1841.J 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



209 



wear away the sides of the hole with its crown, at the same time that it at- 

 tacks the bottom with its steel teeth. When this instrument, which is slightly 

 conical, is drawn up. it sets itself straight again, and rises up in the tube, 

 exercising a feeble friction on the sides of the tube. This ni.uton, like that 

 for the strata, which require no tubing, has a receptacle for ihc mud. In 

 using cither mouton, a movement of torsion must be impressed nn the rope. 

 This is eflccted by fixing the rope into the extremity of a wooden bar, of 

 about two feet long, which gives a workman sufficient leverage to turn or 

 twist the cord a little at every blo«-. or to regulate its untwisting. In this 

 way the hole cannot fail to be circular and quite perpendicular. By this 

 means, at the well of the Military School, they have got down a single tube 

 of iron plates, rivetted,of 11 inches diameter, to the depth of G50 feet. The 

 tube moves freely— one man can turn it round. The wire rope would answer 

 well for this mod'e of boring. The moutons are not diflicult to make ; a vil- 

 lage blacksmith may construct or repair Ihem ; he should fasten the steel 

 chisels in such a way that they can be occasionally taken out to be sharpened. 

 The method of boring by means of the rope is much used in Saxony — Mining 

 Journal. 



BUILDERS' BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION. 



In another part of the Journal, it will be seen that we have requested the 

 attention of our engineering readers to the merits of an institution for the 

 reUef of engineering workmen, and now we have to make a similar request 

 of our architectural readers. They will see that a meeting has been held for 

 the purpose of establishing a Builder's Benevolent Institution, and we hope 

 that they will readily lend their aid for the promotion of an object so laud- 

 able. We need scarcely say that it has our very best wishes for its success. 

 The meeting to establish an asylum and pension fund, and for the gene- 

 ral relief of the decayed and suffering members of the builders' trade, was 

 held on the 24th ult. at the Crown and Anchor, Strand ; Mr. Burnard, sur- 

 veyor, in the chair. The advertisement convening the meeting having been 

 read by Jlr. Barber, the secretary, the chairman, in a brief but neat speech, 

 detailed the objects of the institution, remarking that there were no less than 

 20 trades connected with the building business — as architects, surveyors, 

 painters, engineers, bricklayers, slaters, sawyers, &c. ; yet the builders had 

 neither an institution like that which they were assembled to estabUsb, nor 

 an asylum, nor any benefit society to apply to in poverty or old age. The 

 objects for which the institution was about to be formed were highly praise- 

 worthy and beneficial, and he was glad to say, that the committee had been 

 promised support in all cases in which they had applied, and he hoped soon 

 to see the builder's asylum rise second to none even in this great metropolis. 

 The secretary then read letters from the Marquis of Westminster, the Earl of 

 Cadogan, Sir R. Peel, Mr. Barry, the architect, Mr. Philip Hardwicke, Mr. 

 D. Burton, Mr. Thomas Cubitt, Alderman John Johnson, and many other 

 gentlemen of stai.ding and respectabiUfy, all concurring in the objects of the 

 meeting. The report of the committee was then read. It contained a well- 

 written narrative of the steps the committee had taken, the reception they 

 had met with from those to whom applications had been made to assist them 

 in their praiseworthy endeavours to found the Builders' .'\sylum, and con- 

 cluded with a very flattering account of the success that had attended their 

 efforts. The report being adopted, a series of resolutions was put and 

 passed in the usual manner. A subscription was entered into before the 

 members left the room, for carrying out the purposes of the institution, and 

 was liberally responded to. 



pelled to do so by the direct interposition of this court. It had been argued 

 upon the part of the defendants, that as the injury consequent upon their 

 neglect to repair the bank was of a public nature, and one for which they 

 were liable to an indictment, that particular proceeding ought to be adopted, 

 and there was therefore no necessity and no ground for a mandamus. The 

 court, however, dissented from this position, and declared that where a com- 

 pany were obliged to do a i)artic\ilar work, and where the consequence of 

 their not doing it was to produce a pulilic nuisance, that circumstance, al- 

 though it rendered them liable to an indictment, did not release them from 

 the necessity of a specific performance of their duty upon the subject, in obe- 

 dience to the mandate of this court. In this case, therefore, a peremptory 

 viandamus would be awarded. 



REPAIRING AND MAINTAINING OF PUBLIC WORKS. 



The following important judgment in the case of The Queen v. The Bristol 

 Dock Company, was delivered in the Court of Queen's Bench, Westminster" 

 May 25, at the sittings in Bau-o. The defendants in this case have been 

 incorporated under the 43rd George III., c. 140, for the purpose of making, 

 completing, and maintaining a new watercourse in connexion with the river 

 Avon, and this purpose they had effected. Some part of the works of the 

 new watercourse, however, became subsequently out of repair ; and upon a 

 former occasion a rule had been obtained calling upon them to show cause 

 why a mandamus should not issue commanding them to repair that portion 

 of the banks of the new watercourse which had become dilapidated, and 

 which, in its present condition, caused an obstruction to the navigation. The 

 rule was made absolute, and the writ having issued, the defendants returned 

 that they were not bound, according to the general law of the land, or to the 

 provisions of the particular act above mentioned, to repair the portions of 

 the watercourse which formed the subject of the discussion. 



