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PRESENTED  BY 

PUBLISHER 


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OF 


THE  HARTFORD  STEAM  BOILER 
INSPECTION  AND  INSURANCE  CO. 


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Vol.  XXX\  I. 


PUBLISHED   BY 
THE  HARTFORD  STEAM   BOILER  INSPECTION  AND  INSURANCE  CO. 


HARTFORD,  CO XX. 

1926-1927. 


K 


^  I^  J 


INDEX  TO  A'OL.  XXXVI.-1<)2()-1J)27 


THE  LOCOMOTIVE 
Referexces  Marked  with  a  Star  (*)   are  to  Illustrated  Articles. 


*Air   Tank   Explosions,    Prevention   of,  by   Geo.   H.   Stickney,   October  1927,  229. 

*.\]lied  Paper  Mills,  King  Paper  Company  Division,  Kalamazoo,  Michigan,  Fly- 
wheel   Explosion,  January   1927,   130. 

Ammonia    Tank    Explosions,    *Generator    in    Absorption    Refrigerating    System, 

October   1927,   226. 
*Condenser  in   Compression  Refrigerating   System, 
October  1927,  227. 

Announcement,  Title  Page  and  Index  for  Volume  XXXV,  January  1926,  21. 

Appointments,  Hetu,  Thomas  P.,  as  Assistant  Chief  Inspector,  Philadelphia  De- 
partment, April  1927,  182. 
Kerrigan,  James  P.,  Jr.,  as  Chief  Adjuster,  April  1927,  182. 

Autogenously  Welded  Tank  Fails  Under  Air  Test,  Jannary  1926,  21. 

*"  Beaver,"  Boiler  of  the  Steamship,  October  1927,  236. 

Berry,  E.  Sidney,  Elected  Vice-President  and  General  Counsel,  April  1927,  180. 

Big  Engine  Goes  Out  at  Power  Plant,  April  1927,  179. 

*Blake,  C.  Edgar,  elected  Assistant  Treasurer,  April  1926,  54. 

Blake,  Charles  S.,  Elected  Chairman  of  the  Board  of  Directors,  April  1927,  180. 

Blake's,  President,  Anniversary,  January  1927,  148. 

*Boiler    and    Power    Plant    Inspection    Service    an    Aid    in    Acquiring    Business, 
April  1926.  37. 

*Boiler  Explosions  vs.  Boiler  Inspections,  July  1926,  76. 

*Boiler  Explosion  at  Chicago  Heights,  Illinois,  October  1926.  112. 

*Boiler  Explosions,  Duplicate,  at  Waite  Phillips  Co.,  Rainbow  Bend,  Kan.,  April 
1926.  35. 

*Boiler  Explosion  at  Ninety  Six,  S.  C,  J.  H.  Self  Lumber  Company,  /»/v  1927, 
200. 

*Boiler  of  the  Steamship  "  Beaver,"  October  1927,  236. 

*Boiler  Explosion  on  the  Steamship  "  Mackinac,"  January  1926,  7. 

*Boiler  Explosion,  Walker  and  Graw  Sawmill.  Roxbury,  N.  H.,  July  1927,  76. 

Boiler  Explosions,  Regular  List,  January  (Con't)  February,  March,  April,  1925, 
January  1926.  22,;  April  (Con't),  May,  June,  July,  1925,  April  1926,  57;  July 
(Con't).  August,  September,  October.  November.  1925,  July  1926,  86;  No- 
vember (Con't),  December.  1925,  January,  1926,  October  1926,  119;  January 
(Con't).  February,  March.  1926.  January  1927,  151;  March  (Con't),  April, 
May,  1926,  April  1927,  185 ;  June,  July,  August,  September,  1926,  July  1927, 
215;  September  (Con't),  October,  November,  1926,  October  1927,  249. 
^Boiler  Explosions,  Summary  of,  for  1925,  October  1926,  118. 

B^b  Fuse  in  Boiler,  Find,  April  1926,  43. 

o» 

Centra/-... 
5  Cop. 


THE     LOCOMOTIVE  —  INDEX. 


*Bo\vie,   Inspector  H.  F.,  Honored  by  Horlick's  Malted  Milk  Corporation,   April 

1926,  44. 

Brass,  April  1926,  A7. 

*Brine  Cooler  Explosion  at  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  July  1926,  75. 

*Bulged  Boilers,  An  Epidemic  of,  April  1927,  176. 

Bull,  John,  Oldest  of  Locomotives  Steaming  Again,  October  1927,  248. 

*Cast  Iron  Sectional  Boilers,  Scale  in,  April  1927,  174. 

Caught  in  The  Separator,  July  1927,  211. 

*Ccnter-Crank  Shafts,  by  H.  J.  VanderEb,  July  1926.  67. 

Editorial,  July  1926,  84. 
*Chart   for  Dished  Head  Computations.   A,  July  1Q26,  79. 
Christie,  A.  F.,  Death  of,  July  1926.  85. 
Cofifee  Boiler  Explosions,  July  1926,  83. 
Company  Elects  New  Officers.  April  1927.  180. 
Cooling  Boilers  for  Cleaning,  Repairs,  or  Inspection,  by  J.  A.  Snyder,  July  1927, 

202. 
Correction,  Boiler  Explosion  at  Geneva  Foundry  Corporation,  October  1026,  125. 
Corson,  Wm.  R.  C,  Elected  President  and  Treasurer,  April  1927,  180. 
Dart,  Harry  E.,  Elected  Assistant  Secretary,  April  1927,  180. 
*David,  Albert,   Chemical   Company,   Chicago  Heights,   Illinois,   Boiler   Explosion, 

October  1926.   112. 
Diesel-Electric  Ferryboats  on  the  Hudson,  April  1927,  179. 
Diesel  Engine  Accident,  A  Fatal,  Louisiana  Shell  Isle  Products  Company,  Happy 

Jack,  La.,  July  1927,  207. 
*Dished  Head  Computations.  A  Chart  for,  July  1926.  79. 
*Duplicate  Boiler  Explosions,  April  1926.  35. 

Editorial,  April  1926,  52. 
Dust  Explosions  Utilized  in  Internal  Combustion  Engine,  October  1926,  111. 
Early  History  of  Iron  and  Steel,  The,  October  1927.  239. 
Editorial,  Center-Crank  Shafts,  July  1926,  84. 

Duplicate  Boiler  Explosions,  April  1926,  52. 

Hartford  Correspondence  Course  for  Firemen,  July  1927,  212. 

Vapor  Heating  Systems,  July  1927,  213. 

Mechanical  Refrigeration,   January  1927,   150. 

*Our  Sixtieth  Anniversary,  October  1927,  244. 

Power  and  Its  Relation  to  Present  Day  Civilization,  January  1926,  20. 

Sixtieth   Anniversary  of   The   Hartford    Steam   Boiler   Inspection   and 
Insurance  Company,  October  1926,  116. 

Steam  Jacketed  Kettles,  April  1927,  182. 

Three  Score  Years  of  Boiler  Insurance,  October  1926,  116,  April  1927, 
183. 
*Electric  Motors,  Kinds  and  Applications,  October  1926.  100. 
*Engine  Accident  at  Bogota,   N.  J.,   Federal   Paper  Board  Company,   Inc.,  July 

1927,  209. 

*Engine  Accident  at  Williamsport,  Pa.,  July  1927,  194. 
*Epidemic  of  Bulged  Boilers,  An,  April  1927,  176. 
European  Rotary  Economizer,  January  1927,  143. 


THE     L  O  C  O  M  O  T  I  V  E  —  I  N  D  E  X  . 

*K.\I)losiun  of  Ainniunia  Coiukiiscr  in  Compression  Refrigerating  System,  October 
1927,  227. 

*Exi)losion  of  Generator  in  Absorption  Refrigerating  System,  October  1927,  226. 

*I{xplosion  of  a  Xew  Boiler  That  Had  Never  Been  Fired,  October  1926,  115. 

*Kxplosion  of  a  Steam  Turbine  Casing  Due  to  Overpressure,  January  1927,  144. 

♦Failure  of  a  Water  Wheel  Generator,  At'ril  1927,  170. 

Fatal  Diesel  Engine  Accident,  A,  Louisiana  Shell  Isle  Products  Company,  Happy 
Jack,  La.,  /»/v  1927,  207. 

Fatigue  of  Welds,  July  1927,  210. 

Fatigue  Tests  on  Welded  Joints,  /n/v  1926,  82. 

♦Federal  Paper  Board  Company,  Inc.,  Bogota,  N.  J.,  Engine  Accident,  July  1927 , 
209. 

*Few  'Notable  Discoveries  by  Hartford  Inspectors,  A,  April  1927 ,  171. 

Find  Bomb  Fuse  in  Boiler,  April  1926,  43. 

*Fitch.  John.  The  Grave  of,  January  1926,  18. 

♦Flywheel  Explosion  at  Kalamazoo,  Michigan,  January  1927,  130. 

*Fly\vheel  Explosion -at  Newcastle,  Indiana,  January  1926,  2. 

Flywheel  Explosions,  Regular  List.  1925,  April  1926.  56;  1926.  July  1927,  214. 

♦French,  Jesse,  Piano  Company,  Newcastle,  Ind.,  Flywheel  Explosion,  January 
1926,  2. 

Gardiner,  Curtiss  C,  Elected  Vice-President,  April  1927,  180. 

Godfrey.   Thomas  F.,   Death  of.  April  1926.  53. 

Graham,  John  J..   Elected  \'ice-President,  April  1927,   180. 

*Grave  of  John  Fitch,  The,  Jaiiuary  1926,  18. 

♦Grundell,  L.  E.,  Harnessing  Geysers  in  California,  Ja)iuary  1926,  17. 

Hardened  Copper.  October  1927.  242. 

Hardest  Way  to  Fire  a  Boiler.  The,   (Advertisement)  April  1926,  64. 

♦Harnessing  Geysers  in  California,  by  L.  E.  Grundell,  January  1926,  17. 

♦Hartford  Inspections  a  la  Mode,  January  1926,   12. 

♦Hartford  Inspector  Honored,  April  1926.  44. 

Hetu,  Thomas  P..  Appointed  Assistant  Chief  Inspector,  Philadelphia  Department, 
April  1927.  182. 

♦Horlick's  Malted  Alilk  Corporation,  Racine,  Wisconsin,  Honors  Hartford  In- 
spector H.  F.  Bowie,  April  1926,  44. 

Hot  Water  Boiler  Explosion,  Powers  Theatre  Building,  Grand  Rapids,  Mich., 
April  1927,  \77. 

♦Hot  ^^'ater  Supply  Tank  Explosion  at  Waterville,  Conn.,  April  1926,  34. 

♦Hot  Water   Supply  Tank  Explosion  at  Worcester,   Alass.,  July  1926,  66. 

Inspection  Statistics.   1925,  April  1926,  55;   1926,  April  1927,  184. 

Iron  and  Steel,  The  Early  History  of,  October  1927.  239. 

Jeter,   Sherwood  F..   Elected  Vice-President.  April  1927,  180. 

♦Keith  Paper  Company.  Turners  Falls,  Mass..  Failure  of  a  Water  Wheel  Gen- 
erator, April  1927,  170. 

Kerrigan,  James  P.  Jr.,  Appointed  Chief  Adjuster,  April  1927,  182. 

Labor  Saving  on  the  Locomotive,  July  1926,  80. 

Landers.  Frary  and  Clark,  New  Britain.  Conn..  Steam  Pipe  Explosion,  October 
1926,  99. 


THE     LOCO  IMOTIVE  —  INDEX. 


Lajing  up  the  Heating  Boiler  for  the  Summer,  April  1926,  45. 

*Linahan,  Joseph  John,  Death  of,  April  1926,  53. 

Louisiana  Shell  Isle  Products  Company,  Happy  Jack,  La.,   Deisel   Engine  Acci- 
dent, /;//v  1927,  207. 

Ludlum  Steel  Plant,  Watervliet,  N.  Y.,  Autogenously  Welded  Tank  Fails  Under 
Air  Test,  January  1926,  2\. 

*"  Mackinac,"  Boiler  Explosion  on  the  Steamship,  January  1926,  7. 

*Mead   Pulp   and   Paper   Company,    Chillicothe,   Ohio,    Steam   Turbine   Explosion, 
April  1927,  162. 

Mechanical   Refrigeration,   Editorial,   January  1927,   150. 

Method  of   Storing  Coal  to  Eliminate   Spontaneous   Combustion,  April  1926,   50. 

Minneapolis  Auditorium,  Well  Water  Used  to  Cool,  October  1927 ,  238. 

Morris,   Shiras,   Elected   Alember  of  the   Board  of   Directors,  January  1927,   149. 

Morrison,  J.  P.,  Radio  Talk  by.  Station  WOWO,  April  1926,  54. 

*Morrison,  J.  P.,  Steam  Jacketed  Kettles,  April  1927,  163. 

New  Cast  Iron  For  Engine  Cylinders,  A,  July  1926,  85. 

No  Man  is  Indispensable   (Selected  Poem),  July  1927,  213. 

Obituary,  Christie,  A.  F.,  July  1926,  85. 

Godfrey,  Thomas  F.,  April  1926,  53. 
*Linahan,  Joseph  John,  April  1926,  53. 
Woods,  William  T.,  January  1926,  21. 

*Our  Sixtieth  Anniversary,  October  1927,  244. 

Pacific  Coast  Division,  October  1927,  246. 

Pagosa  Springs,  Col.,  High  School  Heated  by  Natural  Hot  Water,  April  1926.  34. 

*Personal,  Blake,  C.  Edgar  elected  Assistant  Treasurer,  April  1926,  54. 

Powers  Theatre  Building,  Grand  Rapids,  Michigan,  Hot  Water  Boiler  Explosion, 
April  1927,  \77. 

President  Blake's  Anniversary,  January  1927,  148. 

*Prevention  of  Air  Tank  Explosions,  by  Geo.  H.  Stickney,  October  1927,  229. 

*Pump  Return  Systems  for  Heating  Boilers.  July  1926,  72. 

*Recent   Steam  Pipe   Explosion,  A.   October  1926.  98. 

Reese,  Dale  F.,  elected  Vice  President,  April  1927,  180. 

*Refrigerating  Systems,  by  Geo.  H.  Stickney,  January  1927,  133. 
Editorial,  January  1927,  150. 

Removing  Boiler  Scale,  by  J.  A.  Snyder,  October  1926.  108. 

Research  Narratives,  Brass,  April  1926,  47. 

Hardened  Copper,  October  1927,  242. 

Riveting  Pressures,  January  1926,  13. 

Rivetless  Structural  Steel  Buildings,  October  1926,  114. 

*Scale  in  Cast  Iron  Sectional  Boilers,  April  1927.  174. 

*Self,  J.  H.,  Lumber  Company,  Ninety  Six,  S.  C,  Boiler  Explosion,  July  1927,  200. 

Snyder,  J.  A.,  Cooling  Boilers  for  Cleaning,  Repairs,  or  Inspection,  July  1927,  202. 
^Removing  Boiler  Scale,  October  1926.  108. 
The  Value  of  the  Hammer  Test,  April  1926,  42. 

State  Boiler  Laws,  October  1927,  234. 


THE     L  O  C  O  M  ( )  T  I  V  E  —  I  X  D  E  X 


Steam  lioiler   Dcvelupmeiit,  Juiimiry  1927,  146.  ^ 

♦Steam  Jacketed  Kettles,  by  J.  P.  Morrison,  April  1927,  163. 
*Steam  Turbine  Explosion  at  Chillicothe,  Ohio,  April  1927 ,  162. 
Stickney,  Geo.  H.,  *Prevention  of  Air  Tank  Explosions,  October  1927,  229. 

♦Refrigeration  Systems.  January  1927,  133. 
Summary  of  Boiler  Explosions  for  1925,  October  1926,  118. 
Summary  of  Inspectors"  Work  for  1925,  April  1926,  55;  1926,  April  1927,  184. 
Superheated  Steam,  —  Why  Metals  Eail  Under  Influence  of  Steam  Once  Super- 
heated, July  1927,  205. 
♦Sweet's   Steel   Company,   Williamsport,   Pa.,   Engine  Accident,  July  1927,   194. 
Tank  Failure,  Autogenously  Welded  Tank  Fails  Under  Air  Test,  January  1926,  21. 
Thinking  Right  Avoids  Accidents,  January  1926,  22. 
Three  Score  Years  of  Boiler  Insurance,  Editorial,  October  1926,  116;  April  1927, 

183. 
♦Timely  Engine  Inspection,  A.  April  1026.  49. 
Trend  in  Modern  Power  Plant  Design,  The,  January  1926,  3;  Editorial,  January 

1926.  20. 
Trumbull,  His  Excellency,  John  H.,  elected  Member  of  the  Board  of  Directors, 

January  1927,  149. 
Use  of  Portable  Electric  Lights  in  Boilers.  The.  October  1926,  110. 
*\'alentino  Apartments,  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  Brine  Cooler  Explosion,  /i//_v  1926,  75. 
\'alue  of  the  Hammer  Test,  The,  by  J.  A.  Snyder,  April  1926,  42. 
♦\"anderEb.  H.  J..  Center-Crank  Shafts,  July  1926.  67. 
*\'apor  Heating  Systems,  July  1927,  195. 
"  \'erboten  "  is  Right,  October  1927.  248. 
♦Waite  Phillips   Company,   Rainbow   Bend,   Kansas,   Duplicate  Boiler   Explosions, 

April  1926.  35. 
♦Walker  and  Graw,  Roxbury,  X'.  H.,  Boiler  Explosion,  July  1927,  76. 
"•■'Water  Wheel  Generator,  Failure  of  a,  April  1927,  170. 
*Waterville,  Conn.,  Town  of.  Hot  Water  Supply  Tank  Explosion  at,  April  1926. 

34. 
Welded  Joints,  Fatigue  Tests  on,  July  1926,  82. 
Welds.  Fatigue  of.  July  1927,  210. 

Well  Water  Used  to  Cool  Minneapolis  Auditorium,  October  1927,  238. 
Why   Metals  Fail  Under  Influence  of   Steam  Once  Superheated,  /!(/_v  1927,  205. 
Woods.  William  T.,  Death  of,  January  1926,  21. 
♦Worcester  Square  and  Compass  Club.  Worcester.  Mass.,  Hot  Water  Supply  Tank 

Explosion,  /»/y  1926,  66. 


Devoted  to  Power  Piant  Protection 


Published  Quarterly 


Vol.  XXXVI. 


HARTFORD,  CONN.,  JANUARY,  1926. 


No.  I. 


COPYRIGHT,  1926,  BY  THE  HARTFORD  STEAM  BOILER  INSPECTION  AND  INSURANCE  CO. 


Fly-Wheel  Explosion  at  Newcastle,  Indiana. 

THERE  IS  VALUABLE  INFORMATION 

FOR   YOUR   ENGINEER   IN    THIS   MAGAZINE. 

PLEASE  LET  HIM  SEE  IT. 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  [January, 


Flywheel  Explosion  at  Newcastle,  Indiana. 

A  FLYWHEEL  explosion  of  considerable  violence  occurred  July 
9th,  1925  at  the  factory  of  the  Jesse  French  Piano  Company,  New- 
castle, Indiana,  and  resulted  in  a  property  loss  of  $8,800.  The 
engine  overspeeded  and  the  rim  and  five  of  the  eight  spokes  of  the 
wheel  broke  into  many  pieces  which  tore  their  way  through  the  walls  and 
roof  of  the  engine  room  and  scattered  widely.  A  view  of  the  engine 
room  after  the  accident,  is  shown  on  our  front  cover. 

One  piece  of  the  rim,  about  3  ft.  in  length,  flew  over  the  three  story 
main  factory  building  and  landed  in  a  garden  across  the  street.  An- 
other piece,  about  2  ft.  in  length,  was  found  in  a  field  approximately 
500  ft.  from  the  plant.  A  man  sitting  on  his  front  porch  just  across 
the  street  from  the  factory  saw  the  flying  fragments  in  the  air  and 
estimated  that  one  piece  ascended  to  a  height  of  at  least  200  ft.  A 
hole  9  ft.  by  50  ft.  was  torn  in  the  roof  of  the  engine  room,  and  the 
windows  and  parts  of  the  walls  in  line  with  the  wheel  were  demolished. 
One  arm  of  the  wheel  passed  through  the  roof  of  the  fire-pump  house 
nearby  and  embedded  itself  2  ft.  in  concrete.  Several  fragments  of 
the  wheel  passed  through  the  windows  and  south  wall  of  the  main 
factory  building  located  60  ft.  from  the  engine  room,  breaking  down 
some  heating  coils  and  two  sprinkler  pipes.  Water  from  the  sprinkler 
lines  damaged  finished  pianos  and  materials  in  process  of  manufacture, 
and  led  to  a  newspaper  estimate  of  the  loss  at  $40,000.  Prompt  action 
by  factory  employees  in  moving  pianos  and  other  contents  minimized 
the  damage.  In  such  a  bombardment  by  large  and  small  pieces  of  iron, 
it  is  remarkable  that  no  one  was  injured. 

The  accident  occurred  at  1 150  p.  m.  when  the  plant  was  operating 
as  usual.  The  engineer,  A.  B.  Lanning,  was  at  work  on  a  pump  in 
an  adjacent  room  when  he  heard  an  unusual  commotion  in  the  engine 
room  and  went  back  to  ascertain  the  cause.  He  saw  that  the  engine 
was  racing,  and  rushed  to  the  throttle  valve  to  close  it.  Just  as  he 
reached  the  throttle,  the  wheel  exploded.  The  engineer's  escape  from 
serious  injury  or  death  was  a  miracle.  One  of  the  flying  fragments 
passed  across  his  back  and  cut  his  suspenders  and  shirt  from  his 
shoulders,  yet  did  not  even  mark  his  skin.  The  throttle-valve  wheel 
which  he  had  grasped  was  smashed  into  eight  pieces,  ]\Ir.  Lanning 
displayed  great  courage  in  attempting  to  avert  this  catastrophe  and  his 
action  is  to  be  commended. 

Another  employee  also  had  a  narrow  escape.  He  was  walking  along 
the  third  floor  of  the  main  building  when  a  piece  of  the  flywheel  burst 
through  the  wall  and  flew  past  him,  just  grazing  his  shin. 


1926.]  THE   LOCOMOTIVE.  3 

After  the  accident  one  of  the  governor  springs  was  found  to  be 
broken  and  it  is  thought  that  this  faikire  might  have  occurred  before 
the  explosion  and  caused  the  governor  to  become  inoperative.  The 
engine  frame  was  broken  near  the  main  bearing  pedestal  and  the 
foundation  was  so  cracked  and  broken  as  to  necessitate  rebuilding.  In 
addition  the  connecting  rod  was  badly  sprung,  the  eccentric  rod  broken, 
the  rocker  arm  cracked,  and  the  governor  completely  ruined.  Some 
of  the  coils  of  the  generator  were  damaged  and  the  generator  pulley 
demolished. 

The  loss  was  covered  by  a  Hartford  policy. 


The  Trend  in  Modern  Power  Plant  Design. 

««  "TW  T  ECESSITY  is  the  mother  of  invention,"  and  war  with  its 
l^y  insistent  demand  for  more  of  everything — food,  clothing, 
transportation,  materiel  —  has  always  been  a  stimulus  to  in- 
vention. Probably  no  industry  is  exempt  from  such  effects.  Cer- 
tainly the  power  industry  is  no  exception  for  it  has  exhibited  more 
fundamental  improvements  within  the  past  six  or  eight  years  than  it 
has  ever  known  in  a  like  period.  Increased  costs  of  labor  and  ma- 
terials demanded  either  increased  rates  or  greater  efficiencies  and  the 
answer  has  been  greater  efficiencies.  The  cost  of  everything  going  into 
the  production  of  power  has  been  materially  increased  since  before 
the  war,  yet  the  rates  for  electricity  have  remained  the  same  or  even 
been  lowered.  This  has  been  made  possible  not  by  merely  pushing 
existing  installations  a  few  notches  higher  in  ef^ciency,  but  by  a 
study  of  the  theories  upon  which  are  based  the  conversion  of  the  stored 
energy  of  coal  into  electrical  energy  and  making  new  starts  in  untried 
fields. 

Starting  from  the  coal  pile,  the  first  innovation  to  be  met  is  in  the 
use  of  powdered  fuel.  In  order  to  burn,  coal  must  come  in  contact 
with  air.  Since  the  air  can  come  in  contact  only  with  the  surface 
of  the  lump,  it  takes  an  appreciable  period  of  time  to  burn  to  the 
center  of  a  lump.  Pulverizing  therefore  results  in  a  more  intimate 
mixture  of  the  fuel  and  air,  and  consequently  expedites  combustion. 
Greater  economies  have  resulted  from  this  system.  In  the  first  place 
more  of  the  combustible  matter  is  burned,  thus  reducing  the  loss  from 
unburned  fuel  in  the  gases  and  ash.  Also  less  excess  air  is  required, 
and  there  is  a  considerable  saving  of  coal  during  periods  when  the  fire 
is  banked.  The  improvement  becomes  most  noticeable  when  the  poorer 
grades  of  coal  are  burned.     Of  course  the  preparation  of  the  coal  is 


4  THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  [January, 

an  additional  expense  and  requires  an  investment  for  pulverizing 
machinery,  but  this  is  offset  somewhat  by  the  absence  of  stoker  equip- 
ment. This  system  of  firing  has  been  in  use  for  several  years  now 
and  has  proved  its  worth,  although  the  furnace  for  burning  powdered 
coal  is  still  in  process  of  evolution. 

Furnace  Walls  Protected  by  Water  Cooling. 

Considerable  trouble  was  at  first  experienced  with  the  furnace  walls 
when  burning  pulverized  coal.  Higher  rates  of  combustion  and  con- 
sequent higher  furnace  temperatures  were  found  to  be  more  than  the 
materials  of  the  walls  could  stand.  The  coal  burns  while  suspended 
in  the  air,  and  the  molten  ash  sprayed  against  the  wall  seemed  to  act 
as  a  flux,  melting  the  brickwork  and  running  to  the  bottom  of  the 
furnace  where,  upon  cooling,  it  would  again  harden.  This  at  first  led 
to  a  design  of  furnace  along  the  line  of  the  oil  burning  furnace  — 
large  volumes  and  the  introduction  of  the  fuel  so  that  the  fiame  would 
not  impinge  upon  the  walls  —  but  the  tendency  in  design  now  is 
toward  the  "  well  "  type  of  furnaces.  Ventilated  or  air  cooled  walls 
were  next  introduced  to  overcome  the  melting  of  the  brick  lining 
and  proved  singularly  successful  for  this  purpose,  incidentally  react- 
ing favorably  in  an  unexpected  way  as  we  shall  see  later. 

The  next  step  was  from  air  cooled  to  water  cooled  walls  and  water 
screens  in  place  of  grates,  all  of  these  cooling  tubes  being  con- 
nected to  the  boiler.  This  move  was  looked  upon  with  some  skepticism 
because  it  was  felt  that  combustion  would  be  checked  by  cool  walls. 
Such  has  not  proved  to  be  the  case,  for  on  the  contrary  the  reduction 
in  temperature  of  the  walls  by  water  cooling  is  hailed  as  a  decided 
step  forward  in  furnace  design.  Protection  of  the  walls  and  con- 
sequent reduction  of  the  clinkering  tendency  permits  higher  rates  of 
combustion  to  be  employed,  and  in  addition  radiation  from  the  setting 
is  reduced.  The  heat  absorbed  by  the  water  in  the  wall  tubes  is  found 
to  be  considerable  and  advantage  of  this  mode  of  heat  transfer  is 
taken  to  the  fullest  extent.  The  amount  of  cooling  surface  allowable, 
however,  is  a  function  of  the  kind  of  coal  used,  although  the  pulver- 
ized fuel  furnace  is  not  built,  as  are  stoker  furnaces,  to  burn  a  par- 
ticular coal. 

The  latest  type  of  furnace  is  one  in  which  the  fuel  is  injected  some- 
what tangentially  to  the  sides  and  whirls  around  a  small  chamber  or 
"  well."  A  more  turbulent  flow  and  therefore  better  mixing  and  burn- 
ing are  thus  obtained.  After  combustion,  the  gasses  are  expanded 
from  the  well  to  a  larger  chamber  above  it  similar  to  the  combustion 
space  under  an  ordinary  boiler.     It  is  claimed  that  better  results  are 


1926.1  THE   LOCOMOTIVE.  5 

obtained  with  this  type  of  furnace  and  that  the  volume  of  the  well 
and  large  chamber  combined  can  be  less  than  is  provided  in  the  ordinary 
stoker  setting. 

An  innovation  that  has  produced  curious  results  is  the  use  of 
pre-heated  air  for  combustion.  Pre-heating  the  air  with  heat  from 
the  furnace  walls  or  flue  gases  was  felt  to  be  merely  a  conservation 
measure  saving  heat  previously  wasted.  This  it  does  and  more,  for 
the  computed  probable  increase  in  thermal  efficiency  from  this  source 
has  been  exceeded  due  to  better  combustion.  It  is  expected  that  the 
use  of  pre-heated  air  for  combustion  will  become  almost  universal 
practice  in  larger  power  plants  particularly  with  increasing  steam 
pressures  and  temperatures,  for  more  heat  will  be  rejected  to  the  stack 
gases  to  be  reclaimed  by  either  air  preheaters  or  economizers,  most  likely 
the  former  since  the  economizers  in  turn  will  probably  give  way  before 
stage  heating  of  feedwater. 

Heating  Feedwater  by  Stages. 
,  Stage  feedwater  heating  is  another  recent  efficiency  booster  in  the 
boiler  room  from  which  much  is  expected.  The  method  may  be 
roughly  compared  to  the  counter  flow  principle  of  heat  transmission. 
A  certain  amount  of  steam  is  bled  from  the  low  pressure  stage  of  a 
turbine  and  used  to  bring  the  cold  feedwater  up  to  a  given  temperature. 
More  steam  is  then  bled  from  a  higher  pressure  stage  to  raise  the  feed 
water  temperature  still  higher.  This  could  be  continued  in  an  in- 
definite number  of  steps  and  the  gain  would  be  in  direct  proportion 
to  the  number.  Practical  considerations,  however,  have  so  far  restricted 
the  number  of  stages  in  most  cases  to  not  more  than  four.  Time  may 
be  expected  to  bring  a  simplification  of  the  arrangement  and  an  in- 
crease in  the  number  of  stages. 

Along  with  the  introduction  of  stage  feedwater  heating  and  prob- 
ably as  a  direct  result  of  the  use  of  bleeder  steam  for  such  heating,  we 
find  the  tendency  toward  electric  driven  auxiliaries.  Current  for  these 
is  usually  obtained  from  a  separate  "  house  "  generator. 

One  of  the  modern  power  plant  developments  that  is  attracting 
considerable  attention  is  the  tendency  toward  higher  steam  pressures. 
Only  a  few  years  ago  250  lbs.  was  spoken  of  as  a  high  pressure. 
Power  is  authority  for  the  statement  that  a  Mollier  chart  was  copy- 
righted the  year  the  World  War  broke  out,  19 14.  and  included  pressures 
up  to  250  lbs.  as  a  maximum,  presumably  considered  the  extreme 
limit  of  practice  although  steam  tables  were  available  up  to  600  lbs. 
Yet  today  stations  are  operating  at  400  lbs.,  550  lbs.,  and  600  lbs.,  and 
in  one  case  a  station  to  operate  at  1200  lbs.  steam  pressure  is  expected 
soon  to  be  generating.     Even  this  is  not  accepted  as  the  Hmit  and  in 


6  THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  [January, 

England  experiments  are  being  conducted  on  a  laboratory  scale  to 
determine  the  possibility  of  generating  steam  at  the  critical  pressure, 
3200  lbs.  At  this  pressure  the  latent  heat,  or  heat  of  vaporization, 
is  zero,  and  the  transformation  of  water  to  steam  would  be  instan- 
taneous ;  there  would  be  no  ebullition  or  boiling  action.  But  pressures 
are  restricted  by  both  physical  and  economic  limits.  The  maximum 
temperature  considered  safe  with  the  materials  of  construction  avail- 
able today  is  750°  Fahrenheit,  Superheat  of  course  is  desirable,  but 
the  amount  must  be  governed  by  the  pressure  since  the  temperature 
can  not  safely  be  raised  much  above  700°  F.  Undoubtedly  this  limit 
will  soon  be  raised,  for  studies  of  the  generation  of  steam  indicate 
that  greater  gain  may  be  expected  from  higher  temperatures  than  from 
higher  pressures.  The  economic  limit  upon  steam  pressure  is  set  largely 
by  the  type  of  load  the  plant  will  be  called  upon  to  meet.  The  cost 
of  high  pressure  plants  is  enormous,  and  the  amount  of  equipment 
idle  or  running  at  poor  efficiency  for  Lack  of  load  must  be  a  minimum. 
Hence  such  plants  are  usually  only  designed  for  base  load  plants,  that 
is,  where  a  steady  load  averaging  well  up  to  the  capacity  of  the  station 
can  be  maintained.  In  the  design  of  the  Edgar  Station  of  the  Edison 
Electric  Illuminating  Company  of  Boston  arrangements  have  been 
made  so  that  the  1200  lb.  unit  will  operate  as  a  base  load  plant  while 
the  rest  of  the  station,  operating  at  350  lbs.,  will  take  care  of  the 
fluctuating  portion  of  the  load. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  in  connection  with  the  1200  lb.  plant  that 
the  boiler  drum  is  seamless,  having  been  forged  from  a  solid  ingot, 
and  that  all  fittings  were  subjected  to  an  X-ray  examination  for 
possible  latent  flaws. 

Reheating  Steam   Increases  Thermal  Efficiency. 

Recent  practice  in  modern  power  plants  calls  for  the  reheating  of 
the  steam  after  it  has  performed  part  of  its  work.  The  steam  is  taken 
oflf  from  the  turbine  at  a  designated  pressure,  reheated  to  approxi- 
mately its  original  temperature  and  piped  back  to  resume  its  work. 
The  reheating  is  done  sometimes  by  live  steam  but  more  often  by  the 
furnace  gases  direct  just  as  in  an  ordinary  superheater.  Reheating 
the  steam  gives  a  perceptible  increase  in  thermal  efficiency  but  is  some- 
what complicated  by  the  piping  necessary  to  return  the  steam  to  the 
boiler.  It  is  of  interest  to  note  that  a  new  turbine  hazard  has  been 
introduced  by  reheating;  the  reheater  and  its  piping  in  some  cases 
contain  enough  steam  to  overspeed  the  turbine  even  though  the  main 
governor  cuts  off  additional  steam.  Of  course,  protection  against  this 
hazard  is  usually  provided. 


19^6.]  THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  7 

Modern  power  plants  show  a  decided  tendency  toward  larger  gen- 
erating units  and  stations.  This  has  been  brought  about  by  the  influ- 
ence of  many  factors.  Greater  demand  for  power,  improved  materials 
and  design,  and  necessity  for  cheaper  production  of  current  have  all 
had  their  efTect,  but  perhaps  the  real  deciding  factor  has  been  inter- 
connection. The  interconnection  of  systems  and  stations  has  made 
larger  generating  units  possible  because  each  unit  does  not  represent 
such  a  disproportionate  percentage  of  the  interconnected  system  as  it 
does  of  a  single  station.  Hence  one  of  the  large  units  can  be  shut 
down  when  necessary  without  interrupting  the  service,  and  this  with- 
out carrying  a  large  amount  of  idle  standby  equipment.  The  invest- 
ment in  reserve  units  is  divided. 

Interconnection  has  also  in  other  ways  reduced  the  cost  of  generat- 
ing electricity.  It  has  permitted  greater  use  to  be  made  of  hydro- 
electric stations.  At  certain  periods  of  the  year  more  water  enters 
the  storage  ponds  than  can  be  retained  and  therefore  must  waste  over 
the  spillway.  By  making  a  maximum  load  available  to  the  hydro- 
electric plant  during  such  seasons,  use  can  be  made  of  this  water  and 
recourse  had  to  steam  plants  to  tide  over  seasons  when  there  is  in- 
sufficient water.  Interconnection  also  permits  of  greater  use  of  the 
more  efficient  stations. 

Other  innovations  in  the  field  of  power  production  are  under  con- 
sideration but  have  yet  to  be  adopted  for  general  use.  The  mercury 
boiler  and  turbine,  for  instance,  has  one  installation  operating  success- 
fully on  a  commercial  basis.  Low  temperature  carbonization  of  coal, 
advocated  largely  as  a  fuel  conservation  measure,  has  already  proved  its 
merits  in  Europe  but  it  is  still  a  matter  of  debate  whether  conditions 
in  this  country  justify  it.  The  wave  of  radical  improvement  has  not 
yet  subsided  and  other  novel  changes  are  to  be  expected,  for  when  once 
stimulated,  invention  maintains  its  pace  over  quite  a  period  of  time 
before  tapering  oflF. 


Boiler  Explosion  on  the  Steamship  "  Mackinac." 

ON  August  i8th,  1925,  one  of  the  boilers  exploded  on  the  steamer 
"  Mackinac  "  while  in  Narragansett  Bay  returning  from  Newport 
to  Pawtucket,  Rhode  Island,  and  resulted  in  the  death  of  fifty- 
two  persons  and  the  injury  of  over  one  hundred  others.  There  have 
been  boiler  explosions  that  caused  indirectly  a  greater  number  of 
fatalities  through  resulting  fires  or  disasters  incident  to  the  explosions, 
but  this  is  the  largest  recorded  casualty  list  directly  attributable  to  a 
boiler  explosion  in  this  country.    Regularly  a  freight  boat,  the  "  Mack- 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE. 


[January, 


inac  "  had  been  put  on  an  excursion  route  for  the  summer  and  at  the 
time  of  the  explosion  was  carrying  nearly  seven  hundred  excursionists, 
most  of  whom  were  members  of  either  one  of  two  groups  holding 
annual  outings.  It  was  built  in  1909  on  the  Great  Lakes  and  was 
operated  there  until  last  year. 

As  shown  by  the  illustration,  the  boilers  on  this  vessel  are  of  a  rather 
unusual  type  said  to  be  peculiar  to  lake  boats.  The  upper  part  of  the 
boiler  is  similar  to  a  return  tubular  boiler,  but  in  place  of  a  setting, 


^ 


^M 


Welding    on   Shell 


"ZSZZZi 


s^ 


Fig.  I. 
the  fire  box  and  combustion  space  are  enclosed  by  water-legs  which 
run  along  each  side  of  the  boiler  for  its  full  length.  These  water- 
legs  are  connected  near  the  center  by  an  18  inch  diameter  circulating 
cross  drum,  which  serves  also  as  a  bridge  wall.  This  drum  has  an 
8  inch  diameter  vertical  connection  to  the  boiler  shell  and  two  6  inch 
diameter  horizontal  connections  to  the  wet-back  at  the  rear  of  the 
combustion  chamber,  as  indicated  in  Fig.  i. 

The  failure  was  in  the  circulating  cross  drum  of  the  forward  boiler. 
Leakage  in  this  drum  had  become  evident  and  repair  men  from  a  local 
boiler  shop  were  called  in  to  weld  the  leak  before  the  boat  left  Pawtucket 
on  the  morning  of  the  accident.  The  welders  reported  a  crack  about 
7  inches  long  near  the  longitudinal  seam,  which  they  were  unable  to 
repair  because  of  lack  of  room  and  too  much  moisture  from  the  leak; 
so  that  the  boat  set  out  for  Newport,  forty-five  minutes  late  and 
with  only  the  aft  boiler,  which  had  not  been  giving  trouble,  under  steam. 


1926.] 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


9 


A  fire  was  later  started  under  the  forward  boiler  and  the  return  trip 
begun  about  5 130  p.  m.  with  both  of  them  in  oj)eration  at  reduced 
pressure.  When  but  a  short  distance  out  from  Newport  the  circulat- 
ing cross  drum  of  the  forward  boiler  failed.  The  rupture  began  at  a 
line  about  25  inches  long  parallel  and  very  close  to  the  longitudinal 
seam  —  which  was  near  the  bottom  of  the  drum  on  the  side  away 
from   the  grates  —  and   tore   a   strip   of    this    width   circumferentially 


Fig.  2. 
around  more  than  one-quarter  of  the  drum.     The  nature  of  the  failure 
is  clearly  shown  in  Figs,  i  and  2.     The  piece  marked  "  B  "  in  Fig.  2 
is  the  torn  part  of  the  drum  shell.     The  piece  marked  "A"  had  no 
connection  with  the  boiler. 

Most  of  the  killed  and  injured  were  on  the  main,  or  freight  deck, 
where  dancing  was  in  progress,  and  were  immediately  enshrouded  with 
live  steam.  The  absence  of  a  non-return  valve  on  the  steam  line  per- 
mitted the  other  boiler  to  continue  to  empty  itself  through  the  rupture. 
Although  no  parts  of  the  boiler  were  violently  projected  about  the 
boat,  the  pressure  attained  in  the  boiler  room  was  sufficient  to  raise 
the  steel  main  deck  about  12  inches.  The  reaction  of  the  escaping  jet 
moved  the  boiler  forward  about  one  foot.  The  steam  pressure  allowed 
was  142  lbs.,  although  only  about  100  lbs.  was  being  carried  at  the 
time  of  the  accident. 


10  THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  [January, 

The  cause  of  the  failure  was  external  corrosion.  External  corro- 
sion is  a  wasting  away  of  the  outside  surface  of  the  boiler,  accelerated 
usually  by  the  presence  of  moisture  and  soot.  Sometimes  the  mois- 
ture comes  from  the  boiler  itself  through  a  leak,  and  sometimes  from 
other  sources  such  as  leaky  valves  or  fittings  in  overhead  pipings. 
Sometimes  it  may  be  produced  by  the  sweating  of  a  cold  boiler,  or 
perhaps  by  exposure  to  the  elements.  Deposits  of  soot,  usually  in 
comparatively  inaccessible  places  which  are  likely  to  be  slighted  when 
cleaning  the  exterior  of  the  boiler,  retain  this  moisture  and,  by  reason 
of  the  composition  of  soot,  almost  invariably  result  in  corrosion  of 
the  plate  which,  if  not  checked,  will  soon  become  dangerous.  The 
original  thickness  of  the  plate  of  the  ruptured  drum  in  this  case  was 
}i  inch,  but  it  had  been  seriously  reduced  by  the  corrosion.  The 
reduction  in  thickness  of  the  shell  began  on  a  line  running  parallel  to 
the  axis  along  the  lowest  part  of  the  drum  and  increased  toward  the 
seam,  tapering  ofif  sharply  to  practically  a  knife  edge  at  the  line  of 
initial  failure.  The  defect  —  variously  reported  as  "pin  holes"  and  a 
"crack"  —  that  prevented  full  use  of  the  boiler  just  prior  to  the 
accident  was  evidently  a  place  where  the  corrosion  had  penetrated 
through  the  plate.  This  wasting  away  of  the  place,  however,  had  been 
so  uniform  and  so  free  from  signs  of  pitting  or  grooving  that,  except 
where  it  had  actually  penetrated  through,  there  were  practically  no 
visible  indications  that  the  plate  was  dangerously  thin. 

Both  of  the  boilers  on  this  vessel  had  been  inspected  in  April, 
1925,  by  the  government  steamboat  inspection  service.  While  it  would 
seem  that  the  plate  must  have  been  seriously  reduced  at  that  time, 
yet  we  cannot  attempt  to  say  whether  its  condition  could  then  have 
been  detected  as  this  depends  entirely  upon  the  nature  of  the  inspection, 
a  matter  on  which  we  arei  not  informed.  We  do  believe  that  if  an  ex- 
perienced inspector  examined  this  boiler  when  its  latest  defect  developed 
just  before  the  boat  started  on  its  fatal  trip,  the  boiler  would  not  have 
been  approved  either  for  temporary  operation  or  for  repair.  It  is 
hard  to  believe  that  anyone  at  all  familiar  with  boiler  construction  would 
even  consider  repairing  a  boiler  that  had  wasted  away  over  a  large 
area  to  the  extent  that  there  was  an  actual  opening  more  or  less  con- 
tinuous for  a  distance  of  approximately  7  inches.  Yet  the  welders  called 
in  on  the  morning  of  the  accident  attempted  to  weld  this  opening,  and 
undoubtedly  would  have  done  so  had  conditions  permitted.  Moisture 
and  the  inaccessible  position  of  the  opening  were  given  as  the  reasons 
for  not  making  the  repair.  There  is  no  doubt  that  this  leak  would  have 
been  stopped  by  welding  had  conditions  been  more  favorable  for, 
about  six  weeks  previous  to  the  accident,  an  almost  identical   repair 


J926.\  THE   LOCOMOTIVE.  \l 

was  made  on  the  rear  side  of  this  same  drum,  and  only  a  few  inches 
from  the  final  rupture.  It  too  was  apparently  an  opening  about  7  inches 
long  running  approximately  in  a  longitudinal  direction  and  at  a  place 
where  the  metal  was  less  than  1/16  inch  thick. 

A  still  further  indication  that  the  generally  corroded  condition  of 
certain  parts  of  the  boiler  had  become  evident  is  given  by  the  fact 
that  on  the  6  inch  diameter  pipes  connecting  the  ruptured  drum  with 
the  wet-back,  75%  of  their  external  surfaces  had  been  welded  over. 
It  might  be  well  at  this  point  to  call  attention  to  the  apparent  readi- 
ness of  autogenous  welders  in  general  to  apply  their  methods  to  boilers 
without  giving  any  consideration  whatever  to  the  strength  of  the  vessel. 
It  is  true  that  welds  have  been  made  which  under  test  proved  to  be 
as  strong  and  even  stronger  than  the  original  plates  joined;  and  it  is 
perhaps  with  a  knowledge  of  this  fact  that  the  welder  undertakes  to 
patch  any  opening  in  any  vessel,  placing  sublime  faith  in  his  own  work 
—  done  frequently  under  adverse  circumstances  —  as  being  always 
the  equal  of  the  best.  That  so  much  of  this  work  is  imperfect  and 
that  there  is  no  indication  when  such  is  the  case  is  apparently  lost  sight 
of  entirely.  As  a  result,  many  repairs  are  made  and  defects  covered 
over  that  should  have  had  radically  different  attention.  Until  welders 
are  frank  to  admit  the  limitations  of  their  methods,  it  will  be  best  to 
take  your  boiler  troubles  to  a  boiler  inspector,  - — •  a  man  who  is  not 
interested  in  any  one  kind  of  cure,  but  only  in  the  safety  of  the  boiler. 

This  explosion  is  an  outstanding  one  because  of  the  number  of 
casualties  resulting  from  the  explosion  itself.  Others  have  surpassed 
it  although  the  number  of  killed  and  injured  in  each  case  was  increased 
by  accompanying  disasters.  One  such  instance  is  the  explosion  that 
occurred  in  March  1905  in  a  shoe  factory  at  Brockton,  Massachusetts 
in  which  the  instantaneous  collapse  of  the  building  and  the  ensuing  fire 
resulted  in  the  death  of  58  and  the  injury  of  117  persons.  Another 
one,  and  one  which  undoubtedly  will  never  be  equaled,  is  the  explosion 
of  a  boiler  on  the  Mississippi  River  steamer  "  Sultana  "  in  April  1865. 
The  boat  was  packed  beyond  its  capacity  with  Federal  solders  return- 
ing from  prison  camps.  Fire  followed  the  explosion  and  the  boat 
was  completely  destroyed.  Out  of  nearly  1900  soldiers  on  board,  1,101 
perished,  together  with  137  of  the  civilian  passengers  and  crew,  a  total 
of  1,238  killed. 


12 


THE   LOCOAIOTIVE. 


[January, 


Hartford  Inspections  a  la  Mode. 

IF  your  boiler  is  located  in  Con- 
tinental United  States  you  can 
obtain  "Hartford"  inspections. 
No  matter  how  remote  or  inac- 
cessible the  location,  the  inspector 
will  find  means  of  transportation 
and  ferret  it  out.  He  may  arrive 
by  one  of  the  usual  methods  of 
travel  —  train,  automobile,  or 
street  railway  —  or  if  conditions 
require  it  he  may  travel  by  some 
less  usual  means.  Inspector  J.  L. 
Wiant,  for  instance,  has  head- 
quarters at  Charleston,  West  Vir- 
ginia, and  covers  considerable 
territory  in  the  mountainous  sec- 
tion of  that  state.  The  scattered 
population  and  infrequent  train 
connections  often  prompt  him  to 
resort  to  hiking  in  order  to  save  a 
dav  or  two  in  journeying  between 
plants.      Of   course   the   usual   in-  Inspector  J.  L.  Wiant. 

spection  kit  must  be  taken  along  in  addition  to  the  regular  traveling 
necessities,  and  so  Inspector  Wiant  has  a  special  carrying  case  to  make 

easier  the  work  of  carrying  his  equipment. 
jHMjp|BS"Bpi^^^K{  Traveling  on  foot  in  this  territory  is  not 
I^^^^MjMflflH^^^  as  simple  as  one  might  think,  for  the  road 
'  Wfl^^^^^^B^P*  ^10^  always   in  the   open,   but   frequently 

WA   '"  "  '*^  Ti  leads   through   abandoned   mines   and    even 

IjE      --|^Q|ftHf  railroad  tunnels.    Bad  weather  also  adds  its 

IflE       ^^^^A  disagreeable  features.     In  spite  of  all  this. 

Inspector  Wiant  does  not  consider  portag- 
ing a  pack  for  days  at  a  time  an  irksome 
part  of  the  work,  but  rather,  dressed  for 
the  occasion,  he  derives  much  pleasure  from 
these  mountain  hikes. 

Another  inspector  who  occasionally  re- 
sorts to  a  somewhat  unusual  means  of  travel 
is    W.    J.    Betts    of    Ishpeming,    Michigan. 
Ishpeming  is  located  in  the  northern  penin- 
Inspector  Wm.  J.  Betts.       sula  of   Michigan   and  snows  are   frequent 


laiaagi^ii-- 

1 

mBBBBM' 

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T^^PRH 

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'^^MW 

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r  ittSn^'- 

1926.1 


THE   LOCOMOTIVE 


13 


and  heavy.  Skiing  is  therefore  a  popular  winter  sport  and  it  is  not 
surprising  that  Inspector  Betts  should  find  it  advantageous  to  mike 
some  inspection  trips  in  this  agreeable  manner. 

On  the  other  hand,   Inspector  W.   H.   G.   Slaymaker  of  Jackson, 
Mississippi  shows  a  decided  preference   for  more  modern  modes  of 

travel.  Inspector 
Slaymaker  has  had 
experience  in  avia- 
tion and  his  interest 
in  the  subject  con- 
tinues. While  the 
automobile  usually 
takes  him  on  his 
rounds,  he  at  times 
is  fortunate  enough 
to  have  an  airplane 
at  his  disposal.  This 
means  of  travel  not 
only  reduces  the  time 
spent  in  going  and 
coming,  but  under  certain  conditions  has  expedited  the  work  in  another 
way.  For  instance,  the  inspector,  in  trying  to  keep  track  of  portable 
boilers,  often  finds  himself  in  a  position  to  sympathize  with  the  hen  who 
"  never  finds  things  where  she  lays  them."  Portable  sawmill  boilers 
are  seldom  found  where  they  were  at  the  time  of  the  last  inspection,  and 
sometimes  are  rather  evasive.  "  In  the  woods  "  is  often  the  only  address. 
In  such  cases  the  advantages  of  an  airplane  observation  are  apparent.  Of 
course  the  opportunity  of  flight  holds  no  inducement  for  the  inspector. 


Inspector  Wm.  H.  G.  Slaymaker  (Right). 


Riveting  Pressures.* 

THE  pressure  applied  to  rivets  in  the  operation  of  riveting  up  and 
the  length  of  time  the  pressure  is  sustained  upon  the  rivets  are 
two  important  factors  which  materially  affect  the  eflficiency  of 
the  riveted  seams  of  boilers.  In  this  country  [England],  these  ques- 
tions have  received  considerable  attention,  but  there  is  a  wide  differ- 
ence in  the  actual  practice  of  various  boiler  makers.  The  following 
translation  from  a  French  contemporary  expresses  to  some  extent 
Continental  opinion  regarding  riveting  pressures,  which  it  may  be  noted 
are  appreciably  less  than  is  the  practice  in  this  country :  — 


•Extract  from  an  article  by  V.  Kammerer.   in  the  Bulletin  of  the  French  Association  of 
Boiler  Owners,  January,  1925.     Reprinted  from  Vulcan. 


14  THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  [January, 

"  It  is  well  known  that  in  boiler  shop  work  lines  of  rivets  con- 
stitute weak  points,  not  only  in  consequence  of  the  reduction  in  strength 
due  to  the  rivet  holes,  but  also  by  reason  of  the  stresses  to  which  the 
edges  of  the  plates  are  subjected  in  course  of  construction,  all  of 
which  tend  to  set  up  stresses  in  the  metal  of  the  plates.  Again,  cer- 
tain forms  of  riveted  joints,  notably  lap  joints,  are  subjected  in  the 
course  of  working  to  a  bending  action,  and  joints  exposed  to  the  fire 
are  subjected  to  additional  stresses  in  consequence  of  the  differences  of 
temperature  which  exist  between  the  inner  and  outer  surfaces  of  the 
plate. 

Amongst  the  boiler  shop  operations  which  particularly  affect  the 
plates  must  be  cited  punching  of  the  holes  (a  practice  that  every  good 
shop  will  either  forbid  or  render  less  harmful  by  subsequent  drilling), 
bending  of  the  plates,  flattening  of  the  edges  and  caulking.  This  latter 
operation  cannot  be  avoided  even  when  modern  bending  rolls  are 
used  and  every  care  is  taken  in  the  construction. 

These  questions  have  been  the  subject  of  study  for  some  years, 
and  the  opinions  expressed  have  been  that  the  operation  of  riveting 
was  not  likely  to  produce  any  serious  alteration  in  the  plates,  neither 
through  the  heating  of  the  rivet  hole  nor  by  the  work  of  riveting 
itself.  It  is  true  tliat  formerly  a  considerable  proportion  of  the  rivet- 
ing was  done  either  by  hand  or  by  a  pneumatic  hammer,  and  when 
hydraulic  riveters  were  used  the  pressure  rarely  exceeded  50  tons. 
In  more  recent  years,  and  particularly  since  the  war,  boiler  shops  have 
been  furnished  with  more  powerful  tools  to  enable  them  to  deal  with 
thicker  plates.  These  changes  were  already  taking  place  in  Germany 
before  the  war,  as  in  that  country  higher  pressures  were  more  fre- 
quently used  than  in  France,  and  also  the  Germans  had  a  marked 
preference  for  the  cylindrical  boiler  with  internal  fvu'naces,  which  for 
pressures  of  180  lbs.  per  square  inch  require  shell  plates  of  consider- 
able thickness.  Due  to  the  use  of  thicker  plates  the  fitting  of  the  ends 
is  much  more  difficult,  and  in  consequence  boiler  makers  were  tempted 
to  make  use  of  higher  pressures  in  order  to  bring  the  plates  together. 

If  plates  fit  well  throughout  the  whole  of  the  surface  contact  with- 
out any  previous  pressure,  only  a  moderate  pressure  on  the  riveting 
machine  is  required  to  obtain  a  tight  riveted  joint,  subject  to  the  pressure 
being  maintained  for  a  sufficient  period  of  time,  as  the  close  contact 
is  assisted  by  the  contraction  of  the  rivet  when  cooling.  The  riveting 
machine  must  give  a  sufficient  pressure  to  put  a  good  head  on  the 
rivet,  but  this  can  readily  be  done  if  the  rivet  is  properly  heated.  On 
the  contrary,  if  the  pressure  is  too  high  the  contact  of  the  plates  at 


1926.]  THE   LOCOMOTIVE.  |5 

the  joints  may  be  unsatisfactory,  due  to  their  being  stressed  above 
the  elastic  Hmit. 

This  fact  has  already  been  noticed  in  the  experiments  made  by 
Mons.  F.  Fremont  in  1909.  To  determine  the  effect  of  the  pressure 
during  riveting  upon  the  plate  caused  by  the  rivets,  he  used  for  rivets 
of  I  in,  diameter  pressures  of  40,  70  and  100  tons,  which  corresponds 
approximately  to  50,  90  and  125  tons  per  square  inch  of  rivet  area, 
and  he  found  that  in  most  of  the  cases  the  friction  of  the  riveted 
joint  diminished  when  pressures  above  40  tons  were  used.  He  cal- 
culated that  a  pressure  of  40  tons  to  50  tons  for  i  in.  diameter  was 
sufficient,  and  that  any  higher  pressure  would  tend  to  crush  the  metal. 
A  little  later  similar  tests  were  undertaken  at  Stuttgart  by  Professors 
Bach  and  Baumann,  and  they  arrived  at  similar  conclusions,  viz.,  that  a 
riveting  pressure  of  42  tons  to  52  tons  per  inch  of  the  section  of 
the  rivet  was  sufficient  to  secure  a  good  joint  even  with  thick  plates, 
and  that  if  this  latter  pressure  were  exceeded  there  was  a  risk  of  in- 
juring the  metal  around  the  rivet  hole,  and  possibly  setting  up  fractures. 

The  numerous  failures  that  occurred  in  19 17  at  a  large  chemical 
works  in  Germany  of  the  riveting  of  almost  new  boilers  (necessitating 
22  boilers  being  put  out  of  service),  and  a  serious  explosion  at  Reisholz* 
in  1920  causing  27  deaths,  again  drew  attention  to  this  question,  as 
expert  opinion  attributed  these  failures  to  excessive  riveting  pressures. 
Professor  Baumann  undertook  systematic  tests  to  ascertain  what  was 
the  effect  of  pressure  and  temperature  upon  the  plates  during  riveting. 
Tests  were  made  with  heated  iron  rivets,  the  temperature  of  these  be- 
ing measured.  When  the  rivet  pressure  exceeded  a  certain  limit  that 
Professor  Baumann  fixed  at  52  tons  per  square  inch  on  the  area  of 
the  rivet,  not  only  was  the  plate  around  the  head  of  the  rivet  stressed 
beyond  the  elastic  limit  and  deep  depressions  formed,  but  the  pressure 
on  the  rivet  was  transmitted  by  the  shank,  which  was  in  a  plastic 
state,  to  the  sides  of  the  rivet  hole,  the  temperature  of  the  plate  around 
the  rivet  hole  being  raised  to  about  900  deg.  Fah.,  and  this  transmitted 
pressure  caused  crushing  of  the  sides  of  the  hole,  the  extent  depend- 
ing upon  the  riveting  pressure  used.  As  the  shank  of  the  rivet  always 
has  a  tendency  under  pressure  to  take  barrel  form,  it  is  near  the  middle 
of  the  hole  —  that  is  to  say,  the  interior  of  the  joint  —  that  the  metal 
is  most  severely  stressed.  It  follows,  then,  that  without  considering 
any  damage  that  may  be  done  to  the  plates  prior  to  riveting,  cracks 
will  be  set  up  on  the  inner  surfaces  of  the  plates  in  contact,  either 
at  the  time  of  riveting  or  at  a  later  date,  due  to  the  stresses  set  up  in 


•See  The  Locomotive,  January  1924,  p.  11. 


IQ  THE   LOCOMOTIVE.  [January, 

working  acting  upon  the  damaged  parts.  This  fact,  which  is  gen- 
erally recognized,  causes  these  failures  to  be  particularly  serious,  as 
nothing  can  be  detected  by  examination  until  the  cracks  have  gone 
right  through  the  plate. 

But  it  is  evident  that  if  only  a  moderate  riveting  pressure  is 
applied,  other  things  being  equal,  the  pressure  must  be  kept  on  for  a 
longer  period  if  equal  contact  is  desired.  Mons.  Fremont  in  his  first 
experiments  on  riveting  had  drawn  attention  to  the  importance  of  the 
length  of  time  pressure  was  applied,  this  time  requiring  to  be  increased 
if  the  fitting  of  the  plates  was  poor,  and  that  in  no  case  should  the 
time  be  less  than  30  seconds.  In  England  it  is  the  practice  in  some 
cases  to  keep  up  the  pressure  for  one  minute.  It  must  be  remembered 
that  the  length  of  application  of  the  pressure  has  an  appreciable  influ- 
ence on  the  cost  of  riveting  and  the  use  of  the  plant,  and  it  is  there- 
fore natural  that  boiler  makers  should,  on  their  part,  desire  to  reduce 
the  time  as  far  as  possible.  As  contact  is  obtained  chiefly  by  the  con- 
traction of  the  rivets  and  is  affected  by  the  fitting  of  the  plates  it  does 
not  seem  that  a  minimum  duration  of  time  can  be  fixed  suitable  for 
all  cases.  The  American  Boiler  Code  includes  a  rule  which  states 
that  pressure  must  be  maintained  so  long  as  the  rivet  head  shows  red 
in  daylight  (another  rule  followed  in  certain  boiler  shops  proportions 
the  time  of  application  of  the  pressure  to  the  diameter  of  the  rivet  in 
millimetres).  The  American  Boiler  Code  also  states  that  the  bolts 
holding  the  plates  together  must  not  be  taken  out  until  the  rivet  has  been 
fixed  on  either  side  of  the  bolt.  This  precaution  certainly  tends  to 
improve  the  contact  of  the  plates  and  the  tightness  of  the  riveting. 

An  enquiry  made  in  Germany  in  twelve  of  the  most  important 
boiler  shops  on  the  subject  of  pressures  of  riveting  has  shown  that 
with  two  exceptions  all  these  shops  at  the  commencement  of  192 1  used 
pressures  between  65  tons  and  95  tons  per  square  inch  on  the  area  of 
the  rivet,  whilst  at  the  commencement  of  1924  they  had  reduced  the 
pressure  to  below  52  tons  per  square  inch,  and  found  that  they  were 
able  to  obtain  the  necessary  contact  of  the  plates  and  tightness  of  the 
joints  which  they  had  hitherto  considered  could  only  be  obtained  by 
the  use  of  higher  pressures." 


From  the  Zeitschrift  of  the  Steam  Boiler  Inspection  and  Insurance 
Company  at  Vienna,  Austria,  it  is  noted  that  nickel  steel  is  being  used 
in  some  cases  for  the  shells  of  boilers  built  for  very  high  pressures  in 
Continental  Europe.  Furnaces  and  water  tubes  in  such  boilers,  how- 
ever,  are   without   exception   made   of    Siemens-Martin    (mild)    steel. 


1926.] 


THE   LOCOMOTIVE. 


17 


Harnessing  Geysers  in  California. 

By  L.  E.  Grundell,  Inspector,  San  Francisco  Department. 

SEVENTY-FIVE  miles  north  of  San  Francisco  in  Sonoma  County 
is  Geyser  Canyon,  discovered  in  1847  by  W.  B.  Elliott,  a  hunter 
and  trapper.     This  canyon  is  about  one-half  mile  long  and  is  full 
of  boiling  mineral  springs  and  volcanic  vents  or  fumaroles  from  which 
steam  is  constantly  issuing.     A  meal  can  easily  be  prepared  over  one 
of  these  steam  vents.     About  three  years  ago  J.  D.  Grant  of  Healds- 

burg,  a  nearby  town,  conceived  the 
idea  of  drilling  out  some  of  these 
vents  and  utilizing  the  natural  steam 
for  commercial  use.  The  Geyser 
Development  Company  was  organ- 
ized and  three  wells  were  driven 
under  unusual  difficulties  to"  depths 
from  150  to  300  ft.  through  ground 
from  which  steam  was  issuing  in 
large  quantities.  Tests  of  the  quan- 
tity, temperature,  and  pressure  of  the 
steam  obtained  indicated  that  about 
1200  horse-power  could  be  developed 
from  these  three  wells. 

During  the  past  year  four  new  ex- 
perimental wells  have  been  drilled  by 
means  of  a  rotary  drill  similar  to  the 
tool  used  in  the  oil  fields.  The  last 
well  opened  up,  No.  7,  just  before  it 
was  capped  projected  a  jet  of  steam 
from  an  8  inch  diameter  pipe  fully  75 
ft.  into  the  air,  as  shown  in  Fig.  i. 
When  capped  it  showed  a  pressure  of 
220  lbs.  Well  No.  6  only  a  hundred  feet  away  developed  a  pressure  in 
excess  of  300  lbs.  In  order  to  limit  it  to  this  pressure,  the  safe  working 
pressure  for  the  casing  valves  and  fittings,  a  4  inch  diameter  escape 
pipe  is  provided  as  shown  in  Fig.  2.  Well  No.  5  showed  a  pressure 
of  250  lbs. 

Utilization  has  not  yet  been  made  of  this  natural  steam  except  to 
furnish  power  and  light  for  furthering  the  work.  A  12  kva.  turbo- 
generator supplies  electric  power  and  light  for  the  construction  and 
drilling,  and  a  iox6x  10  pump  operating  under  150  lbs.  geyser  steam 
pressure  supplies  water  at  a  similar  pressure  for  drilling.    The  experi- 


FlG.    I. 


18 


THE   LOCOMOTIVE 


[January, 


mental  work  is  about  completed  and  plans  for  a  commercial  electric 
generating  plant  are  taking  form. 

Tests  of  this  geyser  steam  reveal  about  i^%  of  non-condensable 
gases,  which,  of  course,  is  objectionable,  and  in  addition  a  small  amount 
of  acid.  This  latter,  however,  is 
said  to  be  so  minute  that  no  corro- 
sive effect  has  been  noticed  on  the 
casing,  valves,  or  machinery.  The 
quantity  of  this  steam  available  is 
naturally  an  open  qquestion,  but  it 
is  said  that  no  well  has  shown  any 
falling  off  in  production  regardless 
of  climatic  changes  or  additional 
drillings.  Preparations  are  now  be- 
ing made  to  sink  two  additional 
wells.  A  i6  inch  diameter  casing  will 
be  driven  down  for  approximately 
20  ft.  and  surrounded  by  a  large 
concrete  foundation.  A  15  inch 
diameter  casing  will  then  be  carried 
down  the  rest  of  the  way  and  sul)- 
sequently  strengthened  by  an  inside 
filling  of  concrete  lined  with  a  12 
inch  diameter  casing.  To  retain  the 
drill  in  position  and  advance  it,  a 
giant  hydraulic  jack  is  used  whose 
capacity  is  300  tons. 

Although  this  is  the  first  development  of  the  kind  in  America, 
Italy  is  reported  to  have  in  operation  a  plant  utilizing  10,000  horse- 
power of  geyser  steam,  4,000  of  which  is  furnished  by  a  single  well. 


Fig.  2. 


The  Grave  of  John  Fitch. 

THE  accompanying  picture  shows  "  the  simple  marker  given  by 
the  government  to  the  resting  place  of  each  Revolutionary  sol- 
dier "  which  marks  the  grave  of  the  inventor  of  the  first  successful 
steamboat.  John  Fitch  was  born  January  21,  1743  in  Windsor,  Con- 
necticut. He  early  showed  an  inclination  for  mechanical  things  and 
was  in  turn  a  watch  repairer,  brass  founder,  surveyor  and  engraver. 
This  wide  experience  gave  him  an  excellent  grounding  for  the  later 
development  of  his  great  invention. 


1926.] 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE* 


19 


In  1785  he  designed  and  built  a  working  model  of  a  steamboat.    A 
full  size  boat  was  next  constructed,  and  in  1788  it  traversed  the  Delaware 
River  from  Philadelphia  to  Burlington,  a  distance  of  20  miles,  at  the 
rate  of  63^  miles  per  hour.     During  the  summer  of    1790  his  boat, 
capable  of  making  8  miles  per  hour,  ran  as  a  passenger  boat  over  this 
route.    The  Philadelphia  papers  carried  advertisements  of  the  schedule, 
and  the  Federal  Government  granted  him  a  patent  on  August  26,  1791. 
As  a  protection  of  the  invention,  the  state  of  New  Jersey  granted 
to  Fitch  for  fourteen  years  the  "  sole  and  exclusive  right  of  construct- 
ing, making,  using  and  employing  or  navi- 
gating all  and  every  species  or  kinds  of 
boats    or    water    craft    which   might    be 
urged  or  impelled  by  the  force  of  fire  or 
steam  in  all  the  creeks,  rivers,  et  cetera 
within  the  territory  or  jurisdiction  of  this 
state."      This    action    was    followed    by 
similar  action  on  the  part  of  the  states  of 
Delaware,  New  York,  Pennsylvania  and 
Virginia.     These  rights  were  later  trans- 
ferred to  Fulton  and  his  financial  backer, 
Livingstone.     In  this  connection  the  fol- 
lowing   extract    from    "  Public    Statute 
Laws  of  the  State  of  Connecticut  May 
Session,  1822"  is  of  interest: 
"  An  Act  to  protect  the  citizens  of  Connecticut  in  their  right  to 
navigate  boats  or  vessels  moved  by  Fire  or  Steam. 

Whereas  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  New  York, 
have  passed,  and  continue  to  enforce,  sundry  acts  giving 
to  certain  persons  of  that  State,  their  associates  and  as- 
signs, heirs  and  representatives,  the  sole  and  exclusive 
right  of  navigating  all  the  waters  claimed  by  that  State, 
with  boats  or  vessels  moved  by  fire  or  steam,  and  have 
secured  the  observance  of  said  laws  by  severe  penalties 
and   forfeitures ;  and  whereas  said  laws  operate  to  ex- 
clude the  citizens  of  Connecticut  from  the  free  naviga- 
tion of  Long  Island  Sound,  and  the  East  River,  communi- 
cating with  the  Atlantic  ocean  and  our  sister  states  — " 
Then  follows  a  section  of  the  Act  forbidding  any  person  claiming 
rights  under  the  above  laws  of  the  State  of  New  York  from  operating 
any  boat  "  moved  by  fire  or  steam  "  in  the  waters  under  the  control 
of  the  State  of  Connecticut  under  penalty  of  $500  fine  for  the  first 
offense,  and  $10,000  fine  for  the  second  oflfense.    Another  section  pro- 


( Continued  on  Page  22.) 


20 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE. 


[January, 


Devoted  to  Power  Plant  Protection 


Published  Quarterly 


Benj.  C.  Cruickshanks.   Editor. 


HARTFORD,    JANUARY,    1926. 

Single  copies  can  be  obtained  free  by  calling  at  any  of  the  company^ s  ag-encies.> 

Subscription  price  SO  cents  per  year  "when  mailed  from  this  office. 

Recent  bound  volumes  one  dollar  each.    Earlier  ones  two  dollars. 

Reprinting'  tnaitcr  from  this  paper  is  permitted  if  credited  to 

The  Locomotive  of  the  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  I.  &  I.  Co. 


PRESENT  day  civilization  is  a  complex  thing  and  there  are  many 
factors  that  have  entered  into  its  development  and  which  are  vital  to 
its  maintenance.  Without  any  one  of  these  factors,  progress  v^rould 
be  thrown  back  several  generations  at  least.  Look  around,  for  instance 
at  the  many  conveniences  —  automobiles,  telephones,  typewriters  — 
necessities  we  will  most  likely  call  them  today.  How  many  would  be 
within  our  price  range  without  American  mass-production  methods. 
Or  once  produced,  how  many  would  still  be  available  at  any  price  with- 
out present  day  transportation  facilities.  And  what  a  boon  mechanical 
refrigeration  has  proven  to  all  mankind.  A  varied  assortment  of  fresh 
foods  brought  to  our  table  in  excellent  condition  the  year  round  whether 
in  city  or  country  has  meant  perennial  good  health  and  the  passing  of 
the  old  fashioned  spring  tonic. 

Yet  all  of  these  factors  are  in  turn  dependent  upon  one  thing  — 
power.  With  the  development  of  more  and  cheaper  power,  particularly 
with  the  development  of  power  in  its  most  convenient  form,  as  elec- 
tricity, our  highly  organized  civilization  has  advanced.  Power  is  truly 
an  Atlas  upholding  the  world  of  present  day  civilization,  and  the  recent 
growth  of  this  mighty  giant  as  outlined  in  the  article  on  page  3  of  this 
issue  should  therefore  be  of  general  interest. 


1926.]  THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  21 


Obituary.  ^ 

WILLIAM  T.  WOODS,  for  nearly  thirty-two  years  an  employee 
of  this  Company,  died  suddenly  on  Thanksgiving  Day,  Thurs- 
day, November  26,  1925,  at  his  home  in  Logan,  Philadelphia, 
Pa.     Apparently  he   had   been   in   excellent   health,   but   at   midnight 
Wednesday  he  was  stricken  with  apoplexy  and  died  Thursday  after- 
noon. 

Mr.  Woods  was  born  at  Newport,  Pennyslvania,  July  10,  1859, 
and  entered  the  employ  of  our  Philadelphia  Department  March  i,  1894. 
He  had  thus  given  nearly  thirty-two  years  of  faithful  and  ef^cient 
service  to  the  Company.  Mr.  Woods  was  also  an  active  and  enthu- 
siastic church  worker. 


The  title  page  and  index  for  Vol.  XXXV  of  The  Locomotive, 
covering  the  years  1924  and  1925,  is  now  available  and  may  be  obtained 
upon  application  to  the  Hartford  Office  of  the  Company. 


Autogenously  Welded  Tank  Fails  Under  Air  Test. 

CONSIDERABLE  interest  was  aroused  by  the  article  on  page  239 
of  the  October  issue  of  The  Locomotive  describing  the  explo- 
sion of  a  new  autogenously  welded  storage  tank  while  it  was  being 
tested  for  tightness  with  compressed  air.     Another  accident  that  oc- 
curred under  strikingly  similar  circumstances  was  reported  as  follows 
in  the  Albany  Times-Union  of  November  16,  1925: 

Two  workmen  were  killed  in  the  Ludlum  steel  plant,  Colonie, 
[Watervliet,  N.  Y.]  early  today,  when  a  new  gas  tank,  which  was 
being  tested,  through  air-pressure  exploded. 

The  dead  men  are:  John  King,  pipe  fitter,  526  Sixth  St., 
Watervliet,  Salvis  Corrato,  pipe  fitter's  helper,  537  Broadway, 
Watervliet. 

The  double  fatality  was  purely  accidental.  It  is  customary 
at  the  big  steel  works  to  carefully  test  out  all  new  apparatus.  In 
accordance  with  this  rule,  the  new  gas  tank  was  being  tested  today 
with  air  pressure.  It  was  given  a  pressure  up  to  its  supposed 
capacity  when  the  explosion  occurred. 

The  test  was  being  made  by  the  two  men  who  were  killed. 
The  blast  of  the  explosion  hurled  them  several  feet.  First  aid  was 
administered  promptly,  but  both  victims  were  found  to  be  beyond 
human  help. 


22  THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  [January, 

This  tank  was  of  3/16  inch  plate,  48  inches  in  diameter  and  12  ft. 
long.  The  longitudinal  seams  were  butt  welded.  The  heads  were 
3/16  inch  disks  welded  fiat  against  the  ends  of  the  shell.  The  tank 
was  intended  for  use  as  a  gasoline  storage  tank  and  had  a  capacity 
of  1,000  gallons.  xA.t  the  time  of  the  accident  it  was  being  tested  for 
tightness  by  air  and  is  said  to  have  failed  when  the  pressure  reached 
40  lbs.  per  square  inch. 


(Continued  from  page  19.) 
vides  that  other  boats  shall  not  land  or  take  off  passengers  from  the 
proscribed  steamboats  on  penalty  of  $100  fine  per  person.  Still  another 
section  specifies  that  the  Act  shall  remain  in  force  so  long  as  the  objec- 
tionable New  York  laws  remain  in  force.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that 
in  1824  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  revoked  and  annulled 
these  rights  granted  by  the  states. 

Fitch  continued  his  experiments  with  the  steamboats  until  his  death 
at  Bardstown,  Kentucky,  July  2,  1798,  nine  years  before  Fulton's 
"  Clermont  "  steamed  up  the  Hudson  River,  Until  a  few  years  ago, 
Fitch's  grave  was  entirely  unmarked  and  unknown,  but  it  is  gratifying 
to  note  that  Congress  recently  appropriated  $15,000  for  a  monument  to 
him  to  be  erected  at  Bardstown. 


Thinking  Right  Avoids  Accidents. 

WHEN  a  man  is  injured  or  loses  his  life  through  accident,  the 
laws  in  the  different  states  say  what  he  or  his  depends  shall 
receive  in  the  way  of  compensation.     That  is,  they  say  what 
a  life  is  worth  or  a  part  of  a  life  is  worth.     Statutes  vary  as  to  the 
amount  to  be  paid  the  man  or  his  dependents.     Insurance  companies 
will  place  such  values  on  your  life  as  you  are  able  to  pay  for. 

But  who  would  attempt  to  place  a  value  on  a  crippled  man  or  a 
life?  No  one.  The  greatest  fortune,  doubled  and  trebled,  could  not 
induce  you  to  become  a  cripple  or  part  with  your  life  needlessly; 
either  is  priceless.  Obviously  such  an  enormously  important  thing 
should  be  cherished  and  safeguarded  in  every  way  possible,  yet  injury 
and  death  are  gambled  with  continually,  in  the  shop,  on  the  streets,  and 
even  in  the  home.  Of  course  we  don't  deliberately  defy  Providence; 
we  simply  are  thoughtless  and  careless. 

The  explanation  of  a  great  many  accidents  lies  in  failure  to  think. 
Yesterday,  perhaps,  or  last  week,  we  did  really  try  to  observe  the  prin- 
ciples of  safety ;  but  the  safety  of  yesterday  won't  answer  for  today 
any  more  than  will  yesterday's  dinner.  We  must  keep  on  thinking  about 
safetv  and  what  it  means  to  us  and  to  others. —  Gas  &  Electric  Nezvs. 


1926. 


THE   LOCOMOTIVE, 


23 


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24 


THE   LOCOMOTIVE, 


[January, 


3C 
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—1 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 
Hanitranch,  Mich. 
Winchester,  Va. 
Derrick  City,  Pa. 
Ivirbyville,  Pa. 
Dorchester,  Mass. 

Lansing,  Mich. 
Bedford,  Iowa. 
Lawrenceville,  111. 
Salem,  Mass. 
Kansas  City,  Mo. 
Cincinnati,  Ohio. 
Knoxville,  Tenn. 
New  York,  N.  Y. 

00 
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CO 

Home  for  Boys 

Furniture  Store 

Hendley  School 

Oil  Well 

Inn 

Apt.  House 

Apt.  House 
Bank  Bldg. 
Apts.    &    Stores 
Restaurant 
Mercantile  Bldg. 

Sand  Dredge 
Restaurant 

z 
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o 
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St.  Joseph's  Home 

Sam   Bookstein 

Board    of   Trustees 

Frederick's  Lease 

Kirbyville  Inn 

Estate  of  Bencion  Moskow 

Louis   F.    Breitenwisher 

Citizen's   State   Bank 

Est.  of  A.  L.  Maxwell 

Waldorf  System,  Inc. 

R.  X.   DeGraw 

P.  Goldsmith   Sons  Co. 

II.  C.  Milnor  Sand  &  Lime  Co. 

Palais  d'Or 

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Section  of  heating  boiler  cracked 
Section  of  heating  boiler  cracked 
Section  of  heating  boiler  cracked 
Boiler  exploded 
Hot   water   boiler  exploded 
Manifold  and  seven  sections  heating 

boiler  cracked 
Several  sections  heating  boiler  cracked 
Section  of  heating  boiler  cracked 
Section  of  heating  boiler  cracked 
Six  sections  heating  boiler  cracked 
Blow-off  pipe  fitting  failed 
Boiler  ruptured 
Boiler  exploded 
Hot  water  supply  boiler  exploded 

o 

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Dorchester,  Mass. 
Charlottesville,  Va. 
Niles,   Ohio 
Arkadelphia,   Ark. 
Laurel,  Del. 
Madison,  111. 
Tacoma,    Wash. 
Burlington,  N.  J. 
Wortham,   Texas 
Covington,    Tenn. 
Worcester,    Mass. 
New  York,  N.  Y. 
Omaha,    Nebr. 
Terre  Haute,   Ind. 

Oxygen   Plant 
Woolen  Mill 
Steel   Plant 
Sawmill 
Power    Plant 
Oxygen    Plant 
Logging  Camp 
Iron  Works 
Oil    well 
School 

Apts.  &  Stores 
Club  House 
Apt.   House 
Hotel 

Air  Reduction  Co.,  Inc. 
Charlottesville  Woolen  Mills 
Waddell  Steel  Co. 
Walter  Robey 
Penn   Central  Lt.  &  Power 
Air    Reduction    Co.,    Inc. 
West   Fork   Logging  Co. 
Thomas  Devlin  Mfg.  Co. 
Crouch  Lease 
Byars-Hall    High   School 
Dworman   Bros. 
Cosmopolitan    Club 
Elizabeth    C.    Graham 
Filbeck    Hotel 

vO                                       « 

- 

Section  of  heating  boiler  cracked 

Valve  in  feed  water  line  ruptured 

Two  tubes  ruptured 

Boiler  exploded 

Superheater  circulating  tube  pulled  out 

Section  of  heating  boiler  cracked 

Flue  plug  blew  out  of  locomotive 

Tube  ruptured 

Boiler  exploded 

Boiler  exploded 

Several  sections  heating  boiler  cracked 

Section  of  heating  boiler  cracked 

Section  of  heating  boiler  cracked 

Section  of  heating  boiler  cracked 

-   N               ro        •*  "^ 

1926. 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  25 


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26 


THE   LOCOMOTIVE 


[January, 


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Chicago,  111. 
Winnipeg,  Can. 
Monroe,  La. 
Brooklyn,   N.  Y. 
Charlestown,  Mass 
New   Orleans,   La. 
St.  Louis,  Mo. 
Holt,  Ala. 
Langhorne,  Pa. 
Hartford,  Conn. 
Hammond,  Ind. 
Seattle,    Wash. 
Fall  River,  Mass. 
Maysville,  Ky. 
Ware,   Mass. 
Rnckford,  111. 
Woodward,   Ala. 
Duncanville,    Al;i. 
Petersburg,  111. 
Bisbee,  Ariz. 
Worcester,    Mass. 
Chicago,  111. 
Allentown,  Pa. 

CO 
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Gas  Plant 

Railroad 

Paper  Mill 

Apts.  &  Stores 

Armory 

Club 

Hotel 

Alkali    Plant 

Railroad 

Warehouse 

Bakery 

Steamship 

Cotton   Goods 

Pulley  Works 

Paper  Mill 

Laundry 

Blast  Furnace 

Sawmill 

Reduction   Plant 

School 

Apts.  &  Stores 

Business   Block 

Apt.  House 

z 
cc 

UJ 
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Peoples'  Gas  Light  &  Coke  Co. 
Canadian    Pacific    R.  R.    Co. 
Brown   Paper  Mill  Co. 
Est.  of  Wm.  Davis 
Charlestown  Armory 
New  Orleans  Country  Club 
Windmore   Hotel 
The  Solvay  Process  Co. 

S.  &  J.  Kohn 
Calumet   Baking  Co. 
S.   S.   Alaska 
American    Printing    Co. 
Ohio  Valley  Pulley  Co. 
McLaurin-Jones  Co. 
Model   Laundry    Co. 
Woodward  Iron  Co. 
J.  E.   Brown 
Charles   Irwin 
School  District  No.  2 
Dworman  Bros. 
H.  S.   &   B.N.   Jelonak 
Schwartz  Apartments 

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Tubes  pulled  out  of  read 

Steam  pipe  exploded 

Four  tubes  pulled  out  of  drum 

Two  sections  heating  boiler  cracked 

Hot  water  heater  exploded 

Two   sections  heating  boiler  cracked 

Boiler  failed 

Tube  ruptured,  seven  headers  cracked 

Arch  tube  of  locomotive  failed 

Three  sections  heating  boiler  cracked 

Six  sections  heating  boiler  cracked 

Boiler   exploded 

Fitting  on  return  line  ruptured 

Blow-off  pipe  fitting  failed 

Blow-off  pipe  failed 

Boiler  bulged  and  ruptured 

Tube  ruptured 

Boiler  exploded 

Boiler  exploded 

Section  of  heating  boiler  cracked 

Five   sections   heating  boiler  cracked 

Four  sections  heating  boiler  cracked 

Boiler   ruptured 

2s 

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THe  HaitlomsteaiiiBoileiliispectioiiaiiillpiaiicBGoiiuiaiiji 

ABSTRACT  OF  STATEMENT,  DECEMBER  31,   1924 

Capital  Stock,         .         .         $2,500,000.00 


ASSETS 


Cash  in  offices  and  banks 
Real  Estate    .... 
Mortgage  and  collateral  loans 
Bonds  and  stocks 
Premiums  in  course  of  collection 
Interest  Accrued     . 


$312,885.77 
255,000.00 
1,797,000.00 
9,830,809.50 
1,114,552.34 
145,614.56 


Total  assets $13,455,862.17 


LIABILITIES 
Reserve  for  unearned  premiums     . 
Reserve  for  losses  ..... 

Reserve  for  taxes  and  other  contingencies 
Capital  stock  ...... 

Surplus  over  all  liabilities       .... 

Surplus  to  Policyholders, 

Total  liabilites  ..... 


$5,897,736.62 
258,782.17 
559,988.34 


^2,500,000.00 

4,239,355.04 


$6,739,355.04 


$13,455,862.17 


CHARLES  S.  BLAKE,  President. 

WM.  R.  C.  CORSON,  Vice-President  and  Treasurer. 

E.  SIDNEY  BERRY,  Second  Vice-President. 

LOUIS   F.  MIDDLEBROOK,   Secretary. 

J.   J.   GRAHAM,    Assistant   Secretary. 

HALSEY  STEVENS,  Assistant  Secretary. 

SHERWOOD  F.  JETER,  Chief  Engineer. 

KENNETH  A.  REED,  Electrical  Engineer. 

HARRY  E.  DART,  Supt.  Engineering  Dept. 


BOARD  OF  DIRECTORS 


ATWOOD   COLLINS,   Hartford,   Conn. 

LUCIUS  F.  ROBINSON,  Attorney,  Hart- 
ford,  Conn. 

JOHN  O.  ENDERS,  Chairman  Board  of 
Trustees  United  States  Security  Trust 
Co.,   Hartford,   Conn. 

MORGAN  B.  BRAINARD.  President 
.^tna  Life  Insurance  Co.,  Hartford, 
Conn. 

CHARLES  P.  COOLEY,  President  Society 
for  Savings,  Hartford,   Conn. 

HORACE  B.  CHENEY,  Cheney  Brothers, 
Silk  Manufacturers,  South  Manchester, 
Conn. 

D.  NEWTON  BARNEY,  Vice-President 
The  Hartford  Electric  Light  Co.,  Hart- 
ford,   Conn. 

DR.  GEORGE  C.  F.  WILLIAMS,  Presi- 
dent The  Capewell  Horse  Nail  Co., 
Hartford,  Conn. 


JOSEPH  R.  ENSIGN,  President  The 
Ensign-Bickford    Co.,    Simsbury,    Conn. 

EDWARD  MILLIGAN,  President  Phoenix 
Insurance    Co.,    Hartford,    Conn. 

MORGAN  G.  BULKELEY,  JR.,  Vice- 
President  and  Treasurer  .(Etna  Life 
Ins.   Co.,   Hartford,    Conn. 

CHARLES  S.  BLAKE,  President  The 
Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection  and 
Insurance  Co.,  Hartford,  Conn. 

WM.  R.  C.  CORSON,  Vice-President  The 
Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection  and 
Insurance   Co.,   Hartford,   Conn. 

S.\MUEL  M.  STONE,  President  The  Colt's 
Patent  Fire  Arms  Mfg.  Co.,  Hartford, 
Conn. 

SAMUEL  FERGUSON,  President  The 
Hartford  Electric  Light  Co.,  Hartford, 
Conn. 


Incorporated  1866 


Charter  Perpetual 


INSURES  AGAINST  LOSS  FROM  DAMAGE  TO  PROPERTY 
AND  INJURY  TO  PERSONS,  DUE  TO  THE  EXPLO- 
SIONS OF  BOILERS  OR  FLYWHEELS  OR 
THE  BREAKDOWN  OF  ENGINES  OR 
ELECTRICAL   MACHINERY 


Department 
ATLANTA,    Ga., 

1103-1106  Atlanta   Trust   Bldg 
BALTIMORE,  Md.,   . 

13-14-IS  Abell  Bldg. 
BOSTON,  Mass., 

4  Liberty  Sq.,  Cor.  Water  St 
BRIDGEPORT,  Conn.,       . 

404-405  City  Savings  Bank  Bldg, 
CHICAGO,  111., 

209  West  Jackson  BTv'd 


CINCINNATI,   Ohio, 

First  National  Bank  Bldg. 
CLEVELAND,  Ohio, 

Leader  Bldg.    . 
DENVER,  Colo., 

916-918  Gas  &  Electric  Bldg. 
HARTFORD,  Conn.,  . 

56  Prospect  St. 
NEW   ORLEANS,   La., 

Hibernia   Bank   Bldg. 
NEW  YORK,  N.  Y.,  . 

80  Maiden  Lane 

PHILADELPHIA,   Pa., 

429  Walnut  St. 
PITTSBURGH,  Pa.,  . 

1807-S-9-10  Arrott  Bldg, 
PORTLAND,   Ore.,    . 

306  Yeon   Bldg. 
SEATTLE,  Wash.,     . 

415  Dexter-Horton  Bldg. 
SAN  FRANCISCO,  Cal., 

339-341   Sansome   St. 

ST.  LOUIS,  Mo.,       . 

319  North  Fourth   St. 
TORONTO,  Canada,  . 

Federal  Bldg.  . 


Representatives 
W.  M.  Francis,  Manager. 
C.  R.  Summers,  Chief  Inspector. 
Lawford  &  McKiM,  General  Agents. 
James  G.  Reid,  Chief  Inspector. 
Ward  I.  Corneix,  Mana,c;er. 
W.  A.  Bayliss,  Chief  Inspector. 
W.  G.  LiNEBURGH  &  Son,  General  Agents. 
A.  E.  Bonnet,  Chief  Inspector. 
P.  M.  Murray,  Manager. 
J.  P.  Morrison,  Chief  Inspector. 
J.  T.  Coleman,  Ass't  Chief  Inspector. 
C.  W.  Zimmer,  Ass't  Chief  Inspector. 
W.  E.  Gleason,  Manager. 
W.  E.  Glennon,  Chief  Inspector. 
A.  Paul  Graham,  Manager. 
L.  T.  Gregg,  Chief  Inspector. 
J.  H.  Chesnutt, 

Manager  and  Chief  Inspector. 
F.  H.  Kenyon,  General  Agent. 
A.  E.  Bonnet,  Chief  Inspector. 
R.  T.  Burwell,  Mgr.  and  Chief  Inspector. 
E.  Unsworth,  Ass't  Chief  Inspector. 
C.  C.  Gardiner,  Manager. 
E.  Mason   Parry,  Chief  Inspector. 
R.  P.  Guy,  Ass't  Chief  Inspector. 
A.  S.  WiCKHAM,  Manager. 
S.  B.  Adams,  Chief  Inspector. 
Geo.  S.  Reynolds,  Manager. 
J.  A.  Snyder,  Chief  Inspector. 
Bates,  Lively  &  Pearson,  Gen'l  Agents. 
C.  B.  Paddock,  Chief  Inspector. 
C.  B.  Paddock,  Chief  Inspector. 

H.  R.  Mann  &  Co.,  General  Agents. 

J.  B.  Warner,  Chief  Inspector. 

L.  J.  Reed,  Ass't  Chief  Inspector. 

C.  D.  Ashcroft,  Manager. 

Eugene  Webb,  Chief  Inspector. 

H.  N.  Roberts,  President,  The  Boiler  In- 
spection and  Insurance  Company  of 
Canada. 


ELECTRICAL  ^^' 
MACHINERY 
INSURANCE 

Inspections  made  by  HARTFORD  ELECTRICAL 
INSPECTORS  are  of  the  same  thorough  character  as  those 
that  have  made  HARTFORD  BOILER  INSPECTIONS 
the  standard  for  comparison. 

A  Hartford  Electrical  Policy 

PROTECTS  against  loss  due  to 
Burnouts 

Short  Circuits 
Lightning 

Mechanical  Breakage 

Explosion  from  overspeed 
Etc. 
INSURES 

Rotating  Machinery 
Transformers 
Switchboards 
Etc. 


Consult  your  agent  or  broker  or  write  for 
details   to   the   nearest   branch  office  of 

THE  HARTFORD  STEAM  BOILER 
INSPECTION  and  INSURANCE  CO. 

HARTFORD  CONNECTICUT 


"The  oldest  in  the  Country,  the  largest  in  the  world" 


Devoted  to  Power  Plant  Protection 


Published  Quarterly 


Vol.  XXXVI 


HARTFORD,   CONN.,   APRIL,    1926. 


No.  2. 


C0PYRI6HT,  1926,  BY  THE  HARTFORD  STEAM  BOILER  INSPECTION  AND  INSURANCE  CO. 


Hot  Water  Supply  Tank  Explosion  at  Waterville,  Conn. 


THERE  IS  VALUABLE  INFORMATION 

FOR  YOUR  ENGINEER  IN  THIS  MAGAZINE. 

PLEASE  LET   HIM   SEE   IT. 


34  THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  [April, 

Hot  Water  Supply  Tank  Explosion  at  Waterville,  Conn. 

THE  picture  on  the  front  cover  page  illustrates  an  accident  that 
comes  quite  close  home  to  practically  everyone.     A  hot  water 
supply  tank  failed  apparently  from  overpressure  and  completely 
demolished  the  building  in  which  it  was  housed.     Fortunately  no  one 
was  in  the  building  at  the  time. 

The  building  was  a  one  story  frame  structure  used  as  a  public 
bath  house  and  was  the  property  of  the  town  of  Waterville,  Con- 
necticut. It  was  equipped  with  shower  baths,  a  gas  coil  water  heater, 
and  a  copper  hot  water  supply  tank.  A  steel  mixing  tank  was 
formerly  part  of  the  system,  but  it  had  not  been  in  use  for  some 
time  and  had  been  disconnected.  This  steel  tank  appears  quite  promi- 
nently in  the  picture  though  it  had  no  part  in  the  accident.  The 
copper  tank  that  exploded  is  said  to  have  been  about  lo  years  old, 
but  showed  no  signs  of  weakness  or  distress. 

The  explosion  was  caused  by  overpressure,  as  shown  by  the 
violence  attending  it.  Not  only  was  the  building  demolished,  but  one 
portion  of  the  tank  passed  over  a  two  story  building  and  over  several 
large  elm  trees,  landing  about  500  ft.  away  in  the  yard  of  an  old 
factory.  The  distance  traveled  and  height  attained  by  this  section 
of  the  tank  are  remarkable  inasmuch  as  it  had  been  in  a  horizontal 
position  in  the  bath  house. 

This  accident  is  of  particular  interest  because  it  happened  to  the 
type  of  hot  water  supply  installation  found  in  most  residences  and 
apartment  houses.  There  was  no  relief  valve  on  the  tank.  Over- 
pressure was  supposed  to  be  prevented  by  the  water  backing  into  the 
city  main.  There  was,  of  course,  a  valve  where  the  feed  line  entered 
the  building  but  this  valve  was  found  open  after  the  accident.  There 
was  no  meter  in  the  line.  What  prevented  the  water  from  backing  out 
and  thus  relieving  the  pressure  is  not  apparent,  but  it  is  believed  to 
have  been  due  to  scale  or  sediment  loosened  by  the  back  flow  of 
water.  A  relief  valve  of  suitable  size  mounted  on  the  tank  would 
most  likely  have  averted  this  explosion,  which  was  directly  due,  it  is 
thought,  to  the  gas  heater  having  been  left  on  over  night. 


According  to  The  Valve  World,  the  new  high  school  building  at 
Pagosa  Springs,  Colorado  is  heated  with  natural  hot  water  from  an 
artesian  well  350  ft.  deep.  The  building  contains  about  7,000  ft.  of 
radiation,  which,  owing  to  the  lower  temperature  of  the  well  water. 
is  practically  double  the  radiation  that  would  be  required  for  artificial 
heat. 


1926.] 


T  I  [  l'     L  O  C  O  M  O  T  I  V  E 


35 


Duplicate  Boiler  Explosions. 

LIGHTNING  is  said  never  to  strike  twice  in  the  same  place,  and 
although  there  is  no  such  popular  belief  protecting  the  owners 
of  boilers,  the  natural  effect  of  a  boiler  explosion  is  to  impress 
itself  so  vividly  on  the  minds  of  the  persons  connected  with  the  plant 
that  the  standard  of  safety  is  raised  and  the  possibility  of  a  repetition 
becomes  more  remote.  A  boiler  explosion  doesn't  just  happen,  but 
instead  is  brought  on  by  a  definite  cause.  If  the  cause  is  not  definitely 
determined  and  removed,  a  repetition  of  the  accident  is  to  be  expected. 


l"lG.     I. 


For  instance,  stop  valves  on  steam  lines  are  frequently  ruptured  by 
water-hammer.  The  water-hammer  is  most  likely  produced  by  an 
improperly  drained-  pipe  system  or  by  faulty  operation  of  the  boilers. 
Unless  the  piping  is  redesigned  or  the  boiler  operation  improved,  further 
accidents  are  almost  sure  to  occur. 

The  \\'aite  Phillips  Company  of  Rainbow  Bend  near  Winfield, 
Kansas,  suffered  a  boiler  explosion  in  July  2,  1925,  and  on  September 
12,  1925  suffered  a  second  explosion  from  exactly  the  same  cause  — 
low  water.  The  installation  consists  of  four  locomotive  type  boilers, 
as  shown  in  Fig.  i,  that  operate  at  150  lbs.  pressure.  At  the  time  of 
the  first  accident,  which  occurred  about  2:40  a.  m.,  the  fireman  was 
about  100  ft.  away  from  the  boiler  house,  returning  from  another 
building.  The  water  level  in  boiler  No.  i  became  low  and  uncovered 
the  crown  sheet  with  the  usual  result.  The  crown  sheet  overheated 
and  collapsed  and  ruptured,  causing  the  boiler  to  be  thrown  forward 


36 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE. 


[April, 


about  50  ft.  from  its  foundation.  About  half  of  the  boiler  house  was 
wrecked.  Fig.  i  shows  the  scene  of  the  accident  after  a  new  boiler  had 
been  installed  in  place 
of  boiler  No.  i  but  be- 
fore the  boiler  house 
had  been  rebuilt.  Fortu- 
nately no  one  was  in- 
jured in  this  accident. 
The  property  loss  was 
approximately  $2,500. 

A  little  over  two 
months  later  boiler  No. 
4  in  this  group  ex- 
ploded. As  in  the  pre- 
vious instance,  the  cause  was  low  water.  The  crown  sheet  dropped 
and  the  boiler  hurtled  out  of  the  house.  By  a  peculiar  twist  of 
fate,  it  came  to  rest  partly  on  top  of  the  one  that  had  exploded  before. 
The  two  boilers  are  clearly  shown  in  Figs.  2  and  3  just  as  they  landed. 
Again  no  one  was  injured.     The  property  loss  amounted  to  $1,700. 


Fig.  2. 


Fig.  3. 

As  previously  stated,  the  direct  cause  of  each  accident  was  low 
water.  This  was  quite  apparent  from  an  examination  of  the  boilers 
after  the  explosions,  but  the  cause  of  the  low  water  is  not  so  apparent. 
The  boilers  were  subject  to  inspection  and  the  gauges  and  appliances 
were  found  to  be  kept  in  good  condition.  The  presence  of  a  feed 
water  regulator  suggests  the  possibility  that  too  much  dependence  was 


1926.]  THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  37 

placed  upon  it,  the  operatives  thus  becoming  lax  in  watching  the  water 
level.  The  fact  that  no  one  was  killed  or  injured  in  either  accident 
indicates  that  there  was  no  one  in  the  boiler  room  on  either  occasion. 


Boiler  and  Power  Plant  Inspection  Service  an  Aid  in 
Acquiring  Business.* 

AN  engineering  insurance  policy  —  specifically  boiler,  engine,  fly- 
wheel or  electrical  machinery  —  carries  with  it  an  accident  pre- 
vention service  that  should  appeal  to  the  agent,  for  it  offers  to 
the  assured  a  tangible  and  immediate  return  on  his  investment.  Insur- 
ance of  this  kind  has  two  distinct  features,  inspection  and  insurance. 
The  insurance  feature  indemnity  for  a  loss  sustained,  is  characteristic 
of  all  insurance  and  is  of  course  understood  by  every  agent.  The  in- 
spection feature,  however,  is  not  so  well  known  although  it  is  this 
accident  prevention  service  that  is  the  principal  attraction. 

When  steam  boiler  insurance  was  inaugurated  in  this  country  fifty- 
nine  years  ago  by  the  The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection  and 
Insurance  Company,  the  company  in  adopting  a  name  placed  the 
word  "  Inspection  "  before  the  word  "  Insurance  "  because  it  wished 
to  impress  upon  everyone  seeing  the  name  that  its  business  was 
primarily  the  inspection  of  boilers.  This  service  is  the  foundation 
upon  which  the  business  is  based  for  by  it  losses  have  been  reduced  and 
rates  kept  correspondingly  low.  In  the  early  days  of  life  insurance 
there  was  an  old  saying  about  the  straight  life  policy  that  "  one  had 
to  die  to  beat  it,"  that  is,  to  get  any  return  on  the  premiums  and 
many  agents  doubtless  have  somewhat  the  same  feeling  with  regard  to 
casualty  insurance  of  this  type.  A  little  experience  in  selling  it,  how- 
ever, will  soon  serve  to  remove  any  such  feeling,  for  it  will  be  found 
that  those  who  have  bought  steam  boiler,  engine  or  electrical  machinery 
insurance  have  done  so  primarily  to  avail  themselves  of  this  accident 
prevention  service  rather  than  the  insurance  feature ;  although  the 
value  of  the  latter  is  not  under-estimated  in  view  of  the  ever  present 
hazard  where  machinery  or  pressure  vessels  are  in  use.  Accidents 
can  be  reduced  to  a  minimum  but  never  entirely  eliminated.  The 
indemnity  feature  also  serves  as  a  stimulus  to  the  inspection  company 
to  keep  up  an  efficient  inspection  force. 

Value  of  Inspections. 
In  a  paper  presented  before  a  recent  meeting  of  casualty  under- 
writers Albert  W.  Whitney,  Associate  General  Manager  and  Actuary 

♦This  article  was  prepared  by  the  Editor  of  The  Locomotive  especially  for  the 
Xovember  1925  issue  of  Roitcih  Notes. 


38 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


[April, 


of  the  National  Bureau  of  Casualty  and  Surety  Underwriters,  said, 
"  What  I  have  in  mind  for  insurance  in  general  has  been  precisely 
carried  out  already  in  the  field  of  steam  boiler  insurance.  A  boiler 
explosion  is  such  a  terrible  catastrophe  that  human  nature  revolts  at 
the  idea  of  dealing  with  it  merely  as  a  cold-blooded,  passive  distribu- 
tion of  loss;  insurance  has,  instinctively  and  inevitably,  become  in- 
flamed with  the  active  fervor  of  prevention  and  its  machinery  has 
been  put  to  work  upon  the  primary  problem  of  keeping  boilers  from 
exploding  and  only  sec- 
ondarily upon  paying 
losses,  so  that  a  steam 
boiler  'insurance  com- 
pany pays  out  for  its 
preventive  work  four 
times  as  much  as  it  pay> 
out  in  losses." 

In  an  editorial  com- 
ment upon  a  recent 
boiler  explosion  dis- 
aster, the  vS"  3'  r  a  cusc 
Journal  said,  in  part, 
"  Boiler  explosions  are 
not  in  the  exact  class  of 
other  accidents,  hence 
the  recognized  necessity 
for  boiler  inspectors  the 
world  over." 

Just  a  few  days  ago 
the  papers  announced 
that  the  Governor  of 
Pennsylvania  had  dis- 
charged two  state  em- 
ployes for  responsibility  in  connection  with  a  fatal  boiler  accident  in 
the  State  Capitol  which  cost  the  lives  of  two  men.  It  was  found 
that  the  boiler,  a  new  one,  had  been  placed  in  operation  "  without  a 
final  inspection."  Furthermore,  the  accident,  a  tube  rupture,  was 
the  result  of  a  scale  accumulation  in  a  tube  directly  over  the  fire, 
which  should  have  been  detected  by  inspection.  The  boiler,  however, 
had  been  in  constant  operation  for  six  months  and  therefore  had  not 
been  internally  inspected  since  its  installation. 

The  boiler  explosion  on  the  steamer  "  Mackinac,"  which  occurred 
near  Newport.  Rhode   Island,   and   in   which   52   persons   were   killed 


■  '^"^ 

B^^^OL. 

A 

V          /dOJ 

HHrv 

o|jiH 

m^ 

^gk 

If'  mff  W^Ur         ■  I 

B^Ml! 

"5 

■^^^^^K^^^l 

^Si'i 

m 

11911^2^9 

Inspector  Examining  Engine  Valve  Gear. 


1926.] 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE, 


39 


and  approximately  100 
excellent  illustration  of 
by  inspection.  This  ac 
that  had  been  thinned 
its  fatal  trip  the  boiler 
to  indicate  that,  if  an 
time,  the  boiler  would 
operation  or  repair. 


injured,  is  still  fresh  in  our  minds  and  is  an 
a  disaster  that  could  probably  have  been  averted 
cident  was  the  result  of  the  failure  of  a  drum 
by  corrosion.  Just  before  the  boat  started  on 
developed  a  serious  leak.  The  evidence  seems 
experienced  inspector  had  examined  it  at  that 
not  have  been  approved  either  for  temporary 


Methods  of  Inspection. 

The  inspector's  principal  duty  is  to  examine,  from  the  point  of 
view  of  safety,  the  objects  covered  by  the  policy.  Periodical  calls 
are  made  at  the  plant  to  check  up  on  the  physical  condition  of  the 
equipment  and  to  observe  the  methods  of  operation.  This  is  done  by 
a  general  inspection  at  stated  intervals  supplemented  by  frequent  in- 
spections while  under  operation.  On  a  visit  of  general  inspection, 
better  known  in  the  case  of  boilers  as  an  "  internal,"  the  boiler  or 
machine  is  given  a  minute  examination  inside  and  out  and  all  acces- 
sories are  scrutinized  and  tested.  The  results  are  frequently  surpris- 
ing to  the  owner.     A  small  leak  along  the  seam  that  to  the  untrained 

eye  may  appear  of  no 
consequence  may  mean 
to  the  inspector  a  hid- 
den defect  that  if  neg- 
lected will  lead  to  death 
and  destruction.  A 
freshly  painted  and  well 
kept  boiler  front  may 
give  the  owner  the  im- 
pression  of  an 
efficiently  operated  and 
well  kept  equipment, 
while  a  thorough  ex- 
amination of  all  the 
hidden  parts  may  show 
conditions  which  mean  the  wasting  of  a  large  part  of  the  fuel  ex- 
pended in  the  operation  of  the  plant.  The  pipe  lines  may  appear  to 
be  systematically  laid  out  and  by  their  symmetry  leave  the  impression 
that  they  are  well  designed,  while  the  trained  eye  of  the  inspector  will 
detect  a  rigidity  in  the  construction  that  will  be  fatal  to  safety  if 
continued  in  operation. 

The  average  plant  operator  has   practically  no  knowledge   of   the 


Inspecting  a  Flywheel. 


40 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE. 


[April, 


safe  pressure  at  which  boilers  under  his  care  may  be  operated  ex- 
cept that  the  manufacturer  may  have  claimed  their  construction  to 
be  suitable  for  a  given  pressure  or  some  former  inspector  had  allowed 
a  certain  amount.  The  boiler  inspector  at  the  first  inspection  of  a 
risk  must  carefully  determine  all  the  dimensions  that  are  concerned 
with  the  ability  of  the  boiler  to  withstand  the  pressure  and  fix  a  safe 
limit  for  pressure  to  govern  its  operation.  While  rules  are  supplied 
to  guide  him  in  reference  to  stresses  that  may  be  allowed  for  the 
material  of  which  the  boiler  is  constructed,  if  the  vessel  has  seen 
service  and  is  deteriorated  as  it  necessarily  will  be  in  many  cases, 
his  judgment  must  be  relied  on  entirely  to  determine  whether  such 
deterioration  or  the  effects  of  age  would  warrant  the  full  amount  of 
stress  that  could  be  allowed  on  the  part  of  a  similiar  structure  when 
new.  If  the  original  pressure  is  to  be  reduced  the  inspector  must 
decide  how  much. 

The  Work  of  Specialists. 

Likewise  with  fly-wheels.  The  initial  strength  of  the  wheel  must 
be  determined  and  a  safe  speed  set.  Sound  wheels  that  explode  from 
overspeed,  like  sound  boilers  that  explode  from  overpressure,  cause 
the  greatest  havoc.  Therefore  the  speed  limiting  and  automatic  stop 
devices  must  be 
carefully  passed  on. 
The  wheel  and  its 
shaft  must  be  care- 
fully examined  for 
any  defects  that 
may  reduce  its 
strength.  And  so 
with  turbines,  en- 
gines, pumps,  elec- 
trical machinery 
each  in  its  own 
peculiar  way  calls 
for  inspection  by  a 
specialist. 

As  stated  previously  these  general  inspections  are  supplemented 
by  frequent  visits  to  observe  the  equipment  "  under  operation."  The 
working  of  the  object  and  the  care  and  attention  it  receives  are  func- 
tions of  its  safety  and  its  probable  life,  and,  as  such,  are  of  interest 
to  the  inspector.  A  written  report  on  every  inspection  visit  is  in- 
variably made  to  the  assured. 


Examining  the  Inside  of  a  Boiler. 


1926.] 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE. 


41 


The  men  who  carry  on  this  accident  prevention  service  are  former 
operating  engineers  who  have  been  thoroughly  trained  for  the  work 
of  inspection.  They  are  therefore  not  only  well  versed  in  safety 
standards  but  also  are  entirely  familiar  with  operating  conditions.  A 
man  who  visits  hundreds  of  power  plants  and  examines  carefully  the 

details  of  each  must 
certainly  have  a  fund 
of  knowledge  regard- 
ing good  and  bad  prac- 
tice and  this  is  freely 
available  to  the  op- 
erator. As  a  result  the 
coming  of  the  inspector 
is  looked  forward  to, 
especially  by  the  opera- 
tors, and  the  visit  con- 
sidered very  much  in 
the  light  of  a  visit  from 
the  family  physician. 

This  inspection  or 
accident  prevention 
service  is  expensive  and  therefore  can  be  most  successfully  carried  on 
by  a  company  with  a  large  volume  of  such  business.  As  pointed  out 
before,  a  steam  boiler  insurance  company  pays  out  for  its  preventive 
work  four  times  as  much  as  it  pays  out  in  losses.  Over  one-half  of 
its  income  is  expended  on  this  work.  Hence,  in  power  plant  insurance, 
as  distinguished  from  most  other  forms,  even  the  assured  who  does 
not  suffer  an  accident  receives  continuously,  through  this  inspection 
service,  direct  returns  on  the  investment.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the 
majority  of  power  plant  insurance  buyers  feel  that  the  premium  which 
they  pay  comes  back  to  them  many  times  during  the  policy  term  through 
economies  and  lower  operating  costs  that  result  from  inspection,  to 
say  nothing  at  all  of  the  monetary  loss  prevented  by  reducing  shut- 
down periods.  When  an  agent  delivers  one  of  these  policies  to  an 
assured,  he  is  virtually  passing  the  goods  over  the  counter,  for  the 
inspection  department  has  already  started  to   function. 


Inspector  Making  Megger  Test  on  D.  C.  Generator 
TO  Determine  Condition  of  Insulation. 


A  man  is  relieved  and  gay  when  he  has  put  his  heart  into  his 
work  and  done  his  best ;  but  what  he  has  said  or  done  otherwise  shall 
give  him  no  peace. — Emerson. 


42  THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  [April, 


The  Value  of  the  Hammer  Test. 

By  J.  A.  Snyder,  Chief  Inspector,  Pittsburgh  Department. 

THE  use  of  the  inspector's  hammer  has  brought  to  light  many 
dangerous  conditions  in  boilers  and  pressure  vessels  that  would 
not  otherwise  have  been  found  and  that  undoubtedly  would  have 
caused  serious  explosions  within  a  short  time  had  they  not  been  dis- 
covered. 

In  certain  parts  of  the  country  where  corrosive  water  is  used  in 
steam  boilers,  the  corrosion  produces  such  uniform  reduction  of  the 
plate  or  tube  material  that  it  is  not  perceptible  to  the  eye.  Where  the 
material  is  wasted  away  so  uniformly  that  it  cannot  be  detected  by 
visual  inspection,  it  may  become  reduced  to  such  extent  that  a  rupture 
or  crack  may  develop  and  cause  a  serious  explosion.  Recently  an  in- 
spector found  a  dangerous  condition  in  the  mud  drum  of  a  bent  tube 
type  of  water  tube  boiler.  He  was  using  his  hammer  freely  on  the 
plate  surface,  and  the  difference  in  sound  to  his  ear  and  feeling  to  his 
hand  when  he  struck  certain  spots  attracted  his  attention.  Upon  re- 
moval of  some  brickwork,  a  careful  investigation  was  made  and  a 
dangerously  thin  condition  of  the  shell  was  found. 

While  hammer  testing  the  tubes  of  a  horizontal  water  tube  boiler, 
an  inspector  noted  a  peculiar  sound  given  out  by  one  tube  in  the  top 
row.  It  seemed  to  be  entirely  free  at  one  end.  He  inquired  of  the 
engineer  whether  that  tube  was  being  cut  out,  but  the  engineer  stated 
that  he  was  not  taking  out  any  tubes  as  the  boiler  had  been  operated 
the  day  before  and  as  far  as  he  knew  was  in  good  order.  Upon  exam- 
ination it  was  found  the  tube  was  cracked  all  the  way  around  close  to 
the  header;  it  evidently  had  cracked  while  the  boiler  was  cooling  down. 
This  condition  would  not  have  been  found  by  mere  observation  as  the 
tube  end  was  in  a  difificult  place  to  see. 

The  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  rules  require  all  rigid  stay- 
bolts  in  locomotive  boilers  to  be  hammer  tested  every  thirty  days.  It 
is  a  splendid  rule  for  it  has  probably  prevented  many  explosions  and 
failures  in  fire  boxes.  In  one  case,  with  everything  appearing  sound 
and  in  good  condition,  an  inspector  discovered  by  means  of  the  hammer 
test  twenty-two  broken  staybolts.  Cracked  and  broken  braces  are  often 
detected  by  the  use  of  the  hammer.  Loose  hangers  and  supporting 
columns  are  also  thus  detected  and  show  insufficient  support  of  boilers 
or  important  steam  pipes. 

A  common  bolt  was  found  projecting  from  a  hole  in  the  side  of  a 
boiler  that  was  being  used  in  a  saw  mill.  Upon  being  asked  why  it 
was  there,  the  engineer  replied,  "  Why,  a  fool  boiler  inspector  knocked 


1026.]  THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  43 


a  hole  in  the  boiler."  This  boiler  was  not  approved  by  the  inspector, 
and  as  there  were  no  inspection  laws  it  was  continued  in  operation. 
Later  the  boiler  exploded.  There  would  be  much  less  sacrifice  of 
human  life  and  wasteful  destruction  of  property  if  some  sort  of  in- 
spector could  knock  holes  in  certain  boilers  and  then  not  permit  clos- 
ing the  holes  by  bolts,  welding,  or  any  other  process,  but  instead 
have  such  defective  boilers  discontinued  from  service  or  else  repaired 
by  safe  and  substantial  methods. 

A  valuable  adjunct  of  the  hammer  test,  particularly  where  old 
boilers  or  pressure  vessels  are  concerned,  is  the  hydrostatic  pressure 
test.  Boilers  that  have  been  in  service  for  any  length  of  time  are 
likely  to  have  developed  cracks.  These  cracks  gradually  get  longer 
and  deeper,  and  finally  penetrate  through  the  plate.  Long  before 
this  stage  has  been  reached,  however,  they  are  dangerous,  yet  ex- 
ceedingly difficult  to  detect.  If  the  hydrostatic  pressure  can  be  kept 
up  while  the  hammer  test  is  also  applied,  many  incipient  ruptures 
will  be  revealed. 

If  there  is  any  reason  whatever  to  suspect,  as  a  result  of  internal 
or  external  examination,  that  a  used  boiler  is  liable  to  fail  under 
ordinary  working  pressure,  it  is  advisable  to  apply  a  hydrostatic  test 
equal  to  one  and  one-half  times  the  working  pressure  allowed  by 
the  inspector.  If  the  boiler  withstands  this  test  without  showing 
signs  of  distress,  it  may  be  taken  as  evidence,  contributory  but  not 
conclusive,  that  the  boiler  is  capable  of  handling  the  steam  pressure 
which  the  inspector  advises  under  the  conditions. 

If  major  repairs  are  made  on  a  boiler  it  is  well  to  subject  it  to  a 
hydrostatic  pressure  for  the  same  reason  that  a  new  boiler  is  sub- 
jected to  it  on  the  testing  floor  in  the  shop  —  to  show  leakage  at 
rivets  and  joints  where  these  parts  are  not  as  tight  as  they  should  be. 
The  hydrostatic  test  is  of  particular  value  for  showing  up  minor 
leaks,  particularly  on  new  constructions. 


Find  Bomb  Fuse  in  Boiler. 

Ogdensburg,  N.  Y.,  Feb.  3  (AP) — An  examination  today  of  the 
boiler  room  in  the  City  Hall,  which  was  destroyed  by  an  explosion 
and  fire  three  weeks  ago,  with  an  estimated  loss  of  $500,000,  disclosed 
a  timing  device,  wires  and  the  fuse  of  a  bomb,  city  officials  said. 
First  reports  of  the  blast  indicated  that  the  boiler  had  exploded. — 
A^^zt'  York  Times. 


44 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE. 


[April, 


Hartford  Inspector  Honored. 

THE  Horlick's  Malted  Milk  Corporation  of  Racine,  Wisconsin, 
manufacturers  of  the  universally  known  "  malted  milk,"  recently 
paid  signal  tribute  to  Inspector  H.  F.  Bowie  by  naming  one  of  their 
new  engines  after  him.  Mr.  Bowie  is  attached  to  our  Chicago  Depart- 
ment and  for  over  thirty  years  has  inspected  the  boilers  and  engines 
at  the  Horlick  plant.  In  fact,  it  appears  that  their  original  power 
plant,  consisting  of  one  boiler,  was  inspected  by  Mr.  Bowie  before 


mitm 

'^ 

At  the  Unveiling  of  the  Bowie  Engine. 

Inspector  Bowie  (Center),  Chief  Inspector  Morrison  (Left  Center),  and 
Vice  President  Wm.  Horlick,  Jr.,  of  the  Horlick's  Malted  Milk  Corporation 
(Extreme  Left). 

it  was  purchased.  Since  then  he  has  carried  on  the  inspection  work 
at  this  growing  plant  in  such  a  thorough  and  conscientious  manner 
as  to  make  a  lasting  impression  upon  the  officials  of  the  Horlick  Com- 
pany. The  recent  acquisition  of  a  new  engine  suggested  a  means  of 
showing  the  esteem  in  which  he  was  held. 

Inspector  Bowie's  interest  in  this  engine  was  increased  when  he 
was  asked  to  select  its  name.  His  admiration  for  President  Coolidge 
prompted  him  to  suggest  the  name  "  Coolidge,"  and  he  assumed  that 
his  selection  would  be  accepted.  When  the  engine  was  ready  to 
operate,  it  was  decided  to  have  a  little  informal  unveiling  ceremony 
on  February  ist,  and  arrangements  were  made  to  have  the  inspector 


1926.]  THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  45 

present  on  that  date  to  make  linal  inspection.  Upon  arrival  at  the 
plant  he  was  received  in  the  usual  cordial  manner  and  conducted  to 
the  engine  room  via  the  boiler  room.  Some  changes  being  made  in 
the  latter  place  attracted  the  inspector's  attention  and  it  was  with 
some  difficulty  that  he  was  finally  led  into  the  presence  of  the  new 
engine.  Here  were  gathered  a  few  officials  of  the  Horlick  Company 
and  Mr.  J.  P.  Morrison,  Chief  Inspector  of  our  Chicago  Department, 
representing  the  Hartford  Company.  One  can  imagine  the  surprise 
of  the  Inspector  as  the  veil  was  withdrawn  from  the  name  plate  to 
find  the  name  "  Bowie  "  instead  of  that  of  "  Coolidge."  All  present 
congratulated  Mr.  Bowie  and  on  behalf  of  the  Hartford  Company 
Mr.  Morrison  expressed  appreciation  for  the  honor  he  had  brought 
to  the  Company.  An  informal  reception  in  the  office  of  President  and 
General  Manager  \\'illiam  Horlick  followed. 

Some  degree  of  appreciation  of  this  testimonial  to  Inspector  Bowie 
may  be  gleaned  from  the  internationally  prominent  names  borne  by 
other  engines  in  the  plant,  among  which  are : 

\\'illiani  H.  Lincoln 

James  H.  Ziegler 

Edison  Washington 

Victoria  Christian  IX 

Gladstone  Amundsen 
Bowie 


Laying  up  the  Heating  Boiler  for  the  Summer. 

DURING  the  summer  season  a  heating  boiler  does  not  run  the  risk 
of  explosion,  at  least  under  ordinary  conditions,  but  if  not  prop- 
erly cared  for  corrosion  may  set  in  on  a  steel  boiler  and  leave 
it  in  a  serious,  if  not  dangerous,  condition.  Corrosion  may  proceed  on 
either  the  inside  or  the  outside  surfaces,  hence  attention  to  both  is 
necessary  to  preserve  the  boiler  when  it  is  being  laid  up  for  an  extended 
period. 

On  the  outside,  every  vestige  of  soot  and  ash  should  be  removed. 
These  residuals  of  combustion  contain  certain  ingredients  which,  when 
combined  with  moisture,  are  particularly  corrosive.  In  fact  this  harm- 
less appearing  soot  is  held  to  be  the  cause  of  a  skin  disease  known  as 
soot-cancer  which  is  found  among  chimney-sweeps.  In  the  case  of 
boilers,  the  moisture  is  readily  absorbed  from  the  air,  or  else  it  may  be 
supplied  by  the  sweating  of  the  cold  metal  of  a  boiler.  Hence  all  soot 
should  be  blown,  scraped,  and  otherwise  carefully  removed,  not  only 
from  the  boiler  but  also  from  the  whole  inside  of  the  setting.    In  addi- 


46  THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  [April, 

tion,  the  surface  of  the  boiler  should  be  given  a  good  cleaning  with  a 
stiff  wire  brush.  By  way  of  further  precaution  against  external  cor- 
rosion, care  should  be  exercised  to  see  that  no  water  drips  on  the  boiler 
from  overhead  sweating  pipes  or  leaky  valves,  as  such  water  is  likely  to 
seep  through  the  insulation  and  attack  the  metal. 

The  inside  surfaces  should  also  be  given  particular  attention  as  there 
is  always  a  tendency  to  leave  some  water  in  the  boiler.  Whether  this 
be  much  or  little,  corrosion  is  almost  sure  to  ensue  around  the  edge  of 
the  water  because  of  the  presence  of  both  air  or  oxygen  and  moisture. 
Once  started  corrosion  usually  proceeds  at  a  fairly  rapid  rate.  Filling 
che  boiler  entirely  full  does  not  satisfactorily  dispose  of  the  trouble, 
first,  because  of  the  air  dissolved  in  the  water,  and  second,  because  such 
a  body  of  water  does  not  change  its  temperature  readily  to  conform 
to  atmospheric  temperatures  and  hence  the  boiler  is  quite  likely  to  sweat 
and  induce  external  corrosion.  The  logical  remedy  is  to  completely 
empty  the  boiler  and  take  off  all  manhole  and  handhole  covers,  thus 
allowing  free  access  of  air  to  the  interior.  Burning  a  few  papers  on 
the  grate  will  assist  in  driving. out  the  moisture,  but  under  no  circum- 
stances should  a  wood  or  coal  fire  be  built  under  a  dry  boiler  nor  should 
the  metal  be  allowed  to  get  too  hot  to  touch.  Quick  or  unslaked  lime 
is  sometimes  placed  in  pans  on  the  inside  to  remove  the  moisture  and 
keep  the  air  dry.  When  this  is  done,  the  boiler  should,  of  course,  be 
closed  up  to  prevent  the  continual  entrance  of  moist  air.  The  safety 
valve  ought  to  be  propped  open  to  prevent  its  sticking  to  its  seat,  and 
special  attention  given  to  feed  and  stop  valves  to  see  that  they  do  not 
let  leakage  enter  the  boiler. 

Cast  iron  boilers  are  not  susceptible  to  corrosion  and  precautions  in 
laying  up  need  not  be  very  elaborate.  As  a  matter  of  convenience  in 
inspection  —  and  to  this  suggestion  attention  is  particularly  invited  • —  it 
is  advisable  to  thoroughly  clean  the  boiler  and  fill  it  completely  full  of 
water. 

A  practice  frequently  followed  in  the  summer  is  that  of  burning 
rubbish  under  a  cold  boiler.  Such  material  usually  burns  with  a  quick 
and  intensely  hot  fire,  and  is  therefore  destructive  to  boilers.  This 
practice  should  be  prohibited. 

The  engineer  in  charge  of  a  heating  system  can  save  himself  con- 
siderable trouble  and  annoyance  in  the  fall  by  going  over  the  system 
carefully  before  shutting  down  for  the  summer  and  marking  leaky 
joints  and  valve  stems,  as  these  may  be  more  readily  packed  or  repaired 
during  the  off  season.  It  is  also  well  to  note  any  leaks  around  the  boiler 
and  give  them  attention  while  shut  down.  Repairing  vessels  or  pipes, 
while  under  pressure,  is  extremely  dangerous. 


1926.]  THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  47 

Brass. 

An  Old  Alloy  That  Every  Now  and  Then  is  Being  Rediscovered 
AS  A  Great  Servant  of  Mankind. 

COPPER  was  first  produced  from  ores  probably  5,000  years 
before  the  Christian  era.  About  this  time  bronze  became  known, 
not  by  melting  copper  and  tin  together,  but  rather  because  the 
ores  available  contained  tin,  nickel  and  small  amounts  of  other  metals 
and  produced  alloys  harder  and  stronger  than  copper.  The  Bible 
mentions  Tubal  Cain  as  a  worker  in  brass  and  refers  to  the  alloy 
in  several  places.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  not  brass  but 
bronze  is  intended.  In  the  first  century  Dioscorides  makes  the  earliest 
unmistakable  reference  to  brass  (an  alloy  of  copper  and  zinc)  ; 
nevertheless,  it  was  known  to  the  Far  East  long  before.  Due  to 
confusion  in  names  no  approximation  of  a  definite  time  when  brass 
came  into  use  is  possible. 

Crucible  furnaces  were  used  for  brass  from  the  earliest  times. 
Calamine  (a  zinc  ore)  was  the  primitive  source  of  zinc.  This  prac- 
tice continued  to  the  eighteenth  century,  when  metallic  zinc  was  em- 
ployed. No  further  great  changes  occurred  until  about  ten  years  ago, 
when  the  electric  furnace  largely  replaced  the  crucible  furnace. 

Brass  was  produced  in  the  American  Colonies  first  at  the  iron 
foundry  of  John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  Lynn,  Massachusetts,  in  1644.  Cast 
brass  was  produced  at  Philadelphia  also  previous  to  the  Revolution. 
The  brass  business  developed  from  the  manufacture  of  buttons.  At 
Waterbury,  Connecticut,  in  1750,  John  Allen  established  a  brass  fac- 
tory and  in  1802  scrap  copper  and  zinc  from  England  were  fused 
together  and  cast  into  ingots,  subsequently  rolled  into  brass  sheets 
and  used  for  buttons.  From  this  humble  start  the  brass  industry  of 
the  United  States,  transplanted  almost  bodily  from  England,  with  the 
exception  of  brass  spinning,  has  grown  to  be  the  greatest  in  the 
world.     Connecticut  now  produces  60%   of  the  world's  brass. 

As  production  of  sheets,  rods,  wire  and  tubes  increased,  the  use 
of  brass  was  extended  to  other  than  button  purposes.  The  attractive 
finish  that  may  be  given  it,  its  strength,  easy  workability  and  rust 
resistance  so  encouraged  possible  users  that  consvimption  of  copper 
by  brass  mills  grew  from  less  than  50  tons  in  1820  to  over  300,000 
tons  a  century  later. 

Short  brass  pipes  were  used  by  the  Romans  as  water-measuring 
devices.  The  copper  pipes  of  ancient  Egypt,  however,  are  the  fore- 
runners of  modern  plumbing  pipes.  A  piece  of  copper  pipe  in  ex- 
cellent   condition,    in    the    National    Museum    at    Berlin,    believed    by 


48  THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  [April, 

Egyptologists  to  be  over  5400  years  old,  unearthed  several  years  ago 
at  Ghizeh,  near  the  tomb  of  King  Sahoure,  undoubtedly  was  used 
to  convey  water  to  his  palace  and  that  of  his  successors.  Between 
copper  pipe  in  Egypt  and  brass  pipe  of  today  are  many  devious  steps, 
—  open  troughs  of  stone  and  of  wood,  lead  pipe,  wooden  pipe,  iron  pipe, 
steel  pipe,  tin  pipe,  concrete  pipe.  In  1838  the  process  of  producing 
seamless  brass  tubing  was  invented  in  England  and  in  1850  was  intro- 
duced in  this  country ;  it  is  giving  fresh  impetus  to  the  brass  industry. 

Brass  spinning  invented  by  Hiram  W.  Hayden,  of  Waterbury,  in 
185 1,  was  the  first  real  forward  step  contributed  by  America.  It 
quickly  replaced  the  tedious  method  of  producing  cupped  articles  such 
as  vases,  pails,  pots,  other  containers  and  many  ornamental  objects, 
by  which  a  disc  of  metal  was  hand-hammered  and  otherwise  worked 
until  the  desired  shape  was  obtained.  In  spinning,  the  disc  is  mounted 
in  a  chuck,  which  is  rotated  at  the  proper  speed.  By  holding  suit- 
able tools  against  the  revolving  metal  it  is  thinned  out  over  wooden 
or  metal  forms  to  the  intended  shape. 

Hayden's  first  spinning  was  done  at  Wolcottville,  now  Torrington, 
Connecticut.  According  to  two  daughters  who  survive  him,  he  in- 
vented as  a  pastime.  Among  his  inventions  were  a  process  for  color 
photography  and  a  rifle,  displaying  wide  diversity.  He  invented  many 
things,  but  he  kept  no  records.  Just  what  experience  or  observation 
or  line  of  thought  suggested  the  method  called  spinning  cannot  now 
be  ascertained.  One  of  the  largest  uses  for  brass  in  his  day  was 
the  manufacture  of  kettles  and  pails,  originally  cast  and  later  hand- 
hammered  from  discs.  The  success  of  the  hand-hammered  kettle 
was  short,  because  the  first  kettles  so  produced  were  manufactured 
from  the  wrong  alloy  and  were  unsatisfactory. 

Brass  pails  made  by  methods  in  use  in  1850  had  thin  bottoms. 
To  overcome  this  fault  Hayden  devised  the  spinning  process.  He 
marked  all  of  his  pails  as  soon  as  he  began  manufacturing  them  by 
this  method.  Miss  Hayden  still  has  in  her  home  one  of  the  first 
pails  produced  by  her  father  in  1851,  bearing  the  date  and  his  name. 
Hayden  also  used  his  process  at  one  time  in  Waterbury  for  manu- 
facturing lamps.  It  was  in  December  1851  that  Hayden  brought 
out  the  spinning  process.  In  1852  he  sold  it  to  the  Waterbury  Brass 
Company.  Use  of  the  process  has  grown  so  that  it  may  be  said  to 
be  universal  today. 

The  world  is  again  discovering  copper  and  brass  for  a  great  variety 
of  uses  and  may  be  said  to  be  entering,  on  a  grander  scale,  a  second 
Bronze  Age,  using  copper  and  its  alloys  much  more  extensively.  — 
Research  Narrative  No.  log,  Engineering  Foundation. 


1926.] 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE. 


49 


A  Timely  Engine  Inspection. 

PROMPTED  by  a  request  for  a  special  inspection,  a  Hartford  in- 
spector was  detailed  to  examine  a  large  rope-drive  wheel  which 
could  not  be  made  to  operate  smoothly.  The  master  mechanic  at 
the  plant  told  the  inspector  that  the  wheel  would  not  run  true  but 
wabbled,  due.  it  was  thought,  to  the  shaft  not  being  properly  lined  up. 
While  the  repairmen  were  preparing  to  line  up  the  shaft,  the  inspector 
proceeded  to  examine  the  mammoth  wheel. 

It  was  really  a  double 
wheel  and  weighed  ap- 
proximately 86,000  lbs., 
or  43  tons.  It  was  18 
ft.  in  diameter,  with  a 
face  width  of  7J^  ft., 
and  was  mounted  on  a 
shaft  of  21^  inches 
diameter.  The  inspector 
carefully  went  over  the 
wheel  giving  it  a  minute 
examination,  frequently 
having  it  turned  into 
different  positions  to 
permit  of  a  close  exam- 
ination of  every  part. 

The  first  defect  no- 
ticed was  a  slight  crum- 
bling of  the  metal  on 
the  lugs  or  supports 
under  the  binding  links 
of  the  hub.  This  in  it- 
self had  not  progressed 
far  enough  to  be  con- 
sidered serious  except 
that  it  was  evidence  of 
the  distortion  of  the  wheel.  Later,  while  down  on  his  knees  examin- 
ing the  shaft,  the  inspector  found  a  crack  in  the  shaft  about  two 
inches  from  the  hub.  It  was  barely  visible  at  first,  but  after  cleaning 
the  metal  in  the  vicinity,  he  was  able  to  insert  the  point  of  the  blade 
of  a  pocket  knife  into  the  crack  far  enough  so  that  the  knife  was 
supported  in  a  horizontal  position.  It  was  decided  to  immediately 
discontinue  the  use  of  the  shaft. 


Showing  How  an  Old  Crack  Had  Penetrated 

Approximately  70%  of  the  Cross-Section 

OF  an  Engine  Shaft. 


50  THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  [April, 


At  a  later  date  the  inspector  returned  to  the  plant  to  examine  the 
shaft  after  its  removal,  and  found  it  in  a  much  more  accessible  posi- 
tion, on  blocks  in  the  mill  yard.  This  time  a  second  crack  was  found 
which  extended  three-fourths  of  the  way  around  the  shaft.  It  was 
only  a  few  inches  from  the  first  crack  but  had  been  under  the  hub 
and  so  could  not  have  been  found  without  removing  the  wheel. 

The  engine  connected  to  the  wheel  was  one  of  many  in  a  large 
manufacturing  plant  employing  thousands  of  men  and  containing  acres 
of  valuable  machinery  and  buildings.  The  inspection  was  therefore 
timely  as  it  undoubtedly  averted  a  serious  accident. 


Method  of  Storing  Coal  to  Eliminate  Spontaneous  Combustion. 

IN  order  to  eliminate  spontaneous  combustion  of  coal  in  storage, 
without  the  disadvantage  of   submerged  storage,   the   Philadelphia 

Electric  Company  has  devised  a  unique  and  effective  method  of  stor- 
ing coal.  It  is  necessary  to  keep  a  large  amount  of  coal  in  storage, 
principally  as  an  insurance  against  strikes,  having  at  present  over 
225,000  tons  of  bituminous  coal  in  storage  at  several  points  of  the 
system.  This  coal  has  been  in  storage  over  two  years  and  has  given 
no  trouble. 

"  The  ground  is  prepared  by  covering  it  with  ash  or  dry  earth  and 
then  rolling  it  hard.  Over  this  the  base  of  the  coal  pile  is  started  by 
spreading  a  layer  of  coal,  approximately  two  feet  deep,  over  a  width 
of  from  ninety  to  one  hundred  feet,  and  one  thousand  or  even  two 
thousand  feet  in  length,  depending  on  the  length  of  the  property  on 
which  the  coal  is  to  be  stored.  This  coal  is  handled  by  a  locomotive 
crane.  A  caterpillar  tractor  weighing  approximately  two  tons  then 
grades  this  first  layer  of  coal  with  a  drag  and  after  the  coal  has  been 
leveled  a  roller  is  drawn  over  the  pile,  thus  packing  the  coal  until  it 
weighs  approximately  65  pounds  per  cubic  foot.  The  second  layer  is 
then  started  in  precisely  the  same  manner  and  after  it  is  packed,  the 
third  layer,  and  so  on  up  until  the  top  of  the  pile  is  only  as  wide  as  the 
tractor  and  the  roller. 

"  During  the  time  that  this  pile  is  being  built  there  is  a  certain 
amount  of  loose  coal  that  will  roll  down  the  sides  of  the  pile,  and  if 
left  there  will  undoubtedly  cause  trouble  in  the  form  of  small  surfac" 
fires.  To  eliminate  this,  the  operator  on  the  crane  trims  the  sides  of 
the  pile  at  the  ground  level  the  width  of  his  bucket  after  the  pile  has 
been  completed  and  in  this  manner  gathers  up  the  loose  material  and 
places  it  on  the  very  top,  thus  forming  the  crown  of  the  pile.  The  pile 
has  now  been  thoroughly  packed  from  top  to  bottom.     The  interesting 


1926.]  THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  51 


feature  of  this  is  that  coal  which  would  weigh  45  and  50  pounds  per 
cubic  foot  if  piled  normally  without  packing,  now  weighs  65  pounds  per 
cubic  foot.  The  surface  of  these  piles  is  so  closely  packed  that  they 
readily  shed  water,  and  in  all  probability  the  circulation  of  air  is 
entirely  eliminated.  Temperatures  of  this  coal  have  been  taken  at 
least  every  six  weeks  from  the  time  that  the  coal  was  placed  in  storage,, 
using  at  each  of  our  respective  storage  plants  a  portable  protecto- 
nieter. 

"  The  temperatures  indicate  very  clearly  that  there  is  a  considerable 
lag  of  temperature  within  the  coal  pile  compared  with  the  external  air, 
showing  that  there  is  no  free  circulation  of  air  in  the  pile,  but  rather 
that  the  air  is  excluded  and  the  temperature  variation  is  governed  more 
or  less  by  contact  connection.  The  various  coal  piles  have  been  divided 
into  sections  and  numbered,  the  records  showing  the  analyses  of  the 
coal  in  the  various  piles  as  it  was  stored.  This  coal  will  be  analyzed 
as  it  is  removed  from  storage  and  it  is  hoped  to  obtain  some  definite 
figures  on  the  losses  which  may  be  expected  over  a  large  storage  of 
this  kind.  The  coal  storage  piles  average  from  25  to  30  feet,  in  height, 
and  from  90  to  100  feet  in  width  at  the  base.  It  has  been  found 
necessary  to  crush  the  coal  to  insure  success  with  this  method.  The 
average  analysis  of  the  coal  as  received  is  as  follows : 

Central  Pennsylvania  Coal. 

Moisture  3.02  per  cent. 

Volatile  Matter  24.04      "       " 

Fixed  Carbon      65.77      "       " 

Ash  7.17      "       " 

"  There  are,  of  course,  some  kinds  of  coal  which  cannot  be  stored 
satisfactorily  even  under  the  best  conditions,  but  even  good  coal  stored 
improperly  will  develop  fires. 

"  There  seems  to  be  some  disagreement  as  to  whether  it  is  best  to 
store  coal  that  is  wet,  as  from  rain.  A  large  amount  of  the  storage 
mentioned  was  stored  during  wet  weather  and  if  anything  this  coal 
seems  to  pack  harder  and  tighter  than  the  coal  that  was  stored  during 
dry  weather.  There  was,  however,  little  or  no  variation  between  the 
two  so  far  as  temperature  was  concerned."  —  Report  of  Prime  Movers: 
Committee'  N.E.L.A 


Covered. 
Jim  —  "  George  burned  a  hole  in  his  trousers." 
Bill  —  "  Did  he  carry  any  insurance  ?" 

Tim  —  "No!     His  coat  tail  covered  the  loss."  —  Selected. 


52 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


[April, 


Devoted  to  Power  Plant  Protection 


Published  Quarterly 


Benj.  C.  Cruickshanks,  Editor. 


HARTFORD,  APRIL,  1926. 

SiNGiJE  COPIES  can  be  obtained  free  by  calling  at  any  of  the  company's  agencies^ 

Subscription  price  SO  cents  per  year  "when  mailed  from  this  office. 

Recent  hound  volumes  one  dollar  each.    Earlier  ones  tivo  dollars. 

Reprinting  matter  from  this  paper  is  permitted  tf  credited  to 

The  Locomotive  of  the  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  I.  &  I.  Co. 


REMOVE  the  cause  and  you  remove  the  effect.  A  boiler  or  fly- 
wheel explosion  is  an  effect.  There  is  nothing  mysterious  nor 
providential  about  such  accidents  as  they  result  from  something 
faulty  in  material,  construction,  or  operation.  Usually  the  cause  be- 
comes evident  from  an  examination  of  the  wreckage,  and  frequently 
the  cause  could  have  been  detected  by  an  inspection  before  the  acci- 
dent. This  latter  point  is  well  brought  out  by  a  glance  at  the  statistical 
table  relating  to  the  work  of  our  inspectors  as  given  on  page  55  of 
this  issue.  The  35,696  dangerous  defects  and  the  1,462  uninsurable 
boilers  listed  therein  point  to  just  so  many  potential  explosions.  In 
the  majority  of  these  cases,  accidents  were  undoubtedly  averted  by 
timely  repairs,  the  results  of  inspection.  On  rare  occasions  the  recom- 
mendations of  the  inspector  are  not  acted  upon  promptly  and  acci- 
dents result,  as  for  instance  the  two  accidents  described  in  an  editorial 
in  our  October  1925  issue.  But  stranger  still  there  are  times  when 
accidents  are  allowed  to  repeat  themselves  for  lack  of  removing  the 
cause  even  though  the  cause  is  definitely  known.  An  allustration  of 
this  is  given  in  the  article  "  Duplicate  Boiler  Explosions  "  appearing 
elsewhere  in  this  issue. 


1926.] 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE, 


53 


Obituary. 

JOSEPH  JOHN  LINAHAN,  for  many  years  identified  with  our 
Cincinnati  Department  as  a  special  agent,  died  Saturday,  September 
26,   1925,  at  his  home  in  Mt.  Auburn,  Cincinnati.     He  had  been 
in  ill  health   for  over  a  year  and  his  death  was  not  unexpected. 

Mr.  Linahan  was  born  August  16, 
1858,  at  Brooklyn,  New  York.  He  re- 
ceived a  commercial  education  and  be- 
came an  expert  accountant,  later  enter- 
ing the  insurance  business.  He  came 
to  this  Company  as  a  special  agent  in 
February  1900.  In  February  of  last 
year  Mr.  Linahan  accordingly  passed 
the  twenty-five  year  service  mark  and 
was  awarded  a  gold  service  medal  in 
accordance  with  the  custom  inaugurated 
by  the  Company  a  few  years  ago  for 
rewarding  faithful  employees. 

Mr.  Linahan  was  held  in  high  esteem 
by  his  immediate  associates  and  the 
officials  of  the  Hartford  Company.  He 
was  characterized  by  a  loyalty  and  devo- 
tion to  his  work  that  was  remarkable. 
Throughout  his  life  he  was  guided  by  a  desire  to  earn  what  he  con- 
sidered the  highest  tribute  that  could  be  paid  to  any  man  and  it  is 
said  of  him  that  "  he  was  loving  in  his  family,  true  to  his  friends, 
and  faithful  to  his  employers." 

He   is   survived  by   his   wife,  two   sons,   and   a  brother,  John  J. 
Linahan,  special  agent  in  our  Atlanta  Department. 


