ANNUAL ADDRESS, VII. 
In locomotive boilers they almost, without exception, punch 
and rime the rivet holes in steel plates, and never drill unless 
specially asked for. In the Union Iron Works, San Francisco, I 
saw some large marine boilers in course of construction, but here 
the holes were drilled in position with horizontal drilling machines 
of special design. In the works of Messrs. Diibs & Co. of Glasgow 
I saw an excellent machine for drilling holes in boilers in which 
the drills are arranged normally to the shell of the boiler, and 
produce most perfect work. At Beyer and Peacock’s works I saw 
a good drilling machine for boiler work which travelled horizontally 
along the flat plate, before it was bent into shape. 
The out put of steel rails at the Edgar Thompson Works at 
Pittsburg probably exceeds that of any rail works in the world. 
At the Homestead Works the armour plate machinery can handle 
a fifty ton plate of nickel steel which is forged under a 10,000 
tons forging press. Electric cranes transfer the armour plates 
from the furnaces to the press. Electric trolly cars convey steel 
blooms from a roller conveying-table in front of a train of rolls, to 
an electric charging machine in front of a re-heating furnace. 
The trolly car is provided with a motor and controller, and a man 
Operates the charging machine while riding on it by means of 
electric switches, the same man telegraphs to the trolly car all 
the motions for it to perform, which are accomplished apparently 
Without human agency. The laboratory in these works contains 
in addition to the ordinary testing appliances a special apparatus 
for investigating the microscopical structure of steel. In Professor 
Martin’s laboratory at Berlin I also saw an apparatus of this 
description. In the Bethlehem Steel works the hydraulic forging 
press has a capacity of 14,000 tons, which is supplied with power 
rom the largest set of engines in the world. In Bethlehem and 
Pittsburg I saw the Harvey furnaces for producing a hard surface 
on the armour plates, and also saw similar apparatus at Messrs. 
Vickers’ works, Sheffield, and at Herr Krupp’s, Essen. The two 
latter works undoubtedly produce the best railway tyres and 
_ axles, which is largely due to the care exercised in the first instance 
