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LIPPINCOTT'S MAGAZINE OF POPULAR LITERATURE AND SCIENCE

January, 1873

Volume XI, No. 22







CONTENTS.

IRON BRIDGES, AND THEIR CONSTRUCTION by EDWARD ROWLAND.
SEARCHING FOR THE QUININE-PLANT IN PERU.
PROBATIONER LEONHARD; OR, THREE NIGHTS IN THE HAPPY VALLEY
by CAROLINE CHESEBRO'.
CHAPTER I. OUR HERO.
CHAPTER II. IN THE HAPPY VALLEY.
CHAPTER III. HIGH ART.
THE IRISH CAPITAL by REGINALD WYNFORD.
THE MAESTRO'S CONFESSION (ANDREA DAL CASTAGNO--1460.)
by MARGARET J. PRESTON.
MONSIEUR FOURNIER'S EXPERIMENT by CORNELIUS DEWEES.
A VISIT TO THE KING OF AURORA (FROM THE GERMAN OF THEODORE KIRSCHOFF.)
by ELIZABETH SILL.
GRAY EYES by ELLA WILLIAMS THOMPSON.
REMINISCENCES OF FLORENCE by MARIE HOWLAND.
THE SOUTHERN PLANTER by WILL WALLACE HARNEY.
BABES IN THE WOOD by EDGAR FAWCETT.
MY CHARGE ON THE LIFE-GUARDS by CHARLES L. NORTON.
PAINTING AND A PAINTER.
OUR MONTHLY GOSSIP.
WILHELMINE VON HILLERN.
HIS NAME? by M. J. P.
UNPUBLISHED LETTER FROM LORD NELSON TO LADY HAMILTON.
"WHITE-HAT" DAY by K. H.
MR. SOTHERN AS GARRICK by M. M.
NOTES.
LITERATURE OF THE DAY.
Forster, John--The Life of Charles Dickens, Vol. II
Gautier, Theophile--Emaux et Camees
Alcott, A. Bronson--Concord Days
Hanum, Melek--Thirty Years in the Harem
Gale, Ethel C.--Hints on Dress
Sketch Map of the Nile Sources and Lake Region of Central
Africa, showing Dr. Livingstone's Discoveries and Mr. Stanley's
Route
Books Received




ILLUSTRATIONS

WILHELMINE VON HILLERN, Author of "Only a Girl," "By His Own Might," etc.
[See Our Monthly Gossip.]

"ASSEMBLING" BRIDGE UNDER SHED.

THE LYMAN VIADUCT.

BLAST-FURNACES.

DUMPING ORE AND COAL INTO BLAST-FURNACES.

ELEVATOR.

THE ENGINE-ROOM.

RUNNING METAL INTO PIGS.

CARRYING THE IRON BALLS.

ROTARY SQUEEZER.

BOILING-FURNACE.

THE ROLLS.

COLD SAW.

HOT SAW.

RIVETING A COLUMN.

FURNACE AND HYDRAULIC DIE.

VIEW OF MACHINE-SHOP

NEW RIVER BRIDGE ON ITS STAGING.

BRIDGE AT ALBANY.

LA SALLE BRIDGE.

BRIDGE AT AUGUSTA, MAINE.

SACO BRIDGE.

PHOENIX WORKS.

"THE FIRST FORD OF THE CCONI WAS PASSED JUST OUTSIDE THE TOWN."

"GENTLEMEN, I AM JUAN THE NEPHEW OF ARAGON."

"THE STRAW SHEDS AND GRASSY PLAZA OF CHILE-CHILE."

"CHAUPICHACA WAS MARKED WITH A SQUARE TERMINAL PILLAR."

"THE MAMABAMBA WAS CROSSED BY AN EXTEMPORIZED BRIDGE."

"THE EXAMINADOR AND THE COLONEL HOPPED VALIANTLY OVER THE MENDOZA".

"THE REPUTED GOLD-BEARING RIVER OR OUITUBAMBA ROLLED FROM ITS TUNNEL."




[Illustration: WILHELMINE VON HILLERN, Author of "Only a Girl," "By
His Own Might," etc. (See Our Monthly Gossip.)]




IRON BRIDGES, AND THEIR CONSTRUCTION.

[Illustration: "ASSEMBLING" BRIDGE UNDER SHED.]


