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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (April 1, 1878)
120 THE WEST SHORE April. BUPHBHEATED STKAM AND BOILER Fl EtBBt A number of French naval officers were de tailed some time ago to test the workings of the Bourdon system of injecting roperbeoted steam above the inoondetoent fuel in boiler furnaces. Athough the results they reached may l already known to some of our readers through the French publications, we note from a translation In the Mining Journal the following points: The apparatus was attached to two high pres sure boiler, each consisting of three combined y linden t In brick masonry, and was of the following description: An iron pipe of very small diameter carried the steam from the steam drum of the boilers to tbu front of the fur naeu, entering the latter near the hide of its door at the level of the coal within, and deliv ering the steam into a faggot of tubes situated in the masonry of the furnace. Prom the fag got of tubes a second pipe led to a rectangular box of thick iron placed across the furnace above the top of its bridge-wall. In the aide of this box facing the lire, is a large number of very small holes with diverging axes which spread cut fan-like above the coal on the grate, The steam taken by th- pipe from the ream drum of the boiler ii tint superheated in the faggot of the tubus lying in the hottest part of the masonry of the furnace, ami is then tarried intha hni from which its licensure violently projects in line streams over the whole surface of the incandescent fuel. Cocks, placed at proper point! of the apparatus, control the ad mission if the steam, and drain oil' the water of condensation when the boilers go out of use. Aecording to Mr. Bonrdon'l theory, the sti iierheated steam on coming in contact with the incandeeoent fuel, decomposes into oxygen and hydrogen, thus furnishing the furnace with a large contingent of pure combustible gas, hav ing a maximum calorific power, whence results an extremely rapid anil perfect combustion of all the combustible elements, with a total ab sence of smoke. The Hoard found that Mr. Bourdon! appara tus did produce UI extraordinary activity in the furnace; that the llame, instead of being long, undulating ami more or less smoky, be came, when the steam was inje cted, short, daz , iling and darting like the jets from a blow-pipe; that the draft of the boiler was considerably increased, and that, Imally, the furnace showed no trace of smoke, the gases of combustion ca mping from the chimney feeing OolorleM and niiiy visible, with difficulty, at the moment a fresh charge of coal was thrown in. KtwK.-I.AlP BlLT. A better plan of making a broad belt than the usual American doubu leather Isdting sewed together, is made with the greatest ease, nf any thickness or width, jwrfectly equal ill texture throughout, and aliko 011 both sides. It is made by cutting up the hides into strips nf the width of the intended thickness of the hell, and setting them on edge. These strips have holes punched through them fttlOUt One-eighth of an inch in diameter and olio inch apart. Nails, made of round wire, clinched up at one cud for a head and Battened at the other, are used for fastening the leather strips together. Each nail ll half the width of the intended belt, and after the strips are all built upon the nails, the ends of the latter are turned down and driven into the leather, thus making a Arm strap, without any kind of rotueiit or splicing. When the strap is re quired to be tightened, it is only necessary to take It asunder at the step lines of thy splice, rut off from one end of the strap at each step what is required, and piece up again with wire nails or laces, going entirely through the strap. -A'. Platinum Plate- For the coating of Iron with platinum, M. Dode, of Parle, the well known discoverer of the platinum minors, has patented a process in I'.uglaud which is de scribed in the PolfUcMftie, The Iron tirst re eives a coating composed of lead and copper, and then the platinum is applied. The tirst coating is prepared hy mixing 22 parts of bo rate of lead and 1 ji parts of ouprlo oxide in oil of turpentine, and is applied by means of a line brush. The platinum coating is prepared by ronverting ten parts of platinum into chloride and mixed with live parts of ether and permit ted to cvaiHrate in the air. Tbu rosidium ll Bliltd with a viscid combination of 20 parts bo rate of land, 11 parti red lead, and some oil of lavender, and BO part of amylalcolnd added to the whole. In this mixture the object to Ik) platinized is dipped, allowed to dry in the air, and then heated to a moderate temperature, Kl UK 1'itooiCoss nil 0T10X, Capt. Shaw, head of the London Hre Brigade, writes : "No tire man has ever seen a stone stair escape when subjected to much heat, and no internal wall supported on lion oan be relied on where