11 



THE APPARATUS FOR DELIVERING THE CHIPS TO THE BATTERY AND 

 REMOVING THEM THEREFROM. 



The working of the chip elevators and the apparatus A or removing 

 the exhausted chips was exceedingly unsatisfactory. 



The chips falling into the pit below the cutters were carried by a 

 screw conveyor to a bucket elevator. Thence they were dropped onto 

 a belt conveyor, which delivered thein to the apparatus for blowing out 

 the leaves, &c. The screw, the elevator, and the belt frequently became 

 choked and occasioned a great deal of trouble and delay. 



The apparatus for removing the exhausted chips gave still greater 

 trouble. 



In discharging a cell the whole contents, weighing a ton, were thrown 

 at once on the conveyor. This load was too great, and many days' delay 

 were experienced in making the alterations necessary even to moder- 

 ate efficiency. 



The elevator for taking the exhausted chips from this conveyor was 

 a very complicated and inefficient piece of apparatus, and many tedious 

 changes had to be made before it would do the necessary work. Fi- 

 nally its use was abandoned altogether. The lessons taught by these 

 unfortunate delays show that the proper method for removing the ex- 

 hausted chips from the battery is by means of a tramway and dump- 

 cart, as practiced at Alineria and described in Bulletin No. 8. A great 

 deal of apparatus and power will be saved by this method of disposing 

 of the chips. The conveyor for filling the cells worked in marked con- 

 trast with the rest of the chip-handling machinery, and gave perfect 

 satisfaction. This conveyor extended the entire length of the battery, 

 and was placed directly above it. Over each cell was a door in the 

 floor of the conveyor. When a cell was to be filled the door above it 

 was opened and the chips fell through onto a funnel which directed 

 them into the cell. The bottom of the conveyor at Fort Scott was too 

 near the top of the cells. It should be not less than 6 feet above the 

 top of the cells, so as to allow ample room for tamping the chips as 

 they fall into the cell, thereby greatly increasing the capacity of the 

 battery. I do not think a better contrivance could be devised for fill- 

 ing the cells of a line battery. I am still of the opinion, however, that 

 the charging of a circular battery, as described in Bulletin No. 8, would 

 be a more simple method. The disposition of the battery, however, is 

 not a matter of vital importance. 



I am further of the opinion that it will not be difficult for an ingeni- 

 ous mechanical engineer familiar with elevating apparatus to build- the 

 machinery which will elevate the cuttings to the battery without any 

 difficulty. By the employment of the centrifugal cutter already de- 

 scribed, which can be placed directly over the battery, the elevators will 

 only have to carry the short pieces of cane, a very easy task. 