In a graveyard in Watertown, a village near Boston, Massachusetts, there
is a tombstone commemorating the claims of the departed worthy who lies
below to the eternal gratitude of posterity. The inscription is dated in
the early part of this century (about 1810), but the name of him who was
thus immortalized has faded like the date of his death from my memory,
while the deed for which he was distinguished, and which was recorded
upon his tombstone, remains clear. "He built the famous bridge over the
Charles River in this town," says the record. The Charles River is here
a small stream, about twenty to thirty feet wide, and the bridge was a
simple wooden structure.

[Illustration: THE LYMAN VIADUCT.]

Doubtless in its day this structure was considered an engineering feat
worthy of such posthumous immortality as is gained by an epitaph, and
afforded such convenience for transportation as was needed by the
commercial activity of that era. From that time, however, to this, the
changes which have occurred in our commercial and industrial methods are
so fully indicated by the changes of our manner and method of
bridge-building that it will not be a loss of time to investigate the
present condition of our abilities in this most useful branch of
engineering skill.

In the usual archaeological classification of eras the Stone Age
precedes that of Iron, and in the history of bridge-building the same
sequence has been preserved. Though the knowledge of working iron was
acquired by many nations at a pre-historic period, yet in quite modern
times--within this century, even--the invention of new processes and the
experience gained of new methods have so completely revolutionized this
branch of industry, and given us such a mastery over this material,
enabling us to apply it to such new uses, that for the future the real
Age of Iron will date from the present century.

The knowledge of the arch as a method of construction with stone or
brick--both of them materials aptly fitted for resistance under
pressure, but of comparatively no tensile strength--enabled the Romans
to surpass all nations that had preceded them in the course of history
in building bridges. The bridge across the Danube, erected by
Apollodorus, the architect of Trajan's Column, was the largest bridge
built by the Romans. It was more than three hundred feet in height,
composed of twenty-one arches resting upon twenty piers, and was about
eight hundred feet in length. It was after a few years destroyed by the
emperor Adrian, lest it should afford a means of passage to the
barbarians, and its ruins are still to be seen in Lower Hungary.

With the advent of railroads bridge-building became even a greater
necessity than it had ever been before, and the use of iron has enabled
engineers to grapple with and overcome difficulties which only fifty
years ago would have been considered hopelessly insurmountable. In this
modern use of iron advantage is taken of its great tensile strength, and
many iron bridges, over which enormous trains of heavily-loaded cars
pass hourly, look as though they were spun from gossamer threads, and
yet are stronger than any structure of wood or stone would be.

[Illustration: BLAST-FURNACES.]

Another great advantage of an iron bridge over one constructed of wood
or stone is the greater ease with which it can, in every part of it, be
constantly observed, and every failing part replaced. Whatever material
may be used, every edifice is always subject to the slow disintegrating
influence of time and the elements. In every such edifice as a bridge,
use is a process of constant weakening, which, if not as constantly
guarded against, must inevitably, in time, lead to its destruction.

[Illustration: DUMPING ORE AND COAL INTO BLAST-FURNACES.]

In a wooden or stone bridge a beam affected by dry rot or a stone
weakened by the effects of frost may lie hidden from the inspection of
even the most vigilant observer until, when the process has gone far
enough, the bridge suddenly gives way under a not unusual strain, and
death and disaster shock the community into a sense of the inherent
defects of these materials for such structures.

The introduction of the railroad has brought about also another change
in the bridge-building of modern times, compared with that of all the
ages which have preceded this nineteenth century. The chief bridges of
ancient times were built as great public conveniences upon thoroughways
over which there was a large amount of travel, and consequently were
near the cities or commercial centres which attracted such travel, and
were therefore placed where they were seen by great numbers. Now,
however, the connection between the chief commercial centres is made by
the railroads, and these penetrate immense distances, through
comparatively unsettled districts, in order to bring about the needed
distribution; and in consequence many of the great railroad bridges are
built in the most unfrequented spots, and are unseen by the numerous
passengers who traverse them, unconscious that they are thus easily
passing over specimens of engineering skill which surpass, as objects of
intelligent interest, many of the sights they may be traveling to see.

[Illustration: ELEVATOR.]

The various processes by which the iron is prepared to be used in
bridge-building are many of them as new as is the use of this material
for this purpose, and it will not be amiss to spend a few moments in
examining them before presenting to our readers illustrations of some of
the most remarkable structures of this kind. Taking a train by the
Reading Railroad from Philadelphia, we arrive, in about an hour, at
Phoenixville, in the Schuylkill Valley, where the Phoenix Iron-and
Bridge-works are situated. In this establishment we can follow the iron
from its original condition of ore to a finished bridge, and it is the
only establishment in this country, and most probably in the world,
where this can be seen.

[Illustration: THE ENGINE-ROOM.]

