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diff --git a/old/11735.txt b/old/11735.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ddc304f --- /dev/null +++ b/old/11735.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4297 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Scientific American Supplement, No. 481, +March 21, 1885, by Various + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Scientific American Supplement, No. 481, March 21, 1885 + +Author: Various + +Release Date: March 28, 2004 [EBook #11735] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN 481 *** + + + + +Produced by Don Kretz, Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks and the DP Team + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT NO. 481 + + + + +NEW YORK, MARCH 21, 1885 + +Scientific American Supplement. Vol. XIX, No. 481. + +Scientific American established 1845 + +Scientific American Supplement, $5 a year. + +Scientific American and Supplement, $7 a year. + + * * * * * + + +TABLE OF CONTENTS. + +I. ENGINEERING AND MECHANICS.--The Righi Railroad.--With + 3 engravings. + + The Chinese Pump.--1 figure. + + The Water Clock.--3 figures. + + New Self-propelling and Steering Torpedoes. + + Dobson and Barbour's Improvements in Heilmann's Combers.--1 figure. + + Machine for Polishing Boots and Shoes. + + +II. TECHNOLOGY.--The Use of Gas in the Workshop.--By T. + FLETCHER.--Placing of lights.--Best burners.--Light lost by + shades.--Use of the blowpipe.--Gas furnaces.--Gas engines. + + The Gas Meter.--3 figures. + + The Municipal School for Instruction in Watchmaking at + Geneva.--1 engraving. + + +III. ELECTRICITY, ETC.--Personal Safety with the Electric + Currents. + + A Visit to Canada and the United States; or, Electricity in + America in 1884.--By W.H. PREECE. + + +IV. ARCHITECTURE.--The House of a Thousand Terrors, Rotterdam.--With + engraving. + + +V. GEOLOGY.--On the Origin and Structure of Coal,--With full page + of illustrations. + + +VI. POLITICAL ECONOMY.--Labor and Wages in America.--By D. + PIDGEON.--Who and what are the operatives.--Native labor.--Alien + employes.--Housing of labor.--Sobriety.--Pauperism.--Artisans' + homes.--Interest of employer in the condition of his + employes.--Wages in Europe and America.--Expenditures of + workingmen.--Free trade and protection. + + +VII. MISCELLANEOUS.--Ice Boat Races on the Mueggelsee, near + Berlin.--With engraving. + + +VIII. BIOGRAPHY.--DUPUY DE LOME--With portrait. + + * * * * * + + + +THE RIGHI RAILROAD. + + +In the year 1864, the well-known geographer, Heinrich Keller, from Zurich, +on ascending to the summit of the Righi Mountain, in the heart of +Switzerland, discovered one of the finest panoramic displays of mountain +scenery that he had ever witnessed. To his enthusiastic descriptions some +lovers of nature in Zurich and Berne listened with much interest, and in +the year 1865, Dr. Abel, Mr. Escher von der Luith, Aulic Councilor, Dr. +Horner, and others, in connection with Keller himself, subscribed money to +the amount of 2,000 marks ($500) for the purpose of building a hotel on +the top of the mountain overlooking the view. This hotel was simple +enough, being merely a hut such as is to be found in abundance in the +Alps, and which are built by the German and Austrian Alpine Clubs. At +present the old hotel is replaced by another and more comfortable +building, which is rendered accessible by a railway that ascends the +mountain. Mr. Riggenbach, director of the railway works at Olten, was the +projector of this road, which was begun in 1869 and completed in 1871. +Vitznau at Lucerne is the starting point. The ascent, which is at first +gradual, soon increases one in four. After a quarter of an hour the train +passes through a tunnel 240 feet in length, and over an iron bridge of the +same length, by means of which the Schnurtobel, a deep gorge with +picturesque waterfalls, is crossed. At Station Freibergen a beautiful +mountain scene presents itself, and the eye rests upon the glittering, +ice-covered ridge of the Jungfrau, the Monk, and the Eiger. Further up is +station Kaltbad, where the road forks, and one branch runs to Scheideck. +At about ten minutes from Kaltbad is the so-called "Kanzli" (4,770 feet), +an open rotunda on a projecting rock, from which a magnificent view is +obtained. The next station is Stoffelhohe, from which the railroad leads +very near to the abyss on the way to Righi-Stoffel, and from this point it +reaches its terminus (Righi-Kulin) in a few minutes. This is 5,905 feet +above the sea, the loftiest and most northern point of the Righi group. + +[Illustration: FIG. 1.--STARTING POINT OF THE RIGHI RAILROAD.] + +[Illustration: FIG. 2.--THE RIGHI RAILROAD.] + +The gauge of this railroad is the same as that of most ordinary ones. +Between the rails runs a third broad and massive rail provided with teeth, +which gear with a cogwheel under the locomotive. The train is propelled +upward by steam power, while in its descent the speed is regulated by an +ingenious mode of introducing atmospheric air into the cylinder. The +carriage for the passengers is placed in both cases in front of the +engine. The larger carriages have 54 seats, and the smaller 34. Only one +is dispatched at a time. In case of accident, the train can be stopped +almost instantaneously. + +[Illustration: FIG. 3.--NEW LOCOMOTIVE ON THE RIGHI RAILROAD.] + +We give herewith, from _La Lumiere Electrique_, several engravings +illustrating the system. Fig. 1 shows the starting station. As may be seen +on Figs. 2 and 3, the method selected for obtaining adhesion permits of +ascending the steepest gradients, and that too with entire security. + + * * * * * + + + + +HIGH SPEED STEAM ENGINE. + + +The use of rapidly rotating machinery in electric lighting has created a +demand for engines running from 400 to 1,200 revolutions per minute, and +capable of being coupled directly to a dynamo machine. We have already +illustrated several forms of these engines, and now publish engravings of +another in which the most noticeable feature is the employment of separate +expansion valves and very short steam passages. Many high-speed engines +labor under the well-grounded suspicion of being heavy steam users, and +their want of economy often precludes their employment. Mr. Chandler, the +inventor of the engine illustrated above, has therefore adopted a more +elaborate arrangement of valves than ordinarily obtains in engines of this +class, and claims that he gains thereby an additional economy of 33 per +cent. in steam. The valves are cylindrical, and are driven by independent +eccentrics, the spindle of the cut-off valve passing through the center of +the main valve. The upper valve is exposed to the steam on its top face, +and works in a cylinder with a groove cut around its inner surface. As +soon as the lower edge of the valve passes below the bottom lip of the +groove, the steam is cut off from the space between it and the main valve, +which is fitted with packing rings and works over a latticed port. This +port opens directly into the cylinder. The exhaust takes place chiefly +through a port uncovered when the piston is approaching the end of its +stroke. The remaining vapor left in the cylinder is exhausted under the +lower edge of the main valve, until cushioning commences, and the steam +from both upper and lower ports is discharged into the exhaust box shown +in Fig. 2. The speed of the engine is controlled by a centrifugal governor +and an equilibrium valve. This is a "dead face" valve, and when the engine +is running empty it opens and closes many times per minute. The spindle +on which the valve is mounted revolves with the governor pulley, and +consequently never sticks. To prevent the small gland being jammed by +unequal screwing up, the pressure is applied by a loose flange which is +rounded at the part which presses against the gland. The governor is +adjustable while the engine is running. + +[Illustration: IMPROVED HIGH SPEED STEAM ENGINE.] + +Another economy claimed for this engine is in the use of oil. The cranks +and connecting rods work in a closed chamber, the lower part of which is +filled with oil and water. The oil floats in a layer on the surface of the +water, and at every revolution is splashed all over the working parts, +including the interior of the cylinder, which it reaches through holes in +the piston. The oil is maintained exactly at one level by a very ingenious +arrangement. The bottom of the crank chamber communicates through a hole, +C, with an outer box, which receives the water deposited by the exhaust +steam. The level of this water is exactly determined by an overflow hole, +B, which allows all excess above that level to pass into an elbow of the +exhaust pipe, out of which it is licked by the passing steam and carried +away. Thus, as the oil is gradually used the pressure of the water in the +other leg of the hydrostatic balance raises the level of the remaining +portion. When a fresh supply of oil is poured into the box, it forces out +some of the water and descends very nearly to the level of the hole, B. + +The engine is made with either one or two cylinders, and is, of course, +single-acting. The pistons and connecting rods are of forged steel and +phosphor-bronze. The following is a list of their sizes: + + _Single Engines_. +----------------------------------------------------------- + Brake | | | | | +Horsepower| Bore of | Revolutions| | | + at 62 lb.| Cylinder. | per minute.| Height. |Floor Space.| + Boiler | | | | | +Pressure. | | | | | +----------|-----------|------------|---------|------------- + | in. | | in. | in. in. | + 21/4 | 4 | 1,100 | 26 | 14 by 14 | + 31/2 | 5 | 1,000 | 28 | 14 " 15 | + 6 | 61/2 | 800 | 30 | 16 " 16 | + 10 | 8 | 700 | 32 | 18 " 18 | +----------------------------------------------------------- + + _Double Engines_. +----------------------------------------------------------- + Brake | | | | | +Horsepower| Bore of | Revolutions| | | + at 62 lb.| Cylinder. | per minute.| Height. |Floor Space.| + Boiler | | | | | +Pressure. | | | | | +----------|-----------|------------|---------|------------- + | in. | | in. | in. in. | + 41/2 | 4 | 1,100 | 26 | 14 by 20 | + 71/4 | 5 | 1,000 | 28 | 14 " 20 | + 12 | 61/2 | 800 | 30 | 16 " 26 | + 20 | 8 | 700 | 32 | 18 " 32 | +----------------------------------------------------------- + +The manufacturer is Mr. F.D. Bumstead, Hednesford, +Staffordshire.--_Engineering_. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE CHINESE PUMP. + + +If a glass tube about three feet in length, provided at its upper +extremity with a valve that opens outwardly, and at its lower with one +that opens inwardly, be dipped into water and given a series of up and +down motions, the water will be seen to quickly rise therein and finally +spurt out at the top. The explanation of the phenomenon is very simple. +Upon immersing the tube in the water it fills as far as to the external +level of the liquid, and the air is expelled from the interior. If the +tube be suddenly raised without removing its lower extremity from the +water, the valve will close, the water will rise with the tube, and, +through the velocity it has acquired, will ascend far above its preceding +level. Now, upon repeating the up and down motion of the tube in the water +five or six times, the tube will be filled, and will expel the liquid +every time that the vertical motion occurs. + +[Illustration: THE CHINESE PUMP.] + +We speak here of a _glass_ tube, because with this the phenomenon may be +observed. Any tube, of course, would produce the same results. + +The manufacture of the apparatus is very simple. The tube is closed above +or below, according to the system one desires to adopt, by means of a +perforated cork. The valve is made of a piece of kid skin, which is fixed +by means of a bent pin and a brass wire (Fig. 2). It is necessary to wet +the skin in order that it may work properly and form a hermetic valve. The +arrangement of the lower valve necessitates the use of a tube of +considerable diameter (Fig. 1). We would advise the adoption of the +arrangement shown in Fig. 2. Under such circumstances a tube half an inch +in diameter and about 3 feet in length will answer very well. + +It is better yet to simply use one's forefinger. The tube is taken in the +right hand, as shown in Fig. 3, and the forefinger placed over the +aperture. The finger should be wetted in order to perfect its adherence, +and should not be pressed too hard against the mouth of the tube. It is +only necessary to plunge the apparatus a few inches into the liquid and +work it rapidly up and down, when the water will rise therein at every +motion and spurt out of the top. + +This is an easy way of constructing the _Chinese Pump_, which is found +described in treatises upon hydraulics. Such a pump could not, of course, +be economically used in practice on account of the friction of the column +of water against a wide surface in the interior of the tube. It is +necessary to consider the pistonless pump for what it is worth--an +interesting experimental apparatus that any one can make for himself.--_La +Nature_. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE WATER CLOCK. + + +_To the Editor of the Scientific American_: + +Referring to the clepsydra, or water clock, described and illustrated in +the SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT of December 20, 1884, it strikes me +that the ingenious principle embodied in that interesting device could be +put into a shape more modern and practical, doing away with some of its +defects and insuring a greater degree of accuracy. + +[Illustration: Fig 1.] + +I would propose the construction given in the subjoined sketch, viz.: The +drum, A (Figs. 1 and 3), is mounted in a yoke suspended in such a manner +as to bring no unnecessary, but still sufficient, pressure on the friction +roller, B, to cause it to revolve the friction cone, C (both cone and +roller being of wood and, say, well rubbed with resin so as to increase +adhesion). + +[Illustration: Fig 2.] + +The friction roller should be movable (on a screw thread), but so arranged +that it can be fixed at any point, say by a lock nut, screw, clamp, or +other simple means. It will be evident that, by shifting the roller, a +greater or less speed of the cone can be effected, and as to the end of +the cone's axis an index hand sweeping an ordinary clock face is attached, +the speed of this index hand can be regulated to a nicety, in proportion +to that of the drum. Of course, before fixing the size and proportion of +the disk and cone, the number of revolutions of the drum in a given time +must be ascertained by experiment. For instance, the drum being found to +make 15 revolutions in 12 hours, the proportions would be: + +Circumference of roller = 12 units. +Circumference of middle part of cone = 15 units. + +Or, the drum making 21/2 revolutions in 3 hours, equal to 9 revolutions in +12 hours: + +Circumference of roller = 12 units. +Circumference of middle part of cone = 9 units. + +Any slight inaccuracy can be compensated by the cone and disk device. + +The drum, or cylinder, is caused to gradually revolve by a weight attached +to an endless cord passing once around the drum. The latter might be +varnished to prevent slipping. The weight should be provided with an +automatic wedge, allowing it to be slipped along the cord in an upward +direction, but preventing its descent. The weight is represented partly in +section in the engraving. This weight should not be quite sufficient to +revolve the drum, it being counterbalanced by the liquid raised in the +chambers of the drum. The liquid, however, following its tendency to seek +the lowest level, gradually runs back through the small hole, D, in the +partitions, but is continually raised again, with the chamber it has just +entered, by the weight slightly turning the cylinder as it (the weight) +gradually gains advantage over the as gradually diminishing weight of each +chamber raised. + +As to the drum, the same might be constructed as follows, viz.: First +solder the partitions into the cylinder, making them slanting or having +the direction of chords of a circle (see Fig. 2). The end disks should be +dish shaped, as shown. Place them on a level surface, apply heat, and melt +some mastic or good sealing wax in the same. Then adjust the cylinder +part, with its partitions, allowing it to sink into the slight depth of +molten matter. In this way, or perhaps by employing a solution of rubber +instead of the sealing wax, the chambers will be well isolated and not +liable to leak. The water is then introduced through the center openings +of the disks before hermetically sealing the drum to its axis. + +[Illustration: Fig. 3.] + +The revolving parts of the clock being nicely balanced, a pretty accurate +timepiece, I should think, would be the result. It is needless to mention +that the "winding" is effected by slipping the weight to its highest +point. + +Of course I am far from considering the above an "instrument of +precision," but would rather look upon it in the light of a contrivance, +interesting, perhaps, especially to amateur mechanics, as not presenting +any particular difficulties of construction. + +ED. C. MAGNUS. + +Crefeld, January 5, 1885. + + * * * * * + + + + +NEW TORPEDO. + + +We illustrate a new form of self-propelling and steering torpedo, designed +and patented by Mr. Richard Paulson, of Boon Hills, Langwith, Notts. That +torpedoes will play an important part in the next naval war is evident +from the fact that great activity is being displayed by the various +governments of the world in the construction of this weapon. Our own +Government also has latterly paid great attention to this subject. + +The methods hitherto proposed for propelling torpedoes have been by means +of carbonic acid or other compressed gas carried by the torpedoes, and by +means of electricity conveyed by a conductor leading from a controlling +station to electrical apparatus carried by the torpedo. The first method +has, to a considerable extent, failed on account of the inefficient way in +which the compressed gas was employed to propel the torpedo. The second is +open to the objection that by means of telephones placed in the water or +by other signaling apparatus the torpedo can be heard approaching while +yet at a considerable distance, and that a quick speeded dredger, kept +ready for the purpose when any attack is expected, can be run between the +torpedo and the controlling station and the conductor cut and the torpedo +captured. The arrangements for steering by means of an electrical +conductor from a controlling station are also open to the latter +objection. The torpedo we now illustrate, in elevation in Fig. 1, and in +plan in Fig. 2, is designed to obviate these objections, and possesses in +addition other advantages which will be enumerated in the following +description. + +As stated above, the torpedo is self-propelling, the necessary energy +being stored up in liquefied carbonic acid contained in a cylindrical +vessel, E, carried by the torpedo. The vessel, E, communicates, by means +of a small bent pipe extending nearly to its bottom, with a small chamber, +B, the passage of the liquid being controlled by means of the cock or tap, +F. The chamber, B, is in communication, by means of a small aperture, with +the nozzle, G, of an injector, T, constructed on the ordinary principles. +The liquid as it passes into the chamber, B, volatilizes, and the gas +passes through the nozzle of the injector, which is surrounded by water in +direct communication with the sea by means of the opening, W. The gas +imparts its energy in the well-known manner to the water, being itself +entirely or partially condensed, the water thus charged with carbonic acid +gas being forced through the combining cone of the injector at a very high +speed and pressure. Preferably the water is here divided into two streams, +each driving a separate rotary motor or turbine, H, themselves driving +twin screws or propellers, I. The motors exhaust into the hollow shafts, +J, of the propellers, which are extended some distance beyond the +propellers, so that the remaining energy of the water may be utilized to +aid in propelling the torpedo on the well known principle of jet +propulsion. The torpedo is preferably steered by means of the twin screws. +A disk or other valve, A, is pivoted in an aperture in a diaphragm +dividing the outlet of the injector, and is operated by means hereafter +described, so as to diminish the stream of water on one side and increase +it on the other, so that one motor, and consequently the corresponding +propeller, is driven at a higher speed than the other, and so steers the +torpedo. + +[Illustration: PAULSON'S SELF PROPELLING AND STEERING TORPEDO.] + +The valve, A, is operated automatically by the following arrangement: A +mariner's compass, P, placed in the head of the torpedo has its needle +connected to one pole of a powerful battery, D. A dial of non-magnetic +material marked with the points of the compass is capable of being rotated +by the connections shown. This dial carries two insulated studs, _p_, each +electrically connected with one terminal of the coils of an electromagnet, +K, whose other terminal is connected to the other pole of the battery. +These two magnets are arranged on opposite sides of an armature fixed on a +lever operating the disk or valve, A. Before launching the torpedo the +dial is set, so that when the torpedo is steering direct for the object to +be struck, or other desired point, one end of the needle of the compass, +P, is between the steeds, _p_, but contact with neither, the needle of +course pointing to the magnetic north. Should the torpedo however deviate +from this course, the needle makes contact with one or other of the studs +according to the direction in which the deviation takes place, and +completes the circuit through the corresponding electromagnet, which +attracts the armature and causes the disk to move, so as to diminish the +supply of water to one motor and increase it to the other, and so cause +the torpedo to again assume the required direction. Supposing the object +which it is intended that the torpedo should strike be a large mass of +iron, such as an ironclad, the needle will be attracted, and, making the +corresponding contact, will cause the torpedo to be steered directly away +from the object. In order to prevent this, a second compass, Q, is mounted +in the front of the torpedo, and when attracted by a mass of iron, it +short-circuits the battery, D, and thus prevents the armature being +attracted, and consequently the torpedo from deviating. This needle is +also capable of slight movement in a vertical plane, so that when passing +over or under a mass of iron it is attracted downward or upward, and +completes a circuit by means of the stops, which operate so as to explode +the charge. The charge can also be exploded in the ordinary manner, viz., +by means of the firing pin, X, when the torpedo runs into any solid +object. + +The depth at which the torpedo travels below the surface of the water is +regulated by means of a flexible diaphragm, M, secured in the outer casing +and connected to a rod sliding freely in fixed bearings. A spiral or other +spring, O, is compressed between a color on the rod and an adjustable +fixed nut, by which the tension of the spring is regulated so that the +pressure of water on the diaphragm, A, when the torpedo is at the desired +depth just counterbalances the pressure of the spring, the diaphragm being +then flush with the outer casing. The rod is connected by suitable levers +to two horizontal fins, S, pivoted one on either side of the torpedo, so +that they shall be in equilibrium. Should the torpedo sink too deep or +rise too high, the diaphragm will be depressed or extended, and will +operate on the lines so as to cause the torpedo to ascend or descend as +the case may be. + +In order to avoid the risk of a spent torpedo destroying a friendly +vessel, a valve is arranged in any suitable part of the outer casing, and +is weighted or loaded with a spring in such a manner that when under way +the pressure of the water keeps the valve closed, but when it stops the +valve opens and admits water to sink the torpedo. + +In our description we have only given the main features of the invention, +the inventor having mentioned to us, in confidence, several improvements +designed to perfect the details of his invention, among which we may +mention the steering arrangement and arrangements for attacking a vessel +provided with what our contemporary, _Engineering_, not inaptly terms a +"crinoline," _i. e._, a network for keeping off torpedoes. The transverse +dimensions of our engravings have been considerably augmented for the sake +of clearness.