The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1884-06-14


Things Worth Knowing.
Matters of Mechanical and Household
Interest.
The Scientific american thinks the
practice ofthe Baltimore and Ohio Road
in the matter ofsolid brass driving-boxes
presents some advantages, a knowledge
of which may be useful to other roads
that have brass foundries and make their
own brass castings. These boxes are
charged upon this road at I6 cents a
pound, which is the ordinary rates for
all brass work, and the old brass is re-
ceived back by the foundry and credited
at II cents pound. The boxes can be
finished up at about half the cost of
finishing cast-iron boxes, and being
solid, no labor is expended in fitting
the brass in the box. But ifthe attempt
to substitute brass for iron without an
accurate knowledge of the details ofex-
pense, it will be wasteful instead of the
contrary.
NEW METHOD OF PRODUCING STEEL PLATES
DR.. Henry Muirhead, president of the
Physiological Society of Glasgow, has
recently brought before that body par
ticulars of a method of manufacturing
steel plates for shipbuilding and boiler
making purposes which is of much in
terest. A hollow metal cylinder, lined
with brick, revolves at high speed, the
axles being horizontal. Agutter, per-
forated with holes, passes into the inte-
rior, along its whole length. Into this
gutter is poured molten mild steel, which
escapes through the holes, is carried
around by the swiftly revolving case,
is formed into an inner cylinder of steel
of an inch or more in thickness. This
cylinder, while still hot, is drawn, cut
across by means of saw, put into roll
ing mill, and rolled to the length and
thickness required. Suppose plate
for shipbuilding is desired; then, given
mould feet in diameter and S feet
long, in it is cast a cylinder an inch
thick. This, when taken out and
cut, is fully IS feet long and 5 feet broad.
THE FUN OF RUNNING AN ENGINE.
.~pottl4 on the-Ghicago Herald
h motl We engineer:
"Lots of chaps think it would be fun
to run an engine" said the driver, as
he stuck his head, flaming torch, and
long-necked oil can in under his ma
chine, "but if the most of 'em would
try it they wouldn't like it quite SO
well. 'Tain't everybody can run To-
connective, either, though l s'pose it's
like running a daily newspaper, which
I've heard tell everybody can do. Now,
a nervous man has no business in cab
no more has careless one, or a stupid
cuss. To run an engine a man must
feel his responsibility and keep his head
level. l don't believe half the people
know what it is to run an engine.
Now there the machine that't the first
thing, and it has to be in order, and
stay so. A locomotive has to stand the
wear and tear and weather that'd knock
stationary engine into smithereens.
And no matter what emergency arises
freezing of pipes, or starting of flues,
loosening of packing, or heating Of
journals-we've got to know just
what to do, and do it right quick, too
then when we're running there's the
time cards, and pretty often new one
and the train orders-they are a life
and death and reputation to us, and to
read 'em correct and live up to 'en
gives no end of anxiety.
"Bet I've read a train order over
dozen times an hour-I am always SC
afraid of making mistake or forgetting
You know the consequence of even
little mistake, sometimes. Then there:
! the signals to watch, the conductor
gong overhead, steam to keep up, time
to make, whistle-posts and crossings tt
look out for, bad spots in the road to BIZ
careful on, and along with all Thu
there's the track ahead of We which you
eyes mustn't leave for more'n five sec
onds. There's the brakes, too-one i
always worrying about them. don
s'pose everybody knows, either, that WI
have to be mighty careful when we COM
to the top ola grade. You see in goin!
up she labors hard, and as soon as SHE
begins to descend she makes arush, ant
there's the danger of breaking your trail
when the rear cars are still dragging Of
the grade. This danger is especiall
great on freights, but no good enginee
fails to shut off some of his steam whe
his engine reaches the summit. 1t ism
every fool can run locomotive. ="
THE BITE OF A MAD DOG NOT AWAY
FATAL.
The Importance of M. Pasteur's re
cent discovery of means of preventing
the ill results of the bite of mad do
| by inocculation with virus weakened
by cultivation in the bodies of mon
| KEYS and rabbits is not lessened appre
ciably by the fact brought out by tn
St. lanes Gazette that the bite of MAJ
dog is not so fatal as is generally sup
posed. A report upon the subject TO
the department of the Seine, issued b
the Paris perfect Of police, for the pas
three years, shows that of onehundre'
and ffty-six presons bitten by rabbi
dogs in 1881 eighty died; in 1882 min
out of sixty-seven bitten died, and il
1888 five only out of forty-five. Tn
experience of the French doctors sho'
that the only remedy which can be de
pended upon to destroy the virus is tn
prompt application to the wound c
cautery by red hot iron. Twenty pei
sons died of hydrophobia in the depart
ment of the Seine in 1881, nine in 1881
and four in 1883, as far as the offici'
returns show. The decreasing numbe
of deaths from this cause is attribute
to the stricter measures adopted wit
regard to ownerless dogs. During tn
three years mentioned 1864 stra
dogs were captured in Paris and the d.
, nartment and DESTROYED.