New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1857-02-13
We want such az can readily DO

stebm nre-eneinee. We want euch az can readily DO
moved By men or horses such as can get 40 steam d
very sho,t notice, and such can thros large poE-
erful streams for whole night If necessary, without
tiring Thh Is oil want Of such apparatus. II we
except possible Of tho steam ia tbswng out by
drants, DC. Experiments in steam loccmotion are de-
srable--the city may with prcprety perhaps, invest
few thousands in this line of investigator; bu; we
protest against coupling such with tae steam freengine,
at le ast unit, much better acquainted With the
capacities and usfs Of each.
POLISHING MAcHisE.-It lie singular fact that 70
surfaces rubbed together for the purpose Of polishing
have property, either by excluding the air other
wse Of adhering together with such force to make
the friction in some cases very excessive Mr. Prime ~
Burgess of this city has jest patented 40 improvement
on the polishing machinery quite extensively
ployed in finishing marble and plategl.ss, BY ntroduc
ing grooves in the rubbing surface to admit the
air alternately to every part. Mr.. B. is, We think.
the original inventor Of the Grinding and Polishing
Machine on which this is simply improvement. A
horizontal disk Of cast-iron, ten feet in
diameter is rotated by steam power, while the glass
or other material to be dressed ia fixed loosely to
point not oircident with the center thereof and being
free TO rotate at pleasure, presents itself il Infinite
variety Of POSITIONS to the action Of the disk. The
polishing disk is similar but covered with moist WOOL
en- cloth. With this machinery as now improved it
requires but five hours to grind and additional time
TO polish perfectly large pane OF plate glass which
by the old process s represented TO require week or
more.
MAKISG LARGE CASTINGS Few people may be
aware of the amount Of labor and risk involved 10 the
production of such castings required forsOur
mammoth steamship engines. The furnaces employed
in founderes will each hold but two or three tuns OF
melted metal at the utmost; and the metal must in all
cases be poured into a mold in large continuous
s,resm. For large castings thick reservoirs Of fire.
brick are provided and filed by slow degrees from the
furnaces the sides being of su ent thickness to retain
the hest The preparation Of the mold requires many
weeks labor and the anxiety Of the head founder at
the moment Of admitting the metal to the mold is
IRENE. One Of our largest establishments prepared
last week TO pour casting which would weigh sixty
two tuDs and melted for the purpose during the whole
day and evening s1ty-fve tuns of metal, which
retained in two Of the huge reservoirs described But
the furnaces-three of the largest sized cupols fur
paces-chanced to work badly and instead of o'clock,
as expected it was p before the metal WAS ready.
At this stage the interesting fact was discovered tina.
the metal had far chilled that could not be induced
to flow; and at last accounts the metal still hssiog
hot remained in two ponderou masses of come thirty
five to forty tuDS each IN the two reservoirs, not only
valueless but apparently nuisance, they are too
large ard strong TO be broken up for remelting,
except at cost too great to be practicable some
what similar instance Of having too much of a good
thing occurred at the great fire in 1886, where the ruiGs
of large iron store Pearl street were found to
tain irregular mass weighing sixty tuns, which
finally disposed ofby digging deep pit at its side
and rolling it IN and building over it.
PRESERVED LoBsTER.-T. Wsshburn & Co. Of
Kingston, Mass., put up, each Summer from 900 to
20 600 argbt cans Of nicely boiled lobster, which are
consumed principally at sea, and in California and Aus
tralis To obtain the raw material 700 lObserpo
traps are Get in ne little distance from the shore
extending in continuously for twelve miles.
The process of preparing is extremely simple and rapid,
the she-fsh passing from s morning meal in the trap
to the boiling kettle and thence sealed up tghiu the
can, all within three or four hours. They esteemed
better when thus managed than if pra,oed by many
other packers they kept for days and weeks
fined in lobster Provision prepared in this man.
ner with TIE skill which experience has impaired to
these hardy boatmen wild keep for many years in any
climate, and deserves to be still extensively in
demand.