These works were established in 1790. In 1827 they came into the
possession of the late David Reeves, who by his energy and enterprise
increased their capacity to meet the growing demands of the time, until
they reached their present extent, employing constantly over fifteen
hundred hands.

[Illustration: RUNNING METAL INTO PIGS.]

The first process is melting the ore in the blast-furnace. Here the ore,
with coal and a flux of limestone, is piled in and subjected to the heat
of the fires, driven by a hot blast and kept burning night and day. The
iron, as it becomes melted, flows to the bottom of the furnace, and is
drawn off below in a glowing stream. Into the top of the blast-furnaces
the ore and coal are dumped, having been raised to the top by an
elevator worked by a blast of air. It is curious to notice how slowly
the experience was gathered from which has re suited the ability to
work iron as it is done here. Though even at the first settlement of
this country the forests of England had been so much thinned by their
consumption in the form of charcoal in her iron industry as to make a
demand for timber from this country a flourishing trade for the new
settlers, yet it was not until 1612 that a patent was granted to Simon
Sturtevant for smelting iron by the consumption of bituminous coal.
Another patent for the same invention was granted to John Ravenson the
next year, and in 1619 another to Lord Dudley; yet the process did not
come into general use until nearly a hundred years later.

[Illustration: CARRYING THE IRON BALLS.]

The blast for the furnace is driven by two enormous engines, each of
three hundred horse-power. The blast used here is, as we have said, a
hot one, the air being heated by the consumption of the gases evolved
from the material itself. The gradual steps by which these successive
modifications were introduced is an evidence of how slowly industrial
processes have been perfected by the collective experience of
generations, and shows us how much we of the present day owe to our
predecessors. From the earliest times, as among the native smiths of
Africa to-day, the blast of a bellows has been used in working iron to
increase the heat of the combustion by a more plentiful supply of
oxygen. The blast-furnace is supposed to have been first used in
Belgium, and to have been introduced into England in 1558. Next came the
use of bituminous coal, urged with a blast of cold air. But it was not
until 1829 that Neilson, an Englishman, conceived the idea of heating
the air of the blast, and carried it out at the Muirkirk furnaces. In
that year he obtained a patent for this process, and found that he could
from the same quantity of fuel make three times as much iron. His patent
made him very rich: in one single case of infringement he received a
cheque for damages for one hundred and fifty thousand pounds. In his
method, however, he used an extra fire for heating the air of his blast.
In 1837 the idea of heating the air for the blast by the gases generated
in the process was first practically introduced by M. Faber Dufour at
Wasseralfingen in the kingdom of Wuertemberg.

In this country, charcoal was at first used universally for smelting
iron, anthracite coal being considered unfit for the purpose. In 1820 an
unsuccessful attempt to use it was made at Mauch Chunk. In 1833,
Frederick W. Geisenhainer of Schuylkill obtained a patent for the use of
the hot blast with anthracite, and in 1835 produced the first iron made
with this process. In 1841, C.E. Detmold adapted the consumption of the
gases produced by the smelting to the use of anthracite; and since then
it has become quite general, and has caused an almost incalculable
saving to the community in the price of iron.

The view of the engines which pump the blast will give an idea of the
immense power which the Phoenix company has at command. Twice every day
the furnace is tapped, and the stream of liquid iron flows out into
moulds formed in the sand, making the iron into pigs--so called from a
fancied resemblance to the form of these animals. This makes the first
process, and in many smelting-establishments this is all that is done,
the iron in this form being sold and entering into the general
consumption.

The next process is "boiling," which is a modification of "puddling,"
and is generally used in the best iron-works in this country. The
process of puddling was invented by Henry Cort, an Englishman, and
patented by him in 1783 and 1784 as a new process for "shingling,
welding and manufacturing iron and steel into bars, plates and rods of
purer quality and in larger quantity than heretofore, by a more
effectual application of fire and machinery." For this invention Cort
has been called "the father of the iron-trade of the British nation,"
and it is estimated that his invention has, during this century, given
employment to six millions of persons, and increased the wealth of Great
Britain by three thousand millions of dollars. In his experiments for
perfecting his process Mr. Cort spent his fortune, and though it proved
so valuable, he died poor, having been involved by the government in a
lawsuit concerning his patent which beggared him. Six years before his
death, the government, as an acknowledgment of their wrong, granted him
a yearly pension of a thousand dollars, and at his death this miserly
recompense was reduced to his widow to six hundred and twenty-five
dollars.

[Illustration: ROTARY SQUEEZER.]

[Illustration: BOILING-FURNACE.]

