Part 4

Mr. Bessemer says that he knew nothing of patents or patent law in those days; and adds that if he had for a moment thought it necessary to make any preliminary conditions with government he would have at once scouted the idea as utterly unworthy, thinking his interests absolutely secure. In this full confidence he sought an interview with the then chief of the Stamp Office, Sir Charles Presley, and showed him by numerous proofs how easily all his stamps could be forged, and also the mode of prevention. He was greatly astonished, and at a later interview he suggested that the principle of the invention should be worked out fully. This Mr. Bessemer was only too anxious to do; and some five or six weeks later called again with a newly designed stamp, which greatly pleased him. The design was circular, about 2½ inches in diameter, and consisted of the Garter with the motto in capital letters surmounted by a crown. Within the Garter was a shield with the words "five pounds." The space between the shield and the Garter was filled with network in imitation of lace. The die had been executed in steel, which pierced the parchment with more than 400 holes, each one of the necessary form to produce its special portion of the design. Since that period perforated paper of this kind has been largely employed for valentines and other ornamental purposes, but was previously unknown. It was at once obvious that the transfer of such a stamp was impossible. It was equally clear that dampness could not obliterate it; nor was it possible to take any impression from it capable of perforating another skin of parchment.

This design gave great satisfaction, and everything went on smoothly; Sir Charles consulted Lord Althorp, and the Stamp Office authorities determined to adopt it. Mr. Bessemer was then asked if, instead of receiving a sum of money from the Treasury, he would be satisfied with the position of Superintendent of Stamps, at some £600 or £800 per annum. This was all that he then desired, rejoicing over the prospect, for he was at that time engaged to be married, and his future position in life seemed assured. An incident now occurred that reads almost like romance. A few days after affairs had assumed this satisfactory position, he called on the young lady to whom he was then engaged (now Mrs. Bessemer), and showed her the pretty piece of network which constituted the new parchment stamp, explaining how it could never be removed from the parchment and used again, and mentioning the fact that old deeds with stamps on them dated as far back as the reign of Queen Anne could be fraudulently used. She at once said, "Yes, I understand this; but surely, if all stamps had a date put upon them, they could not at a future time be used again without detection?" This was indeed a new light, and greatly startled the inventor, who at once said that steel dies used for this purpose could have but one date engraved upon them. But after a little consideration he saw that movable dates were by no means impossible, and that this could easily be effected by drilling three holes of about a quarter of an inch in diameter in the steel die, and fitting into each of these openings a steel plug or type with sunk figures engraved on their ends, giving on one the date of the month, on the next the month of the year, and on the third circular steel type the last two figures of the year. This plan would be most simple and efficient, would take less time and money to inaugurate than the more elaborate plan that had been devised; but while pleased and proud at the clever and simple suggestion of the young lady, her future husband saw also that all his more elaborate system of piercing dies, the result of months of study, and the toil of many a weary and lonely night, was shattered to pieces by it. He feared to disturb the decision that Sir Charles Presley had come to, as to the adoption of the perforated stamp, but, with a strong conviction of the advantages of the new plan, felt in honor bound not to suppress it, whatever might be the result. Thus it was that he soon found himself again closeted with Sir Charles at Somerset House, discussing the new scheme, which he much preferred, because, as he said, all the old dies, old presses, and old workmen could be employed, and there would be but little change in the office--so little, in fact, that no new superintendent of stamps was required, which the then unknown art of making and using piercing dies would have rendered absolutely necessary. After due consideration the first plan was definitely abandoned by the office in favor of the dated stamps, with which every one is now familiar. In six or eight weeks from this time an Act of Parliament was passed calling in the private stock of stamps dispersed throughout the country, and authorizing the issue of the new dated ones.

