August lO, 1880.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



45 



a number -of indicator cards have been taken. That a 

 pressure of 300 to 500 pounds steam could be carried in 

 the Anthracite's boiler, or in any other pipe boiler built 

 for such pressures, is not a point at issue at all, is noth- 

 ing new and nod worth recording. The trials in England 

 have been shamefully falsified to affect the public here, 

 and we protest against any similar tactics being counte- 

 nanced on this side of the Atlantic through the inability 

 of the non-professional pre&i to deal with matters which 

 are beyond it. 



In order tliat we may not be accused of prejudice, we 

 prefer to give the investigation of an English journal, 

 the standing of which is as well known to us in America 

 as it is to the fraternity in Europe. We (piote from the 

 London Engineer, July 30th, which bears us out with 

 data and facts in all we have said concerning the Perkins 

 hobby, It also gives color to the prevailing impression 

 that the Anthracite shirked a test with the steamer Leila 

 for causes much more rational than the foolish and un- 

 tenable reason assigned by the company's agent in his 

 unfortunate answer. The Engineer has it as follows : — 



Weliaveticen frivorod with a copy of his report, which, for 

 some luL'i-plitui I I '■'■■ry iiicomplere; in fact, any as- 

 sistant cngiULi ' !if;ei:loue iLs satisinetui'.v. ]tivill 

 be borne in 111 ij n ni;i;.y years Mr. Perkins has 

 earucstiy advuLd.i».ii iu,; ucm ^i very lii^'li pressure sieam and 

 largo measures of ejrxjausion ; and that, ho lias btateJ and argued 

 that in this way, aad in this way only, cau any .irreat economy of 

 fuel be obtained. It has been urged, on Ih.? other hand, that Mr. 

 Perlilas never had had a proper test of one of his engiaes made ; 

 or tlmt if such a test liad been carried out that the result had not 

 Ue3u published ; that the ensrino was complex, and unsuited for 

 useac sea ; ai.d that sound tlieory, read in the light of the best 

 practice, was dead a^aihist Mr. Perjvias. We may add to this ttiat 

 nil Mr. Perkins' vrjntiires at sea have been singului-ly unfortu- 

 nate. Theengine.s of the iacht \VanJorer, which were intended 

 once for all to establish the anccess ot the Terlcins system, broke 

 down, caused much trouble, and were flnally condemned and re- 

 moved. The engines of the Lottus Perkins, to which we referred 

 above, have, it is said, gone to the scrap heap after a few months' 

 Eervlco, during which, it iscurrentlv reported in Sunderland, that 

 more time was spent in the making ot repoii-s than in the run- 

 ning ot trips. Almost the only comment made by Mr. Bramwell 

 is to the elTect that the engines ran for ten hours without re- 

 quiring the use oEa hammer or a spanner, which Mr. Bramwell 

 seems to consider a remarkable performance; but whether re- 

 . markable only for the Perkins ent'lue or tor any engine we can- 

 not say. Sea-going engineers will liardl.v look on it as im excep- 

 tional feat Mr. Bramwell made no attempt to determine the 



evaporative elHcieney of the boiler. He contented himself with 

 taking 128 diagrams, and wcisrhlng the coal ; 15 ewt. were burned 

 In all. The engines gave out from 7:31 a.m. to C::30 p.m., eleven 

 hours and ten minutes, a gross average indicated horse power of 

 80.55, but from 0:30 to 7:23, when the engines stopped of lliem- 

 selves, because the ttre had burned itself out, the power was 

 gradually diminishing. The average full power revolutions were 

 130.77 per minute. The average consumption ot fuel per horse 

 per hour was 1.7 pounds, including that used in getting up steam. 

 "fVom that time." writes Mr. BramweU, "when the iirst shovelful 

 or the fourth ,-,, - put on the fire, namely, at 7:.')J a. 



jit., to the time .liovelliU of the fifteenth sack of 



coals was put <in - j jiv, 1:15 p.m., i. e., eight hours litiy- 



Hve minutes, the eiiicines e.vertei an average of 60.9 horss power. 

