THE APPLICATION OF REINFORCED CONCRETE IN DRY DOCK CONSTRUCTION AT HUNTER'S POINT, CAL. (See page 626.) a screw for Armstrong, Whitworth and Co., the errors in pitch of which, measured from one end, lie between 0.0003 and 0.0002 in. in a length of 36 in. The effects of wind pressures on structures and the resistance of materials under alternating stresses have also been under investigation. Much of this work is being continued during the present year, and among new researches proposed may be mentioned the influence of impurities on copper, the relation of carbon to iron in cast iron, and the socalled constituents of quenched steels. addition to these and other researches which have been successfully carried through, a number of inquiries have been declined for want of sufficient equipment. The Committee hope that this may, however, be shortly remedied. During the year some 28,000 instruments of various kinds were tested. Of these, more than half were clinical thermometers. At the beginning of the year the financial position was a source of anxiety, but large additions to the donation fund and increase of work in the latter part of the year turned the loss that was feared into a credit balance, the expenditure being £12,257 3s. 7d. and the receipts £12,753 3s. 9d. But this result, satisfactory though it is, was due in great measure to efforts made to increase the donation list, and the committee recognise that such a source of income is necessarily precarious. The Treasury has agreed to increase the annual grant for 1905-1906 from £4,000 to £5.500, and will in addition be willing to consider the increase of this sum in 1906-1907 to £6,000. In regard to the memorandum of the committee pointing out the need for capital expenditure on new buildings and equipment to an amount approaching £30,000, the Treasury replied that with every desire in the public interest to develop the resources of the laboratory, it felt that in view of the financial exigencies of the time and the numerous demands on the exchequer, this somewhat extensive programme 617 could only be carried out by being spread over a number of years; but it was prepared to ask Parliament for an additional grant of £5,000 for 1905-1906, and hoped that for four or five years to come it might be possible to provide an equal sum. As to the gradual improvement in the management of the Transvaal mines, Mr. H. Ross Skinner, whom we quoted last week, is o opinion that this should further increase as years go on owing to the larger number of young men who will be available, and who have made mining their profession and practically their life's study. He advises them to always remember that book knowledge alone will not make a manager, but has to be combined with the great gift of common-sense, and the The Government exability to handle men. amination will also gradually tend towards raising the standard, but the giving of a Government certificate should be counted as the foot and not the top of the ladder. It is only by reading, observing, and thinking that a manager can keep pace with the times and be able to cope with the problems incidental to the running of a mine. In the abstract of Lord Brassey's paper on Shipbuilding for the Navy," issued by the Institution of Civil Engineers, we note : "The author concluded by urging the desirability of discussion on such questions, were of exceeding complexity and which momentous import to the nation. It had been decided that the proceedings of the on ShipAdmiralty Advisory Committee building should not be made public. Such discussions as those which might from time to time be held under the auspices of the Institution of Civil Engineers were the more valuable for the guidance of public opinion." It is difficult to see how public opinion is to be guided by discussions from which pressmen are rigorously excluded. PAGE'S WEEKLY An Illustrated Technical Weekly, dealing with the Engineering, Electrical, Mining, Iron and Steel, and Shipbuilding Industries. DAVIDGE PAGE, Editor. Clun House, Surrey Street, Strand, London, W.C. Editorial.-All communications intended for publication should be written on one side of the paper only, and addressed to The Editor." Any contributions offered, as likely to interest either home or foreign readers, dealing with the industries covered by the Weekly, should be accompanied by stamped and addressed envelope for the return of the MSS. if rejected. When payment is desired this fact should be stated, and the full name and address of the writer should appear on the MSS. 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When a change of address is notified, both the new and old addresses should be given. All orders must be accompanied by remittance, and no subscription will be continued after expiration unless by special arrangement. Subscribers are requested to give information of any irregularity in receiving the Weekly. When Foreign Subscriptions are sent by Post Office Orders, advice should be sent to the Publisher. Foreign and Colonial Subscribers receiving incomplete copies through newsagents, are requested to communicate the fact to the Publisher, together with the agent's name and address. NEWS ITEMS. The Victorian, the newly-built Allan Line steamer, is the first turbine engined boat to cross the Atlantic. on A new Japanese battleship, the largest warship yet built on the Tyne, was launched at Elswick Wednesday. The persistent rumour of a projected amalgamation between the British Westinghouse Company and Armstrong, Whitworth and Co., Ltd., is officially denied. The Permanent Committee of the International Congress of Technical Education have accepted an invitation for the holding of the next meeting at Milan in 1906. At the annual meeting of Messrs. William Beardmore and Co., last week, Mr. Albert Vickers said he was happy to report that the new shipyard at Dalmuir was now practically completed. Early on Tuesday morning a successful trial trip was run with an electrical train over the portion of the Metropolitan Railway on the Inner Circle from Baker Street to South Kensington and back, and from Baker Street to Aldgate and back. We are pleased to receive confirmation of the following paragraph, which recently appeared in the daily Press: On Saturday, February 25th, the Manchester engineering firm of Messrs. Isaac Storey and Co. received an order by wire for an auxiliary condenser of 900 square feet required by a large shipbuilding company. The condition was attached that delivery must be made by Monday, March 13th. The firm had no finished parts of any description in stock for this work, and had to make the whole condenser from raw material, but they managed to deliver the condenser on Friday, March 10th, two days earlier than required. Metallography. Recent Advances in (Illustrated) Armoured Concrete (Illus 625 Electrical Engineers' Dinner 648 Destroyer Developments...... 