Joseph  J.  Linahan 


THOMAS  F.  GODFREY,  formerly  an  inspector  at  the  Minne- 
apolis,  Minnesota  Branch  and  later   a  special  agent  connected 
with  the  Omaha  Branch  of  our  Chicago  Department,  died  on 
Saturday,  February  27,  1926,  at  his  home  in  Seattle,  Washington. 

Mr.  Godfrey  was  born  on  Christmas  Day,  December  25,  1849, 
at  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania.  After  being  trained  as  an  engineer 
he  entered  the  services  of  this  Company  as  a  boiler  inspector  and 
was  first  assigned  to  the  Minneapolis  Office  on  July  i,  1887.  As 
Mr.  Godfrey's  experience  and  temperament  fitted  him  for  a  position 


54 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE. 


[April, 


as  special  agent,  he  was  accordingly  assigned  to  the  Underwriting 
Department  with  which  he  remained  until  his  retirement  about  ten 
years  ago.  Having  relatives  in  Seattle  he  then  decided  to  make  his 
home  there,  which  he  did  until  his  death. 

Mr.  Godfrey  was  possessed  of  a  very  genial  disposition  and  has 
left  a  host  of  friends.    He  is  survived  by  his  wife  and  an  adopted  son. 


Personal. 

AT  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Directors  of  The  Hartford  Steam 
Boiler  Inspection  and  Insurance  Company,  held  on  February  i6th, 
1926,  C.  Edgar  Blake  was  elected  Assistant  Treasurer. 
Mr.  Blake  came  to  the  Company 
in  December  1919  as  Assistant  Coun- 
sel. Previously  he  was  a  member  of  the 
law  firm  of  Schutz  and  Edwards,  of 
Hartford.  He  is  a  graduate  of  Yale 
College  and  Harvard  Law  School.  Mr. 
Blake  served  with  Troop  B,  ist  Sepa- 
rate Squadron,  Connecticut  Cavalry,  in 
the  Mexican  Border  Campaign  of  1916, 
and  during  the  World  War  served  as 
a  Lieutenant  with  the  302nd  Field  Artil- 
lery. After  the  armistice  he  attended 
Emmanuel  College,  Cambridge  Univer- 
sity, England,  on  detached  service,  be- 
ing one  of  a  group  selected  from  the 
A.  E.  F.  by  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment to  study  in  British  universities.  In 
January  1923  he  became  Assistant  to  the 

Treasurer,  and  his  present  promotion  is  in  recognition  of  his  services 
in  that  position. 


C.  Edgar  Blake 


J     P.   MORRISON,   Chief  Inspector  of  our  Chicago   Department, 
was   "on   the   air"   through   station   WOWO   of    Fort   Wayne, 
*  Indiana,  on  the  evening  of  January  13,  1926.     He  spoke  on  the 
"  Care  and  Operation  of  Steam  Heating  and  Power  Boilers,"  and  the 
radio  audience  that  tuned  in  was  treated  to  an  interesting  and  instruc- 
tive talk  expressed  in  Mr.  Morrison's  characteristic  style. 


1926.] 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


55 


Summary  of  Inspectors'  Work  for  1925. 

Xiimber  of  visits  of  inspection  made 

Total  number  of  boilers  examined 

Number  inspected  internally 

Number  tested  by  hydrostatic  pressure 

Number  of  boilers  found  to  be  uninsurable 

Number  of   shop  boilers  inspected 

Number  of  fly-wheels  inspected  . 

Number  of  premises  where  pipe  lines  were  inspected 

Summary  of  Defects  Discovered. 


Nature  of  Defects. 
Cases  of  sediment  or  loose  scale 
Cases  of  adhering  scale 
Cases  of  grooving 
Cases  of  internal  corrosion 
Cases  of  external  corrosion 
Cases  of  defective  bracing 
Cases  of  defective    staybolting 
Settings   defective 
Fractured  plates  and  heads 
Burned  plates 
Laminated  plates 
Cases  of  defective  riveting 
Cases  of  leakage   around    tubes 
Cases  of  defective  tubes  or  flues 
Cases  of  leakage  at  seams 
Water  gauges  defective 
Blow-offs    defective 
Cases  of  low  water 
Safety-valves  overloaded 
Safety-valves  defective 
Pressure  gauges   defective    . 
Boilers   without  pressure  gauges 
Miscellaneous   defects 


246,520 

478,099 

180,933 

12,161 

1,462 

14,902 

52,351 

20.493 

Whole 

Danger- 

Number. 

ous. 

34,279 

2,586 

51,315 

2,052 

2,281 

274 

27,564 

1,072 

14,312 

1,852 

890 

229 

4,090 

785 

10,348 

1,219 

3,747 

665 

3,373 

519 

292 

yj 

1,839 

424 

14,497 

2,565 

22,836 

15,551 

5,783 

571 

4,897 

1,120 

4,920 

1,389 

451 

169 

1,275 

401 

2,279 

591 

7,999 

652 

672 

58 

8,3: 

I 

915 

Totals 


228,270        35,696 


Grand  Total  of  the  Inspectors'  Work  on  Boilers  from  the  Time  the 
Company  Began  Business  to  January  i,  1926. 


Visits  of  inspection  made         ...... 

Whole  number  of  inspections   (both  internal  and  external) 
Complete  internal  inspections    ..... 

Boilers  tested  by  hydrostatic  pressure 

Total  number  of  boilers  condemned 

Total  number  of  defects  discovered 

Total  number  of  dangerous  defects   discovered 


6,125,693 

12,089,405 

4,701,885 

433,544 

34,546 

6,615,126 

745,502 


56 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE, 


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THE    LOCOMOTIVE. 


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THE    LOCOMOTIVE. 


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Be  HaitlorlSteani  Boiler  Itispection  and  iprance  Conipaiji 


ABSTRACTS  OF  STATEMENT,  DECE^IBER  31,  1925 


Capital  Stock, 


$2,500,000.00 


ASSETS 


Cash  in  offices  and  banks 
Real    Estate    .... 
Mortgage  and  collateral  loans 
Bonds  and  stocks   . 
Premiums  in  course  of  collection 
Interest   Accrued    . 


$699,859-61 

271,757.16 

1,650,188.00 

11,233,196.67 

1,341,102.96 

141,983.25 


Total    Assets 


$15,338,087.65 


LABILITIES 
Reserve  for  unearned  premiums 
Reserve  for  losses  ..... 

Reserve  for  taxes  and  other  contingencies     . 
Capital    Stock  ...... 

Surplus  over  all   liabilities    .... 

Surplus  to  Policyholders, 

Total  Liabilities         ..... 


$6,433,164.02 
283,273.98 
707,384.81 


$2,500,000.00 
5,414,264.84 


$7,914,264.84 


.  $15,338,087.65 


.CHARLES  S.  BLAKE,  President. 

WM.  R.   C.  CORSON,   Vice-President  and  Treasurer. 

E.  SIDNEY  BERRY.  Second  Vice-President. 

LOUIS  F.   MIDDLEBROOK,  Secretary. 

J.  J.  GRAHAM,  Assistant  Secretary. 

HALSEY  STEVENS,  Assistant  Secretary. 

C.  EDGAR  BLAKE,  Assistant  Treasurer. 

SHERWOOD  F.  JETER,  Chief  Engineer. 

KENNETH  A.  REED,  Electrical  Engineer. 

HARRY  E.  DART,  Supt.  Engineering  Dept. 


BOARD  OF  DIRECTORS 


ATWOOD   COLLINS,   Hartford,   Conn. 

LUCIUS  F.  ROBINSON,  Attorney,  Hart- 
ford, Conn. 

JOHN  O.  ENDERS,  Chairman  Board  of 
Trustees,  United  States  Security  Trust 
Co.,    Hartford,    Conn. 

MORGAN  B.  BRAINARD,  President 
j^tna  Life  Insurance  Co.,  Hartford, 
Conn. 

CHARLES  P.  COOLEY,  President  Society 
for    Savings,    Hartford,    Conn. 

HORACE  B.  CHENEY,  Cheney  Brothers, 
Silk  Manufacturers,  South  Manchester, 
Conn. 

D.  NEWTON  BARNEY,  Vice-President 
The  Hartford  Electric  Light  Co.,  Hart- 
ford,  Conn. 

DR.  GEORGE  C.  F.  WILLIAMS,  Presi- 
dent The  Capevvell  Horse  Nail  Co., 
Hartford,    Conn. 


JOSEPH      R.      ENSIGN,      President     The 

Ensign-Bickford    Co.,    Simsbury,    Conn. 
EDWARD    MILLIG.\N    President   Phoeni.x 

Insurance   Co.,   Hartford,   Conn. 
MORG.\N     G.     BULKELEY,     JR.,     Vice- 
President     and      Treasurer     ^tna      Life 

Ins.    Co.,    Hartford   Conn. 
CH.'\RLES     S.     BL.\KE,     President     The 

Hartford    Steam    Boiler    Inspection   and 

Insurance    Co.,    Hartford   Conn. 
WM.    R.    C.    CORSON,   Vice-President   The 

Hartford    Steam    Boiler   Inspection    and 

Insurance    Co.,    Hartford,    Conn. 
S.VMUEL  M.  STONE.  President  The  Coifs 

Patent  Fire  Arms  Mfg.   Co.,   Hartford, 

Conn.  . 

S.\MUEL     FERGUSON,     President       The 

Hartford   Electric   Light   Co.,   Hartford, 

Conn. 


Incorporated   1866 


Charter   Perpetual 


INSURES  AGAINST  LOSS  FROM  DAMAGE  TO  PROPERTY 
AND  INJURY  TO  PERSONS.  DUE  TO  THE  EXPLO- 
SIONS   OF    BOILERS    OR    FLYWHEELS    OR 
THE    BREAKDOWN    OF    ENGINES     OR 
ELECTRICAL     MACHINERY 


Department 

ATLAXTA,  Ga., 

110VI106  Atlanta  Trust  Bldg. 
BALTB[ORE,  Md.,  . 

13-14-It  Abell  Bldg. 
BOSTON,  Mass.,        .         . 

4  Libertv  Sq.,   Cor.  Water   St. 
BRIDGEPORT,    Conn.,      . 

404--405  City  Savings  Bank  Bldg. 
CHICAGO,  111.,  ,         .         .         . 

209  West  Jackson  B'l'v'd 


CIXXINNATI,   Ohio, 

First  National  Bank  Bldg. 
CLEVELAND,   Ohio, 

Leader  Bldg.    . 
DENVER,    Colo., 

Q16-918  Gas  &  Electric  Bldg. 
HARTFORD,  Conn., 

56  Prospect  St. 
NEW   ORLEANS,   La., 

Hibernia  Bank  Bldg. 
NEW  YORK,  N.  Y.,  . 

80   Maiden    Lane 

PHILADELPHIA.   Pa.. 

429  Walnut  St. 
PITTSBURGH,  Pa..  . 

1807-8-9-10  Arrott  Bldg 
PORTLAND,   Ore.,    . 

306  Yeon   Bldg. 
SEATTLE,  Wash.,     . 

4It   Dexter-Horton   Bldg 
SAN  FRANCISCO,  Cal., 

339-341   Sansome  St. 

ST.  LOUIS,  Mo.,       . 

319  North   Fourth   St. 
TORONTO,  Canada,  . 

Federal  Bldg.  . 


Representatives 

W.  M.  Fr.'\xcis,  Manager. 

C.  R.  Summers,  Chief  Inspector. 

Lawford  &  McKiM,  General  Agents. 

James  G.  Reid,  Chief  Inspector. 

Ward  I.  Cornell,  Manager. 

W.  A.  Bayliss,  Chief  Inspector. 

W.  G.  Lineburgh  &  Son,  General  Agents. 

A.  E.  Bonnet,  Chief  Inspector. 

P.  M.  Murray,  Manager. 

T.  P.  Morrison,  Chief  Inspector. 

J.  T.  Coleman,  Ass't  Chief  Inspector. 

C.  W.  ZiMMER.  Ass't  Chief  Inspector. 

W.  E.  Gleason,  Manager. 

W.  E.  Glennon,  Chief  Inspector. 

A.  Paul  Graham,  Manager. 

L.  T.  Gregg,  Chief  Inspector. 

J.  H.  Chesnutt, 

IManager  and  Chief  Inspector. 
F.  H.  Kenyon,  General  Agent. 
A.  E.  Bonnet,  Chief  Inspector. 
R.  T.  BuRWELL,  Mgr.  and  Chief  Inspector. 
E.  Unsworth,  Ass't  Chief  Inspector. 
C.  C.  Gardiner,  Manager. 
E.  Mason  Parry,  Chief  Inspector. 
R.  P.  Guy,  Ass't  Chief  Inspector. 
A.  S.  Wickham,  Manager. 
S.  B.  Adams,  Chief  Inspector. 
Geo.  S.  Reynolds,  Manager. 
J.  A.  Snyder,  Chief  Inspector. 
Bates,  Lively  &  Pearson,  Gen'l  Agents. 
C.  B.  Paddock,  Chief  Inspector. 
C.  B.  Paddock,  Chief  Inspector. 

H.  R.  Mann  &  Co.,  General  Agents. 

J.  B.  Warner,  Chief  Inspector. 

L.  J.  Reed,  Ass't  Chief  Inspector. 

C.  D.  AsHCROFT,  Manager. 

Eugene  Webb,  Chief  Inspector. 

H.  N.  Roberts,  President,  The  Boiler  In- 
spection and  Insurance  Company  of 
Canada. 


The  Hardest  Way  to  Fire  a  B%^'^^'' 

■^'*..  ^^ 

Question:  Which  method  of  firing  is  the  harde^  ^^^^ptk^ 
for  the  fireman?  '' '     ''% 

Answer:  '''The  way  they  showed  me  when  I  started  t& 
work  here.  .  .  .  It  was  hard  work  but  I  did  not 
know  any  better  way  then.  Many  old  firemen  fire 
that  way  yet  that  have  been  on  the  job  for  15  or  20 
years.'' 

The  above  answer  was  given  by  a  fireman  student  in  the 
Hartford  Correspondence  Course  for  Firemen 

Another  student,  in  commenting  on  the  value  of  the  Course, 
wrote — 

"/  have  been  firing  for  14  years  and  carried  a 
fireman's  license  for  5  years,  and  I  can  truly  say  I  have 
learned  more  about  firing  since  starting  this  course  than 
I  have  in  all  my  experience  as  a  fireman." 

Hundreds  of  firemen  who  have  completed  this  course 
have  had  their  work  made  easier  and  are  saving  a  lot  of 
money  for  their  employers.  For  further  information  about 
the  Course,  fill  out  and  mail  the  blank  below. 


THE  HARTFORD  STEAM  BOILER 
INSPECTION  &  INSURANCE  CO., 
HARTFORD,  CONN. 

Please  send  me  further  details  of  your  Correspondence  Course 
for  Firemen 

Name 

Address   ^ 


A-26. 


Devoted  to  Power  Plant  Protection 


Published  Quarterly 


Vol.  XXXVI.  HARTFORD,  CONN.,  JUL^   1926. 


No.  3 


'COPYRISHT,  1926,  BY  THE  HARTFORD  STEAM  BOILER  INSPECTION  AND  IN8URAHCE  CO. 


Hot  W-vter  Supply  T.ank  Explosion  At  Worcester,  Massachusetts 

THERE  IS  VALUABLE   INFORMATION 

FOR   YOUR   ENGINEER   IN   THIS    MAGAZINE. 

PLEASE  LET  HIM   SEE  IT. 


66 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


[July, 


Hot  Water  Supply  Tank  Explosion  At  Worcester,  Massachusetts. 

Ax   explosion  of  terrific  violence  occurred  early  in  the  morning 
of    March  30th,    1925   at   the   Worcester   Square  and   Compass 
Club,  Worcester,  Mass.   when  the  hot  water  supply  boiler  ex- 
ploded.    No  one  was  injured,  due  to  the  early  hour  of  the  explosion, 
but  considerable  property  damage  was  done  in  the  basement  and  on 


Fil;    I. 

the  first  floor,  as  indicated  by  Fig.  i  and  the  picture  on  the  front 
cover.  The  boiler  was  located  in  the  front  part  of  the  basement  and 
the  explosion  blew  down  a  brick  wall  that  supported  the  large  front 
porch.  Doors  and  windows,  including  several  decorative  leaded  glass 
windows,  in  the  basement  and  on  the  first  floor  were  blown  out  and 
the  floor  was  raised  several  inches.  Windows  in  neighboring  build- 
ings were  also  blown  out.  The  property  loss  was  c-timated  to  be 
$10,000. 

The  tank  that  exploded  was  a  copper  hot  water  suppl>  tank,  17 
inches  in  diameter  by  4  ft.  6  inches  long,  and  was  const,  net ed  of 
approximately  3/64  inch  sheet  copper.  The  top  head  seam  was  riveted 
but  all  other  joints  were  brazed.     The  tank  is  said  to  have  been  tested 


1926.] 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE, 


67 


hydrostatically  to  a  pressure  of  200  lbs.  per  square  inch;  the  usual 
operating  pressure  was  100  lbs.  It  was  fitted  with  a  i  inch  A.  S.  M.  E. 
lock-up  pop  safety  valve.     The  water  was  heated  by  a  coal  burning  heater. 

The  violence  of  the  explosion  would  seem  to  indicate  over-pressure 
produced  by  the  generation  of  steam  as  the  cause  of  the  accident,  though 
it  is  not  clear  what  caused  the  pressure  to  build  up  to  such  a  degree. 
The  fireman  in  charge  states  that  he  banked  the  fire  with  hard  coal 
in  the  usual  manner  about  9:40  p.  m.  and  went  home.  In  some  way, 
perhaps  due  to  misadjustment  of  dampers  or  perhaps  to  unusual 
weather  conditions,  the  fire  must  have  caught  up  brightly  and  heated 
the  water  to  a  steaming  temperature,  as  the  tank  exploded  about  3  a.  m. 
The  safety  valve  was  afterwards  recovered  and  tested  by  a  state  boiler 
inspector  and  found  to  be  apparently  in  good  operating  condition  in 
that  it  released  at  the  specified  pressure,  150  lbs.  Slight  corrosion, 
however,  was  noted  and  it  is  possible  that  this  prevented  the  operation 
of  the  valve  in  time  to  avert  the  accident. 

As  far  as  w-e  are  able  to  learn  there  was  no  insurance  on  this  in- 
stallation. 


^S; 


Center-Crank  Shafts. 

By  H.  J.  VanderEb,   Supt.,  Engine  Department 

SHAFTS  of  reciprocating  engines  are  of  two  general  types,  namely, 
side-crank  shafts  and  center-crank  shafts.  As  the  name  implies, 
a  side-crank  shaft  (Fig.  i)  is  a  plain  shaft  to  which  the  engine 

crank  is  fastened  at 
one  end,  or  there  may 
be  a  crank  at  either 
A  center-crank 
has  the  crank 
distance  away 
its  end,  which 
makes  its  construction 
somewhat  more  com- 
plicated and  usually 
involves  a  somewhat 
shorter  useful  life. 
With  a  side-crank 
shaft  of  the  usual  design  only  two  bearings  are  necessary.  This  makes 
the  maintenance  of  bearing  alignment  a  comparatively  simple  matter 
and  no  undue  bending  stresses  will  occur  in  a  side-crank  shaft  when 
one  bearing  wears  down  a  little  more  than  the  other. 


end. 
shaft 
some 
from 


Fig.  I.    Center  Crank  Shaft  (above),  Side  Crank 
Shaft    (below). 


68 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


[July, 


The  center-crank  type  of  shaft  as  a  rule  requires  for  its  support 
at  least  three  bearings,  which  involves  its  own  peculiar  trouble.  It  is 
somewhat  self  evident  that  when  more  than  two  bearings  are  used 
it  becomes  harder  to  keep  the  bearings  in  proper  alignment.  When 
misalignment  does  occur,  due  to  uneven  wear  in  the  three  or  more  bear- 
ings supporting  the  shaft,  there  will  be  produced  in  the  shaft  structure 
certain  extra  bending 


stresses  which  may 
have  a  serious  influ- 
ence on  the  life  of  the 
shaft.  It  is  with  this 
feature  of  extraordi- 
nary bending  stresses 
that  this  article  is  in- 
tended to  deal. 

The  bending  stress 


2^ 


i 1 


i 


Fig.  2. 

The  Shading  Indicates  The  Regions  In  Which 

Cracks  AIay  Be  Looked  For. 


in  a  shaft  due  to  misalignment  of  the  bearings  is  in  addition  to  the 
normal  bending  stress  produced  by  the  load  on  the  crank.  The  total 
stress  thus  created  may  in  time  be  sufficiently  high  to  cause  gradual 
failure  of  the  material.  A  shaft  which  has  been  subject  for  some  time 
to  excessive  bending  stress,  if  carefully  inspected,  is  fairly  certain  to 
show  surface  cracks  in  certain  critical  portions.  Such  cracks  generally 
occur  in  the  shaded  areas  shown  in  Fig.  2. 


MkROM£T£K 


I \ 1 1 

Fig.  3. 

Crank  Shaft  Distortion  Due  To  Poor  Bearing  Alignment  (Exaggerated 

For  Purposes  of  Illustration). 

When,  due  to  high  bending  stress,  a  surface  crack  has  once  started 
in  a  center-crank  shaft,  the  shaft  has  practically  reached  the  end  of  its 
useful  life  and  can  only  be  further  used  at  the  risk  of  a  serious  general 
engine  wreck.  The  great  importance,  therefore,  of  maintaining  correct 
bearing  alignment  with  center-crank  shafts  has  long  been  appreciated 
by  engine  manufacturers.  It  has  been  customary  for  many  years  on 
certain  makes  of  large  multiple  center-crank  engines  to  make  special 
provision  for  conveniently  checking  up  from  time  to  time  how  much 
each  bearing  wears  down.     This  is  done  by  removing  the  bearing  caps 


1926.] 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE. 


69 


Fig.  4.     Broken  Crank  Shaft. 


and  taking  accnrate  measurement  between  some  fixed  point  on  the 
engine  frame  and  the  top  of  each  journal.  If  all  the  bearings  show  the 
same  amount  of  downward  wear,  there  is  then  fair  certainty  that  no 
undue  bending  stresses  take  place  in  the  shaft. 

There  is  another  method  for  checking  the  bearing  alignment  in 
engines  with  center-crank  shafts  which  is  more  easily  applied  and  is 
more  adaptable  to  all 
types  of  engines,  both 
vertical  and  horizontal. 
This  is  done  by  measur- 
ing directly  the  dis- 
tortion of  the  cranks, 
which  will  occur  when 
the  bearings  have  worn 
unevenly  and  therefore 
are  out  of  perfect  align- 
ment or  if  the  bearings 
have  been  misadjusted. 
In  Fig.  3  is  shown  a  condition  of  bearing  misalignment  which 
is  frequently  met  with.  The  outboard  bearing  is  too  high  due  to  the 
fact  that  the  main  bearings  have  worn  down  while  the  outboard  bearing 
has  not  been  subject  to  as  much  wear,  with  the  result  that  the  crank 
travels  through  a  slight  distortion  during  every  complete  revolution 
of  the  sliaft. 

When  under  these  conditions  the  distance  between  the  crank  webs 
IS  measured  by  means  of  a  micrometer  in  four  different  positions  of 
the  crank,  an  appreciable  difference  is  found  between  the  measurements 

in  these  four  crank 
positions.  If  the  en- 
gine is  operated  with 
this  condition  existing, 
it  is  reasonably  certain 
that  the  shaft  will  de- 
velop surface  cracks  in 
the  critical  areas  shown 
in  Fig.  2.  If  the 
misalignment  of  the 
bearings  is  serious 
enough,  failure  of  the 
shaft  may  be  quite  rapid.  In  some  aggravated  cases  such  shafts  have 
broken  in  less  than  a  year  from  the  time  that  they  were  first  used. 


Fig.  5. ,   Broken  Crank  Web. 


70 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


[July. 


Distortion  of  center-crank  shafts  from  other  causes  than  the  mere 
misalignment  of  bearings  is  also  clearly  shown  up  by  this  method  of 
measuring  between  crank  webs.  For  instance,  the  bending  action  on 
the  shaft  due  to  a  too  heavy  overhung  flywheel  or  the  influence  of  a 
tightening  device  on  the  driving  belt  (Figs.  6  and  7)  can  be  traced 
in  this  way,  and  a  suitable  correction  for  these  wrong  conditions  de- 
termined on  so  as  to 
prolong  the  useful  life 
of  the  shaft. 

The  difiference  in  the 
micrometer  measure- 
ments as  found  at  two 
opposite  positions  of 
the  crank  may  be  a 
few  thousandths  of  an 
inch  and  sometimes  is  as 
much  as  several  hun- 
dredths of  an  inch.  The 
extra  bending  stresses 
in  the  shaft  material  are  of  course  proportional  to  this  difiference. 

As  an  example,  Fig.  8  is  a  graphical  representation  of  conditions 
found  in  a  7-inch  single-crank  shaft.  In  this  diagram  the  distances 
between  concentric  circles  represent  two  one-thousandths  of  an  inch 
and  the  heavy  circle  denoted  by  zero  is  taken  as  a  reference  circle. 
Four  positions  of  the  crank  are  denoted  by  Top,  Back,  Bottom  and 
Front.  The  graph  A  was  obtained  by  drawing  a  line  through  points  a, 
b,  c  and  d.  If  the 
first  measurement 
between  crank  webs 
is    taken   with    the 


Fig.  6. 

(Deflection   Exaggerated   for   Purpose  of 

Illustration.) 


(Deflection 


PULLEY  SUBjeCT  TO 

excbssive  belt  t£usi» 

Fig.  7. 

Exaggerated   for 

Illustration.) 


Purpose  of 


crank  in  Top  posi- 
tion and  its  posi- 
tion assumed  to  be 
on  the  reference 
(zero)  circle,  then 
the  distance  of  .001 
inch  that  point  b  lies  outside  of  the  reference  circle  denotes  that  the  meas- 
urement between  crank  webs,  when  the  crank  was  set  in  position  Back, 
was  .001  inch  greater  that  that  at  crank  position  Top.  At  point  c  the  dis- 
tance between  crank  webs  has  become  .004  inch  greater  and  at  point  d  the 
distance  between  crank  webs  is  again  the  same  as  it  was  originally  at 


1926.] 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE. 


71 


Sort  on 

Fig.  8.     Graphical  Representation  of   Crank   Distortion. 

point  a,  or  Top. 

The  graph  B  shows  conditions  of  distortion  of  the  same  crank  just 
one  year  later.  It  will  be  noted  that  the  distortion  of  the  crank,  as 
measured  between  crank  webs,  has  become  much  worse,  it  being  .010  inch 
when  the  crank  is  in  bottom  position,  whereas  the  year  before  in  that 
position  the  crank  distorted  only  .004  inch. 

When  the  distortion,  which  of  course  is  repeated  during  every 
revolution  of  the  shaft,  has  reached  such  proportions,  the  surface 
stresses  in  the  critical  areas  before  mentioned  become  quite  high  and 
the  formation  of  surface  cracks  is  bound  to  occur. 

It  is  obviously  impossible  to  lay  down  a  fixed  limit  for  the  measured 
distortion  at  which  it  becomes  necessary  to  make  correction  in  the 
bearing  alignment,  since  the  diameter  of  the  shaft  and  the  length  of 
the  crank  must  necessarily  be  taken  into  consideration.  For  average 
conditions  of  crank  design,  however,  it  is  a  fair  assumption  that  when 
the  distortion  of  the  crank  as  measured  between  crank  webs  reaches 


72  THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  [July, 

.005  inch  the  possibility  for  the  formation  of  surface  cracks  in  the  shaft 
at  the  critical  areas  becomes  quite  great  and  it  is  then  advisable  to 
correct  the  bearing  alignment.  With  stiff  designs  of  cranks  the  amount 
of  allowable  distortion  is  necessarily  less,  and  with  long,  flexible  designs 
of  cranks  it  is  possible  for  a  somewhat  greater  amount  of  distortion 
than  .005  inch  to  do  no  serious  harm. 

This  method  of  keeping  track  of  the  distortion  of  center-crank 
shafts  as  outlined  has  proven  to  be  of  great  value  in  getting  the  most 
possible  use  out  of  such  shafts.  Advice  regarding  it  is  one  of  the 
many  important  features  of  engine  inspection  visits  by  Hartford  in- 
spectors. 


Pump  Return  Systems  for  Heating  Boilers. 

CAST  iron  heating  boiler  explosions  occur  occasionally,  but  not 
nearly  so  frequently  as  that  other  type  of  heating  boiler  accident, 
the  cracking  of  sections.  The  explosions  are  usually  the  result  of 
over  pressure,  but  the  cracking  of  sections  in  cast  iron  boilers  may 
be  due  to  any  of  several  causes  such  as  scale,  localized  or  too  intensive 
heating,  uneven  expansion  due  to  building  a  hot  fire  too  quickly,  or 
occasionally  to  defective  material,  but  by  far  the  greatest  number  of 
such  failures  are  due  to  low  water.  Causes  of  low  water  are  likewise 
many,  and  range  from  careless  operation  to  features  of  the  design  of 
the  particular  system.  It  is  one  of  the  latter  that  is  to  be  considered  here. 
The  usual  type  of  steam  heating  installation  is  what  is  known  as 
a  gravity  return  system.  The  boiler  is  located  in  a  part  of  the  building 
that  is  lower  than  any  of  the  radiators.  The  steam  rises  from  the  boiler 
to  the  various  radiators  where  it  is  condensed  and  flows  back  by  gravity. 
The  amount  of  condensate  returned  is  in  proportion  to  the  amount 
of  steam  going  out,  so  the  water  level  automatically  remains  approxi- 
mately constant.  When  this  arrangement  cannot  be  obtained,  that  is, 
if  some  of  the  radiators  are  low  or  at  a  distance  from  the  boiler  so  that 
the  condensate  does  not  drain  back  properly  but  remains  in  the  heating 
system,  it  becomes  necessary  to  install  a  pump  for  its  return.  In 
fact,  it  is  becoming  common  practice  now  when  designing  new  heating 
systems,  especially  large  systems,  to  depend  upon  a  pump  for  the 
return  of  the  condensate  to  the  boiler.  This  enables  the  use  of  smaller 
piping  thus  reducing  the  first  cost,  and  in  addition  gives  a  more  positive 
action  particularly  on  large  systems  where  long  horizontal  runs  are 
inclined  to  make  the  action  sluggish.  The  installation  of  a  pump 
has  rejuvenated  many  old  gravity  return  systems  that  were  not  giving 
satisfactory  results. 


1926.] 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


73 


In  the  operation  of  a  pump  return  system,  the  condensate  returns 
to  a  receiving  tank  installed  lower  than  any  of  the  radiators  and  is 
then  pumped  into  the  boiler.  The  operation  may  be  continuous  or 
intermittent,  that  is,  the  pump  may  be  running  and  a  vacuum  main- 
tained on  the  return  lines  at  all  times,  or  the  tank  may  be  allowed  to 
become  filled  to  a  certain  height  and  the  pump  then  started  up  to 
empty  it.  There  would  appear  to  be  little  difference  in  the  operation 
whether  all  of  the  radiators  are  elevated  above  the  level  of  the  boiler 


Cracked  Section  in  Boiler  Rated  at  16,800  Square  Feet.     Boiler  Was  Red 
Hot  When  Oil  Burner  Was  Shut  Off. 

or  not,  but  the  hazard  of  cracking  of  sections  can  be  made  less  in  the 

former  case. 

The  use  of  a  pump  return  introduces  an  uncertain  element  in  the 

system  in  that  it  may  at  some  time  fail  to  operate.    Usually  these  pumps 

are  electrically  driven,  and  it  is  well  known  that  any  one  of  a  number 

of  minor  accidents,  such  as  a  loose  connection  or  adjustment  or  a  blown 

fuse,  may  happen  to  prevent  or  delay  proper  operation  of  electrical 

machinery,  particularly  automatic  machinery.     Electrical  storms  quite 

frequently   interfere   with  the   operation   of   generating   stations,   and 

heavy   rain   storms   often   flood   conduits   or   otherwise   interfere   with 

transmission,  thus  shutting  ofi  power  for  periods  varying  from  a  few 


74  THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  [July, 

minutes  to  hours.  If  the  attendant  is  not  aware  that  the  current  is 
off  —  and  he  is  not  Hkely  to  give  thought  to  it  where  dependence  has 
been  placed  on  automatic  starting  —  the  pump,  of  course,  will  not 
operate.  Even  where  the  pump  does  not  start  automatically  but  is 
controlled  by  an  attendant,  the  element  of  carelessness  or  inattention 
enters.  The  failure  of  the  return  pump,  of  course,  results  in  low  water 
unless  other  provision  is  made  for  the  return  water  to  enter  the  boiler. 
Low  water  if  not  detected  in  time  will  in  turn  result  in  cracked  sections, 
necessitating  expensive  repairs  if  not  complete  replacement. 

When  a  steam  heating  boiler  is  located  lower  than  the  return  line 
and  there  is  a  pump  in  the  return  line,  it  is  usually  advisable  to  provide 
an  alternative  way  for  the  water  to  get  back  to  the  boiler  by  gravity 
through  a  by-pass  in  the  event  of  failure  of  the  pump.  This  by-pass 
carries  the  water  around  the  pump  and  should  be  provided  with  a  check 
valve  but  no  stop  valve,  so  that  it  will  stand  ready  for  operation  at  all 
times.  Such  an  arrangement  is  not  a  sure  safeguard  for  all  systems 
against  low  water  in  case  of  failure  of  the  return  pump,  for  in  many 
cases  the  pump  has  been  installed  because  of  real  or  anticipated  difficulty 
with  a  gravity  return,  but  it  is  an  accident  prevention  measure  that  fre- 
quently comes  to  the  rescue  of  the  heating  boiler.  Insurance  regula- 
tions formerly  required  the  inclusion  of  such  a  by-pass  around  the  pump 
before  the  boiler  could  be  covered  against  the  cracking  of  sections,  and 
it  is  still  recommended  as  good  practice.  It  can  be  readily  included 
when  a  new  system  is  being  installed  at  very  little  extra  cost,  and  it 
would  seem  advisable  for  heating  contractors  to  bring  the  matter  to  the 
attention  of  the  owner  of  the  premises,  either  when  bidding  on  the  job 
or  at  least  before  its  completion,  so  that  the  plans  may  be  altered  to 
include  a  gravity  return  by-pass  at  little  additional  expense.  Some 
manufacturers  of  pumps  for  heating  returns  furnish  plans  for  the  in- 
stallation of  their  equipment  and  show  the  proper  manner  of  making  this 
connection  so  that  it  is  a  simple  matter  for  the  steam-fitter  to  incorporate 
it.  Frequently  in  the  past  the  matter  has  been  brought  to  the  owner's 
attention  through  applying  for  insurance  against  cracking.  Changes 
necessary  before  placing  a  new  system  in  operation  have  resulted  in 
criticism  being  directed  at  the  contractor  and  in  considerable  misunder- 
standing and  an  unfriendly  feeling  that  could  have  been  avoided. 

Insurance  against  cracking  of  sections  can  now  be  obtained  on  any 
approved  heating  system  whether  the  water  is  returned  by  gravity  or 
pump.  However,  the  greater  hazard  from  low  water  with  a  pump  re- 
turn system  necessitates  a  higher  premium  rate  than  does  a  gravity  re- 
turn system. 


1926.] 


THE     LOCOMOTIVE. 


75 


Brine  Cooler  Explosion  At  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

A  BRINE  cooler  exploded  in  the  basement  of  the  Valentino  Apart- 
ments, St.  Louis,  Mo.,  on  the  afternoon  of  September  4th,  1925, 
killing  one  man   and   injuring   six   other   persons.      Five   of   the 
injured  were  overcome  by  fumes,  and  a  woman  was  injured  in  jump- 
ing to  the  ground   from  a  third  floor  window   in  a   frantic  effort  to 
escape  from  the  fumes. 


Fig.  I. 

The  brine  cooler  consisted  of  a  shell  20  inches  in  diameter  by  12  ft. 
long  with  tubes  running  through  from  end  to  end.  Brine  was  cir- 
cujated  through  the  tubes  for  cooling,  and  ammonia  surrounded  the 
tubes.  The  shell  was  constructed  in  two  courses  of  5/16  inch  plate, 
and  all  joints  were  autogenously  welded. 

The  exact  cause  of  the  accident  is  not  known  because  of  the  death 
of  the  operator,  but  it  is  believed  to  have  resulted  from  improper 
operation.  The  brine  is  said  to  have  become  weak  and  froze  in  several 
of  the  tubes  of  the  cooler,  and  in  an  endeavor  to  thaw  it,  hot  gas  from 
the  high  pressure  side  of  the  compressor  was  turned  into  the  shell  of 
the  cooler.     In  this  way  it  was  possible  to  build  up  a  pressure  of  175 


76 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE. 


[July, 


lbs.  in  the  vessel,  although  the  pressure  attained  at  the  time  of   the 
accident  is  unknown. 

While  the  direct 
cause  of  the  accident  is 
thought  to  have  been 
overpressure,  yet  it  is 
significant,  as  so  fre- 
quently is  found  to  be 
the  case,  that  some  por- 
tions of  the  welding 
were  very  poor.  The 
failure  was  entirely  in 
one  course,  as  shown  b}- 
Fig.  I.  and  the  rupture 
was  confined  to  the 
welded  seam.  The 
course  that  failed  was  completely  torn  off  and  opened  out  flat,  as  shown 
in  Fig.  2.  Considerable  damage  was  done  to  the  piping  and  walls  of 
the  basement. 


Fig. 


Boiler  Explosions  vs.  Boiler  Inspections. 

AN  accident  that  particularly  emphasizes  the  necessity  of  expert 
boiler  inspection  occurred  October  i9tli,  1925,  when  the  port- 
able sawmill  boiler  owned  by  Messrs.  Walker  and  Graw  exploded 
at  Roxbury,  N.  H.  One  man  was  killed  and  four  others  injured,  and 
two  horses  were  blinded.  The  sawmill  was  completely  destroyed.  The 
front  end  of  the  boiler  was  torn  off  and  projected  about  500  ft.  away. 
The  main  portion  of  the  boiler  traveled  about  200  ft.  in  the  opposite 
direction  but  was  retarded  in  its  flight  by  three  large  trees  which  it 
broke  off. 

This  boiler  was  of  the  locomotive  firebox  type,  48  inches  in  diameter 
and  17  ft.  long.  At  the  time  of  the  explosion  it  had  been  in  opera- 
tion but  one  day  after  being  completely  overhauled  and  repaired. 
The  studs  securing  the  door  frame  had  broken  off  and  so  the  frame 
was  spot  welded  to  the  front  head.  As  the  throat  sheet  had  become 
thin  at  the  blow-off  connection,  a  i^  inch  standard  flange  coupling 
was  welded  to  the  sheet  and  the  blow-off  pipe  screwed  into  this  coupling. 
Likewise  a  ^  inch  flange  coupling  had  been  welded  over  the  fusible 
plug  opening  in  the  crown  sheet,  thus  leaving  a  small  pocket  for  mud 
or  sediment  to  collect  over  the  end  of  the  plug.  In  addition,  several  tubes 
had  been  renewed,  a  new  fusible  plug  inserted,  and  the  boiler  painted 


1926.] 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


77 


so  that  it  looked  to  be  in  good  condition.     It  was  evidently  the  intention 
of  the  owner  to  have  the  boiler  placed  in  first  class  condition. 

The  failure  of  the  boiler  cannot  be  attributed  to  any  of  these 
repairs  but  rather  to  the  failure  of  the  staybolts.  The  staybolts  in 
the  boiler  were  originally  of  ^  inch  diameter,  having  a  net  cross- 
sectional  area  of  .288  inch.  They  were  spaced  on  5  inch  centers ;  hence 
the  area  supported  by  each  bolt  was  24.712  square  inches.  (Supported 
area  minus  area  of  staybolt.)  The  total  stress  allowed  in  a  ^  inch 
staybolt  by  the  A.  S.  M.  E.  Boiler  Construction  Code  is  2160  lbs.,  which 
when  divided  by  the  area  24.712  square  inches,  gives  an  allowable  operat- 
ing pressure  of  87.5  lbs.  At  the  time  of  the  explosion  the  boiler  is 
said  to  have  had  no  lbs.  pressure.  The  safety  valve,  which  incidentally 
was  too  small,  was  set  at  120  lbs.  Under  normal  conditions,  there- 
fore, the  staybolts  were  overloaded,  and  this  condition  was  seriously 

aggravated  by  the  fact 
that  they  had  materially 
wasted  away.  As  shown 
in  Fig.  I,  some  of  these 
staybolts  had  corroded 
to  such  an  extent  that 
not  over  one-third  of 
the  original  diameter 
remained.  This  reduced 
the  effective  cross-sec- 
tional area  to  about  one- 
sixth  of  normal  and  in- 
creased the  unit  stress 
in  inverse  proportion, 
thus  effectually  over- 
coming any  reasonable  factor  of  safety.  During  the  overhauling, 
the  hand-hole  covers  in  the  bottoms  of  the  water  legs  are  said  to  have 
been  removed  and  the  mud  and  sediment  washed  out,  so  it  would  seem 
as  if  these  corroded  staybolts  must  certainly  have  been  seen  at  that 
time.  However,  the  persons  who  did  the  work  evidently  failed  to  appre- 
ciate this  to  be  a  dangerous  condition  and  so  made  no  comment  on  it. 
An  examination  by  an  expert  boiler  inspector  would  undoubtedlv 
have  revealed  the  overloading  and  wasting  away  of  the  staybolts  and 
the  insufficient  size  of  the  safety  valve,  and  would  have  brought  forth 
recommendations  for  suitable  repairs  to  the  throat  and  crown  sheets. 
If  there  had  been  expert  inspection  it  is  very  likely  this  accident  would 
not  have  happened. 


Fig.  I. 


78 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


[July, 


■•^-^'lll|l||i|rtl4:iH^^H 

■   1  i\ 


O'IFiL 


001      06       09       Ol,      09       OS       OP      0£       Og 


•s3Ho/\//     turner  JO    sniayu 


1926.]  THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  79 

A  Chart  For  Dished  Head  Computations. 

THE  diagram  on  the  opposite  page  was  prepared  by  Inspectors 
Win.  H.  Cannon  and  W.  F.  Reisch  of  our  Pittsburgh  Department 
primarily  for  use  in  computing  allowable  pressures  for  boilers  as 
determined  by  the  construction  of  the  heads.  The  diagram  is  based  upon 
the  A.  S.  M.  E.  Boiler  Construction  Code  formula  for  determining  the 
thickness  of  plate  required:  — 

5.5xPxL 

t  = +1/8 

2xTS 

t  =  thickness  of  plate,  inches. 
P  =  maximum  allowable  working  pressure, 

lbs.  per  square  inch. 
L  =  radius  to  which  the  head  is  dished,  inches. 
TS  =  tensile  strength,  lbs.  per  sq.  inch. 

This  formula  is  for  unstayed  heads  in  which  the  head  is  a  ;  egment 
of  a  sphere  with  the  pressure  on  the  concave  side,  in  other  words  a 
plus  head.  For  minus  heads  —  heads  dished  inward  —  the  formula 
is  modified  so  that  the  allowable  pressure  is  but  60%  of  that  allowed 
on  a  plus  head  of  the  same  dimensions.  This  has  been  provided  for 
in  the  accompanying  diagram  by  separate  pressure  scales  for  plus  and 
minus  heads.  The  scale  for  minus  heads  is  a  great  convenience  but 
it  should  be  noted,  when  reading  intermediate  pressures,  that  each 
division  represents  1.2  lbs.,  a  rather  unusual  value.  It  results,  how- 
ever, from  taking  60%  of  2  lbs.,  the  value  of  each  division  on  the 
scale  for  plus  heads.  The  chart  was  designed  for  boiler  steel  using 
a  value  of  55,000  lbs.  per  square  inch  for  the  tensile  strength. 

The  method  of  using  the  chart  is  simple.  To  obtain  the  maximum 
pressure  allowed  by  the  head  construction  of  a  boiler,  start  at  the 
bottom  of  the  chart  on  the  left.  Select  a  point  on  this  scale  representing 
the  diameter  of  the  head  and  follow  up  this  vertical  line  until  it  inter- 
sects the  curve  corresponding  to  the  height  of  the  bump.  (If  the  curve 
representing  the  height  of  bump  is  to  the  right  of,  and  does  not  inter- 
sect, the  vertical  line,  then  stop  at  the  intersection  with  the  sloping 
line  marked  80%).  The  horizontal  line  intersecting  at  this  point  gives 
the  value  which  should  be  considered  as  the  radius  of  the  bump.  Fol- 
lowing this  horizontal  line  to  the  right  until  it  intersects  the  curve 
corresponding  to  the  head  thickness,  and  then  following  down  the 
vertical  line  passing  through  this  intersection  point,  the  allowable 
pressure  is  given  by  the  proper  scale  at  the  bottom  on  the  right.    There 


80  THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  [July, 

are  two  scales  for  allowable  pressure,  one  for  plus  heads  and  one  for 
minus  heads,  the  latter  giving  values  6o%  of  the  former,  as  explained 
above. 

For  heads  with  a  manhole,  use  the  curve  for  thickness   i/8  inch 
less  than  the  actual  thickness. 

The  solution  of  a  sample  problem  may  make  the  use  of  the  diagram 
more  clear.     Let  us  assume  that   a   safe   working  pressure   is   to   be 
determined  for  a  boiler  drum  having  a  plus  head  54  inches  in  diameter 
with  an  8  inch  bump  and  made  of 
58  inch  plate.     Figure  i  shows  the 
course  to  be  followed  in  solving  this 
problem.     Starting  with  point  a  at 
the  bottom  on  the  left,   we   follow  > 
up  the  54  inch  diameter  line  to  point 
c.   the   intersection   with   the   curve         1 

I 

6(7  200 

0//9M.  OF  Pi  US  fte/IOS 


marked  "  h=8  inches."     Following         1 "  ; 

across   the   horizontal   line   through    ^^     ^^  ^^^ 


this  point  (Which  on  the  large  dia-     ^'.To-m.  .7A%:.. 

gram  shows  the  radius  of  curvature  ^ 

'^  .  Fig.  I. 

of    the   head   to    be    50   inches)    to 

point  c,  where  it  intersects  the  curve  marked  "  t  =  5/8  inch,"  then 
down  the  vertical  line  to  point  d  we  find  the  maximum  allowable  pres- 
sure based  on  the  assumed  head  construction  to  be  200  lbs.  per  square 
inch. 

Had  this  been  a  minus  head,  we  would  have  read  the  answer  on 
the  lower  pressure  line  of  the  chart,  which  would  give  120  lbs. 

Had  there  been  a  manhole  in  this  head,  we  would  have  stopped 
at  the  curve  marked  "t=i/2  inch"  and  followed  down  to  find  our 
answer  to  be  151  lbs.  for  a  plus  head. 

The  simplicity  of  this  chart  particularly  recommends  it,  as  the  work 
of  computation  is  expedited  and  made  less  irksome  and  the  chance 
of  error  greatly  reduced. 


Labor  Saving  on  the  Locomotive. 

THE  locomotives  of  a  few  years  ago,  while  much  smaller  than 
those  of  the  present  day,  required   far  more  physical  labor  to 
operate  them  than  the  large  locomotives  now  in  general  use. 
There  was  once  a  time  when  one  of  the  big  locomotives  of  any  road 
needed  a  crew  possessing  tremendous   physique   to   run   it  efficiently. 
The  job  of  firing  fuel  as  locomotives  grew  in  size  became  more  severe 
and  the  work  of  the  fireman  became  almost  continuous  during  the  run. 


1926.]  T  H  E    L  O  C  O  M  O  T  I  V  K  .  Pl 


So  arduous  was  this  job  that  on  the  big  freight  locomotives  two 
firemen  were  often  required  to  get  enough  fuel  in  the  firebox  to  keep 
up  steam  pressure  at  the  high  rates  of  consumption  on  heavy  freight 
runs. 

Then  too  the  labor  of  the  engineer  in  "  horsing  over "  the  old 
Johnson  bar  when  changing  cut-ofT  became  greater  with  the  increase 
in  size  of  the  locomotive  and  it  could  not  be  done  safely  at  speed. 

But  the  last  few  years  have  changed  considerably  the  work  of 
running  a  locomotive.  Steam  and  air  are  made  to  do  the  physical 
jobs  and  as  the  crew  has  been  relieved  of  manual  labor,  they  have 
more  opportunity  to  use  their  intelligence  in  getting  the  utmost  out 
of  the  modern  locomotive. 

As  the  size  of  the  locomotive  increased  additional  equipment  was 
installed  to  provide  economies  that  were  not  considered  on  the  older 
and  smaller  engines.  With  this  additional  equipment  the  railroads  at 
the  same  time  endeavored  to  provide  other  devices  to  off-set  the  new 
duties  and  relieve  the  engine  crews  of  the  unpleasant  jobs  which  had 
formerly  been  theirs. 

Among  the  most  prominent  devices  of  this  character  which  relieved 
the  fireman,  were  the  stoker,  pneumatic  fire  doors  and  the  power  grate 
shaker.  The  use  of  these  devices  materially  lightened  his  duties  and 
gave  him  time  to  aid  the  engineer,  observe  signals  and  to  acquire  more 
k'nowledge  of  locomotive  operation. 

Besides  lightening  the  actual  work  of  firing,  Franklin  Automatic 
Fire  Doors  make  it  easier  for  the  fireman  to  keep  up  the  steam  pressure 
because  they  close  between  each  scoop  of  coal,  and  thereby  cut  out  a 
lot  of  fire-killing  cold  air  that  entered  the  fireboxes  through  the  open 
hand  swung  door. 

One  of  the  hardest  jobs  of  a  fireman  is  using  the  slice  bar  on  a 
fire  that  needs  stirring  while  the  locomotive  is  running.  This  work 
is  now  done  by  steam  through  the  use  of  the  Franklin  Steam  Grate 
Shaker,  and  all  of  the  work  the  fireman  is  called  upon  to  do  is  to  operate 
two  control  handles.  The  danger  of  personal  injury  to  back  and  hands 
is  eliminated. 

Among  the  other  devices  which  benefit  the  engineer  are  the  Franklin 
Power  Reverse  Gears  and  the  Grease  Lubricator  for  Driving  Boxes. 
It  is  not  so  many  years  ago  that  the  engineer  had  to  be  on  the  alert 
to  keep  driving  boxes  running  cool.  Today  he  hardly  knows,  as  far 
as  lubrication  is  concerned,  that  he  has  driving  boxes  on  the  engine. 

The  Precision  Power  Reverse  Gear  makes  it  possible  for  the 
engineer  to   secure  just  the  proper   cut-off   for    fuel   economy  at  an}- 


32  THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  [July, 

speed  without  the  danger  involved  in  changing  cut-off  while  running 
with  the  old  form  of  hand  reverse  lever.  And  when  the  engine  is 
to  be  reversed  the  task  is  a  matter  of  only  a  moment  and  requires  little 
exertion. 

Not  only  has  the  labor  of  the  engine  crew  been  lightened,  but 
the  riding  qualities  of  the  large  engines  now  in  use  have  been  con- 
siderably improved  by  the  Lateral  Motion  Driving  Box  and  the  Radial 
Buffer.  The  Lateral  Motion  Driving  Box  eases  the  locomotive  around 
curves  and  eliminates  the  sudden  biting  of  the  rails  and  side  sway 
that  constitute  a  real  menace  to  safety  and  make  the  locomotive  un- 
comfortable to  ride. 

The  Radial  Buffer  provides  the  action  of  a  cylinder  rolling  on  a 
sphere  between  the  engine  and  tender  so  that  the  buffer  cannot  possibly 
bind  and  lift  the  tender  from  the  rails  which  used  to  happen  in  the 
old  days. 

The  engine  crews  of  today  are  fortunate.  They  are  hauling  heavier 
trains  in  less  time  and  for  better  wages.  The  equipment  that  the 
railroads  have  provided  on  the  large  engines  makes  the  work  easier 
and  leaves  the  crews  in  better  condition  physically  and  mentally  when 
they  leave  their  engines  at  the  end  of  a  run  than  the  crews  of  the 
old  time  engine  that  pulled  only  a  fraction  of  the  tonnage  now  being 
hauled.  — New  York  Central  Lines  Magazine. 


Fatigue  Tests  on  Welded  Joints. 

FATIGUE  tests  on  butt-welded  joints  in  steel  tubes  used  in  air- 
plane construction  were  made  by  the  Engineering  Division  of 
the  Air  Service  at  McCook  Field,  Dayton,  Ohio,  and  the  results, 
as  reported  in  Mechanical  Engineering,  indicate  such  joints  to  be 
only  about  50%  as  resistant  to  failure  through  fatigue  as  the  original 
tubes.  The  rotating  beam  method  was  used.  Results  of  static  ten- 
sion tests  on  like  specimens  indicate  80%  as  the  dependable  tensile 
strength. 

The  tests  were  made  on  both  torch-welded  and  arc-welded  speci- 
ments.  No  difference  in  strength  between  the  two  methods  was  shown, 
but  the  location  of  the  fracture  varied.  With  torch-welded  specimens, 
the  failure  occurs  in  the  tension  tests  about  J/2  to  i  inch  from  the 
weld  due  probably  to  the  softening  of  the  tube  at  this  point  by  the 
heat  of  the  flame,  and  in  the  repeated  stress  tests  the  failure  is  in  the 
weld.  With  arc-welded  specimens,  the  failure  is  at  the  edge  of  the 
weld  in  both  tension  and  fatigue  tests. 


1926.]  THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  83 

Coffee  Boiler  Explosions. 

THE  cheerful  and  companionable  coffee  urn  such  as  one  sees  in 
every  restaurant  is  an  innocent  looking  piece  of  equipment,  but 
it  is  nevertheless  a  pressure  vessel  and  is  subject  to  the  hazards 
of  such  vessels.  Four  recent  newspaper  items  tell  of  the  failure  of 
as  many  urns,  one  of  which  resulted  in  the  death  of  the  operator, 
two  others  resulted  in  cases  of  serious  scalding,  while  the  fourth  caused 
a  $3,000  fire. 

On  August  5,  1925,  the  coffee  boiler  in  the  kitchen  of  the  Edward 
W.  Sparrow  Hospital,  Detroit,  Michigan,  exploded  and  seriously  scalded 
a  woman  employed  as  cook.  The  lower  head  of  the  boiler  separated 
entirely  from  it.  Leaks  had  been  observed  around  one  side  of  this 
head  seam,  and  on  the  day  of  the  explosion  the  opposite  side  started 
to  leak.  Just  prior  to  the  accident  the  cook  became  alarmed  at  a 
bubbling  noise  and  stooped  over  to  close  the  steam  valve.  While  she 
was  closing  the  valve,  the  vessel  exploded. 

On  August  7,  1925,  the  coflfee  boiler  in  the  County  Alms  House 
at  Blackwood,  N.  J.  exploded,  scalding  the  cook  so  badly  that  he  died 
the  following  day.  This  accident  was  evidently  due  to  over  pressure. 
The  cook  had  left  the  tank  full  of  water  with  the  steam  turned  on  in 
the  heating  coils.  When  he  returned,  water  was  squirting  out  of  the 
safety  valve.  He  was  attempting  to  shut  off  the  steam  and  water 
valves  when  the  explosion  occurred.  The  safety  valves  were  prob- 
ably inadequate. 

The  explosion  of  two  coffee  boilers  in  the  Sam  De  Barri  Restaurant, 
Los  Angeles,  California,  on  September  28,  1925  resulted  in  the  com- 
plete destruction  of  the  interior  of  the  restaurant  by  fire.  The  two 
cooks  on  duty  escaped  injury.  The  cause  of  the  explosion  was  not 
given. 

On  March  25,  1926  a  coffee  percolator  exploded  in  the  kitchen  of 
a  cafeteria  on  the  eleventh  floor  of  the  American  Bank  Building,  San 
Francisco,  California,  and  seriously  scalded  the  woman  cook.  Further 
details  of  the  accident  are  lacking. 

It  would  appear  that  these  coffee  urns  or  boilers  are  usually  not 
very  substantially  built,  are  frequently  not  properly  protected,  and  are 
operated  by  persons  giving  little  thought  to  the  dangers  of  a  steam 
pressure  vessel. 


The  Hartford  Correspondence  Course  for  Firemen  covers  the 
subjects  of  combustion  and  the  care  and  operation  of  boilers.  For 
details,  address  the  Company  at  Hartford,  Conn. 


84 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


[July, 


Devoted  to  Power  Plant  Protection 


Published  Qu.\rterq' 


Benj.  C.  Cruickshanks,  Editor. 


HARTFORD,   JULY,    1926. 

Single  copies  can  be  obtained  free  by  calling-  at  any  of  the  company's  agencies. 

Subscription  price  50  cents  per  year  -ii'ken  tnailed  from  this  office^ 

Recent  bound  voluTnes  one  dollar  each.    Earlier  ones  two  dollars, 

Reprinting  matter  from  this  paper  is  pertniited  tf  credited  to 

The  Locomotive  of  the  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  I.  &  I.  Co. 


THE  possible  breakdown  of  a  large  reciprocating  engine  is  always 
a  serious  matter,  for  such  accidents  not  only  jeopardize  the  lives 
of  persons  in  the  vicinity  but  also  result  in  large  financial  losses. 
However,  by  far  the  worst  feature  is  the  inconvenience  and  loss  inci- 
dent to  a  shutdown.  Engines  are  used  primarily  in  mills  and  mills 
do  not  as  a  rule  have  duplicate  units.  Hence,  when  an  engine  accident 
is  experienced,  the  portion  of  the  mill  depending  upon  that  engine  is 
entirely  at  a  standstill  pending  repairs.  The  employees  are  usually 
laid  ofif  and  there  is  a  lOO  per  cent  loss  in  production. 

Engine  accidents  are  of  many  kinds  but  among  the  preventable  ones 
is  the  failure  of  center  crank-shafts.  Such  shafts  usually  have  three 
or  more  bearings  and  any  misalignment  of  these  bearings,  due  either  to 
wear  or  misadjustment.  results  in  distortion.  This  bending  action  sets 
up  stresses  in  certain  critical  parts  of  the  shaft  surface  and  these  stresses 
are  reversed  at  every  revolution.  Similar  conditions  are  produced  by  de- 
flection of  the  shaft  from  other  causes  such  as  heavy  overhung  fly- 
wheels, or  pulleys  with  excessive  belt  tension.  If  these  reversals  of 
'Stress  are  allowed  to  go  on  unchecked,  the  useful  life  of  the  shaft  is 
likely  to  be  greatly  shortened.    Twenty-five  years  is  said  to  be  the  max- 


1926.]  T  H  E     L  O  C  O  M  O  T  I  V  K  .  g5 


imum  average  life  though  some  are  known  to  have  failed  within  lO 
years.  This  subject  is  considered  at  some  length  in  the  article  of  page 
67  and  a  method  is  given  whereby  the  full  possible  length  ^f  life  of  a 
center-crank  shaft  mav  be  obtained. 


Obituary. 

AF.  CHRISTIE,  Inspector  in  our  Cleveland  department,  died  at 
his  home  in  Cleveland,  Ohio  on  Monday,   March  22nd,   1926 
after  a  brief   illness.     He  was  taken   ill   with  pneumonia  on 
Tuesday,  the  i6th,  and  died  within  a  week. 

Mr.  Christie  was  born  in  Aberdeen,  Scotland  on  September  5th, 
1888.  He  had  been  in  the  service  of  the  Hartford  Company  but  a 
short  time,  having  been  employed  as  an  inspector  on  June  ist,  1925. 
He  had  therefore  completed  less  than  ten  months  of  service. 


A  New  Cast  Iron  for  Engine  Cylinders. 

A  METAL  attracting  much  attention  abroad  is  Perlit,  a  cast  iron  in- 
vented and  worked  in  the  foundries  of  Heinrich  Lanz,  of  Mann- 
heim. According  to  The  Engineer,  London,  by  subjecting  the 
metal  to  careful  metallurgical  control  as  to  its  composition  and  by  pre- 
heating the  mold  and  core  so  that  the  rate  of  cooling  of  the  castings  is 
correlated  with  the  thickness  and  the  mass  of  the  casting,  it  has  been 
found  possible  to  produce  a  pearlitic  structure  throughout  all  sections. 
The  casting  is  tough  and  malleable  and  shows  a  marked  difference  in 
fracture  as  compared  with  that  of  ordinary  cast  iron.  The  gray  iron  so 
produced  is  remarkably  low  in  its  silver  contents  and  is  largely  immune 
from  growth  when  exposed  to  high  temperatures,  which  gives  Perlit 
iron  a  particular  importance  for  oil-engine  work.  A  considerable 
amount  of  development  work  in  connection  with  the  production  of 
standard  castings  of  Perlit  iron  has  been  carried  out  in  England  and 
Germany. 

The  consistent  qualities  of  Perlit  iron  are  such  as  to  render  it  to 
all  intents  and  purposes  a  new  metal.  It  is  claimed  that,  for  the  first 
time  in  iron  founding,  a  cast  metal  can  be  produced  possessing  prop- 
erties that  permit  of  the  strength  and  weight  of  any  casting  being  pre- 
determined with  an  accuracy  that  up  to  now  has  been  associated  with 
mild-steel  constructional  work  alone  and  lacking  objectionable  feature 
of  growth  encountered  in  cast  irons  under  high-temperature  condi- 
tions. —  Power. 


86 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


[July, 


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1926.] 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


87 


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Belke  Mfg.  Co. 
Old  Spanish  Trail 
H.   E.   Talton 
Alabama  Water  Co. 
Pittsburgh   Plate   Glass 
Crockett  Hotel 
Geo.   W.   Foster  Lease 
Adolf  Eckstein 
Model   Laundry  Co. 
Fairmont  Creamery   Co 
Ashton   Township 
C.  J.   Buchanan 
Lewis  A.  Park 
National  Biscuit  Co. 
Shand  Builders  Supply 
Fairmont   Creamery  Co 

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Alex  Porter  Lumber  Cc 
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Valentino   Apartments 
H.  J.  Sontag 
Continental   Eng.  &  Co 
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THE    LOCOMOTIVE. 


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Wilmington,  Del. 
Meridian,  Miss. 
Harrisburg,  Pa. 
So.  Chicago,  111. 
Forrester,  Ala. 
Honesdale,  Pa. 
Hartford,  Conn. 
Allendale.  R.  I. 
New  York,  N.  Y. 

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Pulp  &  Paper  Mill 
Planing  Mill 
State  Capitol 
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Commonwealth  of  Pa. 
South  Chicago  Sash  &  Door  Co. 
Morgan  l\l.  Smith  Farming  Co. 
Katz  Underwear  Co. 
State  of  Connecticut 
Mackie  Worsted  Yarn  Co. 
Cons.  Amusement  Enterprises 

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Tube  ruptured 

Tubes  ruptured 

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Blow-ofif  pipe  ruptured 

Crown  sheet  collapsed 

Section  of  heating  boiler  cracked 

Two  sections  heating  boiler  cracked 

Two  sections  heating  boiler  cracked 

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92 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE, 


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1926.] 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE. 


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Tlie  ^artlordSteaniBollerliispeGtioiiaiiilliisiiiaiice  Gonipaiig 


ABSTRACT  OF  STATEMENT,  DECEMBER  31,   1925 


Capital  Stock, 


Cash   in    offices   and   banks    . 
Real    Estate  .         .         .         . 

Mortgage  and  collateral  loans 
Bonds   and   stocks 
Premiums  in  course  of  collection 
Interest   Accrued    ... 


$2,500,000.00 


ASSETS 


$699,859.61 
271,757.16 

1,650,188.00 
11,233,196.67 

1.341,102.96 
141,983.25 


Total   Assets 15,338,087.65 


LIABILITIES 

Reserve    for   unearned   premiums 

Reserve  for  losses  ..... 

Reserve   for  taxes  and  other  contingencies 

Capital  Stock 

Surplus    over    all    liabilities 


2,500,000.00 
5,414,264.84 


6,433,164.02 
283,273.98 
707,384.81 


Surplus  to  Policyholders, $7,914,264.84 


Total  Liabilities 15,338,087.65 

CHARLES  S.  BLAKE,  President. 

WM.  R.  C.  CORSON,  Vice-President  and  Treasurer. 

E.  SIDNEY  BERRY,  Second  Vice-President. 

LOUIS  F.  MIDDLEBROOK,   Secretary. 

J.  J.   GRAHAM,   Assistant    Secretary. 

HALSEY  STEVENS,  Assistant  Secretary. 

C.  EDGAR  BLAKE,  Assistant  Treasurer. 

SHERWOOD  F.  JETER,  Chief  Engineer. 

KENNETH  A.  REED,  Electrical  Engineer. 

HARRY  E.  DART,  Supt.  Engineering  Dept. 


BOARD  OF  DIRECTORS 


LUCIUS  F.  ROBINSON,  Attorney,  Hart- 
ford,   Conn. 

JOHN  O.  ENDERS,  Chairman  Board  of 
Trustees,  United  States  Security  Trust 
Co.,    Hartford,    Conn. 

MORGAN  B.  BRAINARD,  President 
.(Etna  Life  Insurance  Co.,  Hartford, 
Conn. 

CHARLES  P.  COOLEY,  President  Society 
for    Savings,    Hartford,    Conn. 

HOR.-\CE  B.  CHENEY,  Cheney  Brothers, 
Silk  Manufacturers,  South  Manchester, 
Conn. 

D.  NEWTON  BARNEY,  Vice-President 
The  Hartford  Electric  Light  Co.,  Hart- 
ford,  Conn. 

DR.  GEORGE  C.  F.  WILLIAMS,  Presi- 
dent The  Capewell  Horse  Nail  Co., 
Hartford,    Conn. 


JOSEPH  R.  ENSIGN,  President  The 
Ensign-Bickford    Co.,    Simsbury,    Conn. 

EDWARD  MILLIGAN  President  Phoenix 
Insurance    Co.,    Hartford,    Conn. 

CHARLES  S.  BLAKE,  President  The 
Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection  and 
Insurance    Co.,    Hartford,    Conn. 

WM.  R.  C.  CORSON,  Vice-President  The 
Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection  and 
Insurance    Co.,    Hartford,    Conn. 

SAMUEL  M.  STONE,  President  The  Colt's 
Patent  Fire  Arms  Mfg.  Co.,  Hartford, 
Conn. 

SAMUEL  FERGUSON,  President  The 
Hartford  Electric  Light  Co.,  Hartford, 
Conn. 


Incorporated  1866 


Charter  Perpetual 


INSURES  AGAINST  LOSS  FROM  DAMAGE  TO  PROPERTY 
AND  INJURY  TO  PERSONS,  DUE  TO  THE  EXPLO- 
SIONS OF  BOILERS  OR  FLYWHEELS  OR 
THE  BREAKDOWN  OF  ENGINES  OR 
ELECTRICAL  MACHINERY 


Department 
ATLANTA,    Ga 

1103-1106  Atlanta  Trust  Bldg 
BALTIMORE,  Md.,  . 

13-14-IS  Abell  Bldg. 
BOSTON,   Mass., 

4  Liberty  Sq.,  Cor.  Water  St 
BRIDGEPORT,  Conn.,       . 

404-405  City  Savings  Bank  Bldg 
CHICAGO,  111., 

209   West  Jackson   B'l'v'd 


CINCINNATI,  Ohio, 

First  National  Bank  Bldg. 
CLEVELAND,   Ohio, 

Leader  Bldg.   . 
DENVER,    Colo., 

916-918  Gas  &  Electric  Bldg. 
HARTFORD,  Conn., 

56  Prospect  St. 
NEW  ORLEANS,  La., 

Hibernia  Bank  Bldg. 
NEW  YORK.  N.  Y.,  . 

80  Maiden   Lane 

PHILADELPHIA,  Pa., 

429  Walnut  St. 
PITTSBURGH,  Pa.,  . 

1807-8-9-10  Arrott  Bldg 
PORTLAND,  Ore.,     . 

306  Yeon   Bldg. 
SEATTLE.  Wash.,     . 

415  Dexter-Horton  Bldg, 
SAN  FRANCISCO.  Cal., 

339-341  Sansome  St. 

ST.  LOUIS,  Mo..       . 

319  North   Fourth  St, 
TORONTO,  Canada, 

Federal  Bldg.  . 


Representatives 
\V.  M.  Francis,  Manager. 
C.  R.  Summers,  Chief  Inspector. 
Lawford  &  McKiM,  General  Agents. 
James   G.  Reid,  Chief   Inspector. 
Ward  I.  Cornell,  Manager. 
W.  A.  Bayliss,  Chief  Inspector. 
W.  G.  LiNEBURGH  &  Son,  General  Agents. 
A.  E.  Bonnet,  Chief  Inspector. 
P.  M.  Murray,  Manager. 
J.  P.  Morrison,  Chief  Inspector. 
J.  T.  Coleman,  Ass't  Chief  Inspector. 
C.  W.  Zimmer,  Ass't  Chief  Inspector. 
W.  E.  Gleason,  Manager. 
W.  E.  Glennon,  Chief  Inspector. 
A.  Paul  Graham,  Manager. 
L.  T.  Gregg,  Chief  Inspector. 
J.  H.  Chesnutt, 

Manager  and  Chief  Inspector. 
F.  H.  Kenyon,  General  Agent. 
A.  E.  Bonnet,  Chief  Inspector. 
R.  T.  Burwell,  Mgr.  and  Chief  Inspector. 
E.  Unsworth,  Ass't  Chief  Inspector. 
C.  C.  Gardiner,  Manager. 
E.  Mason   Parry,  Chief  Inspector. 
R.  P.  Guy,  Ass't  Chief  Inspector, 
A.  S.  Wickham,  Manager. 
S.  B.  Adams,  Chief  Inspector. 
Geo.  S.  Reynolds,  Manager. 
J.  A.  Snyder,  Chief  Inspector. 
Bates,  Lively  &  Pearson,  Gen'l  Agents. 
C.  B.  Paddock,  Chief  Inspector. 
C.  B.  Paddock,  Chief  Inspector. 

H.  R.  Mann  &  Co.,  General  Agents, 

J.  B.  Warner,   Chief  Inspector. 

L.  J.  Reed,  Ass't  Chief  Inspector. 

C.  D.  AsHCROFT,  Manager. 

Eugene  Webb,   Chief  Inspector. 

H.  N.  Roberts,  President,  The  Boiler  in- 
spection and  Insurance  Company  of 
Canada. 


THE  HARTFORD  LINE 

BOILER  INSURANCE 

Boilers^  Economizers^  Vulcanizers,  Kiers, 

Digesters,  Steam  Driers,  Jacketed 

Kettles y  Etc. 

FLYWHEEL   INSURANCE 

Flywheels,  Fans,  Blowers,  Turbines,  Water 

Wheels,  Centrifugal  Driers,  Gear 

Wheels,  Etc. 

ENGINE  INSURANCE 

Engines,  Compressors,  Pumps,  Refrigerating 
Machines,  Etc. 

ELECTRICAL  MACHINERY  INSURANCE 

Generators,  Motors,  Synchronous  Converters, 

Transformers,  Switchboards,  Etc. 


Consult  your  agent  or  broker  or  write  for 
details   to    the   nearest   branch  office  of 

THE  HARTFORD  STEAM  BOILER 
INSPECTION  and  INSURANCE  CO. 

HARTFORD  CONNECTICUT 


"The  oldest  in  the  Country,  the  largest  in  the  world* 


Devoted  to  Power  Plant  Protection 


Published  Quarterly 


Vol.  XXXVI.         HARTFORD,   CONN.,   OCTOBER,   1926. 


No.  4 


COPYRIGHT,  1926,  BY  THE  HARTFORD  STEAM  BOILER  INSPECTION  AND  INSURANCE  CO. 


A  Recent  Steam  Pipe  Explosion. 

THERE  IS  VALUABLE  INFORMATION 

FOR   YOUR   ENGINEER   IN   THIS   MAGAZINE. 

PLEASE  LET  HIM  SEE  IT. 


98 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE. 


[October, 


A  Recent  Steam  Pipe  Explosion. 

THE  explosion  of  an  8  inch  steam  pipe  might  not  ordinarily  be 
thought  of  as  a  very  devastating  type  of   accident  but  the  ac- 
companying pictures  show  that  such  an  accident  may  at  times 
approach  a  boiler  explosion  in  destructiveness.     The  explosion  illus- 
trated occurred  July  25,   1926.     The  property  loss  amounted  to  $17,- 


FlG.    I. 

860.     That  no  one  was  killed  or  seriously  injured  seems  miraculous. 

The  initial  rupture  is  thought  to  have  been  in  an  elbow  on  an  8 
inch  steam  line  connecting  a  vertical  water  tube  boiler  with  a  14  inch 
steam  header.  The  first  break  was  followed,  of  course,  by  the  general 
disruption  of  the  steam  piping.  One  piece  of  the  pipe  struck  a  water 
tank  located  in  the  rear  of  the  boiler  and  knocked  the  tank  over,  at 
the  same  time  tearing  it  through  the  middle.     The  tank,  in   falling, 


1926.]  THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  99 

knocked  over  a  Manning  type  boiler  and  the  stacks  of  two  other  ver- 
tical boilers.  Fortunately  the  Manning  boiler  was  not  in  operation. 
The  water  tank  was  17  ft.  6  inches  in  diameter  and  67  ft.  high,  and 
was  full  of  water. 

The  three  boilers  that  were  damaged  were  of  the  self-contained 
type  and  stood,  with  the  water  tank,  in  an  open  space  between  the 
boiler  room  and  the  engine  room.  The  adjacent  walls  and  also  the 
roofs  of  these  two  buildings  were  badly  damaged.  The  maze  of  steam, 
water,  gas  and  air  piping  located  in  the  area  of  the  explosion  was  com- 
paratively new.  There  were  no  employees  in  the  immediate  vicinity 
of  the  explosion  but  there  were  several  in  the  boiler  and  engine  rooms. 
Those  in  the  boiler  room  were  washed  to  one  end  of  the  room  by  the 
wave  of  water  from  the  destroyed  water  tank.  The  men  in  the  en- 
gine room  were  blown  some  distance  but  were  not  seriously  injured. 
The  closest  to  a  fatality  was  a  near  drowning  case  in  the  boiler  room. 

The  cause  of  the  explosion  is  not  clear.  A  subsequent  examina- 
tion of  the  ruptured  pipe  did  not  reveal  any  signs  of  a  defect  or  of 
deterioration.  It  has  been  suggested  that  some  dislocation  of  the 
supports  might  have  thrown  unusual  stresses  upon  certain  portions 
of  the  pipe  and  resulted  in  its  failure.  All  of  the  outdoor  piping  was 
supported  on  standards  with  saddles  under  the  pipe.  About  a  month 
before  this  explosion  considerable  blasting  had  been  done  in  excavat- 
ing the  site  for  a  new  furnace.  In  the  absence  of  more  definite  evi- 
dence therefore  the  theory  appears  tenable  that  the  blasting  had  dis- 
turbed the  supports. 

The  loss  was  covered  by  a  policy  in  The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler 
Inspection  and  Insurance  Company  indemnifying  against  damage  due 
to  the  explosion  of  main  steam  pipes. 

Steam  Pipe  Explosion  at  New  Britain,  Conn. 

Another  steam  pipe  explosion,  with  results  quite  different  from 
those  described  above,  occurred  August  16,  1926  at  the  factory  of 
Landers,  Frary  and  Clark,  New  Britain,  Connecticut.  Four  men 
were  burned.  The  property  loss  was  small  as  the  failure  occurred 
in  a  pipe  tunnel. 

The  failure  was  in  a  5  inch  flanged  tee  fitting  which  was  used  as 
an  elbow.  Early  in  the  afternoon  on  the  day  of  the  accident  the 
steam  had  been  shut  ofif  and  a  new  piece  of  pipe  inserted  in  the  line. 
The  steam  was  then  turned  on.  Later,  it  was  shut  off  again  and  a  new 
gasket  put  in  at  the  flanged  tee  connection.  The  steam  was  once  more 
turned  on,  and  after  nearly  an  hour  had  elapsed  the  tee  exploded.  A 
boiler  room  attendant  noticed  the  unusual  drop  in  pressure  and   as- 


200  THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  '  [October, 

sumed  that  something  was  wrong.  He  therefore  shut  off  the  steam 
and  went  in  search  of  the  break.  This  prompt  action  probably  saved 
the  Hves  of  the  injured  men. 

Examination  of  the  ruptured  tee  after  the  accident  showed  it  to 
have  been  a  sound  fitting.  The  possibihty  of  water  hammer  having 
developed  on  this  occasion  is  unlikely  in  that  the  installation  was  not 
new  but  had  been  in  use  for  years ;  and  furthermore,  no  one  heard 
any  sounds  of  water  hammer  preceding  the  failure.  The  accident 
was  probably  caused  by  strains  from  misalignment  of  the  piping  or 
by  expansion  strains. 


Electric  Motors  —  Kinds  and  Applications. 

THERE  are  many  types  of  electric  motors,  each  type  designed 
to  meet  some  particular  set  of  conditions,  but  all  of  them  are 
broadly  classed  into  either  one  of  two  classes,  that  is,  alternating 
current  motors  or  direct  current  motors.  Of  the  two,  direct  current 
motors  would  probably  be  preferred  in  many  cases  because  they  are  in 
general  more  easily  adapted  to  various  kinds  of  loads,  but  there  are 
other  conditions  that  operate  in  favor  of  the  alternating  current  motor. 
The  principal  one  is  the  matter  of  transmission  losses.  Direct  current 
cannot  be  transmitted  nearly  so  economically  as  alternating  current  be- 
cause it  cannot  be  readily  changed  to  and  from  high  voltage.  Hence, 
where  power  is  purchased,  it  is  usually  alternating  current.  Of  course 
this  can  be  readily  converted  to  direct  current  but  there  is  an  unavoidable 
loss  in  the  operation,  as  no  energy  change  can  take  place  with  lOO 
per  cent  efficiency.  In  a  plant  that  generates  its  own  power,  distances 
are  usually  not  so  great,  so  that  transmission  losses  are  not  such  a  factor 
and  direct  current  may  be  found  the  more  acceptable.  With  alternating 
current  power  circuits,  on  the  other  hand,  the  problem  of  maintaining  a 
high  power  factor  is  an  ever  present  one. 

Direct  Current  Motors. 
Direct  current  motors  are  divided  into  three  general  classes  —  series, 
shunt  and  compound  wound  —  each  of  which  has  characteristics  particu- 
larly adapting  it  to  certain  kinds  of  work.  The  series  motor  for  instance, 
is  almost  invariably  used  for  traction  and  hoisting  work  where 
frequent  starting  under  heavy  loads  is  the  rule,  because  it  can  exert  a 
maximum  torque  or  turning  effort  when  starting.  There  is  only  one 
circuit  to  such  motors,  as  the  armature  and  field  windings  are  connected 
In  series.    All  of  the  armature  current  therefore  passes  through  the  field, 


1926.] 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


101 


and  as  the  torque  or  turning  effort  in  a  motor  is  proportional  to  the 
armature  current  multipHed  by  the  field  current,  the  torque  in  the  series 
motor  is  approximately  proportional  to  the  square  of  the  current  — 
within  certain  limits.  When  starting  or  when  the  motor  is  slowed  down 
due  to  load,  less  counter-voltage  —  or  counter-electromotive  force*  as  it 
is  usually  called  —  is  generated  and  hence  more  current  is  drawn  from 

the  line.  The  torque 
therefore  increases  with 
the  load.  On  the  other 
hand,  as  the  load  falls 
off,  the  motor  speeds  up 
due  to  the  decrease  in 
the  field  current,  and  if 
the  speed  is  not  checked 
it  will  race  to  destruc- 
tion. Series  motors 
ought,  on  this  account, 
to  be  hand  controlled. 

Fig.  I  is  an  illustra- 
tion of  what  may  hap- 
pen to  an  automatically 
controlled  series  wound 
motor  when  the  control 
fails  to  operate.  This 
motor  was  used  on  a  10 
ton  hoist  and  over- 
speeded,  with  the  result 
that  the  commutator 
flew  to  pieces,  the  arma- 
ture wires  were  forced 
out  of  the  slots  and  the 
field  windings  were 
completely  destroyed.  In 
fact  the  motor  was  so  badly  wrecked  that  it  was  not  considered  worth 
repairing  and  was  replaced  by  a  compound  wound  motor,  which  is  not 
liable  to  this  type  of  failure. 


Fig.  I. 


*It  is,  of  course,  generally  understood  that  a  direct  current  generator  and  motor 
are  practically  the  same.  With  current  in  the  field  windings,  if  the  machine  is  driven 
by  mechanical  power — say  by  a  belt  —  it  will  be  a  generator  and  generate  a  voltage 
in  the  armature  circuit.  Conversely,  it  current  from  some  outside  source  Is  caused 
to  flow  in  the  armature  circuit,  the  machine  will  be  a  motor  and  drive  the  machine 
belted  to  it.  In  fact  even  when  operating  as  a  motor  it  is  also  creating  a  "  counter- 
voltage."  This  is  called  counter-voltage  because  is  opposes  the  line  voltage,  and  the 
motor  speed  varies  so  that  the  load  plus  the  counter-voltage  always  equals  the  impressed 
(line)    voltage. 


102  THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  [October, 

The  shunt  wound  direct  current  motor  is  characterized  as  a  constant 
speed  machine.  The  field  winding  is  connected  directly  across  the  line, 
or  in  parallel  with  the  armature,  and  as  the  line  maintains  an  approxi- 
mately constant  voltage,  the  field  current  remains  constant.  The  varia- 
tion in  speed  between  no  load  and  full  load  will  not  exceed  5  or  10 
percent,  the  higher  speed  of  course  is  at  no  load.  In  the  shunt  wound 
motor,  since  the  field  current  remains  constant  regardless  of  the  load,  the 
torque  or  turning  effort  varies  directly  as  the  armature  current.  The 
shunt  wound  motor  finds  application  wherever  an  approximately 
constant  speed  is  desired. 

It  would  be  well  at  this  point  to  say  a  word  about  the  control  of 
direct  current  motors.  In  general  there  are  two  methods,  first,  varying 
the  armature  current,  and  second,  varying  the  field  current.  The  action 
of  electricity  and  magnetism  in  electrical  machinery  is  rather  compli- 
cated, but  a  few  moments  consideration  will  help  make  clear  the  effects 
of  different  methods  of  controlling  the  speed  of  a  motor. 

Control  of  Direct  Current  Motors. 

When  the  armature  of  a  motor  is  connected  across  a  line  of  constant 
voltage,  a  certain  current  will  flow  through  the  armature  depending 
upon  its  resistance  and  also  upon  the  counter-voltage  developed  after 
the  armature  starts  revolving.  Since  the  armature  resistance  is  low, 
the  first  rush  of  current  will  be  large,  and  in  passing  through  the 
armature  conductors  it  creates  a  magnetic  field  which,  acting  in  conjunc- 
tion with  the  magnetic  field  created  by  the  windings  on  the  pole  pieces, 
starts  the  armature  revolving.  As  soon  as  the  armature  starts  moving, 
the  armature  current  decreases,  due  to  the  counter-voltage  or-electro- 
motive  force  generated,  until  the  current  is  a  minimum  for  the  load. 

The  counter-e.m.f.  depends  on  the  speed  of  the  motor  and  on  the 
magnetic  strength  of  its  field.  If  resistance  were  placed  in  the  arma- 
ture circuit,  this  would  be  the  equivalent  of  reducing  the  impressed 
voltage ;  the  current  flowing  would  be  reduced  and  the  motor  would 
slow  down  in  order  to  maintain  the  proper  balance  with  the  counter- 
e.m.f.  It  is  readily  apparent  that  the  method  of  speed  regulation  by 
putting  resistance  in  the  armature  circuit  is  uneconomical  because  of 
the  large  PR  loss  or  the  loss  in  heating  the  conductors,  which  in- 
creases as  the  square  of  the  current.  Thus  doubling  the  current  would 
increase  the  loss  four  times.  Varying  the  armature  resistance,  how- 
ever, is  the  only  means  of  regulating  series  motors  since  the  field 
winding  consists  of  a  relatively  few  turns  of  wire  carrying  the  full 
armature  current. 

With  the  shunt  motor,  the  field  winding  consists  of  many  turns  of 


1926.]  THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  ]^03 

fine  wire  carrying  a  small  uniform  current.  If  resistance  is  cut  into 
this  circuit,  the  strength  of  the  magnetic  field  is  decreased,  which  results 
in  a  small  counter-e.m.f.  because  fewer  lines  of  force  will  be  cut  by  the 
armature  conductors.  Hence  the  armature  will  speed  up  to  make  up 
for  this  deficiency.  Because  of  the  small  amount  of  current  passing 
through  the  field  coils,  the  PR  loss  will  be  small  and  this  is  therefore 
the  most  desirable  mode  of  speed  regulation.  It  has  the  objection, 
however,  that  the  weakened  field  reduces  the  power  of  the  motor  so  that 
one  must  be  sure  the  motor  is  of  sufficient  capacity  to  operate  at  the 
higher  speeds.  In  general  it  is  most  satisfactory  to  operate  at  the  normal 
speed  of  the  motor  without  external  resistance  in  either  the  field  or  the 
armature  circuits.  Where  variable  speeds  are  required,  the  armature 
method  of  control  is  more  economical  when  slow  speeds  are  required 
only  occasionally  or  where  the  power  demand  falls  off  rapidly  with 
the  speed  as  in  ventilating  fans,  and  the  field  method  is  more  economical 
where  high  speeds  are  required  only  occasionally.  For  long  periods 
above  or  below  the  normal  speed,  a  combination  of  the  two  will  probably 
prove  most  efficient. 

We  have  said  that  the  shunt  wound  motor  is  a  constant  speed  ma- 
chine but  at  the  same  time  admitting  that  there  is  a  slight  variation  with 
a  change  in  the  load.  This  change  is  unavoidable  in  a  shunt-motor  — 
let  us  see  why.  A  line  voltage  "  E  "  is  applied  to  the  terminals  of  a 
shunt  motor.  This  applied  voltage  however  is  not  all  effective  in  driving 
current  through  the  armature  because  the  machine,  as  soon  as  it  starts 
in  motion,  also  acts  as  a  generator  and  develops  a  counter-voltage  "  e  " 
opposing  "  E,"  as  explained  in  the  footnote  on  page  loi.  Hence  the  effec- 
tive voltage  is  really  (E  —  e).  Thus  we  have  the  equation  (E  —  e)  = 
IR,  where  "  I  "  is  the  current  flowing  in  the  armature,  and  "  R  "  is  the 
resistance  of  the  armature.  When  a  heavier  load  comes  on  the  motor, 
the  "  I  "  must  increase  to  take  care  of  it.  This  means  that  "  e  "  must 
decrease.  But  "  e  "  depends  on  the  magnetic  field  and  motor  speed, 
so  that  since  the  field  is  constant  the  speed  must  decrease  slightly. 

Compound  Wound  Motors. 

The  shunt  motor  does  not  have  the  large  starting  torque  that  is 
characteristic  of  the  series  motor,  and  to  meet  heavy  starting  conditions 
with  a  uniform  running  speed  under  varying  load,  the  compound  wound 
motor  was  developed.  This  type  of  machine  is  very  similar  to  the  shunt 
machine  except  that  a  few  extra  turns  of  wire  on  the  field  coils  are  in 
series  with  the  armature.  The  heavy  starting  current  therefore 
strengthens  the  field  and  enables  quicker  starting.  However,  the  varia- 
tion in  speed  between  no  load  and  full  load  in  the  compound  wound 


104  THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  [October, 

machine  is  slightly  greater  than  in  the  shunt  but  not  nearly  so  great  as 
in  the  series  wound  machine. 

It  is  possible  to  make  the  speed  of  compound  wound  motors  increase 
with  load  up  to  a  certain  point  by  connecting  the  series  field  to  oppose 
the  shunt  field  windings.  This  is  called  differential  winding,  and  the 
other  method  cumulative  winding.  Diflferentially  wound  motors  have 
peculiar   characteristics*   and   are   seldom   used. 

The  three  kinds  of  direct  current  motors  mentioned  above  may  be 
called  essential  types,  the  others  are  really  modifications  o^  these.  For 
instance,  there  is  the  commutating-pole  motor.  The  commutating- 
or  inter-pole  is  a  small  pole  piece  located  between  the  main  poles  of 
the  machine  to  assist  in  sparkless  commutation.  The  brushes  are  placed 
at  a  neutral  point  on  the  commutator,  that  is,  where  the  particular  con- 
ductors are  not  cutting  any  magnetic  lines  of  force.  But  these  neutral 
points  shift  slightly  with  changes  in  load  and  cause  sparking.  The 
inter-pole,  however,  serves  to  hold  the  neutral  points  steady  regardless 
of  changes  of  load. 

Where  conditions  are  severe  for  good  commutation,  that  is,  where 
there  is  a  wide  variation  in  load  combined  with  reversing,  compensating 
windings  are  frequently  used.  These  are  in  eflfect  the  same  as  inter- 
poles  but  with  increased  effect.  The  compensating  windings  are  laid 
in  slots  in  the  face  of  the  main  pole  pieces  with  one  half  of  the  coil  in 
one  pole  face  and  the  other  half  in  the  next  pole  piece,  thus  encircling 
the  inter-pole.  These  coils  are  wound  so  as  to  be  of  the  same  polarity 
as  the  inter-poles,  that  is,  opposing  the  magnetic  field  produced  by  the 
armature  current. 

Alternating  Current  Motors. 

Alternating  current  motors  are  divided  into  two  general  classes  — 
induction  motors  and  synchronous  motors.  The  induction  motor  is  the 
more  widely  used  particularly  in  smaller  sizes.  Its  operating  charac- 
teristics are  very  much  the  same  as  the  direct  current  shunt  machine. 
The  squirrel  cage  induction  motor  is  the  simplest  and  cheapest  and 
would  usually  be  selected  if  adapted  to  the  particular  drive.  In  such 
motors  the  "  armature  "  windings  are  in  slots  around  the  inner  circum- 
ference of  the  stationary  part,  which  is  called  the  stator.  The  moving 
element,  or  rotor,  is  composed  of  copper  bars  laid  in  slots  and  short 
circuited  at  each  end  by  a  copper  band.  There  are  no  electrical  con- 
nections between  this  rotor  and  any  outside  circuit,  in  which  respect 
the  squirrel  cage  motor  is  unique. 

The  action  of  the  squirrel  cage  motor  can  be  readily  understood 


»  The  characteristics  of  a  motor  are  the  relations  existing  between  speeds  and  loads. 
See  Pig.  2. 


1926.]  THE     LOCOMOTIVE.  1Q5 

if  one  visualizes  a  rotor  of  this  type  in  a  motor  having  but  two  poles  and 
these  poles  permanent  magnets.  There  will  be  magnetic  lines  of  force 
passing  from  one  pole  to  the  other  through  the  rotor.  Now  imagine  that 
these  poles  are  caused  to  revolve  around  the  rotor.  The  magnetic 
lines  of  force  will  then  be  cut  by  the  rotor  conductors,  thus  inducing 
a  current  in  the  conductors  which  in  turn  sets  up  its  own  magnetic  field. 
The  reaction  of  these  two  magnetic  fields  causes  the  rotor  to  turn, 
literally  dragged  along,  and  it  would  turn  at  the  same  speed  as  the 
magnets  if  there  were  no  load  on  the  motor.  The  load,  however,  causes 
a  certain  lag  in  speed  in  order  to  produce  the  necessary  pull. 

The  foregoing  explanation  contemplates  the  use  of  permanent 
rotating  magnets  but  in  an  induction  motor  the  stator  winding,  which 
produces  the  magnetic  field,  is  stationary.  The  effect  of  the  rotating 
field  however  may  be  produced  by  three  phase  alternating  current.  It 
is  just  as  if  we  had  three  electro-magnets  placed  side  by  side,  each 
connected  to  a  separate  source  of  electricity.  With  the  current  turned 
on  the  first  one  only,  the  center  of  magnetic  force  would  be  directly 
under  that  one.  If  the  current  is  allowed  to  gradually  die  out  in  the 
first  and  increase  at  the  same  time  in  the  second,  the  center  of  magnetic 
force  will  gradually  shift  to  the  second  magnet.  If  the  second  is  allowed 
to  gradually  die  out  w^iile  the  third  is  increasing,  it  will  shift  to  the 
third.  A  like  procedure  would  gradually  shift  it  to  a  fourth,  and  so  on. 
A  similar  action  takes  place  in  the  stationary  windings  of  the  induction 
motor.  Current  rises  to  a  maximum  in  a  small  group  of  conductors  in 
the  first  phase,  then  as  this  fades  it  rises  in  the  adjacent  second  phase 
group,  followed  by  fading  in  the  second  and  increasing  in  the  third. 
Thus  a  rotating  magnetic  field  is  produced  in  stationary  windings,  the 
rate  of  rotation  depending  upon  the  frequency  of  the  alternating  current. 

Wound  Rotor  Motors. 

Squirrel  cage  motors  can  be  started  by  putting  them  directly  across 
the  line.  However,  if  the  motor  is  large  or  is  started  under  load,  this 
method  causes  an  excessive  rush  of  current  which  is  objectionable. 
Various  means  of  starting  have  been  tried  such  as  two  sets  of  rotor 
windings,  one  with  high  resistance  for  starting  and  the  other  for 
running,  or  the  use  of  autotrans formers  to  cut  down  the  voltage  at 
starting.     All  of  these  methods  however,  reduce  the  starting  torque. 

The  best  way  out  of  the  difficulty  has  been  by  a  modification  of  this 
type  known  as  the  wound  rotor  induction  motor.  The  general  construc- 
tion is  the  same  except  that  the  rotor  conductors  are  not  bars  short 
circuited  by  the  end  rings,  but  instead  are  insulated  coils  connected  to 
collector  rings  and  joined  through  some  external  resistance.     By  putting 


106 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


[October, 


resistance  in  the  rotor  circuits  the  current  is  kept  low  during  starting 
and  the  abihty  to  start  under  load  is  greatly  increased.  This  is  well 
illustrated  by  the  curves  in  Fig.  2.  Examining  curve  i,  we  see  that 
beginning  at  zero  speed  the  load  (torque)  is  not  very  great,  but  it 
increases  rapidly  with  increased  speed.  On  the  other  hand,  curve  4 
representing  conditions  with  a  large  resistance  in  the  rotor  circuit. 
shows  heavy  load  at  low  speeds.  Curves  3  and  2  represent  similar 
conditions  with  decreasing  resistance.  Hence  with  a  wound  rotor  it  is 
possible  to  start  under  load  with  a  large  resistance  in  the  circuit  which 
can  be  cut  out  gradually  as  the  speed  increases,  thus  passing  from 
curve  4  to  3  to  2  to  I.  By  working  near  the  peaks  of  the  curves,  the 
maximum  power  of  the  motor  is  maintained. 

There  is  one  other 
interesting  point  that 
is  well  shown  by  this 
diagram  and  which 
applies  either  to  a 
squirrel  cage  motor 
or  to  the  wound 
rotor  motor  with  re- 
sistance short  cir- 
cuited. Imagine  the 
motor  running  idle. 
This  condition  is 
represented  by  the 
right  hand  end  of 
curve  I.  If  a  load 
is    gradually    placed 

on   the   machine,   we   Fig.  2.     Curves  Showing  Effect  on  Load  of  External 
1,     ,        ^       ',.        Resistance  IN  Rotor  Circuit  of  Wound  Rotor  Motors. 
would    be    travelmg 

back  along  curve  i  from  right  to  left,  which  shows  very  little  drop  in 
speed  for  greatly  increased  load.  Hence  the  induction  motor  is  prac- 
tically a  constant  speed  machine. 

The  synchronous  motor  is  a  much  more  efficient  type  of  alternating 
current  motor  because  it  operates  with  a  much  higher  power  factor  than 
does  the  induction  motor.  In  fact,  by  over  exciting  the  synchronous 
motor  it  can  be,  and  frequently  is,  run  idle  simply  to  improve  a  low 
power  factor  on  a  line.  The  one  serious  handicap  to  the  synchronous 
motor,  however,  is  its  low  starting  torque.  Such  motors  operate  at 
exactly  synchronous  speed  and  until  that  speed  is  attained  they  will  not 
carry  a  load.  Hence  the  necessity  of  starting  without  load,  and  this 
restricts  their  use  almost  solely  to  the  generation   of   direct  current. 


Z£/?C 


^P££D 


Sya/. 


1926.]  THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  JQT 

either  driving  a  generator  or  else  as  a  converter,  though  chitches  are 
sometimes  utilized  for  other  applications. 

Even  when  starting  light  it  is  not  often  desirable  to  |hrow  a  large 
machine  directly  upon  the  line  because  of  the  enormous  surge  of  current 
that  would  result.  Starting  must  therefore  be  effected  by  autotrans- 
formers  and  by  induction  motor  action.  Autotrans formers  temporarily 
step  down  the  line  voltage.  Induction  motor  action  is  brought  about  by 
dampering  grids.  These  grids  are  heavy  copper  bars  imbeded  in  the 
pole  faces  of  the  field  (rotor)  and  short  circuited  at  the  ends  very  much 
like  the  squirrel  cage  rotor.  We  have  said  that  synchronous  motors 
operate  at  exactly  synchronous  speed,  but  sudden  increases  or  decreases 
in  load  cause  temporary  variations  which  may  become  serious.  Such 
variations  in  speed  induce  currents  in  the  dampening  grids  which  oppose 
these  "  hunting  oscillations  "  and  hence  steady  the  turning  of  the  rotor. 
Since  the  grids  are  exactly  like  induction  motor  conductors,  by  not 
exciting  the  field  but  putting  line  current  through  the  stator  the  motor 
can  be  started  by  induction  motor  action. 

Special  Types  of  Synchronous  Motors. 

The  synchronous  converter  is  a  type  of  synchronous  motor  in  which 
the  rotor  windings  are  also  connected  to  an  armature  from  which  direct 
current  may  be  obtained.  Because  of  the  absence  of  a  mechanically 
connected  load,  converters  are  particularly  inclined  to  "  hunt ". 
Dampening  grids  are  therefore  usually  present  and  are  used  for  starting. 
It  is  interesting  to  note  however  that  if  direct  current  is  available  the 
machine  may  be  started  as  a  direct  current  motor  and  brought  up  to 
speed.  Then  when  the  alternating  current  is  switched  on,  the  machine 
starts  feeding  direct  current  back  into  the  line. 

With  every  synchronous  motor  there  is  always  a  rheostat  for  regu- 
lating the  field  excitation  because  for  each  load  there  is  a  fixed  value  of 
the  field  current  that  requires  a  minimum  line  current.  Hence,  to  obtain 
the  greatest  efficiency  the  field  excitation  must  be  adjusted  for  each 
change  in  load. 

The  super-synchronous  motor  is  a  recent  unique  design  whose 
object  is  to  overcome  the  handicap  of  the  low  starting  torque  of  the 
synchronous  motor.  As  usual  the  rotor  carries  the  field,  but  the  stator 
is  also  arranged  so  that  it  may  rotate  for  starting.  The  load  holds  the 
rotor  stationary  and  the  motor,  without  field  current  and  functioning  as 
an  induction  motor,  starts  the  stator  turning.  When  it  is  up  to 
synchronous  speed  a  brake  is  gradually  applied  which  slows  down  the 
stator  and  causes  the  rotor  to  pick  up  speed.  Thus  not  only  is  starting 
under  load  effected  but  also  the  pick  up  of  the  load  is  executed  with 
srreater  smoothness  than  where  a  clutch  is  used. 


X08  THE     LOCOMOTIVE.  [October, 

Removing  Boiler  Scale. 

By  J.  A.  Snyder,  Chief  Inspector,  Pittsburgh  Department. 

IF  boilers  could  be  run  with  perfectly  pure  water  —  for  example, 
with  water  that  had  previously  been  distilled  —  many  of  the  difficul- 
ties encountered  in  actual  practice  would  never  arise,  and  the  fire- 
man's duties  and  responsibilities  would  be  correspondingly  lessened  and 
simplified.  Unfortunately,  this  ideal  condition  of  things  cannot  often 
be  realized.  We  cannot  afford  to  use  distilled  water,  and  in  most 
cases  feed- water  has  to  be  taken  in  accordance  with  that  mode  of  selec- 
tion which  is  known  to  the  world  at  large  as  "  Hobson's  choice,"  that 
is,  we  have  to  take  what  we  can  get.  In  cities  and  towns,  good  water 
may  usually  be  had  from  the  city  mains,  but  in  sparsely  populated 
districts  the  manufacturer  has  to  depend  upon  wells  or  upon  running 
streams. 

To  remove  the  scale-forming  matter  from  boiler  feed  water,  there 
are  to-day  many  systems,  and  to  prevent  scale  forming  on  boilers  and 
to  remove  that  already  formed,  there  are  compounds,  metal  treatments, 
surface  cleaners  and  appliances  galore.  Many  are  good,  and  some  are 
better  than  others.  Where  the  treatment  is  especially  suited  to  the 
water  conditions  good  results  are  obtained,  especially  so,  as  the  old 
chief  engineer  said  "  if  the  engineer  will  use  the  proper  amount  of  '  boss  ' 
sense." 

Some  years  ago  a  rolling  mill  plant  was  induced  to  try  a  boiler 
compound.  The  instructions  were  to  use  a  certain  amount  daily  and 
not  blow  down  the  boilers  nor  clean  them  for  at  least  thirty  days. 
There  was  considerable  scale  forming  matter  in  the  feed  water  and 
after  four  weeks  trial  as  directed  the  boilers  were  cooled  and  emptied 
for  examination.  The  installation  consisted  of  a  battery  of  four  boilers 
connected  to  common  steam  and  mud  drums.  It  was  with  great 
difficulty  that  the  large  hand  hole  plate  was  removed  from  the  mud 
drum,  but  when  this  was  finally  accomplished  it  revealed  that  the 
drum  was  filled  almost  solid  with  scale  and  stifif  mud,  leaving  a  very 
poor  circulating  connection  between  boilers.  It  was  with  great  difficulty 
that  the  mud  drum  and  other  parts  of  the  boilers  were  cleaned.  If 
the  compound  was  loosening  the  scale  the  boilers  should  have  been 
blown  down  more  frequently  than  was  the  usual  practice.  Another 
week  of  operation  of  these  boilers  would  probably  have  resulted  in 
burning  them,  to  be  followed  by  expensive  repairs. 

The  water  of  the  Monongahela  River  in  the  Pittsburgh  district 
during  the  autumn  season  contains  a  high  percentage  of  acid.  One 
plant  using  water  from  this  river  in  its  steam  boilers  was  troubled  with 


1926. 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


109 


considerable  leakage  during  the  fall  season.  Someone  told  the  chief 
engineer  to  use  lime  in  his  boilers  to  prevent  corrosion  and  leakage. 
He  accordingly  sent  two  barrels  of  lime  to  one  of  the  boiler  plants 
and  told  the  water  tender  to  use  plenty  of  it  as  the  water  was  bad. 
Three  days  later  the  plant  was  obliged  to  shut  down,  and  parts  of  the 
bottoms  of  four  boilers  were  cut  out  and  patched  by  half  sheets.  Very 
large  depressions  had  appeared  on  the  bottoms  of  these  boilers,  and 
when  the  boilers  were  opened  very  heavy  coatings  of  lime  were  found 
on  the  plates  that  were  immediately  over  the  fire.  Entirely  too  much 
lime  was  used  in  this  case. 


^4  ''ii" 

^^^^^^mm^^^^m^^^mm^m^s^^^^^^^^^K^^^KL 

Jagged  Boiler  Shell  Result  of  Scale  Deposit. 


The  accompanying  photograph  shows  a  depression  on  the  first 
course  of  a  horizontal  return  tubular  boiler.  This  boiler  was  78  inches 
in  diameter  and  20  ft.  long.  The  shell  plates  were  9/32  inch  thick, 
the  longitudinal  joints  having  eight  rows  of  rivets.  The  depression 
was  down  7  inches  and  was  about  18  inches  wide  at  one  point.  A 
fracture  i^^  inches  long  had  opened  at  the  apex  of  the  bulge  and  the 
metal  was  drawn  down  to  a  knife  edge  at  the  fracture,  and  was  con- 
siderably  reduced  at  other  places. 

There  was  scale  in  the  boilers  in  this  plant,  and  a  scale  solvent 
had  been  used  for  a  short  time  to  remove  it.  When  the  depression 
and  leakage  were  noted  the  boiler  was  taken  out  of  service  and  cooled; 
when  opened,  a  heavy  deposit  of  scale  and  sediment  was  found  in  the 


IIQ  THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  [October, 

depression  and  on  the  lower  plates.  The  indications  were  that  scale 
was  loosened  from  the  tubes  and  shell  plates  too  rapidly  in  comparison 
to  the  rate  of  removing  it  from  the  boilers  by  cleaning. 

Nearly  all  boiler  compounds,  metal  treatments  and  scale  solvents 
are  of  some  value  when  used  in  steam  boilers,  but  care  should  be 
exercised  when  beginning  the  use  of  them.  It  should  first  be  ascer- 
tained whether  the  one  selected  is  suited  to  the  boiler  feed  water,  and 
further,  if  scale  is  removed  rapidly  from  tubes  or  plates,  it  should 
likewise  be  removed  from  the  boiler  or  overheating  of  plates  and  ex- 
pensive repairs  may  result. 


The  Use  Of  Portable  Electric  Lights  In  Boilers. 

ALTHOUGH  entirely  aware  of  the  dangers  of  electricity  at  high 
r\  voltages,  nearly  everyone  has  become  so  familiar  with  the  usual 
no  volt  lighting  circuits  that  little  thought  is  ever  given  to  the 
possibility  of  serious  accidents  from  such  circuits.  Yet  there  are 
several  cases  on  record  in  which  shock  from  a  no  volt  circuit  has 
proved  fatal.  In  the  Syracuse  Bulletin  of  May  14,  1926,  there  appeared 
an  account  of  the  death  from  electric  shock  of  Ralph  Merrill,  a  mill- 
wright at  the  Skaneateles  Mill  of  the  Oswego  Falls  Corporation.  The 
man  was  working  inside  of  a  boiler  preparing  it  for  internal  inspec- 
tion, and  was  using  a  lamp  and  extension  cord  from  a  no  volt  circuit. 
In  some  way,  probably  through  a  faulty  connection  and  contact  with 
the  brass  socket,  he  received  a  shock  that  resulted  in  his  death. 

In  the  September  1925  issue  of  The  Boiler  Maker  appeared  a  brief 
account  of  the  death  from  electric  shock  of  Michael  O'Brien,  while 
he  was  cleaning  a  boiler  in  the  Administration  Building,  Montclair, 
N.  J.  Faulty  insulation  on  the  wire  of  a  lamp  which  he  held  in  his 
hand  while  in  contact  with  the  boiler  is  said  to  have  allowed  the 
current  to  pass  through  his  body  with  fatal  results. 

About  two  years  ago  an  inspector  called  at  the  plant  of  the  Detroit 
Brass  and  Malleable  Co.,  Detroit,  to  make  an  inspection.  Upon  inquir- 
ing for  the  engineer,  a  helper  set  out  to  find  him.  The  inspector  soon 
received  a  call  to  the  top  of  one  of  the  boilers,  and  there  on  top  of  the 
tubes  inside  of  the  boiler  lay  the  engineer.  He  had  been  dead  about 
a  half  hour.  The  charge  from  a  220  volt  lamp  on  an  extension  cord 
which  he  had  taken  into  the  boiler  with  him  had  burned  a  hole  about 
the  size  of  a  five  cent  piece  near  his  heart. 

Each  of  the  above  accidents  happened  with  voltages  such  as  one 
is   likely  to   encounter   in   lighting  circuits   about   an   industrial   plant. 


1926.]  THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  121 

Whether  a  test  was  made  to  ascertain  what  voltage  actually  existed  in 
each  of  the  above  cases  is  not  stated,  but  in  other  somewhat  similar  cases 
tests  were  made  but  failed  to  show  more  than  the  normal  voltage.  It 
would  appear  then  that  even  a  circuit  of  "only  no"  volts  may  under 
certain  circumstances  be  dangerous,  and  conditions  under  which  boilers 
are  inspected  and  cleaned  are  by  no  means  the  safest.  In  the  first 
place  the  boiler  has  an  excellent  electrical  connection  with  a  feed 
water  pipe  and  hence  is  well  grounded.  Furthermore  the  man  work- 
ing in  a  boiler  is  usually  perspiring  rather  freely  so  that  his  moist 
hand  or  any  part  of  his  body  that  touches  the  metal  makes  a  fairly 
good  connection.  It  remains  only  for  a  short  circuit  through  the  brass 
lamp  socket  or  a  frayed  cord  to  send  a  charge  through  the  man. 

Whether  a  shock  from  a  no  or  220  volt  source  will  prove  fatal 
depends  likewise  upon  considerations  other  than  merely  good  connec- 
tions. For  instance,  the  body  resistance  of  different  persons  varies 
over  quite  a  range,  just  as  do  all  other  physical  characteristics.  Hence, 
a  man  having  a  low  electrical  resistance  would  receive  a  heavier 
current  than  a  man  of  higher  resistance.  Since  the  action  of  an  electric 
shock  is  a  paralyzing  or  tightening  of  tlie  muscles,  the  condition  of 
the  heart  is  also  a  governing  factor. 

Still  another  factor  is  the  matter  of  time  or  duration  of  the  shock. 
If  a  person  receiving  a  shock  is  in  such  a  position  that  he  immediately 
recoils  or  falls  away  and  breaks  the  connection,  serious  injury  is  not 
likely  to  result  from  moderate  voltages.  However,  if  the  paralyzing 
effect  prevents  voluntary  action  or  causes  the  victim  to  fall  in  such  a 
way  as  to  maintain  contact,  then  the  prolonged  action  of  the  current, 
as  would  be  expected,  multiplies  the  effect.  This  is  of  particular  im- 
portance to  men  working  in  boilers  where  much  of  the  work  is  per- 
formed in  tight  places  and  in  a  recumbent  position,  sometimes  even 
with  the  light  resting  on  the  body  in  order  to  free  both  hands  for  the 
work. 

It  is  advisable  therefore  when  using  portable  electric  lights  around 
boilers,  first,  to  use  only  such  as  have  the  socket  encased  with  some  non- 
conducting material,  and  second,  to  examine  the  equipment  beforehand 
to  be  sure  it  is  safe  for  use. 


Efforts  to  utilize  the  power  of  grain  dust  explosions  in  an  in- 
ternal combustion  engine  have  been  made  by  the  U.  S.  Department 
of  Agriculture.  A  modified  Ford  engine  was  used,  according  to 
Poiver,  and  although  a  continuous  run  was  not  made,  as  many  as 
twelve  successive  explosions  in  one  cylinder  were  obtained.  The  results 
are  said  to  have  been  very  encouraging. 


112 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


[October, 


Boiler  Explosion  at  Chicago  Heights,  Illinois. 

A  BOILER  explosion  of  considerable  intensity  occurred  at  the 
plant  of  the  Albert  David  Chemical  Company,  Chicago  Heights, 
Illinois,  on  the  morning  of  June  15th,  1926.  One  man  was  killed 
and  property  destroyed  to  the  extent  of  nearly  $18,000.  Greater  loss  of 
life  was  undoubtedly  avoided  because  of  the  early  hour,  as  the  employees 
were  just  beginning  to  arrive  and  but  few  of  them  were  on  the  premises. 
A  few  minutes  later  several  men  would  have  been  at  work  in  the  imme- 
diate vicinity  of  the  boiler  room. 


Fig.  I. 

The  boiler  that  exploded  was  of  the  water  tube  type  and  was  located 
near  the  center  of  a  large  brick  boiler  room.  This  boiler  house  was 
situated  in  one  corner  of  the  plant  with  no  buildings  on  two  sides  of  it. 
On  another  side  it  was  separated  from  a  machine  shop  by  a  13  inch  brick 
fire  wall.  The  boiler  house  was  practically  a  complete  loss.  Only  parts 
of  the  walls  remained  standing  and  some  of  these  were  so  badly  damaged 
as  to  necessitate  tearing  them  down.  One  head  of  the  boiler  was  blown 
through  the  brick  fire  wall,  then  across  the  engine  room  and  through 
another  13  inch  wall,  coming  to  rest  against  the  far  wall  of  this  room. 


1926. 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE, 


113 


The  rest  of  the  boiler  traveled  almost  intact  through  the  opposite  wall 
of  the  boiler  house,  ploughed  across  a  railroad  spur  and  through  a  fence, 
and  came  to  rest  al)out  75  feet  away  in  a  field.  The  boiler  was  somewhat 
battered  by  contact  with  the  wall  and  railroad  track,  but  the  only  rupture 
was  in  the  head.  The  setting  of  an  adjoining  horizontal  tubular  boiler 
was  damaged,  and  the  stack  and  all  of  the  piping  in  the  boiler  room 
were  torn  down  when  the  building  collapsed.  An  air  compressor  and  a 
large  drill  press  in  the  engine  room  were  completely  destroyed,  and 


Wl^i 

V 

'-*if                                    ^Lir 

^^^^^^^^^H 

.  .^^rf^^^^^^^^^^l 

^^^^^^^^^^^^H 

Fig.  2. 
laundry  machinery,  motors  and  other  machinery  located  there  were 
damaged.  Sight  damage  was  done  to  the  roofs  of  some  neighboring 
buildings,  but  the  damage  in  general  was  not  so  widespread  as  often  is 
found  to  be  the  case.  This  was  due,  first,  to  the  fact  that  the  boiler  did 
not  separate  into  many  fragments  to  be  thrown  about,  the  head  being  the 
only  portion  that  was  torn  loose,  and  second,  to  the  fact  that  the  adjoin- 
ing factory  building  of  the  plant  had  previously  been  destroyed  by  fire 
and  had  not  been  rebuilt. 

Fig.  I  is  a  view  of  the  boiler  room  with  the  exploded  boiler  in  the 
background.  Fig.  2  shows  the  engine  room  (behind  the  leaning  stack) 
and  adjourning  buildings. 


114 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE. 


[October^ 


The  cause  of  the  ex- 
plosion was  a  cracked 
head.  As  can  be  seen 
from  Fig.  3,  the  head 
was  severed  completely 
around  its  circumfer- 
ence along  a  line  about 
2  inches  from  the  row 
of  rivets  and  just  at 
the  turn  of  the  flange. 
Examination  of  the 
material  along  this  line 
of  rupture  shows  that 
a  crack  had  developed 
extending  almost  com- 
pletely around  the  head. 
Cracks  such  as  this  in 
the  heel  of  a  flange  are 
generally  regarded  as 
fatigue  failure  of  the 
metal.  The  exact  pres- 
sure of  steam  at  the 
time  of  the  accident  is 
not  known. 

The  factory  portion  of  this  plant  was  totally  destroyed  by  fire  in 
December  1925,  followed  about  two  weeks  later  by  a  second  fire  in 
a  pump  house  used  in  connection  with  a  deep  well  water  supply. 
Since  then  only  a  portion  of  the  work  has  been  carried  on  in  the  part 
of  the  plant  that  remained. 

The  property  loss  from  this  explosion  was  covered  by  a  Hartford 
policy. 

Rivetless  Structural  Steel  Buildings. 

Contracts  have  been  let  by  the  Westinghouse  Electric  and  Manu- 
facturing Co.  for  the  erection  of  two  arc- welded  structural  steel 
buildings  on  the  company's  property  in  Pittsburgh,  according  to  the 
Pittsburgh  Gazette  Times.  The  two  proposed  structures  consist  of  a 
one-story  engineering  laboratory  building,  and  a  five-story  mill  type 
building.  Welding  is  expected  to  result  in  a  considerable  saving  over 
riveting  by  the  elimination  of  many  plates  and  angles,  and  in  some 
cases  by  the  use  of  lighter  structural  numbers.  The  absence  of  the 
noisy  riveting  hammer  is  also  a  very  desirable  feature. 


Fig.  3- 


1926. 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE. 


115 


Explosion  of  a  New  Boiler  That  Had  Never  Been  Fired. 

A  CAST  iron  hot  water  supply  boiler  exploded  io  Baltimore, 
Maryland,  on  December  28th,  1925,  under  peculiar  circumstances 
in  view  of  the  fact  that  it  had  never  been  fired  up  since  it  was 
installed.  The  boiler,  which  was  constructed  for  a  maximum  water 
pressure  of  60  lbs.,  was  connected  to  a  steel  supply  tank  and  also  to  a 
pipe  heating  coil  in  the  firebox  of  a  cast  iron  steam  heating  boiler,  as 
shown  by  the  accompanying  sketch. 


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Fig.  I. 

The  heater  was  not  equipped  with  the  regulation  water  relief  valve 
nor  had  it  a  pressure  gauge,  thermometer  or  temperature  regulator. 
However,  there  was  a  relief  valve  fitted  on  the  inlet  pipe  leading  to  the 
pipe  coil  in  the  firebox  of  the  steam  boiler.  The  relief  valve  was  stamped 
to  release  at  125  lbs.  pressure,  while  the  normal  city  water  pressure  was 
85  lbs.  It  will  be  observed  that  stop  valves  are  fitted  in  all  pipe  connec- 
tions between  the  boiler  and  the  relief  valve. 

The  hot  water  supply  heater  was  installed  during  the  fall  of  1925 
and,  as  previously  stated,  had  never  been  fired  up,  for  it  was  intended 
for  use  only  during  the  summer  months.  During  the  winter  months 
the  water  was  to  be  heated  by  means  of  the  coil  in  the  firebox  of  the 
steam  heating  boiler. 

The  valve  in  the  feed  line  from  the  city  water  main  to  the  hot  water 
heater  was  kept  open  so  that  the  cold  water  circulated  through  the  heater 
{^Continued  on  page  118.) 


116 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE. 


[October, 


Devoted  to  Power  Plant  Protectioin 


Plblisiied  Qu.\rterl^' 


Bexj.  C.  Crl'ickshaxks,  Editor. 


HARTFORD,  CONN.,  OCTOBER,  1926. 

Single  copies  can  be  obtained  free  by  calling  at  any  of  the  company  s  agencies. 

Subscription  price  SO  cetits  per  year  ■when  mailed  from  tins  office, 

Eeceni  bound  volumes  otie  dollar  each.    Earlier  ones  two  dollars. 

Reprinting  matter  from  this  paper  is  permitted  tf  credited  to 

The  Locomotive  of  the  H.^rtford  Steam  Boiler  I.  &  I,  Co. 


Three  Score  Years  of  Boiler  Insurance. 

r>y  TEAM  boiler  insurance  was  inaugurated  sixty  years  ago  with  the 
^^  organization  of  The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection  and  In- 
surance Company.  The  idea  of  steam  boiler  insurance  was  some- 
thing entirely  new  at  the  time.  A  movement  had  already  been  started  in 
England  to  prevent  steam  boiler  explosions  by  inspections,  and  the 
organizers  of  the  Hartford  Company  appreciated  the  sound  principles 
upon  which  it  was  based.  The  idea  of  backing  up  the  inspections  by 
insurance,  an  indemnity  in  case  of  explosion,  undoubtedly  originated  in 
Hartford  which  has  long  been  termed  "  The  Insurance  City." 

The  formation  of  a  business  corporation  is  a  matter  that  usually 
extends  over  quite  a  period  of  time  so  that  the  real  birthday  of  such  an 
organization  is  seldom  as  definite  as  that  of  an  individual.  The  discus- 
sions that  eventually  resulted  in  the  formation  of  The  Hartford  Steam 
Boiler  Inspection  and  Insurance  Company  are  said  to  have  started 
about  1857,  prompted  no  doubt  by  the  rather  numerous  and  disastrous 
boiler  explosions  resulting  from  a  gradual  increase  in  the  working 
pressure  of  steam  at  that  time.  The  Civil  War  is  thought  to  have  de- 
ferred the  launching  of  the  new  organization,  but  the  idea  must  have 
been  fairly  well  developed  for  on  May  2,  1866  a  resolution  incorpor- 


1926.]  THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  117 

ating  the  Hartford  Company  was  passed  at  a  session  of  the  General 
Assembly,  held  at  New  Haven,  Connecticut.  The  charter  was  ap- 
proved June  30th.  At  a  meeting  of  the  organizers  held  in  August  it 
was  voted  that  the  stock  subscription  be  set  at  $500,000.  The  month 
of  October,  however,  really  saw  the  Company  come  into  being,  for  three 
meetings  of  the  stockholders  were  held  during  the  month.  The  minutes 
of  the  first  meeting,  on  October  6,  1866,  show  that  the  stock  had  been 
fully  subscribed  for,  and  that  a  Board  of  Directors  was  elected.  October 
6.  1866  may  thus  be  considered  the  birthday  of  the  Hartford  Company. 
October  6,  1926  is  therefore  the  sixtieth  anniversary  of  steam  boiler 
insurance. 

The  Hartford  Company  has  from  the  beginning  maintained  an  in- 
spection department  which  passes  upon  the  construction  and  safety  of 
all  objects  offered  to  the  Company  for  insurance.  It  also  investigates  all 
explosions  to  which  it  has  access  and  if  possible  determines  the  cause, 
with  the  object  of  preventing  recurrence.  It  has  given  publicity  to 
faulty  constructions,  advocated  legislative  action  to  insure  safe  stan- 
dards of  construction,  and  distributed  thousands  of  blue  prints  show- 
ing approved  methods  of  manufacture  and  installation.  The  experi- 
ence of  the  Hartford  organization  and  its  researches  into  the  causes  of 
boiler  failures  gradually  crystalized  into  standards  that  were  the  fore- 
runner of  the  present  day  boiler  codes.  Today  the  phrase  "  must  be  ac- 
ceptable to  the  Hartford  Company  "  is  of  frequent  occurrence  in  spe- 
cifications, and  the  Company  is  often  called  upon  by  manufacturers 
for  decisions  as  to  the  compliance  of  vessels  of  new  design  with  a  spe- 
cified code.  When  explosions  have  occurred  in  spite  of  the  best  in- 
spections, the  Company  has  responded  to  its  contract  to  indemnify 
the  owner,  frequently  in  such  prompt  and  satisfactory  manner  as  to 
create  a  record  and  draw  unsolicited  testimonials.  In  recent  years  the 
activities  of  the  Company  have  been  broadened  so  that  insurance 
against  the  hazards  incident  to  the  operation  of  flywheels,  engines 
and  electrical  machinery  can  now  be  obtained. 

The  success  of  the  Hartford  Company  of  course  attracted  other 
companies  into  the  field,  and  although  today  it  has  several  competitors. 
The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection  and  Insurance  Company  re- 
mains the  outstanding  company  devoted  exclusively  to  this  line  of  busi- 
ness. Sixty  years  of  specialization  in  steam  boiler  inspection  and  insur- 
ance have  brought  to  the  Company  a  prestige  that  makes  its  name  the 
synonym  for  excellence  in  power  plant  insurance. 


118 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE, 


[October, 


Summary  of  Boiler  Explosions  For  1925. 


Month. 

Number    'of 
Explosions. 

Persons 
Killed. 

Persons 
Injured. 

Total  of 

Killed  and 

Injured. 

January    .... 

113 

8 

24 

32 

February 

76 

10 

37 

47 

March      . 

74 

9 

20 

29 

April  . 

64 

5 

15 

20 

May    .      . 

56 

9 

32 

41 

June    . 

45 

5 

11 

16 

July    .      . 

44 

5 

18 

23 

August 

43 

66 

122 

188 

September 

58 

5 

11 

16 

October    . 

99 

6 

16 

22 

November 

98 

8 

24 

32 

December 

100 

18 

23 

41 

Total  for  1925 

870 

154 

353 

507 

Explosion  of  a  New  Boiler  That  Had  Never  Been  Fired. 

(Continued  from  page  iij.) 

to  the  supply  tank  and  from  there  to  the  heating  coil,  thence  returning  to 
the  supply  tank.  This  valve  was  said  to  have  been  found  open  after  the 
explosion. 

The  cause  of  the  explosion  is  thought  to  have  been  the  freezing  of 
the  water  in  the  feed  pipe  where  it  passed  through  the  stable  floor  above. 
About  5  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  accident  a  quantity  of  hot  water 
was  drawn  from  the  system  to  replenish  an  automobile  radiator,  and 
at  the  same  time  the  fire  in  the  steam  heating  boiler  was  freshened  up. 
This  generated  steam  in  the  heating  coil  and  increased  the  pressure  to 
such  an  extent  that  the  weakest  part  of  the  system,  which  was  the  cast 
iron  boiler,  exploded  about  7:00  a.  m.,  the  relief  valve  failing  to  func- 
tion at  a  pressure  which  would  protect  the  hot  water  heater. 

This  accident  emphasizes  the  importance  of  equipping  hot  water 
heating  boilers,  and  in  fact  all  low  pressure  heating  boilers,  with  the 
necessary  safety  valve  connected  directly  to  the  boiler  independent  of 
any  other  connection  and  without  intervening  valves.  x\n  altitude  or 
pressure  gauge,  a  thermometer  and  a  temperature  combustion  regulator. 
are  also  necessary  appliances  for  this  type  of  boiler. 


1926.] 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE, 


119 


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120 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE. 


[October, 


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1926.] 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


121 


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122 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE. 


[October, 


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1926.]  THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  123 


-     "^"^     Z-iH  ^    .  rt.9    •  =  c-^S  o         '^         •"    ,    .  "^ 

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124 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE. 


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L.  S.  Ryan 
First  M.  E.  Chu 
Universal  Garag 
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1926.] 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


125 


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Ut  ^aitlo[ilSteaiiiBoileilpectioiiaiiilliisii[aiice.Coiiuiai!i 


ABSTRACT  OF  STATEMENT,  DECEMBER  31,   1925 


Capital  Stock, 


$2,500,000.00 


ASSETS 


Cash  in  offices  and  banks 
Real   Estate    .... 
Mortgage  and  collateral   loans 
Bonds  and  stocks   . 
Premiums  in  course  of  collection 
Interest   Accrued    . 


Total  Assets 


LIABILITIES 


Reserve  for  unearned  premiums    . 
Reserve  for  losses  .... 

Reserve  for  taxes  and  other  contingencies 
Capital   Stock    ...... 

Surplus   over   all    liabilities 


2,500,000.00 

5,414,264.84 


$699,859-61 

271,757.16 

1,650,188.00 

11,233,196.67 

1,341,102.96 

141,983-25 

15,338,087.6s 


6,433,164.02 
283,27398 
707,384.81 


Surplus  to  Policyholders, $7,914,264.84 


Total   Liabilities 


15,338,087.65 


CHARLES   S.  BLAKE,   President. 

WM.  R.  C.  CORSON,  Vice-President  and  Treasurer. 

E.  SIDNEY  BERRY,  Second  Vice-President. 

LOUIS  F.  MIDDLEBROOK,  Secretary. 

J.  J.  GRAHAM,  Assistant  Secretary. 

HALSEY  STEVENS,  Assistant  Secretary. 

C.   EDGAR   BLAKE,   Assistant  Treasurer. 

SHERWOOD   F.  JETER,  Chief  Engineer. 

KENNETH   A.   REED,   Electrical   Engineer. 

HARRY  E.  DART,  Supt.  Engineering  Dept. 


BOARD  OF  DIRECTORS 


LUCIUS    F.    ROBINSON,    Attorney,    Hart- 
ford,    Conn. 
JOHN    O.    ENDERS,    Chairman    Board    of 

Trustees,   United   States   Security  Trust 

Co.,    Hartford,    Conn. 
MORG.^N      B.       BR.MNARD,       President 

^■^tna    Life    Insurance     Co.,   Hartford, 

Conn. 
CHARLES  P.  COOLEY,  President  Society 

for    Savings,    Hartford,     Conn. 
HORACE   B.    CHENEY,   Cheney   Brothers. 

Silk  Manufacturers,  South  Manchester, 

D.  NEWTON  BARNEY,  Vice-President 
The  Hartford  Electric  Light  Co.,  Hart- 
ford,   Conn. 

DR.  GEORGE  C.  F.  WILLIAMS,  Presi- 
dent The  Capewell  Horse  Nail  Co., 
Hartford,    Conn. 


JOSEPH  R.  ENSIGN,  President  The 
Ensign-Bickford    Co.,    Simsbury,    Conn. 

EDWARD  MILLIGAN,  President  Phoenix 
Insurance    Co.,    Hartford,    Conn. 

CHARLES  S.  BLAKE  President  The 
Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection  and 
Insurance    Co.,    Hartford,    Conn. 

WM.  R.  C.  CORSON,  Vice-President  The 
Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection  and 
Insurance   Co.,   Hartford,   Conn. 

SAMUEL  M.  STONE,  President  The  Colt's 
Patent  Fire  Arms  Mfg.  Co.,  Hartford, 
Conn. 

SAMUEL  FERGUSON,  President  The 
Hartford  Electric  Light  Co.,  Hartford, 
Conn. 


Incorporated  1866 


Charter  Perpetual 


INSURES  AGAINST  LOSS  FROM  DAMAGE  TO  PROPERTY 
AND  INJURY  TO  PERSONS,  DUE  TO  THE  EXPLO- 
SIONS   OF    BOILERS    OR    FLYWHEELS    OR 
THE  BREAKDOWN  OF  ENGINES  OR 
ELECTRICAL  MACHINERY 


Department 

ATLANTA,   Ga 

1103-1106  Atlanta   Trust   Bldg. 
BALTIMORE,    Md., 

13-14-15  Abell  Bldg. 
BOSTON,   Mass. 

4  Liberty  Sq.,  Cor.  Water  St. 
BRIDGEPORT,    Conn.,      . 

404-405  City  Savings  Bank  Bldg. 
CHICAGO,    111.. 

209  West  Jackson   B'l'v'd 


CINCINNATI,    Ohio, 

First  National  Bank  Bldg. 
CLEVELAND,  Ohio, 

Leader  Bldg.    . 
DENVER,   Colo., 

916-918  Gas  &  Electric  Bldg. 
HARTFORD,   Conn., 

56  Prospect  St. 
NEW  ORLEANS,  La., 

Hibernia  Bank  Bldg. 
NEW  YORK,  N.  Y.,  . 

80  Maiden  Lane 

PHILADELPHIA,   Pa., 

429  Walnut   St. 
PITTSBURGH,  Pa.,  . 

1807-8-9-10  Arrott  Bldg, 
PORTLAND,   Ore.,    . 

306  Yeon  Bldg. 
SEATTLE,  Wash.,     . 

415  Dexter-Horton   Bldg 
SAN  FRANCISCO,  Cal, 

339-341  Sansome  St. 

ST.  LOUIS,  Mo.,       . 

319  North   Fourth  St. 
TORONTO,    Canada, 

Federal  Bldg.  . 


Representatives 

W.  M.  Francis,  Manager. 

C.  R.  Summers,  Chief  Inspector. 

Lawford  &  McKiM,  General  Agents. 

James  G.  Reid,  Chief  Inspector. 

Ward  I.  Cornell,  Manager. 

W.  A.  Bayliss,  Chief  Inspector. 

W.  G.  LiNNEBURGH  &  SoN,  General  Agents. 

A.  E.  Bonnet,  Chief  Inspector. 

P.  M.  Murray,  Manager. 

J.  P.  Morrison,  Chief  Inspector. 

J.  T.  Coleman,  Ass't  Chief  Inspector. 

C.  W.  ZiMMER,  Ass't  Chief  Inspector. 

W.  E.  Gleason,  Manager. 

W.  E.  Glennon,  Chief  Inspector. 

A.  Paul  Graham,  Manager. 

L.  T.  Gregg,  Chief  Inspector. 

J.  H.  Chesnutt, 

Manager  and  Chief  Inspector. 
F.  H.  Kennyon,  General  Agent. 
A.  E.  Bonnet,  Chief  Inspector. 
R.  T.  BuRWELL,  Mgr.  and  Chief  Inspector. 
E.  Unsworth,  Ass't  Chief  Inspector. 
C.  C.  Gardiner,  Manager. 
E.  Mason  Parry,  Chief  Inspector. 
R.  P.  Guy,  Ass't  Chief  Inspector. 
A.  S.  Wickham,  Manager. 
S.  B.  Adams,  Chief  Inspector. 
Geo.  S.  Reynolds,  Manager. 
J.  A.  Snyder,  Chief  Inspector. 
Bates,  Lu'ely  &  Pearson,  Gen'l  Agents. 
C.  B.  Paddock,  Chief  Inspector. 
C.  B.  Paddock,  Chief  Inspector. 

H.  R.  Mann  &  Co.,  General  Agents. 

J.  B.  Warner,  Chief  Inspector. 

L.  J.  Reed,  Ass't  Chief  Inspector. 

C.  D.  AsHCROFT,  Manager. 

Eugene  Webb,  Chief  Inspector. 

H.  N.  Roberts,  President,  The  Boiler  In- 
spection and  Insurance  Company  of 
Canada. 


THE  HARTFORD 


Lin^^'% 


^ 


BOILER  INSURANCE 

Boilers,  Economizers,  Vulcanizers,  Kiers, 

Digesters,  Steam  Driers,  Jacketed 

Kettles,  Etc. 

FLYWHEEL   INSURANCE 

Flywheels,  Fans,  Blowers,  Turbines,  Water 

Wheels,  Centrifugal  Driers,  Gear 

Wheels,  Etc. 

ENGINE  INSURANCE 

Engines,  Compressors^  Pumps,  Refrigerating 
Machines,  Etc. 

ELECTRICAL  MACHINERY  INSURANCE 

Generators,  Motors,  Synchronous  Converters, 

Transformers,  Switchboards,  Etc. 


'A' 


Consult  your  agent  or  broker  or  write  for 
details   to    the   nearest   branch  office  of 

THE  HARTFORD  STEAM  BOILER 
INSPECTION  and  INSURANCE  CO. 

HARTFORD  CONNECTICUT 


"The  oldest  in  the  Country,  the  largest  in  the  world" 


% 


Devoted  to  Power  Plant  Protection 


Published  Quarterly 


Vol.  XXXVI  HARTFORD,  CONN.,  JANUARY,  1927. 


No.  5 


COPYRIGHT,  1927,  BY  THE  HARTFORD  STEAM  BOILER  INSPECTION  AND  INSURANCE  CO. 


Flywheel  Explosion  at  Kalamazoo,  Michigan. 


THERE  IS  VALUABLE  INFORMATION 

FOR  YOUR  ENGINEER  IN  THIS  MAGAZINE. 

PLEASE  LET  HIM  SEE  IT. 


130 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE, 


[January, 


Flywheel  Explosion  at  Kalamazoo,  Michigan. 

THE  front  cover  picture  and  other  accompanying  illustrations  show 
some  of  the  results  of  a  disastrous  flywheel  explosion  that  oc- 
curred July  21,  1926,  at  the  plant  of  the  King  Paper  Company 
Division  of  the  Allied  Paper  Mills,  Kalamazoo,  Michigan.     There  was 


Fig.  I. 

a  property  loss  of  $26,000,  and  a  use  and  occupancy  loss  of  more  than 
$10,000.  Six  persons  were  injured,  but  fortunately  all  injuries  were 
of  a  minor  character. 

The  flywheel  that  exploded  was  really  a  double  wheel,  for  it  con- 
sisted of  two  wheels,  each  18  feet  in  diameter  and  26  inches  wide, 
bolted  together.     The  wheel  was  on  the  main  shaft  of  a  cross-corn- 


1927.] 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


131 


pound  Corliss  engine  which  was  set  in  the  midst  of  four  other  engines 
and  two  turbines  in  the  same  engine  room.  The  wheel  was  so  situated 
that  two  of  the  engines  were  directly  in  line  with  it,  and  when  the 
accident  occurred  flying  pieces  of  the  wheel  damaged  both  of  them 
considerably.  The  frame  and  low  pressure  cylinder  of  one  of  these 
engines  were  badly  damaged;  and  the  steam  pipe  and  separator  of  the 
other  were  knocked  down,  and  the  governor  and  numerous  parts  of 
the  valve  mechanism  were  broken.     The  engine  to  which  the  exploded 

wheel  belonged  was,  of 
course,  the  most  seriously 
damaged.  This  was  a  900 
horsepower  Corliss  engine 
which  drove  14  beaters,  2 
Jordans,  and  numerous 
pumps,  agitators  and  other 
auxiliaries.  The  low  pres- 
sure frame  of  this  engine 
was  cracked  in  numerous 
places,  and  both  high  and 
low  pressure  frames  were 
torn  loose  from  their  foun- 
dations. The  main  crank 
shaft  was  also  bent.  The 
receiver  between  the  high 
and  low  pressure  cylinders, 
and  also  exhaust  piping, 
reach  rods,  rocker  arms,  and  parts  of  the  valve  mechanism  were  de- 
stroyed. The  main  driving  belt,  a  leather  belt  48  inches  wide  and  160 
feet  long,  was  completely  destroyed,  as  was  also  a  leather  belt  23  inches 
wide  and  100  feet  long  on  one  of  the  other  engines. 

Pieces  of  the  wheel  in  going  through  the  roof  tore  down  and  badly 
damaged  a  steel  roof  truss  6  feet  high  by  65  feet  long.  Other 
damage  by  flying  pieces  was  done  to  a  Venturi  meter,  a  condenser 
pump,  piping  for  a  sprinkler  system,  steam  and  water  piping,  and  to 
a  paper  machine  in  an  adjoining  room.  This  latter  was  damaged  by 
a  piece  of  the  wheel  estimated  to  weigh  1800  lbs.  which  came  down 
through  the  roof  of  the  machine  room. 

In  view  of  the  extensive  havoc  wrought,  evidence  of  the  cause  of 
the  accident  was  not  readily  obtainable,  but  it  is  thought  to  have  been 
due  to  a  slipping  governor  belt.  This  engine  furnished  the  power 
for  all  of  the  beaters  in  one  beater  room.     A  few  minutes  prior  to  the 


Fig.  2. 


132 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


[January, 


explosion  the  men  in  the  beater  room  noticed  a  perceptible  slowing 
down  of  their  machines,  and  thinking  it  to  be  due  to  an  overload  on 
the  engine  they  hurriedly  relieved  the  individual  loads  of  their  several 
Jordans  and  beaters.  The  attention  of  the  engine  room  operatives  was 
first  attracted  by  a  noise  which  is  thought  to  have  been  due  to  water 
in  the  cylinders.  The 
engine  then  started  to 
race  and  several  at- 
tempts were  made  to 
shut  it  down  by  tripping 
the  governor.  It  ap- 
pears, therefore,  that 
the  engine  first  slowed 
down  considerably  and 
then  speeded  to  destruc- 
tion. The  indications 
are  that  the  slowing 
down  was  a  result  of 
the  boilers  priming,  and 
the  speeding  up  due  to 
the  sudden  release  of 
the  load  by  the  beater 
room  attendants.  The 
governor,     of     course, 

was  depended  upon  to  regulate  the  speed,  but  because  of  the  oily  con- 
dition of  its  belt  it  was  unable  to  pick  up  speed  with  sufficient  rapidity. 
Many  flywheel  explosions  can  be  traced  more  or  less  directly  to  oily 
governor  belts. 

Fig.  2  shows  a  piece  of  the  rim  of  the  wheel  as  it  landed  near  the 
Pennsylvania  Railroad  tracks  700  feet  west  of  the  engine  room.  This 
piece  was  estimated  to  weigh  2100  lbs.  Fig.  3  shows  portions  of  the 
rims  of  both  wheels  just  as  they  landed  on  the  right-of-way  of  the 
Grand  Truck  Railway  approximately  800  feet  east  of  the  plant ;  and  it 
is  interesting  to  note  that  these  portions  of  the  two  wheels  are  still 
joined  by  a  small  bolt,  which  would  indicate  that  the  wheels  failed 
simultaneously.  It  is  also  to  be  noted  that  the  flange  joints  shown  are 
still  intact. 

The  distances  which  pieces  of  the  wheel  traveled  afford  an  oppor- 
tunity to  calculate  the  minimum  speed  of  the  engine  at  the  instant  of  the 
explosion.     The  formula  used  is  the  usual  projectile  formula:  — 


Fig.  3. 


1927.]  THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  133 

Range  =   —    sin  2   (angle  of  elevation) 

where  v  =  rim  speed  in  ft.  per  second, 
g  =  322 
range  =  horizontal  distance  travelled  by  flying  piece,  ft. 

In  using  this  formula  the  angle  of  elevation  is  assumed  to  be  45°, 
that  is,  the  angle  that  will  give  greatest  range  or  slowest  rim  speed  as 
there  was  no  way  of  measuring  the  actual  angle.  Rearranging  and 
substituting  the  value  of  sin  90°    (equal  to  unity),  we  have 

V  =  V  range  x  g 

=  V800  X  32.2=160.5  ft.  per  sec. 
or=i70  r.p.m.  (for  an  18  ft.  wheel). 

This  speed  necessarily  must  be  somewhat  below  the  actual  speed  at 
the  instant  when  the  wheel  burst  because  no  allowance  is  made  in  the 
calculation  for  the  retardation  of  speed  produced  when  the  wheel  frag- 
ment passed  through  the  roof  of  the  building. 

Another  reason  why  the  speed  was  possibly  greater  than  the  cal- 
culated speed,  plus  any  allowance  for  retardation  by  the  roof  structure, 
is  that  the  calculation  is  based  on  the  assumption  that  the  wheel  frag- 
ment started  on  its  flight  at  the  most  favorable  angle  for  maximum 
horizontal  distance.  The  actual  angle  at  which  the  segment  flew  off 
may,  of  course,  have  been  greater  or  less  than  45°  which  would  require 
a  higher  speed  of  the  wheel  to  produce  a  range  of  800  feet. 

The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection  and  Insurance  Company 
paid  the  limit  of  the  direct  policy  ($20,000)  for  this  accident,  and  paid 
a  use  and  occupancy  loss     of  $10,600. 


Refrigerating  Systems. 

By  Geo.  H.  Stickney,  Supt.  Boiler  Department. 

THE  ordinary  steam  power  equipment  is  very  generally  under- 
stood by  the  engineers  who  work  with  it,  and  as  a  rule  they 
thoroughly  appreciate  the  functions  of  the  various  pieces  of  ma- 
chinery necessary  to  its  operation.  The  process  of  mechanical  re- 
frigeration, however,  is  not  always  so  clear,  possibly  because  the  in- 
stallations are  fewer  in  number  and  hence  less  opportunity  is  afforded 
to  come  in  contact  with  them,  but  most  likely  because  the  temperature 
of  the  cycle  is  partly  above  and  partly  below  normal,  which  is  some- 
what confusing.  An  article  explaining  the  theory  of  mechanical  re- 
frigeration appeared  in  The  Locomotive  for  July  1922.  It  is  the 
purpose   of  the  present  article   to   consider  the  various   vessels   and 


134  THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  [January, 

machines  essential  to  a  practical  system,  having  special   reference  to 
their  safety  and  insurance. 

Rating  of  the  System. 

In  common  with  all  other  machines  refrigerating  systems  are  rated 
as  to  capacity  in  order  that  there  may  be  some  basis  of  comparison 
of  different  machines.  They  are  susceptible  to  two  ratings,  that  is, 
either  their  capacity  is  given  in  tons  of  ice  they  will  produce  in  one 
day  (24  hours)  called  ice  making  capacity,  or  they  are  rated  equal 
to  the  cooling  work  done  by  one  ton  of  ice  melting  per  day  (24  hours), 
called  refrigerating  capacity. 

The  relation  of  ice  making  capacity  to  refrigerating  capacity  is 
dependent  to  a  great  extent  upon  the  temperature  of  the  water  from 
which  the  ice  is  made  and  also  to  the  heat  exchangers  that  may  be  a 
part  of  the  plant  equipment.  In  plants  operating  under  the  most 
favorable  conditions  the  relation  is  sometimes  as  low  as  i  to  1.5  and 
the  general  average  is  about  i  to  1.65.  For  the  purpose  of  quoting  in- 
surance premiums  it  is  arbitrarily  taken  as   i   to  2. 

