1903 Institution of Mechanical Engineers: Visits to Works
Note: This is a sub-section of 1903 Institution of Mechanical Engineers
Visits to Works (Excursions) in the Leeds area
City Electric Lighting and Power Station
CITY ELECTRIC LIGHTING AND POWER STATION, LEEDS.
This Station is situated in Whitehall Road, and has been enlarged from time to time. In 1891 a Provisional Order was granted to the Yorkshire House-to-House Electricity Co., and in 1893 the supply of electricity to the public was commenced. The undertaking was however transferred in December 1898 to the Leeds Corporation, who found it necessary to make a large extension of the works to provide for future increase. The works comprise an area of 290 feet by 181 feet, and consist of engine-house, switchroom, cable cellar, boiler-house, stores and workshops.
The engine-house is 220 feet in length by 65 feet in width, and 33 feet in height from floor line to crane rail. The plant consists of one McLaren engine and one Belliss engine, both coupled to alternators made by the Electric Construction Co. The capacity of the dynamos is 1,500 kilowatts each. The engines are of 2,400 horse-power, and are of the triple-expansion enclosed type with forced lubrication. The dimensions of the engines are as follows:—
[See table on image]
The speed of both engines is 200 revolutions per minute. The valves of the McLaren engine are trick-ported slide-valves, balanced horizontally and vertically, and the governor is of Messrs. McLaren's automatic expansion type. The Belliss engine has piston valves, and the governor is of the throttle type.
The dynamos are made to supply two-phase energy at 50 periods per second, and generate 2,000 volts on each phase. The alternator shaft is bolted up direct to the engine coupling, and runs therefore at 200 revolutions per minute. The diameter over the field magnets is 13 feet 6 inches, and the weight of the magnets and wheel shaft is 28 tons. The exciter for each machine is mounted on the alternator shaft, and is of 8 kilowatts capacity.
In the cellar below the engines are placed two surface-condensing plants, made by Messrs. Cole, Marchent and Morley, of Bradford, one condenser for each engine, in connection with which are two centrifugal pumps made by Messrs. Belliss and Morcom, of Birmingham. The condensers have each 3,400 square feet of heating, and the number of tubes in each is 2,245 of 3/4 inch internal bore, and 7 feet 9 inches in length.
The steam, feed, exhaust, suction, and air-pump discharge pipes, oil filters, &c., were supplied by Messrs. John Spencer, of Wednesbury. The steam-pipes are lap-welded steel, with flanges welded on. The exhaust pipes are wrought-iron, riveted, and the remainder of the pipes are cast-iron. There is a 30-ton overhead travelling crane, supplied by Messrs. J. Booth and Brothers, of Rodley. This crane is equipped with a two-phase motor.
The switchboard was made by Messrs. Ferranti, and consists of six sets of their two-phase oil break switches on the dynamo board with necessary bus bars, synchronising apparatus, &c. The cable cellar running under the floor of the switch-room is so arranged that the cables leaving the board are carried down direct on to shelves supported on brackets carried on iron pillars, and the cables then pass away into the cable subway, which runs as far as Queen Street. The subway is capable of holding 200 cables.
The boiler-house is arranged to hold twenty-four water-tube boilers with 4,300 square feet of heating surface each. At present there are installed eight Babcock and Wilcox water-tube boilers fitted with superheaters and purifiers. The tubes are arranged in seventeen sections, with twelve solid-drawn steel tubes to each section. The boilers, fitted with Meldrum's coking stoker and forced draught, are arranged with twelve on either side of the boiler-house. Immediately. above is the coal store, from which the coal gravitates by means of inclined shoots into the mechanical stokers.
A Green's economiser, consisting of 960 tubes, is placed over the boilers between the coal store and the western wall of the engine-house. Provision is also made for three other economisers.
The pump-house is situated at the south end of the boiler-house, and is fitted with two feed-tanks, and is capable of holding seven Weir pumps. At present there are provided two pumps with a capacity of 4,000 gallons per hour each, and one with a capacity of 8,000 gallons per hour. There are also installed two Worthington pumps, one with a capacity of 12,500 gallons per hour and the other with 25,000 gallons. The coal-conveying plant is supplied by the New Conveyor Co., and will deal with 40 tons of coal per hour.
The capacity of the generating plant is 8,740 kilowatts, and the number of 35-watt lamps (or their equivalent) connected to the mains is over 260,000. The price of current for lighting purposes is 44. per unit, less 5 per cent. discount, and for power is 11d. to 24. per unit, less 5 per cent.
The engineering and electrical work was arranged by Mr. Harold Dickinson, M.I. Mech. E., the Corporation's Engineer.
City Refuse Destructor
CITY REFUSE DESTRUCTOR, ARMLEY ROAD, LEEDS.
This Destructor Depot, built in 1879; from the designs of Mr. Morant, Borough Engineer, was one of the first destructors erected in this country, and up to the present time has cost about £13,000. It consists of twelve furnaces, constructed by Messrs. Manlove, Alliott, and Fryer, of Nottingham, and of four larger cells of the Horsfall type designed and erected by Mr. Thomas Howson, City Engineer. The boiler is multi-tubular, 12 feet long, 8 feet diameter, containing sixty-four 4-inch tubes, and has been continuously at work since September 1879. The engine is 20 horse-power horizontal, made by Messrs. Manlove, Alliott, and Fryer, and drives two mortar-mills.
The sale of mortar for year ending 25th March 1903 amounted to about 2,250 tons. The chimney is 40 yards high by 5 feet 3 inches square.
The amount of refuse destroyed during the year ending 25th March 1903 was 28,040 loads at a net cost of £2,262 8e. 84., or 1s. 7d. per load.
The works are quite near to the Armley side of Wellington Bridge; the Corporation have also destructors at Beckett Street, Mcanwood Road, and at Kidacre Street, near Hunslet Goods Station.
York Street Subway, Leeds
CORPORATION SUBWAY, YORK STREET, LEEDS.
The Corporation of Leeds, having in common with other large towns, experienced continual breaking up of the surface of streets for necessary extensions to tramway, water, gas and lighting undertakings, decided, that in the construction of various main roads in their Unhealthy Areas Improvements Schemes, to build subways in which most of these mains might be placed. Deputations visited and inspected the subways at London, Nottingham, and St. Helens, and eventually adopted the arrangement shown on the accompanying sketch, Fig. 1. The subway, which is 7 feet high and 8 feet wide, is constructed to contain gas- and water-pipes, telegraph, telephone, electric light and tramway cables.
[See plan on attached image]
The sewer is laid under the floor and is accessible by means of manholes sealed with air-tight covers. The sewer is ventilated in the usual manner. The subway itself is ventilated by openings in the roof 48 feet apart. At distances of 40 feet, sideways are constructed (4 feet high and 3 feet wide), under the floor of which will be placed house-drain connections. The floors of the sideways are formed of bricks on edge laid dry so that ready access is given to the house-drains. Nine-inch pipes are inserted every 15 feet in the walls of the subway to take the surface wires and pipes to abutting houses.
Yorkshire College, Leeds
THE YORKSHIRE COLLEGE, LEEDS.
The Yorkshire College, which is one of the three constituent Colleges of the Victoria University, is widely known for the range of its technological work, which has received a wider development here than in any other university college. Tho buildings appropriated to its arts, science, and technological departments are situated in College Road, Leeds, about a mile from the railway stations, and occupy part of a site of about five acres in extent. The land, buildings, and equipment for these departments have cost upwards of £180,000. The Medical School, situated near the General Infirmary, has cost in site, building, and equipment about £50,000 additional.
The College Road block includes lecture and class-rooms for the departments of Latin, Greek, English, French and German languages and literature, Romance philology, history, philosophy, law, economics, education, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, geology, civil, mechanical, electrical and sanitary engineering, mining, textile industries, art, dyeing, leather industries and agriculture, as well as fully equipped laboratories in all the above subjects requiring experimental treatment. It also contains an examination ball, which on the occasion of important functions is used for general meetings, and in which about 800 persons can be seated, and a library for the use of students. In a separate block is the refectory, and at a little distance from the College a hall of residence has been built for the accommodation of such students as desire the conditions of a common life under the direction of a warden.
The medical school includes all the usual departments requisite for the complete medical and surgical curricula.
The practical work of the agricultural department is carried on at the Manor Farm, at Garforth, which comprises about 300 acres, half being grass and half arable laud.
The number of students in the day classes last year was 819, and in the evening classes 346, making a total of 1,165, who paid £13,225 for their year's tuition. The engineering department, which is one of the most successful branches of the college, had 98 day students in its classes and laboratories last session and 80 evening students, these numbers being included in the totals given above.
Joshua Buckton and Co
MESSRS. JOSHUA BUCKTON AND CO., WELL HOUSE FOUNDRY, MEADOW ROAD, LEEDS.
Joshua Buckton and Co
Self-acting machine tools have been the speciality of these Works since they were founded by the late Mr. Joshua Buckton in 1842. The present heads of the firm are Mr. J. Hartley Wicksteed, chairman and managing director, Mr. Christopher W. James, joint managing director, Mr. Norman D. Lupton, secretary and director, and Mr. R. A. Bince, works manager and director.
The firm has turned out considerably more than 10,000 machine tools, varying in weight from 5 cwts. to 120 tons and composed of individual pieces up to 30 tons weight cast in their own foundry. The heavier tools are such as armour-plate finishing machines, large lathes, shearing machines for hot steel blooms and cold steel-plate, plate shears, and billet shears; and the lighter tools are such as medium-sized lathes, drilling, boring machines, &c. A speciality of the firm is a planing machine with double-cutting tool-boxes, and with power feed and traverse to the tool-boxes.
Amongst the machines finished or in progress which were open to the inspection of the members, the following represented recent developments:—Double-cutting table planing machine, 8 feet by S feet by 24 feet, with power feed and tool-box traversing motion; standard 12-inch lathe for high-speed cutting; two-spindle radial drill; locomotive crank-axle profile slotting machine; four-spindle rail drilling machine; vertical and horizontal planer with fixed table, and moving upright; chain and anchor testing plant; 300-ton universal testing machine; vertical testing machines; and 41-inch square cold billet shears.
Farnley Iron Co
FARNLEY IRON WORKS, LEEDS.
Farnley Iron Co
These Works were established in 1844 by the Messrs. Armitage Brothers, of Farnley Hall, to utilize the minerals — coal, iron, and fireclay — on their estate. At first their operations were confined to the manufacture of pig-iron in cold-blast furnaces, but in a few years the works were extended to include all the operations for making finished iron. The minerals were conterminous with those of the Lowmoor Iron Co. and the Bowling Iron Co., both of Bradford, whose works are near, and the processes for producing what became generally known as " Best Yorkshire Iron " were the same.
At the present time about 1,500 workmen are employed at Farnley.
The ore is that known as the Black bed, and in the raw state as mined contains about 33 per cent. of iron, and when calcined about 40 per cent. Amongst the Farnley Collieries the seam known as the " Better-bed " gives a coal remarkably free from sulphur, and which consequently can be brought into contact with the iron without the risks which always attend fuel of a less pure kind. Sulphur in iron, unless reduced to the merest trace, renders it " hot short," and is fatal to the highest qualities of ductility and safe welding. The special process of manufacture at Farnley commences with the use of cold-blast furnaces for melting the ore.
