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THE MARINE RECORD. IN THE ENGINE ROOM. NEW QUADRUPLE EXPANSION ENGINE. (ILLUSTRATED.) Mr. David Lumgair, of West Bay City, Mich., has ap- plied for and will receive, in a week or two, patents on a quadruple expansion condensing engine, which, it is claimed, is suitable for the heaviest marine work, and for stationary purposes as well. The principles can also be applied to the triple expansion engine for those who prefer lower steam. The working of this engine will readily be understood by examination of the accompanying illustration. Steam from the boiler enters the high pressure valve chest through opening a, and enters the lower end of the cyl- inder on the top side of the valve, leaving the cylinder through the bottom side of the valve. It then enters opening 4, and passes through pipe 4 to the upper end of the valve chest, and enters the top end of the cylinder Mail KOH tion with the upper valve on the high pressure end, the engine could be forced in case of emergency. In trying iton a 12, 17 and 24-inch triple expansion engine, 25 more turns per minute were made. The inventor, Mr. Lumgair, claims for these engines that they are easily handled and reverse well. They take up little room in the boat, there are only two sets of engines to look after and the pistons are easy to get at. The first cost is low, and the fuel consumption is small. LIFE OF MARINE ENGINES. An interesting instance, showing the duration of the working life of a set of first-class marine engines and boilers, is tobe noticed in the case of the White Star Liner Germanic. This steamer left Belfast in the year 1875 to take her station on the White Star Line between Liverpool and New York, and from that time until she was returned to her builders at the end of last year to receive new boilers, etc., she was regularly at work on the Atlantic, and made no less than 211 round voyages. Uy | F \ NW) DWDYWG rM Y Gg Mo WEE} Yh LY. Kile NSss T 1 SWIM LY \ xy Z Y Ys Z| g SS sss Zy NS BSS ) | ry Z SSNS MMA ®6y SON Sass SS 78 . N ~N Y | ~ e Vv N N 7s : Nj \ HN 4~ eae Mi N N Y Se [fe N \ N j SERS Ne \ ees) aos \ \NESSES=\ Gp eR OO Bee N N 3 YS 7 Ws \\ N Y Ty N N N \ SG timate contact with the shell. The fiber of the coil is at right angles to the circumferential stresses, avoiding the risks common to pipes with brazed or welded joints and to drawn pipes where the fiber of the metal, being parallel to the circumferential stresses, is in the least effective position for resistance. The steam coil is wound on the shell while it is rotating in a bath of molten alloy, the melting point of the alloy being suffi- ciently high to be unaffected by the temperature of steam of high pressure, and by this process shell and coil are fused into a solid mass. TO DETERMINE FURNACE TEMPERATURE. In a recent communication to the Academie des Sciences, M. Berthelot suggests a method of determin- ing the temperature of a furnace which is based on the fact that the refractive index ofa gas varies with its density. ‘Two tubes filled with the same gas are taken and a spectrum refracted through each, the two spectra being observed together. If then one is raised to a high G Kit, Es /Z CAL ALDILE SS ida Wi WY QUADRUPLE EXPANSION ENGINES—A BAY CITY INVENTOR. Cylinders 6, 844, 1134, and 1534 inch by 10 inch stroke. a, Steam from boiler. é, High pressure to first intermediate. c, First mean to second mean pressure. on the bottoin side of the upper valve, leaving the cylin- der through the top side of this valve, where it enters pipe c, leading to the second intermediate pressure valve chest. The steam enters this cylinder through the bot- tom side of this valve, and leaves on the top side of the valve; it then passes into the low pressure valve chest, enters the valve on the top side, and exhausts through this valve into the condenser through opening ¢. The high pressure, first mean pressure, and second mean pressure are piston valves ; the low pressure valve is a slide valve. The spaces between the two pistons on each engine are connected to the condenser. A live steam pipe, with valve connection, is placed under the valve on the first intermediate pressure. There being always a vacuum between the two pistons the difference in area of the two cylinders, multiplied by the vacuum, will give, inthe small engines shown, 4h. p. to the first two cylinders, and 16h. p. for the other two cylinders, and equals the power gained by the vacuum, It was found that by opening the live steam connec- d, Between pistons to condenser. e, Exhaust to condenser. 7%-inch valve and connections live steam to first mean pressure. Valve for reversing not shown in plan. 422 passages across the Atlantic, or more than one and one-half million statute miles. The original engines, after nearly 20 years’ work, have been taken out, as well as the boilers, and are now replaced by the latest type of triple-expansion engines. The machinery, it may be taken for granted, is still fit for service in a meaner capacity ; but judging from the foregoing it may be concluded that 20 years hence the best machinery of the present day will be found old-fashioned and unfit to compete with the machinery of the future. A COMPOSITE STEAM PIPE. A composite steams pipe which, its designer claims, meets the requirements of increasing pressures, and at ‘the same time possesses the advantages of a copper pipe, has been patented by Mr. R. D. Smillie, eiectrical engineer, Glasgow. It consists of a shell of copper of sufficient strength to withstand the longitudinal stresses produced by any given pressure of steam acting on the sectional area of the pipe. ‘Thecircumferential stresses are provided for by a coil of steel wire, having a high tensile strength, being wound closely round and in in- temperature, and its contents allowed to expand, so as to maintain the pressure inside constant, it will be nec- essary to reduce the pressure in the second tube in order to re-establish coincidence between the two spectra. Preliminary experiments in the laboratory have shown the method to be capable of giving very accurate results. ee NEWLY ENROLLED TONNAGE. Official numbers have been given to the following lake-built craft, which are now enrolled in the govern- , ment ‘‘ blue-book:’’ No. 3,655, steamer Buckeye Belle, puilt and owned at Toledo, measuring 10.34 tons gross and 7.04 tons net; No. 136,515, steamer Elsa, built and owned at Sandusky, 33.73 tons gross and 27.92 tons net ; No. 116,682, steamer Sacramento, built at West Bay City, and hailing from Port Huron, 2380.88 tons gross and 1903.33 tons net; No. 145,696, sloop Trix, built and hail- ing from Chicago, with a gross and net tonnage 9676. CN A, ____ All marine charts and publictions promptly furnished by THE MARINE RECORD, 144 Superior Street,