Part 3

The first operation consisted in running well squared spruce beams, 12 in. × 8 ft., through the walls and under the ground floor. These beams projected beyond the wall on each side and were spaced about 3¼ feet apart, and care was taken to have them in the same horizontal plane. After ramming down the earth upon which the timber work, f, was to rest, the first transverse beams forming the foundation platform were laid in place in such a way as to have between them the same spacing as between the cross-pieces, _a_, and so as to be exactly on the same level. These were afterward surmounted with longitudinal beams with alternate transverse ones until the desired height was reached. This framework having once been put in place, there were placed in the axis of each piece of timber work string-pieces, _b_, which ran without a break the entire length of the wall. Jack-screws, _v_, of the kind above described, were finally arranged in pairs under each of the cross-pieces, _a_.

On the front side (Fig. 3) particular precautions were taken to support the stone pillars and iron columns. To this end, apertures were made in the foundation, starting from the axis of the pillars and terminating at the axis of the neighboring columns. Spruce sills were put into these openings and others between the columns, the last-named ones having been put in place after the masonry had been completely severed. The cross-pieces, _a_, were thus under the sills, _g_, before the putting in place of the screws, _v_, and these latter were maneuvered in such a way as to merely support the structure without lifting any of its parts.

These preliminaries having been finished, all the pieces of the timber work were examined with the greatest care, while, at the same time, the joints were consolidated and the defects in leveling were rectified by means of spruce wedges.

During the time of lifting, the workmen were arranged in pairs opposite each other, and on each side of the wall, where each one had 12 to 14 screws to maneuver. In order to render the motion very uniform, the superintendent of the work gave signals by means of a whistle. At this moment each man gave the screw a half revolution, passed to the following one, and continued thus until all the screws under his supervision had been revolved to the same degree. At a fresh signal this operation was begun again, and so on.

When the building had been lifted to a height of twelve inches, it became necessary to raise the screws. To effect this, two rows of beams (Fig. 7) were added to the timber-work, and each screw was moved in succession, so as to always leave one in position. By these means the building was gradually lifted to the desired height, and it now became necessary to take the requisite measures for moving it back. With this object in view, spruce floor timbers, _e_, very smooth and well lubricated with tallow and soap, were laid upon the timber work and afterward covered with oak planks, _d_, one inch in thickness, and upon these latter were placed joists, _c_, that supported string-pieces, _b_, that were firmly fixed to the joists by means of spruce pins driven in with force. As the floor timbers that were employed had to be as long as possible, they were united end to end by a strong joint and prolonged as far as the new spot upon which the edifice was to rest. Throughout their whole extent they were supported by sleepers that were fixed firmly in the earth. The entire weight of the structure being carried by the pieces, _a_, _b_, _c_, _d_, _e_, and _f_, after the removal of the screws, the jacks, V, were then placed in position, their heads resting against the string-pieces, _b_, at the points marked S, and their other extremities being received by a framework set into the earth. It took but twelve jacks to move the entire mass, and these were maneuvered under the orders of a superintendent, who transmitted his signals with a whistle.

It took forty days to perform all these operations, and it required fifty men to lift the structure. After the jacks, V, had been put in place, the building was moved in three days, or at the rate of 11.68 feet per day. This is a medium rate of speed to be adopted in the moving of a structure like this, for, under very favorable conditions, it might be carried to over eighteen feet per day.

The timber work which was used in lifting the building was afterward put together again, in the same manner, around prolonged foundations, and the same were put in place a second time after the manner described above. After the floor timbers, e, had been removed by slightly lifting the load, and the structure had been lowered to its proper position, the intervals between the cross-pieces, _a_, and the walls of the new foundations were filled in with masonry; the mass was then allowed to settle gently down into its place and the cross-pieces were removed.

When buildings stand very near each other, timber-work cannot be put together outside of the walls, and it therefore becomes necessary to adopt the arrangement shown in Fig. 9, all the work being done here beneath the structure. The cross-pieces, _a_, occupy here the entire width of the house, and are spaced about 36 inches apart from axis to axis. The structure rests upon two pieces of timber work constructed like the ones mentioned above. Besides this, it is necessary to utilize the timbers, L, of the flooring, P, for supporting a part of the load.

During the widening of State Street, in Chicago, several three or four story brick structures were moved in this way. One of these houses was set back about four feet without the necessity of lifting it. Apertures (Fig. 10) four feet in length were cut in the foundation walls, the edges were made level, and planks, _c_ and _c'_, were inserted and fixed in tightly by wedges. The intervening masonry was removed, and, after laying planks alongside of those already in place, the structure was put in motion in the ordinary way.

