Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1899-03-30
MECHANICS AND INVENTION.

the Age of Steel One point noted is
that majority of belts are too short.
For this the architect OF the mill
these fellows who get up blue prints
are generally to blame. A belt 50
feet long will outlast by far one that
is only % feet. The slack of a belt
will enable it to withstand and re-
cover from the shock of the variable
load put on them The addition :.
cost of mill arranged for all the
belts to be reasonably long will be
repaid many times over in the saving
of belts, and the loss of valuable time
occasioned by short belts breaking
| Still another cause of belts, and es-
! pecially large ones that are used with
a tightener, breaking, is that entirely
! too much weight Is put on the tighte-
! ner in the tightener boxes. The object
of tightener is to prevent slipping off
the belt. If the tightener is not heavy
enough to prevent this, then a large
| box is put on, or adjusted by weights,
/ to the frame. Into this box, without
! any judgment whatever, hundreds of
| pounds of old castings or brick are
( placed to stop the belt from slipping
No mathematical calculation whatever
| is used A thousand pounds of extra
weight is often used when pounds
would answer The result is that the
/ belt is under a constant and severe
strain night and day.
rhe secret of casting copper, says
the Chicago Tribune, has been dis
covered Chemists and workers in
metals have been experimenting with
this problem for many years, but
complete success. It is said, has not
been attained until within the last
week IN the foundry OF the West
ern electric company from 300 to 500
pounds OF the metal are now being
successfully handled in this matter
each day, ana the discovery Is fraught
with great commercial value in the
manufacture of electrical machines
where the great bulk of all the copper
mined is being used So-called cop
per castings have been on the market
for many years, but it is said they
contained large percentage of foreign
iltLt-Ns III llNI DltlN AlilA anu
| which rendered the articles far
from perfect in the construction OF
dynamos, switch boards and other
electrical machines. The castings
made at the Western electric shops
have been made Of such pure copper
that 1892 per cent. cOnductiyity has
been obtained in one lot, and the aver
a, f., A
impurities remain in the copper, but
they are usually less than .S5 OF ]
per cent This achievement was ac-
compished by Bertrand S. Summers,
chief chemist for the company, who
has been working on the problem in
the laboratory for many months The
process is now in he hands of the'l
patent officials al Washington, and is
therefore. kept secret Only Mr.,
Summers and one or two of his assist
ants know the formula
An inventor in Newark, according TO
she New York sun, has succeeded in
| dnding a compound which will hold
alcohol in suspension in a solid form
and he declares that his discovery is
both new and useful Whether IL be
true that no one else has ever before
succeeded In getting alcohol into a
solid form, it is certain that no one
has put IL into the market in that
shape. There is no doubt as to the
usefulness and advantage Of such a
compound. The inventor contempates
I its use solely as a fuel Whether Il
! could DE used for other purposes does
not appear, but there seem TO be other
possibilities for IT, Although It smells
strongly OF the alcohol. the mixture
seems to be stable, and samples which
/ were put up In two-ounce tin boxes
I three months ago have lost little by
evaporation. II a lighted match is
/ touched 70 the alcohol paste il melts
on the surface and takes fire, burning
[ freely with the characteristic blue al
eohol fame, only with a tinge OF yell
low added at the outer part Burning
\ freely IN the box and giving a flame
l big enough TO heat a chafng-dish,
/ two-ounce box of paste kept lighted
/ for about two hours. where the same
alcohol in a liquid form would have
I burned out in 10 minutes,
( After the announcement OF any
scientific discovery Ii Is Q.ite usual
10 look for some practical use to which
I the new substance, machine, or
method may be put, and In the case Of
/ the Nquefaction Of hydrogen. which
I was accomplished during the year
\ JUST past. we have number OF uses
to which the LIQUID gas has been ap-
| piled by Prot Dewar One Of these
/ Is It's employment rs q eoudeuslnE
agent In obtaining very high yacua.
/ The method consists Of immersinE IN
The LIQUID hydrogen the end Of closed
| tube containing air. which then De-
comes condensed as solid air II now
| the portion OF the tube from which
the air has been removed BY condensa-