Vol. LXVI, No. 7.]

ENGINEERING JOURNAL.

339

then. by set screws, each carrying a graduated circle four inches
in diameter, over the face of which moves a balanced pointer.
This pointer carries a small vernier and is attached to a spindle,
in which is a friction roller measuring exactly one-half inch in
circumference. The roller on one spindle is operated by an
arm which is attached to the other collar, these arms being
mounted symmetrically on opposite sides of the specimen.
The apparatus reads with exactness to the nearest 0ne—ten-thou-
sandth of an inch, and registers elongations beyond the elastic
limit as readily as it does those below that limit. Its operation
is very satisfactory.

AT the regular meeting, june I, the usual routine business
was transacted and subscriptions to the leading engineering
papers ordered.

Mr. Flad presented some diagrams showing loss of head for
the flow of gases through pipes of varying diameters and for
varying velocities. Discussion followed by Messrs. Wheeler,
Colby, Flad and Love.

Mr. Ockerson exhibited blue print diagrams showing the
effects of erosion on the Mississippi River banks, from Cairo to
Donaldsonville, from I877, 1883 to 1892. The diagrams showed
graphically the annual amount of caving per mile of river con-
sidered in sections of IO miles. Discussion followed by Messrs.
Colby, Wheeler, Flad and Crosby.

A
V

NOTES AND NEWS.

 

A Large Plate Girder Bridge.——The Boston Bridge Works
at Cambridge, Mass., recently shipped two heavy steel plate
girders, to be placed over Southbridge Street, Worcester, for

the Providence & Worcester Division of the New York, Provi- .

deuce & Boston Railroad.

The two girders, each 95 ft. 8:} in. long, were put together in
the shop and shipped in single pieces.

Each girder is 9 ft. deep, too wide to safely lie flat on a car.
They were therefore loaded on edge, each on three long flat
cars. Each girder weighs 57,715 lbs.

The bridge structure will be I7.4 ft. Wide, and will be sup-
ported by these two girders, resting on stone abutments.

An interesting feature in the construction of this bridge is its
floor plan. The foundation is a series of steel V-shaped
troughs, side by side, lying transversely to the tracks and rest-
ing in sockets riveted to the girders. The troughs are bent at
right angles and are about 18 in. deep.

These are to be filled with cement or concrete, and over this
will be placed the material of an ordinary roadbed. The result
is a thorough protection of the bridge floor from fire or storm,
the deadening of sound, and the making of a tight and solid
floor.

Petroleum Burning in Russia.——A number of locomotives
on the St. Petersburg-Moscow and the St. Petersburg-Warsaw
lines, in Russia, are now being prepared to burn petroleum.
Experience with oil-burners on the Southwestern Railroad has
shown that oil can be supplied at a cheaper rate than coal to
almost any of the Russian lines, except, perhaps. those in the
Baltic provinces. '

Lengthening a Stand-Pipe.—Owing to the steady growth
of Mt. Vernon, N. Y., it became necessary, in order to obtain
greater pressure for elevated points, to enlarge the stand-pipe.
The old affair was originally 100 ft. high, 20 ft. in diameter,
and weighed about 75 tons. It was built of 5-ft. plates, double
riveted vertical seams, and had a capacity of about 235,000
gallons. To increase the pressure the stand-pipe was raised 25
ft. with handjacks and blocked. The extension of 25 ft. was
made of tank iron, 12-} ft. of -3-in. and I22} ft. of 19,; in. iron,
having a tensile strain of 50,000 lbs. per sq. in. of section.

The present height of the stand-pipe is 125 ft. ; diameter, 20
ft., with capacity of about 300,000 gallons. The stand-pipe was
raised in thirteen days. The placing of the extension and con-
necting force main took nearly thirty days. The cost of the
entire work was about $5000. Isaac A. Blair & Company, of
Boston, did the raising, and the iron work was done by the
Cunningham Iron Works of South Boston.--Fz're and Water.

An Old-Time Sound Boa.t.—Our marine contemporary, Sea-
éozmi, is publishing a. very interesting series of articles on the
old-time steamboats of Long Island Sound. From one of these
we take the accompanying illustration of the C/zancellor Living-
start, which was built in 1815. The history of this boat is given
by Seaéaam’ as follows :

“ She was designed by Stoudinger, and was two years build-
ing; when finished she was the most elegant steam vessel in

the world——the Puritan of the steamboats of that day. Her
hull was built by Henry Eckford, and the joiner-work executed
under the direction of David Cook. Her engine and boiler
were constructed by James P. Allaire. Her boiler was of cop-
per, but on a new model, having a. large cylindrical flue, with
two shall return flues and a false front. She was the first boat
having a cabin on the main deck, with a promenade above.
She cost, complete, $110,000.

“ The Livzngstorz made her trial trip on Saturday, March 29,
I817, going to Newburg, a distance of 60 miles, which, accord-
ing to those on board, ‘ was accomplished in a few minutes less
than nine hours, of which time the tide was in her favor only
three hours. In returning, the same distance was run in 8
hours and 15 minutes, the greater part of the time against a
flood tide and south wind.’ It was expected that she would go

to Albany in about 20 hours, and she did a number of times.
Her fastest run that year to Albany was on December 5, when
she went up in 18 hours.

“ The Livingston continued on the Hudson until March,
1828, when she was placed on the New York & Providence line
as an opposition boat, with Captain Coggeshall in command.

  

 

   
  
  

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THE “CHANCELLOR LIVINGSTON," 1828.

She had been rebuilt during the winter previous, and now ap-
peared with three boilers and three smoke stacks, as is shown
in the illustration. The other steamers running between the
two places were the Fulton, Connecticut and Was/zz'ngton. The
steamboat Long Brant/z was placed on the same route later in
the season, and a new boat, the Ben Fran/elin, appeared in
September that year. The latter was said to be the best boat
on the Sound, but it was claimed that the Liviyzgslon was the
fastest. The f.z'vz'ng.n‘an continued to run for a number of
years. She became a great favorite, and the superb meals that
were always to be had on this boat added notalittle to her
popularity. She ran independently during 1831-32, keeping
the fare down, and the steamers President, Connecticut, Provi-
dmce, Fran/cIz'n, and Boston were on the other lines. . In 1834
the Zlivingston went to Boston, where she struck a rock in the
harbor and sunk. She was raised again- and placed on the Bos-
ton & Portland line, where she ran for a number of years.
Her hull having been condemned, it was broken up and her en-
gine put into the new steamboat Portland."

The Hawarden Bridge.—-A paper recently presented be-
fore the British Institution of Civil Engineers by Mr. Francis
Fox gives a description of the Hawarden Bridge over the River
Dee, built under his charge, which has the longest clear open-
ing of draw span in England.

The bridge consist: of two fixed spans of 120 ft. each, and of
one swing portion, 287 ft. in length over all, which gives two
unequal openings, the largest of which, being for the naviga-
tion, is I40 ft. clear span, while the tail end of the girder gives
9. clear span of 87 ft. The bridge carries a double line of rail-
road, with a footpath, 4 ft. in width, supported on cantilevers
outside the main girders.

The piers are founded on brick wells, 3. system much used in
India, the brick columns or wells built in iron caissons sunk in
the bottom of the river, which is of soft, shifting sand.

- The swing bridge consists of two main girders, constructed
of mild steel, each having a total length of 284:2 ft., and a total