1901 Institution of Mechanical Engineers: Visits to Works

1901. Visits to Works.

Note: This is a sub-section of 1901 Institution of Mechanical Engineers

Visits to Works (Excursions) to the Barrow area

Details - Friday

On FRIDAY, 2nd August, two alternative Excursions were made.

One was by invitation of the Directors of the Furness Railway Co. in the new special steamer "Lady Evelyn" to Fleetwood, where the grain elevator and the twin-screw suction-pump hopper dredger of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Co. were visited, by permission of Mr. J. A. F. Aspinall, General Manager, and Mr. W. B. Worthington, Chief Engineer. The Members and Ladies then proceeded by electric trams to Blackpool, by invitation of the Blackpool and Fleetwood Tramroad Co., the Power Station at Bispham being visited on the way. After luncheon at the Hotel Metropole in Blackpool, the return journey was made to Barrow.

An alternative Excursion was made by special train and steamer to Lake Windermere, by invitation of the Furness Railway Co. From Ambleside the visit was continued by special coaches, via Clappersgate and Red Bank, to Grasmere, where luncheon seas served. The return journey was made to Ambleside by Rydal Water, and thence by special steamer and train to Barrow.

Barrow Electricity Works

CORPORATION ELECTRICITY WORKS, BARROW-IN-FURNESS
Barrow Electricity Works

These works are situated at the north-east end of Buccleuch Street, and are adjacent to the main line of the Furness Railway, being about five minutes' walk from the Central Station.

The buildings comprise an engine room 82 feet in length and 27 feet in width, a boiler house consisting of 2 bays, each 37 feet 6 inches in length and 32 feet 9 inches in width. There are also battery room, test room, stores, &c., on the ground floor, and engineers' offices, &c., on the first floor.

In the engine room the following plant has been installed:-

Three 75-kilowatt high-tension continuous current dynamos, generating at 1,100 volts, coupled direct to 125 H.P. "Universal" engines. Two 150-kilowatt low-tension continuous current dynamos, generating at 250 or 500 volts each, coupled direct to a three-crank 250 H.P. Winans engine. A variable ratio transformer is also placed in the engine room for charging the accumulatorsIn one bay of the boiler house 3 Babcock and Wilcox boilers, each having a heating surface of 1,218 square feet, are placed, whilst the second bay contains one Babcock and Wilcox boiler, having a heating surface of 2,436 square feet, and also condensing plant capable of dealing with 9,000 lbs. of steam per hour. This plant consists of a Wheeler surface condenser and air and circulating pumps. Two Edward's air pumps and a circulating pump are connected to a common shaft, and are driven by a motor having a double wound armature, so that the plant can be run efficiently at different speeds according to the work which it is required to do.

The circulating water is drawn from a large tank, and after passing through the condenser is delivered over a Klein cooling tower, from which it falls into the tank above which the tower is erected. The boilers are fed by two Hayward Tyler 3-throw feed-pumps, and before entering the boilers the feed water passes through a Green's economiser.

The switchboard is placed on a gallery in the engine room, and is so arranged that the transformers, which are placed in the substations, are entirely controlled from the generating station, no attendants being required at the sub-stations. Both the high and low tension mains are of the British Insulated Wire Company's paper insulated concentric type. The distributing mains have been laid on the solid system in V-shaped wooden troughing, and the feeders are drawn into Doulton conduits. The number of 8-candle power lamps or their equivalent connected to the mains now exceeds 16,000; electricity is also being extensively used for motive power, about 30 motors aggregating 160 H.P. being connected to the mains.

Mr. H. B. Burnett is the Borough Electrical Engineer.

Barrow Waterworks

BARROW CORPORATION WATERWORKS
Barrow Waterworks

The District supplied by the Corporation includes the County Borough of Barrow-in-Furness and the District of the Urban Council of Dalton-in-Furness. In addition to this the Corporation have to supply from their catchment area 400,000 gallons per day as compensation water to the Ulverston Urban District Council, which Council has also a prior claim to an additional 200,000 gallons per day.

The population of that portion of the Water District comprised within the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness has had a very rapid growth, as the following figures will indicate. In 1862 the population was about 3,000; in 1871, 18,911; in 1881, 47,259; and in 1891, 51,712; while at the last census it was 57,589. From present appearances the town is bound to increase very considerably in consequence of the development of the great Naval Construction Works of Messrs. Vickers, Sons, and Maxim, which Company is now building about 1,000 houses and is rapidly covering acres of land with workshops, the firm employing over 10,000 hands, which number will probably be increased as soon as sufficient house accommodation can be obtained. The population comprised within the district of the Dalton-in-Furness Urban. Council is about 13,000 and the population of Ulverston is about 10,000, thus bringing up the total population supplied from the works of the Corporation to about 81,000.

The supply is now obtained from three watersheds situated about 7 or 8 miles to the north-cast of the town, Plato 157. In these watersheds are situated the following impounding reservoirs having a total capacity of 560,400,000 gallons: namely one, called the Harlock Reservoir, which has a capacity of 226,000,000; another, called the Peaks Beck Reservoir, which has a capacity of 190,300,000; and a third, called the Pennington Beck Reservoir, which has a capacity of 138,700,000 gallons. There are also two small impounding reservoirs near the above at Ireleth, which have a capacity of 5,400,000 gallons. These reservoirs receive the water off an area of about 2,000 acres, situated on the Upper Silurian formation. The level of this catchment area varies from about 500 feet to 1,000 feet above Ordnance datum. Most of the gathering ground is composed of waste moorland, and, speaking in general terms it may be said, that, considering the character of the gathering ground, peat is not abundant. The vegetation consists largely of rough pasture grass, while heather may be said to be abundant on the higher slopes of the hills. The water draining from the gathering ground has a fairly rapid fall, so that hardly any opportunity exists for the rain to stagnate in the peaty soil and so become discoloured.

In addition to the impounding reservoirs above mentioned the Corporation have three service reservoirs, namely, one at Dalton having a capacity of 230,000 gallons, a high-service reservoir at Barrow having a capacity of 3,100,000 gallons, and a low-service reservoir, called the Long Reins Reservoir, having a capacity of 8,500,000 gallons; the total capacity of these service reservoirs is 11,830,000 gallons, thus making the total storage capacity of all the Corporation reservoirs equal to 572,230,000 gallons. The average rainfall on the above watersheds is 51.7 inches per annum, while the average of the three driest consecutive years is about 41 inches. From this it is estimated that the available supply during those years is, after making the usual deductions, about 3,500,000 gallons per day, of which 400,000 gallons are supplied to Ulverston.

The quantity of water supplied for domestic consumption is 21.4 gallons per head, while that supplied for trade consumption is 22.1 gallons per head, the total being 431 gallons per day per head of the population. The whole of the water is filtered before it is delivered for consumption. The following is the late Dr. Tidy's analysis of the water:—

The results are stated in grains per Imperial Gallon of 70,000 grains, the Organic Carbon and Nitrogen being stated in parts per 100,000.

[See table on image of page]

Barrow Sewage Works

BARROW SEWERAGE WORKS
Barrow Sewage Works

The Borough of Barrow-in-Furness has an area of about 21,000 acres and a population of 57,589, residing in 9,760 houses, the average per house being 5.9 as compared with an average of 4.9 only in twenty-five other county boroughs, many of which are situated in the County of Lancaster.

The average rainfall at Barrow is about 38 inches, and of this 55 per cent. falls between 9 p.m. and 9 a.m, and the remaining 45 per cent. between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m.

The sewerage of the town is chiefly carried out on what is known as the duplicate system, the area of the town on this system being about 640 acres, which area may be said to be bounded by the Docks on the south, the Steel Works on the west, Devonshire Road, Ainslie Street, Settle Street, and Windsor Street on the north, and a contour or watershed lino which includes a small area of the loopline of the Furness Railway between Abbey Road and Greengate, and then passes eastward so as to include Davy Street, Leicester Street, and St. Luke's Street. All the remaining drainage area of the town outside and north-east of the above is drained by what is known as the high-level intercepting sewer, on the single system, or what is now often called the combined system of sewerage, that is, the sewage and rainfall are designed to be carried off by the same system of sewers. This area is situated at such a level as to be capable of being drained by gravitation in such manner that its outfall sewer may be said to be practically free from tidal influence.

