The Sun.
London, England, 1841-10-20 00:00:00

RIVALRY IN BUSINESS.

The rivalry, a few years ago, among the manufactu-
rers of matchless blacking was so great, that two or
three of the leading houses in that department of trade
actually retained poets of high reputation to sing the
praises of their paste and liquid. It has been confi-
dently stated that even Byron himself, before he attained
the height of his fame, received enormous sums for his
poetical eulogiums on the shoe polish of a well-known
manufacturer of that commodity. Whether this be
true or otherwise, I am not in a condition to say ; but
no one in the practice of reading the public journals
eighteen or twenty years ago, could fail to have been
struck with the rapid succession of brilliant poetic effu-
sions in praise of the commodity in question, which then
graced the advertising columns of the newspapers. In
some cases, the jet-blacking proprietors monopolized the
talents of particular poets, paying them an annual sum
for their " verse," just as the proprietor of a magazine
pays its editor, and expressly stipulating that no rival
manufacturer of the paste or liquid should have the be-
nefit of their abilities. In other instances, it was pri-
vately intimated to most of the literary men then in the
metropolis, that poetical pieces would be gladly re•
ceived, and that those which were approved should be
liberally remunerated—the remuneration being at the
rate of one guinea for every twenty lines. A gentle-,
man of competent taste was duly appointed, and duly
salaried, to sit in judgment on the pieces submitted for
decision. There were hosts of competitors, and the
quality of the pieces ranged from the highest order of
excellence to the veriest trash. The muses must have
wept, if their ladyships resign themselves to the melting
mood, to think that such discreditable effusions as some
of them were, should ever have proceeded from the
pens of persons who but a few moments before had pro-
fessed to pay their court to them.—Lights and Shadows
of London Life, by the Author of " The Great Me-
tropolis."

LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.

Sra—The discussion on the subject of four-wheeled
'and six-wheeled engines, which has been hitherto con-
fined-to the profession, having been recently taken up
by the public press, it appears desirable to place the
subject in a more just point of vied than it has hitherto
been regarded in by the public ; and in furtherance of
this I beg leave to offer the following rensitrks :
. In a four-wheeled engine (as constructed by Mr.
Bury, of. the London and Birmingham. ailway, the
only maker of eminence in England who now adopts
this method of construction) the- engine .has only what
are termed. inside-framing% ; that is to nay, -the engine;
is entirely supported by resting-on 'the axles at. points:
the wheels ;• in a sixwheeled engine the prin.•
cipal points of support are Outside the wheels:— '
The distance between the -points of support is thud'
much, greater,,in,a'six than in' a
.four-wheeled engine.,
•PrOW? no one .4 all'acquaintek eitViei with the theory
citmachineFy, or the practical; ennstruction 0r.w0i,V1,4
t. of machines, can ,be ignorant that the gieater tha dia;
tarrce between the bearing* er points
.of, napport, the
greater the steadiness of a shaft, be-it driVen in. any;
manner whatever. This-observation is -more parti,
eularly true when any disturbance :of. the sinnoth-
ness of the motion is to be sought for, not in external
c:renailtances, but in the nature of 'thelorees acting 'on
the machine-. This is thacase in thelocOmetive engine.
It is generally assumed that the oscillating and unplea-
sant motion of a locomotive engine, and which is the':
causo.o£ its quitting the Tali, is caused by the uneven-
ness and bad repair of, the. road.. This is only par-
tially true ; the real cause exists in. the engine itself.
',Were the cranks of the driving axle placed on a line
with 'the axis of the engine, the engine would have co
tendency to move otherwise than in a straight line;
as this is riot the case, and the cranks are placed one
, .
on 'each sine, and the engine does not adt on each
with equal force. at the same instant, the engine is
-dragged alternately from one side of the road to the
other..; it, in fact, progresses sideways. Owing to the
reason-just mentioned this motion is much less in a
six-wheeled than in a four-wheeled, engine ; of this
fact any one can convince themselves by a five-
minutes' rido on two engines of different construc-
tions. 'There is another point in the construc-
tion .of four-wheeled engines 'with inside framing;,
which- renders them somewhat objectionable. Owing
to the narrowness of the distance between the
bearings, the eccentric gear is obliged to be placed more
in the centre than is requisite in an engine with outside
framings. To giVe room for the eccentric gear in the
centre, the boiler has to he raised higher above the
axle, rendering the engine what is termed groggy, in
common parlance, top-heavy. These engines are thus
more liable to upset than the six-wheeled, as was shown
to be the case on the Brighton, and also in an unfortu-
nate and fatal accident that happened some months
back on the London and Birmingham Radway,_ and
which will doubtless be in the recollection of your
readers, from the deep excitement it caused at the
time in the public mind.

The greatest argument against four-wheeled engines
with inside framings is to be found in the fact, that al.
though this was the original form of engine, only one
maker of eminence (Bury) in this country continues to
construct this sort of engine. In the United States
only one firm, that of Messrs. Norris and Eastrick,
adopt this plan, the first makers in that country, in-
cluding. aildtvin and Co., of Philadelphia, adopting the
other form of engine.
It may then be asked, what are the inducements to
employ such engines? The principal one undoubtedly
is, their greater cheapness. An engine of Mr. Bury's
build costs about 1,330/., while a six-wheeled engine,
constructed by Sharp and Roberts, of 'Manchester,
costs from 1,800/. upwards. On the London and
Birmingham line, where 100 engines are employed, a
saving is thus effected of from 40,0001. to 50,000/. ; an
inducement not to be readily overlooked by a commer-
cial company.
In conclusion, although I acknowledge that, as Sir
Roger de Coverley would say, much may be said on
both sides with respect to the merits of four and six-
wheeled engines, yet I must observe that there is but
one opinion in the profession concerning engines with
inside framings—viz , that they arc decidedly objec-
tionable, and even unsafe.
I might, perhaps, have begged the insertion of these
observations before, had I not only just now returned
from a profess;onal visit abroad ; should you consider
them worth inserting you will greatly oblige
Your obedient servant,
Blackwell, Oct. 17. EDWARD A. SEAWARD