Ud 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[November, 



nt tlie Town II;ill, oil tlie 'Di'rtection of Riihvay Riiiltrp^ niuler 

 tlie passafie of heavy Bodie-;;' and aNo I'rofessor Hodi^Uiinciii's 

 paper on tlie 'Stren;;tli and Elasticity of Stone and Tinil>er,' read 

 in the .Mechaniral Section, as they were both merely explanatory 

 statements of some of the ex])prlments that were performed for 

 the "'Iron Commission," and whieli we hope to he able shortly to 

 present to our readers in a mi>re complete form than was given at 

 JJirmingham.] 



THE BRITANNIA TUBULAR BRIDGE. 



The final lift of the Britannia tuhe took place on Monday the 

 loth ult,, the permanent level of 150 feet above hifrh-water mark 

 haviiifr been successfully attained on Saturday the 13th. This 

 additional hoist of 3 feet had to be made, and was indispensably 

 ini|iortant to enable the great tube to be joined on to the end, or 

 land tube, in the centre of the great tower on the Anglesea side of 

 the Straits, and so completing one-half of the passage iicross. In 

 effecting this it is found necessary to provide for the expansion 

 and contraction of so great a mass of metal, which from changes 

 of temperature are very considerable: the extreme variation in 

 the length of one of the tubes between summer and winter is 

 stated to be nearlv 1'2 inches. To make pro\'ision, therefore, for 

 this constant alteration in length, which would otherwise endanger 

 the stability of the whole structure, the great tubes are fixed in 

 tlie central Britannia tower in such a manner that tliey cannot 

 move; hut on either side where the tube unites with those in the 

 laml towers and abutments on shore, they travel on moveable rollers 

 of cast-iron 6 inches in diameter, a portion of the weight being 

 also supported at the top on balls of hard gun-metal of the same 

 size, working in channeled beams and acting in the same way as 

 the rollers. Besides these rollers, which are now being placed, 

 and on which the tube has to be let down, at the extreme -ends, 

 where the rails intended for the trains in the tube are joined to 

 those on land, contrivances are used to prevent a gap being formed 

 by the contraction of the tube, which might otherwise interfere 

 with the passage of the trains. Some uncertainty has occurred 

 with reference to the floating of the second tube. Should the 

 tides, &c., be favourable, it will take place before the close of 

 the present month; but if n<it, at tlie beginning of December. 

 The hydraulic apparatus will be brought into action for the lifting 

 of the second tube as soon as it is floated to the foot of the piers. 



THE PATENT FIRE ANNIHILATOR. 



In the Journal for March last (page 127), we gave the substance 

 of a paper read by the Rev. J. Barlow at the Royal Institution, on 

 Phillips's 'Patent Fire Annihilator.' Some interesting experi- 

 ments have lately been conducted by the patentee, at the establish- 

 ment of the London Gas Company, Vauxhall, and which were re- 

 ported at the time in the Alining Journal, from which we copy the 

 following very sensible remarks. 



"These experiments afford convincing proof that, while water is 

 useless when a fire in a building has obtained a hold, except in sa- 

 turating surrounding materials, and thus preventing its spread, the 

 vapours generated by this apparatus are perfect non-supporters 

 of combustion, and that no fire can exist for one minute after the 

 atmosphere surrounding it has been charged by their application. 

 The outbreak of several alarming fires in the metropolis of late, 

 and the approach of winter, when calamities of this kind are of 

 more frequent occurrence, has again called our attention to the 

 subject; and, convinced as we are of the soundness of the princi- 

 ple, and the perfect success which must attend its use, we shall be 

 most happy if our remarks tend, in the smallest degree, to promote 

 its general adoption. As regards many of these destructive fires, 

 had one of the largest Annihilators been in requisition in the 

 neighbourhood at the first outbreak, the destructive element would 

 have been subdued immediately, and the large amount of property 

 in many instances destroyed would have been saved; while even 

 when the building was in one mass of flame, had the firemen been 

 supplied with some of the Annihilators of the more powerful sizes, 

 the fire would have been got under in a few minutes, instead of 

 requiring the exertions of a number of men for perhaps 30 or 40 

 hours in deluging the remains of the property with water, and thus 

 utterly spoiling what probably had escaped burning. It is a re- 

 markable, and one of the most advantageous features of the in- 

 vention next to its annihilating powers, that as instantaneously as 

 it extinguishes fire, so immediately does it create a perfectly whole- 

 some atmosphere for inhalation, and the most delicate fabrics which 

 might escape the flames are uninjured by the vapours generated. 