Of the 640 acres above-mentioned as being carried out on the duplicate system, 400 acres have the rainfall drained by a sewer discharging near to the Devonshire Dock Basin. This outfall sewer is capable of discharging with a free outlet a flow off the 400 acres of town area which drains to it a quantity equivalent to a depth of one-tenth of an inch of rain per hour, or 2.40 inches in twenty-four hours. It is estimated that, in order to produce such a flow off the ground, 4 inches of rain must fall in the twenty-four hours, because a considerable percentage would be lost by absorption, evaporation, and percolation. The amount of percentage of course depends upon the time of year, the rate of fall, and the nature of the surface upon which the rain falls.

The rainfall from the remaining 240 acres is drained by a sewer known as the Cavendish Dock Outfall Sewer which discharges at a point about 380 yards south of the powder magazine. This outfall sever is capable of carrying off a flow from the ground of one-eighth of an inch of rainfall per hour, equivalent to nearly 5 inches of rainfall in twenty-four hours after allowing for absorption and evaporation.

The sewage discharged from the dwellings on the 640 acres is, with a certain percentage of rainfall, conveyed by a sewer to the pump wells of the Sewage Pumping Station at Salthouse, and is there raised by pumping power into the above-mentioned high-level intercepting sewer. The first mentioned sewer is capable of discharging from 9,000 to 10,000 gallons per minute.

Of the 240 acres from which the surface water is drained by the Cavendish Dock Outfall Sewer, there are no less than 25 acres below the level of average spring tides, and some of this area is as much as 8 feet below the highest recorded tide, while the invert of the surface water sewer at Frederick Street situated in the above area is no less than about 20 feet below such highest recorded tide.

All the sewers are ventilated by manholes placed about 100 yards apart, and by ventilation pipes carried up the backs of all houses, which also ventilate the house drains. The total length of sewers in the borough is about 80 miles.

At the sewage pumping station there is a pair of Wolff compound engines, having high-pressure cylinders 12 inches, and low-pressure cylinders 20 inches in diameter. The length of stroke is 39 inches, the pumps are four in number, single-acting, diameter of rams 30 inches, and speed of pumps 8 strokes or 80 feet per minute, delivery per stroke of each pump 150 gallons. The engines and pumps when working together at an average speed raise about 3,000,000 gallons of sewage an average height of 25 feet in ten hours. There is also an engine and centrifugal pump by Messrs. Drysdale and Co., of Glasgow, capable of raising about 4,000 gallons per minute. The boilers, two in number, are of the Lancashire type, about 28 feet in length and 7 feet in diameter.

The attention paid to the sanitary condition of the town by the Corporation is shown by the decrease in the death rate during the twenty-one years given over:—

Year. Death. Rate.
1879 22.84
1880 19.20
1881 18.50
1882 18.80
1883 17.10
1884 14.30
1885 15.90
1886 15.30
1887 14.50
1880 14.10
1889 16.60
1890 16.40
1891 17.40 (Influenza epidemic.)
1892 13.40
1893 16.70
1894 13.70
1895 13.40
1896 13.40
1897 14.50
1890 14.30
1899 14.10

Vickers, Sons and Maxim

VICKERS, SONS AND MAXIM, NAVAL CONSTRUCTION WORKS. BARROW-IN-FURNESS.
Vickers, Sons and Maxim

The Shipbuilding Yard and Engineering Works, which were incorporated on 18th February 1871, were purchased by Messrs. Vickers, Sons and Maxim in 1897, and comprise over 80 acres in area, Plate 98. The Works are laid out on one of a group of islands lying off the peninsula of Furness, the channel which formerly separated the island from the mainland forming now a chain of docks, and one of these, contiguous to the engine works, makes an admirable fitting-out basin. The Walney Channel on the seaward side forms a capital launching area.

Shipbuilding Department.— Entering this department by the main gateway, a turn is taken to the left, passing the general offices and stores, and the Boat-Building Shed is entered, where several small boats may be seen in the course of construction for the war vessels in the dock. Then are entered the Spar and Block Makers' Shop and moulding loft, which are equipped with the various appliances necessary for that work. Going further through, the Joiners' Shop is seen, where all the latest wood-working machine-tools are in use. In this shop the refuse from the machines and benches is swept into pneumatic piping and delivered to boiler fires. Going round the end of the joiners' shop to the shipyard department the electric power station is next visited, where 5 high-pressure engines and dynamos of 250 H.P. each generate the power for all the machine tools, cranes, lights, &c., in the yard. On leaving the power house, the shed at the angle smiths' shop is entered, and the scarphing machine, the large horizontal rolls, and several punches for heavy and light work, are passed on the way.

Then the saw mill is visited (where several frame and circular saws may be seen at work), at the end of which is the platform on which the logs are landed from the timber pond in channel. The saw mill is fitted with refuse collectors similar to those in the joiners' shop. Going from the saw-mill platform the Members pass through the yacht shed round the stern of H.M. first-class Armoured Cruiser "King Alfred" in course of construction. The dimensions of this vessel are:—length 500 feet, breadth 71 feet, draught of water 26 feet, displacement 14,100 tons, indicated horse-power 30,000, and speed 23 knots.

Proceeding under the gantry of one of the cantilever cranes used in the building of the vessels on the slipways, the platers' shed is entered, where a large keel-plate bending-machine is placed, thence on to the plate and angle furnaces out to the plate yard where the cantilever yard crane may be seen at work. Going through the shipyard smithy, the various furnaces and hammers are passed, on to time outside yard, where the masts and spars may be seen in course of construction.

From the bank in the shipyard extension can be seen the large extent of ground recently added to the yard and the progress that has been made towards increasing the number of building berths. The cantilever crane on this portion of the ground has a clear run of 310 yar ls, and reaches from boundary fence to top of slope. From this bank a good view may be obtained of Vickerstown across the channel. This new town is being built by the Company in response to the urgent necessity for more houses for workmen.

Engineering Works.— Proceeding across Ferry Road, the Members enter the Engineering Works by the north gates. The first building on the left is the Test House and Laboratory; and passing by the west end of the Iron Foundry, the buildings on the right are the shell finishing department and smithy, and those to the left comprise the shell department, with electric power house and boiler house. The power is generated by three sets of high-speed triple expansion condensing engines, and dynamos of 750 H.P. each. The air and circulating pumps are placed in the Power House, the condenser, which is of the jet type, being outside the building adjoining the cooling tower. The boilers are of the Lancashire type, working at 180 lbs. per square inch, and are fitted with mechanical stokers, coal conveyers, and ash conveyers. Economisers have also been adopted, and the products of combustion are taken off by a steel chimney 150 feet high. It will be noticed that provision has been made for adding two more sets of engines and dynamos when required.

On leaving the electric power house the Members pass by the south side of the "pond" to the tube staving shop, where the operation of staving or enlarging the ends of boiler tubes for screwing may be witnessed; passing through, the galvanising shop is reached, where various articles in the different stages of the process may be seen.

The Iron Foundry which comes next is arranged on the most modern plan, with a view to expeditious and economical working. The building in course of construction on the left in leaving the Iron Foundry is the Field Carriage Shop, and when completed will cover an acre of ground.

The next place of interest is the brass and bronze foundries, where all castings of special mixtures, as stood in Admiralty engine and gun mountings work, are made. The steel foundry is worked on the "Tropenas" system; and it will be noticed that this building has been made with a view to further extensions.

On going to the boiler-making and ordnance-plating shop, the pattern shop, which is fitted with the latest types of woodworking machinery, is seen on the left. In the boiler shop the chief point of interest will, no doubt, be the Belleville Boiler; here can be seen the whole detail and finished boiler, and also the method of construction.

The boiler shop, the south portion of which is devoted to ordnance plating, has an area to itself of 242 feet by 163 feet, and the arrangement of tools is such that the steel and iron are taken in at the south end and passed out at the north end a complete boiler, ready for shipping on board a vessel.

On leaving this shop will be observed on the right the engineering drawing offices. The tracing department is situated. on the upper floor of the adjoining offices.