 This gives the oonsumpllon per horse power per liour at 1.7 

 pounds, assuming the (ire was uniform at the commencemeut 

 andeudot these times.".... 



In the first place, the power developed was sufficiently great to 

 make the experiment a satisfactory test of the Perkins system. 

 The cylinders wore .iacketted, and there were no leaks, and the 

 boiler was so eilieiently clothed that a thermometer laid on the 

 lagging and cr.vered wiih eottoa wool only rose to 138 degs. Fahr. 

 It is improbable, therefore, that any better result could be got 

 from a larger engine. Kext It is to bo observed that the fuel 

 used during the trial was "Nixon's navigation hand-picked 

 lumps," which is probably the best coal in the world. Experi- 

 ments carried out with it at K.eyham yard In 1663 showed that it 

 evaporated, when burnt properly, at the rate of 11.05 pounds of 

 water from 212 degs., while the hest Newcastle coalln the same 

 boiler evaporated but 9,31 pounds. It Is a curious fact that Mr. 

 Bramwell, in his report, nowhere states the temperature of ihe 

 feed-water. We uiay assume, howe\er, that it was the same as 

 that of the condenser. The vacuum was 27 iiithes. The heisrhc 

 Of the barometer is not stafed. TaldUL.'- It at a little under :3iJ 

 Inches, we have 11.) deiTS. as tire teinpeiatiire ut the feed-water, 

 Wehave nore.ison to douljt each poaad of coal burned repre- 

 sented 11 pounds of steam. This being so, the engme consumed 

 18.7 pounds, or say, in round numbers, 19 pounds of steam per 

 horse-power perholir. Now, it may be regarded as clearly proved 

 that ordinary compound engines working on north country coal 

 require but 1.9 pounds to 2 pounds of coal per horse per 

 hour. Making allowance for the difference of the qualities 

 of the hoilei-s and of the coal, we may say that this repre- 

 sents 19 pounds to 29 pounds of steam per horse per hour; 

 or to all intents and purposes the engines of an ordinary Atlantic 

 cargo steamer, indioatiiig from aiW to iltU horse power, are as 

 economical as the Perkins engine. Wo are dealing here with 

 faois. We are making no assumptions. The consumption of 

 steam in the engines of the Anthracite was more like, y to have 

 been greater than we have stated than less. Indeed, wo believe 

 that Mr. Perkins claims that his boiler can evaporate with the 

 .best Welsh coal, and feed-water at 130 deg;;., nearly 12 pounds of 

 water per pound of coal. This would make the consumption of 

 steam 20 pounds per horse per hour Comparing the perform- 

 ance of the engines of the Anthracite with those oE ordinary 

 compound engines by good makers, wo find that nodiiiii/ ?mji been 

 iiainai by the adoption of a high boiler pressure. We say boiler 

 pressure, for, curiously euough, Mr. Perkins does not really work 

 with steam of enormous tension.however much he may advoeiito it. 

 'I'hus, while the boiler pressure in the case of the Anthracite was 

 ;W0 pounds on the square inch, the pressure in the Iirst cylinder 

 did not exceed 180 pounds, or just oue-half that in the boiler. 

 We su-e entirely at a loss to explain what object is gained by car- 

 rying 8(iO pounds in a boiler and working at ISO pouuds. Mar does 

 Mr. Bramwell throw the least light on the subject. Indeed, there 

 ore many points of much interest left totally untouched In this 

 curiously Incomplete report. Thus, wo should have liked to 

 know how much 6team was condensed In the coiled pipes which 

 act as Jackets to the cylinders. Again, we are told nothing about 

 the temperature of the sea or that of the feed- water ; and, as we 



have said, no attempt was made to measure the feed-water. We 

 reproduce copies of three of the diaarm -* ■ ' =iy,a3ct. 

