The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-04-10

Now They supersese o,A Methoas-A H,n
IN = Pebble Tor the Form OF u Ship-Ca,
1nvoative Faculty be Educated THE, IRE
sponse Made by n New York College.
otppia,,. 1929 Nv & s Mec,ue
One OF the characteristics OF mn inventive
mind is iudicious skepticism. Tho very fac
that method or n process dates from dis
tant past incites such a mind to q challenge
for how at timo OF scant knowledge ant
limited experience was the bost way OF doing
anything to be discovered2 That doubt can
be the beginning OF improvement was demon
strated ono day at copper mine In Arizona
where an Eastern engineer was watching the
foundations OF stamp mill as thoy were
being laid. A prodigality OF costly timber
rs we'll as goodly heap OF iron bolts
was strewn about '"What do you wan
all this for2" asked tho visitor. "Tc
mako the bod elastic" was tho answer
The reply. made many times before. on this
occasion failed to satisfy tho inquirer. Before
month had passed IL fell to his lot to erect a
stamp mill himself. and. dispensing with tim
Der foundations. ho placed his machinery d.
rectly on lodge Of solid rock. 1t was now
the miners turn to DO skeptical. They OK
pected that whom tho stamp mill should got
fairly under way It would pound itself to
pieces. for did not It's bed lack the elasticity
sanctioned by immemorial usagop But no (:
without tho slightest injury to itsof the ma
chinery turned out fifth moro work than II
It had been taxed with the useless lnbor Of
COMPRISING a yielding substructure with
every blow To-day stamps OF tho pattern OF
this particular mill are more than twice its
| weight, and In many mining camps In Arizona
and elsewhere timber foundations have boon
| discarded.
Sometimes Improvement takes tho form, not
| OF abandoning some old and useless element
| in construction. but in doing exactly tho oppo-
site Of an established practice. Whom build
ings were first heated by steam tho coils Of
piping were placed at the floor. since warm air.
1t was said. ascends. SO It does. But by now
way. which finds special favor in factories. tho
coils are attached not to tho floor but to the
| ceiling. Here heating by radiation is found
pleasanter than by currents OF warm dir sent
up from an iron surface. Besides. space is
saved. and rubbish cannot gather about the
pipes with liability to burst into flnme.
For the most part, however. tho labors Of In
ventors do not lie In by-paths such rs these.
but In the highway. where a familiar instru-
mont or machine receives Transforming adj
dition. as when tho carbon transmltter raised
the message Of the telephone from q whisper
to loudness: or when tho grooved needle arm
which ties up sheaf with yard of twine was
combined with the harvester-the last step in
making farming sedentary occupation.
sUPERsEDURE OF THE KNIFE EDGE SCALE.
While ingenuity In the main directs itself
simply 10 improving what 1t finds by giving 1t
new simplicity or compactncss. or In en-
ploylng more suitable materials for construc-
ton. or in adding single needed part. an in
ventor may take q totally different limo and
effect not improvement merely. but super
sedure. He sees q machine which has served
the world for centuries and deems its princ-
pie so defective that he sets about doing its
work in a distinctly new and better way
Take for example the ordinary weighing bal
ance The cross beam carrying the scale pans
vibrates on knife edge. This knife edge is
subject to serious injuries which impair its
accuracy. Tho sharper 1t is the sooner
does usage mako it dull: dirt grinds
its surface: rust attacks it Yet until
our day inventors have never thought Of max
ing the balance better except in using harder
metal for its knife. or in moro carefully shap-
ing the angle Of that knife. In tho scale
which Mr., Albert II. Emery OF Stamford.
Conn. has devised. he has dismissed the knife 7
edge and all its liability to harm. hits. stead
he uses short pieoe OF thin. well-tempered
steel. from which the cross beam IS sus-
pended. The principle Is the Same az that
long ago adopted In pendulum clocks. where
the upper part OF the pendulum wiro is flat
tened out so thin that the bob moves to
and fro with scarcely any. friction |
certainly with much less than IL it |
were hung from one surface rubbing |
on another In an Emery balance. |
200 pounds one portion In 1850. 900 |
Of its load has moved tho scale. The best per-
iormance OF knife edge balance. when new,
has never shown more than one-thirteenth
this responsiveness. And the Emery scale
has the further advantage OF not becoming
Impaired In use. Its inventor has stood upon
he pans Of q small balance and moved his
eet as II he wore working treadle On his
tho scale has proved to be as &C.
,urate rs before Applied to his testing ma
,hine Mr.. Emerys thin steel plates enable him
o register with tho utmost precision the
train required either to rupture q stout steel
,ar or to sever horse hair.
THE OIL LAW DISCARDED.
As some 200 patents testify. favorlte at
empt OF inventors has been to discover means
Il aboishing the need for lubricants The
i'm has been to find for the rubbing surfaces
4 machinery metal 80 smooth rs to need no
ling. As long ago as 1927. Jacob Perkins. an
american domiciled In England. devised an
ngine In which steam at q pressure OF 300
ounds to tho square inch was used. This
ressure meant q temperature 80 high as to
har the lubricating oils. Perkins overcame
he difficulty by making the parts In contact Of
n alloy which. working with less fric.
lon than iron oiled in the ordinary
ray. REQUIRED no fabrication. Through
ack Of durability. the general fault In alloys
this class the Perkins compound failed to
o away with the oil can. The germ OF per-
lament success was to como at later day.
'hen powdered black lead was first mployed
, reduce the friction OF machinery. This
fetal puts as smooth polish on nm axle or a |
caring as on the surface Of n stove. On in
reduction It was soon widely used. sometimes
li1ticalty with tho mixture vas that It would
seded. In seeking this bond Mr. +. ii.
!olmes,, ,experimenting in machine. shop
10th in turn. without success success At length.
God pulp on a largo scale. It occurred ,
} him to blend the black lead with moist pulp
nd compress the mass. He was now seeking !
make the metal servo as q material for henri !
igs instead Of lubricant applied externally
bearings. In the process to which DO came !
to ha n nj rto NJ N RI tan |