Stephenson's 
 Practical Test 
 
 Adjiistment and 
 Settiii.^ of Valves 
 
 riowio Maaagettie 
 EoFiiie* Boiler and 
 
 ator, 
 
 ««««siLJ 
 
 ^■^^^^K 
 
Chap. Copyright No. 
 
 Shelf.T..3-5r'^7 
 
 . -^SB5 
 
■*!!?ta«B«^' 
 
GEORGE STEPHENSON 
 
STEPHENSON'S 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 
 PRACTICAL TEST, EXAMINATION 
 
 AND 
 
 Ready Reference Book 
 
 FOR 
 
 STATIONARY 
 
 LOCOMOTIVE AND MARINE 
 
 ENGINEERS 
 
 ...Firemen, Electricians and Machinists... 
 
 TO PROCURE 
 
 Steam Engineer's-LiCens?^. 
 
 ALSO 
 
 
 WORKING CHART 5^6^^^ 
 
 For Setting Out the Forms of Gear Teeth so That Any Two Wheels of 
 a Set May Work Together. 
 
 CHICAGO 
 LAIRD & LEE. PUBLISHERS 
 
 i 
 
 \. . 
 
1 <i ^^11 
 
 Copyright, 1891, by WALTER G. KRAFT. 
 
 Copyright, 1893, by Laird & Lee. 
 
 Copyright, 1896, by Wa\. H. Lbe. 
 
 All Rights Reserved. 
 
 ^ 
 
 6.3^*^^ 
 
AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 The reason for the publication of this book is, 
 that having given over 25 years of my life to the 
 careful study and practical workings of Boilers, 
 Engines, Pumps, Electric I^ight Dynamos, Turn- 
 ing I^aths, Planers, Shapers and general Ma- 
 chine Shop practice, I thought it proper to give 
 the rising young mechanics and engineers such 
 information in plain simple language so as to be 
 easil}^ understood, and save years of time and 
 money in gathering the information through 
 other sources. 
 
 It is only necessary to say that the longer one 
 labors in practical mechanics, the more mature is 
 his mind and judgment and the better qualified 
 he is to carry on his work. This book is written 
 especially for Mechanics who wish to prepare 
 themselves in procuring Government, State or 
 City License as an Engineer. Hoping the prac- 
 tical suggestions throughout the book will enable 
 those who look and follow them up to gain abet- 
 ter insight of the work they have to perform, 
 I remain, 
 
 Very Respectfully 
 
 Otto Stephenson. 
 
(PV<BL1SHE(R'S J70TICE. 
 
 We desire to place a copy of this work 
 in the hands of every Engineer, Fire- 
 man, Machinist and Electrician, and, if 
 the neighborhood has no agent through 
 whom it can be purchased, we will send 
 by mailorexpress, free of postage, single 
 copies to any address on receipt of regu- 
 lar retail price, %i.oo. 
 
 We at all times desire Agents, 
 
 The terms are liberal, and the agency 
 to sell this work in any field will afford 
 a good living to any man or woman of 
 intelligence. 
 
 Address all communications to 
 LAIRD & LEE 
 
 Publishers, 
 
 263-365 W^ABASH ATEJTUE 
 
 CHICAGO. 
 
STEPHENSON'S PRACTICAL TEST, 
 
 — FOR — 
 
 Steam Engineers, Firemen, Elec- 
 tricians and Machinists. 
 
 Ques. Name the duties of an Engineer. Ans. The 
 duties are to take full charge of the boilers and engines 
 where ever he may be employed, and see that the steam 
 machinery under his charge are kept in No. 1 order. 
 
 Ques. What is required of a man to become a Chief 
 Engineer? Ans. He is obliged to obtain an Engineer's 
 license. 
 
 Ques. What experience should a man have in order 
 to get his application before a board of Engineers? Ans. 
 The experience should be generally two years, as a Fire- 
 man, iViacliin.st Oi i!,njj.ne«.r wnii^n muse be sworn to by 
 two good reliable citizens, both living in the city where 
 the applicant has been employed. 
 
 Ques. What are steam boilers? how are they, and of 
 
 S 
 
6 
 
 •«?hat are they made? Ai.s. Steam boilers are closed ves* 
 sels made of steel, iron or copper plates, the most plates 
 in use are ^, Yz and ^^ inch, and the tensile strength 
 ranging from 45,000 to 85,000 lbs. These plates are run 
 through a rolling machine and rolled in a circle, then the 
 sheets are riveted together at the end with two rows of 
 rivets. 
 
 Ques. Why? Ans. Because the strain is greater sidewise 
 than endwise, the seams around the boiler are single riv- 
 eted because the strain is not so great. 
 
 Ques. Why is the strain greater on the sides than on the 
 ends of the boilers? Ans. Because the steam has more 
 surface on the sides, and only the heads on the end of 
 the boiler to contend with. 
 
 Ques. How is a boiler strengthened? Ans. With 
 braces. 
 
 Ques. Name one of the braces, and how are 
 they put in? Ans. The boiler is braced by different 
 kinds of braces, such as a crow-foot, longitudinal, dome, 
 crown-bars, angle braces, etc. The eye is riveted to the 
 head of the boiler, which head is generally made of ^ 
 inch plate, the other eye is riveted to the side top or dome 
 of the boiler, and the braces and eyes are put together 
 with bolts, which have a split-key to keep the bolt in its 
 place. 
 
 Ques. Name the chief points in the construction of a 
 successful and economical boiler? Ans. Proper circula- 
 tion facilities constitute one of the chief points in the con- 
 struction of a successful and economical boiler. In tu- 
 bular boilers, the best practice is to place the tubes in 
 vertical rows, (plumb) leaving out what would be the 
 centre row. The circulation is up the sides of the boiler 
 and down the centre. Tubes set zigzag, or to break spaces, 
 check the circulation and will not practically give th« 
 best results. 
 
Ques. How should braces fit? Ans. They should fit 
 tight, otherwise they would be of no use. 
 
 Ques. If oraces were found loose, what should be done 
 and how could they be tightened? Ans. The braces 
 should be taken out heated in the centre, then upset by 
 dropping it endwise on a block of wood until it is the 
 proper length. 
 
 Ques. State the strain on a brace? Ans. One fifth o^ 
 its own str ngth. 
 
 Ques. What are stay bolts? Ans. They are long 
 screw bolts of one continuous thread. 
 
 Ques. \Vhe:e are they generally used? and name the 
 reasons for using them. Ans. They are generally used 
 for keeping two sheets apart in order to leave a water 
 space between them, such as a locomotive fire box and 
 shell. 
 
 Ques. How should stay bol'^s be spaced and how far 
 apart? Ans. The surface which a stay-bolt has to sup- 
 port is represented by the rectangle enclosed between 
 four of 1 he bolts . For instance, if the stays are six inches 
 apart, the area supported by each would .be 6x6 — 36 sq. 
 inches. Multiplying this area by the boiler pressure 
 gives the stress upon each stay, and the stays should be 
 set at such distances from ea-h other that tie stress shall 
 not exceed 6, ceo pounds per square inch cf cross sectional 
 area. To determine this distance multiply the cross sec- 
 tional area of the bolt by 6,000; divide by the boiler pres- 
 sure, and extract the square root of the quotient, 
 
 Ques. What is meant by the term corrosion? Ans. It 
 means the wasting away of the boiler plates by pitting, 
 grooving, etc. 
 
 Ques. Name the different corrosions? Ans. There are 
 internal and extt mal corrosions. 
 
 Ques. Explain their actions? Ans. The acids and 
 
8 
 
 minerals in the water liberated by the heat, causes thf in- 
 ternal, and the sulphur which is liberated from the coai 
 by fire causes the external. 
 
 Ques. How is the water level found when a boiler "4S 
 foaming? Ans. The proper way would be to shut down 
 the engine and all valves connected with the boiler, cover 
 the fire with ashes and close the damper, then the water 
 will quiet down, and the water level easily found. An 
 Engineer should know when lighting a fresh fire, never 
 to force it, but let it burn slowly fo that all the parts will 
 expand as near equal as possible; good judgment is 
 needed. Test the boilers and steam guages at least once 
 a year. 
 
 Ques. Where is a steam guage generally tapped in a 
 boiler? Ans. On top of the boiler in the steam drum. It 
 must always be tapped into the steam part of the boiler. 
 
 Ques. With what should the steam gauge correspond? 
 Ans. The steam gauge should correspond by all means 
 with the safety valve. 
 
 Ques. WUy is a drain cock put under the steam gauge? 
 Ans. To drain the pipe in cold weather. 
 
 Ques, Why are steam gauges used? Ans. They are 
 used to indicate the pounds pressure per square inch in 
 the boiler. 
 
 Ques. Do steam gauges get out of order? Ans. Yes, 
 sometimes. 
 
 Ques. Suppose the steam gauge was wrong what would 
 you be governed by? Ans. By the safety valve only. 
 
 Ques. How would you kn OAT the safety valve was in 
 working order? Ans. By raising the lever two or three 
 times carefully to see that the valve worked free and is 
 not stuck. 
 
 Qies. Of what use is a safety valve? Ans. It is sup- 
 posed to release the boi.er from every pressure of steam. 
 
Ques. What size should the safety vaive be in propor- 
 iionto the grate surface? Ans. The safety vaive should 
 De about yi square inch to each square foot of grate sur- 
 face, which makes it large enough to relieve the boiler of 
 all steam over which the safety valve is set. 
 
 Ques. Which are the better, gauge cocks or glass 
 gauges, and which is most preferable? Ans. Gauge 
 cocks, because the glass gauge is liable to get choked 
 with mud, and not give a true level of the water, the 
 glass gauge is a very handy thing; it should be blown 
 out four or five times a day, so as to keep it free from 
 mud. 
 
 Ques. What should be done in case a glass should 
 break? Ans. Close the water valve first to prevent the 
 escape of water, then close the steam valve. Insert a 
 new glass, then turn on the steam valve first, the water 
 valve next, then c!ose the pet cock at the bottom. 
 
 Ques. Which is the better way to clean the inside of a 
 glass gauge? Ans. Tie a small piece of waste to a 
 strong thin stick, saturate with soap or acetic acid, pass 
 down inside of the glass, then open the steam valve and 
 blow steam through the glass, and the glass will be clean. 
 Never touch the inside of a glass with a wire, as it will 
 crack. 
 
 Ques. If a gauge cock, or a small steam pipe in the 
 large steam pipe should happen to break off, what should 
 be done? Ans. Simply make a hard wood plug and 
 drive it in with a htavy hammer, which should be left so 
 until the break could be repaired. 
 
 Ques. How is it repaired? Ans. By cutting out the 
 old piere, retapping and putting in an other pipe or gauge 
 cock,' whiche\. er the case may be. 
 
 Ques. What side clearance should boilers have between 
 the furnace walls and shell at the fire line? They should 
 
10 
 
 have from three to four inches at the fire line, and from 
 seven to ten inches between the shell and the bridge 
 wall. The space where the smoke returns to pass through 
 the flues should be larger than the area combined of the 
 flues or tubes, the bridge wall should pitch toward the 
 back. 
 
 Ques. How should stationary boilers rest and what on? 
 Ans. The front end of the boiler should rest on the fire 
 front, and the back end on a cast iron stand or sad- 
 dle to allow equal expansion, the mud drum should al- 
 ways hang free under all circumstances. (If the boiler 
 has one). 
 
 Ques. In what should Engineers be careful and exer- 
 cise good judgment? Ans. In starting or stopping an 
 engine with a high pressure of steam. 
 
 Oues. Why should engineers be careful in starting or stop- 
 ping an engine? Ans Because the vent given the steam in 
 starting, and the sudden check in stopping may cause 
 such a pressure as to rupture the boiler. 
 
 Ques. How large a hole would it be safe to cut in an 
 iron boiler five-sixteenihs of an inch thick, without put- 
 ting a flange around it? Ans. In practice, a two-inch 
 pipe is often put in without giving any trouble, but is 
 usually done when the boilers are located at a distance 
 from the shop, or the time to put on a stiffening piece can 
 not be spared. The stiffening piece should always be 
 put on when possible, and it can be made thicker than 
 the shell, and therefore giving a better holding surface to 
 the pipe and it also leaves a cavity or space around the pipe, 
 which, when the pipe is used as a blow-off", allows deposits 
 to settle into it, and find their wav out when the valve is 
 open. There is also in this case, less danger of the end of 
 the pipe extending through the shell and preventing the 
 mud from entering the pipe. 
 
11 
 
 Ques. What el 3e should engineers look after? Ans. 
 Engineers should see that the draft is not choked b}' ash- 
 es under the boiler back of the bridge walls, and that the 
 outside of the boile^ and inside of the flues are kept clean 
 from soot, then there will be no trouble in keeping up 
 steam. 
 
 Ques. How are the flues or tubes of a steam boiler kept 
 clean? Ans. By either blowing steam through them or 
 using a flue brush . 
 
 Ques , How are flues or tubes cleaned by steam? Ans. 
 By having a hose attached to the front end leading from 
 the steam drum, so that the flues or tubes can be blown out 
 from the front end. (Cleaning by the brush is the better 
 and more popular way.) 
 
 Ques. How often should the tubes or flues be cleaned? 
 Ans. Once a day, in the afternoon, sometimes in the 
 morning after raising steam, according to the coal used. 
 
 Ques. Name the different strains of a boiler? Ans. To 
 the flues or tubes it has a crushing strain, to the shell a 
 tearing strain . 
 
 Ques. What mainly causes boiler explosions? Ans. 
 There are various causes, such as low water, over-press- 
 ure of steam, bad safety valve, foaming boilers and burnt 
 sheets, 
 
 Ques, Why would foaming cauee an explosion? Aus. 
 
12 
 
 It generally raises the water from the heated sheets. The 
 sheets become hot; and the water falling back on them 
 they crack, and sometimes cause an explosion. A blis- 
 tered sheet or a scaly boiler will also cause an explosion, 
 by allowing the sheets to become burnt and weakened; 
 also an untrue steam gauge or bad safety valve is very 
 dangerous. 
 
 Ques Name the worst explosions? Ans. The worst 
 explosion known, is caused by high steam pressure. 
 
 Ques. How are boilers tested for blistered, cracked or 
 rotten sheets? Ans. By the hammer. 
 
 Ques. How is it done? Ans. By taking a small ham- 
 mer and going inside and outside of the boiler and sound- 
 ing it. 
 
 Ques. Explain how you would know by the sound? 
 Ans. By the different sounds; if the sheets rings and 
 sounds solid, they are all right; but if they sound dead, 
 hollow or blunt, they should be condemned. 
 
 Ques. Should the iron be struck hard? Ans. Yes, 
 pretty hard. 
 
 Ques. Is it proper to have a boiler insured? Ans. 
 Yes as insurance is generally accompanied by the ham- 
 mer test and intelligent inspection, which guarantees 
 security to the engineer or owner. 
 
 Do not reject the advice or suggestions of intelligent 
 boiler inspectors, as their experience enables them to 
 discriminate in cases which never come under the obser- 
 vation of men who do not follow inspection as a bus- 
 iness. 
 
 Ques. Are boilers injured by the hydraulic test. Ans, 
 Yes, if tested by an inexperienced person. 
 
 Never use steam pressure under any circumstances for 
 testing purposes. 
 
 Ques. If a patch is to be put on a boiler what kind 
 
13 
 
 would you put on? Ans. A hard patch; it is reliable 
 and safe. 
 
 Ques. Why not put on a soft patch? Ans. Because 
 they are not reliable and are dangerous. 
 
 Ques. What is a hard patch? Ans. A hard patch is 
 a patch where the piece is cut out of the boiler and rivet 
 holes are drilled or punched through, then the patch is 
 riveted on, chipped, caulked and made water and steam 
 tight. 
 
 Ones. What is a soft patch? Ans. A soft patch is 
 put over the plate that needs patching, and put on with 
 jioT j{ inch countersunk screw bolts, with a mixture of 
 red lead and iron borings between the patch and the 
 boiler plate; the piece of sheet in the boiler is not cut out 
 for a soft patch as for a hard patch, consequently the soft 
 patch is burnt. 
 
 Ques. Which are the better, drilled or punched holes? 
 Ans. Drilled holes. 
 
 Ques. Why are the drilled holes better? Ans. Be- 
 cause the fiber of the iron is not disturbed as when the 
 holes are punched; in drilling, the iron is cut out regular; 
 in punching, it is forced out at once. 
 
 Ques. Name the proper rivets for certain sized sheets, 
 and how far apart? Ans. The rivets should be f4 to 
 % inch diameter, and from 2 to 2X inches apart. 
 
 Ques. What would you do the first thing in the 
 morning on entering the boiler-room? Ans. See how 
 much water there is in the boiler, by trying the gauge 
 cocks, then open the glass gauge valves, and start the 
 fire to raise steam. 
 
 Ques. Why do you try the gauge cocks, and not trust 
 to the glass gauge? Ans. Because the water pipe con- 
 necting the glass gauge with the boiler is liable to choke 
 np with mud, therefore the glass would not show a true 
 
u 
 
 level of water. The glass gauge should be blown out eight 
 or ten times a day, to insure safety, but never depend on 
 the glass gauge alone. 
 
 Ques. If too much water was pumped in the boiler 
 during the day, what should be done? Ans. Open the 
 blow ofif valve and let out the water to the second gauge. 
 An engineer should be very careful when blowing out 
 water when there is a hot fire in the boiler furnace, as 
 the water leaves very fast, and may blow out too much; 
 good judgment should be used. 
 
 Ques. How is a two-flue boiler cleaned? Ans. First 
 see that there is no fire under the boiler, then let out all 
 the water through the blow off valve, take out the man, 
 hand, and mud-drum plates; then take a short-handle 
 broom, a candle or torch, a small hand-pick, a scrapet 
 made out of an old file flattened on the end and bent to 
 suit, also a half-inch square iron twisted link chain 
 about three feet long, with a ring at each end to answer 
 for a handle; place the chain around the flue and work 
 the chain to get the scale off the bottom of the flues; use 
 the pick and scraper to pick and scrape off all that can 
 be seen on top of the flues and the bottom and sides of 
 the shell; then wash out into the mud-drum; clean out 
 and put in the mud-drum and hand-hole plates; fill up 
 to top of flues; then put in the man-hole plate, and fill 
 up to the second gauge ready for raising steam. 
 
 Ques. Could a boiler not be blown out? Ans. Yes, 
 but not practically. 
 
 Ques. How much pressure would you allow? Ans . 
 About 15 or 30 poimds. 
 
 Ques. Why not more pressure? Because the heat 
 would be so great that the expansion and contraction 
 between the boiler and furnace would not be equal; viz. 
 the boiler seams would leak and the boiler iniured. The 
 practical may is no steam pressure. 
 
16 
 
 Ques. What benefit is gained by letting the water 
 stay in the boiler until ready to clean it out? Ans. The 
 mud is kept soft and the scale is not caked to the shell 
 or tubes; also, the seams of the b nler are not injured by 
 unequal expansion and contraction. 
 
 Ques. How should man and hand-hold plates be 
 taken out and put in? Ans. They should be marked 
 with a chisel at the top, also the boiler at man hole and 
 hand-hole, whichever it might be, and they should be 
 put in the same way they came out. 
 
 Ques. How would you gasket the man-hole or hand- 
 bol2 plates of a boiler? Ans. With pure lead rings- 
 some use sheet rubber, etc. 
 
 Ques . Why are man-hole and hand-hole plates made 
 oval instead of round? Ans. The practical reason is, ii 
 the holes were round the plates could not betaken out or 
 put in, also a man could not easily enter the boiler 
 through the man-hole 
 
 Ques. When filling a boiler with cold water, and 
 raising steam, what should be looked to? Ans. See that 
 a valve is left open above the water, 
 
 Ques. Why should a valve be left open? Ans. Be- 
 cause boilers fill easier and quicker, and in raising steam 
 the cold air is let out and allows equal expansion, as cold 
 air does not allow equal expansion . 
 
 Ques. How is a boiler set? Ans. By leveling across 
 and along the flues or tubes, allowing the end of the 
 boiler furthest from the gauge cocks >^ inch lower for 
 every eight feet in length. 
 
 Ques. Why is it lower? Ans. Because when there i.« 
 water in the gauge cocks, there will surely be water a! 
 the other end of the boiler. 
 
 Ques. How many gauge cocks has a boiler? Ans. 
 Generally tnree. 
 
16 
 
 ' Ques. Where is the first or lower gau>ye? Ans. Two 
 inches above the flues, and the rest two inches apart. 
 
 Ques. Where is the waterline? Ans. First gauge. 
 
 Ques. Where should water be in the boiler when run- 
 ning? Ans. Second gauge. 
 
 Ques. What should be done preparatory t shutting 
 down for the noon hour? Ans. Slacken the drait, and 
 let the steam run down, say 15 lbs or so, also let the 
 water run down to below 2d gauge and when the engine 
 has stopped put the feed on and clear the fires. 
 
 Ques. What other duties devolve on the engineer at 
 this time? Ans. He should examine all the journals and 
 moving parts, refill the oil cups, etc. 
 
 Ques. Where should water be carried when shutting 
 down at night? Ans. At the third gauge and close gauge 
 glass cocks. 
 
 Ques. Why carry water so high and close glass gauge 
 cocks? Ans. To allow for evaporation and leakage and 
 keep water in the boiler in case glass would break. 
 
 Ques. Where is the fire line of a boiler? Ans. j( of 
 an inch below first gauge. 
 
 Ques. When you open a boiler and look in, where do 
 the scales lay thickest? Ans. Over the fire-plates. (The 
 second sheet generally.) 
 
 Ques. What causes that? Ans. The circulation and 
 heat is greatest there. 
 
 Ques. Of what use is a steam drum? Ans. To have 
 more dryer steam in volume. 
 
 Ques. How should the circulation and feed be? Ans. 
 The circulation and feed should be continual. 
 
 Ques. Whv so? Ans. Because boilers are known to 
 have exploded immediately on the opening of the steam 
 valve to start the engine, after the circulation in the 
 boiler and the engine had been standing still for a short 
 time. 
 
Qaes. Explain the cause of it. Ans, It is caused by 
 the plates next to the fire box being overheated, and as 
 soon as the valve is opened the pressure is lessened, and 
 the water on the overheated sheets flash into steam and 
 if the boiler is not strong enough, a terrific explosion is 
 the result. 
 
 Ques. If the gauge cocks were tried and there was do 
 water in sight what should be done? Ans. Cover the fire 
 •with wet ashes, pull the fire out, then raise the flue caps 
 and let the boiler cool down. 
 
 Ones. Why are wet ashes thrown over the fire before 
 pulling the fire out? Ans. To lessen the heat. If the 
 fire was stirred up without throwing wet ashes over it, it 
 would create more heat and very likely burn the plates. 
 
 Ques. What should be examined in the boiler every 
 cleaning out day? Ans. The braces in the boiler should 
 be examined to see if they are loose, also the sheets, 
 flues, heads and seams, to see if they are cracked or 
 leaking; if ihey are not attended to, they may cause ser- 
 ious trouble and loss of life. 
 
 Ques. What should engineers look after in and about 
 the engine and boiler room? Ans. They should see that 
 everything about the engine or boiler room is clean and 
 all the tools are in their proper places. Also see that all 
 valves or cocks do not leak, if so they should be ground 
 in with emery and oil until a seat or true bearing is 
 found. Ground glass is good for grinding brass valves. 
 
 Ques. When should the boiler seams be looked after 
 and caulked? Ans. The boiler seams should be looked 
 after when the boiler is hot, and filled with water, to find 
 the leaks, and the caulking should be done when the 
 boiler is cold and empty as the jarring while caulking 
 would have a tendency to spring a leak somewhere else, 
 If the boiler was under pressure. 
 
18 
 
 Ques. Is pressure and weight the same? Ans. No. 
 
 Ques. Why? Ans. Because pressure forces in every 
 direction, while weight presses only down. 
 
 Outs. Which is best, the riveted or the lap-welded 
 flues? Ans. The lap-welded flues, as they are a true cir- 
 cle and not so easily collapsed as the riveted flues, which 
 are not a true circle. 
 
 Ques. What is meant by foaming? Ans. Foam- 
 ing is the water and steam being mixed together. 
 
 Ques. State the general causes of foaming? Ans. Dirty 
 greasy, oily and soapy water; salt water forced into fresh 
 water, also too much water and not enough steam room 
 will cause foaming. 
 
 Ques. What is meant by priming? Ans. Priming 
 is the lifdng of water with steam, such as opening a valve 
 'suddenly, and drawing the water from the boiler to the 
 yJinder of the engine. 
 
 Ques. What should be done in that case? Ans. Close 
 the throttle valve and leave it closed for a few minutes, 
 then op( n the valve slowly; that will generally remedy 
 it. Sometimes priming is caused by too much water and 
 not enough steam room; in that case less water is car- 
 ried. 
 
 Ques. Suppose there was a high pressure of steam in 
 the boiler and the water was out of sight, would it be 
 safe to raise the safety valve to let off the pressure? Ans. 
 No, under no circumstances. 
 
 Ques. Why not? Ans Because it would cause the 
 water to rise, and when the valve closed the water would 
 drop back on the heated parts and be liable to explode 
 the boiler. 
 
