1S44.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



411 



persons, in order to ascertain their comparative merits, lately made her final trial in the 

 river. 'I'he screw that has been found to produce tlie highest rate of speed with tha 

 smallest consumption of pou'er is that of flir. F. T. Smith, known us the inventor and 

 adapter of the Archimedean screw. The Admiralty have in con9e(iucnce determined to 

 send the Rattler to sea, titled with a propeller in acconiance with the suggestions of that 

 gentleman. The last trial was made piirtly with the view of ascertaining the precise rate 

 of the ship in steaming in smonth water with Mr. F. P. Smith's propeller, and partly to 

 determine its effect as compared with what had been done with other propellers that have 

 been recommended to tli« notice of the Admiralty. On this occasion the average of 12 

 trials at the measured distacce in Long-reuch showed a sjieed of !)"D (inots, or 11^ statute 

 miles, an hour, which rate of speed, considered in comparison with the small amount of 

 power, viz., L'UO h. p., the amount of power of the engine of the Rattler in relation with 

 her tonnage, 88S tons, ranks her performance higher in the history of steam narigation, 

 than the performance of any vessel of her class, either in the service of Her Rliijesty or in 

 the commercial steam navy of the empire. It should be mentioned that the Rattler was 

 built in every respect as a sister ship to Her Ulajesty's steam ship the Prometheus, with 

 this difference, that the Prometheus has paddle-wheels. The Prometheus on her trial at 

 the measured distance reached only to the rate of 83 knots an hour. The Rattler has al- 

 ready got her masts onboard; she is rigged with a foremast like a frigate or sloop, 

 her middle and mizenmasts are rigged as schooner masts, her gun carriages are also on 

 board, and fhe is ordered to be equipped for sea as speedily as possible ; and in conse- 

 quence of the complete success which has attended the application of the screws to her, 

 several others, we believe six, iron ships of a large class are forthwith to be constructed on 

 the same principle. The trials were marie under the superintendence of Mr, Lloyd, chief 

 engineer of Woolwich Dockyard, and Captain Smith, R.N,, of the Royal Dockyard. — 

 * Times.' 



Large J^TEAM-BOAT. — A maernificent steam-boat has just been completed 

 in America, called the * Empire ;' she is 260 feet in length, engine t>on h. p., and measni es 

 122U tons— being 200 tons larger than any other fresh water steam-ship in the world! The 

 main cabin is probably without equal, being 211 feet long, lighted the entire lengtn through 

 painted gUss under the roof, and so arranged that it can be divided by folding doors into 

 three apartments, and fitted up in the most splendid style. 



The Water Lilt Steamer — This vessel is of inin, 170 tons burthen, built 

 by Messrs. Ditchburn and Mair, and fitted with engines by Messrs. Maudslays and Field, 

 she is propelled by a screw, 8 ft. diameter ami 16 ft. pitch, placed at the stem between 

 two rudders, as patented by Mr. Joseph RIaudslay, and reported in our Journal for 

 January last, p. ^7. It is reported that at an experimental trip, made on the lUtli inst., 

 she realized a speed of nearly 13 miles an hour, bnt the report does not say whether this 

 IS a mean velocity, or a velocity obtained with or against the tide, nor does it give the 

 DOwer of the engines. 



Wherries and other Boats Propelled by the Screw-— The experiments 

 made bp Mr. James Aust, with his wherry, upon the river Usk, have proved the suj)e- 

 riority of the screw principle, set in operation by manual labour, to that of rowing or 

 sculling with oars. Mr. Aust entertains no doubt that he shall construct a boat capable 

 of being propelled by manual labour alone, on any river, at 12 or lo, or even 20 miles an 

 hour ! He considers that life-boats may be constructed upon this principle, and capable 

 of being sent out, when other boats could not live. — ' Cambrian.' 



The " Great Britain " Steam-shii'. — Bristol, Oct. 26. — This noble vessel 

 is at length released from her protracted confinement in our float. The necessary altera- 

 tions in the upper lock leading from Cumberland Basin imo the float having been made, 

 she was yesterday evening, betwt^en G and 7 o'clock, removed from her moorings on the 

 Sea-banks, and proceeded majestically down the floating harbour to the entrance of the 

 lock, where she remained for the night, nnd this morning at 7 o'clock she was brought 

 safely through the lock into Cumberland Basin, where shv will remain for a few days to 

 have the screw affixed, &c. It is then intended that she shall make one or two trial trips 

 after which she will proceed to London. — 'Times.' 



