St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-11-07
THINK IT A JOKE.
Some Of the Aldermen See
Fun in the Pump Investi-
cation.
As a Consequence, They Know
Less Now Than Before
Starting.
H. Jay Smith Successfully
Tested the Barrel Con-
Struction Idea.
Addition to Library Relics
Too Much Jaw Caused
Trouble.

The pump investigating co mmittee
met again last evening, and, in spite of
the fact that several expert witnesses
had been formally subpGnaed, is more
at sea than ever as to the cause of the
breakage of the pump. The aldermen,
with the exception of Aid. Rollins and
Aid. Hunter, were inclined to
treat the matter as huge
| joke, and after few moments
proceeded to cock up their feet on con-
venient desks and doZe. Even Aid.
Hunter. who exhibited much ginger in
inquisitiveness during the early part of
the session. fell into trance when Mr..
Rinker sprung a map OF the city show
ing the water system and proceeded to
talk figures reaching into the millions.
Prof. William A. Pike, after being
sworn and after stating that he was
| professor of engineering at the state
university and that he superintended
tie testing of the pumps, he proceeded
to outline the features of the test. He
stated that the steam pressure, water
pressure and rapidity of the strokes of
! the pumps were taken every fifteen
minutes; that diagrams were kept indi-
eating the pressure in the water cylin-
derS, and also that records were kept of
! the barometer and thermometer read
| lngS and diagrams taken of the steam
| indicators of the engines.
In answer to questions from Aid.
! Bradish, lie stated that the engines met
all tie requirements Of the specitica
| lions, and that, to the best Of his knOwl-
edge and recollection. they did not at
| n nv FOL hall fEA
! their working being very uniform. On
| being asked about the boi Ter test, he
stated that the specifications did not re-
| qulre ii, bnt it was made by Prof. Barr,
principally for the satisfaction of him
self and Prof. Pike, as the boilers were
a novelty i'll this part of the country.
Prof. Pike stated that he understood
that valve had been left open near
! the pumping station during the
| test TO discharge the surplus
water pumped during the test, but
stated that this made no difference in
the resUlta of the test. The tax OH
the engines was no greater nor no
J less than if it were distributed through
the city. Here Aid. Hunter created
am uSement by inQuiring of Prof. Pike
| If he was a practical engineer. The
| professor stated in reply that he was
not practical laboripg mechanic. Aid.
Hunter then inquired If he was not sur
! priSed at the breakage of the pumps,
and when he replied that he was asked
! him the cause of his surprise.
! Prof. Pike stated that he was sur
| prised because he had always had a
good opinion of the work done by the
! WOlthihgtons.
Aid. Rollins then inquired OF the pro-
fessOr if One-and- five-siXteenth -Of-an-
inch slot in tive-inch piston shaft would
, weaken it perceptiOly, and elected the
reply that of course it would lessen the
area and consequently the strength.
At the request of Aid. BradIsh Prof.
Pike con puted the area and resistance
OF the piston shaft, ana later in the
| evening reported the result. He stated
that the 5-inch rod, allowing for the D.
| l6-inch slot, would have net area of
Is 22-lCO inches. This, with total of
- pounds on the plunger. would give a
! pressure of 40 pounds to the square
inch on the rod or shaft.
With load of $50 pounds, the create
which occurred during the test, the
! pressure on the rod would be 6,640.
The steel used in the rod should. he
| said, stand pressure of from 5000 TO
! 10000 pounds. This was only half what
would tie considered safe load.
! In this connection c. \. Hague, agent
of the WUrthingtOn company, stated
that the ultimate tensile strength of the
rcd per square inch was about $1,000
pounds. After Mr.. Pike had left the
stand Aid. BradiSh wanted to have
Andrew Bergstrom, engineer at the
pump-hOuSe, but Aid. Hunter object
ed on the ground that Bergstrom'
testimony would take too long. He
wanted to hear from City Engineer
Rinker. Aid. Bradish said: Lets
hear from BergstrOm and get through
with this matter" and Aid. Hunter re-
piled that he did not propose to stay all
night. lie wanted to have Rinker give
the committee little insight into the
! history of the Eastern trip and the pur-
chase of the pumps, and if Rinker was
not put Oh the stand, he would move to
adjourn. Aid. Bradish then said:
Now want it understood at once"
said Bradish. THAT do not propose to
come all the way from home to hold
meeting for half hOnr, and also that
! this committee doesn't want to go into
ancient history. The committee was
| appointed TO investigate the cause of
the brakeage of the pumps, and it cuts
no figure whether Mr.. Rinker went
East or not, or why the pumps were
| bought. What we want to know is why
| the pumps broke"
Aid. Hunter said the committee had
been appointed to investigate and
not limited in its powers, and for his
part he proposed that it should be a
thorough investigation. 1t would not