Thus was inaugurated a system that has been in operation some forty-five years, successfully preventing that source of fraud from which the revenue had so severely suffered. If anything like Sir Charles Presley's estimate of £100,000 per annum was correct, this saving must now amount to some millions sterling; but whatever the varying amount might have been, it is certain that so important and long established a system as that in use at the Stamp Office would never have been voluntarily broken up by its own officials, except under the strongest conviction that the losses were very great, and that the new order of things would prove an effectual barrier to future fraud. During all the bustle of this great change no steps had been taken to install the inventor in the office. Lord Althorp had resigned, and no one seemed to have authority to do anything. All sorts of half promises and excuses followed each other, with long delays between, and Mr. Bessemer gradually saw the whole thing sliding out of his grasp. Instead of holding fast to the first plan, which they could not have executed without his aid and special knowledge, he had, in all the trustfulness of youthful inexperience, shown them another plan, so simple that they could put it in operation without any assistance. He had no patent to fall back upon, and could not go to law, even if he wished to do so, for he was reminded, when pressing for mere money out of pocket, that he had done all the work voluntarily. Wearied and disgusted, he at last ceased to waste time in calling at the Stamp Office, and he felt that nothing but increased exertions could make up for the loss of some nine months of toil and expenditure. Thus, sad and dispirited, and with a burning sense of injustice overpowering all other feelings, he went from the Stamp Office, too proud to ask as a favor that which was indubitably his just right, and he adds, "Up to this hour I have never received one shilling or any kind of acknowledgment whatever from the British Government." It is notorious, adds the editor, that some of the most renowned and invaluable inventions of recent years, especially those connected with the navy, have narrowly escaped rejection by permanent but ignorant officials; and that the authors of the inventions have had to submit to delay, loss, annoyance, and contumely before their processes could be tried, even after their success had been officially demonstrated. Perhaps it is not now so much a question of money, for it is to be hoped that Mr. Bessemer is reaping the due reward of ingenuity and skill in other fields of invention. But even his discoveries in steel making, if they have very properly enriched himself, have, in an infinitely larger degree, added to the wealth of the country, and have given employment to many thousands. Such a man is a public benefactor, and eminently deserves recognition by the state, especially by way of atonement for former neglect and injustice. Military men receive titular honors and a pecuniary reward for slaying a crowd of savages and burning their huts, while the men who have helped to make England what she is, commercially and industrially, are in most cases left to their fate, which may chance to be pecuniary ruin.

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OIL NOTES.

PENNSYLVANIA.

The total production of crude petroleum for the first three quarters of 1878 was 11,126,037 barrels, against 8,436,867 barrels for the same time in 1877; increase in 1878, 1,689,170 barrels.

The total number of drilling wells completed for the first three quarters of 1878 were 2,333, against 2,699 for the same time in 1877; decrease in 1878, 366.

The daily average production of the new wells completed for the first three quarters of 1878 was 13 2-10 barrels, against 14 2-10 for the same time in 1877; decrease in 1878, 1 barrel.

The total number of dry holes developed in the first three quarters of 1878 were 280, against 476 for the same time in 1877; decrease in 1878, 196.

The total amount of crude petroleum held in the producing regions of Pennsvlvania, at the close of the third quarter of 1878, was 4,599,362 barrels, against 2,503,657 at the same time in 1877; increase in 1878, 2,095,705 barrels.

The amount of crude petroleum represented by outstanding certificates on the last day of September was 1,705,853 barrels, against 1,317,484 barrels on the last day of October, a reduction during October of 158,127 barrels.

Mr. J. M. Guffey has purchased of Marcus Hulings an undivided half interest in the celebrated Kinzua Creek property (Bradford district). The purchased portion contains 6,400 acres, on which there is a well that was struck in June last, and since that time has been doing from 16 to 18 barrels, and has never been torpedoed. Mr. Guffey looks upon this as one of the best prospective oil territories in the country.

D. W. C. Carroll & Co., of Pittsburg, have kept from 45 to 75 men employed, since June, in the oil regions, building iron tanks, nearly all of which are located in the Bradford district.

WEST VIRGINIA.

