GATE. 
‘predicament, he fet the workmen to other bufinefs, and 
himfe sl to ae rele a ee n of the principle of gate-hangi ng 
A fter for fome time, with n his hand, 
‘etching his ideas eee ends on paper, he faw clearly, ond 
o demonftration, that the fall depended entirely upon the 
is of moti by the fituation of 
B09 
are agen 
er ata 
the gateway, to prevent its ftanding open. 
The Foes "of fall muft vary with the ufes and length of 
the gate, and the ae or fancy of the hanger. 
gate has too much fall at the poft, it is liable to beat itfelf 
to pieces; if too naa i he not catch with fufficient 
certainty, and is liable to lown o by the w _ an 
& 
pen 
thus be ecome a deception, te than a fafe-guard. uf- | 
nd, 
ficient tr faa it has been fou that for fiel gates, one inch 
i the poft, and an inch at os right angle, give 
what nee to the writer a proper fall to in 
In regard to the thimbles, the only ufe of their being made 
in this or that form, is, to counteract the crofs winding or 
obliquity of the hooks; fo that the gate, when fhut, fhall 
hang plumb = level ; or every way in a perfectly upright 
on. The way to aicertain the true pofition of the aT. 
is that of takir oe plumb line, or ps ring with a sre tied in 
it, and looking along the line » to 
drive the hooks, or move the pot “intl the ees roe the 
pin of the upper hook appears, by the line hanging perpen- 
dicularly before the eye, an inch and a half nearer the middle 
of the fence, than aon of the under one; and then looking 
-along the line of the road, or perpendicularly to the gate- 
a > fee we = coe of the pin of the upper hook ftands 
nch n the middle of the road than that of the 
ace) hk will enh likewife that the pins of the hooks 
ftand, not exactly upright, sy in a line with each other, 
forming one dire¢t axis of motio 
It is fuggelted, that as ee are liable to fag, or fink 
down by hanging, they fhould c onftantly be hung fomewhat 
he topt i 
into the mi 
ulder of the hook admit, the eons 
teraction of courfe depends on the hon thimble. T£ this 
thimble be made with two {trong ftraps, to clafp the lower 
_ part of the har-tree, as it always ought, with an eye on 
ie or with two eyes, one on eac ide, ye paged cia 
nches apart, with projecting necks, 
inch late. from the har-tree than iat of si apne ‘thimble, 
» more accurately fpeaking, with the centre of the eye or 
oe of the lower thimble ftanding an inch further behind pe 
har-tree, than the centre.of the eye o r one 
gate acquires, ona rida the requilite fall, yet hangs ch el 
fie Report of the Conn of 
fae "fet the poift perpendicular, leta 
line a 4, fire. 2. in the plate, be drawn upon it; on 
this line at a proper height put in the hook C, fo that it 
may project three ak anda half-from the face of the 
pone and at a convenient diftance below this, put in the 
lower. y an inch and a half to one ad of the perpen- 
dicular line, and projecting two inches from the face of the 
io ; then put the top loop or eye two ele from the face 
_pended, 
of the har-tree, and the bottom as tee inches and a half 
from it ; and when thus hung, the will, it is contended, 
have a tendency to fhut, im every arse in which it may 
be placed. 
For if the weight of the gate be reprefented by the line 
ed in the diagram accompanying figure 2, this, by the re- 
folution of forces, i is refolvable into other two, namely, ce 
and de, as feen in the fame diagram, the former reprefenting 
— 
Met 
bs 
“This fubjedt has been full farther — and explained 
in a late eflay, by the ingenuity and exertion of Mr. Parker, 
who obferves that “agate, when fufpended by hinges, is a 
lever of the fecond kind, in which the ee is placed 
~ ulcrum ; s eviden nt, that 
ae the gate itfelf is the weight t 
the hinges are the fulcrum or ae of motion.”’ 
that ‘¢ when the hooks or pivots upon which a gate is hung 
the gate will be at reft wherever it aed be placed ; 
fame power which is required to mo a gate | thus fufpended 
cadtly se cient 
of 
n hi epee But the {malleft variation of the hooks from 
ee perpendicular line, will attach to a gate, fo fufpended, 
one determinate line of reft, and no other; and from any 
ate val ac 
wal poe oun. ts pars height, and pene itfelf, 
or with a very flight affiftance may be fupported in equi- 
librio. 
But that « whena gate is in its line of reft, or in its op- 
pofite a . equilibrium, the two ho oks by which it is fuf- 
the centre of the gate’s a will be 
found to bei in one and the fame vertical plane: which will be 
hitiges’ may be put o 
perverfe. And w bed the hooks are in a perpendi 
with each other, it can admit o 
alw la be in the fame vertical plane with the centre of the 
gate’s gr avitation, oaeue they will be fo with any third 
given point whatfo 
“ Thefe general cance are alfo applicable to any com- 
mon {wing- “gate, which has two or more pivots or hooks 
at the lower hinge, when the pofition of either one of the 
lower pivots is confidered with regard to the upper hook.’ 
nd, in further explanation of thefe principles, a figure is 
given in the Effay, — is heeds ofed hee aa of a gate 
g feet 2inches long, fr e fore-par s head to . 
ae point of ia, eter ar in the Tine of reft, a 
well asin the oppofite line of equilibrium, fhewing the ve- 
locity with which the gate is made to fall, from an elevation 
‘of Ginches gained at the head, in attaining its ling of equili- 
brium ; ore hola the line of re » by means of the 
pofition of the two hooks, and the proposaonats extra 
length of the oa er thimble.” It is added, that * the line 
of seen fhould be 22 de ee 30 min. or 1-46th part of a 
circle 
