SELF-ACTING MACHINE FOR RAISING WATER. 
235 
SELF-ACTING MACHINE FOR RAISING 
WATER. 
Our attention has been directed to an interesting 
article republished some time ago in the Farmer’s 
Cabinet; and as it has elicited considerable atten¬ 
tion from gentlemen who have a fall of water on 
their premises, and who would gladly avail them¬ 
selves of a simple means for raising water to the 
top of their farm-houses, or to cisterns for supply¬ 
ing their barn-yards, or gardens, we feel that we 
shall gratify many of our readers by inserting a 
sketch ■of an experimental water-ram, made by one 
of our subscribers in this city, and which we ex¬ 
amined with considerable interest. Its construction 
was so simple, that any of our readers may make 
one of these machines, and try further experiments 
at a trifling expense; while those who wish to have 
more perfect ones, can obtain all the requisite in¬ 
formation relative to the outlay, by applying to Mr. 
J. Elgar, Baltimore, who has given his attention to 
the subject, and has made some important improve¬ 
ments. It will be necessary for applicants to state 
the perpendicular height the water falls, and the 
quantity which flows per minute ; also the height 
and distance to which it is required to be raised—in 
order that we may be able to obtain the requisite 
information, and to furnish machines of Mr. 
Elgar’s manufacture. 
The experimental ma¬ 
chine we examined, 
was made as the piece 
A, of cast-iron pipe, 2 
inches in the bore, and 
about 2 feet long, hav¬ 
ing two flanch nozzles 
cast on it, B and C. 
One end of the pipe 
was closed, and the 
other open, with a 
flanch to connect it 
to about 35 feet of 2- 
inch cast or wrought 
iron pipe, E. The other 
end of the pipe, E, led 
to an open water cask, 
F, placed 7 feet above 
the water-ram, and this 
Water Ram.— Fig. 57. 
cask was supplied by a hose, at the rate of 
8 gallons of water per minute. Of course the 
fall from the level of the "water in this cask, 
is equal to a fall of 7 feet, with a stream giv¬ 
ing 8 gallons a minute. To the flanch nozzle, B, 
was attached a brass spindle valve, G, inverting or 
opening into the nozzle. When this valve is held 
down, water can run through the seat of the valve, 
as shown in the sketch, but the tendency of water 
flowing rapidly through the pipe, E, and ram. A, 
would be to press the valve, G, against its seat, and 
close the opening; the water would then run out 
through the nozzle, C, but on this nozzle, C, an. 
upward or lifting brass spindle valve, H, was at¬ 
tached, having a piece of 2-inch pipe, I, of about 2 
feet in height, covering it. This pipe, I, was closed 
at the top, but had a lateral branch pipe, J, of one 
inch bore inserted into it above and near the valve, 
H. The pipe, J, formed the rising main through 
which the water to be raised had to ascend. The 
upper space in the pipe, I, acted as an air-chamber 
or air-cushion. In large machines, a vacuum 
valve is inserted in the end of this air-chamber, to 
supply any deficiency of air, but in this experi¬ 
mental machine it was omitted. 
The upright pipe, J, was 80 feet high, measured 
from the ram, or 73 feet above the level of the wa¬ 
ter in the supply cask. It was furnished with 3 
outlet cocks at various heights. The object of 
these cocks was merely to ascertain the difference 
in the volume of water, which would be thrown up 
by the ram at different heights. 
The action of the machine, as detailed in Mr. La- 
trobe’s letter, may appear complicated to most of 
our readers; but, with the help of the diagram, we 
think it can be easily understood. 
Having filled the water cask, F, the water runs 
down the pipe, E, and by the time it reaches the 
valve, B, it has acquired a momentum, which 
closes the valve, and the only escape is by the 
valve, C. Through this valve it rushes up into the 
air-chamber, I, and into the pipe, J. The momentum 
having been expended, the valve, B, falls, and a 
quantity of the water rushes out, through the open 
valve. The water again acquires a fresh momen¬ 
tum, closes the valve, B, and part of it again forces 
open the valve, C, increasing the column in the 
pipe, J. The fall and closing of the valves is like 
a smart blow of a hammer, and they close and 
open with great precision. In the machine we 
saw, the strokes were 70 each minute, and plainly 
heard at the distance of 150 feet. In the course of 
two or three minutes, the pipe, J, became full, and 
ran over at the top. On measuring the quantity of 
water which was thus thrown up in 12 minutes, 
73 feet above the level in the water cask, it was 
found to be 4 gallons; and as during the 12 
minutes, 96 gallons of water had passed from the 
water cask, into the ram, it appears, that it required 
23 gallons of water to raise one gallon to 10| times 
its own height. 
The experiment was continued, and the same 
quantity of water, 4 gallons, was thrown up 66 
feet high, in 11 minutes; 53 feet high in 7 minutes, 
and 42 feet high in 4 minutes. Thus, in the last 
trial, the machine required 28 gallons of water to 
throw up 4 gallons to 6 times the height of the 
fall. It wo»|*i have been easy to have made the 
head of water 10, 20, or 30 feet high, and a series 
of interesting experiments might be made, to ascer¬ 
tain experimentally the relative differences in the 
momentum of the water descending from a greater 
or less distance ; the fall of 7 feet, however, was 
