The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-09-19
THESE BOILERS
ARE QUEER ONES
Just Erected for the Economy Com
pany's Steam Plant.
ARE CONSTRUCTED ON NEW IDEAS
Nearly a Mile OF Tubing in Each and
Arc Non.Explosive...Each Will
Convert 5000 Pounds of Water
Into Commercial Steam Per Hour,
and Occupies a Floor Space Of but
Eleven Feet Five Inches..Will Re.
infOrce the Other Plant.

lECSe MnO nave OccaSlou " lIV-
quently pass over the Laclsawanna
avenue bridge have been wondering
what was meant by the three smoke
stacks which have reared themselves
high in the air above a new brick
structure just south OF the Cliff street
crossing of the Delaware, Lackawanna
and Western railroad. The three
stacks, each of which is 20 feet high,
lead from as many oddly shaped boil
ers just erected, and which will each
evaporate into commercial steam 5000
pounds of water per hour. The steam
will force itself into the network Of
pipes extending like a labyrinth be-
meath the city streets and from thence
into hundreds of houses and business
structures.
1t may be interesting to many 10
know something about these huge
monster boilers any one of which has q
steam capacity great enough to blow
into atoms-if the force was distribut-
ed--all the business places on lower
Lackawanna avenue. However. ther"
is no danger of that as mechanical
principle i'm the construction makes It
impossible for such a thing to happen
and that, too, without safety valves OF
any other automatic arrangement.
The three boilers look at first glance
like big oVereruwn hot air furnaces.
They are round. black and perpendicu-
lar and not like the square, horizontal
and brick -encased things one usually
secs. They are contained in an i'm
mense one-roOm brick building with Il
high iron truss roof. The boilers are
ranged along one side of the big open
space while along the other side is I
trestle work on which are run the rail-
road cars which bring the coal. Th"
coal is let through the hoppers Of the
cars down onto the cemented flooring
and there you are. That's all that Is
seen in the building at first glance.
DESCRIPTION OF BOILERS
But there is something more interest
ing. A description of one boiler APP
plies to all three. The base rests on Il
circular space only II feet and inches
in diameter, vet the boiler weighs g.
go pounds with water in it and Is n lit
an apple. there rests in the center n
steel drum over II feet high, Z. Of an
inch thick and 3is feet in diameter.
Now comes the novel part of The con-
struction. Attached to the steel water
drum are iao pieces of tubing each II
feet long and shaped like the letter L.
one end of each L is Il inches higher
than the other so as to permit the
vapor to rise. The 420 us are 2Ls inch
es in diameter and If stretched in ono
straight line would reach from the
court house almost to the county jail.
As stated, the ends of the US open in
10 the steel water drum and through
the whole 5000 pounds of water can
circulate each hour and be evaporatel
into commercial steam.
The erection of the boilers involved
over three months work and was per-
formed under the direction of Samuel
Sparling. mechanical engineer in the
employ of the Clonbrock Steam Boiler
company Of BROOKLYN How compli-
Gated the work Is may be Inferred from
the fact that man of average strength
could lift almost any one Of the boiler
parts. executing the big steel water
drum in the center. Bolts. not rivets.
are used in fastening the squares
forming the outside iron casing while
between the casing and the network of
tubes inside is lining of fire brick
which will make it possible to hold
ones hand on the outside surface
when the boilers are in use. The fire
brick is perforated and but little heat
is thrown off.
THREE MEN TO FEED THEM.
Day and night three men, one II
wheel ccal and two to shovel it be.
meath the boilers. will be occupied IN
keeping up the fires which will rest
on 81 square feet of CRATES in each
boiler The CRATES are Of the rocking
type and We're made by McClave,
Brooks Il Co., of this city. There
are eight separately manipulated
CRATES in each boiler.
The steam from the three boilers will
mingle with that which is generated
at the Economy company's other plant
at the terminus of Jefferson avenue:
the two systems will "neutralize," as
the engineers would express it. Judg.
ing from the capacity and what is
claimed for the system just described
Scrantonians will not shiver for want
of steam this winter. Whenever the
plant is taxed to it's full capacity
there remains enough space for the
erection of two more of those qlIeerly
shaped and attenuated looking boilers
which are called the "Morrin" type
and occupy only about once again as
much floor space as a large sized hot
air furnace.