 Ques. Suppose the boiler was too small to keep up the 
 required am<.unt of steam, would it be practical to weigh 
 down the safety valve to carry a higher pressure? Acs. 
 No, under no circumstances. 
 
19 
 
 Ques. Why not? Ans. Because it wOuld show care- 
 lessness and a violation of the laws. 
 
 Ques. Is there any mystery about boiler explosions? 
 Ans. No, they are simply caused by carelessness. No 
 man has the right to endanger the lives and property of 
 others when he knows that he is incompetent to perform 
 the duty required of him as an engineer, whether licen- 
 sed or otherwise. 
 
 Ques. How much space should there be between the 
 tubes of a steam boiler? Ans. One-half the diameter of 
 the tube itself 
 
 Ques. Name the principal valve on a steam boiler? 
 Ans. The safety valve, by all means. 
 
 Ques, Where should the lower gauge cock be placed 
 in upright boilers, any size? Ans. One-third the distance 
 from the lop, betv/een the two flue sheets. 
 
 Ques. How long a time is it considered safe to leave 
 the engine or boiler room alone without attention? Ans. 
 Under no circumstances should the engine or boiler room 
 be left alone. 
 
 Ques. Why not, when everything is in working order? 
 Ans. Because no man can tell at what moment an acci- 
 dent might occur, which if neglected might cause a ser- 
 ious loss of life and property. 
 
 Ques. State the boiling point of water? Ans. It is 212 
 degrees of heat. 
 
 Ques. At what point does water evaporate into steam? 
 AnvS. It evaporates at 213 degress. (Fahrenheit.) 
 
 PUMPS. 
 
 Ques. Name the different pumps for feeding boilers? 
 Ans. There are many kinds, but we consider only single 
 
20 
 
 action, Aouble action and duplex pumps for feedinjsf "boii- 
 "irs and general use. CSee Illustration.) 
 
 COMMON PLUNGER PUMP. 
 
 Ques, How many valves has a single action plunger 
 cump? Ans. Two valves, a receiving valve and a du* 
 •^arge valve. 
 
21 
 
 PUMP IN DBTAIL. 
 
 LIST OF PARTS. — NBW LEVER MOTION FATTBRK. 
 
 I Stesm Cylinder, 
 3 Water Cylinder. 
 
 34 Cap. ) 
 
 35 Gland, j 
 
 For Valve Rod Stuff, 
 ing Box. 
 
3 Yoke, 
 
 4 Valve Chest. 
 
 ? Steam Cylinder Head, 
 Inside Valve Chest Head, 
 
 7 Outside Valve Chest Head, 
 
 8 Steam Piston, 
 
 9 Valve Piston, 
 10 Guide, 
 
 12 Water Valve Plate, 
 
 13 Water Cap, 
 
 14 Water Cylinder Head 
 
 5hing, I 
 and, > 
 >. ) 
 
 44 Water Piston, 
 
 45 Follower, For Pat. Fi- 
 46 Inside Ring, etc., brou? Ring 
 
 47 Fibrous Packing,! Packin/. 
 
 48 Seat, I 
 4^^ Stem I For Rubber Water 
 
 50 Spring, ( Valve. 
 52 Cover, I 
 
 51 Rubber Water Valve, 
 
 84 Stem, 1 
 
 85 Spring, VFor Metal Disc Valve 
 
 87 Seat, ) 
 
 86 Metal Disc Valve, 
 
 88 Bearing Stand, 
 
 89 Piston Rod Arm, 
 
 90 lycver, 
 
 91 Fulcrum Pin, 
 
 92 Tappit Block Nut, 
 
 93 Piston Rod I^ink, 
 
 94 ly-nk Pin, 
 
 95 Piston Rod Arm Bolt, 
 
 96 Piston Rod Arm Pin, 
 
 97 Lever Pin, 
 
 98 Tappit Block, 
 
 99 Gland for Stud Stufdng Box. 
 For Piston Rodstuff-ioo Valve Rod Links, 
 
 ing Box. loi Link Stud, Washer and Nut. 
 
 15 Water Cylinder Lining, 
 
 16 Main Valve, 
 
 17 Auxiliary Valve, 
 
 18 Air Chamber, 
 
 19 Piston Rod, 
 
 20 Tappit, 
 
 21 Tappit Key, 
 
 22 Tappit Set Screw, 
 
 23 Lubricator, 
 
 24 Valve Rod, 
 25-25-25 25 Drip Plugs or Cocks, 
 
 26 Eye Bolt and Nut, 
 
 27 Water Piston 
 
 28 Bushing, 
 
 29 Gland 
 
 30 Cap 
 
 31 Nut, 
 
 32 Flange Nut, yPor Piston Rod 
 
 33 Check Nut, ) 
 
 Ques. How many valves has a double action? Ans. 
 Four, two receiving and two discharging. The double 
 action receives and discharges both strokes. This kind 
 of a pump has a steam cylinder on one end. The large 
 pumps have eight, sixteen and thirty-two small valves on 
 water cylinder, according to the size of the pump. 
 
 Ques. Why do large pumps have many small water 
 valves and not a few larger ones in proportion? Ans, 
 The reason the pumps have small valves is that the valves 
 do not have to open as much as larger ones, consequently 
 the pump does not loose the quantity of water each stroke 
 as it would with larger valves. 
 
 Ques. How are pumps set up and leveled? Ans. Pumps 
 Are set so the receiving is from the boiler and the dis- 
 charge toward the boiler, put in the same size receiving 
 find discharge pipe as tapped in the pump, 90 the pump 
 
2;; 
 
 can have a good supply and discharge. The suction 
 should be straight as possible and perfectly air tight. The 
 pump is leveled with a spirit-level or a square and plumb 
 line. To level a double action pump, some level across 
 the frame and along the piston; the other way is to take 
 the valve chamber cap off the water cylinder and level 
 the valve seats, so the valves will rise and drop plumb. 
 To level a single action pump, take off the valve cham- 
 ber caps and level both ways. 
 
 Ques. How are the water piston heads packed, and 
 with what in the water cylinders? Ans. They are gener- 
 ally packed with square canvas packing and generally 
 takes two or three pieces; one piece is jointed on top, and 
 the others about ^ way around to make, what engineers 
 call, a broken joint The packing runs from X to J^ 
 inch square. These are the general sizes used for com- 
 mon sized pumps. 
 
 Ques. How are the steam valves of duplex pumps set 
 and adjusted? Ans. Take off the valve chest cover, shove 
 the piston against one of the cylinder heads and mark 
 the piston rod with a pencil at the packing-box gland, 
 then shove the piston against the other cylinder-head and 
 make another ma.k, find the centre between the two 
 marks and move the piston until the centre mark reaches 
 the packing box gland where the first mark was made. 
 Or in other words plumb the lever that connects the valve 
 rocker shaft and the piston. After this is done, see how 
 the steam valve is for lead; if equal at both ends the 
 valve is set, if not, adjust by uncoupling the valve stem 
 at the coupling outside of the packing box, and turn to 
 suit the adjustment in equalizing the "leado " 
 
 Ques. What other valve has a pump near the boiler? 
 Ans. A check valve. 
 
 Ques. Ofwhat use is a check valve? Ans. To hold the 
 
24 
 
 water that is forced into the boiler from coming back, in 
 case there is any work to be done on the pump itself. 
 
 
 loi Sieam. Cylinder. 
 10 ^ Water Cylinder, 
 
 103 Yoke. 
 
 104 Valve Chest. 
 
 105 Steam Cylinder Head. 
 
 106 Valve Chest Stuffing box 
 
 107 Steam Pipe. 
 
 108 Steam Piston. 
 
 109 Valve Rod Head. 
 
 no Long Valve Rod Link. 
 1 1 1 Short Valva Rod Link. 
 
35 
 
 it a Hand Hola plate for cap. 
 
 113 Water Cap. 
 
 114 Water Cylinder Head. 
 
 115 Water Plunger Bushing. 
 
 116 Steam Valve. 
 
 117 Plunger Bushing Ring. 
 
 118 Air Chamber and Tee. 
 
 119 Piston Rod. 
 
 120 lyOag Crank. 
 
 121 Short Crank. 
 
 122 Steam Cylinder Foot. 
 
 123 Lubricator. 
 
 1 24 Valve Rod. 
 
 125 Drip Cock. 
 
 126 Hand Hole Plate forW.C. 
 
 127 Water Plunger. 
 
 128 Plunger Bushing Stud. 
 J29 Piston Rod Gland. 
 
 130 Piston Rod Link Arm. 
 
 131 Piston Rod Nut. 
 
 132 Piston Rod Link. 
 
 133 Piston Rod Check Nut. 
 
 134 Oil Cup. 
 
 135 Valve Rod Gland. 
 
 136 Long Lever. 
 
 137 Short Lever. 
 
 138 Pin for Valve Rod Head. 
 
 139 Lever Pin. 
 
 140 Link Arm Pin. 
 
 148 Water Valve Seat, 
 
 149 Water Valve Stem. 
 
 150 Water Valve Spring. 
 
 151 Water Valve. 
 
 152 Water Valve Cover. 
 
 162 Steam Piston Head. 
 
 163 Steam Piston Follower. 
 
 164 Steam Piston Packing Rings. 
 
 165 Steam Piston Wedge. 
 
 166 Steam Piston Packing Screw. 
 
 167 Steam Piston Spring. 
 
 168 Valve Che.<=t Cover. 
 
 169 Bearing Stand. 
 
 Ques. What instructions must one give in ordering a 
 steam pump? Ans. In ordering a pump, the buyer should 
 inform the parties of whom he orders a pump, the follow- 
 ing points: 1. For what purpose the pump is used. 2. 
 The nature of the liquid to be pumped, hot, cold, salty, 
 fresh, clear or gritty, also the largest quantity required to 
 be pumped per hour. 3. To what height lifted and what 
 height forced . 4. The ordinary pressure of steam used. 
 P. S. When ordering parts for pump in use, order by 
 proper name, also stating size of pump and manufacture, 
 whether new or old style. 
 
 Ques. Could water be forced into the boiler if there 
 were three or four check valves on the discharge pipe? 
 Ans. Yes, water could be forced through all,but it would 
 be more labor on the pump. 
 
 Ques. Where is a pet cock put on the pump barrel for 
 cold water, and why? Ans. It is put at the side and near 
 the bottom of the pump barrel, and is there to show how 
 the pump is working, and to drain the pump in winter to 
 prevent it from freezing. 
 
 Ques, How is it known when the pump is iu goo^ 
 
26 
 
 working order? Ans. By opening the pet cock and no- 
 ticing the stream that comes out. 
 
 Ques. How does the stream show when the pump is ic 
 good working order? Ans. Nothing in the suction stroke 
 and full force in the discharge stroke. (Single action.) 
 
 Ques. Where would the trouble be if water came fuV* 
 force both strokes? Ans. The trouble would be locater. 
 at the check and discharge valves, both being caught up 
 
 Ques. Where would the ti'ouble be located if water 
 came full force both strokes, moderate, tank or hydrant 
 pressure? Ans. At the receiving valve. 
 
 Ques. Can a pump work without a check valve? Ans. 
 If the discharge valve m the pump is in good order, it 
 can; but if there is neither check nor discharge valve, it 
 can not. 
 
 ^ues. Can a boiler be fed without a pump? Ans If the 
 pressure of the boiler is below the pressure of the feed 
 water or city pressure, it can, by simply openins: a water 
 valve and letting in the amount of water required. 
 
 Ques. By what other means is a boiler fed? Ans. By 
 an injector or an inspirator. 
 
 Ques. What is an injector or an inspirator? Ans. 
 They are devices to answer for a pump in feeding a boil- 
 er; they draw force and heat the water at the same time. 
 
 To CONNECT THE INSPIRATOR. 
 
 In all cases connect so it will take steam from the 
 highest point of boiler. Place a globe valve in steam 
 pipe, just above the inspirator; a globe valve in the 
 supply I oe, close to the Inspirator, and a Check and 
 Globe valve between Inspirator and boiler. If the feed 
 ■3 deUvered through a heater, place a check between it 
 9Tid the Inspirator. 
 
 Blow dut steam pipe before connecting-. For a hi^V 
 
27 
 lift or long draft, make the suction one size larger than 
 
 HANCOCK INSPIRATOR. 
 
 STEAM 
 
 FEED 
 
 OVERFI^OW VAI,VE UNDER FEKD. 
 
28 
 TO START THE INSPIRATOR. 
 
 See that the overflow valves, marked 1 and 3 are open 
 and the forcer valve marked 2, is closed. Give full 
 steam. After gjettiner water, close No. 1, open No. 2 one 
 quarter of a turn, close No 3, and the Inspirator is at 
 work. 
 
 the connection. Be sure that the section pipe is absol- 
 u ely tight. 
 
 The Conditions must be: 
 
 First. An Air tight Suction. 
 
 Second . An abundant supply of water, with a lift not 
 exceeding 25 feet, and a temperature not exceeding 140 
 degrees Fahr. for a low lift, and 110 degrees for a 25 foot 
 lift. 
 
 Do not connect with other steam pipes. 
 
 Tap the boiler where you can obtain the Dryest 
 Steam, and if you are obliged to connect with a large 
 steam pipe, tap it on the upper side so as to avoid the 
 drip caused by condensation in the large pipe. 
 
 Do not allow boiler compositions of any kind to pass 
 through the Inspirator. 
 
 In case the Inspirator becomes incrusted with lime 
 disconnect it and place it in a bath composed of one part 
 of muriatic acid and 9 parts of soft water. Leave the In. 
 spirator in the liquid over night. 
 
 Ques. State the principal upon which a jet of steam 
 taken from the boiler at boiler pressure can force a 
 stream of water back into the boiler through the Injector 
 or Inspirator? Ans. It acts upon the principal of a light 
 body moving at a high velocity giving a slower motion 
 to a heavier body effecting an entrance by means of the 
 momentum thus given to it. For instance, steam at the 
 pressure of 80 lbs to the square inch will escape !nto tJ»e 
 
ttir with a velocity of 1,821 feet per second or 1,241 miles 
 per hour. This rapidly moving jet of steam causes, ai 
 first a vacuum in the casing of the injector which fills 
 with water. The steam then mingles with the water, 
 condenses and imparts its velocity to it. The stream of 
 water is then forced along the pipe and strikes the check 
 valve with a force sufiicient to open it and then enters 
 the boiler. 
 
 Ques. Will the inspector work if the water that is sup- 
 plied is to hot to condense the steam? Ans. No. 
 
 Ques. Why? Ans. Because steam is highly elastic and 
 bulky, and, of itself, would have no effect in driving the 
 hot water in any particular direction. But when steam 
 is moving at a high velocity and is condensed, these par- 
 ticles of water have the power of driving the main body 
 before it into the boiler. 
 
 EXCEI.SIOR BOII.ER FEEDER. 
 
 The principal is easily explained, for instance; if a 
 block of wood is laid upon the water it will float, but if 
 it is thrown violently downward it will at first go below 
 the. surface . Th en i f there were sometliing there to catch 
 It and hold it, we would have a state of affairs similar to 
 the injector, where the water enters the boiler by its own 
 jiiomentum and is held there bv the check valve. 
 
3« 
 
 DIRBCTIONS FOR CONNECTING TO THE BOII^ER. 
 
 Take the dry steam from the highest part of the boiieir 
 and connect to the coupling on top of the feeder, placing 
 a globe valve on this at any point most convenient fot 
 the user to work it. This valve should be kept in good 
 
 ORDER so AS NOT TO BE I.EAKING STEAM WHEN NOT IN 
 
 OPERATION. Attach the feed pipe to the coupling on 
 end of feeder taking to boiler opening, place a good 
 check valve at this point near to boiler as practicable. 
 It is desirable in laying suction pipe to commence at the 
 well or tank, make as few joints as possible, AS TH« 
 WATER i<iNE MUST BE AiR-TiGHT, otherwise the feeder 
 will not work; connect this to the coupling on bottom of 
 feeder. 
 
 If the lift or draw from water supply is over ten feet 
 distance the pipe should be one size larger than the con- 
 nections on feeder. 
 
 Then remove the feeder from the couplings and blow 
 out steam pipes to remove iron, scales, and lead used in 
 the connections, etc. This should be observed and save 
 the dirt from getting into the jets of feeder. 
 
 To Pi^ACE THE Feeder in Position for Working. 
 —Push the lever towards the feed line till it stops. 
 
 To Operate. — Give it full steam by the steam valve; 
 when water appears at overflow, slowly reverse position 
 of lever to stop, when feeder is at work. 
 
 Operate Under Pressure. — In supplying the In- 
 jector from a hydrant or tank pressure, place a globe 
 valve in the water pipe to regulate the quantity of water 
 delivered to the Injector. When the water pressure is 
 very great, this valve should be partly closed, to give 
 satisfactory results. 
 
 Ques. Must a pump have valves? Ans. Yes if a 
 
31 
 
 pump did not have any valves it could not do any work. 
 A pump is not a pump unless it has a valve. 
 
 Ques. Name the different pumps? Ans. The common 
 \«'ell hand pumps with one valve, called a receiving or 
 auction valve, the force or common plunger pump with 
 Lwo valves, a receiving and discharge. 
 
 Ques, Explain the workiug of the valves? Ar.s. The 
 disc harge is to retain the water after it is delivered, so that 
 the ] lunger can get a fresh supply. After the plunger 
 has ascended and begins to descend, the water sets on 
 tup of the receiving and under the di: charge; couse 
 quently, when the plunger descends it forces the receiv- 
 ing thut and the discharge open. 
 
 Ones. Give the proper lift for check valves on feed 
 pipes. Ans. The duty has much to do with lift of valve, 
 for instance, pumps used for pumping under very high 
 pressures, the valves are given a very little lift, thereby 
 lessening the shock and prolonging the life of the valves. 
 
 Ques. Should there not be another valve between the 
 check valve and the boiler? Ans. Yes, a globe valve. 
 
 Ques. Why is it put there? Ans. To close and keep 
 the pressure in the boiler, in case the check valve is 
 CaUght up and needs repairing. 
 
 Qeus. Can a pump raise, lift or suck hot water? Ans. 
 Not very well. 
 
 Ones. Why? Ans. Because the pump would get steam 
 bound. Hot water should be level or higher than the 
 pump in order that the pump f-hould work well. 
 
 Ques. Where should a pet cock be put on the pump 
 barrel for hot water? Ans. At the top of barrel, imme- 
 diately under the packing ring. (Plunger pump. ) 
 
 Ques. Why is it put there? Ans. To let out steam 
 when steam bound, and air when air bound. There 
 should be a pet cock tapped in the cap of the valve 
 
52 
 
 chamber to let off the steam or air when steam or air 
 bound. 
 
 Ques. If there was no pet cock on the valve chamber 
 cap, what could be done ? Ans. Simply take a wrench 
 and loosen one of the chamber cap nuts a little until the 
 air or steam was out, then tighten it again. 
 
 Ques, Why is an air chamber put on a double action 
 pump, and what is it ? Ans. It is simply a copper vessel 
 air tight. When the pump is working, the water is 
 forced up into the chamber, which compresses the air, 
 and the compressed air acts as a cushion on the valves 
 and piston head in the water cylinder. 
 
 Ques. What is meant by the term cushion ? Ans. A 
 cushion is anything that is compressed, and by its com- 
 pression is formed into a higher and stronger pressure, 
 acting as a spring, deadening any knock that might 
 occur. In a pump, water will cause a knock, it being as 
 solid as iron minus the air, so if a double action pump 
 had no air chamber, there would be a continual knock. 
 
 Ques. What is known by the term vacuum ? Ans. A 
 vacuum is a space void of matter. 
 
 Ques. Can a perfect vacuum be created ? Ans. No, 
 about 9 to 1 1 per cent, of the atmospheric pressure which 
 is 14.7 pounds per square inch. 
 
 Ques. What will a vacuum do ? Ans. It is supposed 
 to lift water 33 feet, providing all pipes and connections 
 are air tight. (The best known lift is 29^ feet. ) 
 
 Ques. How is a vacuum created or made? Ans. 
 When the plunger of a pump is well packed and it pulls 
 it excludes the air out of the pump barrel and suction 
 pipe, consequently the water, being at the other end of 
 the pipe, it follows the plunger; or, in other words, the 
 atmospheric pressure, bemg 14.7 pounds per square inch, 
 forces the water up the pipe to fill the vacasicy made bv 
 the plunger forming the vacuum 
 
33 
 
 Qaes. What should be placed a the bottom of the 
 suction piper Ans. A strainer made out of gauze wire, 
 a. toot valve and a pet cock to drain it. 
 
 Ques. Iftlie pump was not working and the water 
 running low, and you were asked to run awhile longer 
 would yoa ruu and let the water become dangerously 
 low? Ans. No, take no chances whatever, but shut 
 aown and go about finding the trouble. 
 
 Ques. Where would you look for the trouble ? Ans. 
 Open the pet cock of the pump, and that will nearly tell 
 where it is; if no water came, the water is shut ofif, or 
 there is none, etc. (as stated before.) 
 
 Cues. What prevents a pump from working ? Ans. 
 JNot enough water, too small a suction pipe, the obstruc- 
 tion of the valves to seat by straws, sticks or anything 
 that may be drawn through the suction pipe, or the 
 valves sticking. 
 
 Ones. If an accident happened such as a broken pipe 
 connecting the boiler and pump, so that sufficient water 
 could not be had to supply the boiler, what should be 
 done? Ans. Simply shut down the engine and all valves 
 connected with the boiler, draw the fire, raise the flue 
 caps, find close the damper. 
 
 Ques. Why so. Ans. To keep what water there is 
 in the boiler until the trouble is found and repaired. 
 
 Ques. If the suction pipe should spring a leak, what 
 should be done ? Ans. Take a piece of sheet rubber, 
 some copper wire, wrap around tight, and stop the leak 
 temporarily. 
 
 Ones. It the hydrant, that supplies the pump with 
 water, should happen to get broken, what should be 
 done? Ans. First see how much water there is in the 
 "boiier, by trying the gauge cocks, then shut off the water 
 in the street, or wherever the lazy cock lay, and try. i.'' 
 
34 
 
 possible to repair it. If an injector or inspirator was at- 
 tached, anci had a tank or well supply, use either until 
 the break is repaired. 
 
 Ques. For instance, if there were neither of these. 
 what should be done ? Ans. Shut down the engine. 
 close the damper, raise the flue caps and draw the fire, 
 {hen there would be no danger. 
 
 Ques. What is a gravity steam trap. Ans. A device 
 for returning the Wu.ter of condensation for a heating 
 system to the boiler by gravity. 
 
 Ques. Explain its construction and operation ? Ans. 
 The trap is usually spherical, containing a float which 
 rises a3 the water accumulates, at its fuil heighth. The 
 float cl jses the return valve and opens boiler connections, 
 both steam and water, equalizing the pressure. The 
 trapped water being a trifle above the water line in the 
 boiler will seek iLs level aud escape into the boiler at its 
 comj^.lete discharge, the float falls closing all the boiler 
 connections and opening the return drip and ah valve at 
 the top of trap allowing the drip to refill the trap again, 
 etc. 
 
 Qnes. How high should a valve lift to clear itself? 
 Aus. About one-fourth of its diameter ur one-third of its 
 area. 
 
 Ques. What proportions should the valves be to any 
 sized pump ? Aus. They should be one-lourth the area 
 oi the pump itself. 
 
 Cues. Suppose in the evening when you shut down, 
 t!i:.t the pump was in good wi^rking order, and when you 
 started up the next morning and opened the pump pet 
 cock a strong stream of water came out both strokes, 
 where would you locate the trouble ? Ans. The trouble 
 vFould be at both the check and discharge valves beiii^ 
 caught up. 
 
35 
 
 Ques. Suppose you started the pump and it was in 
 good order, and no water came; where would you locate 
 the trouble ? Ans. The suction pipe is leaking out of 
 water, or there is no water. 
 
 Ques. State the usual area proportion of the cylinders 
 of the steam pump ? Ans. The steam cylinder averages 
 four times the area of the water cylinder. 
 
 THE ENGINE. 
 
 Ques. What is a steam engine ? Ans. A steam en- 
 gine is a machine through which power is obtained from 
 steam. 
 
 Cues. What is steam ? Ans. Steam is a gaseous vapor 
 evaporated from water, by heat, and is composed of hy- 
 drogen and cxygen. 
 
 Ques. How do you know water is composed of hydro- 
 gen and oxygen ? Ans. Science shows that i pound of 
 hydrogen with 8 pounds of oxygen is equal to 9 pounds 
 of water. 
 
 Ques. What is an engine composed of ? Ans, Abed 
 plate, cylinder, connecting rod, crank, crank-shaft, main- 
 pillow block, out pillow block, tail block, cross-head, 
 wrist-pin in cross-head, crank-pin, two cylinder heads, 
 piston-rod, piston-head, follower head, bull -ring, packing 
 rings, follower plate and bolts, connecting rod and brass, 
 es, pillow-block brasses, a valve, and guides where the 
 cross-head slides in, so the piston is kept central in the 
 cylinder. The main pillow-block brasses are generally 
 made into four pieces, called top, bottom and two quar- 
 ter brasses; they are made into four parts, so as to take 
 up the lost motion. 
 
