The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1883-11-15
TIE WORKSHOP.

Two books formed with sheet-iron
leaves have been sent to the Amster-
dam exhibition by an English firm, as
an Illustration of the perfection to
which the process of rolling sheets of
iron has been brought. The leaves
are said to be no thicker than good
toned paper"
For cementing rubber or gutta-per-
cha to metal, MoritZ Grassmon gives
the following recipe: PulveriZed
shellac, dissolved in ten times its
weight of pure ammonia. In three
days the mixture will be of the re-
quired consistency. The ammonia
penetrates the rubber and enables the
shellac to take firm hold, but, as it
evaporates in time, the rubber is i'm
movably fastened to the metal. and
neither gas nor water will remove it.
Paper wheels, paper ties and paper
rails are a few of the uses of paper;
but the most noteworthy experiment
is n steam launch, built for the West
inghouse Machine Company, which
has sheathing of paper three-eighths
of an inch thick, which is strong
enough to repel revolver bullet fired
at distance of four feet. A paper
NA'osii, Will al nun VI IllO bdlllO
thickness as that of the launch, was
kept in the water for eight months,
and, though without paint or other
protection, remained without sign
of moisture inside, or. any evidence of
disintegration. The launch Is twen-
ty-four feet long over all, five feet
broad and three feet deep, and is to be
fitted with a Westinghouse engine OF
six-horse power, to run at the rate OF
1000 revolutions per minute.
The transmission of power by un-
derground shafting Is system which
is steadily increasing in public esti-
nation. In several new industrial
enterprises in this vicinity the system
is employed. AT Pullman, Illinois, a
shaft of sufficient size geared to the
shaft of the celebrated Corliss engine
is laid in substantial masonry, ex-
tending northward and southwark
from the engine, and having gear at
desired distances to transmit power to
right-angled shafts as required. The
Allen paper car wheel works, 1000
feet north of the Corliss engine, are
run in this way, as is the machine
and blacksmith shop, while the shaft
running eastward from the main shaft
runs the immense pumps for the
water works and to drive away the
sewage. There is no end to the adap-
tation of this system, as will readily
be suggested to any mechanical mind
The transmission of power by wire
ropes-now no longer a question OF
eXperiment-is found practicable and
advantageous for distances ranging
all the way from fifty feet up to sew
eral miles. AS an example of long
transmission that furnished in Schaff
, hansen, Switzerland, at the Falls o.
l the Rhine, is quite notable. Her
z )some 800-horse power is carried dag
onally across the line and extended
l distance of two miles. being there dis
tributed among the fifty differen
l manufacturing establishments, stu
y ated in every imaginable position ant
: embracing all the varied arrange
1 ments of changing directions. Thi
I method has been increasingly intro
y duced IN Europe, the wire rope trans
! mission coming into use at the poin
4 where a belt or line of shafting be
u comes of too great length to be EN-
J ployed profitably, in point of econom
+ being much cheaper than its equiva
lent either in shafting or betting. ]
u is the system of power that ought
/, be put in force at Austin, by means G
II water power created by daming tn
Il Colorado river and bring it to Waite
s street through canal Of ample capat
IL ity.