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_ ders:are allina straight line on the VOL. XIX. NO. 25. A CLEVELAND-JUNE 18, 1896—CHICAGO. $2 PER YEAR. 10c. SINGLE COPY eee eee Ore®eew\TKTXVY)T\<—— ———— ——————— SSSSSSSFSFSSseSFS MUDD’S PATENT FIVE-CRANK ENGINES.* From the Engineers’ Gazette, Sunderland, Eng. Nearly a year ago reference was made in our columns to an article on ‘“‘The Search after Economy of Fuelin Marine Machinery,’ by Mr. Thomas Mudd, M.1I. N. A., which appeared in a contemporary, and in which the author stated that without abandoning the use of the ordinary multitubular marine boiler, it was proposed to use a pressure of steam of about 260 pounds, with an engine of five cranks, and that by these means, along with others not then disclosed, it was anticipated that the expenditure of fuel would be reduced to a ‘‘quantity not far away from the much- coveted one horse-power for one pound of coal con- sumed per hour.’’. Now, this object has been accom- plished, and we have pleasure in illustrating the first of Mudd’s patent five-crank engines. The engines have been fitted on board the screw steamer Inchmona, a vessel built by Messrs. Wm. Gray & Co., Limited, West Hartlepool, to the order of Messrs. Hamton, Fraser & Co., of Liverpool. The Inchmona is of the shallow draft type of deadweight car- rier, of which, Messrs. Wm. Gray & Co., Limited, have built a large num-_ ber recently. The principal dimen- sions are as follows: Length p. p., 335 feet; breadth extreme, 46 feet 6 inches; draft of water, 20 feet 6 inches, at which a deadweight of 5,000 tons is carried. Mudd’s patent engines are of the four-stage compound. principle, with two low-pressure cylinders. The en- gines of the Inchmona areof the fol- lowing sizes: High-pressure cylinder, 17 inches diameter; intermediate high, 24 inches; intermediate low, 34 inches, and the two low-pressure cylinders, 42 inches diameter, the length of stroke being 42 inches. The cylin- centre line of the ship, and all the valves are on the same line, imme- diately over the crank shaft, and driv- en by the ordinary link-motion. type of valve gear. Thecrank shaft isin five equal and interchangeable sec- tions, each made on the ‘‘built’’ prin- ciple, the several parts being of the finest ingot steel. The five cranks are set at equal angles around the crank circle, so that the propeller receives no less than ten impulses per revolution, and the angles being equal, the impulses are delivered at equal and regular intervals of time, so obviating vibration and ensuring almost noiseless motion. The work on the valve gear is unusually light owing to the smallness of the valves, and the power. passing through each crank being only one-fifth of the total instead of one-third as in the three-crank engine. The smallness of the low- pressure cylinders enables the centers of the engines to be closer than usual, and the engines altogether go into an engine-room only one frame space longer than is usual with the three-crank engine. The feed pumps are of the well-known Weir’s make. A water meter, made by Mr. W. Kennedy, Jr., of Kil- marnock, forms part of the engine-room equipment. * Tue Recorp has published, in two previous issues, short articles de- scriptive of these engines, nearly all of which is repeated in the above ex- tract from an English exchange, the repetition being justified by the import- ance of the subject and.in connection with the illustration, The feed-water filters are Mr. Edmiston’s patent, and there is a Mudd’s evaporator. All the piston rods and spindles are packed with the metallic packing manufac- tured at the Central Engine Works, and the engine-room telegraph is of a special type, manufactured by Messrs. Mechan & Sons, of Glasgow, and known as the ‘‘Triple Automatic,” the special feature of which is that there is a third pointer actuated by the engine, so that it is im- possible for the engineer to deceive himself as to whether he is setting the engines away in the right direction or the reverse. The boilers, two in number, single ended, 11 feet in diameter, 10 feet 6 inches long, fitted with ‘‘Purves’’ patent furnaces, are of the ordinary multitubular type, of 255 lbs. per inch working