii, the power is obtained from the EUline at a point elope to the town and is conveyed along the Iviuk of the river, which crosses the ends of the street! of the town by wire rope, which, as it passes the ends of the streets, gives motion to shafts which an laid in a channel under the pavement, and from which tho power can at once be introduced into the various manufacto ries. Iu our own country, ftlso, in tho town of Hull, I believe that pipei have been laid down to convey the (tower derived from steam in the form of water, under a pressure of tiOO pounds, over some part of the town. It does not ap pear unreasonable, therefore, to suppose that something of the same sort might Ira done in ourown city. C h-ring that a very large pro portion of the (tower required in our warehouses is for hydraulic presses, it would ap(raar desir able that, 111 (tart at least, tho power should Imi communicated to water pressure. Where ro tatory motion is required, the machinery might Ira driven by pressure engines, but as this would entail considerable wiude, and as (tower may Ira more cheaply conveyed by compressed nir, it might Ira better to lUpply both water and air; as regards the mechanical means, ropes and shafts. Although the former appeaTI 011 the whole to bl the most economical means of com municating work, and to a certain extent, their superiority is supported by the instance of Schattliaustn, considering their incouveniciioe iu a town 1 think that the pipes would In preferable. With the ability to have either water or air at the most convenient pressure. and at a reasonable cost, 1 think that but few users or (rawer on any hut the largest scale would care for the trouble, danger, dirt nud ex pettM of having steam engines of their own; and if this bo no, there would then Ira a cliAnee of reducing the impurities In the air. Looking at these facts, 1 cannot ln l thinking that there is open to the engineer a held of enterprise, in which he may not only t'nid reiiiunorativo em ployment for his talents, but in so doing con for a great iH'iietit on his teiiow creatures, iins may not be so. The scheme, when closely con sidered, may Ira found wanting, but it will have served my principal purpose if it has heljrad to illustrate and render interesting what would have Iraen otherwise desultory remarks alraut the transmission of work. I.AHOK SAVINti MACHINKItV. A feature of the Massachusetts census of 111 an it fac tu res for lH7o, says the froH -jr, do serving esraeial notice, is the showing made in regard to the effect of lal Mir -saving machinery ou the production of sonic of the leading staplea. We flnd that, w ith 24, 1.11 hand employed iu I86B1 there was produced IT.'i.S'.'i.tKKI yards of goods, a ratio of 7,'tVi yards to each employee. Iu I87S there mi produoed H74,7.so,oon yards by fhi76 employees, or about 1 1.913 yards to each hand. This shows that with au increase of a little over 14!) during the III years, in the niiiulwr of hands employed, the ((iiantity of cloth produOld w,as increased nearly .Tftjy. Woolen goods also make a very striking exhibit. For LSOo, tbl production is placed at 4(i,WW, 141 yards, and thu uiimlrar of employees 1 S,7.3. For lH7ri, the production in H),S,'JSII yards, and l.),U3li employees, showing an increase of 984 m production to 1J' 111 the nuinlrar of employed. The niiiulier of pain of 1 tools and shoes made in Mri was I v,'ii.,"m . and number of employees 58,861 J and iu 1876, 89,789,866 pairs, witii 46,090 employee!. This U probably the most iniMirtaut showing made, the jiroduc tion during the III years having been increased nearly KN ,, while the force employed was teat by A,"',. The product of carpeting in 1H7R increased fourfold as compared with I WW, while thu increase of foTOI employed wot hits than half that amount. The Average valuu of the IhhiLs aud sIom-n produoed iu I was 70 cenU a Dtlrj iu 1886, 80 cents; in IWI f! mi. and iu 1878, il69. Tim value of earpotiiigt was f per yard in iHfl.'i, and less than 71 oeflM per yard in IS7."i which shows the source of the immense supply of dollar carjtetiiigs. The great reduction in the number of employees in the clothing busiiiess shows to what au extent the tewing machine, the machine shear and more careful gradations of " ready-made " havo superseded the DOld of thu tailor and thu needle woman. Asiatic (Uft.itOAiM. Arcnridng ti the jour nal of the npirinl Sni jety of Oeograjihy of lenna, M, HochatAii, f'resiitnnt of the society, has recently piibbshe.1 a pampldet on the dif ferent project! studied for the establishment of a railroad through Central Asia and China. The following an; thu four priuci)al route : I. The liaraiiowtki project HsYMofl is the projtotrd pofat of deiiarture. From hero through tho country of the Kirghisea and over the IfindiMi Koosh mountains. This ia the read of greatest travul to lioeoOfl and IVthawur, the rim ipl fofnrneiei Of the valley of tho Indus. '2 The lase).rotard (irojw-t. From Orenltonrg t' IVahawurhy Oursk, Taschkend, KamarkatKhuid lUlk. tt. The Hogdanowitch iirnject, the prin ciital points of stojiiNige iMiiug HeMOV, Kantian, KKatherinoUiurg, Ounik, Tomsk, Irkutsk and 1'ekin. A, The Ttuthhofen proj.-et. This would In-along the Siberian route t Oursk, itsssiiig Toochkend, Samarkand and Bltk At this poitt the rruwl leads Wwrd the west, and psas Tehefftn, and rejoint at Tiflis thu Itus sian rooila of the t 'aucasus, now in roceea of construction.