When the works were first started, the hot-blast system, invented and introduced by Neilson about 1830, was only coming gradually into common use; while in the year 1900, when about 400 blast-furnaces were working in Great Britain, only about 10 still used the cold-blast. The Farnley furnaces are among the survivors, and it is of this cold-blast pig, refined, puddled, hammered and rolled, that Farnley "Best Yorkshire" iron is made. The waste gases from the blast- furnace are utilized as fuel for the boilers of the blowing engine, as the usual purpose to which such gases are applied, namely, in stoves for heating the blast, is of course absent. The blowing engine is an old one, but with up-to-date valve arrangements for economising steam. The pressure of the blast ranges from 2.5lbs. to 3.5lbs. per square inch. As it has become desirable to have a stand-by blowing engine, the opportunity was taken of adopting one of Parsons' steam turbines for this purpose. This turbo-engine works at about 5,800 revolutions per minute, and has proved efficient.
As is well known, the decarbonising of iron so as to render it plastic is generally effected by boiling and stirring pig-iron in puddling furnaces, but at Farnley the pig-iron is first re-melted in open fires, a process which eliminates the silica and sulphur. It is the resultant refined castings that are taken to the puddling furnaces. The after processes of hammering and rolling resemble those used in the manufacture of ordinary wrought iron, but are more elaborate. From the earliest days of the Farnley works their best Yorkshire boiler plates were in great demand as being more durable and more safely worked than any other kind, and it became usual among engineers to specify "Farnley, Low-Moor, or Bowling" as the only acceptable brands, when a high quality was required.
The Bowling works were closed in the year 1896. The introduction of steel and the facility and cheapness with which cast ingots can be rolled down into plates of almost unlimited sizes and weight have reduced the manufacture of iron boiler-plates to a very low point. They are still used by those who are acquainted with their merits for special purposes where the service is a severe one, as in contractor's locomotives; or where the water is impure; or where repairs may have to be effected in remote places, and where durability is of importance. Farnley plates cost more than double the price of steel plates, and it is only if the life of a boiler and the expenses of renewal are taken fully into account that the ultimate advantages afforded by Best Yorkshire Iron are realised. Last year the boilers of thirty main-line engines built in England for an important British Colony were made entirely of Farnley plates.
Farnley bar-iron is as much used as ever, and it appears that there will always be occasions when the finest wrought-iron, made regardless of cost, can be employed with advantage. Safety in welding is the first consideration in comparing iron with steel, and durability against oft-repeated percussion is the other. The range of temperature within which smithing and welding can be effectually done is much narrower with steel than with iron. Steel chains are unknown. Railway shackles, hooks, couplings, piston rods and connecting-rods subject to rapid alternations of tensile and compressive stresses demand the highest quality of iron, as also do the suspended cages and other vital parts of mining machinery. In the highest class of engines and carriages these parts are always made of Best Yorkshire Iron.
A complete plant for the manufacture and distribution of Mond gas has been established at Farnley, partly for supplying fuel to the widely distributed furnaces, and partly also for obtaining the convenience of a central station from which power can be distributed by electricity. This plant is now successfully working, and many of the separate boilers and engines which supplied power in the works have been superseded. The Mond gas is found quite suitable for gas-engines, two of which, each 250 H.P., made by the Premier Gas Engine Co., of Sandiacre, are now working, and a third engine of 650 H.P., by the same makers, is nearly ready for fixing. A complete plant for the recovery of the by-product sulphate of ammonia has been established with success.
The manufacture of Fireclay goods has become as large a branch of manufacture at Farnley as that of Best Yorkshire Iron. The fireclay found under the works and under the neighbouring hills is of a highly refractory nature, and affords material not only for firebricks and retorts, but for glazed bricks and ware to which very hard glazes can be applied, needing very great heat to melt them— a heat far in excess of what can be endured by less refractory clay. This circumstance and the long experience in the details of manufacture are the main circumstances that have caused Leeds glazed bricks and ware to have the pre-eminence they enjoy in London and elsewhere.
John Fowler and Co
MESSRS. JOHN FOWLER AND CO. (LEEDS), STEAM PLOUGH AND LOCOMOTIVE WORKS, HUNSLET, LEEDS.
John Fowler and Co
These Works are situated in Hunslet about a mile from the railway station, and cover from .10 to 11 acres. The principal manufactures are steam ploughing engines, traction engines, road roller light locomotives, semi-portable engines, winding and pumping -engines, and all descriptions of colliery plant, alternators, dynamos, switchboards, and electrical plant.
The principal work in progress at the time of the meeting was the manufacture of ploughing and traction engines, steam road- rollers, large winding engines and general electrical work.
The number employed is about 1,500 men.
Greenwood and Batley
MESSRS. GREENWOOD AND BATLEY, ALBION WORKS, LEEDS.
Greenwood and Batley
This business was originally established in the year 1856 at the Albion Foundry, in premises still belonging to the Company, and occupying about an acre of land in East Street, Leeds, with a frontage and wharfage on the River Aire (Aire and Calder Navigation), the buildings on which are now used as warehouses and storage for the main portion of the large and valuable collection of models, the property of the Company.
In 1859, these premises being found too small, new and more commodious workshops were built on a site containing upwards of ten acres of land fronting on Armley Road, Leeds, and having a wharfage behind on the Leeds and Liverpool canal; and these, the Albion Works, have since been very largely extended, so that at present the total shop area is 31,594 square yards, and the establishment gives employment in fairly brisk times to some 2,000 workpeople, and is equipped with upwards of 1,500 machine tools.
The works are connected to the Great Northern Railway system by a small branch line, and railway trucks can be taken into the principal workshops.
The business is worked by departments, the main being:-
Special and general machine - tool making, including the construction of machinery used in the manufacture of war material of all kinds, testing machines, forging machinery, minting machinery, special wood-working machinery, cloth-cutting machines, etc.
Oil mill and general millwright work department, including machinery for warehousing and crushing every kind of seed, and refining oil.
Textile machinery department, embracing all machinery for the preparation and spinning of silk, silk waste, China grass, and other fibres.
Electrical department, for the manufacture of every kind of electrical plant.
Turbine department, for the manufacture of De Laval's patent Steam Turbine Motors, Turbine Dynamos, Turbine Pumps and Fans (for Great Britain and Colonies, China, Japan and Egypt).
Ordnance department, for the supply of the Whitehead fish torpedo, etc., the manufacture of small arms cartridges, projectiles, horse-shoes, etc., etc.
Sewing machine department, viz.:— patent boot and shoe sewing machines, and machinery for making and sewing leather belts, etc.
Hathorn, Davey and Co
MESSRS. HATHORN, DAVEY AND CO., SUN FOUNDRY, LEEDS.
Hathorn, Davey and Co
This company was formed in 1872, and took over the business of Messrs. Carrett, Marshall Co., who for many years previously had manufactured steam and hydraulic engines. The new firm from time to time enlarged the works and installed modern machinery for the manufacture of steam, hydraulic and electric pumping machinery, which has been supplied to water works, sewage works and mines in all parts of the globe. The differential gear (Davey's Patent) has been largely manufactured here, both for new pumping engines and also for application to existing ones is substitution for the old- fashioned tappet gear.
Members visiting the Sun Foundry would see in an advanced stage of construction (besides other sets of pumping machinery for water works and mines):—
Two sets of vertical, triple-expansion pumping engines, for the British Government, and the Rosario de Santa Fe Waterworks respectively; (an engine of this type, recently tested by Professor Unwin, gave a duty of 151,670,000 foot-pounds per 1,000 lbs. of saturated steam)
A compound engine, actuating a centrifugal pump with horizontal axis, to raise 140 tons of water per minute a vertical height of 13 feet, for draining the Fen District:
Two vertical engines with overhead beams, to raise seater out of a well and deliver it into a tank 100 feet above ground level, for the London County Council.
Hudswell, Clarke and Co
MESSRS. HUDSWELL, CLARKE AND CO., RAILWAY FOUNDRY, LEEDS.
Hudswell, Clarke and Co
These Works were established in 1860 for locomotive engine building and general engineering. They are lighted and driven by electricity.
The number of hands employed is from 400 to 500.
Hunslet Engine Co
HUNSLET ENGINE CO., HUNSLET, LEEDS.
Hunslet Engine Co
These Works arc situated in Jack Lane, Hunslet, covering an area of about three acres, and employing about 400 men. The business was established in 1864 especially for the manufacture of locomotive tank-engines, and their productions are well known not only at home, but abroad, and particularly in most British Colonies. Approximately, 75 per cent. of their yearly turn-out is exported, and engines, for no less than thirty-six different gauges, have been designed and executed.
The works are well equipped with all kinds of tools, many of them of a special character suitable for the work generally produced; within the last twelve months steam-engines for costive power have been abolished, and the entire works driven by electric power supplied by the Leeds Corporation.
At present considerable extensions are in progress, the most important item being a new boiler shop, about 200 feet long by 53 feet wide, which will be equipped with all the most efficient and up-to-date tools.
Joseph Kaye and Sons
MESSRS. JOSEPH KAYE AND SONS, LOCK WORKS, HUNSLET, LEEDS.
Joseph Kaye and Sons
These Works were established by Mr. Joseph Kaye 1865, and are situated close to the new Suspension Bridge, which spans the River Aire, and joins Hunslet to East Leeds. Although this firm tarns out about 1,000 dozen of the seamless "K oil-cans per month, the works are chiefly occupied in the manufacture of their patent safety railway carriage door locks; also their patent locks for the doors of institutions such as asylums, hospitals, workhouses, hotels, and where a large number of locks are made to differ, with sub-master keys, master keys, grand-master keys, and superior grand-master keys.
Kitson and Co
MESSRS. KITSON AND CO., AIREDALE FOUNDRY, LEEDS.
Kitson and Co
The Airedale Foundry was started in 1839 by Mr. James Kitson, the father of the present chairman, Sir James Kitson, Bart., M.P., with whom Mr. T. P. Reay is associated as managing director, and Mr. E. Kitson Clark and Mr. E. C. Kitson as members of the Board. The Works were founded for the purpose of locomotive engine building, and the records of the firm represent the history of the development of locomotive engineering from its commencement up to the present time. Portions of the works are also laid out for dealing with large castings and pieces of machinery suitable for blowing engines, rolling mills, pumping engines, and steam hammers, of the largest size, but at the present time only locomotive engines, are in hand.
In the erecting shop an interesting contrast will be found of eight-wheels-coupled engines designed for heavy goods traffic on two widely different gauges. For the Cape Government there is an engine made for the 3 feet 6 inches gauge, with 18.5 by 24-inch cylinders, 31 square feet grate area, and a total weight (engine and tender loaded) of 98 tons, which will haul 2,700 tons train-load, on a straight and, level road, at a speed of 10 miles per hour. The curves round which this large engine has to go are as small as 330 feet radius, and the difficulty of putting into a narrow-gauge engine a fire-box and grate area sufficient to raise steam for such a powerful machine has been met in an interesting manner.
Instead of making a very long and narrow fire-grate, as was the practice until a few years ago, the fire-box has been shortened in length, reduced in height, and spread boldly out rover the tops of the wheels and the frames. The result arrived at is a high boiler centre, but a thoroughly efficient boiler.
A passenger engine close by for the Cape has a similarly large fire-box, space for which is obtained between the frames and connecting the hind portion to a widely-spread steel-casting. It will be noted that the Colonies have accepted for the time the American bar frames, and members may be interested to observe the complication of the attachments involved. Besides these large engines a tank engine is being built, also for South Africa, with a loaded weight of 25 tons, the latter being a reproduction of an engine designed by this firm and sent out to Natal about 30 years ago.
In the same shop, engines of a thoroughly English type are under construction for the Great Central Railway, 8 wheels coupled, cylinders 191 by 26 inches, specially designed for hauling the coal traffic from the centre of England to the East Coast. The fire-box is "Belpaire" in accordance with modern practice, by which special facilities are gained for washing out, and a proper flexibility given to the fire-box top. The engine and tender when fully loaded weigh about 101 tons, and will haul on the level 2,830 tons trainload on a straight road, at a speed of 10 miles per hour.
