GS 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



[August, 



BiowiNG-rp OF SfioAL Ts THE TuAMES-— /(i/v i^/Zi-— Duiing last month, 

 the operations for removing the shoal off Limchouse-reacli, winch of late 

 V ears has proved si dangerous to the shippmcc passing up and down the 

 river, have been highly successful. Tlie shoal was upwards of a mile in 

 len^'lh, and was an accumulation of j^'ravel mixed with stone, consolidated m 

 'greater or less degress by what was conjectured to be the action of numerous 

 petrifyin'^ sprin??s. It was of so hard a character, that it defied all eiforts to 

 remove it'^hv dredging machines ; conseziiently, it was dolermined to attempt 

 its removalby a series of submarine explosions, effected by placing mines in 

 cavities bored in the shoal, and fired by galvanic power. Captain Fislier, 

 the Iiarlour-master, has superintended the operations.— G/o&e. 



Ships pRorELiEn by the Screw.— Four iron vessels, of various dimen- 

 sions, with screw propellers, are now building at Liverpool, under the direc- 

 tions of Mr. Grantham, consulting engineer. These vessels vary from about 

 300 to 1000 tuns, with engines of from 50 to 150 horse power. They will be 

 fully rigged, and are all intended for the highest rate of sailing. On account 

 of the greatly increased capaci'y for stowage in iron ships, the amount of 

 cargo, independent of the space for the engines and coals, will be equal to 

 that carried by timber built vessels of the same e.\tcrnal dimensions. The 

 propellers in the cases here referred to are to be worked on a different prin- 

 ciple to those liitherto constructed— the cn^ines will be connecled direct to 

 the propelled shaft, causing the engine and screw to make an equal number 

 of revolutions ; by these means all spur wheels or bands ate avoided, the 

 machinery is much simplified, and kept nearer to the bottom ot the vessel, 

 an object of grrat importance in sailing vessels. Mr. Grantham obtained a 

 patent, about three years ago, for this mode of working the screw propeller, 

 at which time he a])plied it to a small vessel. Mr. Peter Cato, and Messrs. 

 James Hodgson and Co , have contracted for the vessels, some of which are 

 in frame, and Messrs. Fawcett, Preston and Co. and Messrs. Bury, Curtis and 

 Kennedv. are to construct tlie engines. 



Tlie rt-ni/y^t' steam-vessel is in the inner basin of "Woolwich Dockyard, 

 fitting with lier engines and paddle wheels. This powerful vessel begins to 

 assume a formidable appearance, owing to the great strength of her timbers 

 and the dimensions of her paddle-boxes. Siic will have four funne's, two of 

 uhicli are already put up, and the other two in progress, and everything 

 connected wiih her appears to be on a gigantic scale, her engines being ot 

 SOD horse-power. 



TuDULAR BoiLiRs.— The Monitetir lately published a circular letter, ad- 

 dressed by the Minister of Marine to the Maritime Prefects, informing them that, in con- 

 sequence of the superiority of the tubular boiler.s over the boilers now in use on board the 

 steamers of the Royal navy, the Government had resolved to dispense with the latter alto- 

 gether, and to replace them, as they became unfit for service, l)y those on the new system, 

 until some other mode still more advantageous than the latter should have been foand. 

 The Minister observes, that the tubes in question are almost exclusively manufactured 

 abroad, and he recommends the maritime prefects to direct the attention of the ironmas- 

 ters to the construction of boilers on the new principle. i • i i 



St. George's Channel, Bermlda.— The long contemplated and highly 

 useful undertaking of deepening the Channel leading into the harbour of St. George, 

 which had undergone a few preparatory experiments performed by Corporal Harris, of the 

 Koyal Sappers and Miners lately. This work has assumed a very decided character— a 

 general blasting has commenced, and continued daily to Saturday, when their Excellen- 

 cies, the Governor and the naval Commander-in-Chief, with some ladies, and a number of 

 naval and military officers and civilians, came to visit the works in a steamer, and by a 

 very satisfactory examination of the bottom, and of the quantity of rock impediments 

 already removed, all were astonished, but highly pleased by the certainty of eventual suc- 

 cess in the removal of every obstacle forming the obstructions hitherto complained of. 



LIST OP NEW PATENTS. 



GRANTED IX ENGLAND FROM JUNE 2G, TO JULY 25, 1845. 



Six Months allowed for Enrolment, unless othenvtse ea;pressed. 



I?hani Baggs, of Great Percy street, Claremont-square, engineer, for "Improvements 

 ia obtaining motive power by air." — Sealed June '2G. 



Alexander Angus CroU, of Bow-common, Middlesex, chemist, for ** Improvements in 

 manfacturiug, measuring, and transmitting gas, and in obtaining ammoniacal and other 

 products from the refuse matters of such manufacture."— June 26. 



Bower St. Clair, of Manchester-street, Manchester-square, gent., for " Improvements 

 in the manufacture of sugar." (Being a commuuicnion.)— June 26. 



