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14 MARINE REVIEW [November 16, SHIP BUILDING IN RICHMOND. Comment regarding the recent launching of the torpedo boat Shu- brick at the works of the William R. Trigg Co., Richmond, Va., has left the impression in some quarters that the vessel in question was the first naval vessel constructed at the Virginia capital. This belief is strikingly at variance with the facts in the case. The initial vessel was the gunboat James K. Polk, which was launched in 1845. The Polk was a side-wheeler and carried several.guns of what was considered good calibre in those days. A number of war vessels were built in Richmond by the Confed- erate government. The celebrated Merrimac, or the Virginia as she was rechristened, was built, at Norfolk, but her armor and the greater part of her machinery were made at the Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond. Another Richmond-built craft of the days of the civil war was the torpedo boat Squib, arid she proved the most successful of all the vessels of this character with the single exception of the David, which sank the Federal warship Housatonic. Although well known it is worthy of note that the machinery of the battleship Texas was built at the Richmond Locomotive & Machine Works. ; Numerous merchant vessels have been built at Richmond. Probably the first was the John A. Lancaster, a two-masted schooner built in 1837 by David Currie for the South American trade. At the same yard and in the same year Haskins & Libby built the two-masted schooner Joseph Eames. In 1839 David Currie built at Richmond the Creole, a full-rigged brig which was in the slave trade between Richmond and New Orleans. ' Probably the first vessel built at Richmond after the war was the iron steamer Richmond, which was constructed in 1873 and is still operated by the Old Dominion Steamship Co. between Richmond and New York. After the Richmond left for Wilmington, Del., where her machinery was installed, little was done until the establishment of the Trigg yard. HOLLOW STAYBOLT IRON. Hollow staybolt iron of the kind manufactured by the Falls Hollow Staybolt Co. of Cuyahoga Falls, O., is coming into use by marine boiler manufacturers on the lakes to such an extent that the Falls company, fearing the possibility of objection from local inspectors of steam vessels to a new kind of iron for this purpose, wrote General Dumont, chief of the government service, for a ruling that would remove any chance of delay in cases where inspectors might not be well informed. Gen. Du- mont's answer is to the effect that the boiler manufacturers are free to use any kind of staybolt iron they see fit, provided it comes up w the gov- ernment requirements in the matter of tests. On this score there is, of ceurse, no doubt regarding the hollow iron, as many car loads of it has been sold to ship builders in the east, the quality exceeding the best reports of tests made with solid staybolt iron. The steamers Ponce ant San Juan, products of the Harlan '& Hollingsworth Co.'s works, referred to in the last issue of the Review, have boilers fitted with this kind of staybolt iron, and the Neafie & Levy Ship & Engine Building Co. of Philadelphia has been buying it in large quantities. The Falls company only a few days ago booked an order from the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia for 3,000 feet of 1 1-16 inches outside diameter and 5-16-inch hole, for use in the boilers of locomotives building for the Atch- ison, Topeka i& Santafe R'y. The W. & A. Fletcher Co. of New York, operating one of the best known marine engine works in America, were first to make use of hollow staybolt iron. The Ohio manufacturers were furnishing the New York firm with solid iron when a ruling of the steam- 'boat inspection service insisted upon the staybolt ends being drilled for safety purposes. The advantages of hollow staybolts, as against the labor involved in drilling the holes and the weakness caused by the holes, were pcinted out 'by the Fletcher company and the hollow iron was soon rolled successfully by the use of a mandril. STEEL TOWING HAWSERS. The American Steel & Wire Co., some of whose most extensive works are located at Cleveland, are producing a high grade of galvanized steel hawsers and towing lines in connection with extensive manufacture of all kinds of iron, steel and copper wire ropes and cables. The lines of this company's make are guaranteed to 'be of the highest quality material and the construction such as is most calculated to give surest satisfaction in points of flexibility and durability, which points the company declare they stand ready to demonstrate to any interested parties. In this connection it may not be amiss to call attention to the great variety of black and galvanized chains made by the American Steel & Wire Co., including the most approved anchor chains. Ship builders will also be interested in the improved quality and patterns of the round and square boat spikes made by the American Steel & Wire Co. at their Cleve- land mills. On any of these points detailed information can be obtained 'by addressing the American Steel & Wire Co., Chicago or New York. where their offices are located. : NEW AIR COMPRESSOR WORKS. _The New York Air Compressor Co. has been incorporated with a capital of $100,000. The officers of the company are: President, J. W. Duntley, who is also president of the Chicago Pneumatic Tool Co.: vice- president