 It will be seen that while the flrsi two a lud sal- 



isfactory, the two last are very much lb . iiagrams 



are all alike, right through the series, and . _ _.. - .. ; julitthat 

 the jump at the beginningand the wave line aie due to condensed 

 steam. The engines, during the trial, expanded Steam thirty two 

 times, and under any possible conditions, unless the steam is very 

 highly suiier-heateJ indeed, that ratio of expansion must be at- 

 tended with envruioLis condensation. The piecing of the two 

 llrst diagrams is fairly good, but that of either of the other dia- 

 grams with the second is very bad — 



We, and many others with us, would like to be told why the 

 cylinder pressuro was but one-half the boiler pressure. One hun- 

 dred and sixty pounds is by no means unknown in loeoinotiv e 

 practice, and if very high pressures are good, why does not Mr. 

 Perkins use them V It may be of course that he cniisiticrs an ex- 

 pansion of thirty-two to one enough, and that if br sent :») 

 pounds of steam into his engines he would have to expand it too 

 much. Conceding the force of the argument, the question re- 

 mains, Why does he carry 3(10 pounds in his boiler? If it con- 

 duces to economy, the fact ought to be generally known. It will 

 be a new fact to roost engkiecrs.. 



We shoftld say so. 



When Mr. Perkins was content with two cylinders, he 

 obtained one horse power from 1.6 pouuds. When he 

 added a third cylinder, "to do away with a glsind," the 

 best his arrangement coidd do with the best of coal was 

 1,7 pouuds, which is not calculated to inspire faith in the 

 claim of the Perkins Engine Company to teach the 

 world anything new. ' The reader will pro bablj' conclude 

 with us, that the advantages claimed for the Perkins 

 system are a myth, and that trying to place it on the 

 American market at tliis late day seems little less than 

 grotesque. We sultjoin tiie diagrams referred to :— 



Steam, 35 lbs.; chamber, 9 lbs.; vacuum, 215! Ins.; revolutions, 

 ]38i per minute. For the high pressure cylinder, the average 

 -123 75 lbs.: for the intermediate cylinder, the average =15. 7i)2 

 lbs. For the high pressure cylinder we have 3,8iii; revolutions 

 X.50X 123.7 =2.S,21.5,227 foot lbs. For the intermediate cylinder we 

 have3,S.e revolut:ions X23s.i5XI5,S= H,,M0,760 foot lbs. The first 

 diagram is from the tup of tlie hiiib pres-ure initial cylinder, the 

 second from the bottom of the seeond eyliuder. The remaining 

 two are from the toi) and bottom of the third cyliader, as fol- 

 lows;— 



Average for low pressure cylinder, hotlom =10.17 lbs., and f 

 the top -8.1,5:1 lbs. We have, tlierefore, for the bottom 3,860 revol 

 dons X.5a3.1fiX10.47=20,37o,iK>:i foot lbs., and tor the top 3,SBeX.Jl 

 885XS.I5- 111,0911,913 foot ilw. Total foot lbs. =79.231,500. All t 

 diagrams are calculated wil h the phinimeter. The last pair wet 

 however, very unsatisfactory and diflloult to deal with, the wav 

 curve line being apparently due to the presence of waterln I 

 cylinder. ^^_^_^^_^_^_ 



ROUGH NOTES FROM THE WOODS. 



Second Paper. 



V( BY NESS-MCK, 



FOUR miles from Moose River, on the " Brown Tract 

 road," there is a trail ttu-ning to tlie right, and a 

 white shingle is marked " Jones' Camp." Follow the trail 

 two miles, and it forks. The left fork is marked again 

 "Jones' Camp." Tlie right fork has a plain sliiugle. marked 

 with blue pencil, as follows: " Win. Bero, Chief St. Regis 

 L-dians." This trailleads to the "Injun Camp. "as it is called 

 here. I had met Chief William at the Moose River House ; 

 had been told that he could give me more genuine knowl- 

 edge of the wilderness than any man within fifty miles. I 

 laid myself out to cultivate Cliief WHliatn, invited him to 

 my room, showed him rifle, hatchet, fishing duffle, hooks, 

 spears, lines and knives. When I showed him an ivory- 

 handled Spanish knife that was reaUy fine, though of 

 little use to me, I saw his black eye gleam ; lie fell in 

 love with that knife on sight. I am well used to the 

 American aborigine. AVhen William had done admir- 

 ing that knife I made him a present of it. That won 

 him. I am sorry to say I supplemented the gift with a 

 glass of firewater. A oorditU invitation to visit the In- 

 dian camp followed, with au offer to carry tny canoe and 

 all the traps I desired to take. 