Launch of a War Steamer-^Oh the 15th instant the Gladiator, a splendid 

 steam boat, was launched from Her Majesty's Dockyard, Woolwich, in the presence of 

 about 1000 ]iersons. She is of 1,190 tons' burden, is bored for 20 guns, and will carry a 

 complement of 175 men. She is built after the model of the Sampson, which was launched 

 on the 1st instant from the same yard, and is less in length by 11 feet ihan that ship. Her 

 dimensions are as fellows : — Length between perpendiculars, 203 feet 6 inches; kewl for 

 tonnage, 17tJ feet 5 inches ; extreme breadth, 37 feet 6 inches j tonnage breadth, 37 feet j 

 moulded breadth, 35 feet 4 inches. 



Locomotive Engine Power in the United States — Perceiving severa 

 notices in your Journal respdcting the powers of English engines, the following facts may 

 not prove uninteresting :— A train from Schnectady to Troy brought over, with one loco- 

 motive, 1250 passengers in nineteen cars. If the average weight of each passenger was 

 120 lbs., and that of each car four tons, the whole weiget would be 151 tons. The weight 

 was carried over an ascent of about foityfeet to the mile for a portion of the distance. 

 This is, I believe, one of the heaviest loads ever drawn up such an inclluation by a single 

 locomotive. The locomotive used was from the manufactory of Messrs. Baldwin, Whit- 

 ney, and Co., of Philadelphia. — ' Mining Journal.' 



Trial of a New Locomotive Engine. — A new locomotive engine, the 

 • Liver,' built on an improved principle by Mr. Thos. Pearson, of the Liver Foundry, 

 Liverpool (and to be employed in the transit of coals froM Wigan to Preston and Lancas- 

 ter), was tested with thirty-one luaded wagons, averaging six tons each (including wagons), 

 up the incline from Wigan to the Boar's Head, and with thirty-live wagons up Coppal in- 

 cline, of 1 in 100, which she performed with the utmost apparent ease at the low pressure 

 of 70 lb, to the inch. — ' Liverpool Mercury.' 



Compressed Air Engine.— M. Andraud has performed with his locomo- 

 tive, charged with a vessel full of compressed air, 3400 metres (about 2 miles), going and 

 returning. At starting the pressure of compressed air was 7i atmospheres only— at his 

 destination, the pressure was only three atmospheres; therefore, there had only been ex- 

 pended 4A atmospheres. But M. Andraud proposes to employ more considerable vessels, 

 at a much greater pressure— viz., vessels from eight to ten cubic metres (340 cubic ftfet), 

 having a pressure of from 25 lo 30 atmospheres (450 lb. !), so as to be able to run over four 

 leagues without having occasion to refill the vessel. — ' Monitear Industriel.' 



New Locomotive Engine. — Mr. Kearsley (late superintendent of the loco- 

 motives on the Midland Counties Railway), has just had constructed under his immediate 

 direction, by Messrs. Hick and Son, and put upon that line an engine which took fifty-five 

 loaded wagons up an incline of •002, or ten and a half feet in a mile, at twenty-seven miles 

 an hour; it has 15-inch cylinders, 2-feet stroke, and 4 feet S inches driving wheels, and 

 works at 75 lb. pressure. The engine is of simple riescrintion, the general form being 

 much similar to the Rlidland Counties engines (Bury's appearance and plan), but longer, 

 so as to admit of six wheels between the fire-box and smoke-box (Stephenson's patent). 

 The boiler is 13 feet fi inches long, a round fire-box, with 112 iron tubes. The wheels are 

 entirely of wrought-iron, welded throughout, the form of Bury's cottered wheel, having 

 round arms, running diagonally from the nave to the tyre, and welded to both. The 

 framing is twenty-two feet long of wrought-iron, and welded solid, with the plummer 

 blocks on it, and with peculiarly strong fixings for the cylinders, which are attached to 

 the framing alone. The working gear, as well as the reversing gear, are all carried on one 

 piece of forged work, or bracket, or hanger, running transversely from frame to frame, and 

 having all the bearings forged solid on it. 



