Skptemhf.r 24, 1896J 



NA TURE 



513 



will remlcT them suitable for the ordinary rolling-stock, they 

 will, in many cases, not be constructed at such low mileage costs 

 as tu 1)L- likely to be remunerative at rates that would attract 

 agricultural traffic. The public roads of this country (very 

 diflercnt from the wide and level military roads of Northern Italy 

 and other |)arts of the continent) do not usually present facilities 

 for their utilisation, and, once admitted, the necessity for expro- 

 priating private property, the time-honoured questions of frontage 

 severances and interference with amenities will force their way to 

 the Ininl, fencing will be necessary, and, even if level crossings 

 be allowed at public roads, special precautions will have to be 

 taken. 



.Much must then dejiend upon the regulations insisted upon by 

 the Hoard of Trade. If, in consideration of a reduction in speed, 

 relaxation of existing safeguards are permitted, much may, no 

 doubl. be effected by way of feeders to existing main lines. 



If. on the other hand, the branches are of narrower gauge, 

 separate equipment will be necessary, and transhipment at 

 junctions will involve both expense and delay. It is very doubtful 

 wheiher the British farmer would benefit much from short 

 railways of other than standard gauge. He must keep horses 

 for other purposes, and he will probably still prefer to utilise 

 them for carting his produce to the nearest railway station of the 

 main line, or to the market town. 



The jjowers granted by the Light Railways Act, in the hands 

 of the able Commissioners appointed under the Act, cannot, 

 however, fail to be a public boon. 



Special Acts of Parliament will be unnecessary, facilities will 

 be granted, procedure simplified, some Government aid rendered, 

 ami probably the heavy burden of a Parliamentary deposit will 

 be removed. 



It would seem quite probable, that motor cars may offer one 

 [iractical solution of the problem how best to place the farms of 

 the country in commercial touch with the trunk railways, sea- 

 (lorts, and market towns. They could use existing roads, could 

 run to the farmyard or field, and receive or deliver produce at 

 first hand. 



Such means of locomotion were frequently proposed towards 

 the end of the last century, and in the early part of the present 

 one, and it was not until the year 1840, that the victory of the 

 railway over steam ujion common roads was assured, the tractive 

 force required being then shown to be relatively as I to 7. 



The ji.issing of the Act of 1896, superseding those of 1861 and 

 1865, will undoubtedly mark the commencement of a new era in 

 mechanical road traction. The cars, at present constructed 

 chierty by German and French engineers, are certainly of crude 

 design, and leave much to be desired. They are ugly in appear- 

 ance, noisy, difficult to steer, and vibrate very much with the 

 revolutions of their engines, rising as they do to 400 per minute ; 

 those driven by oil give out offensive odours, and cannot be 

 readily started, so that the engine runs on during short stops. 

 There would seem to be arising here an even more important 

 opening for the skill of our mechanical engineers than in the case 

 of bicycles, in which wonderful industry the early steps ap])ear 

 also to have been foreign. 



It is claimed for a motor car that it costs no more than 

 carri;ige, horse, and harness, that the repairs are about the .same, 

 and that, whilst a horse, travelling 20 miles per day, represents 

 for fodder a cost of 2d. per mile, a motor car of 2^ horse-power 

 will run the same distance at \d. per mile. 



The highway authorities should certainly welcome the new 

 comer, for it is estimated that two-thirds of the present wear 

 an<l tear of roads is caused by horses, and one-third only by 

 wheels. 



Perhaps no invention has had so widespreading an influence 

 on the construction of railways as the adopticm of the Bessemer 

 ])roccss for the manufacture of steel rails. This has substituted 

 a homogeneous crystalline structure, of great strength and uni- 

 formity, for the iron rails of former years, built up by bundles of 

 liars, and therefore liable to lamination and defective welds. 

