266 [October, 1902.] 
IMPERIAL INSTITUTE JOURNAL. 
Vol. VIII. No. 94. 
lower limbs, though it sheds the bark on the higher limbs, whence originates its name 
of “ half-barked.” A most valuable timber, dense, hard, and of great strength, with 
close interlocked grain ; it is admirably suited for many and varied uses, such as 
naves, felloes, shafts, spokes, railway sleepers, fence posts and rails and mauls. It 
is pale yellow in colour generally, though sometimes of a browner tinge, and, when 
seasoned, weighs from 60 to 70 lb. per cubic foot. 
Working qualities. — It is very hard to work, is harsh, troublesome to saw and 
bad to plane, being cross-grained. 
# 
5. Eucalyptus odorata (Behr), vernacular name “ Peppermint Gum.” 
References : Benth. Flor. Aust., Vol in., p. 215 ; Mueller’s E uca lyp to graph in, 2nd 
Decade. 
Generally a small-sized tree, but sometimes attaining larger dimensions ; 
widely distributed throughout the colony. Timber useful for fencing posts, also 
for wheels when of sufficient size, and free from “ pipe.” Makes excellent firewood, 
and first class mauls for driving wedges. 
Working qualities.- — It has no smell, is hard, extremely harsh to saw, planes 
hard and badly, is patchy and cross-grained, but surface not very rough. 
6. Eucalyptus cory nocalyx (Mueller), vernacular name “Sugar Gum.’’ 
References : Benth. FI. Aust.. Vol. III., p. 218 ; Mueller’s Select Extra Tropical 
Plants, 134 ; Mueller’s Eucalyptographia , 2nd Decade. 
This tree is found in South Australia, principally near Port Lincoln, on Kangaroo 
Island and in the Flinder’s Range. The wood is hard, dense, and durable ; 
losing but little in seasoning ; it weighs, when dry, generally 65 to 70 lb. per 
cubic foot. It is yellowish brown in colour, often showing a handsome wavy 
grain. It is used for posts, rails, piles, wheelwright’s work, and railway sleepers ; 
also for furniture selected pieces cut to veeners have proved very effective, while 
for parquet flooring, in common with several other Australian timbers, it possesses 
many serviceable qualities. 
Working qualities. — It saws extremely hard, and planes hard and badly. It 
is free from odour. 
7. Casuarina quadrivalvis (La billardiere), vernacular name “ Sheoak.” 
References : Benth. FI. A us tr., Vol. VI., p. 195 ; Mueller’s Extra Tropical Plants , 78. 
Generally distributed throughout South Australia, attaining 60 feet in height 
under favourable circumstances, but more frequently 30 or 40 feet on high eleva- 
tions and poorer soils. As a fuel this timber is unrivalled ; it is also used for posts 
and rails, for which it is not well adapted, but for spokes and axe- and pick -handles 
it is much in demand. 
Working qualities. — It saws with difficulty, being extremely hard, and planes 
hard and roughly on “the quarter” (radial section), but smoothly enough in 
other directions. The figure of this wood is superb, resembling oak but of a 
redder colour. 
8. Frenela robusta (Mirb), vernacular name “ Native’pine.” References : Benth. 
FI. Austr Vol. VI, p. 234. 
A hardy tree, growing on sandy rises and stony hillsides, also along the course 
of the River Murray, in many localities occurring widely in the dryer parts of the 
colony. The timber is of considerable value for fencing posts, well-slabs and 
telegraph poles, being proof against the attacks of white ants. It makes excellent 
fuel, and is especially esteemed by blacksmiths, as it gives a very strong, quick 
feat, and is thus especially suited for tyring wheels. When of sufficient size it is 
frequently converted into sawn timber for house-building, but is often subject to 
shakes and sometimes brittle in character, which defects, however, do not detract 
from its value to any extent when used entire in the round or in rough slabs, in 
which form it has been largely used by settlers in house-building. 
Working qualities. — It saws freely and rather harder than Deal, which it 
much resembles, and it planes easily, fast, and fairly smoothly. 
9. Eucalyptus paniculata var. fasiailosa (Mueller), vernacular name “Link 
Gum.” References : Mueller, Trans. Viet. Institute, 34 ; Benth. Id. Austr., Vol. III., 
p. 212. 
