170 president's address. 



"It has no separate condenser, having the water jet still 

 below the piston, the water supply coming from a tank fixed 

 above the roof, and kept filled by a bucket fixed on the lower end 

 of the tappet rod. 



" This engine. . . .is by no means economical in coal 



The engine has a fly wheel .... There has also been added a boiler 

 feed pump on fore end of beam, this was not required when it 

 had its own boilers as they were fed from a cistern high enough 

 up to give the pressure, some 3 lbs. I believe. I have often 

 heard an old engine-man speak of the boilers boiling over, also 

 of patching them with a sod and a brick. The engine is now 

 supjDlied with steam from a receiver fed by a reducing valve 

 reducing the pressure from 40 lbs. down to 10 lbs., but when the 

 engine is going the pressure in the receiver falls to about 2 lbs. 



' ' There are two valves only, worked by hand, and some of 

 the mechanical details are very curious compared with present 

 day practice. When the valve lever is level both valves are 

 closed, on depressing it below level, the steam valve is raised 

 admitting steam below piston and breaking the vacuum when 

 the weight of the heavy solid connecting rod assists the little 

 pressure to draw up the piston. (There was at one time a heavy 

 sleeve on the rod to help this). At the same time the finger of 

 the injection valve drops down to the bottom of the two suspend- 

 ing links and so leaves it undisturbed ; the steam at the same 

 time blows out any water in the cylinder through the foot valve (a 

 common flap one). The valve lever is weighted in such a way 

 that when the lever is level both steam and water pressure tend 

 to keep it so and both valves closed, but the farther the lever is 

 shifted either way the more weight is thrown on to help it ; this 

 was to steady the lever when going self-acting with tappets on 

 the plug rod. 



" The spindles are packed and kept tight by simply a turn of 

 hemp and kept up to it by a cramp. The valves are brass 7^" 

 dia., the seats are" merely placed on the bottom of the casing, and 

 held down by two L shaped keys driven in above them. 



"The engine goes very well and gives no trouble, or as 

 little as our modern high speed couples do, and if it has any 

 good point it is that a blacksmith can make any repairs needed. 