--_Mech. World._ + + * * * * * + + + + +DUPUY DE LOME. + + +M. Dupuy De Lome died on the 1st Feb., 1885, at the age of 68. It may be +questioned whether any constructor has ever rendered greater services to +the navy of any country than those rendered by M. Dupuy to the French Navy +during the thirty years 1840-70. Since the fall of the Empire his +connection with the naval service has been terminated, but his +professional and scientific standing has been fully maintained, and his +energies have found scope in the conduct of the great and growing business +of the _Forges et Chantiers_ Company. In him France has undoubtedly lost +her greatest naval architect. + +The son of a naval officer, M. Dupuy was born in October, 1816, near +L'Orient, and entered _L'Ecole Polytechnique_ when nineteen years of age. +In that famous establishment he received the thorough preliminary training +which France has so long and wisely provided for those who are to become +the designers of her war-ships. After finishing his professional +education, he came to England about 1842, and made a thorough study of +iron shipbuilding and steam navigation, in both of which we then held a +long lead of France. His report, subsequently published under the title of +"Memoire sur la Construction des Batiments en Fer"--Paris, 1844--is +probably the best account given to the world of the state of iron +shipbuilding forty years ago: and its perusal not merely enables one to +gauge the progress since made, but to form an estimate of the great +ability and clear style of the writer. We may assume that this visit to +England, coming after the thorough education received in Francem did much +toward forming the views to which expression was soon given in designs and +reports on new types of war ships. + +[Illustration: M. DUPUY DE LOME.] + +When the young constructor settled down to his work in the arsenal at +Toulon, on his return from England, the only armed steamships in the +French Navy were propelled by paddle-wheels, and there was great +opposition to the introduction of steam power into line-of-battle ships. +The paddle-wheel was seen to be unsuited to such large fighting vessels, +and there was no confidence in the screw; while the great majority of +naval officers in France, as well as in England, were averse to any +decrease in sail spread. M. Dupuy had carefully studied the details of the +Great Britain, which he had seen building at Bristol, and was convinced +that full steam power should be given to line-of-battle ships. He grasped +and held fast to this fundamental idea; and as early as the year 1845 he +addressed a remarkable report to the Minister of Marine, suggesting the +construction of a full-powered screw frigate, to be built with an iron +hull, and protected by a belt of armor formed by several thicknesses of +iron plating. This report alone would justify his claim to be considered +the leading naval architect of that time; it did not bear fruit fully for +some years, but its recommendations were ultimately realized. + +M. Dupuy did not stand alone in the feeling that radical changes in the +construction and propulsion of ships were imminent. His colleagues in the +"Genie Maritime" were impressed with the same idea: and in England, about +this date, the earliest screw liners--the wonderful converted "block +ships"--were ordered. This action on our part decided the French also to +begin the conversion of their sailing line-of-battle ships into vessels +with auxiliary steam power. But M. Dupuy conceived and carried out the +bolder scheme of designing a full-powered screw liner, and in 1847 the +Napoleon was ordered. Her success made the steam reconstruction of the +fleets of the world a necessity. She was launched in 1850, tried in 1852, +and attained a speed of nearly 14 knots an hour. During the Crimean War +her performances attracted great attention, and the type she represented +was largely increased in numbers. She was about 240 ft. in length, 55 ft. +in breadth, and of 5,000 tons displacement, with two gun decks. In her +design boldness and prudence were well combined. The good qualities of +the sailing line-of-battle ships which had been secured by the genius of +Sane and his colleagues were maintained; while the new conditions involved +in the introduction of steam power and large coal supply were thoroughly +fulfilled. The steam reconstruction had scarcely attained its full swing +when the ironclad reconstructor became imperative. Here again M. Dupuy +occupied a distinguished position, and realized his scheme of 1845 with +certain modifications. His eminent services led to his appointment in 1857 +to the highest office in the Constructive Corps--Directeur du +Materiel--and his design for the earliest seagoing ironclad, La Gloire, +was approved in the same year. Once started, the French pressed on the +construction of their ironclads with all haste, and in the autumn of 1863 +they had at sea a squadron of five ironclads, not including in this list +La Gloire. It is unnecessary to trace further the progress of the race for +maritime supremacy; but to the energy and great ability of M. Dupuy de +Lome must be largely attributed the fact that France took, and for a long +time kept, such a lead of us in ironclads. In the design of La Gloire, as +is well known, he again followed the principle of utilizing known forms +and dimensions as far as was consistent with modern conditions, and the +Napoleon was nearly reproduced in La Gloire so far as under-water shape +was concerned, but with one gun deck instead of two, and with a completely +protected battery. So long as he retained office, M. Dupuy consistently +adhered to this principle; but he at the same time showed himself ready to +consider how best to meet the constantly growing demands for thicker +armor, heavier guns, and higher speeds. It is singular, however, +especially when his early enthusiasm for iron ships is remembered, to find +how small a proportion of the ships added to the French Navy during his +occupancy of office were built of anything but wood. + +Distinctions were showered upon him. In 1860 he was made a Councilor of +State, and represented the French Admiralty in Parliament; from 1869 to +1875 he was a Deputy, and in 1877 he was elected a Life Senator. He was a +member of the Academy of Sciences and of other distinguished scientific +bodies. Of late his name has been little connected with ship design; but +his interest in the subject was unabated. + +In 1870 M. Dupuy devoted a large amount of time and thought to perfecting +a system of navigable balloons, and the French Government gave him great +assistance in carrying out the experiments. It does not seem, however, +that any sufficient success was reached to justify further trials. The +theoretical investigations on which the design was based, and the +ingenuity displayed in carrying out the construction of the balloon, were +worthy of M. Dupuy's high reputation. The fleet that he constructed for +France has already disappeared to a great extent, and the vessels still +remaining will soon fall out of service. But the name and reputation of +their designer will live as long as the history of naval construction is +studied.--_The Engineer_. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE USE OF GAS IN THE WORKSHOP. + + +At a recent meeting of the Manchester Association of Employers, Foremen, +and Draughtsmen of the Mechanical Trades of Great Britain, an interesting +lecture on "Gas for Light and Work in the Workshop" was delivered by Mr. +T. Fletcher, F.C.S., of Warington. + +Mr. Fletcher illustrated his remarks with a number of interesting +experiments, and spoke as follows: + +There are very few workshops where gas is used so profitably as it might +be; and my object to-night is to make a few suggestions, which are the +result of my own experience. In a large space, such as an erecting or +moulder's shop, it is always desirable to have all the lights distributed +about the center. Wall lights, except for bench work, are wasteful, as a +large proportion of the light is absorbed by the walls, and lost. Unless +the shop is draughty, it is by far the best policy to have a few large +burners rather than a number of small ones. I will show you the difference +in the light obtained by burning the same quantity of gas in one and in +two flames. I do not need to tell you how much the difference is; you can +easily see for yourselves. The additional light is not caused, as some of +you may suppose, by a combined burner, as I have here a simple one, +burning the same quantity of gas as the two smaller burners together; and +the advantage of the simple large burner is quite as great. It is a +well-known fact that the larger the gas consumption in a single flame, the +higher the duty obtained for the gas burnt. There is a practical limit to +this with ordinary simple burners; as when they are too large they are +very sensitive to draught, and liable to unsteadiness and smoking. I have +here a sample of a works' pendant or pillar light, which, not including +the gas supply-pipe, can be made for about a shilling. For all practical +purposes I believe this light (which carries five No. 6 Bray's union jets, +and which we use as a portable light at repairs and breakdowns) is as +efficient and economical a form as it is possible to make for ordinary +rough work. The burners are in the best position, and the light is both +powerful and quite shadowless; giving, in fact, the best light underneath +the burners. It must, of course, be protected in a draughty shop; and on +this protection something needs to be said. + +Regenerator burners for lighting are coming into use; and, where large +lights are required for long periods, no doubt they are economical. +Burners of the Bower or Wenham class would be worth adopting for main +street or open space lighting in important positions; but when we consider +that, with the fifty-four hours' system in workshops, artificial light is +only wanted, on an average, for four hundred hours per annum, we may take +it as certain that, at the present prices of regenerator burners, they are +a bad investment for use in ordinary work. We must not forget that the +distance of the burner from the work is a vital point of the cost +question; and, for all except large spaces, requiring general +illumination, a common cheap burner on a swivel joint has yet to meet with +a competitor. Do not think I am old-fashioned or prejudiced in this +matter. It is purely a question of figures; and my condemnation of +regenerator burners applies only to the general requirements in ordinary +engineering and other work shops where each man wants a light on one spot +only. + +Some people think that clear glass does not stop any light. This is a +great mistake, as you will find it quite easy to throw a distinct shadow +of a sheet of perfect glass on a white paper, as I will show you. Opal and +ground glass throw a very strong shadow, and practically waste half the +light. It is better to have a white enameled or whitewashed sheet-iron +reflecting hood, which will protect the sides from wind, if such an +arrangement suits other requirements. + +I have endeavored in the engraving below to reproduce the shadows thrown +by different samples of glass. This gives a fair idea of the actual loss +of light involved by glass shades. + +When lights are suspended, it is a common and costly fashion to put them +high up. When we consider that light decreases as the square of the +distance, it will be readily understood that to light, for instance, the +floor of a moulding shop, a burner 6 feet from the floor will do as much +work as four burners, the same size, placed 12 feet from the floor. It is +therefore a most important matter that all lights should be as low as +possible, consistent with the necessities of the shop, as not only is the +expense enormously increased by lofty lights, but the air becomes more +vitiated and unpleasant, interfering with the men's power of working. Any +lights suspended, and, in fact, all workshop lights, must have a +ball-joint or universal swivel at the point where they branch from the +main, as they are liable to be knocked in all directions, and must, +therefore, be free to move to prevent accidents. It is better to have +wind-screens, if necessary, rather than glass lanterns, as not only does +the glass stop a considerable amount of light when clean, but it is in +practice constantly dirty in almost every workshop or yard. + +[Illustration: PILLAR LIGHT OR PENDANT FOR WORKSHOPS.] + +For bench work and machine tools, each man must have his own light under +his own control; and in this matter a little attention will make a +considerable saving. The burners should be union jets--_i. e._, burners +with two holes at an angle to each other--not slit or batswing, as the +latter are extremely liable to partial stoppage with dust. Where batswing +burners are used, I have often seen fully 90 per cent. more or less choked +and unsatisfactory; whereas a union jet does not give any trouble. It is +not generally known that any burner used at ordinary pressures of gas +gives a much better light when it is turned over with the flat of the +flame horizontal, until the flame becomes saucer-shaped, as I show you. +You can see for yourselves the increase in light; and in addition to this +the workman has the great advantage of a shadowless flame. In practice, a +burner consuming 5 cubic feet of gas per hour with a horizontal flame is a +better fitter's than an upright burner with 6 cubic feet per hour. I do +not believe in the policy of giving a man a poor light to work by--it does +not pay; and I never expect to get a man to work properly with smaller +burners than these. We have a good governor on the main: and the lights +are all worked with a low pressure of gas, to get the best possible duty. +As a good practical light for a man at bench moulding, the one I have here +may be taken as a fair sample. It is free to move, and the light is as +near the perfect position as the necessities of the work will permit. When +the light is not wanted, by simply pushing it away it turns itself down; +the swivel being, in fact, a combined swivel and tap. + +[Illustration: LOSS OF LIGHT BY GLASS SHADES.] + +You will see on one of the lights I have here, a new swivel joint, which +has been patented only within the last few days. The peculiarity of this +swivel is that the body is made of two hemispheres revolving on each +other in a ground joint. It will be made also with a universal movement; +and its special advantage, either for gas, water, or steam, is that there +is no obstruction whatever to a free passage--in fact, the way through the +swivel body is larger than the way through the pipes with which it is +connected. It can easily be made to stand any pressure, and if damaged by +grit or dirt it can be reground with ease as often as necessary without +deterioration, whereas an ordinary swivel, if damaged by grit, has to be +thrown away as useless. + +[Illustration] + +For meals, where a steam-kettle is not used, it is the best policy to have +a cistern holding about 11/2 pints for each man, and to boil this with a +gas-burner. The lighting of the burner at a specified time may be deputed +to a boy. If the men's dinners have to be heated, it is easy to purchase +ovens which will do all the work required by gas at a much cheaper rate +than by coal, if we consider the labor and attention necessary with any +coal fire. Not that gas is cheaper than coal; but say we have 100 dinners +to warm. This can be done in a gas-oven in about 20 minutes, at a cost for +gas of less than 1d.; in fact, for one-fourth the cost of labor only in +attending to a coal fire, without considering the cost of wood or coals. +Gas, in many instances, is an apparently expensive fuel; but when the +incidental saving in other matters is taken into consideration, I have +found it exceedingly profitable for all except large or continuous work, +and in many cases for this also. I only need instance wire card-making and +the brazing shops of wire cable makers to show that a large and free use +of gas is compatible with the strictest economy and profitable working. + +Of all the tools in a workshop, nothing saves more time and worry than two +or three sizes of good blowpipes and an efficient blower. I have seen in +one day more work spoilt, and time lost, for want of these than would have +paid for the apparatus twice over; and in almost every shop emergencies +are constantly happening in which a good blowpipe will render most +efficient service. Small brazing work can often be done in less time than +would be consumed in going to the smith's hearth and back again, +independently of the policy of keeping a man in his own place, and to his +own work. The shrinking on of collars, forging, hardening, and tempering +of tools, melting lead or resin out of pipes which have been bent, and +endless other odd matters, are constantly turning up; and on these, in the +absence of a blowpipe, I have often seen men spend hours instead of +minutes. Things which need a blowpipe are usually most awkward to do +without one; and men will go fiddling about and tumbling over each other +without seeing really what they intend to do. They are content, as it all +counts in the day's work; that it comes off the profits is not their +concern. It will, perhaps, be new to many of you that blowpipes can easily +be made in a form which admits of any special shape of flame being +produced. I have made for special work--such as heating up odd shapes of +forgings, brands, etc.--blowpipes constructed of perforated tubes formed +to almost every conceivable shape; these being supplied with gas from the +ordinary main and a blast of air from a Root's or foot blower. I have here +an example of a straight-line blowpipe made for heating wire passed along +it at a high speed. The same flame, as you no doubt will readily +understand, can be made of any power and of any shape, and will work any +side up; in fact, as a rule, a downward vertical or nearly vertical +position is usually the best for any blowpipe. As an example of this class +of work, I may instance the shrinking on of collars and tires, which, with +suitable ring-burner and a Root's blower, could be equally heated in five +minutes for shrinking on; in fact, the work could be done in less time +than it would usually take to find a laborer to light a fire. When the +rings vary much in size, the burners can easily be made in segments of +circles. But then they are not nearly so handy, as each needs to be +connected up to the gas and air supply; and it is, in practice, usually +cheaper to have separate ring burners of different sizes. Of course, you +will understand that a 1/2-inch gas-pipe will not supply heat enough to make +a locomotive tire red hot, and that for large work a large gas supply is +necessary. Our own rule for burners of this class is that the holes in the +tube should be 1/8 to 1/10 inch in diameter, from 1/4 to 1/2 inch pitch; and +the area of the tube must be equal to the combined area of the holes. The +gas supply-pipe must not be less than half the area of the burner-tube. +Those of you who wish to study this matter further will, I think, find +sufficient information in my paper on "The Construction of High-Power +Burners for Heating by Gas," printed in the Transactions of the Gas +Institute for 1883, and in the papers on the "Use and Construction of the +Blowpipe" and "The Use of Gas as a Workshop Tool." + +[Illustration] + +No doubt many of you have been troubled with the twisting of some special +light casting, and will, perhaps, spend hours in the risky operation of +bending an iron pattern so as to get a straight casting. A ladleful of +lead and tin, melted in a small gas-furnace, will, in a few minutes, give +you a pattern which you can bend and adjust to any required shape. It +enables you to make trials to any extent, and get castings with the utmost +precision. There is also this advantage, that a soft metal pattern can be +cut about and experimented with in a way which no other material admits +of. Awkward patterns commence with us with plaster, wax, sheets of wet +blotting paper pasted together on a shape or wood; but they almost +invariably make their appearance in the foundry after being converted into +soft metal by the aid of a gas-furnace. I refer, of course, to thin, +awkward, and generally difficult castings, which, under ordinary +treatment, are either turned out badly or require a great amount of +fitting. As an illustration of the use of this system of pattern-making, I +have here two castings of my own, from patterns which, under the ordinary +engineer's system, would be excessively costly and difficult to make as +well as these are made. The surface is a mass of intricate pattern work +and perforations. To produce the flat original, as you see it, a small +piece of the pattern is first cut, and from this a number of tin castings +are made and soldered together. From this pattern, reproduced in iron for +the sake of permanence, is cast the flat center plate you see. To produce +the curved pattern I show you, nothing more is necessary than to bend the +tin pattern on a block of the right shape, and we now get a pattern which +would puzzle a good many pattern-makers of the old style. + +[Illustration] + +I will now show you by a practical utilization of the well known flameless +combustion, how to light a coke furnace without either paper or wood, and +without disturbing the fuel, by the use of a blowpipe which for the first +minute is allowed to work in the ordinary way with a flame to ignite the +coke. I then pinch the gas tube to extinguish the flame, allow the gas to +pass as before, and so blow a mixture of unburnt air and gas into the +fuel. The enormous heat generated by the combustion of the mixture in +contact with the solid fuel will be appreciable to you all, and if this +blast of mixed air and gas is continued, there is hardly any limit to the +temperatures which can be obtained in a furnace. I shall be able to show +you the difference in temperature obtained in a furnace by an ordinary air +blast, by a blowpipe flame directed into the furnace, and by the same +mixture of gas and air which I use in the blowpipe being blown in and +burnt in contact with the ignited coke. In each case the air blast, both +in quantity and pressure, is absolutely the same; but the roar and the +intense, blinding glare produced by blowing the unburnt mixture into the +furnace is unmistakable. The heat obtained in the coke furnace I am using, +in less than ten minutes, is greater than any known crucible would stand. +I am informed that this system of air and gas or air and petroleum vapor +blast, first discovered and published by myself in a work on metallurgy +issued in 1881, is now becoming largely used for commercial purposes on +the Continent, not only on account of the enormous increase in the heat, +and the consequent work got out of any specified furnace, but also because +the coke or solid fuel used stands much longer, and the dropping, which is +so great a nuisance in crucible furnaces, is almost entirely prevented; in +fact, once the furnace is started, no solid fuel is necessary, and the +coke as it burns away can be replaced with lumps of broken ganister or any +infusible material. Few, if any, samples of firebrick will stand the heat +of this blast, if the system is fully utilized. You will find it a matter +of little difficulty, with this system of using gas, to melt a crucible of +cast iron in an ordinary bed-room fire grate if the front bars are covered +with sheet iron, with a hole (say) three inches in diameter, to admit the +combined gas and air blast. The only care needed is to see that you do not +melt down the firebars during the process. I will also show you how, on an +ordinary table, with a small pan of broken coke and the same blowpipe, +used in the way already described, you can get a good welding heat in a +few minutes, starting all cold. In this case the blowpipe is simply fixed +with the nozzle six inches above the coke, and the flame directed +downward. As soon as the coke shows red, the gas pipe is pinched so as to +blow the flame out, and the mixture of gas and air is blown from above +into the coke as before. With this and a little practice, you can get a +weld on a 7/8 inch round bar in 10 minutes. + +There is one use of gas which has already proved an immense service to +those who, in the strictest sense, live by their wits. In a small private +workshop, with the assistance of gas furnaces, blowpipes, and other gas +heating appliances, it is a very easy matter to carry out important +experiments privately on a practical scale. A man with an idea can readily +carry out his idea without skilled assistance, and without it ever making +its appearance in the works until it is an accomplished fact. How many of +you have been blocked in important experiments by the tacit resistance of +an old fashioned good workman, who cannot or will not see what you are +driving at, and who persists in saying that what you want is not possible? +The application of gas will often enable you to go over his head, and do +what, if the workman had his own way, would be an impossibility. When a +man is unable or unwilling to see a way out of a difficulty, a master or +foreman has the power to take the law in his own hands; and when a workman +has been met with this kind of a reply once or twice, he usually gives +way, and does not in future attempt to dictate and teach his master his +own business. In carrying out this matter, it is not necessary that a +specimen of fine workmanship shall be produced. A man usually appreciates +the wits which have produced what he has considered impossible. In purely +experimental work I think I may fairly state that the use of gas as a fuel +in the private workshop and laboratory has done incalculable service in +the improvement of processes and trades, and has played an important part +in insuring the success and fortunes of many hundreds of experimenters, +who have brought their labors to a successful issue in cases where, in its +absence, neither time nor patience would have been available. I need only +to call to your mind the number of new alloys which, for almost endless +different purposes, have come into use during the last eight or ten years. +I think the use of small gas furnaces in private workshops and +laboratories may fairly be said to have enabled the experiments on most, +if not all, of these alloys to be carried out to a successful issue. + +I have been asked to say something regarding gas engines. The only thing I +can say is that I know very little about them. In my own works we have +about 300,000 cubic feet of space, all of which requires to be heated, +more or less, during the greater part of the year. For this purpose we +must have a steam boiler, and having this steam, it costs little to run it +first through the engine, and so obtain our power for a good part of the +year practically without any cost. It would not pay, under any +circumstances, to have two separate sources of power for summer and +winter; and therefore the use of gas for power has never been considered. + +For irregular work and comparatively small powers, gas-engines have +special and great advantages; and in this respect they may, perhaps, class +with gas melting furnaces. If I wanted 1, or 10, or 20 lb. of melted +metal, I could melt and make the casting in less time and with less cost +than would be required to light a coke fire. There is no possible +comparison in the two, as to convenience and economy; but if I wanted to +melt 3 or 4 cwt. or 3 or 4 tons every day, I should not dream of using gas +for the purpose, as the extra cost of gas in such a case would not be +compensated by the saving in time. In commercial matters we must always +consider first what is the most profitable way of going about our work; +and, so far as I myself am concerned, I have always found it advantageous +to expend some money annually on proving this by direct experiment. It is +almost always possible to learn something, even from a failure. + +I will now, with a blowpipe and small foot blower, heat a short length of +locomotive boiler tube to a brazing heat on the table; and, in conclusion, +will convert the table into a small foundry. I cannot cast you a flywheel +for a factory engine; so will try at something smaller, and will reproduce +a medallion portrait of Her Majesty, in cast iron, the original of which +is silver, commonly valued at half a crown. From the time I light the +furnace until I turn you out the finished casting I shall perhaps keep you +eight or nine minutes. I can remember in the good old times 25 years ago, +before I used gas furnaces, that it sometimes took about two hours to get +a good wind furnace into condition to put the crucible in. My time in +those days was not worth much; but if I valued it at 2s. 6d. per week, it +would even then have been cheaper to use gas to do the same thing, +irrespective of the cost of coke. + +The age of gaseous fuel is commencing; and I feel daily, from the +correspondence I receive, that there is a growing impression that gas is +going to perform miracles. We do not need to go mad about it; and my own +precept and practice is to employ gas only where its use shows a profit, +either in time or money. Many of those present know that I am as ready to +totally condemn gaseous fuel where it does not pay as to advise its use +where some advantage is to be gained. You will understand that my remarks +apply to coal gas only. As to producer or furnace gases, I know +practically nothing, except that sometimes it pays better to burn your +candle as a candle than make it into gas, and burn it as a gas afterward. +The use of producer gas no doubt pays on a large scale; and things on a +large scale, so far as gas is concerned, are not matters with which I have +time to concern myself. The commercial use of coal gas has yet to be +developed. It is in its infancy; and there are very few, if any, who have +any conception of its endless uses, both for domestic and manufacturing +purposes. The more general the information which can be given about its +uses, the sooner it will find its own level, and the sooner the gas +companies will appreciate the fact that their best customers are to be +found among those who can use coal gas as a fuel for special work in +manufacturing industries because it is profitable to use, and saves +expensive labor. My own experiments with alloys of the rarer metals, which +have not been concluded without profit to myself, would certainly never +have been undertaken except with the use of gas furnaces, which were both +practically unlimited in power and admitted of the most absolute precision +in use; and I may safely say, without violating any confidence, that many +of the precious stories and so-called "natural" products make their +appearance in the world first in a crucible in a gas furnace. + +At the conclusion of my lecture before the Institute at Leeds, on +"Combustion and the Utilization of Waste Heat," Mr. Kitson, the Chairman, +remarked that if he were a dreamer of dreams, he might look forward to the +time when he would be growing cucumbers with the waste heat of his iron +furnaces. Many wilder dreams than this have come true in the science of +engineering; and the realization has brought honor and fortune to the +dreamers, as you must all know. The history of engineering is full of the +realization of "dreams," which have been denounced as absurdities by some +of the best living authorities. