WILLIAM SIEMENS, F.R.S. 157 



His statement about " losses to their owners and poor perform- 

 ances " exist only in his own mind ; sufficient for us to say that 

 we are now, and have always been, perfectly satisfied with your 

 gas system. If it were not so, we should not have gone on in- 

 creasing the plant. We have never applied against the income 

 tax in respect of these works. It is a pity people do not make 

 themselves better acquainted with their subject before they rush 



into print. 



Yours truly, 



(Signed) NETTLEFOLDS. 



THE REGENERATIVE GAS FURNACE. 

 To THE EDITOR OF "THE ENGINEER." 



SIR, In your last impression I noticed a letter signed " H. L.," 

 containing a few questions regarding the regenerative gas furnace, 

 to which I have no objection to reply. Your correspondent wishes 

 to know " what are the defects to prevent its universal applica- 

 tion ? what is the reason it was abandoned at the Elswick fac- 

 tories ? and why it was put up at Woolwich, tried, discarded and 

 taken down ? " In answer to the first question, it may be said 

 that the substitution of the regenerative gas furnace for the ordi- 

 nary furnace in existing works is attended with considerable 

 expense, and the working of the furnace requires an intelligent 

 supervision which is not always bestowed upon it. The merits of 

 the furnace are perhaps not sufficiently advertised ; whereas per- 

 sons interested to disparage it are less reticent. It is a significant 

 fact, however which any one interested can easily ascertain for 

 himself that in all the great works of this and other countries in 

 which the regenerative gas furnace has once been established, it 

 has rapidly and entirely superseded the ordinary furnace. 



The slowness with which any important change is carried into 

 practical effect is, perhaps, best illustrated in reference to the 

 application of my furnace to the melting of steel in crucibles. 

 The few works in this country which have taken advantage of the 



