Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1893-06-01
BCIENCE AND INDUSTRY.
WHAT INVENTIVE GENlUsESARE
DOING FOR MAN.

WHAT INVENTIVE GENIUsESARE
DOING FOR MAN.
IA 3O-Ton Engine at the Top Of a Ia.
Story Building-The Phenom.
enon Of ProJectiles--"Horse
Power" OF Boilers...Glass
Lined Pipes.
Ia 3O.Ton Engine Mt the TOP of n Ia
Story Building.
A few years ago the statement that
engines were planted
high and low, and even
h In the upper stories Of Claus Spreckcls'
d sugar refinery in Philadelphia, was re-
Il ceiyed with great interest by the me-
chanical world. But Westinghouse
y engine is self-contained. and will run In
any position; in fact, one was run at
one of the Charitable Mechanic fairs
4 in Boston inverted. that is, suspended
Il from the under side of shelf. In the
palatial new Waldorf hotel In New
4 York, there is still more of Il novelty,
Il however involving a very nice problem
q in constructive detail. The hotel is Il
fourteen-story building and in the
NJ laundry. situated on the top floor, 1t
kEwos desired to have special engine
IA drive the mangler and other machin-
Merry. The engine is a 14X16-inch horl-
SSEzontal. making 125 turns 4 minute ana
at SO-horse power, and WIN lts
weighs thirty tons. 1t was
sessential that the operations OF the en-
should be accompanied by no per-
noise or vibration. The hoor
#Sof the building is laid upon brick arches
turned between l beams. 1usl oSel
4 these main floor arches. for the space
to he occupied by the engine three
u tIroiva-;nch beams were arranged,
ono end resting upon an outer wall ana
tho other in n part of the internal iron
framework. These three beams We're
holted through and through, prick
arches turned between them and the
ron concreted flush. Upon the top OIL
the two outer beams and conforming
to the shape of the engine bed stone, u
2 six-inch angle frame was bolted, 1orm-
inc in effect a shallow rectangular pan.
LAYERS of hair felt were then cut to
shonn and placed within the frames.
mis- was laid on to such thickness that
II maintained a depth Of four inches
after the twelye-nch granite bed stone
had heen placed upon it. The bed
stone rests two inches below the top OF
tho angle frame, and on the power
transmitting side of the engine implnges
against it to guard against thrust OF
other movement The engine frame ~
fastened to the cap stone by bolts. IMs
entire carrying frame is thus Dullt sep
arate from the floor structure proper,
and the arrangement has Deen louhu
to secure the desired freedom from
shock and noise.
Electricity In Quantities to suit.
Electricity, once a plaything, then a
scientific study, is now a commercial
nrod,ct. Twenty years ago electric
energy was generated in the laboratory
for experimental purposes by few
nhvsicians as a medicine of somewhat
questionable repute, and in week cur
rents by those who applied it to use In
the arts. From the cylinder Of glass
or mastic, excited by friction to set cork
mannkins or pitch balls dancing TO
the DYNAMO that runs from one to
dozen powerful engines is a long STEP
but one that has been taken WITHIN the
memory Of mer. who still call them
selves young.
Electricity as commercial product
is to those that deal in it as common
Mace an affair as eggs or butter. Inc
conditions and cost Of it's production
arc nositiyely known, and the product
NAV be measured almost as the CLERK
With his yardstick measures dry goods.
You may buy your electricity by spe-
cific quantities, and if you have the con-
.yeniences, may carry it home with you
as YOU would carry any other purchase.
It can be sent to you by express or de-
liyered by messenger, or it may be
served out over wire in measured
quantity, as gas and water are served
through pipes. All this seems mysteri-
ons to those not technically educated,
because the electricity shops do not
count their product by dozens or meas
IRE it by yards and gallons, but use out
landish denominations and puzzling
scientific nomenclature. Nevertheless
the storekeepers are at home with the
mysterious timber thing in which they
deal, and they never stop to think about
its mystery, although just beyond the
small field which their knowledge COW
ers there lies an unknown area OF con-
lecture.
Electricity as a commercial product
and a handy too, applicable to any
thing that mechanical power can &c.
complish, is thing approximately Of
only the last ten years. Before that
time it's cost made is mostly matter
of splendid practical possibilities. Now,
with conditions given, a skilled electri.
clan can estimate to hair the cost OF
producing the amount Of electricity
necessary to yield a specified power.
1t is chiefly question of the cost of
coal.
Glazing us n Science.
Glazing is being exploited as science
by MI Edward Atkinson, who in re-
cent talk told most Interestingly Of Ger.