372 



TFIE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[NoVKMBKn. 



design, tlie execution of wliioli will cost £700 or .£750 more tluiii the 

 sum mentioncil in the instructions given to the architects. 



Yuur correspondent K. V. S. says, "having selected the design, the 

 subscribers proceeded to receive tenders for its execution; and it 

 having been whispered that the estimates of the builders greatly ex- 

 ceeded the stipulated sum, the result was — not that the subscribers 

 rejected the design and chose another — but that the tenders were re- 

 turned to the builders unopened, and the designs referred back to the 

 architect, for the purpose of being altered, so as to bring it within the 

 means of the subscribers." 



This statement is totally at variance with the truth. The first ten- 

 ders were not retarne(i to the builders, and the design was not referred 

 back to the architect for the reason stated. This course was taken 

 solely on account of an objection to the mode of constructing the roof, 

 made by the lncorpori<ted Society for building Churches; and the ob- 

 jection of the Society was communicated to the subscribers after the 

 first tenders were received. 



Your correspondent proceeds, "how the subscribers have fulfilled 

 the conditions they dictated, may be seen bv the following statement: 

 The acce[)ted tender amounted to £35.')U in round numbers." 



This .Sir, is not in accordance with the fact: the sum for which the 

 Church is to be completed is i;3,3.;>3. 



K. P. S. continues, "in addition to this, extra foundations, to the 

 amount of A' 150 to ^6200, were found to be necessary, not inconse- 

 quence of any unforeseen difficulty, such as might arise from the nature 

 of the soil, \'c." 



The fact. Sir, is, that the " extra foundations were required by the 

 nature of tlie soil." It was necessary to remove a very considerable 

 body of earth lor every part of the foundations, and in the site of the 

 tower, the ground was excavated to the depth of 13 feet ; and the 

 foundations was made of the best concrete, comprised of lime and 

 gravel, brought from a distance of nearly .3 miles. 



" The cost of the building," continues K. F. S., " is therefore to be 

 from £3,70U to £3,75U." 



This inference is very far from the truth. The sum for which the 

 Church is be completed is, as i have before observed, £3,353. But 

 from this gross sum is to be deducted the amounts of the drawback on 

 the duties ujjon the customable and exciseable materials used in the 

 building, as was expressly stated in the directions to the architects in 

 the letter dated Nov. 30," 183H. This drawback is estimated at £3)0. 

 The tost of the Church, therefore, will amount as nearly as possible 

 to £3,000, the sum w hich the subscribers have always stated that they 

 intenderl to expend. 



K. P. S. continues, "neither plastering nor painting are included in 

 the contract." 



This is opposed to the fact. The walls indeed are not to be plas- 

 tered, but all the plastering which the subscribers think ht to do, tn iii- 

 ciudtd in the contract; and so also is the painting. 



K. P. S. continues, "instead of G50 sittings in pews on the ground 

 floor, there are but 360 ; ISO more in open seats, and tl;e remainder 

 on benches." 



The subscribers have thought fit to substitute for pews of tliree dif- 

 ferent widths, seats of uniform width throughout the body of the 

 Church, some olose pews, some open pews, and along the middle aisle, 

 benciies. 



K. P. S. continues, " instead of stone quoins, there is not an atom of 

 stone in the building but what may be indispensable." 



This statement also is opposed to truth. There is much more stone 

 in the building than would have been indispensable in making stone 

 quoins : all the weatherings are of stone, as are also the string courses. 

 K. P. S. continues, "the window jambs, Szc, are of moulded brick, 

 not gauged brick, but bricks from the kiln, with good % joints between 

 them. The side roofs are to be covered with zinc." 



1 have only to observe that there was nothing in the instructions to 

 the architects which rendered it improper to build in the way that has 

 been adopted. 



K. P. S. continues, " the side walls are 2a bricks thick, but, to save 

 materials, are built hollow, the construction of the rest of the building 

 being in strict keeping." 



The inference which an incautious reader might be induced to adopt 

 from this statement, would perhaps be this — that the walls are hollow 

 throughout. Nothing coulil be further from the fact. There are no 

 diambers, but in those parts of the walls where there is little weight 

 to be supported. In the latter part of the last clause, K. P. S. has 

 been more guarded and prudent than in the rest of his letter, because 

 it is only an insinuation, and therefore does not admit of any direct 

 contradiction. 