French Railways. — Contracts tor thirty-four locomotives, with their ten- 

 ders, were awarded at the office of the Minister of Public ^\'orks, in three lots ; the first 

 was ceeded to M. Cav^, at 44,800 f., the second to M. Alette, at 47,000 f., and the third to 

 Messrs. Dernsne and Caille, at 49,000 t., per locomotive, with its appurtenances. A con- 

 tract for 608,000 iron bolta was awarded to Messrs. Labrenr and Grefix,at 467f,45c.aton. i 

 — « GaUgnani.' 



MISCSLIiAMSA. 



The RovAt Exchange was opened with re^^tl honours on Monday the 28th 

 ult.; we purposely abstain, in the present month's Journal, offering any remarks on the 

 new structure, that we may be able to devote some attention to the interior when divested 

 of the temporary fittmgs and scaffolding; next mouth we propose giving a full account of 

 Its architectural character. 



The New Building Act.— The London Gazette of tlie 4[h Sept., contains 

 the following notice:— "The Commissioners of Her Majesty's Woods and Forests have 

 just issued a notice that they have appointed Sir Robert Smirke, James Pennethorne, 

 Esq., and Thomas Cubitt, Esq., to constitute with the oflicial referees a Board for the 

 examination of persons who may prusent themselves for tlie purpose of obtainiue certifi- 

 cates of qualification for the office of District Surveyor within the limits of the New Me- 

 tropolitan Building Act. All communications for the said examiners are to be addressed 

 to the Registrar of Metropolitan Buildings, at his office, No. 3, Trafalgar-square." 



The jUphallc is now receiving a new applicaiion. The uses of this material 

 are now no longer confined to pavements and footways, they extend to the very pipes un- 

 derground. It is now employed for protecting the long metallls pipes which run under- 

 neath the streets ot Pans, troni the effects of oxidation. These pipes being covered over 

 with damp earth, become in a very short time so coroded as to be almost completelyeaten 

 away by the rust. Hence they frequently burst, causing the water to overflow, and inter- 

 rupting its circulation, thereby occasioning much expence for repeated repairs, to say 

 nothing of the great inconvenience attending them. All this will be obviated by the new 

 system, which consists in coating the metallic pipes with with a layer of asphalte, one or 

 two centimetres thick. The asphalte being impervious, oxidation can hardly take place. 

 The better to secure this advantage, zinc is substituted for the cast metal, as being less 

 subject to oxidation, and the pipes are screwed together instead of being adjusted end to 

 end. This improvement will effect a great saving in the coit of keeping the water pipes 

 in repair. Rfevue de Paris. 



An Extraordinary Ne^t Levelling Lnstrument.—'* A Iiighly ingenious 

 and most scientific instrument for Uvelliug," says a contemporary journal, " has been in- 

 vented recently by Mr. Emslie, civil engineer; the opinion of several competent persons 

 is greatly in its favour. The objects to be gained by its use, we are informed, are increased 

 accuracy, with the capability of operating with it even in the dark, mist, or rain, or 

 "through thick cover, high walls, or buildings," &c. ! these advantages will be considered 

 by the profession undoubtedly of great value, and meet with corresponding support. The 

 plan is about being registered, after which full particulars will be laid before the public 

 through our columns." 



Antiquities.— We learn from a paragraph in ihe Foreip;n Quarterly that 

 extensive researches are now going on at Khorsabad, in the immediate vicinity of the 

 ancient Nineveh, under the direction of M. Botta, assisted by Eugene Flandin, an artist 

 sent out by the French government, for the purpose of making drawings of whatever may 

 be discovered. Hitherto, however, discovery does not promise much that is likely to 

 prove of intrinsic interest to art,— certainly not to architecture, unless abundant frag- 

 ments of briek and marble, literally mere 'rubbish,' can be considered so. The 

 only remains of building, in an intelligible shape, yet found, is a structure having two 

 doors, uniformly adorned with bas-relief, representing a colossal bull with a human head, 

 and a human figure with an eagle's head and wings. These doors are fifteen feet in 

 height, and open into a hall 120 fett Ion?. The only wall which is yet cleared from rub- 

 bish (that on the south side), is covered with a series of bas-reliefs, representing battles, 

 explained by inscriptions. Of what quality or styles these sculptures are is not said, but 