A moderate-sized tree occurring in the Mount Lofty Ranges and adjoining 
ranges, the Ninety Mile Desert, and sandy rises in the south-east of the State. 
The timber from this gum is of a most durable character, unsurpassed for its lasting 
qualities underground, equal in every respect to best red gum, though seldom found 
in such large dimensions. For posts, wheelwright’s work, sleepers, well-slabs, 
bridge timber, jetty piles, it is a first-class timber. It is much the colour of red 
gum, but Is never so subject to ring shakes and gum veins. 
Working qualities. — It saws easily but harshly, planes very hard and roughly; 
its odour is faintly acetic. 
10. Eucalyptus obliqua (L. Merit), vernacular name “ Stringybark Gum.” 
References : Bentham’s FI. Austr., Vol. ni., p. 206 ; Mueller’s Select Extra 
Tropical Plants, 133 ; Mueller’s Eucalyptographia, , 3rd Decade. 
A tall tree with persistent bark, attaining a height of too feet and over, with 
a diameter of 3 or 4 feet, found in the Mount Lofty Ranges and the south- 
eastern part of South Australia, generally on poor ironstone and sandy rises. 
A useful timber of 50 or 60 lb. weight per cubic foot when dry ; of good tensile 
strength, very fissile, light in colour, and adapted for fencing posts and rails, 
shingles, palings, rafters, and scaffold poles. 
Working qualities. — It saws fairly readily, the grain being not quite so 
sinuous as some of the other Eucalypts. It planes hard and badly. 
11. Eucalyptus viminalis (Labill), vernacular name “ Manna Gum.” Refer- 
ences : Bentham’s EL Austr., Vol. III., p. 239 ; Mueller’s Eucalyptographia , 10 th 
Decade; Mueller’s Extra Tropical Plants, 148. 
In some localities this tree is only of small spreading habits, in better sites 
it grows to finer proportions. It is found in the Barossa and Mount Lofty Ranges, 
and southward as far as Mount Gambier. Though generally considered a decidedly 
inferior timber and little used, it has occasionally been found to stand well for 
fencing posts for some years. It also makes good rough boarding for hut and 
shed making. 
Working qualities . — It saws hard yet freely, and planes very hard and 
roughly. This wood has a strong unpleasant smell. 
1 2. Acacia melanoxylon (Brown), vernacular name “ Blackwood.” References : 
Bentham’s FI. Austr., Vol. 11., p. 389 ; Mueller’s Select Extra Tropical Plants , 7. 
Generally found only south of the Flinder’s Ranges in South Australia, pre- 
ferring a deep moist soil, on which it attains a height of 80 feet, and several feet in 
diameter. A most valuable timber, largely used for furniture, railway carriages, 
boat-building, tool handles, casks, and veneers, which last are considered equal 
to walnut. 
Working qualities . — It saws fairly easily and planes easily, but rather 
roughly, on account not of being cross-grained, but of its somewhat coarse 
grain. It works more freely than any of the dark coloured Acacias. This is an 
excellent wood, both for general and ornamental purposes. 
THE USE OF LIQUID FUEL. 
The use of oil fuel for steam purposes has been strongly advocated in many quarters for 
some years, and it has been generally conceded that in certain respects it offers many 
advantages over coal, but it is only recently that the system has been at all widely adopted. 
This delay may, perhaps, be accounted for (1) by the difficulty there was in obtaining 
adequate and regular supplies of liquid fuel ; {2) by the fact that many countries possess 
abundant coal supplies, whereas the oil would have to be imported ; and (3) by the 
practical difficulties which have been experienced in working with liquid fuel. Considerable 
success has, however, been attained during the last few years and the progress made is 
indicated in two recent papers, one by Mr. J. S. S. Brame in Nature (Vol. 66, p. 186), 
the other read by Mr. E. L. Orde at the last meeLing of the Institution of Mechanical 
Engineers. 
Any liquid hydrocarbon of sufficiently high Hash point may be utilized as liquid fuel, 
but the supplies of natural oil will always furnish the bulk of the material used, and crude 
petroleum, -which has been treated to remove the more volatile constituents and thus raise 
its flash point above the imposed limit for use as fuel, is now being imported into this 
country. Besides this, however, there are at present many bye-products which can be 
economically utilized, such as the oils obtained in the manufacture of coal- and oil-gas, 
which are specially suitable for locomotive work, and are largely employed on the Great 
Eastern Railway ; but there is no doubt that, if the use of liquid fuel is greatly extended , 
the price of these oils would be much enhanced and the imported natural oil would be 
the form chiefly used. The disadvantage of being thus dependent upon an imported fuel 
has been clearly recognised by the engineers who have worked at the question, and all 
modern appliances are so designed that they can be worked indiscriminately with either 
oil or coal, so that consumers can take full advantage of the fluctuations in price of 
either fuel. 