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE GAS METER + + +The gas meter was invented by Clegg in 1816. Since that epoch no essential +modification has been made of its structure. Fig. 1 shows the principle of +the apparatus, _mnpq_ is a drum movable around a horizontal axis. This is +divided by partitions of peculiar form into four vessels of equal +capacity, and dips into a closed water reservoir, RR'. A tube, _t_, near +the axis, and the orifice of which is above the level of the water, leads +the gas to be measured. This latter enters under the partition, _l'm_, of +one of the buckets, and exerts an upward thrust upon it that communicates +a rotary motion to the drum. The bucket, _l'mi_, closed hydraulically, +rises and fills with gas until the following one comes to occupy its place +above the entrance tube and fills with gas in turn. Simultaneously, as +soon as the edge of each bucket emerges at _e_, the gas flows out through +the opening that the water ceases to close, and escapes from the reservoir +through the exit aperture, S. The gas, in continuing to traverse the +system, is thus filling one bucket while the preceding one is losing its +contents; so that, if the capacity of each bucket is known, the volumes of +the gas discharged will likewise be known when the number of revolutions +made by the drum shall have been counted. The addition of a revolution +counter to the drum, then, will solve the problem. + +[Illustration: THE GAS METER.] + +The instrument, as usually constructed, is shown in Figs. 2 and 3. + +The reservoir, RR' contains the measuring drum, _mmmm_, movable around the +horizontal axis, _aa'_. The gas enters at E, passes at S into an opening +that may be closed by a valve, and is distributed through the box, BB', +which communicates with the reservoir through an orifice in the partition, +_hh'_. This orifice is traversed by the axle, _aa'_. The box, like the +reservoir, contains water up to a certain level, _r_. Through a U-shaped +tube, _lnl'_, the gas passes from the box, BB', into the movable drum, +sets the latter in motion, and makes its exit at S. In order to count the +volume discharged, that is to say, the number of revolutions of the drum, +the axle terminates at a in an endless screw which, by means of a cog +wheel, moves a vertical rod that traverses the tube, _gg_, and projects +from the box. As the tube, _gg_, dips into the water, it does not allow +the gas to escape, and this permits of the revolution counter that the rod +actuates being placed in an external case, CC'. + +The counter consists of toothed wheels and pinions so arranged that if the +first wheel makes one complete revolution corresponding to a discharge of +1,000 liters, the following wheel, which indicates cubic meters, shall +advance one division, and that if this second wheel makes one complete +revolution marked 10 cubic meters, the third, which indicates tenths, +shall advance one division, and so on. Hands fixed to the axles of the +wheels, and movable over dials, permit the volume of gas to be read that +has traversed the counter. + +The object of the other parts of the instrument are to secure regularity +in its operation by keeping the level of the liquid constant. It is +evident, in fact, that if the level of the water gets below _r_, the +capacity of the buckets will be increased, and the counter will indicate a +discharge less than is really the case, and _vice versa_. If the level +descends as far as to the orifice in the partition, _hh'_, the gas will +flow out without causing the apparatus to move. The water is introduced +into the counter through _f_, which is closed with a screw cap, and +passes through the opening shown by dotted lines into the reservoir, RR', +whence it flows to the box, BB', When it has reached the desired level, it +gains the orifice, _r_, of a waste pipe, escapes through the siphon, +_ruv_, and makes its exit through the aperture, _b'_, when the screw cap +of the latter is removed. If, by accident, the level of the water should +fall below a certain limit, a float, _f_, which follows its every +movement, would close the valve, _s_, and stop the flow of the gas. +Finally a tube, _tt'_ soldered to the lower part of the tube, _lnl'_, and +dipping into the water of a compartment, P, serves to allow the surplus +water to flow out at _b'_. To prevent the apparatus from being disarranged +upon the drum being revolved in the opposite direction, there is fixed to +the axle, _aa'_, a cam which lifts a click, _z_, when the rotation is +regular, but which is arrested by it when the contrary is the +case.--_Science et Nature_. + + * * * * * + + + + +DOBSON AND BARLOW'S IMPROVEMENTS IN HEILMANN'S COMBERS. + + +Next to the mule, there is no doubt that the most beautiful machine used +in the cotton trade is Heilmann's comber. Although the details of this +machine are hard to master, when once its action is understood it will be +found to be really simple. The object of combing is to remove the short +staples and the dirt left in after the carding of the cotton, such as is +used in the spinning of fine and even coarse numbers. The operation is an +extremely delicate one, and its successful realization is a good +illustration of what is possible with machinery. Combing machines are +usually made with six heads, and sometimes with eight. As the working of +each head is identical, we only speak of one of them. By means of a pair +of fluted feeding rollers a narrow lap, about 71/2 in. wide, is passed into +the head, in which the following action takes place: Assuming that the +stroke is finished, the lap is seized near its end by a pair of nippers, +so as to leave about half the length of the staple projecting. These +projecting fibers are combed by a revolving cylinder, partially covered +with comb teeth. When the front or projecting ends of the fibers are thus +combed, a straight comb in front of the nippers drops into them, the +nippers open, and the fibers are drawn through the straight comb. This +combs the tail ends, and at the same time the fibers, now completely +combed, are placed on or pieced to the fibers that had been combed in the +previous stroke, producing in this way a continuous fleece of combed +cotton. In short, in this most striking operation, the fiber during the +combing is completely detached from the ribbon lap, carried over, and +pieced to the tail end of the combed fleece, for a moment having no +connection with either. Since the expiry of the patent, Messrs. Bobson and +Barlow, of Bolton, have constructed a great many of these machines, and +have found that, as compared with the original make, it was possible to +greatly increase their efficiency. They accordingly devoted much attention +to this object, and have patents for several improvements. To describe +these so as to be understood by everybody would be a most difficult task, +and would take more space than we can afford. We simply wish to record +what these improvements are, and will suppose we are writing for those +who have a good acquaintance with Heilmann's comber. + +[Illustration: DOBSON AND BARLOW'S IMPROVEMENTS IN HEILMANN'S COMBERS.] + +We give herewith a perspective view of the improved machine. On +examination it will be noticed that an alteration is made in the motion +seen at the end of the machine for working the detached rollers. This +alteration we believe to be a decided improvement over Heilmann's original +arrangement. It dispenses with the large detaching cam, the cradle, the +notch-wheel, the catch and its spring, the large spur wheel which drives +the calender roller, and the internal wheels for the detaching +roller-shaft, substituting in their stead a much simpler motion, +consisting of a smaller cam, a quadrant, and a clutch. The arrangement, +having fewer parts, is also much more compact than the old one, for with +the driving pulleys in the best position it enables the machine outside +the framing to be shortened 10 in., an important point in a room full of +combers. The action of this detaching motion is positive, and enables the +machine to be run at a high speed without danger of missing, as happens +when the point of the catch for the old notch-wheel becomes broken or worn +away. Another important feature of the new arrangement is that it allows +the motion of the detaching-roller to be varied. By an adjustment, easily +made in a few seconds, the delivery may be altered to suit different +classes of cotton or kinds of work without the necessity of changing the +cams or the notch-wheels. + +An improvement has been made in the construction of the nippers. In the +ordinary Heilmann's comber, the upper blade has a groove in its nipping +edge, and the cushion plate is covered with cloth and leather, the fibers +being held by the grip between the leather of the cushion plate and the +edges of the groove in the upper blade, or knife, as it is called. The +objections to this mode of construction were that the leather on the +cushion plate required frequent renewing, and unless the adjustment was +more accurate than could always be relied on, the grip of the nippers was +not perfect, for while at one end the nipper might be closed, at the other +end it might be open wide enough to allow the cotton to be pulled through +by the combing cylinder, and made into waste. In Messrs. Dobson and +Barlow's nipper there is neither cloth nor leather on the cushion plate. +Its edge is made into a blunt ^, upon which the narrow flat surface of a +strip of India rubber or leather fixed in the knife falls to give the nip. +By this plan the cushion is applied to the knife instead of to the plate, +which of course makes the cushion plate, after it has once been set, a +fixture; it also dispenses with the accurate setting, as is now necessary +in the old arrangement. It further does away with the frequent and +expensive covering of the cushion-plate with roller leather and cloth, +thus effecting a considerable saving, not only in cost of material, but +also in labor, inasmuch as the nipper knives can be taken off, recovered, +and replaced in one-sixth the time required to cover the cushion plates +and replace them on the old system. American cotton of 7/8" staple to silk +of 21/2" staple can also be combed by this improved arrangement, an +achievement which has been attempted by many, but hitherto without +arriving at any success. Messrs. Dobson and Barlow have however overcome +the difficulty by their improvements, which combine three important +qualities, viz., simplicity, perfection, and cheapness. Many hundreds of +other makers' machines have been altered to their new arrangements. The +cam for working the nipper has also been altered to give a smoother motion +than usual; one that moves the nipper quietly and without jerks when the +machine runs from 80 to 95 strokes per minute. A very decided improvement +has been made in the construction of the combing cylinder. The combs are +always fixed on a piece called the "half-lap," which, in its turn, is +secured to a barrel called the "comb-stock." Now it is very desirable and +important that these half-laps should be perfectly true and exactly +interchangeable. When one half-lap is taken off for repairs, another +half-lap must be ready to take its place on the cylinder. The original +mode in which the cylinders were made rendered it a matter of mechanical +difficulty--almost an impossibility in the machine shop--to produce them +exactly alike. To avoid this difficulty, Messrs. Dobson and Barlow have +reconstructed the combing cylinder, and the parts being fitted together by +simple turning or boring, accuracy and interchangeability can always be +depended upon. The screws which fasten the cylinder to the shaft are also +cased up with the cylinder tins, thus avoiding any accumulation of fly on +the screw heads. + +The motion for working the top detaching, the leather, or the piecing +roller, as it is variously called, has also been improved. The ends of +this roller are always carried on the top of two levers that are +oscillated by a connecting rod attached to their bottom ends. In the new +motion the connecting rod is dispensed with, and one joint saved. The +joint that remains is at the foot of the levers that carry the leather +roller. This joint is constructed so that it may be easily altered, and by +its means one of the most delicate settings of the combing machine, viz., +that of the leather roller, may be made with greater readiness than with +the old system. Further, from the mode of mounting these rollers another +advantage is gained in the facility of setting them. In setting with the +old arrangement, only one end of the roller is adjusted at a time; in the +new, the adjustment sets the ends of two rollers. With regard to the +leather roller also, it was found that as the round brass tubes in which +its ends revolved had very little wearing surface, they got worn into +flats on the outside, and thus worked inaccurately. In the machine under +notice this defect is remedied. The tubes are made square on the outside, +and having ample bearing surface they keep their adjustment perfectly. + +On the top of the detaching roller is a large steel fluted roller carried +at each end by a small arm called a "horse tail." In the original machine +this roller simply kept its place upon the detaching roller by its weight, +and when the machine came to be run at high speeds it was found that owing +to its lightness the contact thus obtained was not reliable, the flutes or +ribs of the roller slipping upon those of the detaching roller, which for +good work is undesirable. This is remedied by placing a heavier top roller +in the horse tails, which is made with a broader bearing so as to give +greater solidity to the top roller. Another good idea we noticed in this +machine was in the application of a treble brush carrier wheel, which +permits of the brushes being driven at three different speeds as they +become worn. For instance, when the brushes are new the bristles are long, +and consequently they are not required to revolve as quickly as when the +bristles are far worn. By this improvement the brush lasts considerably +longer than in any other system of machine. Their speed can also be +regulated according to the length of the bristles, and the change from one +speed to the other can be effected in a very few minutes. + +A common defect in combing machines is the flocking that frequently +happens. This is the filling up of the combs on the cylinder with dirt and +cotton, which the brush fails to remove. Although in general appearance +the cleaning apparatus is the same as the ordinary one, modifications are +introduced which make its action always effective and reliable. We were +informed by a mill manager, who has a great number of these combers, that +he meets with no inconvenience from flocking from one week end to another. +Altogether, it will be seen that Messrs. Dobson and Barlow have almost +reconstructed the machine, strengthening and improving those parts which +experience showed it was necessary to modify. As a result their improved +machine works at a high speed (80 to 95 strokes per minute, according to +the class of cotton), with great smoothness and without noise, and from +the almost complete absense of vibration the risk of breakages is reduced +to a minimum.--_Textile Manufacturer_. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE MUNICIPAL SCHOOL FOR INSTRUCTION IN WATCH-MAKING, AT GENEVA. + + +When, in 1587, Charles Cusin, of Autun, settled at Geneva and introduced +the manufacture of watches there, he had no idea of the extraordinary +development that this new industry was to assume. At the end of the +seventeenth century this city already contained a hundred master watch +makers and eighty master jewelers, and the products of her manufactures +soon became known and appreciated by the whole world. + +The French revolution arrested this impetus, but the entrance of the +Canton of Geneva into the Confederation in 1814, rendered commerce, the +arts, and the industries somewhat active, and watch-making soon saw a new +era of prosperity dawning. + +On the 13th of Feb., 1824, at the instigation of a few devoted citizens, +the industrial section of the Society of Arts adopted the resolution to +form a watch-making school, which, having been created by private +initiative, was only sustained through considerable sacrifices. + +[Illustration: CLASS IN ESCAPEMENTS AT THE WATCH MAKING SCHOOL, GENEVA.] + +In 1840 the school was transferred to the granary building belonging to +the city. In 1842, when it contained about fifty pupils, it was made over +to the administrative council of the city by the committee of the Society +of Arts. From 1824 to 1842 the school had given instruction to about two +hundred pupils. From 1843 to 1879 it was frequented by nearly eight +hundred pupils, two-thirds of whom were Genevans, and the other third +Swiss of other cantons and foreigners. + +The school, then, has furnished the watch-making industry with the +respectable number of a thousand workmen, among whom large numbers have +been, or are yet, distinguished artists. + +The rooms of the granary, where the school remained for nearly forty +years, became inadequate, despite the successive additions that had been +made to them, and it became necessary to completely transform them. The +magnificent legacy that the city owes to the munificence of the Duke of +Brunswick was partly employed in the reorganization, and the school is now +located in a vast building designed to answer the requirements of +instruction. This structure, which is located in Necker Street, presents +an imposing and severe aspect. The main building embraces most of the +workshops, the office, the library, and the classroom for instruction in +mechanics, all of which receive a direct light. At right angles with the +main building are two wings. The one to the north contains in its three +upper stories workshops occupied by classes in escapements, bezil setting, +compensating balances, and ruby working. On the ground floor are installed +juvenile schools. + +The south wing contains halls for lectures on theory, and two workshops +looking toward the north. The ground floor is used for the same purpose as +that of the north wing. + +Finally, in the center of the main building is a wing parallel with its +two mates. It is in this that is located the vast staircase that leads to +spacious landings at which ends on every story a large corridor common to +all the halls and workshops. It is in this part of the building that we +find the amphitheater of physics and chemistry and the laboratories. Here +also is located the museum in course of formation (gotten up in view of +the historical study of watch-making), and the amphitheater designed for +certain public lecture courses. + +In the way of heating and lighting all parts of the building nothing has +been neglected, and special care has been taken to have the ventilation +perfect. + +At present the instruction comprises a practical and a theoretical course. + +_Practical Instruction_.--This is divided into three sections: (1) an +elementary one having in view the construction of the simple watch in its +essential parts; (2) a higher section in which the pupils learn to +recognize the complicated parts; and (3) a section of mechanics applied to +watch-making and to the study of the construction of machines and tools +for facilitating and improving the manufacture. + +1. _Elementary Section, First Year_.--The pupil must manufacture all the +small tools necessary for making unfinished movements; that is, drills, +reamers, punches, files, etc. He must then learn to file and turn, and to +make use of the finishing lathe with the bow, or of the foot lathe. + +In general, the time taken by an apprentice to manufacture his tools is +from two to three months, and he can scarcely go to work on the movements +before this. + +In this class the regular pupils have to execute seven pieces of work in +the rough, two for horizontal escapements with key and regulating wheel, +and five for various other escapements. Among these there is one for +simple repetition and one for minute piece. Aside from the work fixed by +the programme, the pupils may manufacture all the other complicated pieces +upon obtaining the authority for it from their masters and the director. + +The average time employed in performing the work imposed by the programme +necessarily depends upon the capacity of the pupil, but we may say that in +general ten months are necessary. + +_Second Year_.--After executing his last piece of work in a satisfactory +manner, the apprentice passes into the class in regulators, where he +begins to manufacture the small tools that he will require. + +In this work, as in the preceding, he must take all his pieces from the +crude metal, and he must do the forging himself, as well as the roughing +down, the turning, filing, and shaping, and finally the finishing, without +the aid of any other machine than the dividing one. + +In general, after eighteen months of work, the apprentice goes to the +finishing shop, where the delicate and minute work begins, pivoting, +putting the wheels in place, and practical study of gearings. After +learning how to divide a wheel correctly, he is set to work on pinions and +wheels in the rough, which he must rivet, finish, and pivot according to +the different planes of the pieces that have been calculated and executed +by him under the direction of the master. + +The programme to be followed by the pupils of the class in finishing is, +as regards number of pieces, the same as that of the preceding classes, +that is to say, seven. + +In general, the pupil passes from the class in finishing to the class in +dial-trains, where he makes two of these for his pieces--one a simple and +the other a minute train. The teaching of this part is very important as +regards the manufacture of escapements. In constructing the dial train, +the pupil perfects his filing and learns to make the adjustments correct. + +The last class in the elementary instruction is the one in escapements +(Fig. 1), the programme of which includes several distinct parts: (1) The +tools that are strictly necessary; (2) escapement and cylinder adjustment; +(3) making the compensating balances for the pupil's pieces; (4) pivoting, +putting in place, and finishing the escapements in regulating pieces. +Here, as in the preceding classes, the pupils must do all the work +themselves. During their stay in the elementary classes the work done is +submitted to the director, who examines it and sends it back to the +instructors accompanied with a bulletin containing his estimate as to its +value, and his observations if there is occasion to make any. + +Pupils who cannot or who do not wish to go over the entire field of the +programme stop here, and are now capable of earning their living and of +lightening the load that oppresses their parents.--_Science et Nature_. + + * * * * * + + + + +MACHINE FOR POLISHING BOOTS AND SHOES. + + +The principle of an apparatus for blackening boots and shoes dates back to +1838, the epoch at which a machine of this kind was put into use at the +Polytechnic School. Since then it seems that not many applications have +been made of it, notwithstanding the services that a machine of this kind +is capable of rendering in barracks, lyceums, hotels, etc. Mr. Audoye, an +inventor, has recently taken up the question again, and has proposed to +The Societe d'Encouragement a model that gives a practical solution of it. +The use of this will allow a notable saving in time and trouble to be +effected. + +This brush (see engraving) revolves around a horizontal axle supported by +a cast iron frame similar to that of a sewing machine. Motion is +communicated to it by a double pedal, which actuates a connecting rod and +a system of pulleys. The external surface of the brush contains three +channels in which the foot gear to be polished is successively placed. In +the first of these the dust and mud are removed, in the second the +blacking is spread on, and in the third the final polish is obtained. + +[Illustration: MACHINE FOR POLISHING BOOTS AND SHOES.] + +In order to guide the blacking to that part of the brush which is to +receive it, Mr. Audoye protects the lower part of the latter by a +half-cylinder of sheet iron. On this there is placed a vessel containing +the blacking, and into which dips a copper cylinder having a grooved +surface. The horizontal axis of this cylinder is movable; when at rest it +is so placed that the cylinder is an inch or so below the brush, but when +the operator pulls a button that is within reach of his left hand, the +axis is lifted, a contact takes place between the brush and the cylinder, +and the former is thus given a rotary motion. As the cylinder still +continues to dip into the blacking, the latter is thus spread ever the +brush.