 Ques. What precaution should be taken in starting 
 engines? Ans. All engine cylinders should be well 
 drained and heated before starting, then the engine 
 
36 
 ffeould be started s^^wly, as tlie water that accumulates 
 
 '»; tile cyUlider may injure tlie piston, cylinder, or cyhn- 
 
37 
 
 der heads. Always leave the cylinder cocks opeu wheu 
 not runnmg,and they should remain so until the cylinder 
 IS heated by the steam, — a' .er the engine has Been run- 
 ning at full speed about 5 minutes or such a matter. 
 
 Ques. What keeps the rod from running off the crank 
 pin ? Ans. The outside shoulder on the crank-pin. 
 
 Ques. If water should accumulate in the cylinder, 
 what would be the consequence? Ans. It is liable to 
 crack the cylinder and disable the engine, also cause loss 
 of life. 
 
 Ques. If you had charge of an engine in the country, 
 aud the cylinder head should happen to crack, how 
 would you remedy it in a hurry ? Ans. If not broken 
 too bad, try to patch it with pieces of iron or boards, and 
 brace it from the wall with a piece of heavy scantling, 
 then try and run the engine until a new cylinder head 
 could be made, or make a wooden cylinder head tempor- 
 al ily. 
 
 Ques. What size should a steam pipe and an exhaust 
 pipe be to any size cylinder? Ans. The steam pipe 
 should be one-fourth and the exhaust pipe one-third the 
 diameter of the engine cylinder itself. 
 
 Ques. If your crank pin or other journals became hot, 
 what would you do ? Ans. Trj^, while running, to get 
 water on them, then oil them; if that would not do, stop 
 and slack up the key a little, then start up again. 
 
 Ques. If the cylinder had shoulders inside, or was out 
 of a true circle, what should be done ? Ans. Bore it, or 
 have it bored out. 
 
 Ques. In case the throttle valve should become loose 
 from the stem and prevent the steam from entering the 
 valve chest w^hat shouM be done? Ansu Close the 
 valve next to the boiler, if there is one; if not, let the 
 ^Doiler cool down, then tak^ the valve and stem out and 
 repair it. 
 
38 
 
 QvLts. 11 Cue slide valve was uot steam-tight, what 
 should be done? Ans. Have the valve planed, then 
 chip, tile and scrape the seat to a full bearing. 
 
 Ques. If the crank and wrist-pins &re worn out of 
 true, w^hat should be done? Ans. Caliper amd file them 
 until they are round and true. 
 
 Ques. What causes the wrist-pin in the cross-head and 
 crank-pin to wear the way thej'' do? Ans. It is simply 
 the motion they have; the crank goes all the way round, 
 forming a circle, and the wrist only vibrates. 
 
 Ques. If the cross-head or crank-pin brasses w^ere 
 brass-bound, what should be done? Ans. They should be 
 chipped and filed. 
 
 Ques. How do you know when you have taken oft 
 enough? Ans. By outside and inside calipers. 
 
 Ques. How does steam enter the cylinder? Ans. In 
 common slide-valve engines it enters through one of the 
 end ports and exhausts back through the same port, 
 when the cavity of the valve has covered it and the ex- 
 haust port at the same time. 
 
 Ques. What is meant by clearance? Ans. Clearance 
 is the space between the piston head, cylinder head and 
 valve face at each end of the stroke. 
 
 Ques How would you know the amount of clearance 
 there was in that space? Ans. By finding the number of 
 cubic inches in a bucket of water, then fill up the space 
 level with the steam port, and see how much water is left 
 in the bucket; the difference is the contents in cubic 
 inches. 
 
 Ques. Why are gibs, keys and set screws used on both 
 ends of the connecting rod? Aus. They are there to take 
 »p lost motion . 
 
 Ques. How is it done? Ans, By loosening up the set 
 screw, and driving down the key; then tighten the set 
 icrew to keep the key from raising. 
 
39 
 
 The Gardner Governor. 
 
 ) 
 
 I 
 
 V 
 
 A — 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 ^ 
 
 3 
 
 r^ 
 
 
 3 
 
 LJ T 
 
 1 Valve Chamber. 
 
 2 Valve. 
 
 3 Valve Seats (2). 
 
 4 Frame. 
 
 6 Gears Mite. 
 
 ^ Lever Ball Screw. 
 
 13 I'ull^. 
 
 14 Oil Cup. 
 
 15 Pulley Shaft. 
 
 16 Shaft Bearing. 
 
 17 Stuffing Box. 
 
 18 Head. 
 
4i) 
 
 7 Arms (2). 19 Arm Pins (2). 
 
 8 Toe Plate. 20 Valve Stem. 
 
 9 Spindle. 21 Arm Balls. 
 
 10 Lever. 22 Lever Ball. 
 
 11 Fulcrum and Stud. 23 Check Stud. 
 
 12 Step Bearing. 24 Sleeve Centers (2). 
 Ques. Are there more square inches in one end of the 
 
 cylinder than in the other? Ans. In one sense of the 
 word there are, and in the otner there are not, as the pis- 
 ton rod takes up some of the space in one end of the cyl- 
 inder, therefore there is not the same area in one end as 
 in the other. 
 
 Qu s. What is a governor or an engine for? Ans. It is 
 to regulate the steam that passes from the boiler to the 
 steari chest, when the throttle is wide open. 
 " Ques. How does it work? Ans. It is regulated to al- 
 low the engine to run at a certain speed. The governor 
 has a belt from the main shaft to a pulley (13) on the 
 governor. After the engine is running up to the speed it 
 is intended to, it allows only enough steam to enter 
 through the governor valve to keep up the same speed; if 
 the engine needs more'power it begins to slack up^ the 
 governor balls drop, the valve opens and allows more 
 steam to enter; consequently, the engine must retain its 
 speed; and if the load is taken off it will start to run 
 awav, the governor balls will rise, and force the valve 
 shut, and cut off the steam; consequently the engine 
 must come back to its regular speed. 
 
 Ques. Are there other makes of governors? Ans. Yes, 
 the Automatic Governor. 
 
 Ques, What is a lubricator? Ans. A lubricator is an 
 appliance for holding oil, lo be d stibuted into the valve 
 chest and cylinder, to prevent cutting. 
 
 Ques. How is it operated? Ans. It is operated by steam 
 fo-cing the oil out of the lubricator into the steam pipe. 
 
41 
 
 DIRECTIONS. 
 
 How to apply.— First, drill 
 and tap the steam pipe above 
 the throttle with >^ or X i^ich 
 gas tap as may be required to 
 receive the oil discharge pipe. 
 Then tap the steam pipe three 
 feet or more above the top of 
 the condensing chamber a-s may 
 be required, using % inch gas 
 pipe for steam connecting tube, 
 which attach to top of condens- 
 er. If, for any reason, the steam 
 pipe can not be tapped three 
 feet or more above the condens- 
 ing chamber, it may be tapped 
 lower down and the tube of re- 
 quired length may be bent or 
 coiled. 
 
 Description of the Sectional cut; 
 P- is the condensed water pipe. 
 S. is the oil pipe. 
 
 How to fill and operate. — Close valves D and K, open 
 valve G, draw off the water, close valve G and fill with 
 oil . First, open valve D, then regulate the flow of oil 
 with valve E. 
 
 In case of strong pulsation, valve N to be partially 
 closed until oil feeds steadily; same to be closed in case 
 of breaking feed glass. 
 
 Before starting the cup, time should be allowed for 
 sight-feed glass and condensing chamber to fill with wa- 
 ter by condensation . 
 
42 
 
 When there is danger from freezing, when not in usy 
 valves D, G and E should be left open. 
 
 DESCRIPTION. 
 
 A — Oil Reservoir. 
 
 B— Steam Pipe. 
 
 C— Oil Filler. 
 
 D— Water Feed Valve. 
 
 E — Valve to regulate 
 flow of oil. 
 
 FF — Steam Tube and 
 condensing cham- 
 ber. 
 
 G— Drain Valve to 
 draw off water to 
 prevent freezing 
 etc. 
 
 H— S'gbtFeed Glass. 
 
 J — Cilass Indicator. 
 
 K--Oil Discharge pipe. 
 
 -N_Valve to correct 
 pulsation or un- 
 steadiness in feed. 
 
 O— Vent. 
 
 POUNDING ENGINES. 
 
 SOME OE THE CAUSES THAT LEAD TO THIS TROUBI^E. 
 
 Since engines of high speed and short stroke have come 
 into general use, it is not uncommon to find many of them 
 quite noisy. The engineer in charge of a smoothly run- 
 ning engine takes great pride in showing it, but when a 
 
43 
 
 click or pouudiiig is heard, he naturally feels that these 
 defects reflect upon his skill, and whether alone or in the 
 presence of visitors, it is a constant source of annoyance. 
 Many hours of overwork for which he makes no charge, 
 are emph yed in trying to locate the caiise of these noises, 
 which to outsiders are of no consequence, but to his ear 
 become almost unbearable. Sometimes, when the main 
 belt is off, the engine runs so smoothly he fancies the 
 trouble has been reached, but in the morning when the 
 machinery is set to work the exasperating pounding be- 
 gins, and to aggravate the case, boxes that formerly had 
 given no trouble, begin to heat from being too closely ad- 
 justed. 
 
 There are few, perhaps, outside of the engineering pro- 
 fession who know how perplexing a thud, or pounding in 
 an engine becomes. Goto the cylinder and it seems to 
 be there; stind at the crank and the noise is there. The 
 sensitive ear of the engnieer can hear nothing else, and 
 its continuance affects both mind and bodj^ in a way that 
 is hard to explain. 
 
 It would be as easy to prescribe one remedy for all 
 cases of dyspepsia, as to give a rule for finding the causes 
 of pounding in an engine . It is well known that a want of 
 
 PROPER AI.IGNMENT 
 is one of the most common causes, and every engineer 
 worthy of the name should be able lo adjust the working 
 parts of an engine to a line. Aside from imperfect work- 
 manship in the erection of an engine, there are other caus- 
 es of pounding to which we may call attention, the obscu- 
 rity of some of these, may cause them to be overlooked. 
 Wrist-pins in both cranks and cross-heads naturally wear 
 unevenly, and these defects are frequently allowed to go 
 on until the boxes will become quite loose at the dead 
 centers, and tight at the quarter centers. Calipers ap= 
 
44 
 
 plied to the wrists will detect these defects. Another de- 
 fect ill wrist-pins, not so easily detected, is faulty work- 
 manship, the wris's not being placed squarely in the crank 
 or cross head. A good spirit level will detect the slight- 
 est deviation in this and may be applied as follows: Dis- 
 connect the rod from the cross head and tighten it tj the 
 crank pin so it may turn, but not vibrate sidewise; place 
 the rod in a position to move freely as the crank is turned; 
 attach a spirit level to the rod with a clamp and in line 
 with the main shaft. It matters not whether the main 
 shaft be leveled. The position of the bulb in level should 
 not charge when the crank is revolved. But if the wrist 
 pin is not set square! 3% the level will be tipped from side 
 to side, as the crank revolves, and the places the bulb oc- 
 cupies at different points in the revolution will indicate 
 the direction the wrist takes from that of a correct posi- 
 tion. It will be readily seen that this tej^t detects the 
 slightest discrepancy, as the deviation is doubled by this 
 reversing of the position of the wrist in its revolution. It 
 may be a matter of surprise in thus examining wrist-pins, 
 to find how many there are that are not set 
 
 PERFECTI.Y SQUARE. 
 
 The power of such a wrist to strain, and open its boxes 
 is almost unlimited and most seriously affect the running 
 of an engine. 
 
 Another fruitful cause of unsteady motion and noise in 
 the running of an engine, is improperly balanced cranks. 
 Much has been written on this {.abject, so we will leave it 
 l)y merely saying that a disk cuank, in order to hold the 
 proper amount of balance, should be several inches larger 
 than is needed for the stroke of the engine. This we 
 learned a number of years ago, and have siace seen that 
 many builders of high speed engines have adopted this 
 plan. 
 
45 
 
 Pounding is sometimes aggravated, or in fact produced, 
 by improperly proportioned valves. Especially is this so 
 when engines have high speed and heavy reciprocatiug 
 parts. The questions involved are of vital impoitance in 
 Vhe construction of a good and economical engine, but 
 they are too intricate to be treated here. The one feature 
 lo which we call attention is that of the cushion. This i= 
 to confine enough exhaust steam in the cylinder at the 
 termination of each stroke to form a spriug as it were, to 
 receive the impact of the piston as it is brought to a stop, 
 [f this force is not spent on such a spring, it evidently 
 falls on the boxes in the rod and main shaft. If such 
 faults as these exist, they may never come to notice, but 
 if thej' should, the engineer has no remedy, unless it be 
 by patching the old valves, or introducing a new one. So 
 he is not always to be censured when his engine does not 
 run smoothlv, for these defects may indeed be chronic 
 and have their origin in the designing room or in the 
 workshop. 
 
 Ques. What is the best way to get a Hue shaft in line 
 without taking the shaft out? Ans. iThe best way is to 
 use specially prepared instruments, but in absence of 
 these a very good way is to run a line along, say 8 inches 
 to one side of the shaft and paralled to its centre; then by 
 the use of an ordinary level bring the shaft up level, and 
 for side alignment use a piece of wood with one end 
 formed to fit the shaft and the other brought to a point. 
 By placing the curved end against the shaft and bringiu^" 
 the shaft so that the pointed end of the stick will just 
 touch the line along its entire length will secure a nicely 
 running shaft provided that the couplings are bored outiji 
 line. Very often a poorly lifted shaft in the coupler is 
 the cause of a badly ranniag shaft, requiring extra pow- 
 er to drive it and no amount of lining up v^ll remedy the 
 evil. 
 
46 
 
 LINING AN ENGINE. 
 
 Ques. How would you Hue up an engine ? Ans. By 
 stripping the engine, take ofi both cylinder heads, if con- 
 venient; then take out the follower head, piston rings, 
 bull-ring ; disconnect the piston from the cross-head; also 
 disconnect the connecting rod from the cross-head and 
 the crank pin; then take a slotted stick and place it on 
 one of the studs on the end of cylinder furthest from the 
 crank, then draw a fine sea-grass line over the stick and 
 through the centre of cylinder, and attach it to an up- 
 right stick at the other end of the bed-plate, nailed to 
 the floor or clamped to the bed-plate; then take a thin 
 stick, (like a lead pencil) the length of it being a half 
 inch less than half the diameter of cylinder, and stick a 
 pin in each end of the stick, so they can be forced in or 
 drawn out to suit the adjustment; then centre the line at 
 each end of the cylinder at the counter-bore from four 
 sides. Never centre the line in the stuffing box where 
 the piston passes through, but use the inside counter bore 
 under all circumstances, whether* you can remove the 
 back cylinder head or not. Some engine cylinder heads 
 and frames are one; consequently, the head can not and 
 must not be moved. 
 
 Ques. If one counter-bore was larger than the other 
 what should be done ? Ans. Centre it accordingly, by us- 
 ing two centering sticl^s. 
 
 Ques. Why is the counter-bore used ? Ans. Because 
 the counter-bore is the only true bore the cylinder has 
 that is not worn; consequently, all engineers and ma- 
 «hinists must be governed by it in lining. 
 
47 
 
 Ques. Wliat is a counter-bore ? Ans. A counter-bore 
 is each end of the cylinder bored from one sixteenth to 
 one fourth of an inch larger, from i to 5 inches long, ac- 
 cording to the size and length of the C3'linder. 
 
 Oues. Of what use is a counter-bore ? Ans.. To keep 
 the piston from wearing a shoulder in the cylinder at each 
 end. 
 
 Ones. Why is it that the counter-bore prevents the 
 piston from wearing a shoulder in the cylinder ? Ans. 
 Because the piston rings just pass over the edge of the 
 regular bore, and by so doing no shoulder can be formed 
 in the cylinder. 
 
 Ones. How are cylinders bored ? Ans. They are gen- 
 erally bored on a regular cylinder boring lathe, which 
 has a table that can be raised or lowered to suit. The 
 regular bore is first bored, then the counter-bore, then 
 the two faces for the heads. 
 
 Ones. How is a shaft squared when the line is cen- 
 trally through the cylinder ? Ans. By moving the crank- 
 pin down to the line and seeing where the line touches 
 the crank-pin between the two shoulders, then move the 
 pin over to the other dead center, and see how it comes; 
 if equal, the shaft is square. 
 
 Ones. If it was out of square ]4- of an inch, what 
 should be done ? Ans. Moi^e the out end pillow-block 
 (or tail block.) 
 
 Ques. Why not move the head-block ? Ans. Because 
 it would alter the length of the connecting-rod, and be 
 liable to knock out a cylinder-head. 
 
 Ques. How would you level a shaft ? Ans. A shaft 
 is leveled by a spirit level, or a plumb-line dropped past 
 close to the line that comes through the cylinder directly 
 m front of the center of shaft; let it drop in a bucket of 
 
4« 
 
 water to keep the plumb-bob from swaying around; then 
 try the crank pin at both half strokes (the same principle 
 as in squaring), top and bottom, and see how the crank 
 pin feels the line ; if equal, the shaft is level. 
 
 Ques. If the shaft was out of level, what should be 
 done ? Ans. Simply thin or thicken the brasses, or bab- 
 bitt the main pillow and out block bearings, whichever 
 the case may be. 
 
 Ques. How is it known if the center of the shaft is in 
 line with the line through the cylinder ? Ans. it can be 
 found out by placing a two-foot steel square against the 
 crank face, under the line through the cylinder, so that 
 the heel of the square is at the center of the shaft, and 
 see how the square touches Ihe line; if it touches ex- 
 actly, the shaft is in line ; if too hard, the shaft is too 
 high ; if not at all, the shaft is too low. 
 
 Ques. How is the shaft raised? Ans. There are 
 various ways: by liners, babbitt, heavier or lighter brasses. 
 
 Ques. If the crank was oval and a square was put 
 against it, would that be right ? Ans. A spirit level could 
 be placed on the square and bring it level, or drop a 
 plumb-line, and put the end of the square against the 
 crank-shaft center, and let it come against the plumb-line. 
 This is a very true way. 
 
 Ques. Now, after the shaft is in line, square and level, 
 and is still out over the line % of an inch, how could it 
 be remedied ? Ans. Simply take it off the crank pin 
 brasses and fill in the other side with a brass ring, or 
 babbitt the side edge of brasses; in some cases the sides 
 of the connecting rod has to be chipped to allow it to 
 pass free of the crank-face. 
 
 Ques. Why could it not be taken off the wrist-pin 
 grasses in the cross head ? Ans. Because the rod would 
 
49 
 
 then be out of the center of the cross-head and have* 
 tendency to bind the piston in the cylinder and the 
 cross-head in the guides, consequently cutting both. 
 
 Ques. Would it not make a diflference at the other end 
 of the rod ? Ans. No, the closer the crank face the bet- 
 ter it would be. 
 
 Ques. Now what should be done ? Ans. Level and 
 line the guid es by putting them in their place, and line 
 them with a pair of calipers, by calipering them at both 
 ends to get < Uem in line with the line through the cylin- 
 der, atler h^^ving found the distance between the side of 
 the cross-bettd and the center of the cross-head where the 
 piston enters the cross-head. Level by spirit level, first 
 taking spirit level and trying it in cylinder, if a new one, 
 or on top ot the cylinder %/here it has been planed off 
 when first bored, for they are the only things to go by. 
 
 Ques. Could the valve seat be used to level by ? Ans. 
 No, but tilongside of it, where the steam chest rests on. 
 
 Que.'i. If you had no spirit level, how would you doit? 
 Ans. With a plumb-line, by placing a square lengthwise 
 on the guides, and try them by bringing the square 
 against the line 
 
 Que**. If no two-foot square could be had, how could 
 one be layed off" Ans. Take a pair of dividers, draw a 
 circle, then find four points on the circle, scribe lines from 
 point to point, which gives a square. This should be 
 done very accurately, or 6,-8 and lo a triangle. 
 
 Ques. Explain the use and figures on a steel square ? 
 Ans. The standard steel square has a blade 24 inches 
 long and 2 inches wide, and a tongue from 14 to 18 inches 
 long and 1% inches wide. The blade is exactly at right 
 angles with the tongue, and the angle formed by them 
 n*i exact right angle, or square corner. A proper square 
 
50 
 
 should have the ordinary divisions of inches, half inches, 
 quarters and eighths, and often sixteenths and thirty* 
 seconds. Another portion of the square is divided into 
 twelfths of an inch; this portion is simply a scale of 12 feet 
 to an inch, used for any purpose, as measuring scale, 
 drawing, etc. The diagonal scale on the tongue near the 
 blade, often found on squares, is thus termed from its 
 diagonal lines. However, the proper term is centesimal 
 scale, for the reason that by it a unit may be divided into 
 100 equal parts, and therefore any number to the looth 
 part of a unit may be expressed. In this scale A B is one 
 inch; then if it be required to take 73-100 inches, set one 
 foot of the compass in the third parallel under one at E, 
 extend the other foot to the seventh diagonal in that 
 parallel at G, and the distance between B G is that re- 
 quired, for K I^ is one inch and P' G 72 parts of an inch. 
 
 Upon one side of the blade of the square, running par- 
 allel with the length, will be found nine lines, divided at 
 interval? of one inch into sections or spaces by cross 
 lines. This is the plank, board and scantling measure. 
 On each side of the cross lines referred to are figures, 
 sometimes on one side of the cross line and often spread 
 over the line thus: i | 4 — 9 | . We will suppose we have 
 a board 12 feet long and 6 inches wide. Looking on the 
 outer edge of the blade we will find 12; between the fifth 
 ana ^^*xth lines, under 12, will be found 12 again; this is 
 the lengiii -^fthe board. Now follow the space along 
 towards the xkj^^ ^-"e till we come to the cross line under 6 
 (on the edge of the ►.'^de), this being the width of the 
 board; In this space will u? found the figure 6 again, 
 which is the answer in board mcci?ure, viz., six feet. 
 
 On some squares will be fouud on one side of the blade 
 9 lines, and crossing these lines diagonally to the right 
 
are rows of figures, as seven is, seven 2s, seven 3s, etc. 
 THs is another style of board measure and gives the feet 
 in a board according to its length and width. 
 
 In the center of the tongue will generally be found 
 two parallel- lines, half an inch apart, with figures be- 
 tween them; this is termed the Brace Rule. Near the ex- 
 treme end of the tongue will be found 24-24 and to the 
 right of these 33-95. The 24-24 indicate the two sides of a 
 right-angle-triangle, while the length of the brace is 
 indicated by 33-95. This will explain the use of any 
 of the figures in the brace rule. On the opposite 
 side of the tongue from the brace rule will generally be 
 found the octagon scale, situated between two central 
 paralell lines. This space is divided into intervals and 
 numbered thus: 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60. Suppose it be- 
 comes necessary to describe an octagon ten inches 
 square; draw a square ten inches each way and bisect the 
 square with a horizontal and perpendicular center line. 
 To find the length of the octagon line, place one point of 
 the compasses on any of the main divisions or the scale 
 and the other leg or point on the tenth subdivision. This 
 length being measured off on, each side of center lines, 
 touching the line of the octagon will give the points from 
 which to draw the octagonal lines. The size of the octa- 
 gon must equal the number of spaces taken off from 
 the tongue by the compasses. 
 
 Ques. Can a plumb-line hangout of true? Ans. It can 
 not, provided it hangs clear of everything. If none ol 
 
these were handy, a straight edge must be placed across 
 the guides at one end, and see if the guides touch the 
 straight edge equally at both edges, then caliper the 
 distance between the line and the straight edge, also 
 at the other end of the guides ;if the same, the guides are 
 level lengthwise with the cylinder and line; then level 
 the guides crosswise with a plumb-line and square. 
 
 Ques. How is the measure of the connecting rod of an 
 engine found? Ans. By finding the striking points. 
 
 Ques. How is that done? Ans. By shoving the pis- 
 ton and cross-head up against the cylinder-head, and 
 making a mark on the guides at one end of the cross- 
 head with a scriber and center-punch; then move the 
 piston and cross-head back to the other cylinder-head 
 and make another mark on the guide at the same 
 end of the cross-head; then measure from the center 
 of the crank-pin to center of the shaft: that gives the 
 half-stroke; double this, gives the full stroke. If half- 
 stroke is 12 inches, the full-stroke is 54 inches; then if the 
 distance between the two striking points is 25 inches, 
 add the stroke 24 inches, the clearance between the cyl- 
 inder-head and piston-head will be Yz inch when the 
 piston is at either end of the cylinder. Then move the 
 cross-head Yz inch back from the striking point, and 
 bring the crank-pin toward the same dead center; then 
 tak« a tram and measure from the uutside center of crank- 
 pin to the outside center of wrist pin in cross-hearl, 
 
53 
 
 which will give the proper length of the connecting-rod, 
 also the right division of clearance. 
 
 Ques. What is meant by the clearance in cylinders ? 
 Ans. It is the unoccupied space between the piston-head 
 cylinder-head and valve-face, when the crank-pin is at 
 either dead center. 
 
 Ques. Does the amount of clearance affect the engine ' s 
 economy? Ans. Yes, it does. 
 
 Ques. How much clearance should there be between 
 the piston and cylinder-head ? Ans. It depends upon 
 t^ie size; Some have from X to J^ of an inch. 
 