pressure, tested to 510 lbs., to the satisfaction of Lloyd’s Register. They are also fitted with Ellis & Haves’ well-known system of induced draught, supplied by Messrs. John Brown & Co., Lim- ited, of Sheffield, and also with their Serve tubes, which MUDD’S PATENT FIVE-CRANK MARINE ENGINES. have the effect of increasing the heating surface without increasing the size of the boiler. On the trials steam was easily maintained at 255 lbs. pressure while the engines were running steadily at about 80 revolutions per minute, with the induced draught fans running at as easy a speed as 180 to 200 revolutions per minute. Combined with the induced draught system there is also an arrangement of tubular superheaters, manufac- tured at the Central Kngine Works, for drying and slightly superheating the steam on its way to the en- gines. The steam is further kept in adryer state than usual throughout its progress through the engines by an exceptionally complete system of steam jacketing, and the feed water is returned to the boilers at a much higher temperature than ordinarily, namely, at about 400° Fahr., by a system of feed heaters that have been made at the Central Engine Works. The trials were continued over two days (5th and 6th ult.), during which time the boilers and all steam joints remained absolutely steam-tight, and the engines ran in the most satisfactory manner possible. No bearing of any kind showed the slightest sign of warming, and although the engines were run for many hours at 80 revolutions per minute, no difficulty of any kind arose, and at the conclusion of the trials the vessel proceeded on her first voyage up the Baltic. The coal used during the trials was carefully weighed for four separate runs in the presence of four separate groups of visitors, who were taken off to the vessel by tug, the result being of a character to entirely justify the predictions of the builders. On the first run the consumption was 1.142 lbs. of coal per horse per hour; on the second run, 1.078 lbs.; on the third run, .999 lbs.; on the fourth run, 1.069 Ibs. The average of these is 1.07 lbs. of north country coal per horse per hour, whichwill be recognized by all interested in the question of fuel economy at sea, as a very remarkable result. OBITUARY. CAPT, ROWLAND H. LONG. Capt. Rowland H. Long, one of the best known of lake shipmasters, died suddenly at his home, 204 Seventy- Fourth street, Windsor Park, Chicago. at 10 o’clock Saturday night. Upto a minute before his death, Capt. Long appeared in gocd health, and was seated in a chair, smoking. So sud- denly did he go that life was extinct before the fire on the cigar had gone out. Capt. Long commanded the steamer City of Rome, and had just arrived in port at noon Saturday. He took his steamer to her dock and after starting the work of unloading, went to his home. He Jeavyes a widow, and a daughter, Lottie. Having always followed the sea for a living, Capt. Long died in the har- ness. He was born in Kast Blue Hiil, Maine, June 20,1840 He shipped on salt watervessels early in his life, but left the sea tocome to Chicago in 1866. His first command on the lakes was the schooner Mary Collins. Then he sailed the Zack Chandler, leaving her went into the big schoon- er J. W. Doane, one of the crack ves- sels when schooners did the business of th2 lakes. ‘The Doane was lost on Buf- falo piers, and the schooner George was Capt. Long’s next command. He took command of the steamer Wiley M. Kean inthe middle of the season of 1887, having start- ed the year in her as first mate. Inthe spring of 1888 he brought out the steamer John Plankinton, and sailed her two seasons. He left her for the City of Rome and has spent seven'seasons in her. The funeral took place Wednesday from his late home, and the interment wasat Oakwoods Cemetery. Captain Long was a member of Niagara Lodge, No. 375, A. F. & A. M., of Lockport, N. Y.; Corinthian Chapter No. 69, R. A. M., Chicago; St. Bernard Commandery, No. 35, Knight Templars, Chicago; and of the Mystic Shrine. The funeral services were under the direction of St. Bernard Commandery. rr 2 oc The life-saving station on Plum Island will be fully equipped and in running order by July 1.