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"6 | MARINE REVIEW. gives ample room for storage purposes, providing it is not convenient to unload a vessel directly into cars. The bridges are on a grade to increase the storage capacity of the dock. In arranging and placing the operating machinery for a plant of this kind, the primary object in view is to com- bine the greatest possible efficiency with a simple and durable design, for while the work per day expected of a machine of this kind is considerable, yet at the same time the men who operate it are not apt to be skilled me- chanics with an understanding of the proper endurance of a piece of ma- chinery. It becomes, therefore, imperative to the successful operation of the plant that there be few points depending on the judgment of the operator for their being kept in good condition. Keeping this in view, the design has been to confine all machinery to the engine room, where it is under the constant watch of the engineer, and outside the engine room on the bridge are only the sheaves and steel ropes, not so apt to get out of order and require constant attention. The hoisting engines are of the well known Lidgerwood pattern, with reversible link motion, and these, together with the boilers, etc., are placed in an engine room built in the rear tower, from which two legs on Seo RSS ARES : 1 | 1 ------ -- 480 -- ----- ---- S xn SS Zs) i wa yy a = EG Bue, = eal Li i) ip iil peurne a --_ 30 0° Uy aa = Qi" oe] | fied yas = Rad [3° ve n . r bridges are operated. The rear tower is also propelled up and down its track on the dock by a gearing machine located in the engine house, from which also power is furnished to raise and lower the apron at the front tower. The bridge is constructed with an upper and lower runway, the upper forming the track for the hoisting and the lower for the conveying carriage, from which are operated wire conveying ropes to which the buckets are attached and can be operated so that the bucket can be hoisted and conveyed at the same time and take the shortest line between two points, and be stopped at any height and place and does not have to be brought directly in contact with the carriage before the conveying takes place. No complicated latch mechanism is required and this is a point of great benefit to the machine in the matter of time of operation and sim- plicity of construction. -- This plant of eight legs has thus far given entire satisfaction. When it had been in operation only a few weeks the parties for whom it was built ordered an additional set of two legs, which is now being constructed and will be ready for operation next spring. Ten legs are now considered no more than enough to handle boats of the latest style, which are in some cases 432 feet in length over all, with 12 hatches and a capacity of 6,680 net tons of ore on 1g feet draft. Mr. Geo. B. Raser, manager of the P. Y. & A. dock at Ashtabula, select- ing at random from his reports, advises that on Sept. 26, 1895, the steamer Roman, with 2,500 gross tons of ore, commenced unloading in cars at 6:30 a, m. atid finished at 5:30 p. m., and on Sept. 28, 1895, the steamer German, with 2,540 gross tons of ore, commenced unloading in pile at 7 a. m. and finished at 5:30 p. m. An allowance in each case, of course, should be made for a shut-down of one hour at noon, and in neither of these cases was any special effort made to obtain a record or special good showing. They represent the average daily work of the eight legs in the plant, which will, of course, be increased when the others are in opera ion. It should also be noted that this work was done when the plant was new, and the operators new also. It was found that later in the season, when operators had acquired more experience in handling the machinery, that better time was made. These reports are for average work each day under ordinary circumstances. They do not represent the actual efficiency of the hoists, as the boats were unloaded into cars standing on the two tracks near the water front, and not into pile, and there is, of course, always a loss of time from switching occasioned in pulling out the loaded cars and replacing © them with empties, which consumes from 30 to 50 per cent. of the time. This loss of time occurs in a large measure for the reason that the hoists are necessarily very close together, on account of the short space between the hatches of vessels, and therefore the cars have to be placed alternately on the tracks, and one hoist can only have one car to load in at a time; and while this is being taken away and replaced by an empty the hoist must necessarily lie idle. This is under the present arrangement of operat-: ing the tracks at the plant under discussion, but it is understood that it is the intention of the managers of the dock to add two more tracks, making the number four in all, in order to be able to place two cars under each hoist at the same time, thus making the work continuous, so that there need be no interruption in hoisting for lack of cars. This will, of course, lose a certain amount of space for storage, but when direct ship- ment from vessel to cars is the principal requirement in a very busy sea- son, the