 Ques. What is formed in that space or clearance when 
 nmning? Ans. A cushion. 
 
 Ques. What is a cushion ? Ans. A cushion means 
 the steam that enters the cylinder through the lead the 
 valve has, and the resistance it makes on the piston-head 
 cylinder-head and valve-face as the engine is reaching 
 the dead-center. 
 
 Ques. What is the cushion for ? Ans. It is to catch 
 the piston and weight of the machinery as it reaches the 
 dead-center. 
 
 Ques. How is the connecting-rod shortened or length- 
 ened ? Ans. By placing tin or sheet iron liners between 
 the brasses and stud-ends of the connecting-rod. 
 
 Ques. Now, if the key had to be raised, how could 
 this be done ? Ans. By putting liners between the straps 
 and brasses. 
 
 Ques. Would that not altar the length of the rod ? 
 Ans. No. 
 
 Ques. With what tool is a connecting-rod measured ? 
 Ans. It is called a " tram." 
 
 Ques. With what is an engine packed in the stuffing- 
 box ? Ans. Some engineers use hemp, others use black 
 
54 
 
 lead packing, and others use lead rings or metallic pack- 
 ing; there are several kinds. Every engineer to his own 
 taste. 
 
 VALVE MOTION. 
 
 Ques. What is an eccentric ? Ans. An eccentric is a 
 subterfuge for a crank; it is anything out of center. 
 
 Ques. How is the throw or stroke of an eccentric de- 
 termined ? Ans. By measuring the heavy and the light 
 side; the difference between the two is the stroke or 
 throw. 
 
 Ques. What throw should a common slide valve en- 
 gine eccentric have ? Ans. Generally double the width 
 of the entry or steam ports. 
 
 Ques. What is a cam ? Ans. A cam has no definite 
 meaning; it has i, 2, 3 or 4 motions; they are used on 
 poppet valve engines, used on high pressure river steam- 
 boats. 
 
 Ques. How are the valves and eccentric rods of an 
 engine found ? Ans. By placing the crank pin at its 
 dead-center, the center of the eccentric straight or plimib 
 above the center of the shaft, the rocker-arm perpendic- 
 ular, and the valve covering both parts equally; then 
 take a tram and measure from the center of the eccentric 
 to the center of the pin where the eccentric rod hooks on 
 (generally the lower pin) for the eccentric rod. and from 
 the outside center of ttie pin where the valve rod is at- 
 tached to the furthermost end of the valve allowing for 
 two nuts at each end of the valve, called adjusting and 
 jamb nuts. 
 
 Ques. How is an eccentric brought plumb ? Ans. By 
 dropping two plimib lines, one at each side of the shaft, 
 and half the space between the two lines will be where 
 the center of the eccentric should stand, with heavy side 
 up. 
 
55 
 
 Ques. What kind of a tool is used to find the exact 
 center? Ans. A pair of hermaphrodite calipers, one 
 le, of which has a sharp point and the other leg has a 
 short foot, so as to feel the line. 
 
 Ques. What does an eccentric rod consist of?. Ans. 
 An eccentric i od consists of a strap, yoke, rod and two 
 nuts; when taking the measure, couple the yoke and the 
 strap toget,:er, then put a half-inch thick piece of wood 
 between the two straps and find the center of the circle 
 from four sides, with a pair of hermaphrodite calipers, 
 then put the rod in the yoke and adjust it to the proper 
 length by the two nuts; if that will not do, the rod must 
 be shortened or lengthened, by cutting out or adding a 
 piece, whichever the case may be. Then take the meas- 
 ure with a tram from the center of the straps to the cen- 
 ter of the rod where the rod hooks on lower rocker-arm 
 pin. 
 
 Ques. How long is the thread on a valve-rc>d ? Ans. 
 Long enough to allow two nuts at each end of the valve, 
 and space for adjustment. 
 
 Ques. Now, if the rocker-arm stood at a quarter, and 
 the eccentric out of plumb, how could the measure for 
 the rods be taken? Ans. Simply bring them plumb 
 and take the measure; that is the only right way. 
 
 Ques. After measuring the rods what should be done ? 
 Ans. They should be put on and the valve set. 
 
 Ques. How is a valve set after the connections are 
 made? Ans. Move eccentric in the direction the en- 
 gine is to run, until the valve begins to take steam or 
 lead, then tighten the eccentric temporarily with the set 
 screws, then move the crank-pin over to the other dead 
 center, and see how much lead the valve has; if equal, 
 the valve is set. 
 
5« 
 
 Ques. What is meant by the lead of the valve ? Ans. 
 The opening the valve has when the piston is at the be- 
 ginning of its stroke. 
 
 Ques. What lead should a large engine have ? Ans. 
 About 1-16 of an inch. High speed engines must have a 
 quick opening or good lead. 
 
 Qnes. Now if you find the valve laps out )i of an inch 
 on one end, and the proper lead on the other, what 
 would you do ? Ans. Divide the difference, by moving 
 the valve one-half it is out, by adjusting the valve-gear. 
 
 Ques. How much ? Ans. The valve has 1-16 of an 
 inch lead at one end and laps ^ of an inch at the other 
 end; the valve is out 7-16 of an inch; then the valve 
 must be adjusted by the nuts one-half it is out, making 
 7-32 of an inch. Then throw the crank on the other 
 dead center, move the eccentric whichever way will 
 bring the valve Dack to 1-16 of an inch lead, then tighten 
 temporarily with the set screws, throw the crank over on 
 the other dead center, and the valve will be set. After 
 the valve is set, tighten the eccentric for good. 
 
 Ques. Butifitisnot set, what would you do? Ans. 
 Go through the same performance until it is set. Some 
 valve-rods have a yoke that slips over the valve, while 
 the adjusting and jam-nuts are between the stuffing box 
 and the rocker-arm pin. When a valve-rod has no nuts, 
 the adjusting must be done at the eccentric-rod. 
 
 Ques. How is the stroke of the valve-rod shortened or 
 lengthened ? Ans. To lengthen or shorten the stroke of 
 the valve-rod, raise or lower the eccentric-rod pin in the 
 slot, at the bottom of the rocker-arm, whichever way 
 suits the circumstances. 
 
 Ques. Supposing the valve had to be set in a hurry, how 
 could it be done without seeing the valve ? Ans. Sim- 
 ply set the valve by the cylinder cocks. 
 
57 
 
 Ques. Now after having set the valve, keyed every- 
 thing up properly, and there was a thud or dead sound in 
 the engine or cylinder, where would the trouble most 
 likely be ? Ans. In the exhaust being choked. The 
 steam chest cover should be taken off, then uncouple the 
 valve, turn the valve up sideways and move it until the 
 steam edge has the proper lead with the steam-port, then 
 place a square on the valve-seat of the cylinder, and 
 against the valve-face, to see how the exhaust head on 
 the opposite steam-port corresponds. If it is choked, then 
 scribe it by allowing a little over double the steam lead. 
 
 Ques. How is the exhaust made larger in common 
 slide valve engines ? Ans. By chipping out the exhaust 
 cavity in the valve, and rubbing a file over it to smooth it. 
 
 Ques. Is a little over double the steam-lead sufficient 
 for the exhaust ? Ans. Yes ; if not, take out a little 
 more. 
 
 Ques. Where should the exhaust be ? Ans. It should 
 be the furthest from the steam port that is receiving. 
 
 Ques. What amount of lap should the valve have to 
 cut off steam at a given point of the stroke of the engine? 
 Ans. Srnpi ose the valve is to cut off steam at ^ of the 
 stroke of the engine ; the piston should be moved ^ of 
 its stroke, th^n see how much opening the valve has; as 
 much opening as the valve has, is the amount of lap re- 
 quired to be added to the valve in order to cut off steam at 
 f^ of engine stroke. This rule answers for all cut offs. 
 
 Ques. What should be done in case the eccentric 
 slipped around on the shaft ? Ans. Set the valve the 
 same as before. 
 
 Ques. Is the principle of valve setting the same on 
 all engines ? Ans. Yes, the principle is the same. 
 
 Ques. How is the dead center of an engine found ? 
 
5S 
 
 Ans. By placing a spirit level on the strap that goes 
 around the brasses that connect the crank-pin to the 
 connecting-rod, and when it is level the crank is at a 
 dead center. If the engine is not level, then use an ad- 
 justable level. 
 
 Ques. By what other way is the dead center of an en- 
 gine found ? By moving the engine toward the dead 
 center until the cross-head stopped moving; then put a 
 center punch mark in the floor, and one on the fly-wheel, 
 after having marked it with a tram; then move the crank 
 over the center until the cross-head begins to move, then 
 put another mark; the middle between the two marks is 
 the exact dead center; then bring the middle mark to 
 the point of the tram; this is done with a small tram 
 with one straight point and a short foot. 
 
 Ones. If the engine had to be run in the opposite di- 
 rection to which it had been running, how could it be 
 done ? Ans, It could be done by placing the crank- pin 
 on the dead center, removing the steam -chest cover, and 
 turning the eccentric over on the shaft in the opposite 
 direction, until the valve has the proper lead at the op- 
 posite port, then try the engine from dead center to 
 dead center, to equalize the lead at both ends of the 
 valve; then the engine will run in the opposite direction. 
 
 Ques. Does a crank -pin and piston travel the same 
 distance? Ans. No, a crank-pin travels 1.1416 times 
 further than the piston each revolution, or 0.5707 times 
 further each stroke. For example, take an engine with 
 a 12-inch stroke, the piston travels 24 inches and the 
 crank pin 37.6992 inches each revolution, or the piston 
 travels 12 inches each stoke and the crank-pin 18.8496 
 per single stroke of piston. To do this, multiply the 
 single stroke by one-half of 3.1416, which is 1,5708, and 
 the answer will be the distance the crank-pin travels fur- 
 
59 
 
 ther than the piston per single stroke. This rule an* 
 swers for all engines. Another fact, not generally known 
 by many men is that a crank of an engine, at two certain 
 points travels a long distance while the motion of the 
 cross-head is hardly noticed. When the center of the 
 crank-shaft and crank-pin are in a line with the piston- 
 rod, no steam pressure applied to either side of the piston 
 can set the engine in motion; this is called the dead 
 center. 
 
 Ques. Is the piston -head in the center of the cylinder 
 when the centers of the crank-pin and crank-shaft are 
 plumb, or in right angles with the cylinder ? Ans. No, 
 under no circumstances. 
 
 Ques. What is a revolution ? Ans. It means that the 
 crank has turned once around, or made a circle. 
 
 Ques. How many strokes has a revolution ? Ans. 
 Two to each revolution. 
 
 Ques. If an engine has 36 inches stroke, and makes 
 80 revolutions per minute, how many feet does it travel 
 in a minute ? Ans. 36 inches multiplied by 2 equals 72 
 inches, this multiplied by 80 revolutions equals 5760 
 inches, which divided by 12 equals 480 feet per minute, 
 
 Ques. If asked the horse power of any sized engine, 
 could you tell it ? Ans. Yes. 
 
 Ques. Well, how would you go about it, and what is a 
 horse power ? Ans. A horse power is 33,000 pounds 
 raised i foot high in i minute, or 150 pounds raised 220 
 feet high in one minute. To find the horse power of any 
 engine, first find the area of the piston-head face, then 
 multiply the answer by the average pounds pressure per 
 square inch in cylinder, then multiply by the number of 
 feet traveled in i minute, and divide by 33,000. 
 
6o 
 
 Cylinder 12 x 24 in. 
 65 revolutions. 
 
 Average pressure 40 lbs. 
 
 Note. — The mean or 
 average pressure in the 
 cylinder is less than the 
 pressure in the boiler, 
 since the entrance of 
 steam to cylinder s cut 
 off before the stroke is 
 completed. Hence the 
 steam in the cylinder 
 will expand and con- 
 sequently diminish in 
 pressure towards the 
 end of each stroke. 
 Generally allow about 
 J^ the boiler pressure 
 in figuring the H. P. 
 
 EXAMPLE: 
 
 12 
 
 12 
 
 lbs. 144 
 
 .7854 
 
 diam. of cylinder, 
 sq. of diameter. 
 
 113.0976 area op p. h. face. 
 40 averag pressure in 
 
 the cylinder. 
 
 4523.9040 
 
 260 No. ft. trav. by p. 
 
 33000)1176215.0400(35.9428 I. H. P. 
 A HORSE^S POWER. 
 
 MECHANICAI< INTERPRETATION OI? THIS UNIT OF 
 MEASURE. 
 
 The question is often asked: What constitutes a horse- 
 power It is generally known to be a unit of measure as 
 applied to steam, water, electricity, or any other energy 
 that can be converted into useful effect. Yet the means 
 employed for giving definiteness to the expression are 
 not so generally understood. The term, doubtless, came 
 into use with the introduction of the steam engine^ and 
 a mechanical equivalent has been universally accepted, 
 which is expressed in foot-pounds, that is to say, 33,000 
 lbs. raised one foot in a minute, constitute one horsS' 
 power. 
 
6i 
 
 To those not fkmiliar with the principles of mechanics 
 this may not be intelligible. Some simple examples and 
 illustrations may, therefore, be allowable. Force or 
 weight, and motion are inseparable in estimating the 
 power which a moving body may exert, and these two 
 factors, being equal in value, their order may be reversed 
 without affecting the result. For example, one pound 
 raised 33,000 feet in a minute represents a horse power 
 as perfectly as if the feet were pounds, as in the first rule 
 given, the power being better suited to the calculation of 
 the power of steam, on account of its great force. 
 
 We will first compare the rule with the actual powers 
 of a horse, and thee apply it to the steam engine, for 
 which it has been established. The usual traveling gait 
 of a horse, hitched to a light vehicle, is about five miles 
 an hour, or 440 feet per minute. Now, if we attach a 
 scale to the singletree we may note the amount of power 
 the horse is exerting. Assuming this to be 75 lbs. the 
 product of the speed per minute, 440 by 75, gives us 33,- 
 000, which in dynamics, is called foot-pounds, and rep- 
 resents a horse-power. 
 
 In applying this to a steam engine we have first to de- 
 termine the area of the piston, that is, the number of 
 square inches it contains; and next, the average pressure 
 of steam applied to it, which is termed the mean effective 
 pressure. The steam gauge at boiler gives no evidence 
 of what this may be but an instrument called an indicator 
 attached to a cylinder, gives it exactly, and it is often a 
 matter of surprise to find only 20 or 30 lbs. per square 
 inch, when the steam in the boiler is held at 80 and 90 
 ibs. Practice with this instrument has also shown that 
 when ordinary slide valve engines are worked to their 
 maximum capacities, the average pressure on the piston 
 isonly about half that of the boiler pressure, and if by 
 
62 
 
 retson of a short valve, the average pressure is increased, 
 it is done at a great sacrifice in the 
 
 ECONOMY OF STEAM. 
 
 We speak of this curtailment of pressure because so 
 many In applying the rules we are about to give, assume 
 too high a pressure in estimating the power of their en- 
 gines. The next step in the calculation is to determine the 
 speed of the piston when the engine is at its regular 
 work. We will take an engine of 20^'' stroke, making 
 150 revolutions per minute. The piston travels \o'' or 
 3^ feet at each turn. The piston speed is therefore 500 
 feet per minute. We inow have all data necessary for 
 the calculation, except the average piston pressure, which 
 we will assume to be 30 lbs. on a 10 inch piston. The 
 area of this is 78.54 square inches. The formula, then 
 will stand thus. 
 
 30X78.54X500 
 = 35.7 H. P. 
 
 33,000 
 
 It will be seen that the total pressure on the piston is 
 23.56.2 lbs., which, moving at the rate of 500 feet per 
 minute, make 1. 178.100 foot-pounds, and every 33,000 of 
 these is a horse power Hence, to divide by 33,000 gives 
 us 35.7 H. P. 
 
 It is sometimes found convenient to omit the first fac- 
 tor of pressure and make this a unit. We then get the 
 H. P. of the engine for one pound to the inch, which in 
 this case is 1.19 horsepower. We may now multiply 
 this by any number of pounds we may secure. In case it 
 be 30 we have the result 35.7 as before; if 40 lbs. we have 
 46 6 horse-power? 
 
63 
 THE INDICATOR. 
 
 ( Thompson'' s 
 
 The steam engine indicator is an instrument for saow 
 ing the pressure of steam in the cylinder at all poir.xs of 
 the stroke, or for producing actual diagrams. The indi- 
 cator consists of a small cylinder accurately bored out, 
 and fitted with a piston, capable of working in the ( indi- 
 cator) cylinder with little or no friction, and yet be prac- 
 tically steam-tight. The piston has an area of just }4, of 
 a square inch, and its motion in the cylinder is 25-32 of 
 an inch. 
 
64 
 
 The piston-rod is connected to a pair of light levers, so 
 linked together that a pencil carried at the center of the 
 Jink moves in nearly a straight line through a maximum 
 distance of 3^ inches. A spiral spring ^.laced in the 
 cylinder above the piston, and of a strength proportioned 
 to the steam pressure, resists the motion of the piston; 
 and the elasticity of this spring is such that each pound 
 of pressure en the piston causes the pencil to move a cer- 
 tain fractional part of an inch. The pencil in this case is 
 made of a piece of pointed brass wire, which retains its 
 sharpness for a considerable time, and yet makes a well- 
 defined line upon the prepared paper generally used with 
 the indicator. 
 
 The paper is wound around the drum, which has a di- 
 ameter of 2 inches, and is capable of a semi-rotary mo- 
 cion upon its axis to such an extent that the extreme 
 length of diagram may be 5)4 inches. Motion is given to 
 the drum in one direction, during the forward stroke of 
 the engine, by means of a cord connected indirectly to 
 the cross-head of the engine, and the drum is brought 
 back again during the return stroke of the engine by the 
 action of a coiled spring at its base. 
 
 The conical stem of the instrument permits it to be 
 turned around and fixed in any desired position, and the 
 guide-pulleys attached to the instrument under the paper 
 drum may also be moved around so as to bring the cord 
 upon the drum-pulley from any convenient direction. 
 
 The upper side of the piston is open to the atmosphere; 
 the lower side may, by means of a stop-cock, be put into . 
 communication either with the atmosphere or with the 
 engine cylinder. 
 
 When both sides of the piston are pressed upon by the 
 atmosphere, the pencil, on being brought into contact 
 
6$ 
 
 with the moving paper, describes the atmospheric line. 
 When the lower side of the piston is in communication 
 with the engine cjdiuder, the position of the pencil is de- 
 termined by the pressure of the steam existing in the 
 cylinder; and on the pencil being pressed against the 
 paper during a complete double stroke of the engine, the 
 entire iudicat(»r diagram is described. 
 
 In order that the diagram shall be correct, the motion 
 of tlie drum and paper shall coincide exactly with that 
 of the engine piston; second that the position of the pen- 
 cil shall precisely indicate the pressure of steam in the 
 cylinder; third, that the pendulum must be from i}i to 
 3 times as long as the stroke of the engine piston; fourth, 
 that the pendulum must be plumb when the piston is at 
 half-stroke; fifth, that the cord around the drum must be 
 attached to the pendulum at right angles, or square with 
 the indicator; sixth, the pendulum must be attached with 
 an inch wooden pin to the ceiling or floor at one end, the 
 other end to the cross-head by means of a screw bolt in 
 wrist-pin and a slot in the pendulum; seventh, that the 
 two holes tapped in the cylinder are directly opposite the 
 steam ports, and centrally between the piston head and 
 cylinder head, when the engine is at the dead center, or, 
 in other words, in the center of clearance; eighth, that the 
 piping should be as short as possible, and ^z inch pipe if 
 not over i foot long. If longer the pipe should be larger 
 close to the cylinder, and covered so as not to allow too 
 niuch condensation, as it aflfects the diagram. The best 
 fvtiy to take a diagram is to tap a hole in each cylinder- 
 head and take each end separately. The cord must be 
 attached to the pendulum, so the paper drum will move 
 in proportion to the piston. 
 
 An indicator shows the highest and the lowest pressure 
 reached, also the cut-off and lead. If there is a great 
 
66 
 
 difference, say more than 5 pounds, between the boiler 
 pressure and the initial pressure upon the piston, the 
 connecting pipes may ba taken as being too small, too 
 abrupt or the steam ports too contracted. The full pres- 
 sure of steam should come upon the piston at the very be- 
 ginning of its stroke. Should the admission corner be 
 rounded, the valve is wanting in "lead," or, in other 
 words, the port for the admission of steam is uncovered 
 too late in the stroke. 
 
 The steam line shoud be parrallel or straight with the 
 
 atmosjfheric line up to the point of cut-off, or nearly so. 
 
 (the steam line) fall as the piston advances, the 
 
 opening tor the admission of steam is insufficient, and the 
 
 steam is ' * wire-drawn . " 
 
 The f oint of cut off should be sharp and well defined^ 
 should it be otherwise, the valve does not close quick 
 enough. The bevel line leading from the cut-off line to 
 the end of the stroke is called the expansion line. 
 
 Q. Which is the standard indicator ? 
 
 A. The Thompson's improved. 
 
 Q. Are there any other makes ? A. Yes: Richard's, 
 McNought's, Tabor's and others. 
 
 RULES, 
 
 RUI.E) for telling the power of a diagram: Set down the 
 length of the spaces formed by the vertical lines from the 
 base in measurements of a scale accompanying the indi- 
 c^tor,and on which a tenth of an inch usually represents a 
 pound of pressure; add up the total length of all the 
 spaces, which will give the main length, or the main 
 pressure upon the piston in pounds per square inch; to 
 do this, lay a card taken by the indicator off in ten parts, 
 by drawing lines from top to bottom. Find out what the 
 scale is; suppose it is 6oj the number of ordinates 10, and 
 
67 
 
 that the sum of their length is 6 inches; so 6 and lo or- 
 dinates = ()-io or 6 x 6o = 36.0. Ans. 36 pounds pres- 
 sure upon the piston. 
 
 RuivU for finding and deducting friction: Multiply N. 
 H. P. by .13 and subtract the answer from N. H- P.. 
 which gives I. H. P. 
 
 Ques. WhatisN. H. P? Ans. It is nominal horse- 
 power. 
 
 Ques. What is I. H. P ? Ans. It is indicated horse- 
 power. 
 
 Ques. What is meant by cutting off steam at 6 inches ? 
 Ans. It means that the valve closes and cuts off the 
 live steam from the boiler at 6 inches of the piston's 
 travel; then the engine gets its power from the time the 
 valve closes or cuts off until the exhaust opens by the 
 expansion of the steam closed up in the cylinder. 
 
 Standard multiplen*, with examples: 
 
 1. For the Area of a Circle. Multiply sq. of diam. by .7854 
 
 2. ForCircumferenceofa Circle, Multiply diameter by 3.i4it> 
 
 3. For Diameter of a Circle, Multiply the circutn. by .31831 
 
 4. For the Surface of a Ball, Multiply sq. of diam. by 3.1416 
 
 5. For the Cubic Inches in a Ball.Multiply cube of dia. by .5236 
 
 1. RUI.E for finding the area of any circle. Always 
 multiply the diameter by itself, then by .7854, then cut 
 off 4 decimals from the right. 
 
 2. Rui,s for finding the circumference of anything 
 round. Multiply the diameter by 3. 1416, and cut 4 deci- 
 mals. 
 
 3. Rule to find diameter of circle. Multiply circum- 
 ference by .31831. 
 
 EXAMPI.E: The circumference 9.4248 x .31831 = 
 3.000008088 = 3 inches diameter. 
 
 4. RuivE to find the surface of a sphere, globe or balL 
 ExAMPTvE: 9 inches diameter x 9 == 81 x 3.1416=: 
 
 254.4696. 
 
68 
 
 5. Rui#B to find the cubic inches in a ball. Multiply 
 mbe of the diameter by .5^36 the answer equals its solid 
 rontents. 
 
 ExAMPi^K: Ball 3 inches in diameter; 3x3 = 9; 9x3 
 --=:. 27 X .5236 =14. 1372 solid contents. 
 
 Rui<E to find pressure on the crown sheet of a hanging 
 tire-box boiler. Multiply the width by the length in 
 inches, then multiply by steam gauge pressure and di- 
 vide by 2. 
 
 Crown sheet 46 x 33 in. 
 - Pressure 85 lb. 
 
 Iron Yz in. 
 
 EXAMPLE: 
 
 46 
 33 
 
 1518 
 85 
 
 If iron is % in. div. by \. 2)129030 
 Ifiron is )i in. div. by 2.65 2000)64515 lbs. pressure. 
 
 32.257 tons " 
 
 RuiyE to find how much water a boiler will contain. 
 For a 2-flue boiler, y^ full of water, find ^ of the area ol 
 the boiler in inches inside; multiply by length in inches; 
 then find the area of flues, thickness of iron added; then 
 \nultiply by 2, iftwo flues; multiply by length in inches, 
 subtract area of flues from ^ contents and divide by 231 
 (number cubic inches in a standard gallon); the answer 
 will be the number of U. S. gallons. 
 
59 
 
 
 
 EXAMPLE: 
 
 Boiler 48 inches. 
 Two flues, 16 in. 
 
 each. 
 
 48 
 48 
 
 Length 20 feet. 
 16 
 
 
 2304 
 
 .7854 
 
 16 
 
 
 3)1809.5616 area of Boiler. 
 
