UTILITIES FOR HANDLING RAW MATERIAL. 75 



weight at all times automatically occupies a similar position on the 

 other arm. The latitude of the operations of the apparatus is further 

 broadened by reason of the fact that the entire crane travels by its own 

 power up and down the track or trestle on which it is mounted. A 

 crane of this type is capable of marvelous speed. A load of fourteen 

 tons may be hoisted at a speed of 200 feet a minute; the trolley travels 

 back and forth along the cantilever arms at a speed of 600 feet a 

 minute; and the entire crane has sufficient propulsive power to enable 

 a speed of 750 feet a minute in traversing the track or trestle. 



In conclusion attention must be given to the so-called lifting 

 magnet, the most wonderful of all the new appliances for handling 

 weighty raw material. The electro-magnet, by the aid of electricit} 7 , 

 performs on a large scale something of the same function as the toy 

 with which children have long been familiar. One magnet will elevate 

 a mass of metal weighing two tons and it is possible to use several 

 magnets simultaneously in handling a particularly heavy steel plate 

 or bar. This plan of handling material also possesses immense economic 

 advantages, inasmuch as a single mechanic is usually in charge of the 

 crane to which the magnets are attached. 



