401. 
rope, and occasioned so much delay and inconvenience from 
the frequent breakages, that it was determined to abandon 
hemp altogether, and the whole line is now worked by several 
miles of wire rope. The competition between wire and hemp 
on that railway having terminated, the next question to be 
decided was, the respective merits of the ropes made under 
the different patents of Mr. Smith and the Messrs. Newall ; 
and the superiority is now awarded to the latter. 
The difference botv/een these two ropes mainly consists in 
this, — that while in Smith's rope the wires are annealed, and 
are very numerous and small, and twisted together nearly in 
the same manner as an ordinary hempen rope, — in that of 
Messrs. Newall the wires are unannealed, few in number, 
and as large as the size of the rope will admit ; and they 
are arranged symmetrically round a hempen core, which is 
wrought in the centre of each strand, and also in the centre 
of all the strands when twisted into a rope. The advantage 
of this symmetrical arrangement of the wires is obvious. 
Thev must all be of the same leno^th, and each will therefore 
be subjected to the same strain, while, from the size and hard- 
ness of the wires, they cannot be easily cut through by friction. 
This rope (which has been characterized by Mr. Robert 
Stephenson as the improved loire rope,'' ) is made on the 
same principle as that which is now used so successfully in 
Germany. 
The following is a list of some of the wire ropes manufac- 
tured by Messrs. R. S. Newall, and now at work in this 
part of England : — 
Mr, G. Stephenson On three inclines near Chesterfield, 
which are very steep. The ropes have been at work 
thirteen months, and they continue in excellent order. 
Shrewshury Canal. — On an incline : a 7 lbs. wire rope was 
substituted for a '26 lbs. hemp rope. It has been at work 
ten months, and is as yet unimpaired. 