Dominic Frick Albert, of Manchester, operative chemist, LL.D., for " an Improved ap- 

 plication of materials to the manufacture of soap." — June 28. 



James Hall Nalder, of Alvescott, Oxford, gent., for " Improvements in drills for drilling 

 comt grain, and manure."— June 28. 



Alphonse Le Mire de Normandy, of Dalston, Middlesex, for •' Improvements in the 

 manufacture of thimbles and finger shields." — June 28. 



Simon Snyder, of Dayton, United States of America, mechanic, for '* Improvements in 

 tanning hides and skins."— June 28. 



Charles Goodwin, of Bow-lane, Middlesex, ship-sur\-eyor, for "certain Improvements 

 masts and spars." — June 30. 



Philippe Poirier de Saint Charles, of Norfolk-street, Strand, Middlesex, civil engineer, 

 for " certain Improvements in the production of type for printing, and in the machinery 

 employed for the same." — July 1 . 



Stephen Hutchinson, of the London gas works, Vauxhall, engineer, for "certain Im- 

 provements in gas meters." — July 2, 



Francois Marie Agathe Dez Rlaurel, of Marlborough-terrace, Old Kent-road, gent., for 

 *' Improvements in the manufacture of soap." — July 3. 



John Hopkins, of Rector-place, Woolwich, gent,, for "certain Improvements in rails 

 and trams for rail-roads and ironways." — July 3. 



Thomas Waiker, of Euston-square, mechanic, and George Mills, of Dover, coal nier- 

 chant, for " certain Improvements in springs and elastic power, as applicable to railway 

 carriages and other vehicles, and to other articles and purposes in which springs or elastic 

 power is now used." — July 3. 



William Simmons, of Oldham, in the county of Lancaster, hat manufacturer, for " cer- 

 tain Improvements applicable to hats, caps, and bonnets."— July 3. 



William Mather and Colin Mather, of Salford, Lancaster, engineers, for "certain Im- 

 provements in boring earth, stone, and subterraneous matter, and in the machinery, tools, 

 or apparatus, applicable to the same." — July 3. 



William Newton, of Chancery-lane, civil engineer, for " certain Improvements in rail- 

 ways, and in the means of propelling carriages." (Being a communication.)— July 3. 



Lemuel Goddard, of Crescent, America-square, merchant, for "Improvements in the 



manufacture of candles, and in the means of preventing them from gutteriug whilst burn- 

 ing." (Being a communication)— July 3. 



William Symes, of Victoria- road, Pinilico, grocer, for " certain apparatus for dividing 

 lump sugar." — July 3. 



George IMyers, of Laurie-terrace, Westminster-road, Lambeth, builder, for " Improve- 

 ments in cutting or carving wood, stone, and other materials."— July 8. 



Jacob Brett, of Hanover-square, Middlesex. Esq., for " Improvements in propelling 

 carriages on railways, and other roads and ways." (Being a communication.}— Ju'.y 8. 



John Greenwood, of Church, Lancaster, manufacturing chemist, John Mercer, of 

 Oakenshaw, Lancashire, chemist and calico-printer, and John Barnes, of Church, in th« 

 same county, chemist, for " certain Improvements in the manufacture of certain chemical 

 agents used in dyeing and printing of cottons, woollens, and other fabrics." — July 8. 



John Leitchild, of the Minories, blue manufacturer, for "Improvements in the manu. 

 facture of blue to be used as a substitute for stone blue."— July 8. 



Antoine Bossy, of Paris, merchant, for " Improvements in manufacturing waterproof 

 paper." — July lt>. 



John Samuel Templeton, of Sussex-place, Kensington, artist, for " Improvements in 

 propelling carriages on railways." — July 12. 



Hugh Cogan, merchant and manufacturer, of West George-street, Glasgow, for " Aa 

 improved method or methods for weaving in patterns, or various colours, or fabrics."— 

 July 12. 



Edmund RatclifF, of Birmingham, manufacturer, for "a certain Improvement, or cer- 

 tain improvements in the furniture of door-looks and latches."— July 12. 



William Chantreli, of Leeds, gentleman, for "certain Improvements in weaving ma- 

 chinery," — July 12. 



Joseph Fulton Meade, of Dublin, gentleman, for "certain Improvements in steam- 

 engines and boilers." — July 12. 



Samuel Tretheway, of Water-grove Mine, near Stoney Middleton, Derby, civil engineer, 

 aud Joseph Quick, of Summer-street, Southwark, engineer, for "an Improved combined 

 expansive steam and atmospheric engine."— July 12. 



Horatio Sydney Sheaf, of Waterloo place, Old Kent-road, artist, for "certain Improve- 

 ments in obtaining and employing motive power."— July 12. 



Thomas Russell Crampton, of Southwark-square, engineer, for "Improvements in 

 match boxes, or articles to be used in the productioa of instantaneous light, and in the 

 machinery for manufacturing the same." — July 12. 



Richard Simpson, of the Strand, London, gent, for " certain Improvements in bleaching' 

 yarns and fabrics." (Being a communication.) — July 12. 



