Chapter 5

It will be plainly seen that such a revolution could not be accomplished easily, and that much sacrifice and energy were required of the leaders in the enterprise, prominent among whom was the merchant Johannes Scharrer, who is known as the founder of the "Ludwig's Road."

One would naturally suppose that such an undertaking would have met with encouragement from the Bavarian Government, but this was not the case. The starters of the enterprise met with opposition on every side; much was written against it, and many comic pictures were drawn showing accidents which would probably occur on the much talked of road. Two of these pictures are shown in the accompanying large engraving, taken from the _Illustrirte Zeitung_. As shown in the center picture, right hand, it was expected by the railway opponents that trains running on tracks at right angles must necessarily come in collision. If anything happened to the engine, the passengers would have to get out and push the cars, as shown at the left.

Much difficulty was experienced in finding an engineer capable of attending to the construction of the road; and at first it was thought that it would be best to engage an Englishman, but finally Engineer Denis, of Munich, was appointed. He had spent much time in England and America studying the roads there, and carried on this work to the entire satisfaction of the company.

All materials for the road were, as far as possible, procured in Germany; but the idea of building the engines and cars there had to be given up, and, six weeks before the opening of the road, Geo. Stephenson, of London, whose engine, Rocket, had won the first prize in the competitive trials at Rainhill in 1829, delivered an engine of ten horse power, which is still known in Nürnberg as "Der Englander."

Fifty years have passed, and, as Johannes Scharrer predicted, the Ludwig's Road has become a permanent institution, though it now forms only a very small part of the network of railroads which covers every portion of Germany. What changes have been made in railroads during these fifty years! Compare the present locomotives with the one made by Cugnot in 1770, shown in the upper left-hand cut, and with the work of the pioneer Geo. Stephenson, who in 1825 constructed the first passenger railroad in England, and who established a locomotive factory in Newcastle in 1824. Geo. Stephenson was to his time what Mr. Borsig, whose great works at Moabit now turn out from 200 to 250 locomotives a year, is to our time.

Truly, in this time there can be no better occasion for a celebration of this kind than the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the first German railroad, which has lately been celebrated by Nürnberg and Furth.

The lower left-hand view shows the locomotive De Witt Clinton, the third one built in the United States for actual service, and the coaches. The engine was built at the West Point Foundry, and was successfully tested on the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad between Albany and Schenectady on Aug. 9, 1831.

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IMPROVED COAL ELEVATOR.

An illustration of a new coal elevator is herewith presented, which presents advantages over any incline yet used, so that a short description may be deemed interesting to those engaged in the coaling and unloading of vessels. The pen sketch shows at a glance the arrangement and space the elevator occupies, taking less ground to do the same amount of work than any other mode heretofore adopted, and the first cost of erecting is about the same as any other.

When the expense of repairing damages caused by the ravages of winter is taken into consideration, and no floats to pump out or tracks to wash away, the advantages should be in favor of a substantial structure.

The capacity of this hoist is to elevate 80,000 bushels in ten hours, at less than one-half cent per bushel, and put coal in elevator, yard, or shipping bins.

The endless wire rope takes the cars out and returns them, dispensing with the use of train riders.

A floating elevator can distribute coal at any hatch on steam vessels, as the coal has to be handled but once; the hoist depositing an empty car where there is a loaded one in boat or barge, requiring no swing of the vessel.

Mr. J.R. Meredith, engineer, of Pittsburg, Pa., is the inventor and builder, and has them in use in the U.S. engineering service.--_Coal Trade Journal_.

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STEEL-MAKING LADLES.

The practice of carrying melted cast iron direct from the blast furnace to the Siemens hearth or the Bessemer converter saves both money and time. It has rendered necessary the construction of special plant in the form of ladles of dimensions hitherto quite unknown. Messrs. Stevenson & Co., of Preston, make the construction of these ladles a specialty, and by their courtesy, says _The Engineer_, we are enabled to illustrate four different types, each steel works manager, as is natural, preferring his own design. Ladles are also required in steel foundry work, and one of these for the Siemens-Martin process is illustrated by Fig. 1. These ladles are made in sizes to take from five to fifteen ton charges, or larger if required, and are mounted on a very strong carriage with a backward and forward traversing motion, and tipping gear for the ladle. The ladles are butt jointed, with internal cover strips, and have a very strong band shrunk on hot about half way in the depth of the ladle. This forms an abutment for supporting the ladle in the gudgeon band, being secured to this last by latch bolts and cotters. The gearing is made of cast steel, and there is a platform at one end for the person operating the carriage or tipping the ladle. Stopper gear and a handle are fitted to the ladles to regulate the flow of the molten steel from the nozzle at the bottom.

