506 



SCIENCE 



[Vol. V., No. 124. 



81; and this company, to which the United pipe- 

 lines have also been transferred, is said to have 

 $15,000,000 invested in plant for the transport of oil 

 to tide water. They operate a total of 880 miles of 

 main pipe-line alone, ranging from 4 inches to 6 

 inches in diameter; or, adding the duplicate pipes 

 on the Olean New- York line, we have a round total 

 of 1,330 miles, not including loops and shorter 

 branches, and the immense network of the pipes in 

 the oil regions proper. 



A general description of the longest line will prac- 

 tically suffice for all, as they differ only in diameter 

 of pipe used, and power of the pumping-plant. As 

 shown on the map, this long line starts at Olean, 

 near the southern boundary of New- York state, and 

 proceeds by the route indicated to tide water at Bay- 

 onne, N.J., and by a branch under the North and 

 East River, and across the upper end of New-York 

 City to the Long-Island refineries. This last-named 

 pipe is of unusual strength, and passes through Cen- 

 tral Park. The following table gives the various 

 pumping-stations on this Olean New- York line, and 

 some data relating to distances between stations and 

 elevations overcome: — 



On this line two 6-inch pipes are laid the entire 

 length, and a third 6-inch pipe runs between Wellsville 

 and Cameron, and about halfway between each of the 

 other stations, ' looped ' around them. The pipe used 

 for the transportation of oil is especially manufac- 

 tured of wrought-iron to withstand the great strain 

 to which it will be subjected. The pipe is made in 

 lengths of 18 feet, and these pieces are connected by 

 threaded ends and strong sleeves. The pipe-thread 

 and sleeves used on the ordinary steam and water 

 pipe are not strong enough for the duty demanded of 

 the oil-pipe. Up to 1877, the largest pipe used on the 

 oil-lines was 4-inch, with the usual steam thread; 

 but the joints leaked under the pressure, 1,200 pounds 

 to the square inch being the maximum the pipe 

 would stand. This trouble has been remedied by 

 the pipe of the present day, which is tested at the 

 mill to 1,500 pounds' pressure, while the average 

 duty required is 1,200 pounds. As the iron used 

 in the manufacture of this line-pipe will average a 

 tensile test strain of 55,000 pounds per square inch, 

 the safety factor is about one-sixth. 



The line-pipe is laid between the stations in the 

 ordinary manner, excepting that great care is exer- 

 cised in perfecting the joints. No expansion joints 

 or other special appliances of like nature are used 

 on the line, so far as we can learn; the variations 

 in temperature being compensated for, in exposed 

 locations, by laying the pipe in long horizontal 

 curves. The usual depth below the surface is about 

 3 feet, though in some portions of the route the pipe 

 lies for miles exposed directly upon the surface. As 

 the oil pumped is crude oil, and this, as it comes 

 from the wells, carries with it a considerable propor- 

 tion of brine, freezing in the pipes is not to be appre- 

 hended. The oil, however, does thicken in very cold 

 weather, and the temperature has a considerable 

 influence on the delivery. 



A very ingenious patented device is used for clean- 

 ing out the pipes, and by it the delivery is said to 

 have been increased in certain localities fifty per cent. 

 This is a stem about 2£ feet long, having at its front 

 end a diaphragm made of wings which can fold on each 

 other, and thus enable it to pass an obstruction it 

 cannot remove. This machine carries a set of steel 

 scrapers somewhat like those used in cleaning boil- 

 ers. The device is put into the pipe, and propelled 

 by the pressure transmitted from the pumps from one 

 station to another. Relays of men follow the scraper 

 by the noise it makes as it goes through the pipe, one 

 party taking up the pursuit as the other is exhausted. 

 They must never let it get out of their hearing, for, 

 if it stops unnoticed, its location can only again be 

 established by cutting the pipe. 



At each station are two iron tanks 90 feet in diam- 

 eter and 30 feet high. Into these tanks the oil is 

 delivered from the preceding station, and from them 

 the oil is pumped into the tanks at the next station 

 beyond. The pipe system at each station is simple, 

 and by means of the ' loop-lines ' before mentioned, 

 the oil can be pumped directly around any station 

 if occasion should require it. 



The engines vary in power from 200 to 800 horse- 

 power, according to duty required. They are in con- 

 tinuous use, day and night, and are required to 

 deliver about 15,000 barrels of crude oil per 24 hours, 

 under a pressure equivalent to an elevation of 3,500 

 feet. 



The enterprise has been so far a great engineering 

 success, and the oil delivery is stated on good author- 

 ity to be within two per cent of the theoretical capa- 

 city of the pipes. From a commercial stand-point, 

 the ultimate future of the undertaking will be deter- 

 mined by the lasting qualities of wrought-iron pipe 

 buried in the ground, and subjected to enormous 

 strain. Time alone can answer this question. 



THE STUDY OF BACTERIA. 



This is the best summary of the methods 

 best adapted for bacterial research that has as 

 yet been published. It contains little that is 



Die methoden der bakterien-forschung. Von Dr. Ferdinand 

 Hueppe. Wiesbaden, Kreidel, 1885. 8+174 p., illustr. 8°. 