The Wheeling _Intelligencer_ says: As noticed in our Moundsville letter this morning, extensive preparations have been made to bore for oil on the opposite side of the river at the Union Coal Works shaft. The machinery was brought down from Pittsburg on Tuesday, and is now being put in position by contractors, who have engaged to go down 1,200 feet. It will be recollected that for a long time past oil has been found in the coal shaft, and the company who are putting down the well feel confident that plenty of it exists deeper down. Some parties look forward to the development of the fact that Moundsville is situated in an important oil break, and that oil in abundance will be found on both sides of the river. The progress of the well will be looked forward to with much interest by the people of that vicinity.

MASSACHUSETTS.

The Maverick Oil Works at East Boston have recently made some very extensive additions and improvements, lengthening their wharf and making a variety of alterations in their buildings. They will shortly complete a new cooper shop, wherein, it is probable, they will construct all the tin cans required by the demands of their business.

OHIO.

The oil excitement has broken out afresh in West Mecca, Warren county, Ohio. Oil men, heavily backed with capital, have recently come in from Pennsylvania, and are making things lively in that locality. Eight new wells have been put in operation during the past week. This district is the same where the principal excitement prevailed 18 years ago.

JAPAN.

The Tokio _Times_ states that the principal feature of American trade with Japan is the petroleum exports from New York. The enterprise was inaugurated only eight years ago; but the business has so increased that while only 200 cases of kerosene, valued at $600, were exported in 1870, in 1877 366,639 cases were sent to Yokohama, and 128,158 cases to Hiogo, whither none had before been carried direct. The value of these consignments was over $1,000,000.

Several refineries are in operation in Japan, making kerosene from native petroleum.

RUSSIA.

The recent reports concerning the discovery of oil near the shores of the Caspian Sea seem to be fully confirmed. From one of the wells a stream, free from gas and froth, is forced to a height of 75 feet, yielding at the rate of 10,000 barrels a day. It is reported that companies are forming at Odessa, Kovo-Tcherkask, Astrakhan, and other cities, for the purpose of obtaining oil. Two large manufacturing concerns, who have their headquarters in New York city, recently received orders for considerable quantities of oil-line pipes, steam pumps, engines, boilers, and other apparatus, to be shipped immediately for St. Petersburg, Russia.

ITALY.

The oil wells of Italy comprise about 5, with a capacity of about 30 barrels per day, of a thick substance of 14 gravity. They are pumped by hand, which, though primitive, is cheaper than steam, for both men and women are employed, the former receiving as compensation for a day's work 1 lira, equal to 20 cents; and the women 60 centessimi, equal to 12 cents of our money. The wells are located in a deep valley, and the oil carried up on the backs of donkeys to a refinery, where it is treated, and yields from 2 to 5 per cent. of burning oil.

PERU.

It is proposed to build a pipe line from the refinery on the estates of Henry Meiggs to the shipping port, a distance of about 7 miles. It is stated that oil can be produced at this point for less than 1 cent a gallon, and as the fields have produced from time immemorial, there is no prospect of their early exhaustion.

ONTARIO.

The oil refinery at St. Thomas, Ont., is running day and night; 494 barrels of crude petroleum were brought from Petrolia for it in one week recently.--_Stowell's Petroleum Reporter_.

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RAILWAY NOTES.

The new track laid in this country during the year ending September 10, 1878, was 1,160 miles. During the six preceding years the number of miles of track laid was: In 1872, 4,498; 1873, 2,455; 1874, 1,066; 1875, 702; 1876, 1,467; 1877, 1,176.

