No. 129.J 113 



are used. Paddle wheel arms for steamers are flats tapered edge- 

 wise. The leaves of elliptic springs are tapered at both ends and 

 parallel in the middle. Short switches and pointers on railroads 

 are regular tapers. Locomotive pedestals are forged in straight 

 bars tapered at each end and parallel in the middle, and after- 

 wards bent. The common form of carriage axle, known as the 

 patent axle, is square next the journal and tapered to the middle 

 of the axle. Straps for walking beams and connecting rods, and 

 all kinds of levers are tapered ; anchor shanks are tapered, rounds 

 passed through flat rollers, making them tapered ovals. Wind- 

 lass necks are tapered squares. 



The specimens exhibited at our twenty-fourth Annual Fair were 

 the first and only ones rolled in the United States by this process. 

 Iron thus manufactured, we are informed, can be furnished at 

 three cents per pound, whilst the same material, forged under the 

 hammer, will cost six cents per pound. The works are estab- 

 lished at Phoenixville, Pa., under the direction of the proprietors, 

 Messrs. Reeves, Buck & Co., Philadelphia. 



TERRA COTTA, OR ARTIFICIAL STONE. 



When composed of good materials and well manufactured, 

 forms a substance of great durability, being apparently indes- 

 tructable in all situations. It is composed of pipe or potter's 

 clay, with a due admixture of fine-grained sand and pulverized 

 broken pottery. These ingredients, mixed to the consistence of 

 paste, are modeled or moulded into a great variety of forms, such 

 as statues, architectural decorations, vases, garden ornaments of 

 various kinds, &c., and having been slowly dried in the air, may 

 be fired to the hardness of stone in kilns constructed for that pur- 

 pose. This material has been made for many years successfully 

 at Berlin, and Dr. Ure describes very minutely the kilns used 

 there by Mr. Feilner, which are economical in the use of fuel. 

 It appears, also, that Mr. Keene obtained within a few years, a 

 patent in England for making an artificial stone paste, in the 

 following manner : " He dissolves one pound of alum in a gallon 



[Assembly, No. 129} 8 