Fig. 2 shows a Spiegel ladle, of the pattern used at Cyfarthfa. It requires no description. Fig. 3 shows a tremendous ladle constructed for the North-Eastern Steel Company, for carrying molten metal from the blast furnace to the converter. It holds ten tons with ease. It is an exceptionally strong structure. The carriage frame is constructed throughout of 1 in. wrought-iron plated, and is made to suit the ordinary 4 ft. 8½ in. railway gauge. The axle boxes are cast iron, fitted with gun-metal steps. The wheels are made of forged iron, with steel tires and axles. The carriage is provided with strong oak buffers, planks, and spring buffers; the drawbars also have helical compression springs of the usual type. The ladle is built up of ½ in. wrought-iron plates, butt jointed, and double riveted butt straps. The trunnions and flange couplings are of cast steel. The tipping gear, clearly shown in the engraving, consists of a worm and wheel, both of steel, which can be fixed on either side of the ladle as may be desired. From this it will be seen that Messrs. Stevenson & Co. have made a thoroughly strong structure in every respect, and one, therefore, that will commend itself to most steel makers. We understand that these carriages are made in various designs and sizes to meet special requirements. Thus, Fig. 4 shows one of different design, made for a steel works in the North. This is also a large ladle. The carriage is supported on helical springs and solid steel wheels. It will readily be understood that very great care and honesty of purpose is required in making these structures. A breakdown might any moment pour ten tons of molten metal on the ground, with the most horrible results.

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APPARATUS FOR DEMONSTRATING THAT ELECTRICITY DEVELOPS ONLY ON THE SURFACE OF CONDUCTORS.

Mr. K.L. Bauer, of Carlsruhe, has just constructed a very simple and ingenious apparatus which permits of demonstrating that electricity develops only on the surface of conductors. It consists (see figure) essentially of a yellow-metal disk, M, fixed to an insulating support, F, and carrying a concentric disk of ebonite, H. This latter receives a hollow and closed hemisphere, J, of yellow metal, whose base has a smaller diameter than that of the disk, H, and is perfectly insulated by the latter. Another yellow-metal hemisphere, S, open below, is connected with an insulating handle, G. The basal diameter of this second hemisphere is such that when the latter is placed over J its edge rests upon the lower disk, M. These various pieces being supposed placed as shown in the figure, the shell, S, forms with the disk, M, a hollow, closed hemisphere that imprisons the hemisphere, J, which is likewise hollow and closed, and perfectly insulated from the former.

The shell, S, is provided internally with a curved yellow-metal spring, whose point of attachment is at B, and whose free extremity is connected with an ebonite button, K, which projects from the shell, S. By pressing this button, a contact may be established between the external hemisphere (formed of the pieces, S and M), and the internal one, J. As soon as the button is left to itself, the spring again begins to bear against the interior surface of S, and the two hemispheres are again insulated.

The experiment is performed in this wise: The shell, S, is removed. Then a disk of steatite affixed to an insulating handle is rubbed for a few instants with a fox's "brush," and held near J until a spark occurs. Then the apparatus is grasped by the support, F, and an elder-pith ball suspended by a flaxen thread from a good conducting support is brought near J. The ball will be quickly repelled, and care must be taken that it does not come into contact with J. After this the apparatus is placed upon a table, the shell, S, is taken by its handle, G, and placed in the position shown in the figure, and a momentary contact is established between the two hemispheres by pressing the button, K. Then the shell, S, is lifted, and the disk, M, is touched at the same time with the other hand. If, now, the pith ball be brought near S, it will be quickly repelled, while it will remain stationary if it be brought near J, thus proving that all the electricity passed from J to S at the moment of contact.--_La Lumiere Electrique_.

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THE COLSON TELEPHONE.

This apparatus has recently been the object of some experiments which resulted in its being finally adopted in the army. We think that our readers will read a description of it with interest. Its mode of construction is based upon a theoretic conception of the lines of force, which its inventor explains as follows in his Elementary Treatise on Electricity:

"To every position of the disk of a magnetic telephone with respect to the poles of the magnet there corresponds a certain distribution of the lines of force, which latter shift themselves when the disk is vibrating. If the bobbin be met by these lines in motion, there will develop in its wire a difference of potential that, according to Faraday's law, will be proportional to their number. All things equal, then, a telephone transmitter will be so much the more potent in proportion as the lines set in motion by the vibrations of the disk and meeting the bobbin wire are greater in number. In like manner, a receiver will be so much the more potent in proportion as the lines of force, set in motion by variations in the induced currents that are traversing the bobbin and meeting the disk, are more numerous. It will consequently be seen that, generally speaking, it is well to send as large a number of lines of force as possible through the bobbin."