The  commercial  unit  of  capacity,  or  "  ton  of  refrigeration,"  is 
defined  as  the  cooling  effect  produced  (or  heat  absorbed)  by  the  melt- 
ing of  one  ton  (2000  lbs.)  of  ice  per  day  (24  hours).  The  heat  neces- 
ary  to  melt  one  pound  of  ice  at  32°F  into  water  at  32°F  is  144  B.  t.  u. 
This  value,  144  B.  t.  u.,  is  the  latent  heat  of  ice.  A  ton  of  refrigeration, 
therefore,  equals  2000x144  =  288,000  B.  t.  u.  per  24  hours.  The 
usual  rating  of  refrigerating  systems  is  the  "  refrigerating  capacity  " 
and  is  expressed  in  tons  of  refrigeration.  It  is,  in  other  words,  the 
number  of  B.  t.  u.  which  can  be  absorbed  in  24  hours  divided  by 
288,000  to  reduce  the  value  to  tons. 

In  order  to  produce  a  ton  refrigerating  capacity  it  is  necessary  to 
compress  (compression  system)  or  generate  (absorption  system)  an 
accepted  amount  of  gas,  and  this  is  taken  by  the  Joint  Committee  of 
the  American  Society  of  Mechanical  Engineers  and  the  American 
Society  of  Refrigerating  Engineers  as  5^^  cubic  feet  per  minute  per 
ton  of  refrigeration  in  24  hours  with  saturated  gas  at  5°F  at  the 
cooler  and  86° F  at  the  condenser.  A  50  ton  machine  must  therefore 
compress  5^  x  50  or  275  cubic  feet  of  gas  per  minute. 

The  volume  of  gas  to  be  pumped  per  ton  is  dependent  upon  the 
brine  cooler  pressure  and  the  condenser  pressure.  The  volumes  for 
corresponding  pressures  and  temperatures  can  be  found  in  hand  book 
tables. 

Insurance  premiums  for  refrigerating  or  ice  making  systems  are 
based  on  the  combined  "  ice  making  capacity  "  of  all  compressors  or 


1927.]  THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  135 

absorption  generators  connected  with  the  system,  such  capacity  to  be 
determined  from  the  manufacturer's  rating  stated  on  each  machine. 
Where  the  rating  is  in  refrigerating  capacity  it  is  of  course  to  be  con- 
verted into  ice  making  capacity,  the  latter  to  be  one  half  of  the  former. 
If  the  manufacturer's  rating  either  in  refrigerating  capacity  or  ice 
making  capacity  cannot  be  ascertained  the  capacity  of  the  system  is 
determined  for  insurance  rating  purposes  from  the  cylinder  displace- 
ment of  its  compressors  on  the  assumption  that  15,000  cubic  inches 
per  minute  equal  one  ton  of  ice  making  capacity. 

By  the  term  "  refrigerating  system  "  is  meant  the  pipes,  coils  and 
vessels  of  the  system  which  contain  ammonia,  from  the  discharge  end 
of  the  compressor  to  the  suction  end  of  the  compressor,  but  excluding 
any  compressor,  and  if  the  system  is  of  the  absorption  type,  the  term 
shall  include  its  generator.  The  compressor  can  be  covered  under 
an  engine  policy. 

Compression  System. 

A  compression  system  of  mechanical  refrigeration  consists  primarily 
of  a  compressor,  condenser,  receiver,  expansion  valve,  and  expansion 
coils.  A  driven  compressor  takes  the  low  pressure  anhydrous  am- 
monia gas,  compresses  it  to  a  higher  pressure,  and  passes  it  on  through 
an  oil  separator  to  the  condenser.  In  the  act  of  compressing,  the 
temperature  is  increased,  and  the  heat  so  generated  is  absorbed  in 
the  condenser  by  bringing  the  hot  gas  in  contact  with  surfaces  cooled 
usually  with  circulating  water. 

The  ammonia  changes  from  a  gas  to  a  liquid  in  the  condenser 
because  although  the  pressure  is  about  the  same  as  when  leaving  the 
discharge  end  of  the  compressor,  the  temperature  has  been  brought 
down  to  nearly  that  of  the  condensing  water.  The  change  is  due  to 
the  combination  of  high  pressure  and  moderately  low  temperature. 
The  liquid  ammonia  flows  downward  in  the  condenser  to  a  tank  known 
as  a  receiver  located  below  the  condenser.  The  receiver  acts  as  a 
storage  vessel  and  keeps  the  expansion  valve  supplied  with  a  constant 
supply  of  liquid  ammonia. 

In  the  line  from  the  receiver  is  an  expansion  valve  which  regulates 
the  flow  of  ammonia  to  the  expansion  coils.  Expansion  valves  may 
be  either  of  the  needle,  disc  or  plug  type  and  the  disc  and  plug  types 
are  commonly  used  in  large  installations.  When  the  liquid  ammonia 
passes  the  expansion  valve  the  pressure  drops  and  the  ammonia  evap- 
orates into  a  gas  during  the  time  it  is  in  the  expansion  coil.  It  is  at 
this  point  that  a  decrease  in  temperature  occurs  and  production  of 
cold  created.     Anhydrous  ammonia  has  two  principal  qualities  which 


136 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


[Januarj', 


sent-STeei.  OHSresL 
Sree-L 


LC.AO  ANTIMOrtr  CO»POSlTlO/t 


L£AO  AflTIHOtlY 

Cornposirioti 


SEMI-STEeu  Of*  STEEL 

Spec/ A L  rton-ojRRosivE 


'^i' Pipe  Plus 


l"PiPEi  Tap 

Massachusetts  Standard  Ammonia   Safety  Valve. 

make  it  a  desirable  commercial  refrigerant,  first,  its  low  temperature 
of  evaporation  ( — 28°F  at  atmospheric  pressure),  and  second,  its  high 
latent  heat. 

Before  the  liquid  anhydrous  ammonia  can  evaporate  or  boil  into 
a  gas  it  must  be  supplied  with  heat,  and  this  heat  must  come  from  the 
brine,  or  air  in  the  refrigerating  rooms.     If  the  expansion  coils  were 


1927.]  l-  1 1  i:     L  O  C  O  M  O  T  I  V  E  .  1 37 

under  a  gage  pressure  of  23  lbs.  each  pound   (weight)   of  ammonia 
evaporated  would  require  the  absorption  of  about  564  B.t.u. 

The  expansion  coils  are  either  immersed  in  brine  and  the  brine 
circulated  in  pipes  in  the  cold  storage  rooms  (indirect  system),  or 
else  the  coils  are  installed  directly  in  the  rooms  to  be  cooled  (direct 
system).  After  the  ammonia  has  evaporated  in  the  expansion  coils 
it  is  pumped  back  into  the  suction  side  of  the  compressor  and  the 
cycle  begun  over  again. 

Protection  of  System. 

The  compressor  should  be  protected  from  over  pressure  by  an 
automatic  by-pass  from  the  discharge  to  the  suction  side,  or  by  a  spring 
loaded  by-pass  through  or  around  the  discharge  stop  valve,  or 
else  by  a  safety  valve  of  proper  size  piped  to  discharge  into  the  atmos- 
phere at  a  safe  place.  These  means  of  safeguard  prevent  the  breakage 
of  compressor  parts  in  case  an  attempt  were  made  to  start  the  com- 
pressor with  the  discharge  valve  closed  or  in  case  of  an  abnormally 
high  pressure  during  operation. 

A  great  many  compressors  are  provided  with  spring  loaded  or 
false  heads  beneath  the  main  cylinder  head.  The  purpose  of  such 
construction  is  to  prevent  broken  compressor  parts  by  furnishing  a 
relief  in  case  a  considerable  quantity  of  liquid  anhydrous  ammonia 
were  taken  into  the  cylinder. 

It  is  desirable  especially  with  high  speed  compressors  that  the  dis- 
charge stop  valve  on  compressors  be  so  installed  that  the  valve  opens 
in  the  direction  of  the  flow  of  the  gas,  in  other  words,  that  the  pres- 
sure tends  to  open  the  valve.  The  object  of  this  is  to  avoid  sudden 
over  pressure  on  the  compressor  cylinder  and  serious  overstrain  on 
other  parts  of  the  compressor  which  would  occur  if  the  valve  should 
get  loose  from  the  stem  and  thereby  act  as  a  check  valve. 

When  the  automatic  compressor  by-pass  valves  discharge  into  the 
system  the  system  should  be  protected  from  over  pressure  by  a  safety 
valve  the  size  of  which  corresponds  to  the  capacity  of  the  machine. 
It  should  be  set  at  a  pressure  not  exceeding  the  safe  working  pressure 
of  the  vessels  and  should  discharge  into  the  atmosphere. 

In  determining  the  proper  setting  of  such  a  safety  valve  it  should 
be  considered  whether  or  not  it  is  possible  for  the  pressure  in  the 
discharge  side  of  the  system  to  act  on  top  of  the  compressor  safety 
valve  so  as  to  increase  the  pressure  required  on  the  lower  side  of  the 
valve  to  make  it  operate.  Due  to  the  design  of  the  Massachusetts 
Standard  ammonia  safety  valve  it  is  impossible  for  pressure  from  the 
discharge  side  to  act  on  top  of  the  valve  disc  in  such  a  way  as  to  increase 


138  THE     LOCOMOTIVE.  [January, 

the  opening  pressure.  On  the  other  hand,  pressure  from  the  discharge 
side  would  tend  to  lift  the  valve  due  to  the  shoulder  of  the  valve 
disc.  A  number  of  other  kinds  of  safety  valves  have  this  feature 
where  pressure  from  the  discharge  side  tends  to  lift  the  valve. 

Receivers,  shell  type  condensers  and  evaporators,  which  can  be 
isolated  by  stop  valves,  should  be  protected  by  at  least  y^-'mch  safety 
valves  set  at  pressures  not  exceeding  the  safe  working  pressures  of  the 
vessels  protected,  and  these  safety  valves  should  discharge  into  the 
atmosphere. 

Safety  Valve  Sizes. 

The  State  of  Massachusetts  stipulates  the  size  of  safety  valves  for 
ammonia  compressors  based  on  5  cubic  feet  of  gas  per  minute  per  ton 
of  refrigeration  at  a  normal  suction  pressure  of  10  lbs.  gage  and  a  dis- 
charge pressure  of  275  lbs. 

Sise  of  Safety  Valve  Tons  of  Ref.  Capacity 

M  56 

1  100 
i}i  166 
i>4  '           240 

2  424 

If  the  suction  pressure  were  less,  it  is  obvious  that  smaller  valves 
would  be  ample,  and  with  a  greater  suction  pressure  larger  valves 
would  be  required. 

Within  the  last  few  years  two-stage  compressors  and  low  pressure 
boosters  have  come  into  use,  and  for  the  booster  and  the  low  pressure 
side  of  the  two  stage  compressors,  particularly  with  higher  suction 
pressures,  the  allowance  of  5  cubic  feet  of  gas  is  not  considered  suffi- 
cient for  computing  safety  valve  sizes.  It  is  also  felt  that  for  by-pass 
valves,  larger  sizes  should  be  used  than  those  based  on  5  cubic  feet. 
Machines  are  now  being  built  for  as  low  as  75  lbs.,  whereas  formerly 
300  lbs.  was  the  usual  designed  working  pressure. 

The  ammonia  compressor  is  subject  to  the  complication  of  dealing 
with  a  suction  pressure  varying  from  10  to  15  inches  of  vacuum,  to  30 
to  40  lbs.  pressure,  and  the  discharge  pressure  being  a  function  of  the 
condensing  water  temperature,  may  by  anything  from  70  lbs.  in  the 
winter  to  275  lbs.  in  the  summer;  this  may  be  further  increased  by 
air  and  uncondensable  gases  in  the  system. 

Safety  valves  should  be  specially  designed  for  ammonia  service 
and  in  no  case  should  a  safety  valve  intended  only  for  steam  or  water 
service   be  used.      If   any  parts   are   of   brass   they   will   waste   away 


1927.]  THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  139 

rapidly  due  to  the  action  of  ammonia  on  metal  of  this  kind.  The 
Massachusetts  Standard  ammonia  safety  valve  is  as  good  a  design  as 
Ave  know  of. 

It  is  always  advisable  to  use  a  diffuser  on  the  end  of  an  escape 
pipe  from  a  safety  valve  so  that  as  much  air  as  possible  will  mix  with 
the  ammonia  fumes.  The  discharge  from  the  safety  valve  escape  pipe 
should  be  at  a  suitable  location  so  that  the  fumes  will  not  endanger  life 
or  become  a  public  nuisance. 

Absorption  System, 

An  absorption  system  of  mechanical  refrigeration  consists  of  a 
generator,  analyzer,  rectifier,  condenser,  receiver,  expansion  valve,  ex- 
pansion coils,  absorber,  pump  and  exchanger.  The  general  principle 
upon  which  this  system  is  based  is  the  property  of  water  to  absorb 
ammonia  gas,  forming  aqua  ammonia.  The  colder  the  water  the  more 
gas  it  will  absorb.  After  the  water  has  absorbed  as  much  gas  as 
possible  the  gas  can  be  driven  from  the  water  by  application  of  heat. 
A  simplified  system  is  shown  on  page  140  and  is  described  below. 

Ammonia  gas  is  driven  from  the  strong  aqua  ammonia  liquor  in 
the  generator  by  the  heat  of  steam  coils.  The  gas  mixed  with  steam 
vapor  rises  under  pressure  and  passes  to  an  analyzer.  The  mixture 
passes  upward  through  perforated  trays  over  which  strong  liquor 
trickles  downward  to  the  generator.  The  descending  strong  liquor 
cools  the  rising  vapor  and  partially  condenses  the  steam.  The  final 
removal  of  steam  and  water  vapor  is  completed  in  a  vessel  known  as 
a  rectifier,  installed  between  the  analyzer  and  condenser.  All  such 
condensation  is  returned  to  the  generator. 

Ammonia  gas  passes  out  of  the  top  of  the  analyzer  through  the 
rectifier  and  into  the  condenser  in  which  it  strikes  the  cold  surface  of 
the  pipe  coil  through  which  cold  water  is  circulated.  The  ammonia 
is  here  condensed  to  a  liquid  and  flows  into  a  receiver  and  then  to  an 
expansion  valve,  passing  thence  to  the  expansion  coils  in  the  brine 
tank  or  refrigerating  rooms  where  it  vaporizes. 

At  this  point,  resemblance  to  the  compression  system  ceases.  The 
evaporated  ammonia  passes  to  a  vessel  known  as  an  absorber  where 
it  mingles  with  and  is  absorbed  by  the  weak  ammonia  liquor  which  is 
forced  from  the  bottom  of  the  generator.  In  the  process  of  absorption 
heat  is  produced  and  in  order  that  the  weak  liquor  may  readily  absorb 
the  gas,  this  heat  together  with  some  of  the  heat  remaining  in  the 
weak  liquor  must  be  absorbed.  This  is  done  by  a  cooling  coil  through 
which  cold  water  is  circulated. 

Due  to  pressure  produced  by  the  continuous  evaporation  in  the 


140 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE. 


[January, 


2 

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1927. \  TilK     LOCOMOTIVE.  141 

generator,  the  hot  weak  liquor  is  forced  from  the  bottom  of  the  gen- 
erator and  passes  through  a  coil  in  the  exchanger,  after  which  it  enters 
the  top  of  the  absorber.  The  cold  strong  liquor  is  pumped  from  the 
bottom  of  the  absorber  through  the  exchanger  and  into  the  top  of 
the  analyzer,  where  it  falls  to  the  generator.  In  the  exchanger,  the 
hot  weak  liquor  gives  up  a  large  proportion  of  its  heat  to  the  cold 
strong  liquor  thus  saving  both  cooling  water  in  the  absorber  and  steam 
ill  the  generator. 

The  absorber  and  generator  together  with  the  parts  lying  between 
them  take  the  place  of  the  compressor  of  the  compression  system, 
without  having  any  moving  parts  except  the  pump.  It  will  be  seen 
from  the  foregoing  that  there  are  two  complete  cycles,  the  course  of 
the  anhydrous  gas  and  the  liquid  ammonia  forming  one,  and  the  weak 
and  strong  aqua  ammonia  forming  the  other. 

Protection  of  System. 

Since  the  pressure  and  amount  of  ammonia  gas  driven  from  the 
generator  are  dependent  on  the  steam  coils  in  the  generator  it  will  be 
necessary  to  limit  the  pressure  of  steam  by  a  reducing  valve  on  the 
line  to  the  coils  and  a  safety  valve  between  the  reducing  valve  and 
coils.  The  pressure  of  steam  or  amount  of  heating  surface  of  the  coils 
should  not  exceed  that  necessary  to  obtain  the  designed  capacity  of 
the  system. 

The  generator  should  be  protected  from  over  pressure  by  an 
ammonia  safety  valve  of  a  size  corresponding  to  the  capacity  of  the 
system  and  set  at  a  pressure  not  exceeding  the  safe  working  pressure 
of  the  vessel,  and  this  safety  valve  should  discharge  into  the  atmos- 
phere. The  safety  valve  on  the  generator  may  discharge  into  the 
absorber  provided  the  absorber  is  protected  by  a  safety  valve  of  proper 
size  set  at  a  pressure  not  above  the  safe  working  pressure  of  the 
absorber  and  discharging  into  the  atmosphere. 

In  determining  the  proper  setting  of  the  safety  valve  on  the  gener- 
ator, it  should  be  considered  that  the  pressure  in  the  absorber  acts 
on  top  of  the  safety  valve  and  may  increase  the  pressure  required 
on  the  lower  side  of  the  valve  or  in  the  generator  to  make  it  operate. 
This  condition  may  be  somewhat  different  as  previously  explained. 

If  the  remaining  shell  constructed  vessels  of  the  system  can  be 
isolated  from  the  generator  by  stop  valves  they  should  be  protected 
by  at  least  ^-inch  safety  valves  discharging  into  the  atmosphere  or 
into  the  absorber  provided  the  absorber  is  properly  protected. 

In  case  all  safety  valves  discharge  into  the  atmosphere  the  absorber 
nevertheless  should  be  protected  from  over  pressure  by  an  ammonia 


142  THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  [January, 

safety  valve  of  a  size  corresponding  to  the  capacity  of  the  system  and 
set  to  discharge  into  the  atmosphere  at  a  pressure  not  exceeding  the 
safe  working  pressure  of  the  vessel. 

The  best  practice  is  to  provide  atmospheric  relief  for  all  ammonia 
vessels  and  compressors  and  where  by-pass  valves  are  used  it  is 
advisable  to  have  them  set  at  about  25  lbs.  less  than  the  valves  re- 
lieving to  the  atmosphere.  This  enables  excessive  pressure  to  be  re- 
lieved to  the  low  pressure  side,  thus  preventing  the  loss  of  ammonia, 
but  the  atmospheric  relief  valve  is  ready  to  function  in  case  of  failure 
of  the  by-pass  valve. 

Carbon  Dioxide. 

Carbon  dioxide  is  a  refrigerant  frequently  used  in  compression 
systems  and  the  principles  of  operation  are  similar  to  the  ammonia 
compression  system  except  that  the  head  pressure  is  much  higher ; 
usually  about  1000  or  1200  lbs.  The  compressor  is  usually  driven 
by  an  electric  motor  and  the  vessels  of  the  system  are  of  pipe  con- 
struction. The  compressor  should  have  a  safety  valve  installed  on  the 
discharge  pipe  between  the  stop  valve  and  compressor  and  set  to  dis- 
charge into  the  atmosphere  at  a  pressure  not  exceeding  the  safe  work- 
ing pressure  of  the  system.  An  automatic  pressure  limiting  device 
should  be  installed  which  will  stop  the  compressor  before  the  safety 
valve  begins  to  lift. 

H  any  of  the  vessels  of  the  system  are  of  the  shell  type  and  can 
be  isolated  by  stop  valves  they  should  be  protected  by  at  least  J^-inch 
safety  valves  of  proper  construction.  Over  pressure  rupturing  devices 
would  be  considered  the  equivalent  of  safety  valves  on  shell  type 
vessels. 

Sulphur  dioxide,  ethyl  and  methyl  chloride  are  other  refrigerating 
mediums  frequently  used.  Systems  using  these  chemicals  are  in- 
surable and  they  should  be  protected  in  about  the  same  manner  as 
carbon  dioxide  systems.  The  pressures  in  such  systems  are  much 
lower  than  in  the  carbon  dioxide  systems. 

Inspections 

Owners  should  plan  to  let  the  insurance  company  know  when 
vessels  of  shell  type  construction  are  to  be  opened  for  repairs  and 
cleaning,  and  internal  inspections  at  those  times  can  be  arranged  for. 
Be  certain  that  vessels  are  thoroughly  ventilated  and  valves  tightly 
closed  when  the  vessels  being  inspected  are  connected  with  others 
under  pressure.  Ammonia  gas  has  a  specific  gravity  considerably 
less  than  air,  and  therefore  it  has  a  tendency  to  rise.     Do  not  use  an 


1927.]  THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  143 

open  flame  light  for  inspection  purposes.  A  hand  flash  light  is  ad- 
vised. 

Ammonia  is  generally  not  corrosive  to  iron  or  steel  and  although 
wasting  away  of  metal  is  not  common,  the  remaining  defects  as  found 
in  unfired  pressure  vessels  can  be  looked  for. 

Test  gage  connections  should  be  installed  so  that  gages  can  be 
corrected. 

No  fires,  open  flames  or  flashing  electric  contacts  should  be  allowed 
around  ammonia  apparatus,  because  a  mixture  of  the  proper  propor- 
tions of  air  and  ammonia  gas  may  be  inflammable  and  explosive. 

Make  sure  the  condensing  water  is  cool,  sufficient  in  quantity  and 
from  an  unfailing  source. 

Broken  fittings  are  often  the  cause  of  shut  downs  which  usually 
are  expensive  due  to  the  escape  of  large  quantities  of  ammonia  and 
the  spoiling  of  brine,  spoiling  of  material  in  storage,  and  loss  of  produc- 
tion, to  say  nothing  of  the  possibility  of  the  injury  or  death  of  persons. 
The  engineer  should  investigate  the  possibility  of  ice  cans  striking  am- 
monia pipes  in  the  brine  tank  as  this  is  a  frequent  cause  of  broken 
fittings.  The  practice  of  standing  on  ammonia  pipes  and  fittings  has 
been  also  frequently  noted  and  such  practice  advised  against. 


European  Rotary  Economizer. 

MAINLY  from  the  standpoint  of  saving  in  floor  space,  according 
to  the  Zeitschrift  of  the  Steam  Boiler  Inspection  and  Insur- 
ance Company  of  Vienna,  Austria,  a  new  piece  of  power  plant 
apparatus  has  been  designed  which  functions  both  as  economizer  and 
induced  draft   fan. 

In  outward  appearance  and  size  this  fan-economizer  looks  like  an 
ordinary  fan,  but  the  rotor  consists  of  a  circular  nest  of  short  tubes 
fastened  in  two  hollow-disk  headers  through  which  the  feed  water  is 
pumped  by  way  of  the  hollow  shaft.  The  tubes  are  provided  on  their 
outside  surface  with  sheet  metal  fins  similar  to  those  on  air-cooled 
compressor  cyhnders.  No  cast  iron  is  used  in  the  construction  of  the 
economizer  as  it  is  intended  for  high  boiler  pressures. 

The  results  obtained  with  this  apparatus  are  reported  as  remark- 
ablv  ffood. 


Learn  to  laugh.  A  good  laugh  is  better  than  medicine.  When 
you  smile  or  laugh,  your  brain  for  a  moment  is  freed  from  the  load 
that  it  ordinarily  carries.  —  Selected. 


144 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


[January, 


Explosion  of  a  Steam  Turbine  Casing  Due  to  Overpressure. 

THE  presence  of  a  stop  valve  in  the  exhaust  line  of  a  turbine  is 
in  some  cases  a  necessity  as,  for  instance,  when  two  or  more  tur- 
bines utilize  the  same  condenser  or  exhaust  into  a  common  low 


Fig.   I. 

pressure  supply  line.  Such  a  valve,  however,  introduces  a  hazard 
that  is  not  always  appreciated,  for  where  there  is  a  valve  there  is 
always  the  possibility  of  its  being  closed  at  the  wrong  time.  The 
presence  of  this  stop  valve  in  the  exhaust  line  presents  the  possibility 
of  the  low  pressure  end  of  the  turbine  being  subjected  to  full  boiler 
pressure.     Since  the  low  pressure  casing  is  not  designed  to  withstand 


1 927-] 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE. 


145 


high  pressures,  it  should  be  protected  against  over  pressure  by  an  atmos- 
pheric relief  valve. 

The  explosion  of  a  50  kvv.  turbine,  the.  results  of  which  are  shown 
in  the  accompanying  picture,  was  due  to  the  closing  of  a  valve  in  the 
exhaust  line  under  rather  unusual  conditions.  The  turbine  had  been 
in  operation  as  usual  for  several  hours  when  it  suddenly  lost  its  load 

and  was  tripped  out  by  an 
overspeed  safety  device. 
This  occurred  during  the 
early  hours  of  the  morning, 
and  the  plant  being  in  dark- 
ness due  to  the  shut  down, 
the  fireman  on  duty  made 
an  effort  to  start  up  the  tur- 
bine again.  He  first  closed, 
or  endeavored  to  close,  the 
throttle  valve,  but  appar- 
ently became  confused  in 
the  dark  and  closed  the  ex- 
haust valve  instead.  Upon 
opening  the  valve  that  had 
been  closed  by  the  over- 
speed  mechanism,  full 
boiler  pressure  was  thrown 
upon  the  turbine  casing  be- 
cause the  throttle  valve  had 
remained  open.  The  cas- 
ing was  so  completely 
wrecked  and  the  shaft  so 
badly  sprung  that  the  tur- 
bine had  to  be  replaced  by  a 
new  one.  The  direct  con- 
nected generator  suffered  damage  to  several  coils.  Greater  damage 
would  undoubtedly  have  resulted  if  the  machine  had  been  in  motion. 

This  turbine  casing  was  not  protected  by  an  atmospheric  relief 
valve  but  it  did  have  an  interlocking  device  connecting  the  steam  and 
exhaust  valves  which  it  was  thought  made  a  relief  valve  unnecessary. 
The  construction  of  this  device  is  shown  in  the  diagram,  Fig.  2.  A 
vertical  sliding  rod  was  supported  by  guides  and  contained  two  hori- 
zontal arms,  one  of  which  terminated  in  a  downward  projecting  fork, 
and  the  other  in  a  downward  projecting  cap.     The  cap  fitted  over  the 


146  THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  [January, 

rising  stem  of  the  exhaust  valve  so  that  the  whole  arrangement  moved 
lip  or  down  as  the  exhaust  valve  was  opened  or  closed.  When  the 
valve  was  closed,  the  rod  was  in  its  lowest  position  and  the  fork  pro- 
jected between  the  spokes  of  the  wheel  on  the  throttle  valve,  thus  pre- 
venting it  from  being  opened.  When  the  exhaust  valve  was  opened 
the  fork,  of  course,  was  withdrawn. 

Such  an  arrangement  at  best  is  really  only  a  reminder  to  the 
operator,  for  it  is  quite  evident  that  the  exhaust  valve  could  be  manipu- 
lated at  will  regardless  of  the  position  of  the  steam  valve,  and  this 
completely  nullified  the  arrangement  as  a  safety  device.  To  be  really 
safe  there  is  one  feature  that  every  safety  device  should  have,  —  it 
should  be  completely  automatic  and  not  dependent  upon  thought  or 
action  of  an  attendant.  An  atmospheric  relief  valve  on  the  exhaust 
connections  without  intervening  stop-valve  is  a  practical  and  safe  means 
of  preventing  overpressure  on  a  turbine  casing.  Such  a  relief  valve 
would  no  doubt  have  prevented  this  explosion. 


Steam-Boiler  Development. 

WITH  the  rapid  developments  in  steam-boiler  practice  during 
the  past  few  years,  many  problems  have  arisen  that  appear  to 
give  concern  not  only  to  the  boiler  manufacturer,  but  also  to 
the  inspection  departments  responsible  for  the  safety  of  boilers  and 
pressure  vessels.  The  increasing  demands  for  heat  economy,  particu- 
larly in  connection  with  the  large  power  stations  now  coming  into  use, 
have  boosted  operating  steam  pressures  up  from  former  maximums 
of  350  and  400  lb.  to  600,  900,  and  1200  lb.  The  critical  pressure  of 
steam,  3300  lb.,  is  also  suggested. 

The  grave  questions  concerning  pipe  connections  and  fittings, 
gaskets,  packing,  etc.,  for  these  higher  pressures  appear  capable  of 
satisfactory  solution.  The  several  installations  operating  at  1200  lb. 
or  more  have  apparently  overcome  such  problems  with  a  reasonable 
degree  of  satisfaction,  and  research  concerning  the  effect  of  the  ex- 
tremely high  temperatures  encountered  at  such  pressures  is  developing- 
a  tremendous  amount  of  valuable  information  concerning  the  char- 
acteristics of  metals  and  alloys  that  are  most  suitable  for  the  various 
classes  of  service. 

One  of  the  most  striking  features  of  this  development  is  the  fact 

that   with  drums  of   relatively   small   diameters   these   high   pressures 

demand  shell  thicknesses  that  exceed  the  practical  limits  of  riveting- 

g  for  the  joints.     This  has  influenced  the  use  of  forged  seamless  drums 


1927-]  THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  147 

and  here  the  valuable  experience  developed  in  heavy  forging  of  large- 
bore  rifles,  hydraulic  cylinders,  etc.  is  turned  to  the  advantage  of  the 
boiler  manufacturer.  This  development  has,  it  may  be  stated,  re- 
vealed the  necessity  of  introducing  a  new  specification  for  the  material 
required  for  such  forgings,  but  the  Boiler  Code  Committee  in  co- 
operation with  the  American  Society  for  Testing  Materials  has  been 
able  to  meet  this  need  of  industry.  Such  a  specification  has  just  been 
approved  for  publication  as  an  addendum  to  the  Material  Specifications 
Section  of  the  Code     .... 

With  drums  of  such  great  shell  thickness  the  attachments  of 
nozzles  or  other  fittings  for  outlet  connections  and  the  like  have  de- 
manded treatment  that  is  relatively  new  in  steam-boiler  practice. 
In  some  instances  it  has  been  found  possible  to  forge  down  an  end 
of  the  drum  and  machine  directly  upon  it  a  pipe  flange  for  connection 
to  header  or  main  stop  valve.  In  others  where  a  nozzle  at  the  side 
is  desired  it  is  found  more  satisfactory  to  fasten  the  flange  plate  or 
nozzle  fitting  with  studs  instead  of  rivets,  the  thickness  of  the  shell 
affording  ample  depth  of  thread.  It  has  even  been  proposed  to  insert 
the  end  neck  of  a  long-bodied  nozzle  through  a  drilled  hole  in  the 
shell  of  such  a  thick  drum  and  expand  it  at  the  inner  end  like  a  boiler 
tube,  and  it  is  of  course  generally  recognized  that  such  a  plan  has  merit.. 

Not  alone  in  the  problem  of  shell  construction  are  difficulties  en- 
countered in  high  pressure  boiler  design  —  all  fittings  and  attach- 
ments require  special  treatment  and  in  many  instances  different  ma- 
terials of  construction.  Feed  connections  and  piping,  blow-off  piping 
and  valves,  and  steam  and  water  gages  all  require  special  design  as 
well  as  special  materials.  Brass  and  bronze  are  frowned  upon  by  the 
Boiler  Code  for  use  at  pressures  in  excess  of  200  lbs.  per  sq.  in.,  as  at 
the  temperatures  accompanying  such  pressures  a  pronounced  weaken- 
ing of  the  material  is  to  be  noted.  Almost  a  new  art  has  been  developed 
in  water-gage,  steam-gage  and  safety-valve  construction. 

Broadly  viewed,  the  art  of  boiler  construction  seems  to  be  inclined 
to  depart  from  its  accustomed  channels  of  practice  for  many  years 
past,  and  it  is  indeed  a  study  of  the  greatest  interest  to  observe  the 
tendencies  toward  which  it  is  drifting.  It  is  a  general  impression  that 
important  new  developments  are  still  to  appear  in  this  field. 

—  Mechanical  Engineering, 


S-MlLES 


He  bought  some  tires  that  "  smile  at  miles,"  but  they  burst  out 
laughing.  —  Selected. 


148 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE. 


[January, 


iiw 


Devoted  to  Power  Plant  Protection 


PlBLlSllED  Ql..\RTERLY 


Bexj.  C.  Cruickshanks,  Editor. 


HARTFORD,   JANUARY,    1927. 

SlKGL£  COPIES  ccM  be  obtained  free  by  calling  at  any  of  the  company's  asenciet^ 

SuO^cription  price  SO  cents  per  year  ivhen  mailed  from  this  office. 

Recent  bound  volum.es  one  dollar  each.    Earlier  ones  t-ivo  dollars, 

Reprinting  fnatler  from  this  paper  is  permitted  tf  credited  to 

The  Locomotive  of  the  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  I.  &  I.  Co. 


President  Blake's  Anniversary. 

ON  Saturday,  November  20th,  1926,  occurred  the  tenth  anniver- 
sary of  President  Blake's  election  as  the  head  of  this  Company. 
At  the  next  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Directors  on  November 
24th,  this  event  was  noted  by  a  review  of  the  progress  which  the  Com- 
pany had  made  in  the  previous  ten  years.  In  recognition  of  this  anni- 
versary and  of  the  wonderful  growth  and  development  shown  by  this 
review,  the- Board  of  Directors  unanimously  passed  the  following  vote: 

"  At  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Directors  of  The  Hartford  Steam 
Boiler  Inspection  and  Insurance  Company,  of  Hartford,  Connecticut, 
held  November  twenty- fourth,  nineteen  hundred  and  twenty  six,  it 
was  unanimously  A'OTED :  That  in  commemoration  of  the  tenth 
anniversary,,  —  on  November  twentieth,  nineteen  hundred  and  twenty 
six,  —  of  the  election  of  Charles  S.  Blake  to  the  presidency  of  this 
Company,  the  following  minute  be  entered  on  our  record,  and  that 
a  suitable  engrossed  copy  of  it  be  prepared,  signed  by  each  Director, 
and  presented  to  President  Blake  as  a  testimonial  of  our  high  regard 
for  him. 

"  W'e  deeply  regret  that  the  illness  of  President  Blake  prevents 
our  expressing  to  him  personally  our  hearty  congratulations  on  the 
occasion  of  the  tenth  anniversary  of  his  election  as  head  of  this 


19^7-]  THE     LOCOMOTIVE.  ;[49 

Company  and  on  the  wonderful  progress  the  Company  has  made 
under  his  administration.  But  in  his  absence,  perhaps  with  less 
embarrassment  to  him,  we  may  record  more  freely  and  frankly 
our  appreciation  of  him  and  of  his  service  to  the  Company. 

"  During  these  last  ten  years  the  steady  gain  which  our  Com- 
pany has  made  in  business  and  financial  strength  has  been  a  source 
of  deep  satisfaction  to  us,  but  the  report  which  has  been  submitted 
today,  comparing  current  business  statistics  with  those  of  ten  years 
ago,  makes  us  realize  more  than  ever  how  great  has  been  our 
progress.  The  figures  in  it  evidence  the  material  prosperity  our 
Company  has  attained  and  now  enjoys  under  President  Blake's 
leadership  but  they  imply  even  more,  for  so  substantial  a  growth 
must  mean  increasing  public  recognition  of  the  usefulness  of  our 
institution.  Other  statistics  of  today's  report  confirm  this  and  show 
that  by  broadening  the  field  of  its  activities  to  meet  the  needs  of 
industrial  development  The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection  and 
Insurance  Company  has  maintained  its  paramount  position  in  the 
face  of  growing  competition  as  the  largest  insurer  of  those  hazards 
which  threaten  the  production  of  mechanical  power. 

"  That  the  efforts  of  the  ofificials  and  the  employees  of  the  Com- 
pany and  their  loyal  devotion  to  its  interests  have  had  an  important 
part  in  this  growth  and  prosperity  we  have  no  doubt,  but  we  recog- 
nize that  it  is  President  Blake  who  has  co-ordinated  their  work ; 
directed  their  activity ;  inspired  their  enthusiasm,  and  whose  char- 
acter is  reflected  throughout  the  organization  and  that  he,  there- 
fore, is  primarily  responsible  for  the  splendid  results  attained, 

"  We  desire  to  express  our  deep  satisfaction  that  ten  years  ago 
we  elected  Mr.  Blake  our  President.  We  extend  to  him  our  affec- 
tionate greetings  and  our  earnest  hope,  encouraged  by  his  already 
improved  condition,  that  he  will  be  speedily  restored  to  complete 
health  and  strength." 


/">  INCE  our  last  issue,  two  new  members  have  been  added  to  the 
!^  Board  of  Directors  of  The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection  and 
Insurance  Company.  At  a  meeting  of  the  Board  held  October  25th, 
1926,  Shiras  Morris,  President  of  the  Hart  and  Hegeman  Manufactur- 
ing Company  of  Hartford,  Connecticut,  was  elected  to  fill  the  vacancy 
caused  by  the  death  of  the  late  Morgan  G.  Bulkeley,  Jr. ;  and  at  a 
meeting  held  November  24th,  1926,  His  Excellency,  John  H.  Trum- 
bull, Governor  of  Connecticut  and  President  of  The  Trumbull  Electric 
Manufacturing  Company  of  Plainville,  Connecticut,  was  elected  to 
fill  the  vacancy  caused  by  the  death  of  the  late  Atwood  Collins. 


150  THE     LOCOMOTIVE.  [January, 


Mechanical  Refrigeration. 

ytT  a  popular  lecture  on  the  subject  of  refrigeration  the  speaker 
/"A  opened  his  talk  with  the  statement  that  ice  contains  heat  and  that 
a  stated  number  of  pounds  of  ice  contained  enough  heat  to  make 
the  auditorium  comfortable  on  a  cold  day.  This,  of  course,  is  true,  but 
unfortunately  ice  is  at  such  a  low  temperature  that  its  heat  is  not 
of  any  use  to  us  at  moderate  temperatures.  Hence  we  are  not  much 
interested  in  the  heat  content  of  ice,  but  we  are  very  greatly  interested 
in  the  fact  that  it  will  absorb  heat  from  its  surroundings.  Heat  flows 
down  hill,  that  is,  from  a  substance  of  higher  temperature  to  one  of 
lower  temperature;  and  as  ice  is  at  a  subnormal  temperature  and 
absorbs  considerable  heat  in  melting,  it  is  the  focus  of  heat  flow  from 
all  objects  near  it.     These  objects  are  thus  cooled  or  refrigerated. 

At  first  all  ice  was  natural  ice  and  was  harvested  in  winter  from 
rivers  and  ice  ponds  and  stored  in  special  ice  houses  until  needed. 
This  method  was,  and  still  is,  fairly  satisfactory  in  the  northerly  lat- 
itudes where  the  production  of  natural  ice  is  abundant,  but  it  involved 
long  hauls  and  repacking  for  use  further  south  where  refrigeration 
is  required  to  a  far  greater  extent.  Under  such  conditions  the  de- 
velopment of  mechanical  refrigeration  and  the  manufacture  of  arti- 
ficial ice  were  inevitable,  and  the  process  has  been  so  improved  that 
artificial  ice  economically  competes  with  natural  ice  even  where  the 
latter  is  abundant.  Artificial  ice  can  therefore  be  produced  in  any 
climate  in  quantities  proportional  to  the  local  demand.  Hauling  even 
from  nearby  ice  ponds  is  eliminated  by  the  erection  of  manufacturing 
plants  within  cities,  the  centers  of  demand. 

Not  many  years  ago  mechanical  refrigerating  systems  were  built 
only  in  fairly  large  units,  but  with  the  development  of  smaller  units 
the  market  has  expanded  so  that  today  the  small  store  or  soda 
fountain  depending  upon  ice  packs  for  its  refrigeration  is  becoming 
the  exception.  The  office  building  or  industrial  plant  of  fair  size 
is  almost  certain  sooner  or  later  to  have  its  own  refrigerating  system 
if  only  for  cooling  drinking  water.  The  operating  engineer  will  thus 
come  more  and  more  into  contact  with  such  equipment  and  will  be 
expected  to  know  how  to  operate  and  to  care  for  it.  The  safety  of 
the  system  is,  of  course,  paramount,  and  this  requires  a  thorough 
understanding  of  the  manner  in  which  each  piece  of  equipment  should 
function.  An  interesting  and  helpful  discussion  of  the  subject  will 
be  found  in  this  issue. 


1927] 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


151 


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1927.]  THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  257 


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Tlie  HartforH  Steani  BoUei  Uispectioii  0  \mw  Gonipais 


ABSTRACT  OF  STATEMENT,  DECEMBER  31,  1923 

Capital  Stock,         .      '  .         $2,500,000.00 

ASSETS 

Cash  in  offices  and  banks $699,859.61 

.Real   Estate 27i,7S7-i6 

^Mortgage  and  collateral  loans 1,650,188.00 

Bonds  and  stocks 11,233,196.67 

Premiums  in  course  of  collection   .......  1,341,102.96 

Interest  Accrued 141,983-25 


Total    Assets 


LIABILITIES 
Reserved  for  unearned  premiums  . 
Reserve  for  losses  .... 

Reserve  for  taxes  and  other  contingencies 

Capital  Stock 

Surplus  over  all  liabilities     . 

Surplus  to  Policyholders, 


15.338,087.6s 

6,433,164.02 
283,273.98 
707,384.81 


2,500,000.00 
5,414,264.84 


$7,914,264.84 


Total   Liabilities 15,338,087.65 

CHARLES  S.  BLAKE,  President. 

WM.  R.  C.  CORSON,  Vice-President  and  Treasurer. 

E.  SIDNEY  BERRY,  Second  Vice-President. 

LOUIS  F.  MIDDLEBROOK,  Secretary. 

J.  J.  GRAHAM,  Assistant  Secretary. 

HALSEY   STEVENS,  Assistant   Secretary. 

C.  EDGAR  BLAKE,  Assistant  Treasurer. 

SHERWOOD  F.  JETER,  Chief  Engineer. 

KENNETH  A.  REED,  Electrical  Engineer. 

HARRY  E.  DART,  Supt.  Engineering  Dept. 

BOARD   OF   DIRECTORS 


LUCIUS  F.  ROBINSON,  Attorney,  Hart- 
ford,   Conn. 

JOHN  O.  ENDERS,  Chairman  Board  of 
Trustees,  United  States  Security  Trust 
Co.,    Hartford,    Conn. 

.\10RG.\N  B.  BRAINARD,  President 
.^tna  Life  Insurance  Co.,  Hartford, 
Conn. 

CHARLES  P.  COOLEY,  President  Society 
for    Savings,    Hartford,    Conn. 

HORACE  B.  CHENEY,  Cheney  Brothers, 
Silk  Manufacturers,  South  Manchester, 
Conn. 

NEWTON  BARNEY,  Vice-President 
The  Hartford  Electric  Light  Co.,  Hart- 
ford,   Conn. 

GEORGE  C.  F.  WILLIAMS,  Presi- 
dent The  Capewell  Horse  Nail  Co., 
Hartford,    Conn. 

JOSEPH  R.  ENSIGN,  President  The 
Ensign-Bickford    Co.,    Simsbury,    Conn. 


n 


DR. 


EDWARD  MILLIGAN,  President  Phoenix 
Insurance    Co.,    Hartford,    Conn. 

CHARLES  S.  BLAKE,  President  The 
Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection  and 
Insurance    Co.,    Hartford,    Conn. 

WM.  R.  C.  CORSON,  Vice-President  The 
Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection  and 
Insurance    Co.,    Hartford,    Conn. 

SAMUEL  M.  STONE,  President  The  Colt's 
Patent  Fire  Arms  Mfg.  Co.,  Hartford, 
Conn. 

SAMUEL  FERGUSON,  President  The 
Hartford  Electric  Light  Co.,  Hartford 
Conn. 

SHIRAS  MORRIS,  President  The  Hart 
&-   Hegeman   Mfg.   Co.,   Hartford,   Conn. 

HON.  JOHN  H.  TRUMBULL,  President 
The  Trumbull  Electric  Mfg.  Co., 
Plainville,    Conn. 


Incorporated  1866 


Ch:irter   Perpetual 


INSURES  AGAINST  LOSS  FROM  DAMAGE  TO  PROPERTY 
AND  INJURY  TO  PERSONS,  DUE  TO  THE  EXPLO- 
SIONS OF  BOILERS  OR  FLYWHEELS  OR 
THE  BREAKDOWN  OF  ENGINES  OR 
ELECTRICAL  MACHINERY 


Department 

ATLANTA,    Ga 

1103-1106  Atlanta   Trust   Bldg 
BALTIMORE,  Ud.,  . 

13-14-15  Abell  Bldg. 
BOSTON,  Mass. 

4  Liberty  Sq.,   Cor.   Water   St 
BRIDGEPORT,  Conn.,       . 

404-405  City  Savings  Bank  Bid 
CHICAGO,   111., 

209  West  Jackson  B'l'v'd. 


CINCINNATI,   Ohio, 

First  National  Bank  Bldg. 
CLEVELAND,    Ohio, 

Leader  Bldg.    . 
DENVER,    Colo., 

916-918  Gas  &  Electric  Bldj 
HARTFORD,  Conn., 

56  Prospect  St. 
NEW  ORLEANS,  La., 

Hibernia   Bank   Bldg. 
NEW  YORK,  N.  Y.,  . 

80  Maiden  Lane 

PHILADELPHIA,   Pa., 

429  Walnut  St. 
PITTSBURGH,  Pa.,  . 

1807-8-9- 10  Arrott  Bldg 
PORTLAND,   Ore.,    . 

306  Yeon  Bldg., 
SEATTLE,  Wash.,     . 

415   Dexter-Horton   Bldg, 
SAN  FRANCISCO,  Cal., 

339-341   Sansome  St. 

ST.  LOUIS,  Mo.,       . 

610-618  Security  Bldg. 
TORONTO,   Canada, 

Federal  Bldg.  . 


Representatives 

W.  M.  Francis,  Manager. 

C.  R.  Summers,  Chief  Inspector. 

Lawford  &  McKiM,  General  Agents. 

James  G.  Reid,  Chief  Inspector. 

Ward  I.  Cornell,  Manager. 

W.   A.   Bayliss,   Chief   Inspector. 

W.  G.  LiNEBURGH  &  Son,  General  Agents. 

A.  E.  Bonnet,  Chief  Inspector. 

P.  M.  Murray,  Manager. 

J.  P.  Morrison,  Chief  Inspector. 

J.  T.   Coleman,  Ass't  Chief  Inspector. 

C.  W.  ZiMMER,  Ass't  Chief   Inspector. 

W.  E.  Gleason,  Manager. 

W.    E.    G'  ENNON,    Chief    Inspector. 

A.   Paul  Graham,  Manager. 

L.   T.   Gregg,  Chief   Inspector. 

J.  H.  Chesnutt, 

Manager  and  Chief  Inspector. 
F.  H.  Kenyon,  General  Agent. 
A.  E.   Bonnet,   Chief  Inspector. 
R.  T.  Burwell,  Mgr.  and  Chief  Inspector. 
E.  Unsworth,  Ass't  Chief  Inspector. 
C.  C.  Gardiner,  Manager. 
E.  Mason  Parry,  Chief  Inspector. 
R.  P.  Guy,  Ass't  Chief  Inspector. 
A.  S.  Wickham,  Manager. 
S.  B.  Adams,  Chief  Inspector. 
Geo.  S.  Reynolds,  Manager. 
J.  A.  Snyder,  Chief  Inspector. 
Bates,  Lively  &  Pearson,  Gen'l  Agents. 
C.  B.  Paddock,  Chief  Inspector. 
C.  B.  Paddock,  Chief  Inspector. 

H.  R.  Mann  &  Co.,  General  Agents. 

J.  B.  Warner,  Chief  Inspector. 

L.  J.  Reed,  Ass't  Chief  Inspector. 

Chas.  D.  Ashcroft,  Manager. 

Eugene  Webb,  Chief  Inspector. 

H.   N.   Roberts,   President  The   Boiler   In- 

soection     and     Insurance     Company     of 

Canada. 


^t 


tUM  ilia 


Consult  your  agent  or  broker  or  write  for 
details    to   the  nearest   branch    office   of 

THE  HARTFORD  STEAM  BOILER 
INSPECTION  and  INSURANCE  CO. 

HARTFORD  CONNECTICUT 


"The  oldest  in  the  Country,  the  largest  in  the  world" 


ELECTRICAL-^^^Jxi^M^ 

MACHINERit^^"'^^' 
INSURANCE    iwi 

Inspections  made  by  HARTFORD  ELECTRICAL 
INSPECTORS  are  of  the  same  thorough  character  as  those 
that  have  made  HARTFORD  BOILER  INSPECTIONS 
the  standard  for  comparison. 

A  Hartford  Electrical  Policy 

PROTECTS  against  loss  due  to 
Burnouts 

Short  Circuits 
Lightning 

Mechanical  Breakage 

Explosion  from  overspeed 
Etc. 
INSURES 

Rotating  Machinery 
Transformers 
Switchboards 
',  Etc. 


Devoted  to  Power  Plant  Protection 


Published  Qu^uiterly 


Vol.  XXXVI 


HARTFORD,  CONN.,  APRIL,   1927. 


No.  6. 


COPYRIGHT,  1927,  BY  THE  HARTFORD  STEAM  BOILER  INSPECTION  AND  INSURANCE  CO. 


Steam  Turbine  Explosion  at  Chillicothe,  Ohio. 

THERE  IS  VALUABLE  INFORMATION 

FOR  YOUR  ENGINEER  IN  THIS  MAGAZINE. 

PLEASE  LET  HIM  SEE  IT. 


162  THE   LOCOMOTIVE.  [April, 


Steam  Turbine  Explosion  at  Chillioothe,  Ohio. 

THE  disruption  of  a  disk  in  the  third  stage  on  the  rotor  of  a  3,000 
kw.  turbine  Friday  morning,  August  20th,  1926,  at  the  plant  of 
the  Mead  Pulp  and  Paper  Company,  Chillicothe,  Ohio,  resulted  in 
a  property  loss  of  $43,000  not  counting  the  use  and  occupancy  loss. 
Two  men  were  injured,  but  fortunately  their  injuries  were  not  serious 
despite  the  fact  that  one  of  the  men  at  the  time  of  the  accident  was 
standing  beside  the  machine  that  exploded.  A  view  of  the  turbine  after 
the  explosion  is  shown  on  the  front  cover. 

The  property  damage  was  heavy  but  was  confined  almost  entirely 
to  the  turbo-generator  unit  itself.  The  steam  end  of  the  unit  was  a 
complete  loss,  and  in  addition  considerable  damage  was  done  to  the 
electric  generator.  The  bell  end  of  the  generator  casing  was  cracked, 
the  shaft  sprung,  and  the  field  winding  damaged  to  such  extent  that  it 
eventually  had  to  be  rewound.  About  three  hundred  condenser  tubes 
were  destroyed  by  pieces  of  metal  falling  into  the  condenser,  and  a 
20  inch  expansion  joint  for  the  extraction  connection  of  the  turbine  and 
a  48  inch  expansion  joint  for  the  exhaust  connection  were  destroyed. 

The  ruptured  disk  separated  into  three  pieces  in  addition  to  the 
portion  that  remained  on  the  shaft.  One  piece  that  flew  off  could  not 
be  located,  and  another  piece  was  found  beside  the  machine.  The  third 
piece,  weighing  117  lbs.,  went  out  through  the  roof  of  the  turbine  room. 
It  made  a  big  hole  in  the  roof,  partly  wrecked  a  roof  truss,  and  came 
down  through  the  roof  of  the  residence  of  a  prominent  physician 
approximately  one  half  mile  away,  passed  through  the  attic  floor  and 
a  second  story  bedroom,  and  came  to  rest  on  an  expensive  davenport 
close  to  a  grand  piano  in  a  music  room  on  the  first  floor.  Besides 
damage  done  to  the  building  there  was  considerable  damage  to  the 
Doctor's  costly  furniture.     His  loss  was  about  $2,500. 

The  piece  of  the  wheel  that  traveled  this  distance  was  heard  in  its 
flight  by  a  number  of  people  in  the  neighborhood.  They  all  agree  that 
it  made  a  noise  very  similar  to  that  of  an  airplane,  so  much  so  that 
they  were  sure  an  airplane  had  struck  the  house. 

Nothing  unusual  had  been  observed  in  the  operation  of  the  machine 
just  prior  to  the  accident.  It  had  been  in  continuous  operation  for 
several  days,  carrying  little  more  than  one  half  its  rated  load.  Some 
difficulty  had  previously  been  experienced  due  to  vibration  such  that 
the  machine  was  not  allowed  to  carry  its  full  load,  and  arrangements  had 
been  made  to  have  an  inspection  by  a  factory  representative  the  follow- 
ing week-end.     The  inspector  arrived  the  afternoon  of  the  day  of  the 


1927.]  THE   LOCOMOTIVE.  163 

accident  in  accordance  with  previous  arrangements  and  without  knowl- 
edge of  the  accident. 

The  failure  occurred  just  after  the  operating  engineer  had  made  an 
entry  in  the  log  and  had  returned  to  the  turbine,  where  he  was 
standing  performing  some  minor  duty.  He  was  slightly  injured  but 
retained  his  presence  of  mind.  He  immediately  ran  around  to  the 
throttle  valve  and  shut  off  the  steam.  It  later  appeared,  however,  that 
this  had  been  done  by  the  automatic  stop  which  was  caused  to  operate 
by  a  piece  of  the  disk  striking  it.  Practically  no  steam  escaped  into 
the  engine  room. 

The  Hartford  Company  paid  $49,500  for  loss  caused  by  this 
accident. 


Steam  Jacketed  Kettles.* 

By  J,  P,  Morrison,  Chief  Inspector,  Chicago  Department 

ONE  identified  with  The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection  and 
Insurance  Company  derives  great  pleasure  from  attending  a 
meeting  of  this  kind,  for  we  have  been  engaged  in  "  safety 
first"  work  for  something  over  sixty  years.  In  fact,  I  am  sure  we 
may  confidently  say  that  we  were  the  pioneers  in  that  field.  Our 
first  policy  of  insurance,  issued  about  sixty  years  ago,  and  subsequent 
policies  carry  the  provision  that  our  inspectors  have  reasonable  access 
to  the  boiler,  steam  jacketed  kettle,  or  other  insured  object,  for  the 
purpose  of  making  inspection,  to  prevent  loss  of  life,  injury  to  persons, 
and  damage  to  property. 

When  the  inspection  work  was  inaugurated,  the  steam  boiler  was 
looked  upon  as  the  source  of  energy  most  likely  to  get  beyond  control 
and  wreck  the  surrounding  property,  but  as  industries  developed,  and 
changing  living  conditions  resulted  in  the  establishment  of  immense 
food  preparing  plants  in  which  the  old  fashioned  preserving  kettle, 
which  the  housewife  had  used  on  the  kitchen  range,  was  replaced  by 
vessels  of  much  greater  capacity,  using  steam  instead  of  the  direct 
action  of  the  fire  as  the  heating  element,  the  safety  of  such  equipment 
naturally  became  one  which  concerned  not  only  the  owner  of  the 
establishment,  but  the  public  in  general,  as  the  explosion  of  a  jacketed 
kettle  or  rendering  tank  was  quite  likely  to  be  disastrous. 

The  things  having  a  direct  influence  on  the  safety  of  steam 
jacketed  kettles,  retorts,  rendering  tanks,  and  pressure  vessels  of  most 


*A  paper  presented  before  a  meeting  of  the  Food  Section  of  the   National   Safety  Council 
at   Detroit,   Michigan,   October   26,    1926. 


164 


THE   LOCOMOTIVE 


[April, 


every  description,  may  be  grouped  under  the  classification  of  material, 
design,  construction,  installation  and  operation. 

The  material  should  be  suitable  for  the  purpose  intended.  Many 
of  the  acids  and  gases  which  result  from  food  preparing  processes 
have  a  rapidly  corrosive  effect  upon  iron  and  iron  alloys,  while  they 
may  affect  to  a  less  extent  such  material  as  copper  and  aluminum. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  vessel  of  copper  and  aluminum  may  not 
safely  withstand  the  pressure  which  could  be  carried  upon  a  similar 
vessel  constructed  of  steel. 


"D-  artier  af-DoHom   ^      ■■ 


-D^?ry^ 


Z  'Ou/Ze/ 


Fig.  I. 


Assuming  the  material  and  design  of  the  vessel  is  all  that  it  should 
be,  the  methods  of  construction  employed  by  the  manufacturer  may 
be  such  that  the  vessel  is  irreparably  damaged,  and  does  not  possess 
a  sufficient  margin  of  safety  when  it  reaches  the  purchaser.  Such 
imperfections  may  be  so  concealed  by  other  parts  of  the  structure 
that  they  cannot  be  detected  until  failure  takes  place.  A  means  of 
avoiding  methods  of  that  kind  is  to  provide  in  the  specifications  for 
rigid  shop  inspection  by  an  expert  representing  the  purchaser.  We 
frequently  encounter  the  excuse  —  "  That's  good  enough,"  when 
material  or  workmanship  is  criticised  by  the  shop  inspector.  I  know 
of  nothing  which  will  undermine  and  destroy  the  workman's  judgment 
more  rapidly.  The  man  who  is  continuously  being  satisfied  with 
inferior  goods  because  it  is  "  good  enough,"  soon  loses  the  power  to 
judge  and  appreciate  perfect  work. 

You  will  recognize  this  slide  (Fig.  i)  as  representing  a  hemispherical, 
jacketed,  copper  kettle,  such  as  is  used  in  the  majority  of  food 
preserving  plants.     The  outside  shell  of  the  jacketed  section  is  exposed 


1927.]  THE    L  O  C  O  ^T  O  T  T  V  E  .  265 

to  stresses  tending  to  pull  the  copper  sheet  apart,  while  the  inside 
shell  is  subjected  to  collapsing  stresses,  which  copper,  as  a  material, 
is  poorly  equipped  to  resist.  The  small  cross  section  illustrated  gives 
an  idea  of  the  manner  in  which  the  material  was  stretched  during  the 
process  of  manufacture.  This  reduction  in  thickness  could  not  be 
detected  after  the  parts  were  assembled,  so  the  vessel  continued  in 
operation  without  its  weakness  being  suspected,  until  it  failed  quite 
violently,  causing  the  deaths  of  two  men.  The  manufacturer  of  such 
equipment  should  know  if  his  finished  product  possesses  but  one  third 
the  thickness  and  one  third  the  strength  the  material  had  before 
fabrication  was  commenced. 

We  encounter  a  great  variety  of  methods  of  connecting  up  food 
cooking  equipment.  In  some  cases  there  is  a  safety  valve  on  one 
steam  line  leading  to  the  kettle  although  there  may  be  two  or  more 
such  steam  lines  without  any  pressure  regulating  device.  Again,  the 
safety  valve  intended  to  protect  the  vessel  from  an  overpressure  may 
be  located  directly  on  the  vessel,  which,  in  the  case  of  rendering  tanks 
and  objects  used  in  kindred  service,  is  prohibited,  as  the  contents 
of  the  tank  are  quite  likely  to  obstruct  the  safety  valve  if  it  has 
occasion  to  operate,  so  future  operations  will  be  seriously  interfered 
with,  if  not  absolutely  prevented. 

The  food  preparing  plant  should  be  equipped  with  a  sufficient 
number  of  steam  headers  so  that  each  vessel  of  a  certain  pressure 
classification  may  be  connected  to  the  header  carrying  that  pressure, 
and  the  steam  header  should  be  provided  with  a  stop  valve,  regula- 
ting valve,  safety  valve  and  pressure  gauges  of  sufficient  capacity 
to  meet  the  requirements  of  all  of  the  vessels  connected  to  it.  A 
jacketed  kettle  intended  for  but  twenty  pounds  pressure  should  not 
be  connected  to  a  steam  line  carrying  eighty  or  one  hundred  pounds 
pressure  - —  with  the  thought  that  the  attendant  will  regulate  the  steam 
flowing  to  the  jacketed  kettle  with  such  precision  that  the  twenty 
pounds  pressure  will  not  be  exceeded  —  unless  the  branch  line  leading 
from  the  higher  pressure  header  to  the  lower  pressure  object  is 
equipped  with  the  proper  safety  devices,  consisting  of  a  stop  valve, 
pressure  regulating  valve,  safety  valve  and  steam  gauge. 

In  our  inspection  work  we  are  frequently  confronted  with  the 
statement  that  a  certain  condition  which  has  been  criticised  has  existed 
for  weeks,  or  months,  or  years,  and  an  accident  has  not  occurred.  If 
such  reasoning  is  carried  to  its  logical  conclusion,  we  might  be  just 
as  sure  that  we  will  never  die  because  we  never  have.  I  was  impressed 
with  a  news  item  under  a  Washington,  D.  C,  date  line,  which  appeared 


166  THE   LOCOMOTIVE.  [April, 

in  the  daily  press  recently.  A  blacksmith  —  a  horse  shoer  —  is  said 
to  have  had  twenty-five  years'  experience  at  his  trade,  and  during  that 
time  is  estimated  to  have  put  on  one  hundred  thousand  horse  shoes, 
which  would  correspond  to  shoeing  three  horses  as  an  average  day's 
work.  He  had  been  quite  fortunate,  and  had  never  suffered  injury. 
However,  a  few  days  preceding  the  date  of  the  news  item,  the  horse 
shoer  entered  his  chicken  yard.  His  Plymouth  Rock  rooster  jumped 
up  and  kicked  him.  The  spur  entered  the  knee  between  the  joint  and 
the  knee  cap.  The  blacksmith  is  on  crutches,  with  the  probability  of 
being  a  cripple  for  life.  So  do  not  let  anyone  tell  you  that  because 
an  undesirable  condition  has  existed  for  a  number  of  years,  it  should 
not  be  remedied. 

There  seems  to  be  abroad  in  the  land  the  idea  that  steam  at  eighty 
pounds  pressure  contains  twice  as  much  heat,  and  will  do  twice  as 
much  work  in  one  half  the  time,  as  will  steam  at  forty  pounds 
pressure.  So  the  plant  superintendent,  anxious  to  increase  produc- 
tion and  reduce  production  costs,  is  inclined  to  carry  a  higher  pressure 
on  the  jacketed  kettle  than  that  for  which  it  was  intended.  I  have  in 
mind  the  chef  of  a  large  kitchen  which  was  equipped  with  quite  a 
variety  of  food  cooking  vessels  upon  which  one  hundred  pounds 
pressure  was  carried,  although  the  margin  of  safety  required  by  good 
practice  would  limit  the  pressure  to  forty  pounds.  In  fact,  one  of  the 
kettles  was  tested  to  disruption,  and  failed  when  the  hydrostatic 
pressure  exceeded  one  hundred  pounds  but  slightly.  The  chef  would 
not  agree  to  a  reduction  in  pressure,  but  when  a  pressure  gauge  was 
so  adjusted  that  it  traveled  from  zero  to  one  hundred  pounds  while 
the  pressure  was  increasing  from  zero  to  forty  pounds,  and  the 
regulating  devices  were  set  to  control  the  pressure  at  forty  pounds, 
the  chef  was  entirely  satisfied.  He  could  not  tell  the  difference 
between  forty  pounds  and  one  hundred  pounds  by  results,  but  depended 
entirely  upon  the  pressure  gauge,  which  in  this  case  had  been  purposely 
calibrated  to  deceive  him. 

Before  considering  seriously  any  plan  to  exceed  the  safe  pressure 
on  a  jacketed  kettle,  tank  or  retort,  try  setting  the  pressure  gauge  a 
few  pounds  ahead,  and  see  if  the  results  are  just  as  satisfactory.  The 
increase  in  presstire  from  fifty  pounds  to  one  hundred  pounds  increases 
the  stress  in  the  material  one  hundred  per  cent  and  reduces  the  margin 
of  safety  by  fifty  percent,  while  the  heat  content  of  the  steam  at  one 
hundred  pounds  pressure  is  but  approximately  one  per  cent  greater 
than  of  steam  at  fifty  pounds  pressure.  Just  by  way  of  emphasizing 
how  little  thought  is  given  to  even  primary   safety   requirements  by 


1927.] 


THE   LOCOMOTIVE 


167 


some  i)coi)lc  operating  pressure  vessels,  I  would  nieiUion  a  recent  ex- 
perience of  one  of  our  Michigan  ins-pectors.  He  visited  a  food  prepar- 
ing plant.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  was  a  cheese  factory*  He  was  to 
make  the  preliminary  inspection  of  a  boiler  which  had  previously  been 
uninspected  and  uninsured.  Aside  from  a  number  of  defects  resulting 
from  operating  conditions,  the  boiler  appeared  to  be  an  average  risk. 
Rut  the  inspector  could  not  locate  the  safety  valve.     Upon  inquiring 


Fig.  2. 

of  the  engineer  he  learned  that  the  factory  inspector  had  visited  the 
premises  but  a  short  time  before  and  that  during  the  visit  the  safety 
valve  of  the  boiler  operated  automatically.  When  it  did  so,  a  consider- 
able cloud  of  soot  was  discharged  from  the  boiler  room  into  the  cheese 
making  department.  Quite  naturally  the  factory  inspector  objected  to 
the  preparation  of  food  in  just  that  way.  Those  in  charge  interpreted 
his  objection  as  being  directed  at  the  safety  valve,  and  proceeded  to 
remove  the  offending  member  just  as  soon  as  the  boiler  could  be  taken 
from  service.  They  explained  to  our  inspector  that  the  Factory  In- 
spection Laws  of  Michigan  do  not  permit  the  use  of  a  safety  valve  on 
a  boiler  in  a  cheese  factory.  It  had  apparently  not  occurred  to  them 
that  the  safety  valve  could  be  adjusted  to  discharge  in  some  other 
direction. 

"  Familiarity    breeds    contempt."     The    truth    of    this    old    saying 
appears  to  us  quite  frequently.     The  man  who  has  observed  a  certain 


268  THE   LOCOMOTIVE.  [April, 

pressure  on  a  certain  vessel  daily  for  a  number  of  years  soon  becomes 
of  the  opinion  that  everything  is  safe  and  serene,  and  that  there  is  no 
cause  for  uneasiness.  Forty  or  fifty  pounds  pressure  is  quite  low  when 
compared  to  the  twelve  or  thirteen  hundred  pounds  pressure  now 
being  carried  in  some  of  the  central  stations,  but  those  boilers  and 
turbine  casings  subjected  to  that  pressure  possess  a  relatively  larger 
margin  of  safety  than  does  the  ordinary  jacketed  kettle  or  rendering 
tank  carrying  forty  pounds.  This  slide  (Fig.  2)  pictures  the  result 
of  the  explosion  of  a  rendering  tank  when  carrying  forty  pounds 
pressure.  The  failure  resulted  in  damaging  a  considerable  part  of 
the  plant,  as  well  as  in  the  death  of  one  man,  who  was  decapitated,  and 
the  serious  injury  of  another.  The  investigation  which  followed 
developed  the  fact  that  the  rendering  tanks  in  the  establishment  had 
been  examined  thoroughly  during  the  month  of  June.  Several  of  them 
were  found  to  be  so  badly  corroded  they  were  considered  unserviceable, 
and  accordingly  were  disconnected  from  the  steam  header.  The  tank 
which  exploded,  and  the  one  adjoining  it,  were  criticised,  but  it  was 
estimated  they  could  be  continued  in  service  until  the  first  of  the  year, 
a  term  of  possibly  five  or  six  months.  The  inspector  understood  that 
those  tanks  which  were  immediately  removed  from  service  would  be 
replaced  with  new  ones,  but  such  was  not  the  case.  The  balance  of 
the  tanks  were  continued  in  service  approximately  twenty-four  hours 
a  day,  so  the  deterioration  was  twice  as  rapid  as  the  inspector  estimated 
it  would  be.     The  explosion  occurred  on  November  13. 

It  is  logical  that  some  means  be  devised  to  detect  the  deterioration 
which  takes  place  in  cooking  vessels  so  plans  can  be  perfected  for 
replacing  the  old  ones  with  new  before  the  point  of  failure  is  reached. 

The  next  slide  (Fig.  3)  is  intended  to  represent  a  vertical  rendering 
tank  with  which  our  packing  houses  are  equipped  by  the  thousand. 
In  the  sectional  view  you  will  note  the  manner  in  which  the  internal 
surface  has  been  corroded  until  the  tell-tale  holes  have  been  reached, 
resulting  in  slight  leakage,  to  be  taken  as  a  warning  of  the  decrease 
in  thickness  which  has  taken  place.  Under  ordinary  operating  condi- 
tions, the  tell-tale  hole  may  be  closed  by  a  wooden  plug  until  the 
"cook"  is  completed,  and  after  the  tank  has  been  emptied,  may  be 
permanently  closed  by  the  use  of  a  one-quarter  inch  rivet  driven  cold. 

These  tell-tale  holes  are  one-quarter  inch  in  diameter,  and  drilled 
one-quarter  inch  deep  from  the  outer  surface  of  the  shell  of  the  average 
size  vessel,  say  72  inches  in  diameter,  and  are  located  opposite  the 
region  of  greatest  wear,  which  occurs  on  the  inside  surface  of  the 
tank.     This  plan,  with  certain  modifications,  can  be  applied  to  pressure 


1927. 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


169 


vessels  of  all  descriptions  where  the  operation  is  likely  to  cause  a 
reduction  in  thickness  with  corresponding  weakening  of  the  vessel. 
The  operation  of  a  pressure  vessel,  such  as  a  jacketed  kettle,  rendering 
tank,  retort  or  compressed  air  tank,  may  not  in  every  case  present  a 


90999      O      •      9999 


■  r 


^       + 


Corroded 
Av 


k  dia  Hole 
■^['deep. 


- — Original 
Thickness 


Renderiwg   Tank 


Fig.  3- 


hazard  equal  to  that  encountered  with  the  operation  of  a  steam  boiler, 
for  the  steam  boiler  has  temperature  stresses  and  is  subjected  to  the 
changes  which  result  from  the  use  of  impure  feed  water;  but  the 
cooking  vessel  is  subjected  to  some  temperature  stresses,  may  be 
afifected  by  acids  and  gases,  and,  in  general,  is  operated  by  men  having 


170 


THE   LOCOMOTIVE. 


[April, 


little  or  no  mechanical  training,  undependable  in  an  emergency,  and 
properly  enthusiastic  in  catering  to  the  needs  of  the  inner  man.  So  I 
would  urge  that  some  competent  authority  be  consulted  when  new 
equipment  is  purchased,  and  that  you  have  a  survey  made  of  that  now 
in  use  to  determine  if  life  and  property  are  being  needlessly  exposed 
to  danger. 


Failure  of  a  Water  Wheel  Generator. 

THE  accompanying  picture  shows  some  of  the  damage  resulting 
from  the  failure  of' a  937  kw.  generator  at  the  plant  of  the  Keith 
Paper  Company,  Turner's  Falls,  Mass.,  on  June  11,  1926.     The 
property  loss  amounted  to  $2,700,  and  the  use  and  occupancy  loss  ex- 
ceeded $16,300.     Xo  one  was  injured. 


Fig.  I. 

The  accident  occurred  about  12:10  a.  m.  when  this  hydraulic 
turbo-generator  and  a  steam  turbo-generator  were  carrying  jointly 
a  load  of  1200  kw.  The  initial  trouble  w^as  a  short  circuit  or  ground 
in  the  stator  winding  which  resulted  in  the  destruction  of  approxi- 
mately 47  coils.  Fire  resulted,  and  it  was  necessary  to  call  the  city 
fire  department  to  extinguish  it.  As  a  result'  of  the  fire,  all  of  the 
stator  coils  were  ruined  and  a  complete  new  stator  winding  was 
required.  This  rewinding  was  estimated  to  take  six  weeks  time. 
Through  inability  to  use  this  machine  production  at  the  mill  Avas 
curtailed,  other  generating  units  not  being  of  sufficient  capacity  to 
carry  the  total  load. 

The  assured  had  'T^artford  Steam  Boiler  "  Electrical  Machinery 
insurance,  direct  and  use  and  occupancy,  on  the  loss  from  the  burning 


1927.]  THE   LOCOMOTIVE.  171 

out  and  other  electrical  damage  of  this  machine,  in  addition  to  fire 
insurance  on  the  loss  from  the  ensuing  fire. 


A  Few  Notable  Discoveries  by  Hartford  Inspectors. 

IN  response  to  an  application  for  insurance  on  twelve  water  lube 
boilers  in  a  traction  company's  plant,  an  inspector  was  detailed 
to  make  the  first  internal  inspection.  The  boilers  were  of  the  two- 
drum  horizontal  type,  and  nothing  unusual  was  observed  in  the  first 
drum  entered.  Upon  examining  the  second  drum  of  this  boiler,  a 
slight  rust  streak  was  observed  in  the  coating  of  scale  along  the  turn 
of  the  flange  at  the  bottom  of  the  rear  head.  This  led  the  inspector 
to  suspect  the  presence  of  a  crack. 

The  scale  was  removed  and  some  light  grooving  was  found  to 
extend  for  about  one  third  of  the  circumference  of  the  head.  Feeling 
confident  that  cracks  existed  at  the  bottom  of  the  grooving,  the  inspector 
applied  the  alcohol  and  chalk  test  and  found  faint  indications  of  their 
presence.  The  following  day  several  slots  ^  inch  deep  were  cut  across 
the  external  surface  of  the  turn  of  the  flange  and  a  hydrostatic  test  of 
175  lbs.  was  applied,  but  no  leaks  were  visible.  Feeling,  in  spite  of 
this  test,  that  the  head  was  dangerously  cracked,  the  inspector  advised 
the  assured  to  replace  it  with  a  new  one.  The  chief  engineer,  after 
some  discussion,  finally  decided  to  have  this  done. 

While  the  boiler  makers  were  driving  out  the  head  after  the  rivets 
had  been  removed,  the  crack  opened  up  for  a  distance  of  76  inches 
around  the  flange  of  the  head  so  that  the  defect  was  easily  visible.  The 
extent  of  the  failure  is  clearly  shown  in  Fig.  i,  but  it  should  be 
explained  that  the  flange  was  struck  a  few  blows  with  a  sledge  before 
the  photographic  exposure  was  made  in  order  that  the  cracks  would 
be  visible  in  the  picture.  Later,  with  a  few  blows  of  the  sledge,  the 
flange  was  broken  ofT  around  approximately  one  half  of  the  circum- 
ference of  the  head,  and  the  cracks  were  found  to  have  penetrated  half 
way  through  the  plate  for  a  good  part  of  this  distance.  The  fracture 
outside  of  the  cracks  had  the  usual  crystalline  cast  iron  appearance 
so  familiar  to  fatigue  failures. 

Following  this  alarming  discovery,  the  other  heads  in  this  boiler 
and  another  one  of  the  same  make  and  age  were  carefully  examined, 
and  as  several  of  them  showed  indications  of  the  presence  of  cracks, 
it  was  decided  to  replace  all  of  the  heads.  Subsequent  examination 
revealed  one  of  these  heads  to  be  in  an  even  worse  condition  than  the 
one  first  discovered.     Although  the  cracks  extended  around  only  52 


172 


THE   LOCOMOTIVE. 


[April, 


inches  of  the  circumference,  yet  in  several  places  they  penetrated  to 
within  1/16  inch  of  the  full  thickness  of  the  plate.  Three  other  heads 
had  cracks  extending  for  32,  36  and  ^2  inches,  respectively,  in  a  cir- 
cumferential direction.  The  remaining  three  heads,  while  showing 
slight  grooving,  seemed  to  be  free  from  cracks.  These  drums  were 
48  inches  in  diameter,  and  previous  to  Hartford  inspection,  the 
boilers  had  been  op- 
erated between  185  and 
200  lbs.  pressure  al- 
though they  were  de- 
signed for  but  175  lbs. 

Upon  another  occa- 
sion an  inspector  called 
at  a  large  central  sta- 
tion for  the  purpose  of 
taking  data  on  such  of 
the  boilers  as  were 
available,  at  this  was  a 
new  risk.  These  were 
water  tube  boilers  of 
the  inclined,  bent  tube 
type,  and  two  of  them 
were  found  available 
for  internal  inspection. 
While  examining  the 
mud  drums,  the  inspec- 
tor noticed  some  very 
fine  lines  which 
appeared  to  be  hair  line 
cracks  in  the  front  row 
of  tube  hole  ligaments. 
The  boilers  were 
headed  up  and  a  hydro- 
static test  pressure  applied,  although  the  chief  engineer  jokingly  told  the 
inspector  that  the  heat  must  be  afifecting  him  when  he  suggested  the 
presence  of  cracks.  The  te&t  resulted  in  the  exposure  of  seven  cracked 
ligaments  in  the  mud  drum  of  one  boiler  and  five  cracked  ligaments  in 
the  other.  The  boilers  were  again  emptied  and  the  inside  surface 
carefully  scraped  and  re-examined.  It  was  found  that  these  hair  line 
cracks  extended  almost  the  full  length  of  the  drum  between  the  front 
row  of  tubes  and  the  longitudinal  seam.     They  varied  in  length  between 


Fig.  I. 


1927.]  THE   LOCOMOTIVE.  I73 

Yi  inch  and  4  inches,  and  the  distance  from  the  end  of  one  crack  to  the 
beginning  of  the  next  varied  between  J/2  inch  and  3  inches  with  the 
majority  of  these  intervals  less  than  i  inch.  These  boilws  were  well 
on  their  way  to  a  most  violent  explosion,  that  is,  such  an  accident  as 
results  where  the  shell  fails  along  a  longitudinal  line.  The  defective 
drums  were  immediately  discarded. 

Another  notable  discovery  of  the  approaching  failure  of  an  in- 
clined, bent  tube  type  of  water  tube  boiler  was  made  by  an  inspector 
under  quite  difficult  conditions.  The  front  side  of  the  mud  drum 
was  inaccessible  because  of  the  close  proximity  of  the  bridge  wall  and 
the  flooded  condition  of  the  pit.  However,  the  inspector  thought  he 
saw  signs  of  leakage  and  corrosion  along  the  front  side  of  the  drum. 
He  again  entered  the  furnace  and  removed  a  few  bricks  from  the 
bridge  wall,  but  this  was  not  very  satisfactory.  A  request  was 
made  to  have  a  sufficient  amount  of  the  bridge  wall  removed  to  expose 
the  seam  for  its  entire  length  and  to  then  prepare  the  boiler  for  a 
hydrostatic  test.  Two  days  later  the  inspector  returned  and  made 
the  test,  with  the  result  that  leakage  was  noted  at  several  points  along 
the  seam.  It  was  also  observed  that  a  majority  of  the  rivet  heads 
in  this  seam  were  almost  completely  wasted  away.  The  rivets  were 
removed  and  the  rivet  holes  examined  with  a  magnifying  glass  for 
cracks.  Although  no  cracks  were  found  it  was  easily  seen  that  the 
plates  were  seriously  reduced  in  thickness  by  corrosion.  The  plates 
were  drilled  and  found  to  have  wasted  to  a  scant  7/32  inch,  the  orignal 
thickness  having  been  3/8  inch.  Under  the  circumstances,  the  boiler 
was  discontinued  from  service. 

Each  of  the  foregoing  incidents  happened  to  a  water  tube  boiler 
of  the  type  usually  found  in  large  modern  power  plants,  but  the 
horizontal  return  tubular  boiler,  which  is  found  in  so  many  industrial 
plants,  is  still  a  fertile  field  for  latent  defects.  In  a  recent  inspection 
of  a  lap  seam  boiler,  the  inspector  had  just  finished' his  examination 
of  the  head  and  braces  at  one  end  of  the  boiler  and  was  working  along 
on  top  of  the  tubes  examining  the  seams  when  he  noticed  an  irregular 
mark  showing  against  the  scale.  The  cause  of  it  was  not  clear,  but 
after  some  of  the  scale  had  been  chipped  away,  a  crack  approximately 
10  inches  long  and  running  parallel  to  the  axis  of  the  drum  was  un- 
covered. The  crack  was  just  below  the  seam  and  immediately  above 
the  rivets  of  the  supporting  lug,  and  it  was  open  wide  enough  to 
permit  the  insertion  of  part  of  the  blade  of  a  sharp  pointed  knife. 
The  master  mechanic  of  the  plant  satisfied  himself  of  its  presence 
by  merely  looking  in  through  the  manhole  while  the  inspector  held  a 


274  THE   LOCOMOTIVE.  [April, 

lamp  so  as  to  make  the  crack  visible.  Removal  of  the  brick  work  on 
the  outside  of  the  boiler  failed  to  uncover  the  crack  because  it  was 
behind  the  supporting  lug.  The  boiler,  of  course,  was  discontinued 
from  further  use. 

The  portable  locomotive  firebox  type  of  boiler  is  one  that  is  usually 
badly  mistreated  and  neglected,  and  it  is  not  surprising  that  an  inspector 
should  occasionally  discover  a  latent  defect  in  one  of  this  type.  In 
this  instance  the  inspector  happened  to  be  in  the  vicinity  of  a  boiler 
that  he  was  scheduled  to  make  an  internal  examination  of  on  the 
following  day,  so  he  stopped  by  to  make  sure  that  it  would  be  available 
the  next  day.  Looking  over  the  boiler  while  it  was  under  pressure, 
he  observed  a  rust  stain  on  the  lagging  under  the  boiler  near  the  smoke 
box  end.  Prying  open  the  lagging  a  little,  further  signs  of  leakage 
were  noted.  A  considerable  amount  of  lagging  was  then  removed 
and  the  sheet  cleaned,  which  resulted  in  the  discovery  of  a  longitudinal 
crack  5  inches  long.  The  boiler  was  in  operation  under  115  lbs. 
pressure  and  so  the  inspector  recommended  that  it  be  removed  from 
service  immediately  and  cooled  for  further  examination.  The  inspector 
returned  the  following  day  and  definitely  established  the  presence  of 
the  crack. 

The  foregoing  are  merely  a  few  of  the  numerous  dangerous  defects 
in  boilers  that  inspectors  are  finding  every  day.  Boiler  inspection,  the 
pioneer  "  safety  first "  movement,  is  still  a  vital  factor  in  the  saving  of 
human  life  and  of  wealth. 


Scale  in  Cast  Iron  Sectional  Boilers. 

SCALE  is  well  known  as  a  prolific  source  of  trouble  for  the  operator 
of  power  boilers  as  it  usually  results  in  overheating  of  the  plates 

or  tubes.  Overheating  is  just  as  disastrous,  and  perhaps  more  so, 
to  cast  iron  as  to  steel,  but,  fortunately,  serious  scale  is  not  of  frequent 
occurrence  in  heating  boilers.  This  is  due  to  the  fact  that  heating 
boilers  operate  on  a  closed  system  and  at  low  pressure.  Hence  there 
is  little  loss  of  steam  or  condensate  and  an  extremely  small  amount  of 
make-up  water  is  required.  Furthermore,  water  at  low  pressures 
is  also  at  a  temperature  lower  than  that  at  which  serious  deposition 
of  scale  takes  place.  Such  are  the  usual  conditions  found  in  connection 
with  heating  boilers. 

Occasionally,  however,  an  installation  is  found  where  there  is 
some  modification  that  is  certain  to  cause  trouble.  For  instance,  there 
may  be  a  return  line  with  a  serious  leak,  and  if  this  leak  is  near  a  floor 
drain  or  if  the  water  is  absorbed  by  the  ground  or  accumulates  in  some 


1927.] 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


175 


trench  or  pit  from  whicli  it  evaporates,  the  leak  may  go  unnoticed  for 
a  long  time ;  or  water  may  be  drawn  off  from  the  system  at  frequent 
intervals  for  domestic  purposes.  Water  lost  from  the*  return  lines 
of  a  steam  system  is  distilled  water,  and  although  hot  water  drawn 
directly  from  the  boiler  or  from  the  flow  main  of  a  hot  water  system 
is  not  distilled,  yet  it  is  considerably  purer  than  the  fresh  feed  water. 
Voiding  water  from  the  system  requires  continual  addition  of  raw 
water  which  carries  with  it  all  of  the  natural  scale  and  sludge  forming 


Fig.  I. 


materials  that  may  be  in  it.  Operators  of  heating  equipment  seldom 
give  this  a  thought  usually  because  of  lack  of  appreciation  of  the 
cause  and  effect  of  scale  formation. 

The  accompanying  picture  shows  an  extreme  case  of  scale  deposit 
in  a  sectional  cast  iron  boiler.  This  boiler  had  been  installed  in  a 
restaurant  in  Columbus,  Ohio,  for  heating  purposes,  but  it  had  been  the 
practice  for  some  time  to  draw  off  water  from  the  system  whenever 
hot  water  was  needed  for  scrubbing  or  general  cleaning.  As  a  result 
it  was  necessary  to  add  raw  water  at  frequent  intervals,  with  the  result- 
ing deposition  of  scale  shown.  It  is  remarkable  that  this  deposit  could 
attain  such  a  degree  of  development  before  causing  trouble. 


176 


THE   LOCOMOTIVE 


[April, 


HP! 


An  Epidemic  of  Bulged  Boilers. 

^HE  accompanying  pictures  show  the  progress  toward  destruction 
■  of  several  boilers  under  conditions  that  appeared  at  first  to  justify 
the  use  of  the  word  "  mysterious."'  The  installation  consisted  of 
a  battery  of  four  horizontal  two-drum  water  tube  boilers.  One  drum 
ruptured,  followed  shortly  by  the  rupture  of  a  drum  in  another  boiler. 
Examination  of  all  of  the  boilers  then  revealed  that  five  of  the  eight 
drums  were  badly  bulged,  as  shown  in  the  photographs. 

It  was  quickly  realized,  of  course,  that  the  trouble  was  the  result  of 
overheating  due  to  the  peculiar  design  of  the  setting  of  the  boilers. 
The  brick  arch  did  not  close  in  on  the  sides  of  the  drum  at  about  the 


Fig.  I. 

lowest  safe  water  level,  as  customarily  is  the  case,  but  instead  was 
carried  above  and  suspended  entirely  clear  of  the  drums,  leaving  a  space 
of  about  12  inches  between  the  tops  of  the  drums  and  the  arch.  The 
hot  gases  direct  from  the  fire  went  upward  among  the  tubes  of  the 
first  pass  and  then  surrounded  the  drums  before  going  downward  in 
the  second  pass.  This  was  probably  designed  to  provide  drier  steam. 
The  heat  from  the  gases  in  contact  with  the  drums  caused  overheating 
of  the  plates  in  the  steam  space  of  the  boilers,  as  would  be  expected. 

The  peculiar  feature  of  this  case  is  that  the  boilers  had  been  operated 
for  years  with  this  same  arrangement  and  had  not  given  any  previous 
trouble  except  that  a  slight  bulge  had  been  observed  in  one  drum.  This 
bulge  had  been  carefully  watched  and  had  not  appeared  to  grow  worse. 
The  rupture  of  two  of  the  drums  in  rapid  succession  then  led  to  the 
discovery  of  the  bulged  condition  of  the  other  drums. 

Investigation  brought  out  that  the  stokers  on  these  boilers  had 
been  changed  shortly  before  the  development  of  this  trouble  and  the 


1927.]  THE   LOCOMOTIVE.  177 

new  stokers  increased  the  rate  of  combustion.  This,  of  course,  meant 
hotter  furnace  gases  and  caused  overheating  of  the  plates  which  were 
not  in  direct  contact  with  water. 


Ri 

I 

\ 

N 

JP^T^ 

mJ 

VH 

■ 

Fig.  2. 

The  pictures  are  also  of  interest  from  another  point  of  view  in  that 
they  well  illustrate  the  reinforcing  cfTect  of  the  girth  seams  of  a  boiler 
shell.  Although  in  this  case  the  seams  were  overheated  equally  with 
the  immediately  adjacent  plates,  and  perhaps  even  to  a  greater  degree 
because  of  the  greater  mass  of  metal  concentrated  here,  yet  it  can  be 
seen  that  the  seams  did  not  yield  to  the  pressure  as  did  the  plates. 


Hot  Water  Boiler  Explosion. 

A  HOT  water  boiler  exploded  in  the  basement  of  the  Powers 
Theatre  Building.  Grand  Rapids,  Michigan,  on  October  i8th, 
1926,  and  resulted  in  the  death  of  one  man.  Considerable  prop- 
erty damage  was  done  to  the  basement  of  the  building  and  to  a  concrete 
paved  arcade  beneath  which  the  boiler  had  been  located  and  through 
which  it  was  blown,  so  violent  was  the  force  of  the  blast.  The  accident 
was  investigated  by  the  State  Chief  Inspector  of  Michigan,  and  in  his 
report  to  the  State  Commissioner  of  Labor  he  points  out  the  necessity 
of  a  water  relief  valve  on  all  hot  water  heaters.  In  this  case  it 
appears  that  the  relief  valve  was  of  insufficient  size,  and  furthermore 
was  inoperative  because  the  spring  had  been  compressed  so  that  the 
coils  were  too  close  together.     This  report  in  full  is  given  below : 

"  I  wish  to  report  that  I  have  made  an  investigation  into  the  cause 
of  the  explosion  of  a  hot  water  boiler  in  the  basement  of  the  Powers 
Theatre  building  at  133  Pearl  St..  Grand  Rapids,  Mich.,  on  the 
morning  of  October  18,  1926,  and  find  as  follows: 


178  THE   LOCOMOTIVE.  [April, 

"  The  boiler  which  failed  by  the  collapse  of  the  furnace  of  the 
boiler,   killing   a   man   named   Michael   Wirth,    an   employee   of    the 

building  management,  said  to  be Company,  was  bought  from 

the Company  of  Chicago  by  the Company  of  Grand 

Rapids,  Mich.,  on  January  29th,  1921,  and  installed  by  them  in  the 
Powers  Building. 

"  The  boiler  was  29  in.  diameter  and  40  in.  high  and  had  an 
unstayed  furnace  25''  diameter  by  about  36"  high.  All  plates  were 
3/16  inch  thick,  joints  single  riveted  and  lapped.  The  trade  name  of 
the  heater  was  *  No.  30  Tobasco  Surface  Burning  Water  Heater,'  and 
was  rated  as  having  a  capacity  for  heating  500  gallons  of  water  per 
hour. 

"  The  valve  used  for  relief  of  pressure  was  a  Crane  '  Snifter ' 
type  of  relief  valve  and  not  a  regular  safety  valve.  The  failure  oc- 
curred by  the  collapse  of  the  furnace  sheet  of  3/16  inch  plate  due 
to  excessive  pressure. 

"  A  calculation  shows  that  the  outer  plate  or  shell  would  fail  at 
the  riveted  joint  at  about  400  pounds,  while  the  furnace  would  fail 
at  a  pressure  of  about  200  lbs.  This  pressure  depending  on  how  close 
the  furnace  was  to  a  true  circle.  The  lap  joint,  of  course,  was  source 
of  weakness  because  of  the  low  crushing  strength  in  front  of  the 
rivets  and  inherent  deformation  due  to  the  lap  of  plates. 

"  The  relief  valve  was  taken  to  Detroit  and  tested  and  found  to 
be  inoperative  at  a  pressure  of  400  lbs.  It  would  be  impossible  for 
this  valve  to  operate  because  the  coils  of  the  spring  were  forced 
together. 

"  The  boiler  is  built  in  violation  of  the  A.  S.  M.  E.  boiler  code 
which  limits  plates  to  not  less  than  ^  inch  for  either  steam  or  hot  water 
boilers.  See  Section  IV,  H-ii  of  A.  S.  M.  E.  Code  relating  to  low 
pressure  heating  boilers. 

"  The  relief  valve  used  was  an  unsafe  type  and  not  approved  by  the 
code. 

"  Section  H-44  reads :  Water  relief  valves  shall  be  connected  to 
all  hot  water  boilers.  The  valve  shall  be  the  diaphragm  operating  type, 
without  guide  wings  below  the  seat,  set  to  open  at  or  below  the 
maximum  allowable  working  pressure.  No  water  relief  valve  shall  be 
smaller  than  one  half  inch  standard  pipe  size._  The  outlets  of  water 
relief  valves  shall  have  open  discharges  in  plain  sight. 

"  This  boiler  could  not  be  lawfully  sold  or  used  in  Michigan  because 
of  its  thin  plates.  In  any  event  a  pressure  over  35  lbs.  could  not  be 
allowed  on  such  a  boiler  under  engineering  practice. 

"  The  immediate  cause  of  the  accident  was  the  use  of  the  boiler 
with  a  defective  and  improper  relief  valve. 

"  The  dead  man.  Michael  Wirth.  69  years  old.  lived  at  716  Sixth 
St..  N.  W.,  Grand  Rapids." 


1927.]  THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  179 

Big  Engine  Goes  Out  at  Power  Plant. 

WITH  a  crash  and  a  roar  of  defiance  in  its  last  hour  on  this 
earth,  the  big  Atlas  engine  that  pulls  the  generator  at  the  Power 
House,  slipped  a  pin  last  night,  pushed  the  piston  through  the 
cylinder  head  and  then  died. 

The  end  came  unexpectedly  while  the  engineer,  Guy  Banks  was 
in  the  boiler  room  looking  after  his  fires. 

The  engine  had  been  in  poor  health  for  some  time  and  had  only 
recovered  from  a  severe  attack  of  a  burnt  out  bearing  suffered  a  week 
ago  and  it  was  thought  that  it  had  fully  gotten  over  its  troubles. 

According  to  Banks  the  accident  occurred  without  warning.  All 
at  once  he  heard  an  explosion  and  the  roar  of  escaping  steam  and  imme- 
diately the  plant  was  plunged  in  darkness. 

Going  into  the  engine  room  was  out  of  the  question  and  he  was 
forced  to  climb  to  the  top  of  the  boiler  before  he  could  shut  oflf  the 
steam,  which  was  swiftly  getting  away  from  him. 

By  this  time  a  crowd,  which  had  heard  the  noise,  began  to  gather 
and  in  a  few  moments  the  auxiliary  engine  was  started  up  returning 
electricity  to  the  lines  once  more. 

Parts  of  the  cylinder  were  scattered  all  over  the  south  side  of  the 
engine  room.  The  piston,  a  massive  steel  rod  had  been  bent,  seem- 
ingly as  easily  as  a  hairpin  could  be  bent  and  according  to  those  who 
know,  the  machine  is  a  total  loss. 

It  was  lucky  for  the  engineer  that  he  was  absent  from  the  vicinity 
when  the  blow  up  occurred  as  it  most  certainly  would  have  killed  him 
or  at  least  dealt  him  some  injuries. 

Chairman  Abecrombie  and  Superintendent  Jack  Treadwell  left 
early  this  morning  for  Joplin  in  an  effort  to  secure  another  engine  im- 
mediately. In  the  meantime  they  are  depending  on  the  little  machine 
to  furnish  the  juice  to  the  town  but  the  people  are  warned  that  it  also  is 
liable  to  go  up  at  any  minute  under  the  overload.  —  The  Daily  Register, 
Siloam  Springs,  Ark. 


Diesel-Electric  Ferryboats  on  the  Hudson. 

The  first  electrically  operated  ferryboats  to  ply  across  the  Hudson 
River  at  New  York  City  went  into  operation  between  Twenty-third 
Street,  Manhattan,  and  Weehawken,  N.  J.  These  are  the  Governor 
Moore  and  Charles  W.  Culkin,  for  which  Diesel  engines  generate 
electric  motive  power.  They  are  operated  by  a  private  company, 
Electric  Ferries,  Inc.,  which  hopes  to  hold  its  own  against  the  Holland 
vehicular  tunnel  now  under  construction. —  Electrical  World. 


180 


THE   LOCOMOTIVE. 


[April, 


Devoted  to  Power  Plant  Protection 


Published  Qu.vrterly 


Benj.  C.  Cruickshanks,  Editor 


HARTFORD,  APRIL,  1927. 

Single  copies  can  he  obtained  free  by  calling  at  any  of  the  company's  ag^encies. 

Subscription  price  50  cents  per  year  li'lien  mailed  from  this  office. 

Recent  bound  volumes  one  dollar  each.    Earlier  ones  two  dollars, 

Reprinting-  matter  from  this  paper  is  per?nitted  if  credited  to 

The  Locomotive  of  the  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  I.  &  I.  Co. 


Company  Elects  New  Officers. 

AT  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Directors  of  The  Hartford  Steam 
Boiler  Inspection  and  Insurance  Company  on  February  8th,  1927, 
several  important  changes  were  made  in  the  official  staff  of  the  Com- 
pany with  the  view  of  lightening  the  duties  of  Charles  S.  Blake  as  its 
head,  and  with  the  view,  too,  of  promoting  to  executive  rank  several 
of  its  personnel  who  are  administering  its  departments.  In  accordance 
with  this  purpose,  the  positions  of  Chairman  of  the  Board  of  Directors 
and  three  additional  vice  presidents  were  created  and  the  following 
officers  were  elected : 


Chairman  of  the  Board  of  Directors 
President  and  Treasurer 
Vice  President  and  General  Counsel 
Vice  Presidents 


Secretary 

Assistant  Secretaries 


Assistant  Treasurer 


Charles  S.  Blake. 
Wm.  R.  C.  Corson. 
E.  Sidney  Berry. 
Curtiss  C.  Gardiner. 
John  J.  Graham. 
Sherwood  F.  Jeter. 
Dale  F.  Reese. 
Louis  F.  Middlebrook. 
Halsey  Stevens. 
Harry  E.  Dart. 
C.  Edffar  Blake. 


1927.]  THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  Jgl 

As  Chairman  of  the  Board  of  Directors,  Mr.  Blake  will  continue  to 
lead  the  Company  and  direct  its  policies  as  he  has  during  the  past  ten 
years  during  which,  under  his  administration  as  president,  the  Com- 
pany has  enjoyed  such  a  large  measure  of  growth  and  prosperity.  Mr. 
Blake  is  now  recovering  from  a  long  and  serious  illness  and  his  return 
to  his  duties  with  the  Company  is  looked  for  at  an  early  date. 

WM.  R.  C.  Corson,  who  becomes  president  and  treasurer  of  the 
corporation,  has  been  with  The  Hartford  Company  since 
1907  when  he  entered  its  Engineering  Department.  He  has 
successively  held  positions  of  assistant  secretary  and  secretary,  and 
since  1921  has  been  vice  president  and  treasurer  of  the  Company. 

E.  Sidney  Berry  heads  the  list  of  vice  presidents.  Since  1922, 
as  2nd  vice  president  and  general  counsel,  he  has  had  charge  of  the 
Claim  and  Legal  Departments  of  the  corporation  and  will  continue  in 
charge  of  them. 

Curtiss  C.  Gardiner  entered  the  employ  of  the  Company  in  1894  as 
an  office  boy  in  its  St.  Louis  office.  Six  years  later  he  became  the 
Company's  manager  in  that  city,  and  in  1905  was  transferred  to  be  the 
manager  of  its  New  York  Department.  It  has  come  about  as  a  result 
of  modern  conditions  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  business  of  the 
country  is  placed  in  New  York  and  thus  the  New  York  Department 
has  attained  a  position  of  great  importance  in  the  Company's  structure. 
It  is,  in  fact,  in  conformity  with  the  practice  of  other  insurance 
companies,  that  the  Hartford  has  made  its  metropolitan  manager  a 
vice  president. 

John  J.  Graham  joined  the  Company's  forces  in  its  Cleveland 
Department  in  1906.  Later  he  was  transferred  to  Pittsburgh  as 
branch  manager.  In  191 7  he  came  to  the  Home  Office,  assuming  the 
duties  of  superintendent  of  agencies  and  in  1922  was  elected  assistant 
secretary  of  the  Company.  As  vice  president  of  the  Company  he  will 
continue  to  have  charge  of  business  production  and  general  supervision 
of  the  Company's  field  organization. 

Sherwood  F.  Jeter  came  to  the  Company  as  an  inspector  in  1898. 
He  advanced  through  positions  of  increasing  responsibility  in  the 
Inspection  Department  and  in  1915  was  appointed  chief  engineer.  As 
vice  president  he  will  have  full  charge  of  the  Engineering  and  Inspec- 
tion Departments  of  the  Company.  Mr.  Jeter  graduated  from  the 
Georgia  School  of  Technolog}^  in  1893.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Ameri- 
can Society  of  Mechanical  Engineers  and  has  been  a  manager  and  vice 
president  of  that  Society.  He  has  continuously  served  on  its  Boiler 
Code   Committee  since   1913   and   has  had  an   important   influence   in 


182  THE   LOCOMOTIVE.  [April, 

establishing  its  standards  of  safe  boiler  construction  now  recognized 
throughout  the  country.  Mr.  Jeter  is  a  past  president  of  the  Hartford 
Engineers  Club  and  a  member  of  several  other  technical  associations. 

Dale  F.  Reese  comes  as  a  new  man  to  the  Hartford  organization. 
He  was  educated  at  Cornell  University,  from  which  he  graduated  in 
1905  with  the  degree  of  mechanical  engineer.  In  1906  he  entered  the 
employ  of  The  Ocean  Accident  and  Guarantee  Corporation  as  an 
assistant  underwriter  in  its  Steam  Boiler  Department.  In  1909  he 
was  given  charge  of  the  department  and  in  1918  became  superintendent 
of  the  Ocean's  Engineering  Department,  in  which  was  combined  the 
Boiler  Underwriting  and  Inspection  Department.  He  leaves  this  posi- 
tion to  come  to  the  H.^rtford  where  he  will  aid  in  developing  and 
extending  the  underwriting  activities  of  the  Company. 

Harry  E.  Dart  graduated  from  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of 
Technology  in  the  class  of  1901.  After  several  years  with  the  engi- 
neering firm  of  Buck  and  Sheldon  of  Hartford,  in  1913  he  was  secured 
by  the  Hartford  Company  to  head  its  Consulting  Engineering  Depart- 
ment with  the  title  of  superintendent.  He  has  held  that  title  until  now 
though,  due  to  changed  conditions,  his  attention  has  been  given  less  to 
engineering  and  more  to  underwriting  matters,  and  for  the  past  four 
years  he  has  had  general  supervision  of  the  Company's  Statistical 
Department.  It  is  in  recognition  of  his  changed  responsibility  and 
broader  duties  that  the  directors  elected  him  assistant  secretary. 


Appointments. 

Thomas  P.  Hetu,  who  has  been  connected  with  the  Inspection 
Departments  of  the  Hartford  and  Philadelphia  offices  for  several 
years,  has  been  appointed  Assistant  Chief  Inspector  at  Philadelphia. 

James  P.  Kerrigan,  Jr.,  who  has  been  connected  with  the  Claim 
Department  at  the  Home  Office  since  1922,  has  been  appointed  Chief 
Adjuster. 


Steam  Jacketed  Kettles. 

<<fT~>  HE  hand  that  rocks  the  cradle  rules  the  world,"  is  a  saying  that 
I  might  have  been  amended  a  few  years  ago  to  further  read,  "  and 
also  puts  up  the  family  preserves,  pickles  and  ketchups,  in  addi- 
tion to  performing  multitudinous  duties  about  the  home."  But  times 
have  changed.  The  cradle  is  no  longer  in  fashion.  Its  rockers  have 
been  removed  in  favor  of  wheels,  perhaps  to  earlier  accustom  our  chil- 


1927.]  THE   LOCOMOTIVE.  183 

drcn  to  life  in  this  "  nation  on  wlieels  ;"  and  the  liousehold  duties  have 
been  greatly  lightened  l)v  the  modern  genii  of  the  lamp  socket, 
electricity.  The  preserving  and  pickling  activities  to  a  large  extent 
have  shown  a  trend  toward  that  ideal  set  forth  by  students  of  our 
social  problems,  the  removal  of  the  kitchen  from  the  home. 

Not  many  years  ago  every  family  owned  its  large  copper  preserving 
kettle,  but  these  are  now  taking  their  places  in  the  list  of  antiques. 
Conserving  fruits  and  vegetables  during  the  season  of  plenty  for  use 
during  the  winter  is  now  conducted  upon  a  mammoth  scale  and  to  an 
increasing  degree  by  large  commercial  kitchens.  In  the  home  the 
cooking  was  done  usually  by  direct  action  of  the  fire,  but  in  the  com- 
mercial kitchen,  steam  under  pressure  is  the  source  of  heat.  Jacketed 
kettles  are  used  and  the  steam  is  circulated  in  the  space  between  the 
inner  and  outer  shells.  A  steam  pressure  vessel,  however,  retains 
its  inherent  hazards  whether  it  is  located  in  boiler  room  or  kitchen,  and 
a  high  standard  of  safety  for  these  cooking  vessels  should  be  main- 
tained at  all  times.  In  a  paper  on  this  subject  printed  elsewhere  in 
this  issue,  J.  P.  Morrison,  Chief  Inspector  of  our  Chicago  Depart- 
ment, gives  able  consideration  to  the  problems  involved  in  the  use 
of  this  type  of  vessel. 


Three  Score  Years  of  Boiler  Insurance. 

IT  IS  with  pleasure  that  we  reprint  below  a  very  gracious  tribute 
to  the  Hartford  Company  that  appeared  under  the  above  heading 
in  the  editorial  columns  of  a  recent  issue  of  Power,  our  well  known 
contemporary. 

"  Our  congratulations  to  The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspec- 
tion and  Insurance  Company  wdiich  completed  in  October  of  this 
year  sixty  years  of  useful  existence.  The  practice,  already 
established  in  England,  of  avoiding  boiler  explosions  by  inspec- 
tion was  backed  up  by  an  indemnity  in  case  of  failure  and  boiler 
insurance  became  a  fact. 

"  The  Hartford  has,  however,  been  much  more  than  an  under- 
writer of  losses  from  boiler  explosion.  It  has  led  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  safe  practice  in  design,  construction  and  operation. 
Its  experience  and  practice  are  writteen  into  the  codes  of  today 
and  its  requirements  are  controlling  factors  in  boiler  specification. 
Its  inspections  are  accepted  in  lieu  of  those  of  government 
officials  in  most,  if  not  all,  of  the  states  where  boiler  inspection  is 
compulsory.  We  wish  for  it  many  years  of  continued 
prosperity." 


184 


THE   LOCOMOTIVE 


[April, 


Summary  of  Inspectors'  Work  for  1926. 


Number  of  visits  of  inspection  made   (boilers  and  engines) 

Total  number  of  boilers  examined         .... 

Number  of  boilers  inspected  internally 

Number  of  boilers  tested  by  hydrostatic  pressure 

Number  of  boilers  found  to  be  uninsurable 

Number  of  shop  boilers  inspected  .... 

Number  of  premises  where  pipe  lines  were  inspected 

Total  number  of  engines  and  wheels  examined 

Number  of  uninsurable  engines  and  wheels 


267,118 

493,636 

181,674 

12,080 

1,187 

23,560 

22,510 

55,266 

194 


Summary  of  Defects  Discovered. 

Nature   of  Defects. 

Cases  of  sediment  or  loose  scale  and  adhering  scale 
Cases  of  grooving  and  internal  and  external  corrosion 
Cases  of  defective  bracing  .... 

Cases  of  defective  staybolting         .... 

Settings    defective  .         .         .         . 

Fractured    plates   and    heads  .... 

Burned  plates  ....... 

Laminated    plates  ...... 

Cases    of   defective    riveting  .... 

Cases  of  leakage  around  tubes,  and  defective  tubes  or  fines 
Cases  of  leakage  at  seams  .... 

Water  gauges  defective  ..... 

Blow-offs    defective  ..... 

Cases   of    low   water  ..... 

Safety-valves    overloaded    or   defective 

Pressure   gauges    defective   or    missing 

Miscellaneous   defects   in  boilers 

Flywheels    found    overspeeded 

Cases  of  cracks  found  in  engine  parts  and  wheels 

Defective    governors  ..... 

Miscellaneous  defects  in  engines  and  wheels 

Totals  ....... 


Whole 

Danger- 

Number. 

ous. 

80,480 

3,817 

45,267 

2,372 

1,046 

202 

3,712 

769 

9,194 

837 

3,372 

592 

3,367 

492 

308 

40 

1,688 

469 

31,822 

7,498 

6,108 

480 

3,679 

700 

5,236 

1,429 

490 

205 

2,934 

711 

7,962 

643 

8,133 

653 

61 

24 

584 

220 

356 

188 

56 

20 

215,8= 


22,361 


Grand  Total  of  the  Inspectors'  Work  on   Boilers  from   the  Time  the 
Company  Began  Business  to  January  i,   1927. 


Visits   of   inspection   made  ..... 

Whole  number  of  inspections    (both   internal   and  external) 

Complete    internal    inspections 

Boilers  tested  by  hydrostatic   pressure 

Total  number  of  boilers  condemned 

Total    number    of    defects    discovered 

Total   number   of   dangerous   defects   discovered 


6.381,009 
12,583.041 

4,883.559 
445,624 

35,733 

6,829,924 

767,411 


1927. 


THE   LOCOMOTIVE 


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THE   LOCOMOTIVE 


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CO  CO  ca;  CO  c:  (T  cc  F-  c/)  H  V) 


The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection  and  Insurance  Company 


HARTFORD,  CONN. 


ABSTRACT  OF  STATEMENT,  DECEMBER  31,   1926 

Capital  Stock,         .         .         $2,500,000  00 

ASSETS 

Cash   in   offices   and   banks 

Real   Estate  .... 

Mortgage  and  collateral  loans 

Bonds  and  stocks 

Premiums  in  course  of  collection 

Interest  Accrued 

Total  Assets 


^,103.09 

267,631.53 

1,523,106.20 

12,646,007.33 

1,290,539.98 

150,884.92 

$16,562,273.05 


LIABILITIES 

Reserved  for  unearned  premiums 

Reserve  for  losses  ..... 

Reserve    for   taxes   and    other    contingencies 
Capital  Stock  ...... 

Surplus   over   all   liabilities 

Surplus  to  Policyholders, 

Total  Liabilities  .... 


$2,500,000.00 
5,521,447.21 


$7,318,478.72 
452,318.90 
770,028.22 


$8,021,447.21 

.  $16,562,273.05 


CHARLES    S.   BLAKE,   Chairman   Board   of   Directors 

WM.  R.   C.  CORSON,   President  and  Treasurer. 

BO.\RD    OF    DIRECTORS 


LUCIUS  F.  ROBINSON,  .'\ttorney,  Hart- 
ford, Conn. 

JOHN    O.    ENDERS,    Chairman    Board    of 

Trustees,    United   States   Security  Trust 

Co.,    Hartford,    Conn. 
MORGAN      B.       BRAINAltD,       President 

JEtna     Life     Insurance     Co.,     Hartford, 

Conn. 

CH.^RLES  P.  COOLEY,  President  Society 
for   Savings,   Hartford,   Conn. 

HORACE  B.  CHENEY,  Cheney  Brothers, 
Silk  Manufacturers,  South  Manchester, 
Conn. 

D.  NEWTON  BARNEY,  Vice-President 
The  Hartford  Electric  Light  Co.,  Hart- 
ford,     Conn. 

DR.  GEORGE  C.  F.  WILLIAMS,  Presi- 
dent The  Capewell  Horse  Nail  Co., 
Hartford,   Conn. 

JOSEPH  R.  ENSIGN,  President  The 
Ensign-Bickford   Co.,    Simsbury,   Conn. 


EDWARD  MILLIGAN,  President  Phoenix 
Insurance  Co.,  Hartford,  Conn. 

CHARLES  S.  BLAKE,  Chairman  Board  of 
Directors,  The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler 
Inspection  and  Insurance  Co.,  Hart- 
ford,  Conn. 

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ford Steam  Boiler  Inspection  and 
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spection and  Insurance  Company  of 
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COPYRIGHT,  1927,  BY  THE  HARTFORD  STEAM  BOILER  INSPECTION  AND  INSURANCE  CO. 


ExGiNE  Accident  at  Williamsport,  Pa. 

THERE  IS  VALUABLE  INFORMATION 

FOR  YOUR  ENGINEER  IN  THIS  MAGAZINE. 

PLEASE  LET  HIM  SEE  IT. 


194 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


[July. 


Engine  Accident  at  Williamsport,  Pennsylvania. 

THE  accompan}ing"  pictures  show  the  manner  in  which  a  large 
CorHss  type  engine  was  wrecked  on  February  7,  1927.  at  the  plant 
of  Sweet's  Steel  Company.  Williamsport,   Pa.     The  engine  was 
practically  a  total  loss,  the  direct  property  loss  amounting  to  $io,oco. 

The  failure  occurred  while  the  engine  was  operating  at  its  normal 
speed  of  100  r.  p.  m.,  and  there  were  no  advance  indications  of  its 
imminence.  Both  cylinder  heads  were  knocked  out ;  the  one  from  the 
head  end  traveled  a 
distance  of  65  feet  and 
landed  on  the  mill  floor. 
All  parts  of  the  piston 
were  broken,  and  the 
piston  rod  bent,  two 
valve  port  bridges 
broken,  the  crosshead 
and  shoes  broken  and 
bent,  connecting  rod 
bent,  eccentric  disks 
and  governor  belt  pul- 
ley on  shaft  damaged, 
and  the  bed  plate 
broken  beyond  repair. 
The  engine  was  housed 
in  a  structure  built 
closely  about  it,  and 
further  expense  was  in- 
curred incident  to  the 
repair  work  because 
this  structure  had  to  be 
torn  down,  in  order  to  ^^^-  ■'• 

install  the  large  engine  parts,  -and  then  rebuilt. 

The  cause  of  the  accident  was  the  gradual  failure  of  the  crank 
shaft  due  to  continued  reversals  of  internal  stress.  The  failure 
occurred  close  to,  and  partly  inside  of.  the  face  of  the  crank  disk,  at 
a  place  where  a  reduction  in  diameter  of  the  shaft  occurred.  The 
absence  of  a  fillet  at  this  shoulder  probabl\-  superinduced  the  break. 
The  front  cover  picture  is  a  view  of  the  initial  break  in  the  shaft,  and 
Fig.  I  is  a  view  of  the  head  end  of  the  cylinder. 

A  HARTFCRn  engine  policy  indemnified  the  owners  for  the  direct 
property  damage    $10,000. 


1927.]  THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  |95 

Vapor  Heating  Systems. 

IN  recent  years  the  use  ol  "  vapor  "'  heating"  sy.stenis,  sometimes 
called  "  modulation  "  systems,  has  hecome  quite  widespread,  and 

several  of  these  are  now  well  recognized,  .\lthough  often  referred 
to  as  vapor  systems,  essentially  they  are  merely  low  pressure  steam 
systems,  operating  in  some  cases  below  atmospheric  pressure.  The 
advantages  claimed  for  the  vapor  systems  are  better  regulation  of  the 
heat  in  proportion  to  the  requirements,  lower  operating  pres.sure  which 
enables  regulation  and  apportionment  of  heat  in  moderate  weather, 
and  the  absence  of  noise  and  the  disagreeable  results  of  discharging 
moisture  and  foul  air  from  radiator  air  valves  into  the  room. 

There  are  two  essential  features  that  distinguish  this-  type  of  instal- 
lation from  the  ordinary  steam  system ;  first,  the  method  of  venting 
the  air  from  the  system  through  the  return  line  instead  of  at  each 
individual  radiator,  and  second,  the  presence  of  a  well  designed  steam 
valve  on  the  inlet  of  each  radiator,  by  means  of  which  the  heat  can 
be  modulated.  These  are  the  two  features  that  really  make  for  the 
success  of  the  type,  although  there  are  other  incidental  differences. 

Operation  of  the  System 

In  explaining  the  operation  of  a  vapor  system  it  would  perhaps 
be  best  to  assume  the  ideal  condition,  that  is,  a  constant  difference  in 
pressure  between  the  steam  and  return  mains,  or  what  is  really  the 
same  thing  once  the  system  is  in  operation,  a  constant  pressure  in  the 
steam  main.  The  steam  is  caused  to  enter  the  top  of  a  radiator,  and 
it  then  descends,  forcing  the  air  ahead  of  it  out  of  the  return  con- 
nection, there  being  no  atmospheric  air  vent  on  the  radiator.  The 
iiir  thus  forced  into  the  return  main  is  vented  by  various  means  from 
a  point  near  the  boiler.  Sometimes  there  is  a  short  vertical  pipe 
giving  access  directly  to  the  atmosphere ;  sometimes  this  pipe  is  con- 
nected into  the  chimney,  the  draft  thus  creating  a  slight  decrease 
in  pressure  below  that  of  the  atmosphere;  in  perhaps  a  great  majority 
of  installations  there  is  some  form  of  vent  trap.  The  water  is  returned 
to  the  boiler  by  gravity,  assisted  in  some  cases  by  a  boiler  return  trap. 

With  a  constant  pressure  on  the  steam  main  and  the  return  line 
open  to  the  atmosphere,  it  is  a  simple  matter  to  adjust  the  valve  on 
the  radiator  to  obtain  just  the  required  degree  of  heat,  particularly  in 
moderate  weather  when  very  little  heat  is  required.  It  is  pointed  out 
"by  advocates  of  this  system  that  the  graduated  valve  in  the  handy 
position  at  the  top  of  the  radiator  is  conducive  of  better  attention. 
The  radiators  are  usuallv  designed  with  an  excess  of  radiating  surface 


196  THE   LOCOMOTIVE.  [July, 

so  that  even  with  the  valve  wide  open  the  steam  will  all  be  condensed 
before  reaching  the  outlet.  In  order  to  further  insure  no  steam 
entering  the  return  line,  an  orifice  is  often  placed  at  the  outlet  to 
restrict  the  flow.  Other  systems  use  a  thermostatic  valve  on  the 
radiator  outlet  which  will  permit  of  the  passage  of  air  and  the  com- 
paratively low  temperature  condensate,  but  which  will  close  immediately 
upon  the  attempted  issuance  of  steam.  Where  the  return  main  has 
complete  access  to  the  atmosphere,  it  is,  of  course,  essential  that  no 
steam  enter  the  return,  for  this  would  be  wasted. 

Venting  The  Air 

The  air  that  has  been  forced  into  the  return  line  from  the  radiators 
and  other  parts  of  the  system  must  be  eliminated,  and  this  is  frequently 
done  by  having  the  return  line  open  to  the  air.  The  usual  arrangement, 
however,  is  through  the  medium  of  a  vent  trap.  This  trap  is  placed 
in  the  return  line  in  such  a  way  that  the  water  will  ordinarily  pass 
around  it  on  the  way  back  to  the  boiler,  but  the  air  goes  to  the  trap 
and  escapes  through  the  vent  in  the  vessel.  Should  the  water  in  the 
return  line  rise  abnormally  high,  it  will  then  enter  the  vessel  and  cause 
a  float  therein  to  rise  and  close  the  vent,  thus  preventing  the  escape 
of  water  from  the  system.  On  many  systems  the  vent  trap  is  further 
equipped  with  a  non-return  mechanism  which  prevents  the  return  of 
air  to  the  system  when  the  pressure  drops  below  that  of  the  atmosphere. 
It  is  in  this  type  of  system  that  a  slight  vacuum  is  usually  maintained. 

The  difference  in  level  between  the  normal  water  level  in  the 
boiler  and  the  lowest  point  of  the  overhead  return  line  is  sometimes 
referred  to  as  the  "  static  head,"  as  indicated  in  Fig.  i,  and  is  the 
head  of  water  that  ordinarily  returns  the  condensation  to  the  boiler 
under  normal  conditions.  If  the  static  head  at  any  time  becomes 
insufficient  to  return  the  water  to  the  boiler,  a  low  water  condition 
may  be  brought  about  with  consequent  cracking  of  sections.  There 
are  several  conditions  which  may  arise  whereby  the  static  head  will  be 
insufificient  to  return  the  condensation,  and  these  may  be  summarized 
as  either  a  rise  of  pressure  in  the  boiler,  or  a  reduction  of  pressure  in 
the  return  line. 

A  rise  in  pressure  above  normal  may  be  caused  by  the  kind  of  fuel 
used.  Highly  inflammable  fuel  creating  a  sudden,  intense  heat,  ma}- 
be  the  cause ;  or  perhaps  the  zeal  of  the  attendant  in  getting  up  a  quick 
heat  may  result  in  improper  methods  of  firing,  with  similar  results. 
At  times,  inexperienced  operatives  may  attempt  to  force  circulation  by 
raising  the  pressure  against  some  obstruction  in  the  steam  or  return 
line,  as,  for  instance,  a  dirty  strainer  or  a  damaged  radiator  valve  or 
orifice. 


1927.]  THE   LOCOMOTIVE.  197 


If  the  size  of  supply  mains  has  been  skimped  in  the  installation,  or 
if  additional  radiators  have  been  added,  there  is  the  possibility  that  a 
pressure  in  the  boiler  greater  than  the  static  head  may  be  required 
at  times  to  obtain  the  required  flow  of  steam  through  the  radiators. 
Such  a  condition  might  exist  in  almost  any  system  in  very  severe 
weather. 

When  steam  is  drawn  from  the  system  for  purposes  other  than 
heating,  there  is  always  the  possibility  of  maintenance  of  a  pressure 
greater  than  the  static  head  in  order  to  satisfy  such  demand.  In  cases 
where  an  arrangement  of  this  kind  has  been  in  successful  operation 
for  some  time,  a  dangerous  condition  may  be  brought  about  by  a 
gradual  increase  in  the  outside  demand. 

A  reduction  of  pressure  in  the  return  line  below  that  which  should 
exist  may  be  brought  about  by  the  sudden  closing  off  of  a  large 
amount  of  radiation.  Under  such  a  condition  the  abnormal  vacuum 
produced  may  cause  considerable  condensation  to  accumulate  in  the 
return  line  before  a  sufficient  head  is  acquired  to  force  any  water 
into  the  boiler. 

Boiler  Return  Traps  Aid  in  Returning  Water 
To  overcome  the  possibility  of  an  excessive  pressure  difference  pre- 
venting the  return  of  the  water,  a  number  of  manufacturers  have  de- 
veloped special  boiler  return  traps  which  are  designed  to  return  the 
condensation  to  the  boiler  regardless  of  the  boiler  pressure,  provided  it 
is  not  in  excess  of  15  lbs.  Fig.  i  shows  an  installation  that  is  typical  of 
vapor  systems  of  the  kind  under  consideration  and  illustrates  how  the 
vent  trap  and  the  return  trap  are  connected  to  the  system. 

The  boiler  return  trap  contains  a  float  which  controls  two  valves 
within  the  trap,  one  for  the  steam  supply  from,  the  boiler,  and  one 
for  the  vent  or  balance  line  to  the  return  pipe.  Assuming  that  the 
float  in  the  return  trap  is  downi,  the  steam  supply  valve  will  be  closed 
and  the  valve  in  the  balance  pipe  to  the  return  line  will  be  open.  The 
condensation  can  then  flow  by  gravity  through  check  valve  A  and  up 
into  the  trap.  As  water  accumulates  in  the  trap,  the  float  rises  until 
it  finally  closes  the  valve  in  the  balance  line  and  opens  the  steam 
connection,  thereby  imposing  boiler  pressure  on  the  water  in  the  trap 
and  releasing  it  to  flow  by  gravity  through  check  valve  B  into  the 
boiler.  When  the  trap  has  emptied  itself,  the  float,  of  course,  again 
reverses  the  valve  positions  and  permits  the  trap  to  fill  with  another 
charge  of  returning  condensation.  It  is  to  be  noted  that,  when  there 
is  a  low  pressure  in  the  boiler,  the  condensation  may  flow   directly 


198 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


[July, 


tu 


1927]  THE   LOCOMOTIVE.  ]99 

throuj^h  the  two  check  valves  A  and  15  without  causinj^f  the  rctuni 
trap  to  fuiu'tioii. 

When  a  boiler  return  tra])  of  this  nature  is  used,  the  valves  marked 
*' C  "  in  Fi<^.  I.  are  sometimes  installed  to  facilitate  removal  of  the 
trap  in  case  it  needs  to  be  repaired.  Ihe  closing  of  any  one  of  these 
valves  will  i)revent  the  operation  of  the  return  trap.  Therefore,  valves 
C.  when  used,  should  be  locked  or  sealed  open,  it  is  considered 
advisable  that  tlie  check  valves  shown  v.)  tlie  dia!.,M-am  should  be  of  the 
45°,  or  swing,  type  rather  than  of  the  ordinary  lift  type. 

Return  tra])s  should  be  installed  at  such  a  height  that  there  will 
be  sufficient  head  of  water  above  the  water  line  in  the  boiler  to  insure 
a  positive  and  rapid  How  of  water  from  the  trap  into  the  boiler.  The 
recommended  minimum  distance  between  the  normal  water  line  in  the 
boiler  and  the  bottom  of  the  trap  varies  with  tiie  different  makes.  In 
all  cases  it  is  advisable  to  occasionally  check  up  on  the  operation  of 
the  trap  to  see  that  it  does  promptly  return  the  water  to  the  boiler. 

Height  of  Vent  Trap  Important 

The  height  of  the  vent  trap  above  the  water  line  of  the  boiler  is 
also  an  important  item,  more  especially  so  in  those  systems  whicli  do 
not  have  a  return  trap  than  in  those  that  do.  It  is  always  advisable 
to  have  the  end  of  the  discharge  line  from  such  a  vent  in  a  conspicuous 
place  so  that  should  any  flooding  of  the  trap  or  other  faulty  operation 
occur,  the  fact  will  be  promptly  brought  to  the  attention  of  the  operative 
by  the  overflow. 

Oftentimes  automatic  feed  water  devices  are  used  in  connection 
with  systems  of  this  kind.  In  such  cases  means  sliould  always  be 
])rovided  for  feeding  the  boiler  should  the  automatic  feeder  become 
inoperative. 

When  a  stop  valve  is  installed  in  the  steam  main  from  the  boiler 
in  multiple  boiler  installations,  there  is  the  possibility  of  a  low  water 
condition  occurring  in  the  boiler  by  reason  of  the  water  being  forced 
out  through  the  pipe  marked  in  Fig.  i,  "drips  from  steam  main," 
sometimes  referred  to  as  the  "  wet  return  line."  In  such  cases  a 
check  valve  should  always  be  required  in  this  line. 

The  water  line  return  connection*  can  be  used  on  all  vapor  systems 
(jf  which  we  have  knowledge,  and,  in  fact,  is  recommended  by  some 
nrinufacturers.  Whereas  such  a  connection  will  not  overcome  the 
difficulty  of  water  being  held  out  of  the  boiler' by  an  unduly  high 
steam  pressure,  it  does  prevent  the  for^-ing  out  of  the  water  below  a 
safe  level. 


*.See  The   Locomotive,  July   1920. 


200 


THE   LOCOMOTIVE, 


[July, 


Boiler  Explosion  at  Ninety  Six,  S.  C. 

THE  approximately  simultaneous  explosion  of  two  boilers  occurred 
August  14,  1926,  at  the  plant  of  the  J.  H.  Self  Lumber  Company, 
Ninety  Six,  S.  C.     Seven  persons  were  killed  and  three  were  in- 
jured.    The  property  loss  was  estimated  to  be  $15,000.     A   general 
view  of  the  scene  is  given  in  Fig.  i. 

The  circumstances  leading  up  to  the  explosion  are  interesting. 
The  mill  had  started  up  in  the  morning  as  usual,  but  had  to  shut  down 
temporarily,  after  running  for  about  an  hour,  in  order  to  make  some 


Fig.  I. 

minor  repair.  With  practically  no  load  on  the  boilers  during  this 
interval,  it  is  stated  the  fire'men  continued  to  pile  on  wood  waste  fuel 
with  the  result  that  the  safety  valves  soon  began  to  blow.  These 
valves  were  said  to  have  been  set  to  relieve  the  pressure  at  no  lbs. 
In  spite  of  the  relief  afiforded  by  the  safety  valves,  the  pressure  on  the 
boilers  continued  to  rise,  140  lbs.  having  been  noted  shortly  before 
the  explosion  by  one  of  the  survivors.  A  few  moments  after  this 
observation  both  boilers  exploded.  The  foregoing  evidence,  together 
with  the  violence  of  the  explosion,  would  seem  to  indicate  over-pressure, 
resulting  from  insufficient  safety  valve  capacity,  as  the  cause  of  the 
accident.     As  all  of  the  mill  employees  were  at  work  at  the  time,  the 


iy27. 


THE   1.  O  C  O  M  O  T  1  \'  E , 


201 


casualties  were  heavy.  Four  men  were  practically  instantly  killed. 
one  of  them  a  minor  son  of  the  superintendent  of  the  mill  and  another 
a  12  year  old  negro  boy,  and  six  men  were  injured,  three  of  them  so 
seriously  that  they  died  later. 

The  boilers  that  exploded  were  of  the  horizontal  return  tubular 
type,  6o  inches  in  (Hameter  and,  respectively,   14  and   t6  ft.  loncc,  of 


double  riveted  lap  seam  construction.  One  of  them  was  said  to  have 
been  43  years  old  and  the  other  one  25  years  old,  although  they  had 
been  in  the  present  location  but  three  years.  The  43  years  boiler 
failed  along  a  row  of  rivets  in  the  longitudinal  seams  of  the  rear  and 
middle  courses,  much  the  same  as  in  the  case  of  a  lap  seam  crack 
failure.  In  this  instance,  however,  there  was  no  sign  of  a  crack,  the 
entire  break  being  fresh.  These  two  courses  opened  out  flat  and, 
together  with  the  rear  head,  moved  only  a  few  feet  from  the  site  of 
the  boiler  room.  They  are  shown  in  Fig.  2.  The  rear  course  and 
head,  intact,  traveled  about  100  feet  in  the  opposite  direction.  The 
dome  of  this  boiler  was  blown  a  distance  of  approximately  one-half 
mile. 

Boiler  number  2,  said  to  have  been  25  years  old,  failed  by  shearing 
all  of  the  rivets  in  the  girth  seam  between  the  middle  and  rear  courses. 
The  front  and  middle  courses  and  front  head,  with  most  of  the  tubes, 
moved  about  100  feet  forward,  while  the  rear  course  and  head  were 
blown  about  600  feet  to  the  rear.  There  was  no  dome  on  this  boiler, 
and  the  boiler  itself  did  not  suffer  general  disruption.  The  boiler 
room,  of  course,  was  leveled,  but  the  nearby  engine  room  fortunately 
suffered  little  damage.  The  property  loss  might  very  easily  have 
reached  a  far  greater  figure  had  any  of  the  projected  parts  of  these 
boilers  gone  in  the  direction  of  a  nearby  cotton  mill,  as  the  machinery 
of  such  mills  is  delicate  and  expensive.  So  far  as  could  be  learned, 
there  was  no  insurance  on  this  installation. 


202  THE   LOCOMOTIVE.  [July, 


The  accident  calls  to  mind  a  boiler  explosion  that  occurred  about 
three  years  previously  at  Greenwood,  S.  C,  which  is  only  nine  miles 
from  Ninety  Six.  The  explosion  at  Greenwood  was  in  the  plant  of  a 
cotton  mill,  and  considerable  additional  damage  to  the  cotton  machinery 
and  products  was  done  by  a  rain  storm  in  progress  at  the  time.  The 
rain  entered  holes  made  in  the  roof  of  the  main  mill  building  by 
flying  grate  bars  and  tubes.  The  property  damage  resulting  from  that 
explosion,  which  was  reported  in  The  Locomotive  for  October  1923, 
exceeded  $53,000. 


Cooling  Boilers  for  Cleaning,  Repairs,  or  Inspection. 

By  J.  A.  Snyder,  Chief  Inspector,  Pittsburgh  Department 

aLL  steam  boilers  should  be  periodically  cleaned  and  inspected,  the 
r\  frequency  depending  upon  the  condition  of  the  feed  water  and  the 
usage  of  the  boiler.  Owing  to  changes  in  personnel  from  time  to 
time,  with  new  engineers  and  firemen  taking  charge  of  the  steam 
boilers,  some  instructions  regarding  the  best  methods  of  cooling  and 
otherwise  preparing  a  boiler  should  be  of  value. 

The  ideal  method  of  cooling  any  type  of  boiler,  especially  those  with 
brick  settings,  is  to  close  all  openings  to  the  setting  and  allow  the 
boiler  to  stand  several  days  after  drawing  the  fires  without  emptying  it. 
By  thus  giving  ample  time,  the  cooling  is  very  slow  and  uniform, 
the  material  contracts  uniformly,  and  the  riveted  joints  and  tube  ends 
accommodate  themselves  to  the  change  without  distress.  Unfortu- 
nately, industrial  conditions  seldom  permit  of  sufficient  time  for  this 
ideal  way  of  cooling,  and  so  some  modification  of  it  must  be  adopted. 
But  it  should  be  remembered  that  boilers  are  abused  when  emptied 
immediately  after  having  the  fires  drawn,  especially  when  under  steam 
pressure.  The  heat  of  the  setting  is  quite  likely  to  burn  the  boiler, 
but  even  if  this  should  not  occur,  the  sudden,  unequal  cooling  of 
different  parts,  and  consequent  non-uniform  contraction,  causes  a 
decided  shock  to  the  structure,  particularly  the  joints  and  tube  ends. 

When  the  fires  have  been  burned  out  and  drawn  or  dumped,  all  hot 
ashes  should  be  removed  from  the  grate,  ash  pit,  and  combustion  cham- 
ber. Hot  ashes  in  the  ash  pit  and  hot  soot  in  the  combustion  chamber 
cause  the  boiler  to  hold  its  heat  for  a  longer  time.  Furthermore,  sup- 
posedly cool  soot  in  combustion  chambers  has  been  known  to  cause 
severe,  and  even  fatal,  burns  to  workmen.  The  soot  should  also  be 
cleaned  from  the  tubes  and  plates  while  the  boiler  is  being  cooled.  This 
cleaning  is  essential  if  the  boiler  is  being  shut  down  for  inspection  or 


1927]  THE   LOCOMOTIVE.  203 

repairs,  and  it  is  advisable  to  perforin  it  immediately  upon  shutting  down 
because  the  soot  delays  cooling  by  acting  as  heat  insulation  between 
the  tubes  and  the  cool  air  which  later  may  be  drawn  through  the  gas 
passages.  After  removal  of  the  fire,  the  steam  valve  may  be  closed, 
and  the  boiler  should  then  be  blown  down  several  times  for  the  pur- 
pose of  clearing  the  blow-ofT  passages  to  avoid  diflficulty  in  emptying 
the  boiler  by  gravity  when  cold  and  not  under  pressure.  If  it  becomes 
necessary  to  add  any  water  to  the  boiler  while  it  is  still  hot,  this  should 
not  be  cold  water.  Cold  water  in  a  hot  boiler  is  never  helpful,  although 
moderate  amounts  likewise  may  not  be  very  harmful,  but  in  shutting 
down  a  boiler  there  is  always  the  possibility  of  becoming  too  enthusi- 
astic in  this  respect  in  an  endeavor  to  expedite  cooling. 

Special  care  should  be  taken  to  see  that  cold  water  is  not  thrown 
or  splashed  on  hot  furnace  brickwork,  as  it  will  cause  the  refractory 
to  crack  and  spall. 

Dr.vft  Effects  Rapid  Cooling 

When  the  temperature  of  the  boiler  and  setting  becomes  fairly  low. 
cooling  may  be  safely  expedited  by  letting  air  pass  through  the  gas 
passages.  In  order  to  do  this,  the  damper  is  opened  and  all  openings 
to  the  setting  closed  except  the  ash  pit  doors.  Cool  air  thus  takes  the 
place  of  hot  gases  and  further  safely  reduces  the  temperature  of  boiler 
and  furnace.  The  mistake  is  frequently  made  of  opening  the  door  at 
the  base  of  the  stack,  but  this  kills  the  draft  through  the  boiler  and, 
therefore,  has  a  reverse  effect  from  that  desired.  It  is  during  this 
period  of  cooling  that  a  coating  of  dust  or  soot  on  the  boiler  surfaces 
will  have  a  retarding  effect,  as  mentioned  previously. 

In  opening  a  boiler,  the  top  manhole  cover  should  be  removed  first 
and  then  a  lower  manhole  or  handhole  cover.  If  this  order  is  reversed, 
the  moment  the  top  opening  is  cracked  there  will  be  a  current  of  air 
set  up  from  the  lower  opening  to  the  upper,  and  this  will  carry  hot 
vapor  about  the  hands  and  face  of  the  person  removing  the  top  man- 
hole cover,  thus  seriously  handicapping  him  in  the  work.  Attention 
to  this  detail  will  lighten  an  otherwise  disagreeable  task. 

Before  entering  a  boiler  for  any  purpose,  one  should  make  sure 
that  the  vessel  is  well  ventilated  so  that  the  air  will  be  fit  to  breathe. 
Working  in  an  atmosphere  deficient  in  oxygen  may,  in  extreme  cases, 
he  dangerous,  but  it  is  always  uncomfortable  and  distressing  and 
greatly  reduces  the  efficiency  of  the  workman.  A  boiler  can  readily 
he  ventilated  by  taking  off  manhole  or  handhold  covers,  such  that 
there  will  be  openings  inside  and  outside  of  the  setting,  and  then  closing 
all  doors  or  openings  to  the  setting.     In  horizontal  tubular  boilers,  for 


204  THE   LOCOMOTIVE.  [July, 

instance,  there  is  usually  a  manhole  above  the  tubes  in  the  shell  plate 
and  one  below  the  tubes  in  the  front  head.  The  upper  one  is  accessi- 
ble from  outside  of  the  setting  and  the  lower  one  must  be  reached  from 
inside  the  setting.  There  are  certain  types  of  water  tube  boilers  that 
can  be  ventilated  by  having  the  manhole  plate  removed  from  the  stream 
drum  and  also  several  of  the  lower  tube-hole  plates  or  caps  at  the 
rear  end.  With  the  damper  open,  the  stack  will  draw  air  into  the 
setting  by  way  of  the  boiler,  thus  introducing  a  continuous  current  of 
fresh  air  into  that  vessel. 

Often  it  is  necessary  to  work  in  a  boiler  before  it  can  be  brought 
to  a  comfortable  temperature.  Under  such  conditions  a  workman 
can  never  do  his  best  work,  but  electric  fans  and  air  hose  can  be  used 
to  good  advantage  to  make  conditions  more  endurable. 

Suggestions  Apply  to  All  Types 

Locomotive,  firebox,  and  vertical  tubular  boilers,  large  or  small, 
should  have  approximately  the  same  treatment  as  far  as  may  be 
applicable.  The  soot  should  be  blown  from  the  tubes  and  all  asbes  and 
dust  removed  from  the  grate  and  ashpit.  When  the  boiler  has 
sufficiently  cooled  for  safety,  it  may  be  further  cooled  to  a  comfortable 
working  temperature  by  opening  the  damper  and  the  ashpit  door  and 
allowing  cool  air  to  be  drawn  through  the  tubes. 

When  boilers  are  emptied  they  should  be  immediately  washed  out 
with  a  hose  under  strong  pressure  for  the  purpose  of  removing  sludge 
and  soft  scale  before  it  hardens  on  the  boiler  surface.  Incidentally 
it  may  be  pointed  out  that  when  boilers  are  emptied  while  still  hot, 
much  of  the  scale  is  baked  onto  the  surfaces  so  that  it  is  much  more 
difficult  to  remove  than  it  would  have  been  had  the  boiler  cooled  before 
being  emptied. 

Briefly,  regardless  of  the  type  of  boiler,  take  as  much  time  as 
possible  in  cooling  it,  and  expedite  cooling  only  by  drawing  air  through 
the  gas  passes  from  the  ashpit.  All  other  openings  to  setting  or  stack 
should  be  closed. 


Over  the  Chief  Inspector's  Phone:  "This  is  the  Engineer  at 
the  Slippery  Elm  Soap  Company.  In  the  inspection  report  just  re- 
ceived your  inspector  reports  finding  a  hair  line  crack  at  the  turn  of 
the  head  flange,  and  recommends  that  the  head  be  slotted  and  the 
boiler  tested  hydrostatically.  What  I  want  to' know,  '  Is  this  a  serious 
matter  or  just  a  funny  crack?'  " 


192/]  THE   LOCOMOTIVE.  205 


Why  Metals  Fail  Under  Influence  of  Steam  Once  Superheated.* 

THE  history  of  all  power-plant  equipment  that  coni^  in  contact 
with  superheated  steam  indicates  that  a  serious  problem  still  con- 
fronts us,  even  though  certain  metals  have  been  developed  that  will 
greatly  ameliorate  the  deterioration  that   formerly   took  place,  partic- 
ularly in  cast-iron  fittings. 

There  is  great  need  at  the  present  time  for  throwing  more  light 
on  the  cause  and  nature  of  metal  failure  where  the  metal  has  been 
subjected  to  superheated  steam  on  a  commercial  scale  in  power  plants. 
The  purpose  of  this  article  is  to  present  some  deductions  on  the  cause 
of  metal  failures,  from  observations  extending  over  a  period  of  thirty 
years  of  power-plant  practice  combined  with  some  recent  observations 
of  the  nature  of  superheated  steam  as  produced  in  modern  power 
plants. 

Many  failures  have  been  attributed  to  high  temperature,  but  failures 
of  the  same  nature  in  turbine  blades,  valves  and  valve  fittings  do  not 
occur  under  saturated  steam  conditions  regardless  of  temperature; 
therefore  one  must  look  for  some  condition  in  the  superheated  steam 
that  caused  the  prevalent  failures. 

Some  Free  Hydrogen  Probably  Produced  by  Catalytic  Action 

Tests  made  on  the  air  exhausted  from  turbine  condensers  clearly 
indicate  the  presence  of  hydrogen,  the  amount  varying  from  i  to  2 
per  cent  by  volume  of  the  air  removed.  The  effect  of  free  hydrogen 
on  metals  will  be  discussed  later;  first  let  us  see  where  it  comes  from. 
Steam  dissociates  at  temperatures  of  from  1,500  to  1,800  deg.  C.  This 
is,  of  course,  much  higher  than  the  maximum  temperature  possible  in 
power-plant  practice.  If  some  outside  agent  or  catalyst  were  present 
with  the  steam,  the  dissociation  temperature  could  be  lowered  well 
within  the  range  of  power-plant  temperatures.  For  instance, 
steam  will  dissociate  quite  rapidly  when  brought  into  contact 
with  red-hot  iron  at,  say,  1,100  deg.  F.  While  superheater  tubes  do 
not  ordinarily  attain  such  a  temperature,  it  is  not  at  all  an  uncommon 
phenomenon  for  superheater  tubes  to  be  red  hot,  nor  is  it  reasonable  to 
suppose  that  if  steam  dissociates  rapidly  in  contact  with  red  iron  it  will 
not  dissociate  at  all  at  slightly  lower  temperaures. 

The  steam  temperatures  in  the  plants  will  average  500  to  700 
deg.  F.  In  consideration  of  the  comparatively  low  critical  velocity  of 
steam,  it  is  hardly  to  be  doubted  that  there  is  turbulent  flow  rather 


'By  Bert  Houghton  and   D.   C.  Weeks  in  Power. 


206  THE   LOCOMOTIVE.  [July, 

than  well  defined  stratification  through  the  superheater  tube.  However, 
there  are  two  facts  concerning  superheaters  and  the  steam  flowing 
through  them  that  indicate  that  average  steam  temperature  does  not 
represent  the  maximum  temperature  that  any  small  portion  of  the 
steam  may  attain.  A  recent  investigation  has  shown  that  some  of  the 
steam  of  an  indicated  average  superheat  of  200  deg.  F.  had  a  quality 
of  only  98.6  per  cent  at  its  superheater  tube  outlet.  In  such  a  case, 
with  an  average  steam  temperature  of  over  600  deg.  F.  and  200  deg. 
F.  superheat,  a  maximum  temperature  of  well  over  600  deg.  must  have 
been  attained  by  a  portion  of  the  steam.  With  the  present  design  of 
several  of  the  widely  used  types  of  superheaters,  it  is  well  known  that 
the  flow  of  steam  through  the  tubes  is  not  equalized.  Some  tubes 
carry  much  more  than  their  share  of  the  steam,  while  others  carry 
correspondingly  less. 