--_La Genie Civil_. + + * * * * * + + + + +PERSONAL SAFETY WITH THE ELECTRIC CURRENTS. + + +_To the Editor of the Scientific American_: + +In your paper of the 21st of February there is an article on personal +safety with electric currents, by Prof. A.E. Dolbear. He says that a Holtz +machine may give through a short wire a very strong current. For if E = +50,000 volts, R = 0.001 ohm, then C = 50000/0.001 = 50,000,000 amperes. +Now that is a very large quantity of electricity, and is equal to an +enormous horse power. I think the person receiving that charge would not +need another. According to Ohm's law, the strength of current is +proportional to the electromotive force divided by the total resistance, +external and internal. The last is a very important element in the Holtz +machine, and will make a big difference in the current strength. Here are +some of the results obtained from experiments made with the Holtz machine. +A machine with a plate 46 in. in diameter, making 5 turns in 3 seconds, +produced a constant current capable of decomposing 31/2 millionths of a +milligram in a second. This is equal to the effect produced by a Grove's +cell in a circuit of 45,000 ohms resistance. The current produced would be +about 0.0000044 ampere. That is rather small compared with the Professor's +result. Rossetti found that the current is nearly proportional to the +velocity of rotation. It increases a little faster than the velocity. + +The electromotive force and resistance is constant if the velocity is +constant. The electromotive force is independent of the velocity, but +diminishes as the moisture increases, and is about equal to 52,000 Daniell +cells. The resistance when making 120 revolutions per minute is 2,810 +million ohms. At 450 per minute, 646 million. + +Taking it at 450, C = 53950/64600000.001 = 0.0000835 ampere, against the +Professor's 50,000,000, amperes, and it would be equal to about 0.006 +horse power, which I think would be the more correct of the two; calling E +equal to 50,000 Daniell cells. + +Yours, Respectfully, + +E. ELLSWORTH. + +Portland, Me., March 5, 1885. + + * * * * * + + + + +A VISIT TO CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES IN THE YEAR 1884. + +[Footnote: A lecture delivered before the Society of Telegraph Engineers +and Electricians, London, Dec. 11, 1884.] + +By Mr. W.H. PREECE, F.R.S. + + +I do not know what the sensations of a man can be who is about to undergo +the painful operation of execution; but I am inclined to think his +sensations must be somewhat similar to those of a lecturer, brimful of +notes, who has to wait until the clock strikes before he is allowed to +address his audience. + +The President has been kind enough to refer to the paper I propose to give +you, as "Electricity in America in the year 1884;" but I would rather, +after having thought more about it, that it be called "A Visit to Canada +and the United States in the year 1884." + +It will be in the recollection of a good many who are present that in the +year 1877 I visited America, in conjunction with Mr. H.C. Fischer, the +Controller of our Central Telegraph Station, to officially inspect and +report upon the telegraph arrangements of that country; and on the 9th +February, 1878, I had the pleasure of communicating to the members of this +Society my experiences of that visit. + +During the present year my visit was not an official one; I went for a +holiday, and specially to accompany the members of the British +Association, who, for the first time in the history of that association, +held a meeting outside the limits of the United Kingdom. + +We sailed from Liverpool in a splendid steamship called the Parisian. +There were nearly 200 B.A. members on board; and notwithstanding the fact +that rude Boreas tried all he could to prevent us from reaching the other +side of the Atlantic; notwithstanding the fact that the Atlantic expressed +its anger in the most unmistakable terms at our audacity in turning from +our native shore; notwithstanding the fact that Greenland's icy mountains +blew chilly blasts upon us, and made us call out all the warm things we +possessed--I say notwithstanding all this, we reached the Gulf of St. +Lawrence in safety, and I do not think that a merrier or a happier crew +ever crossed the Atlantic. + +There is one very interesting fact that is not generally known, and I +certainly was unaware of it before I started, in connection with this +particular route across the Atlantic, and that is, that by it the ship +passes within only 200 miles of Greenland. The great circle that directs +the shortest route from the north of Ireland to the Straits of Belle Isle +passes within the cold region, and hence, while you were all sweltering in +heat in London, we were compelled to bring out our ulsters and all our +warm garments, to enable us to cross with any degree of comfort. The +advantage of this particular route is supposed to be the fact that only +five days are spent upon the ocean, and the remainder of the voyage is +occupied in the calms and comforts of the Gulf and River St. Lawrence. But +I am inclined to think that the roughness of the ocean and the coolness of +the weather at all seasons are quite sufficient to prevent anybody from +repeating our experience. + +We arrived at Montreal in time to attend the opening meeting of the +British Association; and at Montreal we were received with great +hospitality, great attention, and great kindness from all our brethren in +Canada, and we held there certainly a very successful and very pleasant +gathering. There were 1,773 members of the British Association altogether +present, and of that number there were 600 who had crossed the Atlantic; +the remainder being made up of Canadians, and by at least 200 Americans, +including all the most distinguished professors who adorn the rolls of +science in the United States. As is invariably the rule in these British +Association meetings, we had not only papers to enlighten us, but +entertainments to cheer us; and excursions were arranged in every +direction, to enable us to become acquainted with the beauties and +peculiarities of the American continent. Some members went to Quebec, some +to Ottawa, others to the Lakes, others to Toronto, many went to Niagara; +and altogether the arrangements made for our comfort and pleasure were +such, that I have not heard one single soul who attended this meeting at +Montreal express the slightest regret that he crossed the Atlantic. + +The meeting at Montreal certainly cannot be called an electricians' +meeting. The gathering of the British Association has often been +distinguished by the first appearance of some new instrument or the +divulgence of some new scientific secret; but there was nothing of any +special interest brought forward on this occasion. The only real novelty +or striking fact that I can recall as having taken place was a remarkable +discussion that originated by Professor Oliver Lodge, upon the "Seat of +the Electromotive Force in a Voltaic Cell." + +This was an experiment on the part of the British Association. +Discussions, as a rule, have not been the case at our meetings. Papers +have been read and papers have been discussed; but on this occasion three +or four subjects were named as fit for discussion, and distinguished +professors were selected to open the discussion. + +On this particular subject, Professor Oliver Lodge opened the discussion, +and he did so in an original, an efficient, and in a chirpy kind of manner +that took by storm not only the professors who knew him, but those who did +not know him; and I am bound to say that I do not think we could possibly +better spend an evening during the coming session, or more profitably, +than by asking Professor Oliver Lodge to bring the subject before this +Society, so as to allow us on this side of the water to discuss the same +subject. + +Of course the prominent figure at our meetings was Lord Rayleigh; and I do +not think that any person could possibly have been present at those +meetings of the British Association without feeling an intense personal +admiration for this man, and an affection for the way in which he +maintained the position of an English gentleman and the credit of an +English scientific body, to the astonishment and delight of every one +present. Then, again, we had our past President, Sir William Thomson, who +was not quite so ubiquitous as usual; he did not dance from section to +section as he usually does, but remained as president of his own section, +A. I think he only left his section for a day, and that was to attend the +electrical day in Section G; but in his own section he brought down those +words of wisdom that one always hears from him, and which make one always +regret that there is not always present about him a shorthand writer to +take down thoughts and ideas that never occur again, and are only heard by +those who have the benefit of being present. + +The subjects brought forward were not of intense interest. We had a paper +by Dr. Traill, describing the Portrush Railway, and there were various +other papers; and I can pass over some of the other subjects, because I +shall have to deal with them under another head. But while we were in +Montreal, a deputation of American professors and members of the American +Association came over, and invited a good many of those who were present +at Montreal to visit the American Association at Philadelphia. I was one +of those who went over to America simply and solely for a holiday, and I +am bound to say that I set my face determinedly against going to +Philadelphia. I traveled with two charming companions, and we all decided +not to go to Philadelphia. But the compact was broken, and we capitulated, +and went from the charming climate of Montreal into the most intense heat +and into the greatest discomfort that I think poor members of the +Telegraph Engineers' Society ever experienced. We entered a heat that was +100 deg. by day and 98 deg. by night; and I do not think there is anybody in this +room, unless he has been brought up in the furnace-room of an Atlantic +steamer, who can fully appreciate the heat of Philadelphia in these summer +months. The discomforts of the climate were, however, amply compensated +for by the hospitality and kindness of the inhabitants. We spent, in spite +of the heat, a very pleasant time. + +Before referring further to the meetings at Philadelphia, I may just +mention the other journeys that I took. My holiday having been broken by +the rupture of the union to which I have alluded, I had to devote it then +to other purposes, and, in addition to Montreal and Philadelphia, I went +to New York (to which I shall refer again), from New York to Buffalo, then +to Lake Erie and Cleveland, and on to Chicago, where I spent a week or +more. From Chicago I went to see the great artery of the West--the +Mississippi. I stopped for a day or two at St. Louis. One remarkable fact +came to my knowledge, and I dare say it is new to many present, and that +is, that the Mississippi, unlike other rivers, runs uphill. It happens, +rather curiously, that, owing to the earth being an oblate spheroid, the +difference between the source of the Mississippi and the center of the +earth is less than that of its mouth and the center of the earth, and you +may see how this running up hill is accounted for. + +From St. Louis I went to Indianapolis, thence to Pittsburg, where they +have struck most extraordinary wells of natural gas. Borings are made in +the earth from the crust to a depth of 600 or 700 feet, when large +reservoirs of natural gas are "struck." The town is lighted by this gas, +and it is also employed for motive power. In Cleveland, also, this natural +gas is found, and there is no doubt that it is going to economize the cost +of production very much in that part of the country. From Pittsburg I went +to Baltimore, where Sir William Thomson was occupied in delivering +lectures to the students of the Johns Hopkins University. In all these +American towns one very curious feature is that they all have great +educational establishments, endowed and formed by private munificence. In +Canada there is the McGill University, and in nearly every place one goes +to there is a university, like the Johns Hopkins at Baltimore, where Johns +Hopkins left 3,500,000 dollars to be devoted entirely to educational +purposes; and that university is under the management of one of the most +enlightened men in America, Professor Grillman, and he has as his +lieutenants Professors Rowland, Mendenhall, and other well-known men, and +each professor is in his own line particularly eminent. Sir William +Thomson delivered there a really splendid course of lectures. From +Baltimore I went through Philadelphia to Boston. I visited Long Branch, +and I spent a long time in New York, so that from what I have said you +will gather that I spent a good deal of my time in the States. Wherever I +went I devoted all my leisure time to inquiry into the telegraphic, +telephonic, and electric light arrangements in existence. I visited all +the manufactories I could get to, and I did all I possibly could to enable +me to return home and afford information, and perhaps amusement, to my +fellow-members of this Society. + +As an illustration of the intense heat we experienced, I may mention that +it was at one time perfectly impossible to make the thermometer budge. The +temperature of the blood is about 97 or 98 degrees, and if the temperature +of the air be below the temperature of the blood, of course when the hand +is applied to the thermometer the mercury rises. In one of our journeys up +the Pennsylvania Road we tried to make the thermometer budge as usual, but +could not, which proved that the temperature of the air inside the Pullman +car in which we traveled was the same as that of the blood. + +The American Association is of course based on the British Association. +Its mode of administration is a little different. It is divided into +sections, as is the British Association, but the sections are not called +the same. For instance, in the British Association, Section A is devoted +entirely to physics, but in the American Association, Section A is devoted +to astronomy and Section B to physics. In the British Association, Section +G is devoted to mechanics, but in America Section D is devoted to that +subject. But with the exception of just a change in the names of some +sections which are familiar as household words to members of the British +Association, the proceedings of the American Association do not differ +very much from ours. They have, however, one very sensible rule. The +length of every paper is indicated upon the programme of the day's +proceedings, and the continuation or the stopping of any discussion on +that paper is in the hands of the section. For instance, if the President +thinks that a man is speaking too long, he has only to say, "Does the +meeting wish that this discussion shall be continued, or shall it be +stopped?" A majority on the show of hands decides. Such a practice has a +very wholesome effect in checking discussion, and I certainly think that +some of our societies would do well to adopt a rule of the same character. + +The meeting of the American Association, again, was not distinguished by +any particular electrical paper, or any new electrical subject. The main +subject that was brought before us was the peculiar effect called "Hall's +effect," that Professor Hall, now of Harvard College, and then assistant +to Professor Rowland, discovered in the powerful field of a magnet when a +current was passed through a conductor; and a description of that effect +(which he at one time thought was an indication that electricity was +something separate from matter) formed the subject of two debates that +lasted for nearly the whole of two days. I am bound to say that in that +prolonged discussion the members of this Society held their own. I see two +very prominent members present who spoke on most of the electrical +subjects dealt with--Professor G. Forbes, who knows what he says and says +what he knows, and Professor Silvanus Thompson, who held his own under +very trying circumstances. + +At the same time that this meeting of the American Association was being +held at Philadelphia, where we were treated with marvelous +hospitality,--excursions, soirees, dinners, parties, etc., etc.--and as +though it were not quite sufficient to bring over humble Britishers from +this side of the Atlantic to suffer the intense heat at one meeting of the +Association, they held at the same time an Electrical Conference. There +was a conference of electricians appointed by the United States +Government, that was chiefly distinguished on the part of the American +Government by selecting those who were not electricians. But many attended +the Electrical Conference who stand high as electricians, one especially, +who, though perhaps from want of experience he did not shine very +brilliantly as a chairman, certainly stands as one of the ablest +electricians of the day--I mean Professor Rowland. The Conference was held +under Professor Rowland's presidency, and nearly all the well-known +professors of the United States attended. The Conference was established +by the United States Government to take into consideration the results and +conclusions arrived at by the Congress of 1884, held in Paris. The Paris +Congress decided upon adopting certain units of resistance of +electromotive force, of current, and of quantity, and they determined the +particular length of a column of mercury that should represent the ohm--a +column of mercury 106 centimeters long and of one square millimeter in +section. It was necessary that the United States should join this +Conference, so a commission was appointed to consider the whole matter. +All these units were brought before them, as well as the other conclusions +of the Paris Congress, such as the proper mode of recording earth currents +and atmospheric electricity. The Paris units were adopted in face of the +fact that the length determined upon at Paris was not the length that +Professor Rowland himself had found as that which should represent the +ohm. It differed by about 0.2, as near as I can remember; but it was +thought so necessary that uniformity and unanimity should exist all over +the world in the adoption of a proper unit, that all differences were laid +aside, and the Americans agreed to comply with the resolutions of the +Paris Congress. + +There were two units that I had the temerity to bring forward, first, at +the British Association, and secondly, before the Electrical Conference. +It will be remembered, that at the meeting of the British Association at +Southampton in 1882, the late Sir W. Siemens proposed that the unit of +power should be the watt, and that the watt, which was derived from the +C.G.S. system of absolute units, should in future, among electricians, be +the unit of power. This was accepted by the British Association at +Montreal, and it was also accepted by the American Electrical Conference +at Philadelphia. But I also, at Montreal, suggested that as the watt was +the unit of power, so we ought to make some multiple of that unit the +higher unit of power, comparable to that which is now represented by the +well-known term "horsepower." Horsepower, unfortunately, does not form +itself directly into the C.G.S. system. The term horsepower is a +meaningless quantity; it is not a horsepower at all. It was established by +the great Watt, who determined that the average power exerted by a horse +was equal to about 22,000 foot pounds raised per minute; but this was +thought by him to be too little, so he increased it by 50 per cent., and +so arrived at what is the present horsepower, 33,000 foot pounds raised +per minute. Foot pounds bear no relation to our C.G.S. system of units, +and it is most desirable that we should have some unit of power, somewhere +about the horsepower, to enable us to convert at once watts into +horsepower. For that purpose I proposed that 1,000 watts, or the kilowatt, +should replace what is now called the horsepower, and suggested it for the +consideration of engineers. It has been received with a great deal of +consideration by those who understand the subject, and a considerable +amount of ridicule by those who do not. It is rather a remarkable thing +that, as a rule, one will always find ridicule and ignorance running side +by side; and it is an almost invariable fact that when a new proposition +is brought forward, it is laughed at. I am always very glad to see that, +because it always succeeds in drawing attention to the matter. I remember +a friend of mine, who had written a book, being in great glee because it +was severely criticised by the _Athenaeum_, a fact which drew public +attention to the book, and caused it to make a great stir. So when I +proposed that the horsepower should be increased by 33 per cent., and made +equivalent to 1,000 watts, I was not at all sorry to find that I had +incurred the displeasure of the leader writers in nearly all our +scientific papers, and I was quite sure that the attention of those who +would not perhaps have thought of it would thereby be drawn to the matter. +Some people object to the use of a name, this name "watt." When you have +fresh ideas, you must have fresh words to express those ideas. The watt +was a new unit, it must be called by some name, otherwise it could +scarcely be conveyed to our minds. The foot, the gallon, the yard, were +all new names once; and how do we know that they were not derived from +some "John Foot," "William Gallon," or "Jack Yard," or some man whose name +was connected with the measure when introduced? The poet says: + +"Some mute, inglorious Milton here may rest-- +Some Cromwell, guiltless of his country's blood:" + +so in these names some forgotten physicist or mute engineer may be +buried. At any rate, we cannot do without names. The ohm, the ampere, the +volt, are merely words that express ideas that we all understand; and so +does the watt, and so will the 1,000 watts when you come to think over the +matter as much as some of us have done. + +At this Conference several other subjects were brought up which attracted +a good deal of attention. Professor Rowland brought forward a paper on the +theory of dynamos that certainly startled a good many of us; and it led to +a discussion that is admirably reported in our scientific papers. I think +that the discussion evolved by Professor Rowland's paper on the theory of +dynamos deserves the study of every electrician; it brought very strongly +into prominence one or two English gentlemen who were present. Professor +Fitzgerald, of Dublin, spoke with a considerable amount of power, and +showed a mastery of the subject that was pleasant not only to his friends, +but must have been gratifying to the Americans who heard him. On this +particular subject of dynamos it was truly wonderful how the doctors +disagreed. Two could not be found who held the same views on the theory +and construction of the dynamo, and that shows that we still have a great +deal to learn about the dynamo, and that the true principle of +construction of it has yet to be brought out. + +It is a very curious thing, and I thought about it at the time, that when +you consider the dynamos in use, you see how very little has been done to +perfect the direct working dynamo in England. Although the principle of +the dynamo originated with Faraday, yet all the early machines, Pacinotti, +Gramme. Hefner von Alteneck, Shuckert, Brush, Edison, and several others +who have improved the direct action machine, have not been found in +England. But when we deal with alternate-current machines, then we find +the Wilde, Ferranti, and various others; so that the tendency in England +has been very much to improve and work upon the alternate-current +machines. In other countries it is exactly the reverse; in fact, in +America I never saw one single alternate-current machine. When Professor +Forbes wanted an alternate-current machine to illustrate a lecture that he +gave, it was with the greatest difficulty that one could be found, and, in +fact, it was put together specially for him. + +The other subjects brought before this Conference were Earth Currents, +Atmospheric Electricity, Accumulators or Secondary Batteries, and +Telephones. There was an extremely able paper brought forward by Mr. T.D. +Lockwood, the electrician of the American Bell Telephone Company, on +Telephones, and the disturbances that influence their working. When that +paper is published, it will well be worth your careful examination. + +Papers were also read on the Transmission of Energy, and there were papers +on many other subjects. + +So much for the Electrical Conference. + +Now, the Americans at the present moment are suffering from a mania which +we, happily, have passed through, that is, the mania of exhibitions. + +While we were at Philadelphia, there was an exceedingly interesting +exhibition held. I do not intend to say much about that exhibition, for +the simple reason that Professor G. Forbes has promised, during the +forthcoming session, to give us a paper describing what he saw there, and +his studies at Philadelphia; and I am quite sure that it will be a paper +worthy of him, and of you. But, apart from this exhibition at +Philadelphia, I could not go anywhere without finding an exhibition. There +was one at Chicago, another at St. Louis, another at Boston; everybody was +talking about one at Louisville, where I did not go; and there were rumors +of great preparations for the "largest exhibition the world has ever +seen," according to their own account, at New Orleans. However, I +satisfied myself with seeing the exhibition at Philadelphia, which +consisted strictly of American goods, and was not of the international +nature general to such exhibitions. But it was a fine exhibition, and one +that no other single nation could bring together. + +_Telegraphs_.--When I spoke to you in 1878, my remarks were almost +entirely confined to telegraphs, for at that day the telephone was not, as +a practical instrument, in existence. I brought from America on that +occasion the first telephones that were brought to this country. Then the +practical application of electricity was applied to telegraphs, and so +telegraphs formed the subject of my theme. But while in 1877 I saw a great +deal to learn, and picked up a great many wrinkles, and brought back from +America a good many processes, I go back there now in 1884, seven years +afterward, and I do not find one single advance made--I comeback with +scarcely one single wrinkle; and, in fact, while we in England during +those seven years have progressed with giant strides, in America, in +telegraph matters, they have stood still. But their material progress has +been marvelous. In 1877, the mileage of wire belonging to the Western +Union Telegraph Company was 200,000 miles; in 1884, they have 433,726 +miles of wire; so that during the seven years their mileage of wire has +more than doubled. During the same period their number of messages has +increased from 28,000,000 to over 40,000,000; their offices from 11,660 to +13,600; and the capital invested in their concern has increased from +$40,000,000 to $80,000,000--in fact, there is no more gigantic telegraph +organization in this world that this Western Union Telegraph Company. It +is a remarkable undertaking, and I do not suppose there is an +administration better managed. But for some reason or other that I cannot +account for, their scientific progress has not marched with their material +progress, and invention has to a certain extent there ceased. There really +was only one telegraphic novelty to be found in the States, and that was +an instrument by Delany--a multiplex instrument by which six messages +could be sent in one or other direction at the same time. It is an +instrument that is dependent upon the principle introduced by Meyer, where +time is divided into a certain number of sections, and where synchronous +action is maintained between two instruments. This system has been worked +out with great perfection in France by Baudot. We had a paper by Colonel +Webber on the subject, before the Society, in which the process was fully +described. Delany, in the States, has carried the process a little +further, by making it applicable to the ordinary Morse sending. On the +Meyer and Baudot principle, the ordinary Morse sender has to wait for +certain clicks, which indicate at which moment a letter may be sent; but +on the Delany plan each of the six clerks can peg away as he chooses--he +can send at any rate he likes, and he is not disturbed in any way by +having any sound to guide or control his ear. The Delany is a very +promising system. It may not work to long distances; but the apparatus is +promised to be brought over to this country, to be exhibited at the +Inventors' Exhibition next year, and I can safely say that the Post Office +will give every possible facility to try the new invention upon its wires. + +One gratifying effect of my visit to the telegraph establishments in +America was that, while hitherto we have never hesitated in England to +adopt any process or invention that was a distinct advance, whether it +came from America or anywhere else, they on the other hand have shown a +disinclination to adopt anything British; but they have now adopted our +Wheatstone automatic system. That system is at work between New Orleans +and Chicago, and New York and New Orleans--1,600 miles. It has given them +so much satisfaction that they are going to increase it very largely; so +that we really have the proud satisfaction of finding a real, true British +invention well established on the other side of the Atlantic. + +The next branch that I propose to bring to your notice is the question of +the telephone. + +The telephone has passed through rather an awkward phase in the States. A +very determined attempt has been made to upset the Bell patents in that +country; and those who visited the Philadelphia Exhibition saw the +instruments there exhibited upon which the advocates of the plaintiff +relied. It is said that a very ingenious American, named Drawbaugh, had +anticipated all the inventors of every part of the telephone system; that +he had invented a receiver before Bell; that he had invented the +compressed carbon arrangement before Edison; that he had invented the +microphone before our friend Professor Hughes; and that, in fact, he had +done everything on the face of the earth to establish the claims set +forth. Some of his patents were shown, and I not only had to examine his +patents, but I had to go through a great many depositions of the evidence +given, and I am bound to