In order to obtain such a result, the thin tin-plate disk has to be placed between the two poles of the magnet. The pole that carries the fine wire bobbin acts at one side and in the center of the disk, while the other is expanded at the extremity and acts upon the edge and the other side. This pole is separated from the disk by a copper washer, and the disk is thus wholly immersed in the magnetic field, and is traversed by the lines of force radiatingly.

This telephone is being constructed by Mr. De Branville, with the greatest care, in the form of a transmitter (Fig. 2) and receiver (Fig. 3). At A may be seen the magnet with its central pole, P, and its eccentric one, P'. This latter traverses the vibrating disk, M, through a rubber-lined aperture and connects with the soft iron ring, F, that forms the polar expansion. These pieces are inclosed in a nickelized copper box provided with a screw cap, C. The resistance of both the receiver and transmitter bobbin is 200 ohms.

The transmitter is 3½ in. in diameter, and is provided with a re-enforcing mouthpiece. It is regulated by means of a screw which is fixed in the bottom of the box, and which permits of varying the distance between the disk and the core that forms the central pole of the magnet. The regulation, when once effected, lasts indefinitely. The regulation of the receiver, which is but 2¼ in. in diameter, is performed once for all by the manufacturer. One of the advantages of this telephone is that its regulation is permanent. Besides this, it possesses remarkable power and clearness, and is accompanied with no snuffling sounds, a fact doubtless owing to all the molecules of the disk being immersed in the magnetic field, and to the actions of the two poles occurring concentrically with the disk. As we have above said, this apparatus is beginning to be appreciated, and has already been the object of several applications in the army. The transmitter is used by the artillery service in the organization of observatories from which to watch firing, and the receiver is added to the apparatus pertaining to military telegraphy. The two small receivers are held to the lens of the operator by the latter's hat strap, while the transmitter is suspended in a case supported by straps, with the mouthpieces near the face (Fig. 1).

In the figure, the case is represented as open, so as to show the transmitter. The empty compartment below is designed for the reception and carriage of the receivers, straps, and flexible cords. This arrangement permits of calling without the aid of special apparatus, and it has also the advantage of giving entire freedom to the man on observation, this being something that is indispensable in a large number of cases.

In certain applications, of course, the receivers may be combined with a microphone; yet on an aerial as well as on a subterranean line the transmitter produces effects which, as regards intensity and clearness, are comparable with those of a pile transmitter.

Stations wholly magnetic may be established by adding to the transmitter and two receivers a Sieur phonic call, which will actuate them powerfully, and cause them to produce a noise loud enough for a call. It would be interesting to try this telephone on a city line, and to a great distance on those telegraph lines that are provided with the Van Rysselberghe system. Excellent results would certainly be obtained, for, as we have recently been enabled to ascertain, the voice has a remarkable intensity in this telephone, while at the same time perfectly preserving its quality.--_La Nature_.

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[NATURE.]

THE MELDOMETER.

The apparatus which I propose to call by the above name ([mu][epsilon][lambda][delta][omega], to melt) consists of an adjunct to the mineralogical microscope, whereby the melting-points of minerals may be compared or approximately determined and their behavior watched at high temperatures either alone or in the presence of reagents.

As I now use it, it consists of a narrow ribbon of platinum (2 mm. wide) arranged to traverse the field of the microscope. The ribbon, clamped in two brass clamps so as to be readily renewable, passes bridgewise over a little scooped-out hollow in a disk of ebony (4 cm. diam.). The clamps also take wires from a battery (3 Groves cells); and an adjustable resistance being placed in circuit, the strip can be thus raised in temperature up to the melting-point of platinum.

The disk being placed on the stage of the microscope the platinum strip is brought into the field of a 1" objective, protected by a glass slip from the radiant heat. The observer is sheltered from the intense light at high temperatures by a wedge of tinted glass, which further can be used in photometrically estimating the temperature by using it to obtain extinction of the field. Once for all approximate estimations of the temperature of the field might be made in terms of the resistance of the platinum strip, the variation of such resistance with rise of temperature being known. Such observations being made on a suitably protected strip might be compared with the wedge readings, the latter being then used for ready determinations. Want of time has hindered me from making such observations up to this.