We would therefore suggest to the hoard of directors of insurance 

 companies managing the fire-brigade department, to Mr. Braid- 

 wood, the superintendent, and to country insurance companies, 

 whether it would not be advisable to give the new extinguishing 

 apparatus a fair trial. We know how prone human nature is to 

 hang to old associations, and how dilficult it is to introduce new 

 modes of action to the exclusion of the old; but in this age of 

 improvement and scientific advancement, the public look to public 

 men to carry out new discoveries, which promise to be productive 

 of general benefit; and in this instance nothing could be more 

 easy, or devoid of any inconvenience, and, at the same time, with- 

 out invidving an expense worth naming when the prospective bene- 

 fit is considered, than for the firemen, when called out with their 

 engines, to be provided with some of the largest of tlie hand Anni- 

 hilators, and thus give them a fair trial. Should they not prove of 

 the advantage represented, the operat(n's would be provided with 

 the element usually employed — water; but should they turn out to 

 be generally effective, as we expect they will be, it must, on con- 

 sideration, be perceived what a vast amount of annual loss would 

 be prevented to the companies and to the public ; while the safety 

 to human life would, doubtless, fm-m a large item connected with 

 their introduction. During .Mr. I'liillips's lectures, he described to 

 the audience the natural phenomena which first suggested to his 

 mind the idea of applying vapours to the extinguishing of fire in 

 buildings. It appears tliat, many years since, he was on board 

 an English man-of-war, cruising in the .Mediterranean, when an 

 extraordinary phenomena occurred, which few have had an oppor- 

 tunity of witnessing — -the formation of an island from the depths 

 of the ocean by volcanic agency. After the cmisolidation of land 

 above the water, where the sea was 80 fathoms deep, to an extent 

 of six miles in diameter, the volcanic action continued with extra- 

 ordinary impetus, notwithstanding an enormous chasm was open on 

 one side the island, into which the waters flowed in foaming tor- 

 rents, and were as instantly ejected, in combination with red-hot 

 cinders and flames of fire, to a perpendicular height of probably 

 three miles. At this awful moment the vessel, about two miles dis- 

 tant, was gradually drifting, at a slow but certain rate, with the 

 current, directly into this vast fiery opening, and the consternation 

 and despair of all on board may be better fancied than described. 

 All was given up for lost, when suddenly the eruption ceased, a 

 vast body of vapour escaped from the crater, and a current of wind 

 springing up from the island, bore the apparently doomed vessel 

 away in safety. From this perilous adventure, Mr. Pliillips was 

 struck with the idea which formed the basis of his present inven- 

 tion. He considered that water, per «■, had evidently no extin- 

 guishing effect on the flame, or even on the smirce from whence 

 it arose; but as soon as a sufficient quanity of vapour had formed 

 in the fiery depths to cut off all connection with the atmosphere, 

 and thus prevent access of oxygen to support combustion, in- 

 stantly the flames were checked, the very foundation of the 

 fire annihilated, and the mere island alone remained to show the 

 extraordinary outbreak to which Nature had been subjected. 

 Having thus embodied the idea, the next difficulty was the con- 

 struction of an apparatus which should instantaneously he avail- 

 able, and which should be certain in operation, and this has been 

 most completely effected. The charge in tlie machine is a chemi- 

 cal compound of a highly-combustible nature, hut only when fired 

 by chemical means. It then gives out a most intense heat, suffi- 

 cient instantly to vapourise the water contained in the case, and 

 which, mi.xing with its own vapours, forms the gaseous compound, 

 in which no fire can exist. Although thus a strictly chemical 

 operation, it is so arranged that the most unenlightened, or even a 

 mere child, can perform the action required with ease and safety, 

 it being merely pressing down a peg in the toj) of the outer case. 

 This peg breaks a capsule containing sulphuric acid, which, 

 dropping into a tube containing chlorate of potash and lump 

 sugar, mixed in the form of a powder, the charge above-noticed 

 is instantly put in a state of combustion, and the effects mentioned 

 are the result. We understand that the public generally are be- 

 coming alive to the safety of having one of the Annihilators in 

 their houses, as offering such simple yet certain means of stopjiing 

 the ravages of fire when in embryo; and no theatre, bank, or other 

 public establishment, gentlemen s country mansions, where, from 

 their isolated position, fires are generally so fatal, nor ships at sea, 

 should be without one or more of these life and property saving 

 machines. Preparations are now being made, by the erection 

 of a much larger building than the one on which experiments were 

 lately made, for proving its capabilities on a more magnificent 

 and practical scale; and on suc-li exposition being made, we shall 

 again return to the subject." 



I 