The Members now proceed to inspect the Floating Dock, an ingenious and useful plant, capable of not merely raising a vessel on it, so that repairs may be carried out, but of depositing the vessel on a grid-iron or stage on shore, and thus becoming available for lifting another vessel, while yet the first ship is being repaired. Attention may be called to the old greyhound of the Atlantic, the s.s. "Alaska," lying close to the Floating Dock. Here is an example of the resources of the firm, who purchased the above to provide a boarding establishment for workmen, there being a great scarcity of houses in the town at that period, but with the advent of Vickerstown this will soon become a thing of the past.

Walking along the quay side of the Devonshire dock towards the 120-ton crane, will be seen the Imperial Japanese battleship "Mikasa," together with His Majesty's cruisers " Hogue " and " Euryalus," which are being completed.

The Gun Mountings department contains almost every type of the most modern machine; and an idea of the amount of work that the firm have in hand will be evident to all. Passing through the brass finishing shop, one arrives at the engine shop, where may be seen the various details of the engines under construction, and the general arrangement of the erection pits. The engines in the pits are for His Majesty's first-class cruiser "King Alfred," and are designed to develop 30,000 horse-power with the two sets.

On leaving the Engine Shop by the east door and turning to the right, the Members arrive at the main entrance to the Engine and Gun Mountings Department, from which their departure is made. Mr. Thomas E Vickers, C.B., M. I. Mech.E., is the Chairman of the Company.

The number of men employed is over 10,000.

Barrow-in-Furness Works

FURNESS RAILWAY LOCOMOTIVE, CARRIAGE, AND WAGON WORKS, BARROW-IN-FURNESS.
Barrow-in-Furness Works

These works, founded in 1846, are situated in Barrow, Plate 156, and have the same entrance as the general offices of the company, with a frontage in St. George's Square. They occupy an area of about thirty acres. The first locomotive fitting shop and running shed is now the machine shop and turnery, in which are the wheel lathes, planing, slotting, drilling and other machines. The power for driving this shop is obtained from two small horizontal steam-engines, the various cross-shafts being driven by means of bevelled gearing with the exception of one driving the cross shop, this being driven by means of cross belts.

Adjoining this is the smiths' shop, with fifteen smiths' hearths, and with a furnace for heating the tyres for locomotives, carriages, and wagons. All the smoke from the plate and forgo furnaces, stationary boilers, and smiths' fires, leads through an underground flue into a large chimney shaft, which stands outside the works in the middle of Salthouse Road.

The boiler shop contains a 15-ton overhead travelling-crane, steam punching-machine, bending rolls, &c. Adjoining this is the boiler house containing three Galloway boilers working at a pressure of 50 lbs. per square inch for supplying steam for the shop engines, steam hammers, and other appliances.

The second running shed is now the erecting shop, which, owing to its low roof, has no overhead crane, the engines having the wheels taken from them and replaced by means of dropping pits. This shop consists of three bays, each 30 feet span by 160 feet in length. It contains six roads, with engine pits accommodating four engines on each road.

Adjoining this shop are the spare gear stores. Beyond this is the Locomotive Superintendent's office, running department, and drawing offices, the latter being on the upper storey on the same floor as the pattern and joiners' shop. The present running shed is a stone building 310 feet in length by 150 feet in width, and capable of holding sixty engines.

Close to the engine shed is the new shed for coaling engines on the high level system. There are two platforms, the coal wagons being in the centre, and the incoming roads being at each side, enabling four engines to be coaled at one time.

Beyond the sheds and between the roads is the ash-bin, with pits at each side for the driver to examine his engine whilst the fire is being withdrawn.

The carriage and wagon shops are at present being enlarged. The wagon shop is 300 feet in length by 160 feet in width, and consists of a carriage body shop, carriage underframe, wagon building, smiths', wheelwrights', and machine shops, and saw-mill. The carriage paint-shop is 195 feet in length by 40 feet in width, but a new and larger shop is being constructed, capable of holding twenty carriages. There is also a wagon-repairing shop and a timber drying-shed.

The carriage sheds, four in number, are situated near the Barrow Central Station, and can hold 152 carriages.

In addition there is a shed for holding the saloon carriages. All the carriages on this railway have the bodies painted ultramarine blue with white upper panels, and the locomotives are coloured a rich indian red. Passenger brake-vans have also been specially fitted to facilitate the conveyance of bicycles.

A large number of the goods and mineral vehicles are of the bogie typo, some of which are 40 feet length, and, whilst only weighing 10 tons, are capable of carrying 30 and 40-ton loads, the ratio being as low as 20 per cent. of dead weight to carrying load. Some of the recent wagons have been constructed of pressed steel for carrying iron ore.

The company has now 130 engines, 376 carriages, and 7,598 wagons.

The first locomotive superintendent of the Furness Railway was the late Sir James Ramsden, who was a Vice-President of this Institution from 1889 to 1896. He was followed by Mr. Richard Mason, who retired in 1897, and was succeeded by the present locomotive, carriage, and wagon superintendent, Mr. W. F. Pettigrew, M.I.Mech.E.

Barrow Flax and Jute Co

BARROW FLAX AND JUTE WORKS, BARROW-IN-FURNESS.
Barrow Flax and Jute Co

These works of the Barrow and Calcutta Jute Co., whose head offices are in Liverpool, occupy about 12 acres, with frontages to Hindpool Road, Ramsden Square, Abbey Road, Duke Street, and Clive Street, and have a private siding to the Furness Railway. The offices and main entrance are in Hindpool Road. The works are principally engaged in the spinning of jute yarn and in the manufacture of jute goods, including bags for sugar, flour, grain, coffee, wool, cotton, chemicals, &c.; also fabrics for linoleum, floor-cloth, packing and general purposes.

The raw jute is imported in bales from Calcutta, and stored in the company's warehouses and in the jute warehouses at the Devonshire Dock. In the spinning sheds it passes through the various machines for softening, carding, drawing, roving, spinning, spool and cop winding, Ac. The yarns then pass into the beaming sheds, and thence to the weaving departments where they are made into fabrics of various weights, texture, and widths.

After leaving the weaving sheds, the cloth passes through the inspecting room, where it is measured, weighed, and examined. It then goes into the cloth-finishing department, where it is cropped, calendered, mangled, lapped or put into large rolls, or press-packed into bales for shipment or for home consumption. The fabrics for bag making are drawn up into the floors above by the cutting machines, which, at the some time, cut them into the various lengths required; the latter are sewed by sewing machinery into sacks and bags, with tarred or dry twine. The bags are then marked by printing machinery, after which they are folded and made up into bundles.

These works are at present on a smaller scale than formerly, as the portions destroyed by fire some time ago have only yet been partially rebuilt. In the reinstatement of the portion referred to, however, every advantage has been taken of the opportunity to introduce all the best and latest improvements in the trade.

Barrow Salt Co

THE BARROW SALT CO., WALNEY ISLAND, BARROW-IN-FURNESS.
Barrow Salt Co

The extensive and valuable salt deposits in the Island of Walney wore first discovered in 1889. Boring operations for coal, by the Diamond Boring process, were being carried on a short distance to the south of the village of Biggar, Plate 157, when, underlying about 140 feet of red and blue marl with gypsum, a bed of rock salt was unexpectedly met with at a depth of about 272 feet from the surface. The area of the deposit was afterwards absolutely proved by a series of bore-holes to extend for 6 miles in length, and for a distance of 3 miles the thickness of the rock salt was found to range from 72 feet to 446 feet. The depth from the surface to the top of the salt varies from about 90 to 120 yards. One of the borings was carried down to a depth of about 1,000 feet from the surface in red, blue, and green marls with beds of rock salt of variable thicknesses, and at irregular distances apart.

In 1896 the Barrow Salt Co. was formed, with a capital of £100,000, for the purpose of working and developing the property. Four bore-hole wells were put down about half a mile to the south of the village of Biggar, and fitted up complete with derricks, engines, boilers, pumps, etc., by Vivian's Boring and Exploration Co. The wells average about 500 feet in depth, and are lined with wrought-iron tubes 10 inches in diameter until the salt bed is reached at an average depth of about 100 yards from the surface.