there w much heat. At Ihe present moment may Ik' seen at the corner of two street a new building supported entirely on iron columns without any wall, wood or brick work reaching to the ground ijong the whole line of the front. At ihe ordinary temperature of ooo to Tiki Fahr., the whole building must inevitably fall, and such a temperature could easily be created by Ihe combustion of a small quantity of furni ture." The conclusion seems to lie that brick or mm, OOrerod with blink and plaster, which Ii vi Wen subjected to tire, are the only lire-proof materials really desemug the name. ltJUPnO0l Jour. An ingenious kind of ftre ptwf joint, recently introduced, OOtUttBttlof I tap oi wood Ave inches aride by ftiro eighthi id an inch thick, bolted DOtWOen two llangitl strips of quarter-inch iron, making a Wain Hue strong an thoae of wood ordinarily env ployed. Thi UOn "ides, in addition to afford ing strength, it is olajmod, render the joist Mb stantiall? 0jonroof, while the tenter of wood affords the means of putting down doors and nailing of lath in Uie luual manner. The In tmUniant to the manufacture of these joiata eretoforw has lew the diliiouUy of rolliug the laiifwl m aidoa, but this ftas now Uwu sue cstJelly overwuuw. COAL PLANTS. On the 8th alt, Prof. L, C. Miall gave a lecture at Ieeda, England, on coal plants. He said the coal planU were preserved in a great variety of forms, sometimes flattened out as thin as a sheet of paper between layers of hard ened mud or shale and sometimes the whole structure of the plant was found in a thoroughly recognizable state. The most important of these plants, from many points of view, and one of the most common, was the Lfpitlmlrttdron. It was a tree of considerable size, having a tall uprigut stem ami at tne top many branches, which were distinguished from those of many coal plants hy the fact that they continually forked or broke up into two, and this again and again. Afer referring briefly to several other coal plants - the sigillaria. the catamite and the ooniierottl terns the lecturer proceeded to ex plain the structure of the Lrpitlotltwlron, In its general features the stem of tho ejhUo drmfron resembled that of a common tree. It had the pith in the center, then a ring of wood and then the bark outside. When examined closely it was found that the pith in the center was very large, then immediately outside the pith there was a sort of cylinder or sheath of the pith, made up of vessel which served for the tmnamlorion of air born one part of the plant to another. The four main trunks broke otl' into smaller ones and these again gave otl' numerous rootlets. The roota, instead of be coming mailer and smaller as they extended, ami as was usual in common trees, broke oil' abruptly. They were distinctly articulated and there was anothur sort of joint at tho point of union, a peculiarity not known in any living plant. Another peculiarity was that the four main trunks were divided from one another hy distinct lines. He then explained the nature of the spores which were found in all the better coat in common use in this con u try. Curtain parts of plants were selected for preservation, all the rest disappearing. The difficulty was not to explain how so much had disappeared, but how some parti should ever have been pre served. The lecturer said that researches into the plants of the coal -measures had not yielded a single new type of vegetation. MOVEMENT OF AIR BUBBLES IN LIQ UID8. In a paper In the Bulletin of tho Belgian Academy of Sciences, Prof. Van der Mens brugghe disciis-es the causes of the seemingly spontaneous movements of bubbles of air in levels and of vaporous bubbles in the microsco pical cavities of minerals, these researches being part nf those into the tension of Biirfuces of liimids. Prof, Menibragghe explains these movements, as Mr. Hartley also does, by changes Of teuton In the surfaces of liquids produced hy changes of temperature ; when the tempera ture of the liipiid at one end of the bulb becomes, for some reason, higher or lower than at the other end, however small the difference, the tension of the surface decreases at the warmer end, and the bubble moves toward it. But, a thin film of water remaining on the glass, the surface of the liquid is enlarged at tho warmer cud, ami diminished at the opposite end, and this, says Nuturt, according to experiments of the author, lowers the temperature ami increases the tension at that cud ; so that if the temper ature now ceases to rise, tho motion of tho bub ble is not only stopped, but the huhblo also returns backward. Thus each displacement of the bubble immediately gives rise to such forccB as tend to produce a motion in an opposite direction ; and tho variations of tension pro dnoe the more obvious motions the smaller the masses of liquid in which thu bubble is swim ming. The same explanation may be applied also to the movements of