Evening star., 1909-07-11
Science Notes.

A Pittsburg company. which has held
for some time the record for the manu-
facture OF heavy steel rolls, used in the
manufacture of heavy plates of iron and
steel, recently performed a feat which
outstripped all previous records. This
last roll is AZ by 152 inches. and meas
ures near twenty feet over all. The Illus
tration shows this roll during the proc
ess of turning. With several others it
fills an order from the Otis Steel Com
pany. limited. Cleveland. Ohio. where it
will be used for rolling steel plates over
twelve feet wide. The previous largest
chilled roll was made by the same manu.
facturer for the Worth Brothers Com
pany, Coatesville Pa, but the above
mentioned is slightly heavier, Weighing
1900 pounds.
There have been many suggestions for
electrical systems in which are combined
burglar and fire alarms with telephones,
but novel combination of this charac-
ter is covered in a recent patent grant
to c. Z. Puell of North Plainf1eld, N.
j.. for a telephone system adapted to
operate In connection with an automatic
sprinkler system. The apparatus Is 80
designed that In case of a lowering of
pressure in the sprinkler system stand
pipe, due to the opening of any of the
sprinklers, a number signal will be sent
in on the telephone circuit associated
with it. In the working out of the sys-
tenn the lowering of the pressure causes
the admission of a water supply to a
motor which, in turn, operates q gen.
orator and make-and-break device;
these two together furnishing the cur
rent impulses to determine the number
sent in on the telephone. The system
also contemplates signals for indicating
any tampering with the main valve.
A rather elaborate program has been
entered into by the city of Los Angeles
supply. to be brought from the foot OF
the Sierra Nevadas couple of hundred
miles away from the point of delivery.
The complete system Of reservoirs and
conduits. which is to be known as the
Los Angeles aqueduct, will consist of
"a the Long Valley reservoir, at the
head of Owens Valley. with 14O-foot
dam: CD the channel of the Owens river
to Charleys Butte; 81 sixty miles of
canal and conduit of capacity varying
reservoir, with a seventy -five-foot dam
at the lower end; (5) 40 miles of conduit
of 43O second-feet capacity; 90 Fernando
reservoir ], of 15,94O acre-feet capacity.
with a 120-foot dam; % Fernando reser-
voir 2. of 20.66O acre-feet capacity, with
"a 13O-foot dam. The supply will consist
Of the Owens river at Charleys Butte, as
regulated by the Long Valley reservoir,
plus that of all springs and streams from
Taboose to Ash Creeks, inclusive. or its
equivalent. This system will be adequate
to deliver from the lower end Of Fer
nando reservoirs a continuous flow Of 400
second-feet under the most adverse con-
ditions, with the possible exception Of q
dry period Of two or more consecutive
years. which may occur once in fifty
years. Part this project has required
the building Of a covered canal through
the Mojave desert. which, while not diff
cult, was. nevertheless. an interesting
through the desert with a steam dredger,
the path OF which was followed by an
excavator especially built for this work
and which left a trench Of such finished
| character that it was ready for concrete.