Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1876-11-29
MECHANICAL AND SCIENTIFIC.

|
| lighthouses. he notes that in several
cases the stairs are circular, and APP
parently self-supporting, one end only
being built into the wall. This method
of stair-building is, he observes, uni
versal in Europe, both in public and
private buildings. The most recent
lighthouse towers of the American
system are constructed with conical
interior walls, and iron staircases wind
ing around the interior of the cone.
European towers are generally con-
Structed with an exterior conical and
an interior cylindrical wall, leaving an
unnecessarily large unused space be-
tween the two. The amount Of mason
ry in the American system is the same
as in the European.
The T rail is now being relied
with wider hange or base and a
thicker head, without increasing the
standard weight of some sixty-seven
pounds to a yalI. The material of the
upright Sart is reduced to make up for
the increased size of the base and head;
the latter is made more nearly square
at the sides, and the edges of the base
\
increase the resistance to wearing by
the hanges of the wheels, and to pre-
vent the rail from cutting into the
sleepers. In place of the notches cut
in the rail to hold the spikes, that have
been found SO destructive to the life of
the rail, holes are drilled through the
base, and through these the rail is
fastened to the road bed. -RdilUoy
Gazette.
-Anti-frictionate, new lubricat-
ing material, is principally a finely pull
verified graphite, which at first was
mixed with other substances and
formed into a mass from which Innings
were made for machine bearings. An
Improvement ON this plan, as recent
ly made, does away with any com
pounding Of materials, except in the
cases of journals subject to the action
of oil or water, and, for ordinary use,
sheets of cloth and paper are substi-
| tuded. to the surface of which pure
graphite is attached by prepared glue.
| These sheets are cut into the required
shape, and are fitted into the box
es as a lining; and it is stated that in
the case Of counter-shafting and ma
chine tools thus fitted, running ut or
binary speed, and spindles running at
very high numbers of revolutions, no
signs of cutting are visible, and the
the bearings are either cold or show a
barely perceptible warmth. ~. Y.
Sun. M. rtli,4 ..r.
The system Of firing guns by cleo
tricity, now in vogue, was introduced
in England in 1855, up to which time
port fire was placed over the vent by
means of clay, the gunner igniting it
and then running under cover. A
number of guns were beng thus
proved at the royal arsenal, at Wool
wich, in 1862, when one ignited before
the rest and exploded. This swung
round neighboring gun, which pro
| jected its shot over the arsenal and
town into the dockyard. This led the
proof-master McKinlay, to introduce
a galvanic tube, in which was a plati-
| mum wire EMBEDDED in a charge of
powder, the wire forming link in
the circuit of the galvanic battery.
trio tube, in which the wire is re-
placed by IA printing charge, consisting
Of subphosphide and subsulphide of
copper, with a little chlorate Of po-
fash, and in this composition the termi-
mails of the two insulated copper wires
| that conduct the electric current are
embedded--a most ingenious arrange
ment. = Eachange.
"A novelty in spinning machinery
In al lu ltsh
artisan, the device having ring so
| followed out in the inside that
straight piece of wire, or traveller, ex-
tends from one side of the ring to the
other, bearing against the other bob
bin. The TRAVERSE, OF lift, is a cop
ing motion. The bobbin is placed on
the spindle, and rests on a button,
which makes it reyolve with the
spindle, the end being then put up
under the wire and pieced up. In
this case the yarn is not thrown round
SO great circle, and is said to re-
| semble more closely the yarn produced
| by the flyer throstle. The spindles
can be run at higher speed than
with the ordinary ring, and the travel
er works lighter and with less
liability to blind. The ends of the
wire may be fabricated with less
danger Of greasing the yarn than i'll
the old ring The rings can soon be
taken off or put on; that is, one edge
of the ring goes under screw on one
side, and piece is taken out of the
ring SO as to allow it to drop over the
screw on the other side-a slight cir
cular movement briurinp both pdpeS
under the screws, and the projection
at the bottom of the ring which goes
into recess in the lift plate, keeping
the ring concentric with the spindle.