bubbles in microsco pical cavities of minerals tilled with liquids. In that case, the bubble being produced by tho vapors of the liquid, its movements are yet more rapid, as every change of temperature is followed by further evaporation of the liquid, or by condensation, both which alter the dimen sions of the surfaces of the liquid and their tension. The author supposes also that the Brownian motions of pov, tiers suspeuded in liquids may be explained in the same way, and that those powders which absorb most gas will belt display this kind of motion. MioRoecopioAL RxAVtxATion off Watuu V. I,. Scott, in the London Microcopiatl Jour Mf, says that often when the result of a chem ical anamination of a water makes it passable, a microscopical examination furnishes evidence upon which the water should le condemned. To assist in the microscopical examination of waters, he tilters them through papers, the cen ter of winch is rendered impervious by being coated with a mixture of 3S parts of vaseline and OS iiarts of ozokerite. The living and dead suspended matter is thus concentrated within a small Volume, and microscopical examination then reveals the iiumWr and varieties of organ isms in a definite quantity of the water under examination. Mr. Scott says he has employed this method of prooednre to learn tho nature of the water often added to milk, and that in half a )iiut of one sample of milk ho detected do combing vegetable and animal matters, and also ST living animalcules. OlI.PINlt AM Sll VKItlMI OK QLAtf ASP I'oH- ORUIN. Sulphur is dissolved in oil of spike lavemier until it lias a seuiMiquui consistence this is mixed with an ethcrial solution of chloridi of gold or of platinum, and the mixture evapo rated to the OOnektonoe of paint, The surface to oc t or siiurctl is tiien covered wiin tho mixture, and the object carctully heated m a mil file, whereby the volatile sulwtauces are ex polled and the metallic gold or platinum fasten ed ills m the glass or wr. rutin, ihe surface, thus me tali ml, is afterward plated in the usual manlier with the solutions in gold, silver, or copper, and w ith the .id of a galvanic bat Ufy. POM Uydkourn. According to tho bulletin of the Chemical Society of Paris, hydrogen may bo purified by pawing it through the following solution: Bichromate of potassa, 1(H) grammes; water, 1,000 gramme; concentrated sulphuric acid, 50 grammes. AMERICANS DBEDG1NO A SHIP CANAL IN RUSSIA, Mr. Levi Hayden, for several years past superintendent of the Morria & Cumiugs Dredg ing Co. of New York city, has started for St. Petersburg, Russia, to commence, for the com pany be represents, the construction of machines and scows preparatory to dredging a great sea canal through the lagoon which separates Cron stadt, the chief naval depot of the empire, from the national capital. This important work, says tho iron Ay; U under a contract with the Rus sian government, whose commissioners at the Centennial observed the American methods of dredging, and now adopt them in a publie im provement which may have no ordinary polit ical and commercial significance. The contract requires that excavation aliall commence by the tirst of October next, and the entire work be finished in 1888, though it is not possible to op erate the machines more than six mouths in the year on account of ice. The sum of ISA, 000 in gold has already been deposited In St. Petersburg W fcha contractors, as a plcdL-e of wood faith. The width of the canal is 280 feet, depth 20 feet, length about 10 miles. A leading lea ture of the improvement is the building of a "commercial port" near St. Petersburg (with a central basin, while the whole is environed by smaller basins for smaller craftl, whence a line of railroad and parallel canal will extend to the river Neva, intersecting in their course all the great lines of railways connecting St. Peters burg with the south, the whole forming a single system of internal communication, which is re garded as showing exiraonunwy Mgwu ' ' conception, line rootccloit oy name uwea n th hnnnr. When all in liuished, naval vessels can easily pass from the sea almost to the sub urbs ol Nt. feiereuarg. nargesirom uwrar tne Volga or Neva can at the same time pass uown to Oronetadt and all the railroads hare In- reased facilities for moving their freight, the nninea and some of the machinery to be em ployed will he built in the United States. The (oiMniet as it now stands is for the removal of 8,760,000 cubic-yards of mud, but the total is likely to be increased to 7,000,000 yards. The dredges are called tho "clam-shell dredge," UBO WON frequently teen ni wars mum non York docks. MUM armed with powerful iron jaws which close upon each other when tilled. Wave PoWXB asp Mason nr. A remarkable instance of effect of sea waves on masonry, says tho Iron Age, is furnished in tho case of the well-known breakwater at ick, the coast of BnsUncL 1 he bight oi