When iron is simply melted and run into any mould, its texture is
granular, and it is so brittle as to be quite unreliable for any use
requiring much tensile strength. The process of puddling consisted in
stirring the molten iron run out in a puddle, and had the effect of so
changing its atomic arrangement as to render the process of rolling it
more efficacious. The process of boiling is considered an improvement
upon this. The boiling-furnace is an oven heated to an intense heat by a
fire urged with a blast. The cast-iron sides are double, and a constant
circulation of water is kept passing through the chamber thus made, in
order to preserve the structure from fusion by the heat. The inside is
lined with fire-brick covered with metallic ore and slag over the bottom
and sides, and then, the oven being charged with the pigs of iron, the
heat is let on. The pigs melt, and the oven is filled with molten iron.
The puddler constantly stirs this mass with a bar let through a hole in
the door, until the iron boils up, or "ferments," as it is called. This
fermentation is caused by the combustion of a portion of the carbon in
the iron, and as soon as the excess of this is consumed, the cinders
and slag sink to the bottom of the oven, leaving the semi-fluid mass on
the top. Stirring this about, the puddler forms it into balls of such a
size as he can conveniently handle, which are taken out and carried on
little cars, made to receive them, to "the squeezer."

[Illustration: THE ROLLS.]

To carry on this process properly requires great skill and judgment in
the puddler. The heat necessarily generated by the operation is so great
that very few persons have the physical endurance to stand it. So great
is it that the clothes upon the person frequently catch fire. Such a
strain upon the physical powers naturally leads those subjected to it to
indulge in excesses. The perspiration which flows from the puddlers in
streams while engaged in their work is caused by the natural effort of
their bodies to preserve themselves from injury by keeping their normal
temperature. Such a consumption of the fluids of the body causes great
thirst, and the exhaustion of the labor, both bodily and mental, leads
often to the excessive use of stimulants. In fact, the work is too
laborious. Its conditions are such that no one should be subjected to
them. The necessity, however, for judgment, experience and skill on the
part of the operator has up to this time prevented the introduction of
machinery to take the place of human labor in this process. The
successful substitution in modern times of machines for performing
various operations which formerly seemed to require the intelligence and
dexterity of a living being for their execution, justifies the
expectation that the study now being given to the organization of
industry will lead to the invention of machines which will obviate the
necessity for human suffering in the process of puddling. Such a
consummation would be an advantage to all classes concerned. The
attempts which have been made in this direction have not as yet proved
entirely successful.

In the squeezer the glowing ball of white-hot iron is placed, and forced
with a rotary motion through a spiral passage, the diameter of which is
constantly diminishing. The effect of this operation is to squeeze all
the slag and cinder out of the ball, and force the iron to assume the
shape of a short thick cylinder, called "a bloom." This process was
formerly performed by striking the ball of iron repeatedly with a
tilt-hammer.

[Illustration: COLD SAW.]

The bloom is now re-heated and subjected to the process of rolling. "The
rolls" are heavy cylinders of cast iron placed almost in contact, and
revolving rapidly by steam-power. The bloom is caught between these
rollers, and passed backward and forward until it is pressed into a flat
bar, averaging from four to six inches in width, and about an inch and a
half thick. These bars are then cut into short lengths, piled, heated
again in a furnace, and re-rolled. After going through this process they
form the bar iron of commerce. From the iron reduced into this form the
various parts used in the construction of iron bridges are made by being
rolled into shape, the rolls through which the various parts pass having
grooves of the form it is desired to give to the pieces.

[Illustration: HOT SAW.]

[Illustration: RIVETING A COLUMN.]

These rolls, when they are driven by steam, obtain this generally from a
boiler placed over the heating-or puddling-furnace, and heated by the
waste gases from the furnace. This arrangement was first made by John
Griffin, the superintendent of the Phoenix Iron-works, under whose
direction the first rolled iron beams over nine inches thick that were
ever made were produced at these works. The process of rolling toughens
the iron, seeming to draw out its fibres; and iron that has been twice
rolled is considered fit for ordinary uses. For the various parts of a
bridge, however, where great toughness and tensile strength are
necessary, as well as uniformity of texture, the iron is rolled a third
time. The bars are therefore cut again into pieces, piled, re-heated and
rolled again. A bar of iron which has been rolled twice is formed from
a pile of fourteen separate pieces of iron that have been rolled only
once, or "muck bar," as it is called; while the thrice-rolled bar is
made from a pile of eight separate pieces of double-rolled iron. If,
therefore, one of the original pieces of iron has any flaw or defect, it
will form only a hundred and twelfth part of the thrice-rolled bar. The
uniformity of texture and the toughness of the bars which have been
thrice rolled are so great that they may be twisted, cold, into a knot
without showing any signs of fracture. The bars of iron, whether hot or
cold, are sawn to the various required lengths by the hot or cold saws
shown in the illustrations, which revolve with great rapidity.

