490 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE, 



inclined planes. The superintendent had informed him that 

 upon one occasion the engineer in charge of a locomotive, with a 

 heavy train attached, was instructed to leave off his sand box, 

 and when he came to a heavy grade to obey the instrctions of a 

 man who was to accompany him. Accordingly the engineer did 

 so, and on arriving at a steep grade the momentum of the cars 

 stopped and the wheels slipped. After several unsuccessful 

 attempts to start the train ahead, showing that the grade could 

 not be surmounted without some additional application, the man 

 in charge directed the engineer to turn a handle, and the moment 

 it was done the wheels stopped slipping, and the heavy train 

 moved forward without the application of sand. The electricity 

 generated in front of the smoke pipe of the engine, so as to bind 

 the wheels to the rails, thereby causing a saving of 10 per cent. 



W. A. Bartlett said that as they were lately shocked by so 

 many persons having lost their lives for the want of a proper 

 light, he thought the subject was worthy of consideration. In 

 France they organized a commission, to which all lamp manufac- 

 turers were requested to furnish a lamp for the navy and com- 

 mercial purposes. One was furnished on the Fresnel Cata-diop- 

 tric principle, which was adopted in France, England, Holland, 

 Russia, <fec. He was of opinion that if the schooner had been 

 provided with one of those lanterns instead of the one they gene- 

 rally use in that class of vessels, the accident would not have 

 occurred. Captains think that if they have a small vessel they 

 will only require a small lantern. If the steamer had been struck 

 by a large or high vessel, instead of the low schooner, the acci- 

 dent would not have been so fatal, for the reason that she would 

 have been struck above her water lines and not at them. We 

 have to-day over 500 of the Fresnel illuminated in light houses, 

 but owners of small vessels persist in burning small lamps, con- 

 sequently a light had to be manufactured to suit their wishes. 

 A lamp not costing over $10 to $15 is manufactured in France 

 sufficient to be seen at a distance of five miles from a vessel's 

 deck fifteen feet above the water. 



Mr. Fisher thought that an insufficient watch was another 

 cause. He was of the opinion that some law ought to be passed 

 compelling them to keep sufficient watch. 



Mr. Garbanati thought that out of the number of vessels 

 that have been reported missing, if they carried sufficient light 

 these accidents would not have occurred. A vessel of three 