Waiiam Bero, chief of the St. Regis tribe, heads a gang 

 of twenty young braves, whose tomahawk is the axe of 

 the backwoodsman, whose scalping knife is the spud of 

 the barkpeeler. Luckily, in going in, I met William on 

 the trail, who, with a companion, was going into the 

 tannery on busiuf^s. 



He went no further. He had promised if I, came out 

 to his camp that he would "take care of me," aud he 

 did it. 



- Relegating his business to his partner on the spot, he 

 took my blanket roll and rifle away from me. He even 

 insisted on carrying my nine-ounce rod. From the mo- 

 ment I met him on the trail he took possession of me, so 

 to speak, and I followed his lead implicitly. 

 What a grand woodsman the fellow is 1 

 I wanted to go to tlie Indian camp the first thing. Not 

 a bit of it. He knew of a spring hole that he wanted me 

 to fish, aud I surrendered. He led me by trails and across 

 swamps, until I lost aU notion of compass points, and at 

 last brought me out on the banks of tlie Moose, at the 

 mouth of a cold trout stream, and then he explained that 

 trout bad been taken there the presetit sefison weighing 

 over three pounds. I dare sav iie was right. But as they 

 had been taken, of course tliey were not there. 



I whipped the water in my best style for half an hour 

 without a rise, while Chief Wilham, with tamarack pole, 

 coarse cotton line and large bass hook, baited with a 

 chunk of shiner, stood on a log below me and hauled out 

 trout after- trout in the most businesslike and unartistic 

 manner. 



At last an unfortunate took my center fly— a (pieen— 

 and. as I was towing him around, another victim immo- 

 lated himself on the tail fly— a Romeyn. It was well. 

 With what trout Chief Bill had snaked out we had 

 euougli, but it is hard to make any man liere believe that 

 you come to the woods for any other purpose than to 

 catch the ultimate trout and shoot the last possible deer. 

 I succeeded in drawing Bill off, and we started for the 

 "Indifin camp.'' He said it was "a mile 'n half." I think 

 it was. It took an bom- and a lialf of rapid marching to 

 reach it. The camp was simply two bark-roofed log 

 fhanties, standing among and underneath large spruce 

 and hemlock trees. 



One of the whirlwinds so common in these woods 

 would mtvke a bad tangle of that camp. 



The inmates of the shanty consisted of the fifteen chop- 

 pers and peelers, with Bills family of seven— Mrs. Bill, 

 a portly, comely squaw; the daughter, a pretty-featured, 

 plump young sipiaw, with a voice like a silver bell, and 

 four young Indians, the smallest being the inevitable 

 pappoose, on his ornately carved and painted board. 



That pappoose is and always has been to me a Sybilline 

 mystery. I first marie his acquaintance many years ago 

 among the Nessmuks of Massachusetts. He was on his 

 board, swathed, strapped and swaddled from chin to toes, 

 immovable sa\e that his head and neck were left free to 

 wiggle. I next saw him among the »Senecas of New 

 Yoi-k State. Then in Michigan; in Wisconsin; on the 

 upper waters of the Mississippi ; and now I meet hiiu 

 again in the North Woods. The same mysterious in- 

 scrutable eyes ; the same placid, patient, silent baby, varj-- 

 ing in nolhing save the board, wliich in Wisconsin was 

 simply a piece of bark, la this case the board is a neat 

 bit of handicraft. NVhen Bill assures me that the carv- 

 ing was "done with a jacUnife " I can hardly believe 

 him. And when be savs that the bright vermillion, blue 

 and yellow has not beeii retouched in thirty-five yetws, I 

 don't believe him at all. Tho painting is as bright aa 

 though it was put on the present season. Commend me 

 to the pappoose board. We judge men, actions and things 

 by idcimate results. 