When single threaded screws are employed for moving buildings, it requires much time and manual labor to place and move the pieces. For the purpose of securing greater rapidity in these operations, Mr. Hollingsworth has devised a sort of jack-screw (Fig. 11) that consists of a steel screw about eight feet in length and three inches in diameter, provided with two threads, running in opposite directions. The nuts are set into the corresponding extremities of two beams, one of which abuts against a cast iron brace-block, _n_, held in place by a stirrup-iron, _t_, while the other bears against the string-pieces, _b_. Thanks to this arrangement, a structure may be moved at one time over a length of 6 feet instead of 1.3, the latter being the maximum travel with single screws.

The method in which slide beams, f, are prolonged in view of resisting the pressure of the jacks is scarcely employed at present, the objection to it being that it occasions changes of direction from the line formed by the timber work. For this reason, contractors prefer to use independent posts to receive the jacks.--_Revue Industrielle_.

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FILTER FOR INDUSTRIAL WORKS.

As a rule, bleach and dye works are established where there is a sufficiency of good and soft water, except in such cases where for special reasons it is desirable to use town water, and which then is generally clear. Where, however, water from brooks, rivers, or lodges is used, as is mostly the case, it is often discolored after heavy showers by earthy substances which are carried away by it. These impurities, all existing in the water in suspension, are not at all desirable for the dyer, and less for the bleacher, who generally allows the water to settle in a lodge, to give it time to deposit its impurities by gravitation. We understand that by means such as these even the water of the much-abused Irwell is made, in a Salford bleach-works, to produce some of the most beautiful whites possible. These lodges occupy, however, much space, which is not always available, and filtration is therefore the best where it can be carried out. We here produce the description of a cheap and efficient filter which bleachers or dyers may easily make for themselves. The dimensions are of course dependent upon the quantity of water to be filtered, and as a guide we shall describe a filter serving for a volume of water of about 1½ cubic yards per minute. In the first instance a hole is dug at a point where the water has sufficient fall to give it a head, and here a cistern set in cement is bricked out, measuring about 30 yards in length, 2½ yards in width, and 2½ yards in height. Across this cistern two partition walls are erected, one at the left resting upon rails, and the other going down to the bottom of the cistern. Between these two walls railway rails are laid crosswise, and over these a floor of wooden laths. Over this floor the filtering media are placed, consisting of a bottom layer of stones, then a layer of coke, then a layer of gravel, and lastly of a top layer of river sand. The water enters on the left-hand side into the space between the outer wall and the partition, and descends under the floor of the filter, through which it rises and passes in succession through the four layers of filtering substance until it issues at the top, when it runs over the partition, and out by the pipe shown in the right hand corner. It will be seen that the course of the water is upward through the filter, and in this respect contrary to the usual custom. The filter is cleaned about once a month by reversing the course of the water, and turning it indirectly on the top of the filter--causing it to run but at the bottom--and thus carrying all deposits with it. Both the central filtering compartments, as also the overflow cistern at the right hand, contain, near the bottom, doors, through which, when opened, the cleansing water runs off by a separate channel to the river. The dimensions of the cistern can, of course, be made to suit the situation.--_Tex. Manfr._

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THE VAL ST. LAMBERT GLASS WORKS.

During the recent meeting in Belgium of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers several interesting excursions were made, and by no means the least interesting was the visit to the glass works of Val St. Lambert.

This is one of the largest glass works in existence, entirely devoted to the production of domestic articles, such as tumblers, wine glasses, lamp chimneys, and such like. A good deal of ornamental work is also turned out, a staff of highly competent artists being employed in painting glass vases, etc., such as are used for the decoration of rooms.

