The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1878-07-31

American and other makers of reap
ing machines, everybody is forcibly
brought to the conclusion that the
workmanship in the former is more
suitable, and in many respects far
better, than in the latter. For exam
pie, the same peculiar skill which is
shown in the construction of Ameri-
can carriage wheels, is seen in the
wood work of reapers, especially in
the rakes and platform, the combi-
nation Of strength and lightness,
which is remarkable. Lightness in
every part indeed is a special charac-
teristic of theimplements as compared
with English and continental ma
chimes of the same class, and this
speciality, which perhaps was first
forced upon American builders to
suit the horses of their home farmers,
is equally appreciated in Russia and
Hungary where light draught is all
important to conform to the capacity
of the average horses. The special
object of the American builders ap.
pears to be to combine strength and
efficiency with lightDess and cheap
ness of construction, at the expense
no doubt to certain extent of dIra-
bility, but apparently it suits the
American farmer to purchase ma
chimes at a moderate price, that may
wear out in few years, but not be-
fore they have paid for themselves
many times over, and which if they
were more durable would probably
boone comparatively obsolete long
before they were past service. 1t
would seem as though the American
makers have succeeded in making
their European purchasers adopt the
same idea.
In book printing the United States
has made its way independently. AS
regards the building of presses, OF
ghicA there ere several exhibits. hi stsE. t.sE:.
has paid off the debt it Owed its
mother country with interest, and
the latter has frequently adopted
the invention of its offspring. 1t is
necessary to mention only the larger
printing presses for newspapers with
cylindrical stereotype plates, and more
recently those for endless web, as
we'll as automatic machines for type
casting. On account of the great
extent of the newspaper and job
printing business in North America,
inventions and improvements con-
centrate almost exclusively upon such
arrangements as may assist these
branches. No country can produce
printed matter as legible, and appar-
emily as clear as America, in spite
of the small shanks of letters. The
variety of type tor job printing, es-
pecially manuscript type in Ameri-
ca, greatly surpasses that of England,
and therefore American and German
type founderies are in frequent COM
munication, especially exchanging
matrices.
Of light machinery the United
States department is full of marvels,
which may now be seen working.
First of all there is the Westinghouse
air brake, which is now being very
generally adopted in Europe. Itmay
be seen on several of the locomotives
in the English section in the Amer
lean section, however, it can be stud
led in detail and in working, being
exhibited as applied to . luggage
truck of the Chemin de For de pOuest.
Near the Westinghouse air brake ia
the exhibit of the Stow Flexible Shaft
Company, of Philadelphia. This
shaft transmits rotary motion in any
direction from motive power, so that
power can be taken to the work In
stead of work to the power. This
invention is particularly useful for
drilling and similar work, and what
ever way the shaft is bent or turned
| it works all the same. The toal is
attached to the end and driven by
level gearing. An equally ingenious
and useful invention is the pneumat
ic boiler riveting machine of Allen &
Roeder of New York. The employ
ment of air instead of steam gives
this machine the same qualities oi
portability as the flexible shaft jusu