The statement made in the recent Narrow Gauge Convention, that standard gauge freight cars weigh ten tons and carry ten tons, is indignantly disputed by users of the latter. One gentleman, having much to do with freight cars, says that the modern freight cars weigh from 17,000 to 18,000 lbs., commonly carry (and that on long hauls) 28,000 lbs., are guaranteed to carry 30,000 lbs., while he has seen them show on the scales 30,000 and 32,000 lbs. of load, and in one case 35,000 lbs. The general tendency for some years has been to increase loads without increasing, but in many cases decreasing, weights of cars; and it seems quite likely that 30,000 lbs. will soon be the standard load. The tank cars used for carrying petroleum have an average capacity--and they are almost always run full--of 30,000 lbs. The Standard Oil Company, which has some 3,000 of such cars, carried on four-wheeled trucks with the Master Car Builders' standard axle, has run them with such loads for years, and only recently had its first case of a broken axle, manifestly due to a defect in the iron.

INTERESTING observations have been made recently on the Cologne-Minden Road, Prussia, on the rusting of iron rails. A pile of rails of odd lengths were laid on sleepers over a bed of gravel early in 1870, and remained undisturbed until the fall of 1877, there being no use for them. It was then found that they were covered with a layer of rust 0.12 inch thick, which had to be removed by striking the rail with a hammer. The cleaned rail weighed only 398.2 lbs., while its original weight was 419.1 lbs., showing that 5 per cent. of the rail had been destroyed by rust, which covered the rail quite uniformly. This confirms the observation often made, that rails stacked away are much more liable to rust than those laid down in a track.

According to _Le Fer_, at a meeting of directors of the German railroads held at Constance, the following information was furnished in regard to the relative value of the different methods of injecting ties:

1. Railroad from Hanover and Cologne to Minden. Pine ties injected with chloride of zinc; after 21 years the proportion of ties renewed was 21 per cent. Beech ties injected with creasote; after 22 years, 46 per cent. Oak ties injected with chloride of zinc; after 17 years, 20.7 per cent. Oak ties not injected; after 17 years, 49 per cent. The conditions were very favorable for experiment; the road bed was good, and permitted of easy desiccation. The unrenewed ties showed, on cutting, that they were in a condition of perfect health.

2. Railroad "Kaiser-Ferdinands-Nord." Oak ties not injected; after 12 years the proportion renewed was 74.48 per cent. Oak ties injected with chloride of zinc; after 7 years, 3.29 per cent. Oak ties injected with creasote; after 6 years, 0.09 per cent. Pine ties injected with chloride of zinc; after 17 years, 4.46 per cent.

The annual official reports of the railroads of India place the length of railways there at 7,551½ miles, of which 492½ miles were completed during the year 1877, and 223 miles since the close of the year. There are 806½ miles of double track; 5,912¾ miles are constructed on the 5 foot 6 inch gauge, and 1,638¾ on narrower gauges. The capital outlay on the State lines amounted to £3,122,051, and on the guaranteed lines to £1,374,882, bringing the total capital expenditure, up to the end of October, as regards the State, and to the end of March last, as regards the guaranteed lines, to £113,144,541. The expenditure up to the end of the year may be taken in round numbers at £13,344,500. The revenue from all the open lines was £6,232,888, of which £6,091,532 were earned by the guaranteed lines, with a capital of £95,482,941, and £141,356 were earned by the State lines, on a capital expenditure of £17,661,600. The net receipts from the guaranteed lines exceeded the amount advanced for guaranteed interest by £1,454,591; the year previous there was a deficit of £216,517.

A French engineer named Duponchel has made a report on the project of a railroad across the Desert of Sahara. The projected railway would run from Algiers to Timbuctoo, a distance of 2,500 kilometers. M. Duponchel stated that the principal portion of the line would rest during nearly its whole extent on layers of sand, and toward the end on primitive volcanic rocks, granite, gneiss, etc. No mountainous obstructions would have to be encountered. The average heat does not appear to exceed 23° or 24° C. (73 2-5° or 75 1-5° Fah.), but account must be taken of the great variations which occur in the 24 hours. For instance, occasionally, a very cold night succeeds a temperature of 40° C. (104° Fah.) in the day time. The great difficulty to be overcome would be the want of water, which is not to be procured in that region. M. Duponchel calculates that for three trains daily the amount of water required would be 4,000 cubic meters, and that the engineering science of the day is quite sufficient to supply even a much greater quantity at the requisite points.