The Val St. Lambert works stand on the right bank of the Meuse, in the commune of Seraing, and about seven and a half miles from Liege. As the head offices of Cockerill's vast establishment are located in the old palace of the Bishops of Liege, so the Cristalleries of Val St. Lambert occupy the site of the Abbey de Rosieres. Up to the year 1192 the site was almost a desert, but about that period the abbey was founded. In 1202 Hughes de Pierrepont, Bishop of Liege, gave to the monks a tract of land and woods situated in what was then called the Champ des Maures, whereon was built the abbey. It prospered and became powerful. At the end of the last century it was reconstructed, and at that time were raised the fine buildings now used as a manufactory. The rebuilding had hardly been finished when the Revolution came, and with it the expulsion of the monks. It was sold by the nation, and was used for various manufacturing purposes, until the year 1825, when it was purchased by MM. Kemlin and Lelievre. There had previously existed, at Vonêche, near Givet, a glass works carried on by M. D'Artigues, its owner, aided by M. Kemlin, his nephew, and M. Aug. Lelievre. This latter gentleman had left the Ecole Polytechnique of Paris with distinction, and was the son of Mr. Anselme de Lelievre, Inspector-General of Mines, and a distinguished savant of the last century. MM. Kemlin and Lelievre both became naturalized Frenchmen. However, the frontier traced by the Congress of Vienna for the new territory of Belgium cut Vonêche off from France. The glass works accordingly lost their only market, cut off from it by a heavy tariff. M. D'Artigues left the place and went to France, while MM. Kemlin and Lelievre found in the old Val St. Lambert Abbey what they wanted in Belgium, and this was the origin of the glass works. Nor would it be easy to hit on a better site. In the heart of a rich country, on the borders of a fine river, in the center of a coal basin, and close to the Marihaye Collieries, well provided with railway accommodation, the Val St. Lambert glass works possess every advantage, and they have been proportionately successful.

The establishment is worked by a company known as the Societé Anonyme des Cristalleries du Val St. Lambert, under the Presidency of M. Jules Deprez; and the company possess four distinct establishments, namely, that at Val St. Lambert; one at D'Herbatte, near Namur, founded in 1851; a third in the Rue Barre-Neuvill, at Namur, founded in 1753; and, lastly, one at Jambes, near the same town, founded in 1850.

We need not trace at length, says _The Engineer_, the history of the works. It will be enough to say that for a long time they were carried on with small or no profits; but a great advance was made when, in 1830, coal was first substituted for wood for heating purposes. Further capital was introduced in 1836, and operations have been carried on practically without intermission ever since. In 1850 the annual turn-over was about £60,000. In 1880 the turn-over of the company was £200,000. To give an idea of the magnitude of the operations carried on, we may say that no fewer than 120,000 pieces are turned out _every day_. To pack this there are used 50,000 kilos. of heather, 55,000 kilos. of straw, and 250,000 feet of boards per month. The sand of all kinds used per year weighs 7,000,000 kilogs., and the weight of the fire clay 1,500,000 kilogs. The weight of the finished goods sent out per year exceeds 9,000,000 kilogs. The company employs in all about 3,000 hands, 1,800 of whom are at Val St. Lambert. Much attention is paid to the welfare of the operatives by the company, and a species of co-operative store is worked with great success. Many of the hands have been on the works of the company for fifty years, and the managers speak in the highest terms of their servants. They know nothing of "St. Monday." They are laborious, assiduous, intelligent, and attached to the works and the locality, which they rarely quit. These conditions are the most favorable possible for the employers, and they are far too rare in Great Britain. The Val St. Lambert hands, men, women, and children, work uninterruptedly for eleven hours a day all the week through, and some of the men even longer. This affords a remarkable contrast with the hours of labor and customs of our English glass workers.

We take it for granted that our readers know generally how glass is made. That a mixture of sand and an alkali is fused into a kind of pasty mass. The fusion is effected in pots of refractory clay, of which the general form is something like that shown in the sketch. The mouth of the pot is shown at A. The pots at Val St. Lambert are of various sizes; the largest hold about 16 cwt. of glass. The duration of the pots is very variable; they last sometimes only a few days, at others several weeks or even months, much depending on the quality of the pot. The temperature to which they are exposed is not excessively high. The great thing to be effected in a glass melting furnace is the perfectly equal distribution of the heat. At Val St. Lambert gas is used, generated in Siemens or Boetius producers. There are in all twenty furnaces. They are grouped in threes or fours, in the large buildings, with high roofs. Formerly the furnaces were square, and held each eight melting pots, which did not hold more than 250 kilos. of glass. The modern furnaces each receive from twelve to fourteen melting pots. The modern melting pots as made by the Battersea Plumbago Crucible Company do not seem to be known here.

The peculiarities of the construction of the glass melting furnaces at Val St. Lambert will be gathered from the annexed sketch. The furnace is circular, 14 ft. or 15 ft. in diameter, and from the roof, E, to the floor is about 5 ft. 6 in. high. In the center of the floor is a cylindrical opening, A, through which rises the mixture of gas and air, the latter being introduced through four openings, three of which are shown. Two of the pots are indicated by dotted lines at D D. The equitable diffusion of the heat is effected in the following way: Inside the furnace are constructed as many vertical flues as there are pots. Two of these are shown at G G. They have small openings about 5 in. by 8 in. at the bottom. The course pursued by flame is indicated by the bent arrows. The flame rising strikes the crown, E, and is deflected downward and drawn off by the side flues, which deliver into the second vaulted space, F. In this, in some cases, are annealed the finished articles of glass. In others is fixed a boiler, steam being generated by the waste heat. In others there is no opening at the top of F at H, but there is one at the side instead, through which the flame is led to raise steam in Belleville tubulous boilers. The steam is used to drive the engines in the grinderies. Not much power is required, and it is very easily obtained from the waste heat.