After a roval supper of trout, cooked in a manner wor- 

 thy ot Delmoiiico's, I watched Bill's young barkpeelers 

 as they got red around a rousing fire which they had the 

 good s"ense to build under a huge hemlock. There was 

 not a pair of roiintl shoulders or a protruding shoulder- 

 blade in the camp. Straight, strong, stialwart fellows, 

 one and all. And every man of them spent the first year 

 of his life on a pappoose board. 



It has been said a thousand times that Indians wUl not 

 work, or onlv in a ficttil, desultory way that amounts to 

 nothing ; ancl this is true of the plains Indian ; also of the 

 Cree and Chippewa, with other nomadic. U-ibes; but not 

 of the St. Regis or Mohawk, and only in part of the Sen- 

 ecas and Oneidas. 



As an instance of what Indian muscle can do, let me 

 state that the dav before I reached the St-. Regis camp 

 ten of Bill's barkpeelers f eUed and peeled 13S large liem- 

 locks, yielding over thirty cords of bark. In most white 

 camps a cord of bark per day is.iccounted fair work, 



I think the pappoose is glad when darkness settles down 

 on the forest and they let up on him. He throws lus 

 arms and legs about for ail the world like a white baby, 

 and crows like mad; then of a sudden his head lops over ; 

 he is asleep. I, too, turn in, but not to sleep. Three of 

 the young Indians, including the sweet-voiced maiden, 

 gather aroutui the fire and sing ui a low minor key, and 

 with soft, pleasant voices, the Indian songs of their tribe. 

 And at last I drop into slumber, and waken five minutes 

 after, as it seems to me. But it is dayli,Lrbi:. aud Mrs. 

 Bdl has the breakfast nearly ready. I huve slept the 

 sleep of the just man. and am fresh for the day. 



The maiden has got that inscrutable pappoose out, and 

 is strapping him to bis board for the day. When they 

 get him fixed tliev will pull out: from under the roots of 

 a hu-re hemlock theiuevitable jug of tar oil, and aunomt 

 every visible part of his tawny pelt. The tai; od, well 

 applied, will bust some two hours, when it begins to fau„ 

 aud venomous insects begin to wire in on you. 



That pappoose under=tands it. So long as ;tar Oil lasts 

 he spends his time peering with deep, curious eyes into 

 the gloomv depths of the forest, or, when the wind rises, 

 watching the swaying tree tops. But ;it the first decided 

 mosquito or punkie bite he gives tongite in a straight 

 steady yell, without any tips or downs, and Mrs. BiU 

 comes to his relief, takes him between her knees, an- 

 uoiuts him from neck to crown, takes him by the basket 

 handle of his board, as one might a peck of potatoes, and 

 stands him up against a hemlock, a log, or the shady 

 side of the shanty. He resumes hia eterma occupation 

 of gazing at the mysteries of the forest, and is placidly 

 eontenc. . ,, . , 



An Indian baby is not expensive in the way of pkiy- 

 ihings. ., . , . , • 



Chief William gives me no rest. It is his undying con- 

 viction that I came to the woods for the sole purpose of 

 sliooting deer and catching trout, and I have got to do it. 

 He hurries me off to Nelson Lake, one of the unmapped 

 •svaters of the wilderue.ss. There are three spring holes 

 there in which trout of two pounds have been taken the 

 present season. It is ahio a good lake for "floating,' as 

 thev call it here. A short time sincea party went on the 

 lake to float, and succeeded, by noisy paddUng, in scar- 

 ing six deer out of the lake in one evening, but got no 

 shot I find Nelson Lake a pretty sheet of water, fringed 



