32 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



[jANrARY, 



Companion to /lie Almanac fur 1640. Lomlmi : Knight & Co. 



A<; \is\ial this publicaficm contains a great doal of highly interesting 

 architectural mailer, in the way both oT descriptions oi^ and comments 

 upon, new buildings and other iniprovementu, illustrated with several 

 clever wood engravings. Of these latter the subjects are, Mr. Wild's 

 two churches at Blackheath and ,Southami)ton, tlie new church I\irk 

 .Street, Bankside, the Club-house Clianibers, Regent .Street, and plans, 

 Ulc. of iMr. Cockerell's new buildings at Cambridge for the Public 

 Libraries, vVc. Among those buildings which, although not accom- 

 panied w ilh any cuts, come in for a large share of notice and remarks 

 are, Mr. Harry's Reform Club, and Mr. Tattersall's chapel at D\ikin- 

 tield, as does likewise the new building in Wellington Street, for 

 Bielefeld's Rapier Maclir Works. 



The counnents on the plan of the Cambridge Libraries are pertinent, 

 —though, jierliaps, the architect may be disposed to prefix an im to 

 that epithet — and judicious; for it certainly does appear that the 

 building w ill be more irregular than even the awkwardness of the site 

 reipures : nor that onlv externallv but internally too, because many of 

 the piincipal apartments will be thrown quite out of square, one of 

 them sloping off instead of being parallel to the opposite one. It is 

 therefore to be hoped that that part of the jjlan will be reconsidered 

 before it shall be actually began. 



\Ve shall quote only two of the minor paragraphs: 



KcKii'ick i'hitrch. Lately erected by Mr. Salvia, is a stone edifice in the 

 early |ioiii1ed style, of about the time of Henry II, with a tower, burmomited 

 by a low spire, and a small octagonal huilding, attaclu'd to the south side of 

 the church, for a vestry room. This latter is covered l)y a very steep, or 

 spirc-iliaiictl roof, and forms a very striking feature ill the design, to winch 

 it imp.irls a great degi'ce of jiiclarcsiiiie variety. This church was corn- 

 men ed by the late John Marshall, Jan., Ksq., and has been completed by 

 his widow. It i:, ant capable of containing more than 412 persons, viz., 48 

 in pews aod ."iljl in free seats. Cost, .I'tJ.'JHl). 



Dmimi/lon r7(«;-e/(, another work by the same architect, is very different 

 in design, being a long and low but high-rnofed stnieture, of rather primitive 

 character, with small and jdain jiointed windows, at irregular intervals, and 

 a square tower (in whlcli is a jiorch) on the north side. It was built by sub- 

 scriptions and dunatiims for the sum of i.'3,ii5t ; yet, although the cost is 

 little more tlian iialf that of the ))rccciling laulding, it is cai»uhle of aeeoru- 

 niodating more than doable the number of jiersons, viz., l.OltJ ; 1 10 in pews 

 and GOO in free sittings." 



In a previous part of the volume is a section upon "Railways," 

 containing much statistical iiiforniation on that subject. 



Mancltcster as H is, witli numerous S/ed Engravings and a J\Iap. 

 Manchester: Love and Barton. 



Tins is a verj' useful and interesting little work, descriptive of all the pub- 

 lic buildings, institutions, evhibitions, canals, warehouses aiul manufactories, 

 in short it appears to contain all the infoi'matioa that a visitor may wish for 

 as a gui<le to Manchester. We select the following extracts to show the 

 nature of the work. 



STEAM ENGINE M.VKIXG, AND F.NGINEEniNG. 



One of the i)rincii)al establishments in Manchester, in these departments, 

 is that belonging to William Fairbairn, Esq., situate in Canal-street, Great 

 Ancoats-strettt. To jicrsons \mac(ptainted ^^ith the nature of working in iron, 

 an admission into these works aftords, perhaps the most gratifying spectacle 

 wbicli the town can j)rescnt of its nnmnfactnixvi in this metal. Consetiuently, 

 abnosl e\t'ry person of tlistinction visiting the town contrives to jn'oeure an 

 introduction to the proprietor before leaving it. In this establishment the 

 lieuvit'st description of machinery is manufactured, including steam engines, 

 water wheels, locomotive engines, and null geering. There are from r)50 to 

 GOO liamis employed in the various dei)artnu:nts ; and a walk through the ex- 

 tensive premises, in which this great niunber of men are busily at work, 

 atlords a specimen of industry, and an evainple of lU'actical science, which 

 can scarcely be surpassed. In every direction of the works the ntnmst xi/xfem 

 prevails, and each mechanic appears to have bis iieeuliar description of work 

 assigned, with the utmost economical sididivisiou of laliour. All is activity, 

 yet without confusion. Smiths, strikers, moulders, millwrights, mechanics, 

 boiler nnikcrs, pattern makers, appear to attend to their respective employ- 

 ments with as nmch regularity as the working of the niachineiy they assist to 

 construct. 



In one de]tartiuent mechanics are employed in building those mighty nut- 

 chines \\bicb have augmented so inuneusely the mannfacturiag interests of 

 tlrcat liritain, naujcly, steam engines. All si/.ca ami dimensions arc frequently 

 under hand, from the dinunutive size of 8 horses power, to the enormous 

 magnitude of 400 horses' power. One of this latter size contains the vast 

 amount of 200 tons or upwards of metal, and is worth, in round nundjcrs, 

 from .15,000 to .fC,000. 