 256 
 
 .7854 
 
 23] 
 
 603 . 1872 One-third of area. 
 2 
 
 201.0624 
 2 
 
 1 206 . 3744 Two-thirds of area. 
 240 Length in inches. 
 
 402.1248 
 240 
 
 289529.8560 
 96509.9520 Sub. Area of flues. 
 
 96509.9520 
 
 0193019-9040 
 
 835.5940 No. of Gallons. 
 
 Rule to find the amount of water required, when the 
 average pounds of coal used per hour is known. Divide 
 the coal by 7.5; the answer will be cubic feet; then mul- 
 tiply by 7,5, and that gives the number of U. S. standard" 
 gallons. 
 
 EXAMPLE: 
 117 lbs. of coal used per hour, 7.5)117.0 
 
 15.6 
 7.5 
 
 117.0 xas 117 gals. 
 
 Ques. How many cubic feet in i lb, of air ? Ans. 
 13.817 cubic feet 
 
70 
 
 Ques. How much air does it take to consume i pound 
 of coal ? Ans. It takes 18 pounds, or 248.706 cubic feet. 
 
 Ques. How can you tell the water contents of a tank ? 
 A.ns. Ifthe tank was large at the bottom and narrow 
 at the top, lay the tank off in 10 parts from top to bot- 
 tom, then take the diameter 4-10 from the large end of 
 the tank, square it, then multiply by .7S54; that gives 
 the area; then multiply quotient by full depth of tank 
 and divide by 1728, which gives the number of cubic feet; 
 multiply answer by 7.5, and the number of U. S. gallons 
 will be given. The example must be done in inches; 
 1728 is the number of inches in a cubic foot; and 7.5 is 
 the number of gallons in a cubic foot. 
 
 EXAMPIvE: 
 
 Tank 2 feet diam. 24 inches diameter. 
 Tank 3 feet deep, 24 '' " 
 
 576 
 
 .7854 
 
 452.3904 area in inches. 
 36 inches deep. 
 
 728)16286.0544 
 
 9.4248 cubic feet. 
 
 7.5 No. gals, in a cub. ft. 
 
 70.86000 U. S. gals, in tank. 
 
 KviiU for chimneys. Chimneys should be round 
 instead of square, to insure a good draft. The open- 
 ing should be one-fifth larger than the area of the 
 fluea or tubea combined; if less, the draft will not be 
 
7T 
 
 free. The opening riom the bottom should Increase in 
 size to the top, and be smooth inside. 
 
 Ques. How could the area of any chimney be known 
 for marine or stationary boilers ? Ans. To find the area 
 of chimney required for any boiler, multiply the nominal 
 horse-power of the boiler by 112, and divide the product 
 by the square foot of the height of the chimney in feet. 
 The answer will be the required area iu square inches. 
 For marine boilers th« rule is to allow fourteen square 
 incheaof chimney area for each nominal horse-power. 
 In stationary boilers the chimney area should be one- 
 fifth greater than the combined area of all the tubes or 
 flues. 
 
 Rui,E for making good babbitt metal and solders for 
 high and low speed, in parts. 
 
 COMPOSITION OF SOLDERS, 
 
 Fine solder is an alloy of two parts of Block Tin and 
 otie part of lead. Glazing Solder is equal parts of Block 
 Tin and Lead. Plumbing Solder, one part block Tin, 
 two parts Lead. 
 
 Soi^DERiNG Fluid : — Take 2 oz. muriatic acid, add 
 zinc till bubbles cease to rise, add yi teaspoonful of sal- 
 ammoniac. 
 
 HIGH SPEED. 
 
 Martin's Nickel. 
 
 Copper 
 
 Antimony 
 
 Tin 
 
 COMMON. 
 
 Copper 
 
 Antimony. 
 Tin 
 
 I MEDIUM. 
 
 12 Copper 
 
 4 Antimony 
 
 84 , Tin 
 
72 
 
 Rui/E for babbitting a box. Nearly every engineer has 
 his own way; but the best and quickest way is to chip 
 out all the old babbitt in the cap and box, then put the 
 journal or shaft that is to run in the box in its place; put 
 enough liners in between the shaft or journal and 
 edge of box until level, square and in line, put thick 
 putty around the shaft and against the box, so the bab- 
 bitt can not run out; then heat the babbitt until it runs 
 free, and pour accordingly; the cap is then bolted in its 
 place upon ^g inch thick liner, and putty placed as be- 
 fore; then pour metal through the oil holes which will 
 have to be drilled out afterwards. 
 
 To Avoid Burning Babbitt Mejtai,: — When melt- 
 ing it for journal bearings, cut part of it into small 
 pieces to cover the bottom of ladle. The block will 
 then be heated evenly instead of being raised to a high 
 temperature at the points of contact with the ladle, 
 which will often become heated to redness before the 
 bulk of the babbitt melts. 
 
 Rule to determine the capacity of any size pump, sin- 
 gle or double action. Multiply the area of the water 
 piston-head face or plunger in inches, by its stroke in in- 
 ches, which gives the number of cubic inches per single 
 stroke; the answer divided by 231 (the cubic inches in a 
 gallon) will give the number of standard gallons per sin- 
 gle stroke. But remember, all pumps throw less water 
 than their capacity, which depends upon the conditon and 
 quality of the pump. This loss arises from the rise and 
 fall of the valves; from a bad fit or leakage, and in some 
 cases from there being too much space between the valves, 
 piston or plunger. The higher the valves have to rise to 
 give the proper opening, the less work the pump will 
 perform. 
 
FRICTION OF WATER IN PIPES. 
 
 I^oss IN Pounds Pressure per Squarb Inch by Frictioi* f«»< 
 EACH One Hundred Feet of Straight Smooth Pipv. 
 
 Gals.i Srz:? O? PIPSJJ. 
 
 
 «jgj- .^ 
 
 Min. I in. 
 
 1% 
 
 2 
 
 2% 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 6 
 
 8 
 
 10 
 
 12 
 
 H 
 
 5 
 
 0.84 
 
 0.12 
 
 
 
 .... 
 
 
 ~ 
 
 '.... 
 
 ~ 
 
 TTTT 
 
 .... 
 
 lO 
 
 3- 16 
 
 0.47 
 
 0.12 
 
 
 .... 
 
 
 .... 
 
 .... 
 
 .... 
 
 .... 
 
 .... 
 
 15 
 
 6.98 
 
 097 
 
 0.27 
 
 .... 
 
 
 . . .. 
 
 .... 
 
 .... 
 
 .... 
 
 .... 
 
 .... 
 
 20 12.3 
 
 166 
 
 0.42 
 
 .... 
 
 
 . . . . 
 
 .... 
 
 .... 
 
 .... 
 
 .... 
 
 
 25 19.0 
 
 2.62 
 
 0.67 
 
 21 
 
 
 
 .... 
 
 .... 
 
 
 .... 
 
 
 30 27.5 
 
 3 75 
 
 0.91 
 
 0.30 
 
 
 
 
 .... 
 
 .... 
 
 .... 
 
 .... 
 
 
 
 35 370 
 
 505 
 
 1.25 
 
 0.42 
 
 0.14 
 
 .. .. 
 
 .... 
 
 .... 
 
 .... 
 
 
 
 40 48. 
 
 6.52 
 
 160 
 
 9-5t 
 
 0.17 
 
 . . .. 
 
 .... 
 
 .... 
 
 .... 
 
 .... 
 
 
 45 
 
 
 8.15 
 
 2.01 
 
 o.6t 
 
 0.27 
 
 .... 
 
 .... 
 
 .... 
 
 .... 
 
 .... 
 
 
 
 50 
 
 
 10 
 
 2.44 
 
 8r 
 
 0.35 
 
 0.09 
 
 .... 
 
 .... 
 
 .... 
 
 .... 
 
 
 75 
 
 
 22.4 
 
 532 
 
 1.80 
 
 0.7^ 
 
 0.21 
 
 .... 
 
 .... 
 
 .... 
 
 
 
 
 100 
 
 
 ^i- 
 
 9.45 
 
 3.20 
 
 1.3c 
 
 0.33 
 
 0.05 
 
 .... 
 
 
 
 
 125 
 
 
 48.1 
 
 14.9 
 
 489 
 
 1.99 
 
 0.51 
 
 0.07 
 
 .... 
 
 
 .... 
 
 
 150 
 
 
 .... 
 
 21.2 
 
 7.00 
 
 2.85 
 
 0.69 
 
 o.ro 
 
 0.02 
 
 
 
 
 
 175 
 
 .... 
 
 .... 
 
 2S.r 
 
 9.46 
 
 3-85 
 
 0.95 
 
 0.14 
 
 0.03 
 
 
 .... 
 
 
 aoo 
 
 
 
 37-5 
 
 12.47 
 
 5 -02 
 
 1.22 
 
 0.17 
 
 0.04 
 o.oS 
 
 CO! 
 
 .... 
 
 
 250 
 
 
 .... 
 
 47-7 
 
 19-65 
 
 7-75 
 
 1.89 
 
 0.26 
 
 0.02 
 
 
 
 300 
 
 
 .... 
 
 .... 
 
 28.05 
 
 II. 2 
 
 2.66 
 
 0.37 
 
 0.09 
 
 0.03 
 
 0.005 
 
 .... 
 
 350 
 
 
 .... 
 
 
 
 33-4I 
 
 152 
 
 365 
 
 050 
 
 O.II 
 
 0.05 
 
 0.007 
 
 .004 
 
 400 
 
 
 .... 
 
 
 
 42.96 
 
 19-5 
 
 4-73 
 
 0.65 
 
 0.15 
 
 o.o5 
 
 O.OI 
 
 .00=; 
 
 . 450 
 
 . . .. 
 
 
 
 
 . ... 
 
 25.0 
 
 6.01 
 
 o.Si 
 
 0.20 
 
 0.08 
 
 0.02 
 
 .oos 
 
 500 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 30.8 
 
 7-43 
 
 095 
 
 0.25 
 
 0.09 
 
 0.04 
 
 .017 
 
 600 
 
 
 .... 
 
 
 
 
 
 . ... 
 
 9-54 
 
 1.41 
 
 038 
 
 14 
 
 0.07 
 
 .02h 
 
 700 
 
 
 .... 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 14.32 
 
 1.89 
 
 0.47 
 
 0.18 
 
 008 
 
 .034 
 
 800 
 
 
 .... 
 
 
 
 
 
 .... 
 
 
 2.38 
 
 0.61 
 
 0.22 
 
 0.09 
 
 •045 
 
 900 
 
 
 .... 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 . ... 
 
 2.60 
 
 0.78 
 
 0.27 
 
 O.II 
 
 •055 
 
 1000 
 
 
 
 
 ... 
 
 
 
 
 .... 
 
 .... 
 
 3-88 
 
 1.94 
 
 0.32 
 
 0.13 
 
 .062 
 
 1250 
 
 
 .... 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 . .. 
 
 .... 
 
 1.40 
 
 0.49 
 
 20 
 
 .091 
 
 1500 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 . ... 
 
 .... 
 
 2.09 
 
 0.70 
 
 0.29 
 
 .I3.S 
 
 2CX)0 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 . ... 
 
 1 .... 
 
 
 1.23 
 
 0.49 
 
 .234 
 
 2500 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 .... 
 
 
 
 ... 
 
 
 0.77 
 
 .362 
 
 3000 
 
 
 .... 
 
 
 
 
 
 .... 
 
 . ... 
 
 .... 
 
 .... 
 
 .... 
 
 I. II 
 
 .515 
 
 3500 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 .... 
 
 . ... 
 
 .... 
 
 .... 
 
 .... 
 
 
 .597 
 
 4000 ' . . . . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 .... 
 
 .... 
 
 .... 
 
 
 .9U 
 
 The friction loss is greatly increased by bends or ir 
 
 reg- 
 
 ulari 
 
 ties : 
 
 n th 
 
 sp 
 
 ip 
 
 e. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
74 
 
 TABl,n SHOWING GAI,I,ONS OF WATER DISCHARGED IN 
 
 FIRE STREAMS THROUGH lOO Ft. OF 2j^-INCH RUBBER 
 
 HOSE WITH GIVEN NOZZI^ES (SMOOTH). 
 
 II 
 
 S.2 
 
 
 ga 
 
 'ooJ 
 
 
 l^ 
 
 la 
 
 
 
 
 II 
 
 
 §1 
 
 =3a 
 
 
 Mi 
 
 30 
 
 134 
 
 90 
 
 62 
 
 1/8 
 
 70 
 
 259 
 
 163 
 
 40 
 
 155 
 
 
 76 
 
 IH 
 
 80 
 
 277 
 
 H^ 
 
 50 
 
 173 
 
 126 
 
 94 
 
 1/8 
 
 90 
 
 294 
 
 186 
 
 60 
 
 189 
 
 142 
 
 108 
 
 IH 
 
 100 
 
 310 
 
 193 
 
 70 
 
 205 
 
 156 
 
 121 
 
 I)^ 
 
 30 
 
 210 
 
 96 
 
 80 
 
 219 
 
 168 
 
 131 
 
 
 40 
 
 242 
 
 118 
 
 90 
 
 232 
 
 178 
 
 140 
 
 ll/ 
 
 50 
 
 271 
 
 138 
 
 100 
 
 245 
 
 186 
 
 148 
 
 iK 
 
 60 
 
 297 
 
 156 
 
 30 
 
 170 
 
 93 
 
 63 
 
 iK 
 
 70 
 
 320 
 
 172 
 
 40 
 
 196 
 
 113 
 
 8i 
 
 ii^ 
 
 80 
 
 342 
 
 186 
 
 §° 
 
 219 
 
 132 
 
 97 
 
 1% 
 
 90 
 
 36.^ 
 
 198 
 
 60 
 
 240 
 
 148 
 
 112 
 
 iJi 
 
 100 
 
 3«3 
 
 207 
 
 Si 
 
 •■gg 
 
 125 
 
 137 
 148 
 157 
 63 
 82 
 99 
 115 
 129 
 142 
 154 
 1^4 
 
 Ques. Will a boiler 60 inches in diameter, ^ inch 
 iron, stand as much pressure as a boiler 48 inch diameter 
 ys inch iron? Ans. No. 
 
 Ques. Why ? Ans. Because the pressure in the 
 boiler has more surface, and will not allow it. It is the 
 the same as a long bar and a short bar of the same thick- 
 ness; it takes less strain to break the long one than the 
 short one. 
 
 Rui/E for finding safe working pressure of steam boilers 
 Always use .56 for single riveted and .70 for double riveted 
 side seams. A radius means ^ the diameter and ^ of 
 tensile strength is safe load. U. S. Standard is ^. 
 
 Multiply the thickness of iron by single or double riv- 
 ets, then multiply by the safe load, divide by internal 
 radius, and the answer will be the safe working pressure, 
 
75 
 
 Diam. 42 iu. 
 Iron A in. 
 
 EXAMPLE: 
 
 . 1875 thickness of iron. 
 .70 double riveted. 
 
 Double riveted . 13 1250 
 
 50,000 lbs. tensile strength loooo 
 
 2)42 
 
 20.8125)13125000.00 
 Safe working pressure, 
 
 outside 
 radius. 
 
 63.06 .1875 
 
 20.8125 S^. 
 
 Bursting pressure, 
 
 315-30 
 
 Rui^E to find the aggregate strain caused by the pres- 
 sure of steam on the shells of boilers. Multiply the cir- 
 cumference iu inches by the length in inches; multiply 
 this answer by the pressure in pounds. The result will 
 be the pressure on the shell of boiler, and divide by 
 2000, which gives the tons. 
 
 EXAMPIyE: 
 
 Diam. of boiler 48 inches, circumference 150.7968, length 
 20 feet, or 240 inches, pressure of steam 120 lbs, 150.- 
 7968 X 240 X 1 20 ^3 4342947 . 8400 lbs. , divided by 2000 
 :^:: 2i7i>^ tons strain. 
 
 Rui^K to find the number of feet of i inch pipe required 
 to heat any size room with steam. For direct radiation 
 I lineal foot (straight foot) to 25 cubic feet of space. For 
 indirect radiation, i lineal foot to 15 cubic feet of space. 
 Note, all pipe is measured inside for size 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 Room 18 X 18 X 18 to b3 heated with I inch pipe. Di- 
 rect radiation. All circulating must be done in inches, 
 and divided by 1728 to find the cubic feet 
 
2l6 
 2l6 
 
 46656 
 216 
 
 1728)10077696 cubic inches. 
 
 25)5832 cubic feet 
 
 I/ineal 233/g feet of i inch pipe. 
 
 One cubic foot of boiler is required for every 1500 cubic 
 feet of space to be warmed. One horse power of boiler 
 is enough for 40,000 cubic feet of space. 
 
 Ruiyie to find the horse-power of boilers. Always find 
 the number of square inches and divide by 144, which 
 gives the square feet of heating surface, and divide by 15 
 square feet for flue boilers, 12 sq. feet for tubular, and 7 sq. 
 feet for cylinder boilers, which is an average allowance 
 for one horse power of boilers; divide the H, P. by 2, 
 you will have th^ proper grate surface, and allow %. sq. 
 inch of safety valve to each square foot of grate surface. 
 Generally, from yiX-o^i oi2L square foot of grate surface 
 is allowed to each horse power of a boiler. 
 
 The H. P. of a boiler is to soai3 extent a misnomer. It 
 is the engine which furnishes the H. P.; the boiler furn- 
 ishes the steam to make it. A high-grade compound 
 condensing engine will develop a H. P. with fifteen 
 pounds of steam per hour; an ordinary non-condensing 
 mill engine requires thirty. The engines of Watt's time 
 required sixty or mDre. A boiler which would furnish 
 3000 lbs. of steam per hDur would with the last class of 
 engine, produce fifty H. P.; with a non-condensing en- 
 gine, one hundred H. P. ; and with a compound engine, 
 
11 
 
 two'hundred H. P. Watt, basing the estimate upon the 
 consumption of his engines, established the rule of a 
 cubic foot of water per H. P. per hour, but the accepted 
 standard at present, based upon the consumption of the 
 average non-condensing mill engine, is thirty pounds of 
 water from feed water at ioo° F. into steam at seventy 
 pounds gauge pressure; equivalent to thirty-four and a 
 half pounds of water evaporated from an atd 212° F. 
 
 A common custom among boiler makers has led to the 
 rating of boilers by horse-powers, and while no special 
 harm has come of this, yet it is evidently a misnomer as 
 applied to a boiler, separate and apart from an engine, 
 for the simple reason that a boiler of a capacity suited to 
 a 100 horse power Corliss engine, would only produce 
 about 63 H. P. if attached to a slide valva engine cutting 
 off at four-fifths of its stroke. In the first instancs, 3 
 gallons of water evaporated per hour, produce one horse- 
 power, and in the second, 5 gallons are necessary. To 
 add to tha confusion produced by these differences we 
 have another unsettled quantity in the rating of boiler 
 pow^r; namely, the amount of heating surface necessar}^ 
 to a horse-power. The raage of difference varies from ro 
 to 15 square feet, and practice shows that either may be 
 right. For the amount of draft, or intensity of the heat 
 in the furnace will determine this, as, for example, 
 the heat is so great in a locomotive fire-box when the 
 exhaust is strong, that 8 square feet or less of that sur- 
 face produces a horse-power, and the consumption of 
 coal may run as high as 50 pounds to a square foot of 
 grate surface per hour, while in many furnaces it is 
 reduced to 10 lbs. 
 
 From so wide a range in the amount of heating surface 
 and the difference in the consumption of fuel by forced 
 
7S 
 
 draft, it is evident that when boiler capacity is increased 
 in this way it is done at the expense of fuel. 
 
 If we are to make this matter of economy a considera- 
 tion in the production of steam power, then the true 
 measure of efficiency in a boiler must be its ability to 
 evaporate the greatest amount of water with the least 
 amount of coal or other fuel. The very best results at- 
 tained in common practice is lo pounds of water evapora- 
 ted with I lb. of coal, but 8 lbs. is usually satisfactory. 
 
 All these varying conditions get us into a dilemma 
 when we come to propose a standard unit for boiler ca- 
 pacity, and as has been said of the jury system, we should 
 let it alone until we can propose something better than 
 horse-powers. We think good may result from drawing 
 a well defined line between the source of power, the 
 boiler, and the means of application of this power, the 
 steam engine. They are too often treated as a whole, and 
 as a result good or bad performance cannot be accurately 
 located. 
 
 Appliances are now being introduced for determining 
 the efficiency of boilers, but much remains to be done to 
 simplify them so as to be of general utility. 
 
 Rui^Ei to find the horse-power generated in any kind of 
 boiler when running. First, notice how long it will take 
 to evaporate one inch of water in the glass gauge, divide 
 this into 60, which gives the number of inches evaporated 
 in one hour; second, multiply the average diameter 
 where evaporation took place by the length of the boiler 
 in inches; this multiplied by the number of inches evap- 
 orated, and the answer divided by 1728 gives the cubic 
 feet of water evaporated in one hour. 
 
 As a rule, i cubic foot of water evaporated is generally 
 allowed for one horse-power; also the capacity of a pump 
 or injector for any boiler should deliver one cubic foot of 
 
water each horse power per hour, and aa engine uses ofle- 
 ihird of a cubic foot of water per horse power. 
 
 EXAMPLE: 
 
 Length of boiler 216 inches. 216 
 
 Average diam. 40 inches. 40 
 
 One inch evaporated in 15 min. 8640 15)60 
 
 4 4 
 
 1728)34560(20 horse power. 
 
 Weight of Sq. Superficial Foot of Boiler 
 Plate when Thickness is Known. 
 
 THICKNESS. I WEIGHT. | I THICKNESS, j WEIGHT. 
 
 .03125 
 .0625 
 
 .0937 
 
 .125 
 
 .1562 
 
 .1875 
 
 .2187 
 
 .25 
 
 .2812 
 
 lbs 
 
 1.25 
 
 2-519 
 
 3.788 
 
 5-054 
 6305 
 7.578 
 8.19 
 10.09 
 11.38 
 
 Inches. Dec. 
 
 lbs. 
 
 1^6 = .3125 
 
 12.58 
 
 1 = .375 
 
 15.10 
 
 /e = -4375 
 
 iyA'i 
 
 i = .5 
 
 20.20 
 
 A = .5625 
 
 22.76 
 
 i = 625 
 
 25.16 
 
 f = .75 
 
 30.20 
 
 1 = .875 
 
 3530 
 
 r = .1 
 
 40.40 
 
 Ques. Explain how the above fractional parts of whole 
 numbers are made to read as decimals — take ^q of an 
 m. for an example ? Ans. To do this take 100 as a whole 
 .number; divine 16 into loo = 6}{, reads .625 = ^^g ot 
 TOO. ^g would read, 3 x .625 = .1875. This principle 
 answers for all the rest. 
 
So- 
 
 WEiGHT OF A CUBIC FOOT OF EARTH, 
 STONE, METAL, &C. 
 
 Article 
 
 Lbs. 
 
 Alcohol........... ^., 49 
 
 Ash Wood . 53 
 
 Bay Wood 51 
 
 Brass, gun metal 543 
 
 Brandy 58 
 
 Beer „ 65 
 
 Blood 66 
 
 Brick, common 102 
 
 Cork 15 
 
 Cedar 35 
 
 Copper, cast 547 
 
 Copper, plates 543 
 
 Clay 120 
 
 Coal, Lehigh 56 
 
 Coal, Lackawanna. 50 
 
 Cider 64 
 
 Chestnut 38 
 
 "Ebony 83 
 
 Karth, loose 94 
 
 Glass, Window 165 
 
 Gold ., . ...1,203^ 
 
 Hickory, pig-nut 49 
 
 Hickory, shell-bark 43 
 
 Hay, bale 9 
 
 Hay, pressed 25 
 
 Honey 90 
 
 Iron, cast 450 
 
 Iron, plates 481 
 
 Iron, wrought bars, 486 
 
 Ice 57^ 
 
 Lignum Vitee Wood 83 
 
 Logwood 57 
 
 Article. 
 
 Lbs. 
 
 Lead, cast 709 
 
 Lead, rolled 711 
 
 Milk 64 
 
 Maple 47 
 
 Mortar no 
 
 Mud 102 
 
 Marble, Italian 169 
 
 Marble, Vermont 165 
 
 Mahogany 66 
 
 Oak, Canadian 54 
 
 Oak. live, seasoned 67 
 
 Oak, white, dry 54 
 
 Oil, linseed 59 
 
 Pine, yellow 34 
 
 Pine, white 34 
 
 Pine, red 37 
 
 Pin e, well seasoned 30 
 
 Platina 1,219 
 
 Red Hickory 52 
 
 Silver 625^4' 
 
 Steel, plates 487X 
 
 Steel, soft 4S9 
 
 Stone, common, about 358 
 
 Sand, wet, about 128 
 
 Spruce 31 
 
 Tm 455 
 
 Tar 63 
 
 Vinegar 67 
 
 Water, salt 64 
 
 Water, rain " 62 
 
 Willov 36 
 
 Zinc, cast 428 
 
 Rule for safety valves. To find the distance, ball 
 should be placed on lever, when the weight is known, or 
 the distance is known and the weight is not known. 
 Multiply the pressure required by area of valve, multiply 
 the pressure required by area of valve, multiply the an- 
 swer by the fulcrum; subtract the weight of the lever, 
 valve and stem, and divide by the weight of ball for di.s- 
 tance, or divide by distance for weig^ht of ball with the 
 same example as follows: 
 
8i 
 
 Weight of ball, 
 Pressure, 
 
 Wt. of L. V. & steam, 
 Fulcrum, 
 
 Area of valve, 
 
 EXAMPLE: 
 
 60 lbs. 
 100 " 
 
 100 lbs. pressure, 
 3 area of valve. 
 