A large portion of the machinery in the works is specially designed to deal with locomotive details, and the shops are generally equipped with the ordinary engineers' machinery, which does not require special comment. The large boiler shop however may be noted, which has been found necessary, owing to the increase in the size of the boilers, and the more rapid renewals consequent upon higher pressure of steam and the more difficult conditions of modern locomotive service. This shop is built with two bays, each of which is 68 feet wide, and crossed by a high bay of 48 feet wide. An extension has been lately added, so that the total length of the shop is now 426 feet by 136 feet wide, making a floor area of 6,437 square yards.
It may be remembered that in the programme for the last meeting in Leeds, in 1882, a tool by Messrs. Joshua Buckton and Co. was described "as made in 1818 and is still working." The same tool, which came from the firm of which the present President of The Institution of Mechanical Engineers is Chairman, is working satisfactorily after 55 years' service.
The number of men employed is about 1,500.
Leeds Copper Works
LEEDS COPPER WORKS, STOURTON, LEEDS.
Leeds Copper Works
The Works of this Company are situated at Stourton, on the site formerly occupied by the Elmore Works. They consist of boiler and economiser house, engine and dynamo station, copper-refining furnaces, depositing-room, draw bench and machine room, &c. These have been built and equipped on the pattern of the kindred works in France, which have been in operation for some years past, at Dives, iu Normandy. The various shops at present cover 9 acres; they are connected both with the Aire and Calder Canal and with the Midland Railway.
The engine-room measures 215 feet in length by 65 feet in width, and contains:-
(a) The depositing set of engines, consisting of four pairs of 250-horse-power Bollieckx cross-compound condensing Corliss engines. The high-pressure cylinder exhausts into a receiver placed underneath the engine-room; the receiver supplies the necessary steam to the low-pressure cylinder, which exhausts into the condenser. Each pair of engines drives by belt transmission a 1,700-kilowatt continuous-current Brown-Boveri dynamo, for depositing.
(b) The power set, formed of three pairs of 400-horse-power Bollinckx cross-compound condensing Corliss engines, similar in design to the above, each pair of whirls drives a Brown-Boveri dynamo of 425 horse-power, of 525 volts and at 325 revolutions.
(c) The lighting set, which consists of two 210-horse-power Willans' high-speed engines, direct-coupled to Elwell-Parker dynamos.
(d) The main switchboard, in two parts—ono for depositing and one for power—and the lighting switchboard.
The engines are supplied with steam at 140 lbs. per square inch, from seven Galloway 300-horse-power boilers, 32 feet long and 8 feet 6 inches in diameter, connected to a chimney 200 feet high and 10 feet inside diameter at top. They are fed by two Worthington feed-pumps. The feed-water is taken from the canal; but previous to being used in the boilers it runs through a pulsometer "torrent" filter. The boilers work in conjunction with seven economisers, located in a space between the boiler-house and the engine-room. All the steam pipes, valves, and connections are in duplicate.
The copper used in the depositing process is supplied to the works in the shape of 96 per cent. Chili bars or blister copper; this is treated for the removal of arsenic and other impurities, in three refining furnaces of 12 tons each. The refined copper is then cast into trough-shaped moulds, 13 feet in length, for the production of the copper anodes. These are triangular in section, with slightly concave sides and vertices rounded off. The anodes, as obtained in the refining-shop, are of practically pure copper. They are cleaned in sulphuric acid and water baths, previous to being placed in the depositing tanks.
The depositing department forms a special building, 265 feet long and 200 feet wide, with six bays; it contains 216 acid sulphate- depositing tanks, in 24 lines of nine tanks placed end to end, each bay covering four sets of nine baths each, connected in pairs side by side for the mechanical action. The plant is capable of a total weekly output of 75 tons.
Two electric motors are placed one on each side of the depositing room, in a special compartment; these motors work alternately for driving an underground main shaft, placed underneath the front end of the sets of tanks. Link gearing, which starts from the main shaft, gives the rotary motion to the mandrels (cathodes) inside the tanks, around which the copper tubes are deposited; the gearing ensures also the backward and forward travelling of the burnisher frame. For tubes up to 4 inches inside diameter the mandrels are of brass; for those above 4 inches inside diameter the mandrels are of cast-iron, with a brass neck for taking in the current. The latter mandrels, previous to being used in the acid sulphate-depositing tanks for the production of copper tubes, are treated in an alkaline electrolytic bath, containing sheet copper anodes, in which they are coated with a thin covering of copper.
The alkaline bath is slightly heated in order to forward the depositing action. All the mandrels, before being placed in the acid sulphate-depositing tanks, are carefully covered with black lead, to facilitate the removal of the finished tube.
When starting an operation, the pure copper anodes and the mandrels are placed in the tank, the mandrels rest at both ends on insulated supports, and are nested alongside the anodes. Acid sulphate is then led into the tank by gravitation from five cylindrical reservoirs built on the side of the depositing-room; the positive current is supplied through suitable lead conductors to the copper anodes, the negative current being led to the mandrel through copper conductors and flexible brushes. The mandrels are made to revolve, and agate burnishers, held in wood supports and fitted to a frame placed transversely over the tank, travel automatically up and down the whole length of the tubes during the time the depositing operation is in progress. The frame travels on paths on the sides of the tank, and is driven, as above mentioned, by gearing from the main shaft. The burnishing gives the tubes a uniform density and a perfectly smooth surface. The works can manufacture tubes up to 4 feet in diameter and 13 feet in length, though practically there is no limit to the size. One of the current sizes is 12 feet by 21. inches outside diameter by about 8 W.G. in thickness.
The depositing process being carried out with practically pure copper, the sediment in the cisterns is very easily dealt with; it has, at times, been found to contain as much as 250 ounces of gold to the ton of residue. When the copper-coated mandrels are removed from the depositing tanks, they are carried to an adjoining machine-shop and placed in a tube-expanding machine, in which they are made to revolve under two friction rollers, which travel along the whole length of the tube. They are then placed in a power draw-bench in which they are held down; one end of the mandrel is fastened to a grip, on being hooked to a flat-link chain drawn by a sprocket wheel, and removes the mandrel from inside the tube. A number of the tubes manufactured are drawn in the draw-benches through dies, in order to give them the required dimensions to meet certain specifications. This has the effect of hardening the copper; the tubes after drawing are placed in a reverberatory furnace, in which they are heated to a low red heat; they are then quenched in water, and cleaned in acid and water baths. Besides the tubes, the specialities of the works are the following: calico-drying cylinders, calico-printers' rolls, paper-makers' cylinders, seamless copper cylinders for hydraulic machinery, pump liners, and hydraulic ram covers. The copper tubes made by this process are able to stand, without showing any defects, the following mechanical tests: doubling close cold and then doubling over; doubling close cold and opening out; creasing up on end, expanding, flanging (diameter across the flange being equal to three times the diameter of the tube), reducing the doubled edge of the tube to a knife-edge, and turning back flat in its hard state, without breaking.
Manning, Wardle and Co
MESSRS. MANNING, WARDLE AND CO., BOYNE ENGINE WORKS, HUNSLET, LEEDS.
Manning, Wardle and Co
The Boyne Engine Works, of which Mr. Edwin Wardle is sole owner, cover nearly six acres, and are situated in Jack Lane, Hunslet, Leeds. They were founded in 1858, and take their name from the land, it having been purchased from Lord Boyne. The premises run alongside the Midland Railway, a siding from which connects direct with the yard. The front, where the offices are situated, is in Jack Lane, adjoining the railway bridge. The buildings for the works department are behind, and include all the usual and necessary workshops for the manufacture of locomotive engines of all descriptions.
J. and H. McLaren
MESSRS. J. AND H. McLAREN, MIDLAND ENGINE WORKS, LEEDS.
J. and H. McLaren
These Works were established in 1876 by the present proprietors, Messrs. John and Henry McLaren; they are situated in Jack Lane, Hunslet, about one mile from the centre of the city. The ground occupied is about two acres, bounded on the south by the main line of the Midland Railway, from which there is a siding into the works. The principal specialities are traction engines and wagons; steam ploughing engines, and electric generating engines.
The boiler shop is equipped with modern hydraulic machinery for flanging and riveting; the machine shops are supplied with the latest type of labour-saving machinery, and are fitted up with electric and steam overhead travelling cranes. In addition to the home trade, the works are largely engaged in the production of steam-engines for shipment, and there arc several progressive colonial agencies run in connection with the firm. The largest engine constructed by the firm was supplied to the Leeds Corporation in 1902 for generating electricity at the Whitehall Road Station. It is a high-speed enclosed triple-expansion engine, of 3,000 I.H.P.
The number of men employed is about 230.
S. T. Midgley and Sons
MESSRS. S. T. MIDGLEY AND SONS, BOOT MANUFACTURERS, CROWN WORKS, LEEDS.
S. T. Midgley and Sons
These Works are situated to the east of Roundhay Road, about a mile from the centre of the city. The business was established by the late Mr. S. T. Midgley at Halifax in 1851, being transferred to Swinegate, Leeds, in 1886. The solo proprietor is now Mr. A. W. Midgley, the son of the founder.
In 1897 the present factory was built at Harehills, Leeds, and a large amount of new machinery was introduced, Mr. A. W. Midgley having decided to make a great change in the character of the business, which had hitherto been confined to the production of what was known as the standard Leeds goods, namely, boots of a heavy class. Recognising that the demand was increasing every year for boots of a lighter character, he determined to undertake the production of light or better class goods, such as had previously only been made in Stafford and Northampton, although it was impossible to obtain in Leeds the necessary labour requisite for such a change. In spite of great difficulties he succeeded, and large quantities of light as well as strong boots are now manufactured here every year.
Three years ago another branch of boot manufacturing was undertaken, that of Army boots, these having previously been made in Northamptonshire only. At the request of the Government, the firm offered to supply the War Office, and now there is a special department in which nothing bat hand-sewn boots for the Government are produced, turning out 1,500 to 2,000 weekly. All the hands in this department have had to be specially trained, or imported from other districts.
The new works erected in 1897 soon proved too small, and an addition of almost the same size was made in 1901, the factory now being regarded as one of the finest in the north of England. The machinery includes all the latest in the trade, consisting of sewing machines, presses, sole rounder, heel builders and attachers, lasting, riveting, screwing, and stitching machines, also Goodyear welting (hand-sewn method) plant, finishing machines, etc.
In the closing room the bulk of the machines have been supplied by Messrs. Wheeler and Wilson, and Messrs. Singers. Of the latter make, the firm's new high-speed machine has just been put down; it has the working parts of gun-metal, and runs on ball-bearings. The accessory machines in this department ate many and important, including a new addition in a Lufkin folding machine, punching and eyeletting machines, power eyeletter, button-bolo machine, wax- thread machines, etc. In the rough-stuff room the operations of rolling, ranging, cutting, sorting, stamping, fitting up, skiving, moulding, etc., proceed in their proper consecutive order; and where machinery can be used to advantage a machine is used. A new Gunton press and Julian sole rounder have recently been put clown in this department.
In the Goodyear welted work department, the British United Shoe Machinery Co. have supplied a number of machines. The first processes these machines deal with is in the preparation of the Gem inner sole, which is done by three small machines—a channelling machine, a lip-turning machine, and the re-enforcing machine, which covers the inner sole with canvas in such a way that it makes it damp-proof and prevents squeaking. The inner sole is now tacked upon the last, and the upper pulled over ready for the Consolidated lasting machine, and lasted in precisely the same manner as by hand labour. The toes are lasted by means of a wiper, and a small soft wire is laid round the feather, which leaves the toes the perfect shape of the last. The attachment of the welt to the upper and the inner sole is accomplished by a new hand method lockstitch welt and turnshoe machine, which is the first and only machine of its kind placed upon the market. This machine has a steam generator for heating the necessary parts, and the wax for lubricating the thread. The clever mechanical movement of the shuttle, the thread measuring-off device to suit the various substances of the material, and the locking of each stitch in the inner sole, differ from anything yet seen in welt-sewing machines, and make a seam equal to the best hand-sewn.