Free  Gases  Act  Upox  Intercrystallixe  Cement 

A  great  many  investigations  have  been  made  in  recent  years  as  to 
the  causes  of  intercrystalline  fractures,  and  it  has  been  abundantly 
shown  by  various  investigators  that  if  a  metal  is  permeated  with  a 
gas  that  will  react  with  the  intercrystalline  cement  along  the  crystal 
boundary  lines,  the  bond  is  weakened  and  the  resulting  fracture  is 
along  the  boundaries  and  not  through  the  cleavage  planes.  Many 
gases  will  act  in  this  way,  among  the  most  common  of  which  are 
hydrogen,  oxygen  and  nitrogen.  Should  a  portion  of  the  steam  dis- 
sociate or  should  the  steam  react  with  the  iron  of  the  piping,  thereby 
releasing  hydrogen,  a  gas  or  gases  would  be  present  which  would 
cause  the  deterioration  of  the  character  found.  This  has  been  shown 
to  be  the  case. 

Miscroscopic  photographs  of  some  metals  that  had  long  contact 
with  superheated  steam  verify  the  fact  that  the  intercrystalline  struc- 
ture of  bronze  reaction  turbine  blades,  a  cast-iron  pipe  flange,  a  cast- 
iron  valve  flange,  a  cast-brass  valve  bushing,  and  a  bronze  seat  of  a 
turbine  throttle  pilot  valve  were  all  subjected  to  the  reactions  mentioned 
in  the  preceding  paragraph.  The  failures  in  each  case  appeared  as 
cracks.  In  the  case  of  the  turbine  blades  they,  as  a  whole,  were  not 
brittle.     However,  there  was  a  brittle  case  around  each  blade.     .     .     . 

The  polished  and  etched  specimens  showed  under  the  microscope 
a  well  defined  intercrystalline  weakness.  In  some  of  the  bronze  tur- 
bine blades,  the  deterioration  of  the  intercrystalline  cement  was  so 
pronounced  near  the  surface  of  the  blade  that  it  was  surprising  that 
the  crystals  held  together. 


1927.]  THE  LOCOMOTIVE,  207 


111  the  case  of  the  cast  iron  the  failure  of  the  grain  I)Oundaries 
was  not  as  pronounced  as  in  the  turbine  blades.  The  widening  of  the 
grain  boundaries  was  sufiicient  to  indicate  clearly  that  ifftercrystalline 
weakness  was  the  cause  of  failure.  We  have  two  cases  in  the  cast 
iron,  one  of  a  pearlitic  iron  (iron  and  carbon)  and  one  of  a  ferritic 
iron  (pure  iron.)  The  failure  in  one  ca.se  was  from  the  bolt  hole 
out ;  in  the  other,  througli  the  entire  cross-section.  The  intercrystalline 
weakness  in  each  case  was  apparent  through  the  entire  cross-section. 
The  cracking  from  the  bolt  hole  out  simply  meant  that  the  weakened 
metal  broke  where  the  greatest  stress  was  applied.  In  determining  the 
cause  of  each  failure,  we  considered  the  most  likely  causes  of  inter- 
crystalline weakness.  The  usual  types  of  failure  are  accompanied  b\- 
trans-crystalline  fractures. 

Other  than  as  a  statement  of  observed  facts  in  power  plants  in 
combination  with  the  reports  of  metallurgists'  investigation.S'.  no  attempt 
is  made  to  present  the  foregoing  comments  as  a  finished  solution  for 
some  of  our  most  urgent  power-plant  problems,  but  at  the  same  time 
the  remarks  focus  attention  on  a  condition  in  commercial  superheated 
steam  and  the  metals  associated  with  it  which  must  be  overcome  before 
further  advances  in  the  art  of  power  plant  practice  can  be  made  with 
complete  assurance  of  the  elimination  of  trouble. 


A  Fatal  Diesel  Engine  Accident. 

A  rather  unusual  accident  to  a  Diesel  engine  occurred  Sunday, 
April  lo,  1927,  at  the  plant  of  the  Louisiana  Shell  Isle  Products 
Company,  Happy  Jack,  La.,  of  which,  however,  we  have  indefinite 
information.  The  engine,  it  appears,  was  new  and  was  being  tested 
or  demonstrated  in  the  presence  of  company  officials  when  the  accident 
occurred.  A  cylinder  exploded,  and  a  portion  of  it  weighing  nearly 
a  ton  was  projected  through  the  roof.  The  occupants  of  the  room 
were  uninjured  and  made  a  hurried  escape,  but  the  engineer,  realizing 
that  the  explosion  was  over,  returned  to  the  vicinity  of  the  engine 
just  in  time  to  be  crushed  by  the  descending  cylinder.  He  was  killed 
almost  instantly. 

The  cause  of  the  explosion  could  not  be  learned,  nor  is  it  likely 
that  more  information  will  be  forthcoming  in  view  of  the  death  of 
the  operator  and  the  fact  that  the  engine  was  shortly  afterwards  sub- 
merged in  six  feet  of  water  by  the  unprecedented  floods  in  the  Missis- 
sippi River  basin. 


208 


THELOCOMOTIVE, 


[July, 


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1927.]  THE   LOCOMOTIVE.  209 

Engine  Accident  at  Bogota,  N.  J. 

BOILER  and  flywheel  explosions  are  characterized  bv  the  wide- 
spread havoc  which  they  create,  whereas  damage  from  engine 
accidents  is  usually  confined  to  the  engine  itself  and  its  immediate 
surroundings.  An  engine  accident  that  departs  from  the  usual,  how- 
ever, occurred  March  30,  1927,  at  the  plant  of  the  Federal  Paper 
Board  Company,  Inc.,  Bogota,  N.  J.  Fragments  of  a  piston  and 
cylinder  head  of  one  engine  flew  around  the  engine  room  and  damaged 
three  other  engines  and  two  electrical  machines. 

The  accident  is  thought  to  have  been  due  to  the  absence,  of  a 
cotter  pin  from  the  crosshead  key,  as  the  pin  would  have  retained  the 
key  in  its  proper  position.  In  the  absence  of  a  cotter,  the  key  worked 
from  its  proper  position  and  was  sheared  off.  The  piston  and  piston 
rod  thus  released  were  driven  through  the  cylinder  head,  and  flying 
particles  of  the  piston  and  cylinder  head  damaged  three  other  engines, 
an  electric  generator,  and  a  motor.  The  widespread  damage  seems 
all  the  more  remarkable  when  it  is  noted  that  the  damaged  units  were 
not  distributed  around  the  engine  that  failed,  but  were  located  one 
behind  the  other  so  that  each  one  partly  shielded  those  beyond  it.  The 
apparent  paths  of  the  various  pieces  are  indicated  by  the  dotted  lines 
in  the  accompanying  sketch. 

The  engine  that  failed  first  was  a  constant  speed  engine  known  as 
No.  I.  It  furnished  power  for  the  beater  room.  The  next  adjacent 
engine  was  Xo.  2,  also  a  constant  speed  engine.  Its  valve  gear  was 
damaged,  the  5  inch  throttle  valve  fractured,  and  a  portion  of  the  5 
inch  steam  pipe  flattened.  Beyond  engine  No.  2  was  a  variable  speed 
engine.  No.  3.  The  frame  of  its  speed-changing  mechanism  was 
destroyed,  also  a  chain  by  which  the  speed  changes  are  effected.  The 
lubricating  lines  of  this  engine  were  also  damaged. 

Beyond  engine  No.  3  was  engine  No.  8,  directly  connected  to  an 
electric  generator.  One  flying  fragment  broke  the  frame  of  this 
engine,  another  fragment  struck  and  destroyed  a  fitting  in  the  main 
steam  line  just  ahead  of  the  throttle  valve,  and  a  third  piece  did  slight 
damage  to  the  lubricating  equipment.  Still  another  fragment  damaged 
five  coils  in  the  electric  generator.  A  fan  motor,  in  the  farthest 
corner  from  the  engine  that  first  failed,  had  its  commutator  junction 
bars  slightly  damaged. 

An  engine  breakdown  policy  relieved  the  owners  of  the  direct 
property  loss  incident  to  this  accident. 


210  THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  [July, 

Fatigue  of  Welds. 

IN  the  July  1926  issue  of  The  Locomotive  brief  mention  was  made 
of  the  results  of  fatigue  tests  on  welded  joints  in  steel  tubes  such 
as  are  used  in  the  construction  of  airplanes.  In  a  recent  issue  of 
Pozver  appeared  an  abstract  of  a  report  on  similar  tests  presented  by 
R.  R.  Moore  at  the  annual  meeting  in  April  of  the  American  Welding 
Society.  The  tests  in  this  investigation  were  also  made  on  i  inch  and 
3/2  inch  steel  tubes  such  as  are  used  in  airplane  construction,  but  the 
results  of  the  tests  are  nevertheless  of  general  interest.  Gas,  metal 
arc,  and  atomic  hydrogen  processes  were  used,  likewise  various  kinds, 
of  filler  rods.  Test  specimen  bars  were  also  made  up  by  depositing, 
filler  rod  material  by  the  several  methods  of  welding.  The  rotating- 
heam  type  of  testing  machine  was  used  for  the  fatigue  tests. 

Tensile  tests  were  made  of  all  welded  tubes,  the  fracture  in  every 
case  being  outside  of  the  weld,  approximately  i  inch  distant.  The 
location  of  the  fracture  is  thought  to  be  due  to  softening  of  the  adjacent 
metal  by  the  heat  of  the  torch,  and  to  the  increased  cross-section  at 
the  weld.  The  tubes  showed  a  tensile  strength  of  50,500  to  62,500 
ll)s.  per  square  inch. 

The  endurance  limit  was  determined  by  plotting  stress-cycles  curves,, 
the  stress  determined  by  the  regular  beam  formula,  and  the  cycles  by 
counting  the  revolutions  of  the  specimen.  The  endurance  limit  was 
taken  as  the  stress  at  which  the  curve  became  flat,  that  is,  the  specimens 
failed  to  break  under  an  infinite  number  of  reversals  of  stress.  In  the 
endurance  tests  the  fracture  occurred  either  in  the  middle  of  the  weld 
or  very  close  to  it.  The  location  of  the  break  in  both  the  tensile 
strength  and   fatigue  tests  bears  out  the   results  previously  reported. 

It  would  be  expected  that  the  deposited  metal,  which  is  cast  and  not 
worked,  would  be  more  brittle  than  the  mild  steel  tube  and  hence 
would  be  the  weak  spot  in  the  endurance  tests.  Of  particular  interest, 
therefore,  are  the  tests  on  specimen  bars  made  from  filler  rod  material 
deposited  by  the  torch.  The  Norway  iron  sample  deposited  with  a 
gas  torch  showed  a  tensile  strength  of  50,500  lbs.  per  sq.  inch  with 
26  percent  elongation,  and  a  fatigue  test  of  24,000  lbs.  per  sq.  inch. 
The  latter  is  about  48  percent  of  the  tensile  strength,  a  ratio  said  to  be 
exceeded  by  only  a  few  steels.  The  endurance  limit  on  these  filler 
rod  bars  exceeded  that  on  any  of  the  welded  tubes. 

The  gas  welded  specimens  using  chromium  molybdenum  filler  rods 
gave  the  very  low  endurance  limit  of  8,000  lbs.  per  inch,  due  to  poor 
welding.  Tension  tests  on  these  samples,  however,  gave  results  equally 
as  high  as  others,  and  the  rupture  did  not  occur  in  the   weld.     The 


1927-]  THE   LOCOMOTIVE.  211 


poor  tusit)!!,  therefore,  was  not  detected  by  tensile  tests  Ijut  became 
readily  apparent  in  the  endurance  tests. 

Arc  welded  samples  of  the  tubes  showed  similar  results  to  the  torch 
welded  samples,  but  tests  on  tlie  bars  of  deposited  mcial  gave  a  tensile 
strenj^th  of  62,500  lbs.  per  sq.  inch  and  only  1.5  percent  elongation. 

The  atomic  hydrogen  process  of  welding,  in  which  fusion  takes  place 
in  an  atmosphere  of  hydrogen  and  thus  prevents  formation  of  metallic 
oxides  and  in  which  strips  of  the  original  tube  metal  were  used  for 
filler  rods,  gave  results  not  essentially  different  from  the  others  except 
that  the  tube  seemed  to  be  softened  to  a  greater  extent,  which  resulted 
in  a  lower  tensile  strength. 

The  author  points  out  that  the  tensile  efficiency  of  the  welded  tubes 
was  better  than  75  percent,  but  the  fatigue  strength  was  as  low  as 
13  percent  and  never  higher  than  35  percent  of  the  tensile  strength  of 
the  weld.  Furthermore,  poor  fusion  will  show  up  much  more  quickly 
in  fatigue  endurance  tests  than  in  the  tensile  strength  tests. 


Caught  In  the  Separator. 

Who's  Got  Mine? 
The    rain    though    raining    every    day 

Upon  the  just  and  unjust  fella. 
Falls  chiefly  on  the  just  because 

The    unjust    has    the    just's    umbrella. 

The  Eagle 


"  Sorry,"  said  the  constable,  "  but  Fll  have  to  arrest  you  —  you 
were  speedin'  along  at  a  50  mile  clip." 

"  You  are  wrong,  my  friend,"  said  the  motorist.  "  I  say  I  wasn't, 
and  here's  a  ten  dollar  bill  says  I  wasn't." 

"  All  right,"  returned  the  constable,  as  he  folded  up  the  money, 
"  with  eleven  against  me  I  ain't  a-goin'  to  subject  the  county  to  the 
expense  of  a  trial." 

—  Selcched 


Magistrate  —  And  did  you  strike  the  policeman  ? 

Prisoner  —  The  answer  is  in  the  infirmary.  —  Selected 


Diner  —  Waiter,  there's  a  button  in  my  soup. 

Waiter  (ex-printer) — Typographical  error,  sir;  it  should  be  mutton. 

—  Selected 


212 


THE   LOCOMOTIVE. 


[July, 


Deyoteb  to  Power  Plant  Protection 


Published  Quarterly 


Bexj.  C.  Ckuickshaxks,  Editor 


HARTFORD,  JULY,  1927. 

Single  copies  can  be  obtained  free  by  callmg  at  any  of  the  company' s  agencies. 

Subscription  price  50  cents  per  year  in'hen  ?natlcd  from  this  office.. 

Recent  bound  volumes  one  dollar  each.    Earlier  ones  tivo  dollars. 

Reprinting  ?natter  frotn  this  paper  is  permitted  tf  credited  to 

The  Locomotive  of  the  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  I.  &  I.  Co. 


KNOWLEDGE  arouses  interest  and  creates  enthusiasm.  A  man 
may  work  at  some  task  for  years  and  give  little  thought  to  the 
whys  and  wherefores,  simply  contenting  himself  with  a  faithful 
performance.  But  explain  to  him  the  reasons  for  certain  things  and 
his  interest  is  usually  aroused.  Questions  invariably  follow  and,  per- 
ceiving the  real  object  of  his  work,  aimless  methods  give  way  to  more 
efficient  ones. 

Excellent  illustrations  of  this  are  frequently  found  in  the  cases  of 
certain  students  enrolled  in  the  Hartford  Correspondence  Course  for 
Firemen.  There  are  many  engineers  and  firemen  who  enroll  because 
previous  study  has  accustomed  them.,  to  seek  further  knowledge,  but 
there  are  also  a  great  many  who  are  persuaded  to  enroll  yet  who  have 
never  taken  up  any  particular  line  of  study  since  leaving  off  with  the 
"  three  R's."  Interest  in  study  is  at  an  ebb.  However,  a  few  interest- 
ing explanations  of  phenomena  already  observed  about  combustion  are 
given  in  the  first  few  lessons  of  the  course,  and  these  stimulate  interest 
and  cause  the  work  to  proceed  more  satisfactorily  and  more  rapidly. 
Often  a  request  for  additional  lessons  is  made  in  order  to  expedite  the 
work.  Questions  pertaining  to  the  particular  installation  show  that  the 
man  is  thinking  about  his  work  and  applying  what  he  has  learned.  It 
is  then  only  reasonable  to  assume  that  with  a  clear  understanding  of 
what  he  is  doing  and  how  it  is  best  done,  definite  results  in  the  way 
of  better  firing  will  ensue. 


1927.]  THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  213 

THE  matter  of  a  heating  system  for  a  Iniilding  is  a  subject  that 
should  receive  full  consideration  before  installation  for  it  is  one 
that  bears  considerable  inertia.  Once  a  system  is^in  operation 
and  is  found  to  be  ample  for  cold  weather,  there  is  little  likelihood  of 
any  changes  being  made  except  when  necessary.  Yet  the  simple 
steam-heating  system  is  open  to  the  criticism  that  satisfactory  control 
of  the  amount  of  heat  in  accordance  with  the  need,  particularly  in 
moderate  weather,  is  practically  impossible.  Rather  than  have  in- 
sufficient heat  under  such  conditions,  too  much  is  supplied,  which  means 
poor  economy.  The  vapor  system  of  heating,  really  an  adaptation  of 
the  simple  steam  system,  is  a  type  that  lends  itself  admirably  to  such 
regulation.  How  it  is  done  is  told  briefly  in  an  article  elsewhere  in 
this  issue. 


No  Man  is  Indispensable. 

I  care  not  what  your  place  may  be  — 

A  job  that's  most  laborious 
With  a  mightly  little  salary. 

Or  one  that's  fat  and  glorious ; 
But,  be  your  labor  great  or  small, 

Of  this  you  must  be  sensible  — 
Some  other  chap  can  do  it  all ; 

No  man  is  indispensable ! 

When  you  begin  to  swell  with  pride 

And  cater  to  the  gallery. 
And  put  on  lots  of  "  dogs  "  and  "  side  " 

Because  they've  raised  your  salary ; 
Why  then's   the  time   you'll   tumble   quick, 

Such  ways  are  indefensible; 
Some  other  chap  can  do  your  trick  : 

No  man  is  indispensable ! 

It's  well  enough  to  know  your  worth 

And  know  just  what  to  do  with  it, 
But  don't  imagine  that  the  earth 

Will  quit  when  you  are  through  with  it : 
No,  it  will  roll  upon  its  way. 

And  —  what  seems  reprehensible  — 
Some  other  chap  will  draw  your  pay : 

No  man  is  indispensable ! 

—  Xcii'  York  Central  Lines  Magasine. 


214 


THE    LOCOMOTI\E 


[July. 


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American  Woolen  Co. 
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Nassau  Gas  Light  Co. 
B.  B.  &  R.  Knight  Inc. 
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Chicago  Mill  &  Lbr.  Co 
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Bell  Laundry  &  Cleanin 
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1927.] 


r  HI-:    LOCOMOTIVE. 


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216 


THE   LOCOMOTIVE 


[July, 


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1927] 


THE   LOCOMOTIVE, 


217 


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218 


THE   LOCOMOTIVE 


[July, 


O 

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iViiddletovvn,   Ohio 
Gcnesco,  N.  Y. 
Trinidad,  Texas 
Ogden,   Utah 
Glassboro,   N.  J. 
Clifty,   Ark. 
St.  Paul,  Minn. 
X'iagara  Falls,  N.  ^ 
Springfield,   Mass. 
VVichrta  Falls.  Tex 
Trinidad,    Texas 
New  York,  N.  Y. 
Amite.  La. 
N'ashville,  Tenn. 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 
Higdon,    Mo. 
Hopewell,  Va. 
New  York,  N.  Y. 
Trinidad,  Tex. 
Rdxlniry,  Mass. 
Lowell,   Mass. 
Hartford,  Conn. 
Oak  Park,  111. 
Rochester,   N.  Y. 
Courtland,  N.  Y. 
Mildred,    Texas 

Trinidad,  Texas 
Fairport,    Ohio 
VVhiipany,   N.  J. 
St.  Louis,  Mo. 
Delanco,   N.  J. 
Alliance,  Ohio 

CO 

CO 

UJ 

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CO 

33 
OQ 

Paper   Mill 
Canning    Factory 
Power  Plant 
Canning  Factory 
Canning  Factory 
Sawmill 
Store   Rldgs. 
Apts.  &  Stores 
Ice   Cream    I'cty. 
Oil  Refinery 
Power  Plant 
Office    Bldg. 
Power    Plant 
Sawmill 
Apt.    House 
Sawmill 

Pulp  &  Paper  Mill 
-Apt.    House 
Power    Plant 
Lunch    Room 
Office   Bldg. 
Foundry 
Creamery 
Steel   Plant 
Pumping  Sta. 
Oil  Well 

Power  P'ant 

Alkali   Plant 

Paper   Mill 

Apt.    House 

Railroad 

Cold   Storage   Pit. 

CONCERN 

Paul   A.   Sorg   Paper   Co. 
Geneseo  Canning  Co. 
Texas   Power  &   Liglit   Co. 
Ogden  State  Bank 
Keough    Canning   Co. 
George  Todd  Sawmill 
Theo.  Ilamm   Brewing  Co. 
A.  B.  H.  Moore 
Eastern   Dairies,   Ire. 
American   Refining   Co. 
Texas  Power  &  Light  Co. 
Heatherton    Realty    Associates 
Central   Louisiana   Power   Co. 
Flihu   Reeves   Sawmill 

a 
c 

c 
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HummelLRoss    Fibre   Corp. 

Klion    Plolding    Corp. 

Texas   Power  &   Light  Co. 

Clark's   Spas,   Lie. 

Mongeau  Bldg. 

Capitol  Foundry 

.Matoma-Hurit'.ey   Pairy  Co. 

McKinney    Steel    Co. 

Board  of  Water  Commissioners 

rt 

o 

X 

Texas  Power  &  Light  Co. 

Diamond  Alkali  Co. 

McEwan    Bros. 

A.  H.  &  F.  E.  Holt 

Pennsylvania   Railroad 

Alliance  C"'fl  Storage  &  Pack,  Co. 

p8jnfu| 

—                                                                                   N 

M                                                          IH                l-l 

r<i 

N 

NATURE  OF  ACCIDENT                       1 

HH 

Boiler   ruptured 
Cooking  tank  exploded 
Tube  of   superheater   ruptured 
Tube  ruptured 
Boiler   exploded 
Boiler  exploded 

Section   of   heating  boiler  cracked 
Section   of  heating  boiler  cracked 
Boiler  ruptured 
Tubes   failed 

Superheater  tube  ruptured 
Section  of   heating  boiler   crac'.ed 
Tubes   ruptured 
Boiler  exploded 

Heating  boiler   exploded 

Boiler  exploded 

Boiler  bulged  and  ruptured 

Section    of    heating    boiler    cracked 

Superheater  tubes  ruptured 

Sections  of  heating  boiler  cracked 

Hot  water  supply  heater  exploded 

Air  tank  exploded 

Boiler   bulged    and    ruptured 

Boiler   exploded 

Tube  ruptured 

Boiler   exploded 

Superheater  tube  ruptured  (2nd  acci- 

_dent) 

Six  headers  cracked 

Pube  ruptured 

Two  sections  heating  boiler  cracked 

Boiler   of   locomotive   exploded 

Tube   ruptured 

No    DAY 

«                N          r<-)  ■*        "1              vO 

t^              00    On                O           - 

O^O^C3^cy^C^O^OO^OOOOOOOOOO    —    "--■—    -,«►-►<„ 

On  O    •-    N    r^ 
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The  Harif  ord  Steam  Boiler  Inspection  and  Insurance  Company 

HARTFORD,  CONN. 


ABSTRACT   OF   STATEMENT.   DECEMBER  31,    19-^6 

Capital  Stock,        .         .         $2,500,000.00 


ASSETS 


Cash  in  offices  and  banks 

Real    Estate  ... 

^Mortgage  and  collateral   loans 

Bonds  and   stocks 

Premiums  in   course  of  collection 

Interest    Accrued 

Total    Assets 


$684,103.09 

267,631.53 

i>523,io6.2o 

12,646,007.33 

1,290,539.98 

150,884.92 


LIABILITIES 


Reserve    for    unearned    premiums 
Reserve    for    losses  .... 

Reserve  for  taxes  and  other  conting^encies 
Capital    Stock  ..... 

Surplus  over  all  lialjilities 

Surplus  to  Policyholders, 

Total    Liabilities 


.   $16,562,273.05 


$7,318,478.72 
452,318.90 
770.028.22 


$2,500,000.00 

5,521,447.21 


$8,021,447.21 

.  $16,562,273.05 


CHARLES    S.    BLAKE,    Chairman    Board   of    Directors 
W^I.   R.   C.   CORSOX,    President   and    Treasurer. 

BOARD    OF    DIRECTORS 


LUCIUS  F.  ROBIXSOX,  Attorney,  Hart- 
ford,   Conn. 

JOHN  O.  ENDERS.  Chairman  Board  of 
Trustees,  Fartford  National  Bank  & 
Trust    Co.,    Hartford,    Conn. 

MORGAN  B.  BR.\IN.\RD,  President 
^tna  Life  Insurance  Co.,  Hartford, 
Conn. 

CII.NRLES  P.  COOLEV.  President  Society 
for    Savings,    Hartford,    Conn. 

HORACE  B.  CHENEY,  Chenev  Brothers, 
Silk  Manufacturers,  South  Manchester, 
Conn. 

n.  NEWTON  BARNEY,  Vice-President 
The  Hartford  Electric  Light  Co.,  Hart- 
ford,   Conn. 

DR.  GEORGE  r.  F.  WILLIAMS.  Presi- 
de-it  The  Cape-.vell  Horse  Nail  Co., 
Hartford,    Conn. 

JOSEPH  R.  ENSIGN,  President  The 
Ensign-Bickford    Co.,    Simsbury,    Conn. 


EDWARD  MILLIG.VN,  President  Phoenix 
Insurance    Co.,    Hartford,    Conn. 

CHARLES  S.  BLAKE,  Chairman  Board  of 
Directors,  The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler 
Insnection  and  Insurance  Co.,  Hart- 
ford,   Conn. 

WM.  R.  C.  CORSON,  President  The  Hart- 
ford Steam  Boiler  Inspection  and 
Insurance    Co.,    Hartford,    Conn. 

SAMUEL  M.  STONE,  President  The 
Colt's  Pat'nt  Fire  Arms  Mfg.  Co., 
Hartford,   Conn. 

S.\MUEL  FERGUSON,  President  The 
Hartford  E'ectric  Light  Co.,  Hartford, 
Conn. 

HON.  TOFN  H.  TRUMBULL,  President 
The  Trumbull  Electric  Mfg.  Co., 
Plainville,    Conn. 

CURTISS  C.  G.\R DINER.  \ice-President 
The  Hartford  Stfam  Boiler  Inspection 
and  Insurance  Company,  80  Maiden 
Lane,    New    York,    N.    Y. 


Incorporated   1866 


Charter  Perpetual 


INSURES  AGAINST  LOSS  FROM  DAMAGE  TO  PROPERTY 
AND  INJURY  TO  PERSONS  DUE  TO  THE  EXPLO- 
SION OF  BOILERS  OR  FLYWHEELS  OR 
THE  BREAKDOWN  OF  ENGINES  OR 
ELECTRICAL  MACHINERY 


Department 

ATLANTA.    Ga., 

IIO3-U06   Atlanta   Trust    1 

BALTIMORE,  Md  .  . 
13-14-15   Abell   Blclg. 

I50ST0N,   Mass., 
4  Liberty   Sq.,   Cor.    Wat 

BRIDGEPORT.   Conn.. 
z;o4--i05  City  Savings  Uanlc 

CHICAGO,    III., 

209  West  Jackson    BTv'i 

CTNCINNATI,    Ohio, 
First  National   Bank    Bid 

CLEVELAND,    Ohio. 
Leader    Bldg. 

DENVER.    Colo., 
916-918  Gas  &  Electric  Bl 

HARTFORD,    Conn., 
56   Prospect   St. 

NEW  ORLEANS,  La., 
Hibernia  Bank  Bldg. 

NEW    YORTs:.    N.    v.. 
80  Maiden  Lane 

PHILADELPHIA,   Pa.. 
429   Walnut    St. 

PITTSBURGH,    Pa., 
1807-8-9-10  Arrott   Bldg, 

PORTLAND,   Ore.,    . 
306  Yeon  Bldg., 

SEATTLE,   Wash.,    . 
415    Dexter-Horton    Bid 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  Cal.. 
114  Sansome  St. 

ST.  LOUIS,  Mo.,        . 
610-618  Security   Bid,.;. 

TORONTO.    Canada. 
Federal    Bldg. 


■  St 

n.i 


Representatives 

W.  M.   Er.xncj.s,   INTanagxT. 

C.   R.   Summers,   Chief    In.spcctor. 

Lawford  &  McKiM,  General   .Agents. 
James  G.  Reid,  Chief  Inspector. 

Ward  I.   Cornell,  Manager. 
W.  A.  Bayliss,  Chief  Inspector. 

W.  G.  LiNEBURGH,  &  So.v,  General  Agents 
A.  E.   Bonnet,   Chief   Inspector. 

P.  M.  Murray,  Manager. 

J.   P.  Morrison,  Chief   Inspector. 

W.   E.   Gleason,  Manager. 

W.  E.  Gi.ennon,  Chief  Inspector. 

A.   Paul  Graham,   Manager. 
L.  T.  Gregg,  Chief  Inspector. 

J.  H.  Chesnutt, 

xManager   and   Chief    Inspector. 

F.  H.  Kenvon.  General  Agent. 
.\.   E.  BoNNETT,  Chief   Inspector. 

R.  T.   BuRWELL,  Mgr.  and   Chief   inspector 
E.   L^NSwoKTH,  Ass't  Chief  Inspector. 

C.  C.  Gakdiner,  Vice  President. 
E.  Mason  P.a.rry^  Chief  Inspector. 

A.  S.  Wickham,  Manager. 
S.  B.  Adams,  Chief  Inspector. 

Geo.   S.   Reyno'.ds,   Manager. 
J.  A.  Snyder,  Chief  Inspector. 

Bates,  Lively  &  Pearson,  Gen'l  Agents. 
C.  B.  Paddock,  Chief  Inspector. 

C.  B.  Paddock,  Chief  Inspector. 

H.   R.  Mann.  &  Co.,  General  Agents. 
J.  B.  Warner,  Chief  Inspector. 

Chas.  D.  Ashcroft.  Manager. 
Eugene  Wedb,  Chief  Inspector. 

H.  N.  RoiiFRTS.  President  The  Boiler  In- 
spe:tion  and  Insurance  Company  of 
Canada. 


:i. 


THE  HARTFORD  LINE 

BOILER  INSURANCE 

BoilerSy  Economizers,  Vulcanizers,  Kiers, 

Digesters,  Steam  Driers,  Jacketed 

Kettles,  Etc. 

FLYWHEEL  INSURANCE 

^Flywheels,  Fans,  Blowers,  Turbines,  Water 
'^  Wheels,  Centrifugal  Driers,  Gear  ' 

Wheels,  Etc. 

ENGINE  INSURANCE 

Engines,  Compressors,  Pumps,  Refrigerating 
Machines,  Etc. 

ELECTRICAL  MACHINERY  INSURANCE 

Generators,  Motors,  Synchronous  Convertors, 

Transformers,  Switchboards,  Etc. 


Consult  your  agent  or  broker  or  write  for 
details   to    the  nearest  branch   office   of 

THE  HARTFORD  STEAM  BOILER 
INSPECTION  and  INSURANCE  CO. 

HARTFORD  CONNECTICUT 


"The  oldest  in  the  Country,  the  largest  in  the  world" 


Devoted  to  Power  Plant  Protection 


PifBLiSHED  Quarterly 


Vol.  XXXVI. 


HARTFORD,  CONN.,  OCTOBER,  1927. 


No.  8. 


COPYRIGHT,  1927,  BY  THE  HARTFORD  STEAM  BOILER   INSPECTION  AND  INSURANCE  CO. 


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Amisionia  Generator  Explosion  at  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

THERE  IS  VALUABLE  INFORMATION 

FOR  YOUR  ENGINEER  IN  THIS  MAGAZINE 

PLEASE  LET  HIM  SEE  IT. 


226 


THE     LOCOMOTIVE 


[October, 


Explosion  of  Generator  in  Absorption  Refrigerating  System 

AN  autogenously  welded  generator  in  the  absorption  refrigerating 
^system  at  the  Stenton  Park  branch  of  the  Scott- Powell  Dairies, 
Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania,  exploded  July  29,  1926.  Four  persons 
were  injured,  one  of  them  fatally,  and  the  portion  of  the  building  that 
had  housed  the  refrigerating  plant  was  razed.  The  property  loss  was 
estimated  at  $15,000.  A  general  view  of  the  scene  shortly  after  the 
accident  is  shown  on  the  front  cover. 


Fi.,.   I. 


The  tank  that  exploded  was  43  inches  in  diameter  by  10  ft.  long, 
and  was  7/16  inch  thick.  The  heads  were  of  the  convex,  or  plus, 
type,  approximately  17/32  inch  thick.  They  were  flanged  and  fitted 
inside  of  the  shell,  the  turn  of  the  flange  being  then  welded  to  the  end 
of  the  shell.  Figure  i  shows  a  duplicate  of  the  exploded  vessel  that 
was  part  of  a  standby  unit.  The  exploded  vessel  was  of  autogenously 
welded  construction  throughout,  all  longitudinal  and  girth  seams  hav- 
ing been  made  by  that  process.  It  had  been  installed  about  five  years 
previously.  It  was  equipped  with  a  safety  valve.  The  operating 
pressure  varied  from  150  to  225  lbs. 

The  cause  of  the  accident  is  not  known,  but  it  is  believed  to  have 
been  due  to  failure  of  a  welded  seam  at  ordinary  working  pressure. 
One  head  blew  out,  the  separation  taking  place  entirely  in  the  weld. 


1927.] 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE. 


227 


The  explosion  occurred  about  4:50  a.  m.,  approximately  half  an 
hour  after  twenty-five  or  thirty  drivers  had  loaded  their  milk  wagons 
and  left  the  plant  with  the  morning  delivery.  Because  of  this,  the 
refrigerator  was  empty,  and  the  plant  was  not  operating  at  its  full 
capacity.  Yet  the  explosion  was  extremely  violent,  as  can  be  observed 
from  the  picture.  The  refrigerating  machinery  was  located  in  the 
basement  at  the  left-center  of  the  picture,  under  the  debris  at  the  edge 
of  the  partition  which  is  lying  flat  in  the  foreground  with  pipe  coils 
attached.  The  building  was  completely  destroyed,  and  the  500  gallon 
water  tank  on   the  roof  of  the  adjacent  building  was  left   in   a  pre- 


FlG.   2. 

carious  position  such  that  it  had  to  be  immediately  removed  to  over- 
come the  danger  of  its  falling.  Heavy  steel  beams  were  blown  200 
ft.  away,  into  the  park  across  the  street,  and  telephone  and  electric 
wires  in  the  adjoining  streets  were  carried  away.  The  shell  of  the 
generator  was  driven  through  an  18  inch  stone  basement  wall  and  into 
the  earth  embankment  beyond. 

Explosion  of  Ammonia  Condenser  in  Compression 
Refrigerating  System. 
The  failure  of  another  autogenously  welded  ammonia  vessel  oc- 
curred July  18,  1927,  at  the  plant  of  the  Seventh  District  Ice  &  Man- 
ufacturing Co.,  Ltd.,  New  Orleans,  Louisiana.  One  man  was  seriously 
injured,  and  a  property  loss  of  approximately  $15,000  was  sustained. 
Fig.  2  shows  part  of  the  damage  to  the  building.  In  addition,  four 
nearby  residences  were  damaged. 


228 


THE     LOCOMOTIVE 


[October, 


The  vessel  that  exploded  was  a  shell  type  ammonia  condenser, 
part  of  a  40  ton  compression  type  refrigerating  system.  It  was  38 
inches  in  diameter  by  18  ft.  long,  and  was  constructed  of  1/2  inch 
plate,  in  two  courses.  The  heads  were  connected  by  a  number  of  2  inch 
tubes.  An  idea  of  the  general  construction  of  the  condenser  may  be 
obtained  from  Fig.  3.  Cooling  water  passed  through  the  tubes  and 
ammonia  surrounded  the  tubes.  One  course  of  the  shell  was  blown 
off,  the  rupture  fol- 
lowing the  longitu- 
dinal and  girth 
seams  so  that  the 
plate  opened  out  flat 
without  any  tearing. 
The  rest  of  the  vessel 
remained  practically 
intact.  Fortunately 
it  had  been  installed 
out-of-doors,  so  the 
property  loss  was  not 
as  great  as  it  un- 
doubtedly would 
have    been    had    the  ^' 

condenser  been  located  inside  of  the  building. 

The  cause  of  the  accident  is  not  definitely  known.  The  vessel  is 
said  to  have  been  operating  under  normal  conditions  when  the  ex- 
plosion occurred,  about  4  o'clock  in  the  morning.  The  engineer,  who 
was  seriously  injured,  was  standing  nearby.  It  has  been  suggested 
that  the  circulating- water  pump  might  have  stopped  or  gotten  out  of 
order  and  thus  cut  oflf  the  water  supply,  allowing  an  excess  pressure 
to  build  up  in  the  condenser  shell.  Another  possible  cause,  in  view  of 
reported  condition  of  the  welded  seams,  is  that  the  failure  started  in 
one  of  these  seams.  The  vessel  had  been  in  use  for  12  years.  The 
operating  pressure  was  170  pounds. 

Neither  of  these  tanks  was  insured  with  The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler 
Inspection  and  Insurance  Company,  which  has  always  questioned  the 
advisability  of  depending  on  autogenously  welded  seams  in  vessels 
subjected  to  such  high  working  pressure. 


\ 

II 

Ij-Jl 

1^ 

IHiiMJ.ilMMi 

1^ 

1927.]  THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  229 

Prevention  of  Air  Tank  Explosions. 

By  Geo.  H.  Stickney,  Sup't.  Boiler  Department. 

AIR  tank  explosions  are  due  to  a  great  variety  of  causes,  some  of 
which  arc  common  to  all  pressure  vessels,  while  others  are  peculiar 
to  compressed  air  systems.  The  fault  may  have  been  in  the 
original  design,  or  a  defect  that  gradually  appeared,  or  the  result  of 
improper  operation,  but  whatever  the  cause,  frequent  inspections  would 
go  a  long  way  toward  reducing  the  number  of  such  accidents.  The 
services  of  an  inspection-insurance  company  are  of  inestimable  value 
in  this  work,  but  its  efforts  should  be  backed  up,  first,  by  proper  instal- 
lation, and  afterwards  by  care  and  observation  on  the  part  of  the  men 
who  are  operating  the  system. 

The  air  tank  or  receiver  is  most  frequently  the  seat  of  the  explosion, 
but  attention  to  this  vessel  alone  will  not  greatly  reduce  the  hazard.  The 
system  as  a  whole  must  be  considered  —  tanks,  compressors,  and  piping 
—  and  when  any  part  of  the  system  is  dismantled  for  repairs,  the  op- 
portunity of  examining  that  part  should  be  taken  full  advantage  of.  The 
internal  inspection  of  a  tank  should  be  as  thorough  as  possible  and 
should  include  complete  dimensions  for  computing  the  maximum  safe 
working  pressure.  Should  the  system  be  in  operation  and  the  tank  under 
pressure,  it  may  not  be  possible  to  obtain  these  necessary  data,  but  at 
least  some  approximation  should  be  made  and  checked  against  the  ob- 
served working  pressure  to  ascertain  the  probable  factor  of  safety. 

Internal  Examination  Essential. 

If  the  tank  can  be  entered  or  the  inside  seen  through  openings,  the 
interior  of  the  shell  should  be  carefully  examined  for  evidence  of  cracks, 
general  corrosion,  pitting,  and  the  presence  of  oil,  water,  or  other  de- 
posit. If  there  are  no  openings  and  no  pipe  fittings  of  sufficient  size  that 
can  be  dismantled  for  the  purpose  of  interior  examination,  hand  holes  of 
ample  size  should  be  cut  into  the  vessel,  the  number  of  holes  depending 
upon  the  size  of  the  tank.  Special  attention  should  be  paid  to  the 
l^ossibility  of  finding  internal  corrosion  on  the  bottom  of  the  vessel,  or 
cracks  at  the  turn  of  the  head  flanges.  The  bottom  heads  of  vertical 
tanks  and  the  lower  portions  of  heads  of  horizontal  tanks  should  be 
given  particular  attention. 

All  air  tanks  should  have  a  blow-off  connection  fitted  to  the  lowest 
part  of  the  vessel,  and  it  should  be  used  at  least  daily  in  order  to  pro- 
vent  the  accumulation  of  oil  and  water.  Vertical  tanks  should  be  in- 
stalled with  the  "  plus  "  head  at  the  bottom  to  afford  complete  drainage. 
A  safety  valve,  or  valves,  of    proper    construction    and    size    and    set 


230 


THE     LOCOMOTIVE. 


[October, 


at  the  maximum  allowable  pressure  should  be  installed  so  as  to  properly 
protect  the  tank  or  system.  A  device  commonly  known  as  an  unloader, 
which  governs  the  pressure  by  controlling  the  air  supply,  is  not  by  itself 
considered  sufficient  protection  against  overpressure. 

Safety  valve  sizes  are  based  on  the  allowable  pressure  and  the  maxi- 
mum commercial  rating  of  the  compressor  in  cubic  feet  per  minute  of 
free  air  at  sea  level.  This  capacity  is  reduced  about  3%  for  every 
1,000  feet  increase  in  altitude.  The  maximum  commercial  rating  is 
taken  as  the  displacement  in  cubic  feet  per  minute  at  the  maximum 
speed  of  the  compressor.  In  a  multiple  stage  compressor  the  capacity 
of  the  large  or  low  pressure  cylinder,  handling  free  air  taken  from  the 
atmosphere,  is  alone  considered. 

The  following  table  showing  maximum  air  compressor  ratings  in 
cubic  feet  per  minute  for  different  sizes  of  safety  valves  at  stated 
pressures  is  taken  from  the  Massachusetts  Air  Tank  Regulations  and 
can  be  used  in  the  absence  of  local  regulations : 

Maximum  Air  Compressor  Ratings  for  Different 
Sizes  of  Safety  Valves. 

Diameter  of  Gage  Pressure  (Pounds) 

Valve  (in.)    ....        50       100       150       200       250       300       350       400 

Va   —  —  —  —  —  —  —  53 

^   20  32  42  51  59  ^y  74  III 

Va   37  59  78  96  112  127  141  176 

1   58  94  124  152  178  202  224  248 

iYa  84  135  180  221  259  293  325  — 

i^   114  186  248  302  354  400  444  — 

2  189      306      410      501       592      668      741        — 

2.y2   282      457      613      750      880      998     1114        — 

3  393      638      856     1050     1230     1398     1557        — 


Diameter  of 
Valve  (in.) 


500 


Gage  Pressure  (Pounds) 
600       800     1000     1200     1600     2000     2400 


61 
129 

224 
286 

374 
472 


70 

147 
232 

324 


84        97       109       128       147       160 


177 
242 
390 
509 
634 


205  230  270  304  330 
346  386  423  474  5t8 
450       500       586        —        — 


Close  investigation  should  be  made  for  improper  repairs,  particularly 
by  the  autogenous  method  of  welding.  The  welding  of  the  seams  should 
be  in  accordance  with  the  Unfired  Pressure  Vessel  Code  of  the  American 


1927.]  THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  231 

Society  of  Mechanical  Engineers.  Brazed  seams  are  quite  generally 
used  with  apparent  freedom  from  failure.  It  is  believed,  however,  that 
brazing  of  plates  over  )^  inch  thick  should  not  be  practiced.  Brazed 
seams  can  be  distinguished  by  the  brassy  appearance  of  the  surface 
when  scraped. 

Compressed  air  tanks  should  never  be  buried  under  ground  or  in- 
stalled in  inaccessible  locations.  At  least  12  inches  of  space  should  be 
left  all  around  the  tank  to  facilitate  inspection. 

The  use  of  the  proper  kind  and  amount  of  oil  in  the  compressor 
cylinder  has  a  very  important  bearing  on  the  prevention  of  explosions 
in  air  tanks  and  connecting  pipe  lines.  Mineral  oil  only  should  be  used, 
and  the  proper  grade  of  such  oil  for  service  in  an  air  compressor  should 
be  specified  by  some  reputable  oil  company  making  that  particular  kind 
of  oil.  It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  much  less  lubrication  is  required 
in  air  compressors  than  in  steam  engine  cylinders.  Too  much  oil  may 
lead  to  greater  difficulties  than  an  insufficient  amount.  The  subject  of 
Air  Compressor  Lubrication  was  considered  at  some  length  in  the  April 
1924  issue  of  The  Locomotive. 

Control  of  Air  Temperature  Important. 

Aside  from  over-pressure  in  the  tank  (due  to  poor  design,  cracks, 
corrosion,  lack  of  safety  valves  or  inoperative  safety  valves),  tempera- 
ture control  of  the  air  leaving  the  compressor  is  perhaps  most  important 
for  the  prevention  of  explosions.  Many  explosions  in  compressed  air 
systems  have  been  attributed  to  the  high  temperature  of  the  air,  causing 
ignition  of  combustible  matter  in  the  pipe  lines  or  receivers.  It  is  es- 
sential to  have  sufficient  clean  cooling  water  from  an  unfailing  source 
circulated  through  the  coolers  and  jackets  of  the  compressor  cylinders  so 
that  the  temperature  of  the  discharge  air  is  not  materially  above  that  of 
the  surrounding  atmosphere.  With  multiple  stage  compressors,  inter- 
coolers  between  the  cylinders  and  an  aftercooler  between  the  high  pres- 
sure stage  and  the  tanks  are  usually  found  necessary,  not  only  to  reduce 
the  temperature  of  the  air  but  also  to  condense  any  water  vapor  and 
create  a  dry  condition  of  air  for  service. 

Other  causes  for  high  temperature  are  leaky  compressor  suction 
valves  and  pistons,  mud  or  other  deposit  filling  up  the  jacket  space  or 
adhering  to  the  walls  of  the  cylinders  and  coolers,  hot  and  dirty  inlet 
air,  and  high  speed  of  compressors  too  small  for  the  service  required. 
Still  another  cause  is  operating  with  the  jackets  only  partly  filled  with 
water.  The  pipe  lines  leading  to  the  water  jackets  and  coolers  are. 
usually  fitted  with  stop  valves  on  both  the  inlet  and  outlet  connections 


232 


THE     LOCOMOTIVE. 


[October, 


and  the  flow  is  often  regulated  by  the  inlet  valve,  but  this  is  poor  prac- 
tice. If  the  inlet  valve  is  only  slightly  opened  and  the  discharge  valve 
opened  wide,  it  sometimes  happens  that  the  coolers  and  jackets  are  only 

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From  Trade  Standards  of  the   Compressed  Air   Society 

Fig.  I. 


partly  filled  with  water  due  to  the  water  running  out  faster  than  it  is 
fed.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the  inlet  valve  is  kept  wide  open  and  the 
discharge  valve  used  for  regulation,  the  cooling  spaces  will  be  completely 


1927.]  THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  233 

filled  with  water,  lower  air  temi)eratures  will  be  maintained,  and,  by 
keeping  the  air  out  of  these  spaces,  corrosion  will  be  reduced.  Of  course, 
where  there  is  an  open  jacket,  the  jacket  is  full  of  water  at  all  times 
and  the  regulation  must  be  by  means  of  the  inlet  valve.  A  good 
way  to  make  sure  that  a  constant  flow  of  water  is  passing  through  the 
cooling  system  is  to  have  the  discharge  in  the  open  where  it  is  readily 
and  conveniently  visible. 

The  end  of  the  compressor  air  intake  pipe  should  be  located  in  a 
place  where  clean  suction  air  is  available.  It  is  advisable  to  install  an 
air  filter  or  screen  over  the  end  of  the  pipe  for  protection  against  the 
drawing  in  of  dust,  smoke,  and  other  material  which  may  be  combusti- 
ble. Air  filters  should  be  regularly  cleaned  and  otherwise  maintained 
in  good  condition.  A  simple  form  of  air  cleaner  recommended  by  the 
Compressed  Air  Society  is  shown  in  Fig.  i.  Quoting  from  Trade 
Standards  of  the  Society: — 

"[It]  consists  of  a  wooden  frame  box  made  with  removable  panel 
frames  covered  with  heavy  ^  inch  mesh  wire  to  which  cheese  cloth  or 
loosely  woven  cotton  flannel  is  tacked.  The  cheese  cloth  takes  up  all 
the  heavy  particles  of  dust  and  foreign  matter,  and  when  the  cloth  gets 
completely  covered  it  should  be  renewed  with  new  cloth.  Ample  screen 
area  should  be  provided,  at  least  i  square  foot  of  surface  per  25  cubic 
feet  per  minute  free  air  capacity  of  the  compressor.  With  this  amount 
of  surface  there  will  be  no  appreciable  loss  of  pressure  in  the  air  going 
to  the  compressor." 

Use  of  Water  Tanks  for  Air  Receivers  is  Dangerous. 

The  ordinary  kitchen  variety  of  hot-water-supply  tanks,  sometimes 
called  "  range  boilers,"  are  frequently  used  as  air  tanks  particularly  in 
garages.  As  these  tanks  are  intended  for  water  containers  only,  they 
are  not  constructed  with  a  sufficiently  high  factor  of  safety  for  use  with 
compressed  air,  and  should  not  be  so  used. 

Since  it  is  hoped  this  article  will  come  to  the  attention  of  many  users 
of  compressed  air,  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  call  attention  to  a  misuse  often 
made  of  air  under  pressure,  that  is,  the  initial  testing  of  tanks  with  air 
instead  of  water.  Tanks,  particularly  when  they  are  to  hold  valuable 
liquids  such  as  gasoline,  are  specified  to  be  air  tight  at  a  certain  pressure. 
This  necessitates  testing  the  tank  under  air  pressure,  but  the  air  test 
should  not  be  made  before  the  tank  is  hydrostatically  tested  for  strength. 
Explosions  of  tanks  while  under  test  pressure  are  not  infrequent, 
especially  in  boiler  shops,  and  they  are  usually  attended  by  fatalities 
because  workmen  are  in  close  proximity  to  the  vessel  looking  for,  or 


234  THE     LOCOMOTIVE.  [October, 

caulking,  leaks.  Several  such  cases  have  been  previously  reported  in 
The  Locomotive. 

It  is  not  uncommon  to  find  kerosene  oil  used  for  cleaning  compressed 
air  systems.  This  practice  should  be  discontinued  because  the  volatility 
and  ease  of  ignition  of  kerosene  predisposes  toward  a  combustion  ex- 
plosion. Full  details  of  a  recommended  method  of  cleaning  the  system 
by  use  of  a  soap  solution  are  given  in  the  article  previously  mentioned 
as  appearing  in  the  April  1924  issue. 

Fusible  plugs  are  recommended,  and  one  should  be  installed  on  the 
receiver  and  one  on  the  discharge  pipe  as  near  the  compressor  cylinder 
as  possible. 

The  states  of  California,  Massachusetts,  and  Minnesota,  and  the 
cities  of  Detroit,  Chicago,  and  Omaha  have  air  tank  laws  and  rules. 


State  Boiler  Laws. 


THE  extreme  complexity  of  boiler  legislation  throughout  the  vari- 
ous states  can  hardly  be  appreciated  by  one  who  has  not  made  a 
study  of  the  subject  as  a  whole.  Most  boiler  manufacturers  are 
well  posted,  particularly  with  regard  to  the  states  in  which  they  find  a 
market  for  their  product,  but  persons  or  firms  not  directly  interested  in 
the  manufacture  or  sale  of  boilers,  though  interested  as  users,  are  not 
always  aware  of  existing  boiler  legislation  and  may  sooner  or  later  run 
afoul  of  the  law.  This  is  particularly  true  of  contractors,  who  are 
moving  portable  equipment  from  state  to  state  as  the  need  may  arise, 
and  of  purchasers  of  second  hand  boilers.  Used  boilers  that  meet  the 
standards  of  one  state  do  not  necessarily  meet  those  of  another.  For 
instance,  some  states  do  not  permit  the  installation  of  used  boilers  from 
outside  territory  unless  the  boilers  are  built  and  stamped  in  accordance 
with  the  A.  S.  M.  E.  Power  Boiler  Code,  or  are  built  to  the  particular 
rules  of  the  state,  as  in  the  case  of  Massachusetts.  Great  expense  may 
at  times  be  incurred  in  moving  such  equipment  only  to  find  on  its  ar- 
rival that  it  cannot  be  operated,  due,  perhaps,  to  some  detail  of  its  con- 
struction. Incidents  of  this  kind  are  of  more  frequent  occurrence  than 
one  is  likely  to  credit  oft'hand. 

This  article  is  offered  as  a  suggestion  —  one  might  almost  say  as  a 
warning  —  to  the  firm  contemplating  the  removal  of  a  pressure  vessel 
from  one  state  to  another  that  steps  be  taken  to  obtain  in  advance 
authoritative  approval  for  operation  of  the  particular  vessel  in  the  de- 
sired state.     Ignorance  of  the  law  is  no  excuse,  and  action  contrary  to 


1927.]  THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  235 

law  always  carries  with  it  the  stigma  of  probable  intentional  evasion. 

It  is  impossible  to  lay  down  in  a  brief  and  general  article  of  this 
kind  the  detailed  steps  to  be  taken  to  receive  approval  of  state  ormuni- 
cipal  authorities,  because  the  procedure  varies  in  the  case  of  almost 
every  state.  In  some  jurisdictions  compliance  with  a  certain  code  is 
necessary,  a  matter  that  can  be  checked  up  by  a  qualified  person.  In 
others  it  is  a  matter  of  the  judgment  of  one  man  or  of  a  governmental 
bureau  or  commission.  One  way  to  obtain  the  necessary  information 
is  to  address  an  inquiry  to  the  Chief  Boiler  Inspector  of  the  state  or 
municipality  into  which  tiie  boiler  is  to  be  moved.  Such  ofificial  is 
usually  located  in  the  Municipal  Building,  in  the  case  of  a  city,  or  in 
the  State  Capitol,  in  the  case  of  a  state.  A  trip  of  inspection  by  an 
official  inspector  may  be  necessary  before  receiving  the  desired  approval 
for  operation. 

The  National  Board  of  Boiler  and  Pressure  Vessel  Inspectors  is  an 
organization  of  state  and  municipal* inspectors  which  has  for  one  of  its 
objects  the  promotion  of  interchangeability  of  such  vessels  between  the 
political  subdivisions  of  the  United  States.  National  Board  stamping  is 
acceptable  in  many  states  and  cities,  and  often  facilitates  obtaining  ap- 
proval for  operation. 

The  easiest  way  to  arrange  for  the  transfer  of  a  pressure  vessel  is 
to  put  the  matter  up  to  your  boiler  insurance  company.  If  such  com- 
pany has  a  well  distributed  corps  of  boiler  inspectors,  the  expense  of 
securing  definite  approval  or  disapproval  will  be  a  minimum,  time  will 
be  saved,  and  the  details  in  connection  with  the  transfer  will  be  lifted 
from  the  shoulders  of  the  owner. 

For  convenience,  a  list  of  the  cities  and  states  having  boiler  laws  at 
the  present  time  is  given  below,  but  this  list,  of  course,  is  subject  to 
change  at  any  time.  All  of  these,  with  the  exception  of  the  State  of 
Massachusetts,  have  accepted  the  American  Society  of  Mechanical 
Engineers  Boiler  Construction  Code.  Massachusetts  has  adopted  its 
own  code. 

States  That  Have  Adopted  Boiler  Laws 

Arkansas  Missouri  Rhode  Island 

California  New  Jersey  L'tah 

Delaware  New  York  Washington 

Indiana  Ohio  \\'isconsin 

Maryland  Oklahoma  District  of  Columbia 

Massachusetts  Oregon  Panama  Canal  Zone 

Michigan  Pennsylvania  Territory  of  Hawaii 
Minnesota 


236  "^HE     LOCOMOTIVE.  [October, 

Cities  1  hat  Have  Adopted  Boiler  Laws 

Chicago,  111.  Memphis,  Tenn.  St.  Joseph,  Mo. 

Detroit,  Mich.  Nashville,  Tenn.  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

Erie,  Pa.  Omaha,  Neh.  Scranton,  Pa. 

Kansas  City,  Mo.  Parkersburg,  W.  Va.      Seattle,  Wash. 

Los  Angeles,  Gal.  Philadelphia,  Pa.  Tampa,  Fla. 


Boiler  of  the  Steamship  "  Beaver ". 

THE  accompanying  picture  shows  an  ancient  marine  boiler  which 
will  undoubtedly  be  of  interest  to  many  of  us,  particularly  those 
of  maritime  inclinations,  because  of  the  history  of  the  vessel  in 
which  it  saw  service.  As  can  be  observed  by  the  sign  displayed  in  the 
photograph,  the  vessel  known  as  the  "  Beaver "  is  credited  with  a 
trans-Atlantic  trip  and  is  further  credited  with  being  the  first  steam- 
ship to  round  Cape  Horn  and  the  pioneer  in  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

The  vessel  was  built  in  Blackwall,  London,  England,  in  1834.  The 
engines  and  boilers  were  installed  by  Bowlton  &  Watt,  weighed  63  tons, 
and  cost  $22,000.  As  the  early  log  of  the  vessel  speaks  of  "wooding 
up  ",  it  was  undoubtedly  a  wood  burner,  externally  fired,  probably  with 
a  Dutch  oven  such  as  we  encounter  today.  It  is  further  interesting  to 
note  the  superheater  section,  which  formed  a  part  of  the  uptake  and  is 
quite  prominent  in  the  photograph.  The  length  of  the  "  Beaver  "  was 
loi  ft.  4  inches ;  the  breadth  was  20  ft.  inside  of  the  paddle  wheel  boxes 
and  33  ft.  over  all ;  the  depth  was  11  ft.  6  inches.  The  vessel  was 
registered  as  of  109  tons,  and  is  said  to  have  carried  a  crew  of  26  men 
and  to  have  been  armed  with  5  nine  pounder  guns. 

The  "  Beaver  "  sailed  from  England  August  29,  1835,  for  the 
Pacific  Ocean  by  way  of  Cape  Horn,  arriving  at  the  Island  of  Juan 
Fernandez  (Robinson  Crusoe's  Island)  on  December  17,  1835,  and  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  River  on  April  4,  1836.  The  vessel  evi- 
dently had  a  long  career  on  the  Pacific  for  it  is  reported  to  have  sunk 
in  Burrard  Inlet,  Vancouver,  B.  C,  on  July  26,  1888.  The  boiler  re- 
mained in  salt  water  until  September,  1906,  when  it  was  raised  and 
brought  to  the  Washington  State  Historical  Society  at  Tacoma,  where 
it  is  now  on  exhibition. 

The  first  trans-Atlantic  steam  vessel  was  the  "  Savannah,"  which 
crossed  the  ocean  in  1819,  requiring  26  days  for  the  trip.  The  "  Savan- 
nah," however,  is  generally  discounted  as  the  first  "  steamship  "  because 
the  engines  were  merely  for  auxiliary  power  in  quiet  waters  and  in 
docking.  Her  paddle  wheels  could  be  rapidly  disassembled  and  brought 
on  deck  when  not  in  use.     It  is  of  interest  to  note  in  passing  that  the 


1927.] 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


237 


"  Savannah  "  was  entirely  an  American  vessel,  having  been  financed, 
built,  and  engined  in  the  United  States,  and  sailed  on  this  historic 
voyage  ivou^  the  j^ort  of  Savannah,  Georgia. 


Boiler  of  Steamship 


The  "  S.  S.  Curacao  "  of  the  Royal  Netherlands  Navy  is  said  to 
have  sailed,  or  rather  steamed,  from  Holland  to  the  Dutch  West  Indies 
in  April,  1827,  and  to  have  made  additional  trips  in  1828  and  1829. 

In  1833  the  Canadian  steamer  "  Royal  William  "  left  Quebec  for 
England,  and  by  continuing  the  service  became  the  first  trans-Alantic 
liner.  Because  of  indifferent  financial  returns,  the  vessel  was  later  sold 
and  the  service  discontinued. 


238  THE     LOCOMOTIVE.  [October, 

In  183S  the  "  Sirius  "  made  a  trip  from  London  to  New  York  in  17 
days,  and  was  followed  shortly  after  by  the  "  Great  Western,"  which 
made  the  trip  from  Bristol,  England,  to  New  York  in  15  days. 


Well  Water  Used  to  Cool  Minneapolis  Auditorium. 

i*T  some  period  in  our  youth  we  have  all  doubtless  been  amused,  and 
/~\  perhaps  perplexed,  by  the  story  of  the  man  blowing  "  hot  "  to 
warm  his  hands  and  blowing  "  cold  "  to  cool  his  soup,  but  man  is 
no  more  versatile  than  is  ^lother  Nature,  for  we  now  read  that  well- 
water  is  used  to  heat  one  building  and  to  cool  another.  In  a  previous 
issue  of  The  Locomotive  it  was  noted  that,  according  to  TJie  Valve 
World,  the  high  school  building  at  Pagosa  Springs,  Colorado,  is  heated 
with  natural  hot  water  from  an  artesian  well  350  ft.  deep.  The  temp- 
erature of  the  water  was  not  stated,  but  it  was  explained  that  it  was 
not  as  high  as  would  ordinarily  be  used  in  a  heating  system  and  there- 
fore approximately  double  the  usual  amount  of  radiation  surface 
would  be  required. 

We  now  read,  in  Ice  and  Refrigeration,  that  the  new  Alinneapolis 
^Municipal  Auditorium,  with  a  combined  seating  capacity  of  over  18,000 
people,  is  to  be  cooled  in  summer  with  well  water.  The  water  is  to  be 
pumped  from  two  artesian  wells  800  ft.  deep,  its  temperature  being 
50°  F.  The  refrigerating  effect  that  will  be  obtained  from  the  cold 
well-water  used  in  the  air  supply  systems,  aggregating  413,000  cu.  ft. 
per  minute  capacity,  will  amount  to  the  equivalent  of  1,000  tons  of  ice 
melting  per  day,  an  astounding  quantity.     Quoting  from  the  article : — 

"  It  is  difficult  to  comprehend  the  significance  of  this  figure  until  one 
stops  to  think  that  if  ice  had  to  be  used  to  maintain  the  spray  water  at 
50°  F.,  instead  of  drawing  upon  the  bounty  of  Nature,  the  amount  of 
ice  required  would  be  sufficient  to  supply  the  normal  requirements  of 
a  population  of  250,000  people,  or  the  combined  population  of  the  fol- 
lowing Illinois  cities :  Peoria,  Springfield,  Joliet,  Oak  Park  and  Evan- 
ston,  in  extreme  summer  weather. 

"  The  volume  of  water  pumped  from  the  wells  will  be  at  the  rate 
of  3,000,000  gallons  per  day ;  a  quantity  sufficient  for  the  water  supply 
for  a  citv  the  size  of  Belleville,  Illinois.  It  might  be  remarked  in  pass- 
ing that  it  would  take  the  entire  output  of  ten  ice  plants  of  the  size 
needed  to  meet  the  requirements  of  the  same  city  in  hottest  weather." 

This  auditorium  is  of  further  interest  because  of  several  other  un- 
usual features,  such  as  the  use  of  ozone  to  maintain  the  visibility  and 
freshness  of  the  air  by  clarifying  it  of  the  smoke  and  odor  of  burning 


192/.]  THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  239 

tobacco,  and  the  arrangements  for  tempering  and  humidifying  or  de- 
humidifying  the  air  so  as  to  at  all  times  have  a  comfortable  "  elTective 
temperature  "  depending  upon  outside  conrlitions,  such  that  the  contrast 
of  entering  or  leaving  the  building  will  not  be  unnecessarily  distressing. 


The  Early  History  of  Iron  and  Steel. 

BECAUSE  of  the  rapid  strides  made  in  recent  years  by  the  iron  and 
steel  industry,  we  are  likely  to  think  that  the  discovery  of  the 
methods  of  working  this  indispensable  metal  is  of  comparatively 
recent  origin.  It  is  now  generally  conceded,  however,  that  the  use  of  iron 
may  have  antedated  that  of  copper  and  bronze.  Many  have  ascribed 
the  comparative  absence  of  iron  implements  in  the  uncovered  ruins  of 
ancient  civilizations  to  its  great  susceptibility  to  corrosion,  but  others 
maintain  that  some  evidence  of  its  presence  should  remain  even  though 
the  original  implements  have  disappeared.  Alany  Biblical  and  ancient 
historical  references  indicate  that  iron  was  a  very  valuable  substance, 
highly  prized,  the  spoil  of  conquering  monarchs,  and  comparable  in 
value  to  gold,  silver,  and  bronze.  It  was  necessarily  very  rare  at  first, 
and  what  was  available  was  undoubtedly  put  to  use  as  tools,  particu- 
larly for  implements  of  war  and  other  outdoor  uses  and  not  hoarded  in 
treasure  houses,  which  probably  accounts  in  part  for  its  absence  from 
tombs  and  other  sources  of  relics. 

The  first  historical  reference  to  iron  or  steel  is,  undoubtedly,  that 
made  in  the  fourth  chapter  of  Genesis  to  Tubal  Cain  as  the  instructor 
of  every  artificer  in  brass  and  iron.  Bearing  in  mind  the  recent  im- 
provements in  the  manufacture  of  iron  and  steel,  it  is  interesting  to  con- 
sider what  small  progress  was  made  in  the  intervening  centuries  since 
this  member  of  the  sixth  generation  in  descent  from  Adam  plied  his 
trade. 

Source  of  First  Iron  Unknown. 

There  is  a  question  as  to  the  source  of  the  earliest  iron.  By  some 
it  is  thought  to  have  been  of  meteoric  origin,  while  others  maintain  that 
such  iron  is  not  malleal)le  and  therefore  could  not  have  been  success- 
fully forged.  At  some  very  early  date,  however,  it  was  unquestionably 
extracted  from  the  ores  as  indicated  by  the  w^idespread  knowledge  and 
use  of  this  metal,  and  it  is  interesting  to  ponder  on  the  accidental  way  in 
which  the  source  and  methods  of  extraction  must  have  been  discovered. 
Most  likely  a  fire  built  on  a  bed  of  ore,  or  perhaps  the  accidental  in- 
troduction of  a  lump  of  ore  in  a  fire,  resulted  in  a  lump  of  iron.  It  is 
said  that  the  natives  of  the  island  of  Crete  learned  from  a  forest  fire 
in  the  15th  century,  B.  C,  that  the  ores  of  their  island  would  make  iron. 


240  THE     LOCOMOTIVE.  [October, 

The  earliest  workers  of  iron  on  an  appreciable  scale  are  believed  to 
have  been  the  Assyrians  of  Western  Asia,  the  Ethiopians  of  Eastern 
Africa,  and  the  Hindoos  of  India.  Egyptian  relics  and  paintings  in  the 
tombs  indicate  that  this  people  was  familiar  with  its  use,  and  even  in- 
dicate that  a  bellows  was  used  in  forging  as  early  as  1500  B.  C.  In- 
direct evidence  of  this  knowledge  on  the  part  of  the  Egyptians  is  given 
by  their  works  in  granite  and  porphyry,  as  it  is  held  by  authorities  that 
these  hard  stones  could  not  have  been  worked  without  ferrous  alloy 
tools.  The  Egyptians,  however,  are  believed  to  have  obtained  their 
Icnowledge  and  perhaps  most  of  their  tools  from  neighboring  peoples, 
probably  through  the  Phoenicians.  It  is  not  clear  whether  the  Phoe- 
nicians were  artificers  to  any  extent  or  whether  they  merely  secured 
their  products  in  trade,  but  this  maritime  race  is  credited  with  spread- 
ing the  knowledge  of  the  uses  of  iron  if  not  of  its  processes  of  manu- 
facture, as  practically  all  of  the  peoples  of  Asia  and  Northern  Africa 
are  known  to  have  been  acquainted  with  it  long  before  the  Christian 
era.  In  fact,  the  origin  of  the  iron  bed  industry  might  be  credited  to 
Og,  King  of  Bashan,  about  1450  B.C.,  who  history  records  owned  such 
a  bed.  Just  what  form  the  famous  bedstead  of  this  monarch  took  is  nol 
clear,  but  it  is  safe  to  assume  it  was  nothing  like  the  imitation  walnut 
of  today,  nor  even  the  white  enameled,  barred  afifair  of  yesterday. 

Greeks  and  Romans  Practiced  Steel  Treating. 

In  Homer's  time  about  900  B.  C,  steel  must  have  been  in  wide  use 
among  the  Greeks  and  its  hardening  and  tempering  well  understood,  for 
the  poet  makes  use  of  a  simile  that  must  have  been  generally  under- 
stood when  he  likens  the  hissing  of  the  stake  that  Ulysses  drove  into 
the  eye  of  Polyphemus  to  that  of  the  steel  which  the  smith  quenches  in 
water,  and  he  incidentally  mentions  the  strengthening  efifect  of  this 
quenching.  The  Romans  likewise  were  workers  in  iron,  using  it  to  a 
large  extent  in  their  military  equipment.  They  are  further  credited 
with  a  knowledge  of  the  relative  values  of  different  baths  for  hardening 
steel. 

The  steels  of  India,  Persia,  and  Spain  have  at  different  periods  been 
famous.  The  traditional  blades  of  Damascus  were  made  of  Indian  and 
Persian  steels,  while  Hannibal's  victory  over  the  Romans  at  Cannae  was 
attributed  to  superior  Spanish  swords.  The  Catalonian  forge,  used  for 
centuries  in  many  parts  of  the  world  for  the  reduction  of  iron  ores,  ob- 
tains its  name  from  the  province  of  Catalonia,  Spain,  where  it  origi- 
nated. 

Samples  of  the  ferrous  metals  produced  in  ancient  times  are  rare, 
but  some  are  in  existence.     Explorations    in    1837    around    the    Great 


1927.]  THE     LOCOMOTIVE.  241 

Pyramid  of  Gizeh  revealed  a  small  piece  of  iron  used  in  one  of  ihc 
inner  joints  of  the  structure,  which  dates  back  to  approximately  4000 
B.  C.  It  is  said  to  have  been  preserved  because  iron  rusts  very  slowly 
in  the  dry  climate  of  Egypt. 

Delhi  Pillar  a  Metallurgical  Mystery. 

In  India  the  science  of  the  metallurgy  of  iron  must  have  attained  a 
high  degree  of  perfection,  probably  because  the  lack  of  copper  caused  a 
certain  amount  of  specialization.  At  Delhi  there  still  stands  an  iron 
pillar  that  has  stood  for  1600  years,  seemingly  rustless.  This  pillar  is 
approximately  12-3^  inches  in  diameter  at  the  top  and  16-^  inches  in 
diameter  at  the  bottom,  is  24  ft.  high,  and  weighs  nearly  7  tons.  The 
upper  section,  for  a  distance  of  4  ft.  from  the  top,  is  elaborately  carved 
and  fluted.  This  memorial  to  the  metallurgical  skill  of  the  third  century 
A.  D.  has  caused  much  speculation  as  to  how  it  was  manufactured 
without  the  heavy  machine  tools  and  steam  hammers  of  today.  Further- 
more, its  resistance  to  corrosion  is  very  much  of  a  mystery.  Sir  Robert 
Hadfield  recently  secured  a  sample  of  the  pillar  for  analysis  and  to  have 
microphotographs  made,  the  results  of  which  were  reported  in  the  No- 
vember 26,  1925,  issue  of  the  Iron  Trade  Reviezv.  The  analysis  shows 
the  following  composition  : —  Carbon,  0.08 ;  silicon,  0.046 ;  sulphur, 
0.006;  phosphorus,  0.114;  manganese,  nil;  and  nitrogen,  0.030  per  cent; 
total  0.276  per  cent ;  iron  99.700  per  cent ;  total  99.976  per  cent. 

In  the  article  in  the  Rcviezv  mention  is  made  of  a  possible  reason  ad- 
vanced for  the  resistance  of  the  pillar  to  corrosion  —  that  the  natives 
each  year  hold  a  religious  ceremony  at  the  pillar  and  anoint  it  with  a 
fatty,  edible  substance  known  as  "butter."  This  point,  however,  was 
still  subject  to  verification.  It  is  interesting  to  note,  in  passing,  that  a 
portion  of  the  fragment  obtained  for  analysis  failed  to  rust  but  re- 
mained bright  when  exposed  for  days  to  the  atmosphere  of  the  labora- 
tory, though  when  a  drop  of  water  was  allowed  to  stand  on  it  over- 
night a  rust  spot  resulted. 

Another  similar  pillar  of  about  the  same  age,  according  to  a  Hull 
(England)  Board  of  Trade  Bulletin,  is  in  existence  at  Dhar,  Central 
India;  and  the  Black  Pagoda  at  Kanarak,  dating  back  to  the  13th  cen- 
tury A.  D.,  contains  twenty  iron  beams,  the  two  largest  of  which  are 
respectively  23  ft.  6  inches  long  by  10-^4  inches  square,  and  35  ft.  long 
by  7-^  inches  square,  weighing  respectively  8,000  and  6,000  lbs. 

An  extremely  interesting  description  by  an  eye-witness  of  what  an 
ancient  iron  extraction  plant  must  have  been  like  is  given  in  an  article 
in   Engineering    (London),    volume    79,   page    28,    entitled    "A   West 


242  THE     LOCOMOTIVE.  [October, 

African  Smelting-House,"  by  C.  V.  Bellamy.  The  article  describes, 
with  many  illustrations,  an  iron  industry  carried  on  by  a  primitive 
people  which  shows  no  evidence  whatever  of  outside  influence  and 
which  must  employ  methods  very  similar  to  those  of  the  ancients. 


Hardened  Copper. 

A  Recovered  Art. 

THERE  exists,  on  the  part  of  those  not  intimately  connected  with 
the  working  of  copper,  a  belief  that  the  ancients  had  a  method  of 
hardening  that  metal,  with  which  art  we  today  are  not  familiar. 
The  fact  of  the  matter  is  that  our  present-day  metallurgists  not  only 
understand  how  the  ancients  hardened  their  copper  and  bronze,  but  also 
know  how  to  produce  copper  and  bronze  products  that  are  even  harder 
than  those  left  to  us  and  which  represent  the  evidence  of  the  so  called 
lost  art  of  hardening  copper. 

Cutting  edges  developed  on  swords,  daggers,  knives  and  other  im- 
plements by  the  ancients  were  obtained  by  hammering  the  metal,  or,  in 
other  words,  cold-working.  Those  old  metal-workers  not  only  hand 
hammered  their  copper  implements  but  also  used  the  same  means  to 
harden  their  bronze  articles.  The  heating  of  many  of  these  products  in 
open  fires  resulted  in  the  formation  of  considerable  copper  oxide,  which 
alloyed  with  the  copper  and  hardened  it.  One  of  the  most  common 
mistakes  of  persons  claiming  to  have  rediscovered  "  the  lost  art  of 
hardening  copper  "  is  to  heat  it  in  a  forge  and  in  this  way  saturate  it 
with  copper  oxide,  which  combines  with  the  copper  to  form  a  much 
harder  and  much  more  brittle  product. 

There  are  really  two  methods  of  hardening  copper  that  are  regularly 
practised  nowadays,  just  as  centuries  ago.  One  consists  in  alloying  the 
copper  with  some  other  metal  or  several  other  metals  such  as  zinc,  tin, 
nickel,  cadmium,  chronium,  cobalt,  silicon,  aluminum,  iron,  beryllium 
and  arsenic.  The  second  method  consists  in  cold-working  the  metal  or 
copper  alloy.  In  fact,  it  is  possible  to  work  the  metal  to  such  a  stage  of 
hardness  that  a  slight  amount  of  additional  work  will  cause  it  to  break. 
The  explanation  of  all  copper  hardening  may  be  attributed  to  one  of 
these  methods  or  a  combination  of  them. 

Alicrophotographs  of  an  ancient  copper  spearhead  indicated  that 
it  was  extremely  hard  and  that  apparently  this  hardness  had  been, 
obtained  by  cold  working. 

Copper  scissors,  knives  and  other  cutting  tools  may  be.  obtained. 
Unless,  however,  a  special  reason  exists  for  their  use,  they  offer  no 


1927.]  THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  243 

advantages  over  tools  made  from  steel.  Occasionally,  however,  it  be- 
comes necessary  to  use  copper  or  bronze  tools,  such  as  knives.  Around 
a  powder  plant,  for  instance,  where  all  sparks  must  be  avoided,  bronze 
knives  are  almost  essential. 

The  actual  hardness  of  annealed  commercial  copper  as  determined 
by  the  Brinell  machine  (an  instrument  for  measuring  the  hardness  of 
substances)  is  from  40  to  50.  The  hardness  of  cold-worked  pure  cop- 
per probably  does  not  ever  exceed  120  Brinell.  The  hardness  of  cop- 
per that  has  been  alloyed  with  some  other  metal  or  a  number  of  metals 
but  rarely  exceeds  250  Brinell,  although  a  hardness  just  over  300  has 
been  attained  as  an  upper  limit.  As  a  basis  of  comparison  for  readers 
unfamiliar  with  measurements  of  the  hardness  of  metals,  it  may  be 
stated  that  the  Brinell  hardness  of  very  "  soft  "  iron  is  around  80  and  of 
steel  used  in  common  cutlery,  such  as  in  a  finished  pocket  knife,  about 
420  Brinell. 

Not  only  do  many  persons  spend  a  short  while  endeavoring  to  re- 
discover an  art  that  never  was  lost,  but  some  of  them  devote  a  whole 
lifetime  to  this  elTort.  The  tragedy,  or  rather,  the  denouement,  occurs 
when  they  have  evolved  a  hard  copper.  They  next  endeavor  to  find 
some  use  for  it  and  then  learn  that,  unless  it  has  some  special  properties, 
no  market  exists.  Copper  wire,  hard  drawn,  has  a  tensile  strength  of 
about  65,000  pounds  per  square  inch  and  an  elongation  in  10  inches  of 
about  one  per  cent,  with  a  conductivity  of  about  97  per  cent.  This 
aflfords  some  basis  on  which  to  work  when  endeavoring  to  develop  the 
hardening  of  copper.  If,  for  example,  it  were  possible  to  harden  cop- 
per so  that  the  tensile  strength  were  materially  increased  above  that 
just  stated,  without  reducing  the  conductivity,  a  worthwhile  discovery 
would  have  been  made. 

.Some  recent  methods  of  hardening  copper  by  alloying  have,  to  a 
certain  extent,  come  about  as  near  to  actually  "  tempering  "  copper  as 
would  seem  possible.  In  these  methods  the  metal,  silicon,  plays  a  most 
important  part  because  it  forms  silicides  with  other  metals  which  in 
turn  form  eutectics  with  the  copper.  The  deoxidizing  effect  that  silicon 
by  itself  exerts  plays  no  unimportant  part  in  finally  allowing  the  metal 
to  be  worked  and  by  heat  treatment  to  develop  a  high  strength,  with  a 
relatively  high  conductivity.  This  latter,  however,  is  considerably  be- 
low that  of  pure  copper  and  second  only,  speaking  of  alloys  from  the 
standpoint  of  both  strength  and  conductivity,  to  those  of  copper  and 
cadmium.  Alloys  of  copper  wnth  cadmium  give,  for  a  stated  conduc- 
tivity, higher  strengths  than  those  with  silicon.  —  Research  Narratives 
No.  128,  Engineering  Foundation. 


244 


THE     LOCOMOTIVE. 


[October, 


Devoted  to  Power  Plant  Protection 

Published  Quarterly 
Benj.  C.  Cruickshanks,  Editor. 
HARTFORD,  OCTOBER,  1927. 

Single  copies  can  be  obtained  free  by  callins  at  any  of  the  company's  a.^mcKS. 

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Our  Sixtieth  Anniversary 

ON  the  opposite  page  appears  a  reproduction  of  the  first  page  of 
the  first  issue  of  The  Locomotive,  from  the  date  of  which  it  will 
be  noted  that  the  present  issue  marks  its  sixtieth  anniversary. 
The  Locomotive,  we  beHeve,  is  the  oldest  house  organ  that  was 
started  as  such  and  has  been  continuously  published  without  inter- 
ruption. The  first  issues  contained  but  four  pages,  approximately 
letter  size,  and  appeared  monthly.  In  1880,  however,  the  page  was 
reduced  to  its  present  size,  the  number  of  pages  increased,  and  the 
volume  renumbered  Volume  i.  New  Series.  Later  the  magazine 
became  a  quarterly,  and  the  issues  lor  each  two  years  constituted  a 
volume. 

On  the  editorial  page  of  the  first  issue  the  "'  raison  d'etre  "  is  set 
forth  as  follows : 

The  object  of  this  paper  is  to  bring  before  the  public  from 
time  to  time,  information  of  a'  scientific  and  practical  nature 
that  will  be  both  entertaining  and  useful,  and  although  we 
shall  aim  in  each  number  to  furnish  our  readers  with  at  least 
one  good  article  in  some  one  of  the  branches  of  natural  science, 
our  chief  object  will  be  to  discuss  practical  questions,  and  more 


1927.1 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


245 


\xOtomotj^ 


e 


HERTFORD 

STEAM  BOIIERIMCFIOH^D  IE  W. 

I^r^fcrattd  *>  Sl^utt  Aft  »/  0,4  Ltflti.ilurt  qf  (>■»• 
«#t<u-«/.  to  /itf-rf  rr#p»r1y  against 

Xjoasi   ox>   X3axxi.ase, 

StttioDary,  Warineind  Locomotive  Boilers. 

tKI  ^DTBKTISKMEXI  0,V  LAST  PAOJS. 


|.r<»luctil  ISO  lon»  of  Iroo  t  wMk.  Sereiil  loco- 
motivM  wtre  bulll  tl  Ihem  In  the  intcrraU  bctwctn 
1D34-I840.  The  fumaccn  li«ve  now  lj«n  l,low»  out 
for  >  conplc  of  ywir»,  but  there  U  lorac  probability 
tlint  Uiej  will  icon  be  lighted  »goin.  It  nuj  be  in- 
ferred fiuni  wh«t  hM  l«5en  ulretdy  lUted  th«t  WyUm 
is  not  devoid  of  MKciationi  of  a  very  pleaaing  and 
inteit«ling  choracter.  Beaide  iti  connection  with 
the  Bret  aucccsaful  locomotiTC,  it  claima  to  be  the 
I  binliplacc  of  George  Stephennon,  wh.jac  parenU  re- 

™        •  .  1  r.  1    .>..  .,ll,o.l.m  ,.f  ulirel    >idcd  lor  lonie  years  in  a  cotuge  alill  atanding  clow 

Tietral  proved  •uccrmful,  the  a<llic8ion  ol  » heel    ""™  ■  J  "       ,       ,     .       t^t 

to  rail  -a.'  quite  enough  to  enable  the  machine  to    to  the  Wylam  wagon-way,  «.d  only  a  few  hundred 
be  propelled  without  dipping.     By  1813,  the  e.peri-    yard.  dlaUnt  from  the  v.llage.     In  a  baaement  room 
ment.  Ll  .ucce«led.  and  a  p.Unt  for  a  locomotive    "f  th..  u„pr.te„dmg  dwell.ng 
wa,  taken  out  in  Hodlcy'.  name,  dated  March  I3lh,    -on  bom,  on  June  »,  178  .     It 
in  that  year.     That  .te.m  engine,  which  ran  for    k»own  a.  High  Stnxt  lIou»e. 
8fty  yea™  l^tweenWylam  and  Lemington,«.dwa.  ling  alx>ut  the  wooden  wagonw.y 
called  indifferently  by  the  country  people  "  Puffing 


«,.„  1IW7  aji.l  mil.  Kr"iu  l"n  1"  1"13  ?""'■•■• 
I,.  111.  ted  eiperinienu  at  Wylam  under  the  auplr- 
,1.  ndence  of  Mr.  Blackett  an<l  Mr.  William  Hedley, 
ll.  then  viewer  of  the  colliery,  having  for  their  end 
ind  aim  the  aulmUluUon  of  ateani  for  horse  power 
>o  the  wagon  way.  It  waa  at  that  period  that  the 
•ntire  auffieiency  of  runooth  wheela  on  jmooth  raiU 
n  aa  demonrtratcd.  Kon.tor  plac«l  a  wagon,  smooth, 
ttlieelwl,  on  the  way,  properly  ballasted  it,  an<l  set 
iiiL-n  to  work  the  wheels  by  means  ( 


WTLAM,  THE  CRADLE  OF  THE 
LOCOMOTIVE. 
There  are  not  many  villages  on  Tyneside  that 
preaentso  uninviting  an  aapect  at  ftrst  view  as  Wylam. 
A  ttroU  np  and  down  its  streets,  for  it  can  boast 
ctreeta,  and  a  High  Street  too,  does  not  mend  mat- 
ten.  What  the  village  is  to-day  it  has  always  been, 
except  perhaps  during  the  short  interval  when  the 
blast  furnace  and  ironworks  were  fully  employed. 
Then  the  place  presented  a  livelier  appearance, 
though  at  the  best  of  times  there  have  not  been, 
perhaps,  a  hundred  more  residents  in  it  than  now. 
It  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  present  our  rtaden 
with  a  few  particulars  of  Wylam — the  cra<lle  of  tht 
locomotiva— which  we  extract  from  a  recent  article 
in  the  Nfrtien  Kiprtu.  Wykm  is  distant  from 
Kewcaatle  about  eight  miles,  and  lies  close  to  th 
north  bank  of  the  UiverTyue.  A  wooden  bridg. 
oillars,  between  which  the  streai 


Billy  "  and  "  The  Dilly,"  is  now  laid  up  as  a  curiosity 
in  Kensington  Museum.  But  a  second  was  built  soon 
after  the  first,  and  this  "  Dilly"  has  regularly  ran  on 
the  Wylam  wagonway  till  within  these  couple  of 
yeara,  and  now  stands  in  the  centre  of  the  village 
ready  to  get  up  steam  at  a  moment's  notice. 

Wylam  Colliery,  for  which  these  engines  were 
constructed,  is  one  of  the  oldest  concerns  in  the 
North  of  England,  and  it  waa  here  that  George 
Stephenson's  lather  worked  as  engineman  for  seven 
or  eight  years.  Formerly  there  were  more  than  a 
score  of  pits  worked  in  the  immediate  vicinity,  but 
only  two  are  now  used— the  Ann  Pit  and  the  Haugh 
Pit,  and  these  have  been  in  operation  as  sea-sale 
collieriej  since  the  yenr  1751.  The  John  Pit,  on  the 
south  ride  of  the  river  was  sunk  in  1830,  but  soon 
abandoned,  as  it  was  found  much  cheaper  to  con- 
vey coals  underground  to  the  north  tide  of  the  river 
than  to  bring  them  directly  to  bank.  The  seams 
now  workable  are  the  high 

Tilley,  the  five-quarter,  the  six-quarter,  the  yard, 
and  the  Horsley-wood  or  Brockwell.  Fire-clay  is 
also  found  in  abundance.  The  colliery  produces 
100,000  tons  of  coal  annually,  of  a  kind  much  prized 
in  the  London  market.  For  heat-producing  power 
they  are  not  excelled,  and  are  greatly  in  request  at 
potteries,  and  at  the  Government  rifie  works  at  En- 
field.    Wylam  Colliery  is  occasionally 


as  George  Btephen- 
as  then,  and  is  yet. 
Here,  and  wander- 
front  of  the  houses,  did  George  spend  several  yoara 
of  his  eariy  Imyhood,  doubtless  unconsciously  imbib- 
ng  a  liking  for  all  that  concerned  engines  and  rail- 
waya  from  what  he  was  brought  into  constant  con- 
tact with  in  the  locality.  The  Wylam  wagonway 
is  constructed  with  a  gauge  of  mils  three  inchea 
wider  than  common,  and  is  somrthing  like  five  miles 
in  length,  running  along  the  banks  of  the  river  from 
Wvlam  Colliery  to  the  village  of  Lemington.  Until 
two  years  ago,  both  Mr.  Blackett  and  Mr.  Bates  used 
this  line  for  their  respective  colleriea,  but  an  unfor- 
tunate Uw-6uit  anent  way-leaves  laid  it  idle,  and  so 
it  has  continued  till  now.  To  the  north  of  this  line 
stands  Close  House,  the  handsome  mansion  of  the 
Bewickes,  and  on  the  side  of  an  adjoining  hill  the 
Throckley  Coal  Company  are  just  now  sinking  for 
coal. 


oublcd  1 


year,  coonecU  the  village  with  the  opposite  bank,  f^^^^  f^„„  ,ije  gurface,  requiring  pumping  engines 
of  immense  power  to  keep  the  workings  clear  of 
water.  One  of  the  engines  in  use  is  supposed  to  lie 
the  first  built  by  Bolton  &  Watt  for  the  North 
country.  It  is  of  SO-horse  power,  but  latterly  it  has 
been  supplemented  by  another  of  lOO-horse  power, 
built  by  Coulthard  &  Co.,  of  Gateshead.  The  two 
combined  free  the  colliery  of  1,200  gallons  of  water 
per  minute,  but  are  capable  of  pumping  3,000  gab 
Ions  of  water. 

The  iron-works,  which  occupy  a  prominent  posi- 
tion in  the  centre  of  the  village,  were  formerly 
worked  by  Messrs.  Bell,  Br-hers,  aud  at  one  time 


and  with  the  Wylam  station  of  the  Newcastle 
CarUale  Railway.  This  bridge  was  built  in  1834, 
by  Mr.  Thompaon,  who  also  erected  the  adjacent  blast 
furnaces.  Mr.  BlscHock  was  the  engineer.  The 
atmctute  is  the  property  of  the  Wylain  Bridge  Com- 
pany. Across  it  r\m«  a  single  line  of  rails  for  the 
convenience  of  the  WjUin  Colliery,  on  either  side 
of  which  rails  is  accomniclation  for  foot  passengers. 
Wylam  is  chiefly  notable  M  possessing  the  first  rail- 
road over  which  a  locomotive  steam  engine  succeas- 
foHy  travelletl.  Jonathan  Foreter,  engineer  of  Wyl; 
Colliery,  re-laid  tli 


the  interval  be- 


The  first  steam  Toy»ge  acrasB  the  Atlantic  waa 
Townelcy,  the  [  made  by  the  "Savannah"  from  New  York  to  Liver- 
pool, iu  1818.     She  ran  from  here  to  Liverpool,  and 
thence  to  St  Petersburg,  making   the  entire  trip  in 
twenty-six  days. 

The  Bridgeport  Standard  says  that  a  native  of 
Weston,  Conn.,  named  Daniel  Treadwell.  invented 
railways  in  1818.  Mr.  Treadwell  owned  a  peat  bog, 
and  constructed  a  tram-way  of  logs,  and  a  car  with 
flanged  iron  wheels  to  bring  his  peat  from  the  bog 
to  his  drying  ground.    This  car  was  drawn  by  hand. 

The  Chicago  TrSmnt  hints  that  the  commercial 
supremacy  of  New  York  is  not  so  assured  but  tJiat 
a  new  and  shorter  line  of  transit  to  the  seaboard 
might  affect  it  seriously.  It  calls  attention  to  a  pro- 
posed route  to  the  James  river,  below  Richmond. 

The  cost  of  the  nearly  completed  stone  bridge  of  the 
Hartford  and  New  Haven  Railroad  over  the  Farm- 
ington  River,  at  Windsor,  Conn.,  is  over  |60,0OO, 
and  work  will  soon  be  begun  on  two  more  near 
Berlia 


First  Page  of  First  Issue  of  The  Locomotive 
particularly,  steam  pozver  and  its  applications.  We  propose  to 
keep  a  careful  record  of  all  Steam  Boiler  Explosions,  together 
with  such  facts  and  circumstances  attending  each,  as  we  are 
able  to  obtain,  and  the  various  theories  of  Steam  Boiler  Ex- 
plosions, with  all  the  obtainable  information  bearing  upon  the 
subject,  will  be  placed  in  our  columns.  The  range  of  scientific 
investigation  is  so  wide,  and  the  f^eld  over  which  it  extends, 
so  large,  that  there  can  always  be  found  something  to  interest 


246  THE     LOCOMOTIVE.  [October, 

and  instruct.  ]\Iany  valuable  suggestions  by  practical  men  are 
entirely  lost  to  the  public  from  the  want  of  some  medium  by 
which  to  communicate  them.  We  hope  to  make  this  a  paper 
that  will  recommend  itself  to  every  intelligent  person  under 
whose  notice  it  may  come,  and  if  we  succeed  in  furnishing 
light  to  any,  our  labors  will  be  amply  repaid. 

Analyzing  this  pronouncement  it  is  surprising  to  see  how  closely 
it  has  been  followed  even  down  to  the  present  time.  The  "  chief 
object "  of  discussing  "  practical  questions,  and  more  particularly, 
steam  power  and  its  applications  "  has  certainly  been  followed  in  the 
principal  articles.  Other  articles  have  set  forth  "  the  various  theories 
of  Steam  Boiler  Explosions,  with  all  the  obtainable  information  bear- 
ing upon  the  subject";  and  still  others,  we  hope,  have  been  "enter- 
taining and  useful."  The  "  careful  record  of  Steam  Boiler  Ex- 
plosions "  has  likewise  been  continuously  compiled,  and  so  far  as  we 
can  learn,  this  explosion  list  is  the  only  compilation  of  such  statistics. 
Letters  from  our  readers  would  seem  to  indicate  that  we  have  fur- 
nished "  light  "  to  some. 

The  name  of  the  publication  was  undoubtedly  derived  from  the 
seal  of  the  Company,  which  had  been  adopted  a  year  earlier.  A  loco- 
motive was  selected  for  the  seal  probably  because  it  was  the  most 
picturesque  type  of  steam  boiler  and  represented  the  most  advanced 
form  of  steam  engineering.  Also,  on  the  first  Board  of  Directors  were 
two  railroad  presidents,  a  railroad  secretary,  and  a  railroad  superin- 
tendent, and  one  of  the  large  stockholders  was  ]Mr.  M.  Baldwin,  founder 
of  the  Baldwin  Locomotive  Works,  all  of  which  may  have  had  an 
influence  in  the  selection. 

As  the  official  publication  of  The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection 
and  Insurance  Company,  The  Locomotive  has  often  been  quoted  as 
an  authority  on  the  subject  of  steam  boilers,  and  it  is  hoped  to  attain 
the  same  standing  in  its  recently  enlarged  field  which  now  includes 
engines  and  electric  machinery. 


Pacific  Coast  Division. 

TO  more  expeditiously  and  efficiently  handle  its  growing  business 
in  the  extreme  western  section  of  the  country,  the  Company  will 
on  October  ist  of  this  year  group  its  present  two  departments  at 
San  Francisco  and  Portland  into  what  will  be  called  the  Pacific  Coast 
Division.      Messrs.    H.    R.    ]Mann   &   Company    will   continue   General 
Agents  of  the  Company  for  California,  Arizona  and  Nevada  as  here- 


19-27.]  THE    LOCOMOTIVE.  247 

tofore  and  the  firm  of  IJates,  Lively  and  Pearson  will  be  responsible 
for  the  production  of  business  in  Oregon  and,  for  the  present,  in 
Washington  and  Northern  Idaho  also.  Later,  the  Company  plans  to 
open  a  branch  office  at  Seattle  for  direct  service  to  the  latter  two 
states.  The  whole  coast  territory,  however,  will  be  under  the  supervision 
of  a  Company  official,  who,  with  the  title  of  Superintendent,  will  have 
general  charge  of  its  interests  and  activities ;  will  co-operate  with  its 
agents  in  the  development  of  business,  and  will  have  authority  to 
promptly  decide  the  many  underwriting,  adjustment  and  inspection 
problems  which  hitherto  have  had  to  be  referred  to  the  distant  Home 
Ofiice.  It  is  felt  that  thus  the  Company's  service  to  its  assured  and 
to  its  agency  organizations  will  be  materially  l^enefited  and  improved. 

The  Company  has  selected  Mr.  C.  B.  Paddock  for  this  important 
position.  ]\Ir.  Paddock  has  been  Chief  Inspector  in  the  Northwest  for 
the  past  nineteen  years,  during  which  he  has  proved  himself  not  only 
a  capable  administrator  but  also  a  competent  and  intelligent  under- 
writer of  all  branches  of  engineering  insurance.  His  appointment 
as  Superintendent  of  the  Pacific  Coast  Division  recognizes  his  ability 
to  serve  the  Company  in  a  broader  field  of  usefulness  and  responsi- 
l^ility.  Mr.  Paddock's  headquarters  will  be  at  114  Sansome  Street. 
San  Francisco,  but  the  many  friends  in  his  old  territory  may  expect 
"his  frequent  visits  to  it. 

Other  changes  in  the  official  personnel  are  announced  at  this  time. 
Mr.  J.  B.  Warner,  who  for  forty-two  years  has  been  our  Chief  In- 
spector at  San  Francisco,  retired  from  that  position  on  July  ist,  1927. 
During  those  years  he  has  made  many  friends  for  The  Hartford 
and  himself  among  the  power  users  of  his  territory.  His  reputation 
as  an  expert  in  the  safeguarding  of  steam  boiler  operation  was  early 
•established  and  has  been  constantly  reflected  in  the  volume  of  boiler 
insurance  entrusted  to  his  Company.  The  affection  and  respect  in 
which  he  has  been  and  is  held  by  his  associates  and  subordinates  is 
shown  in  the  presentation  by  them  of  a  gold  watch  at  a  dinner  tendered 
him  in  July  in  commemoration  of  his  long  service.  It  is  a  service  that 
has  earned  relief  from  arduous  duties  and  responsibilities  and,  freed 
from  those  of  his  chief  inspectorship,  it  is  hoped  that  many  years  of 
useful  association  with  this  Company  are  still  before  him. 

Mr.  Lon  J.  Reed  succeeds  Mr.  \\'arner  as  Chief  Inspector,  the 
appointment  to  date  from  October  ist.  1927.  Mr.  Reed  joined  "The 
Hartford's  "  inspection  force  in  1909.  Three  years  ago  he  was 
made  Assistant  Chief  Inspector  at  San  Francisco  and  in  that  position 
has  been  well  prepared  for  the  duties  he  now  assumes. 


248  THE     LOCOMOTIVE.  [October, 

John  Bull,  Oldest  Of  Locomotives  Steaming  Again, 

Leaves   Smithsonian   Museum  After  34  Years 
TO  Aid  B.  &  O.  Celebration. 

AFTER  34  years  of  unbroken  rest  John  Bull  is  under  steam  again. 
The  old  locomotive,  which  began  his  career  in  1831,  has  been  re- 
moved from  the  Smithsonian  Institution  to  take  part  in  the  cen- 
tenary celebration  of  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad  at  Halethorpe, 
Md.,  from  September  24  to  October  8.  To  get  the  creak  out  of  his 
joints  and  feel  the  steam  in  his  lungs,  he  has  been  taken  to  the  Penn- 
sylvania shops  at  Altoona. 

John  Bull  is  the  oldest  complete  locomotive  in  xA.merica  today.  He 
was  built  in  the  shops  of  George  Stephenson  &  Son  in  England  for  the 
Camden  &  Amboy  Railroad,  one  of  the  units  of  the  present  Pennsyl- 
vania system.  He  did  continuous  service  from  1831  till  1865.  In  1885 
the  Pennsylvania  presented  him  to  the  Smithsonian  Institution  for 
exhibition  in  the  National  Museum.  Seven  years  later  he  ran  under  his 
own  steam  from  Washington  to  Chicago  to  appear  in  the  World's 
Columbian  Exposition,  a  so-called  "  last  appearance."  But  like  those 
of  actors,  John  Bull's  last  appearance  refused  to  be  final.  The  B.  &  O. 
has  constructed  a  five  mile  circular  track  at  Halethorpe  and  on  that  the 
old  locomotive  will  take  his  place  with  the  other  curiosities,  ancient  and 
modern,  assembled  for  the  exposition.  —  Hartford  (Conn.)  Courant, 
August  22,  IQ2J. 

[For  further  details  and  picture  of  the  above  locomotive,  see  The 
Locomotive  for  January,  1922.  —  Editor.] 


"  Verboten  "  is  Right. 

IN  a  recent  issue  of  the  Zeitschrift  of  the  Steam  Boiler  Inspection 
and  Insurance  Company  of  Vienna,  Austria,  appears  an  account  of 
the  serious  scalding  of  a  fireman  due  entirely  to  his  own  thought- 
lessness. It  was  in  a  pulp  mill,  and  the  boiler  blow-off  pipe  had  become 
stopped  up,  possibly  by  some  of  the  pulp  having  gotten  into  the  boiler. 
The  blow-off  pipe  was  in  a  trench,  and  the  fireman  was  in  the  trench, 
with  the  pipe  partly  dismantled  and  the  valve  removed,  poking  at  the 
pipe  with  a  wire  to  try  and  clear  it.  He  was  directly  in  front  of  the 
end  of  the  pipe,  with  pressure  on  the  boiler  and  no  valve  in  the  line. 
When  he  suddenly  succeeded  in  poking  through  the  stoppage,  the  fire- 
man, of  course,  was  very  badly  scalded.  The  item  concludes  with  a 
statement  to  the  effect  that  repairing  pipes  in  trenches  (while  they  are 
under  pressure)   is  "  verboten." 


1927. 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


249 


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250 


THE     LOCOMOTIVE 


[October, 


z 
o 

1— 
<: 
o 
o 

Hutchinson,    Kans 
Wyandotte,    Mich. 
Detroit,    Mich. 
Wickliffe,   Ky. 
Omaha,    Nebr. 
Denver,    Colo. 

Jnctn.    City,    Kans 
Smackover,    Ark. 
Sleepy   Eye,    Minn 
N.  Chattanooga, 

Tenn. 
Forest   City,   Iowa 
Beatrice,    Nebr. 
Wilmot,  Ark. 
Chicago,   111. 
Newton,    Mass. 
Indianapolis,  Ind. 
San  Antonio,  Tex 
London,   Ont. 
Sarah,  Miss. 
Harrison,    Ark. 

CO 

LU 

z 

CO 

CO 

Publishing    House 
Quarry 
Paint  Factory 
Office  Bldg. 
Apts.   &   Stores 
Church 

Hospital 
Refinery 
Garage 
Paper   Mill 

Tire  Shop 

Hotel 

Pumping  Station 

Restaurant 

School 

Sales  Room 

Sash  &  Door  Fcty. 

Residence 

Cotton    Gin 

Canning  Factory 

CONCERN 

The    News    Company 
Michigan  Alkali  Co. 
Rinshed-Mason    Company 
Ballard    County 
Greenburg  &  Weinstein 
Bishop  &  Diocese  of  Colorado 

Junction    City    Municipal    Hos. 
Cross   Refining   Co. 

Tennessee   Paper    Mills 

Richardson  Tire  Shop 

S.    F.    Nichols 

Standard  Oil  Co. 

Dr.  J.  Ablio 

J.    H.    Lowell,   Trustee 

Hutchison  Realty  Co. 

.Steves    Sash    &    Door    Co. 

Five    Fifty    Six    Wellington    St. 

Crescent   Cotton   Oil   Co. 

Bear  Creek  Canning  Co. 

p3jn[u| 

1-    N                                 -                                M 

P31l!)l 

" 

NATURE  OF  ACCIDENT 

Section  of  heating  boiler  cracked 
Steam  outlet  nozzle  failed 
Section  of  heating  boiler  cracked 
Section  of   heating  boiler   cracked 
Eight  sections  heating  boiler  cracked 
Two  sections  heating  boiler  cracked 

Four   sections   heating  boiler   cracked 
Boiler    exploded 
Air  tank  exploded 
Staybolts  pulled  out 

Boiler    exploded 

Tube  failed 

Boiler   exploded 

Two   sections   heating   boiler   cracked 

Two   sections   heating  boiler   cracked 

Section  of  heating  boiler  cracked 

Blow-off  pipe  ruptured 

Heating  boiler  exploded 

Boiler  bulged  and  ruptured 

Boiler  exploded 

>- 
< 

•rf-  lO             vO                           «^                   00                C3^              O 

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192/.] 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


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The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection  and  Insurance  Company 

HARTFORD,  CONN. 


ABSTRACT  OF  STATEMENT,  DECEMBER  31,   1926 

Capital  Stock,         .         .         $2,500,000.00 

ASSETS 

Cash  in  offices  and  banks 

Real    Estate    .  .  .         .      " 

Mortgage  and  collateral  loans 

Bonds   and   Stocks 

Premiums  in  course  of  collection 

Interest    Accrued    .         .    •     . 

Total   Assets 


^,103.09 

267,631.53 

1,523,106.20 

12,646,007.33 

1,290,539-98 
150,884.92 

$16,562,27305 


LIABILITIES 


Reserve  for  unearned  premiums 
Reserve  for  losses  .... 

Reserve  for  taxes  and  other  contingencies 
Capital    Stock  ..... 

Surplus  over  all  liabilities       . 


$7,318,478.72 
452,318.90 
770,028.22 


^2, 500,000.00 

5,521,447.21 


Surplus  to  Policyholders, 

Total    Liabilities 


8,021,447.21 

$16,562,273.05 


CHARLES  S.  BLAKE,  Chairman  Board  of  Directors 
WM.  R.  C.  CORSON,  President  and  Treasurer 

BOARD    OF    DIRECTORS 


LUCIUS  F.  ROBINSON,  Attorney,  Hart- 
ford,   Conn. 

JOHN  O.  ENDERS,  Chairman  Board  of 
Trustees,  Hartford  National  Bank  & 
Trust    Co.,    Hartford,    Conn. 

MORGAN  B.  BRAINARD,  President 
j^tna  Life  Insurance  Co.,  Hartford, 
Conn. 

CHARLES  P.  COOLEY.  President  Society 
for   Savings,   Hartford,   Conn. 

HORACE  B.  CHENEY,  Cheney  Brothers, 
Silk  Manufacturers,  South  Manchester, 
Conn. 

D.  NEWTON  BARNEY,  Vice-President 
The  Hartford  Electric  Light  Co.,  Hart- 
ford,   Conn. 

DR.  GEORGE  C.  F.  WILLIAMS,  Presi- 
dent The  Capewell  Horse  Nail  Co., 
Hartford,  Conn. 

JOSEPH  R.  ENSIGN,  President  The 
Ensign-Bickford    Co.,    Simsbury,    Conn. 


EDWARD  MILLIGAN,  President  Phoenix 
Insurance    Co.,    Hartford,    Conn. 

CHARLES  S.  BLAKE,  Chairman  Board  of 
Directors,  The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler 
Inspection  and  Insurance  Co.,  Hart- 
ford,  Conn. 

WM.  R.  C.  CORSON,  President  The  Hart- 
ford Steam  Boiler  Inspection  and 
Insurance  Co.,   Hartford,   Conn. 

SAMUEL  M.  STONE,  President  The 
Colt's  Patent  Fire  Arms  Mfg.  Co., 
Hartford,    Conn. 

SAMUEL  FERGUSON,  President  The 
Hartford  Electric  Light  Co.,  Hartford, 
Conn. 

HON.  JOHN  H.  TRUMBULL,  President 
The  Trumbull  Electric  Mfg.  Co., 
Plainville,  Conn. 

CURTISS  C.  GARDINER,  Vice-President 
The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection 
and  Insurance  Company,  80  Maiden 
Lane,   New   York,   N.   Y. 


Incorporated   1866 


Charter   Perpetual 


Department 

ATLANTA,   Ga., 

1103-1106   Atlanta   Trust   Bldg. 

BALTIMORE,  Aid.,  . 
13-14-15    Abcll    Bldg. 

BOSTON,  Mass., 
4  Liberty   Sq.,   Cor.   Water   St 

BRIDGEPORT,   Conn.,       . 
404-405  City  Savings  Bank  Bldj 

CHICAGO,  111.. 

20Q  West  Jackson  B'l'v'd. 

CINCINNATI,   Ohio. 
First  National  Bank  Bldg. 

CLEVELAND,   Ohio, 
Leader    Bldg. 

DENVER,    Colo.. 
916-918  Gas  &  Electric  Bldg. 

HARTFORD,    Conn., 
56    Prospect    St. 

NEW  ORLEANS.  La.,       . 
Hibernia   Bank  Bldg. 

NEW  YORK,   N.  Y., 
80  Maiden  Lane 

PHILADELPHIA,  Pa.,     . 
429  Walnut   St. 

PITTSBURGH,    Pa., 
1807-8-9-10  Arrott  Bldg. 

ST.  LOUIS,   MO.,     . 
610-618  Security   Bldg.      . 

TORONTO,  Canada, 
Federal   Bldg. 


Representatives 

W.  M.  Fkaxcis,  Manager. 

C.  R.  Summers,  Chief  Inspector. 

Lawkord  &  McKiM,  General  Agents. 
James  G.  Reiu,  Chief  Inspector. 

Ward  I.  Cornell,  Manager. 
W.  A.  Bayliss,  Chief  Inspector. 

W.  G.  LiNEiiURGH  &  Son,  General  Agents. 
A.  E.  Bonnet,  Chief  Inspector. 

P.  M.  Murray,  Manager. 

J.  P.  Morrison,  Chief  Inspector. 

W.  E.  Gleason,  Manager. 

W.  E.  Glennon,  Chief  Inspector. 

A.  Paul  Graham,  Manager. 
L.  T.  Gregg,  Chief  Inspector. 

J.  H.  Chestnutt, 

Manager  and  Chief  Inspector. 

F.  H.  Kenyon,  General  Agent. 
A.  E.  Bonnet,  Chief  Inspector. 

R.  T.  BuRWELL,  Mgr.  and  Chief  Inspector. 
E.  Unsworth,  Ass't  Chief  Inspector. 

C.  C.  Gardiner,  Vice  President. 
E.  Mason  Parry,  Chief  Inspector. 

A.  S.  Wickham,  Manager. 
S.  B.  Adams,  Chief  Inspector. 

Geo.  S.  Reynolds,  Manager. 
J.  A.   Snyder,  Chief   Inspector. 

Chas.  D.  Ashcroft,  Manager. 
Eugene  Webb,  Chief  Inspector. 

H.  N.  Roberts,  President  The  Boiler  In- 
spection and  Insurance  Company  of 
Canada. 


PACIFIC  COAST  DIVISION 

C.  B.  Paddock,  Superintendent 

114  Sansome  St.,  San  Francisco,  Cal. 


PORTLAND,   Ore.,    . 
306    Yeon    Bldg., 

SEATTLE,  Wash.,     . 
415   Dexter-Horton  Bldg 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  Cal., 
114    Sansome    St. 


Bates,  Lively  &  Pearson,  Gen'l  Agents. 


H.  R.  Mann  &  Co.,  General  Agents. 
L.  J.  Reed.  Chief  Inspector. 


THE  HARTFORD  LINE 

BOILER  INSURANCE 

Boilers^  Economizers^  Vulcanizers,  Kiers, 

Digesters,  Steam  Driers,  Jacketed 

Kettles,  Etc. 

ELY  WHEEL  INSURANCE 

Flywheels,  Fans,  Blowers,  Turbines,  Water 

Wheels,  Centrifugal  Driers,  Gear 

Wheels,  Etc. 

ENGINE  INSURANCE 

Engines,  Compressors,  Pumps,  Refrigerating 
Machines,  Etc. 

ELECTRICAL  MACHINERY  INSURANCE 

Generators,  Motors,  Synchronous  Convertors, 

Transformers,  Switchboards,  Etc. 


Consult  your  agent  or  broker  or  write  for 
details   to   the  nearest  branch   office   of 

THE  HARTFORD  STEAM  BOILER 
INSPECTION  and  INSURANCE  CO. 

HARTFORD  CONNECTICUT 


'The  oldest  in  the  Country,  the  largest  in  the  world" 


She  J0t0m0tice 


OF 


THE  HARTFORD  STEAM  BOILER 
INSPECTION  AND  INSURANCE  CO. 


Vol.  XXXVII 


PUBLISHED  BY 
THE  HARTFORD  STEAM  BOILER  INSPECTION  AND  INSURANCE  CO. 


HARTFORD,  CONN. 

1928-1929 


INDEX  TO  VOL.  XXXVII.-1928-1929 


THE  LOCOMOTIVE 
Referen-ces   Marked  with  a  Star   (*)    are  to  Illustrated  Articles 


Accident,  Fatal,  Stresses  Need  for  Caution,  October  1929,  249. 

*Air  Tank,  Exploding,  Kills  7  men,   (Stone  Mountain  Granite  Corp.)  July  1929, 

194. 
*Apprentice,  The  Company's  Youngest,  July  1928,  87. 
Atom,  Getting  Closer  to  the  Elusive,  October  1928,  119. 
*Baltimore  &  Ohio  R.  R.,  Centennial  of,  January  1928,  7. 
Barrel,  Wooden,  Explodes  and  Scalds  Man,  January  1929,  157. 
*Big  Corliss,  "Splicing  Bone''  on,  by  Inspector  C.  Burton,  January  1928,  12. 
*Blow-ofif  Valves,  Proper  Selection  and  Maintenance,  January  1929,  144. 
"  Blue  "  Gas  Not  a  New  Discovery,  January  1929,  152. 
Boiler  Accident  List,  Announcement  in  re,  July  1928,  85. 
Boiler  Book,  New  Edition  of,  April,  1928,  43. 

Boiler  Explodes  and  Kills  Boy,  (New  Orleans,  La.)  January  1929,  154. 
♦Boiler,  Exploding,  Kills  26  in  Mexico,  October  1928,  124. 
♦Boiler  Explosion,  British  Empire  Steel  Corp.,  Glace  Bay,  N.  S.,  January  1929, 

130. 
♦Boiler  Explosion,  Hodgson  Bros.,  January  1928,  2. 
♦Boiler  Explosion  at  San  Antonio,  Tex.,  April  1929,  178. 
♦Boiler  Explosion  Too  Near  for  Comfort,  October  1928,  106. 
Boiler  Explosions,  Forestalling  Potential,  January  1928,  14. 
Boiler  Explosions,  List  of,   for  Nov.  and  Dec.   1926,  January  1928.  25-29;    for 

December  1926,  April  1928,  59. 
Boiler  Explosions  for  1926,  Summary  of,  January  1928,  24. 
Boiler,  Steam  Auto  in  1832  Had  Remarkable,  October  1929,  250. 
♦Boiler  Without  Safety  Valve  Explodes,  October  1928,  124. 
♦Boys  Escape  Death  in  Engine  Room  as  Wheel  Bursts   (French  &  Hecht,  Inc., 

Springfield.  Ohio)  April  1929,  171. 
♦Broken  Belt  Deranged  Safety  Devices,  October  1929,  239. 
Butler,  J.  F.,  Advanced,  October,  1929,  246 
♦Cast  Iron  Boiler  Burned  Up.  April  1929,  184. 
Cast  Iron  Boilers,  Avoiding  Cracking  of,  April  1928,  52. 
Cast  Iron  Steam  and  Hot  Water  Boilers,  Important  Points  in  the  Maintenance 

and  Safe  Operation  of,  July  1929,  196. 
^^^^^aught  in  the  Separator,  January  1928,  18;  April  1928,  58;  July  1928,  92;  July 
^^        1929,  220 ;  October  1929,  252. 

\,  ♦Caustic  Embrittlement,  Accelerated  by  Wrong  Feed  Water  Treatment,  Ruins  4 
^         Water  Tube  Boilers,  October  1929,  237. 

V  ♦Caustic   Embrittlement,   Causes  and   Characteristics  of  the  Cracking  of   Boiler 
^         Plate  by,  October  1928,  98. 


THE     LOCO  ^iOTIVE  —  INDEX 


*Caustic  Embrittlement,  Experts  Differ  on  Theory  That,  Caused  Violent  Explo- 
sion at  Crossett,  Ark.,  October  1929,  226. 
*Caustic  Embrittlement,  at  Minnesota  Paper  Mill,  January  1929,  134. 
Chemical  Reaction  Caused  Explosion,  Think,  October  1928,  123. 
Coal,  Looking  at  in  a  New  Light,  January  1929,  149. 
Combustion,  Damage  by  Secondary,  April  192S,  53. 
Compressed  Air  Engine  Operated  by  Wave  Power,  July  1929,  214. 
*Corroded  Boiler  Kills  6,  Injures  4,  April  1929,  167. 
*Corroded  Head  Flange  Wrecks  Boiler,  April  1928,  54. 
Corroded  Staybolts,  Thought  a  New   Design,  by  Inspector  T.  E.   Connery,  July 

1929.  205. 
*Corrosion  (Internal)  of  Boiler,  Cause  and  Prevention,  by  W.  D.  Halsey,  Mech. 

Eng.,  April  1929,  162. 
Crack,  Lap  Seam,  Demolishes  Boiler,  October  1928.  107. 
Crane  Rings,  New  Method  of  Making,  January  1928,  6. 
*Crank  Pin,  Cast,  Proves  Stronger  than  Disc,  January  1929.  153. 
*Crossett,   Ark.,   Experts  Differ  on   Theory   that   Caustic   Embrittlement    Caused 

Violent  Explosion  at,  October  1929,  226. 
*Cut-off,  Old  Mechanism  for  Varying,  April  1928,  41. 
Cutting  Alloys,  New,  Speed  Manufacturing  Processes,  April  1929,  185. 
Cylinder  Head,  Bursting,  Kills  Two,  July  1929,  200. 
Dangerous  Conditions,  Detection  of,  April  1929,  168. 
Dead  Air,  Beware  of  When  Entering  Boiler,  January  1929.  140. 
Detection  of  Very  Dangerous  Conditions  Frequently  Accomplished  by  Study  of 

Small  Symptoms,  April  1929,  168. 
Detroit  Department,  New,  April  1928,  53. 
Diesel  Enters  Airplane  Field,  Jxily  1929,  217. 
Diesel  Explosion,  German  Court  Decision  on,  April  1929,  188. 
*Discarded  Feed  Pipe  Furnishes  Clue,  January  1929,  134. 
*Edison's  Boiler  at  Menlo  Park,  July  1929,  208. 
Editorial :    Boiler  Accident  List,  Announcement,  July  1928,  85 ; 

Cast  Iron  Boilers,  Avoiding  Cracking  of,  April  1928,  52 ; 

Compressed  Air  Engine,  Plan  to  Make  Ocean  Run,  July  1929,  214; 

Detroit  Department,  New,  April  1928,  53  ; 

Furnace  Explosion  Coverage   (Announcement)   April  1029,  180; 

Fusible  Plug  Undertakes  New  Role,  October  1928,  116; 

Getting  Closer  to  the  Elusive  Atom,  October  1928.  119; 

Gleason,  W.  E.,  Retires  as  Cincinnati  Manager,  July  1929,  212; 

Gregg,  L.  T.,  Made  Chief  Engineer  of  The  Boiler  I.  &  I.  Co.,  April  1929,  181 ; 

Hornblower,  Josiah,  Erect  Tablet  to,  July  1929,  213 ; 

Hower,  F.  L.,  Made  Manager  of  Cincinnati  Dept.,  July  1929.  212. 

Hunt,  J.  F.,  Made  Chief  Ins.  of  Cleveland  Dept.,  April  1929,  181 ; 

Looking  at  Coal  in  a  New  Light,  January  1929,  149; 

New  San  Francisco  Branch  Ofifice,  July  1928,  85  ; 

Power  Interruption  Insurance,  October  1929,  244. 

Returning  to  an  Old  Smelting  Principle,  January  1929,  148; 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE  —  INDEX 


Secondary  Combustion,  Damage  by,  A(>ril  192S.  53 ;  ^ 

Shut-down  Loss.  Reducing,  January  1928,  20; 

"  Stourbridge  Lion,"  Centennial  of,  July  1929,  213 ; 

Terroy,  P.  E.,  Advanced  to  Chief  Inspectorship,  October  1928,  119; 

Watson,  E.  G.,  Appointed  Manager  and  Cliief  Inspector  at  Seattle,  July  1928, 
86; 
Editorial  StaflF.  Announcement  of  Change  in,  January  1928,  21. 
*Electric  Steam  Generators,  July  1928,  69. 

Electric  Voltages.  Even  Low  Ones,  May  Cause  Burns,  July  1929,  211. 
♦Engine,  Old.  Being  Dismantled  After  70  Years  of  Service  in    Printing   Plant, 

Atril  1928,  34. 
Entering  Boiler,  Beware  of  Dead  .Air  When.  January  1929,  140. 
Erie  City  Completes  80.000th  Boiler.  April  1929,  189. 

♦Experts  Differ  on  Theory  That  Caustic  Embrittlement  Caused  Violent  .Explo- 
sion at  Crossett,  Ark.,  October  1929,  226. 
Exploding  Gas  Tank  Rocks  Pittsburgh,  January  1928,  6. 
♦Explosion  Caused  by  Tubes  Pulling  Out.  Af>ril  1928,  42. 
Explosion  Hazard,  Removing,  from  Electrical  Equipment,  October  1929,  249. 
Fatal  Accident  Stresses  Need  for  Caution,  October  1929,  249. 
♦First  Central  Station  Turbine.  April  1929,  176. 
Flywheel  Explosion,  French  &  Hecht,  Inc.,  April  1929,  171. 
Furnace  Explosion  Causes  Extensive  Damage,  July  1929,  195. 
Furnace  Explosion  Coverage,  Announcement  in  re.  April  1929,  180. 
Fusible  Plug  Undertakes  New  Role,  October  1928,  116. 
Gleason,  W.  E.,  Retires  as  Cincinnati  Dept.  Manager,  July  1929,  212. 
Glycerine  Evaporator  Explosions,  January  1928,  17. 

Gregg.  L.  T.,  Made  Chief  Engineer  of  Boiler  I.  &  I.  Co.,  April  1929,  181. 
Hartford  Inspector  Saves  Motorist's  Life,  April  1929,  189. 
♦Head  Flange,  Corroded,  Wrecks  Boiler,  April  1928,  54. 
Heater  (Open)   Explodes  When  Vent  Clogs,  July  1929,  219. 
♦Heating  Boiler  Explosions  Cause  Extensive  Damage,  July  1929.  201. 
♦Heating    Boiler    Explosions    in    Apartments    and    Homes,     Several    Fatalities 

Involved  in  Recent.  October  1929,  228. 
♦Hell  Gate  Station  Turbine,  April  1929,  175. 
♦Hodgson  Brothers.  Boiler  Explosion.  January  1928,  2. 
♦Hoist  Motors,  Failure  of.  April  1929,  176. 
Hornblower.  Josiah,  Erect  Tablet  to,  July  1929.  213. 
♦Hot  water  Tank  Grazes  Sleeping  Man,  July  1928,  88. 
Hower.  F.  L..  Made  Manager  of  Cincinnati  Dept.,  July  1929.  212. 
Hunt,  J.  F..  Made  Chief  Inspector  of  Cleveland  Departmei^t,  April  1929,  181. 
Hydrogen  Ion  Interests  Doctors,  Too,  April  1929.  170. 
♦Indianapolis  Power  &  Light  Co.,  Turbo-generator  accident.  July  1928,  80. 
Inspectors'  Work.  Summary  for  1927,  /»/v  1929,  221. 
Insurance  Inspectors.  Recognition  of,  January  1928,  13. 
♦Iron  Horse,  Saddling  &  Breaking  The.  January  1928,  7. 


THE     LOCOMOTIVE  — INDEX. 

Kier  and  Auto  Clave  Explosions,  July  1928,  76. 
"  Live  "  Steam  Line,  Working  on,  is  Dangerous,  July  1928,  75. 
Locomotive,  Centennial  of  First  One  Operated  in  U.  S.,  July  1929,  213. 
*Low  Pressure  Steam  Overspeeded  Turbine,  July  1929,  206. 
McGlannan,  Walter  Austin,  obituary,  October  1928,  117. 

♦Minimum  Safe  Thickness  Drill  Test  Holes  in  Shells  of  Unfired  Pressure  Ves- 
sels. G.  H.  Stickney,  Supr.  Boiler  Dept.,  January  1929,  136. 
Morrison,  J.  P.,  Named  for  New  Post,  October  1929,  245. 
♦Motors,  Protecting  Against  Overload,  July  1928,  78. 
Need  for  Caution,  Fatal  Accident  Stresses,  October  1929,  249. 
Obituary:    Walter  Austin  McGlannan,  October  1928,  117; 

Thompson  Parish  Ware.  October  1928.  118. 
Oil  Engine  Explosion  Kills  Man,  At^ril  1928,  45. 
*Oil  Poor  ^Medicine  for  Boiler  Scale,  January  1929.  142. 
♦Owner  of  New  Factory  Victim  of  Boiler  Blast,  April  1929,  178. 
Periodic  Inspections,  Value  of  January  1929,  157. 
♦Portable  Boilers  &  Tanks,  Positive  Identification  of,  by  J.  A.  Snyder,  Chief  Ins. 

at  Pittsburgh.  January  1929,  151. 
Power  Interruption  Insurance,  October  1929,  244. 
Prall,  G.  H.,  Appointed  Editor  of  The  Locomotive,  January  1928.  21. 
Pressure  Tanks,  Improvised,  Prove  Dangerous,  April  1928,  51. 
♦Public  Health  Endangered  by  Turbo-Compressor  Explosion,  January  1928,  4. 
Railroad   Speed   Records  Made  Years  Ago   Survive  in   Spite  of   Better   Engines 

and  Roadbeds,  October  1929,  246. 
♦Relief  Valve,  Absence  of  Proves  Costly,  April  1928,  44. 
Removal  of  Safety  Devices  Results  in  2  Deaths,  October  1929,  251. 
Removing  Explosion  Hazard  From  Electrical  Equipment,  October  1929,  249. 
Resuscitation  by  Prone  Pressure  Method,  January  1928,  22,  32. 
♦Return  Line  Hook-up,  an  Improved,  April  1928,  46. 
Riding  the  Gauge  from  5  Pounds  to  1,400,  January  1928.  22. 
♦Rolls,  Breakage  of  Cast  Iron  Steam,  July  1928,  66. 
"  Rooster  Controls  Street  Lights  ",  July  1929,  207. 
Rust  and  Iron,  Volumetric  Relation  of,  January  1928.  23. 
Safety  Devices,  Removal  of,  Results  in  2  Deaths,  October  1929,  251. 
San  Francisco  Branch  Office,  New,  July  1928,  85. 
Seattle,  New  Branch  Office  at,  January  1928,  19. 
Smelting,  Returning  to  Old  Principle,  January  1929,  148. 

♦"  Splicing  Bone  "  on  a  Big  Corliss,  by  Inspector  C.  Burton,  January  1928.  12. 
Stationery  Steam  Engines,  Suggestions  for  Safety  and  Preservation  of,  by  H.  J. 

VanderEb,  Supr.  Eng.  Dept.,  October  1928.  108. 
Steam  Auto  in  1832  Had  Remarkable  Boiler,  October  1929,  250. 
Steamboat  Race,   Recent,  Recalls   Stories  of  Early  Days  on  Mississippi  &  Ohio 

Rivers,  January  1929,  155. 
♦Steam  Generators,  Electric,  July  1928,  69. 
Steam  Stages  a  Comeback  to  Regain  Its  Status  as  the  Most  Economical  Source 

of  Mechanical  Power,  October  1929,  234. 


THE     LOCOMOT  I  VE— I  N  DKX 


*Stone  Mountain,  Granite  Corp.,  Air  Tank  Explosion,  July  1929,  194. 

♦Surface  Cleaner,  Dependence  on  Was  Costly,  Af>nl  1929,  187. 

Taps  from  the  Old  Chief's  Hammer,  January  1928,  18;  April  192H,  56;  July  1928, 

83;  October  1928,  120;  January  1929,  146;  April  1929,  182;  July  1929,  215; 

October  1929,  241. 
Terroy,  P.  E.,  Advanced  to  Chief  Inspectorship,  October  1928,  119. 
*"Too  Near  for  Comfort",  October  1928,  106. 
*Tubes  Pulling  Out,  Explosion  Caused  by,  April  1928,  42. 
*Turbine  Overspecded  by  Low  Pressure  Steam,  July  1929,  206. 
*Turl)ine-compressor    explosion    at    Indianapolis,    Ind.,    Sewage    Disposal    Plant, 

January  1928,  4. 
*Turbo-generator   Accident  at  Indianapolis   Power  &  Light  Co.,  July  1928,  80. 
*Turbo-generator  Units,  Immense  New,  April  1929,  173. 
♦Unapproved  Designs,  "  Failures  Show  Up  Weakness  of,  October  1929,  233. 
*Unfired  Pressure  Vessels,  Minimum  Safe  Thickness  Method  of  Drill  Testing, 

by  G.  H.  Stickney,  Supt.  Boiler  Dept.,  January  1929,  136. 
Wallace,  W.  P.,  Advanced,  October,  1929,  246. 
W'are,  Thompson   Parish,  obituary,   October  1928,   118. 
*Waterwheel  and  Diesel,  Teaming  Up,  July  1928,  91. 

Watson,  E.  G.,  Appointed  Manager  &  Chief  Inspector  at  Seattle,  July  1928,  86. 
Wheel  Bursts  During  Test  Run  of  Stand-by  Unit,  October,  1929,  232. 
Zimmer,  C.  W.,  Made  Chief  Inspector,  October  1929,  245. 


Vol.   XXXVII     No.  I 


January   1928 


A  QUARTERLY  MAGAZINE 
DEVOTED  TO  POWER  PLANT  PROTECTION 

Published  continuously  since  1867 

by  The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler 

Inspection  and  Insurance 

Company 


Please  show  to  your  Engineer 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


January, 


"  Into  Such  a  Peaceful  Scene  " 

RUNNING  through  the  southeast  corner  of  Pennsylvania  and 
into  the  state  of  Delaware  is  a  stream  of  water  known  as  Brandy- 
wine  Creek  —  sometimes  glorified  by  being  called  a  river.  Before 
it  empties  into  the  Delaware  River  at  Wilmington  it  traverses  historic 
country  —  country  made  famous  in  the  Revolution  by  the  Battle  of 
the  Brandywine.  Though  a  comparatively  small  stream,  there  may  be 
found  along  its  banks  the  ruins  of  old  time  mills  — ■  many  of  them 
probably  grist  mills  —  where  the  quiet  farmer  folk  of  years  gone  by 
would  take  their  grain.  Later,  there  grew  up  on  the  banks  of  this 
stream   numerous  small   villages   supported  by   textile  mills,   many  of 


which  still  exist,  whose  workers  for  three,  four,  and  even  five  genera- 
tions had  come  from  the  nearby  countryside. 

Such  was  the  mill  of  Hodgson  Brothers  in  the  little  village  of  Henry 
Clay,  just  outside  of  Wilmington,  Delaware.  It  wasn't  a  large  mill  but 
it  had  been  in  existence  for  150  years,  and  it  afiforded  employment  to 
half  a  hundred  women  and  girls  —  some  of  them,  undoubtedly,  the 
mainstays  in  struggling  families  —  secure  in  the  belief  that  a  mill  as 
old  as  this  one  had  weathered  every  possible  storm. 

In  those  little  villages  some  of  the  mill  workers  can  go  home  to 


1928.  THELOCOMOTIVE  3 

their  mid-day  meal  while  others  carry  a  lunch  and  at  noon,  weather 
permitting,  they  may  be  seen  in  sociable  groups,  eating,  chatting,  and 
at  times  entering  into  friendly  banter  —  laughing  and  happy. 

October  25,  1927,  brought  a  warm  sun  —  a  welcome  chance  to  enjoy 
the  outdoors  before  winter  closed  in.  A  score  of  girls  who  had  brought 
their  lunches  could  be  found  during  the  noon  hour  on  the  sunny  side 
of  the  mill  or  strolling  nearby. 

Into  such  a  peaceful  scene  —  a  rest  in  a  busy  day  of  toil  —  there 
burst  a  deafening  roar.  Wreckage  of  all  sorts  and  sizes  came  hurtling 
through  the  air.  Screaming,  terrified  girls  fled  across  the  fields.  From 
that  hail  of  metal  and  stone  they  considered  themselves  lucky  to  escape 
with  their  lives. 

The  full  import  of  just  what  had  happened  dawned  on  them  when 
they  straggled  back,  timidly,  to  view  the  wreckage.  What  they  saw 
was  the  spectre  of  unemployment,  for  even  to  an  untechnical  eye  it  was 
evident  that  the  plant  would  have  to  close  down  for  an  indefinite  period. 

But  more  than  this,  and  requiring  immediate  attention  —  two  men 
were  injured  and  had  to  be  cared  for.  Volunteers  picked  them  up 
and  placed  them  in  an  ambulance  that  had  hurried  down  from  a 
Wilmington  hospital. 

Turning  to  the  ruins,  it  was  apparent  that  the  cause  had  been 
centered  in  what  had  been  the  heating  plant,  housing  two  horizontal 
tubular  boilers,  one  of  which  had  exploded.  Built  originally  to  carry 
a  pressure  of  100  pounds  and  operated  frequently  at  a  pressure  of  per- 
haps not  more  than  20  pounds,  these  two  boilers  had  been  in  service 
for  twenty-one  years.  So  long  had  they  served  their  purpose,  perhaps 
many  thought  they  would  never  wear  out.  But  hidden  defects  had 
developed.  Although  the  Hartford  Company  had  neither  inspected  nor 
insured  these  boilers,  one  of  its  inspectors  determined,  in  examining  the 
remains,  that  a  lap  seam  crack  had  weakened  a  construction  prone  to 
develop  such  a  defect,  and  furthermore,  exterior  corrosion  under  the 
covering  bricks  had  wasted  away  the  upper  surface  of  the  shell. 

And  so  an  old  and  trusted  servant,  through  undiscovered  bodily 
ills,  failed  when  least  expected  —  as  sometimes  seemingly  hale  and 
hearty  men  are  struck  down,  leaving  many  suddenly  dependent  to 
weather  the  blow  as  best  they  can. 

Happily  for  the  owners  of  this  mill,  they  had  been  foresighted 
enough  to  secure  protection  against  just  such  an  occurrence  as  this; 
they  were  insured  and  were  reimbursed  for  their  direct  property  loss, 
but  for  weeks  after  no  laughter  from  happy  groups  was  heard  —  even 
though  a  warm  sun  shone  on  many  a  later  day. 


4 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


January, 


Public  Health  Endangered  by  Explosion 

NEWSPAPER  reports  of  a  turbo-compressor  explosion,  Sep- 
tember 20,  1927,  at  the  sewage  disposal  plant  of  Indianapolis, 
Ind.,  stressed  the  claim  that  health  of  persons  living  there  and 
in  other  cities  below  it  on  White  River  was  jeopardized  when  the 
break-down  paralyzed  part  of  the  disposal  process  and  necessitated 
turning  millions  of  gallons  of  partially  treated  sewage  into  the  river. 
The  compressor  unit  was  used  in  connection  with  the  sewage 
aeration  system.  At  about  9:30  on  the  night  of  the  accident  the  en- 
gineer discoverecf  a  leak  in  the  oil  pipe  and  immediately  prepared  to 
shift  the  load  to  another  unit,  so  as  to  effect  repairs.     After  warming 


up  Unit  No.  4,  he  put  it  on  the  line  and  attempted  to  shut  down  No. 
5,  the  defective  unit,  by  tripping  the  emergency  governor.  Instead 
of  slowing  down,  the  machine  seemed  actually  to  gain  speed.  He  then 
tried  to  close  the  throttle  valve  by  hand,  but  found  it  jammed.  As  a 
last  resort  he  started  for  the  opposite  end  of  the  room  to  get  a  ladder 
by  means  of  which  he  could  reach  the  valve  on  the  branch  line  from 
steam  header  to  turbine.  The  explosion  occurred  while  he  was  at 
some  distance  from  the  machine.  This  fact  probably  saved  him  from 
injury. 

While  examination  of  the  wreckage  confirmed  the  assumption  that 
the  machine  failed  by  over-speeding,  it  did  not  determine,  to  the  satis- 


^0^ 1^  HE    L  Q  C  Q  M  O  T  I  V  E 5 

faction  of  all  parties  concerned,  the  actual  cause  of  the  runaway.  The 
oiler  stated  that  when  the  engineer  tripped  the  emergency  governor 
he  (the  oiler)  closed  the  discharge  valve  on  the  air  line  to  relieve  the 
machine  of  its  load.  He  heard  a  sound  similar  to  that  caused  by 
rushing  air  and,  noting  the  turbine's  increasing  speed,  left  the  vicinity 
as  quickly  as  possible. 

The  plant's  aerating  equipment  consisted  of  three  similar  turbo- 
compressors.  At  the  time  of  the  accident  one  of  them  was  dismantled 
for  repairs.  Flying  metal  damaged  its  delicate  internal  mechanism 
so  badly  it  was  necessary  to  send  the  rotor  back  to  the  builders.  The 
accompanying  photograph  gives  some  idea  of  the  extent  of  the  wreck. 
Direct  damage,  amounting  to  $21,000,  was  covered  under  a  policy 
by  the  Hartford  Company. 

Air  May  Reverse  Turbine's  Rotation 

The  fact  that  the  plant  had  three  compressor  sets  connected  in 
parallel  to  a  common  air  line  and  that  two  of  them  were  sometimes 
operated  at  the  same  time,  prompts  a  discussion  of  another  type  of 
hazard  incident  to  this  class  of  apparatus. 

With  one  turbine  running,  an  attempt  to  put  another  on  the  line 
has  been  known  to  reverse  the  direction  of  rotation  of  the  second  ma- 
chine by  air  pressure  backing  up  into  the  rotary  compressor  through 
the  discharge  line.  When  non-return  valves  are  not  provided  in 
systems  of  this  kind  there  is  always  a  possibility  of  disaster  from  this 
cause,  providing,  of  course,  the  operation  of  cutting  in  a  second  turbine 
is  not  done  with  extreme  skill. 

It  is  interesting  to  consider  just  what  could  take  place  in  a  case  of 
this  sort.  Assuming  one  machine  to  be  supplying  pressure  to  the  line 
and  another  compressor  unit  has  been  brought  up  to  speed  and  is  ready 
to  cut  in,  the  moment  the  discharge  valve  of  the  second  machine  is 
opened  the  pressure  in  the  line  drives  air  back  into  the  rotary  com- 
pressor, tending  to  operate  it  like  a  turbine  —  but  in  a  reverse  direction. 
As  soon  as  slowing  down  occurs,  due  to  the  influx  of  air  into  its  com- 
pressor, the  governor  of  the  machine  will  tend  to  open  the  steam  valve 
and  the  steam  will  act  as  a  powerful  brake  against  the  tendency  toward 
backward  motion  caused  by  the  air.  It  is  possible,  however,  for  the 
air  to  overcome  the  effort  of  the  steam.  This  would  cause  the  turbine 
to  come  down  to  zero  speed  and  then  to  operate  in  the  wrong  direction. 

While  approaching  zero  speed  the  turbine  governor  would  open 
wide  and  would  remain  so  until  the  machine  picked  up  speed  in  the 
wrong  direction.     But  as  the  speed  increased  in  the  wrong  direction 


THE   LOCOMOTIVE  J^^^^'-y. 


the  governor  would  commence  to  shut  off  steam  and  from  that  point 
on  the  steam's  resistance  to  the  action  of  the  air  would  diminish  rapidly. 
It  is  conceivable  that  disastrous  over-speeding  would  result  in  case  the 
operator  did  not  act  quickly. 

In  the  light  of  what  is  known  of  these  systems  of  turbo-compres- 
sors discharging  into  a  common  line,  it  would  seem  to  be  good  practice 
to  equip  each  discharge  line  with  a  non-return  valve. 


New  Method  of  Making  Crane  Rings 

SUPERINTENDENTS    of    foundries   and   machine   shops   using 
cranes  for  heavy  lifting  will  be  interested  in  a  new  type  of  sling- 
chain  ring  for  which  the  developers  claim  distinct  advantages  over 
the  welded  rings  of  refined  bar  iron  now  in  general  use. 

In  lifting  a  heavy  part  it  is  customary  to  pass  a  sling-chain  around 
it  and  fasten  the  ring  over  the  crane  hook.  These  rings  have  been 
known  to  fail,  even  under  apparently  safe  loads,  because  of  incomplete 
welding  or  because  metal  was  crystallized  by  the  heat  of  welding. 

The  new  type  of  ring  is  said  to  be  free  from  these  weaknesses. 
It  is  made  by  winding  many  turns  of  wire  around  a  spool  to  form 
a  blank  which,  after  heating,  is  formed  into  a  homogeneous  mass  by 
means  of  dies  and  a  powerful  press. 


Exploding  Gas  Tank  Rocks  Pittsburgh 

An  explosion  of  a  500,000  cubic  foot  gas  container  on  November 
14,  1927,  at  the  plant  of  Equitable  Gas  Company,  Pittsburgh,  Pa., 
caused  the  collapse  and  burning  of  two  other  tanks,  one  of  almost 
equal  size  and  the  other  smaller.  Newspaper  reports  placed  the  death 
list  at  twenty  with  several  hundred  injured.  According  to  the  news 
report  workmen  were  using  blow  torches  on  top  of  the  huge  vessel, 
supposed  to  have  been  empty,  when  it  tore  loose  with  a  violence  that 
rocked  the  city  and  made  5,000  persons  homeless.  The  tank  was  said 
to  be  the  largest  natural  gas  container  in  the  world. 


19^8. 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


Saddling  and  Breaking  the  Iron  Horse 

PRESENTED  in  a  manner  that  provoked  public  interest  to  an 
extent  that   could   not  have   been   approximated   by   volumes   of 
printed  history,  "  The  Fair  of  the  Iron  Horse/'  held  in  Baltimore, 
Aid.,  September  24  to  October  16,  1927,  served  to  commemorate  the 
first  hundred  years  of  service  by  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad  and 
at  the  same  time  depicted  the  development  of  an  industry  on  which 


The  Baltimore  &  Ohio's  First  Engine 

our  present  complex  and  prosperous  civilization  is  based.  Mechanical 
transportation  —  the  industry  by  which  commodities  are  moved  swiftly 
across  desert,  mountain,  and  stream  from  producer  to  consumer  — 
preceded  and  paved  the  way  for  industrial  growth,  made  possible  the 
division  into  metropolitan  and  rural  areas  and,  by  annihilating  the 
barriers  of  distance  and  time,  exerted  an  almost  incalculable  influence 
on  every  phase  of  modern  existence. 

The  Baltimore  &  Ohio's  Centenary  Exhibition  did  not  confine  itself 
merely  to  presenting  original  locomotives  or  accurate  reproductions  of 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


January, 


.   The  "  York,"  Winner  of  $4,000  Prise 

early  models  along  with  their  modern  grandchildren.  In  a  Hall  of 
Transportation  and  a  Trafific  Building  were  all  sorts  of  devices  con- 
tributing to  railroad  service,  as  well  as  visual  exhibits  of  almost  every 
industrial  enterprise  in  which  the  railroad  has  had  a  part.  Volumes 
could  be  devoted  to  their  description  and  still  warrant  criticism  be- 
cause of  inadecjuacy.  For  obvious  reasons  this  article  must  limit 
itself  to  a  very  few  of  the  most  interesting  high  lights. 

Probably  the  most  entertaining  part  of  the  exhibit  was  the  parade 
of  the  iron  horses  around  an  oval  track,  the  grotesque  little  engines 
of  early  vintage  being  followed  in  slow  procession  by  the  huge,  power- 
ful space  annihilators  of  the  present  day.  Behind  all  this,  however, 
is  the  story  of  how  the  B  &  O  was  formed  and  the  factor  that  led 
to  the  adoption  of  the  steam  locomotive  for  drawing  trains. 

Recognized  in  Colonial  days  as  an  important  sea  port,  Baltimore 
prospered  and  grew  until  the  construction  of  the  Erie  Canal  threatened 
to  divert  Western  commerce  to  rival  cities  along  thp  Atlantic.  The 
fact  that  the  Allegheny  Mountains  lay  between  Baltimore  and  the 
territory  it  sought  to  tap  prevented  the  city  from  meeting  the  challenge 
by  digging  a  canal  of  its  own.  So  a  group  of  prominent  merchants 
pooled  their  resources  to  build  a  railroad  extending  300  miles  west- 
ward to  the  Ohio  River.  Their  idea  was  to  draw  cars  by  horses  on 
level  stretches  and  to  overcome  steep  grades  by  means  of  an  engine- 
driven  cable  drag.  A  charter  was  obtained  on  February  28,  1827; 
construction  started  on  July  4,   1828. 

