1849.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



851 



spoiled beyond all remedy. The author states that Orkney kelp glass is the' 

 best for ornamental work and picture subjects, where a brilliant red colour is 

 required, and that the market sheet glass, made with soda, ash, or harytes, 

 &c., and selected as colourless as possible, is the best for enamelling pur- 

 poses, or for light orange, yellow, aud lemon stain colours. 



NOTES OF THE MONTH. 



Gumey's High-Pressure Steam-Jet for Sewage Ventilation. — Some account 

 appeared in the morning papers a few weeks since, of an explosion of sewer- 

 gas in the Friar-street sewer, Blackfriars-road, in consequence of the sewer 

 being connected with the furnace-chimney of Messrs. Anderson and Cattley. 

 A most interesting and perfectly successful experiment with the steam-jet of 

 Mr. Goldsworthy Gurney has since been tried, for ascertaining its capabili- 

 ties, in the yard of these gentlemen, who thus describe the operation and its 

 effects: — " A communication was made from our yard to the sewer by a 

 stone piping, 12 inches diameter, and a steam-jet three-eighths of an inch 

 diameter (about the size of a large goose quill), taken from a small boiler, 

 was, by a proper arrangement of connected cylinders, made to act as an 

 exhausting power, and thus draw the foul air from the sewer. This jet pro- 

 duced a most powerful current, and in five minutes after it was set in action 

 the whole of the pestilential vapour was drawn out, and the flushing men 

 were able to go into the sewer, which, for nearly two years past it had been 

 impossible to enter. At the Blackfriars-road entry, they found most foul and 

 putrid depnsit, to the depth of four feet eight inches, exhaling sulphuretted 

 hydrogen, and other poisonous gases in large quantities, saujples of which 

 have been taken by Mr. A. Anderson, which he intends, in conjunction with 

 Dr. Ure and Mr. Scanlan, to analyse carefully. This filth is so thick that 

 the shovels stand upright in it, and the men found it so difficult to wade 

 through that they could not proceed further than 200 yards up the sewer. 

 This morning all the man-holes in Friar-street have been opened, and the 

 men have gone into the sewer at every point. It is in the same state of ac- 

 cumulated filth from end to end, with an inclination running towards our 

 factory, originally intended to go to the Thames, through Union-street. 

 We tested the down-cast draft of fresh air at every man-hole, and found it 

 to be of considerable velocity when the jet was on, drawing in rapidly the 

 vapour from smoking paper, and almost instantaneously re-producing flame 

 by the force of the current. At the opening of the large sewer in Black- 

 friars-road, the draft was so strong as to oblige the workman to surround 

 the light with his hands. The officers of the commission have set men to 

 work to clear out the sewer, and they can remove the deposit through 

 Blackfriars sewer, instead of drawing it up into the street and carting away. 

 In an experiment made on the 20th ult., the action of the jet was slopped for 

 five minutes; the down-cast air was also stopped at every opening, when the 

 stench over the man-hole in Blackfriars-road was insupportable ; hut within 

 80 seconds after the jet was again put on, the currents were reversed, as if 

 by magical command, and all effluvia to the street ceased. Every one ac- 

 quainted with the power of the steam-jet, as now applied to the ventilation 

 of coal mines, would expect this result in its application to the ventilation of 

 eewers ; but the most interesting and valuable point to the public in this 

 operation is, that it not only draws off all ofl'ensive effluvia, but by a simple 

 process decomposes, and, in popular language, destroys it on the spot. 

 The withdrawal of the whole mass of gaseous sewage from Friar-street has 

 neither tainted the air, nor can it be detected at any distance from the ap- 

 paratus by the most delicate tests. These remarkable results have 

 been effected in a few hours, at a very trifling cost, and it is quite evident 

 that we have now at command the means of effectually and safely purifying 

 the sewers of all London." 