The engines and pumps are of the same pattern, and all the working parts are interchangeable. The pumps are 61 inches diameter, and the length of stroke can be varied from 1 foot 8 inches to 4 feet. Each pump, working for twelve hours a day, is capable of pumping 300,000 gallons of brine per week, which is equivalent to about 300 toes of manufactured salt. A small experimental plant has been erected at the wells for the manufacture of salt by means of the exhaust steam from one of the pumping engines, but owing to the process being necessarily intermittent the results obtained are not so satisfactory as would otherwise be the case. Natural brine was met with from the first, but the supply not being sufficient for the requirements of the works, it became necessary to supplement it by passing fresh water down the wells from the water-bearing strata met with in carrying out the boring operations. The brine thus obtained is of good quality and of full saturation.

From the pumps the brine is conveyed in 9-inch cast-iron pipes a distance of three-quarters of a mile to the settling tanks and filter beds; and the filtered brine, from which all matters in suspension have been removed, then flows into a storage reservoir immediately adjoining, and having a capacity of about 700,000 gallons. The level of the storage reservoir is so arranged that the brine feeds the evaporating pans at the works by gravitation through 9-inch cast-iron pipes about 21 miles in length, and the supply of brine into the pans can therefore be regulated at the works by the men in charge of same.

The evaporating plant is situated near the extreme south end of Walney Island and within 4 miles from the main entrance to the Barrow Docks. This site was selected because of the unusual facilities which it offered for the cheap erection of the necessary buildings, etc., owing to the unlimited supply of sand and shingle for making concrete, and also for the convenient shipment of the manufactured salt.

The works comprise one range of twenty pans for the manufacture of common salt, and one of four pans for the manufacture of lumps and fine butter salt. The twenty-four pans are of the same dimensions, namely, 04 feet long by 24 feet wide by 2 feet deep, and can, when occasion arises, all be utilised for making common salt. When lump or butter salt is being made a wooden mid-feather is fixed across the pan about 40 feet from the fire-place end, and the other portion of the pan is used for making common salt. The twenty common pans are arranged back to back under one roof in two parallel rows of ten each with a chimney 120 feet in height to every four pans.

The quantity each pan is capable of turning out is from 50 to 55 tons of common salt per week. Each of the lump pans is capable of turning out about 50 tons of lumps and 10 tons of common salt per week. The four lump pans are under one roof, and the flues, after passing under the pans, are carried through the hot-house where the lumps are stored and stored ready for shipment. There is a store capable of holding about 600 tons of lumps above the hot-house. Coal deptits, capable of holding about 5,000 tons of coal, are conveniently arranged in front of the fires. There are two large stores, one on each side of the range of common pans, with a total storage capacity of about 10,000 tons.

The town water has been brought down to the works for boiler and domestic purposes, but there is an ample supply suitable for purposes in connection with the manufacture obtained from a well on the premises, and pumped by means of a windmill into a large tank from which it gravitates to all parts where it is required. The works are connected with the shipping wharf, which is only about 400 yards distant, by means of a narrow-gauge tramway. The depth of water at the wharf is 22 feet 6 inches at ordinary spring tides and 15 feet at ordinary neap tides, and steamers carrying 800 tons have been alongside the wharf for the discharge of cargo.

British Griffin Chilled Iron and Steel Co

BRITISH GRIFFIN CHILLED IRON AND STEEL CO., BARROW-IN-FURNESS
British Griffin Chilled Iron and Steel Co

These works are situated near the Central Station of the town. The firm is a modern example of British manufacture on American lines and system, whereby the many needs of electrical tramways in Great Britain and Ireland can be met as regards specially suitable wheels, hitherto manufactured in large quantities in the United States.

The Company has acquired from the New York Car Wheel Company their interests and system of manufacture in Great Britain, Ireland, India, and all the Colonies, with the exception of Canada. Under this system some millions of wheels have been made and are running in the United States of America under locomotives, passenger cars, and goods wagons, etc.

This system is also in extensive operation at the following works:—Messrs. Ganz and Company, Budapest; Societe Francaise Metallurgique, Griffin, Gorey; Fried Krupp, Magdeburg; Griffin Metallurgetschiski Zavod, Odessa; Sociót6, Belge Griffin, Merxem-fez-Anvers; and Societê Italiama Franchi Griffin, Brescia.

The works at Barrow-in-Furness are equipped with the most complete and modern plant for the manufacture of railway and tramway wheels, and include a fine bay and overhead girder electric crane track for special heavy chilled work, with an electric crane running the whole length of the foundry commanding one half side, the other half being the moulding and casting floors which are fed and actuated by compressed-air cranes suitably placed on each separate wheel floor.

The processes run in one continuous line throughout, from the melting room at one end of the foundry to the machine-finishing shop at the other end, where the wheels and axles after completion are examined, paired, and fitted, and placed into the railway trucks.

The works commenced operations in April of the present year, since which time many thousands of wheels have been manufactured for tramways in this country; orders have also been executed for the Indian States Railways, Assam-Bengal, Rhodesia, Tasmania, and the British North Borneo Railways, and an order for H.H. The Nizam's Guaranteed States Railway is now passing through the shops.

R. F. Matthews and Son

FURNESS BRICK AND TILE WORKS, BARROW-IN-FURNESS
R. F. Matthews and Son

These works were started about thirty-five years ago by Messrs. Woodhouse and Co.; later they passed into the hands of Messrs. R. F. Matthews and Son, and eventually in 1898 the present company was formed, with Mr. R. F. Matthews as chairman and managing director.

The company has two large works and premises, one situated at Hindpool covering an area of about 19 acres, and one at Ormsgill of about 6 acres. Both works are completely equipped with the most modern and efficient brick and tile-making machinery, and are in direct connection with the Furness Railway.

The output of the two works comprises all the usual kinds of plain and ornamental bricks, drainage tiles for agricultural purposes, and the best kinds of facing bricks. Both pits have the same kind of clay, which is noted for its weight-supporting qualities and general excellence. The weekly output is about 320,000 common bricks and 53,000 facing bricks.

The number of men employed is about 250.

Kellner-Partington Paper Pulp Co

PAPER PULP WORKS, BARROW-IN-FURNESS
Kellner-Partington Paper Pulp Co

These works, belonging to the Kellner-Partington Paper Pulp Co., are situated at Salthouse, about one mile from the Town Hall. They were started in 1888 under the title of the Barrow Chemical Wood Pulp Co., for the manufacture of wood pulp for paper-making purposes by the bi-sulphite process. In 1889 they were incorporated in the present company. The site for the works comprises about 15 acres.

Large stocks of pulp-wood are received during the summer months for the year's supply, chiefly from Sweden, Finland, Russia, and Newfoundland; this usually amounts to 20,000 tons. Wood is taken from the stacks on trolleys to the wood-preparing room, where it is sawn, freed from bark and a large proportion of the knots, chopped and elevated to the "digestor" houses. In these houses fourteen spherical digestors of 12 feet diameter, lined with an acid- resisting material, are used to cook the wood chips with a bi-sulphite solution. The chips are heated by steam together with the acid solution to free them from resin and incrustating matter, leaving the cellulose for paper making.

The chemical rooms are fitted with a plant for the production of bi-sulphite on Partington's continuous process system, the acid liquors being obtained from recovered sulphur and dolomite lime. In the bleaching rooms the pulp is treated with a solution of chloride of lime, and then stored in large drainers, after which it is dealt with in the ordinary manner. The paper-making plant comprises four largo paper-machines with the necessary beating-engines, machine and super calenders, cutters, &c. Two large rooms are used for sorting, finishing, and packing the various productions.

The steam-power plant consists of eight Lancashire boilers, 32 feet by 7 feet 6 inches, and one 22 feet by 7 feet 6 inches, fitted with Green's economizers of 576 pipes. There are four main engines of the compound tandem type, running at 70 revolutions per minute with 90 lbs. steam pressure, and capable of developing 450 H.P. each. The fly-wheels of 18 feet and 20 feet diameter are arranged as belt pulleys, two 48-inch, one 44-inch, and one 40-inch width belts running upon them. There are several small engines driving the various machines and a deep well pump. The water supply for the works is obtained from two wells sunk 450 feet in the red sandstone. The works are lighted throughout by electricity. The number of workpeople employed is about 500.

Walmsley and Smith

WALMSLEY AND SMITH, CORN MILL, BARROW-IN-FURNESS
Walmsley and Smith

The Flour Mills of Messrs. Walmsley and Smith are situated on the Furness Railway Company's Dock estates between Hindpool Road and the Devonshire Dock, the two large warehouses for grain storage, etc. (which are connected to the Mill by an overhead bridge), being built directly on the edge of the dock. These mills were built by the old Barrow Corn Mill Company in 1870, but the business not being a success, the mills were leased in 1881 to the firm which now occupies them.