storage capacity of the dock is a secondary matter, and towards the close of the season can be increased, if necessary, by simply doing away storage. j This mode of rapid unloading by continuous work only becomes prac- tical when it is possible to stop and start the conveying carriage at any de- sired point without changing any stops or other parts on the bridge, and it is one of the great advantages claimed for this hoist that it is possible to do this without the operator leaving either of his two levers. The general arrangement of machinery, mode of operation and important details, as well as various safety devices, are all covered by the Rasch and other patents controlled by the King Bridge Co. It is the intention of the King company to operate this branch of their business hereafter more exten- sively thanin the past. They are also engaged at present in perfecting a -- coal handling device for unloading cars directly into boats. Miscellaneous Matters. A contract for the re-construction of the Wisconsin Central ore dock at Ashland has been let to the Butler-Ryan Co. of St. Paul. The cost of the improvement is placed at $75,000. Capt. Albert R. Manning's interest in the firm of Brooks, Manning & Co., Cleveland, has been purchased by Henry M. Brooks. The busi- ness of the old firm will be carried on by Henry M. Brooks and Harry H. Culp, under the name of Henry M. Brooks & Co. About 300 engineers are to be engaged on the work of sur- veys preparatory to expending the $9,000,000 appropriated a short time ago for New York state canal improvements. It is now thought, that little, if any, of the actual work of improvement on the canals can be done this winter. S. F. Hodge & Co., Detroit, will build triple expansion engines for the large steel tug which is being built by the Craig Ship Building Co. of Toledo for the Wisconsin & Michigan Railway Co. The tug will be 145 feet over all, 135 feet keel, 30 feet beam and 16 feet 3 inches depth of hold, and the engines will be 18, 30 and 50 inches diameter by 36 inches stroke. : Officers of the Ship Owners' Dry Dock Co., Cleveland, elected a few days ago, are: President, Capt. Thomas Wilson; vice president, Capt. Geo. Stone; secretary, treasurer and general-manager, Geo. L. Quayle; assistant general-manager, Gustav Cold; counsel, H. D. Goulder; direct- ors, Thomas Wilson, Robert Wallace, J. E. Upson, Valentine Fries, George Stone, H. D. Coffinberry, and H. D. Goulder. Manager David Carter of the Detroit & Cleveland Steam Navigation Co. is quoted as favoring a high bridge at Detroit. This is natural. Senator McMillan, who is the prime mover in the bridge matter, is the largest stockholder of the Detroit & Cleveland Co. Thereis no way to prevent Mr. Carter taking any position he sees fit regarding the bridge, but he is only one member of the Lake Carriers' Association, and he is only one vessel owner favoring the bridge against hundreds who oppose it. The Standard Oil Co's tank barges, which were built last winter by the American Steel Barge Co., carry electric lights that are vapor proof, so that there is no danger of an explosion or fire from them even when naptha is being carried. Two large pumps inthe forward part of the boat are used to discharge the cargo, and when these are run at full capacity the cargo of 10,000 barrels can be discharged in six hours. A double bulkhead between the boiler-room and oil tanks is kept full of water all the time asa protection against fire. Two powerful steam pumps also supply a protection from fire. Six contracts for car dumping machines, to be used for transferring soft coal in car loads to vessels at Lake Erie points, are now held by the Brown Hoisting & Conveying Co. of Cleveland. It is expected that all of the machines will be in operation early next season. Contracts are with the following concerns: Columbus, Hocking Valley & Toledo Railroad Co., at Toledo; Toledo & Ohio Central Railroad Co., at Toledo; Youghio- gheny River Coal Co. and James W. Ellsworth & Co., L. S. & M. S. docks at Ashtabula; New York & Cleveland Gas Coal Co. and Ohio & Pennsy]l- vania Coal Co. on the Cleveland & Pittsburg dock, Cleveland; Huron Dock Co., on docks of the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railroad Co. at Huron. It is expected that each of the machines will have a capacity of 3,000 tons daily. It is about settled now that the new steel package freight steamer that is being built by the Union Dry Dock Co., Buffalo, will be owned and operated by the Union Steamboat Co. It was thought that the vessel would probably be sold to other parties and this is why the Union Steam- boat Co. was not named as owners when the keel was laid some time ago. The new ship is 336 feet over all, 44 feet beam and 27 feet3 inches moulded depth, of which latter 50 inches will be taken up by water bot- i with the two additional tracks and using the room for the purpose of ; ¢ . ' tom. Cylinders ofthe triple expansion engines, which will be built by © H. G. Trout & Co. of Buffalo, will be 23, 3814 and 64 inches diameter by 42 inches stroke. The boilers will be built by the Lake Erie Boiler Works, also of Buffalo. There will be four of them, each 1114 feet diameter and 13 feet long.