Timber Preserver. — M Louis Vernet, of Buenos Ayres, has obtained a 

 patent for preserving from destruction by worms, insects, decay, and flre, 

 certain vegetable and animal substances. This invention consists chiefly in 

 impregnating, saturating, or coating the substance to be preserved with a 

 weak solution of arsenic, alone or combined with other materials. The 

 solution is obtained by boiling an arsenious acid in water until it is dis- 

 solved, and the fluid becomes clear and transparent. The proportion of 

 arsenic to water is 1 lb. to 40 gallons, and care should be taken not to allow 

 the fire to toucb the sides of the boiler above the water, which would cause 

 the arsenic to sublimate, and act injuriously on the health of the workmen. 

 The quantity of water evaporated should be replaced by the same quantity 

 of fresh water, in order that the relative proportions above-mentioned may 

 be maintained. Or, a concentrated solution may be formed by dissolving 

 1 lb. of arsenic in 5 gallons of water, which can be preserved for any length 

 of time in wooden vessels until required for use, when every five gallons 

 must be diluted with 35 gallons of water. The article may either be im- 

 mersed in or washed over with the solution, and then dried, whereby it will 

 acquire a thin coating of arsenic, which will be imperceptible to the senses, 

 but a suflicient preservative against the ravages of insects, &c. Or, it may 

 be impregnated with the solution by exhaustion or pressure. When the 

 solution is required to dry quickly, 6 lb. of alum to 1 lb. of arsenic are dis- 

 solved in it. To preserve timber from fire, it is to be impregnated with a 

 solution of lib. of arsenic, 61b. of alum, and 10 lb. of potass, in 40 gallons 

 of water. To preserve timber immersed in water from decay, and the 

 ravages of the worm, it is to be painted over with the solution mixed with 

 oil or any suitable tarry matters. 



Lancefleld Forge. — This extensive and interesting workshop of industry, 

 the property of Messrs. Fulton and Ncilson, situated in Laucefield-street, 

 Anderston, near the foot of the North-quay, is celebrated for the production 

 of the hugest aud finest pieces of forged iron work to he found in the thn e 

 kingdoms. When in full operation there are about 100 persons employed 

 on the premises, several steam engines constantly at woik, and the various 

 processes for the conversion of common worthless-looking scraps into pon- 

 derous bars and sliafts, fitted to drive the paddles of the largest steamers, or 

 the wheels of the most extensive manufactories, are carried on with steadi- 

 ness and vigour. In one part of the work we are shown a cutting machine 

 driven by steam, which slices iron plates, an inch in thickness, into small 

 pieces, as' easily as a housewife could cut a piece of cheese with a table knife. 

 In another department, these scraps or shingles are built into heaps, about 

 the size of quartern loaves, preparatory to being put into a furnace, from 

 which they are drawn out in lumps or masses blazing red, and then subjected 

 to the "tilt hammer," by which they are beaten into a solid state, and 

 shaped into bars of a certain length and thickness. From this part of the 

 work comes the material for the construction of all the immense shafts, co- 

 lumns, and heavy engine gearing which daily issues from the forge, some- 

 times requiring 10 or 12 horses to convey them to the place of tbeir destina 

 tion. After leaving the tilt hammer, these iron bars are conveyed to 

 Nasmyth's patented hammers— two of the most interesting machines in the 

 place— by which they are beaten into larger pieces, and made to assume tlie 

 form and design for which they are required. These machines can bo made 

 to give a pressure of five to seven tons at a stroke, and are easily managed 

 by two or three workmen, who can make the huge mass come down at one 

 moment so snftlv as scarcely to bruise a blade of grass, and ut anotlier with 

 a force that would sink a ship of war. Here, by the help of lever power, 

 two or three men can raise, and turn, and manage the formation of a mass 

 of iron weighing 12 or 14 tons as readily and as simply as a common black- 

 smith would forge a horse's shoe, and here these immense masses are formed 

 so accurately as not to be the sixteenth part of an inch from their pattern. 

