ISiO.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



123 



lient up hy pressure, and then to break it with a nick at the shoulder, 

 and see if it broke with a fibrous or crystalline fraciure, for it was well 

 known that by nicking iron it would break more crystalline. 



Mr. Hodge illustrated the subject by reference to the etfect produced 

 upon the journal of a picker shaft in a cotton mill, at Lowell in America, 

 where in order to produce stiffness a shaft of cast steel was introduced, hut 

 it frpqnently broke off at the journal, particularly when there was a very ti^ht 

 belt nn the drum. A collar of cast-iron 1| inch tliiok was then shrunk on 

 the j'lurnal working in a brass bearing, and it then worked well. He 

 merely adduced this fact to show that the friction caused by high velocity 

 produces a change in the molecular structure of iron. 



Mr. HoBY did not think that from the mere appearance of the sectional 

 fracture they could exactly determine the molecular change. They would 

 reinllect that Mr. Stephenson adverted to some experiments by Mr. Brunei, 

 where from the mode of producing the fracture the same bar of iron gave 

 out different results; these experiments were perhaps conducted on too 

 small a scale to furnish undeniable results, but he thought it quite possible 

 that the same bar of iron should exhibit different results when twisted 

 slowly in a vice or struck by a smart blow; iu the one case the fracture might 

 be crystalline, but fibrous in the other. 



A Member said that he had tried an experiment with very tough charcoal 

 iron; he merely attached it to the head of a tilt hammer, which went about 

 300 strokes per minute, and after a few weeks it broke off brittle without 

 ar y blow, althrugh the iron was at first as tough as it could be made; and 

 this was attributed only to the jarring. 



Mr. IIoDGE observed, that this was quite analogous to the results given 

 in the report of the Commissioners on the experiments with reference to the 

 duration of wire bridges in France, that the effect was produced by the 

 constant vibration or jarring between the particles of the iron. 



Mr. William Smith said, that he produced two specimens of ordinary 

 puddled-har iron IJ in. square, on which he had tried the effect of hammer- 

 ing; the first piece was broken off from the bar by 22 blows of a 14 lb. 

 hammer, the bar having been nicked, and the fracture was very fil)rous; the 

 second piece was 7 in. leu^th cut off from the same bar next to the first 

 piece, and he set it on an anvil and struck it 20 blows on the end, and it 

 was then nicked in the middle and broke off with a single light blow, and 

 showed a square crystalline fracture; another piece was then broken oft' the 

 same end of the bar as the first piece, to ascertain if the quality of iron in 

 the bar was the same, and it required 21 blows to break it, and was similar 

 in the fracture to the first piece. 



Mr. MiDDLETON remarked, that in taking off the tyres from the driving 

 whrels of an engine he observed that the bolts were quite crystalline; he 

 was quite satisfied there was a change. And with regard to the hammering 

 which took place on the rails, in his opinion, it was quite sufficient to cause 

 the ciiange observed in railway axles. 



Mr. Heaton said, he fully concurred in all that had been said in favour 

 of a change being affected in the structure of iron. He considered the 

 chance was generally confined to some particular part, and the rest of the 

 iron was not injured; in his machine for flattening button shanks, which 

 gave a tdow of about 12 lb. (mentioned in Mr. McConnell's paper), the 

 constant action had the effect of breaking the levers, which showed a 

 crystalline fracture, although within half-an-inch from the part so broken 

 the iron continued unchanged and quite fibrous. The same was observable 

 in the cross pins of corn-spindles which frequently broke in a few weeks* 

 wear; and he did not know which lasted the longest, steel or iron, but he 

 thought good scrap iron would last as long as a piece of steel, but it would 

 not last half the time if subjected to cold swaging. In the example he pro- 

 duced of broken cross piu'^, the fracture showed a vertical division, because 

 the strain was only at each side; but in the case of a railway axle the fracture 

 showed a circular space in the centre, because the strain was all round the 

 axle on all sides in succession. 



The further consideration of the subject was then adjourned to the next 

 meeting, and the Chairman said, he hoped the members would come forward 

 with all the information they could collect which bore upon a question of 

 such importance; and for his own part he would take every opportunity of 

 trying further experiments and collecting facts with reference to it. 



Caalmff Ships' Bottoms. — A patent has recently been granted to Messrs, 

 A. Yule and J. Chanter, for improvements in coating ships' bottoms with one 

 or other of the following compositions: — First, 8 to 10 parts of bullock's- 

 gall, 301b. of carbonate of iron or plumbago reduced to a fine powder, and 

 Bdxtd together to form a paste, to which 4 gallons of salt water are to he 

 added to bring the whole to a proper consistence. [What relation is there 

 between parts and pounds .'] — Second, 3011:. of carbonate of iron or plum- 

 bago in powder, 3 lb. of white arsenic, 2\ gallons of coal tar, naphtha, or 

 spirits of turpentine, and from 12 to 14 lb. of Stockholm tar.— Third, 10 lb. 

 of carbonate of iron or plumbago in powder, and 1 lb. of white arsenic, to 

 which Russian tallow is added, with the assistance of heat to incorporate 

 the whole. This composition is to be applied hot, and rubbed over with the 

 dry powder. 