 The process of easting metal is 90n(lu«tc4 here on a very large scale, Cast- 



ings of twelve tons weight are by no meaus unconuuon : the beam of a 300 

 horses' jiower steam engine weighs that amoiuit. Fly-wheels for engines, and 

 water-wheels, though not cast entire, are inunense specimens of heavy cast- 

 ings. .\ fly-wheel, for an engine of 100 horses' power, measures in diameter 

 twenty-six feet, and weighs about thirty-live tons. In this establishnuait 

 some of the largest water-wheels ever manufactured, and the heaviest luill- 

 geering have been constructed ; one water-wheel, for instance, lueasuriiig 

 sixty-two feet in diameter. The average weekly consnui]itioii of metal in 

 these works in the process of manufacturing, owing to the (piantity of wrought 

 iron used, and the unmcnse bulk of the castings, is CO tons or upwards, or 

 3,120 tons anuuidly. 



The preparation of jiatterns, — wood fac-similes of the castings, — is a \ery 

 costly process. Every piece of machinery, before it can be cast, nmst be 

 constructed in wood; and these path-nu, Af, they are termed, arc made to 

 form, in sand, the mould into which the liquid ore is pom-ed. Fifty men are 

 daily employed in making patterns. The patterns, which are part of thepro- 

 jirietor's stock hi trade, are worth many thousand pounds. .Vfter being used, 

 the most important are |>Hinted and varnished, and laid carefully aside, in a 

 dn room, to be ready for use when machiucs may accidentally get broken, or 

 to ai<l in the construction of new ones. The patterns are made frequently of 

 mahogany. 



A most curious machine is employed for the purpose oi plainiiy iron ; and, 

 by means of its aid, iron shavings are stripped off a solid mass of metal, with, 

 apparently, as nmch ease as if it were wood, and w ith the greatest regidarity 

 and exactness. Not the least interesting department of these works is that 

 appio|)riated to boiler making. Boilers, for steam engines, are composed of 

 a nmnber of jdates of wrought-iron, about % of an inch in thickness. They 

 are livetcd together, with rivets about J of an inch diameter, holes to receive 

 whica are punched through the plates, by a ]>ovvcrful, yet simple, machine, 

 with as much facility as if the resistance was mere air. 'The process of rivet- 

 ing was, on the old nudlwd, an extremely noisy one ; hut a new jilaii, is 

 adopted here, and by it the work is performed silently, and nmch more etli- 

 ciently. .Some time ago about 50 boiler makers were employed by Mr. Fair- 

 bairn. The " strnck," as it is termed, because their employer infringed, as 

 they considered, upon their privileges, by introducing a few labourers, not in 

 " The I'nion," to jierforni the drudgery connected with the work. On this 

 occurring, Mr. l''ai.-bairn and Mr. liobert Smith invented a machine which 

 superseded the labour of 1.'! ont of the 50 of his boiler makers. The work is 

 performed by the machine much quicker, more systematically, and, as before 

 said, without noise. 



LOCOMOTIVE ENGINE .\ND TOOL-MAKERS. 



Uniler this head may be classed several extensive works, in and about 

 Manchester.* One of the largest is that possesseil by .Messrs. N'asmyths, 

 Ciaskell & Co., situated at Patricroft, four and a half miles distant from Man- 

 chester, and innncdiately adjoining the Liverpool and Manchester Railroad, 

 at that part where it crosses the liridgewater Canal, which great national 

 work forms the boundary or frontage of the ground on which the above esta- 

 blishment is erected, and w Inch, in consequence, has been named, " The 

 liridgewater Foundi^." 



These works hiive a frontage to the railroad, as well as to the canal, to the 

 extent of 1,051) feet ; which circumstance supplies every possible facility for 

 conuuiuucation, either by laml or by water carriage. One of the " stopping 

 stations" of all the second class trains being opposite, persons desirous of 

 vishing these works, can he set down .at the entrance gate. The distance in 

 titne, from Manchester, is only from ten to fifteen minutes. 



The above establishment is of very recent erection, having been in existence 

 only about two and a half years. There are employed at present about 300 

 men : the greater part of \vhom, together with their families, live in cottages 

 which the proiirietors have elected for their aceonunodatioii. The situation 

 of these works is not only most admirably adapted for the purposes forvshich 

 they have been erected, but it also secures, in a great degree, good health to 

 the inen employed ; for, being surrounded on all sides with green fields, and 

 being, moreover, on the west side of Manchester, a very long lease of pure air 

 is secured ; a circumstance of no small importance, as regards the health and 

 conjfort of the vvorknu'n employed. 



The whole of this establishment is divided into departments, over each of 

 which a foreman, or a responsible person, is placed, whose duty is not only to 

 see that the men under his superintendence produce good work, but also to 

 endeavour to keep pace with the productive powers of all the other depart- 

 ments. The departments m,iy he thus specified : — The dr.iwing office, where 

 the designs are made out ; and the working drawings produced, from which 

 the men are to receive the necessary information. Then come the pattern- 

 makers, whose didv is to make the patterns, or models in wood, which are to 

 be cast in iron or' brass ; next comes the foundry, and the iron and brass 

 monhlers ; then the forgers or smiths. The chief part of the produce of these 

 two last named pass on to tlie turners and planers, who, by means of most 

 powerful and complete machineiy, execute all such work on the various arti- 

 cles as require cither of these operations; besides which, any holes that are 

 required are at this stage bored, by a great variety of drilling machines, most 

 of which are self-acting. Then come the fitters and filers, who, by means of 

 chisels and files, execute all such work as requires manual labour, and pcr- 



* Messrs. Sharp, Roberts, & Co.'s, Messrs. Peel, Williams, & Co.'s, are 

 among the first in importance. 



