[69] FISHEEIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 581 



by the hinging of the several parts. Detailed drawings of the latest 

 improvements are also shown in the United States exhibit. The follow- 

 ing is a general description only : 



In advance of the reel, which is practically of the Thomson pattern, 

 are two pipes parallel to each other and about 6 feet in height, each con- 

 taining a spiral extension-spring fastened at the bottom, and connecting 

 by means of ropes taken over pulleys at the top, with a cross-head 

 moving between the two pipes, the latter serving as guides. The cross- 

 head contains a pulley 1 yard in circumference of rim, over which the 

 wire leads in its passage from the reel to the water. The normal posi- 

 tion of the cross-head is at the top of the guides, and it can be borne 

 down only against the resistance of the springs. By this means a very 

 sensitive accumulator is provided to ease the jerks upon the wire while 

 reeling in, and which also shows by a graduated scale upon the pipes 

 the degree of strain upon the wire at each instant during the same op- 

 eration ; thus the accumulator is also a dynamometer. An odometer 

 attached to the axle of the cross-head pulley will give at once the num- 

 ber of yards of wire payed out or reeled in., 



The method of reeving the friction -line through the cross-head is pe- 

 culiar, advantage being taken of the presence of an accumulator to 

 obtain an arrangement which will put any desired strain upon the fric- 

 tion-line without the aid of the pendulous weights previously used for 

 this purpose. This peculiar arrangement of friction-line and accumu- 

 lator also operates as a governor on the motion of the reel when paying- 

 out in a seaway, thus: During the downward movement of the vessel, 

 when the strain upon the wire is suddenly eased, the reaction of the 

 accumulator increases the strain upon the friction-line, slowing down 

 the reel, and thereby preventing the wire flying from the drum of the 

 reel. As the decreased speed of the reel or the rising of the vessel re- 

 stores the tension upon the wire, the friction-line in turn is eased by the 

 responsive action of the accumulator, and the reel then revolves more 

 rapidly. At the instant bottom is reached, the accumulator, being freed 

 from whatever force is due to the weight of the sinker, reacts instantly 

 and transfers this force to the friction-line. The effect of this operation 

 is to provide a safeguard at a critical moment. 



The method of measuring the friction upon the reel when paying out 

 is shown in the model on exhibition. For this purpose two spring scales 

 are placed upon the friction-line, one in front of the reel and the other 

 behind it. The difference between the readings of the two scales gives 

 the fractional resistance imposed upon the reel by the friction-line. It 

 may be said here that years of experience have shown that no means of 

 measuring the resistance upon the reel is necessary in actual work. 

 This may seem strange, but it is nevertheless true, as a few practice 

 soundings will show. Where there is the slightest motion of the vessel 

 the controlling condition is the tension upon the ivire. Keep the wire con- 

 stantly under tension is the working rule. The scales are added to the 

 outfit more as accessories for experiment than for actual use. 