Joseph Malcomson, of Portlaw, Ireland, for "Improvements in apparatus used for 

 propelling carriages on roads, and vessels on inland waters when employing atmo- 

 spheric pressure." — July 12. 



John Shaw, of Broughton-in-Furness, Lancaster, chemist and druggist, for "a hydro- 

 pneumatic engine." — July 12. 



Patrick Sandeman, of Grienside street, Edinburgh, upholsterer, for " Improvements on 

 coffins."— July 21. 



John James Siuclair, of Helmet-row, Middlesex, hot-presser, for "certain Improve- 

 ments in producing glossy surfaces on paper and similar materials." — July 21. 



Thomas Robinson Williams, of Love-lane, Aldermanbury, gentleman, for "an Improved 

 process and machinery for rendering paper aud wrappers waterproof." — July 21. 



Julius Adolph Detmold, of the City of London, merchant, for "Improvements in the 

 means of applying steam as a motive power." (Being a communication.)— July 21, 



William Broughton, of New Bjsinghall-street, London, millwright, for " Improvements 

 in machinery or apparatus for grinding grain, drugs, colours, or other substance."— 

 July 21. 



Thomas William Gilbert, of Limehouse, Middlesex, sail-maker, for '* Improvements in 

 the construction of sails for ships and other vessels." — July 21. 



Angler March Perkins, of Francis-street, Regent-square, of an extension for the term 

 of five years of an invention for " certain Improvements in the apparatus or method of 

 heating the air in buildings, heating and evaporating fluids, and heating metals. "—July 21. 



Jacob Brett, of Hanover-square, Middlesex, gentleman, for " Improvements in atmo- 

 spheric propulsion, and in the manufacture of tubes for atmospheric railways aud other 

 purposes." (Being a communication.) — July 21. 



Michael Perrier, of Lymington, gentleman, for " Improvements in spinning and twist- 

 ing cotton, flax, silk, and other fibrous materials." (Being a communication.)— July 21. 



John Lings, of Spur-street, Leicester-square, cheesemonger, for "Improvements in 

 apparatus for t'le preseivation of provisions." — July 21. 



Charles de Bergue, of Arthur-street West, London, merchant, for "certain Improve- 

 ments in rollers and other machinery or apparatus to be employed in flattening, preparing, 

 and polishing wire for the construction or manufacture of reeds for weaving the rollers, 

 being applicable to other like purposes." — July 24. 



James Stokoe, of Newton, Northumberland, mill-wright, for " certain Improvements 

 in purifying the vafoirs arising from smelting and other furnaces, and in recovering there- 

 from any useful matteis which may be intermixed therewith." — July 26. 



William Henry James, of Clement's-lane, London, civil engineer, for " certain Improve- 

 ments in the manufacture of plates and vessels of metal, and other substances suitable for 

 heating purposes, and in the means of healing the same." — July 25. 



Richard Archibald Brooman, of the Patent Office, 1C6, Fleet-street, London, gentleman, 

 for " certain Improvements in dyeing." (Being a communication.) — July 25. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



" A Constant Correspondent" (Brecon, South Wales) asks us to insert an account of 

 the failure of the arches of Ashton-under-Line Viaduct. We would most gladly comply 

 with bis wish, but we can get only general, and, therefore, unsatisfactory information. 

 The difficulty of getting the most valuable of all intelligence — local intelligece — is im- 

 mense. Notwithstanding every efl'ort, we have the utmost trouble in obtaininng accounts 

 of important circumstances connected with architecture and engineering from 

 localities from London. If a person will only tell us what is going on with re- 

 ference to architecture or engineering in his own neighbourhood, no matter how modestly 

 he estimates his poweis of authorship, he sends a valuable letter. The most acceptable 

 information vve can have is that which is LOCAL. 



" A Subscriber" (New York). The stone lanthorn on the top of St. Paul's is sup- 

 ported by a brick cone, which is concealed between the inner and outer domes. The 

 outer dome is of timber covered with lead. The lowest course of the cone 

 is held from bursting outwards by an iron chain. An answer to the second question 

 in our next, ^^'e owe oar correspondent an apology for not answering him before ; will 

 he return good for evil by taking a bint from the answer to our Brecon correspondent ? 



" A Manufacturer." — Dr. Playfair, at the late meeting of the British Association, said 

 that he had determiaed, experimentally, that in the hot blast furnaces VI per cent, of the 

 heating power cf the fuel were lost. 



The letter of " W. B.,'' on Atmospheric Traction, came too late for insertion. It shall 

 appear next month if he wish it, but the principles are erroneous throughout. 



To a " Working Mechanic" (Newcastle-on-Tyne) the same answer. These correspon- 

 dents should not attempt to eke out defective arguments by strong assertions. 



I RRATUM.-In the review of Pro*", All8-:;d's wor"', f. 237, the title iS misprinted, it 

 should be *[ Gi^lo^ist'sText Poo!:," 



