British Whig (Kingston, ON), 20 Jun 1898

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MARINE INTELLIGENCE.

The steamer North King made her first trip down the river this season yesterday. She had a good passenger list.

The steamer Caspian touched at Swift's wharf yesterday morning on her way to Montreal, and the steamer Corsican in the afternoon, en route for Toronto.

Capt. D. McLeod, who represented the owners of the steamer J.H. Outhwaite in a survey made at Detroit, says the boat is a constructive total loss.

The schooner Annie Falconer left Davis' dry dock this afternoon after being redocked (sic). The dock was immediately prepared to receive the large tug International.

The steamer James Swift took a number of the Ottawa normal school pupils down the river St. Lawrence yesterday morning. The pupils were returning to their homes in the west, and embarked here on the steamer Corsican.

Arrivals - Steamer Orion, Chicago, 30,000 bushels of corn; tug Jessie Hall, Montreal, five light barges; tug Walker, Montreal, eight light barges; Bronson, Montreal, seven light barges; sloop Maggie L., bay ports, 3,000 bushels oats.

Departures - Steamer Erin and consort Danforth, Welland canal, light; steamer Ralph and consort Harold, Buffalo, light; sloop Maggie L., bay ports, light; tug Hall, Montreal, four grain-laden barges; tug Bronson, Montreal, six grain-laden barges; steamer Denver, canal, light.

On Friday the whaleback barge 107 was sighted off Erie, drifting helplessly about in a heavy sea. She had been dropped by the steamer Rockefeller. When picked up by the tug America she had eight feet of water in her hold, and would have foundered if assistance had not been given her.

The marine underwriters at Buffalo have agreed that next year they will not insure wooden boats for their full value, and that owners will have to carry a share of the risks. Local marine men think this step a mistake as the greater losses are found with iron hulls.

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CANADA'S BEST ELEVATOR.

Description Of The M.T. Company's New Elevator.

It stands an indisputed fact that the Montreal transportation company's new elevator is the most complete grain building along the shores of the great lakes, or, rather on the continent. There is nothing significant in its size or style of building, but its equipment stands unexcelled in America. In recent years many new developments have been introduced into elevators, so that, today the elevating system has run well into the sphere of perfection. The present system, authorities say, is greatly indebted to Mr. Jamieson, Canada's leading elevator builder, for its advanced condition. In the details of machinery and manner of interior conveyance of grain, he has added many new ideas, having spent years in the study. Mr. Jamieson was the contractor for the M.T. company's elevator, and personally supervised its erection. When leading authorities state that it has no peer on the American continent, it will long stand as a substantial testimony of the contractor's ability.

When the company agreed to erect an elevator on their property at this port they thought of building one of half a million bushels capacity. After the work had been started the necessity of such an accommodation for their trade so impressed itself upon the directors that they issued orders for a building with a capacity for 800,000 bushels. The entire work was given in charge of Mr. Jamieson, and he fully carried out their instructions to erect the most suitable building for the trade at this point. Not a piece of timber or a stone was put in the foundation without his examination, and the lumber in the building proper was of his own choice. His most unique work is found in the equipment of the elevator itself. Everything in the make up was designed by him, and the designs were followed with precision in the workmanship. The elevator contains several new ideas in machinery, unknown to any other like structure in the world.

The Elevator Building.

The building stands well out in the harbor with excellent moorage on three sides. Its dimensions are, 150 feet long, seventy-two feet wide, and 142 feet high. The foundation is a study itself from an architectural standpoint. In its formation some 3,000 spiles, ranging from thirty-five feet to forty-five feet in length, were used. They were driven down in clusters of twelve to fifteen and cut off on a level, two feet six inches below water mark. These were then capped with hardwood planks six inches in thickness, and cross planked with similar planks three inches thick, making a solid grillage, and leaving the top of the plank one foot nine inches below low water mark. On top of the grillage stands concrete and stone piers, reaching five feet above low water mark, which are capped with block stone, dressed off level to receive the superstructure. The timber and supports in the building are of Georgia pine, particularly adapted for that purpose. In the construction of the walls the boards were laid as bricks are, and securely nailed. The outside is sheeted with galvanized iron of durable thickness.

How It Is Equipped.

The elevator is provided with two marine legs, each with an elevating capacity of 15,000 bushels an hour, also two receiving lofters with a capacity of 18,000 bushels each, and two shipping lofters of the same capacity. These are so arranged that the shipping lofters can be used for receiving, which affords a great advantage in case of accident, for if one is disabled the other can be used in distributing the grain. There are four forty inch belt conveyers in the top of the building for distributing and shipping, and any one of the four can be used either for receiving or shipping. These belts run to any corner of the building. On the ground floor there are two thirty-six inch collecting conveyers, which collect the grain for shipping. On the outside there are ten telescope shipping spouts, five on each side, connected with the shipping bins, which have a capacity of 6,000 bushels each. There are eight special trimming spouts, which will load a barge without a trimmer.

The weighing system is very complete. The building contains four Fairbanks receiving hopper scales holding 600 bushels each, and four shipping scales holding 600 bushels each. The method followed is known as the twice scales system, two scales being used instead of one, as in most elevators. This provides for a continuous weighing, which is easier on the belts, and avoids any jarring through intermittent rushing of grain. All power transmission is by rope, specially made for the purpose, over 42,000 feet of one and one-half and two inch rope being in use exclusively for transmitting power. In the main drive from the engines to the line shafting in the basement there are 22,000 feet of rope.

The Machinery.