Soon after this date Messrs. Walmsley and Smith adopted the new Hungarian roller system, being one of the first milling firms in this country to do so, and entirely dispensed with the use of the time-honoured millstone; since that date, however, great changes have been effected is the milling trade, and the plant has had to be entirely re-modelled several times.

The mill premises now contain two complete and separate flour plants with the total capacity of 3,000 sacks per week, in addition to the usual machinery for the production of provender; most of the machinery is by H. Simon of Manchester, but several of the other milling engineers are also represented. The machinery is driven by a compound horizontal condensing engine of about 400 H.P., which runs continuously from Monday to Saturday without stopping; steam is supplied by three Lancashire boilers 30 feet by 7 feet, working at a pressure of 95 lbs.; one of these boilers is a spare one.

The firm have their own electric lighting plant, which, with the exception of the arc lighting at the Ramsden Dock, was the earliest application in the town of electric lighting, and has been running since the beginning of 1885.

The warehouses are two commodious buildings connected together with an arcade which is used for the purpose of loading and unloading railway-wagons, and have a total capacity of about 8,000 to 10,000 tons. Grain is lifted off the vessels lying alongside by a series of hydraulic cranes, and is conveyed across the bridge afore-mentioned into the mill adjoining by means of a 12-inch band conveyor. A scheme is now in hand for the erection of a silo adjacent to the present warehouses, which will be fitted with a movable elevator for lifting the grain in bulk in a continuous stream out of the vessels, and storing it in bins on the silo system, which is now more generally adopted.

Millom and Askam Hematite Iron Co

ASKAM IRON WORKS, ASKAM-IN-FURNESS
Millom and Askam Hematite Iron Co

The Askam Ironworks are part of the plant owned and operated by the Millom and Askam Hematite Iron Co., of Millom, Cumberland, Plate 157. It consists of four furnaces — one modern 90-feet furnace, and three older furnaces 75 feet high. The modern furnace, No. 1, was put into blast at about the time of the meeting.

The Askam Ironworks consume material from the following sources:—

Coke is brought exclusively from the Durham district; only the purest and best quality obtainable is used.

Limestone of excellent quality is supplied from the Mills,,, and Askam Company's Goldmire Quarry, situated about 11 miles from the works, near the line of the Furness Railway. The Bluestone analyses on an average:—

Ca0 - 53 per cent.
SiO2 - 2 per cent.
P. - 0.004 per cent.

Ore is obtained from the following sources:-

(1) Alquife Mines, Province Granada, Spain. These mines, with the railways attached to them, are owned in part by the Millom and Askam Co., and constitute one of their most valuable properties. The mines contain a magnificent body of pure, uniform and almost self-fluxing hematite ore. The quantities in sight, or positively ascertained to be available, are fully 20,000,000 tons, in massive bodies located above the level of natural drainage, and the ore is therefore cheaply mined. The ore analyses on an average:-

Fe. 47 per cent.
SiO2 5 per cent.
CaO 4 per cent.
P.0 . 009 per cent.
Mn. 1.5 per cent.
S. trace.

The ore is absolutely free from Cu, As, Zn, and Ti. As it in addition contains over 10 per cent. of volatile matter, it is unquestionably one of the best and most valuable ores smelted in Great Britain.

(2) Askam Mines, owned in fee by the Millom Co., located not for from the Ironworks. They have for years yielded an excellent quality of pure and clean oro, but the remaining deposit is of small extent.

(3) Dalton and Mouzell Mines arc operated cinder lease by the 31illom and Askam Co., and are connected with the Askam Works by the Company's private railway, 2 miles long. Five pits are at present worked. The ore varies somewhat at the different pits, but is always low in P, and free from S, As, and other deleterious elements. Owing to its high percentage of Al2O3, the ore is a valuable aid in obtaining the correct composition of the furnace slag.

(A) Mouzell No. 1 pit— a large deposit of clayey hematite, which has yielded ore for more than twenty years, and which still gives indications of continued output. The known area of the deposit is over 8000 square yards.

(B) Mouzell No. 6 is operated from a double shaft sunk in 1900 to a depth of 113 yards. The ore in this pit is very pure and fairly rich. The vein now being worked measures 36 feet in thickness, and is of considerable extent. This pit alone is now in condition for raising a quantity of about 2000 tons per month for an extended period.

(C) Dalton No. 4 is a shallow pit which reaches a valuable body of ore notable for being almost self-fluxing. Ore has been broken in this mine for over fifty years, but the deposit does not give promise of any great development.

(D) Dalton 14 is a new shaft, at present 51 yards deep, passing through 90 feet of solid. ore. A cross drift at a depth of 30 yards extends in ore 85 yards. Another drift at right angles with the first has been driven in ore to a length of 30 yards. The deposit promises to be one of considerable value and extent, and should bo worked it the rate of not less than 1,500 tons per month.

(E) Dalton 15 is a new shaft which enters a body of ore at a depth of only 10 yards below the surface. The shaft has now been sunk in solid ore to a depth of 40 yards, and cross drifts at this level show the pocket in this plane to measure 43 yards from north to south and 20 yards from cast to west. The ore is clean. and good.

The percentage of iron in the Mouzell and Dillon ores varies from 40 to 50 per cent.

(4) Hodbarrow Ore Mine.—This splendid deposit produces an ore which is unquestionably the riche,:t of all the ores now mined on the north-west coast.

(5) Furness district ores are obtained by purchase from mines adjacent to the Askam Works. They are of the same general quality as the Dalton and Mouzell ores.

(6) Cleator ores are known for their purity, and also for their high percentage of Si02, which make them refractory and somewhat wasteful of coke.

The ore mixture available at the Askam Works is as a whole remarkable for purity, and lends itself to the production of low phosphorous Bessemer iron of the highest grade.

The water supply is obtained by surface drainage from the adjacent hills. It is stored in reservoirs covering 10 acres, to which it is returned over and over again after passing the condenser, tuyeres and cooling-boxes. For the latter service, the water is pumped from the reservoirs into a steel standpipe 15 feet diameter, 100 feet high, by compound pumps having a capacity of 2,500,000 gallons per twenty-four hours.

Sand, loam and clay are obtained from the immediate neighbourhood of the works.

Plant.— Materials arrive by rail over the Furness Railway or the Company's own lines. The railway wagons are hoisted 40 feet to the top of the stock house by direct-acting steam lift. They pass along the inclined elevated tracks by gravity, and are lowered at the far end of the stock house by a compressed-air lift. All the limestone and about 75 per cent. of the ore are drawn automatically by gravity from the hoppers into the charging barrows. The coke is directly drawn from the hopper into the skip of the inclined hoist. Only occasional skip loads of coke are weighed to check the charging. Stock is carried to the top of the furnace, distributed on the bell, and charged by an automatic Brown hoist and distributor having a capacity of one ton of coke or two tons of ore per trip. The hoist is capable of making fifty trips per hour, giving a capacity of more than 1,500 tons of material per twenty-four hours.

The duplex hoisting engine-14 inches by 18 inches, non-reversing—is fitted with Brown's friction clutch, automatic stops, trip counter and friction brake. The engineer, from his post near the foot of the inclined hoist, operates the bell, sounding rods, and coke hopper, as well as the hoist proper.

The new, No. 1, furnace stack is 90 feet high, 19 feet wide in bosh, 11 feet in hearth, and 14 feet diameter at stock line. It is fitted with a 10-foot bell operated by a 20-inch steam cylinder. The steel shell rests on sin cast-iron columns, 26 feet high. There are twelve 5-inch copper tuyeres resting in phosphor- bronze coolers at a height of 7 feet above the bottom of the furnace. Two slag notches with Lurmann's bronze slag tuyeres are located at opposite sides of the furnace. The tap hole is controlled by Vaughen's closing machine, or so-called " Mud Gun," operated by steam. The hearth is girded by a steel casing 11 inches thick, 4 feet high, quadruple riveted. Resting on this is the well casing formed of 3-inch cast-iron plates 8 feet high. The tuyeres are held in position by a band of steel casting collars bolted and linked together. The bosh, which slopes at an angle of 74°, is cooled by nine rows of phosphor-bronze and pipe coil cooling plates. All pipe connections around hearth and bosh are made by 11-inch piping. The hot-blast valve is operated by steam. The furnace stands 14 feet above the general track level, permitting the slag to be drawn off in Weimer slag gondolas of 200 cubic feet capacity. The metal passes across the bridge spanning the slag tracts on to the spacious casting beds, where it is run into moulds in the ordinary manner. When cold, the pig beds are lifted whole from the sand by a Morgan electric crane of 10 tons capacity, running at a speed of 450 feet per minute over the elevated tracks covering the casting beds, pigbreaker, and storage yards. The pig beds are either classified according to chemical composition, and stored whole until required for shipment, or they are directly placed on the feed table of the pigbreaker to be broken up and shipped.