[Illustration: FURNACE AND HYDRAULIC DIE.]

For the columns intended to sustain the compressive thrust of heavy
weights a form is used in this establishment of their own design, and to
which the name of the "Phoenix column" has been given. They are tubes
made from four or from eight sections rolled in the usual way and
riveted together at their flanges. When necessary, such columns are
joined together by cast-iron joint-blocks, with circular tenons which
fit into the hollows of each tube.

To join two bars to resist a strain of tension, links or eye-bars are
used from three to six inches wide, and as long as may be needed. At
each end is an enlargement with a hole to receive a pin. In this way any
number of bars can be joined together, and the result of numerous
experiments made at this establishment has shown that under sufficient
strain they will part as often in the body of the bar as at the joint.
The heads upon these bars are made by a process known as die-forging.
The bar is heated to a white heat, and under a die worked by hydraulic
pressure the head is shaped and the hole struck at one operation. This
method of joining by pins is much more reliable than welding. The pins
are made of cold-rolled shafting, and fit to a nicety.

The general view of the machine-shop, which covers more than an acre of
ground, shows the various machines and tools by which iron is planed,
turned, drilled and handled as though it were one of the softest of
materials. Such a machine-shop is one of the wonders of this century.
Most of the operations performed there, and all of the tools with which
they are done, are due entirely to modern invention, many of them within
the last ten years. By means of this application of machines great
accuracy of work is obtained, and each part of an iron bridge can be
exactly duplicated if necessary. This method of construction is entirely
American, the English still building their iron bridges mostly with
hand-labor. In consequence also of this method of working, American iron
bridges, despite the higher price of our iron, can successfully compete
in Canada with bridges of English or Belgian construction. The American
iron bridges are lighter than those of other nations, but their absolute
strength is as great, since the weight which is saved is all dead
weight, and not necessary to the solidity of the structure. The same
difference is displayed here that is seen in our carriages with their
slender wheels, compared with the lumbering, heavy wagons of European
construction.

[Illustration: VIEW OF MACHINE-SHOP.]

Before any practical work upon the construction of a bridge is begun the
data and specifications are made, and a plan of the structure is drawn,
whether it is for a railroad or for ordinary travel, whether for a
double or single track, whether the train is to pass on top or below,
and so on. The calculations and plans are then made for the use of such
dimensions of iron that the strain upon any part of the structure shall
not exceed a certain maximum, usually fixed at ten thousand pounds to
the square inch. As the weight of the iron is known, and its tensile
strength is estimated at sixty thousand pounds per square inch, this
estimate, which is technically called "a factor of safety" of six, is a
very safe one. In other words, the bridge is planned and so constructed
that in supporting its own weight, together with any load of locomotives
or cars which can be placed upon it, it shall not be subjected to a
strain over one-sixth of its estimated strength.

[Illustration: NEW RIVER BRIDGE ON ITS STAGING.]

After the plan is made, working drawings are prepared and the process of
manufacture commences. The eye-bars, when made, are tested in a
testing-machine at double the strain which by any possibility they can
be put to in the bridge itself. The elasticity of the iron is such that
after being submitted to a tension of about thirty thousand pounds to
the square inch it will return to its original dimensions; while it is
so tough that the bars, as large as two inches in diameter, can be bent
double, when cold, without showing any signs of fracture. Having stood
these tests, the parts of the bridge are considered fit to be used.

[Illustration: BRIDGE AT ALBANY.]

When completed the parts are put together--or "assembled," as the
technical phrase is--in order to see that they are right in length, etc.
Then they are marked with letters or numbers, according to the working
plan, and shipped to the spot where the bridge is to be permanently
erected. Before the erection can be begun, however, a staging or
scaffolding of wood, strong enough to support the iron structure until
it is finished, has to be raised on the spot. When the bridge is a large
one this staging is of necessity an important and costly structure. An
illustration on another page shows the staging erected for the support
of the New River bridge in West Virginia, on the line of the Chesapeake
and Ohio Railway, near a romantic spot known as Hawksnest. About two
hundred yards below this bridge is a waterfall, and while the staging
was still in use for its construction, the river, which is very
treacherous, suddenly rose about twenty feet in a few hours, and became
a roaring torrent.

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