O

..c0rnpartments.

'94

lflutvs ant llilrtns.

Poughkeepsie Bridge.——- The large caisson for Pier No. 5,
has been launched and is now receiving the upper courses of
timber.

German Enterprise in Mexico.——Gerrnan manufacturers

-of agricultural machinery are said to be arranging for aunited

effort to introduce their machines into Mexico.

The Bridge Pier in the Mississippi, at St. Paul, erected by
the Minnesota & Northwestern Railroad, the Secretary of War
says, is an obstruction to navigation, and asks Congress to
take action.

Ries Electric Railroad Manufacturing Company.-——This
company has been organized at Portland, Me., with $I,ooo,-
000 capital stock to build railroads and electric motors on the
Ries system.

The Lehigh Valley Company is about to build a coal stor-
age trestle in Chicago, which will be 100 X 886 feet. It will
have a storage capacity of 25,000 tons, and arrangements for
loading 30 cars at once.

The Dam across the Potomac at the Great Falls is nearly
completed. The tunnel intended to carry the Water supply of
Washington from the dam is excavated for 18,538 feet, leav-
ing 2,150 feet to be completed.

The Reese Safety Bral<e.—The automatic freight-brake
invented by Alvan Reese, of Pittsburgh, is to be put on a num-
ber of cars on the Baltimore & Ohio road. The brake is made
oy the Reese Safety Brake Company, of Pittsburgh.

Compound Locomotives in England.——The London &
Northwestern Company’s experience with compound locomo-
tives on the Webb system has been so favorable that it is now
building 30 locomotives of that type, at its Crewe Works.

A “ Hydro-Pneumatic Brake.”,—A brake thus described is
to be manufactured by the Hydro-Pneumatic Car Brake Com-
pany, which has just bee‘n organized by William Susby, ]r.,
and others, at Newport, Ky., with $t,0oo,ooo capital stock.

Cable Railroad in China.—-A cable railroad has been built
at Hong Kong, running from the city to the top of the Peak, a
steep hill on which are situated a number of dwellings occu-
pied by the European residents. The road is 4,800 feet long
and rises 1,300 feet.

Ship-building in England.—Ship-building on the Tyne, in
"England, in 1886, shows a considerable reduction from 1885.
Last year 67 vessels were launched, having a total tonnage of
82,800, against 106,000 in 1885. The average tonnage of the
vessels launched last year was 1,236.

South Pass Je1:ties.—The_report of the Secretary of War
notes that, at the South Pass jetties of the Mississippi River,

<the.cha.nnel has been maintained as required by law, and Capt.

Eads has received the required payments of $r5o,o0o. The
total cost. of this improvement to date has been $5, 300,000.

Trial of English Permanent Way.—-A contemporary re-
ports that the Pennsylvania Railroad Company will try a few
miles of track laid in the English fashion, with rails of bull-
head pattern, heavy cast-iron chains, and about 2,000 ties to

the mile, or‘one-fourth less than .are usually used in this coun-

try. ,
Washington Railroad Stations.-—The Engineer Commis.
sioners of the District of Columbia, in their annual report re-
fer at some length to the railroad question, and urge the con-
centration ofthe railroad tracks entering the city of Washing-
ton. They also recommend the removal of the railroad tracks
from existing streets. '

Burlington Brake Tes’c.—-The Wells & French Co. is
building at its shops in Chicago a train of 50 box cars for the
Earnes Vacuum Brake Company, to be used at the Burlington
tests in April next. These cars are, of course, equipped with
the Eames automatic freight brake; they are fitted with the
Boston automatic coupler.

Cairo Bridge.—The engineers of the Illinois Central Rail-
road are now making the final location for the bridge over the
Ohio River at Cairo, and work has been begun on the approach
on the south side, which will include a trestle 3,000 ft. long.
The bridge itself will be about a mile long and 52 feet above
high water; the approaches will be about I% miles long.

Refrigerator Cars.—The New York, Lake Erie & Western
Company has built IO refrigerator cars, at its Susquehanna
shops, which are to be run as express cars on passenger trains.
These cars are 50 feet long, and are divided into three I6-feet
They have passenger-car running gear, Miller

THE RAILROAD AND

[ February, 1887.

platforms and couplers, and are fitted with the automatic
brake.