The pigbreaking machine is of the Martin and James type, having four cylinders, No. 1 breaking 4 pigs at the centre, No. 2 clamping the pig bed to the anvil, No. 3 breaking the sow, and No. 4 moving the bed forward from the feed table. The machine has a proven capacity of fully 60 tons per hour. It is supplied with filtered water under a pressure of 1,000 lbs. per square inch from a duplex plunger packed Worthington pump having a capacity of 40 gallons per minute, assisted by a direct-acting accumulator 8 inches diameter by 11 feet 6 inches stroke. The blast is heated in four firebrick stoves. Two of these are Cowper stoves, measuring 21 feet. in diameter and 90 feet high. The remaining two are of the Ford and Moncur type measuring 26 feet diameter by 70 feet high. The gas is led to the stoves and boilers through a downcomer 6 feet 6 inches in diameter, entering tangentially into the cylindrical dustcatcher, which measures 15 feet in diameter by 50 feet high. It is distributed through a horizontal overhead gas-pipe 7 feet in diameter. The top of the furnace, downcomer, dustcatcher and gas mains are all liberally equipped with automatically opening doors to minimise the dangers from slips or explosions.

Boilers.— Steam at 150 lbs. pressure is generated in four batteries of Babcock and Wilcox boilers, each rated at 500 H.P. The boilers will readily evaporate 90,000 lbs. of water per hour.

The draught stack is 326 feet above the ground level, and has a smallest inside diameter of about 16 feet. It produces a draught of about 21-inch water column.

Blowing Engines.— Besides three old-fashioned upright engines kept as a reserve, the new furnace will depend on one modern steeple- built cross-compound condensing engine, constructed by Messrs. Galloways of Manchester, to the specifications of the Millom and Askam Company. The engine is of the cross compound type, having cranks coupled at 90°. The steam cylinders are 42 inches and 80 inches diameter respectively; and the two air cylinders are 84 inches diameter, all 60 inches stroke. They are suitable for working with 125 lbs. steam pressure, and are designed to blow an air blast of 20 lbs. The distribution of the steam to the high- pressure cylinder is by Corliss valves, having separate eccentrics to steam and exhaust. Automatic expansion is provided on the high- pressure cylinder by a powerful governor, having special arrangement for closely regulating the speed of the engine at any point between wide limits. The point of cut-off in the low-pressure cylinder, which has piston-valves, is adjusted by hand. The air cylinders are provided with grid-valves of the "Southwark" type, with the necessary gear for their mechanical operation. This arrangement gives the smallest possible clearance, not exceeding 1 per cent. The total weight is 330 tons. When running at fifty-five revolutions, the engines will deliver over 40,000 atmospheric cubic feet of air per minute. The condenser is built by Messrs. A. Barclay, Sous and Co. of Kilmarnock. It is of the Edwards type, having three air pumps 38 inches diameter with is stroke of 16 inches. The steam-engine is compound, 16 inches high-pressure cylinder, 30 inches low-pressure cylinder by 18 inches stroke. The speed of the engine is automatically regulated by the vacuum. The electric plant consists of one set of Browett, Lindley and Company's 50-kilowatt high-speed compound engines and dynamo, which drives the pigbed crane, electric lights, and smaller motors for various purposes.

The number of men employed in the various works and mines of the Millom and Askam Co. is about 800.

Mr. A. Sahlin is General Superintendent.

Backbarrow Iron Works

BACKBARROW IRON WORKS, NEAR HAVERTHWAITE
Backbarrow Iron Works

These now consist of one Charcoal Iron Furnace, and are built entirely of stone, and bear the date of 1710. It is the last of five at one time worked by Messrs. Harrison, Ainslie and Company (the others being at Bonawe, Argyleshire; Duddou Bridge, Cumberland; Warsash, Southampton; and Newland, near Ulverston), and is the only furnace in this country that produces charcoal pig-iron. The fuel is obtained from the woods in the neighbourhood. The blast is cold, and is blown by water-power from the River Leven upon which the works are situated.

The production is from 30 to 35 tons per week, but the furnace is at present out, and will not be put into blast until the end of August 1901.

Hodbarrow Iron Ore Mines

HODBARROW IRON ORE MINES, MILLOM
Hodbarrow Iron Ore Mines

These mines, Plate 157, were first discovered about 1845 through the occurrence of veins of ore in the carboniferous limestone which forms the rocks on the shore at Hodbarrow Point. The late William, Earl of Lonsdale, worked one of these veins by means of an alit level from the shore, but meeting with little success he gave up the venture, and granted a "take note" to the founders of the Hodbarrow Mining Co. in 1855. A shaft was sunk on the same vein, and the shaft and engine-house are still visible on the top of the hill at Hodbarrow Point. As the vein was followed it began to nip out, and boring was resorted to.

The late Mr. William Barrett observed that the veins converged towards the west, and, putting down a bore-hole at the probable point of intersection, proved 100 feet of solid hematite ore, and so discovered the first deposit in 1856. This deposit yielded excellent ore, and while the Company were working it they built workmen's houses on the adjoining mains without knowing what was beneath them.

While sinking a well to supply these houses with water, another large deposit was found by means of a bore-hole put down at the bottom of the well with the view of increasing the water supply. This led to other borings in the vicinity, when it was found that a very large deposit of ore existed under the Hodbarrow Mains.

The first discovered deposit was comparatively shallow, with not more than 60 feet of cover over it at any part, and in one place it came almost to the surface. Between this deposit and the larger one was an intermediate deposit of smaller area, which overlapped the large or main-deposit, this last named lying much deeper and having a cover about 200 feet thick. The first and second deposits are practically worked out, and it is the larger or main-deposit which is now being worked.

The Company's first lease of the minerals only extended to ordinary high-water mark on the south, and ore was proved to exist right up to this boundary. But inasmuch as the surface caved in when the ore was extracted, it was necessary to leave a barrier of ore 360 feet wide to protect the mines from the sea, which otherwise would have filled the hollows on the surface and eventually have flooded the mine as well. This barrier was ultimately found to contain over five million tons of ore, and to enable the Company to win this, a sea wall was erected in 1890 to exclude the sea from the foreshore immediately in front of the mine. Sir John Coode was the engineer, and it was the last work he finished just before his death. It was a novel piece of engineering, being a combination of a sea wall and a water-tight dam.

The Earl of Lonsdale then gave the Company rights to search for ore under the foreshore seawards, and after boring for some years under considerable difficulty, owing to the heavy seas which frequently washed away the stagings and gear, it was satisfactorily proved that the main deposit of ore extended not only under the old high-water mark but also under the sea wall, and to a distance of some 500 yards beyond it. The full extent of this ore ground has not however even yet been fully proved.

The second sea wall, or "Outer Barrier" as it is officially termed, will enclose an area of 170 acres, and when completed it will enable the Company to win the ore under the foreshore, which could not otherwise have been worked with safety. The mine, which is liable to inrushes of sand and water from the cover, is drained by three Cornish pumping-engines, each having a cylinder 70 inches diameter by 9 feet stroke. One of these engines works a plunger 25 inches diameter by 10 feet stroke, the other two each work a pair of 10-inch plungers by 10 feet stroke, all from a depth of 50 fathoms with bucket lifts from 60 fathoms up to the 50-fathom level. As a general rule one of these engines is sufficient to keep the mine drained, but when a run of sand occurs it takes two and sometimes all three of them to contend with it. The plungers lift sand and water with ease so long as the sand is kept in a fluid state, and this is effected by taking a jet of fresh water down from the surface and discharging it into the sump, which, acting under a head of 300 feet, keeps the sand in the sump in such a condition of fluidity that the plungers lift it without difficulty; and should the sand during a temporary stoppage settle in the pump column, the door of the top clack is removed, the jet is turned up the column, which quickly clears it of sand, the door is then replaced, the column is filled with fresh water from the top, and the engine goes to work again at once.