The government of Costa Rica has advertised for tenders for building bridges on the second Atlantic Division of its railroad. There will be needed 194 bridges. The bridges will vary in length from 3 feet to 1,044 feet, and will be built for a track of 3 foot 3½ inch gauge. They will be of sufficient strength to stand a strain of 2,240 lbs. to the lineal foot, in addition to the weight of the usual freight carried.

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THE WERDERMANN ELECTRIC LIGHT.

It has been looked upon as essential that a certain distance should separate the ends of the carbon electrodes used in electric lamps. Every one has accepted this as an axiom. Mr. Werdermann's skepticism has, however, caused him to doubt the axiom, and the result is that he has discarded the electric arc space, and by placing his electrodes in actual contact, has produced a lamp which provides the means of dividing the electric current, and promises to give almost any number of lights from a single machine. Mr. Werdermann's inventions, says the _Engineering_, are secured by patents considerably in advance of those of Mr. Edison, and may in their chief points be explained as follows:

In place of two electrodes of similar form and dimensions, one electrode consists of a large bun-shaped disk of carbon placed with the rounded face downward. The other carbon is a fine rod of carbon of about 1/8 or 5-32 inch in diameter. The upper end of this is pointed and maintained in contact with the center of the lower surface of the disk. This rod is supported by means of a spring collar, which also forms the circuit connection. This is within about ¾ in. of the top of the carbon, so that the ¾ in. becomes incandescent, and the contact between the two carbons being only a point, a small electric arc is produced between the two carbons, while the electricity is at the same time passed on through the carbon disk, and the connections there attached to the next lamp.

Referring to our diagrams, in Fig. 1 the upper carbon is shown at C, and the rod carbon at c. The former is supported by means of an adjustable jointed bracket, B, attached to the wood stand. The rod carbon is guided by the spring collar on the top of the stand, and to which the connection is made, and is supported by the fine cord running over the pulley, P. This cord is attached to the clasp, D, at the bottom of the rod, and to the balance weight, W, by which the rod is maintained in constant, practical, though not absolute contact with the disk. Round the upper part of the disk is a metal band, A, to which the circuit wire is attached, and the current thus passed on to the next lamps.

At a recent trial of this lamp, the current was derived from a small Gramme electro-plating machine, requiring only 2 horse power to put it in full work. It may therefore be assumed that this was about the limit of the power at work to produce the light. At the commencement of the proceedings two lights were maintained, each stated to be equal to 320 sperm candles. At this rate the two lights would be equal to 640 candles, or 40 full power gas lights, each consuming 5 cubic feet of 16 candle gas per hour. Such gas lights, it may be observed, are not often seen, except in the argand form. The two lights burned with extreme steadiness, there being no undulation, or flickering whatever, although there was no glass globe to tone down any variations of luster. The lights were perfectly bare and unprotected, and the place where the trial was made was a workshop of moderate size.

Later in the evening one light was exhibited outside the building, in an open thoroughfare, and the same perfect steadiness was observable. After the two lights had been burning for a time they were extinguished, and the current was sent through a row of ten lamps. The light per lamp was of course reduced, but there was the remarkable fact that ten lights were maintained by a comparatively weak machine, driven by an engine exerting the power of only two horses.

The light of each of these ten lamps was stated to be that of 40 candles, making, therefore, a total of 400. A reduction of light, consequent on the further division of the current, is thus apparent; but for this loss there may be ample compensation in the superior economy of a distributed light as compared with one that is concentrated. In the case of the ten lamps, the light is equal to that of 25 full power gas lights, consuming altogether 125 cubic feet of gas per hour. The extremely small arc due to the peculiar arrangement of the carbons in the Werdermann light has the advantage of offering the least possible resistance to the passage of the current.