By  1830  a  double  line  of  track  stretched  to  Ellicott's  Mills,  four- 
teen miles  away,  and  during  the  year  horse-drawn  trains  started 
operation.      But    Peter    Cooper,    a    New    York    merchant    with    large 


1928. 


TH  E    LOCO  MOT  I  V  K 


holdings  in  Baltimore,  was  not  satisfied  to  accept  the  limitations  im- 
posed by  dependence  on  horses  for  motive  power.  He  called  the 
directors'  attention  to  the  use  of  steam  on  English  roacft  and,  failing 
to  find  them  ready  to  experiment  with  the  new,  unproven  device,  set 
himself  the  task  of  demonstrating  its  practicability. 

Cooper  designed  and  built  the  Tom  Thumb,  the  first  engine  built 
in  America  for  a  practical  railroad.  This  little  fellow,  weighing  less 
than  a  ton,  convinced  the  directors  of  the  futility  of  clinging  longer  to 
the  horse  of  flesh  and  blood.  They  advertised  a  competitive  test  to 
produce  the  best  type  of  locomotive  for  their  road  and  five  engine 
builders  responded.  The  York,  produced  by  Phineas  Davis  of  York, 
Pa.,  won  the  judges'  approbation  and  prize  of  $4,000.00  and  was 
immediately  put  into  service. 

Following  the  York  came  the  Atlantic,  the  Traveler,  the  Arabian, 
the  Mercurv,  and  in  a    few  vears,  the  Lafayette,   first  of   the  road's 


The  "  ^-ItUuitic '"  and  hnlay  Coaches 

horizontal  boiler  engines.  In  the  meanwhile  trackage  had  been  creeping 
westward  until  on  November  5,  1842,  the  line  reached  Cumberland. 
Then  followed  a  period  of  discouragement  and  delay,  but  at  last  the 
trail  of  iron  reached  its  objective,  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Ohio  River 
at  Wheeling,  twenty-five  years  after  the  first  tie  was  laid  in  Baltimore. 
Thus  firmly  established,  the  road  has  since  been  a  pioneer  in  the 
evolution  to  the  present  standards  of  railroad  practice,  this  advance 
being  shown  vividly  in  the  parade  of  engines  around  the  fair  ground 
track. 

Led  by  Tom  Thumb,  the  actors  in  the  drama  of  the  last  hundred 
years  of  railroading  moved  slowly  past  the  grand  stand.     In  the  van- 


lO 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE  ^^""^'•y' 


guard  were  creations  which  today  must  be  looked  upon  as  mechanical 
monstrosities  but  which,  when  they  were  built,  represented  perhaps 
an  even  greater  scientific  revolution  than  is  embodied  today  in  man's 
conquest  of  the  air.  Following  them  came  engines  of  the  Civil  War 
period;  after  these  came  types  of  locomotives  most  of  us  can  still 
remember  having  seen  in  actual  service.  In  the  rear  ambled  the  huge 
Mallets,  Pacifies,  Hudsons,  and  all  their  colossal  brethren,  representing 
the  last  word  in  motive  power  and  economy. 

Throughout  the  exhibit  there  was  evidence  of  the  highest  sort  of 
ingenuity  applied  to  the  development  of  devices  and  methods  to  solve 
what  were  once  unfamiliar  engineering  problems.  Steps  in  the  evolu- 
tion of  roadbeds  and.  rails  were  worthy  of  more  study  than  most  per- 
sons had  time  to  give  them.  Another  outstanding  example  of  early 
engineering  skill  was  shown  in  a  model  of  the  combination  railroad 
and   highway   bridge   across   the   Potomac   at   Harper's   Ferry.      That 


Winan's  Famous  "  Camelback  " 

bridge  had  a  railroad  junction  in  its  center.  For  years  it  was  con- 
sidered one  of  the  most  difficult  bits  of  railroad  location  in  the  world. 

The  railroad  reached  a  point  on  the  Potomac  opposite  Harper's 
Ferry  on  December  i,  1834.  To  cross  the  river  it  built  a  bridge  on 
timber  arches,  but  so  rapidly  did  the  size  and  weight  of  equipment 
increase  that  in  1851  the  railroad  started  to  reconstruct  the  bridge  in 
iron.  One  span  was  completed  about  a  year  later.  Probably  because 
lack  of  previous  experience  ofifered  no  satisfactory  answer  to  the  ques- 
tion whether  or  not  the  span  was  strong  enough  to  stand  the  moving 
load,  the  engineers  decided  to  test  the  bridge  for  deflection.  This 
test  was  described  in  the  "  History  and  Description  of  the  Baltimore 
and  Ohio  Rail  Road,"  published  in  1853. 

"  Three  first  class  tonnage  engines  with  three  tenders  were  first 
carefully  weighed  and  then  run  upon  the  bridge,  at  the  same  time  nearly 
covering   its    whole    length,    and    weighing    in    the    aggregate    273,550 


i9.'8  THE    LOCOMOTIVE  ii 


i  f  r^iswia?.^" 

»    ^H 

'UM'^           ^        '^^mZijaB  "^          '  "r 

1 1  i~r,:r5f».^  ^a|t*' 

— 3j^.^S^:^p,        '^'^ 

-'         -*-*"-» -'^ 

"  President   Washington  " 

pounds,  or  136.775  tons  net,  being  over  a  ton  for  each  foot  in  length 
of  the  bridge.  This  burden  was  tried  at  about  eight  miles  an  hour, 
and  the  deflections,  according  to  gauges  properly  set  and  reliable  in 
their  action,  were  at  center  post  i  3/8  of  an  inch,  and  at  the  first 
post  from  abutment  9/10  of  an  inch." 

Work  of  rebuilding  the  entire  bridge  proceeded  slowly  and  was 
greatly  hindered  by  the  Civil  War,  in  the  course  of  which  it  was 
damaged  several  times.  It  was  eventually  completed  in  1869  and 
served  until  1893  at  which  time  railroad  traffic  was  diverted  to  another 
bridge  and  the  old  one  assigned  to  highway  use. 

While  the  exhibit  served  to  commemorate  the  hundredth  anni- 
versary of  a  particular  railroad,  it  must  be  looked  upon  as  a  pageant 
of  the  developing  of  railroading  and  industry  in  all  parts  of  the  world. 
The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection  and  Insurance  Company,  whose 
birth  was  back  in  a  day  when  mechanical  power  was  in  its  infancy, 
congratulates  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad  both  because  it  has 
passed  the  century  mark  and  because  in  observing  its  birthday  cen- 
tennial it  contributed  greatly  to  the  knowledge  of  a  feature  of  history 
which  is  of  interest  to  both  ensfineer  and  lavman. 


Frozen  Water  Pipes  Cause  Accidents 

Reports  of  several  recent  explosions  of  domestic  hot  water  tanks 
serve  as  a  reminder  of  a  common  cause  of  accident  to  these  familiar 
kitchen  appurtenances.  In  Kensington,  Ga.,  a  man  and  his  wife  were 
fortunate  in  having  left  the  kitchen  a  few  seconds  before  the  gal- 
vanized tank  gave  way.  At  Memphis,  Tenn.,  a  mother  and  son  were 
badly  scalded  in  a  similar  accident.  In  both  cases  news  reports  at- 
tributed the  cause  to  frozen  water  pipes  that  cut  off  the  intake  of  cold 
water  and  thus  allowed  the  heaters  to  build  up  tremendous  pressure 
within  the  tanks. 


12  THE     LOCOMOTIVE  J^n^^ry, 


"  Splicing  Bone  "  on  a  Big  Corliss  Engine 

By  Inspector  C.  Burton 

OPERATIONS  at  a  large  paper  mill  came  to  an  abrupt  halt  at 
6  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  November  2,  when  the  engineer  dis- 
covered a  serious  crack  in  a  casting  of  the  large  Corliss  engine 
on  which  the  plant  depended  entirely  for  light  and  power.  The  Hart- 
ford's nearest  branch  office  was  notified  and  immediately  sent  a 
representative  to  survey  the  situation. 

The  inspector  found  the  big  engine,  of  22-inch  cylinder  and  36-inch 
stroke,  utterly  unsafe  because  of  the  crack  which  extended  over  ap- 
proximately the  lower  half  of  the  neck  of  the  flange  connecting  the 
guide  barrel  with  the  steam  cylinder.  Due  to  the  extreme  need  of 
getting  the  unit  back  into  operation  as  quickly  as  possible  it  was 
necessary  to  select  and  undertake  immediately  a  practical  method  of 
repair. 

The  metal  in  the  vicinity  of  the  crack  was  cleaned  thoroughly. 
Along  both  sides  of  the  fissure  were  placed  rows  of  3^"  studs,  two 
inches  apart  and  projecting  a  quarter  of  an  inch.  Electric  arc- welding 
was  then  applied  over  the  entire  length  of  the  crack  and  on  each  side 
suf^ciently  to  cover  the  studding. 

The  original  fastening  of  the  cylinder  to  the  guide  barrel  consisted 
of  sixteen  i^"  studs.  Nine  of  these,  covering  the  extent  of  the  crack, 
were  removed  and  replaced  by  long  studs  projecting  about  ten  inches 
beyond  the  flange.  Nuts  were  fitted  to  keep  tight  the  gasket  between 
the  two  castings. 

At  the  bottom  of  the  guide  barrel  casting  a  reinforcing  web  was 
incorporated,  one  inch  thick  and  four  inches  deep.  Two  bosses  which 
originally  held  drains  for  removing  oil  and  water  from  inside  the 
guide  barrel  were  tapped  and  fitted  with  i"  studs,  projecting  half 
an  inch.  Then  the  reinforcing  web  was  fitted  with  two  ^'^  studs 
which  were  allowed  to  project  half  an  inch  on  each  side.  These,  to- 
gether with  the  studs  in  drain  bosses,  formed  a  triangular  pattern 
around  the  nuts  of  the  two  lower  cylinder-studs.     (See  Sketch) 

These  two  long  studs  were  then  welded  to  their  respective  pro- 
jecting studs,  and  the  space  between  studs  and  web  filled  in  with 
welding  material.  As  the  next  step  the  seven  remaining  long  studs 
were  screwed  into  place  and  around  the  end  of  each  were  placed  three 
^''  studs,  projecting  half  an  inch  and  located  so  as  to  form  a  triangular 
pattern.     Nuts  were  screwed  onto  the  long  cylinder-studs  and  welded 


1928. 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


13 


Side  View  Showing  2  Long  Studs. 


Web^  V  0055 


'CYLirSOER 


@ 


^WEB 


Crack 


Guide  Barpel 


View  From  Below. 

to    the    surrounding    studs    in    the    guide    barrel.      The    shape    of    the 
finished  weld  resembled  the  triangular  foot  of  a  boiler  brace. 

When  the  engine  was  started  at  8  A.  M.,  November  4,  it  was  found 
to  be  as  rigid  as  before  the  accident,  and  so  far  as  strength  and  re- 
liability are  concerned  it  is  doubtful  whether  a  better  job  could  have 
been  done  even  by  replacement  with  a  new  casting. 


Recognition  of  Insurance  Inspectors 

Los  Angeles  (Cal.)  City  Council  has  passed  a  new  boiler  and 
elevator  ordinance  which  recognizes  licensed  safety  engineers  of  casu- 
alty companies  and  empowers  them  to  make  inspections  with  the  same 
legal  standing  as  those  made  by  the  city  board  of  mechanical  engineers. 


14 THE     LOCOMOTIVE  January, 

Forestalling  Potential  Boiler  Explosions 

THE  idea  uppermost  in  the  mind  of  a  boiler  inspector  is  to  pass 
by  no  seam,  joint,  tube,  plate,  or  brace  until  he  is  satisfied  it 
contains  no  defect  that  might  result  in  an  explosion.  His  concern 
is  as  much  for  the  interests  of  the  boiler  owner  as  for  those  of  the  in- 
surance company  which  employs  him.  In  spite  of  this  it  happens 
now  and  then  that  a  factory  manager  protests  against  what  may  appear 
to  him  to  be  an  over-zealous  investigation  of  parts  which,  to  a  layman, 
would  seem  to  be  in  good  condition.  A  case  of  this  kind  was  en- 
countered recently  by  a  Hartford  inspector. 

Sent  out  to  inspect  externally  two  horizontal  tubular  boilers,  this 
inspector  found  that  a  third  boiler  had  been  installed  and  connected 
to  the  two  boilers  already  insured.  The  additional  unit  was  of  the 
same  type,  having  been  used  in  one  of  the  company's  other  plants.  A 
heavy  coating  of  insulation  covered  the  top  of  this  third  boiler  and 
the  only  external  evidence  of  anything  suspicious  was  a  wisp  of  steam 
seeping  out  between  the  insulation  and  the  dome. 

Faulty  Welding  on  Dome  Flange 

The  inspector  advised  the  plant  manager  to  remove  some  of  the 
covering  for  a  thorough  investigation  of  the  leak.  At  first  the  man- 
ager demurred  on  the  ground  the  covering  had  been  applied  but  a 
short  while  before.  The  leak  was  undoubtedly  a  minor  one,  he  ex- 
plained, for  when  the  boiler  was  relocated  repairs  had  been  made  to 
the  dome  riveting.  Another  inspector  (not  a  Hartford  representative) 
had  pronounced  the  job  O.  K. 

By  employing  tact  the  inspector  eventually  secured  consent  for 
the  removal  of  the  lagging.  He  discovered  that  welding  had  been 
done  around  the  dome  flange  where  it  was  riveted  to  the  shell.  On 
one  side  of  the  dome  a  weld  extended  for  a  distance  of  sixteen  inches ; 
on  the  other  side  were  four  similar  welds,  ranging  in  length  from 
four  to  eight  inches. 

The  inspector  concluded  that  the  welding  had  been  done  in  an 
effort  to  repair  cracks  and  he  insisted  that  the  dome  be  removed. 
Again  the  manager  hesitated  and  again  the  inspector  carried  his  point. 
A  fully  developed  crack  was  found  along  the  inner  edge  of  the  inner 
row  of  dome  flange  rivet  holes.  This  fissure  extended  through  six 
consecutive  holes,  from  two  of  which  were  other  cracks  extending 
radially  inward.  A  condition  somewhat  similar  was  found  on  the  other 
side  of  the  dome.     Welding  was  only  skin-deep  and  while  it  checked 


'92S. THE    LOCOMOTIVE i^ 

most  of  the  leakage  it  added  little  to  the  strength  of  the  defective  part. 

In  his  report  the  inspector  said :  "  There  is  no  question  but  that 
cracks  would  have  increased  in  length  until  a  failure  occurred  which 
no  doubt  would  have  resulted  in  a  disastrous  explosion."  Needless 
to  say,  the  assured  were  very  thankful  the  dangerous  condition  was 
found. 

At  another  plant  an  equally  serious  defect  was  uncovered  by  a 
Hartford  inspector's  perseverance  and  alertness.  Refusing  to  be  satis- 
fied with .  an  internal  inspection  that  disclosed  no  apparent  serious 
condition,  this  inspector  made  it  a  point  to  be  present  when  the  boiler 
was  next  fired  up  and  on  this  second  trip  he  located  a  crack  that  almost 
certainly  would  have  caused  a  violent  explosion. 

The  first  investigation  satisfied  the  inspector  that  although  there 
was  some  slight  pitting,  beading  had  broken  away  from  several  tube 
ends,  and  there  was  exterior  corrosion  due  to  water  seeping  down 
through  the  brick  work  on  top,  these  things  in  themselves  were  not 
serious  defects.  However,  he  suspected  that  the  tube  ends  were  not 
strong  enough  for  service  and,  inasmuch  as  no  other  boiler  or  pump 
was  available  for  a  hydrostatic  test,  he  arranged  to  be  present  when 
the  boiler  was  next  put  under  steam  pressure. 

Crack  at  Longitudinal  Seam 

Two  weeks  later  this  inspector  was  on  hand  when  the  fire  was 
lighted,  and  when  the  gauge  showed  fifteen  pounds  pressure  he  climbed 
atop  the  boiler  to  see  whether  the  manhole  cover  was  tight.  A  thin 
feather  of  steam  coming  out  through  the  brick  work  near  the  horizontal 
seam  attracted  his  attention.  He  had  part  of  the  brickwork  removed  and 
there  he  found  a  longitudinal  crack  running  for  nine  inches  parallel 
with  the  caulking  edge  and  about  ^"  from  it.  He  ordered  the  fire 
drawn  immediately  and  advised  the  owner  against  any  effort  either 
to  operate  or  repair  the  boiler. 

While  using  a  sounding  hammer  on  a  Stirling  type  water  tube 
boiler  in  an  ice  plant  another  Hartford  inspector  located  thin  metal 
on  the  front  side  of  the  rear  drum.  He  cleaned  off  the  scale  and 
found  that  corrosion  had  thinned  the  metal  to  a  serious  degree.  The 
owners  were  notified,  but  at  first  the  inspector  could  not  convince 
them  the  condition  was  dangerous.  In  fact  they  vetoed  his  suggestion 
that  the  plate  be  drilled  to  determine  its  remaining  thickness. 

So  the  inspector  resorted  to  a  hammer  test  and  showed  the  assured 
that  in  places  the  sheet  could  be  dented.  After  that  he  was  given  all 
assistance  necessary  and  by  rneans  of  the  drill  test  it  was  found  that 


i6  THE    LOCOMOTIVE  J^n^^ry, 


a  strip  along  the  water  line  on  the  front  side  of  the  center  drum  was 
corroded  from  end  to  end  until  only  y^"  of  metal  remained. 

Inasmuch  as  the  plant  had  another  boiler  operating  under  similar 
conditions  the  inspector  investigated  it  for  the  same  defect.  His 
suspicion  was  confirmed. 

These  boilers  were  operating  at  125  pounds  pressure,  wdiich,  with 
the  shell  thickness  so  reduced,  left  but  a  small  factor  of  safety.  An 
explosion  would  have  been  the  inevitable  result  had  the  corrosion  not 
been  detected. 


Caught  in  the  Separator 

Old  Bill  Logic  says :  "  These  fellows  who  are  always  belly-achin' 
about  the  world  owing  'em  a  living  could  make  themselves  useful  by 
figgerin'  out  a  way  to  collect  that  and  other  bad  debts." 


Inertia  Complex,  Maybe 

"  Doctor,-"  said  he,  "  if  there's  anything  the  matter  with  me  don't 
frighten  me  half  to  death  by  giving  it  a  scientific  name.  Just  tell  me 
what  it  is  in  plain  English." 

"  Well,"  said  the  doctor,  "  to  be  frank  with  you,  your  trouble  is 
just  plain  laziness." 

"  Thank  you,  doctor,"  said  the  patient.  "  Now  give  me  a  scientific 
name  for  it,  so  I  can  tell  my  wife." 


Persons  who  suppose  magazine  editing  to  be  devoid  of  hazards 
associated  with  other  occupations  should  consider  the  plight  of  the 
editor  who  dropped  eleven  stories  into  a  wastebasket.  —  Selected  and 
revised. 


Keen  Work,  Boys 

Two  Negroes  were  telling  about  their  ability  to  see  and  hear. 
The  conversation  was  something  like  this : 

"  Does  you  see  dat  house  ober  dar  on  de  horizon?" 

"  I  sees  it." 

"Well,  can  you  see  dat  fly  walkin'  round  on  de  roof?" 

"  Can't  say  as  I  kin,  but  I  heahs  de  shingles  crack  when  he  steps  on 
'em." 


^02S. THE    LOCOMOTIVE 17 

Glycerine  Evaporator  Explosions 

f"!^  HERE  recently  came  to  our  attention  in  formation  ^bout  tlie  ex- 
I  plosion  of  a  glycerine  evaporator  at  a  plant  in  Kansas  City,  Kan- 
sas, which  resulted  in  the  death  of  one  man  and  serious  injury  to 
another,  and  which  further  resulted  in  a  property  loss  of  several  thou- 
sand dollars. 

The  vessel  that  exploded  was  72  inches  in  diameter  and  10  feet 
high,  the  lower  portion  of  which  contained  a  steam  chest  and  tubes. 
The  vessel  was  constructed  entirely  of  steel  except  for  the  bottom  head, 
which  was  made  of  cast  iron.  Crude  glycerine  would  be  charged  into 
the  vessel  and  steam  then  turned  into  the  steam  chest.  The  glycerine 
would  thus  be  evaporated  and  pass  off  through  a  14-inch  diameter 
header  to  a  glycerine  condenser.  As  there  were  two  of  these  evapor- 
ators supplying  the  same  condenser,  it  became  necessary  to  close  a  stop 
valve  in  the  glycerine  vapor  line  whenever  a  vessel  was  shut  down  for 
cleaning,  and  this  was  of  frequent  occurrence  as  the  residue  from  the 
crude  glycerine  merely  settled  to  the  bottom  of  the  vessel  from  whence 
it  would  be  taken  by  manual  labor. 

The  failure  was  in  the  lower  cast  iron  head  and  was  due  to  over- 
pressure. The  vessel  had  just  been  cleaned  and  recharged  and  the  steam 
turned  on  shortly  before  the  explosion,  but  the  operator  neglected  to 
open  the  stop  valve  in  the  glycerine  vapor  line.  There  was  no  safety 
valve  on  the  vessel  and  so  the  pressure  rapidly  built  up,  as  shown  by  the 
chart  of  a  recording  thermometer  on  the  evaporator.  The  pen  of  this 
instrument  had  gone  entirely  off  the  scale  before  the  explosion. 

A  safety  valve,  of  course,  is  essential  on  every  pressure  vessel  unless 
some  other  means  of  restricting  the  internal  pressure  is  provided.  It 
is  claimed  that  safety  valves  on  vessels  of  this  type  would  be  of  no 
avail  because  they  would  rapidly  become  stuck  fast  due  to  impurities 
carried  into  the  valve  by  the  more  or  less  impure  vapor.  Such  being 
the  case  it  would  seem  advisable  to  control  the  temperature  and  pres- 
sure in  the  vessel  by  controlling  the  temperature  of  the  steam.  The 
strength  of  the  vessel  could  be  readily  computed  and  the  maximum  al- 
lowable pressure  determined.  The  incoming  steam  could  then  be  con- 
trolled so  that  its  temperature  would  not  exceed  the  boiling  point  of 
glycerine  at  the  maximum  allowable  pressure  on  the  evaporator.  The 
objection  will  undoubtedly  be  raised  that  this  would  curtail  production, 
but  if  the  heating  surface  is  made  ample,  this  would  probably  compen- 
sate for  a  lower  pressure  steam.  Safety  should  never  be  sacrificed  for 
production. 


l8  THE     LOCOMOTIVE  January, 


T'aps  From  the  Old  Chieps  Hammer 

SOME  of  these  days  St.  Peter  will  get  hand-shakers'  cramp  while 
welcoming  a  squad  of  new  arrivals  whose  passports  have  been  vised 
by  a  neglected  steam  boiler,"  began  the  Old  Chief.  "  He'll  empanel 
a  Celestial  grand  jury  and  dig  out  some  facts  that  are  going  to  queer 
the  .chances  of  a  lot  of  fellows  who  otherwise  might  go  to  heaven  when 
they  die." 

The  lesser  lights  at  the  inspectors'  table  straightened  up  from 
their  writing  and  leaned  back  in  attitudes  suggesting  a  desire  to  hear 
the  rest  of  it.    The  Chief  pointed  to  a  sheaf  of  papers  in  front  of  him. 

"  Take  this  bunch  of  first  inspection  reports,  for  example.  We 
can't  issue  a  dollar's  worth  of  insurance  on  these  fellows.  Most  of 
these  applications  are  from  owners  of  seasonally-operated  mills,  and 
as  far  back  as  I  can  remember  the  steam  generator  in  many  of  these 
mills  has  been  the  one  thing  the  manager  cared  less  about  than  any 
other.  You  know  the  kind  I'm  thinking  about.  There  are  plenty  of 
them. 

"  Usually,  when  we  are  called  on  to  insure  one  of  these  boilers  the 
inspector  visits  it  during  the  ofif-season  when  the  plant  is  shut  down. 
After  you've  been  in  this  game  as  long  as  I  have  you  boys  will  find 
that  a  seasonally-operated  plant  in  the  off-season  is  something  that 
has  to  be  seen  to  be  appreciated.  With  few  exceptions  these  old 
vessels  are  left  in  exactly  the  condition  one  would  expect  to  find  them 
at  the  end  of  the  operating  season  —  except  now  and  then  the  boiler 
room  is  piled  so  full  of  riff-raff  that  the  inspector  has  to  go  outside 
for  a  peek  at  the  smoke  stack  before  he  knows  which  end  of  the  boiler 
room  to  look  into. 

"  I  have  a  keen  recollection  of  one  that  was  typical  of  this  class. 
After  we  had  drained  the  water  out  we  had  a  sweet  job  trying  to  locate 
the  man-hole  cover.  Apparently  the  owner  had  had  a  hunch  his  boiler 
was  getting  ready  to  ask  for  a  pension  and  had  tried  to  keep  the  old 
fellow  in  harness  a  little  longer  by  the  simple  expedient  of  covering 
the  plates  and  rear  head  with  a  good,  husky  reinforcement  of  concrete. 
What  we  discovered  when  we  dug  down  to  the  shell  accounts  for  some 
of  my  gray  hair." 

"  Badly  cracked,  I  suppose,"  ventured  the  junior  member  of  the 
group  of  inspectors. 

"  Listen,  son,"  said  the  Chief,  "  when  we  got  that  concrete  picked 
off  and  saw  what  was  underneath,  it  started  me  figuring  a  problem 
I  haven't  solved  yet.     For  the  life  of  me  I  can't  explain  why  that 


1928. THE    LOCOMOTIVE 19 

rust-eaten  shell  didn't  collapse  of  its  own  weight.  That  old  steamer 
was  about  set  to  cash  in  its  checks.  The  chances  are  it  would  have 
taken  a  couple  of  innocent  boiler  room  hands  along  for  company. 

"  Sooner  or  later  St.  Peter  is  going  to  subpoena  the  owners  of 
such  boilers  and  his  ultimatum  will  read  something  like  this :  '  Look 
here,  boys.  You've  been  getting  away  with  murder  long  enough.  Get 
that?  I  called  it  MURDER.  These  killed-by-uninspected-boiler  cases 
have  got  to  stop  or  there  won't  be  the  customary  harps  and  wings 
waiting  for  you  when  you  apply  for  entrance.'  " 

"You  think  that'll  bring  'em  to  time?"  the  junior  member  wanted 
to  know. 

"  Darned  if  I  know,"  grunted  the  Chief,  turning  again  to  his  work. 
"  Some  of  those  fellows  are  almost  hard-boiled  enough  to  tell  St.  Peter 
where  to  get  of?  at." 


A  New  Branch  at  Seattle 

JANUARY  I,  1928,  the  Company  opened  a  Seattle  Branch  Ofifice 
at  423  Dexter-Horton  Building,  to  operate  as  part  of  the  newly 

created  Pacific  Coast  Division  under  the  general  supervision  of  Mr. 
C.  B.  Paddock,  superintendent. 

Mr.  E.  G.  Watson,  resident  agent,  who  is  in  charge  of  the  new 
branch,  was  at  one  time  an  inspector  and  later  a  special  agent  at 
Syracuse,  N.  Y.  His  wide  experience  has  rendered  him  especially 
fitted  for  the  important  post  to  which  he  has  been  promoted. 

Hereafter  the  Company's  business  in  the  states  of  Washington  and 
Oregon,  and  in  Bonner,  Kootenai,  Shoshone,  Latah,  Clearwater,  and 
Nez  Perce  counties  of  Idaho,  will  be  handled  by  the  Seattle  Branch. 
The  change  does  not  afifect  the  status  of  the  firm,  Bates,  Lively  and 
Pearson,  which  will  continue  as  General  Agents  in  the  state  of  Oregon. 


Score  Another  for  the  Flivver 

Add  to  the  compendium  of  unusual  explosions  the  following  news 
story  from  Juliette,  Ga :  "A  large  rattlesnake  was  recently  exploded 
by  air  pressure  from  the  tire  of  a  Ford  car  in  the  swamps  of  a  creek 
near  here.  It  is  reported  that  while  the  construction  gang  of  a  power 
company  were  putting  in  posts  for  a  line  through  the  swamps  the 
rattlesnake  struck  the  tire  of  the  workmen's  car.  The  air  pressure 
was  transmitted  through  the  hollow  fangs  of  the  reptile,  blew  it  up  and 
exploded  it." 


20 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


January, 


A  QUARTERLY  MAGAZINE 

DEVOTED  TO  POWER  PLANT  PROTECTION 

George  Hargis  Prall,  Editor 

Copyright  1928  by  The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection  and  Insurance  Company 


HARTFORD,  CONN.,  January  i,  1928 

Single  Copies  can  be  obtained  free  by  calling  at  any  of  the  company's  agencies. 

Subscription  price  50  cents  per  year  when  mailed  from  this  ofifice. 

Recent  bound  volumes  one  dollar  each.     Earlier  ones  two  dollars. 

Reprinting  matter  from  this  paper  is  permitted  if  credited  to 

The  Locomotive  of  The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection  &  Insurance  Co. 


Reducing  Shut-down  Loss 

MOST  factory  owners  and  managers  understand  thoroughly  the 
seriousness  of  a  breakdown  involving  main  power  units.  In 
many  cases  failure  of  an  engine  necessitates  complete  stoppage 
of  factory  processes  and  at  such  times  it  is  to  the  interest  of  both  the 
plant  and  the  company  underwriting  the  use  and  occupancy  insurance 
to  get  the  machine  back  into  safe  operating  condition  as  quickly  as 
possible. 

The  orthodox  method  of  effecting  repairs,  and  the  one  which  must 
be  used  in  many  cases,  is  to  replace  the  part.  But  sometimes  this 
entails  laborious  dismantling  and  reassembling  as  well  as  expensive 
delay  while  a  new  part  is  being  cast,  machined,  and  shipped  by  the 
engine  builder.  Meanwhile,  production  schedules  are  knocked  galley 
west  and  each  blow  of  the  repair  gang's  hammers  sounds  to  the  plant 
manager  like  the  tinkle  of  a  cash  register  ringing  up  dwindling  profits. 
Insurance  inspectors  have  .been  known,  not  infrequently,  to  devise 
methods  of  repair  that  cut  several  days  from  the  time  it  would  take  to 
secure  and  fit  a  new  part.  They  know  from  experience  what  can  and 
cannot  be  done  in  bringing  a  broken  part  back  to  a  safe  condition,  and 
factory  managers  have  often  had  occasion  to  thank  them  for  suggestions 


1928.  THE    LOCOMOTIVE  21 

that  saved  thousand  of  dollars  of  shut-down  damage.  An  ingenious 
repair  of  this  kind  was  accomplished  recently  at  a  plant  insured  by  The 
Hartford  Company.  The  story  is  told  elsewhere  in  thfS  issue  in  an 
article  by  Inspector  C.  Burton.  It  should  be  of  interest  to  both  plant 
executives  and  engine  room  chiefs. 


Announcement 


IN  Septeml)er  1927  —  to  our  great  regret  but  with  our  best  wishes 
—  Mr.   Benjamin  C.  Cruickshanks,  the  editor  of  this  publication, 

left  us  to  accept  an  appointment  on  the  faculty  of  his  alma  mater, 
George  Washington  University.  Before  doing  so,  however,  he  had 
completed  preparation  of  the  October  issue,  so  that  number  made 
its  appearance  on  time. 

The  editorship  of  this  little  publication  of  ours  is  a  somewhat 
difficult  position  to  fill,  requiring  as  it  does  a  combination  of  en- 
gineering knowledge  and  literary  experience.  Those  of  our  own  stafif 
who  possessed  these  dual  qualifications  were  too  much  loaded  with 
regular  and  important  duties  to  undertake  the  preparation  of  the  Janu- 
ary issue,  so  that  number  has  had  to  wait  until  we  found  outside  our 
organization  one  who  would  meet  these  requirements.  I  am  very  glad 
now  to  announce  that  our  quest  has  been  successful  and  that  we  have 
secured  such  a  man  in  Mr.  George  H.  Prall,  who  joined  our  organiza- 
tion in  January  of  this  year  and  with  this  number  takes  editorial 
charge  of  The  Locomotive.  Mr.  Prall,  following  his  graduation 
from  the  mechanical  engineering  courses  of  Rutgers  College  in  19 19, 
was  employed  in  engineering  work  for  several  years.  Then  opportunity 
offered  to  try  his  hand  at  journalism  and  led  to  his  becoming  editor 
of  a  weekly  paper  at  Woodbridge,  N.  J.,  a  position  he  resigned  to  take 
up  his  present  work  with  us.  With  this  experience  we  feel  he  is 
especially  well  equipped  for  that  work. 

I  trust  that  the  readers  of  The  Locomotive  in  view  of  this  ex- 
planation will  excuse  the  late  appearance  of  this  January  number,  and 
that  they  will  find  in  it  evidence  of  our  purpose  to  make  even  more  in- 
teresting a*nd  valuable  this  publication  which  for  more  than  sixty  years 
The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection  and  Insurance  Company  has  pub- 
lished for  the  benefit  of  its  assured  and  power-users  generally. 

W.  R.  C.  CORSON, 

President. 


22 THE    LOCOMOTIVE  J^n^^'-y. 

Resuscitation  Method 

MECHANICAL  appliances  for  resuscitating  victims  of  suffoca- 
tion, asphyxiation,  or  electric  shock  are  useless,  of  course,  when 
such  an  accident  occurs  at  a  place  where  a  resuscitating  device 
is  not  available.    For  that  reason  safety  departments  of  some  industries 
have  undertaken  to  school  employees   in  a   method   that   requires   no 
apparatus. 

When,  from  any  one  of  the  causes  mentioned  above,  respiration  has 
been  checked,  the  victim's  chance  of  recovering  depends  a  great  deal 
on  how  quickly  he  is  placed  under  treatment.  The  obvious  advantage 
of  a  method  involving  no  apparatus  lies  in  the  fact  that  fellow  work- 
men who  have  learned  the  method  may  commence  treatment  im- 
mediately, 

A  description  of  the  Schafer  Prone  Pressure  Method,  reprinted 
from  Public  Service  News  of  PubHc  Service  Corporation  of  New 
Jersey,  appears  on  the  back  cover. 


Riding  the  Gauge  from  5  Pounds  to  1,400 

STEAM  pressures  that  only  twenty  years  ago  would  have  been 
regarded  by  engineers  as  dangerously  high,  now  are  accepted 
as  not  only  practical  but  desirable  in  power  production. 
Early  attempts  by  pioneers  to  apply  steam  to  useful  work  were 
handicapped  not  alone  by  the  mechanical  inadequacy  of  their  crude 
boilers  safely  to  withstand  pressures  greatly  above  atmosphere,  but  also 
by  a  skeptical  and  timid  public  which,  one  writer  tells  us,  besought  the 
British  Parliament  to  pass  a  law  limiting  pressure  to  five  or  six 
pounds.  While  boiler  accidents  still  occur,  particularly  where  equip- 
ment is  allowed  to  deteriorate  for  want  of  inspection,  public  confidence 
in  the  science  of  engineering  has  increased  in  the  last  hundred  years 
to  a  point  where  pressures  up  to  1,400  pounds  in  industrial  installations 
cause  no  great  alarm  and  the  traveling  public  raises  no  protest  in  the 
name  of  community  safety  at  the  announcement  of  a  new  locomotive 
which  will  use  a  pressure  of  400  pounds. 

When  engineers  determined  that  by  the  use  of  tb£se  higher  pres- 
sures more  work  could  be  accomplished  by  a  given  weight  of  engine, 
boiler  designers  met  their  challenge  by  producing  equipment  capable 
of  enduring  the  greater  stress  and  at  the  same  time  giving  greater 
fuel  economy  than  was  ever  before  dreamed  of.  And  in  the  early 
stages    of    this    evolution   the    name    of    one    Richard    Trevithick,    a 


1928. THE    LOCOMOTIVE 23 

Cornish  mine  forctnaii,  must  be  given  a  prominent  place,  for  it  was 
he  who  in  1802  evolved  the  Cornish  boiler,  regarded  by  some  as  the 
ancestor  of  the  present  type  of  boiler  construction,  ana  was  among 
the  first  to  apply  high  pressure  steam  alternately  to  both  piston  faces. 

The  historic  condensing  or  atmospheric  engine  had  the  dis- 
advantage of  necessitating  a  bulky  machine  for  even  a  small  amount  of 
useful  work.  It  used  steam  propulsion  on  only  one  face  of  its  piston  and 
€ven  then  the  pressure  was  ridiculously  low.  After  steam  had  forced  the 
piston  the  length  of  the  stroke  the  steam  was  condensed  and  atmos- 
pheric pressure  called  on  to  drive  the  piston  back.  Trevithick  built 
an  engine  in  which  steam  actuated  the  piston  through  both  strokes, 
thus  discarding  a  principle  limiting  piston  pressure  on  one  side  to 
14.7  pounds  and  giving  us  in  its  stead  the  fundamental  idea  on 
which  reciprocating  engines  still  are  built. 

Unfortunately,  Trevithick's  contribution  to  civilization  brought 
him  no  material  benefit ;  he  died  in  poverty.  But  modern  engineers 
owe  him  at  least  a  vote  of  thanks,  for  he  helped  prepare  a  field  from 
which  they  have  reaped  a  rich  harvest  of  efficiency  and  economy. 


Relation  of  the  Volume  of  Rust  to  Iron 

IN  connection  with  the  corrosion  of  cast  iron  boilers,  the  question  as 
to  the  relation  of  the  volume  of  rust  to  the  volume  of  the  iron  from 

which  the  rust  was  formed  has  often  arisen.  Interest  in  this  question 
was  aroused  also  because  of  trouble  experienced  by  an  electric  power 
and  light  company  in  the  breaking  of  porcelain  insulators  on  their 
transmission  lines.  These  insulators  were  supported  by  iron  pins  in 
wooden  cross  arms.  Some  of  the  transmission  lines  were  located  ad- 
jacent to  the  sea  shore  and  considerable  corrosion  of  the  iron  pins 
occurred  on  these  lines,  while  the  lines  further  inland  were  less  affected. 

It  was  thought  that  the  breaking  of  the  porcelain  insulators  might 
be  caused  by  the  pressure  exerted  as  a  result  of  an  increase  in  volume 
of  the  rusted  pins.  Definite  information  was  desired  as  to  the  actual 
increase  in  volume  of  rust  compared  with  clean  iron. 

The  chemical  reaction  taking  place  in  the  formation  of  rust  was 
considered  by  the  writer  by  comparing  the  specific  gravity  of  iron  with 
that  of  iron  oxide  (the  most  important  constituent  of  rust).  One 
cubic  centimeter  of  iron  weighing  7.4  grams  will  combine  with  oxygen 
to  form  10.6  grams  of  iron  oxide.  Now  one  cubic  centimeter  of  iron 
oxide  weighs  5.18  grams  or  conversely  i   gram  of  iron  oxide  has  a 


24 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


January, 


volume  of  1/5. i8,  or  0.193  cubic  centimeters.  Then  the  10.6  grams 
of  iron  oxide  made  by  i  cubic  centimeter  of  iron  will  occupy  a  volume 
of  10.6  X  0.193  or  2.04  cubic  centimeters.  Therefore,  the  ratio  of  the 
volume  of  iron  oxide  to  that  of  iron  is  as  2.04  to  i  or  approximately 
rust  occupies  twice  the  volume  of  the  iron  from  which  it  was  formed. 

Actually,  rust  will  occupy  more  than  the  volume  given  above,  as 
besides  the  oxygen,  there  will  be  some  water  of  crystallization  and 
hydroxide  present.  With  this  increase  in  volume  in  mind,  it  is  easy 
to  see  how  iron  rust  developing  in  restricted  spaces  such  as  in  the 
water  spaces  of  cast  iron  boilers  or  between  the  pins  and  insulators 
mentioned  above  can  cause  considerable  pressure  to  develop. 

This  increase  in  the  volume  of  iron  by  rusting  may  also  account  for 
some  failures  of  riveted  joints  where  rust  forming  between  the  rivet 
plates  may  exert  sufficient  pressure  under  certain  conditions  to  burst 
the  rivets  apart. 


Summary  of  Boiler  Explosions  for  1926. 


Month. 


Number  of 
Explosions. 


Persons 
Killed. 


Persons 
Injured. 


Total   of 

Killed     and 

Injured. 


January   . 

84 

9 

16 

25 

February 

88 

4 

12 

16 

March 

98 

9 

19 

28 

April  . 

88 

4 

13 

17 

]\Iay   . 

63 

4 

13 

17 

June  . 

53 

9 

31 

40 

July    .      . 

63 

10 

27 

37 

August    . 

54 

19 

32 

51 

September 

72 

11 

29 

40 

October    . 

88 

6 

14 

20 

November 

129 

20      • 

23 

43 

December 

149 

7 

35 

42 

Total   for   1926 

1029 

112 

264 

Z76 

1928. 


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28 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


January, 


o 

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Brooklyn,  N.Y. 
Wilmington,  Del. 
Pittsburgh,  Pa. 
Columbus,  Ind. 
Doucet,  Quebec 
Tullos,  La. 
Sea  ford,  Del. 
Providence,  R.  1. 
O'sage,  Wyom. 
Olean,  N.  Y. 
New  York,  N.  Y. 
Hartford,  Conn. 
New  York,  N.Y. 
Boston,  Mass. 

BUSINESS 

Residence 

Paper  Mill 

Real  Estate  Office 

School 

Railroad 

Oil  Pump  Station 

Saw  Mill 

Power  Plant 

Oil  Well 

Laboratory 

Miscellaneous 

Mercantile  Bldg. 

Studios  &  Apts. 

Lunch  Room 

4                           CONCERN 

Rayfield  Matalon 

Jessup  &  Moore  Paper  Co. 

R.  C.  Taylor,  Trustee 

School  Trustees 

Canadian  National  Rwys. 

Wooten  Oil  Co. 

John  Willoughby 

Narragansett  Elec.  Lt.  Co. 

Thos.  Donn 

Mountain   Clinic   Laboratory 

Brenshil  Realty  Corp'n 

J.  Lyons  &  Sons 

Sixty-seventh  St.  Studio  Bldg. 

Waldorf  System,  Inc. 

vO                                      04          f»    ro 

P8||!)l 

«o  — 

NATURE  OF  ACCIDENT 

Boiler  exploded 

Header  cracked 

Section  of  heating  boiler  cracked 

Sections   of   heating  boiler  cracked 

Boiler  exploded 

Boiler  exploded 

Boiler   exploded 

Two  tubes  ruptured 

Boiler  exploded 

Oxygen  tank  exploded 

Section   of   heating  boiler  cracked 

Section   of   heating  boiler   cracked 

Four  sections  heating  boiler  cracked 

Five  sections  heating  boiler  cracked 

ON                                                            O 

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Nadine,  Pa. 
Indianapolis,  Ind. 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 
New  York,  N.Y. 
St.  Louis,  A^o. 
So.  Hanson,  Mass. 
Bronx,  N.Y. 
New  York,  N.Y. 
Cleveland,  Ohio 
Dallas,  Tex. 
New  York,  N.  Y. 
Cincinnati,  Ohio 
Detroit,  Mich. 
Brooklyn,  N.Y. 

Pumping  Station 

I'actory 

Boarding  House 

Stores 

Apt.  House 

Apt.  House 

Hospital 

Theatre 

Apt.  House 

Theatre 

Office  Bldg. 

Rooming  House 

Creamery 

Factory 

Church 

H 

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Pennsylvania  Water  Co. 

Western    Newspaper    Union 

Mrs.  E.  B.  McMonigle 

George  H.  Earle,  Jr. 

Great  Northern  Apts.  Corp'n 

West  End  Realty  Const.  Co. 

Plymouth  County  Hospital 

Bronx  Plaza  Theatre  Corp'n 

Hooper  Realty  Corp. 

Savoy  Realty  Co.                          • 

Wilson  Syndicate  Trust 

Two  Ninety  Six  W.  137th  St. 

The  Merchants  Creamery  Co. 

Reo  Motor  Car  Co. 

Reformed  Protest.  Dutch  Church 

H 

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14 
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Tube  failed 

Matrix   table   cracked 

Hot  water  supply  heater  exploded 

Section   of   heating  boiler  cracked 

Section   of   heating  boiler  cracked 

Section   of   heating  boiler  cracked 

Pipe  flange  cracked 

Five   sections   heating  boiler   cracked 

Three  sections  heating  boiler  cracked 

Section  of   heating  boiler  cracked 

Twelve  headers  cracked 

Hot   water    heating   boiler   exploded 

Blow-off  pipe  failed 

Section   of   heating  boiler  cracked 

Tliree  sections  heating  boiler  cracked 

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1928. 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


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The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection  and  Insurance  Company 


56  Prospect  Street, 
HARTFORD,  CONN. 


ABSTRACT  OF  STATEMENT,  DECEMBER  31,   1927 

Capital  Stock,         .         .         $2,500,000.00 

ASSETS 

Cash  in  offices  and  banks $522,484.21 

Real    Estate 283,421.23 

Mortgage   and   collateral    loans '  1,366,072.48 

Bonds  and  Stocks 15,023,458.3; 

Premiums  in  course  of  collection 1,363.003.55 

Interest   Accrued 152,728.70 

Other    Assets 54,678.59 

Total    Assets $18,865,847.10 

LIABILITIES 
Reserve   for  unearned  premiums      ........     $7,710,752.66 

Reserve  for  losses  .........  346,047.69 

Reserve  for  taxes  and  other  contingencies       .....       i,593>077-45 

Capital    Stock $2,500,000.00 

Surplus   over  all   liabilities $6,715,969.30 


Surplus  to  Policyholders, 


.    $9,215,969.30 


Total    Liabilities $18,865,847.10 


CHARLES  S.  BLAKE,  Chairman  Board  of  Directors 
WM.  R.  C.  CORSON,   President  and  Treasurer 


BOARD    OF   DIRECTORS 


LUCIUS  F.  ROBINSON,  Attorney,  Hart- 
ford,   Conn. 

JOHN  O.  ENDERS,  Chairman  Board  of 
Directors,  Hartford  National  Bank  & 
Trust    Co.,    Hartford,    Conn. 

MORGAN  B.  BRAIN.XRD,  President 
.^tna  Life  Insurance  Co.,  Hartford, 
Conn. 

CHARLES  P.  COOLEY,  Chairman  Board 
of  Trustees,  Society  for  Savings,  Hart- 
ford,  Conn. 

HORACE  B.  CHENEY,  Cheney  Brothers, 
Silk  INIanufacturers,  South  Manchester, 
Conn. 

D.  NEWTON  BARNEY,  Vice-President 
The  Hartford  Electric  Light  Co.,  Hart- 
ford,   Conn. 

DR.  GEORGE  C.  F.  WILLIAMS,  Presi- 
dent The  Capewell  Horse  Nail  Co., 
Hartford,     Conn. 

JOSEPH  R.  ENSIGN,  President  The 
Ensign-Bickford    Co.,    Simsbury,    Conn. 


EDWARD  MILLIGAN,  President  Phoenix 
Insurance    Co.,    Hartford",    Conn. 

CHARLES  S.  BLAKE,  Chairman  Board  of 
Directors,  The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler 
Inspection  and  Insurance  Co.,  Hart- 
ford,   Conn. 

WM.  R.  C.  CORSON,  President  The  Hart- 
ford Steam  Boiler  Inspection  and  In- 
surance   Co.,    Hartford,    Conn. 

S.VMUEL  M.  STONE,  President  The  Colt's 
Patent  Fire  Arms  Mfg.  Co.,  Hartford, 
Conn. 

SAMUEL  FERGUSON,  President  The 
Hartford  Electric  Light  Co.,  Hartford, 
Conn. 

HON.  JOHN  H.  TRUMBULL,  President 
The  Trumbull  Electric  Mfg.  Co.,  Plain- 
ville.    Conn. 

CURTISS  C.  GARDINER,  Vice-President 
The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection 
and  Insurance  Company,  80  Maiden 
Lane,  New  York,  N.  Y. 


Incorporated  1866 


Charter  Perpetual 


Department 

ATLANTA,    Ga 

1103-1106   Atlanta   Trust    Bldg 

BALTIMORE,  Md.,   . 
13-14-15  Abell  Bldg. 

BOSTON,    Mass., 
4  Liberty   Sq.,   Cor.  Water   St 

BRIDGEPORT,  Conn.. 
404-405  City  Savings  Bank  Bldg 

CHICAGO,    111., 
209  West  Jackson  B'l'v'd. 

CINCINNATI,    Ohio, 
First   National   Bank  Bldg. 

CLEVELAND,    Ohio, 
Leader    Bldg. 

DENVER,    Colo., 
916-918  Gas  &  Electric  Bldg 

HARTFORD,   Conn., 
56    Prospect    St. 

NEW  ORLEANS,  La.,       . 
Hibernia   Bank   Bldg. 

NEW  YORK,  N.  Y., 
80  Maiden  Lane 

PHILADELPHIA,   Pa.,     . 
429  Walnut  St. 

PITTSBURGH,    Pa., 
1807-8-9-10  Arrott  Bldg. 

ST.    LOUIS,    Mo.,     . 
610-618  Security  Bldg. 

TORONTO,   Canada, 
Federal  Bldg.   . 


Representatives 

W.   M.  Francis,   Manager. 

C.  R.  Summers,  Chief  Inspector. 

Lawford  &  McKiM,  General  Agents. 
James  G.  Reid,  Chief  Inspector. 

Ward  I.  Cornell,  Manager. 

W.  A.  Bayliss,  Chief  Inspector. 

W.  G.  LiNEBURGH  &  Son,  General  Agents 
A.  E.  Bonnet,  Chief  Inspector. 

P.  M.  Murray,  Manager. 

J.  P.  Morrison,  Chief  Inspector. 

W.  E.  Gleason,  Manager. 

W.  E.  Glennon,  Chief  Inspector. 

A.  Paul  Graham,  Manager. 
L.  T.  Gregg,  Chief  Inspector. 

J.  H.  Chestnutt, 

Manager   and   Chief    Inspector. 

F.   H.    Kenyon,    General    Agent. 
A.    E.   Bonnet,   Chief   Inspector. 

R.  T.  Burwell,  Mgr.  and  Chief  Inspector. 
E.   Unsworth,   Ass't  Chief   Inspector. 

C.   C.  Gardiner,  Vice   President. 
E.  Mason   Parry,  Chief  Inspector. 

A.  S.  WicKHAM,  Manager. 
S.  B.  Adams,  Chief  Inspector. 

Geo.  S.  Reynolds.  Manager. 
J.  A.  Snyder,  Chief  Inspector. 

Chas.  D.  Ashcroft,  Manager. 
Eugene  Webb,   Chief   Inspector. 

H.  N.  Roberts,  President  The  Boiler  In- 
spection and  Insurance  Company  of 
Canada. 


PACIFIC  COAST  DIVISION 

C.  B.  Paddock,  Superintendent 

114  Sansome  St.,  San  Francisco,  Cal. 


PORTLAND,   Ore.,    . 
306  Yeon  Bldg., 

SEATTLE,    Wash.,    . 
423  Dexter-Horton  Bldg. 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  Cal., 

114    Sansome    St. 


Bates,  Lively  &  Pearson,  General  Agents 

E.  G.  Watson,  Resident  Agent. 

H.  R.  Mann  &  Co.,  General  Agents 
L.  J.  Reed,  Chief  Inspector. 


0 


Rules  foi^''^l^usQ|tatio]^  by 

Prone  Pre^yre  Method 

' '■■■^•# 

Immediately  begin   actual   resuscita-  sary,    four   hours   or   longer)    without 

tion.       Every     moment     of     delay     is  interruption,  until  natural  breathing  is 

serious.      Proceed    as    follows:  restored,    or    until    rigor    mortis    has 

.         ,  set    in.      If    natural    breathing    stops 

Lay  the  patient  face  down,  one  arm  ^^^^^  ^^j       restored,  use  resuscitation 

directly    extended,    the   other    bent    at  ^^^^^ 

elbow  and  with  face  to  one  side  rest-  == 

ing  on  the  forearm,  so  that  nose  and  Give  the  patient  fresh  air,  but  keep 

mouth  are  free  for  breathing.  him    warm.      When    patient    revives, 

,^      .            , ...         ,          ^.     ^       •.,  keep  him  Iving  down,  on  his  back.   Do 

Kneel,    straddling   the    patient   with  ^^^  ^^-^^  j-^  ^^^^  ^^  ^^^^     j^  ^^^^^^ 

knees  just  below  the  patients  hip  j^^^  ^^^^  arrived,  give  patient  one  tea- 
bones,  place  the  palms  of  your  hands  spoonful  of  aromatic  spirits  of  am- 
on  the  patient  with  fingers  on  the  ow-  ^^^^^-^^  -^^  ^  ^^^^^  gl^ss  of  ^^^^^^  if  he 
est  ribs,  the  little  fingers  on  the  low-  ^^,^  swallow.  Do  not  give  any  liquid 
est  ribs,  the  thumb  alongside  of  your  stimulant  until  the  patient  is  fully 
fingers.  conscious. 

While     counting     one,     two,     three,       q^^^.^    q,^    resuscitation    at    closest 

four  (about  one  second  intervals)  and  possible  point  to  the  accident.    Do  not 

with   arms   held   straight,    swing    tor-  ^^^^    patient    until    he    is    breathing 

ward    slowly    so    that    the    weight    ot  normally  without   assistance.    Do  not 

your  body  is  gradually,  but  not  vio-  stop  or  interrupt  resuscitation  for  an 

lently  brought   to   bear   upon  the   pa-  j^stant. 
tient.   Thi.3  act  should  take  from  three 
to  four  seconds.  IN  CASE  OF  DROWNING 

On  the  count  of  four  remove  your       Lay    the    patient    face    down,    head 

hands  quickly  from  patient's  body,  so   lower   than    feet    if    possible,    straddle 

releasing  the  pressure.     Swing  back-  the  body,   facing   patient's  head,  with 

ward,  sit  up  straight,  count  i,  2,  3,  4-  your  feet  opposite  patient's  hips,  lean 

.    .    ,  forward  and  clasping  your  hands  un- 

Replace  hands  on  victims  body  as  ^^j.  patient's  belly,  straighten  up,  lift- 
before  and  counting  as  before,  swing  jj^g  middle  of  patient's  body  several 
forward  and  backward  so  as  to  estab-  inches  from  the  ground,  permitting 
lish  respiration.  head  to  hang   down;   this   will   cause 

Repeat  deliberately  twelve  to  fif-  the  water  to  run  from  patient's  nose 
teen  times  a  minute  the  swinging  for-  and  mouth.  Then  immediately  begin 
ward  and  backward— a  complete  res-  resuscitation,  and  continue  as  in  other 
piration  in  four  or  five  seconds — un-   cases. 

til    patient   breathes,    or    rigor_  mortis  INHALATION  OF  GAS  OR 

(stiffening  of  the  body)   sets  in.  SMOKE 

As  soon  as  this  artificial  respiration  Resuscitation  must  be  done  in  at- 
has  been  started,  and  while  it  is  being  ^^^g  ^ere  free  from  gas,  smoke,  etc. 
continued    an  assistant   should   loosen  q  ^^  jf  necessary  break  open,  all 

tight  clothing  about  the  patient  s  neck,  ^^^^^  ^^^^  windows ;  or  drag  patient 
chest  or  waist  open  patients  mouth,  ^^g  shortest  possible  distance  into 
removing  any  foreign  body  that  may  f^.^^^  air;  then  immediately  begin  re- 
be  in  It  (tobacco,  false  teeth,  etc.),  suscitation,  and  continue  as  before. 
Place  ammonia  near  the  nose,  deter- 
mining safe  distance  by  first  trying  If  alone  with  victim,  do  not  neglect 
how  near  it  may  be  held  to  your  own.  immediate  and  continued  resuscitation 
Hit  patient's  shoe  heels  about  twenty  in  order  to  call  a  doctor,  or  for  any 
times  with  a  stick  or  something  simi-  other  reason.  Start  at  once;  the  first 
lar  and  repeat  every  five  minutes  un-  few  minutes  are  valuable.  If  other 
til  breathing   commences.  persons  are  present,  send  one  of  them 

Continue    resuscitation     (if    neces-    for  a  doctor. 


^ 


Vol.  XXXVII     No.  2 


April    1928 


A  QUARTERLY  MAGAZINE 
DEVOTED  TO  POWER  PLANT  PROTECTION 


Published  continuously  since  1867 

by  The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler 

Inspection  and  Insurance 

Company 


Please  show  to  your  Engineer 


34  THE    LOCOMOTIVE  April, 

Old  Engine  Being  Dismantled  After  70  Years 
of  Service  in  Printing  Plant 

RETIRED  three  years  ago  after  seventy  years  of  active  serA^ce. 
an  engine  which  is  claimed  to  be  the  oldest  variable  cut-off 
machine  in  the  country,  outside  of  those  using  the  Corliss  type 
valve  movement,  is  being  dismantled  at  the  printing  plant  of  The 
Case,  Lockwood  and  Brainard  Co.  at  Hartford,  Conn.  During  its 
long  career  the  old  prime  mover  was  charged  with  only  two  weeks  of 
breakdown  idleness.  This  is  remarkable,  in  view  of  the  frequency 
with  which  engine  accidents  occur,  as  shown  by  The  Hartford  Com- 
pany's records. 

In  1925  the  printers  decided  to  build  a  new  plant.  It  was  their 
intention  to  supplant  the  engine  and  its  system  of  shafts  and  pulleys 
with  individual  electric  drive,  using  current  purchased  from  an  electric 
company.  As  if  the  thought  of  such  reward  for  its  long,  faithful 
service  was  more  than  it  could  bear,  the  old  machine  developed  a  crack 
in  its  steam  chest.  Repairs  would  have  entailed  considerable  expense, 
so  during  the  last  few  months  in  their  old  plant  the  printers  used  a 
motor  to  drive  the  main  shafting. 

Built  in  iSjj  by  Hartford  Concern 

The  engine  was  designed  and  built  in  1855  at  the  foundry  and 
machine  shop  of  Woodruff  &  Beach  at  Hartford.  It  had  a  cylinder 
diameter  of  18  inches,  a  stroke  of  36  inches,  and  ran  at  the  rate  of  55 
revolutions  a  minute.  For  a  boiler  pressure  of  75  pounds  it  was  rated 
at  80  horsepower. 

The  accompanying  reproduction  of  a  photograph  taken  in  1905 
shows  many  of  the  details  of  construction.  Of  especial  interest  are 
the  poppet  valves  with  quick  closing  device  and  variable  cut-off.  A 
rotating  shaft  capable  also  of  lengthwise  motion  —  shown  in  the  photo- 
graph as  running  from  the  governor  post  to  the  valve  gear  boxes  — 
carried  a  device  to  control  the  time  at  which  cams  tripped  the  steam 
valves.  This  shaft  was  worked  back  and  forth  by  the  flyball  governor 
and  so  sensitive  was  the  arrangement  that  the'  engineer,  by  a  slight 
pressure  of  the  hand  on  the  above  mentioned  shaft,  could  change  the 
speed  of  the  engine. 

As  stated  above,  the  engine  was  designed  to  develop  80  horsepower. 
The  assumption  that  actuall}-  it  was  turning  anywhere  near  that  much 
into  useful  work  was  challenged  on  several  occasions  by  persons  who 
sought  to  have  the  owners  discard  the  engine,  belts  and  shafting  and 
install  electric  motors.     Tests  to  determine  the  total  power   required 


ig2^. 


THE    LOCO  M  O  T  I  V  E 


35 


TJicy  Served   Together  for  j/    Years 


to  drive  the  printing  machinery  seemed  to  show  that  28  horsepower  was 
sufficient.  The  figure  was  obtained  by  indicating  the  engine  while 
running  under  load  and  without  load,  and  assuming  the  difiference  to 
be  the  power  delivered  to  the  machinery.  For  some  reason  or  other 
this  method  did  not  give  accurate  results.  When  the  old  engine  broke 
down  and  a  40-horsepower  motor  undertook  to  do  its  work  they  had  to 
throw  some  of  the  equipment  off  the  line  to  keep  from  stalling  the 
motor. 

In  spite  of  an  apparently  inefficient  arrangement  of  shafts  and 
belting  —  made  necessary  because  the  engine  room  stood  at  an  angle 
to  the  rest  of  the  plant  —  the  transmission  loss  seemed  moderate. 
Failure  of  the  40-horsepower  motor  to  handle  what  was  considered 
a  light  load  for  the  engine  is  significant  in  view  of  the  fact  that  at  one 
time  the  engine  ran  a  machine  for  making  rivets  from  cold  steel,  and 
a  large  sausage  grinder,  in  addition  to  the  full  equipment  of  the  print 
shop.  Up  until  the  time  of  its  retirement,  in  fact,  it  supplied  a  con- 
siderable amount  of  power  to  other  tenants. 

Although  the  owners  credit  the  builders  with  having  turned  out  a 


36  THE    LOCOMOTIVE  April, 

remarkably  durable  engine,  they  attribute  the  machine's  extraordinary 
longevity  and  freedom  from  breakdowns  to  the  care  given  it  by  the 
late  Charles  H.  Lynch,  who  was  engineer  from  1865  until  ill  health 
forced  his  retirement  in  1922.  His  carefulness  is  attested  by  the  fact 
that  the  original  crank  pin  brasses  lasted  forty-one  years,  and  were  in 
good  condition  when  replaced.  Cross-head  slides,  in  use  seventy 
years,  showed  very  little  wear. 

Lynch,  a  Connecticut  Yankee,  enlisted  in  Company  C,  i8th  Con- 
necticut Volunteers,  at  the  age  of  sixteen.  After  serving  for  three 
years  in  the  Civil  War  he  was  given  an  honorable  discharge  and  re- 
turned to  his  home  in  Norwich.  Seeking  work,  he  went  to  Hartford, 
where  he  was  hired,  in  a  temporary  capacity  as  a  helper  in  The  Case, 
Lockwood  &  Brainard  Co.  engine  room.  He  had  been  there  only  a 
few  weeks  when  the  regular  engineer  left  the  job.  The  young  man 
was  given  the  position  on  trial  and  from  that  day  until  his  death  in 
1924  Lynch  lived  but  for  his  engine.  As  a  member  of  the  firm  ex- 
pressed it,  "  He  loved  every  revolution  of  its  old  fiy-wheel." 

Engineer  Kept  Close  Eye  on  Wear 

Lynch  kept  a  log  book  or  diary  of  important  events  in  the  engine 
and  boiler  rooms.  Many  of  the  entries  are  interesting  because  of 
Lynch's  pointed  sense  of  humor  while  others,  dealing  with  devices 
and  practices  long  since  superseded,  may  be  recognized  by  old-timers 
as  typical  of  their  own  experiences  in  the  old  days. 

It  appears  that  Lynch  had  a  very  reasonable  theory  that  a  worn 
part  should  be  replaced  before  it  broke.  As  a  consequence  his  diary 
shows  that  cross-head  gibs  were  renewed  at  periods  of  from  6  to  12 
years.  New  gibs  were  fitted  six  times  during  his  regime.  The 
cylinder  was  rebored  twice  and  on  both  occasions  new  pistons  and 
rings  were  fitted.  Two  sets  of  governor  arms  and  valve  rods  were 
worn  out  and,  in  1897,  replacements  were  secured  for  exhaust  chest, 
valves  and  cams. 

After  fifty  years  the  cylinder  casting  cracked  and  was  replaced. 
While  the  job  was  being  done  the  owners  had  the  machinists  replace 
valves,  valve  rods,  piston,  piston  rod,  rebabbit  pillow  block  bearings, 
shrink  a  new  crank  arm  on  the  shaft,  and  smooth  up  the  crank  and 
main  shaft  bearings.    This  work  cost  $1,574.79,  according  to  the  diary. 

Lynch  had  no  hesitancy  in  writing  frank  estimates  of  things  and 
people.     Under   date   of    November    18,    1874,   is   this   entry:     "Mr. 

N of  N.  B.  puts  in  a  new  patent  (feed  water)  pump  to  try  to 

beat  the  K • — .    The  N pump  is  no  good."     A  month  later 

he  wrote:     "N pump  taken  out.     Mr.  N and  his  pump 


1928.  TME    LOCOMOTIVE  37 


a  nuisance."  On  the  other  hand,  when  anything  pleased  him  he  was 
quick  to  say  so.     Under  an  entry  in  1875  the  diary  says :     "  A  new 

improved  valve  motion  put  on  pump  by  the  K Pump  Co.     No 

charge.    Thanks." 

Only  the  real  old-timers  can  hark  back  to  the  days  when  it  was  not 
common  practice  to  lubricate  the  piston  by  injecting  oil  through  the 
steam  line.     Lynch  seemed  to  regard  the  idea  as  something  new  when 

in  1877  he  wrote:     "The  H Lubricator  put  on  engine.     Oils 

piston  through  steam  line."  For  years,  in  fact  until  steam  heat  was 
installed,  Lynch  preferred  to  kindle  the  furnace  each  morning  rather 
than  bank  the  fire  over  night.  His  diary  mentions  a  fire  in  the  pile  of 
kindling  wood,  ignited  by  a  spark  from  the  furnace.  "  Have  been 
using  hemlock  and  spruce,"  wrote  Lynch.  "  Xo  more.  It  throws  too 
many  sparks."  Hard  coal  must  have  been  the  fuel  in  those  days  for, 
at  a  much  later  date,  the  diary  tells  of  substituting  bituminous  for 
anthracite  because  a  strike  at  the  mines  made  it  impossible  to  obtain 
the  latter. 

Tried  Using  Commercial  Steam 

In  1 88 1  the  company  decided  to  find  out  whether  steam  could  be 
purchased  from  an  outside  source  more  cheaply  than  it  could  be  pro- 
duced in  its  own  boilers.  The  diary  records  that  on  June  10,  a  steam 
heating  company  ran  a  steam  main  into  the  building  and  commenced 
supplying  the  engine.     In  reading  what  Lynch  wrote  one  gathers  the 

idea  that  the  old  timer  did  not  approve  of  this  innovation.     "  B 

L •  now  running  the  engine,  a  man  who  thinks  he  knows  all  about 

steam,"  he  said.  Five  days  later  this  appeared :  "  Too  much  water  in 
city  steam,  not  lit  to  run  engines.  Cylinder  working  loose  on  bed. 
Obliged  to  put  in  a  new  set  of  dowels."  For  several  months  Lynch 
maintained  a  discreet  silence  on  the  subject,  but  on  April  11  of  the 
next  year  he  showed  he  still  retained  his  poor  opinion  of  '  bought ' 
steam  by  writing:  "Running  engine  by  the  city  (water)  steam. 
Below  speed  every  day.  A  leak  in  steam  pipe  filled  pit  and  destroyed 
belt." 

How  gratified  must  Lynch  have  been  when,  in  the  following  laconic 
announcement  on  October  2,  he  was  privileged  to  record  the  return 
to  steam  generated  by  his  own  boilers  and  under  his  own  supervision. 
He  dismissed  the  situation  thus :  "  Shut  oil  the  city  steam.  Boiler 
started  up  this  morning.  Engine  running  O.  K.  Steam  heating  com- 
pany a  big  failure.    A  big  loss  to  the  C.  L.  &  B.  Co.    B L 

also  another  big  failure." 

In  1892  Lynch  came  upon  a  period  of  poor  health.     He  obtained 


38 THE    LOCOMOTIVE Apdi, 

a  leave  of  absence  for  six  weeks  and,  with  Mrs.  Lynch,  went  to  Kansas 
and  Colorado.  On  the  eve  of  departure  he  wrote :  "  Andrew  D.  Scott 
in  charge  of  engine  and  boilers."  He  returned  to  work  after  "  having 
the  best  vacation  of  my  life  and  in  good  health."  The  generous  side 
of  the  old  timer's  nature  was  displayed  in  the  following  brief  tribute 
to  Scott :  "  Boilers  and  engine  in  good  condition.  Scott  was  all 
right." 

In  1895,  a  twenty-nine  year  old  boiler  was  condemned  by  Frank  S. 
Allen,  whom  many  of  our  readers  will  recall  as  chief  inspector  of  The 
Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection  and  Insurance  Company.  It  was 
replaced  by  a  new  lOO-horsepower  boiler  made  by  H.  B.  Beach  &  Son, 
successor  to  the  old  Woodruff  &  Beach  Company.  The  remarkable 
feature  of  the  installation,  as  recorded  by  Lynch,  was  that  the  maker's 
bill  was  only  $1,000  for  the  boiler  and  $195.04  for  the  fittings. 

The  methodical  old  fellow,  to  whom  the  proper  care  of  equipment 
amounted  to  an  obsession,  must  have  been  perturbed  when  he  arrived 
at  work  one  morning  "  to  find  the  blow-off  valve  partly  open  and  no 
water  in  the  boiler."  He  drew  the  fire  and  sent  for  an  inspector  of 
The  Hartford  Company.  What  a  relief  it  was  when  "  Inspector  Cum- 
mings  found  the  boiler  O.  K." 

Amusing  Entries  in  Diary 

Lynch  did  not  confine  his  diary  comments  to  affairs  of  his  depart- 
ment. He  felt  free  to  express  an  opinion  on  the  worth  or  worthlessness 
of  anything  used  in  the  plant.  When  "  the  old  Jumbo  press  was  taken 
out  of  Mac's  room  "  perhaps  "  Mac  "  himself  requested  the  old  man 
to  herald  its  departure  with  this  blighting  epitaph :  "  Never  was  any 
good." 

Man  or  machine,  if  either  was  "  no  good  "  Lynch  minced  no  words 
in  saying  so  —  in  his  diary.  In  speaking  of  a  gang  of  masons  who 
were  pointing  up  the  building  he  made  this  comment :     "  Boss  Mason 

R no  good.     Mr.  Brainard  soon  got  sick  of  that  man's  way  of 

working." 

Cause  and  effect  were  chronicled  in  reverse  order  in  this  thumb- 
nail sketch  of  a  man's  downfall:   "  George  L ,  machinist,  finished 

work  for  this  company.  Too  much  rum."  Another  rather  upside- 
down  arrangement  in  so  far  as  news  value  is  concerned  is  evident  in 
the  following:  "Great  toe  on  my  right  foot  badly  jammed.  Had  to 
call  a  doctor.  At  10:30  this  morning  a  16-year  old  boy  named  Willie 
Jahne  working  over  the  engine  room  got  caught  on  the  main  shaft. 
Was  whirled  around  the  shaft  to  his  death.  Knocked  the  sash  and 
glass  all  out.  making  a  hole  in  the  ceiling     . 


'_9^ THE    LOCOMOTIVE 39 

More  than  likely  no  one  gave  much  tlioiight  to  the  danger  of  using 
boiler  pressure  steam  in  office  radiators  until  in  the  Spring  of  1907  a 
radiator  exploded  and  scattered  pieces  in  all  directions.  **  No  one  was 
hurt,"  said  Lynch.  A  later  entry  indicates  that  before  steam  was 
turned  on  in  the  Fall  "  three  new  reducing  valves  and  low  pressure 
steam  gauges  were  installed  to  control  the  pressure  on  the  buildings." 

The  greatest  of  print-shop  tragedies  is  told  of  in  this  brief  way: 
"  The  railroad  time  table  form  all  ready  for  the  press,  was  pied  or 
destroyed  by  some  malicious  cuss.  No  clue."  It  takes  a  printer  to 
appreciate  the  extent  of  such  a  catastrophy.  Preparation  of  the  form 
may  have  entailed  a  week  or  two  of  work  by  several  compositors, 
make-up  men,  and  proof  readers.  "  Pieing "  it  meant  knocking  it 
apart  in  such  a  way  that  the  work  had  to  be  done  over  again  from 
start  to  finish.  No  doubt  Lynch  was  deeply  impressed  by  the  loud 
and  expressive  language  that  must  have  reverberated  through  the 
composing  room  when  the  dastardly  work  of  the  "  malicious  cuss  " 
was  discovered. 

The  last  entry  in  Lynch's  diary  was  made  on  April  lo,  1919,  but 
he  served  as  engineer  for  several  years  after  that  and  the  engine  con- 
tinued in  use  for  some  time  after  his  death.  The  things  to  which  Lynch 
devoted  his  life's  work  now  are  giving  way  to  the  crow  bars  and  wedges 
of  a  wrecking  company.  The  old  engine,  insured  for  many  years  by 
The  Hartford  Company,  is  destined  to  end  its  career  in  some  junk 
man's  yard,  while  the  boilers  —  comparatively  youthful  —  have  been 
sold  for  use  elsewhere.  Electrical  insurance  now  covers  the  equip- 
ment by  which  the  printers  drive  the  presses  in  their  new  plant. 

Inasmuch  as  we  believe  a  detailed  description  of  the  engine's 
unusual  valve  mechanism  will  be  of  interest  to  our  readers  it  is  made 
the  subject  of  another  article  in  this  issue. 


Pride  Goeth  Before  a  Fall 

The  self-confident  golfer  smiled  pityingly  at  his  caddie. 

"A  driver  for  this  hole?  Only  160  yards?  Why  it's  just  a  mashie 
and  a  putt  for  me !" 

Confidently  he  stepped  up  to  the  ball,  mashie  in  hand.  "  Chug !" 
The  ball  dribbled  ofif  the  tee  amid  an  eruption  of  clods.  There  was  an 
instant's  silence,  and  then  the  caddie  murmured : 

"  Now  for  a  real  long  putt." 


40 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


April, 


(d 


in    r~ 
-n   O 


in 

Id 


-+^  '^  n 

_c  C  ^ 

•^  U  - 

^  <u  ^ 

V}  o  o 


c 


> 
i     ^ 

-i::  o  E 
J-» — •-<-> 

Coo 

(DOM 
O  "^ 
O    4,   o 


^928. THE    LOCOMOTIVE 41 

Old  Mechanism  for  Varying  Cut-off 

IX  devising  a  mechanism  to  govern  the  old  W'oodrul't  &  Jjeach  steam 
engine  (described  elsewhere  in  this  issue)  by  varying  the  cut-oflf, 
instead  of  by  throttling  the  steam,  the  designers  used  a  device  as 
effective  as  it  was  ingenious.  A  fly-ball  governor  was  driven  positively 
by  gearing.  Through  a  bell  crank  the  upward  and  downward  motion 
of  its  collar  was  transmitted  into  lengthwise  motion  of  a  shaft  which 
ran  from  the  governor  post  to  a  valve-gear  box  over  the  steam  chest 
at  the  cylinder.  This  shaft  had  also  a  rotary  motion,  imparted  by 
gearing.  As  it  rotated  it  carried  a  cam  on  which  rode  a  toe  or  valve 
lifter  connected  to  the  valve  stem.  Up  and  down  motion  of  the  toe 
opened  and  closed  the  poppet  valve.  Lengthwise  motion  of  the  shaft 
was  made  to  vary  the  time  at  which  cut-off  took  place.  How  this  was 
accomplished  is  shown  in  the  diagrams. 

Varied  Timing  and  Valve  Lift 

Views  4  and  5  are  taken  from  photographs  of  the  parts.  The 
eccentric  (5)  rode  on  the  governor  shaft  and  was  keyed  to  it  by  a 
through-key.  Its  lengthwise  position  was  fixed  but  the  shaft  could 
slip  back  and  forth  through  it.  View  4  shows  the  sleeve  which  fitted 
over  the  eccentric  and  rotated  with  it  —  driving  force  being  imparted 
by  a  helical  key  which  rode,  of  course,  in  a  helical  keyway  on  the  inner 
surface  of  the  sleeve.  A  hole  in  this  key  fitted  over  a  button  on  top 
of  the  through-key.  Thus  both  eccentric  and  sleeve  rotated  w^ith  the 
shaft,  the  sleeve  carrying  the  cam  (shown  in  View  2)  which  raised  the 
poppet  valve.  A  spring  returned  the  latter  to  its  seat  when  the  cam 
reached  the  point  of  cut-off  and  allowed  the  toe  to  descend. 

It  will  be  seen  that  when  the  shaft  from  the  governor  was  moved 
lengthwise  by  governor  action  it  .carried  with  it  both  the  through-key 
and  the  helical  key.  Inasmuch  as  neither  the  eccentric  nor  the  sleeve 
was  capable  of  endwise  motion  the  result  was  a  change  in  the  angular 
position  of  the  sleeve  on  the  eccentric.  This  either  advanced  or  re- 
tarded the  cut-off,  according  to  the  direction  of  movement  of  the  key 
in  the  helical  slot.  It  also  decreased  or  increased  the  valve  lift  in  that 
it  brought  the  cam  toward  either  the  long  or  short  radius  of  the  ec- 
centric. 

Fine  performance  was  obtained  by  this  mechanism,  as  was  shown 
by  indicator  cards  taken  by  The  Hartford  Company  in  1920  when  it 
was  called  upon  to  replace  a  fractured  main  bearing. 


42 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


April, 


Explosion  Caused  by  Tubes  Pulling  Out 

AN  explosion  that  started  when  eight  tubes  in  the  lowest  row  of  a 
water  tube  boiler  were  pulled  from  the  front  header,  damaged 
not  only  the  boiler  but  destroyed  its  setting,  tore  loose  all  pipe 
connections,  parted  the  breeching,  and  blew  a  hole  in  a  brick  wall  of 
the  boiler  room  of  Consolidated  Ice  Company,  Inc.,  at  Monroe,  La., 
September  6,  1927.  Fortunately,  no  one  was  near  the  boiler  when  it 
let  go. 

The  explosion  was  cumulative  in  effect,  in  that  when  the  bottom 
row  of  tubes  pulled  loose  the  energy  released  by  escaping  steam  and 


water  raised  the  boiler  from  its  setting  and  allowed  it  to  crash  down- 
ward four  feet  in  such  a  way  as  to  throw  its  full  weight  onto  tubes  which 
fell  across  a  brick  baffle  wall  about  midway  the  furnace.  Needless  to 
say,  this  added  considerably  to  the  damage. 

Both  chief  engineer  and  watch  engineer  had  left  the  boiler  room  a 
few  seconds  before  the  explosion.  They  succeeded  in  closing  the  stop 
valve  to  prevent  another  boiler  on  the  line  from  discharging  steam 
through  the  damaged  header. 

While  the  boiler  was  twenty  years  old  it  was  apparently  in  good 
condition  before  the  accident.  Within  the  past  two  years  it  had  been 
completely   retubed   and   neither   headers   nor   drums   showed    defects 


1928.  THE    LOCO  M  O  T  I  V  E  43 


when  inspected.  However,  the  lowest  row  of  tubes  had  been  the  last 
to  be  replaced  and,  when  installed,  their  ends  had  not  been  flared.  This 
is  believed  to  have  allowed  them  to  blow  out  under  pressure. 

Direct  property  damage,  covered  by  a  Hartford  policy,  amounted 
to  $3,708.60.  This  included  rebuilding  the  boiler  room  wall,  23'  high 
by  30'  long,  retubing  the  boiler,  repairing  the  setting  and  connections. 

The  plant  uses  natural  gas  as  fuel.  Inasmuch  as  there  were  no 
actual  eye-witnesses  to  the  explosion,  the  investigators  took  cognizance 
of  the  possibility  that  instead  of  being  caused  by  steam  pressure  the 
damage  might  have  been  the  result  of  a  gas  explosion  within  the  fire 
chamber  and  breeching. 

In  plants  using  gas  as  fuel,  care  must  be  taken  to  guard  against 
combustion  chamber  detonations  by  so  regulating  the  relative  amounts  of 
fuel  and  air  as  to  assure  complete  combustion.  In  lighting  such  a  fur- 
nace great  care  should  be  exercised,  a  piece  of  burning  waste  or  paper 
being  thrown  into  the  chamber  before  the  gas  is  turned  on.  Attempts  to 
light  the  gas  after  it  has  had  a  chance  to  accumulate  in  the  chamber 
may  result  disastrously.  Even  when  tossing  lighted  waste  into  a 
supposedly  empty  furnace  the  fireman  should  not  stand  directly  in 
front  of  the  fire  door.  Leakage  may  have  allowed  enough  gas  to  ac- 
cumulate to  form,  with  air,  an  explosive  mixture. 


New  Edition  of  "  The  Boiler  Book  " 

"riMHE  Boiler  Book"  was  first  published  by  The  Hartford  Com- 
I  pany  about  six  years  ago  for  the  purpose  of  presenting,  in  con- 
venient form,  some  of  the  data  most  frequently  required  for  the 
design,  manufacture,  and  installation  of  boilers  and  other  pressure 
vessels.  The  fact  that  the  first  edition  was  so  soon  exhausted  seemed 
to  indicate  that  the  book  was  playing  a  useful  role  and  led  to  the 
decision  to  publish  a  second  edition  with  certain  changes  and  addenda 
necessary  to  bring  it  up  to  date.  This  second  edition  is  now  ready 
for  distribution  at  a  nominal  charge  of  $i.oo  a  copy  to  cover  the  cost 
of  printing  and  mailing. 

The  book  confines  itself  strictly  to  the  field  of  design,  manufacture, 
and  installation  and  is  not  intended  to  serve  as  a  handbook  for  boiler 
operators. 


Cumulative  Fatigue 

Lady  (to  tramp)  — "  Why  don't  you  work  if  you  are  hungry?" 
Worn-out  Willie  —  "I  tried  that  ma'am,  and  it  made  me  hungrier. 


44 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


April, 


Absence  of  Relief  Valve  Proves  Costly 

NOT  only  was  a  residence  in  Fremont,  Ohio,  deprived  of  heat  at 
a  cold  season  of  the  year,  but  the  cellar  walls  and  furnishings 
of  the  first  floor  were  damaged  by  steam  and  dust  when  over- 
pressure blew  a  piece  out  of  a  cast  iron  hot  water  boiler,  on  December 
8.  The  accompanying  photograph  gives  an  idea  of  the  destructive 
force  exerted  by  water  when  an  attempt  is  made  to  constrain  its 
natural  expansion  while  it  is  being  heated. 

The  working  of  a  hot  water  system  depends  on  having  the  whole 
system,  including  heater,  piping,  and  radiators,  completely  filled  with 
water.     As  heat  is  imparted  by  the  furnace  the  hot  water  tends  to 

rise,  causing  cir- 
culation through 
the  radiators  and 
back  to  the  heater. 
Should  the  system 
not  be  filled  com- 
pletely it  is  evi- 
dent that  circula- 
tion would  fail. 
To  avoid  this  con- 
tingency these 
systems  are  pro- 
vided with  an  ex- 
pansion tank,  lo- 
cated above  the 
level  of  the  high- 
est radiator  and 
connected  to  the 
heater  by  means 
of  a  riser  or  ex- 
pansion pipe.  This  acts  as  a  water  column  to  give  a  static  head  or 
pressure  to  the  system.  When  water  stands  in  the  tank  the  boiler 
operator  knows  that  the  system  is  completely  full,  assuming,  of  course, 
all  air  to  have  been  ejected. 

Either  an  altitude  gauge  or  a  return  pipe  from  the  expansion  tank 
is  provided  to  tell  the  level  of  the  water.  In  case  a  pipe  is  used  it 
is  run  down  to  the  boiler  room  where,  by  opening  a  cock,  the  operator 
learns  whether  or  not  water  stands  to  the  required  level.  It  is  well, 
when  this  tank  is  located  in  an  unheated  part  of  the  house,  to  provide 


^928^ THE    LOCOMOTIVE 45 

connections  to  both  supply  and  return  mains  so  as  to  insure  circula- 
tion sufficient  to  prevent  freezing.  The  riser  mentioned  above  may  be 
considered  the  connection  to  the  supply  line.  It  should  be  taken  from 
the  main  supply  line  as  near  the  boiler  as  possible  so  that  air  bubbles, 
liberated  when  fresh  water  is  fed  into  the  boiler,  may  rise  to  the  ex- 
pansion tank  instead  of  going  through  the  system  and  becoming  trapped 
in  the  radiators. 

Means  of  Pressure  Relief  Necessary 

Inasmuch  as  water  expands  considerably  under  heat  the  system 
must  be  provided  with  some  means  to  take  care  of  its  increase  in 
volume.  Frequently  this  is  accomplished  by  running  an  open  pipe  from 
the  top  of  the  tank  to  the  roof  of  the  house,  or  back  to  the  basement 
where  it  discharges  into  a  drain.  In  the  system  mentioned  in  the  first 
paragraph  the  relief  pipe  w.ent  to  the  roof  where  it  was  exposed  to 
the  cold.  Vapor  passing  up  through  it  gradually  froze  and  formed 
a  plug  which  closed  the  pipe  completely.  Thus  constrained,  the  ex- 
panding water  broke  a  casting. 

A  better  method  of  relieving  expansion  is  to  provide  a  relief  valve 
at  a  point  in  the  system  where  circulation  is  always  assured  and  where 
there  will  be  no  danger  of  failure  because  of  freezing.  A  valve  con- 
structed on  the  diaphragm  principle  will  be  found  more  satisfactory 
than  the  ordinary  springloaded  valve,  because  the  former  gives  more 
positive  action  and  is  not  so  liable  to  failure  by  reason  of  the  valve 
disc  sticking  fast  to  the  seat. 

Had  the  owner  of  the  boiler  at  Fremont  followed  the  Hartford 
inspector's  advice  to  install  a  relief  valve,  no  doubt  the  accident  would 
have  been  avoided.  Damage,  amounting  to  $177.40,  was  covered  by 
insurance  in  this  company. 


Oil  Engine  Explosion  Kills  Man 

An  explosion  of  the  center  cylinder  of  a  three-cylinder  oil  engine 
near  Potosi,  Mo.,  on  October  11  of  last  year,  cost  the  life  of  the  operat- 
ing engineer.  The  man  was  starting  the  engine  by  compressed  air,  and 
when  he  admitted  a  charge  of  oil  to  the  center  cylinder  the  resulting 
explosion  tore  the  cylinder  from  the  base  plate.  As  far  as  is  known, 
the  customary  precautions  had  been  taken  the  night  before,  when 
shutting  down  the  engine,  to  free  the  cylinders  of  excess  oil.  Cylinder 
cocks  were  open  and  free  before  the  engine  was  started.  The  most 
probable  explanation  would  seem  to  be  that  an  overcharge  was  admitted 
and  the  engine  fired  prematurely  before  it  came  up  to  speed. 


46 THE    LOCOMOTIVE April, 

An  Improved  Return  Line  Hook-up 

DEV'ISING  a  piinng  system  to  return  condensate  from  radiators 
to  low  pressure  heating  boilers  is  a  problem  as  old  as  the  art  of  low 
pressure  heating  itself.  Improperly  designed  systems  have  been 
the  direct  cause  of  many  a  cracked  section  in  cast  iron  boilers,  through 
failure  to  maintain  a  safe  water  level.  This  subject  was  treated  at 
length  in  the  July,  1920  issue  of  The  Locomotive  but  since  then  there 
has  been  at  least  one  refinement.  Inasmuch  as  few  of  our  readers  may 
be  in  a  position  to  refer  to  the  old  files  of  the  magazine  the  current 
article  will  treat  the  subject  as  a  whole,  rather  than  confine  itself  to 
the  improvement  made  since  the  previous  article  was  published. 

Stated  briefly,  what  happens  in  these  low  pressure  heating  systems 
is  that  steam,  at  a  pressure  from  a  few  ounces  to  10  pounds  above 
atmosphere,  flows  from  the  boiler  to  the  radiators  where  it  gives  up 
much  of  its  heat  and  is  condensed  into  water.  This  water  then  flows 
by  gravity  back  through  the  return  pipe  into  the  boiler  and  is  turned 
again  into  steam.  The  only  water  lost  from  the  system  is  the  small 
amount  of  leakage  from  valves  and  fittings  but  when  this  is  taken  into 
account  the  water  level  in  the  boiler  should  not  change  appreciably  in 
several  weeks  of  running.  Yet  in  actual  practice  it  has  been  found 
that  some  steam  heating  installations  contain  features  that  may  lead  to 
the  water  in  the  boiler  falling  to  a  dangerously  low  level.  When  this 
happens  the  highest  parts  of  the  evaporating  surface  become  over- 
heated. Then,  when  the  level  is  brought  back  to  normal,  relatively 
cool  water  comes  into  contact  with  the  overheated  iron.  The  result  is 
usually  a  cracked  casting. 

Figure  i  shows  the  layout  of  a  two-boiler  installation  connected 
to  a  common  steam  pipe  and  receiving  return  water  through  a  single 
return  pipe.  To  prevent  exchange  of  water  between  the  boilers  of  such 
a  system  it  is  nfecessary  to  use  check  valves  as  shown  at  "  a  ".  With  no 
check  valves  present  the  slightest  difl^erence  in  pressure  on  the  water 
surfaces  of  boilers  No.  i  and  No.  2  will  drive  some  of  the  water  from 
the  boiler  under  higher  pressure  into  the  other  boiler.  This  condition 
carries  with  it  the  possibility  of  dangerously  low  water  in  one  of  the 
boilers. 

To  some  it  may  seem  almost  unbelievable  that  any  pressure  differ- 
ence can  exist  between  two  boilers  connected  to  a  common  steam  main. 
Nevertheless,  experience  has  shown  that  this-  condition  is  possible. 
The  explanation  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  balance  of  temperatures  and 
pressures  in  these  low  pressure  systems  is  so  delicate  that  it  may  be 


1928. 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


47 


upset  by  friction  of  the  steam  passing  through  pipes.  Should  boiler 
No.  I  be  fired  harder  than  No.  2  it  will  generate  more  steam.  The 
increased  flow  of  vapor  through  its  steam  ])ipe  will  create  greater  pipe 
friction,  thus  building  up  more  pressure  at  the  boiler's  water  surface. 
A  very  slight  pressure  difference  between  the  two  boilers,  caused  in 
this  way,  is  sufficient  to  bring  about  considerable  variation  in  their 
respective  water  levels.    Assuming  a  water  temperature  of  220  degrees 


Boiler  No.  i 


Boiler  No.  2. 


Figure  i 


Fahrenheit,  a  pressure  difiference  of  only  a  quarter  pound  would  cause 
a  variation  of  approximately  7^  inches  in  water  level.  It  can  readily 
be  seen  that  this  could  uncover  the  highest  part  of  the  evaporating  sur- 
face of  the  boiler  having  the  higher  pressure,  cause  overheating,  and 
lead  to  cracking. 

With  a  pipe  arrangement  to  bring  return  water  in  at  the  lowest  part 
of  the  boiler  —  the  most  common  arrangement  —  a  check  valve  will 
serve  to  prevent  this  exchange  of  water.  It  will  also  prevent  water 
being  forced  backward  from  the  boiler  into  the  heating  system.  But 
inasmuch  as  safety  valves  on  many  heating  boilers  are  not  adequate 
to  relieve  the  great  pressure  that  would  be  created  by  the  accidental 


48 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


April, 


^928. THE    LOCOMOTIVE 49 

closing  of  the  stop  valve,  it  is  easy  to  conceive  of  a  situation  in  which 
this  action  of  the  check  valve  would  be  a  disadvantage,  rather  than 
an  advantage.  It  would  be  clearly  desirable,  in  case  of  extreme  over- 
pressure, to  have  no  check  valve  at  all,  in  order  that  the  pressure  might 
be  reduced  by  the  steam  escaping  through  the  return  line  to  the  radia- 
tors where  it  would  be  condensed. 

In  practical  operation  a  certain  amount  of  head  is  necessary  to 
cause  a  check  valve  to  lift,  so  that  operation  of  the  valve  involves  a 
certain  amount  of  unbalance  in  the  system.  Both  check  valves  in  such 
a  system  will  remain  on  their  seats  until  the  pressure  in  the  return  line 
becomes  somewhat  greater  than  the  boiler  pressure.  Since  it  is  practi- 
cally impossible  to  have  two  check  valves  act  at  exactly  the  same  pres- 
sure, one  will  open  before  the  other,  and  in  so  doing  will  further 
postpone  the  latter  valve's  opening.  In  that  way  one  boiler  gets  less 
than  its  share  of  the  return  water,  thus  bringing  about  a  gradual  drop 
in  its  water  level.  Thus  it  is  evident  that  while  check  valves  prevent 
exchange  of  water  from  one  boiler  to  the  other,  they  may  bring  about 
a  dangerously  low  water  level  in  another  way. 

Having  shown  the  difificulties  encountered  in  this  system,  we  are 
now  prepared  to  describe  another  arrangement  that  avoids  these 
troubles.  Figure  2  shows  the  preferable  arrangement  which,  while 
avoiding  the  use  of  the  troublesome  check  valves,  retains  the  advantage 
of  allowing  return  water  to  enter  at  the  lowest  part  of  the  boiler  instead 
of  at  the  top,  where  the  introduction  of  comparatively  cold  water  is 
not  desirable. 

Examination  of  Fig.  2  shows  that  the  return  water  piping  is  so 
arranged  as  to  form  a  water  column  to  balance  the  boiler  water  at 
the  safe  water  level.  But  this,  in  itself,  would  not  prevent  steam 
pressure  from  backing  water  out  into  the  system.  To  counter- 
balance this  boiler  pressure,  a  steam  equalizing  pipe  is  provided,  as 
shown  at  "  C  ",  to  produce  static  balance  of  the  water  in  the  boiler  and 
that  in  the  outside  column.  Should  the  reader  have  difficulty  in  under- 
standing just  how  this  is  effected,  the  principle  may  be  made  clearer 
by  considering  the  equalizing  pipe  "  C  "  and  riser  "  B  "  as  just  an 
extra  section  added  to  the  boiler  with  free  access  to  both  the  boiler's 
steam  and  water  spaces.  With  this  pipe  arrangement  water  cannot  be 
backed  out  below  the  safe  level.  It  is  important  to  note  that  the  equal- 
izing pipe  must  be  of  ample  size  and  must  have  as  few  turns  as  possible, 
so  as  to  avoid  the  effect  of  steam  friction. 

In  laying  out  the  system  it  is  important  that  the  following  table  be 
used  in  selecting  the  size  of  equalizing  pipe  "  C  " : 


50 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


April, 


STOP  VALVE. 
\f    ANY, 


Operating 
water.  level 


STOP  Valve, 
ir   ANY.- 


Figure  j. 


Grate  Area  Size  of  Pipe  "  C  " 

4  square  feet  or  less  i-J^" 

4  square  feet  to   15  sq.  ft.  2-^" 

15  square  feet  or  more  '      4" 

The  return  pipe  and  pipe  "  B  "  should  be  of  the  size  prescribed  by 
modern  practice  for  return  lines. 

Fig.  3  shows  how  this  system  may  be  applied  to  a  single-boiler 
installation. 


1928.  T  H  E    L  (3  C  O  M  O  T  1  V  E  51 

It  will  be  noted  that  even  though  the  boiler  stop  valve  should  be 
closed  inadvertently  —  or  should  the  valves  on  all  steam  radiators  be 
closed  —  there  would  be  an  outlet  to  relieve  the  pressure.  The  steam 
would  escape  through  the  equalizing  pipe  and  the  return  pipe  where 
it  would  produce  a  rattling  sound  warning  the  operator  that  something 
was  wrong.  The  proper  procedure  for  him  would  be  to  stop  evapora- 
tion by  checking  the  fire. 

The  principle  of  this  layout  has  been  well  tested  in  actual  practice, 
so  we  have  no  hesitation  in  commending  it  to  owners  of  cast  iron  boilers. 
While  this  Company  has  made  no  effort  to  give  the  system  a  name, 
engineers  and  steamfitters  often  refer  to  it  as  "  The  Hartford  Loop  " 
or  "  The  Hartford  Water  Level  Return  Connection  ". 


Improvised  Pressure  Tanks  Dangerous 

USING  an  old  metal  oil  barrel  as  a  pressure  tank  for  an  oil- 
spraying  device  cost  the  life  of  a  mechanic  at  Denver,  Colorado, 
a  few  weeks  ago.  The  victim's  head  was  crushed  when  the  end 
of  the  tank  blew  out.  Though  warned  by  fellow  workmen  against  the 
danger  of  subjecting  his  home-made  apparatus  to  pressure  of  150 
pounds  a  square  inch,  the  man  refused  to  delay  the  job  until  the 
safe  working  pressure  of  the  tank  could  be  determined. 

This  accident,  as  well  as  others  of  similar  nature,  should  serve  as 
a  warning  against  the  tendency  to  improvise  high  pressure  containers 
from  makeshift  equipment  not  designed  for  that  purpose.  The  ordi- 
nary oil  drum,  built  only  strong  enough  to  withstand  handling  without 
opening  its  seams,  is  nowise  suited  to  contain  a  fluid  under  pressure. 
Instances  come  to  light  now  and  then  of  garages  and  factories  rig- 
ging up  galvanized  hot  water  tanks  —  intended  for  domestic  use  — 
as  compressed  air  containers.  While  some  of  these  tanks  when  new, 
are  able  to  withstand  considerable  pressure,  many  of  these  installations 
are  second-hand  vessels  weakened  by  interior  corrosion.  Such  in- 
stances occur  because  the  garage  keeper  or  factory  foreman  has  no  idea 
of  the  tremendous  force  exerted  on  a  tank  by  pressures  no  greater 
than  fifty  or  sixty  pounds  a  square  inch. 


No  Bigotry  Here 

"  Dearest,  will  you  marry  me?" 

"  Doug,  I  must  tell  you  I'm  a  somnambulist." 

"  That'll  be  all  right.     I'm  broad  minded  about  religion." 


52 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


April, 


A   QUARTERLY   MAGAZINE 

DEVOTED   TO   POWER   PLANT   PROTECTION 

Georgpe   Hargis    Prall,    Editor 

Copyright    1928    by    The    Hartford    Steam    Boiler    Inspection    and    Insurance    Company 

HARTFORD,  CONN.,  April   i,   1928 

Single  Copies  can  be  obtained  free  by  calling  at  any  of  the  company's  agencies. 

Subscription  price  50  cents  per  year  when  mailed  from  this  office. 

Recent  bound   volumes   one  dollar   each.     Earlier   ones   two  dollars. 

Reprinting  matter  from  this  paper  is  permitted  if  credited  to 

The  Locomotive  of  The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection  &  Insurance  Co. 


Avoiding  Cracking  of  C.  I.  Boilers 

USERS  of  steam  and  hot  water  heating  systems  will  be  interested 
in  reading  in  this  issue  articles  on  "  An  Improved  Return  Line 
Hook-up  "  and  "Absence  of  Relief  Valve  Proves  Costly  ".  The 
article  first  mentioned  above  presents  a  well-tested  arrangement  by  which 
steam  heating  plants  may  be  rendered  less  liable  to  the  most  common 
type  of  failure,  namely  the  cracking  of  a  section  because  of  low  water. 
When  from  any  cause  the  surfaces  producing  evaporation  in  a  cast 
iron  boiler  are  not  in  contact  with  water,  those  parts  are  subject  to  heat 
expansion.  While  this  in  itself  may  not  cause  cracking,  there  is  great 
danger  of  breakage  when  the  water  level  returns  to  normal  and  the 
comparatively  cool  water  causes  sudden  contraction  of  the  metal.  With 
two  boilers  discharging  into  a  common  steam  line  and  receiving  con- 
densate through  one  return  line  it  has  been  found  that  a  difference  of 
steam  pressure  can  exist  between  the  two  boilers  —  paradoxical  as  it 
may  seem  —  and  that  this  phenomenon  can  force  water  from  one  boiler 
into  the  other  through  the  return  line.  Check  valves  in  the  return  line 
will  prevent  this  but  their  use  may  produce  the  same  ultimate  results 
by  reason  of  their  inability  to  divide  the  return  water  equally  between 
the  two  boilers. 


1928. THE    LOCOMOTIVE 53 

The  piping  layout  described  elsewhere  in  this  issue  avoids  the  use 
of  check  valves.  It  substitutes  in  their  stead  a  static  balance  that  serves 
their  function  with  greater  certainty  and  without  their  disadvantages. 
Though  the  system  was  described  in  The  Locomotive  as  far  back 
as  1920,  since  then  there  has  been  developed  a  refinement  to  reduce 
water  hammer.  For  that  reason  it  is  presented  here  again  for  the  pur- 
pose of  giving  our  readers  what  we  consider  a  most  satisfactory 
method  of  avoiding  some  of  the  hazards  incident  to  the  operation  of 
their  boilers. 


New  Detroit  Department 

GROWTH  of  the  Company's  business  in  Michigan  and  North- 
western Ohio  has  led  to  the  establishment  of  the  Detroit  Depart- 
ment with  headquarters  at  2401-7  First  National  Bank  Building, 
Detroit,  ]\Iichigan.     This  change,  intended  to  expedite  the  Company's 
service  to  its  assured  in  that  territor}',  went  into  efifect  April  i. 

Mr.  L.  L.  Coates,  for  many  years  resident  agent  at  the  Detroit 
branch  of  the  Chicago  Department,  has  been  appointed  manager.  ]Mr. 
Coates  is  especially  well-fitted  by  experience  to  handle  the  district  now 
in  his  charge.  He  has  with  him,  as  chief  inspector,  Mr.  Thomas  P. 
Hetu,  who  has  been  Assistant  Chief  Inspector  of  the  Company's 
Philadelphia  Department.  With  the  exception  of  a  few  changes  neces- 
sitated by  readjustment  of  districts,  Mr.  Hetu's  staff  comprises  the 
same  trained  men  who  have  in  the  past  handled  inspections  in  the 
district. 


Damage  by  Secondary  Combustion 

TN  February  an  explosion  of  oil-permeated  soot  in  the  base  of  a 
large    refinery    smokestack    shook   the    city    of    Tulsa,    Oklahoma. 

Several  weeks  ago  a  fireman  at  a  Springfield,  Mass.,  charitable  insti- 
tution, narrowly  escaped  injury  when  an  explosion  blew  the  heavy  iron 
door  from  the  smoke  box  of  a  heating  boiler.  In  both  cases  the 
furnaces  were  using  oil  as  fuel. 

When,  for  any  reason,  combustible  gases  are  allowed  to  leave  the 
furnace  space  unburned,  there  is  a  chance  of  their  igniting  later,  either 
in  the  last  pass  of  the  furnace  in  proximity  to  the  upper  boiler  plates 
or  in  the  smokebox,  breeching,  or  stack.  Bulged  plates  have  resulted 
from  such  secondary  combustion.  Under  certain  conditions  —  and 
where  oil  is  the  fuel  —  ignition  of  this  gas  may  cause  an  explosion. 


54 THE    LOCOMOTIVE April. 

Secondary  combustion  and  explosion  have  been  found  to  occur 
where  the  mixture  of  fuel  and  air  is  not  in  correct  proportion  and 
where  the  furnace  space  is  not  large  enough  to  allow  complete  burning 
—  as  where  a  boiler  is  being  forced  far  beyond  its  rating.  In  burning 
oil  it  is  important  to  guard  against  unburned  gases  being  allowed  to 
pass  beyond  the  furnace  space,  both  as  a  safeguard  against  damage 
and,  of  course,  as  a  means  of  securing  the  maximum  amount  of  useful 
heat  from  the  fuel. 


Corroded  Head  Flange  Wrecks  Boiler 

AVERY  destructive  boiler  explosion  on  October  31  at  the 
plant  of  Austin  Manufacturing  Company,  Harvey,  111.,  is 
believed  to  have  been  caused  by  corrosion  at  the  knuckle  of 
the  blind  head  in  a  mud  drum.  The  boiler  that  exploded  is  shown  at 
the  center  of  the  accompanying  illustration.  As  may  be  seen,  one  head 
was  torn  out  completely.  The  force  of  the  explosion  threw  three 
other  boilers  from  their  settings,  destroyed  the  boiler  room,  and 
damaged  engine  room,  machine  shop,  and  blacksmith  shop.  A  fire- 
man was  injured. 

At  the  time  of  the  accident  the  plant  was  obtaining  feed  water  from 
a  lake,  but  up  until  shortly  before  that  the  feed  water  was  pumped 
from  a  deep  well.  Analysis  showed  this  well  water  to  contain  91  grams 
of  solids  to  the  gallon  and  to  be  strongly  acid.  It  was  not  surprising, 
therefore,  when  examination  of  the  wreckage  disclosed  serious  cor- 
rosion at  the  knuckles  of  the  drum  heads.  At  some  points  only  3/16" 
of  metal  remained. 

Lack  of  Dish  Allowed  Breathing 

Inasmuch  as  the  boiler  was  of  an  old  type,  having  heads  that  lacked 
the  dish  required  in  modern  construction,  it  is  probable  that  these 
heads  were  subjected  to  excessive  breathing.  In  this  w-ay  the  metal 
would  have  become  fatigued  at  the  section  thinned  by  corrosion. 

The  boiler  was  operated  at  155  pounds  pressure  and  was  rated  at 
300  h.p.  Damage  amounting  to  about  $50,000  was  covered  by  insur- 
ance although  not  in  The  Hartford  Company. 

Fluctuation  of  pressure  inside  a  vessel  acts  on  the  head  as  though 
the  latter  were  a  diaphragm,  causing  it  to  move  in  and  out  —  or  breathe. 
As  most  bumped  heads  are  constructed  with  a  relatively  sharp  bend 
where  they  join  the  boiler  shell,  breathing  aggravates  the  stress  at 
that  point  and  subjects  the  metal  to  bending  fatigue. 


1928. 


TH  E    LOCOMOTIVE 


55 


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It  has  long  been  known  that  metal  at  the  heel  of  the  head  flange 
seems  to  be  especially  subject  to  corrosion,  but  it  was  not  until  recent 
years  that  a  theory  was  developed  to  give  a  satisfactory  explanation  of 
this  phenomenon.  This  theory,  in  brief,  is  that  in  a  structure  such  as  a 
boiler,  those  parts  under  the  most  severe  stress  fall  easy  prey  to  the 
€lectrochemical  action  of  the  water.  Fatigue  due  to  bending  increases 
rapidly  as  the  thickness  is  reduced  by  corrosion  and,  unless  the  condi- 
tion be  discovered,  the  outcome  will  be  an  explosion. 


Power  of  Advertising 

Card  in  Florida  paper :  "  Thursday  I  lost  a  gold  watch  which  I 
valued  very  highly.  Immediately  I  inserted  an  ad  in  your  lost  and 
found  column,  and  waited.  Yesterday  I  went  home  and  found  the 
watch  in  the  pocket  of  another  suit.     Thank  you  very  much." 


First  Burglar  —  "  Come  on,  Lefty,  let's  figure  up  what  we  made 
on  this  haul." 

Second  Burglar  —  "I'm  too  tired.  Let's  wait  and  look  in  the 
morning  papers." 


56 THE    LOCQiMOTIVE April, 

Taps  from  the  Old  Chiefs  Hammer 

HA\'E  you  ever  noticed  the  tendency  of  writers  to  pick  out  queer 
beliefs,  inhibitions,  and  habits  of  outstanding  men  and  write 
about  them  as  though  they  were  marks  peculiar  to  genius?  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  I  doubt  whether  these  so-called  geniuses  are  a  whole 
lot  queerer  than  the  rest  of  us.  According  to  my  way  of  thinking 
we're  all  queer  in  some  respects.  Our  minds  may  be  precise  and  logical 
on  most  subjects  but  each  one  of  us  has  a  few  pet  theories  on  which 
his  brain  shows  a  blind  spot.  I  suppose  that's  what  makes  us  act 
like  human  beings. 

Lots  of  fellows  will  never  light  a  cigar  from  the  butt  of  another; 
neither  will  they  be  the  third  to  take  a  light  from  one  match.  They 
figure  it's  hard  luck,  and  so  it  is  —  for  the  match  manufacturers.  But 
why  should  we  worry  about  the  match  manufacturers? 

I  went  up  to  a  cigar  counter  in  Denver  a  few  years  ago  and  the  girl 
clerk  told  me  that  folks  out  there  insisted  on  getting  at  least  part  of 
their  change  in  cartwheels.  She  said  they  figured  they  could  help  the 
silver  mines  by  keeping  the  silver  dollars  in  circulation  and  wearing 
them  out.  I  wasn't  so  keen  on  taking  my  change  in  that  form  and  I 
said  so.  "  I'm  afoot  today,"  I  explained,  "  but  I  may  be  riding  a  horse 
within  a  day  or  two  and  then  you  can  give  me  a  few."  She  came  back 
at  me  with  a  caustic  remark  to  the  effect  that  out  there,  where  men 
were  men,  they  didn't  have  to  use  horses  to  carry  around  a  few  pieces 
of  silver.  So  I  paid  for  a  can  of  tobacco  with  a  ten-dollar  bill  and  took 
my  change  in  the  form  of  seven  cartwheels,  two  bills,  and  some 
quarters,  dimes  and  nickels.     I  didn't  want  her  to  think  me  queer. 

Not  long  ago  the  cotton  growers  down  South  figured  that  if  they 
could  get  the  society  belles  to  wear  cotton  stockings  it  would  be  a  great 
thing  for  local  industry.  But  the  girls  couldn't  see  it  that  way  and 
eventually  the  men  had  to  admit  that  the  whole  thing  was  just  another 
one  of  those  queer  ideas. 

Strange  fancies  are  not  confined  to  one  section  nor  to  one  class 
of  people.  If  a  fellow  sat  down  to  write  out  a  list  of  odd  habits, 
customs,  and  beliefs  —  including  his  own  —  he  could  fill  a  book.  As 
far  as  I'm  concerned  I  don't  challenge  the  right  of  anyone  to  believe 
anything  about  any  subject  —  except  steam  boilers.  That's  one  thing 
about  which  an  amateur  has  no  right  theorizing,  yet  there's  a  queer 
theory  among  users  of  low  pressure  heating  plants  that  the  boilers 
never  break. 

As  to  their  safety,  some  folks  regard  their  heating  plants  in  a  class 


1928.  THELOCOMOTIVE  57 


with  vacuum  cleaners  and  waffle  irons.  Maybe  they  are  safe  enough 
when  everything  goes  right,  but  the  trouble  is  that  dangerously  high 
stresses  can  be  created  when  things  go  wrong.  For  instance,  if  the 
water  runs  low  there  is  good  chance  of  cracking  a  section.  A  pressure 
capable  of  causing  explosion  may  be  brought  about  by  a  stopped  or 
frozen  pipe,  by  failure  of  the  safety  valve  to  function,  or  by  accidental 
closing  of  a  valve  that  should  be  open,  to  say  nothing  of  the  various 
ways  an  incompetent  repair  man  can  gum  the  works. 

Speaking  of  the  last  named  contingency,  a  hotel  owner  in  Alabama 
—  who  thought  his  steam  heating  plant  as  safe  as  a  vault  full  of  first 
mortgage  bonds  —  had  his  idea  altered  by  a  couple  of  blundering  steam 
fitters. 

When  one  of  our  inspectors  visited  Garibaldi  (that's  not  the  name 
of  the  town)  last  September,  he  stopped  at  the  Snowden  Hotel  (that 
name  is  likewise  fictitious).  During  the  evening  he  talked  with  the 
owner  about  boiler  insurance  and  learned  that  Mr.  Snowden  con- 
sidered the  risk  of  boiler  accident  so  slight  that  he  wasn't  going  to 
waste  his  money  carrying  insurance. 

In  December  the  same  inspector  visited  the  town  again  and  Mr. 
Snowden  met  him  with  a  sad  story  of  the  cracking  of  five  sections  in 
his  boiler  —  caused  by  low  water.  Steam  fitters  had  made  repairs  by 
means  of  wrought  iron  patches  and  three  cans  of  "  dope  ",  for  which 
job  Mr.  Snowden  had  to  pay  $225.  Had  he  known  that  was  going 
to  happen  he  would  have  taken  out  a  policy  and  saved  that  much,  he 
said. 

During  the  night  the  temperature  dropped  to  35  above.  When 
the  inspector  turned  out  in  the  morning  he  found  Mr.  Snowden  in 
the  lobby,  tearing  his  hair.  At  the  host's  behest  he  went  downstairs 
for  a  look  at  the  heating  equipment.  Water  was  shooting  out  of 
various  parts  of  the  system  and  the  "  repaired  "  cracks  were  leaking 
like  a  sieve. 

By  questioning  the  fireman  the  inspector  found  out  what  was 
wrong.  When  the  steam  fitters  were  reconnecting  the  return  pipe  they 
evolved  the  brilliant  idea  that  it  would  be  a  waste  of  efi'ort  to  cut  a 
hole  in  the  rubber  gasket  between  flanges.  They  figured  that  the  hot 
water  would  soon  make  a  hole. 

Snowden's  idea  on  the  infallibility  of  heating  boilers  was  further 
revised  when  he  received  the  subsequent  bill  for  permanent  repairs. 
But  the  sad  feature  of  the  case  is  that  now,  while  he  admits  that 
boilers  can  break,  he  has  swallowed  the  old  adage  that  lightning  never 
strikes  twice  in  the  same  place.  That's  another  queer  idea  that  may 
cost  him  money  before  he's  through. 


58  THELOCOMOTIVE  April, 

Caught  in  the  Separator 

Unleashing  a  Whirlwind 

The  professor  was  trying  to  demonstrate  a  simple  experiment  in 
the  generation  of  steam. 

"  What  have  I  in  my  hand?"  he  asked. 

"  A  tin  can,"  came  the  answer. 

"  Very  true.     Is  the  can  an  animate  or  an  inanimate  object?" 

"  Inanimate." 

"  Exactly.  Now  can  anyone  tell  me  how,  with  this  can,  it  is  pos- 
sible to  generate  a  surprising  amount  of  speed  and  power  almost 
beyond  control  ?" 

One  student  raised  his  hand. 

"Well,  Smith?" 

"  Tie  it  to  a  dog's  tail."  —  Selected. 


He   (after  long  argument)  —  "I  wonder  how  it  would  be  if  you 
and  I  ever  agreed  on  something." 

She  —  "  I'd  be  wrong,  of  course."  —  Selected. 


To  Do  the  Chores 
The  harassed-looking  man  was  being  shown  over  a  factory. 
"  That  machine,"  said  the  guide,  "  does  the  work  of  thirty  men. 
The  man  smiled  wanly. 
"  That's  what  my  wife  thinks  she  married,"  he  said. 


This  Slaid,  Slayed,  or  Slexv  Him 
A  Belgian  student  was  relating  his  experience  in  studying  the 
English  language.  "  When  I  discovered  that  if  I  was  quick  I  was 
fast,"  he  said,  "  and  that  if  I  was  tied  I  was  fast,  if  I  spent  too  freely 
I  was  fast,  and  that  not  to  eat  was  to  fast,  I  was  discouraged.  But 
when  I  came  across  the  sentence,  '  The  first  one  won  one  one-dollar 
prize,'  I  gave  up  trying  to  learn  English." 


The  March  of  Progress 

'■'  And  are  you  really  content  to  spend  your  life  walking  the  country 
begging?  "  asked  the  old  lady  severely. 

"  No,  lady,"  answered  the  tramp.  "  Many's  the  time  I've  wished  I 
had  a  car." 


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The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  inspection  and  Insurance  Company 


56    Prospect    Street, 
HARTFORD,  CONN. 


ABSTRACT  OF  STATEMENT,  DECEMBER  31,  1927 


Capital  Stock, 


$2,500,000.00 


ASSETS 


Cash   in   offices   and   banks 

Real    Estate    .... 

Mortgage    and    collateral    loans 

Bonds   and    Stocks 

Premiums  in  course  of  collection 

Interest    Accrued     . 

Other    Assets  .         ... 

Total  Assets     . 


$622,484.21 

283,421.23 

1,366,072.48 

15,023,458.34 

1,363,003.55 

152.728.70 

64,678.59 

$18,865,847.10 


LIABILITIES 
Reserve   for  unearned  premiums      ....... 

Reserve  for  losses  ......... 

Reserve  for  taxes  and  other  contingencies 

Capital    Stock    .         .         .     • $2,500,000.00 

Surplus    over    all    liabilities        .....     $6,715,969-30 


$7,710,752.66 

346,047.69 

1,593,07745 


Surplus  to  Policyholders, 

Total    Liabilities    . 


$9,215,969.30 


$18,865,847.10 


CHARLES   S.  BLAKE,  Chairman  Board  of  Directors 
WM.  R.   C.   CORSON,   President  and  Treasurer 


BOARD   OF   DIRECTORS 


LUCIUS  F.  ROBINSON,  Attorney,  Hart- 
ford,   Conn. 

JOHN  O.  ENDERS,  Chairman  Board  of 
Directors,  Hartford  National  Bank  & 
Trust   Co.,   Hartford,    Conn. 

MORG.\N  B.  BRAIN.\RD,  President 
^tna  Life  Insurance  Co.,  Hartford, 
Conn. 

CHARLES  P.  COOLEY,  Chairman  Board 
of  Trustees,  Society  for  Savings,  Hart- 
ford,  Conn. 

HOR.\CE  B.  CHENEY,  Cheney  Brothers, 
Silk  Manufacturers,  South  Manchester, 
Conn. 

D.  NEWTON  B.'\RNEY,  Vice-President 
The  Hartford  Electric  Light  Co.,  Hart- 
ford,  Conn. 

DR.  GEORGE  C.  F.  WILLIAMS,  Presi- 
dent The  Capewell  Horse  Nail  Co., 
Hartford,    Conn. 

JOSEPH  R.  ENSIGN,  President  The 
Ensign-Bickford    Co.,    Simsbury,    Conn. 


EDWARD  MILLIGAN,  President  Phoenix 
Insurance    Co.,    Hartford,    Conn. 

CHARLES  S.  BLAKE.  Chairman  Board  of 
Directors,  The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler 
Inspection  and  Insurance  Co.,  Hart- 
ford,   Conn. 

WM.  R.  C.  CORSON,  President  The  Hart- 
ford Steam  Boiler  Inspection  and  In- 
surance   Co.,    Hartford,    Conn. 

SAMUEL  M.  STONE,  President  The  Colt's 
Patent  Fire  Arms  Mfg.  Co.,  Hartford, 
Conn. 

SAMUEL  FERGUSON.  President  The 
Hartford  Electric  Light  Co.,  Hartford, 
Conn. 

HON.  JOHN  H.  TRUMBULL,  President 
The  Trumbull  Electric  Mfg.  Co.,  Plain- 
ville.    Conn. 

CURTISS  C.  G.\RDINER,  Vice-President 
The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection 
and  Insurance  Company,  SO  Maiden 
Lane,    New    York,    N.    Y. 


Incorporated   1866 


Charter  Perpetual 


Department 

ATLANTA,    Ga 

1 103-1106   Atlanta   Trust    Bldg 
BALTIMORE.  Md..   . 

13-14-15  Abell  Bldg. 

BOSTON,    Mass., 

4  Liberty   Sq.,   Cor.   Water   St 
BRIDGEPORT,  Conn., 

404-405  City  Savings  Bank  Bldg 

CHICAGO,   111., 

209  West  Jackson   B'l'vd. 

CINCINNATI,   Ohio, 

First   National   Bank   Bldg. 

CLEVELAND.   Ohio, 
Leader,  Bldg.    . 

DEN\'ER,  Colo., 

916-918  Gas  &  Electric  Bldg. 
DETROIT,    Mich.,      . 

2401-7   First    Nat'l    Bank   Bldg 

HARTFORD.    Conn.. 
56    Prospect    St. 

NEW   ORLEANS,   La.,      . 
1128   Hibernia   Bank   Bldg. 

NEW  YORK,   N.  Y., 
80    Maiden    Lane 

PHILADELPHIA,   Pa.,     . 
429    Walnut    St. 

PITTSBURGH,   Pa., 
1807-8-9-10  Arrott  Bldg. 

ST.    LOUIS.    Mo..      . 
610-618   Security   Bldg. 

TORONTO.    Canada, 
Federal    Bldg. 


Representatives 

W.   M.   Francis,   Manager. 

C.  R.  Summers,  Chief  Inspector. 

Lawtord  &  McKiM,  General  Agents. 
James  G.  Reid,  Chief  Inspector. 

Ward  I.  Cornell,  Manager. 
W.  A.  Bayxiss,  Chief  Inspector. 

W.  G.  Lineburgh  &  Son,  General  Agents. 
A.  E.  Bonnet,  Chief  Inspector. 

P.  M.  Murray,  Manager. 

J.  P.  Morrison,  Chief  Inspector. 

W.   E.   Gleason,   Manager. 

W.  E.  Gi.ENNON,  Chief  Inspector. 

A.  Paul  Graham,  Manager. 
L.  T.  Gregg,  Chief  Inspector. 

J.  H.  Chesnutt, 

Manager   and   Chief    Inspector. 
L.  L.  Coates,  Manager. 
Thomas  P.  Hetu,  Chief  Inspector. 

F.  H.  Kenyon,  General  Agent. 

A.  E.  Bonnet,  Chief  Inspector. 

R.  T.  Burwell,  Mgr.  and  Chief  Inspector. 

E.  Unsworth,  Ass't  Chief  Inspector. 

C.  C.  Gardiner,  Vice  President. 
E.  Mason  Parry,  Chief  Inspector. 

A.  S.  WiCKHAM,  Manager. 

S.  B.  Adams,  Chief  Inspector. 

Geo.  S.  Reynolds,  Manager. 

J.  A.  Snyder,  Chief  Inspector. 

Chas.   D.   Ashcroft,   Manager. 

Eugene  Webb,  Chief  Inspector. 

H.  N.  Roberts,  President  The  Boiler  In- 
spection and  Insurance  Company  of 
Canada. 


PACIFIC  COAST   DIVISION 

C.    B.    Paddock,    Superintendent 

114  Sansome  St.,  San  Francisco,   Cal. 


PORTLAND.    Ore.,    . 
306  Yeon  Bldg. 

SEATTLE,  Wash.,     . 
423   Dexter-Horton   Bldg 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  Cal. 
114   Sansome   St. 


Bates,  Lively  &  Pearson,  General  Agents. 

E.  G.  Watson,  Resident  Agent. 

H.  R.  Mann  &  Co.,  General  Agents. 
L.  J.  Reed,  Chief  Inspector. 


'<^> 


^^^ 
*=^ 


A^^zc;  Rates  for        ''^^ 
Use  and  Occupancy  '"*> 
Insurance  1^ 


Because  your  power  plant  is  the  hub  around  which  factory 
processes  revolve,  a  boiler  explosion  strikes  at  a  most  vital  point. 

Should  an  explosion  occur,  income  from  production  would  stop, 
while  the  burden  of  fixed  expense  would  have  to  be  met  from  the 
surplus  of  other  years. 

At  the  new  rate  no  owner  should  neglect  to  provide  for  himself  a 
Use  and  Occupancy  policy  protecting  his  income  against  loss  by 
accidental  shut-down  from  boiler  explosion. 

Use  and  Occupancy  policies  are  issued  also  on  Engine  and 
Electrical  Machinery  Risks.  By  filling  in  and  returning  the  at- 
tached coupon  you  will  allow  us  to  explain  at  greater  length.  Mail 
coupon  to  nearest  branch  office. 


The    Hartford    Steam    Boiler  P.  O.  Drawer  2133 

Inspection  and  Insurance  Co.  Hartford,  Conn. 


'4. 


:/ 


Gentlemen  : —  Please  send  me  more  facts  concerning  Use  and 
Occupancy  Insurance  and  your  new  rates  therefor. 


(Signed) 


COfficial    Position) 
(Company) 
(.\ddress) 


Vol.  XXX VI I    No.  3 


July  1928 


A  QUARTERLY  MAGAZINE 
DEVOTED  TO  POWER  PLANT  PROTECTION 


Published  continuously  since   1867 

b}^  The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler 

Inspection  and  Insurance 

Company 


Please  show  to  your  Eng-ineer 


66 THE    LOCOMOTIVE J^ 

Breakage  of  Cast  Iron  Steam  Rolls 

LACK  of  safeguards  against  140  pounds  boiler  pressure  being 
exerted  on  parts  intended  to  withstand  little  more  than  a  third  of 
that  amount  is  thought  to  have  caused  a  violent  explosion  of  a 
train  of  twenty-three  cast  iron  paper-drying  rolls  at  Noble  Manufactur- 
ing Company's  plant,  Cedartown,  Ga.,  on  March  8.  One  man  was 
injured  so  severely  that  he  died  within  a  few  hours.  Another  was 
badly  scalded.  Property  loss  of  about  $25,000  was  not  covered  by  in- 
surance.    Figure  i  gives  an  idea  of  the  extent  of  the  disaster. 

When  operating,  the  rolls  acted  as  condensers,  the  action  of  drying 
the  paper  absorbing  enough  heat  to  keep  the  steam  within  a  pressure 
range  of  from  35  to  50  pounds.  Whenever  the  machine  was  stopped, 
this  radiation  was  checked  and,  in  as  much  as  there  was  neither  a  re- 
ducing valve  nor  a  safety  valve  between  the  boiler  and  rolls,  there  was 
a  tendency  for  full  boiler  pressure  to  build  up  within  the  latter.  Con- 
sequently, operators  were  instructed  to  shut  off  the  steam  whenever  it 
was  necessary  to  stop  the  machine. 

Rolls  Exploded  When  Machine  Was  Stopped 

At  7  o'clock  on  the  evening  of  the  accident  the  machine  was  shut 
down  to  permit  the  repair  of  a  belt.  The  explosion  occurred  a  few 
minutes  later,  and  in  spite  of  the  testimony  of  an  attendant  that  he  had 
followed  out  the  order  to  close  the  steam  valve,  evidence  seemed  to 
show  that  the  valve  was  open,  thus  allowing  high  pressure  to  accumulate 
in  the  rolls. 

The  cylinders  were  yo"  in  length,  28"  in  outside  diameter,  and 
varied  in  thickness  from  ^"  to  ^".  Heads,  i"  thick,  were  fastened 
on  with  twenty  ^"  bolts.  So  great  was  the  disruptive  force  that  on 
some  of  the  rolls  the  entire  bolt  circle  was  sheared.  Fifteen  of  the 
rolls  were  reduced  to  fragments  and  the  others  were  cracked  so  badly 
as  to  be  of  no  further  use. 

In  some  respects  the  accident  was  similar  to  an  explosion  at  North 
Star  Strawboard  Mills,  Quincy,  Illinois,  on  February  29,  1924.  That 
explosion  killed  two  men,  injured  eight,  and  caused  property  damage 
of  $100,000.  Testimony  of  witnesses  did  not  agree  as  to  the  pressure 
being  carried  at  the  time  of  the  explosion,  but  investigators  were  in- 
clined to  believe  the  pressure  to  have  been  much  greater  than  the  fifty 
pounds  for  which  the  rolls  were  approved.  It  was  thought  that  the 
shock  of  water  hammer  actually  caused  the  rupture.  An  account  of 
this  accident  was  published  in  The  Locomotuk  of  July,  1924. 


102 


THE    LOCO  M  O  T  I  V  E 


67 


When  suitable  safety  devices  are  provided  and  maintained  in  good 
operating  condition,  and  where  intelligent  precautions  are  observed  by 
operators,  the  danger  of  accidents  to  this  type  of  machinery  is  greatly 
reduced.  But  there  are  several  features  of  construction  and  operation 
that  should  be  understood  by  all  persons  who  have  anything  to  do 
with  apparatus  using  cast  iron  rolls  subject  to  internal  steam  pressure. 

In  the  course  of  preparing  this  article  the  writer  sought  the  views 
of  several  manufacturers  of  chilled  calender  rolls  and  found  that  one. 


Figure 


at  least,  did  not  consider  steam  pressure  a  serious  factor  in  their  break- 
age. But  whereas  our  experience  has  revealed  comparatively  few  ex- 
plosions, it  can  be  seen  from  the  accidents  mentioned  above  that  over- 
pressure may  cause  very  violent  disasters.  To  guard  against  this  it  is 
necessary  that  all  such  installations  have  a  reducing  valve  between 
the  boilers  and  the  rolls  and  a  safety  valve  between  the  reducing  valve 
and  the  rolls.  The  safety  valve  should  be  set  to  blow  at  a  pressure  no 
greater  than  the  steam  temperature  requirements  necessitate,  and  in  no 
case  above  the  designed  safe  working  pressure  of  the  cylinders.  The 
reducing  valve  should  be  set  from  5  to  10  pounds  less  than  the  safety 
valve.  General  use  rarely  exceeds  50  pounds  for  paper  mill  processes. 
One  type  of  paper-making  machine  takes  care  of  the  pressure  hazard 
by  having  a  packed  steam  joint  in  the  roll  journal  so  adjusted  by  a 


68 


THE    LOCO  M  O  T I V  E 


July, 


spring  that  when  the  pressure  reaches  a  certain  point  the  joint  will 
leak.    Regardless  of  this  safeguard  a  reducing  valve  must  be  used. 

One  of  the  problems  encountered  in  the  design  of  rolls  or  calenders 
is  to  remove  the  water  formed  by  the  steam's  condensation.  Usually 
this  is  accomplished  by  a  siphon  leading  to  a  steam-tight  trap.  The 
latter  accumulates  water  until  full.  Then  the  weight  of  the  water  causes 
the  trap  to  tip  and  discharge  its  contents  into  a  drain.  Steam  pressure 
within  the  roll  forces  the  water  out  through  the  siphon  and  into  the 
trap.  This  voiding  of  water  is  very  important  in  order  to  prevent  water 
hammer. 

At  the  end  of  a  dav's  run  there  will  be  some  water  left  in  the  roll. 


Figure  2 

This  often  leads  to  cracking  of  the  casting  unless  the  attendant  under- 
stands the  proper  method  of  warming  up  the  machine  in  the  morning. 
When  steam  is  turned  into  a  cold  roll,  the  water  in  the  lower  part  acts 
as  a  perfect  insulator,  allowing  that  part  of  the  roll  to  remain  cool 
while  the  upper  part  is  being  raised  to  steam  temperature.  One  manu- 
facturer classes  this  as  among  the  most  frequent  causes  of  the  crack- 
ing of  such  rolls.  To  avoid  this,  the  machine  should  be  turning  over 
slowly  before  steam  is  admitted. 

In  rubber  mills  in  particular  some  machines  are  piped  up  so  as  to 
allow  a  quick  reduction  of  temperature  by  the  admission  of  cold  water. 
Of  course,  this  sets  up  serious  strains  in  the  roll  and  is  a  cause  of 
breakage. 

Even  while  this  article  is  being  written,  there  comes  to  our  desk 
reports  of  a  steam  mangle  explosion  in  a  laundry  at  Kokomo,  Indiana, 
in  which  four  young  women  were  killed  and  six  others  were  seriously 
injured.  According  to  newspaper  accounts,  no  cause  has  been  assigned 
to  this  catastrophe.    But,  in  view  of  what  we  know  of  cast  iron  steam 


U,2S. 


T  H  E    L  O  C  O  M  O  T  I  V  E  69 


rolls,  it  is  significant  to  note  that  the  explosion  occurred  at  the  start  of 
the  day's  run  while  the  roll  was  heing  warmed  up  hy  §team  at  70 
pounds  pressure.  It  is  probahle  that  condensate  remaining  in  the  roll 
from  the  previous  day  brought  on  failure  in  the  manner  described  in 
preceding  paragraphs. 

Figure  2  shows  the  remains  of  the  roll.  Note  the  longitudinal  crack 
along  a  line  that  might  easily  be  conceived  as  the  height  to  which 
ihe  condensate  stood. 

It  is  obvious  that  while  safety  devices  cannot  be  counted  on  abso- 
lutely to  eliminate  all  chance  of  accident,  their  presence  greatly  reduces 
the  probability.  The  men  in  actual  charge  of  operating  such  machines 
should  be  given  to  understand  the  conditions  under  which  danger  is 
greatest  as  well  as  approved  practices  for  reducing  it  to  a  minimum. 


Electric  Steam  Generators  in  Use  Where  Water  Power 

Is  Abundant 

THE  first  commercial  arrangement  for  generating  steam  by  pass- 
ing a  current  of  electricity  through  water  contained  in  a  suitably 
constructed  tank  was  developed  during  the  early  years  of  the 
World  War  by  an  Italian  engineer,  Revel.  Since  then  electric  steam 
generators  —  or  electric  boilers,  as  they  are  often  called  —  have  come 
into  more  or  less  general  use  not  only  in  Europe  but  in  districts  of 
the  United  States  and  Canada  where  cheap  electric  power  is  available. 
But  in  spite  of  their  advantages  over  the  fuel-fired  boiler,  as  repre- 
sented by  greater  flexibility  in  meeting  fluctuating  loads,  high  thermal 
efficiency,  cleanliness,  and  freedom  from  smoke  and  the  necessity  of 
having  large  storage  space  for  fuel,  electric  boilers  apparently  are 
not  destined  to  supplant  those  of  the  fuel-fired  type  except  when  cer- 
tain peculiar  requirements  prevail  and  when  an  abundance  of  water 
power  reduces  the  cost  of  electricity  far  below  the  average  commercial 
rate. 

Pulp  plants  in  Canada  and  certain  parts  of  the  United  States  are 
finding  electric  boilers  satisfactory  for  generating  process  steam  for 
their  kiers  and  digesters.  Other  industries,  located  in  territories  where 
there  is  insufficient  water  power  for  their  needs  during  certain  seasons 
of  the  year  but  a  surplus  during  others,  use  both  fuel-fired  and  electric 
boilers,  cutting  out  their  fuel-fired  apparatus  whenever  their  water 
power  is  sufficient  to  handle  both  power  and  process  steam  require- 
ments. In  some  cases  power  companies  use  their  surplus  by  installing 
and  maintaining  electric  boilers  at  their  customers'  plants,  basing  their 


70 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


July, 


s 


1928.  THELOCO  MOTIVE  71^ 

charge  not  on  the  electrical  injjut,  but  on  the  amount  of  steam  metered 
out  of  the  boiler.  ^ 

Industrial  plants  having  contracts  giving  them  low  rates  in  con- 
sideration of  their  using  a  specified  minimum  amount  of  current  an- 
nually, often  find  it  difficult  to  gauge  their  power  requirement  closely 
enough  to  avoid  an  unused  surplus.  Under  such  a  condition  the  dilTer- 
ence  between  the  amount  of  current  they  can  use  for  power  and  the 
amount  they  must  pay  for  whether  they  use  it  or  not  can  be  utilized 
with  great  economy  for  operating  an  electric  boiler  for  steam  heating 
or  for  process  steam. 

Stores  Energy  at  Night  for  Use  Next  Day 

Still  another  use  to  which  these  boilers  are  put  is  to  store  up 
energy  at  night,  when  power  requirements  are  zero  —  or  at  least  at  a 
minimum  —  and  give  out  this  energy  in  the  form  of  steam  for  heating 
or  process  work  next  day.  During  the  day  current  from  the  plant's 
hydro-electric  generators  is  needed  for  mechanical  power,  but  after 
plant  operations  have  ceased  the  current  may  be  fed  into  the  electric 
boiler.  By  morning,  when  it  is  necessary  again  to  turn  the  current 
over  to  plant  operation,  the  boiler  has  absorbed  heat  enough  to  allow 
steam  —  at  a  steadily  reducing  pressure,  of  course  —  to  be  drawn  ofif 
throughout  the  day.  In  this  way,  the  water  that  would  otherwise  go 
to  waste  over  the  dam  is  made  to  pay  dividends. 

In  principle,  electric  steam  generators  consist  of  either  a  horizontal 
or  vertical  steel  shell  in  which  —  for  three-phase  current  —  three  elec- 
trodes enter  the  top  through  steam-tight  insulators  and  extend  down- 
ward far  enough  to  submerge  a  considerable  portion  of  their  surface 
in  the  boiler  water.  In  some  designs  these  electrodes  are  of  cast  iron; 
in  vertical  installations  they  may  be  steel  plates  bent  so  as  to  make 
them  concentric  with  the  shell.  While  details  of  design  vary  greatly, 
all  such  boilers  are  alike  in  that  they  have  no  heating  coils,  but  depend 
on  the  flow  of  electric  current  through  the  water  to  create  the  heat 
whereby  steam  is  formed. 

Either  automatic  or  hand  regulation  must  be  provided  to  take  care 
of  fluctuating  demands  for  steam  and  to  compensate  for  the  los;5  of 
resistance  of  the  water  as  its  temperature  rises. 

One  type  of  boiler  (shown  in  Figure  i)  has  the  electrodes  extend- 
ing downward  inside  of  what  resemble  inverted  metal  cups  —  called 
evaporation  chambers.  Steam  is  formed  inside  these  chambers  and 
rises  to  the  top,  where  it  is  drawn  off  into  a  receiving,  pipe.  This  re- 
ceiving pipe   returns   the   steam   to   the   boiler   at   another   point.      By 


72 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


July, 


partly  closing  the  butterfly  valve  shown  in  the  sketch,  pressure  can  be 
built  up  within  the  evaporation  chambers.  This  forces  down  the  water 
level  in  the  chambers  and  leaves  less  of  the  surface  of  the  electrodes 
immersed,  thus  decreasing  the  flow  of  electric  current  and  lowering  the 
rate  of  evaporation.  By  closing  the  butterfly  valve  completely  the 
water  level  may  be  forced  low  enough  to  uncover  the  electrodes  —  a 
condition  that  would  stop  evaporation. 


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Other  types  of  boilers  have  no  evaporation  chambers  as  dis- 
tinguished from  the  boiler  proper  but,  in  their  stead,  have  a  cylindrical 
metal  tube  around  each  electrode.  (See  Fig.  2.)  These  tubes  are 
open  at  top  and  bottom  and  in  as  much  as  they  are  all  connected  to- 
gether mechanically  by  a  bar  which  passes  out  through  the  boiler  shell, 
they  serve  as  the  neutral.  Their  function  is  two-fold,  for  besides 
tending  to  prevent  the  formation  of  air  bubbles  on  the  electrodes  by 
increasing  the  circulation  of  the  water  immediately  surrounding  the 
latter,  they  are  so  arranged  that  they  can  be  raised  or  lowered  to  de- 
crease or  increase  the  length  of  path  between  conductors  and,  as  a 
direct  result,  control  the  electric  input. 


1928. THE    LOCOMOTIVE 73 

Still  other  boilers  are  controlled  by  varyinj^  the  amount  of  feed 
water  so  as  to  control  directly  the  height  to  which  the  water  extends 
upward  around  the  electrodes. 

Automatic  control  for  almost  all  types  may  be  secured  on' the  basis 
of  constant  steam  pressure,  constant  temperature,  constant  power  input, 
or  variable  power  input  to  absorb  all  electrical  energy  not  required  else- 
where. The  ease  with  which  such  control  may  be  provided  to  meet 
the  individual  plant  recjuirements.  and  the  celerity  with  which  these 
boilers  respond  to  a  sudden  demand  for  more  steam  are  two  of  their 
most  advantageous  features. 

Overheating  of  the  boiler  shell  because  of  low  water  —  so  much 
feared  in  fuel-fired  boilers  —  is  not  a  hazard  in  electric  installations. 
As  the  water  level  drops,  less  and  less  current  flows  and  if,  by  chance, 
the  level  should  drop  low  enough  to  uncover  the  electrodes,  the  current 
would  be  shut  ofY  altogether.  However,  electric  boilers,  like  their  fuel- 
fired  contemporaries,  are  subject  to  cracking,  corrosion  and  pitting. 
In  addition,  there  has  as  yet  been  no  conclusive  proof  that  under  cer- 
tain conditions  of  design  and  operation  they  are  not  liable  to  an  ex- 
plosion due  to  the  ignition  of  a  mixture  of  hydrogen  and  oxygen. 

Explosion  Led  to  Expcrimcufal  Research 

In  1924  an  electric  hot  water  generator  (not  a  steam  generator) 
exploded  violently  in  a  residence  at  Winnipeg,  Manitoba.  Among  several 
theories  advanced  to  explain  it,  one  was  that  it  was  a  hydrogen  ex- 
plosion. As  a  result,  a  series  of  experiments  were  conducted  by  Prof. 
J.  W.  Shipley  of  the  University  of  Manitoba,  and  A.  Blackie  of  the 
National  Testing  Laboratories,  whereby  they  demonstrated  that  al- 
ternating current  can  break  water  down  into  hydrogen  and  oxygen. 
Previous  to  that  time  it  was  supposed  that  while  direct  current  could 
bring  about  electrolysis,  alternating  current  was  incapable  of  producing 
that  efifect.  The  findings  of  jMessrs.  Shipley  and  Blackie  were  pub- 
lished in  the  Ehectrical  Nczvs,  February  15,  1926. 

Several  radically  diflferent  explanations  were  ofifered  for  the  explo- 
sion at  Winnipeg.  Some  believed  it  to  have  been  caused  by  over- 
pressure, due  to  a  stoppage  of  the  pipe  leading  to  the  expansion  tank. 
Others  were  inclined  toward  accepting  the  hydrogen  explosion  theory. 
A  point  that  all  were  able  to  agree  on  was  that  the  3^  inch  pipe  to  the 
expansion  tank  was  too  small  for  safe  operation.  This  had,  previous 
to  the  explosion,  caused  water  hammer  and  surging  when  the  thermo- 
stat controlled  valve  closed  and  caused  the  pressure  to  back  up  into 
the  expansion  tank. 


74 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


July, 


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Figure  j 

From  the  diagrammatic  sketch  in  Figure  3  it  can  be  seen  that 
in  case  an  explosive  gas  were  formed  it  would  collect  in  the  upper  part 
of  the  electrode  chamber,  from  which  there  was  no  provision  for  its 
escape.     It  is  conceivable  that  enough  steam  and  gas  pressure  could  be 


•9->8.  T  U  E    L  O  C  O  M  O  T  I  V  E  75 


produced  to  force  the  water  downward  in  the  electrode  chamber  far 
enough  so  that  a  sudden  surge  would  uncover  the  electrodes.  An  arc 
occurring  at  the  instant  contact  was  broken  might  detonate  the  gas 
mixture.  While  this  theory  is  mentioned  as  a  possible  cause,  it  is 
equally  reasonal)le  to  assume  that  the  accident  might  have  been  caused 
by  over-pressure.  In  any  event  the  force  was  so  violent  that  it  tore 
the  joint  where  the  head  was  welded  to  the  outer  shell  and  threw  head, 
electrodes,  and  inner  shell  up  through  the  roof. 

While  considering  the  gas  explosion  theory,  as  applied  to  the  case 
just  mentioned,  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  hot  water  generators 
and  steam  generators  are  enough  different  in  principle  as  to  make  it  un- 
likely that  the  same  condition  could  arise  in  the  case  of  a  steam  genera- 
tor. In  the  type  of  hot  water  generator  just  described  there  was  a 
tight  trap  in  which  gas  could  form  without  chance  of  escape,  while  in 
the  steam  generator  such  gas  as  is  formed  is  continually  being  carried 
out  with  the  steam.  For  that  reason  there  would  seem  to  be  very 
little  opportunity  for  explosive  gases  to  accumulate  inside  the  boiler. 

Outside  of  the  case  at  Winnipeg  there  have  been  no  other  electric 
boiler  explosions  in  which  evidence  pointed  to  hydrogen  gas  being 
the  cause.  This,  together  with  the  fact  that  many  electric  steam  gen- 
erators are  giving  entire  satisfaction,  seems  to  justify  the  assumption 
that  the  hazard  from  gas  explosion  is  negligible.  Yet  too  little  is  now 
known  of  these  comparatively  new  devices  to  certify  that  assumption 
as  a  fact. 


Working  on  a  "  Live  ''  Steam  Line 

SOAIETIIMES,  when  a  wisp  of  steam  shows  the  presence  of  a 
small  leak  at  a  pipe  joint  or  union,  it  is  a  great  temptation  for  the 
engineer  or  pipe  fitter  to  "  take  a  chance  "  by  tightening  the  joint 
while  pressure  is  still  on  the  line.  Such  a  piece  of  carelessness  sent 
two  men  to  the  hospital  recently  as  the  result  of  their  attempt  to  put 
the  finishing  touches  on  an  overhauling  job  at  a  Bridgeport,  Connecti- 
cut, laundry.  An  extensive  repair  job  had  been  completed  and  steam 
at  a  hundred  pounds  pressure  had  been  turned  into  the  line  when  the 
two  pipe  fitters  found  a  leak  which  they  thought  could  be  fixed  easily 
by  means  of  a  Stillson  wrench.  The  union  split  while  they  were  work- 
ing on  it  and  both  men  were  badly  scalded. 