The various methods which have been adopted for admitting the liquid fuel into 
boiler furnaces may be broadly divided into the following classes: — ( 1) injection with com- 
pressed air through nozzles of such a form that the oil is broken up into a fine spray and 
thus rendered inflammable ; (2) injection by a jet of steam, while at the same time air, 
heated if necessary, is also drawn in to supply the oxygen necessary for combustion ; 
(3) vapour burners in which the oil is volatised and the vapour admitted to the furnace, and 
(4) the more recent method of Korting, in which heated oil at considerable pressure is 
directly injected into the furnace. The steam spray method has been most largely used, 
since it does not require any auxiliary apparatus for the production of the blast, as when 
air is employed, and on locomotives this method is universal. Korting’s method has, how- 
ever, proved very successful on the steamers of the Hamburg-American line, and will, 
doubtless, be largely adopted in the future. In addition to the actual burning apparatus, 
each installation requires some form of filter to free the oil from impurities and some 
arrangement for separating water from the oil. 
The calorific value of the average fuel oil may be approximately taken as 10,500 
centigrade units, whereas that of good steam coal is 8,000 to 8,500 units, so that the 
former has a decided advantage in this respect. But since it is impossible to obtain 
anything like the full heating effect of a fuel in any boiler, the best test is obtained by- 
comparing the results given by the two classes of fuel under exactly similar conditions. 
The evaporative power of liquid fuel has been very variously stated, figures varying from 14 to 
46 lb. of water evaporated per lb. of fuel burnt being quoted, but it may be taken that 
in modern practice with steam injection an efficiency of 15 lb. is a very fair result, while 
comparisons with coal in the same boilers, and under the same conditions, have given 
7 to Sir lb. of water evaporated per lb. of coal. A series of careful tests carried out by the 
Engineers’ Club of Philadelphia gave the following figures : — - 
1 lb. anthracite evaporated 
1 lb. bituminous coal . 
1 lb. oil, 36° B. 
1 cub. ft. of gas, 20 C. P. 
97 lb. of water. 
10-14 „ „ 
1 6 ‘4» >, 
i’2S „ 
The results obtained on the Grazi and Tzaritzin Railway, representing the working of 
a large number of engines, have been carefully recorded by Mr. Urquhart, and show that, 
during the winter, liquid fuel was 41 per cent, in weight and 55 per cent, in cost better 
than anthracite coal, or 49 per cent, in weight and 6r per cent, in cost better than 
bituminous coal ; and during the summer still better results were obtained. The Great 
Eastern Railway were the pioneers in the use of oil fuel on locomotives in this country, 
and have now more than sixty such engines in use, some of which cover the distance of 
138 miles from Liverpool-street to Cromer in 175 minutes, including a stop of 4 minutes, 
on a consumption of 14*4 lb. of tar oil per train mile and an equivalent of 5 lb. per mile 
of coal, which is used in raising the steam necessary for starting the oil injectors. Other 
English railway companies are now having engines fitted for oil fuel, and boilers 
designed for the same purpose are being erected at Woolwich Arsenal and for many 
private firms. 
It is, however, on sea-going vessels that the use of oil fuel compares most favourably 
with coal in cost and general advantages, and the number of steamers burning liquid 
fuel is steadily increasing. The ships of the Shell Transport Company, the first English 
shipping firm to employ oil fuel, have accomplished several very fine performances, and one 
of them, the s.s. Mitrex , recently arrived at Thames Haven from Borneo, vid Singapore 
and the Cape, having steamed 11,830 miles on a consumption of 800 tons of prepared 
liquid fuel. The average daily consumption was from 17 to i8i tons, while the same 
vessel, when under coal, used from 24 to 25 tons per day. The Canadian Pacific Railway 
have also found that the use of oil fuel on their steamers has effected a saving of 56 per 
cent, on the cost of firing with coal. The following table has been drawn up by Mr. Orde 