confess that a more flimsy case I never saw +brought before a court of law. I do not know whether I shall be libelous +in expressing my opinion (I will refer to our solicitor before the notes +are printed), but I should not hesitate to say that I never saw a more +evident conspiracy concocted to try and disturb the position of a +well-established patent. However, I have heard that the judgment has been +given as the public generally supposed it would be given; because as soon +as the case was over the shares of the Bell company, which were at 150, +jumped up to 190, and now the decision is given I am told that they will +probably reach 290. + +We cannot form a conception on this side of the Atlantic of the extent to +which telephones are used on the other side of the Atlantic. It is said +sometimes that the progress of the telephone on this side of the water has +been checked very much by the restrictions brought to bear upon the +telephone by the Government of this country. But whatever restrictions +have been instituted by our Government upon the adoption of the telephone, +they are not to be compared with the restrictions that the poor +unfortunate telephone companies have to struggle against on the other side +of the Atlantic. There is not a town that does not mulct them in taxes for +every pole they erect, and for every wire they extend through the streets. +There is not a State that does not exact from them a tax; and I was +assured, and I know as a fact, that in one particular case there was one +company--a flourishing company--that was mulcted is 75 per cent. of its +receipts before it could possibly pay a dividend. Here we only ask the +telephone companies to pay to the poor, impoverished British Government 10 +per cent.; and 10 per cent. by the side of 75 per cent. certainly cuts but +a very sorry figure. But the truth is, the reason why the telephone is +flourishing in America is that it is an absolute necessity there for the +proper transaction of business. Where you exist in a sort of Turkish bath +at from 90 deg. to 100 deg., you want to be saved every possible reason for +leaving your office to conduct your business; and the telephone comes in +as a means whereby you can do so, and can loll back in your arm chair, +with your legs up in the air, with a cigar in your mouth, with a punkah +waving over your head, and a bottle of iced water by your side. By the +telephone, under such circumstances, business transactions can be carried +on with comfort to yourself and to him with whom your business is +transacted. We have not similar conditions here. We are always glad of an +excuse to get out of our offices. In America, too, servants and messengers +are the exception, a boy is not to be had, whereas in England we get an +errand boy at half a crown a week. That which costs half a crown here +costs 12s. to 15s. in America; and, that being so, it is much better to +pay the telephone company a sum that will, at less cost, enable your +business to be transacted without the engagement of such a boy. + +The Americans, again, adopt electrical contrivances for all sorts of +domestic purposes. There is not a single house in New York, Chicago, or +anywhere else that I went into, that has not in the hall a little +instrument [producing one] which, by the turn of a pointer and the +pressing of a handle, calls for a messenger, a carriage, a cab, express +wagon (that is, the fellow who looks after your luggage), a doctor, +policeman, fire-alarm, or anything else as may be arranged for. The little +instrument communicates to a central office not far off, and in two +minutes the doctor, or messenger, or whatever it may be, presents himself. + +For fire-alarms and for all sorts of purposes, domestic telegraphy is part +and parcel of the nature of an American, and the result was that when the +telephone was brought to him, he adopted it with avidity. On this side of +the Atlantic domestic telegraphy is at a minimum, and I do not think any +one would have a telephone in his house if he could help it. + +When you want a thing, you must pay for it. The Americans want the +telephone, and they pay for it. In London people grumble very much at +having to pay L20 to the Telephone Company for the use of a telephone. I +question very much whether L20 a year is quite enough; at any rate, it is +not enough if the American charge is taken as a standard. The charge in +New York is of two classes--one for a system called the law system, which +is applied almost exclusively for the use of lawyers, which is L44 a +year; the other being the charge made to the ordinary public, and which +will compare with the service rendered in London, which is charged for at +L35 a year, against L20 a year in London. The charge in Chicago is L26 a +year; in Boston, Philadelphia, and a great many other places it is L25 a +year. At Buffalo a mode of charging by results is adopted; everybody pays +for each oral message he sends--every time he uses the telephone he pays +either four, five, or six cents, according to the number for which he +guarantees. Supposing any one of us wanted a telephone at Buffalo, the +company will supply it under a guarantee to pay for a minimum of 500 +messages per annum. If 1,000 messages are sent, the charge is less _pro +rata_, being six cents, if I remember rightly, for each message under 500, +and five cents up to 1,000 messages, four cents per message over 1,000 +messages; and so everybody pays for what work he does. It is payment by +results. The people like the arrangement, the company like it because they +make it pay, and the system works well. But I am bound to say that, up to +the present moment, Buffalo is the only city in the United States where +that method has been adopted. + +The instruments used in the States are no better--in fact, in many cases +they are worse--than the instruments we use on this side of the Atlantic. +I have heard telephones in this country speak infinitely better than +anything that I have heard on the other side of the Atlantic. But they +transact their business in America infinitely better than we do; and there +is one great reason for this, which is, that in America the public itself +falls into the mode of telephone working with the energy of the telegraph +operator. They assist the telephone people in every way they can; they +take disturbances with a humility that would be simply startling to +English subscribers; and they help the workers of the system in every way +they can. The result is, that all goes off with great smoothness and +comfort. But the switch apparatus used in the American central offices is +infinitely superior to anything that I have ever seen over here, excepting +at Liverpool. + +A new system has just been brought out, called the "multiple" system, +which has been very lately introduced. I saw it at many places, especially +at Indianapolis, at Boston, and at New York, where three exchanges were +worked by it with a rapidity that perfectly startled me. I took the times +of a great many transactions, and found that, from the moment a subscriber +called to the moment he was put through, only five seconds elapsed; and I +am told at Milwaukee, where unfortunately I could not go, but where there +is a friend of ours in charge, Mr. Charles Haskins, who is one of our +members, and he says he has brought down the rate of working to such a +pitch that they are able to arrange that subscribers shall be put through +in four seconds. + +You will be surprised to learn that there are 986 exchanges at work in the +United States. There are 97,423 circuits; there are nearly 90,000 miles of +wire used for telephonic purposes; and the number of instruments that have +been manufactured amounts to 517,749. Just compare those figures with our +little experience on this side of the Atlantic. I have a return showing +the number of subscribers in and about New York, comprising the New Jersey +division, the Long Island division, Staten Island, Westchester, and New +York City, and the total amounts to 10,600 subscribers who are put into +communication with each other in the neighborhood of New York alone; and +here in England we can only muster 11,000. There are just as many +subscribers probably at this moment in New York and its neighborhood as we +have in the whole of the United Kingdom. + +I am sorry to delay you so long. I have very few more points to bring +before you. I spoke only last week so much about the electric light that I +have very little to say on that point. High-tension currents are used for +electric lighting in America, and all wires are carried overhead along the +streets. A more hideous contrivance was probably never invented since the +world was created than the system of carrying wires overhead through the +magnificent streets and cities in America. They spend thousands upon +thousands of pounds in beautifying their cities with very fine buildings, +and then they disfigure them all by carrying down the pavements the most +villainous-looking telegraph posts that ever were constructed. The +practice is carried to such an extent, that down Broadway in New York +there are no less than six distinct lines of poles; and through the city +of New York there are no less than thirty-two separate and distinct +companies carrying all their wires through the streets of the city. How +the authorities have stood it so long I cannot make out. They object to +underground wires--why, one cannot tell. It is something like taking a +horse to the pond--you cannot make him drink. So it is with these +telephone companies: the public of America and the Town Councils have been +trying to force the telephone and telegraph companies to put their wires +underground, but they are the horses that are led to the pool, and they +will not drink. It is said that the Town Council of Philadelphia have +issued most stringent orders that on the first of January next, men with +axes and tools are to start out and cut down every pole in the city. It is +all very well to threaten; but my impression is that any member of Town +Council or any individual of Philadelphia who attempts to do such a thing +will be lynched by the first telephone subscriber he meets. + +This practice of running overhead wires has great disadvantages when the +wires are used for electric-lighting purposes as well as for ordinary +telephone or telegraph purposes. No doubt the high-tension system can be +carried out overhead with economy; but where overhead wires carrying these +heavy currents exist in the neighborhood of telephone circuits, there is +every possible liability to accident; and in my short trip I came across +seven distinct cases of offices being destroyed by fire, of test boxes +being utterly ruined, of a whole house being gutted, and of various +accidents, all clearly traceable to contacts arising from the falling of +overhead wires, charged with high-tension current, upon telegraph and +telephone wires below. The danger is so great and damage so serious that, +at Philadelphia, Mr. Plush, the electrician to the Telephone Company, has +devised this exceedingly pretty cut-out. It is a little electro-magnetic +cut-out that breaks the telephone circuit whenever a current passes into +the circuit equal to or more than an ampere. The arrangement works with +great ease. It is applied to every telephone circuit simply, to protect +the telephone system from electric light wires, that ought never to be +allowed anywhere near a telephone circuit. + +Fire-alarms are used in America; but in England, also, the fire systems of +Edward Bright, Spagnoletti, and Higgins have been introduced, and in that +respect we are in very near the same position as our friends on the other +side of the Atlantic. Some members present may remember that, when I +described my last visit to America, I mentioned how in Chicago the +fire-alarm was worked by an electric method, and I told you a story then +that you did not believe, and which I have told over and over again, but +nobody has yet believed me, and I began to think that I must have made a +mistake somewhere or other. So I meant, when at Chicago this time, to see +whether I had been deceived myself. There was very little room for +improvement, because, as I told you before, they had very near reached +perfection. This is what they did: At the corner of the street where a +fire-alarm box is fixed, a handle is pulled down, and the moment that +handle is released a current goes to the fire-station; it sounds a gong to +call the attention of the men, it unhitches the harness of the horses, the +horses run to their allotted positions at the engine, it whips the clothes +off every man who is in bed, it opens a trap at the bottom of the bed and +the men slide down into their positions on the engine. The whole of that +operation takes only six seconds. The perfection to which fire-alarm +business has been brought in the States is one of the most interesting +applications of electricity there. + +Of course during this visit I waited on Mr. Edison. Many of you know that +a difference took place between Mr. Edison and myself, and I must confess +that I felt a little anxiety as to how I should be received on the other +side. It is impossible for any man to receive another with greater +kindness and attention than Mr. Edison received me. He took me all over +his place and showed me everything, and past differences were not referred +to. Mr. Edison is doing an enormous amount of work in steadily plodding +away at the electric light business. He has solved the question as far as +New York is concerned and as far as central station lighting is concerned; +and all we want on this side is to instill more confidence into our +capitalists, to try and induce them to unbutton their pockets and give us +money to carry out central lighting here. + +I met another very distinguished electrician--a man who has hid his light +under a bushel--a man whose quiet modesty has kept him very much in the +background, but who really has done as much work as any body on that side +of the Atlantic, and few have done more on this--and that is Mr. Edward +Weston. He is an Englishman who has established himself in New York. He +has been working steadily for years at his laboratory, and works and +produces plant with all the skill and exactitude that the electrician or +mechanic could desire. + +Another large factory I went over was that of the Western Electric Company +of Chicago, which is the largest manufactory in the States. That company +has three large factories. While I was there, the manager, just as a +matter of course, handed me over a message which contained an order for +330 arc lamps and for twenty-four dynamo machines. He was very proud of +such an order, but he tried to make me believe that it was an every-day +occurrence. + +There are no less than 90,000 arc lamps burning in the States every day. + +The time has passed very rapidly. I have only just one or two more points +to allude to. I think I ought not to conclude without referring to the +more immediate things affecting travelers generally and electricians in +particular. It is astounding to come across the different experiences +narrated by different men who have been on the other side of the Atlantic. +One charming companion that we had on board the Parisian has been +interviewed, and his remarks appeared in the _Pall Mall Gazette_ of +Tuesday last, December 9th. There he gave the most pessimist view of life +in the United States. He said they were a miserable race--thin, pale faced +and haggard, and rushed about as though they were utterly unhappy; and the +account our friend gave of what he saw in the United States evidently +shows that the heat that did not affect some of us so very much must have +produced upon Mr. Capper a most severe bilious attack. Well, his +experiences are not mine. Throughout the whole States I received +kindnesses and attentions that I can never forget. I had the pleasure of +staying in the houses of most charming people. I found that whenever you +met an educated American gentleman there was no distinction to be drawn +between him and an English gentleman. His ways of living, his modes of +thought, his amusements, his entertainments, are the same as ours; there +is no difference whatever to be found. In Mr. Capper's case I can readily +imagine that he spent most of his time in the halls of hotels, and there +you do see those wild fellows rushing about; they convert the hall of the +hotel into a mere stock exchange, and look just as uncomfortable as our +"stags" who run about Capel Court. You may just as well enter a +betting-ring and come away with the impression that the members represent +English society, or that that is the most refined manner in which English +gentlemen enjoy themselves. + +Well, gentlemen, there are just as exceptional peculiarities here as on +the other side of the water. The Americans are the most charming people on +this earth. When we enter their houses and come to know them, they treat +us in a way that cannot be forgotten. I noticed a very great change since +I was in America before. Whether it is a greater acquaintance with them or +not I cannot say, but there is an absence of that which we can only +express by a certain word called "cockiness." It struck me at one time +that there was a good deal of cockiness on that side of the Atlantic, that +has entirely disappeared. Constant intercourse between the two countries +is gradually bringing out a regular unanimity of feeling and the same mode +of thought. + +But there are some things in which the Americans are a little lax, +especially in their history. At one of their exhibitions that I visited, +for instance, there was a placard put up-- + +"The steed called Lightning, say the Fates, + Was tamed in the United States. + 'Twas Franklin's hand that caught the horse; + 'Twas harnessed by Professor Morse." + +Now, considering that Franklin made his discovery in 1752, and the United +States were not formed till about thirty years afterward, it is rather +"transmogrifying" history to say the lightning was tamed in the United +States. + +Again, where the notice about Professor Morse was put, they say that the +instrument was invented by Morse in 1846, while alongside it is shown the +very slip which sent the message, dated 1844; so that the slip of the +original message sent by Morse was sent by his instrument two years before +it was invented. + +Again, that favorite old instrument of ours which we are so proud of, the +hatchment telegraph of Cooke and Wheatstone, invented in 1837, was labeled +"Whetstone and Cook, 1840," so while I am sorry to say they are loose in +their history, they are tight in their friendships, and all the visitors +receive the warmest possible welcome from them generally, and especially +so from every member of our Society belonging to the States. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE HOUSE OF A THOUSAND TERRORS, ROTTERDAM. + + +[Illustration: THE HOUSE OF A THOUSAND TERRORS, ROTTERDAM.] + +This building, which is situated at the corner of the Groote Market and +the Hang, is one of the oldest houses in Rotterdam, besides being one of +the most interesting from a historical point of view. There is a tradition +which states that when the city was invaded and pillaged by the Spaniards, +who in accordance with their usual custom, proceeded to put the +inhabitants to the sword, without regard to age or sex, a large number of +the leading citizens took refuge within the building, and having secured +and barricaded the entrance, they killed a kid and allowed the blood to +flow beneath the door into the street; seeing which the soldiery concluded +that those inside had already been massacred, and without troubling to +force an entry passed on, leaving them unmolested. Here the unhappy +citizens remained for three days without food, by which time the danger +had passed away, and they were enabled to effect their escape. It is from +this incident that the building takes its name. The house is built in a +species of irregular bond with bricks of varying lengths, the strings, +labels, copings, etc., being in stone. The upper portion remains in pretty +much the same condition as it existed in the 16th century, but is much +disfigured by modern paint, which has been laid over the whole of the +exterior with no sparing hand. Within the last few years the present shop +windows facing the Groote Market have been put up and various slight +alterations made to the lower part of the building to suit the +requirements of the present occupiers. The drawing has been prepared from +detail sketches made on the spot.--_W.E. Pinkerton, in Building News._ + + * * * * * + + + + +ON THE ORIGIN AND STRUCTURE OF COAL. + + +The origin of coal, that combustible which is distributed over the earth +in all latitudes, from the frozen regions of Greenland to Zambesi in the +tropics, utilized by the Chinese from the remotest antiquity for the +baking of pottery and porcelain, employed by the Greeks for working iron, +and now the indispensable element of the largest as well of the smallest +industries, is far from being sufficiently clear. The most varied +hypotheses have been offered to explain its formation. To cite them all +would not be an easy thing to do, and so we shall recall but three: (1) It +has been considered as the result of eruptions of bitumen coming from the +depths, and covering and penetrating masses of leaves, branches, bark, +wood, roots, etc., of trees that had accumulated in shallow water, and +whose most delicate relief and finest impressions have been preserved by +this species of tar solidified by cooling. (2) It has also been considered +as the result of the more or less complete decomposition of plants under +the influence of heat and dampness, which has led them to pass +successively through the following principal stages: _peat, lignite, +bituminous coal, anthracite_. (3) Finally, while admitting that the +decomposition of plants can cause organic matter to assume these different +states, other scientists think that it is not necessary for such matter to +have been peat and lignite in order to become coal, and that at the +carboniferous epoch plants were capable of passing directly to the state +of coal if the conditions were favorable; and, in the same way, in the +secondary and tertiary epochs the alteration of vegetable tissues +generally led to lignite, while now they give rise to peat. In other +words, the nature of the combustible formed at every great epoch depended +upon general climatic conditions and local chemical action. Anthracite and +bituminous coal would have belonged especially to primary times, lignites +to secondary and tertiary times, and peat to our own epoch, without the +peat ever being able to become lignites or the latter coal. + +As for the accumulation of large masses of the combustible in certain +regions and its entire absence in others belonging to the same formation, +that is attributed, now to the presence of immense forests growing upon a +low, damp soil, exposed to alternate rising and sinking, and whose debris +kept on accumulating during the periods of upheaval, under the influence +of a powerful vegetation, and now to the transportation of plants of all +sorts, that had been uprooted in the riparian forests by torrents and +rivers, to lakes of wide extent or to estuaries. Not being able to enter +in this place into the details of the various hypotheses, or to thoroughly +discuss them, we shall be content to make known a few facts that have been +recently observed, and that will throw a little light upon certain still +obscure points regarding the formation of coal. + +(1) According to the first theory, if the impressions which we often find +in coal (such as the leaves of Cordaites, bark of Sigillarias and +Lepidodendrons, wood of Cordaites, Calamodendrons, etc.) are but simple +and superficial mouldings, executed by a peculiar bitumen, formerly fluid, +now solidified, and resembling in its properties no other bitumen known, +we ought not to find in the interior any trace of preservation or any +evidence of structure. Now, upon making preparations that are sufficiently +thin to be transparent, from coal apparently formed of impressions of the +leaves of Cordaites, we succeed in distinguishing (in a section +perpendicular to the limb) the cuticle and the first row of epidermic +cells, the vascular bundles that correspond to the veins and the bands of +hypodermic libers; but the loose, thin-walled cells of the mesophyllum are +not seen, because they have been crushed by pressure, and their walls +touch each other. The portions of coal that contain impressions of the +bark of Sigillaria and Lepidodendron allow the elongated, suberose tissue +characteristic of such bark to be still more clearly seen. + +Were we to admit that the bitumen was sufficiently fluid to penetrate all +parts of the vegetable debris, as silica and carbonates of lime and iron +have done in so many cases, we should meet with one great difficulty. In +fact, the number of fragments of coal _isolated_ in schists and sandstone +is very large, and _without any communication_ with veins of coal or of +bitumen that could have penetrated the vegetable. We cannot, then, for an +instant admit such a hypothesis. Neither can we admit that the penetration +of the plants by bitumen was effected at a certain distance, and that they +have been transported, after the operation, to the places where we now +find them, since it is not rare to find at Commentry trunks of +Calamodendrons, Anthropitus, and ferns which are still provided with roots +from 15 to 30 feet in length, and the carbonized wood of which surrounds a +pith that has been replaced by a stony mould. The fragile ligneous +cylinder would certainly have been broken during such transportation. + +The carbonized specimens were never fluid or pasty, since there are some +that have left their impressions with the finest details in the schists +and sandstones, but none of the latter that has left its traces upon the +coal. The surface of the isolated specimens is well defined, and their +separation from the gangue (which has never been penetrated) is of the +easiest character. + +The facts just pointed out are entirely contrary to the theory of the +formation of coal by way of eruption of bitumen. + +(2) The place occupied by peats, lignites, and bituminous and anthracite +coal in sedimentary grounds, and the organic structure that we find less +and less distinct in measure as we pass from one of these combustibles to +one more ancient, have given rise to the theory mentioned above, viz., +that vegetable matter having, under the prolonged action of heat and +moisture, experienced a greater and greater alteration, passed +successively through the different states whose composition is indicated +in the following table: + + H. C. O. N. Coke. Ashes. Density. +Peat 5.63 57.03 29.67 2.09 ---- 5.58 ---- +Lignite 5.59 70.49 17.2 1.73 49.1 4.99 1.2 +Bitumin. coal 5.14 87.45 4 1.63 68 1.78 1.29 +Anthracite 3.3 92.5 2.53 ---- 89.5 1.58 1.3 + +Aside from the fact that anthracite is not met with solely in the lower +coal measures, but is found in the middle and upper ones, and that +bituminous coal itself is met with quite abundantly in the secondary +formations, and even in tertiary ones, it seems to result from recent +observations that if vegetable matter, when once converted into lignites, +coal, etc., be preserved against the action of air and mineral waters by +sufficient thick and impermeable strata of earth, preserves the chemical +composition that it possessed before burial. The coal measures of +Commentry, as well as certain others, such as those of Bezenet, Swansea, +etc., contain quite a large quantity of coal gravel in sandstone or +argillaceous rocks. These fragments sometimes exhibit a fracture analogous +to that of ordinary coal, with sharp angles that show that they have not +been rolled; and the sandstone has taken their exact details, which are +found in hollow form in the gangue. In other cases these fragments