648 Electric Lifting Machinery 649 Institution of Mining and Metallurgy 650 trated) Uganda Railway (Illustrated) 626 629 Contractors' News... 654 Our Weekly Biography- 30-in. Duplex Boring and Turning Mill (Illustrated) 635 Steam Engine Research (Illustrated) Publications 668 639 (1) Three 1,250 k. w. Westinghouse-Parsons steam turbine generating units in 59th Street Power House of Interborough Rapid Transit Company, New York. (2) 7,500 h.p. Westinghouse-Parsons steam turbine generating units in 74th Street Power House of the Company. Prizes Offered for Machinery. We have just received the following details of prizes which are to be awarded by the Association of Italian Manufacturers for the prevention of accidents in factories, in connection with an international competition to be held during the Milan Exhibition next year— A gold medal and 8,000 lire for a new appliance for preventing accidents arising from contacts between primary and secondary windings in alternate current transformers. The appliance must fulfil the condition that no disturbance in the action of the transformer must arise in case of atmospheric discharges or abnormal increase of potential. Gold medal and 1,000 lire for a novel system of hand crane or winch fitted with a simple and practical contrivance to prevent the possibility of the handles revolving during the descent of the load. Gold medal and 500 lire for a safety appliance, to be simple, strong and reliable, to stop trucks automatically on an inclined plane on the hauling rope snapping. The appliance must be adaptable to existing plant. Gold medal for a sytsem of absorbtion and collection of the dust produced in sorting and cutting rags by hand without giving rise to draughts detrimental to the health of the workpeople. Gold medal for a system to carry off by suction the dust generated by carding flax, hemp, and jute, without detriment to the neighbourhood. Gold medal for a system to prevent the diffusion of dust in lime and cement works. Overhead Mains. Reference was made during the recent discussion on "Overhead Mains," at the Institution of Electrical Engineers to the troubles likely to arise in connection with overhead wires which are carried along main roads. arose An interesting point in this connection at the conference of municipal ́ tramway authorities which has just been held in London. It was in relation to the protection of overhead trolley wires At the present time when the Postmaster-General or the National Telephone Company desires to place an electric wire over those of a tramway, it becomes the duty of the tramway authority whether a company or a municipality, to protect the live wire so that the telegraphs or telephone wire may not come in contact with it. This is throwing an unfair burden on the electric tramway interests, more particularly if the overhead equipment of the trainway should have been in position first. In such a case it might be fairly argued that the Post Office or the National Telephone Company should be charged with the duty of affording the necessary protection, and it was decided to ask the Board of Trade to receive a deputation on this matter and on the question of the construction of cars and other matters in connection with the working and equipment of tramways. Metallic Calcium. Electrometallurgy has at last succeeded in producing metallic calcium in commercial quantities, and at what must be considered a relatively low price. Until within a few weeks ago this metal had only beer. available in very small amounts, and remained a rare laboratory specimen; it is now obtainable at a price per kilogramme less than that charged by most chemical dealers for a small one gramme sample. Humphry Davy first formed the amalgam by electrolysing lime, mixed with mercuric oxide and slightly: moistened, with a mercury kathode; he isolated the metal in small quantities by distilling off the mercury. Since then many chemists have tried in vain to find a method suitable for its preparation on a larger scale. Now two German chemists have brought about an extraordinary slump in the market, by a new patented process. The metal is being placed on the English market by Messrs. Armbrecht Nelson and Co., of 71 and 73, Duke Street, Grosvenor Square. Its price according to chemists lists, has changed as follows:£56 5s. od. per oz. 1903 1904 1905 (Jan.) 1905 (March) 25 os. od. per oz. 9 os. od. per oz. o Is. 6d. per oz. From being a mere laboratory curiosity it has become cheap enough to experiment with extensively in connection with the manufacture of armourplate. The Egyptian State Railways. Lord Farrer's Commission on the Egyptian State railways recommend, the construction of new lines entailing a total expenditure of £700,000. The gap between Assouan and Wady Halfa, 200 miles, it is considered, must sooner or later be bridged, and the Commission think it would pay better to link up the systems by spending £1,000,000 (E) than by spending £600,000 on widening the existing LuxorAssouan line, and the project of uniting the two systems-the Egyptian of 1,667 miles and the Sudanese of 700 miles-is most worthy of immediate attention, as being quite likely to give a return on capital in a time. comparatively short The Commission find that the administration of the port of Alexandria should be separated from that of the railways. The capital expenditure necessary to improve the existing system and provide the necessary rolling stock is altogether £2,923,750 (E). |