The winding engines are direct acting. The last new one was made by Messrs. Walker Brothers of Wigan, and has two cylinders, each 24 inches dissector by 4 feet 6 inches stroke, with 11 feet drums. Messrs. Coode, Son, and Matthews are the engineers for the Outer Barrier, and Messrs. John Aird and Co. are the contractors.

Coode, Son and Matthews

SEA WALL AND EMBANKMENT WORKS, AT THE HODBARROW MINES
Coode, Son and Matthews

Mr. WILLIAM MATTHEWS being prevented through illness from writing the Paper which he had promised for this meeting, descriptive of the sea works designed by his firm for the protection of the Hodbarrow Mines, has asked the writer, Mr. Cedric Vaughan, Managing Director of the Mines, to prepare a short description, which he has great pleasure in doing, with the able assistance of Mr. H. Shelford Bidwell, the Resident Engineer to Messrs. Coode, Son and Matthews, of the Outer Barrier Works now in progress.

Mr. Matthews desired the writer to express to the President and Members of the Institution the great sorrow he felt at being deprived of the pleasure of meeting them at Millom, and accompanying them over the works now in progress, a pleasure to which he had looked forward in no small degree in view of the very exceptional character of the structures designed and carried out by his firm of Messrs. Coode, Son and Matthews at these mines.

[Refer to diagram in the image of the page]

The late Sir John Coode advised the Hodbarrow Mining Company as long ago as 1865 respecting their harbour in the Duddon estuary, and was subsequently consulted by them on several occasions in matters connected with pier construction and sea defence. It was while Sir John Coode was in Australia many years ago that Mr. Matthews advised them with regard to the strengthening of the timber revetment shown on Fig. 1 (for the design of which by the way his firm were in no way responsible), and which had been breached by the sea during an exceptionally heavy storm.

Subsequently, about the year 1885, Sir John Coode and Mr. Matthews designed the existing sea wall and embankment, the object of which was to exclude the sea from a sufficient area of the foreshore to enable the company to win the ore up to high water mark, which was the boundary of their lease at that time. This sea wall is a rigid structure of concrete, backed by a clay embankment, and rendered water-tight by a trench of piddled clay pinned into the clay bed beneath, Fig. 2. It was most efficiently constructed by the firm of Messrs. Lucas and Aird as contractors, has proved itself to be absolutely sea-proof and water-tight, and has enabled the company to win several million tons of ore which could not otherwise have been worked.

In the year 1898, a bed of quicksand was tapped in the mine, which established a connection between the sea and the underground workings, a cavity being formed on the outer foreshore, Fig. 1, and a heavy rush of tidal water into the mine took place, passing many fathoms below the foundations of the sea wall. This, however, was promptly checked by filling up the cavity on the shore with furze and clay, but not before the sea wall showed signs of distress through deflection caused by the undercurrent of tidal water into the mine.

The clay embankment behind the wall subsided about 5 feet, and this subsidence had the effect of shutting off the connection with the sea, and the influx of tidal water shortly after ceased. Mr. Matthews having been called in, advised that the sea wall would stand provided it were not exposed to heavy strokes from the sea, and he designed a wave-breaker of pell-mell blocks of concrete (20 tons each) Fig. 1, which was placed in front of the damaged wall and which has effectively protected it from sea action. He also not only levelled up the subsided embankment, but added to it also both in height and width so as to give additional weight, and thus aid in shutting off the leakage into the mine.

This accident had the effect of hastening the negotiations for the erection of an outer barrier, Plate 157, the necessity for which had already become apparent through the discovery of the fact that the ore body extended a long way seaward of the existing sea wall. In view of previous experience, Mr. Matthews, in designing this new and larger structure, which, like its predecessor, had to be both water-tight and sea proof, provided for a flexible bank instead of a rigid wall, so as to provide for such contingencies as connection between the outer foreshore and the mine hereafter, should such again occur.

The following description of this work has been written by Mr. H. Shelford Bidwell:— It will be seen, Fig. 3, that the outer barrier consists of a bank of rubble lime-stone, protected on the seaward side for the greater portion of its length by an outer covering of 25-ton concrete blocks deposited pell-mell, an inner and smaller bank of slag, with a filling of clay between these two banks. Where concrete blocks are not used the bank is protected by large lumps of limestone weighing from 8 to 15 tons. Under the centre of the clay bank, in order to form a cut-off, preventing percolation of water beneath the barrier, tongued and grooved sheet piling is driven into the bottom, this being of pitch-pine varying in length from 18 to 27 feet, or of steel 32 to 35 feet long, according to the nature of the foundation. Where the natural clay is near the surface the piling is dispensed with, and a puddle trench is substituted, the puddle being well keyed into the natural clay.

Over the piling or the puddle trench, as the case may be, a puddle wall is constructed in the heart of the clay bank, to prevent percolation of water through the barrier, being brought up to a level of 5 feet above high water of ordinary spring tides. The surface of the clay filling is to be covered with a layer of slag, and provision is made for a parapet of concrete blocks if found necessary.

There will be four sluice culverts through the barrier, constructed of concrete-in-mass, faced at the openings with granite masonry. The total length of the barrier is 6,870 feet, or rather more than a mile and a quarter. It has an extreme height of 40 feet, and its greatest width at the base is 210 feet. The area reclaimed by this barrier will be 170 acres. The contract for the work has been entrusted to Messrs. John Aird and Co., of Westminster, who, as already stated, were the contractors for the first sea wall.

In conclusion, it will be observed that both the sea wall and the new outer barrier are engineering works of a special and exceptional character, inasmuch as they combine the characteristics of a water-tight dam with those of a barrier possessing adequate strength to resist sea action.

Harrison, Ainslie and Co

LINDAL MINES, NEAR ULVERSTON
Harrison, Ainslie and Co

The hematite ore mines of Messrs. Harrison, Ainslie and Co., situated at Lindal between Ulverston and Dalton, Plate 157, are the oldest in the district, having been worked for over 100 years by the present Company. They cover an area of several thousand acres, over which is spread a number of shafts of various depths and sizes, the principal ones being at Lindal Moor, Lowfield, and Berkune.

Owing to the large quantity of water to be raised, a powerful pumping plant is necessary. The older engines are of the Cornish type, but the two recently erected by Messrs. Hathorn, Davey and Co., of Leeds, at Lowfield and Berkune are Davey's differential engines, the larger of which is at Lowfield. The, shaft is inclined at an angle of 42°. The low-pressure cylinder is 80 inches in diameter and the high-pressure cylinder 45 inches; and both are steam-jacketed. The total length of the inclined shaft is about 1,150 feet, the vertical depth from the pump to the point of delivery is 735 feet, and the amount of water to be raised is 2,000 gallons per minute.

The main pump, which is of the single-acting plunger type, is directly attached to the engine by means of a bell crank and spear rods. With the object of partially equalising the delivery on the indoor and outdoor strokes, a subsidiary ram 17 inches diameter is provided. This ram, which is hollow, is stationary, being connected to a branch on the delivery main, while the ram case is attached to and moves up and down with the spear rods, with the result that an amount of water equal to the displacement of this ram is subtracted from the delivery during the down stroke of the main plunger and re-delivered during the alternate up-stroke, the joint action being similar to that of an ordinary compound ram. The bell crank is balanced so as to equalise the work to be done on the outdoor and indoor strokes. The spear rod, 1,150 feet long, is 22 inches square, and is made up of lengths of four 11-inch reds jointed with steel spear-plates in the usual manner, and is carried on cast-iron rollers. The main plunger is 301 inches in diameter, and has a stroke of 10 feet. The pump valves are double beat, and a duplicate sot of valve boxes has been provided, controlled by a system of sluice valves, so that in the event of the failure of any valve the alternate set of valve boxes can at once be put into use.