exhibit +the aspect of genuine shingle or rolled pebbles. These pebbles of coal +have not been misshapen under the pressure of the surrounding sandstone, +nor have they shrunk since their burial and the solidification of the +gangue, for their surface is in contact with the internal surface of their +matrix. Everything leads to the belief that they were extracted from +pre-existing coal deposits that already possessed a definite hardness and +bulk, at the same time as were the gravels and sand in which they are +imprisoned. It became of interest, then, to ascertain the age to which the +formation of these fragments might be referred, they being evidently more +ancient than those considered above, which, as we have seen, could not +have been transported in this state on account of their dimensions and the +fragility of made coal. Thanks to the kindness of Mr. Fayol, we have been +enabled to make such researches upon numerous specimens that were still +inclosed in their sandstone gangue and that had been collected in the coal +strata of Commentry. In some of their physical properties they differ from +the more recent isolated fragments and from the ordinary coal of this +deposit. They are less compact, their density is less, and a thin film of +water deposited upon their surface is promptly absorbed, thus indicating a +certain amount of porosity. Their fracture is dull and they are striped +with shining coal, and can be more easily sliced with a razor. + +From a fresh fracture, we find by the lens, or microscope, that some of +them are formed of ordinary coal, that is, composed of plates of variable +thickness, brilliant and dull, with or without traces of organization, and +others of divers bits of wood whose structure is preserved. When reduced +to thin, transparent plates, these latter show us the organization of the +wood of _Arthropitus, Cordaites_, and _Calamodendron_, and of the petioles +of _Aulacopteris_, that is to say, of the ligneous and arborescent plants +that we most usually meet with in the coal measures of Commentry in the +state of impression or of coal. + +In a certain number of specimens the diminution in volume of the tracheae +is less than that that we have observed in the same organs of +corresponding genera. The quantity of oxygen and hydrogen that they +contain is greater, and seems to bring them near the lignites. + +We cannot attribute these differences to the nature of the plants +converted into coal, since we have just seen that they are the same in the +one case as in the other. Neither does time count for anything here, +since, according to accepted ideas, the burial having been longer, the +carbonization ought to have been more perfect, while the contrary is the +case. + +If we admit (1) that vegetable remains alter more and more through +maceration in ordinary water and in certain mineral waters; (2) that, +beginning with their burial in sufficiently thick strata of clay and sand, +their chemical composition scarcely varies any further; and (3) that these +are important changes only as regards their physical properties, due to +loss of water and compression, we succeed quite easily in learning what +has occurred. + +In fact, when, as a consequence of the aforesaid alteration, the vegetable +matter had taken the chemical composition that we find in the less +advanced coal of the pebbles, it was in the first place covered with sand +and protected against further destruction, and it gradually acquired the +physical properties that we now find in it. At the period that channels +were formed, the coal was torn from the beds in fragments, and these +latter were rolled about for a time, sometimes being broken, and then +covered anew, and this too at the same time as were the plants less +advanced in composition that we meet with at the same level. These latter, +being like them protected against ulterior alteration, we now find less +advanced in carbonization (notwithstanding their more ancient origin) than +the other vegetable fragments that were converted into coal after them, +but that were more thoroughly altered at the time of burial. + +There are yet a few other important deductions to be made from the +foregoing facts: (1) the same coal basin may, at the same level, contain +fragments of coal of very different ages; (2) its contour may have been +much modified owing to the ravines made by the water which transported the +ancient parts into the lowest regions of the basin; and (3) finally, since +the most recent sandstones and schists of the same basin may contain coal +which is more ancient, but which is formed from the same species of plants +that we find at this more recent level, we must admit that the conversion +of the vegetable tissues into coal was relatively rapid, and far from +requiring an enormous length of time, as we are generally led to believe. + +If, then, lignites have not become soft coal, and if the latter has not +become anthracite, it is not that time was wanting, but climatic +conditions and environment. Most analyses of specimens of coal have been +made up to the present with fragments so selected as to give a mean +composition of the mass; it is rare that trouble has been taken to select +bits of wood, bark, etc., of the same plant, determined in advance by +means of thin and transparent sections in order to assure the chemist of +the sole origin and of the absolute purity of the coal submitted to +analysis. This void has been partially fitted, and we give in the +following table the results published by Mr. Carnot of analyses made of +different portions of plants previously determined by us: + + Carbon Hydrogen Oxygen Nitrogen +1. Calamodendron (5 specimens) 82.95 4.78 11.89 0.48 +2. Cordaites (4 specimens) 82.94 4.88 11.84 0.44 +3. Lepidodendron (3 specimens) 83.28 4.88 11.45 0.39 +4. Psaronius (4 specimens) 81.64 4.80 13.11 0.44 + \----v----/ +5. Ptychopteris (1 specimen) 80.62 4.85 14.53 +6. Megaphyton (1 specimen) 83.37 4.40 12.23 + +As seen from this table, the elementary composition of the various +specimens is nearly the same, notwithstanding that the selection was made +from among plants that are widely separated in the botanical scale, or +from among very different parts of plants. In fact, with Numbers 1 and 2 +the analysis was made solely of the wood, and with No. 3 only of the +prosenchymatous and suberose parts of the bark. Here we remark a slight +increase in carbon, as should be the case. With No. 4 the analysis was of +the roots and the parenchymatous tissue that descends along the stem, and +with No. 6 of the bark and small roots. One will remark here again a +slight increase in the proportion of carbon, as was to be foreseen. The +elementary composition found nearly corresponds with that of the coal +taken from the large Commentry deposit. + + Carbon. Hydrogen. Oxygen and + Nitrogen. +Regnault 82.92 5.39 11.78 +Mr Carnot 83.21 5.57 11.22 + +Although the chemical composition is nearly the same, the manner in which +the different species or fragments of vegetables behave under distillation +is quite different. + +In fact, according to Mr. Carnot, the plants already cited furnish the +following results on distillation: + + Volatile Fixed Coke. + matters. residue. +Calamodendron 35.5 64.7 Well agglomerated. +Cordaites 42.1 57.8 Quite porous. +Lepidodendron 34.7 55.3 Well agglomerated. +Psaronius 29.4 60.5 Slightly porous. +Ptychopteris 39.4 60.5 +Megaphyton 35.5 64.5 Well agglomerated. +Coal of the Great Bed 40.5 59.5 Slightly porous. + +These differences in the proportions of volatile substances, of fixed +residua, and of density in the coke obtained seem to be in harmony with +the primitive organic nature of the carbonized tissues. We know, in fact, +that the wood of the Calamodendrons is composed of alternately radiating +bands formed of ligneous and thick walled prosenchymatous tissue, while +the wood of Cordaites, which is less dense, recalls that of certain +coniferae of the present day (Araucariae). + +We have remarked above that the portions of Lepidodendron analyzed +belonged to that part of the bark that was considerably thickened and +lignefied. So too the portion of the Megaphyton that was submitted to +distillation was the external part of the hard bark, formed of hypodermic +fibers and traversed by small roots. The Psaronius, on the contrary, was +represented by a mixture of roots and of parenchymatous tissue in which +they descend along the trunk. + +It results from these remarks that we may admit that those parts of the +vegetable that are ordinarily hard, compact, and profoundly lignefied +furnish a compact coke and relatively less volatile matter, while the +tissues that are usually not much lignefied, or are parenchymatous, give a +bubbly, porous coke and a larger quantity of gas. The influence of the +varied mode of grouping of the elements in the primitive tissues is again +found, then, even after carbonization, and is shown by the notable +differences in the quantities and physical properties of the products of +distillation. + +The elementary chemical composition, which is perceptibly the same in the +specimens isolated in the sandstones and in those taken from the great +deposit, demonstrates that the difference in composition of the +environment serving as gangue did not have a great influence upon the +definitive state of the coal, a conclusion that we had already reached +upon examining the structure and properties of the coal pebbles. + +We may get an idea of the nearly similar composition of the coal produced +by very different plants or parts thereof, in remarking that as the cells, +fibers, and vessels are formed of cellulose, and some of them isomeric, +the difference in composition is especially connected with the contents of +the cells, canals, etc., such as protoplasm, oils, resins, gums, sugars, +and various acids, various incrustations, etc. After the prolonged action +of water that was more or less mineralized and of multiple organisms, +matters that were soluble, or that were rendered so by maceration, were +removed, and the organic skeletons of the different plants were brought to +a nearly similar centesimal composition representing the carbonized +derivatives of the cellulose and its isomers. The vegetable debris thus +transformed, but still resistant and elastic, were the ones that were +petrified in the mineral waters or covered with sand and clay. Under the +influence of gradual pressure, and of a desiccation brought about by it, +and by a rising of the ground, the walls of the organic elements came into +contact, and the physical properties that we now see gradually made their +appearance. + +The waters derived from a prolonged steeping of vegetables, and charged +with all the soluble principles extracted therefrom, have, after their +sojourn in a proper medium, deposited the carbonized residua that have +themselves become soluble, and have there formed masses of combustibles of +a different composition from that resulting from the skeletons of plants, +such as _cannel coal, pitch coal, boghead_, etc. + +A thin section of a piece of Commentry cannel coal shows that this +substance consists of a yellowish-brown amorphous mass holding here and +there in suspension very different plant organs, such as fragments of +Cordaites, leaves, ferns, microspores, macrospores, pollen grains, +rootlets, etc., exactly as would have done a gelatinous mass that upon +coagulating in a liquid had carried along with it all the solid bodies +that had accidentally fallen into it and that were in suspension. + +It is evident (as we have demonstrated) that other cannel coals may show +different plant organs, or even contain none at all, their presence +appearing to be accidental. The composition itself of cannel coal must be, +in our theory, connected with the chemical nature of the materials from +whence it is derived, and that were first dissolved and then became +insoluble through carbonization. Several preparations made from Australian +(New South Wales), Autun, etc., boghead have shown us merely a +yellowish-brown amorphous mass holding in suspension lens-shaped or +radiating floccose masses which it is scarcely possible to refer to any +known vegetable organism. + +Among the theories that we have cited in the beginning, the one that best +agrees with the facts that we have pointed out is the third, which would +admit, then, two things in the formation of coal. The first would include +the different chemical reactions which cannot yet be determined, but which +would have brought the vegetable matter now to the state of soft coal +(with its different varieties), and now to the state of anthracite. The +second would comprehend the preservation, through burial, of the organic +matter in the stage of carbonization that it had reached, and as the +result of compression and gradual desiccation, the development of the +physical properties that we now find in the different carbonized +substances. + +We annex to this article a number of figures made from preparations of +various coals. These preparations were obtained by making the fragments +sufficiently thin without the aid of any chemical reagent, so as to avoid +the reproach that things were made to appear that the coal did not +contain. This slow and delicate method is not capable of revealing all the +organisms That the carbonaceous substance contains, but, per contra, one +is riot absolutely sure of the pre-existence of everything that resembles +organs or fragments of such that he distinguishes therein by means of the +microscope. + +Our researches, as we have above stated, have been confined to different +cannel coals, anthracite, boghead, and coal plants isolated either in coal +pebbles, or in schists and sandstones. + +[Illustration: 12a: FIG. 1.--Lancashire cannel coal; longitudinal section, +X200.] + +[Illustration: 12b: FIG. 2.--Lancashire cannel coal; transverse section, +X200.] + +Figs. 1 and 2 (magnified two hundred times) represent two sections, made +in rectangular planes, of fragments of Lancashire cannel coal. In a +certain measure, they remind one of Figs. 4 and 5, Pl 11, of Witham's +"Internal Structure of Fossil Vegetables," and which were drawn from +specimens of cannel coal derived likewise from Lancashire, but which are +not so highly magnified. There is an interesting fact to note in this +coincidence, and that is that this structure, which is so difficult to +explain in its details, is not accidental, but a consequence of the +nature of the materials that served to produce the coal of this region. +In the midst of a mass of blackish debris, _a_, organic and inorganic, +and immersed in an amorphous and transparent gangue, we find a few +recognizable fragments, such as thick-walled macrospores, _b_, of +various sizes, bits of flattened petioles, _c_, pollen grains, _d_, +debris of bark, etc. In Fig. 2 all these different remains are cut +either obliquely or longitudinally, and are not very recognizable. It is +not rare to meet with a sort of vacuity, _e_, filled with clearer matter +of resinoid aspect, without organization. + +[Illustration: 12c: FIG. 3.--Commentry cannel coal, X200.] + +In Fig. 3, which represents a section made from Commentry cannel coal, +the number of recognizable organs in the midst of the mass of debris is +much larger. Thus, at _a_ we see a macrospore, at _b_ a fragment of the +coat of a macrospore, at _c_ another macrospore having a silicified +nucleus, such as has been found in no other case, at _d_ we have a +transverse section of a vascular bundle, at _e_ a longitudinal section +of a rootlet traversed by another one, at _f_ we have a transverse +section of another rootlet, at _g_ an almost entire portion of the +vascular bundle of a root, and at _h_ we see large pollen grains +recalling those that we meet with in the silicified seeds from Saint +Etienne. + +Cannel coal, then, shows that it is formed of a sort of dark brown gangue +of resinoid aspect (when a thin section of it is examined) holding in +suspension indeterminable black organic and inorganic debris, which are +arranged in layers, and in the midst of which (according to the locality +and the fragment studied) is found a varying number of easily recognized +vegetable organs. + +[Illustration: 12d: FIG. 4.--Pennsylvania anthracite, X200.] + +It is very rare that anthracite offers any discernible trace of +organization. Preparations made from fragments of Sable and Lamore coal +could not be made sufficiently thin to be transparent; the mass remained +very opaque, and the clearest parts exhibited merely amorphous, +irregular granulations. Still, fragments of anthracite from Pennsylvania +furnished, amid a dominant mass of dark, yellow-brown, structureless +substance, a few organized vegetable debris, such as a fragment of a +vascular bundle with radiating elements (Fig. 4, _a_), a macrospore, +_b_, and a few pollen grains or microspores, _c_. + +[Illustration: 12e: FIG. 5.--Boghead from New South Wales, X500.] + +From what precedes it seems to result, then, that anthracite is in a much +less appreciable state of preservation than cannel coal, and that it is +only rarely, and according to locality, that we can discover vegetable +organs in it. Soft coal comes nearer to amorphous carbon. Boghead appears +to be of an entirely different character (Fig. 5, magnified X300). It is +easily reduced to a thin transparent plate, and shows itself to be formed +of a multitude of very small lenses, differing in size and shape, and much +more transparent than the bands that separate them. In the interior of +these lenses we distinguish very fine lines radiating from the center and +afterward branching several times. The ramifications are lost in the +periphery amid fine granulations that resemble spores. We might say that +we here had to do with numerous mycelia moulded in a slightly colored +resin. Preparations made from New South Wales and Autun boghead presented +the same aspect. + +If boghead was derived from the carbonization of parts that were soluble, +or that became so through maceration, and were made insoluble at a given +moment by carbonization, we can understand the very peculiar aspect that +this combustible presents when it is seen under the microscope. + +The following figures were made in order to show the details of anatomical +structure that are still visible in coal, and to permit of estimating the +shrinkage that the organic substance has undergone in becoming converted +into coal. + +It is not rare in coal mines to find fragments of wood, of which a portion +has been preserved by carbonates of iron and lime, and another portion +converted into coal. This being the case, it was considered of interest to +ascertain whether the carbonized portion had preserved a structure that +was still recognizable, and, in such an event, to compare this structure +with that of the portion of the specimen that was preserved in all its +details by mineralization. + +[Illustration: 12f: FIG. 6.--_Arthropitus gallica_, St. Etienne; transverse +section, X200.] + +Fig. 6 shows a transverse section of a specimen of _Arthropitus Gallica_ +found under such conditions. The region marked c is carbonized; the +organic elements of the wood-cells, tracheae, etc., have undergone but +little change in shape. Moreover, no change at all exists in the +internal parts of another specimen (Fig. 8), where we easily distinguish +by their form and dimensions the ligneous cells, _aa_, and the elements, +_bb_, of the wood itself. + +[Illustration: 12h: FIG. 8.--_Arthropitus gallica_, St. Etienne; transverse +section through the carbonized part.] + +In the region, _b_, of Fig. 6, the ligneous elements have undergone an +evident change of form, and the walls have been broken. This region, +already filled by petrifying salts, but not completely hardened, has not +been able to resist, as the region, _a_, an external pressure, and has +become more or less misshapened. As for the not yet mineralized external +portion, _c_, it has completely given way under the pressure, the walls of +the different organic elements have come into contact, the calcareous or +other salts have been expressed, and this region exhibits the aspect of +ordinary coal, while at the same time preserving a little more hardness on +account of the small quantity of mineral salts that has remained in them +despite the compression. + +From the standpoint of carbonization there seems to us but little +difference between the organic elements that occupy the region, _a_, and +those that occupy _b_. If the former had not been filled with hardened +petrifying matter, they would have been compressed and flattened like +those of region _c_, and would have given a compact and brilliant coal, +having very likely before petrifaction reached the same degree of +carbonization as the latter. The layer of coal in contact with the +carbonized or silicified part of the specimens is due, then, to a +compression of the organic elements already chemically carbonized, but in +which the mineral matter was not yet hardened and was able to escape. + +[Illustration: 12g: FIG. 7.--_Arthropitus gallica_, St. Etienne; tangential +longitudinal section.] + +If this be so, we ought to find the remains of organic structure in this +region _c_. In fact, on referring to Fig. 7, which represents a +tangential, longitudinal section of the same specimen, we perceive at _ab_ +a ligneous duct and some unchanged tracheae situated in the carbonized +region, and then at _c_ the same elements, though flattened, in which, +however, we still clearly distinguish the bands of the tracheae; at _d_ is +found a trachea whose contents were already solidified, and which has not +been flattened; then, near the surface, in the region, _e_, the pressure +having been greater, it is no longer possible to recognize traces of +organization in a tangential section. In a large number of cases, the fact +that the coal does not seem to be organized must be due to the too great +compression that the carbonized cells and vessels have undergone when yet +soft and elastic, at the time this slow but continuous pressure was being +exerted. + +It also became of interest to find out whether, through the very fact of +carbonization, the dimensions of the organic elements had perceptibly +varied--a sort of research that presents certain difficulties. At present +we have no living plant that is comparable, even remotely, with those that +grew during the coal epoch. Moreover, the organic elements have absolutely +nothing constant in their dimensions. + +Still, if we limit ourselves to a comparison of the same carbonized wood, +preserved on the one hand by petrifaction, and on the other hand +non-mineralized, we find a very perceptible diminution in bulk. The +elements have contracted in length, breadth, and thickness, but +principally in the direction of the compression that they have undergone +in the purely carbonized specimens. + +In the vicinity of the carbonized portions, those of the tracheae that have +not done so have perceptibly preserved their primitive length, which has, +so to speak, been maintained by their neighbors, but their other +dimensions have become much smaller--a quarter in thickness and half in +length. + +[Illustration: 12i: FIG. 9.--_Calamodendron,_ Commentry; prosenchymatous +portion of the wood carbonized, X200.] + +If the two fragments of the same wood are, one of them silicified and the +other simply carbonized and preserved in sandstone, the diminution in +volume will have occurred in all directions in the latter of the two. + +[Illustration: 12j: FIG. 10.--_Calamodendron,_ fragment of the vascular +portion of the wood carbonized.] + +Figs. 9 and 11, which represent a portion of the _fibrous_ region of +Calamodendron wood, may give an idea of the shrinkage that has taken place +therein. In Figs. 11 and 12, which show a few tracheae and medullary rays +of the ligneous bands of the same plant, we observe the same phenomenon. +We might cite a large number of analogous examples, but shall be content +to give the following: Figs. 13 and 15 represent radial and tangential +sections of the bark of _Syringodendron pes-caprae_. This is the first time +that one has had before his eyes the anatomical structure of the bark of a +_Syringodendron_, a plant which has not yet been found in a petrified +state. It is coal, then, with its structure preserved, that allows of a +verification of the theory advanced by several scientists that the often +bulky trunks of _Syringodendron_ are bases of _Sigillariae_. + +[Illustration: 12k: FIG. 11.--_Calamodendron,_ from Autun; prosenchymatous +portion of the wood silicified, X200.] + +[Illustration: 12l: FIG. 12.--_Calamodendron,_ from Autun; vascular portion +of the wood silicified.] + +If we refer to Fig. 13, which represents a radial vertical section running +through the center of one of the scars that permitted the specimen to be +determined, we shall observe, in fact, a tissue formed of rectangular +cells, longer than wide, arranged in horizontal series, and very analogous +in their aspect to those that we have described in the suberose region of +the bark of Sigillariae. Fig. 15 shows in tangential section the fibrous +aspect of this tissue, which has been rendered denser through compression. +Fig. 14 shows it restored. In Fig. 13, the external part of the bark is +occupied by a thick layer of cellular tissue that exists over the entire +surface of the trunk, but particularly thick near the scars, exactly as in +the barks of the Sigillariae that we have formerly described. Finally, at +_b_, we recognize the undoubted traces of a vascular bundle running to the +leaves. If the bundle appears to be larger than that of the Sigillariae, +this is due to the flattening that the trunk has undergone, the effect of +this having been to spread the bundle out in a vertical plane, although +its greatest width in the first place was in a horizontal one. + +[Illustration: 12m: FIG. 13.--_Syringodendron pes-caprae_; from Saarbruck; +radial vertical section, X200.] + +[Illustration: 12n: FIG. 14.--Suberose cells restored.] + +In anatomical structure, the barks of the Syringodendrons are, then, +analogous to those of the Sigillariae. If, now, we compare the dimensions +of the tissues of these barks with the same silicified tissues of the +barks of Sigillariae, we shall find that there was likewise a diminution in +the dimensions, but yet a less pronounced one than in the woods that we +have previously spoken of. The corky nature of this region of the bark was +likely richer in carbonizable elements than the wood properly so called, +and had, in consequence, to undergo much less shrinkage.--_Dr. B. Renault +(of Paris Museum) in Le Genie Civil_. + +[Illustration: 12o: FIG. 15.--_Syringodendron pes-caprae;_ tangential +vertical section in the corky part of the bark, X200.] + +DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES.--Fig. 1, Lancashire cannel coal; longitudinal +section, X200. Fig. 2, Lancashire cannel coal; transverse section, X200. +Fig. 3. Commentry cannel coal, X200. Fig. 4, Pennsylvania anthracite, +X200. Fig. 5, Boghead from New South Wales, X500. Fig. 6, _Arthropitus +gallica_, St. Etienne; transverse section, X200. Fig. 7, same; tangential +longitudinal section. Fig. 8, same; transverse section through the +carbonized part. Fig. 9. _Calamodendron_, Commentry; prosenchymatous +portion of the wood carbonized, X200. Fig. 10, same; fragment of the +vascular portion of the wood carbonized. Fig. 11, same, from Autun; +prosenchymatous portion of the wood silicified, X200. Fig. 12, same, +Autun; vascular portion of the wood silicified. Fig. 13, _Syringodendron +pes-caprae_; from Saarbruck; radial vertical section, X200. Fig. 14, +Suberose cells restored. Fig. 15. _Syringodendron pes-caprae_; tangential +vertical section in the corky part of the bark, X200. + + * * * * * + + + + +ICE BOAT RACES ON THE MUEGGELSEE, NEAR BERLIN. + + +The interest in sports of different kinds is increasing considerably in +the capital of the German Empire. Oarsmen and sailors show their ability +in grand regattas; roller-skating rinks are very, popular; numerous +bicycle clubs arrange grand tournaments; and training, starting, trotting, +swimming, turning, fencing, walking, and running are practiced everywhere. +As this winter has been quite severe in Germany, first class courses have +been made for ice boats. Ice boat, races are well known in the United +States, but are quite novel in Germany; at least, in the neighborhood of +Berlin, as they have been known only on the coast of the Baltic Sea. + +[Illustration: ICE BOAT RACES ON THE MUEGGELSEE, NEAR BERLIN.] + +These vessels are quite simple in construction, the base consisting of an +equilateral triangle made of beams and provided at the corners with +runners. The two front runners are fixed, but the one at the apex of the +triangle is pivoted, and serves as a rudder. The mast is on the front +cross beam, and between the front cross beam and the side beams sufficient +space is left for the helmsman. + +The annexed cut, taken from the _Illustrirte Zeitung_, shows a race of the +above described ice boats on the Mueggelsee (Mueggel Lake), near Berlin. +It will be seen from the clumsy construction of the boats that the Germans +have not yet learned the art of building these vehicles. + + * * * * * + + + + +LABOR AND WAGES IN AMERICA. + +[Footnote: A paper recently read before the Society of Arts, London.] + +By D. PIDGEON. + + +The United States of America are, collectively, of such vast extent, and, +singly, so individualized in character, that to speak of their labor +conditions as a whole would be as impossible, in an hour's address, as to +describe their physical geography or geology in a similar space of time. I +shall, therefore, confine what I have to say this evening on the subject +of labor and wages in America to a consideration of the industrial +condition of certain Eastern States, which, being essentially +manufacturing districts, offer the best instances for comparison with the +labor conditions of our own country. That this field is of adequate extent +and of typical character may be inferred from the fact that the three +States composing it, viz.. New York, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, +contain together nearly one-half of the whole manufacturing population of +America, while Connecticut and Massachusetts are the very cradle of +American manufacture, and the home of the typical Yankee artisan. In +addition, the State of Massachusetts is distinguished by possessing a +Bureau of Statistics of Labor, whose sole business is to ventilate +industrial questions, and to collect such facts as will afford the +statesman a sound basis for industrial legislation. We shall find +ourselves, in the sequel, indebted for spine of our chief conclusions to +this excellent public institution. + +If we ask ourselves, at the outset of the inquiry, "Who and what are the +operatives of manufacturing America?" the answer involves a distinction +which cannot be too strongly insisted upon, or too carefully kept in mind. +These people consist, first, of native-born, and, secondly, of alien +workers. The United States census, reckoning every child born in the +country as an American, even if both his parents be foreigners, I would +make it appear that only six and a half millions out of its fifty millions +are of alien birth, but, for our purpose, these figures are misleading. +There is a vast difference, in many important respects, between +"Americans" derived from a stock long settled in the States and +"Americans" with two or even with one alien parent. In the former case, +the hereditary sense of social equality, the teaching of the common +school, and the influence of democratic institutions, produce a certain +type of character which I distinguish by the epithet "American" because it +is of truly national origin. In the latter case, the so-called "American" +may really be a German, an Irishman, an Englishman, or a Swede, but the +qualities which I would distinguish by the word "American" have not yet +been developed in him, although they will probably be exhibited by his +later descendants. + +Setting the census figures aside, therefore, we find, from the +Registration Reports of Massachusetts, that fifty-four out of every +hundred persons who die within the limits of this State are of foreign +parentage. Now bearing in mind that Massachusetts is essentially a Yankee +State, where comparatively few European emigrants settle, it seems +probable that, going back several generations, the numbers, even of +Massachusetts men, who may be truly called "Americans" would dwindle +considerably. These men, however, the children of equality, of the common +school, and of democratic institutions, may be considered as leaven, +leavening the lump of European emigration, and shaping, so far as they +can, the character of the American; people that is yet to be. + +Native American labor is best described by reference to a recent past, +when it filled all the factories of the United States, and challenged, by +its high tone, the admiration of Europe. At the beginning of this century, +public opinion in America was most unfriendly to the establishment of +manufactories, so great were the complaints of these made in Europe as +seats of vice and disease. Thus, when Humphreysville, the first industrial +village in America, was built, in 1804, by the Hon. David Humphreys, who +wished to see the colony independent of the mother country for her +supplies of manufactured goods, parents refused to place their children in +his factories until legislation had first made the mill-owner responsible +both for the education and morality of his operatives. Similarly, when the +cotton mills of Lowell, and the silk mills of Hartford, began to rise, +between 1832 and 1840, the American people held the capitalist responsible +for the moral, mental, and physical health of the people whom he employed, +with the result that all England wondered at the stories of factory +operatives, and their so-called "refinements," which were given to this +country by writers like Harriett Martineau and Charles Dickens. + +Lowell, between the years 1832 and 1850, was, perhaps, the most remarkable +manufacturing town in the world. Help, in the new cotton mills, was in +great demand, and what were then thought very high wages were freely +offered, so that, in spite of the national prejudice against factory +labor, operatives began to flow from many quarters into the mills. These +people were, for the most part, the daughters of farmers, storekeepers, +and mechanics; of Puritan antecedents, and religious training. In the mill +they were treated kindly, and, although their hours were long, they were +not overworked. A feeling of real, but respectful, equality existed +between them and their employers, and the best hands were often guests at +the houses of the mill owners or ministers of religion. They lived in +great boarding-houses, kept by women selected for their high character, +and it is of these industrial families, and of their refined life, that +observers like Dickens, Lyell, and Miss Martineau spoke with enthusiasm. +The last writer has made us acquainted, in her "Mind among the Spindles," +with the height to which intellectual life once rose in Lowell mills, +before the wave of Irish emigration, following on the potato famine, swept +native American labor away from the spindles. The morality of the early +mill-girls, again, was practically stainless, and, strict as the rules of +conduct were in the factories, these were really dead letters, so high was +the standard of behavior set and sustained by the mill-hands themselves. + +Such was the character of native American labor, less than forty years +ago, and such, almost, it still remains in those, now few, centers of +industry where it has been little diluted with a foreign element. Nowhere +is this so conspicuously the case as in Massachusetts and Connecticut, and +especially in the western valleys of the former State, where important +mill-streams, such as the Housatonic, the Naugatuck, and the Farmington, +are lined with mills still largely manned by native Americans. + +Aside from wages, which will be separately considered, the housing, +education, sobriety, and pauperism of any given industrial community form +together the best possible test of its social condition. In regard to the +housing of labor, there is no more important fact to be discovered than +the proportion of an operative population who possess in fee simple the +houses in which they dwell. This proportion among the wage-earners of +Massachusetts is remarkably high, one working man in every four being the +proprietor of the house in which he lives. Of the remaining three-fourths, +45 per cent. rent their houses, and 30 per cent. are boarders. With regard +to inhabitancy, the average number of persons living in one house in +Massachusetts is rather more than six, while the average number of the +Massachusetts family is four and three quarter persons. Hence, lodgers +being excepted, almost every operative family in this State lives under +its own roof, while one fourth of all such roofs are owned by the heads of +families dwelling therein. + +I leave, for a moment, the agreeable task of describing one of these homes +of native American labor, and pass on to the question of education, whose +universality among native Americans is perhaps most vividly illustrated +by the following facts. Of 1,200 persons born in Massachusetts, whether of +native or foreign parents, only one is unable to read or write, while four +Germans and Scotch, six English, twenty French Canadians, twenty-eight +Irish, and thirty-four Italians, out of every 100 emigrants of these +nationalities respectively are illiterate. The total number of public, +elementary, and high schools in the United States is 225,800, or about one +school for every 200 of the entire population, and one for, say, every +fifty of the 10,000,000 pupils who attended school during the census year +of 1880. Finally, referring once more to Massachusetts, there are nearly +2,000 free libraries in this single State, or one to every 800 +inhabitants, and these, together, own 3,500,000 volumes, and circulate +8,000,000 of volumes annually. + +With regard to sobriety, it is well known that local option succeeds in +closing the liquor saloons in very many operative American towns, and with +the happiest results. The county of Barnstaple in Massachusetts, for +example, with a population of 32,000 souls, and having no licensed liquor +saloons, yields a crop of only three convictions per annum for +drunkenness. The county of Suffolk, on the other hand, with a population +of nearly 400,000, and a license for every 175 of its inhabitants, +acknowledges one drunkard for every 50 of its population. The labor in one +case is nearly all native; in the other, largely foreign. + +It is almost, if not quite, impossible to obtain the statistics of +pauperism in America. The "indoor" poor, as paupers in almshouses are +called, can be found and counted with comparative ease, but how can the +outdoor paupers be found? It is no use inquiring for them from door to +door, and the poor-master's disbursements are so limited in amount that +his bills for pauper relief become mixed up with other items, so that they +cannot be separately stated. The total number of paupers resident in +American almshouses is 67,000, or about one in every 70,000 of the whole +population. In England, we have still one pauper in every fifty thousand +of the population. Such being the more important aspects of native +American labor, as displayed by the statistician, it is time for the +social observer to give his account of a typical American artisan's home. + +We are at Ansonia, in the Naugatuck valley, one of the chief towns of +"Clockland," where, within a radius of twenty miles, watches and clocks +are made by millions and sold for a few shillings apiece. Our friend Mr. +S. is an Ansonia mechanic who occupies a house with a basement of cut +stone and a tasteful superstructure of wood, having a wide veranda, +kitchen, parlor, and bed-room on the ground floor and three bedrooms +above. The house is painted white, adorned with green jalousies, and +surrounded by a well-tilled quarter acre lot. Its windows are aglow with +geraniums, and from its veranda we glance upward to the wooded slopes of +the Green Mountain range, and downward to the River Naugatuck, whose blue +mill-ponds look like tiny Highland lakes surrounded by great factories. +Within, a pleasant sitting-room is furnished with all the comforts and +some of the luxuries of life, the tables are strewn with books, and the +walls decorated with pretty photographs. Mr. S.'s wife and daughter are +educated and agreeable women, who entertain us, during an hour's call, +with intelligent conversation, which, turning for the most part on the +events of the War of Independence, is characterized by ample historical +knowledge, a logical habit of mind, and a remarkable readiness to welcome +new ideas. No refreshments are offered us, for no one eats between meals, +and, in private houses, as in the public refreshment rooms, where native +labor usually takes its meals, nothing stronger than water is ever drunk. +Such are the homes of men whom I would distinguish as "American" artisans, +and such, also, are those of many foreign workmen who have been long under +native influence. + +It is not in the valleys of Massachusetts, however, that the greatest +manufacturing cities of the Union are to be found, the towns already +referred to containing usually only a few thousand inhabitants, and being +still, for the most part, rural in their surroundings. They are, indeed, +the fastnesses, so to speak, to which the Yankee artisan has retired, +after having been almost literally swept out of the great manufacturing +cities by successive waves of emigrant labor, chiefly of Irish and +French-Canadian nationality. To these great cities we must now turn for +examples of a condition of operative society which contrasts most +unfavorably with that which has already been sketched; it being, +meanwhile, understood that a penumbral region, of more or less mixed +conditions, graduates the brightness of the one into the darkness of the +other picture. + +The city of Lowell, whose brilliant past is so well known, exemplifies, on +that very account, better than any other manufacturing town in the States, +the character of recent alterations in American labor conditions. The +mill-hands, formerly such as I have described them, have been almost +entirely replaced by Canadians and Irish, who have given a new character +and aspect to the Lowell of forty years ago. "Little Canada," as the +quarter inhabited by the former people is called, exhibits a congeries of +narrow, unpaved lanes, lined with rickety wooden houses, which elbow one +another closely, and possess neither gardens nor yards. They are let out +in flats, and are crowded to overflowing with a dense population of +lodgers. Peeps into their interiors reveal dirty, poorly furnished rooms, +and large families, pigging squalidly together at meal times, while +unkempt men and slatternly women lean from open windows, and scold in +French, or chatter with crowds of ragged and bare-legged children, playing +in the gutters. + +The Irish portion of the town has wider streets, and houses less crowded +than those of "Little Canada," but is, altogether, of scarcely better +aspect. Slatternly women gossip in groups about the doorways. Tawdrily +dressed girls saunter along the sidewalks, or loll from the window-sills. +Knots of shirt-sleeved men congregate about the frequent liquor-saloons, +talking loudly and volubly. No signs of poverty are apparent, but +everything wears an aspect of prosperous ignorance, satisfied to eat, +drink, and idle away the hours not given to work. Such is the general +aspect of operative Lowell to-day; but some of the old well-conducted +boarding-houses remain, sheltering worthy sons and daughters of toil. +Similarly, the outskirts of the city are adorned with many pretty white +houses, where typical American families are growing up amid wholesome +moral and physical surroundings, and enjoying all the advantages of +schools, churches, libraries, and free institutions which the Great +Republic puts everywhere, with lavish profuseness, at the service even of +its least promising populations. + +Concerning the Lowell mill-hands of to-day, I prefer, before my own +observations, to quote from an article entitled "Early Factory Labor in +New England," written by a lady, herself one of the early mill-girls, and +published in the "Massachusetts Labor Bureau Keport for 1883." She says: + +"Last winter, I was invited to speak to a company of the Lowell +mill-girls, and tell them something of my early life as a member of their +guild. When my address was over, some of them gathered round and asked me +questions. In turn, I questioned them about their work, hours of labor, +wages, and means of improvement. When I urged them to occupy their spare +time in reading and study, they seemed to understand the need of it, but +answered, sadly, 'We will try, but we work so hard, and are so tired.' It +was plain that these operatives did not go to their labor with the +jubilant feeling of the old mill-girls, that they worked without aim or +purpose, and took no interest in anything beyond earning their daily +bread. There was a tired hopelessness about them, such as was never seen +among the early mill-girls. Yet they have more leisure, and earn more +money than the operatives of fifty years ago, but they do not know how to +improve the one or use the other. These American-born children of foreign +parentage are, indeed, under the control neither of their church nor their +parents, and they, consequently, adopt the vices and follies instead of +the good habits of our people. It is vital to the interests of the whole +community that they should be brought under good moral influence; that +they should live in better homes, and breathe a better social atmosphere +than is now to be found in our factory towns." + +The city of Holyoke, another great cotton center, having 23,000 +inhabitants, is in some respects the most remarkable town in the State of +Massachusetts. It was brought into existence, 35 years ago, by the +construction of a great dam across the Connecticut River; and, around the +water power thus created, mills have sprung up so rapidly that the +population, whose normal increase is eighteen per cent. every ten years in +Massachusetts, has doubled, during the last decade, in Holyoke. But eighty +out of every 100 persons in the city are of foreign extraction, the +prevailing nationality being French-Canadian, a people who are so rapidly +displacing other operatives, even the Irish themselves, in the +manufacturing centers of New England that they must not be dismissed +without remark. + +The Canadian-French were recently described in a grave State paper as a +"horde of industrial invaders," and accused of caring nothing for American +institutions, civil, political, or educational; having come to the States, +not to make a home, but to get together a little money, and then to return +whence they came. The parent of these immigrants is the Canadian +_habitan,_ a peasant proprietor, farming a few acres, living +parsimoniously, marrying early, and producing a large family, who must +either clear the soils of the inclement north, or become factory +operatives in the States. They are a simple, kindly, pious, and cheerful +folk, with few wants, little energy, and no ambition; ignorant and +credulous, Catholic by religion, and devoted to the priest, who is their +oracle, friend, and guide in all the relations of life. Such are the +people--a complete contrast with Americans--who began, some twelve years +ago, to emigrate to the mills of New England. They came, not only +intending to return to their own country with their savings, but enjoined +by the Church to do so. Employers, however, soon found out the value of +the new comers, and Yankee superintendents preferred them as operatives +before any other nationality, not only on account of their tireless +industry and docility, but because they accepted lower wages, and kept +themselves clear of trade-union societies. Thus, finally, it has come +about that nearly 70 per cent. of the cotton operatives at Holyoke are of +French-Canadian origin, and the social condition of all these people is +precisely similar to that which has already been described as +characterizing the inhabitants of "Little Canada" in Lowell. + +It has already been said that the average rate of inhabitancy is six +persons per house in the State of Massachusetts, but the presence of the +French in Holyoke actually doubles the inhabitancy of the whole town, with +what effect upon their own special quarter may easily be imagined. +Probably nowhere in Europe could there be found more crowded houses, and +worse physical conditions of life, than in the quarters inhabited by +certain alien operatives in many manufacturing towns of the United States. + +Sharp contrasts as they are, these sketches fairly picture the heights and +depths of industrial conditions in a region which, as I would again remind +you, contains nearly one-half of all the factory operatives in America. +More than this, while the States in question would yield to no others +their claims to represent advanced civilization, Massachusetts, the +creation of the Puritan refugees, and the cradle of American independence, +stands confessedly at the head of all her sister States for enlightened +philanthropy. There are no greater lovers of right, honorers of industry, +and friends to education in the world than its people, yet the present +social condition of Holyoke and of Lowell, as of many other manufacturing +cities, would have shocked all America thirty years ago, and been +impossible less than half a century back. It is time we should ask, How is +America going to treat a problem, formerly the danger and still the +perplexity of Europe, for which democratic institutions have failed to +furnish the solution once confidently, but unfairly, expected from them? + +The State, the Church, and the School are all doing their best to prevent +the lapse to lower conditions which seems to threaten labor in the States, +each of them trying their utmost to "make Americans" of alien laborers, by +means of the political, religious, and educational institutions of the +country. How inadequate these unaided agencies are for the accomplishment +of their gigantic task is nowhere so clearly realized as in the common, or +free, schools of the States. These, in districts such as I have +distinguished as "American," are filled with boys and girls, of all ages +from five to eighteen, whose appearance and intelligence bespeak high +social conditions. Whatever the occupation which these young people may +ultimately adopt--and all of them are destined for work-a-day lives--an +observer feels quite sure that they are more likely to raise the character +of their several employments, than to be themselves degraded to lower +social levels, on quitting school. + +But no similar confidence in the future of American labor is engendered by +visits to the schools where sits the progeny of alien labor. In the case +of the Canadians, indeed, parents and priests alike bend all their +energies to the establishment of "parochial schools," which, if they +forward the cause of the Church, do little for education in the American +sense of requiring good citizens, even more than good scholars, at the +hands of the national teachers. + +The primary schools of great industrial towns, such as Fall River, the +Manchester of America, are filled, to quite as great an extent as similar +schools in Europe, with ignorant, ragged, and bare-footed urchins. These +children are, indeed, no less well cared for and taught than their Yankee +fellows, and one cannot sufficiently admire the energy and enthusiasm with +which school-teachers generally endeavor to "make Americans" of their +stolid and ragged little alien charges. In these cases, however, where +often the children have had no schooling at all before they are old enough +to work, it is quite clear that the school cannot do all that is required +to raise the labor of to-day up to the levels it occupied in the past. +And, if the school itself is ineffective in this regard, how much more so +must be the Church, to which immigrant youth is a comparative stranger; or +those democratic institutions which are based, to quote the words of +Washington himself, upon "the virtue and intelligence of the people." + +Whether the present condition of labor in America will ever again be +lifted to the levels of the past depends, in truth, less upon the State, +the Church, and the School, than upon the part which the American employer +is taking or about to take in this question. It is impossible for any +unprejudiced observer to be long in the States, and especially in the New +England States, without coming to the conclusion that a large number of +employers are very anxious about the character of the labor they employ, +and willing to assist to the utmost of their power in improving it. In +spite of the love of money and luxury which is so conspicuous a feature of +certain sections of American society, a high ideal of the proper function +of wealth has arisen in the States, where large fortunes are chiefly +things of recent date, among large and influential classes having an +enlightened regard for the best welfare of the country. This regard finds +expression now in the establishment of a factory, managed with one eye on +profits and another on the elevation of the artisan, and now in the +endowment of free libraries or similar institutions, offering +opportunities of improvement to all. + +To give only a few instances of the former movement: Mr. Pullman, the +great car-builder, has recently established, on Lake Calumet, a vast +system of workshops and workmen's homes, a description of which reads like +a chapter from More's "Utopia." The Waterbury Watch Company has lately +built a factory, employing 600 hands, on similar lines to those of Mr. +Pullman. Cheney Brothers' silk mills at South Manchester remain now, after +Irish labor has entirely taken the place of native hands, at almost the +same high level as that which, in common with Lowell, they held forty +years ago. Messrs. Fairbanks, of St. Johnsbury, in Vermont, conduct a +large establishment, where every married _employe_ owns a house in the +village, almost an Eden for beauty and order, which has grown up around +these remote but remarkable scale works. Similarly, the Cranes at Dalton, +in Massachusetts; Messrs. Brown, Sharpe and Co., at Providence, Rhode +Island; Mr. Hazard at Peacedale, Narragansett; and last, not least, Col. +Barrows, at Willimantic, in Connecticut, have all succeeded in restoring +the past conditions of native American labor among operatives, now, for +the most part, of alien origin. + +I wish that time permitted me to sketch, however briefly, the mills to +which I have last alluded. It must suffice to say that the devoted labors +of Col. Barrows, President of the Willimantic Thread Co., have succeeded +in creating, out of Irish labor, social conditions of industrial life +which approach ideal perfection as nearly as the work of imperfect man can +possibly do. And, better still, the high morality and intelligence of Col. +Barrow's 1,600 operatives, the comfort and seemliness of their homes, the +cleanly and cheerful character of the mill work, even the refinements of +the music and art schools attached to the mill, can be proved, by hard +figures, to be paying factors in the undertaking, viewed from a purely +commercial standpoint. + +So far, I have endeavored to show that a great contrast exists between +what once was and now is the condition of factory labor in America. I +have, further, described certain survivals of an earlier and happier state +of things, and indicated the forces