 30 •• 
 4 inch, 
 
 300 
 
 4 fulcrum. 
 
 1200 
 30 wt. of L. V. & St. 
 
 60)1170 
 
 ig}4 inch ball should 
 be hung on lever. 
 
 The mean effective weight of valve, lever, and stem is 
 found by connecting the lever at fulcrum, tie the valve- 
 stem to lever with a string, attach a spring scale to lever 
 immediately over valve, and raise until the valve is clear 
 of its seat which will give the mean effective weight of 
 lever, valve and stem. 
 
 Rui^E for figuring the safety valve and to know the 
 pressure when the area of valve, the weight of lever, 
 valve and stem, the distance the fulcrum is from valve, 
 and weight of ball is known. 
 
 Divide fulcrum into length of lever, multiply answer 
 by weight of ball, add weight of lever, valve and stem, 
 divide by area of valve. Answer will be steam pressure. 
 
 Weight of ball, 
 
 50 lbs. 2 . 25 
 
 Wt. of L. V. & stem, 30 lbs. 2 . 25 
 Fulcrum, 4 in. 5.0625 
 
 2}^ in. .7854 
 
 20 in. 3.97608750 area. 
 
 4)20 
 5 
 
 JO 
 
 250 
 
 30 
 
 Diam. of valve, 
 
 Length of lever, 
 
 Add as many ciphers to the dividend as 3.9 )280.0 
 there are decimals in the divisor, and lbs. press. 71. |{^ 
 divide as whole numbers. 
 (3 ^ 
 
.'82 
 
 *Co measure or mark off the lever, you measure the ful- 
 cnmi and make notches the same distance as fulcrum; if 
 fulcrum is 4 inches, each notch must be 4 inches apart. 
 
 Ques. What is meant by a fulcrum ? Ans. The dis- 
 tance valve stem is from where the lever is connected. 
 
 SCREW CUTTrNG LATHE- 
 
 FOR CUTTING ANY SIZ:^ THREAD. 
 
 POINTS FOR MACHINISTS. 
 
 RuivB TO Gear a Lathe for Screw-Cutting.— 
 Every screw cutting lathe contains a long screw called 
 the lead screw, which feeds the carriage of the lathe 
 while cutting screws; upon the end of this screw is 
 placed a gear to which is transmitted motion from 
 another gear placed on the end of the spindle; these gears 
 each contain a different number of teeth, for the purpose 
 of cutting different threads, and the threads are cut a 
 certain number to the inch, varying from one to fifty. 
 Therefore, to find the proper gears to cut a certain num- 
 ber of threads to the inch, you will first multiply the 
 number of threads you desire to cut to the inch by any 
 small number, 4 for instance, and this ^nll give you the 
 
proper gear to put on the lead screw. Then with the 
 same number, 4, multiply the number of threads to the 
 inch in the lead screw, and this will give you the proper 
 gear to put on the spindle. For example, if you want to 
 cut 12 to the inch, multiply 12 by 4, and it will give you 
 48. Put this gear on the lead screw, theu with the same 
 number 4, multiply the number of threads to the inch in 
 the lead screw. If it is 5, for instance, it will give you 
 20; put this on the spindle and your lathe is geared. It 
 the lead screw is 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8, the same rule holds good. 
 Always multiply the number of threads to be cut first. 
 
 Some — indeed, most small lathes — are now made with 
 a stud geared into the spindle, which stud only runs half 
 as fast as the spindle, and in finding the gears for these 
 latlies you will first multiply the number of threads to be 
 cut, as before, and then multiply the number of threads 
 on the lead screw as double the numbsr it is. For in- 
 stance, if you want to cut 10 to the inch, multiply by 4, 
 and you get 40; put this on the lead screw, then, if your 
 lead screw is 5 to the inch, you call it 10, and multiply 
 by 4, and it will give you 40. Put this on your stud and 
 your lathe is geared, ready for cutting. 
 
 Rui<K FOR Cutting A Screw in an Engine Lathe. 
 — In cutting V-thread screws, it is only necessary for you 
 to practice operating the shipper and slide screw- 
 handle of your lathe before cutting. After having done 
 this until you get the motions, you may set the point of 
 the tool as high as the center, and if you keep the tool 
 sharp you will find no difficulty in cutting screws. You 
 must, however, cut very light chips, mere scrapings in 
 finishing, and must take it out of the lathe often, and 
 look at it from both sides very caxefiilly, to see that the 
 threads do not lean like fish scales. After cutting, polish 
 with a stick and some emery and oil. 
 
c4 
 
 .Rule for Cutimng Square Thread Screws.— Io 
 cutting square thread screws, it is always necessary t© 
 get the depth required with a tool somewhat thinner than 
 one-half the pitch of the thread, after doing this make 
 another tool exactly the pitch of the thread and use it to 
 finish with cutting a slight chip on each side of the 
 groove. After doing this, polish with a pine stick and 
 some emery. Square threads for strength should be cut 
 one-half the depth of their pitch, while square threads for 
 wear, may — and should be — cut three-fourths the depth 
 of their pitch. 
 
 RuivE FOR MoNGREiy Threads. — Mongrel, or half V 
 half square threads, are usually made for great wear, and 
 should be cut the depth of their pitch, and for extraor- 
 dinary wear they may be cut i}4. the depth of the pitch. 
 The point and the bottom of the grooves should be in 
 width % the depth of their pitch. What is meant here 
 by the point of the thread is the outside surface, and the 
 bottom of the groove is the groove between the threads. 
 In cutting these threads, it is proper to use a tool the 
 shape of the thread, and in thickness about ^ less than 
 the thread is when finished. As it is impossible to cut 
 the whole surface, at once, you will cut it in depth about 
 ^ at a time then a chip off the sides of the thread, and 
 continue in this way alternately till you have arrived at 
 the depth required. Make a guage of the size required 
 between the threads and finish by scraping with water. 
 It is usually best to leave such screws as these a little large 
 until after they are cut, and then turn off a light chip 
 to size them; this leaves them true and nice. 
 
 Recipes To Temper T001.S Used Daily, Such as 
 Chisels, Taps, Dies, Reamers, Twist Drills, Com- 
 mon Flat Drills, and Lathe Tools, — To temper flat, 
 cape or side chisels, and common flat drills, put the too! 
 
S5 
 
 to be tempered in the fire and heat slowly to a cherry red 
 color, about 4 inches from the point. Then take it out 
 and put it in the water, point first, about three or four 
 inches, then draw it back quick about an inch from the 
 point, and leave it so until the water will barely dry on 
 the chisel, then take it out, polish it with a piece of sand 
 stone, and let the heat that is left in the body of the tool 
 force its way toward the point; it will be noticed imme- 
 diately in the change of color. The color of temper for 
 chisels to cut cast iron should be a dark straw, turning to 
 a blue. The temper of chisels to cut wrought iron or steel 
 should be plunged into water after the dark straw color 
 has disappeared and the blue begins to show itself, and 
 left in the water to cool off. In some cases, where the 
 tool is too cold and the temper will not draw, put the 
 tool in and out of the fire often, until the temper shows 
 itself, then cool immediately. If the temper gets to the 
 point of tool before it is polished, it will have to be 
 heated over again. The above rule answers for lathe, 
 planer and shaper tools as well. 
 
 Steel tools are given a diamond-like hardness by Ger- 
 man engravers who make them white hot, stick them 
 into sealing wax repeatedly until cold, and then touch 
 them with oil of turpentine. 
 
 To temper files very hard. Take water 2 measures — 
 no matter what size — ^wheat flour ^ measure, and i 
 measure of common salt. Directions. Mix into a paste; 
 heat the steel to be hardened enough to coat with the 
 paste by immersing it in the composition — after which 
 heat the tool to a cherry red, and plunge it in cold, soft 
 water. If properly done, the steel will be very hard. 
 
 To anneal steel is to heat it and bury it in hot ashes 
 and leave it cool with the ashes. Another quick way is 
 
86 
 
 to heat it then let it cool to dark color, then plunge into 
 water. 
 
 Taps, dies, reamers and twist drills should be tempered 
 in oil. After being heated to a cherry red all over equally, 
 drop the tool ia a bucket of oil (plumb) and leave it there 
 Tintil cold; then take it out and br'ghten it with emery 
 cloth; be careful not to drop it, because it is brittle and 
 liable to break. To draw the temper of taps, reamers 
 and twist drills, heat a heavy ring red hot and enter the 
 tool centrally in the ring, so the heat will be equal from 
 all sides. The hole in the ring should be about three 
 limes the diameter of the tool. An old pulley hub would 
 ba about right. The color for reamers, taps and twist 
 drills should be dark straw, turning to a blue near the 
 shank; where the color is changing too fast, drop a little 
 water on it; after the right color is obtained, cool off in 
 water. To draw the temper in dies after being cooled in 
 oil, set them (the threads up) on a piece of red-hot iron 
 and draw temper the same color as taps. 
 
 For tempering a spring, heat it cherry red, and put it 
 in oil; after it is cool, take it out and hc>ld it over the fire 
 until the oil burns off; then put the spring in the oil 
 again, then in the fire; do this three times; after the last 
 time plunge it into water and cool off. 
 
 The United States Government Tempering 
 Secret and durability to the poorest kind of steel. 
 Siegfried's specification reads as follows: "first heat the 
 steel to a cherry red, in a clean smith's fire, and then 
 cover the steel with common salt, purifying the fire also 
 by throwing in salt. Work the steel in this condition, 
 and while subjected to this treatment, iintil it is brought 
 into nearly its finished form. Then substitute for the 
 «alt a compound composed of the following ingredients 
 
87 
 
 and in about the following proportions: One part by 
 weight of each of the following substances; salt, sul- 
 phate of copper, sal-ammoniac and sal-soda, together 
 with Yz part by weight of pure saltpeter, said ingre- 
 dients being pulverized and mixed; alternately lieat the 
 steel and treat it by covering with this mixture and ham- 
 mering it until it is thoroughly refined and brought into 
 its finished form. Then return it to the fire and heat it 
 slowly to a cherry red, and then plunge it into a bath 
 composed of the following ingredients, in substantially 
 the following proportions for the required quantity: of 
 rain water, i gal.; alum, sal-soda, sulphate of copper, of 
 each i)^ ozs; saltpeter, i oz., and of salt, 6 ozs. These 
 quantities and proportions are stated as being practically 
 the best, but it is manifest that they may be slightly 
 changed without departing from the principles of my 
 invention." 
 
 DIRECTIONS FOR JOINING BANDSAWS 
 
 The following directions for joining band saws are 
 given by the Denance Machine Works: 
 
 Bevel each end of saw the length of two teeth. Make 
 a good joint. Fasten the saw in brazing clamps with the 
 backs against the shoulder, and W2t the joint with solder- 
 water, or with a creamy mixture made b}^ rubbing a lump 
 of borax in about a teaspooaful of water on a slate. Put 
 in the joint a piece of silver solder the full size thereof, 
 and clamp with tongs heated to a light red (not white) 
 heat. As soon as the solder fuses blacken the tong'^ with 
 water and take them ofif. Remove the saw, hammer it if 
 necessary, and file down to an even thickness, finishing 
 by draw-filing lengthwise. 
 
S8 
 THE CORLISS ENGINE. 
 
 ADJUSTMENT AND SETTING OF THE 
 CORLISS ENGINE VALVES. 
 
 It often happens that engineers, under whose control 
 Corliss engines are placed, are not practically acquainted 
 with the operation of the Corliss valve gear, and are at a 
 loss what to do should the gear need adjustment. By 
 carefully observing the following quesdons and answers, 
 the desired information will be found. 
 
 Ques. Into how many classes are the different types 
 of Corliss valve gear divided ? Ans. Into two general 
 classes. 
 
 Ques. Which are they? Ans. To the first class 
 belong the crab-claw gear. To the second class belong 
 the half-moon valve gear. 
 
 Ques. Which is the more favorable and widely known 
 type now in general use ? Ans. The half-moon type. 
 
 Ques. Why so? Ans. Because the old style crab- 
 claw steam valve opens toward the center of the cylinder, 
 which obstructs the supply passage and forces the steam 
 
89 
 
 to pass over and around the valves. This fault is over- 
 come in the half moon type, as the steam valve opens 
 away from the center of the cylinder, thus leaving a clear 
 and direct passage for the steam into the cylinder. 
 
 Ques. Do the two different styles make any difference 
 into the opening of the exhaust valves? Ans. No. 
 The difference in the *-.wo classes is simply in the direc- 
 tion of movement of steam valves; the exhaust valves 
 open the same in either class, viz. : away from the center 
 of the cylinder. 
 
 Ques. What name has the Corliss valve gear? Ans. 
 It is called a detachable valve gear. 
 
 Ques. Why is it called detachable ? Ans. Because 
 the steam valves open positively at the proper time by 
 the direct action of the working parts of the engine, and 
 continue to open until the connection with the working 
 parts of the engine are broken by detaching or tripping 
 the hook, by action of the cut-off cams. 
 
 Ques. How are the steam valves closed ? Ans. When 
 Jie steam valves are detached they are closed by the 
 action of springs, weights, or more generally vacuum 
 dash pots, thus cutting off the supply of steam. 
 
 Ques. How is the detachment or tripping deter- 
 mined? Ans. The time in the stroke at which the trip- 
 ping takes place is known by the position of the cut off 
 cams, which are moved and controlled by the governor. 
 
 Ques. Does the cut-off cams trip the hook always at 
 the same point ? Ans. No. The cut-off is determinea 
 by the requirements of the load on the engine. 
 
 Ques. By what name is this cut-off known? Ans 
 The automatic cut-off. 
 
 Ques. How is the theory of the Corliss valve motioa 
 easily understood ? Ans. The theory is easily under- 
 
90 
 
 stood by considering the four valves as the four parts (or 
 edges) of a common slide valve. 
 
 Ques. Why are the four valves of the Corliss engine 
 considered as the four parts (or edges) of the common 
 slide valve ? Ans. The working edges of th'^ two steam 
 valves answering as the two steam edges of the slide 
 valve, and the working edges of the two exhaust valves 
 as the exhaust edges of the slide valve. 
 
 Ques. The Corliss having four valves, and the com- 
 mon slide valve only one, does it not make any difference 
 in setting ? Ans. As far as the setting the principle is 
 the same; the only difference is in the adjustment. 
 
 Ques. Why does the adjustment make a difference? 
 Ans. The four working edges of the common slide valve 
 -are in one solid valve, so that any change or adjustment 
 of one of the edges interferes with the other three. If 
 one edge is to be changed in reference to the others, it 
 must be done by altering the valve itself The Corliss 
 valves, on the other hand, are adjustable, each by itself, 
 and any one of the valves may be changed without dis- 
 turbing the other three. 
 
 Ques. Can the adjustment be made while running ? 
 Ans, When the engineer is familiar with his engine and 
 knows what changes are necessary, the adjustment may 
 be, and is frequently made without stopping the engine. 
 
 Ques. How many edges has a slide valve? Ans. 
 Four — two steam and two exhaust. 
 
 Ques. Have the Corliss valves the same number of 
 edges? Ans. No. Each Corlisss valve represents an 
 edge of the common slide valve, viz. : two steam edges, 
 two steam valves, two exhaust edges, two exhaust valves. 
 
 Ques. How are the valves connected to the eccentric 
 and worked on the Corliss engines? Ans. With the 
 wrist-plate, carrier arm, rocker arm, and reach rod. 
 
9^ 
 
 Ques. Is the wrist-plate good for any other purpose ? 
 Ans. Yes. It modifies the speed of travel at different 
 parts of the stroke, in relation to each other, and gives 
 a quick and constantly increasing speed when opening 
 the steam valves, and a quick opening and closing of the 
 exhaust valves. 
 
 Ques. When do the steam and exhaust valves travel 
 slowest ? Ans. When they are closed. 
 
 Ones. Can the valves of Corliss engines be adjusted 
 when the reach rod is unhooked from the wrist-plate, so 
 the valves may be properly set, independent of the posi- 
 tion of the crank ? Ans. Yes. 
 
 Ques. Are the Corliss valves easily set ? Ans. If the 
 engineer has any knowledge, as he should have, of the 
 ordinary slide valve, and of the effect of "lap and lead," 
 as applied to its workings, and will consider the Corliss 
 valve gear in the light of this knowledge, he will soon 
 master the seeming difficulties in his way and find the 
 Corliss gear to be the simplest, most perfect and most 
 easily adjusted of all valve motions. 
 
 Ques. How would you go about setting the Corliss 
 valves? Ans. Begin by taking off the black caps or 
 black heads of all four valve chambers. Guide lines will 
 be found on the ends of the valves and on the ends of 
 the chambers, as foUow^s: On the steam valves, coincid- 
 ing with the working edges of the valves; on the steam 
 valve chamber, coinciding with the working edges of the 
 steam ports. On the exhaust valves and ports, guide 
 lines are also scribed to set them b}-. The wrist-plate is 
 centrally between the four valve chambers on the valve 
 gear side of the cylinder. A well defined line will be 
 found on the stand which is bolted to the cylinder, and 
 three lines on the hub of the wrist-plate, which, when 
 they conicide with the line on the stand, show the central 
 
92 
 
 position of the wrist-plale and the extremes of its throw 
 or travel. To adjust the valves, first unhook the reach 
 rod connecting wrist-plate with rocker arm and place 
 and hold the wrist-plate in its central position. The 
 connecting rods between steam and exhaust valve arms 
 and wrist-plate are made with right and left hand screw 
 threads on their opposite ends, and provided with jamb 
 nuts, so that by slacking the jamb nuts and turning the 
 rod they can be lengthened or shortened as desired. By 
 means of this adjustment, set the steam valves so that 
 they will have % inch lap for lo inch diameter of cylin- 
 der, and % inch lap for 32 inch diameter of cylinder, and 
 for intermediate diameters in proportion. 
 
 For the exhaust, set them with 1-16 inch lap for 10 
 inch bore, and I inch lap for 32 inch bore on non-con- 
 densing engines and nearly double this amount on con- 
 densing engines, for good results. Lap on the steam 
 and exhaust valves will be shown by the lines on the 
 valves being nearer the center of the cylinder than the 
 lines on the valve chambers. Having made this adjust- 
 ment of the valves, the rods connecting the steam valve 
 arms with the dash pots should be adjusted by turning 
 the wrist plate to its extremes of travel and adjusting the 
 rod so that when it is down as far as it will go, the sq. 
 steel block on the valve arm will just clear the shoulder 
 on the hook. If the rod is left too long, the steam valve 
 stem will be likely to be either bent or broken; if too 
 short, the hook will not engage, and consequently the 
 valve will not open. Having adjusted the valves as 
 stated, hook the engine in and with the eccentric loose 
 on the shaft, turn it over and adjust the eccentric rod so 
 that the wrist-plate will have the correct extremes of 
 travel, as indicated by the lines on back of hub of wrist- 
 plate. Then place the crank on either dead center and 
 
93 
 
 turn the eccentric in the direction in which the engine 5s 
 to run to show an opening at the steam valve of from 
 ^ to I inch, depending upon the speed the engine is to 
 run. This opening will be shown by the line on the 
 valve being nearer the end of the cylinder than the line 
 on the valve chamber. This opening gives the "lead" or 
 port opening when the engine is on the dead center. 
 The faster the engine is to run the more lead it requires, 
 as a general rule. Having turned the eccentric so as to 
 secure the desired amount of lead, tighten it securely, by 
 means of the set screw, and turn the engine over to the 
 other center, and note if the other steam valve has the 
 same lead. If not, adjust by lengthening or shortening 
 the connecting rod to the wrist-plate as the case may be 
 necessary to do. 
 
 If the engine has the half-moon, crab-claw, or other 
 gear which opens the valves toward the center of the cyl- 
 inder, the manner fo the adjustment will be the same, ex- 
 cept that the "lap" on the steam valves will be shown 
 when the line on the steam valve is nearer the end of the 
 cylinder, and the "lead" when this Une is nearer the 
 center of the cylinder than the line on the valve chamber. 
 The adjustment of the exhaust valves and the amount of 
 "lap" and "lead" will be the same in either case. 
 . To adjust the rods connecting the cut-off or tripping 
 cams with the governor, have the governor at rest, and 
 the wrist-plate at one extreme of its travel. Then adjust 
 the rod connecting with the cut-off cam on the opposite 
 steam valve so that the cams will clear the steel on the 
 tail of the hook about ^\ inch. Turn the wrist-plate to 
 the opposite extreme of travel and adjust. the cam for the 
 other valve in the same manner. To equalize the cut-off 
 and test its correctness, hook th" engine in and block the 
 governor up about iX inch, which will bring it io its 
 
94 
 
 average position when running. Then turn the engine 
 slowly, in the direction in which it is to run, and note the 
 distance the cross-h-^ad has traveled from its extreme 
 position at dead center when the cut-off cam trips or de- 
 taches the steam valve. Continue to turn the engine be- 
 yond the other dead center and note the distance of 
 cross-heads from its extreme of travel when the valve 
 drops. If the distance is the same as when the other 
 valve drojped the cut-off is equal. If not, adjust either 
 one or the other of the rods until the distances are the 
 same. 
 
 By following these directions the engine will do good 
 work, but to know just what it is doing the engineer 
 should use the indicator often. No engine room is com- 
 plete without a good indicator, and no engineer can be 
 well posted as to what his engine is doing and keep it in 
 its best possible condition for good work without having 
 an indicator and using it often. 
 
 THE DYNAIVIO. 
 
 Ques. What is a Dynamo? Ans. A Dynamo is a 
 machine in which Electricity is gathered and forced out 
 through wires for lighting, electro-painting, etc. 
 
 Ques. What does a Dynamo consist of? Ans. A 
 Dynamo consists of a field, frame, armature, commutator, 
 brushes, brush holders, pins for the brush holder, and a 
 quadrant. 
 
 Ques. What is meant by a field? Ans. It means the 
 magnets connected to the frame with bolts. 
 
 Ques. What are magnets? Ans. Magnets are iron 
 cores, wound with insulated wire. These magnets are 
 called electro-magnets because they become magnetic 
 only when a current passes through the wire. 
 
95 
 
 C. & C. DYNAMO. 
 
 McDOUGALL & CUMMINGS, 
 Chicago. 
 
9b 
 
 Ques. How is the current generated? Ans. By the 
 rotary motion of the armature between the poles of the 
 magnet. 
 
 Ques. What does an armature consist of? Ans. It 
 consists of a steel or iron shaft, around which' insulated 
 wire is wound, the shaft having a 6 or 8 inch bearing at 
 each end. 
 
 Ques. How is this current conducted to the lamps ? 
 Ans. By means of brushes made out of copper strips 
 of wires about 6 or 8 inches long, soldered together at one 
 end and held on the commutator by means of brush hold- 
 ers made out of brass. These holders are on long pins, 
 the pins are nutted to a quadrant and the quadrant is 
 fastened to a frame. 
 
 Ques. How many brushes are there generally, and 
 where are they ? Ans, There are 2 and 4 brushes, two 
 on one side of the commutator and two directly opposite, 
 according to size of machine. 
 
 Ques. What is a commutator ? Ans. A commutator 
 is made out of segments of copper and segments of insu- 
 lation. 
 
 Ques. Can a commutator be taken off when worn 
 out ? Ans. Yes. 
 
 Ques. How is it generally done ? Ans. By taking out 
 the brushes, brush holders, the pins and the armature 
 from the dynamo, then place the two ends of the shaft 
 on wooden horses, mark the wires connecting the arma- 
 ture and commutator by attaching numbered tags (so as 
 to place them, when the new commutator is put on) then 
 disconnect the wires between the commutator and arma- 
 ture and take off the commutator from the shaft. 
 
 Ques. How should a dynamo be looked after and run ? 
 Ans. See that the machine is clean, journals cool, and 
 that the proper speed is kept up; see that the brushes are 
 
97 
 
 directly opposite each other and that the quadrant and 
 brushes are moved around on the commutator according 
 to the number of lights in use. 
 
 Ques. How would you know when to move the quad- 
 rant? Ans. By the sparking of the brushes on the 
 commutator. 
 
 Ques. What mainly causes the dynamo to flash or spark ? 
 Ans. The brushes not being directly opposite through 
 the diameter of the commutator, sometimes not enough 
 pressure on the commutator, sometimes the brushes not 
 far enough around on the commutator, also too much 
 brush surface. 
 
 Sparking at the brushes. Some styles of dynamos 
 will spark at the brushes in spite of anything the atten- 
 dant can do to prevent it, but many other styles of dyn- 
 amos can be run with absolutely no sparks on the 
 commutator. The first point to be attended to is to get 
 your commutator perfectly smooth, or as near it as 
 possible, with the means at your cormnand, for if the 
 commutator is not true you can not prevent it from 
 sparking. 
 