 we suspect very uncouth and barbarous, in very extravagant and ultra-pagan taste. Ne- 

 vertheless, it must be confessed, to be both curious and interesting to find in that remote 

 region a personification of ourselves; there being no doubt that the colossal bull with a 

 human head is if not the genuine 'John Bull'— his ancestor and prototype. Perhaps that 

 member of the Bull family will now be carried away captive to Paris, to captivate if it can 

 the French, and console them for having suffered us to get the start of them in securing 

 those valuable treasures the Lyciun Marbles. Still we would now gladly give them all in 

 exchange for the Bull gentleman, who would feel himself so comfortably at home in the 

 British Museum. As to the Foreign Quarterly itself, we are sorry to perceive that it has 

 now entirely changed its original chaiacter, as indicated by its taste, that it now bestows 

 scarcely any notice on continental literature, properly so called, but takes up English pub- 

 lications for revising, and deals in such articles as •* French Aggressions in the Pacific," 

 and the " Military Power of Russia." 



Metal Furnace for Heating Shot.— Messrs. Smitliard and Atllison, of 

 Guernsey, have invented a plan for heating shot to a red heat, by placing sixty lli-pounders 

 into a square cast metal furnace, nearly similar in appearance to a stove. The invention 

 was lately tried at Woolwich, when the shot were admitted six each, at ten different en- 

 tries, five above each other, and, after the furnace was heated, which occupied 13 hour 

 in the first instance, the heat became so great that the shot were heated red hot in twenty 

 minutes, and afterwards in less than a quarter of an hour. The invention appears far 

 superior to the rough grating hitherto used, and it does not consume much fuel. It ap- 

 pears to be formed in such a manner that in a time of peace it would ansiver the purpose 

 admirably of heating store or barrack-rooms, and only requires some modifications to re- 

 gulate the draught according to the state of the wind, to render it highly useful for many 

 purposes. 



We learn from Parma that the theatre of the ancient city has just been 

 discovered at a considerable depth in the earth, and in a remarkable state of preservation. 

 The Government has ordered researches to be made, and has purchased several bouses 

 which stand in the way of the operation. — ' Galignani's Messenger.' 



Bethlehem Hospital. — "Works of considerable magnitude are now in pro- 

 gress at this hospital, th^y are fiom the design, and are being executed under the direc- 

 tion of Mr. Smirke, architect, ana consist of two new wings, containing wards for conva- 

 lescent patients, a new chapel, and a range of workshops. The wings are about 80 feet 

 long, and comprise 12 rooms for male, and the like number for female patients, in which 

 they are to be employed variously, according to the nature and circumstances of their 

 cases. The chapel, which was rendered necessary by the increase in the number of pa- 

 tients, is in the centre of the building over the portico, and is to be surmounted by a new 

 dome, now in course of erection. 1 his dome will be about 150 feet high, and on its sum- 

 mit will bean octagonal cupola terminating in a copper vane. The workshops forma 

 quadrangle of considerable extent, and comprise nine large rooms, all ' en suite,' varying 

 in size from about 21 feet square to 35 feet square ; they will consist of shops, where the 

 patients can be employed under proper masters in the trades of plumbing, painting, 

 masonry, &c. It is in contemplation to erect a simiiar range of workshops connected 

 with the criminal wing, which is under the control of the Secretary of State. The dome 

 already referred to will be by far the largest structure of the kind in England, with the 

 exception of St. Paul's ; it is built of Portland stone and brick, covered with copper. The 

 base is octagonal, and consists of an order of Corinthian pilasters coupled with a range of 

 windows between them, forming the clerestory of the chapel; and over the entablature 

 are ornamental lunettes, by which the ventilation of the chapel is effected. 



Evaporation of Water under Electrical Insulation. — M. Rowles sus- 

 pended two similar capsules of 8i inches diameter by silk strings over a stove. In each 

 vessel Si ounces of water were poured ; one of the vessels communicated with the earth, 

 byacopper wire. At the ^nd of twenty-four hours, 2 02. 271) grs. had evaporated from, 

 the insulated capsule, and 3 oz. 144 grs. from the other, making a difference of 345 grs. 

 in favour of the capsule in commuuicatioo with the earth. The same result was obtained, 

 with the heat of the sun. 