Alexander Mackay, holding the same position in the Chicago company and also closely connected with the National Bank of the Re- public, Chicago; secretary-treasurer, W. P. Pressinger, late manager of the New York office of the Chicago Pneumatic Tool Co. The directors are the above mentioned, J. W. Duntley, Alexander Mackay, W. P. Press- inger; also W.B. Albright, manager of the Sherwin-Williams Paint Co., W. O. Duntley, general sales agent, and Thomas Aldcorn, eastern sales agent of the Chicago Pneumatic Tool Co.; also Austin E. Pressinger, attorney- at-law of New York. The company proposes to erect works at Arlington, Deen wach will employ 300 men. Machinery to cost $75,000 will be in- stalled. - On and after Nov. 6, 1899, the Nickel Plate road will run its dining car on train No. 3 between Buffalo and Bellevue instead of between Con. neaut and Fostoria as heretofore. 164, Nov. 30 _ is installed upon the side of the Ae aA i a I | itl s Po it , ul u 1 *FSyJ MD ) A 99 LL c ' E Flt' E | Zaz RB Te a re i is x ss aa ee \ MT 7 7 G M Se L | ' RECENT DEVELOPMENT IN MARINE GENERATING SETS. The requirements of marine work are most difficult to fill. Not only is space economized to the last degree but into this curtailed space must be built a machine which will have unsusal capacity when speed and weight are considered, and be thoroughly reliable. The combination illustrated herewith is a Bullock type '"N-I" generator direct connected to a Forbes marine engine. The engine cylinder is 5 by 5 inches and is made for the high pressures of modern marine practice. The cylinder is supported upon three hollow steel legs, which are rigidlv fastened to a subbase common to both engine and generator. To two of these supports the 'cross-head guide is securely 'bolted. Means are provided to adjust for wear of the cross- head shoe and guide and in the main bearings. A perfect sys- tem of sight feed lubricators cylinder with copper tubes leading to all of the wearing surfaces of the engine. A A : small balance wheel is provid- deg eae Se tar a ed and assists in the regulation of the engine speed. The governor, which is installed on the outer end of the shaft, is of the inertia-centrifugal type and maintains a speed between no load and all load limits of less than 2 per cent variation. The valve is of the cylindrical balanced type and gives a perfect steam distribution. The generator, like the engine, is very compact, pleasing in outline and presents some excellent features of mechanical and electrical design as will be seen by consulting the sectional engraving. The yoke is a steel casting of the conventional circular form having inwardly projecting pole pieces of laminated soft steel. Each pole is bolted to the frame by two 'bolts A-A, the centrally located rivet B, of the laminated pole C, being tapped and serving as a nut for the bolts. The armature core D is built up of laminated soft steel mounted directly upon the shaft and held firmly together by iron end plates E and nuts F as shown, one end plate resting against the shoulder G. Ventilating slots H perpendicular to the shaft provide a perfect means of ventiation. The windings I are machine formed and hot pressed and are perfectly insulated before being placed in the slots of the core. The windings are held in place by steel wire bands wound in slots making a flush finish with the outside of the laminated core. The armature shaft rests in a phosphor bronze bearing of liberal SECTIONAL VIEW BULLOCK TYPE "'N-I" GENERATOR dimensions at the outer end and is key-seated in the hub of the engine fly wheel, which is of extra width and provided for receiving the end K. The commutator bars, shown at L, are held together by the sleeve M, ring N and nut O. The oil shield P prevents oil from finding its way from the bearing Q into the armature. The bearing Q is of self-oiling type, as shown. The end housing R, securely bolted to the frame, carries the brush studs S. The field coils T are machine wound and thoroughly insulated, and are slipped over the poles before the latter are bolted in position. The engine operates at 600 revolutions per minute and at this speed the capacity of the generator is 5 K. W. at 115 volts pressure. This par- ticular set is now installed upon the steamer Aberdeen, a vessel recently built for the Pacific coast trade. The manufacturers, the Bullock Electric Mi'g. Co., Cincinnati, O., will be pleased to send bulletin No. 5034 showing other engine type generators, to those requesting it. - Names have been selected for all three of the new Rockefeller steamers that are to go into commission on the great lakes next spring. It was decided some time ago to give the names Gen. Orlando M. Poe and Robert W. E. Bunsen to two of these vessels. Now it is announced that the third vessel will be named Chas. R. Van Hise, in honor of the pro- fessor of geology and mineralogy at the University of Wisconsin, who had much to do with the discovery and development of the iron mines of the Lake Superior region. ~ A new machine shop, which will be built by the Berlin Iron Bridge Co. of East Berlin, Conn., for the Wm. Cramp & Sons Co. of Philadel- phia, will be 142 feet in width, 350 feet in length and three stories in height. All the floors, including the gallery floors, will be equipped with electric traveling cranes. The building will be of steel framework and the outside walls of brick, the structure being one of the largest and most complete shops in the world.