 The price has been reduced from the 13/. per ton, which iron 

 rails once reached, to 3/. 15J. as a minimum for steel. There 

 are, however, not infrequently occurring, in the ex])erience of 

 railway comjianies, the cracking, and even fracture of steel rails, 

 and the Government has lately appointed a Board c)f Trade 

 Committee for the investigation, incidentally of this subject, but 

 specially of the important question of the effect of fatigue upon 

 the crystallisation, structure, and strength of the rail. Experi- 

 ence proves, at any rate, that it is of great importance to remove 



NO. 1404, VOL. 54] 



an ample length of crop end, as fractures more frequently take 

 place near the ends, aided by the weakening caused by bolt 

 holes. Frequent examination by tapping, as in the case of tyres, 

 seems, at present, the most effective safeguard. 



It is open to serious question, whether the great rigidity of the 

 permanent way of the leading railways of this country is an 

 advantage. Certainly the noise is very great, more so than in 

 other countries, and this points to severe shocks, heavy wear and 

 tear of rails and tyres, and — especially when two heavy loco- 

 motives are run with the same train — liability to fracture. 

 Whilst the tendency in this country, and in the United States, 

 has been to gradually increase the weight of rails from 40 lbs. up 

 to 100 lbs. per lineal yard, there are engineers who think that 

 to decrease the rigidity of rail and fishplate, and weight of 

 chair, and to increase the sleepers, so as to arrive as nearly as 

 possible at a continuous bearing, would result in softness and 

 smoothness of running. 



The average and maximum speeds now attained by express 

 trains would appear to have reached the limit of safety, at any 

 rate under the existing conditions of junctions, cross-over roads, 

 and other interferences with the continuity of the rail. If higher 

 speeds are to be sought, it would seem to be necessary to have 

 isolated trunk lines, specially arranged in all their details, free 

 from sharp curve and severe gradient, and probably worked 

 electrically, although a speed of 100 miles per hour is claimed 

 to have been reached by a steam locomotive in the United 

 States. 



The grain trade of the port of Liverpool has assumed very 

 large proportions, and the system of storage in large silos has 

 been adopted, with great advantage, both as regards capital, 

 outlay, and the cost of working, per ton of grain. 



The Liverpool Grain Storage Warehouses at Bootle will be 

 open to members of the Association, and there can be seen the 

 latest development of the mechanical unloading, storing and 

 distribution of grain in bulk ; the capacity is large, being — 



Warehouse No. I, 56,000 tons 1 



,, ,, 2, 30,000 ,, 



Quay Stores 20,000 ,, J 



■ 4,240,000 bushels ; 



thus constituting this granary as one of the largest, if not the 

 largest, in the world. 



The question of the pressure of grain is a very difficult one, 

 and, in constructing the brick silos, which are 12 feet across at 

 the top, by nearly 80 feet in depth, large allowance has been 

 made both for ordinary pressure, and for possible swelling of 

 the grain. 



The grain is unloaded by elevators, and then transported on 

 bands, the result being its cooling and cleansing, as well as its 

 storage and distribution. 



The question of the early adoption in England of the metric 

 system is of importance not only to the engineering profession, 

 but also to the country at large. The recommendation of the 

 recent Royal Commission, appointed for the consideration of the 

 subject, was, that it should be taught at once in all schools, and 

 that, in two years' time, its adoption should be compulsory ; 

 but it is much to be regretted that, up to the present time, 

 nothing has been done. 



The slight and temporary inconvenience of having to learn 

 the system is of no moment compared to the great assistance it 

 would prove to the commercial and trading world ; the simplifi- 

 cation of calculations and of accounts would be hailed with 

 delight by all so soon as they realised the advantages. England 

 is .suffering greatly in her trade with the continent for want of it. 



Our foreign customers, who have now used it for many years, 

 will not tolerate the inconvenience of the endless variety of 

 weights and measures in use in England, and they consequently 

 purchase their goods, to a great extent, from Germany, rather 

 than use our antiquated English system. It is no exaggeration 

 to say that, with their knowledge of the metric system, they 

 regard ours as completely obsolete and unworkable, just in the 

 same way as we should were we to buy our corn, our wine, our 

 steel and iron, by the hin. the ephah, or the homer, or to 

 compute our measurements by cubit, stadium, or parasang. 



It behoves all who desire to see England regain her trade to 

 use all their influence in favour of the adoption of this system, as 

 its absence is, doubtless, one of the contributory causes for the 

 loss that has taken, and is taking, place. 



An important aigument in favour of the metric system o«. 