K. P. S. continues, "whether all this is quite acting up either to tlie 

 letter or the spirit of the instructions of the Incoijioraled Society, may 

 admit of a doubt at least." 



The doubt. Sir, is soon resolved ; for the subscribers have the ap- 

 probation of the Incorporated Society testified by the signature of 

 their secretary upon the plans ; and indeed the q\iantity of materials 

 used in the walls is greater than is required by those approved plans. 



" It will admit of a doubt," continues K. P. S., " whether a building 

 with bare walls of ordinary brick, and fittings of naked deal inside, can 

 be exactly said to maintain an ecclesiastical character." 



How far the New Church can be said to maintain an ecclesiastical 

 character, must be a matter of taste of opinion; but it is believed tlrat 

 no one has seen the designs of Mr. Ranger, the architect, without ad- 

 miration of their beauty and their perfect ad.iptation to the purposes 

 for which the building is required; and that no one has seen the 

 building itself, so far as it has already been executed, without appro- 

 bation of the mode in which the work is done. 



So great a discordance between the statements of K. P. S. and the 

 facts of the case, the subscribers conceive can only have arisen from 

 this cause — that K. P. S. has seen neither the contract nor the build- 

 ing, and therefore neither knows what has been done, nor what it is 

 intended to do. He might have seen both by applying either to me, 

 or to the clerk of the woiks, and he is quite welcome to do so when- 

 ever he pleases. 



I am, Sir, your obedient servant, 



J. Sparke, Hon. See. 



Bury St. Edmund's, Oct. 10, 1S40. 



RANGELEY'S SAFETY ROTATION RAILWAY. 

 C IFith an Engraving, Plate XVII.^ 



In' the September nnmber of our Journal we gave a short descriptioti 

 of this invention, and also in the present number will be found an ab- 

 stract of a paper read at the British Association, but as we thought 

 many of our readers might feel interested in the proposed novel mode 

 of transit, we have prepared tlie accompanying plate illustrative of 

 the subject, and wdiich, with the following description, will fully enable 

 our readers to judge of its ])racticabiUty. 



This system consists in the adoption of two parallel lines of fixed 

 wdieels along the proposed road, at any moderate gauge, and at a short 

 distance longitudinally from centre to centre of each wheel. These 

 are termed the bearing wheels, which, together with a double pulley, 

 are cast or keyed on to a common axle marked d and e in the engrav- 

 ing. The axles of these bearing wheels and pullies work in plummer 

 blocks c, fixed on to cast-iron beds or bearing frames b, wdiich are pro- 

 posed to be in V2 feet lengths, and secured to three wood sleepers and 

 to each other in the way shown in fig. 3 ; but to prevent elevating 

 these iron beds much above the surface of the ground, a chamber of 

 masonry or iron is necessary to enable the bearing wheels to revolve 

 free from obstruction. Over every pulley is passed an endless band 

 working into the adjoining pulley each way, so that for any distance 

 that the road may be carried there would be an equal distance of band, 

 but in a series of lengths, equal to the distance from each other, of 

 pulley from pulley. Having proceeded so far in our description, we 

 will now explain the method of action : — A steam engine, water wheel, 

 or other motive power being connected with the pullies at each end of 

 such a series of wheels, and motion given thereto, it would in a short 

 time communicate it throughout; and each wheel revolving in the 

 same direction, it is evident that any body placed on the upper peri- 

 phery of the wheels, so that it could not quit the track, would be in a 

 short time carried from one end to the other, and in greater or less 

 time according to the greater or less rapidity with which the wheels 

 revolve. 



By referring to figs. I and 2, it will be perceived that the carriage 

 is without wheels, and in fact a kind of sledge; an iron rail is fixed in 

 the underside of the bearing frame to prevent the rapid wear which 

 would otherwise take place from the friction of the wheels in pro- 

 gressing the carriage. 



The safety of this mode of transit arises from a considerable portion 

 of the carriage depending between the wheels, and which is termed 

 the baggage box k, and the steady motion of the carriage will in a 

 great measure depend on the load which may be stowed therein. To 

 prevent lateral friction against the wheels on beds, guide wheels are 

 fixed at each end of the baggage box, which will prevent the carriage 

 at any time from quitting the track, ami also assist in its passage round 

 corners; a break at each end (for regulating the speed, or stopping 

 the carriage, by slightly raising it, and of course diminishing the fric- 

 tion or bite of the wheels on the carriage), is shown in figs. 1 and 2, 



