702 



PATENTS. 



or broken rails, has been invented by Alba F. 

 Smith, superintendent of the Hudson river 

 railroad, and by him patented Feb. 11, 1862. 



This invention consists in introducing pend- 

 ent links between the truck frame and the lo- 

 comotive, in such a manner that the truck can 

 move laterally under the forward end of the 

 engine. The importance and necessity of this 

 will be understood from the following : 



Locomotives generally have four or six driv- 

 ing wheels ; if these are placed on a curved 

 track, and a line projected forward from the 

 plane in which these wheels stand, it will be 

 found that the curved track diverges either 

 one way or the other from that line ; now if the 

 front of the engine itself were pulled around, 

 so that the truck wheels (standing in the same 

 plane as the drivers) could set upon the track, 

 the flanges of the respective wheels would 

 press against the sides of the track, producing 

 great friction and wear, and always tending to 

 make the locomotive run off the outer rail of 

 the curve ; this is substantially the case in the 

 ordinary locomotive, but by allowing the truck 

 to traverse laterally under the forward end of 

 the engine, as well as to turn on its centre bolt, 

 the drivers are allowed to retain their proper 

 position on the track and travel freely around the 

 curve, while the truck wheels also travel as 

 freely around the curve as they would do if on 

 the ordinary cars. 



This improvement has been introduced on 

 some of the best railroads in the country, and 

 gives great satisfaction. 



The patent in question, and some others 

 granted in previous years for accomplishing 

 the sam(> general objects by different mechan- 

 ism, are owned by the Locomotive Safety Truck 

 Company of New York. 



Machine for Planing Wood Mouldings. 

 The casual observer cannot help noticing the 

 large amount of wood mouldings that are now 

 used in buildings, in comparison with what was 

 used fifteen or twenty years since. This arises 

 from the fact that mouldings are produced by 

 machinery at a much less cost than was pos- 

 sible when planed by hand. A machine for 

 planing mouldings was patented by A. T. Serrell, 

 May 16, 1848, and extended for seven years 

 from May, 1862, in which a strip of wood sawed 

 diagonally, so as to save -material, is fed into 

 the machine by a roller that only acts upon the 

 parts where most wood has to be cut away, 

 thereby not injuring the portion of the wood 

 required for the moulding itself A rotary cutter 

 gives shape tp the moulding, and a stationary 

 plane smooths off the surface. This machine 

 is in extensive use in many parts of the country. 



Shoes. The benefit resulting from the appli- 

 cation of scientific principles to this branch of 

 industry is apparent by examining the light 

 and handsome rubber shoes now used in com- 

 parison with the shapeless article formerly 

 made, with the top part as thick or thicker 

 than the soles. 



The same remark applies to leather shoes ; 



they have not been made on scientific princi- 

 ples; in ready-made shoes this is particularly 

 the case, and almost every person knows that 

 a boot or shoe has to be worn for a long time 

 before it becomes as easy as an old shoe. This 

 results mainly from the fact that the lasts have 

 not been properly shaped, and the shoe has to 

 become wrinkled on the top, in consequence 

 of the sole bending upward at the toe. An 

 improvement was patented Sept. 16, 1862, by 

 N. Jones, in which the sectional last is made 

 of a peculiar shape and measure, so that the 

 shoe will be easy to the foot, and much more 

 durable, because the parts take their proper 

 strain, and the leather does not wrinkle and 

 crack. This style of last and shoe is being ex- 

 tensively adopted. 



Skeleton Skirts. Since ladies adopted the 

 skeleton skirt to keep the dress sufficiently 

 distended for convenience in walking, many 

 improvements have been made in the mode of 

 construction, and it is to be hoped that these 

 skirts will eventually be so perfectly made that 

 all objections to them will be removed, for by 

 their use the health of females is much im- 

 proved, because the heavy weight of skirts 

 formerly worn around the hips is removed. 



An improvement that adds much to the du- 

 rability of the skirts was patented Jan. 21, 

 1862, in which a piece of thin leather is intro- 

 duced beneath each of the clasps that fasten 

 the tapes to the hoops, whereby the cutting of 

 the tapes by the metal of the clasps is pre- 

 vented. 



Sewing Machines. The attention devoted by 

 inventors to this branch of manufacture, has 

 developed many important and valuable im- 

 provements. Among the improvements re- 

 cently introduced by many of the sewing ma- 

 chine manufacturers, is a device for braiding; 

 a small hole is made in the cloth presser near 

 the opening for the needle, and the braid is led 

 through this from a spool, so that the said 

 braid can be stitched to the fabric in any con- 

 figuration desired ; the fabric being guided to 

 the figure or pattern mark upon it. 



The sewing machine of Messrs. Wilcox and 

 Gibbs has also been improved so that it runs 

 without being heard ; the noise in sewing ma- 

 chines arises almost entirely from the feeding 

 device where the metallic surfaces come sud- 

 denly together. In this machine the noise is 

 prevented by the introduction of compressed 

 leather at certain places in the feeding mechan- 

 ism, and in practice this feed is found to be 

 much more durable than those heretofore in 

 use. 



In the same machine a simple device is em- 

 ployed for determining the position of the 

 hemmer ; this consists of a small pin entering 

 a hole in the bed, so that the hemmer cannot 

 be misplaced and the stitching will always be 

 on the proper part of the folded hem. 



An important improvement in sewing ma- 

 chines was patented Nov. llth, 1862, by J. A. 

 & H. A. House, which is now the property of 