Wyre Dock

GRAIN ELEVATOR, WYRE DOCK, FLEETWOOD
Wyre Dock

This grain elevator belonging to the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company is erected on the American principle. The building and all its arrangements were constructed, after mature consideration, from the plans of the English engineers specially sent over to America by the Railway Company, with the object of combining the best features of the practice in both countries, in dealing with the storage and delivery of grain. The elevator has a storage capacity of 150,000 quarters, in silos each of 1,000 quarters capacity.

The grain is taken from the vessel by means of a ship's leg elevator, 40 feet in length, which has buckets 18 inches long, running at 600 feet per minute, and discharging on to a conveying band 23 inches wide, running at 700 feet per minute, in a tunnel from the tower to the warehouse. In the basement of the warehouse there are two conveying bands running the whole length of the building, which carry the grain to any of the four elevators. These elevators are 6 feet 6 inches by 2 feet 4 inches inside, with buckets 20 inches long, 12 inches apart, and run at 600 feet per minute. They carry the grain to the top of the building and deliver it into receiving hoppers (two to each elevator), each of 10 tons capacity. It then falls into the weigh bins, each 8 feet diameter, and of 5 tons capacity, which feed the grain into Pooley's automatic weighing- machines.

From the weighing-machines the grain is fed into distributing tubes which are so arranged that they can be placed over any silo. When the grain is required for delivery it is transferred to delivery silos, fitted with patent appliances for equalising the sample, and from thence is run into sacks for weighing by ordinary scale-beam machines, being placed thence into railway wagons which run on three sets of rails under the silos. These rails being connected to adjacent sidings lead directly to the main line.

On the left-hand side of the warehouse is the engine and boiler house. Steam is supplied by two Lancashire boilers 7 feet diameter by 29 feet length, working at a pressure of 70 lbs. per square inch. The machinery in the warehouse is driven by a pair of horizontal condensing engines fitted with Corliss gear, having cylinders 26 inches diameter by 48 inches stroke, and driving a fly rope pulley 20 feet diameter, having fourteen ropes of 1 inches diameter running at 60 revolutions per minute.

The warehouse is well protected against fire, having a pair of fire pumps wills 81-inch rams and cylinders 14 inches diameter by 16 inches stroke, besides numerous other appliances. The building is lighted throughout by electric light, there being two dynamos, each of 33-kilowatt capacity, driven by two vertical engines having cylinders 17 inches diameter by 16 inches stroke. Electric communication is established between the engine house and various parts of the warehouse. The elevator is fitted up with shakers, blowers, and all the latest improvements required to restore the condition of heated or damaged cargoes. It has frequently been filled to its utmost capacity, and the arrangements have at all times given every satisfaction, both in despatch to ships and facility for delivery.

The elevator machinery is on such a scale that the following operations can be performed at one and the same time:—

1. Discharging from vessels in the dock at a rate not surpassed in practice by any other agency of the kind.

2. Conveying from the quay to the weigh tower and distributing into any of the silos.

3. Weighing by hoppers in the towers at the top of the building.

4. Turning grain from silo to silo, or to delivery silo, and weighing through hopper when required.

5. Sacking grain, weighing, and loading into railway wagons and carts simultaneously.

6. Conveying from the elevator into barges or coasters.

On the opposite side of the dock are extensive grain sheds, capable of holding 80,000 quarters, in which grain not suitable for storage in the elevator silos can be stored on well seasoned and well drained floors in layers of 5 feet or upwards as required. Grain is conveyed from the ship into these sheds by moans of steam cranes. No cartage or haulage is incurred from either the elevator or the sheds, delivery in all cases being made direct from and to the ship, by railway truck or cart as required.

The dock is 1,000 feet in length by 400 feet width, and the lock 250 feet by 50 feet. On the dock quay are eight 3- and 4-ton steam cranes, two 30-cwt. hydraulic travelling-cranes, and one 25-ton hydraulic coaling-crane, capable of tipping 250 tons per hour. This crane has given complete satisfaction, as it lowers and tips the wagons on deck level, thus ensuring a minimum breakage of coal. At the farther end of the dock is the timber pond, having an area of 15 acres and has never less than 4 feet of water. The logs are lifted by two 3-ton steam cranes; the timber is stored around the timber pond and behind the grain sheds, adjacent to the sidings leading to the main line.

Blackpool Electricity Works

CORPORATION ELECTRICITY WORKS, BLACKPOOL
Blackpool Electricity Works

This Electricity Station, situated in West Caroline Street, was opened in 1893. Its capacity is 3,100 kilowatts, including that of the traction plant. There are now being installed two sets of 250 and one set of 500-kilowatt Parsons turbine engine. Steam is generated in five Lancashire boilers, two Fraser's marine type, and five Babcock and Wilcox boilers fitted with chain grates and mechanical stokers, the working pressure being 120 lbs. per square inch. The system employed is high-tension alternating, and the pressure at the station is 2,000 volts, and at the consumers' terminal 200 volts on the two-wire system. High-tension twin cables of 0.1 inch diameter, laid on the ring system, radiate from the works to thirteen transformer chambers, and mains of 0.062 inch diameter interconnect these.

Street Lighting.— There are erected at present 260 arc lamps of various types, which are run on the series system with rectified current. There are also about 300 incandescent lamps of 8 candlepower fixed on arc and traction posts supplied off the 200-volt lighting main. The price is 7d. and 2d. per unit.

Tramways.— These have been in operation since 1885 on the conduit system, but the trolley system was adopted in June 1899, the pressure being 500 volts. About 14 miles of single track of 4 feet 81 incises gauge have been laid. The rails are of the girder type, at 95 lbs. per yard. The trolley wire is 000 gauge, supported by bracket arm poles fixed on the side of the road. There are 41 cars of the double-decked type, 16 bogie and 25 single cars; the former seat 95 passengers and the latter 50. Each car is drawn by two 27-H.P. motors, which are operated by series parallel controllers. The line is fed by 0.3 inch and 0.2 inch single cable from section boxes fixed every half-mile.

Mr. Robert C. Quin, M.I.Mech.E., is the Boroughs Electrical and Tramway Engineer.

Blackpool and Fleetwood Tramroad Co

THE BLACKPOOL AND FLEETWOOD TRAMROAD COMPANY'S POWER HOUSE, BISPHAM.
Blackpool and Fleetwood Tramroad Co

The Central Power Station and principal Car Shed and Shops are situated at Bispham, six miles from Fleetwood, two miles from Blackpool Terminus, and a quarter of a mile from the line. All the buildings, including the chimney, are of brick. For steam raising there are four Lancashire boilers, each 30 feet by 8 feet, the steam pressure is 120 lbs., hand fired, natural draught, the chimney being 180 feet highs. The feed-water is obtained from a reservoir, adjacent to the engine room, which is filled by surface water, collected from the surrounding fields and springs; after passing through the hot-well the water is fed to the boilers through a Reeves filter and Green's economiser, by Worthington and Weir's direct steam-driven feed- pumps. In the engine room are five open marine type vertical compound engines of 200 H.P., with cylinders 12 inches by 24 inches in diameter, constructed by Messrs. Mather and Platt, direct coupled to five multipolar shunt-wound dynamos, each capable of giving a continuous output of 120 kilowatts at 505 volts.

The engines are run condensing on two Ledward ejector condensers, coupled in parallel, the condensing water being cooled by the reservoir at light loads and by a Klein's cooler at heavy loads. The cooling tower is able to deal with 70,200 gallons of water per hour, taking down the temperature from 115° to 85° F. with the atmosphere at 70° F., the cooler having an efficiency of 75° F. The switchboard is fitted with the usual measuring instruments, switches and automatic circuit breakers of the "Cutler" type, and Board of Trade testing instruments. There are three boosters which stand along the side of the switchboard, two of which are used for boosting the batteries at Fleetwood and Bispham. The other is a negative booster taking the current back to the power house from the track so as to keep within the Board of Trade drop.

All steam and exhaust pipes are placed in a basement beneath the engine room, giving easy access to all parts. The steam pipes are steel arranged in the form of a ring. The rolling stock consists of thirty motor-cars and three trailers, complete equipment by the British Thomson-Houston Company, and by Messrs. Dick, Kerr and Co.

The General Manager is Mr. John Cameron, and the Electrical Engineer is Mr. Joseph McMahon.

Grace's Guide To British Industrial History