76 THE    LOCOMOTIVE J^ 

Kier  and  Auto  Clave  Explosions 

DUE  probably  to  the  relative  scarcity  of  kiers,  auto-claves,  and 
similar  pressure  vessels  in  comparison  with  the  number  of  steam 
boilers  in  use,  accidents  involving  this  class  of  equipment  are 
likewise  relatively  less  numerous.  As  a  consequence  it  is  not  at  all 
surprising  when  The  Hartford  Company  finds  factory  executives  who 
fail  to  appreciate  the  probability  of  disastrous  mishaps  to  these  vessels. 
Kiers.  auto-claves,  and  closed  feed  water  heaters  differ  from  steam 
boilers  chiefly  in  that  they  are  not  called  upon  to  endure  contact  with 
furnace  heat,  yet  they  are  subject  to  almost  all  the  hazards  of  boiler 
operation  excepting  ruptures  due  to  overheating  of  plates  and  tubes.  In 
addition,  the  nature  of  materials  placed  in  them  and  the  fact  that 
manv  of  them  have  removable  lids  or  heads  for  filling  and  emptying, 
often  cause  failures  peculiar  to  their  kind  of  vessel. 

On  The  Hartford's  records  is  an  account  of  a  very  disastrous  acci- 
dent to  an  auto-clave  in  which  fine  wood  chips  were  treated  for  the 
extraction  of  a  tanning  fluid.  This  clave  was  made  of  copper,  stood 
vertically,  and  had  a  bottom  door  of  iron  through  which  the  chips 
were  expelled  at  the  end  of  the  process.  A  safety  valve  on  the  top 
head  was  set  to  blow  at  25  pounds  —  a  pressure  considered  to  be  well 
within  the  capability  of  the  vessel.  The  explosion  occurred  when  an 
iron  ring  to  which  the  door  was  bolted  gave  way  and  allowed  the  door 
to  swing  downward.  Reaction  of  escaping  steam  hurled  the  clave 
through  the  roof.     Three  men  were  injured,  one  of  them  fatally. 

JVood  Chips  Had  Blocked  Safety  J^alvc 

There  was  a  pressure  reducing  valve,  set  at  65  pounds,  between  the 
boiler  and  the  clave,  yet  the  violence  of  the  explosion  was  such  as  to 
lead  to  the  belief  that  this  valve  failed  to  function  and  allowed  full  boiler 
pressure  to  enter  the  vessel.  The  presence  of  a  safety  valve  on  top 
of  the  clave  had  been  counted  on  to  prevent  excessive  pressure,  but  an 
examination  after  the  accident  disclosed  that  wood  chips  had  rendered 
it  inoperative.  Safety  valves  on  other  claves  in  the  plant  were  then 
examined  for  this  defect  and  several  of  them  were  found  to  be  blocked. 
In  order  to  lessen  the  probability  of  another  similar  accident  The  Hart- 
ford's inspector  recommended  that  an  additional  spring-loaded  safety 
valve  be  placed  in  the  steam  line  between  reducing  valve  and  clave,  a 
place  where  chips  could  not  enter  it.  Property  damage  amounting  to 
$6,359.87  was  covered  by  a  Hartford  policy. 

At   another   plant   a   clave    for   cooking   alum   exploded   when   the 


1928.  T  II  K    L  O  C  O  M  O  T  I  V  E  77 


bottom  head  ruptured  at  the  flange.  This  piece  of  apparatus  had  an 
inner  steel  pot  lined  with  lead,  and  an  outer  shell  of  boiler  plate.  Com- 
posite coils  of  lead  and  benedict  metal  were  submerged  in  the  liquid  alum 
and  carried  steam  at  a  pressure  of  160  pounds.  To  counteract  the 
pressure  tending  to  rupture  the  tubes,  air  pressure  of  i8o  pounds  was 
maintained  in  the  outer  shell.  Failure  was  brought  about  Ijy  the  cor- 
rosive substance  slopping  out  of  the  pot  and  collecting  in  the  lower 
head  of  the  outside  shell,  where  it  caused  pitting.  Four  employees 
were  injured;  one  of  them  died.     Property  damage  amounted  to  $23,- 

361.34- 

Investigation  of  an  explosion  that  blew  the  upper  head  from  a  cotton 
bleaching  kier  disclosed  that  the  head  lacked  sufficient  rigidity.  Twenty- 
eigiit  holding-down  bolts  were  intended  to  hold  the  cover  in  place  but 
four  of  them  were  not  in  serviceable  condition  and  the  kier  was  being 
operated  without  them.  In  as  much  as  a  new  gasket  had  just  been 
fitted,  it  is  believed  that  the  attendants,  finding  that  the  gasket  made 
it  less  difficult  to  keep  the  lid  tight,  did  not  tighten  the  bolts  enough  to 
keep  the  lid  from  springing  out  from  under  them.  Damage  amounted 
to  $1,326.31. 

A  closed  feed  water  heater,  approved  for  160  pounds  pressure  and 
operating  at  about  135,  ruptured  the  top  head  at  the  turn  of  the  flange. 
Excessive  pitting  was  found  to  be  the  cause. 

Did  Not  Put  Uniform  Tension  on  Bolts 

Failure  of  attendants  to  put  equal  tension  on  twelve  J^  inch  holding- 
down  bolts  allowed  the  head  of  a  kier  at  a  lace  mill  to  blow  off  with 
considerable  violence.  The  kier  was  operating  under  pressure  of  30 
pounds  and  contained  a  quantity  of  lace  being  treated  with  caustic  soda. 
After  the  accident  four  bolts  were  found  to  be  broken.  Others  were 
pushed  from  their  slots.  It  is  believed  that  the  four  tightest  bolts  were 
carrying  the  whole  load.  When  they  broke,  the  shock  jarred  the  looser 
iDolts   out   of    place.      The   accident   caused   damage   to   the   extent   of 

$4,843-98. 

Experience  has  shown  that  where  corrosive  liquids  or  solids  in 
suspension  are  used  in  a  kier  or  auto  clave,  there  is  danger  of  safety 
valves  and  pressure  gauges  being  rendered  inoperative  when  they 
are  placed  on  the  top  head.  This  may  occur  even  when  an  inner  baffle 
is  provided  to  keep  the  contents  from  contact  with  the  head.  As 
safety  measures  it  is  necessary  to  have  not  only  a  reducing  valve  to  limit 
the  steam  pressure  to  the  maximum  allowable,  but  also  a  safety  valve 
placed  between  the  reducing  valve  and  the  kier  where  it  will  not  be 


78  THELOCOMOTIVE  J"iy. 

subject  to  contact  with  the  vessel's  contents.  Frequent  inspections 
should  be  made  to  discover  possible  weakening  of  the  shell  by  corro- 
sion or  pitting. 

In  The  Locomotive  of  April,  1924,  there  appeared  an  article  on 
Safety  Valves  applied  to  pressure  vessels  other  than  boilers.  It  will 
prove  to  be  a  valuable  reference  for  anyone  engaged  in  operating  or  in- 
stalling vessels  such  as  are  mentioned  herein. 


Protecting  Motors  Against  Overload 

THE  importance  of  adequate  overload  protection  and  proper  lubri- 
cation is  well  illustrated  by  the  accompanying  photograph  of  a 
73^  hp.  squirrel  cage,  2-phase  induction  motor  with  its  insula- 
tion completely  burned  out.  Lack  of  oil  caused  the  shaft  to  seize  in  its 
bearings  and  the  rotor,  thus  brought  to  a  stand-still,  caused  the  stator 
winding  to  draw  an  abnormal  amount  of  current  from  the  line.  Before 
attendants  discovered  the  situation  and  opened  the  switch  the  insula- 
tion had  been  thoroughly  roasted.  Had  there  been  proper  protective 
devices  the  motor  would  have  been  automatically  disconnected  from  the 
circuit  when  slowing  down  of  the  rotor  caused  an  excessive  amount  of 
current  to  pass  through  the  stator  windings.  In  all  probability  ther- 
mal cut-outs  or  time  delay  fuses  would  have  saved  the  windings  of 
this  motor. 

It  is  generally  recognized  that  the  weak  link  in  an  electrical  machine 
is  its  insulation.  The  temperature  to  which  the  insulation  is  heated  in 
overload  operation  has  a  lot  to  do  with  its  length  of  life.  To  exceed 
normal  temperature  greatly  for  any  length  of  time  causes  rapid  deter- 
ioration in  as  much  as  any  great  temperature  increase,  such  as  is 
caused  by  severe  overload,  will  roast  the  insulation. 

In  starting  small  alternating  current  motors  it  is  common  practice 
to  throw  them  directly  across  the  line.  This  necessitates  using  fuses  of 
a  capacity  large  enough  to  take  care  of  the  starting  current  —  which  is 
from  three  to  five  times  the  normal  full  load  current.  When  this  ex- 
cess current  flows  through  the  windings  only  for  the  time  it  takes  the 
motor  to  get  up  to  speed,  it  causes  no  damage.  But  should  the  machine 
be  subjected  to  such  a  current  continuously  it  is  obvious  that  these  fuses 
could  not  be  regarded  as  proper  protection. 

To  get  around  this  danger,  some  installations  are  provided  with 
double-throw  switches  with  starting  and  running  fuses.  However,  this 
arrangement  entails  the  hazard  of  the  operator  failing  to  hold  the  switch 
in  the  starting  position  long  enough  to  bring  the  machine  up  to  speed. 


1928. 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


79 


In  this  way  one  of  the  running  fuses  may  be  blown  out,  thus  causing 
the  machine  to  operate  single-phase  and  burn  out  the  wiading.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  operator  may  be  so  slow  in  throwing  th(;  switch  from 
the  starting  to  the  running  position  that  the  motor  will  drop  below  speed 
during  the  interval  the  switch  is  passing  through  the  open  position. 
Under  such  a  condition  the  excessive  starting  current  would  blow  the 
running  fuses. 

A  better  way  to  provide  overload  protection  is  by  the  use  of  ther- 
mal cutouts  or  time  delay  fuses.    Such  devices  permit  a  relatively  large 

current  to  flow  long 
enough  to  bring  the  ma- 
chine up  to  speed,  but 
open  the  circuit  if  this 
excessive  current  contin- 
ues to  flow  for  a  longer 
period.  In  general,  pro- 
tective devices  for  mo- 
tors should  be  set  ap- 
l)roximately  25  per  cent, 
above  full-load  current. 
When  a  2-  or  3-phase 
motor  is  protected  by 
thermal  cutouts  or  time 
delay  fuses  all  such  de- 
vices for  a  given  ma- 
chine or  circuit  should 
be  of  the  same  capacity. 
The  underlying  cause 
of  failure  of  the  motor  herein  illustrated  was,  of  course,  seizing  ot  the 
shaft  due  to  softening  of  the  babbit  by  the  heat  of  friction.  For  electrical 
machinery  it  is  important  to  select  only  the  best  grade  of  mineral  oil  of 
a  density  that  will  allow  the  oil  rings  to  pick  it  up  and  carry  it  readily. 
Too  much  oil  should  be  avoided,  for  an  excess  may  be  drawn  into  the 
windings  where  it  will  cause  deterioration  of  the  insulation,  collect  dust 
and  dirt,  and  eventually  bring  about  a  short-circuit. 

The  proper  amount  of  oil  may  be  maintained  by  keeping  the  level 
just  below  the  top  of  the  overflow  cups.  Oil  should  never  be  added 
while  the  machine  is  in  operation,  for  at  that  time  a  great  deal  of  oil  is 
being  carried  by  the  rings  and  the  apparent  level  in  the  cup  is  a  false 
one.  Should  the  cup  be  filled  while  the  shaft  is  revolving,  it  will  over- 
flow when  the  machine  is  stopped  and  the  oil  drains  from  the  rings. 


8o 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


July, 


Broken  Blade  Wrecks  Turbo-Generator 

SUDDEN  breaking  of  blades,  probably  caused  by  a  slug  of  water 
coming  through  with  the  steam,  led  to  the  destruction  of  a  4,000 
kw.  turbo-generator  at  the  plant  of  Indianapolis  Power  and  Light 
Company  at  Indianapolis,  Indiana,  on  April  28th  of  this  year.     When 
the  clear,  ringing  hum  of  the  smooth-running  turbine  suddenly  changed 
to  an  ominous  rumbling,  attendants  attempted  to  avert  an  accident  by 


Figure  i 

tripping  the  emergency  mechanism  and  closing  the  throttle  valve.  The 
break-up  occurred  about  twenty  seconds  later.  Fortunately,  no  one 
was  hurt. 

W'hat  is  thought  to  have  happened  is  that  the  broken  blades  Ijecame 
jammed  between  the  revolving  rotor  and  the  stator,  thus  bringing  the 
machine  to  a  stop  so  abruptly  that  the  inertia  of  the  heavy,  revolving 
parts  broke  the  rotor  in  two  by  breaking  off  ten  bolts  in  the  coupling 
between  the  stub-shaft  and  the  steam  rotor,  bent  the  stub  shaft,  and 
twisted  the  field  shaft  into  three  pieces. 

The  accompanying  photographs  were  taken  shortly  after  the  wreck. 
Figure  i  is  a  view  of  the  steam  end ;  Figure  2  shows  how  the  heavy 


1928. 


THK    LOCOMOTIVE 


81 


field  shaft  was  bent  and  twisted  olT. 

At  (j:50  on  tlie  iii^ht  of  the  accident  the  switchboard  operator  heard 
a  low.  runihling  noise  which  continued  for  about  three  minutes.  During 
that  time  the  meters  indicated  tliat  the  load  was  about  2.1 00  kw.  This 
took  a  sudden  drop  of  800  kw.  and  shortly  thereafter  another  drop  of 
500  kw.    The  operator  saw  that  the  field  current  and  the  e.xciter  voltage 


Figure  2 

were  normal  and  suspected  that  the  load  fluctuation  might  be  due  to  a 
ground  in  the  armature.  It  occurred  to  him  also  that  the  strange  sound 
coming  from  the  turbine  might  be  due  to  water  in  the  steam.  He  had 
signalled  the  boiler  room  to  be  on  the  look-out  for  this  when  he  saw 
the  operating  engineer,  whose  attention  also  had  been  attracted  by  the 
unit's  strange  behavior,  signal  for  him  to  take  the  unit  off  the  line  by 
opening  the  switch.  While  this  was  being  done  the  engineer  tripped 
the  emergency  mechanism  and  closed  the  throttle.  Immediately  there- 
after the  wreck  occurred. 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE  J"iy. 


Both  steam  and  electrical  ends  of  the  unit  were  total  losses.  The 
only  parts  left  intact  were  the  generator  bed  plate,  the  throttle  va^-e, 
and  the  operating  valve.  Pieces  hurled  from  the  turbine  casing  broke 
fittings  on  two  steam  mains.  The  loss,  which  amounted  to  $45,000, 
was  covered  by  a  policy  in  The  Hartford  Company  and  was  paid  within 
ten  days  after  the  date  of  the  accident. 


Revolving  Shafting 

Revolving  shafting  is  very  deceiving.  While  it  looks  to  be  perfectly 
smooth,  still  it  is  capable  of  catching  anything  that  is  loose,  such  as 
neckties,  shoestrings,  hair,  ragged  sleeves,  waste,  ropes,  etc.  Constant 
caution  is  necessary  while  w'orking  around  revolving  machinery,  espe- 
ciallv  shafting. —  National  Safety  Council. 


Water  Hammer  Accident  Kills  Three 

Three  men  were  fatally  scalded  when,  on  March  2,  water  hammer 
ruptured  a  steam  pipe  aboard  the  passenger  steamer  Senator  Cordill 
near  Gallipolis,  Ohio.  A  coroner's  jury  found  that  the  accident  resulted 
from  failure  to  remove  condensation  from  the  cold  steam  pipe  before 
steam  was  turned  into  it.  The  Senator  Cordill  was  said  to  be  the  largest 
passenger  steamer  plying  the  upper  Ohio  river. 


Crushed   as  Well   as   Scalded? 

Every  man  to  his  trade  is  good  advice,  but  what  about  newspaper- 
men who,  in  the  course  of  their  writing,  are  expected  to  delve  under- 
standingly  into  every  field  of  human  activity.  Is  it  any  wonder  that 
one  paper  recently  said,  in  telling  of  the  rupture  of  a  steam  pipe, 
that  it  "threw  250  pounds  of  steam  onto  the  engineer"? 

And  this  is  scarcely  less  remarkable  than  the  newspaper  report  of 
a  flywheel  explosion  which  occurred  because  the  governor  failed  and 
the  engine  ran  away.     According  to  the  paper  the  engine  "  ran  off." 


Quite  a  Trick  These  Days 

She :     "  What  would  you  call  a  man  who  hid  behind  a  woman's 
skirts  ?  " 

He  :     "  A  magician."  —  Powcrfax 


'^-8.  T  H  E    L  O  C  O  M  O  T  I  V  E  83 


laps  From  the  Old  Chief  V  Hammer 

ALTHOUGH  his  resourcefulness  was  wrongly  applied  and  might 
easily  have  had  fatal  results,  a  water  tender  on  a  portable  steam 
threshing  outfit  in  the  state  of  Washington  displayed  something 
closely  akin  to  ingenuity  when  he  used  sand  to  augment  a  meagre  suj)- 
ply  of  boiler  feed  water.  The  engineer,  who  was  injured  in  the  re- 
sulting explosion,  recently  related  the  story  to  one  of  our  inspectors : 

"  We  had  been  threshing  about  four  w(?eks  when  I  decided  that 
the  boiler  needed  cleaning.  In  as  much  as  I  had  planned  to  spend  Sun- 
day with  my  family,  I  persuaded  the  water  tender  and  another  man  of 
the  crew  to  undertake  the  job.  On  returning  later  Sunday  evening,  I 
found  the  boiler  filled  and  apparently  ready  for  a  sunrise  start. 

"  Next  morning  we  fired  up  and  everything  seemed  to  be  ship- 
shape. Some  time  later  I  stepped  to  the  footboard  and  started  the 
engine.  There  was  a  snapping  crash  and  as  I  leaped  from  the  foot- 
board I  saw  the  rear  of  the  engine  bed  rise  about  three  inches.  At 
that  moment  my  face  and  eyes  were  filled  with  sand  and  stubble  and, 
of  course,  I  was  in  no  condition  to  observe  anything  more  until  a  doc- 
tor had  picked  the  sand  out  of  my  face.  Fortunately,  my  eyes  were 
not  badly  injured. 

"  We  found  that  the  crown  sheet  had  dropped,  after  tearing  away 
from  the  tube  sheet.  Each  one  of  us  had  some  theory  to  offer  as  to 
why  it  happened.  That  is  to  say,  each  one  except  the  water  tender. 
He  listened  intently  to  our  discussion  and  said  nothing.  When  we  had 
exhausted  every  explanation  we  could  think  of,,  he  asked  casually  if 
we  thought  a  little  sand  in  the  boiler  could  have  had  anything  to  do 
with  the  accident.  Encouraged  by  our  interest  in  his  question,  he  ex- 
plained that  after  he  and  his  partner  cleaned  the  boiler  they  found 
that  they  lacked  water  enough  to  fill  the  boiler  so  that  it  showed  in 
the  gauge  glass.  Not  wanting  to  haul  water  that  night,  they  decided 
on  what  appeared  to  them  to  be  a  very  satisfactory  method  of  coping 
with  the  difficulty.  They  poured  sand  through  the  filling  plug  until 
the  water  rose  to  the  proper  level  in  the  gauge. 

"  The  filling  plug  being  on  the  front  end,  a  great  pile  of  sand  set- 
tled on  the  crown  sheet.  When  I  examined  the  sheet  I  found  it 
glazed  over  with  a  layer  of  molten  silica.  Naturally,  it  was  quite  im- 
possible for  the  sheet  to  escape  burning.  Had  he  made  a  deliberate 
attempt  to  blow  up  the  boiler,  the  water  tender  could  not  have  chosen 
a  more  certain  method." 


84 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


July, 


A  QUARTERLY   MAGAZINE 
DEVOTED   TO    POWER   PLANT   PROTECTION 

■  George  Hargis   Prall,   Editor 
Copyright  1928  by  The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection  and  Insurance  Company 

HARTFORD,  CONN.,  July  i,   1928 

Single  Copies  can  be  obtained  free  by  calling  at  any  of  the  company's  agencies. 

Subscription  price  50  cents  per  year  when  mailed  from  this   office. 

Recent  bound  volumes  one  dollar  each.     Earlier  ones  two  dollars. 

Reprinting  matter  from  this  paper  is  permitted  if  credited  to 

The  Locomotive  of  The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection  &  Insurance  Co. 


A  FEW  weeks  ago  five  New  Jersey  women  employed  to  put  radium 
paint  on  luminous  watch  dials,  found  that  they  had  contracted  a 
serious  bone  disease  through  touching  their  lips  with  brushes 
dipped  in  the  material  with  which  they  were  working.  They  had  no 
legal  claim  for  compensation,  but  a  federal  court  judge,  acting  as  un- 
official arbitrator  by  consent  of  the  parties,  aided  the  women  in  obtain- 
ing a  monetary  award. 

With  rapid  strides  being  made  by  engineers  and  chemists  in  main- 
taining America's  prosperity  by  the  constant  development  of  more 
economical  methods  of  producing  almost  every  commodity  from  shoe- 
laces to  power,  the  responsibilities  involved  in  making  new  processes 
and  materials  safe  for  the  workmen  employed  in  their  use  calls  for  skill 
and  ingenuity  of  a  high  order.  And  while,  in  spite  of  the  development 
of  safety  devices  and  improvements  in  methods  and  design,  industrial 
casualties  still  occur,  there  is  unmistakable  evidence  that  efl^orts  to  keep 
them  at  a  minimum  have  not  been  in  vain.  Especially  is  this  so  in  the 
field  of  steam  and  electric  power  production,  where  plant  owners  in 
general  appreciate  the  danger  lurking  in  neglected  equipment  and  under- 
stand the  value  of  periodic  check-ups  by  competent  inspectors. 


'9^^ THE    LOCOMOTIVE 85 

The  Boiler  Accident  List 

I'TIOR  years  one  of  the  regular  features  of  Tiii;  Locomotive  has 
"^  been  a  Hst  of  explosions,  fractures,  and  ruptures  of  boilers  and 
other  pressure  vessels.     The  Company  has  continued  the  publica- 
tion of  this  data  on  the  assumption  that  it  has  been  not  only  of  interest 
but  valuable  to  some  of  its  clients.     So  far  as  is  known,  the  list  has 
been  the  only  one  of  its  kind  published  in  this  country. 

However,  the  list  has  occupied  four  or  five  pages  of  valuable  space 
in  each  issue.  The  publishers  feel  that,  perhaps,  this  space  could  be 
used  to  better  advantage  in  presenting  matter  of  a  livelier  and  more 
interesting  nature.  In  order  to  determine  how  many  of  the  readers 
are  interested  in  having  the  list  continued,  a  coupon  has  been  inserted 
on  another  page  of  this  issue.  The  number  of  such  coupons  filled  out 
and  returned  to  us  will  serve  as  the  best  evidence  as  to  whether  there 
is  any  considerable  demand  on  the  part  of  our  readers  that  publication 
of  this  list  be  continued. 

Even  in  the  event  that  the  decision  should  be  to  discontinue  publish- 
ing the  list  herein,  the  Company  still  will  follow  out  its  practice  of 
compiling  this  data  on  boiler  accidents  and  will  continue  to  make  it 
available  to  such  persons  or  firms  as  have  use  for  it. 


New  San  Francisco  Branch  Office 

OX  June  I  The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection  and  Insurance 
Company  started  operating,  through  its  own  branch  office,  the 
San  Francisco  territory  theretofore  supervised  by  H.  R.  ^lann  & 
Company.  'Mr.  C.  B.  Paddock,  formerly  chief  inspector  at  Seattle  and 
more  recently  superintendent  of  the  Pacific  Coast  Division,  has  been 
appointed  manager.  His  territory  includes  the  states  of  California, 
Arizona,  and  Nevada. 

Creation  of  this  branch  office  terminated  the  long  and  valued  service 
of  Messrs.  H.  R.  Mann  &  Company  and  the  predecessors  of  that  firm 
who  for  over  forty  years  had  loyally  and  successfully  represented  the 
Company  as  general  agents.  Although  it  was  natural  that  both  that 
firm  and  the  Company  should  regret  deeply  the  breaking  of  this  old 
business  relationship,  both  were  able  to  foresee  in  the  change  of  ad- 
ministration certain  advantages  which  influenced  'its  adoption. 

The  change  to  the  branch  office  plan  is  in  line  with  the  Company's 
general  policy  of  directing  its  business  elsewhere  in  the  country  where 
experience  has  shown  that  the  intracacies  of  machinery  insurance  with 


86  THELOCOMOTIVE  J"iy> 


its  many  modern  and  varied  forms  of  coverage  may  be  most  success- 
fully and  economically  handled  through  the  direct  contact  which  a 
branch  office  brings  about  between  the  Company  and  its  patrons  and 
agents.  As  to  Mann  &  Company,  the  release  from  responsibility  for 
the  Company's  aflfairs  will  enable  the  members  of  that  firm  to  give 
their  undivided  time  and  attention  to  their  large  and  continually  ex- 
panding business  in  fire,  marine,  and  casualty  insurance. 

The  San  Francisco  branch  office  will  occupy  a  part  of  the  quarters 
of  H.  R.  Mann  &  Company  at  114  Sansome  street. 


Appointment 

E.  G.  Watson,  formerly  resident  agent  at  Seattle,  has  been  made 
manager  and  chief  inspector  of  the  Seattle  Department.  The  appoint- 
ment carries  with  it  certain  added  responsibilities  for  which  Mr.  Wat- 
son is  well  fitted  by  reason  of  his  experience  and  accomplishment  while 
resident  agent.     The  change  was  made  effective  on  June  i. 


Continue  the  Boiler  Accident  List 

Editor,  THE  LOCOMOTIVE,  P.  O.  Drawer  2133 

The   Hartford    Steam    Boiler  Hartford,  Conn. 

Inspection   and    Insurance    Co. 

Gentlcnven :  —  I  have  found  the  list  of  boiler  accidents  of 
interest  and  value  to  me.  and  am  in  favor  of  having  the 
list  published  in  its  present  form. 

Remarks : 


(Signed) _ 

(Official  Position) 
(Company) 
(Address) 


1928. 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


87 


The  Company's  Youngest  Apprentice 


Cb 


T 


HE  sooner  you  start,  the  sooner  you'll  get  there,"  seems  to  be 
the  slogan  of  little  Junior  Favre,  whose  one  ambition  is;  to  be- 
come a  bona  fide  boiler  inspector.  Dressed  in  regulation  uni- 
form, he  is  shown  here  with  his  daddy.  Inspector  C.  Favre  of  St.  Louis, 
who  has  taught  Junior  so  many  details  of  the  trade  that  plant  engineers 
among  his  father's  friends  get  a  real  "  kick  "  out  of  trying  to  find  a 
vulnerable  point  in  his  armor  of  information. 

Below  are  a  few  of  the  questions  for 
which  he  is  equipped  with  ready  answers. 
Anyone  not  engaged  in  power  plant  work 
would  be  expected  to  have  a  bit  of  difficulty 
in  answering  all  of  them  ofif-hand. 

What  is  a  fusible  plug  for  ?  "  To  melt 
out  when  the  water  gets  low." 

Where   would   you   put   a    fusible   plug 
in  a  Heine  boiler  ?     "  In  the  first  course  not 
less  than  6"  from  the  bottom  of  the  drum." 
In    a    Stirling    boiler  ?     "  In    the    front 
side  of  the  center  drum."     In  a  B.  &  W. 
boiler  ?    "  In  the  upper  drum  not  less  than 
6"  from  the  bottom  of  the  drum  and  over 
the  first  pass  of  gases."   In  an  H.  T.  boiler  ? 
"  Rear  head,  2"  above  the  tubes."    A  loco- 
motive boiler  ?    "  Crown  sheet."    A  Scotch 
boiler  ?    "  What  kind  of  a  Scotch  boiler  ?" 
A  Scotch  dry-back.    "  Rear  head,  2"  above 
the  tubes."    In  a  wet-back  ?    "  Top  of  the 
combustion  chamber."  In  a  cast  iron  boiler? 
"  On  top  of  the  fire  box." 
What  kind  of  a  valve  do  you  put  between  the  boiler  and  the  safety 
valve?    "  You  don't  put  any  valve  there."    Why?    "  It  would  make  the 
boiler  blow  up." 

What  is  a  steam  gauge  for?  "To  tell  how  much  pressure  is  in 
the  boiler."  What  do  you  put  between  the  steam  gauge  and  the 
boiler?  "A  syphon."  Why?  "To  trap  some  water."  Why  do  you 
want  water  there?     "  To  keep  the  steam  out  of  the  gauge." 

In  addition  to  these,  the  youngster  will,  if  asked,  tell  the  general 
principle  on  which  the  steam  gauge  is  constructed  and  can  recite  the 
formula  for  calculating  the  strength  of  a  boiler  shell. 

(Concluded  at  foot  of  page  88) 


88  THELOCO  MOTIVE  !"'>, 


Hot  Water  Supply  Tank,  Shooting  Through  Roof,  Grazes 

Sleeping  Man 

PROPELLED  by  a  pressure  that  must  have  been  tremendous,  and 
traveling  at  a  velocity  we  have  no  means  of  estimating,  an  explod- 
ing water  supply  boiler  on  JMarch  25  completely  ruined  the  $10,000 
home  of  George  Elbert  of  Reading,  Pa.,  and  came  within  inches  of 
costing  the  man  his  life.  On  its  upward  journey  —  that  carried  it 
out  through  the  roof  — the  rocket-like  projectile  passed  directly  through 
the  bed  on  which  Elbert  was  lying.  Neighbors  and  firemen  found  him 
unconscious,  locked  tightly  in  a  roll  of  mattress  and  tangled  bed-spring. 
Although  he  suffered  from  shock,  his  only  injury  was  a  deep  gash 
in  the  palm  of  one  hand.  Alvich  more  serious  was  the  fact  that  he  had 
no  insurance  to  cover  his  loss.  He  was  preparing  to  make  the  last 
payment  on  the  home  when  the  explosion  damaged  it  beyond  repair 
and  robbed  him  of  his  life's  savings. 

The  shattered  timbers  and  displaced  walls  of  the  Elbert  home,  as 
well  as  serious  damage  to  abutting  houses  and  to  windows  of  other 
places  in  the  neighborhood  impressed  on  those  who  saw  it  the  destruc- 
tive possibilities  of  even  so  small  a  vessel  as  this  one.  While  the  ac- 
companying photograph  gives  some  idea  of  the  damage  to  the  living 
room,  lack  of  space  prevents  the  publishing  of  other  pictures  showing 
the  exterior  of  the  house  and  the  cellar,  where  a  hole  large  enough  to 
accommodate  a  truck  was  blown  through  a  thick  wall  of  masonry. 

The  tank  was  a  foot  in  diameter,  four  feet  long,  and  was  made  of 
3  16"  steel.  Longitudinal  and  head  seams  were  welded.  It  was 
rated  as  capable  of  withstanding  115  pounds  pressure  and  was  being 
used  in  conjunction  with  a  coil  heater  in  which  gas  was  the  fuel. 

After  lighting  the  heater  on  the  morning  of  the  accident,  Elbert 
went  back  to  bed.  Contrary  to  his  intentions  he  fell  asleep.  In  as  much 
as  there  was  no  relief  valve  on  the  tank  and  a  check  valve  in  the  supply 
line  did  not  permit  relief  in  that  direction,  the  stage  was  set  for 
a  violent  blow-up  as  soon  as  the  pressure  reached  a  point  where  the 
tank  could  no  longer  hold  it.  With  a  roar  that  shook  the  whole  neigh- 
borhood, the  bottom  head  blew  off  and  the  tank  shot  through  timbers 
and  woodwork.     No  one  knows  how  high  the  tank  traveled  after  it 

Wliile.  of  course,  his  chosen  work  claims  a  great  deal  of  his  atten- 
tion, the  young  "  inspector  "  is  finding  time  to  develop  himself  along 
other  lines.  He  has  selected  swimming  as  a  hobby  and  already  is  rated 
as  quite  a  diver  for  his  age. 


If>28. 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


89 


Figure  I 

passed  beyond  the  roof.  It  landed  in  the  back  yard  twenty  feet  from 
where  it  started. 

At  Glenolden,  Pa.,  on  March  13  an  explosion  of  a  somewhat  similar 
arrangement  caused  about  $10,000  damage  to  the  home  of  Fred  Werner. 
Although  in  this  case  the  tank  did  not  rise  up  through  the  house,  the 
latter  was  damaged  so  badly  that  to  undertake  repairs  was  not  feasible. 

This  tank,  14^2"  by  32",  was  connected  to  an  automatic  gas  water 
heater,  controlled  by  a  thermostatic  valve.  It  had  no  relief  valve  and, 
as  in  the  case  first  cited,  a  check  valve  prevented  the  pressure  from 
backing  water  out  into  the  city  mains.  Apparently  the  thermostat 
failed  to  close  oflf  the  gas.  The  tank  ripped  open  the  full  length  of 
the  welded  longitudinal  seam. 

While  to  anyone  acquainted  with  pressure  vessels  it  is  obvious 
that  a  relief  valve  is  a  necessity  for  safety,  there  are  some  systems  — 
as  the  one  about  to  be  described  —  in  which  at  first  glance  the  need  of 
such  a  valve  is  not  apparent. 


90 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


July, 


At  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  in  York,  Pa.,  a  hot  water  supply  boiler  was 
used  to  heat  water  for  the  swimming  pool.  Feed  and  discharge  con- 
nections led  directly  to  the  pool,  the  boiler  taking  cold  water  from  the 
bottom  of  the  pool  and  delivering  hot  water  near  the  top.  Operating 
thus  as  an  open  system,  there  appeared  to  be  little  prospect  of  danger 
arising  from  over-pressure.    Yet  on  April  9th  this  boiler  blew  up  with 


Figure  2 

considerable  violence,  as  may  be  seen  from  the  accompanying  illustra- 
tion. 

It  appears  that  in  order  to  drain  and  clean  the  pool,  attendants 
closed  stop  valves  in  the  upper  and  lower  boiler  connections.  After 
refilling  the  pool  the  boiler  was  again  fired  up  and  the  explosion 
occurred.  Apparently  the  valves  had  been  left  closed.  As  a  conse- 
quence pressure  built  up  until  a  point  was  reached  where  something 
had  to  break. 

In  each  of  the  cases  we  have  described,  a  relief  valve  would  have 
prevented  costly  damage. 


1928. 


THE    L  O  C  O  M  O  T I  V  E 


91 


Teaming  Up  Waterwheel  and  Diesel* 

WHEN  power  requirements  increased  to  a  point  where  the  plant's 
water  power  no  longer  sutficed  to  meet  its  peak  load,  a  Southern 
textile   mill    found   a    way   of   retaining   the   economies   of   its 
power  source  by  "  teaming  up  "  its  two  75-hp.   water  wheels  with  a 
Diesel  engine.     The  latter  supplies  the  surplus  above  the  water  wheels' 


///  y///  //////////////////  /  ///////  ///  ///  ,■  //  /////////// A  /  ///  //  ////A  //  /^///  /////  /////// 


^ 


HHR 


F 


O 


Ik 


\ 


s^ 


C 


Uk 


^v^^ty>^v:.'-ic:ng;»«,ff^g«Sia 


>4  S 


capacity  and,  in  seasons  of  low  water,  carries  almost  all  of  the  load. 
To  take  care  of  a  fluctuating  demand  throughout  the  day  the  system  is 
so  arranged  that  a  synchronous  motor  "  rides  "  the  line  until  a  load 
peak  exceeds  the  wheels'  capacity  and  causes  the  shafting  to  slow 
down  slightly.  The  motor  resists  this  effort  to  slow  it  below  its  syn- 
chronous speed  by  drawing  power  from  an  alternator-Diesel  set.  In 
this  way  the  full  possibilities  of  the  water  power  are  utilized,  the  Diesel 
making  up  any  additional  power  when  and  as  the  demand  occurs. 

The  arrangement  of  the  system  is  shown  diagrammatically  in  the 
accompanying  sketch.    The  two  water  wheels  A  and  B  are  in  separate 


*  Material  from  which  this  article  was  prepared  appeared  in  Power. 


92 


THE    LOCO  M  O  T  I  V  E  J"iy, 


housings  and  operate  independently  of  each  other.  Ordinarily  coupling 
C  is  loose.  Wheel  A  drives  shaft  D  which,  in  turn,  drives  both  the 
75  kva  alternating  current  generator  E  and  the  main  shaft  F.  Shaft 
D  drives  several  machines  on  the  first  floor,  generator  E  supplying 
current  for  lighting  and  small  motors.  Wheel  B  drives  shaft  H,  taking 
care  of  additional  equipment  on  the  first  floor.  This  shaft  is  belted 
to  the  main  shaft  F,  thus  allovi^ing  both  vi^heels  to  help  carry  the  load 
of  the  machinery. 

W'hen  this  load  is  within  the  capacity  of  the  two  water  wheels  the 
synchronous  motor  G  merely  "  rides  "  the  line  but  when,  as  mentioned 
above,  a  power  peak  exceeds  the  wheels'  eiTort  the  consequent  slowing 
down  causes  the  motor  to  draw  current  from  a  200  hp.  Diesel-engine- 
driven  generator,  which  is  not  shown  in  the  sketch.  In  seasons  of 
low  water  both  E  and  G  may  be  used  as  motors  to  carry  the  whole  load. 


Caught  in  the  Separator 

Worth  Thinking  About 

The   following  sign  is   displayed   by  the   roadside   at  the   entrance 
to  a  western  town : 

4,076  people  died  last  year  of  gas. 

39   inhaled   it. 

37  put  a  match  to  it. 

And  4.000  stepped  on  it. 

—  Wahvorth  Kcwanec  Craftsman. 


Needless  Worry 

The  Employee:     "  I  came  in  to  ask  if  you  could  raise  my  salary." 

The  Boss  :     "  This  isn't  payday." 

The  Emplo}ee :  "  I  know  that,  but  I  thought  I  would  speak  about 
it  today." 

The  Boss :  "  Go  back  to  your  work  and  don't  worry.  I've  man- 
aged to  raise  it  every  week  so  far,  haven't  I  ?  "  —  Wire  and  Rope 


Obeying  That  Impulse 

The  head  of   a   large   business   house   bought  a   number   of   those 
Do  It  Now  "  signs  and  hung  them  up  around  his  offices.     When, 


1928^ TH  E    LOCOMOTIVE 93 

after  the  first  few  days  of  those  signs,  the  business  man  counted  up 
the  resuhs,  he  found  that  the  cashier  had  skipped  out  with  $20,000, 
the  head  bookkeeper  had  eloped  with  the  stenographer,  three  clerks 
had  asked  for  a  raise  in  salary,  and  the  office  boy  had  lit  out  for  the 
W^est  to  become  a  highwayman. 


How  Could  He  Tell? 

IMannishly  dressed  lady:     "Did  you  catch  any  fish,  little  boy?" 

Country  boy:    "No." 

M.  D.  L.:  "No  what?" 

Boy  (puzzled  by  her  rig)  :  "  Durned  if  I  know." 


Sufficient  Provocation 

"You  are  charged,"  said  the  judge,  "with  beating  up  this  govern- 
ment inspector.     What  have  you  to  say?" 

"  Nothing,"  replied  the  grocer.  "  I  am  guilty.  I  lost  my  head.  All 
morning  I  had  held  my  temper  while  government  agents  inspected 
my  scales,  tasted  my  butter,  smelled  my  meat,  graded  my  kerosene.  In 
addition,  your  honor,  I  had  just  answered  three  federal  questionnaires. 
Then  this  bird  came  along  and  wanted  to  take  moving  pictures  of  my 
cheese  and  I  pasted  him  in  the  eye."  —  Gas  and  Electric  Nczvs.    • 


Amen !    Amen ! 


An  old  negro  got  up  one  night  at  a  revival  meeting  and  said: 
"  Brudders  and  sisters,  you  knows  an'  I  knows  dat  I  ain't  been 
what  I  oughter  been.  I'se  robbed  hen-roosts,  an'  stole  hawgs,  an' 
told  lies,  an'  got  drunk,  an'  slashed  folks  with  mah  razor,  an'  cussed 
an'  swore ;  but  I  thanks  heaven  dere's  one  thing  I  ain't  nebber  done  — 
I  ain't  nebber  lost  mah  religion.  —  Tit-Bits. 


A  Dirty  Dig 

She  (sarcastically)  :   "  I  guess  maybe  you  prefer  the  other  type  of 
woman  who  doesn't  talk  so  much," 
He  :     "  Which  other  type  ?  " 


The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection  and  Insurance  Company 


56  Prospect  Street, 
HARTFORD,  CONN. 


ABSTRACT  OF  STATEMENT,  DECEMBER  31,   1927 


Capital  Stock, 


$2,500,000.00 


ASSETS 


Cash   in   ofifices   and   banks 

Real  Estate     .... 

Mortgage  and  collateral  loans 

Bonds  and  Stocks  . 

Premiums  in  course  of  collection 

Interest  Accrued     . 

Other    Assets  .      ■   . 

Total    Assets 


LIABILITIES 

Reserve  for  unearned  premiums 

Reserve    for  losses  ..... 

Reserve  for  taxes  and  other  contingencies     . 
Capital    Stock    ....... 

Surplus  over  all  liabilities         .... 

Surplus  to  Policyholders, 

Total    Liabilities  .... 


$622,484.21 

283,421.23 

1,366,072.48 

15,023,458.34 

1,363.003.55 

152,728.70 

54,678.59 

$18,865,847.10 


$2,500,000.00 
$6,715,969-30 


$7,710,752.66 

346,047.69 

1.593,07745 


$9,215,969.30 


.  $18,865,847-10 


CHARLES  S.  BLAKE,  Chairman  Board  of  Directors 
WM.  R.  C.  CORSON,  President  and  Treasurer 


BOARD    OF    DIRECTORS 


BR.MNARD, 
Insurance     Co., 


President 
Hartford, 


LUCIUS  F.  ROBINSON,  Attorney.  Hart- 
ford,   Conn. 

JOHN  O.  ENDERS,  Chairman  Board  of 
Directors.  Hartford  National  Bank  & 
Trust   Co.,    Hartford,    Conn. 

MORGAN      B. 

JEtna     Life 
Conn. 

CHARLES  P.  COOLEY,  Chairman  Board 
of  Trustees,  Society  for  Savings,  Hart- 
ford,  Conn. 

HOR.\CE  B.  CHENEY,  Cheney  Brothers, 
Silk  Manufacturers,  South  Manchester, 
Conn. 

D.  NEWTON  BARNEY,  Vice-President 
The  Hartford  Electric  Light  Co.,  Hart- 
ford,   Conn. 

DR.  GEORGE  C.  F.  WILLIAMS,  Presi- 
dent The  Capewell  Horse  Nail  Co., 
Hartford,    Conn. 

JOSEPH  R.  ENSIGN,  President  The 
Ensign-Bickford    Co.,    Simsbury,    Conn. 


EDWARD  MILLIG.A.N,  President  Phoenix 
Insurance    Co.,    Hartford,    Conn. 

CHARLES  S.  BLAKE,  Chairman  Board  of 
Directors,  The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler 
Inspection  and  Insurance  Co.,  Hart- 
ford,  Conn. 

WM.  R.  C.  CORSON,  President  The  Hart- 
ford Steam  Boiler  Inspection  and  In- 
surance  Co.,   Hartford,   Conn. 

SAMUEL  M.  STONE,  President  The  Colt's 
Patent  Fire  Arms  Mfg.  Co.,  Hartford, 
Conn. 

SAMUEL  FERGUSON,  President  The 
Hartford  Electric  Light  Co.,  Hartford, 
Conn. 

HON.  JOHN  H.  TRUMBULL,  President 
The  Trumbull  Electric  Mfg.  Co.,  Plain- 
ville.    Conn. 

CURTISS  C.  GARDINER,  Vice-President 
The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection 
and  Insurance  Company,  80  Maiden 
Lane.   New   York,    N.    Y. 


Incorporated  1866 


Charter  Perpetual 


Department 

ATLANTA.  Ga.. 

1103-1106  Atlanta   Trust    Bld| 

BALTIMORE,  Md.,   . 
13- 14- 15    Abell    Bldg. 

BOSTON.    Mass., 
4  Liberty   Sq.,   Cor.   Water   S 

BRIDGEPORT.  Conn.,       . 
404-405  City  Savings  Bank  Bid 

CHICAGO,  111.,  . 

209  West  Jackson    BTv'd. 

CINCINNATI,    Ohio. 

Eirst  National  Bank  Bldg. 

CLEVELAND,    Ohio, 
Leader  Bldg.    . 

DENVER,  Colo.. 

916-918   Gas   &   Electric    Bldg. 

DETROIT,    Mich.,      . 
2401-7  First  Nat'l   Bank    Bids 

HARTFORD,   Conn., 
56  Prospect  St. 

NEW   ORLEANS,   La.,     . 
1 128  Hibernia   Bank  Bldg. 

NEW   YORK,    N.   Y., 
80  Maiden  Lane 

PHILADELPHIA,   Pa..      . 
429  Walnut  St. 

PITTSBURGH,  Pa.,  . 
1807-8-9-10   Arrott    Bldg. 

ST.   LOUIS,   Mo.,       . 
610-618  Security  Bldg. 

TORONTO,    Canada. 
Federal  Bldg.  . 


Representatives 

W.   M.  Fr.ancis,  Manager. 

C.  R.  Summers,  Chief  Inspector. 

L.\\vFORD  &  McKiM.  General  Agents. 
P.  E.  Terroy,  Chief  Inspector. 

W.^RD  I.  Cornell,  Manager. 

W.  A.  Bavliss,  Chief  Inspector. 

W.  G.  LiNEBURGH  &  Son,  General  Agents 
.A..  E.  Bonnet,  Chief  Inspector. 

P.   M.   Murray,   Manager. 

J.  P.  MoRKisoN,  Chief  Inspector. 

W'.  E.  Gleason,  Manager. 

W.  E.  Glennon,  Chief  Inspector. 

A.  Paul  Graham,  Manager. 
L.  T.  Gregg,  Chief  Inspector. 

J    H.  Chesnutt, 

Manager  and  Chief  Inspector. 

L.  L.  Coates,  Manager. 

Thomas  P.  Hetu,  Chief  Inspector. 

F.  H.  Kenyon,  General  Agent. 
A.   E.   Bonnet,   Chief   Inspector. 

R.  T.  Burwell,  Mgr.  and  Chief  Inspector. 
E.  Unsworth,  Ass"t   Chief  Inspector. 

C.  C.  Gardiner,  Vice  President. 
E.  Mason  Parry,  Chief  Inspector. 

A.  S.  Wickham,  Manager. 

S.  B.  Adams,  Chief  Inspector. 

Geo.  S.  Reynolds,  Manager. 
J.  A.  Snyder,  Chief  Inspector. 

Chas.  D.  Ashcroft,  Manager. 
Eugene  Webb,  Chief  Inspector. 

H.  N.  Roberts,  President  The  Boiler  In- 
spection and  Insurance  Company  of 
Canada. 


PORTLAND,    Ore..    . 
306  Yeon  Bldg. 

SEATTLE,  Wash.,     . 
423    Dexter-Horton    Bldg. 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  Cal. 
114   Sansome   St. 


PACIFIC  COAST 


Bates,  Li\-ely  &  Pearson,  General  Agents. 

E.  G.  Watson, 
Manager  and  Chief  Inspector 

C.  B.  Paddock,  Manager. 
L.  J.  Reed,  Chief  Inspector. 


fiiiin'f  iin^AH 


When  the  Millennium  Arrives  I     ■^^l-  >  0  iy^ 
Accidents  WilljNbt  Occur --. 

BUT  UNTIL  THEN 

THE  HARTFORD  LINE 

Will  Continue  to  Protect 

Plant  Owners  Against  Loss 


INSPECTION  AND  INSURANCE  OF 

BOILERS,  FLYWHEELS 

ENGINES  AND  ELECTRICAL 
MACHINERY 


Consult  your  agent  or  broker  or  write  for 
details   to    the  nearest  branch   office   of 

THE  HARTFORD  STEAM  BOILER 
INSPECTION  and  INSURANCE  CO. 

HARTFORD  CONNECTICUT 


"The  oldest  in  the  Country,  the  largest  in  the  world' 


Vol.  XXXVII  Xo.  4 


October  1928 


A  QUARTERLY  MAGAZINE 
DEVOTED  TO  POWER  PLANT  PROTECTION 

Published   continuously  since     1867 

by  The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler 

Inspection  and  Insurance 

Company 


Please  show  to  your  Engineer 


THE       L  O  C  O  M  O  T  I  \'  E  October, 


Causes  and  Characteristics  of  the  Cracking  0/ Boiler 
Plate  by  Caustic  Embrittlement 

DEFINITELY  recognized  as  one  of  the  most  insidious  of  those 
agencies  which  force  premature  retirement  of  boilers,  caustic 
embrittlement  is  by  no  means  always  understood  even  by  expert 
engineers  and  operators.  It  is  not  strange  that  this  is  so  for,  although 
the  discovery  of  this  phenomenon  is  not  new,  it  is  only  in  recent 
years  that  research  has  developed  a  knowledge  of  the  conditions  which 
cause  it  and  of  means  for  diminishing  its  effects. 

Most  articles  on  the  subject  have  demanded  of  the  reader  an  ac- 
qaintance  with  chemical  symbols  and  formulae  not  possessed  by  the 
average  engine-  or  boiler-room  attendant.  By  avoiding  as  many  as 
possible  of  the  terms  and  symbols  of  the  chemist,  this  article  will 
endeavor  to  present  the  subject  in  such  a  way  that  the  layman  will 
find  it  easily  readable  and  understandable.  To  do  this  we  will  confine 
ourselves  to  the  important  conclusions  brought  forth  by  experience 
and  research  and  will  omit  details  of  the  diligent  study  by  Messrs. 
Samuel  W.  Parr,  professor  emeritus  of  applied  chemistry,  and  Fred- 
erick G.  Straub,  .  special  research  assistant  in  chemical  engineering 
at  University  of  Illinois,  and  others  who  have  brought  the  subject 
to  its  present  status.  Acknowledgment  is  hereby  made  to  them  as 
discoverers  of  many  of  the  facts  used  herein.  If  we  succeed  in  explain- 
ing embrittlement  to  those  persons  who  have  neither  the  time  nor 
the  familiarity  with  chemical  language  necessary  to  a  study  of  more 
technical  treatises,  our  purpose  will  be  served. 

At  the  outset  the  reader's  attention  must  be  called  to  the  fact  that 
the  word  "  embrittlement  "  is  wrongly  used  in  describing  the  effect 
of  caustic  on  boiler  steel.  With  steel  under  high  stress  a  very  con- 
centrated solution  of  hot  sodium  hydroxide,  or  caustic  soda,  will  de- 
stroy the  cement  by  which  the  steel  crystals  are  held  together,  but 
the  result  is  not  what  is  generally  understood  as  brittleness.  In  fact, 
pieces  cut  from  a  plate  near  the  region  of  failure  have  been  found, 
when  tested,  to  possess  tenacity  and  resilience  equal  to  that  of  the 
same  steel  before  it  was  exposed  to  caustic  action.  This  harmful  agent 
seems  to  limit  its  efforts  to  forcing  the  steel  apart  along  a  single  line 
of  cleavage,  leaving  the  metal  on  either  side  of  this  crack  unchanged. 

In  appearance  an  embrittlement  crack  reminds  one  of  the  work 
of  some  expert  engraver  who,  with  infinite  care  and  patience,  has 
chipped  away,  along  a  zig-zag  line,  the  cement  binding  the  crystals  to- 
gether but  has  scrupulously  avoided  touching  the  crystals  themselves. 


1928. 


THE     LOCOMOTIVE 


99 


The  destructive  ijcork  of  caustic  embrittlement  is  plainly  evident  in  this 
steam  drum  of  a  water  tube  boiler.  Removal  of  the  strap  after  a  Hartford 
inspector  had  discovered  symptoms  of  embrittlement  disclosed  a  crack  extend- 
ing through  2j  rivet  holes.  Two  other  boilers  in  the  plant  zvere  found  sim- 
ilarly affected. 

Feed  water,  which  came  from  an  artesian  well,  had  o'  sodium  carbonate 
to  sodium  sulphate  ratio  of  45  to  I.  Of  course,  such  water  as  this  is  capable 
of   causing   embrittlement  without   the   addition   of  soda   ash   as  a   softener. 


No  doubt  the  word  "  embrittlement  "  is  applied  because  the  fracture 
presents  a  crystalline  surface  similar  to  that  of  brittle  metal,  and  occurs 
without  the  reduction  of  cross-sectional  area  so  noticeable  when  ductile 
metal  is  pulled  apart. 

When  the  existence  of  such  a  thing  as  caustic  embrittlement  was 
first  suggested,  the  announcement  was  regarded  with  suspicion.  Op- 
erators and  engineers  were  inclined  to  dismiss  it  as  just  a  new  name 
for  fire  cracking  or  corrosion.  Later  the  pendulum  swung  to  the 
other  extreme.  It  became  quite  the  habit  to  blame  caustic  embrittle- 
ment for  many  failures  to  which  no  better-known  cause  could  be 
definitely  assigned.  For  a  while  there  was  a  veritable  epidemic  of 
cases  listed  under  that  heading.  Now,  with  more  complete  knowledge 
of  causes  and  symptoms  available,  the  phenomenon  has  lost  much  of  its 
mystery. 

The  first  step  in  the  evolution  of  the  embrittlement  theory  was 
the  discovery  of  a  new  and  very  odd  sort  of  crack  occurring  in  boiler 
plate.      Instead   of   running  across   or   through   crystals   and   breaking 


loo  THE     LOCOMOTIVE  O'^tober. 


them  in  two  —  as  the  crack  does  when  metal  is  pulled  apart  —  this 
newly  discovered  kind  limited  its  field  of  activity  to  the  cement  between 
crystals.  Investigation  disclosed  that  apparently  this  trouble  occurred 
only  in  boilers  using  water  with  very  little  sulphate  hardness  and  a 
great  deal  of  sodium  carbonate.  In  some  cases  such  water  occurred 
naturally;  in  others,  sodium  carbonate  had  been  injected  as  "dope" 
or  created  by  some  form  of  water  treatment  that  changed  existing 
ingredients  into  sodium  carbonate. 

Noting  that  this  feed  water  condition  was  always  present  whenever 
those  odd,  crystal-border  cracks  occurred,  the  investigators  found  fur- 
ther that,  when  heated,  sodium  carbonate  (soda  ash)  decomposes  into 
sodium  hydroxide  (caustic  soda).  They  suspected  caustic  soda  was 
at  the  root  of  the  trouble  and,  by  laboratory  experiments,  succeeded 
in  verifying  their  suspicion.  At  the  same  time  they  found  that  for 
embrittlement  to  take  place  the  metal  must  be  under  extraordinarily  high 
stress  and  caustic  soda  must  be  present  in  excess  of  4,000  grains  p6r 
gallon  of  water. 

On  first  consideration  it  is  by  no  means  easy  to  see  how  metal  can 
be  stressed  much  above  a  normal  working  limit  in  boilers  with  a  factor 
of  safety  of  five  or  more.  And  too,  any  such  concentration  of 
caustic  soda  as  4,000  grains  per  gallon  is  inconceivable  in  water  usable 
in  boilers.  Tests  of  feed  water  from  a  source  high  in  this  substance 
have  failed  to  disclose  anywhere  near  that  amount.  Yet  it  has  been 
proved  these  conditions  of  high  stress  and  concentration  can  exist, 
and  often  do,  especially  at  riveted  seams  and  connections  below  the 
water  line  —  the  points  where  caustic  embrittlement  has  always  been 
found. 

The  combined  efifects  of  several  conditions  may  create  an  excessive 
stress  in  metal  adjacent  to  rivet  holes  even  in  boilers  with  normal  factor 
of  safety.  Riveting  and  caulking  pressures,  piercing  of  the  plate 
for  rivet  holes,  and  the  impossibility  of  making  each  rivet  bear  just 
its  share  of  the  load  and  no  more,  all  have  a  hand  in  it.  As  a  result, 
at  some  point  or  points  in  the  seam  we  have  a  localized  stress  far 
above  that  anticipated  by  the  designer. 

That  accounts  for  one  of  the  major  conditions  necessary  to  em- 
brittlement. Now  it  remains  to  explain  how  and  where  the  relatively 
small  amount  of  sodium  hydroxide  usable  in  boiler  water  can  reach 
a  high  degree  of  concentration.  It  is  obvious  that  no  such  amount 
as  4,000  grains  per  gallon  of  water  can  be  present  in  a  part  of  the 
boiler  exposed  to  free  circulation.  So,  again,  we  direct  our  study 
to  the  submerged  seams  and  joints.     Here,  in  the  constricted  spaces 


i9-'8. 


THE     L  O  C  O  M  O  T  I  V  P: 


lOI 


2 

i 

^^ii 

J 

Well  water  in  which  the  sodium  carbonate  to  sodium  siilpliatc  ratio  was 
1.8  to  I  caused  the  retirement  of  this  boiler  and  Hve  others  in  the  same  bat- 
tery. It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  cracks  in  this  mud  drum  extend  radially 
from  the  rivet  holes  rather  than  from  one  rivet  hole  to  another,  zvhich  is 
usually  the  case. 

For  boilers  operated  at  200  pounds  pressure,  as  this  one  was,  the  A.  S.  M.  E. 
Code  recommends  a  carbonate  to  sulphate  ratio  of  not  more  than  i  to  2.  In 
this  instance  the  approved  ratio  was  just  about  reversed. 


between  plates,  are  handy  little  pockets  where  water  can  seep  in,  evap- 
orate, and  deposit  its  caustic  content.  No  doubt  this  action  is  accel- 
erated by  any  slight,  and  perhaps  quite  imperceptible,  leak  through 
the  joint  which  allows  steam  vapor  to  escape  to  the  atmosphere. 
This  is  also  the  point  where  high  stress  occurs.  It  is  here  that  embrit- 
tlement  always  makes  its  appearance. 

Having  introduced  the  two  principal  actors  —  high  stress  and  con- 
centrated sodium  hydroxide  —  we  can  consider  how  they  behave  when 
brought  together. 

There  is  an  appreciable  electrical  voltage  or  potential  between  steel 
and  hot  sodium  hydroxide  when  the  two  are  in  contact.  This  causes 
an  electro-chemical  reaction  between  iron  and  water  whereby  hydro- 
gen is  liberated  and  iron  oxide  is  deposited  in  a  thin  layer  on  the 
metal.  When  the  metal  is  under  stress  the  material  at  crystal  bound- 
aries seems  to  be  chemically  active  to  an  extraordinary  degree,  so  that 
the  hydrogen  penetrates  at  these  points  and  destroys  the  oxides  form- 
ing the  material  that  cements  the  crystals  together.  The  oxygen  and 
hydrogen  combine  to   form  water.     Because  this  water  is  greater  in 


I02  THE       LOCOMOTIVE  October, 

volume  than  the  oxides  from  which  it  was  formed,  there  is  set  up  in 
the  narrow  spaces  between  crystals  a  pressure  which,  aided  by  the 
break-down  of  cement,  forces  crystals  apart  somewhat  as  rock  is  split 
by  water  freezing  in  a  crack. 

The  foregoing  paragraphs  have  described  the  mechanics  of  caustic 
embrittlement  without  turning  aside  to  discuss  either  the  manner 
whereby  sodium  carbonate  enters  the  boiler  or  the  conditions  under 
which  it  may  be  present  and  still  not  cause  embrittlement.  We  have 
seen  how  this  material  turns  to  caustic  soda;  the  latter  encourages 
reaction  between  iron  and  water  to  create  hydrogen  and  iron  oxide, 
and  the  hydrogen  breaks  down  oxides  between  crystals  of  the  metal. 
Now  we  are  in  a  position  to  appreciate  more  readily  a  discussion 
of  impurities  in  feed  water,  methods  of  treatment  so  far  as  they  are 
related  to  embrittlement,  and  the  discovery  that  even  if  sodium  car- 
bonate be  present  embrittlement  will  be  prevented  by  the  presence 
of  sodium  sulphate  or  other  inhibitants  in  adequate  amount. 

In  explaining  how  sodium  carbonate  finds  its  way  into  boilers 
it  is  necessary  to  consider  briefly  other  impurities  commonly  found  in 
feed  waters  and  means  used  to  keep  them  from  forming  hard  scale 
on  tubes  and  plates.  Among  ingredients  occurring  most  frequently 
are  calcium  carbonate,  magnesium  carbonate,  calcium  sulphate,  and 
magnesium  sulphate.  If  water  containing  either  one  or  both  of  the 
two  salts  first  named  above  be  heated  to  about  212°  F.  they  will  drop 
out  of  solution.  As  a  consequence,  an  open  feed  water  heater  will 
keep  them  from  entering  the  boiler.  Unfortunately,  the  sulphates  of 
calcium  and  magnesium  yield  to  no  such  simple  treatment,  because 
they  require  a  much  higher  temperature  to  make  them  settle  out. 
Unless  their  chemical  makeup  be  changed  by  making  them  react 
with  some  other  substance  they  will  precipitate  as  scale  in  the  boiler, 
the  calcium  sulphate  forming  a  particularly  hard,  flint-like  deposit. 
The  chemical  commonly  us^d  to  combat  this  is  soda  ash  (sodium 
carbonate).  Its  effect  is  to  break  down  the  calcium  sulphate  and 
form  sodium  sulphate  and  calcium  carbonate. 

The  danger  of  this  treatment  lies  in  introducing  too  much  soda 
ash.  Of  course  one  of  the  resulting  ingredients  is  sodium  sulphate  — 
a  very  effective  protecting,  agent  which  we  will  discuss  later  —  but, 
in  spite  of  that,  when  soda  ash  is  used  on  feed  water  naturally  low 
in  sulphate  hardness  there  is  great  danger  of  adding  so  much  of  it 
that  there  will  not  be  enough  sodium  sulphate  to  afford  protection. 
In  a  later  paragraph  we  will  learn  what  minimum  proportion  sodium 
sulphate  must  bear  to  soda  ash  to  prevent  embrittlement. 


I92f 


THE     L.  O  C  O  M  C)  T  I  V  E 


103 


Creek  water  used  in  the  boiler  to  which  this  cast  steel  blow-off  pad  was 
attached  was  naturally  free  from  sodium  carbonate.  However,  a  method  of 
feed-water  treatvieiit  produced  a  sodium  carbonate  to  sodium  sulphate  ratio 
of  about  12  to  I. 


According  to  Messrs.  Parr  and  Straub,  another  way  naturally  safe 
waters  may  possibly  be  changed  into  the  embrittling  kind  is  by  use 
of  a  water  treatment  which  turns  calcium  and  magnesium  carbonates 
into  sodium  carbonate,  and  calcium  and  magnesium  sulphates  into 
sodium  sulphate.  Here  again  the  danger  lies  in  using  the  treatment 
on  water  having  a  higher  carbonate  than  sulphate  content. 

There  is  still  another  condition  under  which  water  of  an  embrittling 
nature  is  found.  In  some  parts  of  the  United  States  there  occurs 
naturally  a  water  with  an  appreciable  amount  of  sodium  carbonate 
but  little  or  no  sodium  sulphate.  Such  water,  even  without  treat- 
ment, is  capable  of  causing  embrittlement. 

The  reader  should  bear  in  mind  that  where  embrittlement  has  oc- 
curred it  has  always  been  found  that  the  sulphate  content,  if  any, 
was  low  in  respect  to  the  sodium  carbonate.  Recognizing  the  pro- 
tective tendency  of  sodium  sulphate,  the  American  Society  of  Mechan- 
ical  Engineers   in   its   Boiler   Construction    Code    (Section   VH,    Sug- 


I04 


THE     LOCOMOTIVE  O'^tober, 


gested  Rules  for  the  Care  of  Power  Boilers,  pp.  CA-5)  recommends 
certain  limiting  proportions  of  sulphate  to  carbonate  content  as  a 
guide  for  boiler  operators.  This  table  specifies  that  for  boilers  oper- 
ating at  pressures  from  zero  to  150  pounds  the  relation  of  sodium 
sulphate  to  sodium  carbonate  should  be  at  least  i  to  i ;  for  boilers 
operating  at  pressures  from  150  to  250,  2  to  i  ;  for  pressures  above 
250,  3  to  I.  So  far  as  we  know,  embrittlement  has  never  occurred 
when  these  ratios  were  maintained. 

No  doubt  the  foregoing  has  caused  the  reader  to  wonder  how  the 
presence  of  sufficient  sodium  sulphate  prevents  the  harmful  action  of 
the  caustic.  The  inhibiting  effect  is  obtained  by  the  tendency  of  sodium 
sulphate  to  form  a  thin  coating  over  the  plate  that  reduces  the  flow 
of  electric  current  and,  consequently,  checks  electro-chemical  activity. 
Chromate,  phosphates,  acetates,  and  tannates  have  a  similar  efifect. 

The  actual  treatment  of  feed  water  to  avoid  embrittlement  involves 
difficult  problems  and  should  be  entrusted  only  to  a  chemist  familiar 
with  that  phase  of  water  treatment.  The  wide  proportional  limits 
within  which  the  critical  impurities  may  be  present,  and  their  high 
or  low  solubility  —  according  to  the  pressure  at  which  the  water  is 
heated  —  makes  it  impossible  for  an  article  of  this  scope  to  prescribe 
a  general  cure.  The  most  that  can  be  said  is  the  treatment  should 
either  reduce  the  sodium  carbonate  content  or  minimize  its  effect  by 
use  of  some  inhibiting  agent.  Solution  of  any  particular  problem  re- 
quires a  close  study  of  conditions  peculiar  to  the  plant. 

It  seems  well,  before  leaving  the  subject,  to  acknowledge 
that  the  general  feed  water  conditions  favoring  embrittlement  effect- 
ually are  preventives  of  corrosion  and  pitting,  and  vice  versa.  A 
small  amount  of  caustic  is  regarded  as  a  barrier  against  these  last- 
named  boiler  ailments,  and  for  that  reason  is  sometimes  added  to  feed 
water.  There  arises,  as  a  consequence,  the  question  as  to  the  doubtful 
benefit  of  counteracting  or  removing  the  caustic  to  prevent  embrittle- 
ment if  by  so  doing  the  boiler  is  to  be  made  prey  to  corrosion.  How- 
ever, the  deciding  element  in  corrosion  and  pitting  is  the  amount  of 
dissolved  or  entrained  oxygen  in  the  feed  water.  If  this  be  driven 
out  before  the  water  enters  the  boiler  the  amount  of  caustic  needed 
to  prevent  corrosion  will  not  be  enough  to  cause  embrittlement.  A 
competent  feed  water  chemist  will  usually  be  able  to  prescribe  a 
treatment  that  will  satisfy  both  conditions. 

For  some  reason  or  other  an  embrittlement  crack  does  not  follow 
what  is  generally  considered  the  line  of  maximum  stress,  although 
the  cracks  usually  proceed  from  rivet  hole  to  rivet  hole  in  a  jagged, 


1928. 


THE     LOCOMOTIVE 


105 


During  a  hydrostatic  test  to  determine  the  seriousness  of  leakage  at  the 
girth  scam  of  a  horizontal  tubular  boiler  a  trace  of  salt  was  found  arouiid  a 
rivet  on  the  external  surface  of  the  rear  head.  Removal  of  several  rivets 
disclosed  caustic  embrittlement  cracks  that  affected  the  head  seam  throughout 
almost  its  zvhole  circumference.    A  section  of  the  cracked  plate  is  shozvn  above. 


irregular  course.  Sometimes  two  cracks,  starting  from  adjacent  rivet 
holes,  will  run  in  a  general  way  parallel  to  each  other,  creating 
between  them  an  island  of  plate.  Very  often  fine  cracks  will  radiate 
from  rivet  holes.  Proof  that  the  embrittling  effect  is  not  present  except 
in  those  parts  of  the  boiler  where  caustic  is  concentrated  and  stress 
is  high  is  furnished  by  the  observation  that  cracks  never  extend 
beyond  the  lap  of  the  plate. 

Usually  the  first  evidence  of  embrittlement  is  a  leaky  joint  that 
cannot  be  made  tight  in  spite  of  repeated  caulking.  Further,  white 
deposits  are  frequently  found  at  points  where  leakage  occurs  and 
on  touching  a  particle  to  the  tongue  the  soda  ash  can  be  tasted. 
In  other  cases  a  rivet  head  is  found  to  have  dropped  off  and  on  hammer- 
testing  other  rivet  heads  it  is  found  they  can  be  easily  dislodged.  On 
removal  of  rivets  they,  as  well  as  the  plate  at  the  edges  of  holes, 
are  found  coated  with  a  black  oxide.  Whenever  a  condition  of  this 
nature  develops,  the  insurance  company  should  be  notified  immediately 
so  it  can  send  an  inspector  to  make  a  thorough  investigation  to 
determine  just  what  action  is  necessary. 

Failure  from  embrittlement  cannot  be  laid  to  the  quality  of  steel 
in  the  boiler,  for  repeated  tests  by  Messrs.  Parr  and  Straub  have 
shown  that  one  grade  of  steel  is  about  as  susceptible  as  another.     In 


I06  THE       LOCOMOTIVE  October, 


a  measure,  workmanship  is  a  factor  in  that  the  poorer  the  setting  up  of 
joints  and  the  more  uneven  the  distribution  of  pressure  among  rivets 
the  greater  will  be  the  opportunity  for  caustic  concentration  and  high 
localized  stress.  But  this  should  not  be  construed  as  placing  the 
blame  for  embrittlement  on  poor  workmanship,  for  many  poorly  con- 
structed boilers  have  never  been  affected  while  boilers  built  according 
to  the  best  standards  have  succumbed.  Evidently  the  control- 
ling factor  is  the  presence  or  absence  of  sodium  carbonate  and  its 
relation  to  the  amount  of  inhibiting  agents  that  may  be  present  with  it. 
Nevertheless,  the  importance  of  careful  workmanship  is  recog- 
nized. As  a  means  of  preventing  concentration  of  caustic,  especially 
in  boilers  designed  for  high  pressures,  some  manufacturers  have  re- 
ported to  inside  caulking ;  that  is,  seams  are  all  caulked  on  the  inside 
of  the  boiler.  If  caulking  of  this  kind  is  tight  it  keeps  water  from 
entering  the  spaces  between  plates  at  the  joints  and  consequently 
prevents  the  concentration  of  salts  possible  with  outside  caulking. 


Too  Near  for  Comfort,  Says  Inspector 

A  HARTFORD  inspector  recently  witnessed  involuntarily  a  violent 
explosion  of  an  uninsured  boiler.  The  blast  injured  four  men. 
jarred  merchandise  from  the  shelves  of  stores  over  two  miles 
away,  and  gave  the  surrounding  countryside  a  general  shaking-up. 

The  inspector  had  gone  to  a  plant  to  inspect  boilers  insured  by  The 
Hartford,  Closely  adjacent  to  this  plant  was  the  pumping  plant  of 
another  company.  The  inspector  had  just  stepped  from  the  office 
of  his  company's  client  when  a  boiler  in  the  neighboring  plant  300 
yards  away  exploded  so  violently  that  he  was  almost  knocked  down. 

"  We  staggered  around  like  drunken  men."  he  said.  "  My 
vision  was  blurred  and  I  could  hear  untold  numbers  of  little  bells 
tinkling." 

The  four  men  injured  were  working  within  35  feet  of  the  explod- 
ing boiler.  Two  of  them,  injured  less  seriously  than  the  others,  were 
protected  somewhat  by  a  tool  house  against  which  the  other  boiler 
of  the  battery  was  hurled.     The  tool  house  was  demolished 

The  exploded  boiler  was  of  the  locomotive  two-course  upe  with 
safety  valve  set  to  relieve  at  150  pounds.  It  was  blown  into  four 
parts,  the  smoke  box  end,  consisting  of  one  course  and  tube  sheet, 
being  torn  loose  at  the  girth  seam  and  hurled  about  325  feet.  During 
the  course  of  its  fliofht  it  tore  awav  the  side  of  a  large  tank. 


1928. 


T  H  E     LOCOMOTIVE 


107 


Parting  from  the  wrapper  sheet,  the  hrst  course  was  ripped  through 
its  entire  length  parallel  to  and  on  the  opposite  side  from  the  butt 
strap  seam.    This  sheet  crushed  the  side  of  another  tank  300  feet  away. 

Overpressure  seems  to  have  caused  the  explosion,  though  failure 
to  find  the  safety  valve  after  the  accident  prevented  investigation  of 
the  supposition  that  it  had  stuck. 


Lap  Seam  Crack  Demolishes  Boiler 

TWO  years  ago  a  southern  mill  applied  to  The  Hartford  for  in- 
surance on  two  lap-seam  horizontal  tubular  boilers.  After  a  care- 
ful examination  of  the  vessels  the  Company  refused  to  accept  the 
risk.  The  plant  was  violating  one  of  the  axiomatic  rules  for  boiler  in- 
stallation by  having  stop  valves  between  boilers  and  safety  valves.  In 
addition  to  that,  the  boilers  were  carrying  pressure  very  much  above 
an  amount  warranted  by  the  type  of  seam. 

On  June  nth  one  of  these  boilers  blew  up,  killed  a  man,  and  dam- 
aged property  to  the  extent  of  $10,000.  For  want  of  a  better  explana- 
tion a  reporter,  who  covered  the  story  for  a  local  paper,  made  use 
of  the  customary  supposition  that  cold  water  was  admitted  to  a 
dry,  overheated  shell.  The  inspector  that  had  examined  the  boiler 
when  the  owner  applied  for  insurance  searched  the  tangled  wreckage 
for  another,  more  convincing  reason.  He  found  it.  Down  the  longi- 
tudinal seam,  from  girth  seam  to  girth  seam,  the  middle  course  had 
parted  as  clean  as  a  whistle.  A  well-defined  lap-seam  crack  told  the 
story. 


I08  THE       LOCOMOTIVE  October, 


Suggestions  for  the  Safety  and  Preservation  of 
Stationary  Steam  Engines 

By  H.  J.  Vander  Eb,  Supi.  Engine  Dept. 


Experienced   operating   engineers  of  well-managed  plants  are 
undoubtedly    familiar   with    many    or   all   of   the   points    brought    i 
out  in  the  foUozving  article,  yet  we  believe  the  article  will  serve 
not  only  as  a  useful  reminder  to  them  but  also  as  a  reference  for 
all  who  have  engines  under  their  care. 


STARTING  OF  ENGINES 

BEFORE  an  engine  is  started,  either  for  the  first  time  or  after  a 
long  period  of  idleness,  it  is  advisable  to  bar  it  over  a  few  turns 
by  hand,  if  it  is  at  all  possible  to  do  so.  Never  start  an  engine 
without  first  inspecting  the  governor,  valve  gear  and  other  moving 
parts  to  see  that  they  are  in  perfect  working  order  and  that  none  of 
.  their  fastenings  are  working  loose.  All  parts  should  be  lubricated  by 
hand  and  the  oil  cups  filled.  In  case  a  gravity  or  force  feed  lubricating 
system  is  used,  such  apparatus  should  be  in  good  condition. 

In  starting  an  engine  take  your  time,  warming  it  up  properly 
with  cylinder  drains  open.  Forcing  a  cold  engine  may  cause  serious 
damage.  If  the  engine  exhausts  into  a  condenser,  the  condenser  pump 
must  be  started  and  running  properly  before  any  steam  is  admitted 
to  the  engine. 

After  these  precautions  have  been  taken  and  after  all  water  has 
been  drained  from  steam  pipe,  cylinders,  and  exhaust  pipe,  the  en- 
gine may  be  started  and  slowly  brought  up  to  speed.  While  the  en- 
gine is  taking  its  load  a  close  watch  should  be  kept  for  any  unusual 
behavior,  for  most  engine  accidents  occur  at  times  of  starting  or 
stopping. 

GOVERNOR   BELT 

The  governor  belt  should  be  kept  reasonably  taut.  In  no  case  should 
it  be  so  slack  that  the  inner  surfaces  rub  together.  Care  should  be  taken 
to  prevent  oil  from  dripping  or  splashing  on  the  belt,  for  slipping 
of  an  oily  belt  over  the  governor  pulley  is  a  prolific  cause  of  fiywheel 
explosions.  It  is  frequently  found  that  the  eccentric  or  the  main 
bearing  splashes  oil  on  the  belt.  Sheet  metal  guards  will  prevent  this. 
Water,    likewise,    must   be   kept   away    from   the   governor   belt   of    a 


^9--s. THE     LOCOMOTIVE i^ 

running  engine.     Sprinkler  heads   for  fire  protection  should  not   be 
placed  so  that  water  from  them  can  reach  the  governor  belt. 

GOVERNOR  AND  VALVE  GEAR 

The  governor  and  its  driving  parts  should  be  kept  in  perfect  oper- 
ating condition  and  without  excessive  clearance  in  any  of  the  fulcrum 
pins  or  bearings.  Lost  motion  in  governor  or  valve-gear  parts  is 
dangerous  and  must  not  be  permitted.  These  parts  should  be  lubri- 
cated at  regular  intervals. 

A  belt-driven  governor  and  the  valve  gear  should  be  so  arranged 
that  breakage  of  the  governor  belt  will  shut  off  steam  automatically. 

The  governor  on  an  engine  with  a  Corliss  or  other  releasing  type 
valve  gear  should  not  have  a  hand-operated  stop  pin  or  slotted  collar 
to  support  the  governor  when  the  engine  is  shut  down.  These  devices 
are  very  dangerous  since  if,  through  oversight,  they  are  not  changed 
to  the  safety  position  after  the  engine  has  been  started,  the  safety 
cams  on  the  valve  gear  cannot  act  in  case  the  governor  belt  breaks. 
To  support  the  governor  while  the  engine  is  being  started  there  should 
be  an  automatic  governor  stop  that  will  fall  into  the  safety  position 
as  soon  as  the  engine  attains  normal  speed.  A  governor  stop  that 
is  linked  up  with  an  idler  pulley  riding  on  the  governor  belt  is  equally 
acceptable.  (See  leaflet  on  approved  "Governor  Safety  Stops"  on 
releasing-gear  engines.) 

TESTING   OF  GOVERNOR   SAFETY 

Belt  driven  governors  should  be  tested  at  regular  intervals  to  see 
that  they  actually  shut  off.  steam  when,  due  to  a  broken  governor 
belt,  they  cease  revolving.  With  some  Corliss  type  engines  this  may 
be  done  while  the  engine  is  at  rest  by  allowing  the  governor  to  drop 
to  its  lowest  position  and  moving  the  wrist  plate  back  and  forth  by 
hand  a  distance  equal  to  its  normal  stroke.  When  this  is  done  the 
steam  latches  or  grab  claws  should  not  pick  up  the  steam  valve  arms. 
If  they  do  pick  up  the  steam  valve  arms  under  these  conditions  the 
position  of  the  safety  cams  must  be  corrected. 

On  Corliss  type  engines  having  a  non-detachable,  eccentric  reach- 
rod-connection  to  the  wrist-plate,  the  safety  action  of  a  belt-driven 
governor  should  be  tested  while  the  engine  operates  at  normal  speed 
under  only  a  friction  load  and  with  the  throttle  valve  as  nearly  closed 
as  possible.  When,  under  these  conditions,  the  governor  belt  is  thrown 
off  the  pulley  the  engine  should  come  to  a  stop  automatically.  If  it  does 
not  do  so  it  is  necessary  to  adjust  the  valve  gear. 


no  THE       LOCOMOTIVE  October, 


During  this  test  a  trusted  man  should  have  his  hand  on  the  wheel 
of  the  throttle  valve  to  shut  it  quickly  if  the  engine  does  not  come 
to  rest. 

DASHPOTS 

The  action  of  the  dashpots  on  a  Corliss  type  valve  gear  should 
at  all  times  be  such  that  they  effectively  and  regularly  pull  the  steam 
valves  closed.  If  they  act  sluggishly  and  irregularly  the  speed  of  the 
engine  will  fluctuate  and  there  may  be  a  tendency  to  overspeed.  For 
this  reason  it  is  vitally  important  to  keep  the  dashpots  in  perfect 
working  order  and  properly  lubricated.  Sluggish  action  of  the  dash- 
pots  sometimes  may  be  due  to  excessive  friction  caused  by  setting  up 
the  stufftng  box  glands  of  the  valve  stem  too  tightly.  The  packing 
in  these  stuffing  boxes  should  be  renewed  before  it  becomes  too  hard. 

SHAFT  GOVERNORS 

Engines  with  shaft  governors  should  be  tested  from  time  to  time 
to  see  that  the  governing  mechanism  is  able  to  shut  off  steam  auto- 
matically. This  may  be  done  while  the  engine  is  at  rest  by  blocking 
the  governor  arm  in  its  extreme  outer  position  and  admitting  steam 
slowly  through  the  throttle  valve.  If  the  governor  functions  prop- 
erly there  will  be  no  appreciable  amount  of  steam  blowing  from  the 
open  cylinder  drains  or  indicator  cocks  while  the  crank  stands  in  a 
position  at  which  steam  would  normally  enter  the  cylinder. 

POPPET    VALVES 

Valves  of  poppet-valve  engines  should  be  taken  apart  and  inspected 
at  regular  intervals,  say  at  least  every  three  months,  to  remove  from 
springs  and  cages  any  baked-on  oil  that  would  interfere  with  the  valves 
getting  fully  down  to  their  seats.  In  that  case  steam  would  not  be  com- 
pletely shut  off  by  the  poppet-valves  when  the  governor  was  in  its  ex- 
treme position  and  there  would  be  danger  of  overspeed  at  no-load. 
These  valves  must  be  steam  tight  when  down  on  their  seats.  Any 
roughness  or  cutting  of  the  seats  due  to  wire  drawing  should  be  ground 
smooth  with  powdered  glass  and  oil.  Care  must  be  taken  to  pre- 
vent the  powdered  glass  from  getting  into  the  cylinder,  for  glass  will 
score  the  cylinder  wall. 

INDEPENDENT  ENGINE  STOP 

An  independent,  automatic  engine  stop,  when  there  is  one  on  an  en- 
gine, should  not  merely  be  left  to  itself  to  be  relied  on  in  case  of 
emergency.     Any  automatic   device   of   this   kind   may   stick  and    fail 


1928. THE     LOCOMOTIVE rrr 

to  perform  its  function  if  it  is  not  kept  in  perfect  operating  condition. 
It  should  be  tried  out  reg-ularly  by  carefully  forcing  the  speed  of  the 
engine  up  to  not  exceeding  io%  above  normal.  If  the  device 
does  not  shut  off  the  steam  under  this  test,  the  necessary  adjustment 
should  be  made  at  once. 

The  independent  automatic  stop  should  be  tripped  by  hand  to 
shut  down  the  engine  at  the  end  of  the  day's  run.  This  will  help 
to  keep  it  in  operating  condition. 

If  push-buttons  or  other  means  of  remote  control  are  provided  for 
shutting  olT  steam,  they  should  be  tried  at  regular  intervals. 

DANGER    FROM    CONDENSER    WATER;    VACUUM    BREAKER 

Engines  that  exhaust  into  jet  condensers  are  liable  to  be  wrecked 
by  water  backing  up  from  the  condenser  into  the  cylinder  under 
certain  conditions. 

This  is  most  likely  to  occur  at  starting  or  stopping  when  the  water 
in  the  condenser  may  rise  to  an  abnormally  high  level  if,  accidentally, 
the  condensate  pump  should  run  too  slowly  or  stop  entirely.  To  pre- 
vent this  there  should  be  either  a  vacuum  breaker  that  will  break 
the  vacuum  automatically  before  the  water  reaches  a  dangerous  height, 
or  a  balanced  non-return  valve  in  the  exhaust  pipe. 

Even  though  some  automatic  device  of  this  kind  is  employed,  the 
utmost  care  should  be  exercised  to  keep  the  condensate  and  air  pump 
running  at  the  required  speed  at  all  times  while  steam  is  being  admitted 
to  the  engine  cylinder  or  while  the  engine  is  still  in  motion  due  to 
momentum  after  the  throttle  has  been  closed. 

BAROMETRIC  CONDENSER 

Barometric  condensers  offer  the  same  kind  of  danger  to  an  en- 
gine as  jet  condensers  do  and  have  been  the  cause  of  serious  wrecks. 
It  is  important  that  the  column  of  water  in  a  barometric  condenser 
never  rise  high  enough  to  spill  over  into  the  exhaust  pipe. 

The  height  of  a  barometric  condenser  should  preferably  be  such 
that  the  distance  from  the  highest  water  level  in  the  hotwell  to  the 
lower  edge  of  the  exhaust  pipe  where  it  enters  the  condenser-head 
is  not  less  than  38  feet.  Though  the  theoretical  height  of  a  column  of 
water  drawn  up  by  a  perfect  vacuum  is  approximately  34  feet,  some 
excess  height  is  desirable  as  a  factor  of  safety  to  compensate  for 
friction  of  the  water  going  down  the  tail  pipe  or  for  the  possibility 
that  a  greater  quantity  of  injection  water  than  the  condenser  can 
handle  may  be  supplied. 


112  THE     LOCOMOTIVE  o<^tober, 


The  overflow  of  the  hotwell  of  a  barometric  condenser  should 
be  located  at  such  a  level  that  the  bottom  of  the  condenser  tail  pipe 
always  is  submerged  for  at  least  12  inches.  The  overflow  must  also 
be  sufficiently  above  high  water  level  in  the  river  or  canal  to  avoid 
the  possibility  that  the  water  level  in  the  hotwell  could  rise  dangerously. 

During  the  period  of  extremely  cold  weather  it  is  advisable  to 
make  certain  that  the  tail  pipe  is  drained  by  breaking  the  vacuum 
after  the  engine  is  stopped. 

To  prevent  obstruction  from  ice  formation  in  the  throat  or  in 
the  tail  pipe  of  a  barometric  condenser  when  starting  up  under  cold 
weather  conditions  it  is  advisable  to  heat  up  the  condenser  by  means 
of  a  live  steam  connection. 

A  suitable  non-return  valve  in  the  engine  exhaust  pipe  to  a  baro- 
metric condenser  is  always  desirable,  but  is  an  actual  necessity  for  en- 
gine safety  in  some  installations. 

When,  after  starting  an  engine  that  exhausts  into  a  barometric  or 
jet  condenser,  there  are  unusual  noises  in  the  exhaust  pipe  (indicating 
that  the  pipe  contains  considerable  water),  do  not  shut  the  engine  doivn. 
To  do  so  might  cause  the  water  to  be  drawn  into  the  cylinder,  and 
this  would  surely  lead  to  serious  damage.  The  injection  water  should 
be  shut  ofif  and  the  exhaust  pipe  drained  before  the  engine  is  shut 
down  to  investigate  the  cause  of   the  trouble. 

DRAINS 

The  steam  pipe  to  any  engine  must  have  a  drain  at  the  throttle 
valve  to  relieve  it  of  water.  When  an  engine  is  to  be  started,  it  is  very 
unsafe  to  attempt  to  drain  the  water  in  the  steam  pipe  through  the 
cylinder. 

Cylinder  drains,  when  provided,  should  be  open  while  an  engine 
is  being  warmed  up  and  during  the  first  few  strokes  after  starting. 
They  should  remain  open  until  cylinder  condensation  is  down  to 
normal. 

TRAPS 

Traps  on  drains  from  steam  separators,  receivers  of  compound 
engines,  and  exhaust  pipes  should  be  inspected  regularly  to  make  sure 
they  are  in  good  working  order  and  free  from  an  accumulation  of  dirt. 

Wherever  an  exhaust  pipe  forms  a  loop  or  pocket  below  the  engine, 
there  should  be  at  the  lowest  part  of  such  loop  or  pocket  either  a 
■drain  open  to  the  atmosphere  without  shut-off  or  a  drain  connected 
with   an   automatic  trap.      Discharge  pipes    from   all   traps   should  be 


'9^8 TFI  E     LOCOMOTIVE U3 

open  ended  and  in  plain  view  so  that  the  proper  working  of  the  traps 
can  be  easily  watched.  ^ 

HOT  BEARINGS 

If  bearings  or  other  adjusted  parts  show  a  tendency  to  heat  up 
abnormally  they  should  be  flooded  with  oil.  As  a  rule,  light  oil  will 
not  be  of  much  avail  on  a  hot  bearing.  Pure,  heavy  mineral  oil, 
preferably  cylinder  oil,  may  be  used  for  this  purpose.  An  attempt 
to  cool  an  overheated  bearing  by  throwing  water  on  it  by  the  pailful 
or  with  a  hose  is  dangerous.  Contraction  of  the  bearing  from  such 
sudden  cooling  will  cause  it  to  clamp  the  shaft  or  crankpin  tightly. 
The  result  may  be  a  breakdown. 

Under  some  conditions  it  may  be  possible  to  avoid  a  shut  down 
when  lack  of  lubrication  has  caused  a  bearing  to  heat  up.  One  method 
that  has  given  good  results  is  to  drip  cool  water  (filtered  or  distilled) 
into  the  bearing  along  with  the  oil.  When  the  bearing  has  been  brought 
to  normal  temperature,  the  water  should  be  stopped. 

If  the  bearing  continues  to  heat  up  despite  all  efforts  to  nurse 
it  along,  the  engine  should  be  stopped  and  the  bearing  taken  apart, 
the  oil  grooves  cleaned  out  and,  if  necessary,  touched  up  with  a  groove 
chisel.  If  the  babbitt  has  begun  to  run  before  the  engine  can  be 
shut  down,  the  engine  should  be  kept  turning  over  slowly  during 
the  time  it  takes  to  cool  the  bearing.  Should  an  engine  be  stopped 
suddenly  under  such  conditions,  the  babbitt  would  "  freeze  "  to  the 
shaft,  making  removal  of  bearing  shells  very  difficult. 

POUNDING 

Lost  motion  must  be  regularly  taken  out  of  bearings,  crank- 
boxes  and  other  wearing  parts.  Pounding  of  an  engine  because  of  ex- 
cessive lost  motion  produces  severe  shock  stresses  which,  in  time,  may 
cause  failure  of  the  part  most  affected. 

A  bad  pound  in  an  engine  does  not  necessarily  have  any  connection 
with  lost  motion  in  a  bearing.  Other  sources  of  pounding  are : 
flywheel  loose  on  the  shaft,  piston  loose  on  piston  rod,  slack  in  the 
connection  of  cross-head  and  piston  rod,  steam  valves  and  exhaust 
valves  with  excessive  clearance  in  their  housings,  and  incorrect 
valve  setting. 

In  making  adjustments  of  bearings  and  crank-  or  crosshead  boxes, 
it  should  be  remembered  that  this  will  affect  the  piston  clearance.  On 
the  guide  there  should  be  line-marks  corresponding  with  a  line-mark 
on  the  crosshead  at  both  ends  of  the  stroke  so  that  any  change  in 


114  THE     LOCOMOTIVE  Q^tober> 

the  piston   clearance  due   to  adjustments  can   be  easily  checked  and. 
if  necessary,  corrected. 

Great  care  must  be  taken  that  the  alignment  of  bearings  be  not 
spoiled  by  adjustments  for  lost  motion.  If  the  bearings  once  get 
badly  out  of  alignment  because  of  wear  and  misadjustment  the  only 
means  of  making  a  noisy  engine  run  quietly  again  is  to  raise  the 
shaft,  carefully  line  up  the  bearing  surfaces  and,  if  necessary, 
correct  the  position  of  the  bearings  so  that  the  center-line  of  the  shaft 
is  exactly  at  right  angles  to  the  center  line  of  the  cylinder. 

VIBRATION  ON  FOUNDATION 

Excessive  vibration  or  working  of  an  engine  on  the  foundation 
should  not  be  allowed,  for  it  may  lead  to  cracking  of  the  frame,  partic- 
ularly near  the  fiange  attaching  the  cylinder  to  the  frame.  It  may  be 
due  to  any  one  or  several  of  the  following  causes :  bent  shaft,  wheel 
out  of  balance,  misalignment  of  bearings  or  of  guide  barrel,  incorrect 
valve  setting,  loose  grouting  under  the  frame,  broken  foundation,  foun- 
dation too  light  and  with  insufficient  footing  in  the  soil,  or  foundation 
laid  on  swampy  ground.  With  high  speed  engines  jt  is  particularly 
important  that  the  foundation  have  an  ample  area  at  the  bottom  rather 
than  that  the  necessary  weight  be  obtained  by  making  it  deep.  Serious 
vibration  in  numerous  high-speed  installations  has  been  traced  to  in- 
sufficient  foundation   footing. 

■  If  a  foundation  is  badly  cracked  or  broken  it  is  by  far  the  best 
economy  to  replace  it,  for  the  consequent  engine  vibration  is  bound 
to  lead  to  expensive  damage.  An  engine  foundation  always  should 
be  one  solid  mass  and  never  made  in  two  separate  parts.  Such  sep- 
arate parts  can  not  be  expected  to  remain  in  alignment  and  invariably 
have  caused  cracking  of  the  main  castings  of  engines  so  erected. 

CYLINDERS   AND    PISTONS 

The  interior  of  the  cylinder  and  valve  housings  should  be  inspected 
from  time  to  time,  at  least  once  or  twice  a  year,  to  keep  track  of  un- 
usual wear;  possible  scoring  of  the  cylinder  wall,  and  the  condi- 
tion of  the  piston  follower  bolts.  When  these  bolts  break  they  are  apt 
to  do  great  damage.  They  should  not  be  set  up  with  an  undue  amount 
of  wrench  leverage;  much  costly  engine  damage  has  resulted  from 
the  use  of  a  long  pipe  on  the  wrench.  Doubtless  these  bolts  are  some- 
times overstrained  or  even  partly  broken  when  put  in  position. 

When  a  careful  inspection  reveals  the  slightest  evidence  of  weak- 
ness or  looseness  in  any  follower  bolts  it  is  best  to  replace  them  with 


1928. thp:   locomotive u_s 

new  ones.     The  best  material  to  use  is  a  good  grade  of  iron.     Steel 
follower  bolts  are  not  durable  and  should  not  be  used  in  a  piston. 

Broken  piston  rings  as  a  rule  cause  serious  damage  to  the  cylinder 
walls  by  scoring.  When  a  cylinder  is  found  scored  it  is  advisable 
to  remove  the  piston  from  the  cylinder,  as  it  is  then  very  likely  the  rings 
are  broken  and  should  be  replaced.  It  is  often  possible  to  detect 
the  existence  of  broken  piston  rings  by  a  study  of  the  indicator  dia- 
gram or  by  investigating  an  appreciable  increase  in  steam  consumntion. 

CLEANLINESS  AND   GOOD   ORDER 

One  of  the  outstanding  characteristics  of  a  plant  run  vvastefully 
is  an  excessive  amount  of  steam  leakage  and  oil  around  the  engines.  It 
pays  handsomely  to  avoid  steam  leakage  and  prevent  oil  from  running 
over  the  foundation.  Oil  has  a  softening  effect  on  cement  and  con- 
crete, so  that  grouting  under  the  engine  frame  will  eventually  become 
loose  if  oil  in  considerable  quantities  flows  down  on  it.  This  in  turn 
may  produce  serious  overstrain  in  the  main  engine  castings  and  cause 
cracking. 

LAYING  UP  ENGINES 

Engines  that  are  subject  •  to  seasonal  operation  should  be  pro- 
tected against  corrosion  during  periods  of  inactivity,  particularly  if 
such  idle  periods  are  long.  Care  should  be  taken  to  prevent  water  or 
vapor  from  leaking  into  the  cylinder  from  the  throttle  or  the  exhaust 
pipes.  If  necessary,  blank  flanges  may  be  used  to  advantage  on  these 
pipes.  The  interior  of  cylinder,  valve  housings  or  valve  chest  should 
be  slushed  with  cylinder  oil.  Exposed  wearing  surfaces,  such  as  the 
crosshead  guides  and  any  other  bright  parts,  should  be  treated  sim- 
ilarly. For  the  latter  purpose  special  slushing  compounds,  less  ex- 
pensive than  cylinder  oil,  may  be  obtained  from  reputable  oil  manu- 
facturers. 

The  governor  and  valve  gear  parts  should  be  well  oiled  and  some 
waterproof  material  such  as  oil  cloth  or  tarpaper  wrapped  around 
them.  It  is  a  good  plan  to  use  similar  means  to  prevent  the  infiltra- 
tion of  dust  and  grit  into  the  bearings.  Ry  taking  these  precautions 
a  great  deal  of  trouble  may  be  avoided  at  the  time  the  engine  is  again 
put  in  service  and  in  general  the  useful  life  of  the  engine  will  be  pro- 
longed. 


ii6 


THE     LOCOMOTIVE 


October, 


A  QUARTERLY  MAGAZINE 
DEVOTED   TO   POWER   PLANT   PROTECTION 

George  Hargis  Prall,  Editor 

Copyright   1928  by   The   Hartford  Steam   Boiler  Inspection  and   Insurance   Company 

HARTFORD,  CONN.,  October  i,  1928 

Single  Copies  can  be  obtained  free  by  calling  at  any  of  the  company's  agencies. 

Subscription   price   50   cents   per  year   when   mailed    from   this   office. 

Recent  bound  volumes  one  dollar  each.     Earlier  ones  two  dollars. 

Reprinting  matter   from  this  paper  is  permitted  if  credited  to 

The  Locomotive  of  The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection  &  Insurance  Co. 


Fusible  Plug  Undertakes  New  Role 

tt  I  .IXPLOSIONLESS  Era  Dawns"  might  have  been,  but  wasn't 
r^  i  the  caption  of  a  recent  telegraphic  news  dispatch  from  San 
Sebastian,  Spain,  describing  an  alleged  new  device  for  pre- 
venting boiler  explosions.  The  "  invention  "  consists  of  a  plate  of  special 
metallic  alloy  that  is  supposed  to  fuse  out,  turn  steam  into  the  firebox, 
and  partly  extinguish  the  fire  when  pressure  reaches  a  predetermined 
point.  A  successful  test  was  conducted  aboard  a  steamship,  according 
to  the  report,  over  which  appeared  this  head-line :  "  Simple  Device 
Halts  Boiler  Blast  Peril." 

The  fusible  plug,  of  which  this  seems  to  be  a  modified  form,  has 
been  in  use  too  many  years  for  engineers  to  entertain  any  extravagant 
opinion  of  its  value  as  a  preventive  of  explosions.  It  is  installed  at  the 
lowest  safe  water  level  for  the  purpose  of  melting  out  and  giving  warn- 
ing in  case  the  water  should  fall  below  that  point.  When  used  in 
boilers  with  very  high  pressure  it  has  an  extremely  embarrassing  ten- 
dency to  blow  out  and  cause  a  shut-down  even  when  water  level  is 
normal.    Not  by  the  widest  stretch  of  imagination  can  it  be  regarded 


1928.  THK     LOCOMOTIVE  117 

as  halting  "  boiler  blast  peril  "  due  to  corrosion  and  grooving  of  the 
plate  or  other  forms  of  structural  weakness. 

Until  more  specific  details  of  the  SjJanish  invention  are  available 
we  must  withluild  final  judgment,  but  from  facts  at  hand  the  device 
looks  remarkably  like  the  familiar  old  fusible  plug  dressed  up  in  new 
clothes.    If  so,  the  explosionless  era  has  not  yet  dawned. 


Walter  Austin  McGlannan 

ALONG,  honorable  and  successful  career  in  the  insurance  busi- 
ness in  Baltimore  made  Walter  A.  McGlannan  well  known  far 
beyond  the  boundaries  of  that  city.  He  was  born  in  Baltimore 
fifty- four  years  ago,  grew  up  to  manhood  there  and  took  his  part  in 
the  business,  social  and  civic  life  of  that  community  in  a  way  that 
won  its  esteem  and  the  warm  regard  of  a  wide  circle  of  friends.  To 
them  word  of  his  unexpected  death  on  July  9th,  after  a  very  brief 
illness,  came  as  an  overwhelming  shock  and  sorrow.  Our  Hartford 
Company  shares  deeply  in  this  sorrow,  for  Mr.  McGlannan's  death 
severed  ties  of  a  valued  association  of  many  years  standing. 

Mr.  McGlannan  was  a  member  of  the  well-known  insurance  firm 
of  Lawford  &  McKim  which  has  continuously  represented  this  Com- 
pany as  its  general  agents  for  nearly  sixty  years  in  a  broad  territory 
centering  on  Baltimore.  Mr.  McGlannan  and  his  partner,  Mr.  Arthur 
Koppelman,  joined  this  firm  as  boys  and  grew  up  in  its  organiza- 
tion. Twenty  years  ago  they  were  admitted  by  the  late  J.  M.  Lawford 
to  partnership  with  him.  Mr.  Lawford  died  in  1913  and  since  then 
Mr.  McGlannan  and  Mr.  Koppelman  together  carried  on  the  general 
insurance  business  of  the  firm,  retaining  its  original  name  and  main- 
taining its  traditional  relationship  with  The  Hartford. 

This  long  association  with  Mr.  McGlannan  gave  us  occasion  to 
know  him  well  and  to  observe  and  appreciate  the  ability  and  thorough 
understanding  of  insurance  principles  and  practices  which  he  devoted 
to  his  business.  Our  Company  benefited  by  that  ability  and  by  the 
loyal  and  conscientious  attention  he  gave  to  the  interest  of  all  whom 
he  served.  We  found  him  honorable,  straight-forward  and  sincere 
in  all  his  dealings  and  a  man  whose  broad,  generous  sympathies  and 
ready,  genial  humor  made  him  a  delightful  companion  and  friend. 
Thus,  as  the  years  went  by,  the  ties  of  mutual  interest,  confidence  and 
regard  that  bound  us  to  him  grew  stronger  and  stronger  and  our 
business  association  became  a  happy  fellowship,  grateful  memories 
of  which  will  remain  with  us  always. 


i8  THE     LOCOMOTIVE  October, 


Thompson  Parish  Ware 

ry^HOMPSON  PARISH  WARE,  in  length  of  service  one  of  the 
I  oldest  members  of  The  Hartford  organization,  died  at  St.  Louis, 
Mo.,  on  July  2ist,  1928,  in  the  79th  year  of  his  age. 

Tom  Ware,  as  he  was  affectionately  known  by  his  associates,  joined 
our  inspection  department  at  St.  Louis  in  1889.  Prior  to  that  time  he 
had  been  for  several  years  an  operating  engineer  on  river  steam-boats, 
which  experience,  together  with  his  natural  aptitude  for  mechanical 
matters,  well  equipped  him  for  his  work  with  our  Company.  In  it  he 
rapidly  acquired  proficiency  and  soon  after  his  employment  the  Company 
had  such  confidence  in  his  judgment  and  ability  that  it  transferred  him 
to  Dallas,  Texas,  and  gave  him  charge  of  all  inspection  work  in  the 
territory  adjacent  to  that  city.  That  this  confidence  was  well  justified  is 
ihown  by  his  thirty-eight  years  of  service  there.  During  them  the 
Company's  interests  always  were  his  interests  too.  He  was  proud  of 
its  record  and  worked  earnestly  and  constantly  to  establish  and  increase 
its  reputation  for  usefulness  in  his  territory.  That  he  succeeded  and 
that  now  the  Company's  value  to  boiler  owners  is  so  generally  appre- 
ciated in  Northern  Texas,  we  know  is  due  in  great  measure  to  the 
universal  esteem  and  respect  which  Mr.  Ware  won  for  himself  there. 

In  1920  Mr.  Ware  was  relieved  of  his  duties  as  inspector  and  given 
the  less  wearing  but  no  less  responsible  position  of  special  agent.  He 
continued  active  in  that  position  until,  last  winter,  the  illness  to  which 
he  finally  succumbed  forced  his  retirement  from  the  field. 

There  are  many  friends  of  "  Tom  "  Ware  and  of  ours,  we  feel 
sure,  who  join  with  us  in  sorrow  at  his  passing  and  who  will  appreciate 
the  loss  it  means  to  our  Company. 


It's  the  Little  Things  That  Do  It 

THE  mouse  that  broke  up  a  circus  by  stampeding  the  elephants 
had  nothing  on  a  small  bird  that  recently  bottled  up  the  immense 
electrical  system  in  the  down-town  business  district  of  Toledo, 
Ohio.     A  brief  newspaper  clipping  tells  the  story : 

"  The  death  of  a  swallow  carrying  material  for  building  its  nest 
halted  activities  in  downtown  Toledo  yesterday.  Burned  to  death, 
its  beak  holding  wet  straw  and  string,  the  bird  was  found  between 
wires  leading  from  an  east  side  power  house  to  the  west  side,  causing 
a  short  circuit.  Many  public  buildings  were  without  light  and  elevator 
service  and  police  trafific  signals  were  dead." 


^92S. THE     LOCOMOTIVE 119 

Instances  of  tie-ups  from  such  trifling  causes  are  not  infrequent. 
Every  now  and  then  some  such  occurrence  reminds  us  tftat,  in  spite 
of  the  carefully  made  harness  by  which  power  is  made,  to  serve  us, 
our  mechanical  horse  still  has  an  annoying  tendency  to  get  cross-wise 
the  shafts  on  slight  provocation.  Insurance  will  protect  plant  owners 
against  loss  from  service  interruption  when  this  happens. 


Getting  Closer  to  the  Elusive  Atom 

BY  distilling  metals  on  a  flat  surface  of  rock  salt  and  then  dissolv- 
ing away  the  salt,  physicists  recently  succeeded  in  producing  a 
metallic  wafer  of  almost  inconceivable  thinness.     Stacked  one  on 
top  of  another,  it  would  take  2,500,000  of  them  to  make  a  pile  an 
inch  high.     In  comparison,  gold  leaf  seems  bulky. 

Scientists  say  the  effective  diameter  of  an  atom  is  about  i/ioo 
the  thickness  of  these  films  and  that  each  atom  requires  elbow  room 
many  times  its  diameter  to  navigate  in.  If  that  be  so,  it  is  evident 
these  films  are  only  a  few  atoms  thick. 

Having  whittled  matter  down  to  such  a  thin  slice  as  this,  who  will 
say  that  science  may  not  yet  isolate  the  atom  —  or  even  dissect  it  to 
clear  up  the  bafifling  mystery  of  its  behavior? 


Advanced  to  Chief  Inspectorship 

AXXOUXCEMENT  has  been  made  of  the  appointment  of  P.  E. 
Terroy  as  Chief  Inspector  at  the  Company's  Baltimore  office. 
Prior  to  this  promotion  Mr.  Terroy  served  with  distinction  as 
Directing  Inspector  at  Atlanta.  As  a  consequence  the  latter  Depart- 
ment should  be  credited  with  having  added  still  another  name  to  the 
list  of  officials  it  has  furnished  the  various  departments  of  the  Com- 
pany. 


''  Some  Coal  Is  Like  That  " 

Donald  MacFee,  writing  in  Pozver,  tells  this  one:  A  former  shoe 
salesman  now  selling  coal  was  giving  his  sales  talk  to  a  prospect. 
"  There's  no  ash  in  this  coal ;  not  a  bit  of  sulphur  or  dirt.  I  tell  you 
it's  a  wonderful  fuel." 

"  How  many  b.  t.  u.'s  are  there  in  it?  "  inquired  the  prospect. 

"  Absolutelv  none."  was  the  clinching  answer. 


I20  THE       LOCOMOTIVE  October, 


Taps  From  the  Old  Chief  ^s  Hammer 

4 6 ^"V  TELL,"  chuckled  the  Chief,  dropping  a  letter  he  had  been 

V  Y    studying  and   reaching   for  his   pipe,   "  my   father   used  to 

tell  about  a  family  in  Northampton  county,  Virginia,  that 

bought  a  cof^n  and  placed  it  in  the  parlor  years  before  they  had  any 

idea  any  of   them  was  getting  ready  to   die.       I   suppose    you    boys 

would  consider  that  just  about  the  last  word  in  preparedness,  eh?  " 

Leaning  back  while  he  tamped  a  charge  of  rough-cut  into  his 
aromatic  old  briar,  the  Chief  let  his  glance  run  down  the  long  table 
at  which  sat  half  a  dozen  inspectors  preparing  reports  before  leaving 
the  office  on  their  various  assignments.  It  wasn't  often  the  old  man 
interrupted  the  routine  at  this  time  of  day.  His  unexpected  loqua- 
ciousness was  a  sure  signal  that  something  unusual  was  in  the  wind. 

"  I'd  say  that  family  ought  to  rate  pretty  high  on  the  list,"  ven- 
tured the  assistant  when  it  became  apparent  that  the  Chief  expected 
some  sort  of  an  answer  to  his  question. 

The  Chief  nodded,  as  if  satisfied.  "  Then  tell  me,"  he  demanded, 
"  how  far  up  on  the  scale  would  you  rate  a  plant  owner  who,  having 
a  good  boiler  in  operation,  bought  a  new  one  and  placed  it  in  storage  ?  " 

"What  was  wrong  with  the  boiler  in  the  plant?"  the  assistant 
wanted  to  know. 

"  Nothing,"  the  Chief  informed  him.  "  It  was  in  first-rate  shape, 
with  every  expectation  of  a  long  life,  as  a  lawyer  would  say." 

Apparently  satisfied  that  he  had  aroused  their  curiosity,  the  Chief 
launched  into  his  story. 

"About  two  years  ago  —  just  before  Jones  was  transferred  to 
Chicago  —  he  went  out  to  the  Apex  Laundry  on  a  regular  inspection 
trip  and  discovered  a  serious  bulge  in  the  front  course  of  the  plant's 
boiler.  The  bulge  ran  all  the  way  from  the  head  to  girth  seam  and 
extended  well  up  on  both  sides.  Oil  was  the  cause.  Got  in  through 
the  feed  water  heater.  Naturally,  the  insurance  did  not  cover  a  con- 
dition of  this  kind,  but  just  the  same  I  hurried  down  there  as  quickly 
as  possible  to  see  what  could  be  done  about  getting  the  plant  in 
operation  with  the  least  loss  of  time.  Needless  to  say,  the  owner, 
Mr.  Littledale,  was  worried.  Any  sort  of  shut-down  was  bound  to 
lose  customers  for  him  and  he  realized  that  unless  a  way  were  found 
to  repair  the  boiler  the  long  delay  while  a  new  one  was  ordered  and 
shipped  would  be  a  serious  matter. 

"  I  went  over  the  bulge  inch  by  inch  and  found  there  had  been 
no  actual  weakenins^  of  the  metal.     Mr.  Littledale  was  tickled  when  I 


'928.  THE     LOCO  M  O  T  I  V  E  121 

told  him  the  sheet  could  be  driven  back.  He  called  a  repair  firm 
and  set  them  to  work  after  I  assured  him  driving  back  the  bulge 
would  not  weaken  the  vessel. 

"  Things  were  coming  along  in  good  shape  until  the  gang  fore- 
man knocked  off  and  quit  the  job,  saying  it  couldn't  be  done.  Two 
other  companies  were  called  in  and  they  refused  flatly  to  undertake 
the  work.  A  fourth  company  was  drafted,  but  after  working  almost 
all  day  the  foreman  went  to  Mr.  Littledale  with  the  story  that  the 
sheets  in  front  and  rear  courses  were  too  thin  to  warrant  spending 
money  on  repairs. 

"  By  this  time  I  was  between  the  devil  and  the  deep  sea.  It  was 
natural  that  Mr.  Littledale  should  blame  me  for  letting  him  waste 
two  valuable  days  on  what  he  was  beginning  to  think  was  a  job  that 
should  never  have  been  undertaken.  He  couldn't  see  how  four  repair 
companies  could  be  all  wrong,  so  he  figured  that  if  in  the  end  he 
was  going  to  have  to  buy  a  new  boiler  I  ought  to  step  aside  and  let 
him  get  it  over  with. 

"  The  easiest  way  out  for  me  would  have  been  to  withdraw  my 
objections  and  let  him  go  ahead  and  spend  his  money.  But  I  knew 
I  was  right  about  driving  back  that  bulge  and  it  didn't  jibe  with 
my  conscience  to  let  one  of  our  assured  throw  away  a  few  thousand 
dollars  and  waste  valuable  time  getting  a  new  boiler  installed  when 
all  the  old  one  needed  to  put  it  in  first-rate  shape  was  a  few  hours' 
work  by  an  intelligent  repair  gang. 

"  I  stuck  to  my  guns  and  we  battled  it  out  that  night.  He  con- 
sented to  make  just  one  more  attempt  at  repairs  before  ordering 
a  new  boiler.  This  last  firm  of  boiler  repairers  knew  the  business. 
It  sent  over  a  gang  that  did  a  workmanlike  job  in  jig-time.  After 
a  thorough  examination  we  O.K.'d  their  work  and  the  fireman  lost 
no  time  raising  steam. 

"  Mr.  Littledale  was  mighty  grateful  and  you  can  imagine  I  felt 
pretty  good  at  having  saved  him  the  price  of  a  new  boiler  as  well  as 
the  expense  of  a  longer  shut-down.  I  was  still  congratulating  myself 
three  days  later  when  I  met  Mr.  Littledale  and  he  told  me  that  in 
spite  of  everything  he  had  ordered  a  new  boiler  as  a  spare  because 
he  just  couldn't  make  himself  believe  the  bulge  wasn't  going  to 
reappear.  Naturally,  I  was  sorry  he  had  gone  ahead  and  spent  his 
money,  but  I  had  the  consolation  of  knowing  I  had  done  my  best  to 
prevent  it. 

"  As  month  after  month  passed  with  the  old  boiler  showing  no 
signs  of  distress,  Mr.  Littledale  began  to  wonder  whether  it  wasn't 


122  THE       LOCOMOTIVE  October, 

going  to  last  just  about  as  long  in  service  as  the  new  one  would  in 
storage.  Of  course  I  don't  mean  the  new  boiler  was  rusting  away, 
but  when  you  have  part  of  your  bankroll  tied  up  in  mechanical  equip- 
ment that's  doing  nothing  but  occupy  warehouse  space  you're  losing 
money  every  hour  it  stays  there.  Mr.  Littledale  saw  this,  so  to  lay 
the  ghost  once  and  for  all  time  he  sent  for  us  about  three  weeks  ago 
to  give  his  boiler  a  special  inspection.  We  did,  and  found  it  ship- 
shape. That  settled  the  matter  with  the  owner;  he  sold  the  spare 
as  soon  as  he  could  find  a  buyer. 

"  This  morning  I  received  a  letter  from  Mr.  Littledale.  In  speak- 
ing about  installing  some  safety  devices  we  have  recommended  he 
says,  among  other  things,  '  We  are  pleased  to  follow  out  the  sug- 
gestions of  The  Hartford  at  all  times,  as  your  Company  and  your 
Department  has  our  confidence  after  the  complete  demonstration  of 
your  knowledge  of  boilers  at  this  plant '." 

Laying  aside  his  pipe,  the  Chief  turned  to  his  work.  But  he  could 
not  resist  the  temptation  to  point  out  a  moral  to  his  narrative,  for 
a  moment  la.ter  he  remarked  over  his  shoulder,  "  That  proves  what 
all  you  married  men  ought  to  know  by  this  time.  When  you're  right 
you'll  always  win  eventually  —  providing  you  hold  out  long  enough." 


Hard  on  the  Old  Man 

Daughter :  —  "  Daddy,  will  you  help  me  work  this  algebra  prob- 
lem?" 

Conscientious  father,  looking  up  from  his  paper:  —  "I  could, 
dear,  but  I  don't  think  it  would  be  right." 

Daughter:  —  "No,  I  don't  suppose  it  would.  But  you  could  try, 
couldn't  you  ?  " 


In  a  down-town  show  window,  above  a  set  of  attractive  pictures 
of  wild  animals,  the  humane  society  exhibited  this  sign:  "They  skin 
us  to  provide  women  with  furs." 

The  man  with  a  large  family  of  grown  daughters  paused  there 
long  enough  to  mutter :    "  You're  not  the  only  ones." 


Found  on  an  employee's  application : 
Question  :  —  Give  your  parents'  names. 
Answer:  —  Mama  and  papa.  —  A.  G.  E.  Bulletin. 


'9:^8- THE     LOCOMOTIVE i^ 

Think  Chemical  Reaction  Caused  Explosion 

SPONTANEOUS  combustion  of  foreign  substances  in  an  air  tank 
almost  eleven  hours  after  the  compressor  had  been  shut  down  is 
thought  to  have  caused  an  explosion  that  killed  the  night  engineer 
and  did  $10,000  property  damage  at  the  plant  of  Simm's  Oil  Company, 
Smackover,  Ark.,  on  July  28th. 

Causes  ordinarily  attributable  to  air  tank  explosions  did  not  fit  this 
unusual  case.  With  the  compressor  idle  so  long  there  was  no  chance 
that  a  piece  of  incandescent  carbon  from  the  valves  of  the  compressor 
could  have  ignited  oil  vapor  carried  over  from  the  cylinder.  Xor  could 
suspicion  be  directed  toward  over-pressure  for,  although  the  safety 
valve  was  damaged  so  badly  it  could  not  be  tested,  it  is  almost  certain 
an  explosion  from  over-pressure  would  have  occurred  while  the  com- 
pressor was  running,  instead  of  several  hours  after  it  had  been  shut 
down. 

Persons  who  conducted  an  investigation  believe  that  while  the  com- 
pressor was  running  an  appreciable  amount  of  oil  substance,  dust,  and 
perhaps  some  chemical  vapor  from  the  air  passed  into  the  tank  where 
they  set  up  a  slow  chemical  reaction  which  eventually  caused  spon- 
taneous combustion.  Another  theory  is  that  a  charge  of  static  elec- 
tricity was  created  by  air  rushing  through  the  discharge  pipe  as  the 
engineer  opened  the  valve.  This  might  have  caused  a  spark  that  ig- 
nited the  combustible  mixture  in  the  tank.  In  any  event,  the  resultant 
explosion  was  so  sudden  and  so  violent  that  the  presence  of  a  safety 
valve  meant  nothing. 

The  compressor  was  shut  down  at  noon.  At  that  time  pressure 
in  the  tank  was  below  the  allowable  limit  of  270  pounds,  at  which 
the  safety  valve  was  set  to  relieve.  Eleven  hours  later  the  night  en- 
gineer and  the  night  operator  decided  to  start  the  compressor.  As  the  en- 
gineer opened  the  valve  in  the  line  between  the  tank  and  the  compressor 
the  tank  let  go,  killing  him  instantly.  The  operator  escaped,  because  he 
was  a  few  steps  behind  the  engineer  and  had  not  yet  entered  the  room. 

The  tank  was  installed  vertically  with  concave  head  at  the  bottom. 
So  great  was  the  force  of  the  explosion  the  head  seam  rivets  were 
sheared  and  the  head  reversed  the  direction  of  its  dish.  The  top  head  and 
a  fringe  of  shell  were  thrown  to  the  roof,  but  the  rest  of  the  shell  re- 
mained in  one  piece.  Rivets  along  the  horizontal  seam  sheared  oflF  and 
allowed  the  shell  to  flatten  out.  There  was  no  evidence  that  metal  of 
either  heads  or  shell  had  been  weakened  by  corrosion. 

This  tank  was  not  insured  by  The  Hartford. 


124 


THE     LOCOMOTIVE 


October, 


Boiler  Without  Safety  Valve  Explodes 

DEPENDENCE    on    the    presence    of    an    electrically-controlled 
thermostatic  and  pressure  device  to  take  the  place  of  a  safety 
valve  cost  the  lives  of  a  man  and  his  wife  when,  on  May  14th,  it 
resulted  in  the  explosion  of  a  cast  iron  heating  boiler  used  to  demonstrate 
an  oil  burner  in  the  show-room  of  a  store  at  St.  Louis,  Mo.   The  control 

unit  was  designed  to  shut  ofT  the  oil 
supply  when  pressure  reached  a  certain 
point.  After  the  accident  it  was  dis- 
covered that  the  device  had  been  dis- 
connected to  allow  electricians  to  work 
on  relays  and  switches.  Without  it, 
there  was  nothing  to  prevent  pressure 
from  increasing  until  it  burst  the 
boiler.  Besides  taking  two  lives,  the 
accident  scalded  a  woman  seriously. 

Devices  to  control  heat  input  of 
boilers  are  entirely  practical  and 
usually  very  successful  from  the  stand- 
point of  temperature  control  and  fuel 
economy.  In  addition,  they  may  even 
serve  to  keep  pressure  within  allow- 
able limits.  But,  as  this  case  shows, 
for  the  sake  of  safety  they  should  be 
augmented  by  the  more  direct  and 
positive  means  of  pressure  relief  which 
a  safety  valve  affords.  There  is  no  need  to  point  out  how  well  a 
safety  valve  would  have  served  in  the  case  described  above. 

As  may  be  seen  from  the  accompanying  photograph,  quite  a  large 
piece  was  blown  from  the  rear  section  of  the  firebox.  There  was  no 
evidence  to  show  that  any  defect  existed  before  the  accident. 


Exploding  Boiler  Kills  26  in  Mexico 

TWENTY-SIX  men,  women,  and  children  were  killed  and  over 
a  score  were  seriously  injured  by  the  explosion  of  a  horizontal 
tubular  boiler  in  a  public  bath  house  near.IMexico  City,  June  19th. 
Employees  and  patrons  of  the  establishment  as  well  as  occupants  of 
nearby  houses  and  passers-by  were  crushed  beneath  debris  of  three 
buildings  which  the  blast  demolished. 

An  attempt  to  trace  the  circumstances  leading  up  to  the  explosion 


19^8. 


THE     LOCOMOTIVE 


I2C 


proved  fruitless  because  the  engineer,  as  well  as  his  wife  and  son 
who  had  brought  his  lunch  and  eaten  with  him,  was  killed  instantly. 
A  bath  house  attendant  told  police  that,  while  the  engineer  was  eating, 
the  boiler  ran  low  in  water  and  became  overheated.  He  said  the  ex- 
plosion followed  an  attempt  to  feed  in  cold  water.  This  explanation 
scarcely   seems   plausible,   however,   in   view   of   the   great  amount   of 


-SfiM 


energy  that  must   have  been   required  to  wreak   the  havoc  indicated 
by  the  photograph. 

The  plant's  two  boilers  carried  200  pounds  pressure.  Accord- 
ing to  newspaper  reports,  the  owner  had  no  insurance  and  was  ren- 
dered penniless. 


Well,  That  Settles  It 

Jones :  — "  Sorry,  old  man,  that  my  hen  got  loose  and  scratched 

up  your  garden." 

Smith:  —  "That's  all  right;  my  dog  ate  your  hen." 

Jones:  —  "Fine.     I  just  ran  over  your  dog  and  killed  him."  — 

St.  Paul  Farmer. 


Prescription  for  reducing  waist  line:     Place  hands  on  edge  of  table 
—  and  shove  back. 


The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection  and  Insurance  Company 


56  Prospect  Street, 
HARTFORD,  CONN. 


ABSTRACT  OF  STATEMENT,  DECEMBER  31,   1927 


Capital  Stock, 


$2,500,000.00 


ASSETS 


Cash  in  offices  and  banks 

Real  Estate     .... 

Mortgage  and  collateral  loans 

Bonds  and  Stocks  . 

Premiums  in  course  of  collection 

Interest   accrued 

Other  Assets  .    '     . 

Total    Assets 


$622,484.21 

283,421.23 

1,366,072.48 

15,023,458.34 

1,363.003.55 

152,728.70 

54,678.59 

$18,865,847.10 


LIABILITIES 
Reserve  for  unearned  premiums 
Reserve   for  losses  ..... 

Reserve  for  taxes  and  other  contingencies    . 
Capital   Stock  ...... 

Surplus  over  all  liabilities       .... 

Surplus  to  Policyholders, 

Total    Liabilities         .... 


$7,710,752.66 

346,047.69 

1,593-07745 


$2,500,000.00 
6,715,969-30 


$9,215,969.30 


.  $18,865,847-10 


CHARLES    S.    BLAKE,    Chairman    Board    of    Directors 
WM.   R.    C.    CORSON,    President   and    Treasurer 


BOARD    OF   DIRECTORS 


LUCIUS  F.  ROBINSON,  Attorney,  Hart- 
ford,   Conn. 

JOHN  O.  ENDERS,  Chairman  Board  of 
Directors,  Hartford  National  Bank  & 
Trust    Co.,    Hartford,    Conn. 

MORGAN  B.  BRAINARD,  President 
yEtna  Life  Insurance  Co.,  Hartford, 
Conn. 

CHARLES  P.  COOLEY,  Chairman  Board 
of  Trustees,  Society  for  Savings,  Hart- 
ford,   Conn. 

HORACE  B.  CHENEY,  Cheney  Brothers, 
Silk  Manufacturers,  South  Manchester, 
Conn. 

D.  NEWTON  BARNEY,  Vice-President 
The  Hartford  Electric  Light  Co.,  Hart- 
ford,   Conn. 

DR.  GEORGE  C.  F.  WILLIAMS,  Presi- 
dent The  Capewell  Horse  Nail  Co., 
Hartford,    Conn. 

JOSEPH  R.  ENSIGN,  President  The 
Ensign-Bickford    Co.,    Simsbury,    Conn. 


EDWARD  MILLIGAN,  President  Phoenix 
Insurance    Co.,    Hartford,    Conn. 

CHARLES  S.  BLAKE,  Chairman  Board  of 
Directors,  The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler 
Inspection  and  Insurance  Co.,  Hart- 
ford,   Conn. 

WM.  R.  C.  CORSON,  President  The  Hart- 
ford Steam  Boiler  Inspection  and  In- 
surance   Co.,    Hartford,    Conn. 

SAMUEL  M.  STONE,  President  The 
Colt's  Patent  Fire  Arms  Mfg.  Co., 
Hartford,    Conn. 

SAMUEL  FERGUSON,  President  The 
Hartford  Electric  Light  Co.,  Hartford, 
Conn. 

HON.  JOHN  H.  TRUMBULL,  President 
The  Trumbull  Electric  Mfg.  Co.,  Plain- 
ville.    Conn. 

CURTISS  C.  GARDINER,  Vice-President 
The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection 
and  Insurance  Company,  80  Maiden 
Lane,  New  York,  N.  Y. 


Incorporated  1866 

,0t 


Charter  Perpetual 


Department 

ATLANTA,  Ga., 

1 103-1106  Atlanta   Trust   Bldg. 

BALTIMORE,  Md 

13-14-15   Abell   Bldg. 

BOSTON,   Mass.,        . 
4  Liberty  Sq.,  Cor.  Water   St. 

BRIDGEPORT.  Conn..       . 
404-405  City  Savings  Bank  Bldg. 

CHICAGO,  111.. 
209    West    Jackson    BTv'd. 

CINXINXATI,    Ohio, 

First   National    Bank    Bldg. 


CLEVELAND,   Ohio, 
Leader  Bldg.    . 

DENVER.   Colo., 
916-918    Gas    &    Electric    Bldg 

DETROIT,    Mich.,      . 

2401-7  First  Nat'l   Bank  Bldg 

HARTFORD.   Conn., 
56   Prospect   St. 

NEW   ORLEANS.   La.,     . 
1 128    Hibernia    Bank    Bldg. 

NEW   YORK.    N.   Y., 
80  Maiden  Lane 

PHILADELPHIA,   Pa.,     . 
429  Walnut   St. 

PITTSBURGH,  Pa.,  . 
1807-8-9-10   .^rrott    Bldg. 

PORTLAND.   Ore.,    . 
306  Yeon  Bldg. 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  Cal.   . 
114   Sansome   St. 

SEATTLE,  Wash.,     . 
423  Dexter-Horton   Bldg. 

ST.  LOUIS,  Mo., 
610-618  Security  Bldg.     . 

TORONTO,    Canada, 
Federal  Bldg.  . 


Representatives 

W.  M.  Fr.\ncis.  Manager. 

C.  R.  Summers,  Chief  Inspector. 

L.\WF0RD  &  McKiM,  General  Agents. 
P.  E.  Terrov,  Chief  Inspector. 

W.\RD  I.  Cornell,  Manager. 

W.  A.   B.WLiss,   Chief   Inspector. 

W.  G.  Lin'eburgh  &  Son,  General  Agents 
A.  E.  BoNNETT,  Chief  Inspector. 

P.   M.   Murray,   Manager. 

J.  P.  Morrison,  Chief  Inspector. 

W.  E.  Gle.\son,  Manager. 

W.  E.  Glennon,  Chief  Inspector. 

A.  P.vuL  Graham,  Manager. 
L.  T.  Gregg,  Chief  Inspector. 

J.   H.   Chesnutt. 

Manager  and  Chief  Inspector. 

L.   L.   Coates,   Manager. 

Thomas  P.  Hetu,  Chief  Inspector. 

F.  H.  Kenyon,  General  Agent. 
A.  E.  Bonnet.  Chief  Inspector. 

R.  T.  Burwell,  Mgr.  and  Chief  Inspector. 
E.  Unsworth,  Ass't  Chief  Inspector. 

C.  C.  Gardiner,  Vice  President. 

E.    Mason    Parry,    Chief    Inspector. 

A.  S.  Wickham,  Manager. 
S.  B.  Adams,  Chief  Inspector. 

Geo.    S.   Reynolds,   Manager. 
J.  A.  Snyder,  Chief  Inspector. 


Bates,  Lively  &  Pearson,  General  Agents. 

C.  B.  Paddock,  Manager. 
L.  J.  Reed,  Chief  Inspector. 

E.   G.  Watson, 
Manager  and  Chief  Inspector. 

Chas.  D.  Ashcroft.  Manager. 
Eugene  Webb,  Chief  Inspector. 

H.  N.  Roberts,  President  The  Boiler  In- 
spection and  Insurance  Company  of 
Canada. 


Does  Your  Fireman  Km 

How  to  prevent  the  formation  of  clinkers^ 

How  to  clean  a  fire  skillfully? 

Whether  or  not  he  is  obtaining  good  combustion? 

The  advantages  of  a  steady  water  line? 

How  to  "  cut  in  "  a  boiler  safely? 

The  proper  method  of  testing  the  water  gauge  glass? 

How   to    cool   down   a   boiler   under   emergency    con- 
ditions? 

These  are  only  a  few  of  the  questions  answered  in  The 

Hartford's  Correspondence  Course  for  Firemen. 

Fill  out  the  blank  below  and  send  for  further 

information. 


The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler 

Inspection  &  Insurance  Company, 

56  Prospect  St.,  Hartford,  Conn. 

Gentlemen :     Please  send  me  further  details  of  your  Correspond- 
ence Course  for  Firemen. 

Name 

Address   .- 


Vol.  XXXVII  No.  5 


January  1929 


A  QUARTERLY  MAGAZINE 
DEVOTED  TO  POWER  PLANT  PROTECTION 


Published  continuously  since     1867 

by  The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler 

Inspection  and  Insurance 

Company 


Please  show  to  your  Engineer 


I30  THE       LOCOMOTIVE  January, 


Far  Below  Surface,  Miners  Pin  Faith  on  Ability  of  Power 
Plant  Men  to  Keep  Air  Supply  Intact 

NO  doubt  about  it,  winter  is  winter  in  Glace  Bay,  Nova  Scotia. 
When  the  old  giant  of  the  Arctic  circle  rouses  from  his  summer's 
siesta  and  turns  loose  the  wind  that  howls  down  across  Canada 
with  sub-zero  temperature  on  its  coat  tails,  folk  in  Glace  Bay  need  no 
thermometer  to  tell  them  what's  what.  Jutting  out  into  the  northern 
stretches  of  the  Atlantic,  that  Nova  Scotia  peninsula  can  tell  you  a 
thing  or  two  about  cold  weather. 

However,  one  spot  in  Glace  Bay  manages  to  escape  winter's  cruel 
talons.  Go  down,  straight  down  a  thousand  feet  into  the  earth,  then 
walk  three  or  four  miles  out  under  the  very  floor  of  the  ocean  and 
3-ou'll  find  miners  actually  sweating  at  their  task  of  getting  out  the 
8,000  odd  tons  of  coal  that  each  day  come  up  out  of  Collieries  iB  and  2 
of  the  British  Empire  Steel  Corporation.  It's  hot  down  there.  So  hot 
that  when  folks  on  the  surface  are  clumping  along  in  ulsters  and 
mufflers,  beating  arms  across  chests  to  keep  up  circulation,  the  miners 
are  stripped  down  to  just  as  few  clothes  as  the  law  allows. 

Yes,  it's  hot  down  at  the  bottom  of  the  pits.  Neither  men  nor 
horses  could  stand  it  were  it  not  for  huge  fans  in  the  power  house  on 
the  surface  —  fans  that,  night  and  day,  send  down  a  continuous  supply 
of  fresh  air.  Let  something  happen  to  those  fans  and  the  men  down 
tliere  are  not  long  in  knowing  it.  Pinch  ofif  that  air  supply  for  any 
length  of  time  and  all  hands  must  come  up  —  or  fight  it  out  with  swel- 
tering heat  and  mine  gas. 

Keeping  that  air  going  down  is  the  job  of  men  in  the  power  house. 
And  quite  a  job  it  is,  too,  looking  after  twenty-one  boilers,  a  battery  of 
compressors,  fans,  turbo-generators  and  engines  —  the  big  fellows  that 
lower  men  into  the  pits  at  the  start  of  a  day's  work  and  lift  them  out 
again  when  the  next  shift  comes  on  to  relieve  them. 

A  lot  depends  on  those  power  plant  hands  and  you  can  bet  they  know 
it.  They're  on  the  job  every  minute  of  the  day,  doing  all  that  is  humanly 
possible  to  guard  against  break-downs.  But  care  and  watchful- 
ness can  go  only  so  far  toward  keeping  the  thousands  of  pieces  of  an 
enormous  power  plant  clicking  in  unison.  An  invisible  defect  in  a 
spindle  or  shaft,  an  insidious  fissure  hidden  away  'neath  the  lap  of  a 
boiler  seam,  or  any  one  of  a  hundred  other  items  that  might  possibly 
escape  the  eye  of  even  the  keenest  inspector  may  be  h'ing  in  wait  to 
snarl  things  up  in  a  hopeless  tangle.  Yes,  lurking  there  to  kill  a  man 
or  two  if  any  are  in  the  way  when  it  lets  go. 


1929. 


THE     LOCOMOTIVE 


i.V 


At  four  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  Novenibcr  20,  192^,  the  Glace 
Bay  power  plant  was  running  as  evenly  as  a  watch.  Down  the  long 
firing  aisle  of  the  boiler  room  walked  Head  Fireman  Ernest  Burchell, 
glancing  up  at  gauge  glasses  as  he  went.  No  sound  was  audible  save 
the  steady  hum  of  a  battery  of  smoothly  steaming  boilers  and  the 
harsher,  grumbling  note  of  automatic  stokers  at  their  tireless  task  of 
cramming  an  endless  stream  of  fuel  into  hungry  furnaces.  Sweet  music 
to  a  fireman's  ear,  for  as  long  as  no  foreign  note  intrudes  itself  into 


that  symphony  he  knows  that  all  is  well.  But  no  —  he  can  never 
know  that  for  a  certainty.  There  is  no  premonitory  sound  to  warn 
of  a  lap  seam  about  to  crack  open.  No  matter  how  competent  and  ex- 
perienced the  watcher,  he  cannot  look  through  the  brickwork  of  a  boiler 
setting  and  see  metal  in  the  throes  of  a  losing  battle  with  a  force  that 
is  striving  to  tear  it  asunder.  When  metal  gives  up  the  fight,  the  cata- 
clysm descends  in  the  wink  of  an  eye ;  it  enters  the  boiler  room  with 
the  suddenness  of  an  aerial  bomb. 

So  Burchell  saw  no  sign  that  all  was  not  well :  little  could  he  guess 
what  was  going  on  inside  the  lap  seam  of  the  middle  course  of  Boiler 
No.  7. 

Old  No.  7  was  built  in  1903,  rebuilt  in  1923,  and  was  considered 
a  staunch  vessel.  During  her  long  term  of  service  she  had  established 
a  reputation  as  a  fine  steamer  and  had  given  her  owners  very  little 


132  THE     LOCOMOTIVE  J^^^^ry, 

trouble.  Of  course,  when  they  overhauled  her  four  or  five  years  ago 
they  found  part  of  the  plate  in  the  middle  course  a  bit  pitted,  but  that 
was  not  surprising  after  twenty  years.  So  they  just  took  out  the  pitted 
plate  and  riveted  in  a  new  piece,  giving  her  two  longitudinal  seams  in 
that  course  where  previously  she  had  had  only  one.  After  that,  old 
No.  7  seemed  just  as  sound  as  the  day  the  erecting  gang  swung  her  into 
place. 

Since  then  something  had  happened  to  that  old  piece  of  plate. 
Little  by  little  a  crack  had  developed  along  the  row  of  rivets  joining 
the  old  plate  with  the  new.  For  a  time  there  was  plenty  of  metal  left 
to  hold  the  steam  demon  in  check,  but  tonight  old  No.  7  knew  that  the 
end  was  near ;  slowly  but  surely  she  felt  her  strength  giving  out  under 
the  relentless  squeezing  of  a  force  that  was  trying  to  burst  the  bonds 
that  held  it.  If  only  a  boiler  could  speak,  No.  7  surely  would  have  said 
something  to  Burchell  as  he  passed  by. 

Pausing  now  and  then  for  a  word  with  a  fireman,  Burchell  walked 
on  down  the  aisle.  Shortly,  he  thought,  the  men  would  have  lunch. 
Those  seemingly  endless  hours  just  before  daybreak  always  go  faster 
when  a  fellow  can  break  into  them  long  enough  for  a  bite  to  eat.  Guess 
he'd  be  having  one  himself  just  as  soon  as . 

Then  it  happened.  Anyone  who  has  stood  close  to  a  battery  of 
naval  guns  fired  in  salvo  can  imagine  the  blast  that  rocked  the  power 
house,  sent  walls  tumbling  down,  crushed  coal  hoppers,  and  tore  open 
mains  to  release  a  flood  of  scalding  steam  through  which  men  had  to 
fight  their  way  to  reach  stop  valves. 

Out  in  the  compressor  room  Archie  McAdam,  an  oiler,  had  just 
risen  from  his  chair  and  taken  a  few  steps  toward  his  machine,  when 
the  back  end  of  No.  7  came  like  a  projectile  through  the  12-inch  brick 
wall  and  smashed  the  chair  to  pieces  the  size  of  matchsticks.  On  its 
journey  the  heavy  missile  demolished  a  Sturtevant  blower,  cropped  ofif 
a  fifteen-foot  section  of  twenty-inch  I-beam  to  send  it  rocketing  seventy- 
five  feet  across  the  boiler  room,  and  carved  down  steam  pipes  as  though 
they  were  made  of  paper. 

The  front  end  of  the  boiler  drove  into  the  supports  of  the  coal 
hopper  and  tipped  that  heavy  structure  more  than  two  feet  out  of  line. 
The  middle  course,  opening  up  as  flat  as  your  hand,  landed  on  top  of 
a  companion  boiler  and  sheared  ofT  its  pipe  connections. 

In  no  time  at  all  oflficials  and  superintendents,  some  of  them  roused 
from  comfortable  beds  at  home  by  the  noise  of  the  explosion,  came 
hurrying  down  to  undertake  the  job  that  always  is  given  precedence  at 
a  mine  accident  —  the  job  of  getting  men  to  the  surface  as  quickly  as 


'929. thp:   locomotive 133 

jiossible.  A  full  shift  of  miners  was  in  No.  2  at  the  thousand- foot 
level,  and  three  men  were  in  old  Mine  No.  9,  which  lay  400  feet  down 
and  was  accessible  only  through  the  main  shaft  leading  down  to  No.  2. 
Getting  the  men  up  through  this  shaft  was  out  of  the  question,  for  there 
was  no  power  to  operate  the  cage  and  no  one  dared  hazard  a  guess  as 
to  how  long  it  would  take  to  clear  away  the  tangle  in  the  power  house 
sufficiently  to  produce  power. 

Putting  all  available  men  to  the  task  of  making  emergency  repairs, 
the  superintendent  led  a  party  of  rescuers  down  through  the  shaft  lead- 
ing to  Mine  iB  from  which  a  drift  leads  over  to  No.  2.  They  soon 
located  the  men  and  brought  them  out,  but  still  there  remained  the  task 
of  rescuing  the  three  men  trapped  in  No.  9.  There  was  no  way  of  ac- 
complishing that  except  by  getting  the  cage  working,  and  to  do  that 
they  had  to  have  power.  So  all  hands  fell  to  work  on  the  wreckage  of 
their  power  house  equipment,  racing  against  time  to  forestall  the  fate 
that  sometimes  befalls  miners  who  are  trapped  down  in  an  unventilated 
mine.  The  battle  was  won  shortly  after  noon  when,  after  seven  hours 
of  herculean  labor,  they  were  able  to  send  down  a  cage  and  bring  up 
three  miners  little  the  worse  for  their  experience. 

Fortunately,  there  was  only  one  fatality  among  those  working  in 
the  power  plant  when  the  explosion  occurred.  Archie  Johnstone,  a 
fireman,  was  blown  to  the  roof  of  a  small  building  nearby,  and  died  in 
the  hospital.  John  Frost,  another  fireman,  was  badly  cut  and  scalded, 
but  he  recovered.  McAdam,  the  oiler  whose  chair  was  crushed  a 
moment  after  he  rose  from  it,  was  cut  on  the  head  by  flying  debris.  His 
injuries  did  not  prove  serious. 

All  in  all,  the  casualty  list  was  remarkably  short,  considering  the 
narrow  escapes  of  some  of  the  men  who  were  closest  to  No.  7  when 
she  let  go.  Property  damage,  amounting  to  over  $31,000,  was  covered 
by  a  policy  in  The  Boiler  Inspection  and  Insurance  Company  of  Canada. 
The  cut  on  a  preceding  page  shows  the  damage  to  stokers  and  coal 
hopper. 


Wrong  Treatment  Was  Fatal 
Acting  on  the  advice  of  a  woman  doctor,  workmen  in  Rakova, 
Czechoslovakia  recently  buried  a  man  in  an  attempt  to  revive  him  after 
he  had  been  rendered  unconscious  by  coming  in  contact  with  an  elec- 
trically-charged wire.  The  doctor  claimed  that  earth  had  "a  peculiar, 
affinity  for  electricity  "  and  would  draw  the  charge  from  the  victim's 
body.     The  cure  was  worse  than  the  ailment ;  the  patient  suffocated. 


134 


THE     LOCOMOTIVE 


January, 


Discarded  Feed  Pipe  Furnishes  Valuable  Clue 

BANISHED  from  the  boiler  room  when  its  job  was  taken  over 
by  a  newer  and  sounder  piece  of  metal,  a  worn-out  section  of  feed 
pipe  would  have  carried  a  vital  bit  of  evidence  away  to  the  junk 
yard  had  not  a  Hartford  inspector  seen  it  just  in  time.  Four  years 
ago,  while  examining  the  boilers  of  a  large  Minnesota  paper  mill,  the 
inspector's  interest  was  aroused  by  the  peculiar  appearance  of  a  crack 
in  the  threaded  end  of  a  pipe  which  had  been  tossed  onto  a  scrap  heap 


behind  the  boiler  house.  Suspecting  the  presence  of  caustic  embrittle- 
ment,  he  immediately  questioned  the  owner  on  the  source  and  treat- 
ment of  feed-water  and  cautioned  him  to  notify  The  Hartford's 
Chicago  headquarters  if  leakage  developed  at  the  seams  or  rivets  of  any 
boiler  in  the  plant. 

From  that  time  on  these  boilers  were  kept  under  the  closest  scrutiny 
by  The  Hartford's  inspection  force.  Within  a  year  a  leaky  rivet  and 
a  headless  rivet  were  discovered,  but  a  thorough  examination  revealed 
no  further  evidence  of  trouble.  However,  when  an  inspector  visited  the 
plant  in  July,  1927,  he  found  that  since  his  last  visit  a  new  blow-ofT 
flange  had  been  fitted  to  No.  4  boiler.  The  old  flange  had  been  con- 
signed to  the  scrap  heap  from  which  it  was  recovered  by  the  inspector 
and  sent  to  a  metallurgist.    The  latter  reported  that  the  intercrystalline 


^9^9^ THE     LOCOMOTIVE 135 

cracks  from  rivet  hole  to  rivet  hole  had  been  caused  bv  caustic  embrittle- 
ment. 