now at work tending to lift the +Holyoke of to-day, for example, to the social levels of old Lowell. I have +given my reasons for believing that the democratic institutions of America +are incapable, unaided, of accomplishing such a task as this charge +implies, and concluded that its accomplishment depends mainly on the +action of the American employer. What this action as a whole, and what, +therefore, the future of labor in America is likely to be, I confess +myself in grave doubt--doubt from which I turn, with something like a +sense of relief, to discuss those economical considerations affecting +wage-earners which have hitherto been made to give place to social +inquiries. + +We have now to ask what are the wages of labor in the States, their +relation to the cost of subsistence, and to wages and cost of subsistence +in our own country? Finally, I shall briefly consider certain propositions +of the American political economist which are so inextricably mixed up +with the question of labor and wages in the States that it is impossible +to discuss the one without taking some note of the other. + +Until quite recently, no complete investigation, bringing the rates of +wages paid in industries common to the United States and European +countries, has ever been made, although the results of such an +investigation have been constantly and earnestly called for both by the +press and people of America. Permit me to remark, in passing, that we know +little in this country of the desire for full, trustworthy, and accessible +statistics, concerning all matters of national interest, which dominates +the public mind of America; and as little of the willingness with which +American citizens of all classes place the particulars of their private +business at the service of the statistician. This desire for statistical +bases whereon the statesman and economist may build, is vividly +illustrated by that publication, perhaps the most wonderful in the whole +world, entitled a "Compendium of the Census of the United States," issued +with every decade. These volumes, accessible to everybody, and arranged +with marvelous skill and lucidity, offer to the social observer a +complete, accurate, and suggestive survey of every field comprised within +the vast domain of the national interests. An evening's address would not +more than suffice to indicate the scope and appraise the value of this +work, which is a mine wherein, the ore ready dressed to his hand, the +politico-economic or industrial essayist might work for years without +exhausting its riches. + +But the United States Census does not treat specifically of wages and +subsistence, and it is to the Massachusetts Labor Bureau that we must +again turn for such information as we now require. Dr. Edward Young, +indeed, the late chief of the United States Bureau of Statistics, +published an elaborate work upon this subject in 1875, but his comparisons +as to the relative cost of living in America and Europe, good in +themselves, are rendered of little value by the absence of such statistics +as would give the true percentage of difference between American and +foreign wages. Several elaborate wages reports were also published between +1879 and 1882, which, while they gave the American side of the question +with great fullness, presented foreign wages very incompletely. + +Always, however, impressed with the importance of making an accurate +comparison between wages and the cost of subsistence on the two sides of +the Atlantic, but unable to undertake a very wide inquiry with the funds +at its disposal, the Massachusetts Bureau determined, in the fall of 1883, +upon reducing to narrower limits than heretofore the field of +investigation. Instead of America and Europe, Massachusetts and Great +Britain were selected for comparison, the former as the chief +manufacturing State of America, the latter as her leading competitor. + +With this view, a number of agents were sent to gather personally, from +the pay rolls of American and English manufactories, the rates of wages +paid in twenty-four of the leading industries which are common to the two +districts respectively. It was, at first, sought to extend the inquiry to +thirty-five different industries, a number which would practically have +covered the whole ground, but nine of these were finally abandoned for +want of sufficient British information. + +It is a perfectly easy thing, as already indicated, to gather wage or +other statistics in the counting-houses of Massachusetts manufactories, +but quite a different matter when a collection of similar information is +attempted in this country, where most proprietors are unwilling, and many +altogether refuse, to give any information regarding their industries. + +The following table, of which an enlarged facsimile, marked A, appears on +the wall, specifies the twenty-four industries from which the returns in +question were made, and the number of establishments making such returns +in each industry in either country: + +_Table A_. + +Industries. Massachusetts. Great Britain. Total + +Agricultural implements 4 1 5 +Artisans' tools 3 4 7 +Boots and shoes 18 2 20 +Brick 3 1 4 +Building trades 32 24 56 +Carpetings 1 1 2 +Carriages and Wagons 11 3 14 +Clothing 10 4 14 +Cotton goods 10 9 19 +Flax and jute goods 2 3 5 +Food preparations 5 2 7 +Furniture 11 1 12 +Glass 1 3 4 +Hats (fur wool and silk) 3 2 5 +Hosiery 5 3 8 +Liquors (malt and distilled) 10 1 11 +Machines and machinery 12 15 27 +Metals and metallic goods 25 13 38 +Printing and publishing 12 7 19 +Printing, dyeing and bleaching etc 3 4 7 +Stone 10 1 11 +Wooden goods 12 1 13 +Woolen goods 4 2 6 +Worsted goods 3 3 6 + + 210 110 320 + +Thirty-two cities in Massachusetts, and twenty-six in Great Britain, were +visited in search of returns, of which almost all our great industrial +centers yield their quota. + +It being, of course, impossible to obtain wage returns for all the +_employes_ of these various industries in either country, the +investigation aimed at covering at least 10 per cent. of such totals, and, +in the case of Massachusetts, succeeded in getting returns for 36,000 +hands, or 13 per cent. of the whole number of artisans employed in the +twenty-four industries examined. Great Britain, on the other hand, made +returns for about half that number of hands, but their proportion to the +totals employed cannot be similarly stated, first, because we have here no +specific industrial census, and, second, because many of the English +returns were made for an indefinite number of _employes_. + +The comparison was made in the following way: For each of the twenty-four +industries, a table, consisting of four sections, was constructed, viz., +"Occupation," "Aggregation," "Recapitulation," and "Comparison." The first +gave the names of the various branches of each industry, classifying these +as minutely as possible, because the names indicating subdivisions of +labor are, generally, so different in the two countries that the actual +"matching" of occupations, desirable for a perfect comparison, is +impossible. The second, or "Aggregation" section, brings the various +occupations in the same industry into juxtaposition, and supplies +opportunities for direct comparison. The third, or "Recapitulation" +section, is drawn from the "Occupation" section, and shows the number of +men, women, young persons, and children for whom wages are given; whether +these are paid by the day, or by piece; and whether the wage returns show +the actual amounts paid to a definite number of _employes_, or an average +wage for a definite or an indefinite number of _employes_. The fourth, or +"Comparison" section, brings the highest, lowest, and general average +weekly wages into final comparison. + +The first three sections of the table, being either simply enumerative or +collective in character, are easily understood without illustration, but +an example of the "Comparative" section, marked Table B, hangs on the +wall, and shows all the final comparisons at a glance. + +_Table B_. +------------------------------------------------------------------- + | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 + --------------------------------------- +Classification. |Massac- | Great | Massac- | Great + |husetts.| Britain.| husetts.| Britain. +------------------------------------------------------------------- +Average highest weekly | dols. | dols. | dols. | dols. +wage paid to-- | | | | + Men | 37.00 | 13.39 | 25.41 | 11.36 + Women | 5.50 | ... | 8.57 | 4.10 + Young persons | 7.00 | 3.65 | 6.94 | 3.04 + Children | 5.70 | ... | 4.64 | 1.05 + | | | | +Average lowest weekly wage | | | | +paid to-- | | | | + Men | 7.60 | 3.21 | 7.09 | 4.72 + Women | 5.00 | ... | 4.62 | 2.27 + Young women | 4.50 | 1.46 | 4.26 | 1.66 + Children | 3.00 | ... | 3.09 | .60 + | | | | +Average weekly wages | | | | +paid to-- | | | | + Men | 12.04 | 8.07 | 11.85 | 8.26 + Women | 5.12 | ... | 6.09 | 3.37 + Young persons | 5.76 | 2.52 | 5.10 | 2.40 + Children---- | 5.31 | ... | 3.81 | .79 + --------------------------------------- +General average weekly wage | | | | +paid to all _employes_ | 11.75 | 8.07 | 10.32 | 6.96 +------------------------------------------------------------------- +Result: General average | | + weekly wages higher in | 45.60 | 48.28 + Massachusetts by per cent | per cent. | per cent. +------------------------------------------------------------------- + +The two first columns of the table are simply illustrative of the method +applied to a single industry, exhibiting the highest average, lowest +average, and average weekly wages, whether to men, women, young persons, +or children, in the particular business of "machine-making," together with +the general average wages paid to all the _employes_ in such industry. The +general average weekly wages in this industry are thus shown to be 45.6 +per cent. higher in Massachusetts than in Great Britain. + +The 3d and 4th columns of the table consolidate all the twenty-four +industries, and yield, in similar terms, as in the case of machine-making, +an average comparison applying to the whole group of industries under +examination, giving, as a grand result, that the general average weekly +wages of Massachusetts are higher by 48.28 per cent. than those of Great +Britain. + +It is, however, explained that the British wage returns were made in three +different ways, viz., for a definite number of _employes_, by percentage +returns, and by general returns; both of the latter being for an +indefinite number of _employes_. Where more than one wage-basis was given, +the highest figure was used in the calculations, and, this being the case +in eighteen out of the twenty-four industries, its effects on the grand +result are considerable; for, by crediting Great Britain with the +_average_ instead of the _high_ weekly wage, the average percentage in +favor of Massachusetts rises from 48.28 per cent. to 75.94 per cent. + +In order truly to indicate the higher percentage of average weekly wages +in Massachusetts, we must, therefore, agree upon a figure somewhere +between these two extremes, viz., that of 48.28 per cent., derived from +tables in which Great Britain is credited with the high wage, and that of +75.94 per cent., derived from those tables in which she is credited with +the average of the returns made upon the different bases. The mean of +these figures is 62.11 per cent., which is considered to be the result of +the investigation, and may be formulated as follows: The general average +weekly wages paid to _employes_ in twenty-four manufacturing industries +common to Massachusetts and Great Britain is 62 per cent., higher in the +former than the general average weekly wages paid in the same industries +in the latter country. + +But the question of wages forms only one side of the working man's +account; on the other stands the cost of living, and no comparisons of +prosperity, in given industrial communities, are of any value which omit +to take into consideration the relative ease with which such communities +can procure the means of subsistence. Table C presents a summary of +prices, gathered in 1883, of the chief items in a working man's +expenditure, and their cost in Massachusetts and Great Britain. + +_Table C_. + +--------------------------------------------------------- +Articles. |Percentage higher | Percentage higher + | in Mass. | in Great Britain +--------------------------------------------------------- +Groceries | 16.18 | - +Provisions | - | 20.00 +Fuel | 104.98 | - +Dry goods | 13.26 | - +Boots and shoes | 42.75 | - +Clothing | 45.06 | - +Rents | 89.62 | - +--------------------------------------------------------- + +Having agreed that wages are probably 62 per cent. higher in +Massachusetts than in Great Britain, it would be easy, if we could +ascertain what proportion of a working man's income is spent respectively +in groceries, provisions, clothing, etc., to determine what advantage an +operative derives from the higher wages of the United States. Dr. Engel, +the chief of the Prussian Bureau of Statistics, puts us in possession of +this information, and, as the result of a laborious inquiry, has +formulated a certain economic law which governs the relations between +income and expenditure. From him we learn (see Table D) that: + +_Table D_. + +A working man with an income of L60 per annum +spends as follows: + + Per cent. + of income. Shillings. + / meat.... 248 +1. On subsistence 62 or \ groceries 496 +2. " clothing 16 " 192 +3. " rent 12 " 144 +4. " fuel 5 " 60 +5. " sundries 5 " 60 + ------ + Total shillings 1,200 + Or L60 + +Now, referring to Table C, it will be seen that the same man's expenditure +in America would be: + + Shillings. S. + +1. On subsistence / meat.... 248 - 20 p.c. = 198.4 + \ groceries 496 + 16 " = 575.3 +2. " clothing 192 + 45 " = 278.4 +3. " rent 144 + 89 " = 272.1 +4. " fuel 60 + 104 " = 122.0 +5. " sundries 60 + 50 " = 90.0 + -------- + Total 1,536.2 + Or L76 16s. + +In other words, a workman earning L60 per annum in Great Britain would +receive L99, or 62 per cent. more wages in the States, but living there +would cost him L77, or L17 more than here, giving him a net advantage of +only 28 per cent., instead of 62 per cent., derived from living and +working in America. + +But this result does not exhaust the question. The standard of life is +very different among working men in the States and in Great Britain, and +the almost inexhaustible statistics of the report, already so often +quoted, enable us to gauge this difference with accuracy. It has been +proved, by a recent investigation, whose details we need not follow, that +the expenditure of working men's families, of similar size, in +Massachusetts and in Great Britain, stand to each other in the ratio of 15 +to 10. By introducing this new factor into our calculations, we find that +a man who spends L60 per annum in England would spend L90, instead of L77, +per annum in the States, paying American prices for subsistence, and +living up to American standards. In other words, he would be a gainer to +the extent of only L9 per annum by living and working in the United +States. Finally, if we presume that 48 or 50 per cent., rather than 62 per +cent., measures the higher wages of Massachusetts, the same man's +increased wages would be L90 instead of L99, and he would-neither lose nor +gain in money by becoming an American citizen, and adopting American +habits. + +That these conclusions agree with those rough and ready practical +illustrations which, without being scientific, are generally trustworthy, +let the following story evidence. + +Some years ago, a skillful moulder, in my then firm's employ, left us for +the States, where he permanently settled. After a long absence, he +returned for a few weeks' holiday, when I asked him whether he earned +higher wages and found life more agreeable in America than in England. +"Well, as to money" was his reply, "I think, taking all things into +consideration, I did about as well in the old shop as I do now; but, +socially speaking, I am somebody there, while here I am only a moulder." +Social advantage, indeed, probably measures almost all the difference +between the position of a skilled factory operative in the States and in +England. + +Let me not seem, however, to undervalue that difference. Statistics, after +all, do not dominate human nature; on the contrary, human nature +determines the statistician's figures. Every artisan emigrant to America +gains opportunities of advancement of which his European fellows know +nothing. If he have brains, the way to success is open there, while it is +practically barred to anything short of genius for men of his class in +Europe. Our Australian colonies, where unskilled labor can earn 7s. 6d. a +day, and live for a trifle, are, indeed, a paradise for the mere +wage-earner, who can scarcely help becoming also a wage-saver; but America +is the country which, with wage conditions such as I have attempted to +portray, still offers the best possible opportunities of success, and even +of great careers, to clever working men, and especially to clever +mechanics. That man, however, is not worthy of a home in the great +republic, who does not appreciate the higher social levels at which native +labor desires to live, who is not anxious to make the most of the +advantages which democratic institutions offer him, who does not, in +short, ardently desire to become a "good American." + +There remains the question already alluded to as inextricably bound up +with American labor problems: How does the American tariff affect wages? +The idea that these are determinable by the tariff is the corner stone of +protection in the States. The artisan has been so sedulously educated to +believe that the chief object of import duties is to protect him from +falling into a ruinous competition with what is called the "pauper labor +of Europe," that no movement on the part of workmen in the direction of +free trade is ever likely to arise in America. I am not now about to argue +the question of protection, except in so far as it relates to labor; but +it may be remarked, in passing, that internal competition, rather than the +people, is the enemy from whom the tariff will probably receive its death +blow in the future. Protection will ultimately break down by its own +weight in the States. Production already exceeds demand, the cry for a +"wider market" and for "raw materials free" is in every manufacturer's +mouth; and if America upholds her protective legislation too long, the +produce of her factories and mills will, by and by, force its way, in +spite of the tariff, into the open markets of the world, but it will be +through the gate of national suffering. Few people in this country are, I +think, aware of the extraordinary fervor with which the doctrine that +protection benefits labor is preached in the States. We are ourselves +accustomed to hear the question of free trade argued only from the +economic standpoint, but this is by no means so commonly the case in +America. I shall try, by paraphrasing certain recent addresses of an able +personal friend and enthusiastic protectionist, to illustrate the position +taken by those persons who advocate the tariff, not upon economic grounds, +but in the avowed interests of labor. + +Referring to the words "Free Trade," the speaker in question begins by +asking, "What is the essential nature of that which we call trade?" And +answers himself as follows: + +"The grim, ugly fact is that trade is a fight, the markets are battle +fields, the traders are gladiators, carrying on a true war around +questions of values, with no care whether the opposing party or the +community at large can afford that the trade is made. This contest is +always going on, whether a lady buys a pair of gloves, or a syndicate +corners Erie. Antagonism is so fixed an element of trade, and so often +defeats the object it blindly follows, as to make laws which seek to +mitigate the ferocity of the struggle as welcome to the far-sighted man of +business as they are to the foredoomed victims of this relentless +warfare." + +On the other hand, competition is said to be a-- + +"Wonder worker in developing energy in the strongest individuals, and +massing wealth in masterful states; but, since competitive trading can +never be wholly beneficent, it should be strictly controlled, in the +interests of the toiling millions, who are too weak successfully to oppose +its attacks. The results of forcing on the naturally weak, by means of +competition, hard and unequal bargains which are evaded by the strong, are +appalling in their magnitude, dividing whole peoples permanently into +castes, rich and poor, injuring the former by excess, and the latter by +deprivation, making a nation strong in the trading instinct, and rich in +accumulated wealth, but weak and poor in all its other parts. This abuse +is saddest of all when, failing to be recognized as an evil, the doctrines +of free trade are wrought into the policy and social life of a people." + +Protective remedies for this state of things are introduced as follows: + +"Wherever the value of competition has been fully recognized, but +supplemented by wise control of its energies, the results are excellent. +This fact forms the foundation of our protective laws, whose very name +'protective' implies assailants; those hard bargains, to wit, driven on +the fighting side of trade, under the motto of 'let the fittest survive.' +When a small army is attacked by a large one, it covers itself by +earthworks. Similarly, where there are sheep, and wolves abound, the +farmer puts up fences which effectually protect his flock; and, in the +same way, tariffs are 'forts,' whence the artisan may hope successfully to +defend himself against the attacks of his powerful and unscrupulous enemy, +capital; or they may even be considered as a pistol, which a little fellow +points at a big bully who threatens him with a thrashing." + +Such are the arguments which are urged with great fervor, and immense +effect, upon the American artisan, who fully and firmly believes that +protection is the only agent capable of lifting his lot above those, +dreaded levels at which the "pauper labor of Europe" is universally +believed to live. + +The simple answer to all this rhetoric appears to be that, while it might +be valid as an indictment of the competitive system as a whole, it is +valueless when directed against a part of that system only. Advocates who +are not prepared to say that every bargain shall be controlled by +beneficence, and who distinctly admire the chief results of competition, +cannot logically demand that labor, alone of all salable commodities, +shall be bought and sold on altruistic principles. + +In what immediately precedes, I have endeavored to indicate the character +of the pleadings which make American artisans universally supporters of +the tariff, and we must now return to the question, What, after all, is +really the effect of protection on wages in America? I answer that no +legislative schemes can add to, although they may injure, the material +resources of a state. Capital can only support the labor for which the +annual harvest of such resources pays, and all that legislation can do is +artificially to divert labor and capital from directions which they would +take under the influence of natural laws. + +America is selling, at the present time, about L160,000,000 worth of food +and other raw products in Europe. These, together, represent her chief +branch of business, in which nearly fifty per cent. of her population is +engaged, and all this merchandise is sold in the free trade markets of the +world. Wages in America, therefore, cannot possibly be regulated by the +tariff, because, whatever wages can be earned by men engaged in the +production of agricultural products--the prices of which are fixed in +Liverpool--must be the rate of wages which will substantially be paid in +other branches of business. Wages, like water, seek a level; if +manufacture pays best, labor will quit agriculture; if agriculture pays +best, manufactures will decline, and agriculture progress. + +A glance at the condition of industrial society in America vividly +illustrates this conclusion. Any man, with a few dollars and a strong pair +of arms, can win far greater rewards from the soil than he could possibly +obtain by the same effort in Europe. His wages are high, because the grade +of comfort to be obtained from the land by means of a little labor is +high, and the artisans' wages must follow suit, if men are to be tempted +from the field into the workshop. American politicians, however, would +have us believe that American labor owes its prosperity to taxation; in +other words, that what the immigrant seeks is not the rich prizes offered +him by a free and fertile soil, but the blessings which flow from a tariff +that adds an average 40 per cent. to the cost of everything he needs +except food. + +One more illustration, and I have done. Upon the wall hangs a diagram +which shows the movements of American wages, of English wages, and of the +tariff from 1860 to 1883. I have already argued that a tariff cannot +determine wages, and the diagram affords positive proof that it has not +determined them in America, as between 1860 and the present time. On the +contrary, their movements are evidently due to the same causes as have +influenced wages here during this period, while it is certainly remarkable +that they have fallen sooner, fallen lower, and recovered less completely +in America, where industry is "protected," than in Great Britain, were it +is "unprotected." + +Shortly to recapitulate all that has been advanced, I have endeavored to +show: + +1st. That a great change has occurred in the social condition of labor in +the United States during the last forty years, and that, spite of all the +existing agencies of improvement, it is doubtful whether the working +classes of America are not, at the present moment, falling still further +from those high ideals of operative life which once so brilliantly +distinguished the United States from European countries. + +2d. That, although wages are probably some 60 per cent. higher in the +chief manufacturing districts of America than in Great Britain, yet an +English artisan would find himself little richer there than at home, after +paying the enhanced prices for subsistence, and conforming to the higher +standard of life which prevails in the States. At the same time, his whole +social position and opportunities of advancement would be immensely +improved. + +3d. I have tried to demonstrate that the tariff, to which the higher wages +of America are so confidently attributed, has really no influence whatever +upon them, and that it is not therefore an engine, such as it is glowingly +represented to the American artisan, constructed for the purpose of +raising his lot above that of the so-called "pauper labor of Europe." Any +inquiry into the character of the work really accomplished by the engine +in question would lead me into regions of controversy forbidden in this +room. + +Finally, if I am asked why, in a review of American labor and wages, I +have said nothing of trade unionism on the one hand, and of co-operative +production on the other, I can only answer that to have introduced these +among so many other interesting, but subsidiary, subjects which crowd +around questions of labor and wages, would have doubled the volume of this +address, and more than halved the patience with which you have kindly +listened to it. + + * * * * * + + +A catalogue, containing brief notices of many important scientific papers +heretofore published in the SUPPLEMENT, may be had gratis at this office. + + + * * * * * + +THE SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT. + +PUBLISHED WEEKLY. + +TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION, $5 A YEAR. + +Sent by mail, postage prepaid, to subscribers in any part of the United +States or Canada. 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