The following operations are then proceeded with—trimming the welt-seam, hammering out the welt by the Universal welt beating-out machine, and filling the bottom with rubber solution. The outsole receives a coating of solution, and, together with the boot, is placed upon a jack of the sole-laying machine, which moulds the outsole to the bottom shape of the last. This method of attaching the outsole appears to be a great improvement over the old method of attaching soles by rivets.
The next operations are performed by the Universal rounding and channelling machine, and the Universal shank skiving machine. The channels are opened, and the work then stitched together by the Goodyear lockstitch machine. The boot is now levelled on the Goodyear automatic levelling machine, which is operated by a boy, who places the boot on a jack and starts the machine, whilst the machine is working automatically, rolling from side to side, changing its motion from toe to heel, thoroughly rolling out the bottom of the boot. During this operation the boy is preparing another boot on jack No. 2, which is ready to be rolled as soon as the first boot is taken away. The last operation is the attaching of the heel to the boot by the new lightning heeler, which attaches the heel while the last is in the boot. The firm has recently laid down a plant for a high-pressure system of gas lighting, which has been found to work most satisfactorily.
Monk Bridge Iron and Steel Co
MONK BRIDGE IRON WORKS, LEEDS.
Monk Bridge Iron and Steel Co
The Works of the Monk Bridge Iron and Steel Co. occupy an area of about 10 acres, and are divided into two parts by the Whitehall Road. The principal manufactures of the Company are:—Best Yorkshire iron bars, plates, forgings, etc.; Special Steel tyres, crank-axles, straight-axles, forgings, etc.; and cast-steel locomotive wheel centres.
The Company owns blast-furnaces in another part of Leeds, where they make pure cold-blast pig-iron for the manufacture of "Best Yorkshire Iron." The pig-iron from which "Best Yorkshire Iron" is made is treated in two open-hearth refineries, which are supplied with cold blast by a horizontal blowing-engine with a 48-inch air cylinder.
Puddling Furnaces.— There are 22 puddling furnaces, the iron from which is shingled and hammered at 4 hammers before being taken to the mills and blooming hammers. There are altogether 12 steam hammers for the manufacture of "Best Yorkshire Iron" into blooms for finishing into plates and bars, steel blooms for tyres and axles, and finished crank-axles, forgings, &c., in iron or steel.
Hydraulic Press.— The hydraulic press of 1,200 tons capacity is used for making large forgings and for pressing crank-axle ingots, the hydraulic pressure of 21 tons per square inch being supplied by an engine having 2 cylinders of 20 inches diameter. In the same shed are 2 powerful hammers employed in the manufacture of steel tyres and axles, etc. Steel is manufactured by the Siemens-Martin process, and the melting furnaces are supplied with gas from Wilson's producers. The Steel Foundry is under the same roof as the steel furnaces, and is fitted with three 30-ton overhead electric cranes.
Rolling Mills.— These consist of 19-inch, 14-inch and 10-inch bar mills; the 19-inch mill is driven by a 30-inch cylinder horizontal engine, reversed by a patent clutch; the 14-inch mill is driven by a compound beam-engine with 40-inch and 48-inch cylinders. This engine also works a train of forge rolls. The 10-inch mill is worked by a 30-inch cylinder horizontal engine. The plate mill consists of 2 pairs of plate rolls, driven by a 36-inch cylinder horizontal engine, and reversed by a patent clutch. The tyre mill is driven by the same engine that works the large bar mill.
Machine and Turning Shops.— These are electrically driven. Steam is raised in 13 mechanically-fired boilers, in 2 groups of 5 and 8 boilers, and also in 17 boilers arranged over the puddling furnaces. The feed-water for the boilers is heated by 2 sets of Green's economisers, and 3 Berryman's heaters.
Walter Scott
MESSRS. WALTER SCOTT, LEEDS STEEL WORKS, HUNSLET.
Walter Scott
The Iron and Steel Works at Hunslet on the south side of Leeds were acquired by the Leeds Steel Works Co., in the year 1888, and commenced manufacturing operations under the direction of Mr. Walter Scott, of Newcastle-on-Tyne, as Chairman of the Company in the following year. The Works, together with collieries in Durham, and other properties belonging to Mr. Scott, were amalgamated as a company in July 1900, under the name of Walter Scott, Limited.
The Leeds Steel Works comprise a blast-furnace plant, basic Bessemer steel department, rolling mills, girder constructional and tram-rail finishing yards; also a basic slag artificial manure plant. They occupy an area of 25 acres of land in one of the busiest parts of Leeds, and are favourably situated for railway communication, being close to the Midland Railway sidings.
The blast-furnace plant consists of three furnaces of equal size, measuring 65 feet in height with a diameter of 18 feet inside the tire-brick lining at the bosh. They are closed at the top with the usual hopper and conical bell arrangement. There are eight tuyeres at each furnace. The ores used are chiefly from Lincolnshire and Northampton, together with puddling furnace cinder. The coke used is part Durham and part Yorkshire, and the total quantity consumed per week is more than 2,000 tons. The limestone used as flux is the ordinary blue mountain limestone from Ribblesdale. The materials are filled into the charging barrows, which are weighed, and arc lifted to the top of the furnaces by a vertical steam-hoist. The quantity of materials dealt with is about 9,000 tons per Week; the hoist engine lifting the material at the rate of nearly a ton per minute.
There arc eight "Cowper" stoves of uniform size, measuring 75 feet high and 23 feet diameter. These serve for heating the blast to an average temperature of 1,350° F. before it reaches the furnaces. The air is driven into the furnaces by three vertical blowing-engines, the air-cylinders of which are each 100 inches in diameter, These engines were built by Messrs. Kitson and Co., of Leeds, and the air-pressure is maintained at about 6 lbs. per square inch.
An electrical pyrometer is used for testing and registering the heat of the blast. This is connected with the furnace manager's office, and an observation can be made of the temperature of the blast at a moment's notice. The waste gas from the top of the furnaces is utilized for heating the blast, and also for generating steam by means of Lancashire boilers, no coal being needed for boiler firing.
The quality of the iron produced is what is known as basic Bessemer, and the make for the three furnaces averages 2,200 tons per week, the record being 2,396 tons.
In addition to the iron there is about an equal weight of slag produced in the furnace from the fusion of earthy matters in the ores, etc. The liquid slag floats on the surface of the molten iron as it collects in the hearth, and the molten slag is run off into iron tubs, and, after cooling down, is broken in stone-breaking machines, and screened in revolving screens to various sizes suitable for road metal and concreting purposes. About one-half the production of blast- furnace slag is utilized in this way, the remainder being tipped as refuse on land belonging to the company at Woodlesford.
The Bessemer Steel Department is about a quarter of a mile distant from the blast-furnaces. The plant consists of two Bessemer converters, each producing 7 tons of steel at a cast, and two large converters of a capacity of 10 tons each. There are two semicircular casting pits provided with top supported hydraulic cranes for supporting the casting ladle, and other smaller hydraulic cranes for arranging ingot moulds in the casting pit, and for removing ingots. There are three cupolas, each 8 feet in diameter by 36 feet high, for remelting the iron cast on the pig beds at the blast furnaces. These are driven by air supplied by three Roots blowers, and the cupolas are capable of melting 150 tons of iron in 12 hours. There is the usual Basic Shop for preparing the basic bricks made of burnt dolomite and tar for the linings and perforated bottoms of the Bessemer converters. The bulk of the iron from the furnaces is taken to the Bessemer department in the molten state in ladles supported on four-wheeled carriages, the ladle being capable of carrying 12 tons of molten iron.
The molten iron, as it arrives in the ladle from the furnaces, is weighed, the ladle is tipped, and the liquid iron is poured into a huge receiver or mixer, which is large enough to hold 120 tons of molten iron. The operation of pouring the iron into the mixer is very efficiently and quickly done by hydraulic power, and it is possible, though not usual, to empty a ladle containing 12 tons of molten iron in half-a-minute. The iron can be poured and weighed with equal facility from the mixer for use in the Bessemer converter. There is always a ready supply of uniformly regular iron for conversion into steel.
At the beginning of the week the mixer is tilled with molten iron on Sunday night ready for commencing work at six o'clock on Monday morning. During the week it is being continually filled as the iron is taken from it. A bath of 100 tons of molten iron is always available until the Saturday when the mixer is emptied. The iron remains liquid from its own initial heat, and no fuel is required to be burnt to keep it liquid. The iron remelted in the cupolas is also run into a ladle and poured into the receiver to mix with the molten iron taken direct from the blast-furnaces.
The conversion of the iron into steel by the Bessemer process is a refining operation effected by means of a powerful blast of air blown through the liquid iron with the result that the metalloids, carbon, phosphorus, etc., which are constituents of the pig iron, are oxidized or burnt out, and separated from the iron.
The analysis of the iron used is as follows:—
- Combined carbon - 2.85 per cent.
- Graphitic carbon - Traces.
- Silicon - 0.60 per cent.
- Sulphur - 0.05 per cent.
- Phosphorus - 2.60 per cent.
- Manganese - 1.75 per cent.
- Iron (by difference)- 92.15 per cent.
The converter is a strongly built egg-shaped furnace made of thick steel plates and lined with dolomite bricks. The bottom portion of this lining is perforated with about 70 holes, of about 1-inch diameter to allow of a powerful blast of air at a pressure of 20 to 25 lbs. per square inch being driven through the liquid iron resting on the bottom; the pressure of the blast is more than sufficient to prevent the liquid iron running down the holes.
The converter is supported on pedestals at oboist its centre by means of a strong trunnion belt. It is capable of being rotated on its centre by means of a powerful hydraulic cylinder with ram actuating a rack and pinion. The converter is placed in the horizontal position to receive the charge of molten iron from the ladle, and is made of such shape and capacity that when set in the horizontal position the charge of metal rests quietly in the hollow of the converter, and below the level of the perforated bottom. The charge of metal being already in the converter when set in the horizontal position, the burning or refining is commenced by putting on the blast, and then rotating the vessel to bring it to a vertical position, when the molten metal flows on to the perforated bottom. During the process a strong flame issues from the mouth of the converter, arising from the combustion of the carbon contained in the iron. Other impurities, notably the silicon and phosphorus, pass into the slag.
The usual weight of iron treated at one operation in the converters is about 12 to 13 tons for the larger vessels, and to this is added about 20 per cent. of burnt lime, which enters into chemical combination with the silica and phosphoric acid, and thus aids in the elimination of the silicon and phosphorus originally present in the iron. The metal thus rid of carbon, silicon, and phosphorus then receives the necessary hardening additions, and is poured into ladle to be cast into steel ingots weighing from 1 to 2 tons each. The slag is poured off separately, and is afterwards ground to a very fine powder, and in this condition is sold as a manure snider the name of basic slag, phosphate slag, and phosphate meal. This material is now considered to be one of the most valuable and economical manures in use.
The blast for the Bessemer process is supplied by a horizontal engine made by Messrs. John Fowler and Co., Leeds. The air-cylinders are 4 feet 6 inches in diameter. The converters and cranes in this department are actuated by hydraulic power, for which the Galloway pumps feed two accumulators that are loaded to a working pressure of 620 lbs. per square inch. After the ingots have been cast in the moulds, the latter are stripped off the ingots promptly, and the red-hot ingots are lifted by a long jib hydraulic crane, and placed upon a hydraulic charger, which delivers the ingots into four reheating furnaces; there they are allowed to be heated uniformly throughout to pass through the next operation of rolling into various sections of girders, tram-rails, etc.