DWELLINGS OF THE LABOURING CLASSES.* 



On the DweUings of the Labouring Classes. By Henry Roberts, 

 E:sfj. — (Paper rend at the Royal Institute of British Architects, 

 Earl de Grey, K.G., President, in the Chair). 



The subject to he now submitted to the consideration of the 

 Institute of British Architects is one to which their special atten- 

 tion has not been previously invited, although it was incidentally 

 alluded to by my friend, Nir. Smirke, iu the course of the last 

 session. 



Much has lately been said and written on the dwellings of the 

 lahnuriny classes; our illustrious patron, the Prince Consort, has 

 emphatically sliown that he feels deeply interested in this subject, 

 and lias publicly announced tliat "these feelings are entirely and 

 warmly shared by her JIajesty the Queen," our most gracious 

 patroness. Still it is probable that but few members of the Insti- 

 tute have given any special attention to those details which will be 

 brought under your notice; and certainly a yet more limited num- 

 ber h-A\ e been professionally engaged in a field of labour, which 

 apparently offers little scope for ecientific skill, and but few at- 

 tractive points to an artist's eye. Such was my own case when, 

 between five and six years since, I undertook the duties of Hono- 

 rary Architect to the Society for Improving the Condition of the 

 Labouring- Classes, to whose operations in this department your 

 attention will be hereafter invited. 



There appear to he many reason.s which, in an especial manner, 

 commend this subject to the consideration of the architect, besides 

 those whicli give it so strong a claim on the serious attention of 

 the philanthropist and political economist. A moment's reflection 

 must show that the liigiiest achievements of architecture are ac- 

 complished through the instrumentality of the working classes, 

 whose skill and persevering industry conduce as much to the fame 

 of the Architect as the steady valour of the soldier does to weave 

 the crown of victory around the brow of his triumphant General. 



We sliall not enter into a lengthened detail of the present state 

 of the dwellings in which a very numerous body of the labouring 

 classes are lodged. Pers<mal observations most fully confirm what 

 has been stated over and over again as to the magnitude and wide 

 extent of the wretchedness resulting from their actual condition, 

 arising, as it does, from the want of all those arrangements whicli 

 are calculated to promote the comfort and moral training of a well- 

 ordered family, as well as the utter absence of proper ventilation, 

 efficient drainage, and a good supply of water; together with a. 

 system of overcrowding that would not be tolerated for the do- 

 mestic animal in the farm-yard, the stable, or even the dog-kennel. 

 One example may suffice. About four years since, with the desire 

 to obtain ocular demonstration as to the actual existence of such a 

 state of tilings, I visited with a friend several houses in the im- 

 mediate neighbourhood of the Jlodel Lodging House, George- 

 street, Bloomsbury, to be hereafter described. In one of these 

 houses was a room about 22 feet by 16 feet, the ceiling of which 

 could be easily touclied with the hand, without any ventilation, 

 excepting through some half-patched broken squares of glass; 

 here were constantly lodging from forty to si-\ty human beings, 

 men, women, and children, besides dogs and cats. Further detail 

 it is unnecessary to describe; their very recital would disgust you. 



If it be said that the remarks just made can alone apply to a 

 metropolitan St. Giles's, or to Saffron-hill, a reference to the valu- 

 able reports of the liealth-of-Towns' Commission, or to the more 

 recent and graphic dcscri])tions in the columns of the Morning 

 Chronicle, will abundantly show that our provincial towns, our 

 rural villages, and even many of the picturesque cottages which so 

 much enliven the landscape of Great Britain, form no exception 

 to tlie wretched condition of a large proportion of the dwellings 

 tenanted by our labouring peasantry, artisans, and mechanics. In 

 a provincial town, I lately entered one of three cottages ap- 

 proached by a passage 2 ft. 6 in. wide, common to the whole of 

 them; in a ground-floor room, 10 ft. 6 in. by 8 ft. and 5 ft. 10 in. 

 high, with a triangular loft in the sloping roof, were lodged a 

 husband, wife, and five children. The out-buildings common to 

 these cottages I forbear to describe. Yet this is an underdrawn 

 picture of the domiciliary wretchedness which many a dwelling in 

 England, with its boasted civilisation, refinement, and wealth, 

 presents. Some have only one room, occupied by a great number 

 of inmates; some have three or four rooms, each occupied by a 

 distinct and often numerous family; in some cottages, one or more 



* Tliis Paper tias been printed in full in a pamphlet, together with several w. i,d 

 engravinps anii lithographs of Dwellings for the Labouring Classes, which is well worthy 

 of perusal. It is published at 'li. 'Jci., for the benetit of the Society. 