the nvM at this nbice was. it appears, several times measure! and estimated, the result showing about 4'2 feet from crest to hol low. Stones of eight and ten ton weight were, by these waves, carried Iroin the parapet to me rery top oi the oroojtwaieri ana w was tuwwin leteriuined. tinallv. to construct the outward extremity of the breakwater by depositing three courses of one hundred ton blocks of stone on the rubble base, as annihilation for three courses of large llat stones, surmounted by a monolith Of cemented rubble built on the spot. The end of the breakwater, therefore, was in substance lonolith wciL'huii; upward of eight hundred tons, being about twenty-six foot by forty-live, and not lessi-than eleven feet in thickness. men ted to the underlying rubble base. In credible as it may seem, this huge monolithic mass succumbed to the force of tho waves it was, indeed, actually seen by the resident en gineer to bo bodily slewed around by successive Btrokes until it was finally removed and de posited inside the pier. Not only the upper portion, hut tho three lower courses of stone, forming a mass of ,8M tons, was removed without hrcaking. Tna Romum Off m Saltiness. It was lone supposed that the brackishncss of Salt river, Arizona, was causeu oy mo stream rnuiuug ovor a bed tif salt somewhere along its course. Ms waters are pure and trcsh from where it heads in the White mountains to within SO iles of where it empties into tho Qua. Fifty miles from its junction with the Gila there comes into it a stream 01 water that is intensely salt. This stream pours out of the side of a large mountain, and is from 'JO to ;il) feet deep. It in vcrv ranid. and pours into the Salt river a a great volume of water. Mere could bo easily manufactured enffioient salt to supply the mar kets of the world. All that would lie necessary would Ihs to dig ditches and lead the brine to basins in the nearest deserts. The heat of the sun would make the salt. Were there a railroad in it the stream its waters would doubtless soon lie turned and led to immense evaporating jHUlds. It h) BUppOOod that the interior of the mountain, out of which the stream (lows, is largely composed of rock salt. Cuiyih mi to WainixaTOM Termtoky. A hill recently introduced in Congress proposes to incorporate the National Pacitic Railroad and U lcgrapin onipauy, witn ?.t., iw, is. sj capital, to run from Onoyenne via Fort Ijiramie to Dcadwood. and also via Fort 1-iramio and the Yellowstone, to llolena, Montana, and thence to the I'aeihe ocean, on the co;tst of Washington Territory. The bill grants right of way, uso of public Umber, etc., authorizes the issue of 0tK mortgage bonds per mile, and exempts the property Iroin all taxation lor ten years after completion. Work will be commenced within one year, and run at not less than SO miles per year until the main line reaches Helena. HirKBoARH Paint. Tho following Uagood recipe for blackboard paint: One quart of shel lac dissolved in alcohol, three ounces pulveriaed numice stone, two ounces pulverized rotten- stone, (our ounces lampblack : mix the last three ingredient together, moisteu a portion at a time with a little ef tho shellac ana alcohol, grind as thoroughly as possible with a knife or iatula; after which peur in tho remainder of the alcohol, stirring often to prevent settling. Ouo quart will furnish two coats for SO square feet of blackboard not previously tainted. The prvparatiou driee immsdiately, and the board may he used within an hour, if necessary. No oil should be used. Should it nut be conTsnieDt to make this preparation, liquid slating may be purchased, ready prepared. WASHOE'S WASTE. At the C. 4 C. shaft there is a large room in which the miners change their clothing on going into and coming out of the lower levels. On cominc out of the mine their clothes, a m , .1. ,. shirt and joir of woolen drawers or cotton over alls, are reeking with perspiration and are more or Jess solicit py uie oust mat nas settled upon them. In the changing room is a largo trough with a supply of hot and cold water. Here the miners wash the clothes they have worn iu the mine W'fore leaving for their homos, hanging them on racks to dry, in order that they may have clean clothing when they next go down into the lower levels. In this tank or trough some 600 men daily wash their clothing when goiug oil' shift, and in its bottom there eolWta about SO pounds per day of pand and clav v.. c.,1 Balm i,.i i... ' h-.hviu,.j vw,. .... ...... vuQ viinwin q tuift the asfiayer of the Consolidated Virginia office, Henry (1. Elder, make an assay of the sediment deposited in the washing tank, aud the following is the result: Cold per ton Sl'28.liO; silver, $180.00, making a total of $.S0. 