 If you have a slide-rest, use it, and get your commuta- 
 tor round and true from end to end. If you have no 
 slide-rest, a i6 in. bastard file will do nearly as well. 
 Take th^ brushes and brush holders cȣf, so that you may 
 have plenty of room to work. Start the dynamo to turn- 
 ing very slowly. Hold a piece of chalk so near the com- 
 mutator that it will mark all of the high spots. Move 
 the chalk slowly from end to end of the commutator, so 
 that all high places on the full length will be chalked. 
 Stop the dynamo and amuse yourself filing off those parts 
 that have been marked by the chalk. If you have no- 
 ticed while the dynamo was turning about how much the 
 commutator was "'out," you can easily tell about how 
 
98 
 
 much you will have to file away to bring it true. Hie ofi 
 
 all the places that have been marked, and then start up 
 again slowly, and chalk it a^ain. Repeat the chalking 
 and filing until the commutator is round, and of the same 
 size from end to end. 
 
 Next get a piece o*^ shingle, thin board, or a piece of 
 lathe even will do, and wrap a sheet of No. oo. sand-paper 
 around it — never use emery paper or cloth — start the 
 dynamo at a pretty lively speed, and smooth the commut- 
 ator down with the sand-paper, holding the flat side 
 against the work. It is not necessary to work it down to 
 a polished surface, although it would be well if it were 
 polished. Now that you have your commutator round 
 and smooth — and it must be so sm )Oth that there are 
 none of the marks left on the c )mmutdtor, for it was 
 trouble that caused tnem and if any be left they will 
 certainly cause more trouble. 
 
 Now that you know your commutator is in good shape, 
 proceed to set your brushes, being certiin that the points 
 of opposite brushes art directly opposite through the 
 diameter. The pressure put on the brushes need only be 
 just sufficient to vc^^\& good contact. It is not necessary 
 to have much pressure to preserve good contact. Should 
 the contact be too slight it will make itself known by a 
 peculiar noise that is indescribable, being neither a snap, 
 crack, or pop, and yet might be calle 1 by either of these 
 names You may be sure that the noise will call your at- 
 tention if you are anywhere near, and after you have 
 once noticed it you will easily recognize it the next time. 
 This noise and considerable sparking will always be pres- 
 ent when the brushes do not press heavily enough upon 
 the commutator. 
 
 If the brushes are not set with the points directly op- 
 posite, sparking will result. 
 
99 
 
 If tlie brushes are set ahead of the neutral line or ba<^ 
 of it they will spark. 
 
 When setting four brushes on a commutator that re- 
 quires two brushes side by side, it is sometimes difficult to 
 get all four of them of an equal length, or evenly divided 
 on the commutator, one or more of them will spark more 
 or less. After rocking the orushes back and forth a trifle 
 to find the point of least sparking, you can then tell by 
 the color of the spark whether the brush should be 
 lengthened or shortened. When the spark is of a decided- 
 ly greenish color the brush is too short, but if the spark 
 appears to spatter and shows a reddish hue, then you will 
 find that the brush is too long, or it is so worn, that there 
 is too much of it in contact. By the way, you will find 
 full}^ as much, if not more, trouble arising from having 
 too much brush in contact, than f-om having too little. 
 
 Cutting of Commutator, scratching and eating away of 
 the segments, is mostly due to the brushes having too 
 much surface in contact, and increase of pressure vaW 
 wear away the commutator, and having too much of the 
 face of the brush in contact will cause -in edge of the seg- 
 ments to become eaten away, and if not attended to, they 
 will, in a very short time, become as rough and uneven 
 as a corduroy road. 
 
 With the thicker style of brushes we have never found 
 it necessary, even when running at full load, to have 
 more than one-third of the full end surface of the brush 
 in contact with the commutator, and further, we have 
 found that if we allowed the brush to become so worn 
 that even one-half of the end surface bore on the seg- 
 ments it would cause sparking. 
 
 To prevent filing the brushes every day (which would 
 be wasteful,) to keep them in the best of order, we found 
 that they could, with great advantage, be turned thf 
 
other side up and allowed to wear in that way until the 
 surface became to great. This resulted in getting more 
 than twice the amount of work out of a brush than was 
 possible by filing always from one side, or trimming the 
 ends S(j[nare as often as they became badly worn. If the 
 
 iiiilllijiiiulim|ii!:|:i;iiliiniiini!jjili|jjilli: 
 
 THE EDISON DYNAMO. 
 
 commutator becomes very hot you will be quite sme tc 
 find that your brushes are badly worn. 
 
 Flat Spots on the commutator, frequently explained by 
 laying it to sot spots in the copper, we have always found 
 to result from an entirely different cause. When the 
 marks ha ,'e the appearance of a blow from the pene of a 
 
hammer, it will generalh^ be found to be caused by a 
 loosely connected or badly soldered armatuie wire con- 
 nection. A spot of this kind continue to grow larger 
 until the cause of it is removed and the commutator 
 dressed down smooth. 
 
 At the end of the segments a spark or scream of fire en- 
 circling the whole commutator will sometimes be 
 noticed. 
 
 This may be caused by an accumulation of oil or cop- 
 per-dust or dirt, that causes a short circuit, but it will 
 generally be found that the insulation is charred or 
 burned through at some place near where the spark is 
 noticed, and if a careful examination of the armature 
 wires are made you will find that a connection is loose or 
 has very poor conductivity. Allowing the commutator 
 to run hot wnll increase difiiculties of this kind. 
 
 THE PRINCIPAL OF^ THE DYNAMOCOM- 
 PARED WITH THE STEAM PUMP. 
 
 We are often asked how can a dynamo be easily under- 
 stood; the question coming from engineers who have 
 charge of electric lighting plants. 
 
 The whole thing may be compared, in its principles, to 
 the working of a steam pump forcing 'water through a 
 line of pipe of the same extent as the line wires. The 
 dynamo (or pump) forces electricity instead of water. 
 So long as the dynamo or pump works continuously the 
 pipes or wires are filled with a current of water or elec- 
 tricity, flowing in one direction; in other words, a con- 
 tinuous current. Thus we may say: that a certain number 
 of pounds steam pressure is required to overcome the 
 friction of the water in the pipes, so that so many cubic 
 feet or gallons of water shall be delivered per minute, 
 
I02 
 
 equally true we can say, so many volts are required to 
 overcome the resistance of the wire, so that the current 
 shall be delivered in so many amperes per minute. Hence, 
 to simplify, we may say pounds of steam pressure = 
 volts; the friction=resistance; the pipe=the wire; cur- 
 rent = volume of water in motion, and amperes of elec- 
 tricity =gallons of water delivered at the end per minute. 
 Every engineer knows that the larger the pipe the more 
 gallons water per minute, and the less relative friction, so 
 the larger the wire the more current can be carried and 
 the less resistance, relative to the number amperes deliv- 
 ered. The same analogy holds good in the opposite, for 
 the smaller the pipe or wire, the greater the friction or re- 
 sistance. Every engineer who uses a steam pump or an 
 injector, knows that there is some point to which, if his 
 pipes were reduced in size, nearly or quite all his power 
 (steam pressure) would be absorbed in friction. So elec- 
 trically, our voltage may be largely consumed or absorbed 
 by too small a wire; in either case — either the water or 
 the electiicity — the result of the work done is in both 
 cases uniform and identical, viz: A continuous current, 
 and is the current that has been generally used for the 
 production of ligljt and power. The other current, which 
 is largely employed in the generation of electrical power, 
 viz: the alternating current, differs essentially from that 
 which we have described above, and in fact our analogy 
 to the working of a pump comes to an end. The current 
 from an alternating dynamo, instead of flowing contin- 
 uously and directly, is simply a vibratory movement, or 
 a "back and forth flow." Here the supremacy of elec- 
 tricity as a power, or rather as a transmittor of power, 
 comes in, for, returning to one pump, should we at each 
 alternate stroke of the pump reverse the direction of flow 
 of the water, the entire power, or nearly all of it, would 
 
I03 
 
 be absorbed by its weight, and the friction in the pipes. 
 But electricity boring without weight, there is of course 
 no loss by reversing its flow; indeed, the possibilities of 
 application to useful service, dependent on tue reversals, 
 are of greatest value. To clearly explain the action of the 
 alternating system, we have to consider the requirements 
 under which electricity does the most acceptable work. 
 
 Every engineer who is making electric lights knows that 
 the most satisfactory results, i. e., the best light is obtained 
 by using a dynamo and distributing system of as high 
 voltage as possible, in conjunction with a lamp of low vol- 
 tage. Here, then, we have two actually opposite condi- 
 tions, which must be harmonized to produce a perfect 
 result in their action, and which are plainly impossible in 
 the continuous current system, which we have explained 
 by the comparison to our pump; because it is evident, to 
 renew the comparison; that, if we are carrying a pressure 
 (steam), and our line of pipes is calculated to deliver a 
 certain amount of water per minute; if we throttle down 
 at the delivery end, so as to deliver only ^ or 3^5 of the 
 amount, we shall only be able to do so by reducing our 
 pressure relatively, involving a great loss of ef&ciency, or 
 incur the risk of destruction to the plant at some point. 
 
 Hence we are obliged to provide some appliance which 
 shall intervene to convert the high voltage of the dynamo 
 and circuit to the low voltage of the lamps. When such 
 an appliance is used it is known as a converter system, 
 and the use of an alternating current and converter sys- 
 tem are mutually dependent on and necessary to each 
 other. 
 
 This system can be compared to the engineer's system 
 of steam heating in his building thus: Suppose he carries 
 75 lbs. boiler pressure, and the steam is carried into the 
 building in one main pipe, and from that is distributed 
 
I04 
 
 by risers, etc., to the different radiators in the building. 
 It is evident that he has no use for full boiler pressure on 
 the risers and radiators, as, even if they would stand it 
 for a time, it would be no more effective for heating than a 
 reduced pressure; hence, he puts in a reducing valve in 
 the steam main, between the boilers and risers. 
 
 So, then, the converter used in connection with an al- 
 ternating current is exactly an electrical reducing valve, 
 with a high pressure (voltage) on one side, and a low 
 working pressure (voltage) on the other. Thus, by us- 
 ing this converter he may carry any voltage at the dy- 
 namo and primary circuit, reducing into the secondary to 
 conform to the amount of current required. Each cur- 
 rent continuous or alternate, have especial fields to which 
 they are adapted, and while both are extensively in use 
 each has its peculiar adaption. 
 
 Ques. How do you understand the term "volt"? 
 Ans. The "volt" is a measure of electro — motive force, 
 or original energy. Corresponding to the dynamic term 
 "pressure," but not of power." It is based on the product 
 of one Daniell cell of a battery. 
 
 Ques. How do you understand the term "ohm" ? 
 Ans. The "ohm" is the measure of resistance, and com- 
 pares to the dynamic term of "loss by transmission." It 
 is based on the resistence offered by a copper wire .05 in. 
 diameter, 250 ft. long; or a copper wire, 32 guage, 10 
 ft. long. 
 
 Ques. How do you understand the term "ampere"? 
 Ans. The "ampere," is the measure for current or what 
 passes; the intensity, it may be called, and is comparable 
 to the dynamic term of "power transmitted," or "effect." 
 It is the residual force of one "volt" after passing through 
 one "ohm" of resistance. 
 
105 
 
 Ques. How do you understand the term '*coulomb"? 
 Ans. The "coulomb" is a measure of current, qualified 
 by time; one ampere acting for one second of time, com- 
 paring in nature with the dynamic "foot-pound." 
 
 Ques. How do you understand the term "watt"? 
 Ans. The "watt" is the unit for dynamic effect produced 
 by electro-motive force or current. It equals 44.22 foot- 
 pounds, or 746 h. p. 
 
 Ques. How many "coulombs" in a "watt"? Ans. 
 There are 44.22 "coulombs." 
 
 Ques. How many "watts" in an electrical h. p.? Ans. 
 There are 746 "watts" in a h. p. 
 
 Ques, How many horse power will it take to run a 50 
 arc light dynamo. Bach arc light equaling 45 ' 'volts' ' 
 and 8 "amperes" giving 1600 candle power to each light? 
 Ans. Multiply the "voltage" by the "amperes" then the 
 number of lights lit, and divide by electrical h. p. which 
 is 746 "watts." The answer will be the h. p. of engine 
 required. 
 
 FORCE OF A THUNDERBOLT. 
 
 It has been calculated that the electromotive force of a 
 bolt of lightning is about 3,500,000 volts, the current 
 about 14,000,000 amperes, and the time to be one-twenty- 
 thousandth part of a second. In such a bolt there is an 
 energy of 2,450,000,000 watts, or 3,284, 182 horse-power. 
 
 PROTECTING BUILDINGS. 
 
 There is a popular saying or proverb, that "lightning 
 never strikes twice in the same place, ' ' and the casualties 
 that occur from it are so much more rare than those that 
 happen from other causes that a man who takes no pre- 
 cautions to guard against such is not considered negligent 
 
lo6 
 
 by any except those interested in "protecting" his prop- 
 erty against damage by lightning. As a matter of fact, 
 the lightning rod pedler has come to be a standard sub- 
 ject of newspaper jokes and considered a sort of harmless 
 fraud by the public. He is bound to meet with some 
 success, however, in his business, because the subject of 
 atmospheric electricity, and thunderstorms is so little 
 understood even by scientists. 
 
 It is not at all probable that thunder storms and light- 
 ning discharges of the present day differ in the least 
 from those of a hundred or a thousand years ago, but it 
 is very apparent that a greater loss of life and property 
 occurs from them now than ever before, a fact easily ac- 
 counted for by the increase of p( pulation and of property 
 liable to such damage. The enormous increase in the 
 number of newspapers and of facilities for collecting and 
 distributing such items of news naturally also tend to 
 make the impression that such casualties occur oftener 
 than of yore. However infrequent such accidents occur 
 we know that they do happen sometimes and always un- 
 expectedly and very suddenly. It is, therefore, the port 
 of wisdom and prudence to take such precautions as 
 science and experience teach against these contingencies. 
 
 THK CAUSE OF THUNDERSTORMS. 
 
 It is generally conceded that the evaporation cf water 
 from the surface of the earth, most of which contains 
 some kind of mineral salt in solution, is the primary ori- 
 rin of most of the phenomena of atmospheric electric- 
 ity, and those who do not fully indorse this theory admit 
 that it is the great agency for stirring up the potential 
 energy derived from txie sun and distributing it over the 
 universe, whether in thunderstorms or in the incessant 
 quiet changes that are going qn in the various forms of 
 
107 
 
 forces employed by nature. Vapor, whether invisible in 
 the ultimate divisibility of its component storms or in a 
 partially condensed condition in the form of clouds, is 
 the vehicle in which is stored the sun's potential energy 
 which we call electricity. Hence the common concep- 
 tion of lightning is that it is an electric fluid packed 
 away in the clouds which may at uncertain times be dis- 
 charged to the earth with destructive energy in the form 
 of "thunder bolts." The lightning rod, or conductor, as 
 the electrians call it, is regarded as having some sort of 
 power to attract these thunder bolts and convey them to 
 the ground like a pipe would carry water. These popu- 
 lar ideas were derived mostly from the eloquent lightning 
 rod pedler and are not only erroneous but lead to mis- 
 takes in the location and setting up of lightning rods that 
 sometimes cause fatal results. Atmospheric electricity is 
 just the same as that we use for motive power, heat and 
 light. The thunder cloud is, to all intents, a condenser 
 plate upon which terminates the polarized chain of a cir- 
 cuit, and its action will depend upon the nature of the 
 opposite condensing plate. If this is another cloud at a 
 distance the discharge will take place between them and 
 have little effect upon the earth, except what is called 
 "induction," that will effect telephone, telegraph, and 
 other wires carrying currents of low potential, and people 
 of a peculiar nervous organization. If, however, the 
 earth forms the opposite condensing plate, which often 
 happens, then the discharge will be from the clouds to 
 the earth and sometimes in the opposite direction. In 
 the latter case all bodies, as well as the air between the 
 clouds and the earth are "polarized" and the 
 discharges always occur in the line of least resistance 
 when the tension rises to a degree greater than the resist- 
 ance of the circuit can sustain. These discharges are 
 
io8 
 
 very erratic and very slight circumstances will determine 
 their direction, such as a tree, a man, or an animal stand- 
 ing on moist ground, a vein of mineral, a line of piping 
 in the ground, etc., etc. 
 
 This brief and crude effort to portray the nature of a 
 discharge of lightning will convey some idea of the prin- 
 ciples of lightning rods to avoid the effect. They are not 
 intended to attract or to convey a discharge of lightning 
 from the clouds to the ground but to supercede the con- 
 dition of polarization and tension in the space to be pn*- 
 tected, and if properly made and put up wdll diminish 
 the likelihood and frequency of the discharges, but it is 
 undoubtedly true that they also invite them by setting 
 up a line of low resistance. 
 
 The theory of the lightning rod is that it practically 
 raises the earth's surface to a height that corresponds 
 with the electric relations of the rod and the air, and the 
 protected area is a cone whose base equals the height of 
 the rod, but this theory applies to the rod itself and is 
 greatly affected by the nature of the buildings in the pro- 
 tected area, their form, material and contents. Just what 
 form this protected area assumes when there are build- 
 ings within it or to what points it extends no one has 
 ever yet discovered. But whatever the space protected 
 may be, within it the rod (or conductor) lowers the con- 
 dition of tension, and either nullifies it or transferes it to 
 the space outside of the protected area. When a charged 
 cloud approaches and sets up an * 'inductive circuit" to 
 the earth the rod conducts the current quietly to the earth 
 and thus lowers the potential above it so that frequently 
 it does not accumulate sufficiently to cause a discharge — 
 that is a lightning flash. And this is the real purpose of 
 lightning rods. 
 
log 
 
 In putting up lightning rods the object should ; be to 
 connect with earth every portion of the building, and as, 
 in practice this is impossible with any but metal build- 
 ings, they should connect every exposed point and par- 
 ticular care should be taken with the chimneys and smoke 
 stacks. Every chimney lined with soot is a fine con- 
 ductor of electricity, and if there is a fire in it the warm 
 air ascending to the clouds invites a discharge. Nine 
 buildings out of every ten struck by lightning receive the 
 discharge by the chimneys. Every piece of metal in the 
 construction of the building should be connected with 
 the conductors. 
 
 For small buildings iron rods are used. If a large 
 number are used and all properly connected to earth % 
 inch galvanized telegraph wire will answer every pur- 
 pose but for a single conductor not less than half inch 
 rod should be used ; solid rod is best for it is the mass or 
 weight of metal that conducts and not its surface and a 
 solid rod presents the least surface to rust. Screw or 
 riveted joints will not do. The rods must have continu- 
 ous metalic connections. 
 
 The most important thing in the whole matter of pro- 
 tecting houses from lightning is the earth connections. 
 Every rod must be connected to water or to earth that is 
 saturated with moisture. Water and gas mains are the 
 best connections provided a good metallic connection is 
 made. A well constantly supplied by a stream affords a 
 good earth connection, but the earth connection is 
 suflScient. 
 
no 
 
 PRACTICAL POINTS FOR ENGINEERS. 
 
 Steam-pipes, whether for power or for heating, should 
 always pitch downward from the boiler, that the con- 
 densed water, etc., may have the same direction as the 
 .steam, or otherwise there will be trouble, unless the pipes 
 are either very short or very large. 
 
 Globe valves should always be so placed in steam 
 -pipes that their stems are very nearly horizontal, 
 in order to prevent a heavy accumulation of condensed 
 water in the pipes. Wherever a horizontal steam-pipe is 
 reduced in size there should be a drip to avoid filling the. 
 "larger pipe partially with condensed water. 
 
 In order to make a rust joint that will stand heat and 
 cold as well as rough usage, mix ten (lo) parts of iron 
 filings and three (3) parts of chloride of lime with enough 
 water to make a paste. Put the mixture on the joint and 
 bolt firmly; in twelve hours it will be set so that the iron 
 will break sooner than the cement. . 
 
 TO REIMOVE RUST FROM STEEI.. 
 Cover the steel for a couple of days with sweet oil; then 
 with finely powdered unslacked lime (known as quick 
 lime,) rub the steel until the rust is removed; then re-oil 
 to prevent further rust. 
 
 HOW TO CLEAN BRASS. 
 
 Nitric acid, one part; sulphuric acid yi part. Mix in a 
 jar, swab on and rub with sawdust. 
 
 HOW TO CLEAN DIRTY BRASS QUICKLY. 
 
 Finely rubbed bichromate of potassa, mixed with twice 
 its bulk of sulphuric acid and an equal quantity of water 
 will clean the dirtiest brass very quickly. 
 
Ill 
 
 A soft alloy which attaches itself so firmly to tha sur- 
 face of metals, glass and porcelain that it can be em- 
 ployed to solder articles that will not bear a very high 
 temperature, can be made as follows: Copper dust ob- 
 tained by precipitation from a solution of the sulphate b}' 
 means of zinc is put in a cast iron or porcelain lined 
 mortar and mixed with strong sulphuric acid, specific 
 gravity 1.85. From 20 to 30 or 36 parts of the copper are 
 taken, according to the hardness desired. To the cake 
 formed of acid and copper there ia added, under constant 
 stirring, 70 parts of mercury. When well mixed the 
 amalgum is carefully rinsed with warm water to remove 
 all the acid, and then set aside to cool. In ten or twelve 
 hours it is hard enough to scratch tin. If it is to be used 
 now, it is to be heated so hot that when worked over 
 and brayed in an iron mortar it becomes as soft as wax. 
 In this ductile form it can be spread out on any surface, 
 to which it adheres with great tenacity when it gets cold 
 and hard. 
 
 Cement for smali^ Leaks in Steam Boilers. 
 
 Experiments have shown the following to be effectual 
 for stopping small leaks from the seams of boilers, pipes, 
 etc. Mix equal parts of air-slacked lime and fine sand; 
 and finely powdered litherage in parts equal to both the 
 lime and sand. Keep the powder dry in a botile or 
 covered box. When wanted to apply, mix as much as 
 needed to a paste, with boiled linseed oil, and apply 
 quickly, as it soon hardens. 
 
 Cement for Iron Works. 
 
 It is sometimes advisable to fix two pieces of iron, as 
 
 pipes for water or steam, firmly together as a permanency. 
 
 Sal-ammoniac, one part by weight; sulphur, two parts; 
 
 fine iron borings free from oil. The three should be 
 
113 
 
 made with water to a conveniently handled paste. The 
 theory of its action is simply union by oxidation. To 
 drive a nail in hard seasoned wood, dip the points in lard, 
 and they can be driven home without difficulty. 
 
 Sewing-machine Oii<. 
 Best paraffine oil, i oz; best sperm oil, i oz. Mix and 
 use. 
 
 Cement wke That on Postage Stamps: 
 
 Mix two ozs. of Mextrine, acetic acid, Yz oz., water, 2^ 
 ozs. After mixture is made, add yi oz, alcohol. 
 
 To Make Tracing Paper 
 Wet common drawing paper or any other kind, with 
 benzine, the paper becomes transparent immediately, 
 and can be placed over a drawing or picture, to be trans- 
 ferred by tracing with a pencil. This is very valuable. 
 
 To Joint IvEad Pipes. 
 
 Widen out the end of one pipe with a taper wood drift, 
 and scrape it clean outside and inside; scrape the end of 
 the other pipe outside a little tapered, pnd insert it in the 
 former; then solder the joint with common lead solder by 
 pouring it on with a small ladle and work the solder 
 with a pad made out of 2 or 3 plies of greased bed-tick 
 by holding it under the joint and smoothing it over by 
 working it round making a ball joint, first rubbing a little 
 grease on the scraped parts or joint to be made — thus 
 making it strong. 
 
 To PowsH Brass. 
 
 When the brass is made smooth by turning or filing 
 with a ver^" fine file, it may be rubbed with a smooth fine 
 grain stone, or with charcoal and water When it is 
 quite smooth and free from scratches, it may be polished 
 rotten stone and oil, alcohol, or spirits of turpentine. 
 
U3 
 
 To Fii^i^ Hoi^ES IN Castings. 
 Lead, 9 parts; antimony, 2 parts; and bismuth, i part; 
 this is melted and poured in to fill the holes. 
 
 To Soften Iron or Steei. 
 Anoint it all over with tallow; heat it in a charcoal fire; 
 then let it cool. 
 
 To Distinguish Wrought and Cast Iron 
 FROM Steei.. 
 File and polish the surfaces, and apply a drop of nitric 
 acid, which is allowed to remain there for one or two 
 minutes, and then washed off with water. The spot will 
 then look a pale ashy gray on wrought iron, a brownish 
 black on steel, a deep black on cast iron. The amoimt 
 of carbon in iron or steel produces the different colors. 
 
 To Case-harden Iron very deep. 
 Put the iron to be case-hardened in a crucible with 
 cyanide of potash, cover over and heat together, then 
 plunge into water. This process will harden to the 
 depth of three inches. 
 
 To C1.EAN SteeI/.and Iron. 
 Make i oz. soft soap and 2 oz. fine emery in a paste; 
 rub it on the article with wash-leather and it will have a 
 brilliant polish. 
 