The Rolling Mill is a 32-inch mill and consists of three sets of standards placed in line across the mill. The cogging rolls are driven by a pair of engines made by Messrs. Galloways, of Manchester. The steam cylinders are 39 inches diameter by 4 feet 6 inches stroke, and are geared up by two sets of helical tooth-pinions to the main shaft, which can thus be driven either at the same speed as the engine, or at half the speed. The roughing and finishing rolls are driven by a powerful pair of engines made by Messrs. Davy Brothers. The cylinders are 51 inches diameter by 5 feet stroke. There are 19 boilers of Lancashire type to provide steam for both the Bessemer and rolling-mill engines, and these are worked at a pressure of 100 lbs. per square inch.
Owing to the number of various sections rolled in the mill, rolls have to be changed frequently, and this is done by an overhead electrically-driven travelling crane. This crane extends from the mill into a conveniently situated Roll Lathe Shop, thus facilitating rolls being taken direct from the lathe into the rolling mill. The ingots when rolled down to blooms have the ends cropped off by a pair of shears before passing to the roughing rolls.
The mill is provided with roller gear and transfer arrangement to facilitate the handling of the heavy bars in the course of the rolling operations. The bar on leaving the mill passes on, live rollers to the circular saw, and after being cut is transferred by mechanical power to the cooling bank; from there it is taken by the jib cranes to the finishing department, where the cola straightening and other operations which may be required on the bar are carried out. The mill is principally engaged in the manufacture of steel girders or joists, channels, flat bars, girder tram-rails for street tramways, patent bars, etc. The joists rolled vary in size from 16 inches by 6 inches, weighing 62 lbs. per foot to 4 inches by 1.75 inches at 7.5 lbs. per foot, and the sections of joists and channels rolled number 63. The number of tram-rail sections rolled is 44.
The Leeds Steel Works claim to be the largest makers of girder tram-rails in Great Britain. Forty-four different sections of these rails have been rolled, varying in size and weight from 5 inches by 5 inches at 65 lbs. per yard to 7 inches by 75 inches at 108 lbs. per yard. Orders have been executed for most of the important corporations in this country, including the London County Council, the rails and fastenings for the Tooting line recently inaugurated by the Prince and Princess of Wales having been supplied by these Works. Of late years there has been a demand for these rails in longer lengths to reduce the number of joints, and this firm was the first to undertake the supply of tram-rails in 60-foot lengths. This was in 1899, in compliance with the requirements of the Glasgow Corporation.
The work on tram-rails is of a more complicated character than in ordinary permanent-way rails, and the Company has provided a very complete plant to do the necessary finishing work upon the rails, including machines for squaring the ends up to exact lengths, and for putting in holes for fish-plates, sole-plates, tie-bars, and electrical bonds, also for milling recesses in the ends of the rails for the reception of the "Dicker" fish-plate.
A considerable area of ground is occupied by the constructional department for the building op and riveting of steel joists and plates to produce very strong compounds for building purposes. The company has also undertaken important contracts for steel piers, light bridges, etc., both at home and abroad. The plant for this class of work is extensive, and includes the usual drilling machines, hydraulic and pneumatic riveters. The sheds are provided with three overhead travelling-cranes, both electrical and rope-driven, for lifting heavy girders. Considerable stocks of various sections of joists, channels, flat bars, etc., are kept, and for the purpose of dealing readily with these an overhead gantry has been erected on columns, and covering an area of 640 feet by 95 feet span.
Two steam-travellers arc working on this span, putting into stock, also taking out of stock, and supplying the material to the cold saws and other machines as may be desired. The total quantity of finished steel turned out averages 1,400 tons per week.
The arrangements for testing steel supplied to customers are complete, including chemical analysis, falling-weight tests, and tensile tests as made in Buckton's 100-ton testing machine.
The company has recognized the value of electricity for distribution of power to the various machines of small power spread over the Works, and has built a generating station in which two dynamos of 100 H.P. each are driven by Robey engines, and quite recently a 300-H.P. Fowler generator direct-coupled to a vertical cross compound Fowler engine working at 100 lbs. pressure, and this is now being duplicated by the same firm.
Upwards of 50 motors, ranging from 1.5 to 50 H.P. each, have been supplied by Messrs. Greenwood and Batley, of Leeds. These arc of enclosed ventilated direct current type. The whole of the electrical plant is giving satisfaction, and arrangements arc being made for the fixing of 50 other motors in place of small engines, whereby a considerable economy in fuel, greater efficiency, and less liability to stoppage for repairs will be realized. New repair shops, 250 feet long by 38 feet broad, have been erected for greater convenience in carrying out the repairs incidental to the iron and steel works.
The number of men employed is about 1,350.
Tannett, Walker and Co
MESSRS. TANNETT WALKER AND CO., GOODMAN STREET WORKS, HUNSLET, LEEDS.
Tannett, Walker and Co
These Works, founded more than 40 years ago, stand on an area of about 8 acres of freehold ground. There is an ample water supply, and all the engines are highly expansive and condensing. The Works are laid out for the manufacture of very heavy machinery used in iron and steel making, also dock and railway and works equipment, such as tilting furnaces, blast-furnace and iron and steel works plant, hydraulic forging and bending presses, rail, bar, plate, togging, corrugating, and tyre machinery and engines; shearing, punching, straightening, bending, and blocking machines, for rails, plates, tyres, etc.; steam and hydraulic hammers, as supplied to His Majesty's Government, etc.; armour plate rolling machinery; hydraulic machinery for docks, railways, and works generally; hydraulic overhead travelling-cranes (a speciality); flanging machinery, hydraulic riveting plant, etc.; patent 3-cylinder blowing engines, for cupolas, foundries, forges, converters, and smiths' fires; hydraulic coal tips and cranes for coaling; and capstans.
This Company has recently supplied a 160-ton tilting furnace for Messrs. Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds, at their Dowlais-Cardiff Works, Cardiff. This is the largest furnace ever made in this country, and it is tilted by hydraulic power, all other movements being hydraulic. The 100-ton tilting furnace Talbot continuous process at Frodingham was supplied by this Company. A 3,000-ton hydraulic press has just been handed over to the authorities at Woolwich Arsenal. In process of manufacture can be seen all kinds of hydraulic machinery, and in use in the foundries and other departments are hydraulic travelling cranes, hydraulic hammers, and other appliances.
Joshua Tetley
MESSRS. JOSHUA TETLEY AND SON, THE BREWERY, HUNSLET ROAD, LEEDS.
Joshua Tetley
The original Brewery was rented by Mr.Joshua Tetley in 1823,and the present one, the building of which was commenced in 1855, now covers an area of over six acres. Two new cast-iron mash-tuns have been erected by Messrs. Kitson and Co. (in addition to four previously in use) one of these is 17 feet diameter in a single piece, and the other is 18 feet diameter in sections. The total mashing power is 125 quarters per day. There are two large steam coppers of 14 and 15 feet diameter, in addition to four older ones boiled by fire.
The fermenting vessels, 114 in number, are all on the Yorkshire square system, most of them of slate, erected by Messrs. Alfred Carter and Co. There are two sets of refrigerators, each set consisting of four vertical refrigerators (Lawrence) and one Morton's horizontal refrigerator, each set capable of cooling 160 barrels of wort per hour, and each barrel of wort cooled requires by this method 1.3 barrels of water at 540 F. contrasted with 3 barrels of water when the verticals were used by themselves.
Hydraulic machinery supplied by Sir W. G. Armstrong, Whitworth and Co. is used for working six piston-hoists and five chain-hoists, for passengers and goods, and five sack hoists. In the new maltings the grain is distributed by elevators and by an india-rubber carrying band, with discharging appliances, which were also supplied by the same firm, and driven by a two-phase motor.
There are seven large boilers supplying steam to eleven engines of various sizes and of about 200 aggregate nominal horse-power. Steam is also largely used for heating, boiling, and washing purposes. The supply of water for brewing is obtained from a. borehole 155 feet deop, and the seater for cooling and washing purposes is obtained from a well 00 feet deep and 25 feet diameter at the bottom, and also two boreholes about 200 feet deep. The firm do the whole of their own limning, and manufacture and repair on the premises their own casks, drays, cir,c.; and employ altogether over 500 bands. The casks arc all washed by machinery, which does away with the necessity of unheading and heading up again.
Doncaster Works
GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY CO.'S LOCOMOTIVE, CARRIAGE, AND WAGON WORKS, DONCASTER.
Doncaster Works
[See plan of works on image]
The Locomotive and Carriage Works are situated between the south bank of the River Don and the Railway Station, Fig. 3 (page 618). The work of building and repairing wagons, originally carried
on upon the same site, was removed about 1890 to land alongside the main line, 1 miles south of Doncaster. About 100 acres of land along the bank of the River Don and alongside the old works has recently been acquired, and new engine, repair, and paint shops have been built on this site.
The whole area occupied for Locomotive, Carriage, and Wagon Works (including sidings for the use of the shops) is at present about 200 acres. The total number of men employed in the department at Doncaster is 4,800. The rolling stock of the Company, in December 1902, numbered 1,279 engines, 3,175 carriages, and 39,000 wagons.
The Locomotive Shops comprise the following Departments:—
Engine Repair Shops.— The general arrangement of this block of buildings is shown on Fig. 4 (page 619). Accommodation for the repair of 100 engines is provided in the four bays, each 52 feet span by 520 feet length. The kindred trades, that is, coppersmiths, light boiler-repairs, fitting and turning, are carried on in the two smaller bays, 30 feet span. There are three roads in each of the larger bays, and each bay is equipped with two 35-ton 4-motor travelling cranes. The smaller bays have 8-ton 3-motor cranes, and are furnished with the necessary tools and machines to effect all the repairs required without the work leaving the shop. A complete system of 18-inch gauge roads run through the shops everywhere, both inside and out, for conveying the engine parts where required. Compressed air and electric current is conveyed round the shops for use where necessary. The shops are very lofty, spacious, and well lighted, half of each roof—that facing the north—is glazed. Electric light is installed, both arc and glow lamps being used. Hot-water pipes are used for heating the shops. All the new shops are driven electrically; compressed air is largely used, and the electric mains and air pipes can be tapped for small portable motors anywhere along the pits and walls. Gas as well as electricity is provided for heating purposes or lighting where necessary. The offices, stores, boiling bosh, etc., are arranged near the central part of the shop.
The Wheel Shop (No. 2 on Fig. 3, page 618), GO feet by 292 feet, is situated at the west end of the engine repair shops. The lathes, except two which have their own motors, are driven in groups by motors, and are fixed along the sides of the shop, and fed by electrically-driven walking-cranes each capable of lifting 6 tons. Two roads run through the shop for the manipulation, etc., of wheels. All wheels when completed in this shop are immediately returned to the engines or placed in a wheel park to the west of the Shop.
The Tender Shop at present forms the extreme end of the Works. The height and width of the bays and general equipment is the same as the Engine Repair Shops. Arrangements have been made in the building of this and the Repair Shop to admit of future extension where necessary. Between the Wheel Shop and the Tender Shop a 40-foot electric traverser is provided, and is capable of hauling on and traversing the heaviest locomotive.
Iron Foundry.—The weekly output is about 100 tons. A new foundry is shortly to be built adjacent to the existing one; alterations are to be made in the arrangement of cupolas, fettling shops, and roads leading to them. The enlarged plan, Fig. 4 (page 619), shows what the general arrangement will be when finished. The Pattern Shop is conveniently placed next to the Foundry.