 At present we may mention the Lancefleld Forge Company are in couise of 

 constructing four shafts, eai h of them 14 tons weight, for the Halifax ves- 

 sels, and the process of their formation is both ingenious and surprising. 

 Another article in the work that attracts much attention is what is called 

 the slotting machine, a huge iron structure, about 65 tous weight, by which 

 blocks of cold iron are cut, and grooved, and paired, as easily as pieces of 

 wood in the hands of a carpenter.— Gtoyoiti Chronicle. 



Morticing Machine for Joiners' JVorh.—We inspected, at Messrs. E. T. 

 Bellhouse and Co.'s Eagle Foundry, a new machine for morticing wood. 

 This machine, though recently introduced into this country, where it has 

 been patented by Mr. William Furness, of Liverpool, has been used for the 

 last fifteen years in the United States of America, where it was invented by 

 a Mr. J. A. Fay. It is on the principle of the slutting machine for iron, but 

 with a power of adjustment of the point of the tool which enables a great 

 variety of work to be done by it. The chisels emplojed are peculiar 

 in shape, not being solid like the ordinary mortice chisels, but flat, like the 

 common joiner's chisels, with the edges turned up at right angles, so that 

 the chips are drawn out of the mortice, after the hole has been cut. The 

 machine can be used with any size of chisel from i-inch up to 2 inches; it 

 will also set out and mortice naves for wheels not exceeding 10 by 15 inches. 

 Pins and dowels are made by it in a quick and perfect manner. It can be 

 made to operate either by foot or steam-power, and one machine will 

 perform the work of eight men. The cost of the machine is about 20f. 

 — Manchester Guardian. 



Biscuits madebg Machinery. — At the extensive ship-bread bakery of Mr. 

 Thomas Harrison, Mersey-street, is a patent machine, which ditiers froni 

 those hitherto in use, in size, in utility, and in adaptation for the firing of 

 the bread, on the hot-air principle, now the property of the Patent Desic- 

 cating Company. The flour and water in proper proportions are placed in a 

 cylinder, and the first operation of thoroughly mixing is performed by arms 

 inside. On leaving the cylinder, the dough is kneaded by means of a large 

 iron cylinder, under which it is passed several times. The required thickness 

 is attained on passing beneath a smaller cylinder. The dough, spread like a 

 large sheet, passes along an endless cloth, the machinery moving at each 

 stroke the precise width of a biscuit. As the dough passes along, by the 

 rising and falling of a nicely-adjusted piece of mechanism, the biscuits are 

 cut into shape and receive the stamp of the patentee. The biscuits are not 

 circular, but have six sides, and, therefore, there is not, in cutting out, any 

 waste of dough, except a small portion at each end. Passing along the 

 endless cloth, the biscuits are conducted to the mouth of the oven, where 

 they are received on what may be called, for familiar illustration, an endless 

 gridiron, which, as the machine moves, draws in the biscuits in a few seconds. 

 Each oven is 4 J feet in width, and 26^ feet in length. There are four ovens, 

 one above another, and all fed from the same furnace with hot water. The 

 mixing of the flour and water occupies about twelve minutes, the kneading 

 five or six, and the firing half an hour. As each oven contains G50 biscuits, 

 and may be filled within a few minutes of each other, there is no difiiculty 

 in producing from flour and water no fewer than 2,600 biscuits in an hour, 

 or nearly a ton of ship biscuits every two hours. The biscuits, too, are of 

 excellent quality — beautifully crisp and sweet. It is difficult to convey to 

 the reader a correct idea of the operation of so ingenious and useful a piece 

 of machinery, but it is so exceedingly clever that we would advise the curiuua 

 to visit the establishment. Messrs. W. and M. Scott, of the Tranmer^ 

 Foundry, are the manufacturers.— iiwryjoo/ Mail. 



