890 report — 1884. 



The present paper will be mainly devoted to American practice id pumping' 

 machinery, it being assumed that the best work of the leading engineers of Great 

 Britain and the Continent (in this special department of mechanical construction) 

 has been previously described in papers read before the Association. 



Among the earliest examples of pumping machinery used in the United States 

 were the water-works engines at Philadelphia, which were put in operation be- 

 tween the years 1801 and 1808. 



Progress in water-works pumping machinery since the Fairmount works were 

 commenced has been rapid, 



Among the cities whose pumping machinery is worthy of mention here, either 

 from peculiarities of construction or its great capacity, may be mentioned Montreal 

 and Toronto, Canada ; Boston, Lowell, Lynn, and Lawrence in Massachusetts ; 

 Providence and Pawtucket in Rhode Island ; Brooklyn, Buffalo, and Saratoga, 

 New York ; Jersey City, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania ; 

 Cincinnati and Cleveland, Ohio ; Louisville, Ky. ; St. Louis, Mo. ; Chicago, HI. ; and 

 Detroit, Mich. 



In the cities above named there will probably be found as great a variety of 

 good, bad, and indifferent pumping machinery as has ever been collected in an 

 equal number of places anywhere in the world. A brief description of the most 

 prominent types and peculiarities was then given; the author dwelling more 

 especially on mine pumping machinery, and direct-acting steam pumps. 



4. The Anthracite Burning Locomotive of America. By J. D. Barnett. 



5. On English Locomotive Engineering. 

 By A. McDonnell and J. A. P. Astinall. 



The paper included carefully tabulated statistics of the construction, cost, and 

 performance of the standard types of locomotives running upon the principal 

 English railways. 



A special feature in these statistics was the tabulating of the average life in 

 miles of those parts which most frequently require renewal. 



The paper was illustrated by outline drawings, giving dimensions of the stand- 

 ard engines of the various railways. 



6. On the Construction of Locomotive Engines for the London, Brighton, and 

 South Coast Railway. By W. Stroudlk y. 



7. On Valve Gear. By David Jot. 



This valve motion was introduced to the public by the author in 1SS0, in a 

 paper read before the Institute of Mechanical Engineers at their annual summer 

 meeting in Barrow, and at that time was a distinct departure in a new direction, 

 to provide a movement for the valves of steam-engines by the direct movement of 

 the connecting-rod, abandoning the use of excentrics and the time-honoured Lenle 

 motion. 



It was first taken up by the London and North-Western E,ailway Company, and 

 tested by them on an engine built expressly for the purpose, and designed by Mr. 

 Webb, their locomotive engineer-in-chief, for their fast and heavy goods traffic, 

 and this engine has been running ever since. 



The essential feature of the gear is that the movement of the valves is accom- 

 plished by the combination of two motions at right angles to each other — that is, 

 by employing the direct reciprocating motion of the piston, as imparted to the con- 

 necting-rod, with the vibrating movement of the same rod. Thus a movement is 

 imparted to the valve which is susceptible of forward and backward motion for the 

 engine, and for any intermediate degree of expansion. This motion being also 