The  close  watch  was  continued,  with  inspectors  on  the  alert  to  detect 
the  first  sign  that  embrittlement  was  weakening  vital  parts  of  the 
boiler.  Eventually,  in  August  of  1928.  they  came  upon  leaky  rivets 
l)ehind  the  bridge  wall  in  the  longitudinal  seam  of  Number  4  boiler. 
Removing  a  section  of  the  wall,  an  inspector  uncovered  several  head- 
less rivets.  He  cut  out  other  rivets  in  the  affected  area  and  found 
cracks  in  the  shell  plate  and  butt  strap.  The  accompanying  illustration 
shows  the  serious  nature  of  the  crack  in  the  shell  plate. 

With  the  owner's  consent,  the  inspector  set  about  removing  ten  per 
cent,  of  all  rivets  below  the  water  line.  Before  he  had  proceeded  far 
he  found  serious  cracks  in  the  rear  top  drum.  It  was  evident  then  that 
the  boiler  was  affected  to  such  an  extent  that  it  should  be  discarded,  but 
before  the  owner  would  accept  this  recommendation  he  insisted  on 
having  the  boiler  examined  by  a  representative  of  another  insurance 
company. 

A  few  days  later  the  owner  wired  The  Hartford's  Chicago  office : 
"  Have  had  other  experts  examine  boiler.  They  do  not  find  anything 
which  should  make  it  necessary  to  reduce  pressure."  He  intimated,  too, 
that  if  the  other  insurance  company  found  the  boiler  an  acceptable  risk 
he  would  have  to  transfer  the  insurance. 

However,  he  consented  to  call  in  as  referee  Professor  Frederick  G. 
Straub,  of  the  University  of  Illinois,  recognized  as  an  outstanding 
authority  on  embrittlement  by  reason  of  extensive  research  in  that  field. 
Professor  Straub  not  only  diagnosed  the  case  as  caustic  embrittlement 
but  confirmed  the  opinion  of  The  Hartford  that  cracks  in  the  head 
seams  of  the  mud  drum  and  in  longitudinal  seams  of  both  mud  and 
feed  drums  rendered  the  boiler  unsafe.  Needless  to  say,  the  boiler  was 
replaced. 

A  great  deal  of  credit  is  due  the  inspector  who  ferreted  the  first 
symptom  out  of  the  scrap  heap.  His  discovery,  made  four  years  before 
embrittlement  actually  endangered  the  safety  of  the  boiler,  prompted 
a  close  watch  on  subsequent  developments  and  probably  prevented  a 
serious  explosion. 


Letter  to  the  Chief  Inspector 

"  Dear  Sir  —  You  wrote  us  on  the  tenth  inst.,  requesting  a  hydrostatic  test 
on  our  old  boiler.  Our  engineer  says  he  has  read  much  lately  regarding  the 
disastrous  effects  of  water  hammer  and  does  not  want  a  water  test  made  on  our 
boiler.     Please  advise  promptly." 


136  THE     LOCOMOTIVE  J^n^^ry, 

Minimum  Safe  Thickness  Drill  Test  Holes  in  Shells 
o/Unfired  Pressure  Vessels 

(By  George  H.  Stickney,  Supt.  Boiler  Dept.) 

PREVENTION  of  accidents  through  detecting  weakened  struc- 
tures and  observing  unsafe  operating  practices  is  the  underlying 
purpose  of  inspections  by  insurance  companies.  However,  the 
owner  and  insurance  company  both  are  anxious  to  maintain  equipment 
in  good  shape  so,  naturally,  it  does  not  matter  by  whom  or  through  what 
agency  the  discovery  of  unsafe  conditions  is  made  so  long  as  an  accident 
is  prevented.  It  can  be  said  truthfully  that  eternal  vigilance  is  the  price 
of  safety.  With  this  in  mind  it  must  be  appreciated  that  inspections,  no 
matter  how  careful  or  how  frequent,  are  only  periodic. 

The  purpose  of  this  article  is  to  explain  a  type  of  drill  test  hole  which 
will  act  as  an  eternally  vigilant  watchdog  to  give  warning  when  the  shell 
metal  of  pressure  vessels  (boilers  excepted)  becomes  so  thin  that  it  is 
no  longer  safe  for  the  pressure  carried.  This  is  to  be  in  addition  to 
regular  inspections  and  not  in  any  way  to  take  the  place  of  them.  It 
detects  merely  the  dangerous  thhining  of  shell  plate,  whereas  inspections 
reveal  many  and  varied  unsafe  conditions. 

Definite  knowledge  that  plate  thickness  is  within  safe  limits  is  one 
of  the  most  important  features  in  explosion  prevention,  and  it  is  one 
of  the  most  difficult  to  determine  by  the  usual  inspection  methods. 

Unfired  pressure  vessels  diflfer  from  boilers  in  that  they  are  used 
to  a  great  extent  to  cook  or  prepare  stock  of  all  kinds  in  process  of 
manufacture.  In  stationary  vessels  the  stock  moves  about  and  cir- 
culates under  steam  pressures  and  temperatures  and,  by  scouring  action, 
wears  away  the  shell  metal.  This  erosion  is  in  addition  to  the  chemical 
efifect  which,  in  many  processes,  further  reduces  plate  thickness. 

In  rotating  vessels  wear  is  very  positive  and  has  been  found,  in  many 
cases,  to  reduce  plate  thickness  uniformly  throughout  the  entire  inner 
surface  of  the  vessel.  In  vessels  fitted  with  stirring  paddles  or  agitators, 
bent  shafts,  misalignment  of  paddles  or  other  parts,  and  jamming  of 
stock  between  paddle  blades  and  shell  will  frequently  cause  grooving  in 
addition  to  the  erosion  and  chemical  action  already  mentioned. 

Many  localized  areas  in  these  vessels  need  special  precautions 
against  dangerous  thinning.  As  an  example  we  can  mention  a  dis- 
charge elbow  at  the  bottow  of  a  digester,  rendering  tank  or  any  other 
vessel  with  a  fitting  or  part  through  which  stock  is  blown  when  the 
cooking  process  is  finished.  Erosion  is  concentrated  and  severe  at  the 
turn  of  the  elbow.     (See  Figure  i)     Frequently  the  metal  wears  com- 


1020. 


THE     LOCOMOTIVE 


137 


Bottom  of  Digester 


DirScharge—^ 
ElhoiA/ 

Safety  Holes 


Figure  1 


pletely  through  at  this  point,  resulting  in  loss  of  material  and  possible 
danger  to  persons. 

Drill  testing  by  merely  drilling  through  the  metal  and  then  measur- 
ing the  thickness,  sealing  or  plugging  the  hole  afterward,  has  been  about 
the  only  method  for  accurately  determining  thickness.  This  method  has 
many  disadvantages  and  inspectors  have  generally  encountered  substan- 
tial resistance,  for  some  very  good  reasons,  on  the  part  of  ovv^ners  and 
users  when  through  drill  testing  has  been  proposed. 

All  that  we  are  interested  in  regarding  thickness  is  to  know  for  a 
certainty  when  metal  under  pressure  and  subject  to  wasting  has  been 
reduced  in  thickness  to  such  an  extent  that  the  remaining  metal  is  not 
sufficient  to  withstand  with  safety  the  pressure  carried.  For  this  pur- 
pose we  recommend  what  may  be  termed  prc-detennined  minimum  safe 
thickness  test  holes,  which  are  of  J4"  diameter  and  drilled  from  the 


138 THE     LOCOMOTIVE  J^n^^'-y. 

outside  (in  a  single-shell  vessel)  to  a  depth  equal  to  the  minimum  safe 
shell  thickness.     (See  Figure  2). 

The  designed  maximum  safe  working  pressure  of  an  unfired  pres- 
sure vessel  should  be  based  on  a  factor  of  safety  of  at  least  five,  and 
it  is  believed  that  manufacturers  generally  meet  this  standard.  The 
depth  of  the  test  holes  at  the  point  of  the  drill  should  be  sufficient  to 
equal  a  shell  thickness  that  will  give  a  factor  of  safety  of  at  least  three. 

Following  are  the  formulae  for  computing  the  safe  working  pressure 
of  single-shell  vessels  and  the  minimum  safe  shell  thickness : 

t  X  TS  X  %  P  X  FS  X  R 

(i)     SWP  = (2)     t- 

RxFS    .  TSx% 

where  SWP  =  safe  working  pressure;  t  =^  plate  thickness;  ^  =  effi- 
ciency of  longitudinal  joint;  FS  =  factor  of  safety;  TS  =  tensile 
strength  of  shell  material ;  R  =  radius  of  shell. 

As  an  example  we  may  consider  a  shell  y2"  in  diameter,  ^"  thick, 
and  with  a  longitudinal  joint  of  80  per  cent,  efficiency.  The  safe  work- 
ing pressure  for  this  vessel  would  be : 

.75  X  55,000  x. 80 

SWP  = =  183  pounds  per  square  inch. 

36x5 

Using  this  value  in  Formula  2,  and  substituting  3  as  the  value  of  FS, 

183x3x36 

t  = =  .45    inch    is   the   minimum   safe   thickness 

55,000  X  .80 

and  the  depth  to  which  test  holes  should  be  drilled.     (See  Figure  4). 

The  pitch  or  distance  between  centers  of  holes  is  more  or  less  arbi- 
trary, but  in  general  it  should  be  in  proportion  to  the  size  of  the  vessel 
and  in  consideration  of  whether  the  anticipated  wasting  is  general  and 
uniform  over  the  entire  surface,  or  localized  within  a  restricted  area. 
For  very  large  vessels,  say  over  72"  in  diameter  and  subject  to  uniform 
wasting,  a  pitch  of  from  36"  to  48"  is  suggested.  For  vessels  between 
36"  and  72"  in  diameter  a  pitch  of  about  24"  to  36"  will  generally  give 
adequate  protection,  while  for  smaller  vessels  the  pitch  can  be  reduced 
to  about  12",  except  where  intense  wasting  away  is  anticipated  within 
a  restricted  area.  In  that  event  it  may  be  advisable  to  drill  a  few  holes 
at  carefully  selected  points  over  a  smaller  area. 


1929. 


THE     LOCOMOTIVE 


139 


Safety  Hale 


Cooking  Compartment 


Pressure  Side 

Figure  4 


140  THE       LOCOMOTIVE  January, 

When  metal  on  the  interior  or  pressure  side  of  the  shell  wastes  away 
sufficiently  to  communicate  with  the  bottom  of  a  hole,  steam  or  any 
other  pressure  will  blow  out  into  the  room  and  give  warning  by  being 
heard  or  seen. 

In  double-shell  vessels  such  as  jacketed  tanks  and  hemispherical 
kettles,  the  inner  shell  is  the  one  subjected  to  reduction  of  thickness  and 

is    therefor    the    one    that 
^xf^ri^r  p/jMJp  j^yg^  |3g  protected  by  drill 

Minimum  i       I  S     ^^^^     holes.       The     holes 

^  For  Saftrtsj  -^^    \       I  (      should,  of  course,  be  drilled 

-^— -■^— IT  Amount  That      /     in  the  inner  shell  from  the 
.50  Afay  IVajteAivay)     pressure     or     jacket     side. 
___;  (See  Figure  3). 

There  should  be  frequent 
visual  inspections  of 
jacketed  vessels  v^ith  pressure  in  the  jacket  and  the  stock-containing 
chamber  empty  and  open.  For  very  large  vessels  it  will  be  necessary 
to  use  an  electric  light  connected  to  a  long  extension  cord.  Swinging 
this  light  around  will  enable  the  operator  to  detect  any  steam  that  may 
be  blowing  into  the  vessel. 

These  test  holes  in  jacketed  vessels  must,  by  necessity,  be  drilled 
at  the  time  of  manufacture.  Single-shell  vessels  can  be  drilled  after 
installation,  but  it  is  better  to  do  the  drilling  during  construction  in  the 
shop,  particularly  for  vessels  that  are  to  be  lagged  with  insulating 
material  on  the  outside.  When  lagging  is  contemplated  small  pipes, 
long  enough  to  reach  through  the  lagging,  can  be  secured  to  the  shell 
directly  over  the  holes. 

Sometimes  the  question  arises  as  to  whether  these  test  holes  weaken 
a  structure.  We  can  assure  anyone  that  they  do  not.  In  fact,  the  plate 
itself  can  be  weakened  and  still  remain  stronger  than  the  longitudinal 
seam,  which  is  scarcely  ever  95  per  cent,  as  strong  as  the  solid  plate. 
So  unless  the  holes  weaken  the  plate  below  the  strength  of  the  longitu- 
dinal seam,  the  strength  of  the  structure  is  not  changed.  Quarter-inch 
holes,  spaced  as  close  as  twelve  inches  apart  and  drilled  entirely  through 
a  plate,  will  reduce  the  net  strength  of  the  plate  only  one  per  cent.,  as 
may  be  seen  by  the  following  calculation:  (12  —  .125) -f- 12  =  .99. 
From  this  it  is  evident  that  such  test  holes  are  too  small  and  too  widely 
spaced  to  affect  the  vessel's  strength. 

Although  this  method  is  not  new,  it  has  not  been  generally  practiced 
by  manufacturers  and  certainly  has  not  been  used  to  the  extent  its 
merits  warrant. 


19-^9.  THE     LOCOMOTIVE  141 


Manufacturers  are  urged  to  provide  minimum  safe  thickness  test 
holes  as  regular  practice  for  all  vessels  that  are  used  in  any  service 
where  the  metal  is  subject  to  wasting  away  from  any  cause.  If  the 
holes  are  drilled  when  the  plates  are  in  the  flat  and  on  the  laying-out 
table  it  will  take  very  little  time  and  the  cost  will  be  small.  Purchasers 
are  urged  to  include  this  item  in  their  specifications. 


Beware  of  Dead  Air  When  Entering  Boiler 

AN  inspector  of  many  years'  experience  recently  had  a  narrow 
escape  from  death  by  suffocation  when  he  was  overcome  by  foul 
air  in  the  drum  of  a  boiler  that  had  not  been  in  use  for  three  years. 
Although  he  took  the  customary  precautions  to  secure  a  circulation  of 
fresh  air,  the  inspector  made  the  mistake  of  entering  the  drum  too  soon. 
He  had  not  gone  far  when  a  sensation  of  dizziness  told  him  he  was 
losing  consciousness.  Fortunately,  he  managed  to  crawl  to  the  man- 
hole and  thrust  his  head  outside  before  he  collapsed.  There  he  lay 
until  the  fresh  air  revived  him. 

When  boilers  are  idle  for  a  long  time  the  oxygen  of  the  air  inside 
seems  to  be  used  up  by  formation  of  rust  or  absorbed  by  chemical  re- 
action with  'some  foreign  substance  left  inside  when  the  boiler  was 
emptied.     The  result  is  stagnant  or  "  dead  "  air. 

A  boiler  should  never  be  entered  until  it  has  been  ventilated  thor- 
oughly. In  a  coal-fired  unit  the  condition  of  the  air  can  be  determined 
bv  thrusting  a  candle  through  the  man-hole.  If  the  air  is  bad,  the 
flame  will  burn  feebly  or  go  out.  This  test  should  not  be  applied  where 
oil  or  gas  is  used  as  fuel,  for  the  process  of  ventilating  the  boiler  by 
drawing  air  through  it  may  carry  in  explosive  vapor,  especially  if  there 
is  a  leak  in  the  fuel  line.  The  safe  way  in  all  cases  is  first  to  make 
sure  the  method  of  ventilation  is  such  that  it  actually  does  cause  circula- 
tion of  air  through  the  drum,  and  then  allow  ventilation  to  continue 
until  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  stale  air  has  been  replaced  by  fresh. 

,  Closed  tanks  and  vats  of  all  kinds  should  likewise  be  ventilated 
before  they  are  entered.  In  some  cases  they  represent  a  greater  danger 
than  does  a  boiler,  for  they  may  contain,  in  addition  to  stagnant  air, 
dangerous  chemical  fumes  from  materials  previously  stored  there. 

Following  are  several  other  important  precautions  that  should  be 
observed  by  anyone  who  has  occasion  to  enter  a  boiler : 

Make  sure  the  blow-off  valve  is  closed  when  the  boiler  under  in- 
spection discharges  into  a  blow-off  line  or  tank  to  which  other  boilers 
are  connected. 


H2 THE     LOCOMOTIVE  ^^-^^^'Y' 

Notify  the  boiler  room  attendants  that  you  are  about  to  make  an 
inspection  and  warn  them  not  to  open  a  valve  or  do  anything  else  to 
affect  the  boiler  under  inspection.  If  possible,  have  an  engineer  or  other 
responsible  man  stand  within  speaking  distance. 

Beware  of  stepping  into  deep  soot  or  ashes  in  the  back  connection. 
Even  though  they  have  been  wetted  down,  they  may  be  red  hot  just 
below  the  surface. 

Avoid  the  use  of  worn-out  or  partly  broken  ladders  when  climbing 
up  onto  boilers  and  their  settings.  Be  careful,  also,  not  to  trust  your 
weight  on  small  fittings  or  pipe  connections. 


Oil  Is  Poor  Medicine  for  Boiler  Scale 

AMONG  various  "  dopes  "  that  have  been  tried  as  boiler  scale 
preventives,  oil  probably  holds  the  record  for  causing  the  most 
damage.  As  a  general  rule  engineers  know  the  effect  of  oil  inside 
a  boiler  and  are  careful  to  guard  against  even  the  small  quantities  in 
condensate  from  engines  and  turbines.  Yet  once  in  awhile  when  an 
inspector  encounters  a  bulged  sheet  he  finds  that  the  operator  has  given 
the  boiler  a  dose  of  oil  to  combat  scale.  Where  and  when  such  a  prac- 
tice originated  no  one  can  say.  Even  though  warnings  have  been  issued 
repeatedly,  it  seems  that  a  few  operators  of  small  plants  still  do  not 
know  that  oil  is  poison  and  not  medicine  when  placed  inside  a  boiler. 

The  accompanying  ilkistration  shows  a  corrugated  flue  furnace  in 
a  boiler  that  had  been  "  oiled  ".  Some  well-meaning  but  misinformed 
friend  told  the  operator  that  a  pailful  of  cylinder  oil  would  end  his 
trouble  with  scale.  As  a  result  the  flue  overheated  and  bulged  inward. 
Cases  where  oil  is  deliberately  fed  into  a  boiler  are  not  numerous 
enough  to  cause  great  concern.  Usually  when  oil  is  present  it  is  there 
quite  by  accident  and  by  no  design  of  the  operator.  One  such  case  was 
discovered  recently  at  a  plant  using  steam  coils  to  heat  a  tank  of  oil. 
When  the  owner  applied  for  insurance  an  inspector  found  crown  and 
firebox  sheets  bulged  so  badly  they  were  in  danger  of  collapse.  Oil  had 
entered  the  return  line  through  a  leak  in  the  heating  coils  and  had  grad- 
ually accumulated  until  it  comprised  about  15  per  cent,  of  the  solution 
in  the  boiler.  As  none  of  the  steam  was  used  in  engines,  the  operator 
did  not  think  it  worth-while  to  investigate  the  cause  of  the  boiler  prim- 
ing. It  was  evident  to  the  inspector  that  no  one  at  the  plant  appreciated 
the  danger  of  the  condition. 

Metal  could  not  endure  contact  with  the  intense  furnace  heat  were 
it  not  for  the  coolingr  effect  of  water  inside  the  boiler.     This  cooling 


1929. 


THE     LOCOMOTIVE 


143 


effect  is  dependent  on  the  free,  rapid  transfer  of  heat  from  metal  to 
water,  and  when  either  poor  circulation  or  some  mechanical  barrier  such 
as  scale  or  oil  retards  this  heat  flow  the  metal  may  be  burned  or  softened 
to  such  an  extent  that  it  will  collapse. 


Oil  is  a  better  insulator  than  scale.  Even  a  thin  skin  of  oil  resists 
the  passage  of  heat  so  efficiently  that  wherever  it  forms  the  metal  is 
almost  certain  to  be  damaged. 


Why  Not  Pulverise  It? 

"  If  I  cut  a  beefsteak  in  two,"  asked  the  teacher,  "  then  cut  the  halves  in  two, 
what  do  I  get?" 

"  Quarters,"  replied  the  boy. 

"Good.     And  then  again?" 

"  Eighths." 

"Correct.     Again?" 

"  Sixteenths." 

"Exactly.     And  what  then?" 

"  Thirty-seconds." 

"  And  once  more?" 

"  Hamburger,"  cried  the  boy  in  exasperation. 


144  THE       LOCOMOTIVE  January, 


Proper  Selection  and  Operation  of  Blow-off  V^alves  Cut 
Down  Maintenance  Expense 

QUESTIONS   concerning  boiler  blow-off  valves  are  brought  to 
our  attention  so   frequently  that  a  discussion  here  of   the   few- 
simple  factors  involved  in  the  selection,  installation,  and  handling 
of  such  equipment  should  be  of  interest  to  many  of  our  readers. 

The  valve  used  to  start  and  stop  the  flow  through  the  blow-off  line 
is  subjected  to  the  most  severe  service  and  frequently  causes  more 
trouble  than  any  other  boiler  fitting.  The  instant  the  valve  starts  to 
open,  or  starts  to  close,  the  outrushing  water  has  a  wire-drawing  effect 
on  both  disc  and  seat.  Scale  and  sediment  carried  along  by  the  water 
contribute  their  share  of  the  damage  until,  in  time,  the  valve  loses  tight- 
ness and  must  be  replaced  or  repaired.  As  tightness  is  important  both 
for  boiler  safety  and  for  avoiding  the  waste  of  heat  involved  in  the 
steady  loss  of  even  a  small  stream  of  hot  water,  two  independent  closing 
devices  are  usually  installed  in  each  blow-off  line. 

When  two  valves  or  a  valve  and  cock  are  intelligently  placed  and 
operated,  maintenance  of  the  blow-off  line  is  a  comparatively  simple 
matter  and  it  may  be  taken  care  of  in  many  cases  without  putting  the 
boiler  out  of  service.  Of  the  two  closing  devices,  at  least  one  should 
be  of  the  slow-acting  type.  A  screw-actuated  valve  best  meets  this 
requirement  and  is  in  general  use.  This  valve  controls  the  blow-down, 
while  the  other — which  may  be  of  the  plug  cock  type  —  is  depended 
on  to  keep  the  line  tight.  In  this  article  the  first  will  be  referred  to 
as  the  "  blowing  "  valve,  while  the  other  will  be  called  the  "  sealing  " 
valve. 

Some  contend  that  a  quick-acting  valve  such  as  the  cock  type  should 
be  used  to  start  and  stop  the  blow-off,  because  it  will  suffer  less  from 
wire-drawing  than  a  valve  with  slower  action.  Nevertheless,  a  cock  or . 
any  other  quick-acting  valve  should  not  be  used  as  the  "  blowing  "  valve, 
for  sudden  starting  or  stopping  of  a  mass  of  water  involves  severe 
water-hammer  shocks  that  have  been  known  to  damage  pipes  and  strip 
threads  from  fittings.  Such  an  accident  is  hard  on  the  equipment  and 
even  worse  for  the  attendant.  To  avoid  this  danger,  the  "  blowing  " 
valve  should  be  slow-acting.  However,  the  "  sealing  "  device  may  be 
either  a  similar  valve,  a  quarter-turn  valve,  or  a  plug  cock. 

The  "  sealing  "  valve  is  placed  between  the  "  blowing  "  valve  and 
the  boiler  and  should  always  be  opened  first  and  closed  last.  In  this 
way  the  "  blowing  "  valve  is  obliged  to  stand  most  of  the  punishment, 
while  the  other  valve  —  which  is  depended  on  for  tightness  —  is  spared. 


1929. 


THK     LOCOMOTIVE 


145 


Any  valve  in  a  blow-off  line  should  be  of  a  type  having  a  free, 
unobstructed  passage.  The  ordinary  globe  valve,  and  others  that  have 
pockets  in  which  sediment  and  scale  can  collect,  are  not  suitable.  An 
angle  valve  is  usually  very  satisfactory  and  is  regarded  by  many  as 
the  type  best  suited  to  this  work. 

The  plug  cock,  when  one  is  used,  should  be  of  the  type  that  has  at 
the  top  a  stuffing  gland  or  guard  which  will  hold  the  plug  securely  in 


Op£'/7  Last  —  C/aseFirjt 


Quarter-turn  P/ug  Cac/f 
Open  F/rst  —  C/ose  Last 


Discharge 


place.  Cocks  in  which  the  plug  is  fastened  down  by  a  nut  on  the  small 
end  of  the  taper  are  not  favored,  for  the  nut,  so  located  that  it  cannot 
be  readily  observed,  may  work  loose  and  allow  the  plug  to  blow  out. 

Location  of  the  "  blowing  "  valve  with  respect  to  the  "  sealing " 
valve,  and  the  order  in  which  they  should  be  manipulated  are  shown 
in  the  accompanying  sketch.  As  the  angle  valve  takes  most  of  the 
wear  it  will  require  overhauHng  more  frequently  than  its  mate.  Placing 
the  cock  between  this  valve  and  the  boiler  makes  it  possible  to  repair 
or  replace  the  "  blowing  "  valve  while  the  boiler  is  under  steam. 

Where  two  or  more  blow-oflf  outlets  lead  into  a  manifold,  it  is  some- 
times the  practice  to  have  only  one  valve  in  each  of  the  individual  out- 
lets, the  manifold  being  served  by  a  master  valve.  In  this  case  the  valves 
on  the  individual  lines  are  "  sealing  "  valves  and  the  master  valve  should 
be  opened  last  and  closed  first.  Some  operators  make  the  mistake  of 
opening  the  master  valve  and  then  opening  and  closing  in  turn  the 
valves  on  each  individual  line.  This  puts  the  brunt  of  the  work  on  the 
valves  which  are  intended  for  tightness  and  sooner  or  later  they  will 
leak.  As  there  is  no  way  of  repairing  or  replacing  one  of  them  without 
shutting  down  the  boiler,  it  is  important  that  the  correct  sequence  of 
operation  be  observed. 

Although  the  arrangement  described  in  the  last  paragraph  cuts  down 


146  THE       LOCOMOTIVE  January, 

the  investment  in  equipment  by  having  only  one  instead  of  two  valves 
in  the  line  between  boiler  and  manifold,  it  involves  several  disadvan- 
tages that  may  be  avoided  if  two  valves  are  provided. 


Taps  From  the  Old  Chiefs  Hammer 

FOR  several  minutes  after  the  door  closed  behind  the  departing 
visitor  the  Old  Chief  stood  at  the  window,  gazing  thoughtfully 
out  into  space.     Evidently  the  conference  had  left  him  in  a  most 
satisfactory  frame  of  mind,  for  he  was  smiling  as  he  crossed  the  room 
and  seated  himself  on  a  corner  of  his  assistant's  desk. 

"  Tom,"  he  said,  "  if  thirty  years  at  this  job  have  taught  me  any- 
thing at  all  about  human  nature,  from  now  on  that  man  is  going  to  be 
a  Hartford  booster." 

"  What  makes  you  think  so,  Chief  ?"  replied  Tom,  who  guessed 
correctly  that  the  boss  had  a  story  he  was  anxious  to  tell. 

"  Well,"  explained  the  old  man,  lighting  a  pipe  that  had  gone  dead 
between  his  teeth,  "  plant  managers  are  a  pretty  keen  lot,  take  'em  by 
and  large.  If  you  show  one  a  way  to  cut  down  expenses  a  few  thou- 
sand dollars  he  isn't  likely  to  forget  you. 

"  Take  the  case  of  this  Mr.  Kennedy.  His  stockholders  are  making 
money  and  they  swear  by  him,  yet  up  until  recently  our  special  agents 
were  unanimous  in  declaring  that  when  it  came  to  thinking  up  reasons 
why  he  shouldn't  spend  money  for  boiler  insurance  he  was  a  full  lap 
ahead  of  any  other  plant  manager  in  this  territory.  He  was  sure  one 
tough  proposition  for  a  salesman  to  go  up  against,  and  I  have  an  idea 
he'd  still  be  holding  out  if  he  hadn't  run  into  a  lot  of  trouble  with  boiler 
leakage  for  which  his  own  men  could  find  no  remedy.  Anyway,  about 
three  months  ago  his  nine  boilers  got  to  leaking  so  badly  that  some- 
thing just  had  to  be  done,  so  he  decided  to  call  us  in.  You  can  bet  I 
sent  Pursell  down  there  pronto  for  a  special  examination. 

"  Joe  wasn't  long  finding  the  cause  of  the  leakage.  It  was  plainly 
a  case  of  unequal  expansion  due  to  the  collection  of  oil  on  the  heating 
surfaces.  Such  a  quantity  was  getting  into  the  feed  line  from  some 
source  or  other  that  the  separator  couldn't  handle  it.  We  had  them 
give  the  boilers  a  good  boiling-out  and  let  them  put  the  plant  back  into 
service  but,  naturally,  we  weren't  going  to  O.  K.  the  layout  until  we 
found  and  eliminated  the  source  of  that  oil. 

"  With  Mr.  Kennedy's  consent  we  went  at  his  plant  with  a  fine- 
tooth  comb,  spending  the  best  part  of  a  week  on  the  feed  water  heater, 


1929.  THE     LOCOMOTIVE  147 

purification  system,  heating  equipment  and,  finally,  the  engines.  There 
we  found  the  trouble.  Those  engines  were  equipped  with  oil  pumps, 
and  the  operating  engineer  —  apparently  a  capable  enough  fellow  in 
most  respects  —  had  an  idea  the  engines  wouldn't  work  properly  unless 
the  oil  jet  was  open  wide  and  working  full  blast.  He  was  putting  a 
whole  barrel  of  oil  through  the  cylinders  of  seven  small  engines  every 
day  in  the  week. 

"  When  we  suggested  that  he  cut  the  oil  down  to  about  a  third  of 
a  barrel  a  day  he  almost  had  a  fit.  We  had  trouble  convincing  him 
that  it  wouldn't  ruin  his  engines.  Finally,  however,  he  agreed  to  give 
our  plan  a  trial,  with  the  result  that  after  the  feed  water  heater  was 
thoroughly  cleaned  out,  the  oil  feed  was  cut  to  thirty  per  cent,  of  what 
it  formerly  had  been,  and  they  had  no  more  trouble  with  the  boilers. 

"  Kennedy  dropped  in  this  morning  apparently  just  to  get  my  advice 
on  a  new  air  compressor,  but  before  he  had  been  here  ten  minutes  he 
changed  the  subject  to  plant  economy  and  showed  me  a  sHp  of  paper 
on  which  he  had  calculated  how  much  our  inspection  visit  is  going 
to  save  him  in  lubricating  oil.  According  to  his  figures,  cutting  the  oil 
consumption  seventy  per  cent,  will  benefit  his  firm  to  the  tune  of  $4,280 
a  year.     Not  so  bad,  Tom,  eh?" 

"  That's  great,  boss,"  the  assistant  agreed,  "  but  haven't  both  you 
and  Kennedy  overlooked  the  increased  fuel  economy  that  is  going  to 
result,  now  that  you've  arranged  to  keep  the  boilers  free  from  oil?" 

"  Xot  by  a  darned  sight,  we  haven't,"  laughed  the  Chief.  "  Kennedy 
told  me  his  engineer  has  noticed  the  efifect  on  the  coal  pile.  At  my 
suggestion  he  is  going  to  compare  the  record  of  coal  fired  during  the 
past  month  with  the  amount  used  the  month  before  he  called  us  down 
there.  Unless  I  miss  my  guess,  he's  going  to  save  a  substantial  sum 
over  the  §4,280  he  obtained  by  figuring  on  oil  alone." 


Over  the  Chief  Inspector's  Phone 

"  This  is  the  purchasing  agent  of  the  Crooked  Creek  Railroad.  Our  boiler- 
maker  wants  the  Chief  to  tell  him  how  much  material  will  be  required  for  a 
petticoat  pipe  in  Xo.  3  engine." 

Chief's  Xew  Stenographer  — "  Well,  the  Chief  is  out  of  town  today,  but  if 
your  wise-cracking  boilermaker  has  an  engine  that  insists  on  wearing  a  petticoat 
you  tell  him  to  take  it  around  to  an  old-fashioned  dressmaker." 


Tolerably  Fast  Car 

"  I  have  a  friend  who  always  crosses  bridges  before  he  comes  to  them." 
"  You  don't  mean  it !"  exclaimed  the  enthusiastic  motorist.     "  Tell  me,  what 
sort  of  a  car  does  he  drive?" 


148 


THE     LOCO  M  O  T  I  V  E 


January, 


A  QUARTERLY  MAGAZINE 

DEVOTED  TO  POWER  PLANT  PROTECTION 

George  Hargis  Prall,  Editor 

Copyright   1929  by   The  Hartford  Steam   Boiler  Inspection  and  Insurance  Company 


HARTFORD,  CONN.,  January  i,  1929 

Single  Copies  can  be  obtained  free  by  calling  at  any  of  the  company's  agencies. 

Subscription  price  50  cents  per  year  when  mailed  from  this  office. 

Recent  bound  volumes  one  dollar  each.     Earlier  ones  two  dollars. 

Reprinting  matter  from  this  paper  is  permitted  if  credited  to 

The  Locomotive  of  The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection  &  Insurance  Co. 


Returning  to  an  Old  Smelting  Principle 

A  COMPANY  has  been  formed  in  Germany  to  produce  20,000  tons 
of  iron  annually  by  the  reduction  of  ore  by  contact  with  carbon 
monoxide  at  a  temperature  below  the  melting  point  of  the  iron. 
This  venture  will   be   watched   with  particular  interest,    for  it  means 
going  back  to  the  principle  of  a  method  which  has  long  been  abandoned 
by  all  save  a  few  wild  tribes  in  the  hills  of  India. 

Thousands  of  years  ago  prehistoric  man  learned  to  produce  iron 
from  lumps  of  ore  and  charcoal.  His  apparatus  was  a  cone-shaped 
clay  furnace  with  a  hole  at  the  top  for  the  escape  of  gases  and  several 
holes  or  tuyeres  around  the  bottom  for  draft.  Men  squatted  around  the 
furnace  and  blew  air  into  these  tuyeres  through  hollow  reeds  or  bamboo 
tubes  until  the  carbon  monoxide  gas  from  the  burning  charcoal  reduced 
each  piece  of  ore  to  a  porous  lump  of  iron.  Then  the  furnace  was 
broken  open  and  the  iron  lumps  compacted  by  hammering  on  stone  or 
metal  anvils. 

The  blast  furnace  took  the  place  of  this  crude  method.  But  still 
the  blast  furnace  has  its  disadvantages,  for  it  involves  melting  the  iron, 
and  molten  iron  is  quick  to  pick  up  and  absorb  impurities  as  it  trickles 


•929.  THE     LOCOMOTIVE  149 

down  through  the  charge  in  the  furnace.  Whether  or  not  the  better 
quality  of  the  iron  produced  by  Germany's  new  appHcation  of  the 
older  principle  will  compensate  for  its  greater  cost  remains  to  be  seen. 


Looking  at  Coal  in  a  New  Light 

DEVELOPMENTS   that   involve   radical  departures    from   pres- 
ent methods  of   utilizing  coal  were   described  by  chemists  and 
engineers  at  the  second  International  Conference  on  Bituminous 
Coal,  held  recently  in  Pittsburgh. 

Twenty-five  years  ago  the  most  efficient  power  plants  needed  6.5 
pounds  of  coal  to  produce  a  kilowatt  hour  of  electric  energy.  Today  the 
giant  plants  of  public  utilities  are  turning  out  kilowatt  hours  in  hun- 
dred-thousand units  for  less  than  2  pounds  of  coal  per  Kw.-hr..  and  at 
least  one  plant  is  equipped  and  managed  so  efficiently  that  slightly  less 
than  one  pound  of  coal  suffices.  But  in  spite  of  the  remarkable  ad- 
vance in  the  art  of  converting  coal  into  power,  the  mounting  cost  of 
this  basic  commodity,  together  with  a  growing  realization  that  there 
is  a  limit  to  the  world's  deposits  of  high  grade  mineral  fuel,  has  led 
to  the  belief  that  it  is  highly  wasteful  to  use  coal  in  its  raw  state  even 
in  the  most  efficient  furnaces. 

A  lump  of  coal  now  is  regarded  as  a  complex  mixture  of  carbon 
and  hydro-carbons,  some  of  which  are  so  valuable  that  they  should  not 
be  used  directly  as  fuel,  but  should  be  extracted  for  industrial  raw 
material  before  coal  is  turned  over  to  the  power  plant  for  its  furnaces. 
From  the  discussions  at  the  Pittsburgh  conference,  it  is  apparent  that 
engineers  everywhere  are  awake  to  the  necessity  of  utilizing  our  supply 
of  high-grade  fuel  to  better  advantage,  and  of  finding  more  extensive 
uses-  for  such  fuels  as  low-grade  coal  and  screenings. 

An  example  of  the  trend  toward  more  efficient  use  of  this  natural 
resource  is  the  process  whereby  coal  is  placed  in  a  retort  and  heated  by 
low  pressure,  super-heated  steam  until  it  "  sweats  "  out  its  volatile  oils, 
which  are  condensed  and  collected.  The  carbon  left  in  the  retort  is 
an  excellent  smokeless  fuel.  Each  ton  of  coal  so  treated  produces  about 
275  pounds  of  oil  and  wax,  and  1,300  pounds  of  smokeless  fuel,  while 
the  dirt  and  moisture  content  —  amounting  to  about  350  pounds  ■ — 
are  eliminated. 

Turning  coal  into  petroleum  is  another  process  di  which  we  may 
hear  more  in  the  future.  This  involves  treatment  of  raw  coal  under 
great  heat  and  high  pressure,  the  resulting  liquid  and  gaseous  hydro- 
carbons being  brought  into  contact  with  chemically  active  hydrogen.     It 


I50 THE     LOCOMOTIVE  J^""^'-y' 

is  claimed  that  the  product  thus   formed  may  be   readily   "  cracked  " 
into  gasoline  and  other  petroleum  derivatives. 

The  use  of  powdered  coal  directly  as  furnace  fuel  has  already  ad- 
vanced a  long  way  beyond  the  experimental  stage.  This  fuel  has  been 
.used  aboard  the  U.  S.  Shipping  Board  freighter  "  Mercer  "  so  success- 
fully that  the  Board  recently  decided  to  equip  five  other  freighters  in  the 
same  way.  Because  this,  method  may  provide  a  way  to  use  efficiently 
such  low  grades  of  fuel  as  run-of-mine  and  slack,  several  steamship 
companies  here  and  abroad  are  investigating  it,  and  engineers  the  world 
over  are  watching  it  with  interest. 

Still  another  use  for  powdered  coal  is  proposed.  In  Germany  they 
have  developed  an  internal  combustion  engine  which  uses  this  fuel  in- 
stead of  gas  or  oil,  thus  reverting  to  the  principle  of  the  original  Diesel. 
A  Netherlands  scientist,  foreseeing  that  the  abrasive  action  of  the  ash 
on  cylinder  walls  might  b^  a  stumbling  block  that  would  hold  back  the 
development  of  such  engines,  has  evolved  what  he  calls  carbonal  phine, 
a  powdered  carbon  which  combines  the  lubricating  qualities  of  finely 
divided  graphite  with  high  fuel  value.  He  intends  to  mix  this  with 
powdered  coal.  The  discoverer  claims  that  on  a  calory  measurement 
his  fuel  may  be  used  with  five  times  the  economy  obtained  by  burning 
coal  to  produce  steam.  An  interesting  factor  is  that  low  grade  coals, 
peats,  and  lignites  may  eventually  be  used  as  the  sources  of  carbon. 

Such  methods  for  multiplying  the  value  of  each  pound  of  fuel 
should,  if  successfully  placed  in  practice,  extend  the  world's  coal  supply 
several  hundred  years.  But  aside  from  that,  the  change  of  fuel  from 
its  natural  state  into  a  more  concentrated  form  promises  other  econo- 
mies. For  instance,  may  not  the  future  witness  "  liquified  "  coal  pumped 
from  the  mines  to  tidewater  through  pipe  lines  hundreds  of  miles  in 
length,  thus  reducing  the  present  cost  of  transportation  not  merely  by 
eliminating  the  long  haul  by  rail  but  also  by  making  it  unnecessary  to 
carry  the  ash  and  moisture,  which  would  be  taken  out  by  the  process 
at  the  mine? 
*  Naturally,  many  of  the  processes  discussed  at  the  conference  in 
Pittsburgh  still  await  further  study  by  engineers  and  chemists  before 
they  can  be  put  to  use  on  a  commercial  basis  and  at  a  reasonable  cost. 
But  with  all  things  considered,  the  prospects  are  extremely  bright. 


First  Fireman  —  "  It's  wonderful  how  smart  these  scientists  are  gettin'.  Now 
they  got  a  way  of  workin'  wid  Old  Nick  himself." 

Second  Fireman  —  "What  makes  you  say  that?" 

F.  F. —  "Well,  I  was  just  in  the  Chief's  office  and  there  on  his  desk  was  a 
magazine  wid  a  story  about  '  Heat  Balance  at  Hell  Gate '." 


19-29- 


THE     LOCOMOTIVE 


151 


Positive  Designation  of  Portable  Boilers  and  Tanks 

(By  J.  A.  SxvDER,  Chief  Inspector,  Pittsburgh,  Pa.) 

POSITIVE   identification   of    a    particular   portable    steam   boiler 
or  tank  is  of  the  utmost  importance  lor  the  purpose  of  keeping 
inspection  records  and  applying  for  operating  certificates.     Such 
contracting  equipment  is  moved  continually  from  place  to  place  and, 
frequently,  when  a  contractor  has  several  boilers  of  the  same  size  and 
type,  confusion  may  arise  unless  there  is  some  system  by  which  each 


RELIABLE      CON   TR  ACTING     COMPANY 


location  of  Portable  Boilers jl^goa^t^ay  /,   /^zf 

C.nnty'a.c.tJU.-yijfin£.e,c/-^X£a,o\^     Location      Ag-6<^  Oct^yKe. ,    /a-. 


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LOCATIOII 

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tf     ~?Lt<*r  C^-*.^^  ^    ^^ui^ttcta-cA:. 

object  may  be  distinguished  from  others  of  its  kind. 

Some  boiler  users  have  a  splendid  plan  of  designating  their  portable 
boilers  and  tanks  by  attaching  to  each  vessel  a  small  brass  plate  bearing 
the  name  or  initials  of  the  company,  together  with  a  number  reserved 
for  that  particular  object.  The  number  is  cast  or  deeply  stamped  on 
the  plate,  which  is  then  fastened  securely  to  the  shell  of  the  vessel  by 
small  machine  screws.  In  no  case  should  the  plate  be  fastened  to  a 
pipe  or  other  attachment,  or  to  the  machine  on  which  the  vessel  is  used, 
for  boilers  and  tanks  are  sometimes  changed  from  one  machine  to 
another. 

When  thus  marked,  a  boiler  should  be  known  only  by  its  number, 
and  should  be  so  designated  by  the  owner,  operators,  inspectors,  and 
repairmen.  This  number  should  be  used  also  for  state  or  municipal 
operating  certificates,  when  such  are  required,  unless  the  state  or  muni- 
cipalit}'  has  an  established  numbering  system  of  its  own.  To  avoid 
confusing  records  of  an  old  boiler  with  those  of  a  new  one,  it  is  advis- 
able to  discontinue  a  number  when  the  vessel  to  which  it  is  assigned  is 
scrapped. 

With  such  a  system  in  use  it  is  easy  for  the  contractor's  main  office 
to  keep  an  accurate  monthly  record  of  the  location  or  movement  of 


IC2  THE     LOCOMOTIVE  ^^^^^^y- 

apparatus.  This  can  be  done  by  having  the  foreman  on  each  job 
furnish  a  report  on  a  certain  day  of  each  month,  showing  the  equip- 
ment on  the  job  and  in  transportation.  The  form  herein  illustrated 
has  been  found  very  satisfactory  for  such  a  record.  It  may  be  used  by 
the  foremen  in  sending  their  reports  and  by  the  main  office  in  compiling 
the  master  record. 

By  combining  reports  from  various  contracts  the  contractor  obtains 
a  complete  record  which  not  only  tells  him  the  exact  whereabouts  of  his 
equipment,  but  enables  him  to  determine  more  readily  the  routing  of 
suitable  boilers  from  one  contract  job  to  another. 

In  many  cases  state  highway  and  factory  inspectors  are  obliged 
to  take  note  of  steam  boilers  found  on  their  visits,  and  they  are  ex- 
pected to  see  the  state  operating  certificates.  Sometimes  this  puts  a 
contractor  to  a  great  deal  of  trouble  when  certificates  have  just  expired 
or  are  about  to  expire  and  it  is  necessary  to  arrange  quickly  for  an  in- 
spection. A  situation  of  this  kind  can  be  straightened  out  with  the 
least  loss  of  time  if  the  boiler  is  plainly  marked  with  a  number,  for  then 
there  is  no  question  of  its  identity,  and  it  can  be  more  readily  inspected 
and  described  in  the  reports  and  certificates. 


''Blue  "  Gas  Not  a  New  Discovery 

COINCIDENT  with  the  trans-Atlantic  voyage  of  the  airship 
"  Graf  Zeppelin  "  the  newspaper-reading  public  was  led  to  believe 
that  a  new  fuel  gas  had  been  invented  for  use  in  her  engines. 
Blau  gas,  or  "  blue  "  gas  as  the  newspapers  called  it,  was  so  named  for  a 
German  chemist  Herr  Blau  who  developed  a  process  now  used  by  the 
concern  engaged  in  its  manufacture.  However,  this  gas  was  known  as 
early  as  1815,  when  Taylor  produced  it.  In  1823  several  municipal  gas 
plants  in  England  were  manufacturing  this  type  of  fuel. 

Mineral  oil  distillates,  distillates  from  lignite  tar  and  shale  tar,  or 
even  some  vegetable  oils  may  be  used  as  the  base  of  blau  gas.  When 
mineral  oils  are  used,  about  ten  per  cent,  of  the  crude  —  representing 
that  part  lying  between  the  kerosenes  and  the  lubricating  oils  —  is 
sprayed  into  a  retort  heated  to  about  600  degrees  Centigrade,  where  it 
volatilizes  and  then  breaks  up  into  gas,  tar,  coke,  and  lampblack.  The 
gas,  which  consists  of  the  light  hydro-carbons,  is  liquefied  by  a  pressure 
of  about  100  atmospheres  and  is  stored  in  steel  cylinders,  convenient 
for  handling.  Its  heat  content  is  in  the  neighborhood  of  26,500  B.  t.  u. 
per  pound. 


1929. 


THE     LOCOMOTIVE 


153 


Cast  Crank  Pin  Proves  Stronger  Than  Disc 

IT  will  take  more  than  the  accompanying  photograph  of  an  engine 
break-down  to  settle  the  old  argument  as  to  whether  casting  a  semi- 
steel  crank  j^in  and  crank  disc  together  makes  as  strong  a  job  as 
shrinking  a  steel  pin  into  the  disc.     However,  it  is  evident  that  the  cast 


pin  shown  here  was  sufficiently  strong,  for  it  withstood  a  tremendous 
shock  while  the  disc  itself  broke  in  two. 

This  break-down  occurred  recently  on  a  Corliss  type  engine  and  was 
caused  by  the  piston  rod  breaking  ofif  underneath  the  nut  at  the  head 
end  of  the  piston.  The  nut  dropped  down,  jammed  between  the  piston 
and  cylinder  head,  and  broke  ofif  the  whole  end  of  the  cylinder  at  the 
center  line  of  the  head-end  valve  chambers.  At  the  same  time  the  guide 
barrel,  cross-head  shoe,  and  crank  disc  were  broken. 

The  practice  of  casting  the  pin  in  one  piece  with  the  disc  is  opposed 


154  THE     LOCOMOTIVE  J^^^^o'- 

by  some  on  the  ground  that  it  is  difficuh  to  avoid  blow-holes  and  shrink- 
age strains  when  making  a  piece  which  consists  of  a  bulky  part  joined 
to  a  thinner  one,  such  as  a  pin  on  a  disc.  On  the  other  hand,  designers 
who  favor  this  method  point  out  that  a  steel  pin  is  prone  to  work  loose 
and,  moreover,  unless  fitted  accurately  to  the  hole  in  the  disc,  sometimes 
breaks  ofif.  If  the  pin  fits  somewhat  tighter  at  one  end  of  the  hole  than 
it  does  at  the  other  end,  it  will  flex  back  and  forth  at  each  revolution  of 
the  engine.    Eventually  such  bending  may  crack  it. 

When  properly  designed  and  made,  either  form  of  construction 
seems  to  give  satisfactory  service.  In  the  case  of  a  cast-on  pin  there 
should  be  a  generous  fillet  at  the  juncture  between  pin  and  disc,  for  a 
sharp  corner  there  may  serve  as  the  starting  point  of  a  crack.  Of 
course,  the  bearing  must  be  shaped  to  accommodate  this  fillet.  With 
the  shrunk-in  steel  pin  it  is  important  that  the  force  fit  of  the  pin  in  the 
disc  be  such  that  when  the  pin  is  forced  home  it  will  bear  solidly  at  all 
points. 


Boiler  Explodes  and  Kills  Boy 

RUNNING  on  ahead  of  his  aunt,  with  whom  he  was  out  for  a 
walk,  a  three-year-old  New  Orleans  boy  was  crushed  to  death 
on  October  29th,   1928,  when  a  steam  boiler  explosion  hurled 
a  heavy  wall  down  across  the  sidewalk.    The  wreckage  narrowly  missed 
burying  the  aunt  likewise. 

The  boiler  was  a  Scotch  Marine  dryback,  apparently  about  twenty 
years  old.  It  was  said  to  carry  a  pressure  of  from  45  to  50  pounds 
and  was  used  to  supply  hot  water  in  a  laundry.  Failure  occurred  in  the 
flue. 

It  was  fortunate  that  the  blast  occurred  after  employees  had  left 
for  the  day.  for  the  building  was  demolished.  Other  buildings  in  the 
vicinity  were  damaged  considerably,  one  catching  fire.  The  laundry 
owner  carried  no  boiler  insurance. 


The  Crook 


"  There,"  exclaimed  wifey  in  righteous  indignation.     "  I  told  you  that  over- 
night guest  of  yours  wasn't  to  be  trusted.     One  of  our  towels  is  missing." 
"  Was  it  a  good  one  ?"  inquired  hubby. 
"  It  was  the  best  we  had  —  the  one  with  '  Grand  Palace  Hotel '  on  it." 


Want  Ad.   in  the  Witchita  Falls  Times  — "  For   Sale  —  a  full-blooded  cow, 
giving  milk,  three  tons  of  hay,  a  lot  of  chickens,  and  several  stoves." 


1929.  thp:   locomotive  155 

Recent  Steamboat  Race  Recalls  Stories  oj  Early  Days  on 
Mississippi  and  Q^\\\o  Rivers 

A  SPECTACULAR  sport,  which  passed  from  popularity  shortly 
after  the  Civil  War,  was  revived  a  few  months  ago  when  two 
snorting  stern-wheel  steamboats  raced  up  the  Ohio  river  from 
Cincinnati  to  New  Richmond.  This  contest  witnessed  the  defeat  of 
the  old  "  Betsy  Ann  ",  for  many  years  regarded  as  the  champion 
among  river  craft,  and  called  forth  newspaper  stories  of  bygone  days 
when  Mississippi  and  Ohio  river  captains  rated  a  craft  according  to 
its  ability  to  outstrip  rivals. 

Conditions  under  which  the  recent  race  was  run  were  in  marked 
contrast  with  those  of  former  days.  When  the  two  contestants  pulled 
away  from  the  wharf  in  Cincinnati,  officials  were  on  hand  to  look  over 
the  boiler  inspection  certificates ;  United  States  inspectors  were  aboard 
to  see  that  steam  gauges  registered  no  more  than  the  allowed  pressure. 
Governmental  supervision  was  probably  not  quite  so  rigid  when  the 
"  Robert  E.  Lee  "  and  the  "  Natchez  "  steamed  their  memorable  race 
from  New  Orleans  to  St.  Louis. 

Between  the  30's  and  the  70's  competition  among  boat  captains  was 
keen  both  for  the  plaudits  of  a  race-loving  public  and  for  what  was  more 
substantial,  the  freight  and  passenger  patronage  that  went  to  the 
fastest  boats.  As  a  consequence,  inadequate  boilers  were  forced  be- 
yond pressures  that  would  be  allowable  under  present-day  require- 
ments, and  explosions  were  rather  frequent.  Instead  of  discouraging 
racing,  these  mishaps  seemed  to  add  just  another  sporting  hazard  to  a 
venture  that  was  already  quite  exciting  enough. 

Enthusiasm  was  at  a  high  pitch  whenever  two  boats  drew  abreast 
and  started  down  the  river.  Passengers  and  crew  shared  equally  the 
excitement  of  a  neck  and  neck  contest  and  skippers  and  passengers 
frequently  wagered  hundreds  of  dollars  on  the  outcome.  The  story 
is  told  of  one  old  Kentucky  lady,  bound  south  with  a  shipment  of  her 
own  lard,  who  called  on  the  captain  to  throw  the  lard  into  the  fire  when 
a  rival  boat  threatened  to  outdistance  the  one  on  which  she  was  a 
passenger.  "  I  come  from  Kentucky  where  they  race  horses,"  she  cried. 
"  I  just  won't  be  beat." 

In  those  days  an  approved  method  for  getting  an  extra  knot  or 
two,  when  hard  pressed,  was  to  weigh  down  the  safety  valve  lever. 
Sometimes,  it  is  told,  a  negro  cabin  boy  was  seated  astride  the  lever 
to  keep  the  valve  from  popping.  Meanwhile,  on  the  boiler  deck,  a 
squad  of  sweating  stokers  imbibed  generously  from  a  handy  keg  of 


156  THE       LOCOMOTIVE  January, 

whisky  while  they  fed  chunks  of  wood  into  the  seething  maws  of  the 
furnaces.  When  pine  knots  failed  to  produce  enough  heat  to  satisfy 
the  skipper,  pure  resin  and  even  slabs  of  fat  side  meat  —  when  it  was 
handy  —  were  tossed  into  the  fire. 

It  is  little  wonder  that  boilers  exploded  under  such  treatment,  for 
usually  the  factor  of  safety  was  too  small  even  for  normal  conditions 
of  firing.  Pressures  obtained  during  a  race  must  have  approached 
dangerously  close  to  the  bursting  point. 

Although  the  sporting  blood  of  pioneer  river  men  helped  to  encour- 
age racing,  this  factor  was  secondary  to  the  battle  among  ship  owners 
for  the  patronage  accorded  speedy  boats.  We  imagine  that  in  this 
stiff  warfare  little  time  was  given  to  inspecting  boilers.  The  rigid 
safety  standards  of  today,  which  insurance  companies  helped  introduce, 
were  unknown  in  this  country  before  The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  In- 
spection and  Insurance  Company  was  organized  in   1866. 

Just  a  year  before  the  Hartford  Company  was  formed  a  boiler  ex- 
plosion aboard  the  Mississippi  river  steamer  "  Sultana  "  snuffed  out  the 
lives  of  1,238  passengers.  That  disaster  was  among  the  worst  in  the 
long  history  of  river  navigation  and  has  not  been  forgotten  even  to  this 
day.  Recently  this  magazine  received  an  interesting  letter  from  Mr.  E. 
Carroll  Taber,  of  Keokuk,  Iowa,  whose  father  was  captain  of  a  vessel 
which  vied  with  the  "  Sultana  "  for  the  contract  to  carry  north  a  de- 
tachment of  Union  soldiers  who  had  just  been  released  from  Southern 
prison  camps  by  the  declaration  of  peace. 

As  the  "  Sultana  "  steamed  into  Vicksburg  to  pick  up  her  human 
cargo,  one  of  her  boilers  developed  a  leak  along  a  joint  at  the  front 
end.  Hasty  repairs  were  made  by  bolting  on  a  soft-patch  of  quarter- 
inch  iron  plate.  Then,  without  waiting  even  long  enough  to  prepare  a 
passenger  list,  1,866  soldiers  were  herded  aboard  and  the  ill-fated  jour- 
ney commenced. 

So  crowded  were  the  passengers  that  many  did  not  have  room  to 
he  down.  Inadequate  cooking  facilities  added  to  their  discomfort. 
After  the  disaster  these  facts  led  to  ugly  charges  and  counter-charges  of 
bribery  in  connection  with  the  award  of  the  contract  to  one  ship  when 
others  were  available  to  carry  some  of  the  men. 

At  three  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  April  27,  1865,  when  the  ship 
was  several  miles  above  Memphis,  the  repaired  boiler  let  go.  Many  of 
the  victims  were  killed  outright.  Others,  terribly  scalded,  were  thrown 
into  the  river  and  drowned. 

The  boiler  was  a  return-tubular  —  then  a  type  new  to  river  service. 
Its  dimensions,  shell  thickness,  and  type  of  riveted  joint  indicate  that 


1929.  THE     LOCOMOTIVE  157 

it  could  have  withstood  90  pounds  with  a  factor  of  safety  of  five.    How- 
ever, the  chances  are  that  it  was  carrying  more  than  90  pounds. 

In  1912  a  Louisville,  Ky.,  newspaper  published  a  story  that  a  former 
river  engineer,  on  his  deathbed,  confessed  that  he  placed  a  torpedo  in 
a  coal  bunker  just  before  the  ship  left  Memphis.  The  truth  of  such 
confession  —  if  one  was  actually  made  —  must  be  doubted  in  view  of 
what  is  known  of  the  boiler's  weakness  and  the  probability  of  rupture 
under  the  pressure  it  was  called  upon  to  carry. 


The  Value  of  Periodic  Inspections 

'T'T'7' HAT  goes  on  inside  a  machine?  In  a  general  way,  en- 
VV  gi"^^^-  know ;  but  variations  from  normal  behavior  often  are 
not  evident  until  the  condition  has  gone  beyond  easy  cor- 
rection and  a  shutdown  for  repair  is  necessary.  And  sometimes  the 
condition  becomes  so  serious  before  it  is  noticed  that  an  accident  or  a 
bad  failure  is  experienced. 

This  being  an  unavoidable  state  of  afifairs,  plans  must  be  laid  to 
minimize  its  consequences.  Periodic,  thorough  inspection  of  all  power 
equipment  should  be  as  much  a  part  of  the  plant  routine  as  sleep  is  a 
part  of  a  man's  activities.  Time  between  inspections  should  be  so  reg- 
ulated as  to  anticipate  the  occurrence  of  serious  troubles,  and  the  scherl- 
ule  set  for  this  work  should  be  rigidly  adhered  to.  To  open  a  turbine 
and  go  over  it  at  short  intervals  may  mean  a  lot  of  work  for  the  operat- 
ing staff;  but  it  frequently  saves  the  cost  of  an  extensive  reblading  job 
and  the  losses  resulting  from  reduced  plant  capacity. — Power. 


Wooden  Barrel  Explodes,  Scalds  Man 

WASHING  out  wooden  barrels  by  means  of  steam  has  lost  popu- 
larity in  Boone.  Iowa.     Until  recently  it  was  customary  for 
anyone  who  wanted  a  barrel  "  steamed  "  to  take  it  to  the  boiler 
room  of  Hawkeye  Laundry,  where  an  obliging  fireman  would  thrust  the 
nozzle  of  a  steam  hose  into  the  bung-hole. 

As  long  as  the  operator  of  this  ingenious  scouring  device  took  care 
that  the  nozzle  did  not  fit  t\ie  bung-hole  tightly  no  trouble  was  experi- 
enced ;  steam  escaped  around  the  nozzle  and  thus  kept  down  pressure  in 
the  barrel.  But  on  one  occasion  this  precaution  was  overlooked.  The 
nozzle  was  driven  tightly  into  the  hole,  where  it  was  clamped  even  more 
securely  when  steam  swelled  the  wood.  The  resulting  explosion  scalded 
one  man  severelv. 


The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection  and  Insurance  Company 


56  Prospect  Street 
HARTFORD,  CONN. 


ABSTRACT  OF  STATEMENT,  DECEMBER  31,   1927 


Capital  Stock, 


Cash  in  ofifices  and  banks   . 

Real   Estate         .         .         .         . 

Mortgage  and  collateral  loans 

Bonds  and   Stocks 

Premiums  in  course  of  collection 

Interest   accrued 

Other  Assets       .         .         .         . 


^2,500,000.00 


ASSETS 


Total    Assets 


$       622,484.21 

283,421.23 

1,366,072.48 

15,023,458.34 

1,363.003.55 
152,728.70 

54,678.59 
$  18,865,847.10 


LIABILITIES 

Reserve  for  unearned  premiums 
Reserve    for    losses      .... 
Reserve  for  taxes  and  other  contingencies 
Capital  Stock       ..... 
Surplus  over  all  liabilities 

Surplus  to  Policyholders, 


$2,500,000.00 
6,715,969.30 


$    7,710,752.66 

346,047.69 

1,593,07745 


^9,215,969.30 


Total   Liabilities $  18,865,847.10 


CHARLES  S.  BLAKE,  Chairman  Board  of  Directors 
WILLIAM  R.  C.  CORSON,  President  and  Treasurer 


BOARD  OF  DIRECTORS 


LUCIUS  F.  ROBINSON,  Attorney,  Hart- 
ford,   Conn. 

JOHN  O.  ENDERS,  Chairman  Board  of 
Directors,  Hartford  National  Bank  & 
Trust    Co.,    Hartford,    Conn. 

]MORGAN  B.  BRAINARD,  President 
^tna    Life    Insurance     Co.,    Hartford, 

Conn.  . 

CHARLES  P.  COOLEY,  Chairman  Board 
of  Trustees,  Society  for  Savings,  Hart- 
ford,   Conn. 

HORACE  B.  CHENEY,  Cheney  Brothers, 
Silk  Manufacturers,  South  Manchester, 
Conn. 

D.  NEWTON  B.VRNEY,  Vice-President 
The  Hartford  Electric  Light  Co.,  Hart- 
ford,  Conn. 

DR.  GEORGE  C.  F.  WILLIAMS,  Presi- 
dent The  Capewell  Horse  Nail  Co., 
Hartford,   Conn. 

JOSEPH  R.  ENSIGN,  President  The 
Ensign-Bickford    Co.,    Simsbury,    Conn. 


EDWARD  MILLIG.\N,  President  Phoenix 
Insurance    Co.,    Hartford,    Conn. 

CHARLES  S.  BLAKE,  Chairman  Board  of 
Directors,  The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler 
Inspection  and  Insurance  Co.,  Hart- 
ford,   Conn. 

WM.  R.  C.  CORSON,  President  The  Hart- 
ford Steam  Boiler  Inspection  and  In- 
surance Co.,  Hartford,  Conn. 

S.VMUEL  M.  STONE,  President  The 
Colt's  Patent  Fire  Arms  Mfg.  Co., 
Hartford,    Conn. 

S«VMUEL  FERGUSON,  President  The 
Hartford  Electric  Light  Co.,  Hartford, 
Conn. 

HON.  JOHN  H.  TRUMBULL,  President 
The  Trumbull  Electric  Mfg.  Co.,  Plain- 
ville,   Conn. 

CURTISS  C.  G.\RDINER,  Vice-President 
The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection 
and  Insurance  Company,  SO  Maiden 
Lane,   New   York,   N.   Y. 


Incorporated  1866 


Charter  Perpetual 


Department 

ATLANTA,    Ga., 

1103-1106   Atlanta  Trust   Bldg. 

BALTIMORE,  Md.,  . 
13-14-15   Abell   Bldg. 

BOSTON,  MASS.,     . 
4  Liberty  Sq.,   Cor.  Water   St 

BRIDGEPORT,    Conn..      . 
404-405  City  Savings  Bank  Bldg 

CHICAGO,  111., 
209    West    Jackson    Boulevard 

CINCINNATI,   Ohio, 
First    National    Bank   Bldg. 

CLEVELAND,   Ohio, 
Leader  Bldg.     . 

DENVER,    Colo., 
916-918   Gas   &   EHectric    Bldg 

DETROIT,   Mich.,      . 
2401-7  First  Nat"I   Bank  Bldj 

HARTFORD,  Conn., 
56   Prospect   St. 

NEW  ORLEANS,   La.,     . 
1 1 28   Hibernia    Bank    Bldg. 

NEW  YORK.  N.  Y., 
80  Maiden  Lane 

PHILADELPHIA,  Pa.,     . 
429  Walnut  St. 

PITTSBURGH,  Pa.. 
1807-8-9-10  Arrott  Bldg. 

PORTLAND.   Ore.,    . 
306  Yeon  Bldg. 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  Cal.,  . 
114  Sansome  St. 

SEATTLE,  Wash.,     . 
423  Dexter-Horton  Bldg. 

ST.  LOUIS,  Mo.,       . 
610-618  Security  Bldg.     . 

TORONTO.  Canada, 
Federal  Bldg.  . 


Representatives 

W.  M.  Francis,  Manager. 

C.  R.  Summers,  Chief  Inspector. 

Lawford  &  McKiM,  General  Agents. 
P.  E.  Terroy,  Chief  Inspector. 

Ward  I.  Cornell,  Manager. 

W.  A.  Bayliss,  Chief  Inspector. 

W.  G.  LiNEBURGH  &  Son,  General  Agents. 
A.  E.  BoNNETT,  Chief  Inspector. 

P.  M.  Murray,  Manager. 

J.   P.  Morrison,   Chief  Inspector. 

W.  E.  Gleason,  Manager. 

W.  E.  Glennon,  Chief  Inspector. 

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Vol.  XXXVII   No.  6 


April   1929 


A  QUARTERLY  MAGAZINE 
DEVOTED  TO  POWER  PLANT  PROTECTION 


Published  continuously  since  1867 

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1 62 THE     LOCOMOTIVE April 

Cause  and  Prevention  of  Internal  Corrosion  oj  Boilers 

By   William    D.    Halsey,   Mechanical  Eng. 


The  general  subject  of  corrosion  involves  so  tnany  ramifica- 
tions —  by  reason  of  the  varied  conditions  under  which  corrosion 
()  may  occur  —  that  at  least  a  volume  would  be  required  for  any-  ( 
*f  where^  near  adequate  treatment.  Recognising  that  fact,  the  author  * 
of  this  article  has  limited  discussion  to  the  variety  of  corrosion 
commonly  found  inside  boilers.  He  has,  we  believe,  succeeded  in 
dealing  with  this  specific  phase  of  the  subject  in  a  zvay  which  our 
readers  will  find  interesting. 


THE  subject  of  corrosion  has,  for  years,  been  one  of  careful  study 
by  many  investigators.  Numerous  theories  have  been  advanced 
as  to  the  cause,  and  all  of  them  have  seemed  to  fit  some  particular 
condition  under  investigation.  However,  until  the  electro-chemical 
theory  was  brought  forward,  there  was  no  theory  which  adequately 
explained  all  cases.  The  electro-chemical  theory  was  first  advanced 
in  1903  and  is  now  quite  generally  accepted  as  the  real  explanation  of 
corrosion. 

Most  of  us  have  observed,  at  one  time  or  another,  that  a  piece  of 
iron  in  a  solution  of  copper  sulphate  soon  becomes  coated  with  copper. 
This  is  because  the  iron  goes  into  solution  —  dissolves,  as  a  matter  of 
fact  —  and  in  so  doing  makes  room  for  itself  by  forcing  the  copper 
out  of  solution. 

Iron  has  exactly  this  same  action  with  hydrogen  in  solution.  In 
other  words,  when  free  hydrogen  exists  in  water,  the  iron  in  contact 
with  such  water  goes  into  solution  and  forces  the  hydrogen  to  plate 
out,  just  as  copper  is  plated  out  of  the  copper  sulphate  bath.  However, 
as  hydrogen  accumulates  on  the  iron  the  rate  at  which  iron  dissolves 
slows  up.  When  the  point  is  reached  where  the  whole  surface  of  the 
iron  is  coated  with  hydrogen  the  action  stops  altogether.  It  is  in  this 
connection  that  the  presence  of  free  oxygen  or  carbon  dioxide  gas  in 
the  water  plays  an  important  part  in  corrosion,  for  these  gases  have 
a  notable  liking  for  hydrogen  and  will  combine  with  it  at  every  oppor- 
tunity. Thus  when  there  is  free  oxygen  or  carbon  dioxide  in  boiler 
water  they  quickly  strip  the  protective  layer  of  gaseous  hydrogen  from 
the  surface  of  the  iron  and  encourage  further  interchange  of  iron  and 
hydrogen.  This  action  will  continue  until  all  the  free  oxygen  in  the 
water  is  used  up. 

As  an  understanding  of  this  phenomenon  requires  that  the  reader 
know,  at  least  in  a  general  way,  just  what  is  meant  by  atoms,  mole- 
cules, and  ions,  a  short  explanation  at  this  point  may  not  be  amiss. 


19^9- 


THE     LOCOMOTIVE 


163 


Fiyiir. 


The  various  fundamental  substances  with  which  we  deal  in  the 
realm  of  physics  and  chemistry  are  known  as  elements.  Included 
among  them  are  the  metals  and  the  various  gases  such  as  oxygen,  hy- 
drogen, nitrogen,  and  many  others.  The  smallest  division  of  one  of 
these  elements  is  called  an  atom  and  it  is  a  bit  of  matter  so  tiny  that 
it  cannot  be  seen  even  under  the  most  powerful  microscope.     In  fact, 

it  has  been  said  that  if  a  drop 
of  water  were  magnified  to 
the  size  of  the  earth  the  atoms 
would  appear  to  be  about  the 
size  of  oranges. 

When  two  elements  com- 
Ijjne,  such  as  in  the  union  of 
hydrogen  and  oxygen  to  form 
water,  atoms  of  the  two  ele- 

t*^\  ■  ^^K.         **r'^wd    ments    form    themselves    into 

^      ^      ^      ^      ^       ^     '"^    1    what  is  known  as  a  molecule 
_  of    the    new    substance.      An 

ion,  the  third  of  this  trio  of 
infinitesimal  portions,  is  noth- 
ing more  than  an  atom  or  a 
group  of  atoms  carrying  a  charge  of  electricity.  This  electricity  may 
be  either  positive  or  negative. 

Hydrogen  ions  —  electrically  charged  atoms  of  hydrogen  —  may 
exist  in  water  without  being  combined  with  the  water.  They  always 
carry  a  positive  charge  of  electricity.  When  iron  goes  into  solution 
it  docs  so  as  ions  of  iron,  which  also  carry  a  positive  charge.  Just 
why  iron  is  able  to  force  hydrogen  out  of  solution  is  explained  by  the 
fact  that  some  elements  seem  to  be  stronger  than  others  in  maintaining 
themselves  in  solution.  Listed  in  the  order  of  their  ability  to  replace 
others  in  solution,  some  of  the  more  prominent  elements  are:  cadmium, 
zinc,  iron,  nickel,  lead,  tin,  hydrogen,  copper,  silver,  gold.  Any  of  these 
elements  will  replace,  or  have  a  tendency  to  replace  the  elements  which 
stand  lower  on  the  list,  if  one  of  those  elements  is  in  solution.  It  will  be 
noted  that  iron  stands  higher  in  the  list  than  hydrogen. 

As  the  hydrogen  ions  plate  out  on  the  iron  they  set  up  what  may  be 
looked  upon  as  a  back  pressure  resisting  the  effort  of  any  more  hydro- 
gen to  plate  out.  Since  it  is  necessary  for  a  hydrogen  ion  to  come  out 
of  solution  in  order  that  an  iron  ion  go  m,  this  action  eventually  results 
in  no  more  iron  dissolving.  Unfortunately,  when  free  oxygen  is  pres- 
ent in  the  water  this   protective  coating  does   not  last  long,    for  the 


164 


THE     LOCOMOTIVE 


April, 


oxygen  promptly  combines  with  the  hydrogen  to  form  water,  thus 
allowing  the  action  to  recommence.  From  this  fact  it  is  apparent  that 
although  the  inherent  tendency  of  iron  to  go  into  solution  is  the  cause 
of  corrosion,  the  presence  of  free  oxygen  in  the  water  is  a  control- 
ling factor. 

Carbon  dioxide  acts  in  a  somewhat  different  manner  but,  never- 
theless, has  the  ability  to  remove  the  hydrogen, 
thereby  permitting  more  iron  to  dissolve. 

The  action  of  iron  going  into  solution  and 
hydrogen  coming  out  may  be  very  well  dem- 
onstrated by  what  is  known  as  the  ferroxyl 
test.  This  consists  of  a  solution  of  ferro- 
cyanide  of  potassium  and  phenolpthalein.  Fer- 
rocyanide  of  potassium  in  the  presence  of  iron 
will  show  a  blue  color  and  phenolphthalein  in 
the  presence  of  hydrogen  will  show  a  pink 
color.  If  a  piece  of  iron,  such  as  a  common 
wire  nail,  be  placed  in  some  gelatin  containing 
the  proper  proportions  of  these  chemicals  or 
"  indicators  ",  as  they  are  called,  it  will  be 
found  that  certain  parts  of  the  nail  will  be 
surrounded  by  a  blue  color  and  other  parts  by 
a  pink  color.  Where  the  blue  appears  the  iron 
is  being  dissolved ;  the  hydrogen  it  replaces 
is  located  in  the  pink  area. 

The  total  corrosion  which  takes  place  is 
dependent  on  the  amount  of  oxygen  or  carbon 
dioxide  that  can  reach  the  total  area  covered  by  hydrogen.  If  the 
iron  actually  exposed  to  the  water  is  large  in  area  we  will  have  general 
corrosion.  Figure  i  is  an  example.  However,  if  a  small  area  of  iron 
is  exposed  the  total  weight  of  iron  which  will  go  into  solution  will  be 
the  same  as  for  a  larger  area  of  iron,  but  the  loss  will  necessarily 
appear  great  and  will  show  as  a  deep  pit.  This  condition,  wherein 
a  small  area  is  exposed  to  the  water,  may  be  brought  about  by  mill 
scale  adhering  to  the  metal  and  thus  protecting  it  against  the  solution, 
or  by  adherent  scale  from  the  water  through  which  there  is  a  crack. 
Under  such  a  crack  corrosion  may  occur  in  the  form  of  deep  pitting. 
Furthermore,  as  the  iron  oxide  forms  around  the  mouth  of  the  pit 
local  electrolytic  action  between  the  iron  itself  and  the  oxide  take? 
place,  and  this  further  accelerates  the  pitting.  Other  conditions  such 
as  segregation  of  the  foreign  elements  in  steel  plates  or  gas  inclusion 


Figure 


19^. 


THE     LOCOMOTIVE 


165 


Excessive  internal  corrosion  in  a  horizoiital  tubular  boiler  at  a  brick  yard 
in  Richmond,  Va.,  caused  the  explosion  shown  above.  The  accident  demol- 
ished the  building  and  vi'rcckcd  an  engine,  causing  property  damage  of 
almost  $lo,oou. 


may  also  give  rise  to  local  corrosion.  Where  there  are  dissimilar 
metals  in  contact  as,  for  instance,  brass  fusible  plugs  or  other  brass 
fittings  actually  in  contact  with  the  boiler  shell,  opportunity  is  given 
for  electrolytic  action  between  the  two  metals. 

It  is  also  true  that  where  iron  is  highly  stressed  and  is  in  direct 
contact  with  other  iron  which  is  not  so  highly  stressed  there  is  a 
greater  tendency  on  the  part  of  the  iron  under  the  higher  stress  to 
go  into  solution.  The  experiment  of  the  iron  nail  in  gelatin  with  the 
two  ■'  indicators ",  to  which  reference  has  already  been  made,  will 
very  frequently  show  a  blue  color  at  the  head  and  point  with  the  pink 
color  along  the  body  of  the  nail.  This  is  an  excellent  illustration  of 
the  greater  tendency  of  the  higher  stressed  metal  (for  the  forming  of 
the  head  and  point  caused  high  stresses  in  those  parts)  to  go  into 
solution.  Furthermore,  this  action  accounts  for  the  grooving  fre- 
quently encountered  in  the  turn  of  the  flange  of  a  boiler  head  or  along 
a  long  riveted  seam.     Figure  2  shows  a  case  of  this  kind. 

There  are  many  factors  in  the  corrosion  of  iron  which  space  will 
not  permit  taking  up  in  an  article  as  brief  as  this  one.  However,  the 
action  described  herein  covers  in  a  general  way  the  fundamental  prin- 


i66 THE     LOCOMOTIVE April 

ciple  and  allows  us  to  turn  now  to  a  discussion  of  the  steps  which  can 
be  taken  to  prevent  corrosion. 

Since  the  presence  of  oxygen  or  carbon  dioxide  in  the  water  is  the 
factor  which  determines  the  amount  of  corrosion,  it  follows  that  the 
best  preventive  step  is  the  removal  of  these  gases.  In  the  smaller 
plants  an  open  heater,  well  vented,  is  successful  in  reducing  their  amount 
to  what  is  usually  considered  a  harmless  quantity.  In  larger  installa- 
tions deaerators  or  deactivators  are  used  in  an  endeavor  to  further  re- 
duce the  oxygen  content  and  the  water  is  treated  to  remove  the  carbon 
dioxide.  A  deaerator  is  a  vessel  or  system  of  vessels  which  drives  the 
air  out  by  the  application  of  heat  and  vacuum.  A  deactivator  is  a  vessel 
in  which  the  water  is  permitted  to  act  on  iron,  thus  expending  its  oxygen. 

Whenever  a  persistent  case  of  corrosion  is  encountered  the  services 
of  a  competent  feed  water  specialist  should  be  obtained  before  pro- 
ceeding with  the  installation  of  equipment  to  overcome  the  trouble. 
In  some  cases  involved  treatment  may  be  necessary ;  in  others  the 
remedy  may  be  quite  simple. 


Badly  Corroded  Boiler  Kills  6,  Injures  4 

WHILE  the  foregoing  article  was  under  preparation  there  came 
news  of  a  disastrous  boiler  explosion  which  very  evidently 
was  caused  by  excessive  internal  corrosion  of  the  shell.  Six 
persons  were  killed  and  five  others,  including  a  little  girl  who  was 
playing  in  the  yard  of  her  home  some  distance  away,  were  badly  injured. 

Built  about  1890,  the  horizontal  tubular  boiler  which  exploded  had 
been  in  service  at  two  other  locations  before  it  was  set  up  at  a  saw- 
mill in  a  Southern  state  two  months  ago.  Although  it  was  designed  for 
a  working  pressure  of  but  90  pounds,  it  was  used  at  105  pounds  with 
the  safety  valve  set  to  blow  ten  pounds  above  that.  On  the  day  before 
the  explosion  leakage  developed  through  the  solid  plate  in  the  middle 
of  the  rear  course  and  it  was  found  that  corrosion  had  eaten  entirely 
through  the  shell  in  five  different  spots. 

A  local  mechanic  was  employed  to  check  the  leakage,  which  he  did 
by  drilling  through  the  plate  at  the  holes  and  inserting  ^-inch  machine 
bolts  with  lead  washers  inside  and  nuts  outside  the  boiler  shell. 

The  boiler  was  fired  up  next  morning,  and  a  moment  after  the 
safety  valve  popped  the  boiler  ruptured  from  end  to  end  through 
the  bottom  of  all  three  courses.  At  the  same  time  the  courses  were 
separated  at  the  girth  seams,  the  solid  plate  tearing  circumferentially 
parallel  to  the  seams  rather  than  through  the  rivet  holes.   A  part  of  the 


19^. 


THE     LOCOMOTIVE 


167 


boiler  was  blown  a  distance  of  225  yards,  landing  within  a  few  feet 
of  the  owner's  residence.  Another  large  piece,  consisting  of  most  of 
the  front  head,  was  hurled  over  the  mill  and  a  railroad  siding,  coming 
to  rest  190  yards  from  the  point  where  it  started.     Four  persons  were 


killed  outright ;  two  others  died  in  the  hospital.    Property  damage  alone 
was  approximately  $10,000. 

The  owner  carried  no  boiler  insurance,  so  it  is  not  probable  that 
the  boiler  was  examined  by  a  competent  inspector  when  it  was  brought 
to  the  sawmill  and  set  up.  An  inspector  would  surely  have  noted  the 
dangerous  extent  to  which  the  shell  had  deteriorated,  for  even  in  the 
accompanying  photograph  it  can  readily  be  seen  that  corrosion  and 
pitting  had  eaten  down  the  metal  alarmingly. 


MOST  RETIRING 


Timid  Swain,  who  had  been  years  getting  up  his  courage  to  take  the  leap: 
"  Sir,  I  have  been  courting  your  daughter  for  fifteen  years,  and — ." 

Dad:   "Well,  what  do  you  want?" 

Swain  :    "To  marry  her." 

Dad.  sighing  with  relief :  "  Phew  I  I  was  afraid  you  were  going  to  ask  for 
a  pension  or  something." 


Pat  the  office  boy  wanted  a  raise,  so  he  went  to  his  boss  and  asked  for  an 
increase  of  $2.00  a  week. 

"  Do  you  think  you  are  worth  it?"  he  was  asked. 

"  I  do,"  was  the  reply.  "  I've  been  thinking  so  for  the  last  three  weeks  but 
have  been  too  busy  to  say  so." 


1 68 THE     LOCOMOTIVE April, 

Detection  oj  Very  Dangerous   Conditions  Frequently 
Accomplished  by  Study  oj  Small  Symptoms 

ALTHOUGH  a  leak  at  the  lower  head  seam  of  the  mud  drum  on 
Boiler  No.  13  persisted  even  after  the  seam  was  twice  caulked, 
^  plant  attendants  had  no  idea  what  a  serious  predicament  the 
twelve-year-old  vessel  was  in.  It  remained  for  a  Hartford  Steam 
Boiler  inspector  to  find  that  out. 

While  examining  several  of  the  plant's  twenty-seven  vertical  water- 
tube  boilers,  the  inspector  noticed  that  a  mud-drum  seam  on  Boiler 
No.  13  had  been  recently  caulked.  The  boiler  was  not  under  pressure 
at  the  time,  but  the  inspector  saw  from  the  white  deposit  around  the 
seam  that  leakage  had  occurred  since  the  caulking  was  done.  Crawling 
into  the  drum,  he  found  between  three  adjacent  rivet  heads  a  deposit 
of  soft  sediment  that  reminded  him  of  a  mud  wasp's  nest.  From  this 
he  reasoned  that  there  was  a  crack  so  fine  that,  as  water  passed  through, 
small  particles  of  solid  matter  were  filtered  out  and  left  behind.  The 
crack  was  too  small  to  be  distinguished  by  the  naked  eye,  but  under 
a  magnifying  glass  it  showed  up  clearly  as  a  very  fine  fissure  running 
from  rivet  hole  to  rivet  hole.  Similar  cracks  were  found  at  two  other 
points  along  the  seam. 

Determined  to  find  out  the  extent  to  which  the  plate  was  affected, 
the  inspector  removed  the  rivets  and  cut  loose  the  braces  joining  head 
and  tube  plate.  No  sooner  had  he  unfastened  the  last  brace  than  the 
shell  plate  below  the  line  of  rivet  holes  tore  away  and  tumbled  down 
into  the  pit,  along  with  the  head.  Cracks  around  the  entire  circum- 
ference reduced  the  plate  strength  so  much  that  the  mere  weight  of 
the  head  broke  the  remaining  metal. 

This  discovery  was  made  just  in  time,  for  there  is  no  doubt  that 
the  boiler  would  have  exploded,  had  it  remained  in  service. 

Training  and  experience  frequently  enable  an  inspector  to  locate 
defects  by  means  of  small  symptoms  to  which  others  might  attach  no 
significance.  Now  and  then  the  outward  indication  of  a  fault  is  ap- 
parently so  trivial  that  the  inspector  has  trouble  convincing  even  the 
plant  engineer  that  a  dangerous  condition  exists.  With  the  plant 
running  at  full  capacity  and  in  need  of  all  the  steam  it  can  get,  the 
engineer  is  anxious  to  put  the  boiler  back  on  the  line  as  quickly  as 
possible.  Even  so,  most  engineers  are  willing  to  give  the  inspector  as 
much  time  as  he  needs  to  investigate  a  symptom  that  may  mean  trouble, 
but  occasionally  the  engineer  attributes  the  inspector's  painstaking  work 
to  overzealousness.     Such  a  case  came  up  recently. 


19-^9.  THE     LOCOMOTIVE  169 


While  investigating  a  leak  at  the  longitudinal  seam  gf  a  Stirling 
type  water-tube  boiler  the  inspector  discovered  a  quantity  of  some  hard 
substance  which  had  collected  near  the  point  of  leakage.  This  prompted 
him  to  tap  nearby  rivet  heads  with  his  hammer.  Eleven  of  the  heads 
snapped  ofif  under  light  blows. 

The  symptoms  were  those  of  caustic  embrittlement,  so  the  inspector 
called  the  chief  engineer  and  secured  permission  to  drill  out  the 
shanks  of  the  broken  rivets.  Then,  by  cleaning  the  insides  of  the 
holes  with  nuiriatic  acid,  he  showed  the  engineer  several  fine  cracks 
in  both  the  butt  strap  and  plate. 

At  first  the  engineer  was  inclined  to  discount  the  importance  of 
the  discovery.  He  had  recently  been  in  Germany,  he  explained,  where 
he  discussed  with  several  German  engineers  the  occurrence  of  inter- 
granular  cracks  due  to  feed  water  conditions.  Their  opinion,  in 
which  he  concurred,  was  that  the  theory  of  caustic  embrittlement 
was  ■'  bunk  ".  Such  fine  cracks,  he  contended,  could  be  found  in  any 
boiler  that  had  been  in  use  for  some  time,  particularly  if  high  riveting 
pressure  was  used  in  construction. 

"  You're  just  wasting  time  worrying  over  those  cracks,"  was  his 
impatient  rejoinder  to  a  request  to  take  out  other  rivets  for  a  more 
complete  investigation.  "  Let's  rivet  up  the  boiler  and  get  it  back  into 
service." 

The  inspector  saw  that  further  argument  with  the  engineer  would 
be  futile,  so  he  'phoned  the  chief  inspector  and  explained  the  difficulty 
to  him.  After  conferring  with  the  engineer  and  other  plant  officials, 
the  chief  secured  their  consent  to  remove  the  butt  strap.  Much  to  the 
amazement  of  the  engineer,  the  shell  plate  was  cracked  from  rivet 
hole  to  rivet  hole  throughout  the  length  of  the  drum.  His  chagrin 
increased  when  butt  straps  were  taken  from  the  front  and  rear  drums 
to  reveal  the  same  condition  there. 

Unquestionably  the  discovery  prevented  a  violent  explosion.  How 
extensive  the  loss  of  life  and  property  might  have  been  can  easily  be 
imagmed,  for  the  plant  was  located  in  a  densely  populated  section  of 
a  large  city. 

When  there  is  evidence  that  a  hidden  defect  exists,  an  inspector 
cannot  allow  obstacles,  either  mechanical  or  personal,  to  prevent  his 
carrying  out  a  complete  investigation.  Sometimes  this  entails  a  great 
deal  of  extra  work  and  inconvenience,  but  it  is  justified  by  the  prob- 
ability of  bringing  to  light  a  dangerous  condition. 

At  a  small  city  pumping  plant,  which  was  changed  over  to  electric 
drive,  the  two  horizontal  tubular  boilers  and  steam  pumps  were  left 


I70  THE     LOCOMOTIVE  April, 

in  place  to  serve  as  stand-by  units.  After  several  cases  of  current  in- 
terruption the  city  manager  decided  to  put  the  boilers  in  operating 
condition,  so  he  applied  for  insurance  and  an  inspector  was  sent 
to  examine  them. 

Other  than  finding  the  boilers  dirty  because  they  had  not  been 
cleaned  when  taken  out  of  service,  the  inspector  saw  no  si2:ns  of  trouble 
until  he  chipped  off  the  light  scale  from  around  the  double-riveted  lap 
joint  at  the  longitudinal  seam  of  one  of  the  boilers  and  noted  that  the 
overlapping  plate  inside  stood  away  from  the  shell  about  a  sixteenth  of 
an  inch.  This  was  due,  he  judged,  to  improper  forming  of  the  plate 
when  the  boiler  was  built.  But  just  under  this  edge  he  discovered  an 
irregular,  broken  line  on  the  surface  of  the  metal.  He  probed  this 
with  a  sharp  tool  but  could  not  determine  in  that  way  whether  or  not 
it  was  a  crack. 

The  next  logical  procedure  was  to  drill  test  holes  through  the 
supposed  crack.  A  request  for  drilling  equipment  revealed  that  this 
had  been  removed  to  the  city  machine  shop,  two  miles  away,  and  by 
'phone  the  inspector  secured  the  machine  shop  superintendent's  promise 
to  send  the  drill  over  immediately.  However,  the  drill  did  not  arrive, 
so  the  inspector  called  the  superintendent  again.  He  learned  that  the 
request  had  been  taken  up  with  the  city  manager  who  ruled  that  since 
the  insurance  company  was  well  paid  for  the  insurance  it  should  supply 
all  tools  necessary  for  an  inspection. 

The  inspector  wasted  no  time  trying  to  convince  the  city  manager 
that  he  was  mistaken.  Instead,  he  went  into  the  city  and  borrowed  a 
breast  drill  from  a  garage.  With  this  he  ascertained  that  the  plate 
was  cracked  to  a  depth  equal  to  two-thirds  its  thickness.  Of  course, 
the  boiler  was  condemned. 


Hydrogen  Ion  Interests  Doctors,  Too 

If  an  instrument  recently  developed  by  medical  research  workers 
proves  to  be  as  useful  as  they  predict  in  furthering  the  study  of  cancer, 
we  hope  they  won't  overlook  the  fact  that  their  device  for  measuring 
the  hydrogen  ion  concentration  in  the  blood  to  the  thousandth  part  of 
a  volt  was  antedated  at  least  two  years  by  a  device  for  measuring  such 
concentration  in  boiler  water. 

Under  certain  conditions  the  hydrogen  ion  is  as  capable  of  affecting 
iron  as  it  is  of  working  changes  in  organic  tissue.  As  pointed  out 
in  another  article  in  this  issue,  it  plays  an  important  part  in  boiler 
plate  corrosion. 


1929. 


THE     LOCOMOTIVE 


171 


Boys  Escape  Death  in  Engine  Room  as  Wheel  Bursts 

THE    fourteen-foot   flywheel   of   a   Corliss-driven   air   compressor 
at  the  plant  of  French  and  Hecht,  Inc.,  Davenport,  Iowa,  demol- 
ished the  machine  and  caused  extensive  property  damage  when 
it  burst,  on  the  evening  of   February  8th.     Three  young  boys  who, 
after  bringing  lunch   for  their  father,  the  fireman,  Hngered  a  moment 


in  the  engine  room  to  gaze  in  awe  at  the  powerful  engine,  were  the 
only  persons  in  the  room  when  the  wheel  let  go.  That  they  escaped 
with  their  lives  was  almost  a  miracle. 

One  piece  of  the  wheel,  weighing  about  800  pounds,  passed  through 
the  wall  of  the  engine  room,  tore  out  two  girders  in  the  main  factory 
building,  and  went  on  out  through  the  roof  to  find  a  resting  place  in 
the  coal  pile  of  a  neighboring  plant  600  feet  away.  Another  piece 
apparently  went  almost  straight  up  in  the  air,  for  it  came  down  verti- 
cally through  the  roof  of  the  foundry  and  buried  itself  three  feet 
deep  in  the  dirt  floor.  A  smaller  piece  dropped  into  the  pattern  vault 
and  crushed  a  storage  rack. 

Four  other  pieces,  the  largest  weighing  close  to  400  pounds,  were 


172  THE     LOCOMOTIVE  April. 

hurled  about  250  feet  through  the  roof  of  the  Safety  Grinding  and 
Machine  Company  plant,  one  of  the  pieces  carrying  away  the  top  of 
a  kiln. 

The  engine  itself,  which  was  about  30  years  old,  was  damaged  so 
badly  that  repair  was  considered  impracticable.  Not  only  was  the 
air  cylinder  cracked,  but  the  valve  gear  and  rocker  arms  were  prac- 
tically demolished,  the  shaft  was  sprung,  and  the  machine  was  loosened 
on  the  foundation. 

When  the  day  shift  went  off  duty  at  5  :i5  p.  m.,  the  regular  operating 
engineer  shut  down  the  engine  by  means  of  the  automatic  stop.  Later 
that  evening  a  shift  went  on  duty  for  several  hours'  overtime  work, 
so  the  chief  engineer  started  the  machine  again.  As  the  chief's  duties 
as  maintenance  superintendent  frequently  took  him  to  other  parts  of 
the  plant  he  was  accustomed  to  place  the  fireman  in  charge  of  the 
machine  whenever  the  plant  was  operating  overtime. 

The  fireman  had  eaten  supper  and  had  gone  out  to  wheel  in  more 
coal  when  the  crash  came,  tearing  down  electric  light  wires  and  plung- 
ing the  plant  into  darkness.  The  man  scrambled  a-top  the  boilers  to 
shut  off  the  stop  valves  and  then  rushed  into  the  engine  room  to  find  out 
what  had  happened  to  his  sons.  He  found  the  youngest,  a  five-year-old, 
apparently  unhurt.  A  ten-year-old  son  whose  only  injury  was  a  scalp 
wound  was  trying  to  carry  an  older  brother  to  safety.  At  the  hospital 
it  was  found  that  the  fourteen-year-old  boy  had  sustained  four  broken 
ribs  and  a  compound  fracture  of  the  left  arm. 

From  the  fact  that  flange  bolts  in  the  rim  of  the  wheel  were 
stretched,  there  was  no  doubt  that  the  wheel  attained  considerable  over- 
speed  before  it  let  go.  Although  the  automatic  safety  stop  had  been 
in  working  order  when  the  machine  was  last  shut  down  this  stop  ap- 
parently failed.  Both  the  stop  and  the  governing  mechanism  were  so 
badly  twisted  and  broken  that  nothing  could  be  learned  from  examining 
them. 

Property  damage  was  covered  by  a  policy  in  The  Hartford. 


Young  Oswald  was  an  officious  young  man,  as  every  one  in  the  firm's  employ 
agreed. 

He  was  always  horning  in  where  he  was  not  wanted,  and  he  had  a  highly 
exalted  opinion  of  himself. 

There  were  two  partners  in  the  firm,  and  when  death  claimed  one  of  them  the 
young  man  approached  the  surviving  partner  with  whom  he  was  not  exactly  what 
you  would  call  a  favorite. 

"  I  am  sorry,  sir,  to  hear  of  Mr.  John's  demise,  and  I  have  come  to  ask  you 
if  you  would  like  to  have  me  take  his  place." 

"  Yes,  I  should,  very  much,"  was  the  sad  reply,  "  if  you  can  get  the  under- 
taker to  arrange  it."  — N.  V.  Central  Lines  Magazine. 


1929- THE     LOCOMOTIVE 173 

Immense  New  Turbo-Generator  L  nits   Dwarf   First 
Central  Station   Machine  Installed  28  \  ears  Ago 

rr^HE  tendency  in  central  station  turbine  design  to  concentrate 
I  more  and  more  capacity  into  a  single  machine,  and  to  trim  down 
physical  bulk  to  a  point  where  the  smallest  amount  of  floor  space 
is  required,  reached  a  new  high-water  mark  in  the  recent  installation 
of  a  giant  160,000-kilowatt  turbo-generator  at  the  Hell  Gate  Station 
of  the  United  Light  and  Power  Company,  Xew  York.  This  new 
turbine  —  among  the  largest  of  several  very  powerful  two-unit  ma- 
chines now  in  operation  —  is  remarkable  not  so  much  on  account  of  its 
tremendous  capacity,  but  because  the  designers,  handicapped  by  being 
obliged  to  fit  the  machine  into  floor  space  originally  laid  out  for  a 
30.000-kilowatt  unit,  managed  to  produce  a  machine  with  a  turbine 
efficiency  of  84.5  per  cent.,  the  highest  yet  obtained. 

Growth  of  central  station  equipment  to  the  point  where  the  output 
from  a  single  machine  is  sufficient  to  light  a  medium-size  city  must 
be  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  remarkable  mechanical  achievements 
of  the  last  quarter-century,  for  the  transition  first  from  reciprocating 
engines  to  small  turbines  and  then  to  machines  of  Brobdingnagian 
proportions  came  with  almost  dazzling  swiftness.  In  fact  it  was  just 
twenty-eight  years  ago  this  month  that  the  first  turbine  ever  installed 
in  this  country  for  central  station  use  was  put  into  operation  by  the 
Hartford  Electric  Light  Company  of  Hartford,  Conn.  (See  Figure  i.) 
That  2oco-kilo\\  att  turbo-generator  has  long  since  been  crowded  out  by 
larger  members  of  its  own  family  and  is  now  on  display  in  the  museum 
of  the  W'estinghouse  Electric  and  Manufacturing  Company  at  East 
Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  but  in  the  heyday  of  its  glory  engineers  regarded  it 
as  little  short  of  a  mechanical  marvel.  Its  output  was  at  least  twice 
that  of  any  turbine  built  previous  to  that  time. 

Nowadays  there  is  nothing  very  impressive  about  a  machine  of  such 
relatively  small  capacity  but  at  a  time  when  central  station  generators 
were  driven  by  reciprocating  engines,  a  2,000-kilowatt  unit  was  some- 
thing to  conjure  with :  an  engine  of  that  rating  was  anything  but  a 
dainty  piece  of  mechanism.  The  fact  that  the  new  turbine  at  Hartford 
occupied  but  40  per  cent,  of  the  floor  space  taken  up  by  a  reciprocating 
engine  of  equal  capacity  and.  in  bulk,  was  a  mere  pygmy  alongside  one 
of  the  ponderous  vertical  engines  then  in  use,  gave  engineers  something 
to  think  about. 

Large  though  the  Hartford  turbo-generator  undoubtedly  was  for 
the  era  which  produced  it.  a  glance  at  Figure  2  cannot  fail  to  show 


174 


THE     LOCOMOTIVE 


April, 


that  in  spite  of  a  distinct  family  resemblance,  the  machine  which  was 
considered  tremendous  no  longer  ago  than  1901  falls  far  short  of 
matching  its  grandson  in  girth  and  stature.  It  would  take  eighty  ma- 
chines of  the  2,000-kilowatt  variety  to  do  the  work  of  the  Hell  Gate 
turbine,  and  if  such  a  group  could  be  gathered  together  and  crowded 
side  by  side  and  end  to  end  they  would  occupy  a  floor  space  of  ap- 
proximately 80  by  160  feet  as  against  the  38  by  76  foot  space  which 


Figure  i. 


serves  the  larger  and  more  compact  unit.  The  difference  would,  of 
course,  be  very  much  greater  if  aisles  were  left  between  the  machines  — 
as  would  have  to  be  the  case  if  they  were  spaced  far  enough  apart  to 
allow  operation. 

Just  what  an  immense  proposition  the  Hell  Gate  turbo-generator 
is  can  be  judged  from  the  fact  that  at  full  capacity  it  requires  seventy- 
seven  tons  of  steam  per  hour;  800  gallons  of  lubricating  oil  are 
pumped  through  its  bearings  each  minute;  and  13,000,000  gallons  of 
cooling  water  an  hour  (enough  to  supply  a  city  of  200,000  population) 
pass  through  the  condenser.  It  is  a  cross-compound  machine  consist- 
ing of  a  high  pressure  unit  running  at  1,800  r.  p.  m.  and  developing 
72,000  kilowatts,  and  a  low  pressure  unit  turning  over  at  1,200  r.  p.  m. 
and  developing  88,000  kilowatts. 

Another  large  two-unit  turbo-generator  was  installed  recently  at 
the  Brooklyn  Edison's  Hudson  Avenue  Station.  This,  likewise,  is 
a  cross-compound  machine  with  high  and  low  pressure  units  developing 
50,000  and  58,000  kilowatts  respectively.  At  Philo,  Ohio,  near  Zanes- 
ville,  the  Ohio  Power  Company  is  erecting  a  triple  compounded  unit 
of  5,000  kilowatts  greater  capacity  than  the  Hell  Gate  machine.  The 
arrangement  is  somewhat  different,  however,  for  the  high  pressure  and 
low  pressure  turbines  and  generators  operate  at  the  same  speed,  namely 


1929. 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE 


175 


1,800  r.  p.  m.  The  high  pressure  turbine  drives  one  of  the  three  main 
53,000-kilovvatt  generators  and  each  of  the  two  low  pressure  turbines 
drives,  in  addition  to  a  53,000-kilowatt  generator,  a  3,000-kilowatt 
house  generator  coupled  to  the  same  shaft.  Each  of  the  three  ma- 
chines has  its  own  coupled  exciter  and  on  the  low  pressure  units  there 
is  an  exciter  for  each  house  generator.  One  of  the  low  pressure  units 
was  placed  in  operation  several  weeks  ago,  and  since  then  the  high 


Figure  2. 


pressure  unit  has  also  been  placed  on  the  line.  By  the  time  this  issue 
of  The  Locomotive  is  distributed  it  seems  likely  that  the  entire 
machine  will  be  in  service  and  operated  as  one  unit.  Insurance  on  this 
big  machine  is  carried  in  The  Hartford. 

Improvements  in  the  metallurgical  and  manufacturing  fields  have 
been  responsible  in  no  small  measure  for  the  development  of  the 
turbine  to  its  present  status.  Records  at  the  British  Patent  Office 
covering  the  years  from  1800  to  1850  contain  many  turbine  inventions 
—  including  some  of  the  principles  now  used  —  but  apparently  the 
limitations  imposed  by  inadequate  manufacturing  methods  and  lack 
of  metals  embodying  the  characteristics  necessary  to  withstand  high 
speed,  high  temperature,  and  wear,  kept  the  inventors  from  putting  their 
ideas  into  practice. 

The  turbine  is  properly  regarded  as  having  its  birthplace  in  Europe, 
yet  as  early  as  1833  steam  turbines  of  the  simple  "  Hero  "  type  were 
manufactured  at  Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  and  used  to  drive  sawmills.  How- 
ever, these  early  types  were  exceedingly  wasteful  of  steam  and  as  late 


176 THE     LOCOMOTIVE April, 

as  1896  the  turbine  as  a  practical  machine  was  virtually  unknown  on 
this  side  of  the  Atlantic.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  first  turbine  in- 
stallation of  any  size  was  at  the  Wilmerding,  Pa.,  plant  of  Westing- 
house  Air-Brake  Company  where,  in  1899,  three  400-kilowatt  units 
were  put  in  operation.  Running  at  full  load,  these  machines  required 
only  about  12  pounds  of  steam  per  horse  power  hour.  That  was  by  no 
means  a  poor  showing. 

Such  was  the  status  of  the  turbine  in  the  United  States  when  the 
Hartford  Electric  Light  Company,  in  1901,  made  the  historic  installa- 
tion which  signallized  the  dawn  of  an  era  in  which  central  stations 
throughout  the  country  were  to  discard  batteries  of  huge  engines  in 
favor  of  the  newer  and  more  compact  type  of  prime  mover. 

Twenty-eight  years  have  brought  numerous  improvements,  of 
course,  both  in  methods  of  manufacture  and  in  more  reliable  detail 
design,  yet  most  of  the  improvement  in  economy  has  been  due  to  in- 
creased speeds  rather  than  to  any  radical  changes  in  principle.  One 
of  the  factors  which  enabled  manufacturers  to  bring  turbine  speeds 
up  to  the  point  where  the  best  economy  was  obtained  was  the  develop- 
ment of  high-speed  alternating  current  generators.  Now,  in  cases  of 
cross-compounding,  the  designers  frequently  use  a  higher  speed  for  the 
high  pressure  unit,  and  a  lower  speed  for  the  low  pressure  unit  or 
units,  thus  reaping  the  economy  that  comes  from  using  the  speed  best 
adapted  to  the  pressure  and  volume  of  steam.  Another  factor  which 
had  an  important  influence  in  making  possible  the  general  application 
o?the  turbine  as  a  prime  mover  was  the  development  of  accurately  cut 
reducing  gears.  With  this  arrangement  the  machine  was  readily 
coupled  to  mill  drives,  to  low  speed  direct  current  dynamos,  and  to 
the  propeller  shafts  of  steamships.  On  the  whole,  however,  the  turbine 
has  found  its  biggest  field  of  usefulness  in  central  power  stations. 

Undoubtedly  the  turbine  has  not  yet  reached  the  limit  in  size  and 
capacity,  for  even  as  we  write  this  a  208,000-kilowatt  machine  is  under 
construction.  The  day  may  come  when  the  turbines  which  are  now 
thought  tremendous  will  appear  small  alongside  some  newer  member 
of  the  family. 


Failure  of  Hoist  Motors 

IT   may   surprise   some  to  learn  that   motors  used  to  drag   cars  up 
inclined    tracks   at   mines    or   quarries   are    frequently    damaged    by 
overspeeding,    vet    experience   has    shown    that    such    accidents    are 
fairly   numerous.      Therefor,  motors   in   this   class   of   service,   unless 


i9-'9. THE     L  O  C  O  M  O  T  I  V  P: \jj_ 

provided  with  adequate  safety  devices  of  an  approved  type,  represent 
an  unusually  hazardous  risk. 

Although  there  are  several  arrangements  of  hoists  in  use,  the  ones 
most  generally  found  are  the  two-car  system  and  the  one-car  system. 
In  the  arrangement  first  named  two  cars  are  attached  to  the  same  hoist, 
one  rising  while  the  other  descends.  Sometimes  each  car  has  its  own 
track  and  sometimes  a  common  track  is  used  with  a  passing  switch 
half-way  between  the  top  and  the  bottom.  The  counter-balancing 
effect  of  the  empty  car  going  down  reduces  the  amount  of  power  re- 
quired to  haul  the  loaded  car  to  the  top  and  at  the  same  time  lessens 
the  backward  drag  of  the  loaded  car  in  case  power  interruption  takes 
ihe  pull  oflf  the  cable.  The  one-car  system  has  no  such  counter- 
balance so,  of  course,  there  is  a  greater  tendency  for  the  car  to  run 
backward  in  case  of  accidental  power  interruption.  Nevertheless,  in 
either  case,  to  secure  proper  safety  from  this  hazard,  it  is  necessary 
to  have  powerful  brakes  which  will  set  automatically  the  instant  the 
power  line  is  de-energized.  Lack  of  automatic  brokes,  or  brakes  with 
insufficient  holding  power  frequently  result  in  extensive  damage  to 
rotor  windings  when  power  failure  from  any  cause  allows  the  car  to 
drop  downward  and  causes  the  motor  to  overspeed. 

In  most  cases  hoists  are  equipped  with  two  Ijrakes,  one  of  which 
is  hand-operated  and  the  other  automatic.  Although  designs  vary  in 
detail,  in  principle  the  automatic  brake  usually  consists  of  a  band  which 
is  gripped  to  a  drum  by  powerful  springs  or  weights.  When  current 
is  "  on,''  a  solenoid  holds  the  band  away  from  the  drum,  but  the  mo- 
ment the  current  is  turned  oft  the  springs  or  weights  set  the  brake 
instantly.  In  addition  to  this  safeguard,  most  installations  have  limit 
switches  to  prevent  overtravel  of  the  car  either  at  the  top  or  the 
bottom  of  the  track,  and  an  overspeed  relay  which  sets  the  brake  if 
the  motor  overspeeds  in  either  direction.  Devices  to  guard  against 
other  accidental  conditions  which  would  endanger  the  apparatus  are 
also  in  common  use. 

Naturally,  the  speed  at  which  the  operator  can  lower  the  empty 
car  in  a  two-car  system  is  limited  by  the  speed  at  which  the  motor  can 
haul  the  loaded  car  upward,  but  with  the  one-car  arrangement  the 
operator  is  sometimes  tempted  —  especially  if  he  is  paid  on  a  tonnage 
basis  and  his  hoist  is  provided  with  no  automatic  brake  —  to  send  the 
"  empty  "  back  more  rapidly  than  an  intelligent  regard  for  the  safety 
of  the  motor  warrants.  This  causes  many  unnecessary  failures  which 
could  be  eliminated  if  the  apparatus  were  operated  properly. 

It  is  customarv  to  drive  the  car  downwards  bv  reversiuQ^  the  motor. 


178 THE     LOCOMOTIVE Ap^^ 

As  an  induction  motor  can  operate  only  from  three  to  five  per  cent, 
above  synchronous  speed  before  it  begins  to  send  current  back  into- 
the  line,  it  serves  as  a  very  effective  means  of  checking  the  speed  of 
the  car.  If  the  operator  hastens  the  descent  of  the  car  by  shutting 
off  the  power  —  M^hich  he  can  ordinarily  do  when  the  hoist  is  equipped 
with  no  automatic  brake  —  he  is  very  likely  to  run  into  trouble.  His 
judgment  of  speed  may  be  poor,  or  the  lining  of  the  hand  brake  may 
be  worn,  with  the  result  that  the  speed  of  the  motor  is  increased  to 
such  an  extent  that  the  bands  fly  off  and  the  windings  fan,  out. 

A  specific  example  of  another  sort  of  motor  abuse  came  to  light 
recently  in  a  two-car  system  where  the  hopper  into  which  the  cars 
discharged  their  loads  sometimes  became  clogged.  While  the  hopper 
was  being  freed  it  was  necessary  to  hold  a  loaded  car  stationary  on 
the  incline.  The  brake  on  this  particular  hoist  was  not  powerful 
enough  to  keep  the  car  from  slipping  backward  when  the  power  was 
off,  so  it  cccurred  to  the  operator  that  he  could  snub  the  car  by  giving 
the  motor  just  enough  current  to  keep  the  car  from  moving  backward 
but  not  enough  to  move  it  ahead.  After  several  such  occasions  the 
windings  were  found  badly  roasted.  Not  a  few  mishaps  to  hoist  motors 
have  occurred  by  reason  of  just  such  abuse. 


Owner  of  New  Factory  Was  Victim  of  Boiler  Blast 

LESS  than  two  hours  after  the  formal  opening  of  his  new  plant - 
which  represented  the  reward  of  years  of  work  and  saving  —  the 
owner  of  the  sausage  factory  pictured  here  was  killed  by  a  steam 
boiler  explosion  that  injured  three  employees  and  caused  extensive 
property  damage.  In  providing  his  new  plant  with  the  most  modern 
equipment  the  owner  spared  neither  effort  nor  expense,  but  un- 
fortunately he  failed  to  obtain  boiler  insurance.  Had  he  done  that, 
the  condition  responsible  for  the  explosion  might  have  been  found 
and  corrected  by  the  insurance  company  inspector. 

Coming  to  this  country  as  an  immigrant  boy  twenty-three  years 
ago,  the  sausage-maker  worked  for  years  as  a  packing  plant  hand 
while  saving  up  enough  capital  to  start  a  small  business  of  his  own. 
Even  this,  he  confided  to  friends,  was  but  a  stepping  stone  toward 
a  greater  goal.  His  ultimate  ambition  was  to  own  a  plant  housed 
in  a  new  building  and  equipped  throughout  with  modern  appliances. 
So  it  was  a  proud  occasion  when,  in  January,  he  entertained  his  friends 
at  the  new  plant  the  night  before  the  formal  opening.  Workmen  had 
scarcely  been  assigned  their  places  next  morning  when  the  tragic  acci- 
dent brought  the  venture  to  an  untimely  halt. 


1929. 


THE     LOCOMOTIVE 


179 


The  boiler,  a  comparatively  new  one  of  the  Scotch  type,  stood 
outside  and  about  twenty  feet  to  the  rear  of  the  factory  building. 
When  it  exploded  it  went  like  a  rocket  through  the  rear  wall  and  up 
through  the  roof,  dropping  back  again  into  the  building  amidst  a  gang 
of  workers.  Fortunately,  none  of  them  was  directly  beneath  it  when 
it  landed.  The  photograph  is  a  view  of  the  damaged  building  from 
the  rear. 


The  boiler  was  used  at  the  old  plant  only  ten  weeks  before  it  was 
set  up  at  the  new  location.  Thus  it  is  almost  certain  that  deterioration 
could  not  have  caused  the  failure.  Nor  was  there  any  evidence  to 
support  the  opinion  that  low  water  might  have  been  the  cause.  In 
fact,  the  flue  collapsed  from  the  bottom,  instead  of  over  the  fire  where 
heat  would  have  done  the  greatest  damage  in  case  of  low  water.  From 
the  distance  the  shell  was  thrown  it  seems  apparent  that  there  was 
plenty  of  water  in  it  at  the  time,  for  a  small  amount  would  not  have 
stored  so  much  energy. 

It  was  believed  that  the  safety  valve  became  inoperative,  thus  allow- 
ing a  tremendous  over-pressure  to  build  up.  According  to  a  newspaper 
account,  the  valve  was  adjusted  or  repaired  the  night  before  the  ex- 
plosion. 


i8o 


THE     LOCOMOTIVE 


April, 


A  QUARTERLY  MAGAZINE 

DEVOTED  TO  POWER  PLANT  PROTECTION 

George  Hargis  Prall,  Editor 

Copyright   1929  by   The   Hartford   Steam   Boiler   Inspection   and   Insurance   Company 

HARTFORD,  CONN.,  April  i,  1923 

Single  Copies  can  be  obtained  free  by  calling  at  any  of  the  company's  agencies. 

Subscription  price  50  cents  per  year  when  mailed  from  this  office. 

Recent  bound  volumes  one  dollar  each.     Earlier  ones  two  dollars. 

Reprinting  matter  from  this  paper  is  permitted  if  credited  to 

The  Locomotive  of  The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection  &  Insurance  Co. 


Furnace  Explosion  Coverage  Now  Available 

A  TENDENCY  toward  more  general  use  of  oil,  gas.  and  pulver- 
ized coal  as  fuels  has  of  late  brought  into  prominence  the  danger 
of  explosions  due  to  the  accidental  ignition  of  combustible  gas 
in  the  furnaces  and  gas  passages  of  both  power  and  heating  boilers. 
x\lthough  such  accidents  are  not  ordinarily  as  destructive  as  a  boiler 
explosion,  so  many  of  them  have  caused  extensive  property  damage, 
loss  of  life,  and  plant  shut-downs  that  there  has  been  a  growing  demand 
on  the  part  of  boiler  owners  for  insurance  protection  against  them.  To 
meet  this  demand  The  Hartford  Company  has  arranged  to  write 
Furnace  Explosion  Insurance  covering  all  direct  damage  (except  that 
caused  by  fire)  resulting  from  an  explosion  in  the  furnace,  flues  or  other 
passages  through  which  the  gases  pass  from  the  furnace  to  the  stack. 
Heretofore  such  damage,  caused  not  by  steam  pressure  but  by  a 
force  outside  the  boiler  proper,  has  not  been  covered  by  policies  of 
any  of  the  steam  boiler  insurance  companies.  In  thus  extending  its 
line  The  Hartford  meets  a  need  wdiich  has  existed  for  some  time  and 
which  promises  to  become  even  more  acute  as  the  use  of  oil  and  gas 
fuels  increase. 

Without  doubt,  the  daniger  of  combustion  space  and  flue  explosions 


'9-9.  THK     LOCOM  OT  I  V  ?:  i8i 

is  greatest  where  gas,  oil,  or  pulverized  coal  is  the  fuel,  but  such  ex- 
plosions may  occur  with  any  fuel  having  a  volatile  content.  As  many 
firemen  can  testify  by  experience,  improper  use  of  the  damper  can 
cause  the  accumulation  of  unburned  gas  in  the  heating  passages  where, 
if  enough  air  be  present,  the  gas  may  detonate  more  or  less  violently 
Stoppage  of  an  oil  burner  jet  and  the  subsequent  formation  of  vapor 
when  the  jet  frees  itself  and  sprays  oil  onto  the  hot  brickwork  of  the 
furnace  is  another  common  cause  of  furnace  explosions.  Even  the 
less  violent  of  gas  explosions  usually  hurl  doors  from  the  furnace  and 
blow  soot  over  the  premises ;  they  may  even  damage  the  setting  or  the 
boiler  itself  and,  in  some  cases,  injure  attendants.  An  accident  of  this 
sort  may  be  extremely  serious.  Recently  a  furnace  explosion  at  a 
power  plant  killed  one  man,  injured  several,  and  caused  $25,000  prop- 
erty damage.  At  an  oil  mill  the  same  kind  of  an  explosion  forced  a 
two-weeks'  shut-down  and  damaged  property  to  the  extent  of  $2,500. 
In  the  past  the  expense  incurred  in  this  way  has,  of  necessity,  been 
borne  by  the  plant  owners.  The  new  Hartford  Company  policy  is 
designed  to  take  the  burden  from  their  shoulders. 


New  Chief  Inspector  for  Cleveland 

MR.  L.  T.  Gregg,  who  for  nine  years  has  been  Chief  Inspector 
for  the  Company  at  its  Cleveland  Branch  Office,  has  accepted 
the  position  of  Chief  Engineer   for  The  Boiler  Inspection  and 
Insurance  Com])any  of  Canada,  an  associate  of  The  Hartford  organ- 
ization.    He  undertook  his  new  duties  on  March  i. 

Mr.  Gregg  entered  the  Company's  employ  in  191 1  and  while  serv- 
ing as  an  inspector  demonstrated  qualities  which  brought  advancement 
to  the  position  of  Assistant  Chief  Inspector  and,  later,  to  that  of  Chief 
Inspector.  In  recognition  of  a  well-deserved  reputation  as  an  authority 
on  engineering  matters  he  was  made  a  member  of  the  Ohio  Ijoard  of 
Boiler  Rules  and  served  that  body  until  his  recent  transfer  to  Toronto. 
Mr.  John  F.  Hunt  has  been  appointed  to  succeed  Mr.  Gregg  as 
Chief  Inspector  at  Cleveland,  a  post  he  is  well  fitted  to  hold  by  reason 
of  marked  administrative  ability  and  a  thorough  technical  understand- 
ing of  the  work.  Mr.  Hunt  came  with  the  Company  in  1921  and  was 
made  Directing  Inspector  six  years  later.  The  Company  —  and  the 
Cleveland  Department,  in  particular  —  is  fortunate  in  having  him 
available  to  take  over  the  important  duties  of  his  new  post.  He  has 
already  been  named  to  serve  in  Mr.  Gregg's  place  on  the  Board  of 
Boiler  Rules. 


i82 THE    LOCOMOTIVE April. 

T~aps  from  the  Old  Chiefs s  Hammer 

"^TOU  say  a  belting"  salesman  advised  them  to  do  it?"  spoke  up 
I  the  Old  Chief,  who  had  been  rummaging  through  a  desk  drawer 
for  pipe  and  tobacco  while  his  assistant  explained  the  reason 
for  a  boiler  accident  down  at  the  Juniper  Company  plant. 

"  Yes,"  assented  Tom,  "  a  while  ago  the  front  end  of  No.  2  boiler 
settled  so  far  they  couldn't  drain  'er  through  the  blow-off  connection. 
McCreery,  the  manager,  was  just  getting  ready  to  have  a  gang  of 
masons  straighten  things  up  when  in  walks  Nemesis  in  the  guise  of  a 
salesman  and  shows  IMcCreery  how  much  cheaper  and  quicker  it  would 
be  just  to  move  the  blow-off  connection  to  the  low  end.  Of  course, 
that  wouldn't  have  been  so  bad  if  they'd  only  bricked  in  the  pipe  so 
as  to  give  it  a  little  protection  against  the  heat,  but  they  never  thought 
of  that.  The  first  thing  they  knew  the  pipe  burned  through  and  emptied 
the  boiler.    It  was  lucky  that  fireman  wasn't  scalded  to  death." 

"  It  sure  beats  all,"  the  Chief  declared,  "  how  some  fellows  are  as 
hard  as  nails  in  swinging  a  business  deal  and  as  soft  as  a  vanilla  milk 
shake  when  it  comes  to  swallowing  '  free  advice  '.  Some  of  'em  who 
won't  take  a  silver  dollar  from  a  parson  without  testing  it  with  their 
teeth  will  stake  real  money  on  the  opinion  of  a  stranger  who  hands  out 
a  gratuitous  suggestion  on  how  to  run  their  power  plant.  By  the  way, 
did  I  ever  tell  you  about  the  planing  mill  owner  and  the  free  advice 
he  got  from  three  oil  drummers  ?  " 

"  I  don't  recall  it,"  said  Tom,  who  usually  found  the  Chief's  reminis- 
cences highly  entertaining. 

"  Well,"  declared  the  boss,  settling  back  and  lighting  his  pipe,  "  he 
owned  and  managed  a  medium-sized  mill  and  as  far  as  business  acumen 
went  I  guess  he  had  a  fair  share.  But  what  he  didn't  know  about 
machniery  would  have  filled  a  book.  The  worst  of  it  was  he  didn't 
go  to  the  right  source  for  information.  Instead,  he  saved  up  all  his 
technical  problems  for  the  oil  drummers,  who  used  to  make  his  plant 
a  regular  port  of  call. 

"  Everything  considered,  he  got  along  pretty  well  with  his  advisory 
board  until  his  business  expanded  so  much  that  he  had  to  put  in  more 
machinery  and  get  another  engine  to  run  it.  The  man  who  installed 
the  engine  told  him  that  two  boilers  weren't  going  to  run  both  engines, 
but  the  owner  suspected  that  this  was  an  attempt  to  sell  him  an  extra 
boiler  which  he  didn't  need,  so  he  collared  the  first  oil  saleman  that 
called  and  asked  him  how  he  could  get  the  extra  steam  without  buying 
another  boiler.      I   don't  know   whether  the   drummer   really   thought 


^9^- THE     LOCOMOTIVE 183 

he  knew  something  about  boilers  or  just  didn't  want  the  old  man  to 
find  out  how  little  he  did  know.  Anyway,  he  didn't  mind  giving  a 
^ood  customer  the  benefit  of  his  advice,  such  as  it  was,  so  he  recom- 
mended knocking  out  the  center  wall  between  the  boilers,  leaving  just 
enough  for  support.  By  the  time  this  was  done  the  drummer  had  de- 
parted. Consequently  when  the  old  man  saw  that  the  remedy  hadn't 
produced  the  desired  effect  all  he  could  do  was  to  fret  and  fuss  around 
until  the  next  drummer  called. 

"  This  second  fellow  was  generous  enough  not  to  criticize  his  com- 
petitor's recommendation.  Instead,  he  pointed  out  that  while  the 
change  might  not  have  increased  capacity  it  had  undoubtedly  im- 
proved economy.  The  only  sure  way  he  knew  to  make  a  boiler  give 
twice  as  much  steam  was  to  put  a  set  of  grates  at  the  rear,  and 
fire  from  both  ends  at  once. 

"  That  sounded  reasonable,  so  the  boss  had  this  double-ended  ar- 
rangement rigged  up,  only  to  find,  after  a  few  days'  trial,  that  it  didn't 
work.  In  desperation,  he  fairly  pounced  on  the  third  drummer  before 
the  poor  fellow  had  a  chance  even  to  set  down  his  sample  case.  This 
one  proved  to  be  the  prize  of  the  lot.  After  a  lot  of  questioning,  he 
made  a  rough  mental  estimate  of  the  height  of  the  chimney,  the  B.  t.  u. 
content  of  the  fuel,  and  size  of  grate  and  several  other  such  factors, 
and  then  told  the  owner  point-blank  that  the  trouble  was  merely  lack  of 
draft.  The  best  way  to  fix  that,  he  said,  was  to  cut  holes  either  in  the 
base  of  the  chimney  or  in  the  flue. 

"  To  the  old  boy's  credit  I've  got  to  admit  that  he  was  skeptical. 
It  wasn't  until  he  had  been  confused  by  a  lot  of  figures  and  sketches 
that  he  allowed  the  traveling  man  to  overcome  his  horse  sense. 

"  Condensed  into  a  few  words,  the  salesman's  theory  was  this :  In 
order  for  the  chimney  to  accommodate  the  extra  air  entering  through 
the  '  booster '  holes  the  flue  gases  would  have  to  travel  upward  at  a 
faster  rate.  That,  in  turn,  would  create  a  greater  suction  through  the 
grates  and  pull  just  that  much  more  air  up  through  the  firebed.  Sort 
of  an  endless  chain  proposition,  you  see. 

"  Well,  that  night  the  boss  had  the  gang  chisel  out  two  holes,  about 
two  feet  by  three,  on  opposite  sides  of  the  flue,  hoping  that  next  morn- 
ing the  plant  would  be  running  full  blast.  You  can  imagine  what 
happened.  Until  then  old  Job  himself  had  nothing  on  those  boilers 
when  it  came  to  patience,  but  that  last  wallop  landed  below  the  belt 
and  knocked  them  completely  out." 

"  How  did  you  come  to  hear  about  it?  "  queried  Tom. 

"  Oh,  I  just  happened  to  be  going  through  that  territory  and  heard 


1 84 THE     LOCOMOTIVE April 

the  story  from  the  engineer  of  another  plant.  Naturally,  I  was  curious 
to  see  such  a  strange  layout,  so  I  dropped  around  to  call  on  the  old  fellow. 
Of  course,  I  hemmed  and  hawed  a  bit  before  I  said  anything  one  way 
or  the  other,  for  I  figured  that  if  I  was  in  the  old  man's  shoes  I'd  have 
me  a  piece  of  pipe  right  handy  for  the  next  man  that  tried  to  tell  me 
anything  about  boilers.  He  was  a  good  scout,  though,  and  when  I 
told  him  that  no  device  or  arrangement  known  to  man  would  make 
that  pair  of  boilers  do  the  work  he  expected  of  them  he  said  he'd  just 
about  reached  that  conclusion,  too.  After  I  spent  the  day  going  over 
things  and  showing  him  how  to  straighten  out  the  mess  his  drummer 
friends  had  got  him  into  he  and  I  got  real  friendly." 

"  How  long  did  it  take  him  to  find  cut  that  you  were  a  boiler  in- 
spector? "  put  in  Tom,  who  had  been  wearing  a  broad  grin  as  the  Chief's 
story  progressed. 

"  Xot  long,  son.  Wlien  I  left  there  that  evening  I  had  an  application 
for  nisurance  on  both  boilers  and  flywheels. 


Cast  Iron  Boiler  "  Burned  Up  "  by  Oil  Flame 

HAD  the  cast  iron  steam  heating  boiler  pictured  herein  been 
subjected  to  the  flame  of  some  immense  blow-torch  it  could 
scarcely  have  been  ruined  more  completely  than  it  was  ruined  — 
accidentally,  of  course  —  by  the  heat  from  its  own  oil  burner.  So 
thoroughly  was  this  fourteen-section  boiler  melted  down  that  nothing 
remained  of  the  six  middle  sections  except  a  pool  of  molten  iron  in 
the  ashpit.  A  majority  of  the  other  sections  were  partly  melted  ;  all 
were  so  badly  burned  and  cracked  that  repair  was  out  of  the  question. 

As  the  photograph  plainly  shows,  the  only  traces  left  of  the  middle 
sections  were  the  icicle-like  fragments  of  metal  clinging  to  the  steel 
nipples  which  connected  the  sections  to  the  top  manifold. 

The  boiler  was  used  to  supply  steam  for  process  work  and  heating 
at  the  plant  of  the  American  Abrasive  Company,  Westfield.  Mass. 
The  oil  burner  was  of  the  gun  type,  manually  controlled,  and  had  no 
automatic  regulation  except  a  device  which  partly  closed  ofif  the  oil 
supply  valve  when  steam  pressure  reached  twelve  pounds,  and 
opened  the  valve  wide  again  when  pressure  dropped  to  a  pre-determined 
minimum.  At  seven  o'clock  on  the  night  of  February  3rd,  which 
was  Sunday,  the  attendant  noted  that  the  burner  was  working  normally 
and  that  there  was  plenty  of  water  showing  in  the  gauge  glass.  Some 
time  betVA-een  then  and  seven  o'clock  next  morning,  when  the  first 
employee  entered  the  buildin*  and  heard  the  alarm  bell  which  had  been 
set  ringing  by  the  sprinkler  system,  the  boiler  went  dry  and  was  ruined. 


i9-'9- 


THE     LOCOMOTIVE 


185 


In  common  with  many  other  costly  accidents,  this  one  was  due  to 
a  comparatively  trivial  cause.  A  plug  dropped  out  of  a  two-inch  open- 
ing in  one  of  the  radiators  connected  to  the  system,  thus  allowing 
all  the  water  in  the  boiler  to  escape  through  the  aperture  in  the  form 


of  steam.  Had  the  boiler  not  been  set  in  a  pit  lined  with  cement  the 
chances  are  it  would  have  set  fire  to  the  factory.  Heat  was  so  intense 
that  it  melted  a  sprinkler  head  twenty-five  feet  away. 

From  the  picture  it  is  apparent  that  the  boiler  had  to  be  scrapped. 
The  loss  was  covered  by  a  Hartford  Company  policy. 


New   Cutting  Alloys  to   Speed   Manufacturing  Processes 

IV  T  EW  cutting  alloys  capable  of  removing  in  a  given  time  greater 

I  ^  amounts  of  metal  than  is  possible  with  the  best  cutting  tools  now 

available  seem  to  promise  decided  changes  in  machine  tool  design 

and  shop  practice.  In  fact,  so  keen  and  tough  is  one  of  these  alloys,  called 


i86  THE    LOCOMOTIVE  April, 


"  carboloy  ",  that  its  sponsors  claim  it  will  cut  manganese  steel  and  even 
turn  screw  threads  on  rods  of  such  hard  materials  as  glass  and  porce- 
lain. If  such  be  the  case,  the  importance  of  this  new  development  can 
scarcely  be  overemphasized.  Not  only  will  it  make  possible  the  ma- 
chining of  materials  which  now  have  to  be  ground,  but  it  will  allow 
manufacturers  to  set  new  production  records. 

No  doubt  the  art  of  combining  two  or  more  metals  in  such  a  way 
as  to  obtain  an  alloy  with  the  twin  qualities  of  toughness  and  hard- 
ness was  practiced  to  some  extent  almost  as  far  back  as  the  time  of 
Tubal  Cain,  that  "  instructor  of  every  artificer  in  brass  and  iron  "  whO' 
is  supposed  to  have  lived  in  the  seventh  generation  after  Adam.  It  is 
certain  that  for  many  centuries  the  successors  of  this  pioneer  metal- 
smith  knew  nothing  of  the  crystalline  arrangement  of  metallic  interiors 
and  understood  imperfectly,  if  at  all,  the  process  with  which  they  were 
dealing,  yet  they  produced  bronze  for  weapons  and  tools  by  making 
use  of  fundamental  principles  which  have  held  good  from  that  day 
to  this.  These  new  cutting  alloys  represent  the  latest  step,  although 
doubtless  not  the  last  one,  in  a  train  of  invention  and  discovery  whicb 
began  at  least  as  far  back  as  the  first  bronze. 

Carboloy  consists  of  tiny  crystals  of  tungsten-carbide,  one  of  the 
hardest  of  all  chemical  compounds,  embedded  in  and  between  the  crystals 
of  metallic  cobalt.  By  itself  cobalt  is  not  particularly  hard,  but  it  does 
have  the  quality  of  extreme  toughness  when  properly  treated.  Mixed 
with  tungsten-carbide,  it  gives  a  material  which  has  both  toughness  and 
a  keen  cutting  edge. 

Any  metal,  viewed  under  the  microscope,  appears  as  a  multitude 
of  tiny  crystals.  When  metal  bends,  these  crystals  slide  and  slip  over 
one  another  and,  in  some  cases,  parts  of  a  crystal  may  even  slip  on  a 
plane  between  adjacent  members  of  the  crystal  structure.  Stifl 
metals  —  those  which  will  not  bend  —  are  metals  in  which  the  crystals 
resist  any  effort  to  make  them  slip.  Brittle  zinc  and  cast  iron  are  that 
way ;  both  will  snap  in  two  rather  than  yield. 

Copper  is  just  the  opposite;  it  may  be  bent  double  without  show- 
ing signs  of  fracture.  Yet  bronze,  rather  a  hard  metal,  is  nothing- 
more  than  this  soft  copper  to  which  tin  has  been  added;  steel  is  made 
from  soft  iron  by  the  addition  of  carbon;  duralumin  is  merely  alumi- 
num hardened  by  copper.  In  each  case  the  hardening  agent  takes 
the  form  of  tiny  crystals  which  lodge  in  the  spaces  between  larger 
crystals  of  the  soft  metal  and  prevent  slippage  just  about  the  same 
as  emery  dust  would  bind  a  shaft  in  its  bearing,  or  a  layer  of  ashes 
prevent  the  shoe-sole  from  slipping  on  ice. 


1929. 


THE     LOCOMOTIVE 


187 


In  the  tungstcn-carbon-cobalt  mixture  the  tiny  grains  of  intensely 
hard  tungsten  carbide  not  only  provide  resistance  to  slippage  by  getting 
in  between  the  crystals  of  cobalt,  but,  too,  they  give  the  metal  an  ex- 
tremely hard  cutting  edge  just  as  the  copper  disc  used  for  cutting  stone 
is  made  hard  by  impregnating  its  edge  with  diamond  dust. 


Dependence  on  Surface  Cleaner  Was  Costly 

AN  accumulation  of  sediment  in  the  bottom  of  a  horizontal  tubular 

/"A  boiler  near  the  blow-off  connection  caused  the  rupture  shown  in 

the  accompanying  illustration.  The  engineer  was  surprised  to  learn 

that  sediment  was  at  the  root  of  the  trouble,  for  he  was  softening  the 


feed  water  by  means  of  a  lime  and  soda  ash  treatment  and  had  in- 
stalled a  surface  cleaner  or  "  skimmer  "  which  he  supposed  would  keep 
the  boiler  free  from  sediment  without  the  necessity  of  periodic  internal 
washing.  After  operating  in  this  way  for  three  months  the  boiler 
ruptured. 

The  cause  was  readily  apparent  to  a  Hartford  Company  repre- 
sentative. Not  only  had  sediment  collected  on  the  bottom  of  the  shell, 
but  there  was  a  deposit  two  inches  thick  on  top  of  the  tubes  directly 
in  front  of  the  cleaner. 

The  Hartford  representative  succeeded  in  showing  the  engineer 
that  the  primary  cause  of  such  an  unusual  amount  of  sediment  was 
mishandling  of  the  water  softener,  from  which  sludge  was  carried  over 
into  the  boiler.     This  fault  was  remedied  in  time  to  prevent  damage  to 


i88  THE     LOCOMOTIVE  April, 

two  other  boilers  in  the  battery.  Needless  to  say,  it  was  not  hard  to 
convince  the  engineer  that  in  spite  of  the  water  softener  and  the  so- 
called  surface  cleaner,  his  boilers  needed  internal  washing  from  time 
to  time. 


German  Court  Renders  Decision  on  Diesel  Explosion 

FIVE  men  were  burned  to  death  and  nineteen  others  were  severely 
injured,  following  a  crankcase  explosion  on  board  the  motorship 
"  Kungsholm,"  immediately  after  the  vessel  had  completed  her 
trial  trip  in  the  North  Sea,  on  Oct.  14,  1928.  The  German  Marine 
Court,  which  subsequently  sat  on  the  case,  has  recently  rendered  its 
decision,  holding  that  no  one  was  directly  responsible  for  the  accident. 
The  following  facts  concerning  the  disaster  were  established  by  the 
court : 

The  ship  is  equipped  with  two  double-acting,  four-stroke-cycle, 
six-cylinder  Burmeister  &  Wain  Diesel  engines.  The  explosion  started 
in  the  crankcase  of  the  starboard  engine,  but  did  not  disable  it,  as 
both  engines  continued  to  run  for  six  minutes  following  the  explosion. 
The  return  trip  to  Cuxhaven  was  completed  with  the  port  engine. 

The  investigation  showed  that  a  hot  bearing  developed  in  an  idler 
bushing  of  the  valve  gear  chain  drive.  The  bronze  bushing  locked 
itself  solidly  to  the  shaft,  causing  the  pins  which  held  it  in  place  to 
shear,  so  that  it  rotated  with  the  shaft  on  the  bearing  surface.  The 
heat  developed  by  the  resulting  friction  vaporized  the  lubricating  oil. 
The  first  explosion  occurred  only  after  a  flame  had  propagated  itself 
from  within  the  valve  housings  into  the  crankcase  in  which  the  vapor- 
ized oil  and  air  formed  an  explosive  mixture.  All  witnesses  testified 
that  this  explosion  was  not  particularly  severe.  The  result  was,  how- 
ever, disastrous,  as  it  blew  out  two  access  doors  from  the  crankcase, 
which  allowed  the  vaporized  oil  to  escape  and  to  ignite  into  a  thin 
but  intense  flame. 

This  flame  was  diverted  by  striking  a  steel  bulkhead  and  instantly 
propagated  itself  in  an  upward  winding  path  through  the  entire  engine 
room,  finally  exploding  with  a  severe  detonation  under  the  skylight, 
which  was  hurled  from  its  fastenings.  No  damage  was  done  by  the 
explosion  in  the  engine  room.  The  medical  examination  showed  that 
the  unfortunate  fatalities  and  the  injuries  to  the  survivors  were  due 
entirely  to  severe  burns. 

The  question  arose  as  to  whether  the  explosion  in  the  engine 
room  had  been  caused  or  intensified  by  the  presence  of  benzine  vapor. 
It  was  shown  the  benzine  had  been  used  in  cleaning  the  fuel-oil  strainers 


■9-^9.  THE     LOCOMOTIVE  189 


before  the  trial  trip  was  started,  but  that  no  benzine  was  stored  in  the 
engine  room. 

The  examining  experts  differed  in  their  opinions,  some  assuming 
that  benzine  vapors  had  caused  the  second  explosion,  while  others  traced 
the  origin  of  the  thin  flame  to  the  ignition  of  lubricating  oil  vapor 
which  was  forced  out  into  the  engine  room  by  the  first  and  less  severe 
explosion. 

The  verdict  of  the  court  held  no  one  responsible  for  the  accident, 
stating  that  no  proof  of  negligence  had  been  shown,  and  that  there  was 
no  definite  evidence  of  the  explosion  having  been  caused  or  intensified 
by  the  presence  of  benzine  vapors.  —  Power 


Erie  City  Completes  80,000th  Boiler 

THE  Erie  City  Iron  Works,  one  of  the  many  large  boiler  shops 
in  which  The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection  and  Insurance 
Company  maintains  a  shop  inspector,  recently  turned  out  its 
80,000th  boiler.  It  was  back  in  1881  that  The  Hartford  Company  first 
was  called  on  to  furnish  boiler  shop  inspection  at  the  Erie  City  works, 
and  at  no  time  since  then  has  the  service  been  interrupted.  This,  in- 
cidentally, is  the  longest  period  of  consecutive  shop  inspection  service 
rendered  by  this  company. 

The  success  of  the  Erie  City  organization,  of  which  proof  is  fur- 
nished by  the  80,000  boilers  sent  to  serve  industries  in  all  parts  of  the 
world,  prompts  us  to  extend  our  congratulations  on  this  occasion. 


Hartford  Inspector  Saves  Motorist's  Life 

Fortunately  for  H.  L.  Maybach  of  Detroit,  Michigan,  Hartford 
Company  inspectors  seldom  allow  such  things  as  sub-zero  temperature 
and  snow  drifts  to  keep  them  from  their  appointed  rounds.  Accord- 
ing to  the  Berkshire  County  Eagle,  a  newspaper  published  at  Pittsfield, 
Mass.,  Maybach  was  motoring  over  the  Mohawk  trail  on  January  29th 
when  his  car  stuck  fast  in  a  snow-bank.  While  endeavoring  to  dig  it 
out  he  succumbed  to  the  cold  and  lost  consciousness.  Without  doubt 
he  owes  his  life  to  the  fact  that  Electrical  Inspector  H.  T.  Bailey,  who 
was  bucking  through  the  deep  snow  on  his  way  to  make  an  inspection, 
found  him  and  carried  him  to  a  physician  in  the  nearest  town. 


NEITHER  HAVE  MOST  OF  US 

"  Gentlemen :     I  have  neither  the  mind  of  Shakespeare  nor  the  back  of  a  bull, 
but  I  desire  employment." — Want  Ad.  in  the  Milwaukee  Journal. 


The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection  and  Insurance  Company 


56  Prospect  Street 
HARTFORD,  CONN. 


ABSTRACT  OF  STATEMENT,  DECEMBER  31,  1928 


Capital  Stock, 


$3,000,000.00 


ASSETS 
Cash  in  offices  and  banks  . 
Real  Estate         .... 
Mortgage  and  collateral  loans    . 
Bonds  and  Stocks 
Premiums  in  course  of  collection 
Interest   accrued 
Other    Assets      .... 

Total  Assets 


$        599.693-18 

300,423.66 

1,296,386.75 

17,475,629.38 

1,288,819.44 

151,132.41 

18,205.76 

$    21,130,290.58 


LIABILITIES 
Reserve  for  unearned  premiums 
Reserve   for  losses      ..... 

Reserve  for  taxes  and  other  contingencies 
Capital  Stock     ...... 

Surplus  over  all  liabilities  .... 

Surplus  to  Policyholders,     . 


$    8,619,119.83 

377,212.80 

1,894,758.35 


$3,000,000.00 
7.239,199.60 


110,239,199.60 


Total   Liabilities $   21,130,290.58 


CHARLES  S.  BLAKE,  Chairman  Board  of  Directors 
WILLIAM  R.  C.  CORSON,  President  and  Treasurer 


BOARD  OF   DIRECTORS 


LUCIUS  F.  ROBINSON,  Attorney,  Hart- 
ford, Conn. 

JOHN  O.  ENDERS,  Chairman  Board  of 
Directors,  Hartford  National  Bank  & 
Trust   Co.,   Hartford,   Conn. 

MORGAN  B.  BRAINARD,  President 
^tna  Life  Insurance  Co.,  Hartford, 
Conn. 

CHARLES  P.  COOLEY,  Chairman  Board 
of  Trustees,  Society  for  Savings,  Hart- 
ford, Conn. 

HORACE  B.  CHENEY,  Cheney  Brothers, 
Silk  Manufacturers,  South  Manchester, 
Conn. 

D.  NEWTON  BARNEY,  Vice-President 
The  Hartford  Electric  Light  Co.,  Hart- 
ford,  Conn. 

DR.  GEORGE  C.  F.  WILLIAMS,  Presi- 
dent The  Capewell  Horse  Nail  Co., 
Hartford,  Conn. 

JOSEPH  R.  ENSIGN,  President  The 
Ensign-Bickford    Co.,    Simsbury,    Conn. 


EDWARD  MILLIGAN,  President  Phoenix 
Insurance   Co.,   Hartford,   Conn. 

CHARLES  S.  BLAKE,  Chairman  Board  of 
Directors,  The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler 
Inspection  and  Insurance  Co.,  Hart- 
ford,   Conn. 

WM.  R.  C.  CORSON,  President  The  Hart- 
ford Steam  Boiler  Inspection  and  In- 
surance Co.,  Hartford,  Conn. 

SAMUEL  M.  STONE,  President  The 
Colt's  Patent  Fire  Arms  Mfg.  Co., 
Hartford,  Conn. 

SAMUEL  FERGUSON,  President  The 
Hartford  Electric  Light  Co.,  Hartford, 
Conn. 

HON.  JOHN  H.  TRUMBULL,  President 
The  Trumbull  Electric  Mfg.  Co.,  Plain- 
ville,   Conn. 

CURTISS  C.  GARDINER,  Vice-President 
The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection 
and  Insurance  Company,  80  Maiden 
Lane,   New  York,   N.   Y. 


Incorporated  1866 


Charter  Perpetual 


Department 

ATLANTA,  Ga.  ... 

1103-1106  Atlanta  Trust  Bldg. 

BALTIMORE,  Md.,  . 
13-14-15  Abell  Bldg. 