Lord Denman now delivered the judgment of the court upon the case, 

 which was, that in the circumstances of the transaction the defendants were 

 bound to make the repairs which the writ commanded them to make. His 

 lordship laid it down in the course of the judgment, that where parties ob- 

 tained an act of parliament for the construction and maintenance of great 

 public works, they were bound in law to fulfil all the incidental duties of 

 which the performance was necessary for the discharge of their duties in 

 respect to the principal subject. His lordship also stated, that if public 

 bodies omitted the performance of such incidental duties, they would be com- 



S. L. IN REPLY TO CANDIDUS. 



Sir — I am surprised that Candidus should have thought it necessary to 

 combat an imaginary assertion by such very trite observations. But he is 

 eridently affected with the usual mania of critics, viz., that of putting an 

 arbitrary interpretation on the object of their criticism, and then attacking 

 the author for entertaining an idea which is but the fruit of their own fertile 

 imagination. For instance, where Candidus can find that I have said any 

 thing to discourage the roughest handling of public men, if kept within the 

 bounds of truth and reason, I cannot possibly conceive; nor can I find any 

 thing which can justify his supposition, that 1 may probably greatly prefer 

 Buckingham Palace to Windsor Castle, &c. 



With regard to niullioned windows, I confess I cannot see the propriety 

 of substituting any thing which would have the effect of an open screen, for 

 a glazed window ; and though we may make infinitely greater departure from 

 the genius of Grecian architecture. Candidus may remember that pure 

 Grecian was not the style advocated ; the architect must go to Rome and 

 Pompeii for his materials, as well as to -Vthens. 



When I spoke of the difficulty of persuading persons to adopt Gothic, who 

 are not possessed of antiquarian taste, I said nothing about " soi-disant " or 

 " hole-in-the-wall " Gothic ; every one is aware of the great facility afforded 

 for the adoption of that style — I mean by Gothic such as would do credit to 

 an architect ; but most persons find this to interfere too much with their 

 comfort for them to " allow it to be properly treated." 



With respect to what Candidus is pleased to call my very bold assertion, 

 I would beg him to observe that I stated that the object of the architect, 

 when he employed the Grecian or Roman style, was invention, not that ori- 

 ginality was always the result of his efforts. I shall, however, be glad if he 

 will refer me to a modern Gothic building possessing half as much originality 

 as St. Stephens, Walbrook, or the spire of Bow church. 



I quite agree with Candidus tliat it is well to avoid " squeamishness and 

 affected delicacy in architectural criticism," but it woidd also be well if he 

 would pay some respect to decency in the choice of his expressions, and not 

 make use of those of which a gentleman would be ashamed, and which di- 

 minish, rather than increase, the force of his observations. 



I remain, &c., 



S. L. 



STEAIHC NAVIGATION. 



THE MONGIBELLO STEAM SHIP. 



This fine vessel belonging to the Neapolitan Steam Navigation Company 

 at Naples, is fitted with a pair of Messrs. Mandslay, Sons and Field's patent 

 double cylinder engines, of the nominal power of 200 horses ; their general 

 principle is described in the last volume of the Journal, page 73. 



The improvements realized in this description of engine axe first, that the 

 power is applied more directly to the cranks than in any other construction, 

 having only two working joints through which the power is conveyed, viz. 

 the lower and upper ends of the connecting rod, the stroke being of the usual 

 length, and the connecting rod of the usual proportions; the force of the 

 engine is also so completely confined within its own framing, that no strain 

 is thrown upon the vessel. The second advantage is that the space occupied 

 by the engine, is not greater than in an engine of half the power, on the side 

 beam construction, and when combined with their improved boilers, (as is 

 the case on board the Mongibello), the total length occupied by the machinery 

 is reduced to 40 feet, whereas the ordinary construction requires 60 feet, thus 

 effecting a saving of one-third, on this most important head. The third ad- 

 vantage arises from the reduction in weight, which in the Mongibello, and 

 including water in the boilers, was 130 tons, being 13J cwt. per horse power, 

 instead of one ton per horse power, which is the weight in beam engines, 

 and even this is often much exceeded. 



These advantages, which bear so strictly upon the profitable employment 

 of steam vessels, are fullv realized in the' one in question, which is of 500 

 tons burthen, being 156 feet long, and 26 feet beam ; besides the saving in 

 space referred to above, the machinery of the Mongibello is about 70 ton 

 lighter than ordinary beam engines, and in addition to the increased tonnags 



