Morning journal and courier., 1884-07-15

frThat's all care to ask - said Mr.. Pigott.
| The case was then adj ourned until Friday
| morning It seems that these warrants, IKE
| hundreds of others, were signed by the clerk
| in blank and the police captain filled them
| ont when necessary Mr.. Pigott claims that
/ he is supported in his belief that these war
| rants are not suficientIto sustain case, the
| offence in which was committed after the
warrants were issued, by a decision OF the
| Supreme court of the State.
The Great Forth Bridge.
| from an Edinburgh Letter to the London Times.l
Favored by an exceptionally mild and open
winter the contractors have been able to
make great progress with the works of the
| Forth bridge. In order to understand what
| has been done it is necessary to recall the
| fact that there are three distinct points at
| which the operations are being carried on
at the Queensferry or south bank of the
| Forth at the Fife or north bank, and at the
| Island of Inchgarvie, between these. Be-
| tween these three scenes of activity on the
| site of the bridge itself, note must be taken
| of the workshops of the contractors at South
1 Queensferry, where the whole of the metal
work of the bridge is being prepared-not
| only the steel tubes of which the cantilevers
l are to be composed, but also the enormous
circular caissons which are to be sunk in the
| river and are to receive the concrete founda-
tions of the piers on which the cantilevers
will rest. 1 shall first refer to the workshops.
| They cover vast area, and consist partly of
covered sheds and partly of a wide, open
space, over which there are laid down lines
of rails for carrying the travelling shops, in
which the steel tubes of the cantilevers are
1 fitted together and built up. 1t may be noted
that these workshops, as well as the works
on the site of the bridge, are lighted with
the electric light, so that the whole of the
/ operations carried on by night as well as
I by day, successive relays of workmen being
/ engaged for that purpose. The number of
workmen employed on the different parts of
\ the work varies from 900 to 200. Most of
them are located on the south side, and it
may readily be understood that the housing
and feeding of so large a body of artisans
has been matter of no small difficulty. Ex-
L tensive bothies and large canteen have been
erected by the contractors in the vicinity of
the workshops at South QueensferTy. Though
food is supplied in the canteen at very mode
] rate rates, I understand that it has not so far
proved a financial success, chiefly because
Scottish workmen have a prejudice against
cooperative feeding stores, and prefer to for
age for themselves. 1t may be inferred, from
the stupendous character of the works and
from the number of men employed on it, that
the plant required for carrying it on is very
extensive. Its cost is estimated, on rough
calculation, at e10O,O 0O
So large are the steel tubes of which the
cantilevers are to be formed that, instead of
their constituent parts being taken to work
shop, the workshop has to be taken to them,
and has to travel with them in the course of
their construction. The horizontal tube
which is to form part Of the base of the first
cantilever is now being put together. This
tube is $50 feet long and twelve feet in diam
eter, and in it's circumference there are ten
steel plates 1-S inches thick. The travelling
shop engaged in its construction is self-con-
tanned. It has its own steam engine and
boiler, its own system of drilling and rivet-
ing machines, and its own complement of
workmen. At and the same time the en-
CINE keeps five drilling machines in motion
at different parts of the circumference, and
pours jets of water on the drills to counter
act the friction. From this operation one
gets better idea of the vastness and the diff
6culty of the work than from any descrip-
ton of it, If the mere base line of the can
tiever is so enormous what will the compile
ted structure be l may recall the fact, al
ready mentioned in a former letter, that
three cantilevers are to be employed in span:
ming the deep channels either side of the
island of lnchgarv1e; one on that island, one
on the south side, and one on the north side.
Each cantilever will rest on four piers of sol
Id masonry, resting on O bed of concrete
each of them will rise to height of $50 feet
above the piers, and will stretch out an arm
OOU IeeC long ana leu OF the center.
One of the most difficult operations in the
construction of the bridge will be that of
building the stone piers, four in number, on
which each of the cantilevers will rest. For
the foundation of each pier an immense cir
cular caisson of iron will be sunk in the bed
of the estuary, and will afterward be filled
in with concrete. Each of these caissons re-
sembles huge gasoneter or hollow martello
tower, Gil feet in diameter, and rising to
twenty or thirty feet above the ground. The
lowest part of it is an air-tight chamber, in
effect vast diving-bell, in which after it has
been placed in stu the excavators will work,
comfortably enough, it is expected, with CON
slant supplies of compressed air. Very sat
isfactory progress has been made with the
construction of the stone piers which are to
carry the horizontal girders between the shore
and the cantilevers on each side of the river
On the north side there are, besides massive
abutment which is completed, four viaduct
piers and n large cantilever pier on which
the arm of the cantilever will rest. The via
duct piers have been carried up to height
of thirty feet and the girders which they are
to carry are now being put together, and will
be placed in position before the piers are pro-
ceeded with further This strikes the lay
mind as being one of the most astonishing
feats of the undertaking. The girders are to
be placed on the piers, which are only thirty I
feet high, and the masonry of the piers is to
be carried up one hundred feet higher with |
IL.
the north side one of the round piers which
are to form the foundations of the cantilever
has been carried up to the level of the under
side of the coping 1t is filed in with blue
bricks to depth of eight feet, through which
rises a system of iron rods and holding-down
bolts to carry the plate which the can't
lever will rest. /
There is great activity in the island of
Inchgarvie, the face of which has been COM
pletely transformed. The old castle, till late
ly ruin, would not know itself, even if it
were endowed with consciousness. It has
been rooted in and converted into very
comfortable habitation, containing a very
handsome Office for the superintendent work
shops, store-rooms and sleeping rooms for 1
number of worknen. The old battery has /
been turned to good account in similar ways.
The machinery on the island includes com !
pressed air-engine, powerful steam engine,
an electric machine and a hydraulic accumu-
lator. The permanent caisson for the foun-
dation of one of the four circular cantilever /
piers has been riveted up and lowered into |
position Although great progress has now 1
been made with the substructure of the
bridge, and although it already makes good |
show above water, the work has not yet adj /
yanced beyond the preliminary stage. 1t is |
d1fhcuIt to say within what time the bridge
VIII be completed, as very much depends on /
the kind of weather with which the contract l
ors may be favored 1 believe they will con-
slider themselves fortunate if they are able to |
hand over the completed structure to the |
company within six years from the present I
time. OF the appearance of the bridge as a /
feature in a landscape it would be dangerous
as yet to hazard opinion. The plan gives
promise of a curious rather than of pleas
ing object but vast as are the dimensions of
the cantilevers taken separately, they will
probably become less obtrusive, and will lose
some OF their peculiar character when they
are merged in wide view of sea and land.
Giving Artificial COIOrs to Flowers.
from the Milwaukee Wisconsin,
kEIr, 10 j