306 



ENGINEERING. 



nigh exhausted. She exceeded the raft in 

 length by less than 100 feet. 



Two powerful sea-going tugs, the "Under- 

 writer " and the " Ocean King," undertook the 

 work of towing the raft to New York, which 

 was effected, without accident or material de- 

 lay, in 11 days, a distance of 700 miles. Heavy 



FIG. 8. 120-ToN SHEARS, AT THE PORT OF MARSEILLES. 



seas were encountered off Cape Cod, and the 

 plank sheathing on the bow was carried away. 

 The raft was anchored for a few hours in Vine- 

 yard Haven, while the tugs procured supplies. 

 The inside course was followed through Long 

 Island Sound. Five tugs were necessary to 

 bring the raft through the tortuous channels of 

 Hell Gate and the East river and into the 



Erie Basin where, after being visited by thou- 

 sands, it was broken up and the logs disposed 

 of at an alleged profit of $10,000 to $12,000. 

 It is understood that the success of the scheme 

 has been the death-blow to further enterprises 

 of the same kind, for the general lumber-ship- 

 ping interests would be so seriously injured, 

 and the danger to nav- 

 igation is so great in 

 case the raft breaks up 

 at sea, that the Do- 

 minion authorities will 

 not permit similar un- 

 dertakings in the fut- 

 ure. 



Hoisting-Shears, "W ith 

 the increased size and 

 weight of machinery 

 and naval equipment, it 

 has become necessary 

 largely to improve the 

 appliances for handling 

 them. On one of the 

 moles of the National 

 Dock at Marseilles, 

 France, a powerful set 

 of shears was erected 

 early in the year, under 

 contract for the Mar- 

 seilles Chamber of Com- 

 merce, hy the Com- 

 pagnie de Fives-Lille. 

 The conditions called 

 for variable powers of 

 25, 75, and 120 tons, to 

 be obtained at will, \v ith 

 a proportional output 

 of water for hydraulic 

 pressure, and the load 

 had to be lifted 22 feet 

 above the quay and car- 

 ried horizontally from 

 28 feet beyond the edge 

 to 16 feet in the rear, 

 so that the load might 

 be taken from a ship 

 and deposited upon a 

 truck, and vice versa. 

 It is believed that di- 

 rect hydraulic action 

 for very heavy weights 

 is now achieved for the 

 first time. In the large 

 apparatus constructed 

 by Sir William Arm- 

 strong, the lifting pow- 

 er only was employed, 

 the shifting process be- 



ing effected through independent mechanism. 

 Technically, the apparatus is of the type 

 known as the oscillating tripod. It consists 

 of two lateral iron-plate uprights, (Fig. 8), 

 resting upon the wharf wall, and of a beam, 

 jointed to them above and connected below 

 with the head of the piston of a hydraulic 

 press. This latter rests upon an iron -plate 