10 per ton for the dirt washed out of the shirts and overalls of the miners. Heretofore the washings of this trough have not been saved, but they will now probably he taken care of by sonm one, as in the course of a year they would amount to quite a snug little sum. In the large jewelry manufactories the world over, where the workmen handle and tile and Durniin goia ami silver, they are required to WAlh their hands in a marble tank, ami tho amount of thu precious metals saved in this way in the course of a year is something aston- Uhlng. We are now able to see that since the open ing of the mines of the Comstock half a dozen large fortunes must have been sown broadcast over the country by the winds. The amount of ore that would stick upon tho clothing of the miners is as iiotniug compared with that blown off wagons and cars by the wind. Tho fine ore thus blown away is generally of the richest character. From a train of 40 cars in going from this place to tho mills on the Carson river through a "Washoe zephyr," the loss would probably not fall short of a ton. Of late, how over, the precaution has been taken of securing the Hue ore by wetting down the loaded cars before the departure oi the trains from the ore houses. In the early days, when hundreds nf tcama were engaged in hauling the rich ores of the Ophir to Washoe valley, the wagons being all the day on tho road, immense amounts inuBt have blown away, as in crossing the mountain ami winding around the points of the hills the wind often blew hard enough to scatter not only the line particles of ore, but also lumps of considerable aln from the wagons, piled and rounded up as they generally were. it coum naruiy be expected, however, that in those days nnv one would think of the fine ore blown oil' the loaded wagonB when no one pain any aueimou in me lumps tnat were rou lngoff, aud when it was not unusual for" team sters to stop and till up the chuck holes with the rich ore iroin their wagons. As men at that time did not think of saving tho tailings run ning to waste from their mills, aud almost as rich as the ores that went under the stamps, we can hardly find fault of them for paying no attention to the ore blown from the wagons and scattered aloug the roads by the teamsters. Now, however, although late in the day, we are becoming wiser, and lind that even in the wash ings of the dirty clothing of the employees of one mine there is a little bonanza of about ?2,000 per annum. Territorial Bnterpritt. New Zealand Railways. Mr. Caruthors, Eiigineer-in-Chief for railways in New Zealand, reports that at the close of June, 1877, thore wcro StiO miles of railway opened for traflic in that colony, and 274 miles in progress, which are expected to be completed in 1877-78. In comparing this with the other colonteB we find that Victoria comes next in its length of lines, having at the end of last year 702 miles open for traffic, and 2S! miles mora in progress, while New South Wales had only SOD miles opened, and 180 miles in course of formation. By adopting a gauge of 3 feet 6 inches the New Zealand government has not only been able to construct its lines with greater speed than the railways made in Victoria and New South Wales, which have wide gauges, hut it has also lieen able to make them at considera bly less cobC In New Zealand the expenditure on the SliO milcB of railway in operation has been 8,199,920, or an average of something over i'7,277 per mile, while in New South Wales the average is 16,099, or more than double, in Victoria 81,854, in South Australia 8,480, and in IJuoeiisland 10,633 per mile. Thk iMpRovBwarr ok the Hnsoinu Bnm The report of Charles It. Suter, major of engi neers, who has charge of the improvements of the Missouri river, and under whose direction a survey of the river at and above Atchison, Kaa., has been published. He says that there are im(eiiding changes in the chauncl of the river at that point which threaten to destroy the rail road bridge there, or render the draw span im passable for steatiilioats. There is on the Mis souri side of tho river a chain of lakes, aud it is feared that, owing to ice enmes or some cause. the river may break through into these lakes and abandon its present channel. Another danger lies in the fact that just abovo Atchison a narrow neck separates two bends in the river, which is liable to be mashed out. The greatest danger, however, lies in the fact that the Mis souri shore in the bend just above the bridge is rapidly caving, threatening the bridge. Major Suter recommends that this bank be protected as soou as possible, and estimates the cost of the improvement at 8S6.0OO. Thk St. Coiiuko Ti nsel. The Cologne Mindeu and the llergish-Markishe railway companies, which have granted a subsidy of 1,000,000 frs. each for the St. Cotbard railway have refused to nay any further sum for that project. Altogether, liennany is interested in the St. Cothard railway to the tune of 20,000, 0110 frs., 8,000,000 being contributed hy the Empire 2,717.000 by Bden, 1,500,000 by rnuuia, 2,717,000 hy the Alsace-Lorraine rail ways, etc.