Every piece of machinery in use was specially designed for the building by the contractor, who made a special feature of it, his object being to get the very best. Each bearing about the place has a genuine self-oiling ball and socket, and has a length equal to four times the diameter of the shaft, the babbits being turned out and the ends of the bearings fitted with dust proof attachments. Even the conveyor roller bearings, of which there are over eight hundred, are swivel ring oiling bearings with brass bush and ring, which are guaranteed not to leak, and will run for months without re-oiling or attention. These will be found a safeguard against fire, and are an important feature in the saving of oil and labor, in the absence of oil dripping from the bearings to the floor.

The main line shafts have a special floor in the basement, the main object being to keep all long shafting as near the foundation as possible, where no settlement will affect them. Each part of the machinery in the elevator is driven by a separate drive and friction clutch. No shaft, over ten feet in length, and having more than two bearings, is found in any portion of the building above the bins, and the bearings used are with ball and socket, so as to be unaffected by any settlement of the structure. With one exception the elevating devices in the building cannot be found in any other elevator in the world. One novel feature are the lofter head drives, Mr. Jamieson's own construction. The system of distributing is the most perfect in existence, the whole distribution of grain in the building being under the direct control of the weighman, who is held responsible. The revolving spouts, leading from the scales, are supported on a vertical shaft, resting on a ball bearing step, and are counterweighed, so that they will readily clear all spouting when being shifted. The weight of the grain brings down the revolving spouts, which make a perfect joint with each spout when in use. The vertical shaft is connected with the weigh floor by steel cables and is operated by a hand wheel, which has an indicator hand, showing the exact position of the spout on a numbered dial. In addition to this there is a lock device which is manipulated by the operator's foot on a lever, which throws off the latch, allowing the spout to revolve freely, until the desired bin is reached. When the operator removes the pressure from the lever, it allows the latch to automatically drop into place, securely and accurately locking the spout.

Another special feature are the marine legs, which are an entirely new combination, is the design of the boom and cross-head leg, the cross-head having a vertical travel of thirty feet. All defects of the ordinary cross-head have been overcome. A complete connection between the leg head and lofter is made automatically at any position of the leg, and a telescope spout connects the leg head and cross head spout. Another set of telescope spouts makes perfect connection between cross head and lofter spouts. The marine legs are fed by three pairs of power shovels, which work in the hold of the boat. One pair works directly with each marine leg, and the third works in the centre hatch, supplying either, or both legs.

Altogether in the building there are about $34,000 worth of machinery, exclusive of the power house plant, and with the exception of a fraction over $2,000 worth, the whole was made in Canada.

The Power House.

The power house is built of brick, and in size is 48 x 52 feet. It rests on a foundation of the same construction as the main foundation. Connecting with it is a huge brick chimney, 136 feet high, with a four foot six inch flue. It stands on a thirteen foot six inch square base, running to the height of twenty feet. It then points into an octagon, and from the height of twenty-five feet from the ground the remainder is circular, finished off at the apex with a fancy arrangement of bricks. The main engine in the power-house is a Corliss tandem compound, with cylinders twenty inch, forty inch and forty-eight inch stroke. There are also an improved Blake twin vertical air pump and condenser, a 600 horse power heater, supplying water to the boiler heated to 210 degrees Fah., an outside packed boiler, plunger pump 8 x 5 x 12 feet, for feeding the boilers, and a battery of three boilers, each 16 x 72 inches. There is also a fire pump with a capacity of 750 gallons per minute.

The powerhouse is provided with an excellent electric lighting plant. An 8 x 10 in. ideal engine has a direct connection with a dynamo raising 110 volts. It was made by the General Electric company, Peterboro. This dynamo lights over 200, sixteen candle power incandescent lamps in the elevator, powerhouse and office, besides twelve special arc lamps on the wharf, being long burning lamps on the incandescent system. In manufacturing the machinery for the entire plant, Kingston had almost $6,000 worth to supply. Raney & Shelby built the boilers, and did other work; the locomotive works supplied the plates for legs, rigging for the power shovels and other work to the extent of $5,000; Nugent & Taylor made over 3,000 buckets, McKelvey & Birch received the contract for the iron sheeting and other labor, and including the daily labor fully $30,000 were left in the city. The total cost of the whole plant was $156,000.

The machinery was secured from different places, wherever the best could be obtained. The main engine, heater and fittings came from Laurie engine company, Montreal; shafting, pulleys, etc., from Goldie & McCullogh, Gagt ?; the condenser, fire and feed pump, from the Northey manufacturing company, Toronto; the electric light engine from Galt, and the dynamo and fittings from Peterboro. Other machinery came from Goldie & McCullogh; W. Kennedy & Sons, Owen Sound; Miller Bros. & Thomas, Montreal, and other portions from the United States. The contractor claims that his best machinery was made in Canada, and other experts say the American machinery will not begin to compare with the Canadian make.

The directors of the M.T. company are exceedingly well pleased with contractor Jamieson's work, and he has established a reputation which designates him as a leading Canadian.

p.6 General Paragraphs - On Saturday the hold of the steamer Rosedale was filled with water for the purpose of testing the seams of the new work done. It was found that the outside seams were all tight and well put together. However, the same seams in the bulkhead leaked. These will be caulked by Wednesday, when the steamer will be floated out of the dock.

At Gananoque yesterday the steamer Caspian, of the Richelieu line, collided with the steamer Pierrepont, damaging the stern of the last named steamer. The Pierrepont was lying at the wharf and the Caspian was attempting to tie up.