The operations of the glass blower have been too often described to need redescription here. One or two points, however, deserve notice. One is the large use made of wooden moulds. In these are formed all kinds of circular articles, such as tumblers and lamp glasses. The moulds are in halves, and are kept soaked with water to prevent them from burning. Inside they become lined with charcoal. The glass blower, getting a knob of glass on the end of his blowing rod, blows a very thick, small bulb; this he then places on the mould, which is closed by a very small boy; in but too many cases mere children, seven or eight years old, are employed. The child holds the two sides of the mould together while the blower rotates the bulb within, blowing all the time. The work is turned out very true. Up to a comparatively recent period the tumbler was cut to the proper depth while hot with a pair of scissors, but this has been abandoned, and an extremely ingenious little machine is now used for cutting lamp glasses, tumblers, etc. The article to be cut is placed vertically on a stand. At the proper height above the stand is fixed a sharp steel point, and by touching the glass against this a very small scratch is made. At the same level is fixed a little mouthpiece through which issues, under pressure, a tiny gas flame, not thicker than a sheet of note paper. This falls on the glass, which is turned round by the woman attendant. The glass is heated in an extremely narrow band all round. The touch of a moistened finger suffices for the complete separation of the two parts of the glass round the heated girdle. In fact, this is a very elegant application to manufacturing purposes of the well known hot wire method of cutting glass so often tried with indifferent success by the enterprising amateur.

Glass grinding is carried out on a very large scale at Val St. Lambert in huge well lighted shops. There are four grinderies at Val St. Lambert, and one at Herbatte, the total number of which is 800, and the floor space occupied is no less than 24,000 square feet. The first steam engine was put down to grind glass in 1836. A great deal of engraving is done with fluoric acid, the vessel to be engraved being protected with wax in which the design is etched. Tilghman's sand blast is also employed, as well as the old copper disk system; flats are ground on tumblers by automatic machinery.

It would be impossible to do more than give a general idea of the operations carried on in this vast establishment, every portion of which was thrown open to the members of the Institution, while numbers of heads of departments went round and answered every question, and explained every detail with a frankness and a courtesy beyond praise. It is impossible to inspect such an establishment as that at Val St. Lambert without feeling how hard is the battle which manufacturers in this country have to fight. There, as we have said, are to be found every advantage of position, and to this is added a body of workmen, active, sober, industrious, among whom is heard no talk of strikes, and who are content to work every day and all day long; such men, directed by heads possessed of no small scientific ability, and re-enforced by the command of ample capital, cannot fail to make a mark in any market, and we only speak the truth when we regret that we have not such works and such men on English soil as there are to be found at Val St. Lambert.

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MEASURING STARCH GRANULES.

It is well known that the microscopist can readily distinguish potato starch from all other starches by the size of the grains. Saare has found that the size of the potato starch granules increases with the quality of the starch. In first quality starch they have an average diameter of 33 micro-millimeters, in second grade 21, in third grade 17, in the rinsing water 12, and in that floated off on the water only 8 micro-millimeters. Saare's paper may be found in full in the _Zeitschrift fur Spiritusindustrie_, vi., 482.

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PROPER SHOEING.

In his article on horseshoeing Mons. Lavalard makes some good points, and also some that appear to me to be erroneous. He says, in regard to the frog, "It is evident, then, that the frog helps the hold, but strange to say, it alone of the three parts has a share in the hold when the hoof is shod."

We see nothing strange about this where horses travel over hard roads; the case is otherwise on soft roads or race tracks. It is easy to make the ground surface of such shape that it will have sufficient hold, without the action of the frog. In the shod foot, the frog has more to do with keeping the foot healthy than assisting in the hold. With horses used for speeding purposes, the frog helps to sustain the sole of the foot, as when the foot is brought down with great force and the road soft enough to receive the imprint of the shoe. He further says that: "Simultaneous with this preservation and regeneration of the frog, the hold of the horse becomes firmer, and more equally divided toward the heels, and when starting a load, there is no clamping with the toe of the hoof, but the foot is brought down flat."