Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-08-06
MECHANICAL.

EDWARD BowD1rcH gives the heat.
units in one pound of coal as $1,000, and
in coke $500, best quality in each m
stance.
To KEEP silver-plated articles bright,
dip the articles occasionally in q solu-
ton of hyposulphide of soda. Large
articles, like pitchers and s~alvers,
should be wiped off with o rag. dipped
in the solution and dried with q soft
towel. By rubbing with a piece of cha
mois leather they will be as bright as
new.
The first automatic roller -four mill
wa the experimental roller mill of the
late Gov. Washburn, put in the Welsh
burn G Mill, in Minneapolis, in 1878.
and designed by w. D. Gray. One OF
er mills in Great Britain is hat of A.
w. Glenn Il Co., Glasgow. by the
same engineer. Their success has
made possible cheap flour.
AN observant machinery manufaet-
urer thinks there is one material adj
vantage in locating a foundry in the
second story of a machinery establish
ment, where the castings wanted are
light and room is important. His idea
is that anything can be put under q
foundry, while scarcely anything can
be put over it, owing to the fumes and
heat involved in Standardization
Mdchinist.
The greatest number of inventions
on any one subject in 1885 are those
relating to electricity, the number last
year being 1853, or 5.7S per cent. of the
whole number, which was %, $50. The
number of the last patent issued IN
1885 was 3d., 1876; of these about 1885,
672 are now in force (perhaps a few
more than that number), which is about
the number that was granted in the
last seventeen years up to the first Of
last January.
A GERMAN engineer is reported to be
the inventor of an improved constrnc-
ton of steam engine, the peculiar feat
ure of which consists in the dead GEN.
ter point being obviated. In this
arrangement o block is secured to the
piston rod, this block being provided
with a diagonal slot, through which the
crank pin passes. The slot has con-
cave edges facing each other, aud is
provided with a recess at each end.
The slide valve is attached to o rod
pivoted at the lower ends with tappets,
against which the ends of the sliding.
block strike, thus ~reciprocating the,
slide valve rod. The levers from which
the rods are suspended are provided
with spring arms for giving the desired
degree of expansion. .-.
In the new Pension building, at
Washington, D. c., recently erected,
are two steam, engines of peculiar de-
sign. They are placed IN the western
and eastern ends Of the building, ex-
tending through "louvres" in the: roof,
and having their foundations upon
heavy Il" beams built into the wallis.
They drive each q lO-ioot ventilating
fan keyed to a 6-inch shaft, which is
connected with the crank arm Of the,
engine. While of the ordinary slide
valve type, the striking feature is the
complete revolution of the cylinder.
The cylinder, 14-inch diameter and o.
inch stroke, is bolted to a hollow tYun-
Mon, with stutfing box at the top for
steam passage, and is provided on the
bottom with a stud which is connected
by a link with the upper end of the far
shaft. This fan shaft is twelve inches
, out of the center of the trunnion, OF
one-half the stroke, and by the recipro-
cation of the piston gives the reyolu:
tiOns To the cylinder and crank.