The mineral to be experimented on is placed in small fragments near the center of the platinum ribbon, and closely watched while the current is increased, till the melting-point of the substance is apparent. Up to the present I have only used it comparatively, laying fragments of different fusibilities near the specimen. In this way I have melted beryl, orthoclase, and quartz. I was much surprised to find the last mineral melt below the melting-point of platinum. I have, however, by me as I write, a fragment, formerly clear rock-crystal, so completely fused that between crossed Nicols it behaves as if an amorphous body, save in the very center where a speck of flashing color reveals the remains of molecular symmetry. Bubbles have formed in the surrounding glass.

Orthoclase becomes a clear glass filled with bubbles: at a lower temperature beryl behaves in the same way.

Topaz whitens to a milky glass--apparently decomposing, throwing out filmy threads of clear glass and bubbles of glass which break, liberating a gas (fluorine?) which, attacking the white-hot platinum, causes rings of color to appear round the specimen. I have now been using the apparatus for nearly a month, and in its earliest days it led me right in the diagnosis of a microscopical mineral, iolite, not before found in our Irish granite, I think. The unlooked-for characters of the mineral, coupled with the extreme minuteness of the crystals, led me previously astray, until my meldometer fixed its fusibility for me as far above the suspected bodies.

Carbon slips were at first used, as I was unaware of the capabilities of platinum.

A form of the apparatus adapted, at Prof. Fitzgerald's suggestion, to fit into the lantern for projection on the screen has been made for me by Yeates. In this form the heated conductor passes both below and above the specimen, which is regarded from a horizontal direction.

J. JOLY.

Physical Laboratory, Trinity College, Dublin.

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[AMERICAN ANNALS OF THE DEAF AND DUMB.]

TOUCH TRANSMISSION BY ELECTRICITY IN THE EDUCATION OF DEAF-MUTES.

Progress in electrical science is daily causing the world to open its eyes in wonder and the scientist to enlarge his hopes for yet greater achievements. The practical uses to which this subtile fluid, electricity, is being put are causing changes to be made in time-tested methods of doing things in domestic, scientific, and business circles, and the time has passed when startling propositions to accomplish this or that by the assistance of electricity are dismissed with incredulous smiles. This being the case, no surprise need follow the announcement of a device to facilitate the imparting of instruction to deaf children which calls into requisition some service from electricity.

The sense of touch is the direct medium contemplated, and it is intended to convey, with accuracy and rapidity, messages from the operator (the teacher) to the whole class simultaneously by electrical transmission.[1]

[Footnote 1: By the same means two deaf-mutes, miles apart, might converse with each other, and the greatest difficulty in the way of a deaf-mute becoming a telegraph operator, that of receiving messages, would be removed. The latter possibilities are incidentally mentioned merely as of scientific interest, and not because of their immediate practical value. The first mentioned use to which the device may be applied is the one considered by the writer as possibly of practical value, the consideration of which suggested the appliance to him.]

An alphabet is formed upon the palm of the left hand and the inner side of the fingers, as shown by the accompanying cut, which, to those becoming familiar with it, requires but a touch upon a certain point of the hand to indicate a certain letter of the alphabet.

A rapid succession of touches upon various points of the hand is all that is necessary in spelling a sentence. The left hand is the one upon which the imaginary alphabet is formed, merely to leave the right hand free to operate without change of position when two persons only are conversing face to face.

The formation of the alphabet here figured is on the same principle as one invented by George Dalgarno, a Scottish schoolmaster, in the year 1680, a cut of which maybe seen on page 19 of vol. ix. of the _Annals_, accompanying the reprint of a work entitled "_Didascalocophus_." Dalgarno's idea could only have been an alphabet to be used in conversation between two persons _tête à tête_, and--except to a limited extent in the Horace Mann School and in Professor Bell's teaching--has not come into service in the instruction of deaf-mutes or as a means of conversation. There seems to have been no special design or system in the arrangement of the alphabet into groups of letters oftenest appearing together, and in several instances the proximity would seriously interfere with distinct spelling; for instance, the group "u," "y," "g," is formed upon the extreme joint of the little finger. The slight discoverable system that seems to attach to his arrangement of the letters is the placing of the vowels in order upon the points of the fingers successively, beginning with the thumb, intended, as we suppose, to be of mnemonic assistance to the learner. Such assistance is hardly necessary, as a pupil will learn one arrangement about as rapidly as another. If any arrangement has advantage over another, we consider it the one which has so grouped the letters as to admit of an increased rapidity of manipulation. The arrangement of the above alphabet, it is believed, does admit of this. Yet it is not claimed that it is as perfect as the test of actual use may yet make it. Improvements in the arrangement will, doubtless, suggest themselves, when the alterations can be made with little need of affecting the principle.