Niagara Suspension Bridge.——Important improvements
have been made this season in the Suspension Bridge over
the Niagara River. These include the strengthening of the old
anchors for the cables and the addition of new anchors. New
steel towers have been erected in place of the old stone tow-
ers. The operation of transferring the cables to the new tow-
ers was successfully performed.

Union Switch and Signal Company.—This company has
bought from the Pennsylvania Steel Compay the interlocking
switch and signal department of its works, including the Cum.
mings and other patents covering the system adopted by the
Pennsylvania Steel Company. The business will be trans-
ferred to the new works of the Union Switch and Signal Com.
pany at Swissvale, near Pittsburgh.

A Russian Oil Pipe Line.—The United States Consul at
Odessa, Russia, has notified the State Department that ar-
rangements are to be made to build a pipe line to transport
petroleum from Baku to Batoum. The line will be about 550
miles long, and its greatest elevation about 3,000 feet. It is
proposed to use 7-inch pipe. The Consul thinks that Ameri-
can pipe and pump manufacturers will have an opportunity to
secure contracts.

Liquid Fuel in Russia.—Some of the large factories in
Odessa are now using as fuel in their boilers petroleum refuse,
which is brought to Odessa by sailing vessels and is sold at a
very low price. It is claimed that with the furnaces in use, a
ton of this petroleum refuse will make as much steam as two
tons of English coal. Arrangements are being made to carry
the oil refuse in bulk from Novorossisk, the port of the Black
Sea petroleum fields.

English Iron Production.—— 772: Engineer estimates the
pig-iron production of the United Kingdom for 1886 at 6,800,-
000 tons, against 7,250,657 tons in 1885 ; a reduction of 450,-
657 tons, or 6% per cent. The decrease in production has
been continuous since 1882, when the total reached 8,498,000
tons. The reduction was not by any means uniform, the fur-
naces in Scotland and in the Cleveland district showing a small
increase last year over 1885. .

Railroads in Persia.——It is given out from St. Petersburg
that Russian influence, which is very strong at Teheran, will
be brought to bear to prevent the building of any railroads in
Persia by English or American contractors. The Russian
Government, it is said, is decided in its opinion that any im-
portant line to be built in Persia must connect with the Central
Asian road which Russia is now building, and the Persian rail-
road administration must be controlled by Russian influences.

German Rails for English Colonies.-—The Government
of Victoria (Australia) has placed a contract for 50,000 tons of
steel rails with the Krupp Works, at Essen. The deliveries are
to extend over two years, and the price is said to be about $20
per ton, ‘delivered on board ship. The bid of the Krupp Works
was from $2.50 to $3 below the prices offered by English firms.
Naturally, the English makers are much exercised in mind at
so large an order from an English colony going to a German
mill.

American System of Irrigration in Australia.-—-The Gov-
ernment of the Australian colony of Victoria has granted 50,-
000 acres of landgto Chaffee Brothers, American capitalists,
who are to colonize the land and improveit by irrigation. The
land is near Mildura, on the Murray River, II miles above the
mouth of the Darling. The conditions of the grant are that
Chaffee Brothers are to spend $I,5oo,oo0 on irrigation works,
and are to improve at least 47,000 acres of the tract within 20
years.

The Heating of Cars by Steam is tried on several railroads
this winter. The Connecticut River Railroad has in use the
Emerson system ; the Boston & Albany has the Martin sys-

— tem_as prepared by the Martin Anti-fire Car Heater Company,

of Dunkirk, N. Y. ; the Long Island Road is trying the Mar-
tin system on one train, and the Gold system on another.
The Gold system has also been put in use recently on the
Providence, Warren & Bristol Road, and on the cable road at
Hoboken, N. 

Blast Furnaces of the United States.—Statistics collected
by the American Manufacturer, show that on January 1, 1887,
there were 333 furnaces in blast, having a weekly capacity of
127,660 tons of pig-iron ; against 273 in blast, with a capacity
of 97,050 tons on January I, 1886. Of the furnaces in blast this
year, 66 use charcoal as fuel; I26, anthracite coal, and I40, bitu-
minous coal or coke. The weekly capacity of the charcoal fur-
naces in blast is II,895 : of the anthracite, 53,633, and of the
bituminous furnaces, 90,032 tons.