Boiler Shop.—The output of this shop ranges between 100 and 110 boilers per annum. It is equipped with 14-ton overhead travelling-cranes. Extensive use is made of compressed air in this shop for pneumatic chipping, drilling, and caulking. Electric power is also laid on for the supply of current to drills, etc. Lubricant from an overhead tank is piped to all drilling machines, etc., in order to obtain the maximum output; a Tool Room also forms part of the equipment.
Forge.—This building is next to the Boiler Shop, and is provided with four steam-hammers. The average output is 610 tons per annum.
Engine-Erecting Shop, No. 16, Fig. 3.- This building consists of two bays 48 feet wide by 230 feet long. It is equipped with four 30-ton rope-driven cranes, shortly to be converted to electric motor cranes. One bay is used entirely for the building of new engines, the other for the manufacture of tanks, splashers, cabs, etc.
Smiths' Shops, No. 14, Fig. 3.—These shops contain 115 smiths' hearths, and are fitted with steam hammers, etc.
Turneries, No. 15, Fig. 3.—These comprise two storeys; the lighter parts of engines (motion, brake work, etc.), are manufactured in the upper one, and the heavier parts (such as cylinders, etc.) in the lower one. The shop marked No. 10 on Fig. 3 is used for similar class of work, and for repairs to cranes and out-station machinery.
Power House, No. 9, Fig. 3.—Power is provided for driving the Turneries from a battery of boilers which supply steam to a Robey 300-H.P. engine, also for the engines driving the electric generators. These at present consist of one 220 and two 88-kilowatt machines. Provision is made for two further sets of 220 kilowatts each, one of which is about to be fixed. When the installation is completed the smaller isolated stationary engines now working will be superseded by electric motors.
Carriage Works.—All new Great Northern Railway stock and a large proportion of East Coast Joint stock is built in these shops; there is accommodation for some 250 vehicles under repair and varnishing, etc. The Lifting Shop, No. 20, Fig. 3, is provided with two electric travelling-cranes, each capable of lifting 20 tons, for dealing with the larger coaches. Compressed air is largely used for lifting, etc., and the vacuum process for cleaning cushions and the inside lining of carriages is also employed.
Wagon and Wheelwrights' Shops.—These comprise two Wagon Shops, one capable of holding 210 wagons and the other 230 wagons, and two shops for dealing with the building and repair of floats, drays, omnibuses, etc. (technically known as "Road Goods "), and of which vehicles there are some 3,000 to be maintained. The shops are entirely lighted by electricity, and electric driving is gradually being introduced. There is little or no house accommodation near the works—a workman's train conveys the men to and from Doncaster, and a mess room, accommodating about 500 men, is provided.
The Running Shed is situated to the east of the main line. It. has 12 roads and holds 90 engines. The general arrangement is completely " double ended," that is, sidings, coal stage, turntable, etc., are provided at either end. A small repair shop adjoins the shed, with overhead traveller, etc.
The Oil-Gas Works is just south of the shed. The capacity is About 12,000,000 cubic feet per annum.
Frodingham Iron and Steel Co
FRODINGHAM IRON AND STEEL WORKS, FRODINGHAM, NEAR DONCASTER.
Frodingham Iron and Steel Co
Ores.—The Lincolnshire ores are geologically secondary jurassic (lies) and oolitic. At present the surface ores only are worked, and are quarried in open workings, with a covering varying from nil to 30 feet. The ore seam has a depth varying from 10 to 20 feet. The ore field extends in a straight line from north to south, from the Humber to Kirton Lindsey, and with a width varying from about 150 yards to about a mile and a half. The ore contains iron from 18 to 30 per cent., the average being about 26 per cent., and it is therefore a very poor ore, very low in iron.
The reason why such low grade oro can be economically worked is due:— (1st) To its containing its own admixture of limestone; (2nd) To its being quarried, therefore cheaply got; (3rd) On account of the close proximity to coal and coke, viz., about 28 miles.
The pig-iron which is manufactured from the ore contains about 1.•50 per cent. of phosphorus, and about 2.00 per cent. of manganese, and is therefore a pig-iron eminently suitable for the basic open- hearth process.
Blast-Furnaces.—There are at present four blast-furnaces, each 70 feet high, with 9 feet 6 inches diameter of hearth, height of bushes 18 feet, diameter of bosh 18 feet 6 inches, diameter of throat 15 feet. There are eight tuyeres to each furnace. Two of the furnaces are fed with material by means of bell and hopper, with standard beam 'and winch. The third furnace has an open top, but will be altered into a close top immediately. The ore and other material goes on a high level, emptying itself into bunkers, from which it is loaded by hand into larries, which are wheeled to the hoist, and lifted up to the furnace gantry.
A new furnace is in course of erection, the foundations of which are just being put down. This furnace will be built entirely on the newest principles, with complete mechanical arrangements to do away with all labour in connection with filling of ores and feeding the furnace. All the present furnaces are served by eight stoves, six of which are Whitwell's, and two Massicks and Crushes. They vary in height from 50 to 70 feet, and in diameter from 18 to 23 feet. The pressure of blast now maintained is 5 lbs. per square inch, and its temperature on entering the furnace is about 1,100° F. At the present time three furnaces are in blast; the fourth one is about to be rebuilt on modern principles, as mentioned previously. The furnaces make basic pig-iron for the open-hearth steel works.
The engines are five in number, of the vertical type, with steam cylinders on top, and blowing cylinders below, non-condensing, the sizes being as follows:—
[See table on image for page 624]
For the new furnace new blowing-engines have been ordered of the Southgate type, compound, condensing, worked at a steam pressure of 150 lbs. per square inch, and built for a blast pressure of up to 20 lbs. per square inch. These engines are being built by Messrs. Richardsons, Westgarth and Co., of Middlesbrough. The steam required for the present blast-engines is supplied by twelve Lancashire boilers, 8 feet 6 inches diameter by 30 feet long, having 1,100 feet of heating surface. They evaporate 500 gallons per boiler per hour, and work at a steam pressure of 100 lbs. per square inch. For the new plant seven Babcock and Wilcox boilers are about to be put down, working at a pressure of 160 lbs. per square inch.
The waste gases from the blast-furnaces, after heating the air, are utilized for raising the steam, of which there is sufficient to drive 480 H.P. of electric power, which is utilized at the Steel Works. This power plant of 480 H.P. consists of one set of 250 H.P. driven by a Robey compound engine, and one direct-driven set of 230 II.P. The generators are of Westinghouse make, 220 volts pressure.
Steel Works.—The Melting Shop consists of eight open-hearth furnaces, as follows:-
- 2 of 20 tons capacity each.
- 2 of 25 tons capacity each.
- 1 of 35 tons capacity.
- 2 of 40 tons capacity each, and
- 1 of 100 tons capacity.
The last-named furnace is worked on the continuous principle, Talbot patent. The seven ordinary furnaces work a mixture of 70 per cent. pig-iron, and 30 per cent. scrap, and make 1,600 tons of steel ingots per week. The 100-ton furnace, on the continuous principle, works liquid pig-iron only, without scrap, and snakes 650 tons of ingots per week, so that the Melting Shop makes 2,250 tons of ingots per week.
The slag from the furnaces, containing from 13 to 14 per cent. of phosphoric acid is carried to the Manure Works, where it is ground down in three Krupp mills, built on the Ball principle, into a fine powder, and is sold as phosphate manure for agricultural purposes. The production of this manure is 25,000 tons per annum. The ingots are cast partly in straight and partly in circular pits, and are served direct to four coal-fired soakers, where they are reheated, and then supplied to the Cogging Mill.
The Cogging Mill consists of one pair of housings, 36-inch centres, steel rolls 7 feet 6 inches long, driven by a pair of two- cylinder reversing engines, geared 1 to 2. Diameter of cylinder is 42 inches, and stroke is 60 inches. These engines were built by Messrs. Kitson and Co., of Airedale Foundry, Leeds. The capacity of this Mill is more than equal to the output of the Melting Shop, and is today dealing with the whole output, say 2,250 tons of ingots per week. The blooms, after leaving the togging engines, are cropped by steam shears, built by Messrs. Joshua Buckton and Co., Leeds, and are capable of dealing with slabs up to 30 inches wide, and 10 inches thick. These shears are driven by a reversing steam-engine, and are supplied with live-roller tables.
There is a large re-heating furnace with producers attached, for reheating blooms for sections of larger sizes which are not capable of being rolled off in one heat, namely, all sections 12 inches high and over. This furnace is served by an electric charging machine, made at the Frodingham Works, which charges the blooms from the shears, and supplies them to the finishing mill. The ingots, after being cogged and cropped, are transferred, at the same heat, to the finishing mill, consisting of three pairs of housings, 30-inch centres, and rolled into all kinds of bridge and ship material, and also into material for wagon building, and structural work of all kinds.
The Finishing Mill is driven by a three-cylinder reversing engine, direct coupled, all high pressure; each cylinder is 45 inches diameter with 52-inch stroke, built by Messrs. Davy Brothers, Sheffield. At the end of this Mill are two hot saws, pendulum type, to crop the bars, which are pushed on to the hot bank, and lifted by 5-ton steam travelling-cranes either direct on to the trucks or into stock, or supplied to the straightening presses, of which there are two, built by Messrs. Craig and Donald, of Johnstone, worked by electric motors. There are also four cold saws, driven by electric motors. T
he Cogging and Finishing Mills are served by two electric overhead cranes, each of 15 tons capacity, one made by Messrs. Joseph Booth and Brothers, of Rodley, and the other by Messrs. Joseph Adamson and Co., Hyde. The overhead-crane track is lengthened, and connects with the repair shop and roll lathe shop, where there are different tools for the necessary repairs to the Works, and two roll lathes for dressing the rolls.
The 14-inch bar mill is driven by a high-pressure non- condensing flywheel engine, with cylinder 30 inches diameter, and stroke 36 inches, and consists of two pairs of housings for sectional work, and two stands of guide rolls for guide rounds and squares. This mill is served by a Siemens gas furnace, with producers attached, and the output of this mill is 350 tons per week. There is a hydraulic plant, with two high-pressure Worthington pumps, one accumulator and tank with automatic governor gear attached, working at a pressure of 600 lbs. per square inch. There is a battery of 16 Lancashire boilers, fired by automatic stoking gear, Proctor's system.
All the boilers are designed to carry 100 lbs. per square inch pressure, and are usually worked at 80 lbs. In connection with the Works there are the usual engineering shops, namely, fitting, blacksmiths, boiler smiths, pattern-making, joiner, and locomotive repairs, where all renewals and repairs to machinery and other plant are executed.
The Works employ about 1,500 men.
Pope and Pearson
MESSRS. POPE AND PEARSON'S WEST RIDING AND SILKSTONE COLLIERIES, ALTOFTS, NEAR NORMANTON.
Pope and Pearson
These Collieries have been working for the past 52 years, and at the present time the output of coal is about 3,000 tons per day. Last year 553,000 tons of coal were raised, of which 421,000 tons were got by coal-cutting. machines. There are three shafts at present winding coal, with other shafts for ventilation and pumping.
The Silkstone coal (4 feet thick) is raised from a depth of 336 yards by means of a pair of horizontal winding-engines 32 incises diameter by 6 inches stroke, made by Messrs. R. Daglish and Co., St. Helens, with automatic cut-off valves; the drum is 16 feet diameter, and the rope-plough steel 41 inches in circumference. The wrought-iron head gear is 100 feet high, and was made by Messrs. Goddard and Massey, of Nottingham. Eight tubs of cool are raised at each lift, the weight of coal being about 3 tons 10 cwts., and the dead weight of loaded cage and rope is 101 tons. About 1,300 tons of coal are raised per single shift.