 How TO "FIGURE OUT" OF THE SCRAPE OF Ollr 
 
 Daubed Sight-Feed Gi^asses. 
 Hunt up a plumber friend, and get the use of his gaso- 
 line "devil" for ten minutes. Plug one end of a glass 
 tube; then heat about an inch in the middle; when hot, 
 blow into the open end and the tube will quickly bulge 
 itself. Cut off both ends to the right length, and. no 
 more trouble will arise from oil-daubed glasses. 
 
114 
 
 Look out for the oily waste, especially if there be any 
 turpentine in it. Keep it in a fireproof receptacle, or 
 better still, bum it up every night. Some dye-stuffs are 
 as bad as oil. The total heat generated by an equai 
 amount of oxidization is identical, whether it proceeds 
 at so slow a rate as to show its effect only in the change 
 of appearance of the article, or so rapidly that the 
 temperature is high enough to consume the substance 
 and ignite the fabric. 
 
 A good composition for welding steel is made of one 
 part of sil ammoniac ten parts borax. The ingredients 
 should be poured together, fused until clear, poured out 
 to cool and finally reduced to powder. 
 
 To Find the Height of a Tree or Other 
 Tai^i, Objects. 
 Take two small sticks of even length, join them to- 
 gether at "C" as shown in the following cut. Place the 
 end "A""on a level with the eye, walk back to such a 
 
 B 
 
 I 
 
 distance from the tree or object that the point "D" may 
 be in a line with the root or base and the point "B'* 
 in a line with the top or limb. The distance from the 
 measurer's foot to the root or base of the tree or object, 
 will be equal to the height of the limb or object. 
 
 Ques. How can brass and other polished articles be 
 kept from tarnishing? Ans, They can be covered with 
 
Its 
 
 a thin coat of shellac dissolved in alcohol. The bright 
 work should be warm before applying the coating so it 
 will flow smoothly and dry quickly. 
 
 Oues. Give a good recipe of cement that will fasten 
 leather to metal or wood ? Ans. Mix a gill of best 
 glue with little water, a teaspoonfull of glycerine, and use 
 warm. 
 
 Ques. Give a good black paint for boiler fronts ? Aus. 
 Coal tar, ground graphite and turpentine is very durable. 
 
 HOW TO RENOVATE BI^ACK GOODS. 
 
 An excellent cleansing fluid, especially useful when 
 men's garments require renovation, is prepared as fol- 
 lows : Dissolve four ounces of white Castile soap shavings 
 in a quart of boiling water. When cold add four ounces 
 of ammonia, two ounces each of ether, alcohol, and gly- 
 cerine, and a gallon of clear cold water. Mix thoroughly 
 and as it will keep for a long time, bottle and cork tightly 
 for future use. This mixture will cost about eighty 
 cents, and will make eight quarts. 
 
 For men's clothing, heavy cloth, etc., dilute a small 
 quantity in an equal amount of water, and following the 
 nap of the goods, sponge the stains with a piece of similar 
 cloth. The grease that gathers upon the collars of coats 
 will immediately disappear, and the undiluted fluid will 
 vanquish the more obstinate spots. When clean, dry 
 with another cloth, and dress the underside with a warm 
 iron. This fluid is also useful when painted walls and 
 wood-work require scouring, a cupful to a pail of warm 
 water being the proper proportions. 
 
U6 
 
 RULE FCR CALCULATING SPEED AND 
 SIZES OF PULLEYS. 
 
 To tind the size of driving pulleys: 
 
 Multij)ly the diameter of the driven by the number of 
 revolutions it shall make, and divide the answer by the 
 revolutions of the driver per minute. The answer will be 
 the diameter of the driver. 
 
 To find the diameter of the driven that shall make a 
 given number of revolutions: 
 
 Multiply the diameter of the driver by its number of 
 revolutions, and divide the answer by the number of rev- 
 olutions of the driven. The answer will be the diameter 
 of the driven. 
 
 To find the number of revolutions of the driven pulley: 
 
 Multiply the diameter of the driver by its number of 
 revolutions, and divide by the diameter of the driven. 
 The answer will be the number of revolutions of the 
 driven. 
 
 HOW TO WRITE INSCRIPTIONS ON MBTAW. 
 
 Take )4 lb. of nitric acid and i oz. of muriatic add, 
 mix. shake well together, and it is ready for use. Cover 
 the place you wish to mark with melted beeswax; when 
 cold write your inscription plainly ij the wax clear to the 
 metal with a sharp instrument; then apply the mixed 
 acids with a feather, carefully filling each letter. Let it 
 remain from i to lo minutes, according to appearance de- 
 sired: then throw on water, which stops the process and 
 removes the wax. 
 
 RECIPE FOR NICKEL-PLATING WITHOUT A BATTERY. 
 
 Take i}4 gills chloride of zinc, i gallon of clear water 
 then add enough sulphate of nickel to turn it green, then 
 heat it to a boil in a porcelain vessel. The heating makes 
 
117 
 
 the solution cloudy, but does not injure it. Keep the so- 
 lution next to boiling until the articles to be plated are done 
 say from 30 to So minutes then when done polish with chalk 
 first cooling the article in cold water. The articles to be 
 plated should be very clean, to clean articles to be plated 
 use nitric acid i part, sulphuric acid }4 part, put in stone 
 jars, then drop in clear water. Strong lye can be used. 
 All handling must be done with a copper wire. 
 
 HOW TO PETRIFY WOOD. 
 
 Gum salt, rock alum, white vinegar, chalk and peb- 
 bles powder of each an equal qoantity. Mix well to- 
 gether, if, after the ebulition is over, you throw into 
 this liquid any wood or porus substance, it will petrify it.. 
 
 RAILWAY SIGNALS. 
 
 One whistle signifies "down brakes." 
 
 Two whistles signify "off breaks." 
 
 Three whistles signify "back up." 
 
 Continued whistles signify "danger." 
 
 Rapid short whistles "a cattle alarm." 
 
 A sweeping parting of the hands on a level with the 
 eyes, signifies "go ahead." 
 
 Downward motion of the hands with extended arms, 
 signifies "stop." 
 
 Beckoning motion of one hand, signifies "back." 
 
 Red flag waved up the track, signifies "danger." 
 
 Red flag stuck up by the roadside, signifies "danger 
 ahead. ' ' 
 
 Red flag carried on a locomotive, signifies "an engine 
 or train following. ' ' 
 
 Red flag hoisted at a station is a signal to "stop." 
 
 Lanterns at night raised and lowered vertically, is a sig- 
 nal to "start." 
 
 Lanterns swung across the track, means **stop." 
 
 Lanterns swung in a circle to the left, signifies " back 
 the train." 
 
Il8 
 
 TIME AND SPEED TABLE. 
 
 5 
 
 S CO S 
 
 xo miles per hour is 6.00 
 
 5-00 
 
 4.00 
 
 3-20 
 
 3-00 
 
 2.43.5 
 
 • ... 2.30 
 
 2.24 
 
 2.08.5 
 
 2.00 
 
 M5.6 
 
 1.42.6 
 
 , 1.40 
 
 1.34-7 
 
 1.30 
 
 1.27.7 
 
 1.25.7 
 
 1. 21.7 
 
 1.18.2 
 
 1.15.0 
 
 1. 12.0 
 
 1.09.4 
 
 1.06.6 
 
 1.04,3 
 
 1.02.2 
 
 1.00.0 
 
 to 
 
 12 
 
 (1 ( 
 
 
 
 15 
 
 a < 
 
 
 
 18 
 
 a ( 
 
 
 
 20 
 
 (( ' ( 
 
 
 
 22 
 
 " ' 
 
 
 
 34 
 
 " * 
 
 
 
 25 
 
 << ( 
 
 
 
 28 
 
 i< < 
 
 
 
 30 
 
 ( 1 ( 
 
 
 
 34 
 
 (( 1 
 
 
 
 35 
 
 (. ( 
 
 
 
 36 
 
 (( ( 
 
 
 
 38 
 
 (( ( 
 
 
 
 40 
 
 (( ( 
 
 
 
 41 
 
 (< ( 
 
 
 
 42 
 
 (( ( 
 
 
 
 44 
 
 <( « 
 
 
 
 46 
 
 << ( 
 
 
 
 48 
 
 <i ( 
 
 
 
 50 
 
 li t 
 
 
 
 52 
 
 (< ( 
 
 
 
 54 
 
 <« ( 
 
 
 
 56 
 
 (• < 
 
 
 
 58 
 
 (« 1 
 
 
 
 60 
 
 (( < 
 
 
 
119 
 
 THE STEAMER GREAT EASTERN. 
 
 The constniction commenced May i, 1854, and the 
 ,vork of launching her, which lasted from November 3, 
 i857,toJanuar5^3i, 1858, cost 1300,000, h3^draulic pressure 
 being employed. Her extreme length is 680 feet, breadth 
 82}^ feet, and including paddle-boxes, 118 feet; height, 
 58 feet, or 70 to top of bulwarks. She has eight engines, 
 capable in actual work of 1 1,000 horse-pcAver, and has be- 
 sides 20 auxilary engines. She was sold in 1854 for 
 $25,000, and was employed on several occasions with 
 success as a cable-laying vessel. The Great Eastern was 
 sold at public auction October 28, 1885, for $126,000. 
 
 USEFUL INFORMATION. 
 
 A gallon of water (U. S. Standard) weighs 8 I pounds 
 and contains 231 cubic inches 
 
 A cubic foot of water M^eighs 62^^ pounds, and contains 
 1,728 cubic inches, or 7^ gallons. 
 
 Condensing engines require 20 to 2'] gallons of water to 
 condense the steam evaporated from one gallon of water. 
 
 To find the pressure in pounds per square inch of a 
 column of water, multiply the height of the column in 
 feet by .434. (Approximately, every foot elevation is 
 called equal to one-half pound pressure per square inch. 
 
 To find the capacity of a cylinder in gallons. Multiply 
 the area in inches by the length of stroke in inches will 
 give the total number of cubic inches; divide this amount 
 by 231 (which is the cubical contents of a gallon in 
 inches), and the product is the capacity in gallons. 
 
 Ordinary speed to run pumps is 100 feet of piston per 
 minute. 
 
 To find quantity of water elevated in one minute run- 
 ning at 100 feet of piston per miuute: Square the diam- 
 
120 
 
 eter of water cylinder in inches and multiply by 4. 
 Example: capacity of a five inch, cylinder is desired: the 
 square of the diameter (5 inches) is 25, which, multiplied 
 by 4, gives 100, which is gallons per minute, (approxi- 
 mately. ) 
 
 To find the diameter of a pump cylinder to move a 
 given quantity of water per minute (100 feet of piston 
 being the speed), divide the number of gallons by 4, then 
 extract the square root, and the result will be the diam- 
 eter in inches. 
 
 To find the velocity in feet per minute necessary to dis- 
 charge a given volume c>f water in a given time, multiply 
 the number of cubic feet of water by 144 and divide the 
 product by the area of the pipe in inches. 
 
 To find the area of a required pipe the volume and vel- 
 ocity of water being given, multiply the number of cubic 
 feet of water by 144, and divide the product by the veloc- 
 ity in feet per minute. The area being found, it is easy 
 to get the diameter of the pipe necessary. 
 
 The area of the steam piston, multiplied by the steam 
 pressure, gives the total amount of pressure exerted. The 
 area of the water piston, multiplied by the pressure of 
 water per square inch gives the resistance. A margin 
 must be made between the power and resistance, to move 
 the pistons at the required speed; usually reckoned at 
 about 50 per cent. 
 
 How TO Prkserve Eggs. — To each pailful of water, 
 add two pints of fresh slacked lime and one pint of com- 
 mon salt; mix well. Fill your barrel half full with this 
 fluid, put your eggs down in it any time after June, and 
 they will keep two years if desired. 
 
 To KiLIv AND GET RID OF BEDBUGS AND MOTHS. — Use 
 
 either gasoline or benzine. In using these fluids be care- 
 tvl about lights and fires as they are very inflammable. 
 
121 
 
 Egg Stains. — To remove from spoons rub with chloride 
 of sodium. 
 
 Hair. — To clean hair, wash well with a mixture of soft 
 water one pint; soda one ounce; cream tartar one-fourth 
 ounce. 
 
 Bites and Stings of Insects.— Wash with a solution 
 of water of ammonia. 
 
 Bite OF Cats. — Apply fat salt pork to the wound for a 
 day or two, or until the poison is all extracted. 
 
 Mad Dog Bites. — See a physician at once if possible, 
 or apply caustic potash at once to the wound. Give 
 enough whiskey to cause sleep. 
 
 Ratti^esnake Bites.— Whiskey is supposed to be the 
 great cure-all. Give enough to cause intoxication. 
 
 Burns. — Make a paste of baking soda and water and 
 apply it promptly to the bum. Will check the inflam- 
 mation and pain. 
 
 CcREW. —To remove an obdurate screw, apply a red hot 
 iron to the head for a short time, the screw-driver being 
 applied at once while the screw is hot. 
 
 GivASS Stopper. — To remove a glass stopper from a 
 bottle, warm the neck of the bottle with a warm iron, 
 taking care not to warm the stopper This causes the 
 bottle to expand and loosens the stopper. 
 
 Fruit Stains. — To remove the stains of acid fruit from 
 the hands, wash your ha ids in clear water, dry slightly, 
 and 'while yet moist strike a match and hold your hands 
 around the flame. The stains will disappear. 
 
 Iron Rust. — ^To remove from muslin or white goods; 
 thoroughly saturate the spots with lemon j uice and salt, 
 and expose to the sun. Usually more than one applica- 
 tion is required. A good way to prevent its appearance 
 on clothes is when washing to always have them inclosed 
 in a muslin bag when being boiled. 
 
To Stop Vomiting.— Drink freely of hot water, just as 
 hot as can be borne. 
 
 Hard Water. — ^To soften, boil it and expose to the 
 atmosphere. Add a little soda. 
 
 Medicine Stains. — To remove from spoons, rub with 
 a rag dipped in sulphuric acid and wash off with soap 
 suds. 
 
 To Make A Smai<i^ Water Fii^ter. — Take a deep 
 flower pot and put a compressed sponge in the hole in 
 the bottom; Over the sponge put a layer of pebbles an 
 inch thick; next an inch of coarse sand; next a layer of 
 chtircoal; and at the top another layer of pebbles. The 
 water will filter pure and clear through the aperture into 
 another vessel, however impure previously. 
 
 A box having a capacity of one (i) cubic foot will con- 
 tain ten (lo) ijounds of cotton waste, packed snugly. 
 
 Washed waste is not so economical as cop waste for an 
 engineer's use, though it costs less per pound. Nor is 
 colo ed so economical as white waste. The best is always 
 the cheapest in the end. 
 
 The safe thickness for copper steam pipes may be found 
 by muitipljdng the diameter in inches by the pressure in 
 pounds and dividing the product by 4000; the quotient is 
 the thickness in parts of an inch. Of course, a trifle 
 more should be added for stiffness and wear. 
 
 ANTIDOTES FOR POISON. 
 
 In cases where other articles to be used as antidotes are 
 notin the house, give two tablespoonsful of mustar dmixed 
 in a pint of warm water. Also give large draughts of 
 warm milk or water mixed with oil, butter or lard. If 
 possible give as follows: 
 
 Give milk or white of eggs, in large quantities, for bed 
 bug poison, blue vitriol, corrosive sublimate, lead water, 
 
123 
 
 sugar of lead, saltpeter, sulphate of zinc, red precipitate, 
 Vermillion. 
 
 Give prompt emetic of mustard and salt — tablespoonful 
 of each, follow with sweet oil, butter or milk, for fow- 
 ler's solution, white precipitate, and arsenic poisoning. 
 
 For antimonial wine and tartaric emetic, drink warm 
 water to encourage vomiting. If vomiting does not stop, 
 give a grain of opium in water. 
 
 For oil vitriol, aqua fortis, bi-carbonate potassa, muri- 
 atic ac'.d, and oxalic acid, take magnesia or soap, dissol- 
 ved in water, every two minutes. 
 
 Drink freely of water with vinegar or lemon juice in it, 
 for caustic soda, caustic potash, volatile alkali. 
 
 Give flour and water or glutinous drinks for carbolic 
 acid. 
 
 P our cold water over the head and face, with artificial 
 respiration, galvanic battery, for chloral hydrate, and 
 chloroform. 
 
 Prompt emetic, soap or mucilaginous drinks, for car- 
 bonate of soda, copperas, and cobalt. 
 
 For laudanum, morphine and opium, give strong coffee, 
 followed b)^ ground mustard or grease in warm water to 
 produce vomiting. Keep in motion. 
 
 For nitrate of silver, give common salt in water. 
 
 For strychnine and tincture nux vomica, give emetic 
 of mustard or sulphate of zinc, aided by warm water. 
 
 Ants. — Sprigs of wintergreen or ground ivy will drive 
 away red ants. Branches of wormwood will drive away 
 black ants. These insects may be kept out of sugar 
 barrels by drawing a wide mark with white chalk around 
 the top near the edge. 
 
 Boots. — To make leather boots waterproof, saturate 
 them with castor oil. To stop squeaking, drive a peg 
 into the middle of the sole. 
 
124 
 
 CWNKKRS. — ^To remove clinkers from stoves or fire 
 brick, put in about a half a peck of oysters shells on top 
 of a bright fire. It may need repeating but will be 
 effectual. 
 
 Grease Spots. — To remove, thoroughly saturate with 
 turpentine, place a soft blotting paper beneath and 
 a r other on top of the spot, and press it hard. Tne fat 
 i? dissolved and absorbed by the paper. 
 
 Gii,T Frames. — ^To restore and clean gilt frames, gently 
 inib with a sponge moistened in turpentine. 
 
 Ink Stains. — To remove, wash carefully with pure 
 water and apply oxalic acid. If the latter changes the 
 dye to a red tinge restore the color with diluted water of 
 ammonia. 
 
 Paint.— Chloroform will remove paint from clothing. 
 Whej the color of a fabric has been injured by an acid, 
 ammonia is applied to neutralize the same, after which 
 an applicalion of chloroform will in nearly all cases re- 
 store the color. 
 
 Sll^VERWARB. — To prevent articles of silverware from 
 tarnishing, first warm them, and then paint them with a 
 thin solution of collodion in alcohol, using a wide, soft 
 brush for the purpose. 
 
 STARCH. — To prevent starch from souring when boiled, 
 add a little sulphate of copper. 
 
 To Clean Furniture — First rub with cotton waste 
 dipp id in boiled linseed oil, then rub clean and dry with 
 a soft cotton flannel cloth. Care must be taken that the 
 oil is all rubbed off. 
 
 To Remove Sunburn and Frecki^es. — To get off the 
 freckles, to cause the sunburn to disappear, yo\i have got 
 to put on your face and neck, and on your arms, dark- 
 ened by battling with the waves, a mixture, of two parts 
 of Jamica rum to one of lemon juice; dabble it well on the 
 
135 
 
 surface, let it dry, and wash it ofif in the morning in your 
 hot bath. Besides whitening the skin, which the lemon 
 does, the rum gives it a vigor and makes a rosy flush 
 come to the surface. You will gain no good from this 
 by doing it for one or two nights; keep it up for two 
 weeks at the least, and remember that when your skin 
 has that depressed, womout look that comes from sitting 
 up too late at night, nothing will invigorate it like a few 
 drops of Jamaica rum put into the water with which you 
 wash your face. 
 
 Remedies for Burns and Scai^ds — Every family 
 should have a preparation of flaxseed oil, chalk and vin- 
 egar, about the consistency of thick paint, constantly on 
 hand for burns and scalds. The best application in cases 
 of burns and scalds is a mixtnre of one part of carbolic 
 acid to eight parts of olive oil. Lint or linen rags are to 
 be saturated in the lotion, and spread smoothly over the 
 burned part, which should then be covered with oil silk 
 or gutta percha tissue to exclude air. 
 
 Strength of Ice of Various Thickness. —Good 
 clear ice two inches thick will bear men to walk on. 
 
 Good clear ice four inches thick will bear horses and 
 riders. 
 
 Good clear ice six inches thick will bear horses and 
 teams with moderate loads. 
 
 Good clear ice eight inches thick will bear horses and 
 teams with very heavy loads. 
 
 Good clear ice ten inches thick will sustain a pressure 
 of 1,000 pounds to the square foot. 
 
 Value of A Ton of Goi^d and A Ton of Shaver. 
 
 The value of a ton of pure gold is $602,799.21. 
 $1,000,000 gold coin weighs 3,685.8 lbs. avoirdupois. 
 The value of a ton of silver is $37,704.84. 
 |i,ooo,ooo silver coin weighs 58,929,9 lbs avoirdupois, 
 
126 
 
 How TO Kii.1. Grease Spots Before Painting.— 
 Wash over smoky or greasy parts with saltpeter, or very 
 thin lime white wash. It soap-suds are used, they must 
 be washed off thoroughly, as they prevent the paint from 
 drying hard. 
 
 HOW To MIX PAINTS FOR TINTS. 
 
 Red and Black makes Brown 
 
 Lake and White makes Rose 
 
 White and Brown makes Chestnut 
 
 White, Blue and Lake makes , Purple 
 
 BUie and Lead color' makes Pearl 
 
 White and Carmine makes Pink 
 
 Indigo and Lamp-Black makes Silver Gray 
 
 White and Lamp-Black makes Lead Color 
 
 Black and Venetian Red makes Chocolate 
 
 White and Green makes Bright Green 
 
 Purple and White makes French White 
 
 Light Green and Black makes Dark Green 
 
 White and Green makes Pea Green 
 
 White and Emerald Green makes. Brilliant Green 
 
 Red and Yellow makes Orange 
 
 White and Yellow makes Straw Color 
 
 White, Blue and Black makes Pearl Gray 
 
 White, Lake and Vermillion makes. Flesh Color 
 
 Umber, White and Venetian Red makes Drab 
 
 White. Yellow and Venetian Red makes. Cream 
 
 Red, Blue, Black and Red makes Olive 
 
 Yellow, White and a little Venetian Red makes Buff 
 
 How TO Break Glass Any Shape.— File a little 
 notch on the edge of the glass at the point you wish to 
 start the break from; then put a suitably shaped red hot 
 iron upon the notch, and draw, slowly, in the direction 
 you wish. A crack will follow the iron caused by the 
 heat, if not drawn too fast. 
 
 How TO Drii^i, GIvASs. — Use a file drill, and keep the 
 point wet with a mixture of camphene and spirits of tur- 
 pentine. Turpentine can be used alone. The camphene 
 
127 
 
 helps the drill to bite. Water will alsci answer to keep 
 the point of the drill wet. 
 
 Polish for Fine Furniture. — Linseed oil, and old 
 ale each Yz pint; the white of i ^%% beaten; alcohol, and 
 muriatic acid each i oz., mix all together. Directions. 
 Shake well before using and after using keep well corked. 
 
 Ebony Stain for Soft Wood.— Make a strong de- 
 coction of logwood by boiling, and apply three or four 
 times accord ng to shade desired allowing it to dry 
 between applications; then apply solution of acetate of 
 iron. This is made by putting iron filings into good 
 vinegar. 
 
 To Wash and Polish Silverware. — One teaspoonful 
 of ammonia to very hot water i pt., and wash quickly 
 with a small brush kept for the purpose only, and dry 
 with a clean linen towel; then rub very dry with chamois. 
 
 How to Cure Drinking Habit.— The cure is simply 
 an orange every morning yi hour before breakfast, and 
 the keeping away from saloons. 
 
 Cure for Sciatia.— Wrap warm flat irons with some 
 woolen fabric, dip in vinegar and apply to painful part 
 two or three times a day, sure cure. 
 
 Cholera Mixture. — Aromatic sulphuric acid, one 
 ounce; paregoric three ounces. Dose. One teaspoonful 
 in four tablespoonfuls of water. This is the simplest and 
 most generally useful combination, and should be kept 
 ready for use in the house, office, store and workshop 
 during a cholera season. 
 
 IvIniment for Rheumatism. — Alcohol, i oimce; 
 oil of mustard, j^g ounce; laudinum i^ onuce; cod liver 
 oil, I pint. 
 
128 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Note.— The index is necessarily very much abbreviated. On 
 
 index each one would consume too much space. We trust however 
 
 account of there being so many points, rules, etc.. we found that to 
 Id c 
 squired n 
 eral heading under which" it should come. 
 
 spg 
 
 that any rule recj^uired may easily be founcf by consulting the gen- 
 Page. 
 
 The Boiler 5 
 
 Pumps 19 
 
 The Inspirator , 26 
 
 The Engine 35 
 
 Steel Square 49 
 
 Valve Motion 54 
 
 Horse Power 60 
 
 The Indicator , 63 
 
 Rules 66 
 
 The Corliss Engine , 88 
 
 Valves 88 
 
 The Dynamos, etc 94-109 
 
 Practical Points, etc 1 10-127 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Flue Brush. 11 
 
 Pump (common plunger) 20 
 
 Steam Pump in detail 21 
 
 Duplex Pump in detail 24 
 
 Inspirator 27 
 
 Boiler Feeder 29 
 
 Engine. 36 
 
 The Governor 39 
 
 Lubricator A^-4^ 
 
 Indicator 63 
 
 Screw Cutting Lathe 82 
 
 The Corliss Engine 88 
 
 C. & C. Dynamo 95 
 
 Edison Dynamo 100