ENGINEERING. (SUBMERGED RAILWAY, THREAD- WORKS CHIMNEY.) 



sel, thus allowing the vessel to rise and fall that 

 distance without interference. A contrivance 

 called a brake is attached to the lower end of 

 the apron and operated by a set of levers con- 

 nected with the chute. From 7 to 10 men are 

 required to handle lumber from the tracks or 

 cars to the deck of the vessel, and for a gang of 

 this size 50,000 feet is considered a good day's 

 work. The cost of a chute is from $2,000 to 

 $6,000, according to the difficulties. 



Wire chutes have lately been introduced, since 

 they are found to be much more convenient in 

 case of heavy on-shore winds. A vessel pitching 

 violently at her anchor can be loaded almost as 

 easily as if she were lying in smooth water. 

 Three-inch flexible steel-wire ropes are used. 

 These are passed around a drum, which is driven 

 by a donkey engine, thence out between the ves- 

 sel's masts, resting on supports connected with 

 the masts, and so arranged as to be raised or 

 lowered. The main wire rope then extends some 

 distance beyond the vessel, and is securely an- 

 chored to the bottom of the sea. On this rope a 

 traveler works back and forth carrying the load 

 down the wire by means of a series of wheels. 

 The traveler, of course, is fitted with a set of 

 chains and hooks and hoisting tackle, by means 

 of which the lumber in any form can be picked 

 up and delivered easily on deck. Of course all 

 possible precautions are taken for the security 

 of the cable anchors, and of preventing the 

 vessel from dragging her own anchors and 

 fouling the wire chute. One advantage of 

 the wire chute is that its peculiar elastic con- 

 struction allows it to move with the vessel in 

 stormy weather, which, cf course, is out of the 

 question with a stationary chute. Moreover, it 

 works far more rapidly than the other kinds of 

 chutes, and is capable of carrying from 1.500 to 

 2,000 feet of lumber at a load, delivering as many 

 as 1,000 railroad ties in an hour. Seven or 8 

 men are required to operate the wire chute, and 

 the expense of its construction does not vary 

 greatly from that of a less scientific variety. 



Submerged Railway on the Coast of Spain. 

 Somewhat similar in its general ipurpose to the 

 lumber chutes on the coast of California is the 

 submerged railway connected with the mines of 

 Ontpn, near Bilbao, on the northern coast of 

 Spain. These are rich iron mines, long worked, 

 but, as the coast is extremely precipitous and 

 difficult, great trouble has heretofore been en- 

 countered in shipping the ore. At the foot of 

 the steep rocks is a sloping bottom, which ex- 

 tends some distance at an even grade. On this 

 incline a railroad bed was made, about 650 feet 

 long and 20 feet wide, and on this two sets of 

 parallel tracks were placed, making a four-rail 

 road. The grade is 5 feet in 100. The car that 

 traverses this railway is a high metallic pyram- 

 idal tower, mounted on four sets of wheels 

 running on the fourfold track described. The 

 platform on which the load of mineral ore is 

 placed is about 70 feet above the track, high 

 enough, that is, to rise well above the decks of 

 ordinary vessels. This tower, while movable on 

 its wheels, is of course practically stationary as 

 regards the action of the sea. The ore, there- 

 fore, can be delivered by simple inclined chutes 

 from the mouths of the mines and loaded upon 

 the upper platform of the tower. The motive 



power is furnished by gravity, the loaded tower 

 running seaward by its own weight, controlled, 

 of course, by brakes and cables connected with 

 the shore. To draw it back when empty, the 

 power of a gravity road on shore is employed. 

 Several weighted cars are placed on an inclined 

 plane for this purpose, the connection with the 

 tower being made by strong cables running over 

 sheaves. The tower thus works, loads and un- 

 loads itself almost automatically, and the rail- 

 way operates without difficulty. When the sea 

 is extremely rough, mooring buoys are provided 

 at the outer end of the railroad, to which vessels 

 can be made fast. The credit of this undertak- 

 ing is due to D. M. Alberto de Palazio. The 

 platform carries for its load about 100 tons of 

 ore, and 5,000 tons a day can be delivered on 

 shipboard. The total cost of the apparatus was 

 about $18,000. 



Chimney of the Clark Thread Works. At 

 Harrison, N. J., is the highest chimney in the 

 United States, the property of the Clark Thread 

 Works. Its total height is 335 feet. It is a 

 conspicuous feature of the landscape between 

 Newark and New York, familiar to tens of thou- 

 sands of passengers who pass daily within sight 

 of it on the adjacent railroads. On March 28, 

 during an unseasonable thunder storm, this lofty 



CHIMNEY OP CLARK THREAD WORKS, SHOWING METHOD OF 

 ASCENT. 



chimney was struck by lightning. Eye-witnesses 

 describe the incident as terrific, a huge ball of fire 

 falling to the summit of the chimney and glid- 