Power is supplied by four Lancashire boilers 9 feet diameter and 30 feet long, working at a pressure of 120 lbs. per square inch, made by Messrs. Spurr and Inman, of Wakefield. The heapstead is built of steel girders 12 inches by 6 inches. The screening plant produces eleven qualities of coal, and the tipplers were made by Messrs. 31. Coulson and Co., of Spennymoor, Durham.
The Silkstone plant also contains the following engines. A screen engine, 16 inches diameter by 3 feet stroke, made by Messrs. Marshall, Sons and Co., of Gainsborough. A pair of compound condensing air- compressing engines on the two-stage principle, by Messrs. Walker Brothers of Wigan. The high-pressure steam-cylinder is 20 inches diameter, and the low-pressure cylinder 36 inches; the high-pressure air-cylinder is 22 inches diameter, and the low-pressure 34 inches by 4 feet stroke. A pair of 16-inch self-contained engines, by Messrs. Wood and Gee, of Wigan, were used for sinking the 16-foot pit 336 yards sleep, and were subsequently converted to drive a strap rope which works an endless chain to convey the full and empty tubs to the pit bottom. The working places in-by are about 3 miles from the shaft, and the haulage is on the endless- chain system driven by compressed air.
The Diamond coal, 31 feet thick, is raised from a depth of 500 yards by a pair of vertical high-pressure engines, 40 inches diameter by 6 feet stroke, made by Messrs. Bradley and Craven, of Wakefield, fitted with Daglish's automatic cut-off. The weight of coal lifted each wind is about 3 tons 5 cwts., the dead weight of loaded cage and rope being 10 tons 15 cwts., and the rope is 4+ inches circumference made of ploughed steel. The output per single shift is over 1,000 tons. The screening and banking plants are undergoing alteration, and when finished will be similar to those described at the Silkstone shaft. The Diamond plant also contains 9 Lancashire boilers working at 70 lbs. pressure, made by Messrs. Spurr and Inman, of Wakefield, and Messrs.Davy Brothers, of Sheffield. The ventilating Schiele fan is 15 feet diameter, and is capable of producing about 200,000 cubic feet of air per minute with a 6-inch water gauge; it is driven by a high-pressure engine 32 inches by 3 feet duplicated.
The West Riding pit is 80 yards deep, from which the Haigh Moor seam, 135 yards deep and 4 feet thick, is draws, the coal face being distant about 3 miles underground. There are 8 Lancashire boilers, made by Messrs. Daniel Adamson, Thomas Beeley, and Spurr and Inman. Besides the above, the following plant may be seen: A washer capable of washing and separating 600 to 700 tons of coal per day into four different sizes, made by Herr F. Baum, Herne, Westphalia; bee-hive coke ovens; two pairs of air-compressors by Messrs. Walker Brothers, of Wigan, for supplying Diamond coal- cutting machines; and an air-compressor by Messrs. Ingersoll and Sergeant, London.
The electric lighting plant was made by Messrs. Greenwood and Batley, Leeds, supplying eleven hundred lamps of sixteen-candle power to underground and surface works, and consists of 3 dynamos driven by two Marshall engines. A Ledward condenser receive. the exhaust steam from 10 cylinders. There are also smiths' and fitting shops, wagon shop and saw shed. Four locomotives, made. by Hunslet Engine Co., Leeds, and a steam navvy made by Messrs. Whittaker Brothers, Horsforth, is used for filling up stacked coal.
At the Fox Lane pit (one mile distant), a Capell fan, made by Messrs. Thwaites Brothers of Bradford, driven by a 26-inch by 4-foot high- pressure engine by Messrs. Bradley and Craven, Wakefield, is capable of producing 250,000 cubic feet of air per minute with a 6-inch water— gauge. There are also a pair of winding engines, 6 Lancashire boilers made by Messrs. Spurr and Inman, of Wakefield, a polyphase electric power plant of 550 volts, made by the General Electric Co., Manchester, to supply coal-cutting machines, and two Diamond, electric coal-cutting machines under-cutting 7 feet.
Two Diamond coal-cutting machines, one driven by compressed- air and one by electric continuous current, wills a 51 feet undercut, were on view at the surface. (Sec Fig. 5, page G28, and Proceedings 1902, page 545.)
George Cradock and Co
MESSRS. GEORGE CRADOCK AND CO., STEEL-ROPE WORKS, WAKEFIELD.
George Cradock and Co
The founder of this firm bad works at Darlington and Stocktov for the manufacture of hemp rope, which were carried on for a. considerable time. In 1853 be removed his business to Wakefield, and in 1834 commenced the manufacture of wire ropes, but the principal business then was hemp rope making. Until about 1881 both hemp and wire ropes were manufactured; the firm however gave up the manufacture of hemp ropes, excepting those for use in the centre of its own wire ropes. The wire-drawing mills were started in June 1885, and in January 1900 the firm commenced the manufacture of its own steel.
The Steel Works are in a building 270 feet long by 120 feet wide. At one end are two Siemens' furnaces, each capable of taking a charge of eight tons, and worked with producer gas. At the rear of the furnaces is the casting-pit, which is served by a 3-ton travelling jib-crane. The steel, as it conies from the furnace, is run into ingot moulds ready for use. Sometimes the rods are made direct from the ingots, at other times - depending on the nature of the ultimate Product required—the ingots are first of all hammered under a steam-hammer. Generally, the weight of the ingots produced is 9.5 cwts., and the weight of the billets passed through the mill is from 100 lbs. to 110 lbs. when making rods of No. 5 gauge.
The rolling plant consists of a large cross-coupled horizontal engine, made by Messrs. Stevenson and Co., of Preston, having two cylinders of 36 inches diameter, and with 36 inches stroke. It runs at 90 revolutions per minute, and is supplied with steam at 70 lbs. per square inch. The crank-shaft carries a large fly-wheel grooved for twenty-one ropes, which drive by means of gearing a set of three cogging-rolls and two sets of ordinary rolls. Steam is supplied by two Babcock and Wilcox and two Lancashire boilers. Of the two Babcock boilers one receives the waste heat of a second re-heating furnace, and the other is fed by hand. Arranged at the rear of the boilers is a Green's economiser. All the engines are condensing.
The whole process of rolling the billets into finished rods is performed in less than two minutes, which entails three passages through the cogging mill, and no less than sixteen passes through rolls gradually decreasing in aperture, and then coiling up. The rods are allowed to cool sufficiently, and are then taken into the hemp rope walk where the various bundles are weighed and marked, and irregular ends cut off. The annealing process follows, which occupies about twenty-four hours. The bundles of rod are first dipped in a stone bath containing a diluted solution of sulphuric or hydrochloric acid. There they remain about ten minutes, when they are drained, and then washed for a time with water until a "coat" is formed on the metal. They are then dipped again in a solution of lime, so that the acid used in cleaning may be neutralised. After they have been well dried, the bundles of rods are ready for drawing.
There are two drawing mills each arranged in two long cast-iron tables placed end to end. The driving mechanism consists of a horizontal shaft running underneath the table and carrying on it a bevel wheel for each block. Each block consists of a die and a revolving drum or block placed on a vertical shaft, the lower end of which carries a bevel wheel which gears with one of the bevel wheels on the horizontal shaft already mentioned. There are two methods of pulling sufficient wire through the die for it to be connected to the revolving drum. The number of times the wire is drawn through the dies, and the number of times it is annealed during the process of drawing, depend upon the ultimate size of wire required, and the nature of the material employed.
After the wire has been brought down to the size required, it has several processes to go through before being made into rope. First it is tempered, and afterwards finally cleaned and drawn, with very slight reduction in diameter, several times. Then it may require to be galvanised. In that case the wires are placed on vertical bobbins, and are then drawn through a bath containing a cleansing composition and other materials, whose object is to make the zinc take to the wire. They are next drawn through a bath of molten zinc, which is contained iu an iron pot over a coke furnace with a fire-brick setting. As they emerge from the bath the wires are drawn through a material, which removes the surplus zinc, and are wound on reels. Twelve wires can be galvanised at once.
The next process is that of testing. Of every coil of wire drawn two pieces are tested. As an example of the results obtained, a wire for tramway rope should test as an average about 85 tons per square inch tensile strain. The wire is then ready for manufacturing into rope. There are twenty-six stranding machines of all sizes for making rope from one-sixteenth inch diameter to any size required. This rarely runs above one inch in a single strand, and hempen ropes form the core. The hemp ropes used for the cores of the wire ropes are all made on the premises, and the firm also makes the machinery for the wire-rope department.
For the material used in wire-roping making, only two classes of pig-iron are used, namely, Swedish and Cumberland. For plough steel wire Swedish pig is alone used; for all other purposes a mixture of Swedish and Cumberland is:employed. Every delivery of iron is analysed before it is used, as is also each ingot as it comes from the furnace.
The company, in addition to making its own machines, carries out all its own structural work, and also does its own repairs. The lighting of the whole premises is by electricity produced on the site. The number of men employed is about 280.
E. Green and Son
MESSRS. E. GREEN AND SON, ECONOMISER WORKS, WAKEFIELD.
E. Green and Son
These Works were founded in 1821, rebuilt in 1864, and extended 1897 to 1900. They are occupied solely in the manufacture and building of Messrs. Green's specialities; namely economisers, air heaters, boiler feed-pumps, and small economiser engines, and are the largest of their kind in the world, covering nearly 20 acres and employing about 1,000 men.
The demand for their economisers from every quarter of the globe has now assumed such proportions that an entire reorganization of the business has been necessary; the plant has been re-constructed throughout, new special tools and labour-saving devices introduced, and additional facilities for transit arranged.
Seamless Steel Boat Co
SEAMLESS STEEL BOAT CO., WAKEFIELD.
Seamless Steel Boat Co
The Works of this company are situated in Calder Vale Road, Wakefield, being originally known as the old forge, when in the occupation of the late Mr. Samuel Whitham. The present company took them over in 1890, and laid down a plant for pressing steel boats in two halves.
The press shop in the centre of the yard, measuring 120 feet by 80 feet, contains a hydraulic press, 34 feet long by 12 feet wide, with six 16-inch rams, furnace, 33 feet by 10 feet, and electric welding plant. The boat fitting shop adjoining measures 120 feet by 80 feet, and, beyond a stand on which the two sides of the boat are punched and riveted by hydraulic pressure to a T-bulb bar, is used exclusively for fitting the woodwork on to the boats. Passing through this the galvanising department is seen, which contains an acid bath 32 feet by 6 feet 6 inches for pickling the plates, and a galvanising bath 44 feet by 7 feet 6 inches for electric deposition of zinc. The company in addition to galvanising all the boats, also undertakes the galvanising of water-tubes and such other work.
The engine-house contains a double-acting twin-cylinder hydraulic pump, having steam cylinders 21 inches diameter, rams 6 inches and 4 inches diameter with a stroke of 2 feet, feeding an accumulator having a ram 241 inches diameter, wills a lift of 19 feet. The working pressure is 850 lbs. per square inch.
Other departments, such as the saw mill, blacksmiths' shop, tinsmiths' shop, occupy the west side of the yard.
Electrical driving has recently been installed, taking its power from the corporation mains, and one 50-H.P. and two 15-H.P. motors arc running. Pumps for hydraulic press are, however, worked by steam. Since the company was started, nearly 3,000 boats have been sent out, varying in length from 15 feet to 36 feet 6 inches, the boats being chiefly used as ships' lifeboats and cutters, but many boats have also been fitted to meet special needs for Africa and other parts.
