St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1890-01-25
The Steam Boiler.
EFFORTS BEING MADE FOR IT'S IMPROVE
MENT-A STANDARD NEEDED.

MENT-A STANDARD NEEDED.
The ayowed purpose of the American
Boiler-makers' Association is to improve
the steam boiler by every means in their
power In boiler-making such thing
as a standard is unknown, and it is doubt
full if in any business of like magnitude
there is so wide difference between the de-
cidedly good and the decidedly bad. 1t
may be questioned, too, whether there is
any piece of machinery in which poor ma
terial and bad workmanship can be SO sue
cessfully concealed. By well-directed and
persistent effort much can be done to es-
tablish the use of only the best material
but it will be a more difficult task to Gre
ate standards of design and workmanship
and to have them adhered to. Having &C
complished this, the association should
turn their attention to the user OF boilers,
and it is here that they will find an under
taking herculean in it's proportions. They
must convince the user that the boiler is
an apparatus requiring more than shovel
fui of coal under it and bucket OF water
in it-that it needs some attention. The
coal it generally gets, but the water is oc-
casionally forgotten, and then it is that
the boiler, in way peculiarly It's own,
enthusiastically reminds it's owner of it's neg
lect.
AT the convention held in Pittsburg
last week 8 decided step was taken in the
right direction. Upon consultation with
several steel manufacturers present speci-
fications covering the most essential of the
chemical and physical characteristics of
g. standard steel plate to be sold only to
members of the association were adopted
The plate must not contain more than
9.04 per cent of phosphorus nor more than
9O3 per cent of sulphur. Beyond this the
composition of the plate is wisely left to
the Judgment of the steelmaker In its
physical properties the plate must have a
tensile strength of 90, 900 to $4,000 pounds
to the square inch and an elongation OF
from 20 to 25 per cent, according to thick
ness, The grooved or marine section used
by the Treasury Department and heartily
condemned by the Navy Department and
expert engineers is replaced by an eight
inch straight or reduced section. Reduc-
ton of area is discarded simply because 1t Is
impossible to obtain reliable results. An
admirable provision IS that stating that
tests shall be made at the steel works,
since this insures accurate results by those
experienced in testing.
We think the convention would have
acted more judiciously had it not stated
that s'iron as a material for general boiler
construction is out of date" That is, par
haps, true; nevertheless the manufacture
of iron boilers can not Immediately be pre-
vented. 1t is a question of time, md the
survival of the fJtest will settle the mat
ter. That the steel selected will be widely
adopted is more than probable, a,lthough
it is confessedly not the best for the puS-
pose that can be produced. 1t will an
swer the requirements, however, and can
be made by any steel works at reasona-
Bile cost. In the future, and depending
largely upon the progress 1eade in the
manufacture of steel, it will be the duty
of the association to adopt better grade.
Having selected steel satisfactory to, and
within the reach of all, the association
will be compelled to see to it that the steel
is not tortured while being put into a
boiler. This can only be accomplished by
a rigid and faithful system OF inspection
and relentless wedding out. The selec-
ton of standards governing design and
construction will require careful consider
alton aud much time-frst, to obtain the
best, and second, to procure their adoption.
Iron Age.