The manufacture of launches has lately been added, and a 30-foot launch was recently supplied to H.II. The Khedive, for use of the war department of the Egyptian Government on the Nile; and among the other orders at present on hand, is one for a 34-foot launch for the Crown Agents for use on the Niger.
Fountains Abbey
FOUNTAINS ABBEY.
The Abbey of Fountains originated in a small body of Benedictine Monks from St. Mary's Abbey, York, who desired to obey the rule of St. Benedict more strictly than it was there practised. They were compelled to leave their own abbey, and in 1132 received from Archbishop Thurstan the site of the present Abbey of Fountains. The buildings were laid out on the normal Cistercian plan, perhaps under the direction of a monk of Clairvaux, who came over to teach the brethren the Cistercian rule. Fountains Abbey therefore belongs to the great group of Cistercian abbeys founded in rapid succession in England in the twelfth century. The reason for the great popularity and success of this order is due to the fact that each daughter house, while submitting to the rule and the general directions of the mother house at Citeaux, was allowed to increase its position and work for its own benefit, and it is interesting that the organization of this system was duo to an Englishman, by name Stephen Harding, who was the real founder of the order. It is known from the Customs that ornament was not allowed, that expensive materials were avoided, and that the services, dress and living were kept to a severe simplicity.
There were two classes of inmates in the Cistercian Abbeys, one consisted of the monks and the other of the conversi or lay brethren, and the common property of the house was managed by an abbot with a small number of officers. The duty of the monk was to devote himself to religious exercises without the interruption of worldly affairs. The conversi lived partly in the abbey and partly in outlying farms; they attended certain services and did the work necessary to carry on the business of the abbey. The monk's slays and nights were divided into twelve hours, which varied in length according to the time of the year. They began their services at about two o'clock in the morning, and they completed their offices at various hours during the remainder of the day. Each monk had a daily allowance of one pound of bread and a measure of drink, and at dinner in early times there were two cooked dishes, but no flesh meat or fish was to be eaten. While they were at their meals a chapter was read to them from a pulpit.
The buildings of a Cistercian Abbey can fortunately be identified, and the uses proper to each be confidently assigned, owing to the order in which they were traversed by the Sunday procession. The church of course is the important building to which all the others are subordinated, and on the south side of this is a great open square, in which the monks would take their exercises or sit and read, and this square is called the cloister. Around the cloister are arranged various buildings.
The dates at which different portions were built or altered are as follows In 1146 or 1147 the church and buildings were burnt by the friends of William, Archbishop of York, out of revenge for the part taken by Abbot Murdac in the Archbishop's deposition. The repairs that followed were spread over many years, and it was not until about 1180 that the buildings round the cloister were again completed. The Chapter House and the monks' dormitory ever the northern half of the western range were first rebuilt, probably in place of wooden structures. The two guest houses in the outer court next followed, and finally the fritter, warming house and kitchen, forming the southern range, and the remainder of the cellarium.
During the opening years of the thirteenth century, Abbot John of York (1203-1211) began to enlarge the church eastwards, but, at his death, only the foundations had been laid and some of the pillars built, and the work was carried on by his successor, another Abbot John (1211-1219).
The next Abbot, John of Kent (12201247), completed the work, including the eastern transept, called the " Nine Altars." He also reconstructed the cloister, built the monk's infirmary, and the poor folk's guest house in the outer court. During the fourteenth century the infirmary kitchen and chapel were rebuilt, and the aisles of the great infirmary hall were cut up into chambers. Quite at the end of the fifteenth century large traceried windows were inserted in the east and west fronts of the church, and in the end gables of the "Nine Altars" by Abbot John Darnton (1479-1494). Abbot Marmaduko Huby (1491-1526) built the great tower at the end of the north transept in place of the original one over the crossing that had to be taken down on account of its instability. He also rebuilt and enlarged the abbot's lodging, which stood midway between the infirmary and the dormitory.
The Abbey was suppressed in 1539, but the buildings, after being unroofed and dismantled, were otherwise left intact. Some parts, such as the infirmary, the abbot's lodging, the gatehouse, and other buildings in the outer court, have since been more or less destroyed. Fountains Abbey, nevertheless, remains the most imposing and instructive ruin of its kind in this or any other country, and between 1848 and 1856 the entire Abbey was systematically explored and brought to its present orderly condition by the late Earl de Grey and Ripon.
A little to the west of the Abbey gatehouse stands the picturesque house known as Fountains Hall, with a quaint garden in front. The house was built, at the expense of some of the Abbey buildings, by Sir Stephen Proctor, who bought the site of the Abbey in 1597 from the representatives of Sir Richard Gresham, the grantee.
Rowntree's
MESSRS. ROWNTREE AND CO., COCOA AND CHOCOLATE WORKS, YORK.
Rowntree's
One of the chief developments of the modern and commercial aspect of the ancient City of York is the large Cocoa and Chocolate Works of Messrs. Rowntree and Co. — the home of Rowntree's "Elect Cocoa."
The building of this Firm's large modern Haxby Road Factory was begun in 1890, and every year since has seen a steady demand for increased accommodation. The business was founded in 1838 — Queen Victoria's Coronation Year — and the development which it has experienced is evidenced in the extensive Haxby Road building which covers about seven acres. This factory is served by the firm's private railway, nearly a mile and a quarter in length, which is connected with the North Eastern Railway Co.'s York and Scarborough line.
In 1900 the storeroom was doubled in size, the new box mills were built and new dining rooms to scat 1,500 of the employees have recently been opened. This centre of industry provides employment for about 2,500 workpeople, for whose use extensive gardens, allotments, and recreation grounds are provided, the total extent of the estate being about 56 acres. In the design and construction of the work rooms great care has been exercised in providing adequate ventilation, and in considering the comfort of the employees generally. The largest installation is for ventilating the offices and store-rooms. Three fans, two of 8 feet diameter and one of 6 feet, running about 120 revolutions a minute, draw the air through water screens to clean and humidify it. They then force it along 425 feet of excavated corridors and over nearly 4 miles of steam-pipe batteries, which can be turned on in sections according to the temperature required.
The aggregate amount of fresh air supplied hourly by means of these three fans is over three million cubic feet.
First amongst the many of Messrs. Rowntree's manufactures is their "Elect Cocoa" which has in recent years taken such a high place in the opinion of the public. The popularity of the chocolates manufactured by this firm is everywhere recognised, and the constantly increasing demand which is being made for them has necessitated a recent addition to the chocolate manufacturing department, which will enable employment to be given to about 850 girls, making and packing chocolate creams. Interesting work rooms are where the pastilles and clear gums are made and packed. Messrs. Rowntree are the largest manufacturers in the kingdom of these gum sweetmeats.
A huge cellar, containing over 20,000 giant pots of preserved fruit used for flavouring these sweetmeats, is evidence of the enormous extent of this branch of their business.
No doubt the most interesting feature to the Members will be that relative to the engineering department. In the centre of the Factory is the Engine and Boiler House, &c. With the exception of is small amount of shafting which is driven by belts off a horizontal compound condensing engine, practically the whole of the machinery is driven electrically, and owing to the large ground space covered by the buildings, this method of driving is particularly suitable. The current is continuous and the voltage is 220.
The plant consists of two 90-kilowatt dynamos driven off the above horizontal compound engine and two 150 kilowatt direct-driven sets, one a Willans-Parker, the other an Allen-Parker; the engines in each case are compound and condensing, and owing to the rapid extension of the factory all these machines are more than fully loaded at times. Some of the current is used for lighting, about 400-500 amperes being required for this purpose out of a current of rather more than 2,000 amperes. To avoid excessive fluctuations in the voltage, due to the varying motor load, all the machines are slightly over-compounded, the inner ends of the compound windings being connected in parallel when the machines are running. The cables and wire throughout are concentric; the outer being uninsulated, but all the mains from the dynamo to the switchboard are insulated so as to enable the current of each dynamo to be measured when running in parallel.
At the back of the dynamo panels on the switchboard there are two alternative sets of bus-bars, one bar in each set being connected to the outer of the compound winding, the other bar in each set being connected to the inner of the compound winding; double change-over switches are provided on the dynamo panels so that the dynamos can be grouped in any two sets. At the back of the circuit panels there are two bus-bars for the insulated conductors of the feeders, so that the circuits can also be grouped in any two sets, change-over switches being provided on the circuit panels for that purpose. Any dynamo or dynamos can therefore supply any circuit or group of circuits, and by grouping together the steady motor load with the lighting circuits the fluctuation of the voltage is greatly diminished.
The switchboard is arranged for ease of extension; each dynamo has a panel of its own, and two circuits go to one circuit panel.
The earth bus-bar is fixed on the wall at the back of the switchboard, all the earth conductors being permanently connected to it. The uninsulated outer conductor of all the cables consists of galvanised steel wire, and to avoid excessive size there is a further layer of stranded copper wire underneath; the inner conductor consists in the case of the cables, of lead-covered paper insulated cable. All wire of 7/24 size and below consists of an inner copper conductor insulated with vulcanised rubber and taped; the outer conductor consists of a layer of copper wire with a lead sheathing overall. The wire for the electric light throughout the buildings is on Messrs. Mayor and Coulsons C. C. system, and the various fittings are of their make. The whole of the distributing switch and fuseboards throughout the Factory (with the exception of one in the office block) whether for power or lighting, have cast-iron cases and covers so as to avoid risk of fire; and it has been found that even if a short circuit takes place inside these boxes, the damage done is entirely confined to the interior of the box.
The motors are of all sizes from 35 H.P. down to 1 H.P. and arc mostly of Messrs. Thomas Parker's make. The number of units generated in the course of the year amounts to about 1,100,000, and the cost per unit, including all interest, depreciation and maintenance, is at the present time about 0.66d., the lowness of the figure being largely due to the fact that there is a considerable night load.
In addition to the electrical machinery, the engine house also contains the pumps for supplying water to the Factory for fire and other purposes, and the refrigerators. The latter consist of a small ammonia absorption machine, which is now out of use, a CO2 machine of 12 tons ice-making capacity by Messrs. Hall of Dartford, and an ammonia machine by Linde of 24 tons capacity. These machines are used entirely for cooling brine, which is circulated through different rooms for chilling and ventilating purposes. There is also a central condensing plant, capable of dealing with 14,000 pounds of steam per hour, with two cooling towers for the condensing water, made by the Klein Engineering Co., Manchester.
The Boiler House contains a range of five Lancashire boilers, 30 feet by 8 feet, working at 100 lbs. pressure, and fitted with Green's economisers, and mechanical stokers of the "compressed air" type, made by Messrs. Edward Bennis and Co., of Bolton. These stokers are given an efficiency in continuous work of 8.1 lbs. of water per lb. of coal from and at 212° F. with the cheapest form of coal to be obtained in the locality, and will easily evaporate 1,000 gallons of water per boiler per hour. Automatic coal-elevators to serve the stokers are now being fitted.
The Boiler House at the time of the Meeting was undergoing alterations, with a view to increasing the number of boilers, two boilers, 8 feet 6 inches diameter for 150 lbs. pressure being on order. About three-fourths of the steam generated by the boilers is distributed over the Factory for boiling, drying and similar requirements, and nearly the whole of the condensed water is returned to the Boiler House.
Adjoining the Factory are the Mechanics' and Joiners' Shops, &c. In the former a part of the machinery used in the Factory is made, and also repairs are effected.
Not the least interesting feature of the firm's work is the provision that is made for the physical and social betterment of their employees. Several experienced persons are employed to give their special attention to this, both amongst the men and girls, and the opportunity of joining the many recreative and instructive clubs in connection with the works is largely taken advantage of by the employees.
In addition to their factory at Fork, Messrs. Rowntree have estates in the West Indies, giving employment to about 300 hands, where much of the cocoa used in their several manufactures is cultivated.
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