BOSTON,   Mass., 
4  Liberty  Sq.   Cor.  Water   St 

BRIDGEPORT,  Conn.,       . 
404-405  City  Savings  Bank  Bldg 

CHICAGO,  111., 
209  West  Jackson  Boulevard 

CINCINNATI,   Ohio. 

First  National   Bank  Bldg. 

CLEVELAND,   Ohio, 
Leader  Bldg.    . 

DENVER,  Colo 

916-918   Gas   &   Electric   Bldg 

DETROIT,   Mich.,      . 
2401-7  First  Nat'l   Bank   Bldg, 

HARTFORD,  Conn., 
56  Prospect  St. 

NEW  ORLEANS,  La.,       . 
1 128  Hibernia  Bank  Bldg. 

NEW  YORK,  N.  Y., 
80  Maiden  Lane 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA.,     . 

429  Walnut  St. 

PITTSBURGH,  Pa., 
1807-8-9-10  Arrott  Bldg. 

ST.  LOUIS,  Mo.,       . 
610-618  Security  Bldg.     . 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  Cal.,  . 
114  Sansome  St. 

SEATTLE,  Wash.,     . 
423  Dexter-Horton   Bldg. 

TORONTO,  Canada, 
Federal    Bldg. 


Representatives 

W.  M.  Francis,  Manager. 

C.  R.  Summers,  Chief  Inspector, 

Lawford  &  McKiM  Inc.,  General  Agents. 
P.  E.  Terroy,  Chief  Inspector. 

Ward  I.  Cornell,  Manager. 
W.  A.  Bayliss,  Chief  Inspector, 

W.  G.  LiNEBURGH  &  Son,  General  Agents. 
A.  E.  BoNNETT,  Chief  Inspector. 

P.  M.  Murray,  Manager. 

J.  P.  Morrison,  Chief  Inspector, 

W.  E.  Gleason,  Manager. 

W.  E.  Glennon,  Chief  Inspector. 

A.  Paul  Graham,  Manager. 
J.  F.  Hunt,  Chief  Inspector. 

J.  H.  Chesnutt, 

Manager  and  Chief  Inspector. 

L.  L.  Coates,  Manager. 

Thomas  P.  Hetu,  Chief  Inspector. 

F.  H.  Kenyon,  General  Agent. 
A.  E.  Bonnet,  Chief  Inspector. 

R.  T.  BuRV^^ELL,  Mgr.  and  Chief  Inspector. 
E.  Unsv^^orth,  Ass't  Chief  Inspector. 

C.  C.  Gardiner,  Vice-President. 
E.  Mason  Parry,  Chief  Inspector. 

A.  S.  Wickham,  Manager. 
S.  B.  Adams,  Chief  Inspector. 

George  S.  Reynolds,  Manager. 
J.  A.  Snyder,  Chief  Inspector. 

Chas.  D.  Ashcroft,  Manager. 
Eugene  Webb,  Chief  Inspector. 

C.  B.  Paddock,  Manager. 
L.  J.  Reed,  Chief  Inspector. 

E.  G.  Watson, 

Manager  and   Chief   Inspector. 

H.  N.  Roberts,  President  The  Boiler  In- 
spection and  Insurance  Company  of 
Canada. 


APR  1  5  m^ 


Protection  AgkltT*****- «;^ 
Furnace  Explosions 

To  meet  a  growing  demand  on  the  part  'of  boiler 
owners  for  insurance  protection  against  explosion  due  to 
the  accidental  ignition  of  gas  in  the  furnaces  or  gas  pas- 
sages of  boilers,  The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection 
and  Insurance  Company  now  offers  its  clients 

Furnace  Explosion  Insurance 

This  new  policy  covers  all  direct  damage  (except 
fire  damage)  resulting  from  an  explosion  in  the  furnace 
of  a  boiler,  or  in  the  tubes,  flues,  or  other  passage  used 
to  conduct  gases  from  the  furnace  to  the  chimney. 

Existing  Hartford  Company  policies  can  be  en- 
dorsed to  include  Furnace  Explosion  Insurance,  and  it 
can  be  included  in  new  policies  at  extremely  reasonable 
rates.  The  Hartford  Use  and  Occupancy  Insurance 
may  be  made  to  apply  on  this  as  on  its  other  forms  of 
failure  or  breakdown  coverage. 


For  Details,  Fill  in  and  Mail  this  Coupon  to  its  Nearest 
Branch  Office 


The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection  and  In- 
surance Co. 
Gentlemen  :  Please  have  the  agent  supply  me  with 
further  information  regarding  Furnace  Explosion  Insur- 
ance. I  understand  that  this  will  not  obligate  me  in  any 
way. 

Name  

Address 


Vol.  XXXVII  No.  7 


July  1929 


A  QUARTERLY  MAGAZINE 
DEVOTED  TO  POWER  PLANT  PROTECTION 


Published  continuously  since     1867 

by  The  Hartford  Steam   Boiler 

Inspection  and  Insurance 

Company 


Please  show  to  your  Engineer 


194 


THE     LOCOMOTIVE 


July. 


Exploding  Air  Tank  Crushes  Shack,  Kills  7  Men 

SEVEN  men  were  killed  and  ten  were  seriously  injured  at  the  quarry 
of  Stone  Mountain  Granite  Corporation  near  Atlanta,  Georgia,  on 
February  22,  when  an  air  tank  head  blew  out  and  crashed  through 
the  timekeeper's  crowded  office.  Four  of  the  victims  were  dead  when 
fellow  workmen  pulled  them  from  beneath  the  wreckage ;  three  died  on 
the  way  to  a  hospital.  The  photograph  shows  the  remains  of  the  small 
wooden  building  which  was  demolished  as  completely  as  though  it  had 


been  bombed.  The  tank  was  located  about  20  feet  away  and  was  pointed 
directly  at  it. 

Air  for  the  pneumatic  tools  at  the  various  workings  in  the  quarry 
was  supplied  by  a  compressor  located  in  a  central  power  house  from 
which  pipes  led  to  perhaps  a  dozen  receiving  tanks  placed  at  strategic 
points  throughout  the  quarry.  The  tank  that  let  go  was  one  of  these 
storage  vessels.  It  was  66  inches  in  diameter,  16  feet  long,  and  was 
made  from  the  shell  of  a  horizontal  tubular  boiler.  The  shell  was  7/16" 
thick  and  had  a  double-riveted  continuous  lap  seam.  Just  how  long  the 
vessel  was  used  as  a  boiler  is  not  known,  but  fifteen  years  ago  the  tube 
sheets  and  tubes  were  taken  out  and  bumped  heads  substituted.  From 
that  time  on  the  tank  was  in  almost  daily  use  under  air  pressure  of 
about  90  pounds. 

Five-sixteenths  inch  plate  was  used  for  the  heads,  which  had  an 
-extremely  shallow  bump  and  a  short  radius  at  the  turn  of  the  flange. 


1929. 


THE     LOCOMOTIVE 


195 


These  details  are  apparent  in  the  illustration  showing  the  head  that  was 
left  intact  by  the  explosion. 

On  the  morning  of  the  accident  a  short  crack  appeared  at  the 
knuckle  of  a  head  flange.  Pressure  was  taken  ofT  immediately  and  the 
repair  gang  set  to  work  welding  the  crack.  After  a  test  for  tightness 
pressure  was  again  turned  on  and  the  tank  lasted  throughout  the  after- 
noon without  showing  signs  of 
leakage.  The  quitting  whistle  had 
sounded  and  workmen  were  "punch- 
ing out"  on  a  time  clock  in  the 
shanty  when  the  tragic  accident 
occurred. 

An  examination  of  the  head  re- 
vealed that,  with  the  exception  of 
the  place  where  the  welding  was 
applied,  the  flange  showed  no  evi- 
dence of  the  existence  of  an  old 
crack.  From  all  appearances  the 
metal  gave  way  simultaneously 
around  the  entire  circumference  of 
the  head.  Apparently  lack  of  sufficient  thickness  and  depth  in  the 
bumped  head  allowed  bending  at  the  flange  as  the  head  "  breathed  "  in 
and  out  with  the  variations  in  pressure.  Eventuall\-  this  flexing 
weakened  the  flange  to  the  point  where  it  gave  way. 


Furnace  Explosion  Causes  Extensive  Damage 

iN  EXPLOSION  of  oil  vapor  that  had  accidentally  accumulated  in 
/-\  the  heating  passages  of  an  oil-burning  heating  boiler  caused  ex- 
tensive damage  at  the  plant  of  Fashion  Hosiery  ]\Iill  Inc.,  Boyers- 
town.  Pa.,  a  few  weeks  ago.  The  oil  vapor  detonated  so  violently  that 
it  blew  ofif  furnace  doors,  demolished  the  masonry  foundation  of  the 
boiler,  and  badly  damaged  the  base  of  the  brick  chimney.  In  addition, 
the  heavy  furnace  room  doors  were  wrenched  from  their  hinges  and  two 
steel-framed  windows  were  torn  from  the  casements.  Property  damage 
was  somewhat  over  $2,000. 

Furnace  Explosion  insurance,  a  recent  addition  to  The  Hartford 
line,  is  designed  to  protect  the  boiler  owner  against  losses  from  accidents 
of  this  kind.  Such  coverage  may  be  included  in  new  boiler  policies  at 
very  reasonable  rates  or  may  be  added  by  an  endorsement  to  existing- 
policies  at  slight  additional  cost. 


196  THE     LOCOMOTIVE  J"b- 

Important  Points  in  the  Maintenance  and  Safe  Operation 
of  Cast  Iron  Steam  and  Hot  Water  Boilers 


i 


The  following  article,  which  undertakes  to  present  and  discuss  ^ 
as  many  as  possible  of  the  items  necessary  for  the  proper  opera- 
I  tion  and  maintenance  of  cast  iron  boilers,  is  based  largely  on  a 
card*  of  "  Rules  for  the  Operation  of  Cast  Iron  Steam  and  Hot 
Water  Boilers "  recently  prepared  by  this  Company  for  distribu- 
tion among  those  of  its  assured  who  use  this  class  of  equipment. 
Where,  for  conciseness,  the  card  was  obliged  to  omit  lengthy 
discussions  of  reasons  for  certain  recommendations,  the  article 
endeavors  to  go  into  these  points  a  little  more   fully. 


^ 


CAST  iron  boilers  are  damaged  by  overheating  resulting  from  low- 
water  perhaps  more  frequently  than  by  any  other  condition,  so 
it  is  extremely  important  to  keep  heating  systems  free  from  leaks. 
The  loss  of  water  or  steam  from  any  part  of  a  system  causes  a  steady 
lowering  of  the  water  level  in  the  boiler  that,  unless  watched  constantly, 
may  cause  damage  by  uncovering  parts  of  the  metal  in  contact  w^ith 
hot  furnace  gases. 

Before  a  boiler  is  laid  up  for  the  summer  the  person  in  charge 
should  go  over  the  system  carefully  and  note  all  points  needing  repairs. 
Before  the  boiler  is  put  back  into  service  again  he  should  make  another 
check-up  to  see  that  these  repairs  have  been  made. 

Starting   Up   a  Steam  System 

The  first  step  in  getting  a  steam  heating  boiler  ready  for  service 
is  to  fill  it  with  water  until  the  gauge  glass  is  almost  full.  Then  look 
inside  the  furnace  and  around  the  outside  of  the  boiler  for  signs  of 
leakage.  If  water  is  escaping,  even  in  small  quantities,  notify  the 
boiler  inspector.  Pay  especial  attention  to  the  return  pipes,  for  although 
they  may  not  have  leaked  when  the  boiler  was  laid  up,  corrosion  may 
have  eaten  through  them  during  the  summer. 

If  everything  is  satisfactory,  open  the  drain  cock  or  valve  at  the 
bottom  of  the  gauge  glass,  thus  permitting  water  to  drain  out  of  the 
glass.  Then  close  the  cock  and  note  whether  the  water  returns  promptly 
to  its  previous  level.  If  so,  the  connections  between  the  gauge  glass 
and  the  water  column  and  between  the  water  column  and  the  boiler 
are  clear;  if  the  water  is  slow  in  returning  to  its  former  level  some  or 
all  of  these  connections  are  blocked  up  and  in  need  of  cleaning.  This 
should  be  done  before  going  any  further. 

The  importance  of  clear  connections  to  the  gauge  cannot  be  over- 
emphasized, for  unless  there  is  free  communication  between  the  gauge 


*  This  card  may  be  obtained  on  application  at  any  of  the  Company's  Department 
Offices. 


1929.  THE     LOCOMOTIVE  197 

and  the  boiler  the  former  will  certainly  not  indicate  the  true  water  level. 
When  the  gauge  is  functioning  properly  the  next  step  is  to  investigate 
the  trycocks.  They  should  be  probed  clean  with  a  piece  of  soft  wire  if 
water  does  not  flow  through  them  freely. 

In  steam  systems  the  only  safeguard  against  overpressure  is  the 
safety  valve,  so  this  should  be  examined  and  tested  thoroughly.  Inopera- 
tive safety  valves  have  caused  many  disastrous  explosions  which  might 
have  been  prevented  had  the  operator  investigated  the  condition  of  the 
valve  at  frequent  intervals. 

The  fact  that  heating  boilers  may  go  for  months  or  even  years 
without  the  pressure  rising  high  enough  to  "  pop  "  the  safety  valve 
gives  rise  to  the  possibility  that  the  valve  disc  may  stick  fast  to  the  seat. 
Other  parts,  likewise,  may  be  affected  by  corrosion  during  a  long  period 
of  inactivity  with  the  result  that  free  functioning  of  the  valve  is  im- 
possible. Usually  the  safety  valve  is  provided  with  a  try  lever  by 
which  a  person  can  find  out  whether  the  valve  opens  freely.  When- 
ever a  faulty  safety  valve  is  encountered  the  boiler  inspector  should  be 
notified  at  once. 

Starting  the  Hot  Water  System 

In  getting  ready  to  start  up  a  hot  water  system  care  should  be  taken 
to  see  that  all  necessary  repairs  have  been  made.  Then  fill  the  boiler 
and  system  with  water  to  the  proper  level  as  indicated  by  the  gauge 
glass  on  the  expansion  tank,  the  overflow  pipe  from  the  expansion  tank, 
or  the  altitude  gauge  on  the  boiler.  Look  over  the  boiler  for  leaks  and 
make  sure,  by  opening  radiator  cocks,  that  all  air  is  discharged  from 
the  system. 

In  this  type  of  heating  system  the  pipe  leading  to  the  expansion 
tank,  the  tank  itself,  and  the  overflow  pipe  take  over  the  function  of  the 
safety  valve  on  a  steam  boiler.  For  that  reason  they  should  be  investi- 
gated carefully.  These  parts  must  be  free  from  obstruction  if  they  are 
to  fulfill  their  purpose  of  limiting  the  pressure  which  can  build  up 
within  the  boiler.  Valves  are  unnecessary  in  either  the  riser  or  over- 
flow pipes  and  must  not  be  used.  On  some  installations  there  is  a 
diaphragm  relief  valve  in  the  pipe  leading  to  the  expansion  tank  to 
guard  against  overpressure  resulting  from  the  accidental  stoppage  of 
either  this  pipe  or  the  overflow  pipe.  Although  such  a  valve  is  an 
extra  precaution  its  use  is  not  general. 

Lastly,  after  the  points  mentioned  above  have  been  investigated  and 
before  either  a  steam  or  hot  water  boiler  is  ready  for  firing,  the  operator 
should  test  the  damper  regulator  to  make  sure  it  is  in  order.  Chains 
should  be  connected  to  the  lever  and  all  parts  should  work  freely. 


198  THE     LOCOMOTIVE  J"iy. 

Starting  a  Cold  Boiler 

Be  sure  the  boiler  or  system  is  filled  with  water  to  the  proper  level. 
If  there  are  any  valves  in  the  main  or  return  pipes  make  certain  they 
are  open  before  starting  a  fire.  If,  for  any  reason,  it  is  necessary  to 
close  off  a  part  of  the  system,  be  sure  that  at  least  one  line  of  piping 
(main  and  return)  is  open  to  permit  circulation  of  steam  or  hot  water. 

Build  a  fire  and  raise  the  steam  pressure  or  water  temperature 
gradually.  Remember,  there  is  hot  furnace  gas  on  one  side  of  the 
boiler  metal  and  cold  water  on  the  other.  Forcing  a  fire  before  the 
water  has  heated  up  and  established  circulation  will  almost  certainly 
crack  the  metal  by  setting  up  stresses  due  to  unequal  expansion.  Watch 
the  water  level  carefully  in  steam  boilers  and,  if  necessary,  admit  more 
water  to  keep  the  gauge  glass  almost  full.  After  the  system  is  fully 
operating  excess  water  can  be  drained  ofif  until  the  gauge  glass  is  half 
full.  Unless  there  is  plenty  of  water  in  the  boiler  at  the  start  the  level 
mav  drop  far  enough  to  uncover  parts  of  the  heating  surface  when  a 
portion  of  the  water  is  turned  into  steam  and  goes  out  into,  the  system. 

Regular  Operation 

In  the  morning,  or  at  any  other  time  when  there  has  been  a  slow 
fire,  do  not  force  the  fire,  but  bring  it  up  slowly  so  that  the  boiler  will 
not  be  overheated  before  there  is  good  circulation  of  steam  and  water 
through  the  heating  system.  Before  doing  so,  however  test  the  water 
gauge  glass,  the  safety  valve,  and  the  damper  regulator  as  directed 
under  "  Getting  Ready  to  Start  ".  Naturally,  the  daily  test  of  the 
safety  valve  will  have  to  be  dispensed  with  in  cases  where  the  valve 
is  not  equipped  with  a  try  lever. 

A  careful  watch  should  be  kept  at  all  times  to  see  that  the  gauge 
glass  is  at  least  half  full.  If  there  is  difficulty  in  maintaining  the  level 
at  that  height  the  boiler  inspector  should  be  notified.  This  is  important. 
Neglect  of  this  point  will  almost  certainly  result  in  cracked  sections. 

Whenever  it  is  necessary  to  add  water  to  a  cast  iron  boiler  do  so 
very  slowly,  and  at  a  time  when  the  boiler  is  not  steaming  rapidly. 
Should  leakage  develop  in  the  furnace  or  on  the  outside  of  the  boiler, 
or  anywhere  in  the  return  lines,  notify  the  inspector  immediately.  If 
the  leakage  is  so  serious  that  it  is  difficult  to  maintain  the  proper  water 
level,  proceed  as  directed  under  "  Low  Water  ",  except  that  the  boiler 
should  not  be  fired  until  the  inspector  approves. 

Low  Water 

If  at  any  time  the  water  should  go  out  of  sight  in  the  gauge  glass, 
do  not  add  water  until  the  boiler  has  been  allowed  to  cool.  The  in- 
experienced operator,  confronted  by  this  condition,  frequently  violates 


19^9  THE     LOCOMOTIVE  199 


this  rule  and  cracks  the  boiler  by  putting  cold  water  \f»>  contact  with 
the  overheated  metal.  The  proper  procedure  is  to  cover  the  fire  with 
ashes  or  coal,  shut  the  ashpit  door  or  damper,  and  open  the  firedoor 
and  chimney  damper.  In  this  way  the  fire  is  deadened  and  a  stream 
of  air  is  drawn  through  the  fire  door  to  cool  the  boiler  gradually.  After 
the  boiler  has  cooled,  water  can  be  admitted  slowly  until  it  is  up  to  the 
proper  level.  Then  if  no  leakage  has  developed,  steam  pressure  can 
be  raised  again. 

The  practice  of  drawing  hot  water  from  a  heating  boiler  for  wash- 
ing purposes  is  a  bad  one  and  should  not  be  tolerated.  Besides  the 
likelihood  of  damage  by  reason  of  lowering  the  water  level  and  then 
putting  in  cold  water  to  bring  it  back  to  normal,  the  procedure  is  un- 
desirable on  another  score.  Fresh  water  carries  scale-forming  materials 
into  the  boiler ;  if  make-up  water  be  added  at  frequent  intervals  so 
much  scale  may  collect  that  it  will  interfere  seriously  with  the  free 
transfer  of  heat  through  the  metal  and  into  the  water.  Such  a  condition 
is  not  only  inefficient  but  it  is  conducive  to  overheating  and  cracking 
of  the  metal. 

Soot  on  the  fire  side  of  the  heating  surfaces  also  has  this  insulating 
effect,  and  cuts  down  the  efficiency  of  the  boiler.  For  this  reason  par- 
ticular care  should  be  taken  to  keep  the  heating  surfaces  as  clean  as 
possible.  Likewise,  flues  and  connections  should  be  kept  clear  of  soot, 
so  as  not  to  obstruct  the  free  travel  of  the  gases. 

Bloiving  Down 

Muddy  water  or  dirt  in  the  system  will  cause  foaming.  When  this 
condition  is  encountered  the  fire  should  be  allowed  to  burn  out.  After 
the  boiler  has  cooled  it  should  be  drained  and  refilled  with  fresh  water. 
If  this  operation  does  not  stop  the  foaming  it  should  be  repeated,  but 
then  if  foaming  still  persists  the  boiler  inspector  should  be  asked  for 
further  instructions. 

Laying  Up  a  Boiler 

The  first  step  in  laying  up  a  boiler,  after  letting  the  fire  burn  out  and 
giving  the  boiler  time  to  cool  down  gradually,  is  to  clean  out  the  fur- 
nace, heating  surfaces,  and  flues  as  thoroughly  as  possible.  It  is  im- 
possible to  overstress  the  point  that  no  boiler  should  ever  be  allowed  to 
go  through  the  summer  with  soot  and  ashes  in  the  furnace  and  flues, 
for  the  sulphur  present  in  the  soot  from  practically  all  kinds  of  coal 
combines  readily  with  moisture  to  form  sulphurous  acid,  a  very  corro- 
sive agent. 

Opinions  differ  on  the  question  of  whether  it  is  better  to  drain  the 
boiler  or  leave  it  full  of  water  during  the  off-season.     Each  method  has 


200  THE     LOCOMOTIVE  J"iy. 


advantages  as  well  as  disadvantages,  but  this  company  favors  leaving 
the  boiler  full,  for  on  the  whole  the  advantages  of  that  method  seem  to 
outweigh  those  of  the  other. 

The  chief  disadvantage  of  leaving  water  in  the  boiler  lies  in  the  fact 
that  it  tends  to  chill  and  condense  moisture  from  the  air  on  the  furnace 
side  of  the  heating  surfaces  —  a  condition  that  has  been  known  to  crack 
boilers  in  the  ofif-season  by  promoting  rust  growth  between  sections. 
However,  this  may  be  avoided  by  taking  down  the  smoke  pipe,  and  in 
that  way  preventing  or  at  least  cutting  down  the  passage  of  air  through 
the  boiler.  One  advantage  of  leaving  water  in  the  boiler  during  the 
summer  is  that  it  prevents  the  drying  out  of  packing  between  sections, 
a  thing  which  may  occur  when  the  boiler  stands  empty  for  a  long 
period.  Another  is  that  it  lessens  the  probability  of  sections  being 
cracked  in  case  anyone  uses  the  furnace  during  the  summer  months  as 
an  incinerator  for  rubbish.  Taking  down  the  smoke  pipe,  of  course, 
discourages  this  practice. 

As  to  draining  a  boiler  before  laying  it  up,  the  two  outstanding 
advantages  are  that  it  offers  a  good  opportunity  to  purge  the  system  of 
sludge  and  dirt  and  eliminates  the  condensation  of  moisture  on  the 
heating  surfaces.  The  disadvantages  are  those  mentioned  above,  namely 
that  packing  may  dry  out,  and  sections  may  be  cracked  if  some  thought- 
less person  undertakes  to  use  the  furnace  for  the  disposal  of  rubbish. 


Bursting  Cylinder  Head  Kills  Two 

Two  men  were  killed  instantly  and  four  were  severely  injured  at 
the  plant  of  Chickasha  Cotton  Oil  Co.,  Ryan,  Oklahoma,  on  January  23. 
when  the  breaking  of  the  piston  rod  of  a  large  Corliss-type  engine 
allowed  the  piston  to  strike  the  cylinder  head  with  such  a  terrific  impact 
that  the  latter  was  broken  to  fragments  and  bolts  were  driven  into  a 
brick  wall  like  pieces  of  shrapnel.  The  piston  emerged  from  the  cylin- 
der and  came  to  rest  about  six  feet  away. 

A  remarkable  feature,  according  to  a  report  of  the  accident,  was 
that  the  two  victims  were  not  struck  by  flying  fragments,  but  were 
crushed  against  a  wall  by  the  blast  of  escaping  steam.  Those  who  were 
injured  were  badly  scalded  and  cut. 

The  piston  rod  had  been  in  use  about  two  years. 


A   CORRECTION 
In  the  last  issue  mention  was  made  of  a  flywheel  explosion  at  the  Davenport, 
Iowa,    plant   of    French   &    Hecht,    Inc.     The   address   thus    given   was    incorrect, 
for  although  that  company  has  a  plant  at  Davenport,  Iowa,  the  accident  occurred 
at  its  plant  in  Springfield,  Ohio. 


19-20. 


THE     L  O  C  O  M  O  T  I  \^  E 


20 1 


Heating  Boiler  Explosions  Cause  Extensive  Damage 

A  LT HOUGH   it  is  generally   understood  that  heating  boilers  and 
r\   hot  water  supply  tanks  can  and  sometimes  do  explode  with  con- 
siderable violence,  the  average  householder  who  has  never  ac- 
tually seen  the  result  of   such  an  explosion  is  sometimes  inclined   to 


Figure  i 

discount  claims  as  to  the  potential  destructiveness  of  these  common- 
place vessels.  The  three  cases  presented  herewith,  which  were  selected 
as  t\-pical  of  other  explosions  occurring  during  the  winter,  are  con- 
vincing proof  that  the  low  pressures  ordinarily  involved  in  house  heat- 
ing equipment  by  no  means  render  them  immune  to  accidents  of  a  very 
destructive  sort. 

Taking  advantage  of  a  lull  in  business  shortly  after  Christmas  the 
proprietor  of  a  small  hotel  in  Cleveland.  Ohio,  banked  the  fire  in  his 
cast  iron  steam  heating  boiler  and  left  town  for  an  overnight  visit. 
During  his  absence  the  weather  turned  cold  and  some  of  the  water  in 
the  lines  froze  solid.  On  his  return  he  found  the  building  too  frigid 
for  comfort,  so  he  immediately  "  broke  "  the  bank,  opened  the  drafts, 


202 


THE     LOCOMOTIVE 


July, 


and  went  out  to  do  some  shopping  while  the  building  heated  up. 
Evidently  the  boiler  made  steam  faster  than  an  old-fashioned  lever- 
type  safety  valve  with  a  }i"  diameter  opening  could  relieve  it,  for  the 
boiler  exploded,  demolished  partitions  and  stairways  in  the  basement, 
and  damaged  walls  and  furniture  on  the  floors  above.  Figure  i  is  a 
view  of  the  basement  shortly  after  the  accident. 


I'igurc  2 

Figure  2  shows  the  wreckage  of  a  cast  iron  steam  heating  boiler 
which  exploded  in  the  basement  of  a  store  in  St.  Louis,  Mo.  In  this 
case  it  was  fairly  evident  from  the  broken  gear  segment  in  the  steam 
gauge  mechanism  that  enough  pressure  had  built  up  to  force  the  gauge 
hand  solidly  against  the  pin  at  the  limit  of  its  travel,  but  the  boiler  itself, 
the  safety  valve,  and  the  various  other  attachments  were  so  badly 
damaged  that  they  offered  no  clue  to  the  probable  cause  of  this  over- 
pressure. The  force  of  the  explosion  lifted  and  cracked  a  concrete 
floor  overhead,  broke  the  plate  glass  show  windows  in  the  store,  and 
in  general  created  so  much  havoc  that  the  stock  had  to  be  moved  to 
another  location.    Damage  was  estimated  at  $4,000. 

At  2  o'clock  of  a  Sunday  afternoon  in  March  one  of  the  tenants  in 
an  apartment  and  store  block  adjoining  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  in  Southbridge. 


1929. 


TH  E     LOCOMOT  I  V  l{ 


203 


Mass.,  lighted  the  gas  heater  in  his  bathroom  and.  thrrtttgh  oversight, 
neglected  to  turn  it  off  after  he  had  obtained  enough  hot  water  for  a 
bath.  In  the  early  hours  of  the  morning  the  storage  tank  let  go  and 
blew  away  the  corner  of  the  building.  The  blast  broke  windows  and 
rocked  houses  for  several  blocks  around.  rdcphone  lines  were  so 
badly  damaged  that  service  in  that  neighborhood  could  not  be  reestab- 


Figiirc  3 

lished  until  late  that  evening.     Figure  3  shows  the  wrecked  portion  of 
the  building. 

The  12"  X  48"  tank  was  of  copper,  made  in  two  parts  soldered  to- 
gether at  the  girth  seam  by  means  of  a  copper  band.  Lack  of  a  relief 
valve,  and  the  fact  that  the  meter  prevented  pressure  from  backing  out 
into  the  mains  was  advanced  as  an  explanation  of  the  accident. 


ONE  OF  THOSE  MYSTERIES 

Although  we  can't  quite  agree  with  the  Archbold,  Ohio,  Buckeye  that  a 
flywheel  explosion  is  something  that  happens  only  once  in  a  lifetime,  neither 
can  we  bring  ourselves  to  censure  too  severely  the  reporter  who  was  so 
thorough  and  conscientious  that  he  read  up  on  "  mechanics  "  and  "  natural 
philosophy  "  before  offering  the  following  comment  on  a  recent  flywheel 
explosion  in  his  town  : 

"  We  read  of  such  things  in  mechanics  and  natural  philosophy.  One 
authority  calls  it  centrifugal  expulsion  or  centrifugal  disintegration.  Such 
things  happen  so  rarely  that  one  will  probably  not  encounter  the  second  case 
in  a  lifetime." 


204  THE     LOCOMOTIVE  J"iy. 


Thought  Corroded  Staybolts  Were  a  New  Design 

(By  Inspector  T.  F.  Connery,  Philadelphia) 

NOT  long  ago  I  received  an  order  through  the  mail  from  one 
of  our  assured  in  a  distant  town  to  inspect  the  boiler  of  a  track 
locomotive  they  had  just  purchased.  Owing  to  previous  appoint- 
ments for  that  day  it  was  well  along  in  the  afternoon  before  I  reached 
the  assured's  office  and  found  out  that  the  locomotive  was  six  miles 
away  at  a  clay  mine  they  had  recently  taken  over  after  it  had  been  idle 
for  more  than  a  year. 

The  manager  told  me  that  they  had  an  urgent  order  for  a  shipment 
of  clay  and  wanted  to  put  the  locomotive  in  service  the  next  morning. 
He  had  had  the  engineer  and  a  mechanic  give  the  machine  an  over- 
hauling and,  on  their  assurance  that  everything  was  in  shape,  had 
arranged  with  the  railroad  to  place  a  car  on  their  siding  so  that  loading 
could  commence  in  the  morning.  However,  he  was  determined  that 
the  boiler  be  insured  before  it  was  put  under  pressure  so  it  was  a  case 
of  "  ofif  to  the  mines  "  for  me,  even  though  it  was  late  in  the  day  and 
the  trail,  I  was  sure,  would  be  rather  hard  on  the  bus  I  was  driving. 

I  reached  the  mine  just  as  the  men,  including  the  engineer,  were 
quitting  for  the  day.  The  manager  had  been  cjuite  right  about  tneir 
being  ready  to  start  next  morning.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  boiler  had 
been  filled  to  the  second  gauge  and  the  kindling  was  all  set  to  touch  ofif. 
Externally  everything  seemed  ship-shape,  including  two  new  safety 
valves  set  to  blow  at  i/O  pounds,  the  pressure  for  which  the  boiler  was 
built,  according  to  the  A.  S.  M.  E.  stamp  on  it. 

My  request  to  drain  the  boiler  so  as  to  permit  an  internal  examina- 
tion dismayed  the  engineer,  for  the  water  tank  was  some  distance  down 
the  track  and  refilling  would  be  quite  a  job.  However,  he  consented, 
and  when  we  knocked  in  the  manhole  covers  the  first  thing  that  caught 
my  eye  was  serious  corrosion  of  the  radial  stays  supporting  the  firebox 
crown  sheet.  These  stays  were  reduced  for  the  most  part  from  i" 
diameter  at  the  threaded  ends  down  to  ^"  in  the  body.  When  I  called 
this  to  the  engineer's  attention  he  said  he  had  noticed  the  stays  while 
working  on  the  throttle  mechanism  and  had  called  the  mechanic  to  have 
a  look  at  them.  In  the  latter's  opinion  they  were  a  new  kind  of  staybolt 
that  was  screwed  from  the  roof  sheet  to  enter  a  cap  screwed  into  the 
crown  sheet.  Even  had  the  design  been  such,  which  of  course  it  was 
not,  this  explanation  would  not  have  altered  the  fact  that,  with  their 
small  cross-sectional  areas,  these  stays  were  not  safe  for  a  working 
pressure  of  even  half  the  i/O  pounds  for  which  the  boiler  was  to  be  used. 


•9^9.  THE     LOCOMOTIVE  205 


Both  llie  engineer  and  tlie  mechanic  were  entirel\-  competent  in  their 
respective  Hnes  and  sincere  in  their  opinions,  so  I  don't  know  as  anyone 
could  hlame  them  for  faihng  U)  recognize  the  seriousness  of  the  situa- 
tion. It  was  achnittedly  a  httle  out  of  their  field  of  experience.  How- 
ever, such  instances  are  hy  no  means  uncommon. 

The  manager.  nalurall\-,  was  distressed  when  told  of  the  situation 
that  night,  but  he  made  the  best  of  things  by  arranging  with  a  firm  of 
boiler  makers  to  put  in  new  stay  bolts  as  quickly  as  possible.  Although 
he  was  anxious  to  please  his  customer  by  making  prompt  shipment,  at 
the  same  time  he  wanted  to  take  no  chance  of  having  an  explosion  and 
was  duly  appreciative  of  the  service  rendered. 

Relating  this  incident  brings  to  mind  another  case  that  occurred 
not  long  ago.  In  passing  through  a  certain  town  one  Saturday  evening 
I  met  the  general  mechanic  of  a  textile  mill,  a  man  whom  I  knew  very 
well.  In  the  course  of  conversation  he  mentioned  that  one  of  their 
horizontal  tubular  boilers  had  developed  a  leak  which  they  were  going 
to  make  tight  next  day,  so  as  to  have  the  boiler  ready  Monday  morning. 
On  finding  out  the  location  of  the  leak  I  asked  him  to  neither  make 
repairs  nor  put  the  boiler  in  service  until  I  could  get  out  to  the  mill 
early  in  the  morning  and  make  an  investigation.  He  agreed,  and  as  a 
result  the  mechanics  were  saved  the  trouble  of  making  repairs  that 
would  have  been  useless,  for  we  found  a  lap  seam  crack  i8  inches 
long  —  a  defect  that  sent  the  boiler  to  the  scrap  heap. 

These  occurrences  are  not  related  with  the  thought  in  mind  that 
any  special  acumen  was  displayed  by  the  writer  in  ferreting  out  defects. 
They  are  simply  incidents  in  the  every-day  service  our  Company  is 
rendering.  The  appearance  of  similar  accounts  in  recent  issues  of  the 
magazine  prompted  me  to  reduce  them  to  writing. 


LIFTED  THE  DEVIL'S  FACE,  TOO? 

A  bill  submitted  by  a  church  interior  painter  nearly  a  hundred  years  ago,  now 
in  the  archives  of  the  parish  church  at  Nyed,  Sweden,  itemizes  the  services  as 
follows : 

"  Altered  the  Ten  Commandments  and  repaired  the  Sixth. 

"  Polished  Pontius  Pilatus,  put  new  furs  on  his  bonnet. 

"  Put  new  wings  on  the  Angel  Gabriel. 

"  Expanded  heaven,  improved  the  fires  of  hell,  and  made  the  devil's  face 
more  awful. 

"  Cleansed  the  Red  Sea,  which  was  really  very  dirty." 


CRANK-PIN  NOT  OF  CAST  IRON 
The  editor's  attention  has  been  called  to  an  error  on  page  153  of  the 
January  issue.  The  crank-pin  shown  on  that  page  was  referred  to  as 
being  cast  integral  with  the  disc,  whereas  it  was  actually  made  of  steel  and 
pressed  into  the  disc.  As  a  consequence,  the  conclusion  as  to  the  strength 
of  cast  pins,  although  proven  true  in  many  otlier  instances,  is  not  illustrated 
bv  this  one. 


2o6 


THE     LOCOMOTIVE 


July, 


Low-Pressure  Steam  Overspeeded  Turbine 

HAD  not  a  quick-thinking  engineer  been  in  the  immediate  vicinity 
it  is  probable  that  the  1,500  Kw.  mixed-pressure  turbine  pictured 
here  would  have  been  totally  wrecked  when  derangement  of  the 
low-pressure  control  permitted  a  full  flow  of  low-pressure  steam  while 
the  machine  was  running  without  load.  The  engineer  quickly  closed 
both  steam  line  stop  valves  and  brought  the  turbine  to  a  halt,  but  in 
spite  of  his  promptness  the  buckets  and  blading  of  three  discs  and  their 
corresponding  diaphragms  were  entirely  ripped  away.  An  investigation 
after  the  accident  revealed  that  a  cast  iron  lever  actuating  the  low- 
pressure  inlet  valve  had  broken. 


The  low-pressure  stages  of  this  turbine  were  designed  to  use 
exhaust  steam  at  about  8  pounds  pressure  from  a  battery  of  hammers 
in  the  forge  shop.  To  augment  this,  the  turbine  had  also  a  high-pres- 
sure steam  inlet  and  a  selective  governor  arrangement  so  that  high- 
pressure  steam  would  automatically  be  admitted  in  case  the  supply 
of  low-pressure  steam  was  insufficient  to  carry  the  electrical  load. 

When  the  accident  occurred  the  engineer  heard  something  snap 
and  noticed  the  turbine  pick  up  speed.  Thinking  that  perhaps  the  but- 
terfly valve  in  the  high-pressure  line  had  stuck  open,  he  hastened  to 
close  the  stop  valve  in  that  line.  As  this  did  not  seem  to  check  the 
speed  he  ran  to  the  low-pressure  stop  valve  and  spun  that  closed.    He 


^929- THE     LOCOMOTIVE 207 

was  just  in  time,  for  there  is  little  doubt  but  that  th6^turl)ine  would 
have  run  itself  to  destruction. 

As  it  turned  out,  the  accident  was  serious  enough.  Repairs  amounted 
to  about  $5,000  and,  in  spite  of  every  means  taken  to  expedite  the  work, 
the  plant  had  to  purchase  outside  current  for  twenty-one  days  before 
the  machine  was  again  available. 


Rooster  Controls  Street  Lights 

WRITING  in   the  Electrical   World,   L.    H.   Hardin,   electrical 
engineer,  tells  the  following  story  of  an  ingenious  device  by 
which  a  rooster  switches  on   a  town's   street  lights   when  he 
takes  to  his  perch  at  dusk,  and  turns  the  lights  off  again  when,  with 
the  rising  sun,  he  strides  forth  to  greet  the  day. 

"  In  a  little  North  Carolina  town  there  is  a  superintendent  of  Public 
Works  whose  duties  cover,  among  other  things,  the  operation  with  his 
own  hands,  unaided,  of  the  electric  light  system,  water  works  system, 
volunteer  fire  department,  maintenance  and  repair,  meter  reading,  re- 
placing blown  fuse  plugs  when  some  good  housewife's  flat  iron  acts  up, 
and  so  forth. 

"  Needless  to  say,  our  unsung  hero  has  no  great  amount  of  time 
to  devote  to  the  study  of  Einstein's  theory  or  the  fourth  dimension  and, 
in  fact,  has  trouble  enough  on  hand  to  turn  on  and  off  the  lights  at 
just  the  right  time  to  suit  all  concerned.  To  the  possessor  of  such 
talents  and  ingenuity  as  one  must  possess  to  fill  his  post  successfully 
this  did  not  present  an  insuperable  problem.  In  his  back  yard  is  a 
hefty  rooster  of  staid  and  dependable  habits  whose  belief  in  the  '  early 
to  bed  and  early  to  rise  '  habit  is  unshakable. 

"  Here,  then,  is  the  problem  and  the  elements  of  its  solution :  A 
special  perch  was  arranged  for  friend  rooster,  pivoted  at  one  end  and 
so  arranged  that  his  weight  would  depress  the  perch  a  few  inches  and 
pull  down  on  a  cord  to  close  the  street  lighting  circuit  regularly  at 
dusk  and  to  open  it  when  old  reliable  leaves  his  perch  at  break  of  day. 

"  To  the  best  of  my  knowledge  there  is  no  device  on  the  market 
today  capable  of  taking  cognizance  of  the  early  dusk  on  a  rainy  day 
or  the  late  darkness  on  a  clear  day  or  of  the  variable  hours  of  dawn 
with  the  changing  weather  as  does  this  old  rooster." 


FROM  GOOD  OLD  MISSOURI 

Father,   impressively  answering  the  query  of   a   suitor :    "  Young   fellow,   the 
man  who  marries  my  daughter  will  get  a  prize." 

Suitor,  after  an  embarrassing  pause :    "  May  I  see  it,  sir  ?  " 


2o8  THE     LOCOMOTIVE h^ 

Modern  Electric  Light  Industry  Born  in  Edison's 
Experimental  Plant  at  Menlo  Park,  N.  J. 

IN  SPITE  of  sporadic  attempts  by  real  estate  developers  to  fan 
the  embers  of  an  almost  forgotten  past  into  something  resembling 

a  vigorous  real  estate  boom,  the  little  New  Jersey  hamlet  in  which 
both  the  incandescent  electric  lamp  and  the  trolley  car  were  born  is 
very  little  larger  now  than  it  was  fifty  odd  years  ago  when  Thomas  A. 
Edison  established  his  laboratory  there  and  attracted  an  amazed  world 
to  his  doorstep  to  see  what  the  "  Wizard  of  Menlo  Park  "  was  going 
to  do  next  with  a  riiysterious  form  of  energy  known  as  electricity. 
In  fact,  save  for  a  modest  stone  monument  recently  erected  along  the 
Lincoln  Highway  by  veterans  of  the  Edison  organization,  there  is 
nothing  about  the  quiet  little  town  to  suggest  that  in  its  heyday  it  was 
known  wherever  newspapers  circulated,  and  thousands  of  visitors 
thronged  in  to  see  with  their  own  eyes  the  remarkable  invention  by 
which  Edison  took  electricity  from  a  dynamo  in  his  power  house  and 
produced  therewith  a  flameless  light  in  glass  bulbs  strung  on  wires 
around  his  plant  and  the  railroad  station. 

Up  until  a  few  years  ago  a  crumbling  brick  foundation  and  the 
rusting  skeleton  of  a  trolley  car  could  be  seen  by  anyone  who  cared 
enough  about  such  things  to  venture  through  a  weed-grown  field  to 
a  spot  several  hundred  feet  from  the  highway,  but  time  has  erased  even 
those  traces  of  the  "  Wizard's  "  lair.  Today  Menlo  Park  is  no  more 
than  just  another  cross-road  to  the  thousands  of  motorists  who  dash 
through  it  too  rapidly  to  read  either  the  inscription  on  the  monument 
or  the  tire  company  billboard  that  gives  a  brief  outline  of  its  history. 

Forgotten  by  the  public  at  large,  still  Menlo  Park  means  some- 
thing to  the  electric  light  industry.  This  year  public  utilities  throughout 
the  country  are  participating  in  a  Golden  Jubilee  demonstration  marking 
the  50th  anniversary  of  Edison's  invention  of  the  incandescent  lamp  and 
acknowledging  its  tremendous  influence  in  making  electricity  a  com- 
modity almost  as  universally  used  as  food  and  clothing  —  an  influence 
which  obviously  had  much  to  do  with  dotting  the  country  from  coast 
to  coast  with  big  central  stations  which  now  meet  the  demand  of  an 
ever-increasing  electrical  load. 

In  a  sense,  then,  Edison's  plant  at  Menlo  Park,  with  its  small  boiler, 
engine,  and  dynamo  which  sent  current  through  the  first  group  of 
incandescent  lamps  and  drove  the  experimental  trolley  cars,  was  really 
the  forerunner  of  the  huge  central  stations  of  today.  Through  the 
courtesy  of   the  builders   we   are   privileged   to   reproduce   herein   the 


1929. 


T  H  E     L.  O  C  O  M  C)  T  I  V  E 


209 


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1—1 

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^    H 

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Figure  i 


210 


THE     LOCOMOTIVE 


July. 


original  layout  drawing  of  the  boiler  which  the  Babcock  &  Wilcox  Com- 
pany installed  in  that  plant  in  1878.  It  will  be  noted  that  although  the 
"  Tubulous  Safety  "  boiler  resembles  the  modern  water  tube  boiler  in 
many  respects,  there  are  features  about  it  which  have  long  since  been 
superseded.     One  of  the  most  striking  points  of  dissimilarity  between 


Figure  2 

that  boiler  and  those  of  more  modern  design  is  that  iron  castings  were 
used  for  the  heads  of  the  drum.  Another  is  the  method  of  joining 
the  tube  headers  to  the  drum.  The  present  design  has  connections 
for  the  tube  headers  riveted  to  the  drum  some  distance  from  either 
end,  but  in  the  old  model  the  connections  were  at  the  ends  of  the  drum 
through  the  cast  iron  heads.  However,  the  old  boilers  gave  a  good 
account  of  themselves,  and  thousands  of  horsepower  of  that  type  were 
built.  Unfortunately,  there  is  no  record  of  the  final  disposal  of  the 
Edison  boiler,  the  last  account  in  the  record  book  telling  of  its  removal 
to  Schenectady  after  several  years  service  at  Menlo  Park. 

All  in  all,  the  B.  &  W.  plant  sold  Edison  seven  boilers  of  the  same 
general  design,  one  of  which  was  installed  in  18S5  at  the  experimental 
laboratory  in  Fort  Myers,  Fla.  Two  years  ago,  when  Henry  Ford 
undertook  to  assemble  at  his  Dearborn  museum  as  many  as  possible  of 
the  old  Fort  Mvers  laboratorv  machines,  he  was  unable  to  find  the 


'929.  THE     LOCOMOTIVE  211 


boiler,  but  the  B.  &  W.  plant  built  and  presented  him  an  exact  duplicate. 
A  bronze  plate  attached  to  the  boiler  explains  that  the  builders  were 
actuated  by  "  deep  appreciation  of  the  many  benefits  that  have  come 
to  that  company  as  well  as  to  mankind  as  a  result  of  Mr.  Edison's 
many  inventions." 

The  huge  seamless  steel  drum  for  the  1,400  pounds  per  square  inch 
cross-drum  boiler  now  being  built  by  Babcock  &  Wilcox  for  the  Deep- 
water,  N.  J.,  station  of  the  United  Gas  &  Electric  Company  (Fig.  2) 
shows  more  clearly  than  words  could  describe  it  the  vast  difference 
in  size  between  the  most  up-to-date  central  station  boilers  and  those  of 
fifty  years  ago.  The  big  drum  is  52  inches  in  diameter,  over  50  feet 
long,  and  has  walls  4  inches  thick.  The  boiler  of  which  it  will  be  a 
part  is  rated  at  something  like  one  hundred  times  the  capacity  of  the 
one  Edison  used.  It  is  probable  that  even  Edison  himself  little  guessed 
the  size  to  which  power  plant  equipment  would  grow  when,  fifty  years 
back,  he  started  the  ball  rolling  by  inventing  a  device  which  established 
a  field  for  the  sale  of  electric  current  in  large  quantities. 


Even  Low  Voltages  May  Cause  Fatal  Burns 

A  FEW  weeks  ago   the   manager  of   a  plant's   safety   department 
raised  the  question  as  to  whether  there  is  any  real  danger  in 
electric  wires  carrying  voltages  no  higher  than  no.    The  answer, 
based  on  experience,  is  "  yes  ". 

Recently  a  power  plant  employee,  working  inside  a  boiler,  was 
burned  to  death  by  coming  in  contact  with  a  bare  spot  on  the  no-volt 
light  extension  wire.  Caught  in  a  cramped  position,  he  was  unable  to 
release  himself.  At  another  plant  a  direct-current  lighting  wire  carry- 
ing only  98  volts  caused  the  death  of  a  workman  who  accidentally 
touched  it  while  he  was  standing  on  a  wet  floor.  There  are  enough  such 
accidents  each  year  in  mills  and  homes  throughout  the  country  to  prove, 
beyond  question,  that  when  the  body  is  well  shorted  between  two  wires 
or  between  a  wire  and  another  good  conductor  such  as  a  damp  floor  or 
a  grounded  piece  of  metal,  a  person  may  be  seriously  if  not  fatally 
burned,  providing  he  is  unable  to  free  himself  quickly. 

A  safe  rule  to  follow  is  to  assume  that  any  voltage  may  be  dangerous 
and  to  make  sure,  when  working  around  conductors,  that  there  is  no 
chance  of  shorting  the  current  through  the  body.  This  precaution  is 
especially  appropriate  in  the  case  of  alternating-current,  for  the  failure 
of  insulation  in  a  transformer  sometimes  raises  the  secondary  line 
voltage  well  above  normal. 


212 


THE     LOCOMOTIVE 


July, 


A   QUARTERLY   MAGAZINE 

DEVOTED  TO  POWER  PLANT  PROTECTION 

George   Hargis   Prall,   Editor 

Copyright    1929   by   The    Hartford    Steam    Boiler    Inspection    and    Insurance    Company 

HARTFORD,  CONN.,  July  i,  1929 

Single  Copies  can  be  obtained  free  by  calling  at  any  of  the  company's  agencies. 

Subscription  price  50  cents  per  year  when  mailed  from  this  office. 

Recent  bound  volumes  one  dollar  each.    Earlier  ones  two  dollars. 

Reprinting  matter  from  this  paper  is  permitted  if  credited  to 

The , Locomotive  of  The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspectiox  &  Insuranxe  Co. 


Hower  Succeeds  Gleason  at  Cincinnati 

THE  many  friends  of  Mr.  William  E.  Gleason  among  the  clients 
and  agents  in  the  Cincinnati  territory  will  share  our  regret  at  his 
decision  to  relinquish  the  managership  of  the  Cincinnati  Depart- 
ment on  July  I.  Mr.  Gleason's  retirement  brings  to  an  end  a  service 
of  forty-one  years  which  commenced  in  1888  with  his  appointment 
as  special  agent.  For  the  past  twenty  years  he  has  been  manager  of  his 
department,  and  the  success  with  which  he  has  discharged  the  duties 
of  that  important  post  is  clearly  reflected  in  the  friendly  relations  which 
The  Hartford  has  enjoyed  with  those  it  serves  in  that  territory. 

Mr.  Frank  L.  Hower,  who  has  been  selected  as  Mr.  Gleason's  suc- 
cessor, has  been  Assistant  Manager  of  the  Philadelphia  Department 
for  several  years.  In  that  time  and  in  a  long  previous  term  in  other 
responsible  capacities,  he  has  acquired  an  experience  and  demonstrated 
qualities  wdiich  well  fit  him  for  the  post  to  which  he  is  now  advanced. 
In  turning  the  important  duties  of  managership  over  to  Mr.  Hower, 
the  Company  is  confident  that  he  will  perform  them  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  maintain  the  high  standard  of  service  prevailing  in  that  territory 
and  deserve  continuance  of  the  cordial  feeling  the  Company  enjoys  on 
the  part  of  its  clients  and  agents. 


^920  T  U  E     LOCOMOTIVE  213 

Erect  Tablet  to  Dean  of  Operating  Engineers 

IN  THE  old  Dutch  Reformed  churchyard  at  Belleville,  N.  J.,  a 
tahlet   now  marks  the  once  obscure  grave  of   Josiah   Hornblower, 

the  man  who  erected  the  first  steam  engine  in  America  and  was,  for 
several  years,  the  only  steam  operating  engineer  this  side  of  the  Atlantic. 
Even  among  members  of  the  craft  the  name  of  Hornblower  was  never 
widely  known.  Omitted  from  many  of  the  encyclopedias  and  from 
histories  of  the  steam  engine,  he  might  have  remained  in  perpetual  ob- 
scurity had  not  the  American  Branch  of  the  Newcomen  Society  accord- 
ed him  the  distinction  he  so  well  deserved.  Under  the  auspices  of  this 
society  a  distinguished  group  was  present  at  the  unveiling  ceremonies 
on  April  24. 

Hornblower,  an  Englishman,  was  engaged  with  his  father  and 
brother  in  the  business  of  erecting  engines  when,  in  1753,  he  was  com- 
missioned to  sail  to  America  and  set  up  an  engine  for  pumping  a  copper 
mine  on  the  shores  of  Newark'  Bay.  Impressed  by  his  thorough  knowl- 
edge of  the  strange  machine,  the  owners  prevailed  on  him  to  remain 
with  them  as  operating  engineer.  Thus  Hornblower  became  the  dean 
of  a  craft  which,  numbering  in  its  membership  the  thousands  of  operat- 
ing engineers  in  large  and  small  plants  throughout  the  country,  has 
played  an  important  part  in  creating  and  maintaining  the  American 
standard  of  living  made  possible  by  the  advent  of  mechanical  power. 

The  engine  which  Hornblower  erected  and  ran  was  of  the  New- 
comen design,  a  type  then  widely  used  in  England  to  pump  mines.  It 
continued  in  operation  for  years  and  stood  as  a  curiosity  many  years 
after  it  had  pumped  its  last  stroke.  But.  like  many  other  historic  relics, 
it  was  allowed  to  find  its  way  into  the  junk  heap  before  anyone  awoke 
to  a  realization  that  it  rightly  deserved  preservation  in  some  museum. 


To  Mark  Centennial  of  "  Stourbridge  Lion  " 

THE  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  Honesdale,  Pa.,  is  planning  a 
celebration  to  commemorate  the  centennial,  on  August  8th,  of 
the  first  successful  operation  of  a  steam-driven  locomotive  on 
the  Western  hemisphere.  The  locomotive  was  the  "  Stourbridge  Lion  " 
which  was  built  in  England  and  shipped  to  this  country  in  February, 
1829.  as  the  property  of  the  Delaware  and  Hudson  Canal  Company. 
A  year  before  that  the  company  had  built  a  railroad  from  its  coal 
mine  to  the  terminal  of  its  canal  at  Honesdale  and,  impressed  by  the 
performance  of  the  new  type  of  motive  power  then  making  its  appear- 
ance on  English  roads,  Assistant  Chief  Engineer  Horatio  Allen  went 


214 THE     LOCOMOTIVE J^ 

abroad  to  purchase  one  of  the  new  machines. 

It  was  Allen's  intention  to  secure  an  engine  of  not  more  than  a  ton 
and  a  quarter  on  a  wheel,  but  when  the  "  Lion  "  arrived  and  was 
assembled  at  the  West  Point  Foundry  in  New  York  it  was  found  to 
weigh  nearly  sixty  per  cent,  more  than  the  specifications  called  for. 
Lack  of  experience  on  the  part  of  the  builders  probably  accounted 
for  their  failure  to  estimate  the  weight  of  their  design  within  closer 
limits,  and  this  fact  virtually  forced  abandonment  of  the  "  Lion  "  after 
its  single  trial  trip.  The  track  and  the  trestles,  of  which  there  were 
several,  proved  inadequate  to  support  the  heavy  engine  and  so,  although 
it  demonstrated  the  practicability  of  the  steam-driven  locomotive,  it 
was  never  put  into  service. 

For  several  years  the  "  Lion  "  was  kept  in  storage  while  the  owners 
sought  a  buyer.  Eventually  the  boiler  was  removed  and  set  up  in  a 
foundry  at  Carbondale,  Pa.,  where  it  served  for  about  twenty  years. 


Plans  to  Make  Ocean  Run  Compressed  Air  Engine 

TNVENTORS  have  for  years  tried  to  coerce  the  ocean  into  giving 
up  the  energy  of  its  waves  toward  the  production  of  useful  work. 

Indeed,  machines  have  been  built  for  that  purpose  and  have  been 
destroyed  by  the  very  element  they  sought  to  control.  But  now  a 
Polish  inventor,  undaunted  by  the  difficulties  which  wrecked  the  hopes 
of  others,  claims  that  he  has  partly  solved  the  problem  by  means  of  a 
device  which,  mounted  on  a  ship,  utilizes  the  up  and  down  movement 
of  the  waves  for  storing  up  energy  in  the  form  of  compressed  air. 
The  latter,  in  turn,  is  to  be  used  to  drive  an  engine  and  create  electric 
energy  which,  no  doubt,  he  intends  to  put  into  a  storage  battery. 

Erecting  the  apparatus  on  shipboard  instead  of  on  fixed  foundations 
ashore  will  minimize  the  danger  of  its  being  destroyed  by  the  first 
storm  that  comes  along  but,  sad  to  say,  this  is  not  the  only  difficulty. 
If  it  were,  the  inventor  would  be  fortunate.  For  one  thing,  he  may 
find  it  quite  a  problem  to  maintain  air  pressure  for  his  engine  while 
the  ocean,  one  of  the  most  fickle  of  all  nature's  elements,  indulges  in 
one  of  its  occasional  spells  of  prolonged  quiescence.  And,  too,  he  will 
have  to  demonstrate  that  the  energy  output  warrants  the  cost  of  build- 
ing and  maintaining  units  of  commercial  size.  This  last  hurdle  is 
likely  to  prove  as  hard  to  surmount  as  those  of  a  purely  mechanical 
nature. 


The  diflference  between  a  pedestrian  and  a  jaywalker  is  this :    When  j'ou're 
walking  among  them  they're  pedestrians ;  when  you're  driving  they're  jaywalkers. 

— Detroit  Motor  Neivs. 


^939- THE     LOCOMOTIVE 215 

Taps  from  the  Old  Chief^s  Hammer 

A  LONE  in  the  office  an  hour  before  the  usual  opening  time,  Assist- 
/-%  ant  Chief  Inspector  Tom  Preble  was  working  through  a  bunch 
of  inspection  reports  when  the  Old  Chief  sauntered  in  and  flung 
himself  wearily  into  a  chair. 

"  Just  look  at  that,  Tom,"  he  demanded,  holding  up  a  felt  hat  so 
^rimy  that  it  might  have  seen  service  in  a  boiler  room.  "And  these 
clothes,  too,"  he  added,  gloomily  regarding  the  bedraggled  remains  of 
a  light  summer  suit. 

Tom's  astonished  gaze  roved  from  the  disreputable  head  covering 
to  the  wrinkled  and  grease-marked  trousers  that  had  been  just  about 
the  last  word  in  sartorial  splendor  when  the  Chief  left  the  office  the 
-evening   before. 

"  Where  have  you  been?  "  he  gasped. 

"  Son,"  grinned  the  old  fellow,  amused  at  Tom's  amazement,  "  I've 
been  up  all  night  tracking  down  a  ghost  at  the  Imperial  Hotel."  Then, 
sensing  that  this  enigmatic  statement  conveyed  no  information  to  his 
puzzled  understudy,  the  Chief  told  his  story. 

"Along  about  eleven  o'clock  last  night  Andy  Ferguson,  the  hotel 
engineer,  'phoned  me  to  come  down  and  take  a  look  at  that  elevator 
pump  we  insure  for  them.  I  wasn't  keen  on  being  steered  away  from 
bed  at  that  time  of  night  but  Andy  insisted  that  the  steam  pump  was 
about  ready  to  break  down  and  tie  up  their  elevator,  so  I  told  him 
I'd  run  right  down  and  see  what,  if  anything,  could  be  done  about  it. 
When  I  arrived  I  found  out  that  the  trouble  really  wasn't  in  the  pump 
at  all,  but  that's  a  part  of  the  story  I'll  explain  later. 

"  It  seems  that  a  knock  had  developed  in  the  hydraulic  elevator  sys- 
tem —  a  knock  so  annoying  to  the  guests  that  they  were  complaining 
to  the  manager.  Ferguson  stayed  up  all  one  night  trying  to  diagnose 
the  trouble  and  the  only  explanation  he  could  think  of  was  that  some- 
thing had  gone  wrong  inside  the  pump. 

"  The  hydraulic  layout  down  there  consists  of  a  large  open  tank  in 
the  attic  which  supplies  water  to  the  elevator  ram-chamber  through  a 
ten-inch  pipe.  To  lower  the  elevator,  water  is  discharged  from  the  ram- 
chamber  into  a  sump  tank  in  the  basement.  From  there  it  is  picked 
up  by  a  duplex  steam  pump  controlled  automatically  by  a  float  in  the 
sump  tank,  and  pumped  up  through  another  ten-inch  pipe  into  the 
open  tank  in  the  attic.  To  support  this  ten-inch  pipe  they  have  run  it 
down  to  the  basement  floor  and  anchored  it  in  the  cement.  Three  feet 
above  the  floor  they  have  a  sweep  tee  from  which  a  connection  goes  to 


2i6 THE     LOCOMOTIVE J^. 

the  pump.  The  vertical  run  of  pipe  below  the  tee  is  blanked  off  so 
as  not  to  leave  a  dead-end  pocket  at  the  foot  of  the  pipe. 

"  While  we  were  standing  there  talking,  the  pump  started.  It  hadn't 
made  more  than  two  or  three  strokes  when  we  heard  a  metallic  knock- 
ing that  appeared  to  be  in  that  vertical  return  pipe  leading  up  to  the 
tank  in  the  attic.  Tap,  tap,  tap  went  the  noise,  and  the  mysterious  part 
about  it  was  that  it  didn't  stop  when  the  pump  stopped.  For  several 
seconds  after  the  pump  shut  down  the  same  regular  tap,  tapping  con- 
tinued. On  the  next  trip  of  the  elevator  the  performance  was  repeated. 
The  knock  wasn't  a  water-hammer;  both  of  us  were  satisfied  of  that, 
yet  we  couldn't  for  the  life  of  us  say  just  what  it  did  sound  like. 

"  I  guess  we  must  have  fiddled  around  there  for  an  hour,  listening 
and  arguing,  until  all  at  once  my  mind  flashed  back  over  a  space  of  at 
least  fifty  years  to  a  time  when,  as  a  youngster,  I  tossed  a  tin  disc  intO' 
a  pond  and  was  impressed  by  the  fact  that  instead  of  sinking  straight 
down  like  a  plummet,  it  descended  gradually,  moving  from  side  to  side. 
Right  away  it  occurred  to  me  that  there  might  be  just  such  a  disc  in  the 
vertical  run  of  pipe  —  a  disc  that  zig-zagged  up  from  one  side  of  the 
pipe  to  the  other  as  the  pump  forced  water  upward,  and  zig-zagged 
downward  again  when  the  pump  stopped. 

"  Ferguson,  too,  thought  there  might  be  something  in  my  theory, 
although  he  couldn't  figure  out  how  such  a  thing  could  have  gotten  into 
the  pipe,  since  as  far  as  he  knew  none  of  the  plates  from  the  plate 
valves  or  discs  from  the  pump  valves  were  missing.  Well,  anyway, 
to  test  out  our  assumption  we  held  open  the  steam  valve  the  next  time 
the  pump  started,  allowing  the  pump  to  make  perhaps  a  dozen  strokes 
more  than  it  made  ordinarily.  Sure  enough,  whatever  was  in  the  pipe 
seemed  to  go  right  on  up  and  disappear  into  the  tank  at  the  top. 

"  Right  then  was  the  time  for  us  to  call  quits,  but  neither  one  of  us 
had  enough  sense  to  do  that.  Nothing  would  satisfy  us  but  to  wait  until 
the  elevator  stopped  for  the  night  and  then  drain  some  of  the  water  out 
of  the  attic  tank  and  fish  out  whatever  it  was  that  had  caused  all  the 
trouble.  Getting  that  valve  disc  out  was  what  messed  me  up  like  this. 
If  I  hadn't  been  so  all-fired  insistent  on  proving  my  theory  correct 
I'd  have  avoided  that  and  got  a  good  night's  sleep  in  the  bargain." 

"  You  didn't  finish  up  until  just  before  you  came  in  here  a  few 
minutes  ago?"  queried  Tom. 

"  Well,  not  exactly,"  confessed  the  Chief,  standing  up  and  adjust- 
ing his  hat  at  a  jaunty  angle.  "  We  finished  up  along  about  four 
o'clock,  but  by  the  time  we'd  had  a  snack  from  the  chef's  pantry  and 
smoked  a  cig^ar  it  didn't  look  like  there  was  much  use  going  home." 


'9-'9  THE     LOCOMOTIVE  217 


Tom  smiled  as  the  old  fellow  went  out  the  door,  botind  homeward 
to  change  his  clothes  and  explain  the  all-night  absence.  "  I'll  bet  a 
nickle,"  he  chuckled,  "  the  old  man  got  more  satisfaction  out  of  nailing 
■down  that  '  ghost '  than  out  of  a  full  night's  sleep." 


Weight  Cut,    Diesel  Now  Enters  the  Airplane  Field 

f^r^  HE  handicap  that  has  kept  the  Diesel  engine  from  competing 
I  with  its  gasoline  cousin  in  the  aircraft  industry  is  gradually 
being  whittled  down.  At  least  one  concern,  the  Packard  Motor 
Car  Company,  has  actually  flown  a  plane  powered  by  a  Diesel  weighing 
but  slightly  more  than  three  pounds  per  horsepower,  and  several  others 
are  experimenting  with  oil-engines  light  enough  for  use  in  heavier-than- 
air  flying  machines. 

Weight  has  been  the  chief  factor  barring  this  fast-growing  field  to 
the  Diesel.  If  that  disadvantage  can  be  overcome  there  is  a  good 
possibility  that  the  Diesel,  favored  by  such  features  as  low  fuel  cost, 
simplicity  of  fuel  admission  and  ignition  systems,  a  minimum  of  work- 
ing parts  to  get  out  of  order,  and  reasonable  freedom  from  the  fire 
hazard,  may  force  the  gasoline  engine  to  relinquish  its  tight  monopoly 
in  the  field  of  small,  mobile  power  units. 

The  indications  are  that  in  order  to  cut  down  the  pounds-per- 
horsepower  weight  it  will  be  necessary  to  increase  speed  from  the  200 
or  300  r.  p.  m.  of  the  stationary  power-plant  Diesel  to  around  1,500  or 
even  2,000  r.  p.  m.  and,  at  the  same  time,  to  go  in  for  higher  com- 
pression ratios.  Whereas  the  ordinary  Diesel  has  a  maximum  cylinder 
pressure  of  about  500  pounds  per  square  inch  during  combustion  of  the 
charge  —  which  is  about  the  same  as  in  the  gasoline  engine  —  the  new 
Packard  Diesel  is  said  to  operate  at  a  maximum  unit  pressure  of  some- 
thing like  1,200  pounds.  Naturally,  a  structure  adequate  to  withstand 
alternating  stresses  of  such  magnitude  must  be  stronger  than  that  re- 
quired in  the  gasoline  engine.  To  provide  strength  and  at  the  same 
time  keep  down  weight  it  seems  obvious  that  where  steel,  iron,  or  alloy 
castings  do  very  nicely  for  certain  parts  of  the  gasoline  engine,  cor- 
responding parts  of  the  airplane  Diesel  will  have  to  be  machined  from 
the  strongest  steel  obtainable,  and  dimensions  shaved  down  to  the 
minimum  sufficient  for  safety.  The  added  manufacturing  expense  thus 
involved  will  be  one  of  the  points  in  which  the  Diesel  will  be  at  a 
disadvantage  in  competition  with  the  gasoline  motor,  but  other  features 
may  more  than  make  up  for  it.  In  reciting  the  advantages  of  the 
Diesel  for  aircraft  The  Scientific  American  recentlv  had  this  to  sav: 


2i8  THE     LOCOMOTIVE  J^iy^ 


"  The  gain  in  simplicity  by  the  use  of  the  Diesel  is  shown  by  the 
following  facts:  —  In  the  typical  gasoline  engine  (of  9  cylinders) 
there  are  two  separate  magnetos,  18  ignition  wires,  18  spark  plugs,  and 
an  ignition  switch.  There  is  an  aggregate  of  perhaps  1,000  individual 
parts  making  up  the  ignition  system.  In  the  Diesel,  with  its  automatic 
ignition,  no  additional  parts  of  any  kind  are  required.  Continuous 
ignition  is  assured  just  as  long  as  the  engine  is  operating.  Furthermore, 
the  ignition  system  of  each  Diesel  cylinder  is  entirely  independent  of 
the  ignition  system  in  any  other  cylinder. 

"  Now  compare  the  fuel  supply  systems.  The  conventional  nine- 
cylinder  gasoline  engine  is  dependent  on  perhaps  a  single  carburetor  — 
at  best  on  a  triple-barrel  carburetor.  Even  with  the  triple  carburetor, 
there  are  only  three  independent  carburetion  systems,  the  failure  of  any 
one  of  which  will  result  in  the  loss  of  one-third  of  the  operating  cylin- 
ders. In  the  Diesel,  each  cylinder  receives  fuel  from  an  independent 
pump,  thus  making  it  impossible  for  a  clogged  fuel  line  to  impair  the 
performance  of  more  than  one  cylinder. 

"  Comparing  fire  hazards,  we  find  that  the  fire  point  of  gasoline  is 
below  zero.  Fahrenheit;  for  heavy  fuel  used  in  the  Diesel  it  is  175, 
degrees,  Fahrenheit 

"  Heavy  fuel  oil  is  much  cheaper  than  gasoline.  With  aviation, 
gasoline  at  19.8  cents  a  gallon,  the  cost  is  1.7  cents  per  brake  horse- 
power hour.  With  the  Diesel  engine,  the  corresponding  cost  is  0.36 
cents  per  brake  horsepower  hour,  or  about  one  fifth  as  much. 

"Another  interesting  point  in  the  Diesel  is  the  fact  that  it  will 
operate  successfully  in  any  position.  All  engines  using  carburetors 
are  dependent  upon  gravity  as  far  as  correct  functioning  of  the  car- 
buretor is  concerned.  With  the  Diesel,  worry  as  to  the  position  in  a 
steep  climb  or  in  stunting  is  entirely  eliminated." 

However,  in  our  enthusiasm  at  the  prospect  of  a  more  general  use 
of  low-fuel-cost  Diesels  it  will  not  do  to  overlook  the  important  features 
in  which  the  gasoline  engine  is  still  superior.  In  the  matter  of  flexibility 
the  Diesel  is  at  a  great  disadvantage.  Moreover,  starting  a  Diesel 
when  it  is  cold  is  by  no  means  as  simple  a  matter  as  starting  a 
gasoline  engine.  Due  to  high  compression  considerable  torque  is  required 
to  "  kick  "  the  motor  over.  Packard  engineers  have  not  divulged  the 
method  by  which  they  have  solved  this  problem,  but  persons  who  wit- 
nessed a  recent  demonstration  at  Langley  Field  are  of  the  opinion  that 
the  starting  impulse  was  supplied  by  the  explosion  of  a  powder  cartridge 
in  one  of  the  cylinders. 

But  all  in  all  the  prospects  for  the  Diesel's  wider  use  seem  bright. 


^929- THE     LOCOMOTI  VE 2^ 

So  much  progress  has  hcen  made  in  the  last  few  years  that  the  engine 
whose  usefuhiess  once  seemed  Hmited  to  power  plants  and  ship  propul- 
sion now  looms  as  a  serious  future  competitor  to  the  gasoline  engine  in 
both  the  airplane  and  automotive  fields. 


Open  Heater  Explodes  When  Vent  Clogs 

r^r^HE  possibility  of  an  explosion  resulting  from  the  accidental 
I  stopping-up  of  the  pipe  through  which  a  vessel  designed  for  heat- 
ing water  at  atmospheric  pressure  is  vented  to  the  open  air  was 
demonstrated  recently  when  such  an  accident  caused  extensive  prop- 
erty damage  at  the  plant  of  Hindc  &  Dauch  Paper  Company,  Muncie, 
Indiana. 

The  vessel  was  a  vertical  tank  or  tub  eight  feet  in  diameter  and 
seven  feet  high,  made  of  half -inch  shell  plate  with  a  double-riveted 
lap  seam.  Flat  heads  were  riveted  to  3"  x  3"  x  3/2"  angle-irons  which 
were  bent  around  and  riveted  to  the  shell  at  top  and  bottom.  Eighteen 
similar  angle-irons,  placed  back  to  back  in  pairs,  were  riveted  across 
the  heads  for  reinforcement. 

The  tank  was  arranged  to  utilize  exhaust  steam  from  an  engine  to 
heat  water  for  the  pulp  beaters.  However,  at  times  the  exhaust  did 
not  heat  the  water  sufficiently,  so  there  was  another  connection  which 
furnished  live  steam  at  40  pounds  pressure.  A  3J/2"  vent  pipe  in  the 
top  head  provided  free  access  to  the  atmosphere  and,  to  all  appearances, 
made  it  impossible  for  pressure  to  build  up  within  the  tank.  For  that 
reason  the  plant  carried  no  insurance  on  this  particular  object,  although 
all  other  pressure  tanks  were  insured. 

In  some  way  the  vent  pipe  became  clogged,  pressure  inside  the  tank 
increasing  until,  without  warning,  the  angle-iron  holding  the  lower  head 
gave  way  and  allowed  the  tank  to  shoot  up  through  the  roof.  For- 
tunately, there  were  no  casualties,  but  damage  to  the  building,  equip- 
ment, and  stock  ran  into  thousands  of  dollars. 

So  badly  were  the  tank  and  vent  pipe  twisted  and  torn  that  a  search 
to  find  the  direct  cause  of  the  stoppage  was  futile.  It  is  supposed  that 
a  board  or  some  other  foreign  object  found  its  way  into  the  tank  and 
eventually  lodged  against  the  mouth  of  the  vent.  Another  possibility 
is  that  vapor  may  have  frozen  and  formed  a  plug  of  ice  in  the  upper 
end  of  the  pipe.  Whatever  the  cause,  the  case  serves  to  bring  home 
forcibly  the  necessity  of  taking  every  precaution  to  prevent  the  acci- 
dental blocking  ofT  of  a  vent  when  steam  under  pressure  is  admitted 
to  a  tank  intended  to  serve  as  an  open  heater. 


220 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE  J"^y. 


Caught  in  the  Separator 

KNOWLEDGE  STRIDES  ON  RELENTLESSLY 

"  South  Amboy  Rotarians  Hear  About  Electricity."  —  Headline  in  the  Perth 
Amboy   (N.  J.)    Evcmng  Neves. 

So  far,  so  good,  but  are  they  to  be  kept  in  the  dark  about  the  World  War 
and  wireless  telegraphy? 


A  flying  rumor  never  has  any  trouble  in  making  a  landing.  —  Arkansas  Ga::ctfc. 


HERE'S    HOW   CHINESE   TEACH    SAFETY 
Chinese  jay-walkers  are  being  educated  by  professional  story  tellers,  employed 

by  the  government,  who  deliver  talks  on  the   Shanghai  streets.     Here  is  one  of 

their  tales  — 

"  Now,  the  swift  motor  car  and  the  clanging  street  car  are  just  like  tigers, 

and  if  you  do  not  take  care  to  watch  the  policeman  at  the  corner  and  obey  his 

signals  you  will  not  live  to  grow  up  and  acquire  many  sons,  but  will  be  killed. 

and  your  sons,  too,  so  that  your  ancestral  tablets  will  be  unattended.     The  road 

is  like  a  tiger's  mouth  —  from  its  center  keep  away." 


OR  WEAR  NOTHING  BUT 
"Dad,  what  is  an  advertisement?" 

"  An  advertisement  is  a  picture  of  a  pretty  girl,  eating,  wearing,  holding,  or 
driving  something  that  somebody  wants  to  sell." 


HE  ADMITS  IT 

"  Any  luck?  "  asked  a  curious  individual  looking  over  the  rail  of  the  bridge. 

"Any  luck?"  asked  the  fisherman  below.  "Why,  I  caught  40  bass  out  of  here 
yesterday." 

"  Say,  do  you  know  who  I  am?  "  asked  the  man  on  the  bridge. 

The  fisherman  replied  that  he  did  not. 

"  Well,  I  am  the  fish  and  game  warden." 

The  fisherman,  after  a  moment's  thought,  said :  "  Say,  do  you  know  who 
I  am?  " 

"  No,"  replied  the  ofTicer. 

"  Well,  I'm  the  biggest  liar  in  the  country." 


THE  LAST  WORD   IN   DINNER  ORATORY 
Mr.    Welch   had   been   dining   out    six   nights    in   succession.     On   the   seventh 
night  he  turned  up  at   home   for   the  evening  meal.    When  he  was   seated,   Mrs. 
Welch  then  rose  and  addressed  the  other  occupants  of  the  table : 

"  Children,  we  have  with  us  tonight  a  guest  of  whom  you  have  all  heard, 
even  if  you  do  not  know  him  personally.  He  is  a  man  who  has  a  reputation  for 
good  cheer  in  every  club  in  the  city,  and  this  evening  we  are  to  have  the  honor 
and  pleasure  of  being  numbered  among  the  admirers  of  his  entertaining  qualities. 
It  is  with  the  greatest  pleasure  that  I  present  to  you  —  your  father !  " 


DARKY  GREETINGS 

During  the  war  the  officers  frequently  had  difficulty  in  getting  the  proper 
salutes  from  the  negro  recruits.  One  bright  morning  a  negro  private  met  the 
colonel  of  his  regiment  and  greeted  him  with  "  Howdy,  boss." 

There  followed  a  long  tirade  from  the  officer  on  the  correct  way  to  salute. 
The  other  listened  in  silence,  scratching  his  head  in  perplexity.  Finally  he  inter- 
runted  long  enough  to  say ;  "  Land's  sakes,  boss  if  Ah'd  thought  you  was  goin' 
to  feel  so  brd  about  it,  Ah  wouldn't  have  spoke  to  you  a-tall." 


1929. 


THE     LOCOMOTIVE 


221 


SUMMARY  OF  INSPECTOR'S   WORK   FOR  1927 

Number  of  visits  of  inspection  made  (boilers  and  engines)       .         .  279,805 

Total  number  of  boilers  examined           ......  528,361 

Number  of  boilers    inspected    internally            .....  188,589 

Number  of  boilers   tested   by   hydrostatic  pressure           .         .         .  12,894 

Number  of  boilers  found  to  be  uninsurable     .....  1,061 

Number  of  shop    boilers    inspected          ......  22,417 

Number  of  premises  where  pipe  lines  were  inspected       .                   .  27,445 

Total  number  of  engines  and  wheels  examined       ....  57,i75 

Number  of  uninsurable  engines  and  wheels     .....  128 


Su.M.\i.\RY  OF  Defects  Discovered 

Nature  of  Defects. 
Cases  of  sediment  or  loose  scale  and  adhering  scale 
Cases  of  grooving  and  internal  and  external  corrosion 
Cases  of  defective   bracing 
Cases  of  defective    staybolting 
Settings  defective       .... 
Fractured  plates  and  heads 
Burned  plates    ..... 
Laminated   plates        .... 
Cases  of  defective    riveting 
Cases  of  leakage  around  tubes  and  defective  tubes  and  flues 
Cases  of  leakage  at  seams 
Water  gauges  defective 
Blow-offs  defective    .... 
Cases  of  low  water  .... 
Safety  valves  overloaded  or  defective 
Pressure   gauges   defective   or   missing 
Miscellaneous    defects    in   boilers 
Flywheels    found   overspeeded    . 
Cases  of  cracks  found  in  engine  parts  and  wheels 
Defective   governors  ..... 

Miscellaneous  defects   in   engines   and  wheels    . 


Whole 

Danger- 

Number. 

ous. 

78,972 

4.256 

45,435 

2,530 

792 

221 

3.934 

769 

8,981 

960 

3,162 

552 

3.169 

439 

191 

33 

1.427 

234 

28,099 

6,705 

6,091 

500 

3.875 

702 

5.117 

1,441 

-!74 

297 

3,231 

843 

7,004 

679 

9,115 

907 

64 

7 

564 

211 

298 

151 

34 

0 

Grand  Total  of  the  Inspectors'  Work  on  Boilers  from  the  Time  the 
Company  Began  Business  to  January  i,  1928 


Visits  of   inspection   made        ..... 

Whole  number  of  inspections   (both  internal  and  ext.) 

Complete    internal    inspections  .... 

Boilers   tested   by   hydrostatic   pressure    . 

Total  number  of  boilers    condemned 

Total  number  of  defects    discovered 

Total  number  of  dans^erous   defects    discovered 


6,648,030 

13.111.402 

5.072.148 

458,518 

36,794 

7,038,903 

.789.380 


The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection  and  Insurance  Company 


56  Prospect  Street 
HARTFORD,  CONN. 


ABSTRACT  OF  STATEMENT,  DECEMBER  31,   1928 

Capital  Stock,  .  .  $3,000,000.00 

ASSETS 

Cash  in  offices  and  banks $        599.693- 18 

300,423.66 


Real  Estate  .... 

Mortgage  and  collateral   loans    . 

Bonds  and  Stocks 

Premiums  in  course  of  collection 

Interest    accrued 

Other    Assets      .... 

Total    Assets 

LIABILITIES 

Reserve   for   unearned   premiums 

Reserve   for   losses      ...... 

Reserve  for  taxes  and  other  contingencies 
Capital    Stock      ....... 

Surplus  over  all  liabilities    .... 

Surplus  to  Policyholders 

Total 


1,296,386.75 

i7>475>629-38 

1,288,819.44 

151,132.41 

18,205.76 

$    21,130,290.58 


$     8,619,119.83 
377,212.80 

1.894,758.35 


$3,000,000.00 
7.239,199-60 


$10,239,199-06 

.    $  21,130,290.58 


CHARLES   S.  BLAKE,  Chairman  Board  of  Directors 
WILLIAM   R.  C.   CORSON,   President  and  Treasurer 


BOARD   OF   DIRECTORS 


LUCIUS  F.  ROBINSON,  Attorney,  Hart- 
ford,  Conn. 

JOHN    O.    ENDERS,    Chairman    Board    of 

Directors,    Hartford    National    Bank    & 

Trust    Co.,    Hartford,    Conn. 
MORGAN      B.       BR.MNARD,      President 

^tna     Life     Insurance     Co.,     Hartford, 

Conn. 

CHARLES  P.  COOLEY.  Chairman  Board 
of  Trustees,  Society  for  Savings,  Hart- 
ford,   Conn. 

HORACE  B.  CHENEY,  Cheney  Brothers, 
Silk  Manufacturers,  South  Manchester, 
Conn. 

D.  NEWTON  BARNEY.  Vice-President 
The  Hartford  Electric  Light  Co.,  Hart- 
ford,   Conn. 

DR.  GEORGE  C.  F.  WILLIAMS,  Presi- 
dent The  Capewell  Horse  Nail  Co., 
Hartford,    Conn. 

JOSEPH  R.  ENSIGN'.  President  The 
Ensign-Bickford    Co.,    Simsbury.    Conn. 


EDWARD  MILLIGAN.  President  Phoenix 
Insurance     Co.,    Hartford,    Conn. 

CHARLES  S.  BLAKE.  Chairman  Board  of 
Directors,  The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler 
Inspection  and  Insurance  Co.,  Hart- 
ford,   Conn. 

WM.  R.  C.  CORSON.  President  The  Hart- 
ford Steam  Boiler  Inspection  and  In- 
surance   Co.,    Hartford,    Conn. 

SAMUEL  M.  STONE,  President  Colt's 
Patent  Fire  Arms  Mfg.  Co.,  Hartford, 
Conn. 

SAMUEL  FERGUSON,  President  The 
Hartford  Electric  Light  Co.,  Hartford, 
Conn. 

HON.  JOHN  H.  TRUMBULL,  President 
The  Trumbull  Electric  Mfg.  Co.,  Tlain- 
ville.    Conn. 

CURTISS  C.  GARDINER.  Vice-President 
The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection 
and  Insurance  Company,  80  Maiden 
Lane,    New    York.    N.    Y. 


Incorporated  1866 


Charter  Perpetual 


Department 
ATLANTA,  Ga.  .         . 

1103-1106  Atlanta    Trust    Bldg 

BALTIMORE,  Md.,  . 
S   South   St.      . 

BOSTON,  Mass., 

4   Liberty    Sq.    Cor.   Water    St 

BRIDGEPORT,  Conn., 
404-405  City  Savings  Bank  Elds, 

CHICAGO,  111., 
209  West  Jackson  Boulevard 

CINCINNATI,   Ohio. 
First  National  Bank  Bldg. 

CLEVELAND,   Ohio. 
Leader   Bldg.    . 

DENVER,  Colo., 

916-918    Gas    &    Electric    Bids 

DETROIT,  Mich.,       . 

2401-7   First   Nat'l   Bank   Bldg 

HARTFORD,  Conn., 
56  Prospect  St. 

NEW  ORLEANS,  La.,       . 
1128  Hibernia   Bank  Bldg. 

NEW  YORK.   X.  Y.. 
80  Maiden  Lane 

PHILADELPHIA,   Pa..     . 
429  Walnut  St. 

PITTSBURGH,  Pa., 
igo7-8-9-io   Arrott    Bldg. 

ST.  LOUIS,  Mo.,       . 
319  North  Fourth  St. 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  Cal..  . 
114  Sansome  St. 

SEATTLE,  Wash.,      . 
423    Dexter-Horton    Bldg. 

TORONTO.    Canada, 
Federal  Bldg. 


Representatives 
W.   M.  Fr.^iN'CIS,   Manager. 
C.  R.   ScMMER.s,  Chief  Inspector. 

Lawford  &  McKiM  Inc.,  General  Agents. 
P.  E.   Terroy,  Chief  Inspector. 

W.\RD  I.   Cornell,  Manager. 
W.   A.   Bayuss,  Chief   Inspector. 

W.  G.  Lineburgh  &  Son,  General  Ageiits. 
A.  E.  BoNNETT,  Chief  Inspector. 

P.  M.  Murray,  Manager. 

J.    P.   Morrison,   Chief   Inspector. 

F".    L.    HowER,    Manager. 

W.  E.  Glennon,  Chief  Inspector. 

A.    Paul   Graham,    Manager. 
J.    F.    HuN.,    Chief    Inspector. 

J.   H.   Chesnutt, 

Manager  and  Chief  Inspector. 

L.   L.   CoATES,   Alanager. 

Thomas  P.  Hetu,  Chief  Inspector. 

F.  H.  Kenyon,  General  Agent. 
A.  E.  Bonnet,  Chief  Inspector. 

R.  T.  Burwell,  Mgr.  and  Chief  Inspector. 
E.   Unsworth,  Ass't  Chief   Inspector. 

C.   C.  Gardiner,  Vice-President. 
E.  Mason  Parry,  Chief  Inspector. 

A.  S.  WiCKHAM,  Manager. 
S.   B.   Adams,   Chief   Inspector. 

George  S.  Reynolds,  Manager. 
J.   A.   Snyder,   Chief   Inspector. 

Chas.    D.    Ashcroft,    Manager. 
Eugene  Webb,   Chief  Inspector. 

C.  B.  Paddock,  Manager. 
L.  J.  Reed,  Chief  Inspector. 

E.  G.  Watson, 

Manager  and  Chief  Inspector. 

H.  N.  Roberts,  President  The  Boiler  In- 
spection and  Insurance  Company  of 
Canada. 


A- 


"  I  draw 

no  conclusions 

but  such  as 

are  naturally 

deduced  from 

known  and 

visible  facts, 

and  such  will 

always  have 

a  being  while  the  facts  which  produced 

them  remain 

unaltered," 

. 

—  Thomas  Paine 

Vol.  XXXVIl  No.  S 


October  1929 


A  QUARTERLY  MAGAZINE 
DEVOTED  TO  POWER  PLANT  PROTECTION 


Published  continuously  since     1867 

by  The   Hartford  Steam   Boiler 

Inspection  and  Insurance 

Company 


Please  show  to  your  Engineer 


226 THE       LOCOMOTIVE  October, 

Experts   Dififer   on  Theory  That   Caustic   Embrittlement 
Caused  Violent  Explosion  at  Crossett,  Ark. 

WEAKENED  by  an  agency  which  one  expert  claimed  was 
caustic  embrittlement  and  another  claimed  was  not,  a  com- 
paratively new  water  tube  boiler  exploded  with  tremendous 
violence  at  the  Crossett  Lumber  Company,  Crossett,  Arkansas,  on 
May  30th,  killing  one  man  and  injuring  four  others.  The  explosion 
demolished  half  the  boiler  house,  wrecked  a  companion  boiler  com- 
pletely, and  badly  damaged  a  third.  Property  damage  was  estimated 
at  $150,000. 

The  power  plant  was  erected  in  1922,  and  it  not  only  served  the 
saw  mills,  planing  mills  and  other  properties  of  the  company  but,  in 
addition,  supplied  light  and  steam  heat  for  the  entire  town.  It  con- 
sisted of  six  water  tube  boilers  of  the  bent  tube,  two-drum  type  operat- 
ing at  a  pressure  of  225  lbs.,  and  four  turbo-generator  condensing 
units  of  an  aggregate  capacity  of  5,250  kw.  This  plant  took  the 
place  of  24  fire  tube  boilers  and  several  reciprocating  engines  that 
had  been  located  at  strategic  points  throughout  the  mill.  As  engines 
and  boilers  had  been  in  use  for  many  years  and  were  in  need  of  ex- 
tensive overhauling,  the  owners  decided  to  electrify  the  mill  and  supply 
current  from  an  up-to-date  central  power  house. 

For  two  years  after  the  new  plant  was  put  into  use,  it  used  raw 
pond  water  for  condensing  and  for  boiler  makeup.  However,  this 
water  contained  considerable  scale  forming  material  and,  when  the 
pond  level  was  low  during  dry  seasons,  it  picked  up  an  appreciable 
amount  of  mud  and  vegetable  matter,  as  well.  Consequently,  in  1925, 
the  owners  installed  a  deconcentrator  system  accompanied  by  lime 
and  soda  treatment,  thereby  eliminating  the  trouble  resulting  from 
feeding  dirty  steam  to  the  turbine,  and  reducing  scale  formation  in  the 
boilers. 

The  sudden  and  disastrous  explosion  of  Boiler  No.  6  came  without 
any  previous  indication  that  a  dangerous  defect  had  developed.  The 
initial  failure  was  along  the  longitudinal  seam  of  the  lower  drum,  which 
opened  up  from  end  to  end ;  both  heads  of  the  drum  blew  out,  and  the 
upper  drum  and  tubes  rocketed  into  the  air,  descending  amid  the 
debris.  Boiler  No.  5.  was  hurled  from  its  setting  and  crushed  beyond 
hope  of  salvage,  while  Boiler  No.  4  was  damaged  so  badly  that  it 
was  permanently  retired.  The  fireman  met  death  instantly,  and  the 
four  plant  laborers  who  were  injured  probably  owe  their  lives  to  the 
fact  that  they  were  not  exposed  to  the  direct  force  of  the  blast. 

Two  independent  investigations  were  made  to  determine  the  cause 


1929. 


THE     LOCOMOTIVE 


227 


of  the  explosion.  Mr.  F.  G.  Straub,  a  faculty  member  at  the  Engineer- 
ing Experiment  Station  of  the  Ihiiversity  of  Illinois,  and  recognized, 
by  reason  of  his  extensive  research,  as  an  authority  on  caustic  embrittle- 
ment,  found  conclusive  evidence  of  caustic  action.  On  the  other  hand, 
physical  and  chemical  tests  conducted  by  the  Detroit  Testing  Labora- 
tory convinced  experts  of  that  organization  that  the  sample  of  plate 
submitted  to  them  had  not  been  embrittled  by  caustic. 

Mr.    Straul)    found   that   the   sample   of   plate   which   he   examined 
showed  numerous  embrittlement  cracks,  and  that  the  boiler  water  was 


of  the  same  type  that  had  been  found  in  embrittled  boilers.  In  his 
opinion,  the  Crosset  boiler  was  weakened  by  embrittlement  cracks 
which  undoubtedly  caused  the  explosion. 

In  discussing  the  nature  of  the  water  supply  and  the  effect  pro- 
duced by  treating  the  water  with  soda  ash,  Mr.  Straub  said  that  the 
water  was  of  the  surface  variety  and  naturally  low  in  sulphate.  The 
addition  of  soda  ash  caused  a  total  alkalinity  of  about  50  grains  per 
gallon,  which,  because  of  the  very  meagre  sulphate  content,  produced 
a  sodium  sulphate-to-total  alkalinity  ratio  of  about  one  to  three.  Ac- 
cording to  recommendations  of  the  A.  S.  M.  E.  boiler  code,  the  sulphate- 
to-carbonate  ratio  should  have  been  at  least  two  to  one.  In  other  words, 
he  was  of  the  opinion  that  the  water  as  used  at  the  Crosset  plant  needed 


228  THE       LOCOMOTIVE  October, 

a  great  deal  more  sulphate  in  order  to  render  harmless  the  soda  ash 
which  was  injected  during  the  softening  treatment. 

An  interesting  point  in  connection  with  this  embrittlement  failure  — 
if  embrittlement  was  at  the  root  of  the  explosion  —  is  that  the  boiler 
was  caulked  both  inside  and  out.  Sessions  Engineering  Company,  the 
consulting  engineers  that  installed  the  plant,  were  of  the  opinion  that 
the  outside  caulking  may  have  actually  contributed  to  the  continued 
concentration  of  alkali  in  the  seam  by  preventing  the  tell-tale  out- 
side stain  which  sometimes  gives  warning  of  what  is  taking  place. 

There  was  no  thought  on  the  part  of  any  of  the  investigators  to 
place  the  blame  on  either  the  design,  material,  or  workmanship  of  the 
boiler,  nor  was  there  any  evidence  that  the  boilers  had  not  been  operated 
carefully.  In  fact,  the  same  make  of  boiler  was  selected  to  replace  the 
ones  which  were  destroyed.  It  was  decided  that  drums  on  the  three 
undamaged  boilers  should  be  replaced  before  these  boilers  were  put 
back  into  service. 

Several    Fatalities    Involved    in    Recent    Heating    Boiler 
Explosions  in  Apartments  and  Homes 

ONE  person  was  crushed  to  death  and  several  others  had  ex- 
tremely narrow  escapes  when,  on  June  26th,  the  explosion  of 
a  welded  steel  heating  boiler  demolished  one  wing  of  the  Cevera 
Apartments,  an  80-family  house  in  Detroit,  Mich.  The  extraordinary 
violence  with  which  the  boiler  went  up  is  shown  by  Figure  i.  A  three- 
story  brick  wall  was  blown  to  pieces,  floors  were  torn  loose  from  their 
fastenings,  and  heavy  pieces  of  furniture  were  left  hanging  pre- 
cariously on  supports  that  were  in  immediate  danger  of  collapse. 
Damage  to  the  refrigeration  system  released  a  flood  of  sulphur  dioxide 
gas  that  hampered  efforts  by  firemen  to  subdue  a  small  blaze  started 
by  the  explosion. 

The  mother  of  a  nine-months-old  baby  was  buried  under  a  pile 
of  debris  and  was  killed  instantly.  By  some  strange  twist  of  fate, 
however,  neither  the  child  nor  its  father  was  injured,  although  they 
were  with  the  mother  in  an  apartment  directly  over  the  boiler  room. 
The  man  was  blown  clear  of  the  falling  wall  and  landed  safely  in 
the  courtyard  below ;  the  baby,  asleep  in  its  crib,  dropped  to  the 
basement  where  a  steel  girder  fell  across  it  in  such  a  way  that  it 
was  not  even  scratched.  Fortunately,  the  explosion  occurred  at  a  time 
when  few  other  tenants  were  at  home,  for  it  is  evident  from  the 
photograph  that  the  accident  could  very  easily  have  claimed  a  larger 
toll  in  deaths  and  injuries  had  all  the  apartments  been  occupied. 


1929. 


THE     LOCOMOTIVE 


229 


A  conservative  estimate  placed  the  property  damage  at  $25,000. 
The  owner  was  not  carrying  boiler  insurance. 

Those  who  examined  the  wreckage  of  the  boiler  believe  that  over- 
pressure caused  the  accident.  The  evidence  pointed  to  the  sudden 
release  of  a  tremendous  amount  of  energy,  for  the  wrapper  sheet 
unwound  completely  by  bursting  the  welded  seams  and  pulling  away 
from  the  staybolts.  There  were  no  signs  that  the  metal  had  been 
previously  weakened  by  over-heating,  and  the  fusible  plug  was  found 
to  be  unaffected.    It   seems  prol)able  that  the   fault  lay  in  the  safety 

valve,  although  the 
valve  was  so  badly 
damaged  in  the  acci- 
dent that  this  supposi- 
tion could  not  be  veri- 
fied. 

During  cold  weath- 
er the  boiler  was  called 
on  to  heat  the  building, 
Init  at  all  other  times 
it  was  used  merely  to 
supply  hot  water  for 
the  tenants.  When  op- 
erating in  this  way,  the 
heating  system  stop 
valve  and  return  line 
valve  were  closed  and 
the  boiler  water  circu- 
lated through  a  coil 
heater  where  it  gave  up 
its  heat  to  the  water  of 
the  supply  system. 
Thus  it  is  evident  that  the  only  safeguard  against -over-pressure  was 
the  safety  valve,  for  during  hours  when  the  demand  for  hot  water  was 
least  the  fire  would  put  heat  into  the  boiler  water  faster  than  the  heat- 
ing coils  could  extract  it. 


Figure  i 


Although  an  accident  in  a  store  and  flat  building  at  Gary,  Indiana, 
on  March  26th,  was  by  no  means  as  violent  and  destructive  as  the  one 
described  above,  it  snuffed  out  two  lives  and  caused  property  damage 
of  about  $1,000.  In  this  case  lack  of  a  rehef  valve  and  improper 
manipulation  of  valves  in  the  system  caused  the  explosion  of  a  cast 


230 


THE     LOCOMOTIVE 


October, 


iron  hot  water  supply  boiler,   killing  an   eight-year-old   boy   outright 
and  inflicting  fatal  injuries  on  his  grandfather,  the  janitor. 

On  the  morning  of  the  accident  the  janitor  instructed  the  fireman 
to  shut  off  the  hot  water  supply  so  as  to  give  him  an  opportunity  to 
repair  a  leaky  faucet.  The  fireman  followed  instructions  to  the  letter, 
closing  off,  among  others,  the  valves  between  the  boiler  and  the  hot 


figure  2 

water  supply  tank.  As  the  boiler  had  not  been  provided  with  a  relief 
valve,  it  took  but  very  few  minutes  for  the  rapidly  accumulated  pres- 
sure to  exceed  the  strength  of  the  cast  iron.  A  severe  explosion  was 
the  result. 

Figure  2  is  a  picture  of  the  boiler  after  the  accident.  Evidently  the 
corrugated  internal  furnace  of  the  little  boiler  was  somewhat  stronger 
than  the  outer  shell,  for  although  the  latter  was  shattered  into  frag- 
ments, the  furnace  escaped  with  but  slight  damage. 


An  apartment  house  in  Seattle,  Washington,  was  damaged  to  the 


1 9-29- 


THE     LOCOMOTIVE 


231 


extent  of  about  $10,000  by  the  explosion  of  an  oil-fired  cast  iron  hot 
water  supply  boiler,  on  June  12th.  This  blast  was  so  violent  that  it 
raised  the  first  floor  of  the  building  more  than  an  inch,  wrecking  equip- 
ment in  the  basement  and  damaging  foundation  walls  severely. 

A  two-inch  relief  valve  on  a  hot  water  supply  tank  directly  con- 
nected to  the  boiler  was  depended  on  to  prevent  over-pressure  but, 


Figure  5 


as  has  happened  in  many  other  instances,  the  valve  disc  had  stuck 
to  the  seat  and  the  valve  was  unable  to  open.  Moreover,  a  check-valve 
in  the  supply  line  prevented  such  relief  as  would  have  been  obtained 
had  the  pressure  been  able  to  back  water  out  into  the  city  mains. 

The  practice  at  the  apartment  was  to  shut  off  the  oil-burner  late 
each  evening  after  the  demand  for  hot  water  had  ceased.  The  janitor 
overlooked  this  duty  on  the  evening  before  the  accident  and  as  a  result 
tenants  were  hurled  violently  from  their  beds  at  3  :20  in  the  morning. 
Fortunately,  there  were  no  serious  injuries. 


232  THE       LOCOMOTIVE  October, 


A  chauffeur  and  his  wife,  whose  living  quarters  were  over  the 
garage  of  a  private  residence  in  Chicago,  escaped  death  or  serious  in- 
jury by  the  narrowest  of  margins  when,  on  April  i,  a  welded  steel 
heating  boiler  exploded  and  literally  demohshed  the  building  beneath 
them.  The  cause  of  this  explosion  was  not  definitely  determined  al- 
though, as  the  extensive  damage  shown  in  Figure  3  on  page  231  would 
indicate,  a  very  high  pressure  must  have  been  present  when  the  boiler 
let  eo. 


Wheel  Bursts  During  Test  Run  of  Stand-by  Unit 

STRUCK  on  the  head  by  a  piece  of  flying  metal,  an  engine-room 
attendant  at  the   Elite  Laundry,   Washington,   D.   C,   was  killed 
instantly   on   June    i,    when  the   flywheel   of   a   small,   high-speed 
engine  burst  and  imperilled  over   100  laundry  workers  by  filling  the 
place  with  scalding  steam  from  a  severed  4"  main. 

The  engine  was  one  of  a  battery  of  three  and,  along  with  another 
small  machine,  was  ordinarily  used  merely  as  a  stand-by  unit  while 
the  third  and  largest  engine  carried  the  load.  In  fact,  so  infrequently 
were  the  two  small  engines  used  that  the  laundry  had  excluded  them 
from  the  policy  when  renewing  insurance  on  its  power  plant  equip- 
ment. As  a  consequence,  the  accident  found  the  plant  without  insur- 
ance protection  even  though  a  policy  was  in  force  on  the  large  engine 
and  on  two  water-tube  boilers.  The  attendant  had  been  adjusting  the 
crank  bearing  and  evidently  started  the  engine,  without  load,  merely 
to  find  out  whether  or  not  the  adjustment  was  satisfactory.  He  had 
opened  the  throttle  wide  and  was  standing  beside  the  cylinder  when 
the  wheel  let  go,  killing  him. 

Just  what  caused  the  accident  will  probably  never  be  known,  for 
no  one  was  with  the  victim  in  the  engine  room,  and  the  shaft  governor 
was  demolished  so  completely  that  it  could  not  be  tested  to  determine 
whether  or  not  it  was  working  freely.  There  is  a  possibility,  of  course, 
that  an  old  crack  or  flaw  may  have  existed  in  the  wheel,  or  that  the 
attendant,  in  working  on  the  bearing,  may  have  accidentally  placed  a 
tool  where  it  interfered  with  the  action  of  the  governor.  A  more  or 
less  puzzling  feature  was  the  breaking  of  the  eccentric  rod  flush  with 
the  lock  nut  where  it  screwed  into  the  eccentric  strap,  for  although  the 
rod  showed  signs  of  severe  stress  there  was  no  mark  on  it  to  indicate 
that  it  had  been  struck  by  a  piece  of  the  wheel. 


^9--9. THE     LOCO  M  O  T  I  V  E 233 

Failures  Show  Up  Weakness  of  Unapproved  Designs 

r|'l\\0  air  tank  explosions  —  both  the  fruits  of  unapproved  design, 
I    and  one  the  direct  result  of  a  foreman's  failure  to  observe  the 
long-established  safety  rule  against  caulking  a  vessel  under  pres- 
sure—  recently  cost  a  life  and  caused  property  damage  in  excess  of 
$25,000  at  plants  in  Seattle  and  Philadelphia. 

While  applying  an  air-pressure  test  to  a  500-gallon  tank  intended 
for  water  storage,  the  foreman  at  the  Seattle  plant  undertook  to  caulk 
a  leaky  head  seam.  The  head  blew  out  with  a  tremendous  concussion, 
killing  the  foreman  instantly,  severely  injuring  a  workman,  and  hurl- 
ing from  the  track  a  lo-ton  traveling  crane,  which  stood  twenty  feet 
away. 

The  tank  was  of  welded  construction  with  bumped  heads  that  had 
no  skirts  or  flanges.   Edges  of  the  disc-like  heads  were  welded  directly 


Head 

Figure  1. 


to  the  ends  of  the  shell  plate.  (See  Fig.  i.)  It  is  believed  that  the 
testing  was  being  done  under  a  pressure  of  lOO  pounds  per  scjuare 
inch,  for  the  safety  valve  was  set  at  that  pressure. 

Of  course,  the  foreman's  mistake  in  hammering  the  seam  while  the 
vessel  was  under  pressure  was  the  direct  cause  of  the  explosion,  but 
the  design  itself  was  not  satisfactory,  from  a  safety  standpoint,  even 
for  a  tank  intended  merely  for  the  storage  of  water.  The  heads  should 
have  been  flanged  and  welded  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of 
Section  U-71  of  the  A.  S.  M.  E.  "  Rules  for  the  Construction  of 
Unfired  Pressure  Vessels."    (See  Fig.  2.) 

The  explosion  at  the  Philadelphia  plant  involved  an  air  tank  pro- 
tected by  a  safety  valve  on  the  tank  itself  as  well  as  by  an  unloading 
device  in  the  line  between  the  tank  and  the  compressor.  These  ap- 
pliances were  set  to  operate  when  pressure  reached  125  pounds  and  it 
it  not  thought  probable  that  both  could  have  been  inoperative  at  the 
same  time,  for  although  the  safety  valve  was  destroyed  in  the  acci- 


234 


THE     LOCOMOTIVE 


October, 


dent  and  thus  could  not  be  tested,  the  unloading  device  was  found  in 
good  condition. 

The  tank  was  6  feet  in  length  and  had  a  diameter  of  30  inches. 
Shell  thickness  was  3/16"  and  both  the  "  minus  "  lower  head  and  the 
"  plus  "  upper  head  were  made  of  3/8"  plate.  Autogenous  welding 
had  been   used  throughout,   Figure   3   showing  the   manner  in   which 


i   h-l^T 


Head- 
Figure  4. 


the  lower  head  was  fastened.  Failure  occurred  by  shearing  of  the 
ys,^'  section  at  the  point  where  the  welding  joined  the  shell,  the 
explosion  hurling  the  shell  and  top  head  up  through  the  roof  and 
driving  the  lower  head  through  the  floor  and  into  a  room  below.  An 
examination  disclosed  no  signs  of  distress  in  any  part  of  the  vessel 
other  than  the  sheared  seam,  which  very  evidently  lacked  the  strength 
that  would  have  been  obtained  had  the  makers  used  the  design  shown 
in  Figure  4,  the  method  recommended  by  the  A.  S.  M.  E.  Code  for 
welding  minus  heads  of  unfired  pressure  vessels.  There  was  no  mark- 
ing on  the  vessel  to  identify  the  maker. 

Although  no  one  was  killed  or  injured  by  this  accident,  property 
damage  was  extensive,  for  the  flying  parts  severed  water  pipes  in  a 
room  containing  $25,000  worth  of  paper  stock. 


Steam  Stages  a  Comeback  to  Regain  Its  Status  as  the  Most 
Economical  Source  of  Mechanical  Power 

i  CCORDING  to  Mr.  R.  M.  Boykin,  president  of  the  Northwestern 
/\    Electric  Light  &  Power  Association,  the  rapid  strides  being  made 
toward  cutting  down  the  cost  of  producing  electricity  in  steam- 
driven  plants,   and   the   difficulties   and   expense   involved   in   securing 
franchises    and    developing    hydro-electric    sites    are     factors    which 
promise  to  postpone  indefinitely  the  fullest  possible  utilization  of  the 


'929- THE     LOCOMOTIVE 235 

country's  resources  in  the  form  of  "  white  coal."  Writing  in  the 
Scientific  American  on  "  Steam  Stages  a  Comeback  ",  Mr.  Boykin  de- 
clares that  with  new  economies  being  effected  by  better  design,  the 
cost  of  steam-generated  power  will  soon  be  less  than  that  generated 
l)y  hydro.  "  Today  ",  he  avers,  "  the  two  plants  are  practically  equal 
and  only  the  highest  technical  skill  can  determine  which  of  the  two 
would  be  more  economical  for  any  given  condition." 

"  In  theory  at  least,"  his  article  continues  in  part,  "  all  our  power 
sites  should  be  harnessed  before  our  more  perishable  resources  —  such 
as  wood,  coal,  or  fuel  oil  —  are  used.  But  practically  the  problem  is 
not  so  simple,  and  that  is  a  factor  that  the  conservationist  has  over- 
looked. It  begins  to  appear  as  though  his  eternal  vigilance  of  this 
treasure  chest  of  nature  has  been  unnecessary,  for  the  inventive  genius 
of  the  engineer  has  brought  the  steam  plant  back  into  the  picture  as 
a  formidable  competitor  of  the  hydro-electric  plant  in  the  production 
of  electricity,  and  the  guardians  of  '  white  coal '  may  find  themselves 
holding  an  empty  sack. 

"  With  unprecedented  wealth  of  water  power  at  our  very  door,  the 
power  companies  of  the  Pacific  slope  are  definitely  turning  to  steam 
as  a  source  of  electric  light  and  power.  Our  company,  The  Puget 
Sound  Power  and  Light  Company,  is  just  beginning  the  construction 
of  a  $5,000,000  steam  plant  on  Lake  Washington,  which  will  eventually 
generate  as  much  electricity  as  is  now  produced  by  its  hydro-electric 
stations.  In  Southern  California,  the  Edison  Company,  alone,  has  put 
in  service  over  400,000  horsepower  of  steam  plants  since  1924. 

"  Hydro-electric  developments  are  never  a  matter  of  easy  exploita- 
tion. Aside  from  the  barriers  of  legal  restrictions  and  regulations 
\\hich  are  difficult  enough  to  hurdle,  many  are  the  added  problems  to 
solve.  The  excessive  values  that  some  individuals  have  placed  on  un- 
developed water  power  sites,  the  difficulty  of  power  companies  to 
purchase  such  public  land,  demands  for  imaginary  damages  to  land  used 
for  power  purposes,  and  many  similar  obstacles  must  be  taken  into 
consideration  on  every  proposed  hydro  plant.  Aside  from  these  diffi- 
culties, long  periods  of  time  must  elapse  in  order  to  make  proper 
studies  of  stream  flow  and,  because  of  the  seasonal  and  annual  varia- 
'tions,  it  is  extremely  necessary  to  take  slow  records  over  several  years. 
The  value  of  a  hydro-electric  plant  depends  largely  on  the  amount  of 
water  available  and  this  must  be  predetermined  carefully  before  a 
proper  analysis  can  be  made.  Then,  too,  geological  and  topographical 
conditions  must  be  carefully  studied ;  and  when  a  definite  conclusion  is 
reached,  the  power  demands  may  not  be  suited  to  the  plant  proposed. 


236 THE       LOCOMOTIVE  October, 

"  There  are  likewise  other  difficulties  confronting  the  engineer 
who  must  plan  the  construction  of  a  hydro  plant.  The  construction 
period  is  usually  two  or  three  times  as  long  as  that  for  the  steam 
plant.  Where  a  100,000  horsepower  steam  plant  can  be  designed  and 
put  in  operation  in  less  than  a  year,  a  similar  hydro  plant  might  take 
from  two  to  three  years,  depending  upon  its  complexity.  If  long 
rock  tunnels,  high  dams,  difficult  foundations  and  inaccessible  country 
are  involved  —  which  is  usually  the  case  —  the  problems  take  months 
to  solve.  This  ties  up  capital  for  a  long  time  without  return.  Further- 
more, the  original  investment  in  a  hydro  plant  is  several  times  that  of 
a  steam  plant  of  equal  capacity.  If  the  hydro  cost  per  horsepower  is 
more  than  a  predetermined  amount,  the  interest  on  the  indebtedness 
may  well  be  more  than  the  cost  of  operating  a  steam  plant,  including 
such  charges  as  fuel  and  labor. 

"  Then  consider  the  stupendous  cost  of  long  transmission  of  high- 
voltage  current  from  the  mountain  recesses  to  centers  of  population, 
wider  right-of-way,  and  costly  transformation  and  distribution  of  the 
hydro-electric  output.  Furthermore,  the  initial  construction  of  a  hydro 
plant,  such  as  the  dam,  water  tunnels,  and  so  on,  representing  by  far 
the  greatest  investment,  must  be  completed  at  once  regardless  of 
whether  or  not  the  entire  power  available  is  needed.  Unlike  a  steam 
plant,  this  part  of  the  hydro  plant  cannot  be  built  in  units,  as  needed, 
and  therefore  the  investment  is  often  far  out  of  proportion  to  the 
available  market   for  the  electricity  produced. 

"  The  steam  plant  is  a  mere  child's  toy  by  comparison.  In  the 
first  place  it  involves  no  cumbersome  regulations.  Any  location  with 
rail  or  water  transportation,  near  the  center  of  population,  and  close 
to  a  water  supply  for  condenser  purposes,  will  serve ;  and  usually  such 
a  site  is  easy  to  find.  A  plant  whose  storage  reservoir  is  a  coal  pile 
does  not  have  to  fear  a  lack  of  rainfall  during  the  summer  months. 
The  steam  plant  is  usually  located  at  a  point  close  to  the  load  center, 
and  this  greatly  simplifies  transmission  line  problems.  Because  of  the 
short  distance  that  power  must  be  transmitted,  low  voltage  can  be  used, 
and  this  fact  again  simplifies  switching  and  transformation. 

"  But  the  real  crux  in  the  comeback  of  steam  in  the  generation  of 
electric  energy  is  the  vast  improvement  in  equipment  of  the  steam' 
plant.  Although  there  have  been  few  marked  changes  in  the  hydro- 
electric plant  during  the  last  twenty  years,  the  modern  steam  plant  of 
today  is  as  different  from  that  of  a  few  years  ago  as  day  is  from 
night.  A  station  operated  by  the  Edison  Electric  Illuminating  Company 
of  Boston  produces  energy  for  less  than  a  pound  of  coal  per  kilowatt 


^9^9- THE     LOCOMOTIVE 237 

hour.  Another  station  in  the  same  city,  built  by  the  same  firm  ten 
years  earHer.  proudly  boasted  a  record  of  1.75  lbs.  of  coal  per  kilowatt 
hour.  The  newest  geological  survey  reports  that  the  national  average 
since  1919  has  been  reduced  from  3.20  lbs.  per  kilowatt  hour  to  1.83 
lbs.  per  kilowatt  hour  —  a  remarkable  showing  in  just  a   few  years. 

"At  the  time  the  hydro-electric  plant  reached  its  present  high  state 
of  efficiency,  the  steam  engine  was  still  of  the  cumbersome  reciprocating 
type,  with  huge  cylinders  and  pistons.  The  machines  were  ponderous 
and  slow  moving,  and  occupied  an  extensive  floor  area.  Boilers  were 
small  in  size  and  stoked  by  hand,  of  low  pressure,  and  with  practically 
no  super-heat.  Electric  generators  were  belted  to  the  engine,  and  the 
result  of  all  this  was  that  efficiency  was  low  and  power  cost  high. 

"  Consequently  the  super-power  of  age  of  today  was  mothered 
by  hydro-electric  plant  rather  than  by  steam.  But  the  tide  is  turning 
to  steam  power.  There  came  a  time  when  an  engineering  genius  dis- 
covered that  a  jet  of  steam  could  be  used  just  as  well  to  play  on  a 
wheel  blade  as  could  the  giant  water  nozzles  of  the  hydraulic  mining 
days  of  California  and  the  steam  turbine  became  a  reality.  By  sub- 
stituting rotating  for  reciprocating  elements,  it  became  possible  to  use 
higher  steam  pressures,  greater  speeds,  and  therefore  smaller  units 
to  produce  more  power.  From  that  time  on,  the  development  of  the 
steam  turbine  has  been  rapid  until  it  has  now  reached  a  point  where 
the  water  turbine  must  look  to  its  laurels." 


Caustic  Embrittlement,  Accelerated  by  Wrong  Feed  Water 
Treatment,  Ruins  4  Water  Tube  Boilers 

CAUSTIC  embrittlement  recently  cost  a  large  mid-western  con- 
cern $85,000  when,  in  less  than  a  year  and  a  half  after  four 
new  water  tube  boilers  of  the  longitudinal-drum  type  had  been 
installed,  they  were  found  so  badly  aflfected  by  embrittlement  cracks 
that  replacement  was  necessary.  The  extreme  rapidity  with  which 
deterioration  progressed  is  explained  by  the  fact  that  not  only  was 
the  raw  feed  water  of  an  embrittling  nature,  but  the  water  softening 
system  was  such  that  it  aggravated  the  condition,  sending  into  the 
boiler  a  water  that  had  a  sulphate-to-carbonate  ratio  of  about  one  to 
three. 

The  boilers  and  the  water  softening  system  were  installed  and 
put  to  use  in  December,  1926.  In  about  a  year  an  inspector  discovered 
leakage  at  the  rear  tube  end  of  Boiler  No.  4  and,  on  close  examination, 
found  that   some  of  the  tubes   had   developed   cracks   near  the   point 


238 


THE     LOCOMOTIVE 


October, 


where  they  entered  the  tube  sheet.  In  a  short  time  the  leakage  be- 
came so  troublesome  that  the  boiler  had  to  be  taken  out  of  service. 
Then  it  v^as  found  that  the  highly  concentrated  water,  leaking  out 
at  the  water-tube  ends,  had  deposited  a  hard-baked,  cement-like  sub- 
stance that  literally  matted  the  tubes  together  for  a  distance,  of  four 
feet  from  the  tube  sheet,  as  shown  in  Figure  i. 

At  first  it  was  thought  that  the  cracks  in  the  tubes  might   have 
been  caused  by  too  heavy  rolling  or  by  improper  annealing,  but  five 


Figure  i 

different  laboratories,  after  independent  .analyses,  agreed  that  the 
metal  was  up  to  the  A.  S.  M.  E.  standard  and  had  not  been  injured 
either  in  manufacture  or  when  the  tube  ends  were  belled  over.  How- 
ever, a  microscopic  investigation  of  the  cracks  themselves  gave  a  clue 
to  the  true  cause,  for  the  fissures  followed  the  borders  of  the  grain  — 
a  condition  typical  of  caustic  embrittlement.  Figure  2  shows  the 
nature  of  the  failure  in  the  tube  ends. 

Coiler  No.  2  was  next  taken  ofif  the  line  and  examined.  A  slight 
leakage  was  noted  at  four  or  five  points  along  the  longitudinal  seam 
of  the  drum  and  several  rivet  heads  were  missing.    Removal  of  the 


IIJJI). 


THE     LOCOMOTIVE 


239 


butt  straps  disclosed  rivet-hole  to  rivet-hole  cracks  in  both  the  straps 
and  the  plate.    Similar  conditions  were  found  in  two  other  boilers. 

Satisfied  that  they  were  dealing  with  embrittlement,  the  investi- 
gators turned  their  attention  to  the  feed  water  and  found  that  even 
before  passing  through  the  softening  apparatus  the  raw  water  con- 
tained more  carbonate  than  sulphate.  Such  a  condition  would,  in 
itself,  be  entirely   ca])able  of   causing  embrittlement,   for   in   order  to 


Figure  2 

inhibit  caustic  action  on  the  steel  the  sulphate  content  should  exceed 
that  of  carbonate.  However,  the  slight  over-balance  in  favor  of  the 
carbonate  might  not  have  caused  such  rapid  deterioration  had  it  not 
been  that  the  particular  system  of  feed  water  softening  in  usq  at 
this  plant  increased  the  unfavorable  ratio,  actually  making  the  "  sof- 
tened "  water  more  dangerous  than  the  raw. 

The  plant  had  no  choice  but  to  scrap  the  boilers  for,  weakened  as 
they  were,  their  continued  use  would  have  been  dangerous.  Pending 
the  erection  of  new  boilers,  the  water  softening  system  was  replaced 
by  one  that  would  correct  the  unfavorable  carbonate-to-sulphate  ratio. 


Broken  Belt  Deranged  Safety  Devices 

AN  unusual  combination  of  circumstances  was  involved  in  an  engine 
accident  which,  on  June  28th,  caused  property  damage  in  excess 
^  of  $2,500  at  the  plant  of  The  Charles  Boldt  Paper  Mill  Co.,  New 
Iberia.   La.,    where   a   duplex,   variable-speed   engine   ran   away,   burst 
the  flxwheel,  and  tore  gaping  holes  in  the  roof  and  walls  of  the  build- 


240 


THE     LOCOMOTIVE 


October, 


ing.  Fortunately,  the  plant  carried  insurance  in  "  The  Hartford ". 
Although  no  one  was  present  in  the  engine  room  when  the  accident 
occurred,  the  superintendent  had  passed  through  just  a  few  moments 
before  without  noticing  anything  unusual  in  the  engine's  behavior. 
As  a  matter  of  fact  there  is  no  reason  for  supposing  that  a  dangerous 
condition  existed  either  in  the  engine  itself  or  in  the  safety  devices,  for 
the  machine  had  been  inspected  recently.  At  that  time  both  the  governor 
and  the  automatic  stop  were  in  perfect  working  order. 


The  first  indication  of  trouble  was  the  sudden  stopping  of  the 
paper-making  machine.  A  few  seconds  afterward  there  was  a  tremen- 
dous crash  in  the  engine  room  as  the  flywheel  went  to  pieces.  From 
this  fact  as  well  as  from  the  appearance  of  the  parts  after  the  accident 
it  seems  evident  that  the  main  driving  belt  either  broke  or  ran  ofif 
the  pulley,  and  that  as  it  did  so  it  whipped  around  and  struck  the 
governor  and  emergency  stop,  rendering  both  of  these  devices  useless. 
Thus  freed  of  its  load  and  with  the  throttle  wide  open,  the  engine 
needed  but  very  few  seconds  to  speed  up  sufficiently  to  burst  the  fly- 
wheel. 

Investigators  found  that  a  centrifugally-operated  device  on  the 
engine  shaft  had  swung  out,  as  it  was  supposed  to  do  under  over- 


^939. THE     LOCOMOTIVE 24^ 

speed  conditions,  and  released  the  catch  which  should  have  allowed 
the  emergency  sto])  to  shut  down  the  engine,  llowevcr,  something  — 
evidently  the  belt  —  had  'already  damaged  the  stop  so  that  it  jammed 
in  the  open  position.  The  accompanying  illustration  shows  the  wreck- 
age of  the  engine. 

Before  the  engine  was  put  back  into  service  the  owners  erected  a 
heavy,  plank  barricade  to  protect  the  safety  devices  against  damage 
in  case  the  belt  should  either  break  or  run  off  the  wheel  again. 


Taps  from  the  Old  Chief  V  Hammer 

••^T^SHAW,"  broke  in  the  Old  Chief   with  an  indulgent  chuckle, 

1^  tilting  his  chair  back  against  the  wall  and  reaching  for  a  cigar, 

"Anybody  \vho  didn't  know  you  boys  \vould  think  from  the  way 

you  talk  that  spending  a  night  or  two  away   from  your  own   downy 

couches  was  enough  to  break  down  your  health." 

The  old  fellow  had  walked  into  the  inspectors'  room  just  as 
Inspector  Jamieson  was  relating,  in  language  not  devoid  of  color,  a 
painful  experience  with  a  small-town  hotel  bed  that,  from  his  descrip- 
tion, must  have  been  paved  with  macadam.  And,  as  usual,  the  Old 
Chief  wasn't  going  to  pass  up  such  a  made-to-order  opportunity  for 
reiterating  his  oft-stated  opinion  that  boiler  inspecting  had  eased  up 
considerably  since  the  days  when  he  himself  was  on  the  road. 

"  I'm  right  surprised  at  you,  Jim,  taking  notice  of  a  little  thing 
like  that,"  declared  the  veteran,  pausing  in  the  operation  of  lighting 
his  cigar  to  cast  a  reproachful  glance  in  Jamieson's  direction.  "If 
you're  going  to  let  such  a  trivial  matter  as  a  hard  bed  fease  you  it's 
a  good  thing  you  weren't  with  me  in  the  old  days  when  the  St.  Louis 
Department  presented  me  an  eighteen-day  route  that  had  to  be  covered 
two  or  three  times  a  year  down  in  the  wilds  of  Tennessee  where  I 
loaded  the  buggy  with  corn  for  my  two  hired  mules  and  struck  out 
over  roads  that  were  nothing  better  than  logging  trails  and  dry  brook- 
beds.  Talk  about  food  and  lodging!  Why,  say,  man,  I  had  to  eat 
when,  where,  and  if  I  could  find  anything,  and  it  was  a  red  star  night 
for  yours  truly  when  I  was  privileged  to  sleep  on  a  cot  instead  of  on 
a  straw  shake-down  on  the  floor  of  a  mountain  cabin.  Compared  to 
the  places  I've  had  to  put  up  in,  your  hotel  —  hard  bed  and  all  —  was 
downright  luxurious.  Yes  sirree,  you  young  fellow^s  who  never  had 
a  taste  of  real  rough  and  ready  traveling  don't  appreciate  how  much 
easier  the  job  of  inspecting  has  become  since  good  roads  and  automo- 
biles divided  distances  by  ten. 


242 THE       LOCOMOTIVE  October, 

"  In  spite  of  it  all,"  mused  the  old  fellow  after  a  pause,  "  I  used  to 
get  quite  a  kick  out  of  the  trip.  Of  course  I  had  to  put  up  with  a  lot 
of  hard  traveling  and  uncertain  accommodations  but  there  was  some- 
thing kind  of  restful  in  being  out  there  with  '  unspoiled  nature '  as  the 
poets  call  it.  Then,  too,  I'd  run  across  a  real  amusing  experience  now 
and  then. 

"  When  they  first  assigned  me  the  route  the  boys  back  at  the 
office  took  pains  to  warn  me  what  to  do  and  what  not  to  do,  for  those 
hills  were  full  of  old-fashioned  mountaineer  moonshiners  and  it  was 
real  bad  form  for  anyone  to  travel  through  there  unless  he  was  pre- 
pared to  furnish  —  on  quick  notice,  sometimes  —  a  good,  plausible 
reason  for  his  presence.  In  fact,  after  a  day  or  two  I  changed  my 
mind  about  telling  them  I  was  a  boiler  inspector  for  the  Hartford 
Steam  Boiler  Inspection  and  Insurance  Company.  Instead,  I  just  said 
I  was  hired  by  Seth  Harkins  to  look  over  his  boilers.  They  all  knew 
Seth  and  his  mills,  whereas  they  never  could  quite  see  the  logic  of  a 
concern  in  far-ofif  Connecticut  sending  a  man  all  the  way  down  to 
Tennessee. 

"  Well,  anyway,  I  hired  a  young  colored  boy  to  go  along  on  the 
first  two  or  three  trips,  and  with  his  help  I  managed  to  get  by  without 
unusual  difficulties.  Our  method  was  to  follow  a  creek  from  the  point 
where  it  joined  the  river  up  to  its  headwaters,  then  cross  over  the  hills 
and  follow  the  next  creek  down  to  its  mouth.  The  sawmills  were 
located  either  on  or  near  the  creeks,  so  in  that  way  we  could  take 
them  all  in. 

"  Traveling  was  pretty  rough  —  due  to  the  lack  of  roads  and 
the  poor  condition  of  the  ones  we  did  find  —  and  the  best  we  could 
average  was  two  or  three  miles  an  hour  even  with  our  mules  and 
buggy.  Consequently  in  order  to  make  the  circuit  in  the  time  allowed 
us,  we  had  to  start  early  and  keep  riding  pretty  late  in  the  evening, 
trusting  to  luck  that  nightfall  would  find  us  near  some  cabin  where 
we  could  get  something  to  eat  and  a  place  to  stretch  out.  All  in 
all,  I  suppose  we  put  up  at  twenty  or  thirty  different  cabins  on 
our  first  few  trips,  and  I  always  suspected  that  the  men  folks  at  half 
of  those  places  each  had  his  own  whisky  still  somewhere  out  in  the 
woods.  But,  if  they  did,  the  stills  were  so  cleverly  hidden  that  I  never 
saw  one,  although  sometimes  I  had  a  right  uneasy  feeling  that  I  might 
stumble  on  one  by  accident  and  be  mistaken  for  a  revenue  agent. 
Fortunately,  I  never  did. 

"  One  night,  though,  the  boy  and  I  landed  at  a  cabin  where  we'd 
never   stayed  before   and   I   saw   some   things   that   made   me   wonder 


J929  THE     LOCOMOTIVE  243 


whether  we  hadn't  better  hitch  up  and  leave  before  the  situation  be- 
came embarrassing.  The  owner  of  the  place  was  a  tall,  raw-boned 
fellow  who  said  he  worked  at  the  mill  where  I  planned  to  inspect  a 
boiler  next  day.  W'e  had  a  real  pleasant  evening,  he  and  I,  sitting  out 
in  front  of  the  cabin  and  smoking  our  pipes,  but  every  now  and  then 
I  couldn't  help  feeling  that  he  was  wondering  just  how  much  truth 
there  was  in  my  claim  of  being  a  boiler  inspector. 

'■  While  we  were  sitting  there,  listening  to  the  sounds  that  always 
come  from  the  woods  at  night  and  watching  a  round,  full  moon  float 
up  from  behind  the  tips  of  the  tall  pines,  someone  came  to  the  edge  of 
the  clearing  and  called  '  Ho,  Bob  '.  Without  a  word,  our  host  got  up 
and  walked  oft  in  the  direction  from  whence  the  sound  had  come. 
When  he  came  back  he  went  around  behind  the  cabin  and  got  a  jug  — 
which  he  carried  out  to  the  visitor.  A  little  later  the  performance  was 
repeated  —  our  host  returning  after  each  excursion  and  picking  up  the 
conversation  where  we  had  left  oft.  Naturally,  I  suspected  what  was 
going  on  but  I  was  discreet  enough  to  avoid  steering  the  talk  in  that 
direction.  Well,  not  a  word  was  said  one  way  or  the  other  until  our 
friend  departed  to  deliver  the  fourth  jug,  and  his  wife  turned  to  me 
and  explained,  in  a  confidential  sort  of  way,  that  her  man  had  just 
returned  from  Nashville  and  had  brought  with  him  a  small  supply  of 
liquor.  '  Some  of  the  neighbors  like  to  have  a  little  on  hand  in  case  of 
sickness  ',  was  the  tactful  way  she  put  it. 

"  To  make  a  long  story  short,  those  folks  treated  us  the  nicest  they 
knew  how,  giving  me  a  cot  up  under  the  eaves  —  which  I  shared  with 
a  bearded  stranger  who  came  in  sometime  later  in  the  night  —  and 
sending  us  off  in  the  morning  with  a  good  breakfast  of  corn  bread  and 
eggs  under  our  belts.  In  fact,  they  were  so  hospitable  that  I  made  a 
mental  note  to  stay  with  them  again  on  the  next  trip  through  that  part 
of  the  mountains.  But,  as  things  turned  out,  that  was  the  last  I  ever 
saw  of  them. 

"  On  the  next  swing  around  the  circuit  I  found  their  cabin  deserted. 
and  inquiry  as  to  what  had  become  of  the  man  and  his  wife  brought 
all  sorts  of  evasive  replies  until  one  old  mountaineer  vouchsafed  the 
information  that  the  man  had  '  gone  over  to  Atlanta  to  stay  for  a  spell  '. 
I  didn't  press  the  inquiry  any  further  for  I  had  a  feeling  that  the 
subject  could  be  dropped  right  gracefully  at  that  point." 


"  Are  you  interested  in  Einstein's  theory  about  space?" 
"  If   it's  anything  to  do  with  parking  space,  let's  hear  it." 


244 


THE     LOCOMOTIVE 


October, 


A  QUARTERLY  MAGAZINE 

DEVOTED  TO  POWER  PLANT  PROTECTION 

George  Hargis  Prall,  Editor 

Copyright    1929    by   The    Hartford    Steam    Boiler    Inspection    and    Insurance    Company 

HARTFORD,  CONN.,  October,  1929 

Single  Copies  can  be  obtained  free  by  calling  at  any  of  the  company's  agencies. 

Subscription  price  50  cents  per  year  when  mailed  from  this  office. 

Recent  bound  volumes  one  dollar  each.    Earlier  ones  two  dollars. 

Reprinting  matter  from  this  paper  is  permitted  if  credited  to 

Tlie  Locomotive  of  The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection  &  Insurance  Co. 


w 


Power  Interruption  Insurance 

HEN  the  sudden  breakdown  of  electric  power  yesterday- 
stilled  the  hum  of  countless  motors  in  industrial  and  domestic 
machines  throughout  the  city,  hushed  the  voice  of  radio, 
silenced  pipe  organs  and  '  froze '  scenes  in  motion  picture  houses,  and 
left  lifeless  the  unnumbered  small  electrical  devices  which  modern  men 
consider  essential  to  living,  it  revealed  in  a  startlingly  drastic  manner 
the  extent  to  which  the  city  of  today  has  come  to  depend  on  electricity," 
declared  the  Springfield  (Mass.)  Republican  in  its  issue  of  August  i6th. 
The  tie-up  to  which  the  article  referred  resulted  from  an  accident 
at  the  public  utility  plant  serving  the  Springfield  district.  For  43 
minutes  factories,  stores,  theatres,  auto  laundries  —  in  short,  all  sorts 
of  activity  dependent  on  purchased  current  —  were  entirely  paralyzed. 
It  was  several  hours  before  complete  service  could  be  re-established. 
So  widespread  were  the  effects  of  the  break-down  that  scarcely  a 
person  in  the  city  was  not  affected  in  some  measure.  Machinery  in 
factories  came  to  a  standstill,  radios  were  silent,  moving  picture  theatres 
had  to  dismiss  patrons,  dentists  were  obliged  to  give  respite  to  patients 
on  whose  teeth  they  were  grinding,  street  traffic  jammed  up  as  signal 
lights  failed  to  function,  auto  laundries  found  themselves  unable  to 
deliver  cars  for  which  the  owners  were  waiting,  large  store  and  ofifice 


1929  THE     LOCOMOTIVE  245 

buildings  became  unbearably  "  stuffy  "  for  lack  of  ventilation,  electric 
refrigerators  in  homes,  butcher  shops  and  delicatessens  went  on  strike, 
and  even  barber  shops  found  their  "  production  "  hampered  by  failure 
of  their  clippers  and  massage  machines  to   function. 

From  the  standpoint  of  the  public  at  large  the  outstanding  feature 
of  the  situation  was  in  the  inconvenience  it  caused.  Hovv^ever,  industry 
viewed  the  breakdown  of  electric  service  from  another  angle,  for  in- 
dustry lost  many  thousands  of  dollars  while  workmen  stood  idly  by 
their  lifeless  machinery.  One  large  plant  alone  reported  a  loss  of 
3,500  production  hours. 

The  incident,  together  with  a  similar  case  that  arose  in  New  Britain, 
Conn.,  ten  days  later,  illustrates  the  need  for  "  Power  Interruption  " 
insurance  by  all  sorts  of  commercial  undertakings  depending  for  con- 
tinuous production  on  an  outside  current  supply.  Even  the  best  man- 
aged and  most  reliable  of  public  utility  plants  are  susceptible  to  acci- 
dental breakdown  and,  too,  the  lines  which  transmit  current  to  the 
consumer  are  prone  to  fail  for,  as  the  Electrical  World  aptly  points 
out.  "  continuous,  uninterruptible  transmission  service  is  still  in  the 
future."  

J.  P.  Morrison  Named  for  New  Post 
Mr.  J.  P.  Morrison,  for  the  past  ten  years  Chief  Inspector  of  the 
Company's  Chicago  Department,  was  called  to  a  broader  field  of  use- 
fulness when,  on  August  i,  he  was  made  Superintendent  of  Inspections 
with  headquarters  at  the  Home  Office.  In  creating  the  new  post  and 
selecting  Mr.  Morrison  to  fill  it,  the  Company  feels  that  it  has  enhanced 
the  worth  of  its  boiler  and  machinery  insurance,  for  Mr.  ^Morrison's 
wide  experience  in  inspection  work,  together  with  a  resultant  extensive 
knowledge  of  matters  pertaining  to  power  equipment,  is  now  available 
to  The  Hartford's  patrons  in  all  parts  of  the  country. 

Entering  the  Company's  employ  at  its  St.  Louis  Office  in  1901, 
Mr.  IMorrison  worked  as  an  inspector  until,  jn  191 3,  he  was  pro- 
moted to  the  chief  inspectorship  of  his  department.  In  1919  another 
advancement  took  him  to  Chicago  where  he  assumed  charge  of  the 
larger  inspection  force  in  that  territory. 


C.  W.  Zimmer  Made  Chief  Inspector 

Mr.  C.  W.  Zimmer  has  been  promoted  to  fill  the  responsible  post 

at  Chicago  left  vacant  by  Mr.  Morrison  and,  as  Chief  Inspector,  will 

be  in  a  position  to  utilize  fully  a  wealth  of  experience  and  intimate 

knowledge  of  problems  peculiar  to  the  district,  obtained  during  nineteen 


246  THE       LOCOMOTIVE  October, 

years  as  an  inspector  and  ten  years  as  Assistant  Chief  Inspector  of 
the  department  of  which  he  is  now  Chief.  The  Company  was  fortunate 
in  having  immediately  available  a  man  so  well  qualified  to  continue  the 
high  standard  which  the  Chicago  Department  has  attained. 


J.  F.  Butler  and  W.  P.  Wallace  Advanced 
Two  recent  changes,  both  of  which  represented  well-merited  pro- 
motions, were  the  appointments  of  Mr.  J.  F.  Butler  and  Mr.  W.  P. 
Wallace  as  Assistant  Managers  at  Chicago  and  Pittsburgh,  respectively. 
Mr.  Butler,  since  coming  with  the  Company  in  1899,  had  been  a 
Special  Agent  in  the  Chicago  Department.  For  some  time,  however, 
he  had  been  serving  as  assistant  to  Manager  Murray,  in  addition  to 
his  duties  as  Special  Agent. 

Mr.  Wallace  entered  the  Company's  employ  in  1895  and,  while  a 
Special  Agent  in  the  Boston  Department,  disclosed  the  qualities  which 
fit  him  for  the  administrative  post  to  which  he  has  been  advanced. 


Railroad  Speed  Records  Made  Years  Ago  Survive 
In  Spite  of  Better  Engines  and  Roadbeds 

r^riHE  continuous  quest  for  greater  and  greater  speed,  both  for 
I  sport's  sake  and  as  a  means  of  shortening  the  time  it  takes  to 
transport  passengers  and  freight  from  one  point  to  another,  seems 
to  be  one  of  the  most  influential  of  all  factors  involved  in  the  present- 
day  trend  in  airplane,  automobile,  and  boat  design.  No  sooner  had 
the  "Bremen"  set  up  a  new  steamship  record  for  the  trans-Atlantic 
crossing  than  rival  lines  announced  their  intentions  of  building  even 
faster  vessels ;  the  ink  had  scarcely  dried  on  the  phenomenal  auto- 
mobile record  established  by  the  late  Ray  Keech  at  Daytona  Beach 
when  Major  Seagrave  came  forward  with  a  machine  capable  of  sur- 
passing it ;  and  when  this  year's  winner  of  the  Schneider  Cup  hoisted 
the  record  for  seaplanes  to  355  miles  an  hour,  plane  designers  in 
three  countries  then  and  there  turned  their  inventive  genius  to  the 
task  of  developing  winged  power  plants  of  even  greater  speeds.  But, 
in  contrast  with  these  rival  transportation  agencies  and  their  record- 
breaking  exploits,  the  railroad  seems  definitely  to  have  outgrown  the 
urge  to  be  continually  writing  new  speed  records  into  the  books.  As 
a  matter  of  fact  it  had  its  fill  of  establishing  records  several  years 
ago,  and  since  that  time  speed  has  been  forced  into  a  compromise 
with  such  equally  important  factors  as  comfort,  safety,  economy,  and 
regularity  of  schedule. 


1929- THE     LOCOMOTIVE 247 

The  20-lionr  .schedule  now  maintained  between  New  York  and 
Chicago  is  entirely  satisfactory  both  to  the  railroads  and  to  the  pas- 
sengers, and  while  it  represents  a  very  respectable  rate  of  traveling  it 
is  by  no  means  the  best  speed  possible.  As  far  back  as  1902  the  run 
was  made  in  exactly  the  same  time,  and  for  several  years  thereafter 
the  schedule  was  held  down  to  eighteen  hours.  Competition  between 
two  major  trunk  lines  for  the  passenger  trafific  was  responsible,  of 
course,  and  the  result  was  that  for  a  time  the  traveler  could  make  the 
trip  in  17  hours,  50  minutes  on  one  of  the  roads.  But  so  great  was  the 
wear  and  tear  on  rolling  stock  and  roadbed,  the  extra  cost  of  main- 
taining such  a  difficult  schedule,  and  the  likelihood  of  accidents,  that 
in  1912  the  rival  lines  were  glad  to  reach  a  compromise  and  return  to 
the  20-hour  running  time.  Thus,  while  passenger  service  is  constantly 
being  improved  by  the  addition  of  more  comfortable  and  luxurious 
trains  and  better  roadbeds,  features  which  in  general  have  allowed  the 
cutting  down  of  time  between  distant  points,  the  fact  remains  that 
old  record  books  contain  evidence  of  rail  "  scorching  "  somewhat  more 
sensational  than  the  speeds  attempted  in  present-day  operation. 

Indeed,  railroad  speed  is  by  no  means  a  modern  development,  for  as 
far  back  as  80  years  ago  a  train  on  the  Great  Northern  Railroad  in 
England  is  said  to  have  run  the  53.25  miles  from  London  to  Didscot  at 
the  rate  of  68  miles  an  hour.  Such  a  ride  must  have  been  anything 
l3ut  a  treat  to  nervous  passengers,  for  even  with  better  equipment, 
heavier  rails,  and  more  stable  roadbeds,  such  modern  trains  as  the 
Twentieth  Century  and  the  Broadway  Limited  content  themselves  with 
an  average  terminal  to  terminal  speed  of  somewhere  around  45  miles 
an  hour. 

At  no  time,  at  least  not  during  the  last  thirty  years  or  so,  has  the 
maximum  speed  of  the  steam  locomotive  been  the  factor  limiting  train 
schedules.  The  less  refined  engines  of  several  years  back  seemed 
to  possess  all  the  speed  the  boldest  of  engineers  dared  call  on;  certainly 
they  could  run  somewhat  faster  than  was  warranted  by  the  ability  of 
rails  and  roadbeds  to  stand  up  under  the  pounding.  As  long  ago  as 
1 90 1  a  train  on  the  Plant  System  covered  the  five  miles  between  Fleming 
and  Jacksonville  in  two  and  a  half  minutes,  an  average  of  120  miles 
an  hour.  Further  back  than  that  the  Empire  State  Express  of  the  New 
"^'ork  Central  did  a  single  test  mile  at  the  rate  of  112.5  miles  an  hour. 
In  1904  a  Philadelphia  &  Reading  train  ran  4.8  miles  at  115.2  miles  an 
hour.  Moreover  the  Burlington  train  of  1902  was  by  no  means  "  poking 
along  "  when  it  maintained  an  average  speed  of  93.7  miles  an  hour  over 
a  stretch  of  14.8  miles. 


248 THE       LOCOMOTIVE  October. 

Of  course,  these  extraordinary  records  were  made  under  extra- 
ordinary conditions ;  they  were  not  listed  on  the  timetables  and  in  no 
sense  did  they  represent  the  average  schedules  for  fixed  runs.  Never- 
theless, they  furnish  proof  that  as  far  as  railroads  are  concerned 
there  was  plenty  of  speed  on  tap  even  thirty  or  thirty-five  years  ago, 
whereas  automobiles,  airplanes,  and  boats  are  today  running  a  great 
deal  faster  than  they  did  even  five  years  ago. 

In  June  1905,  a  special  train  on  the  Lake  Shore  and  Michigan 
Central  Railroad  covered  the  stretch  of  525  miles  between  Bufifalo 
and  Chicago  at  an  average  speed  of  70  miles  an  hour.  That  same  year 
a  New  York  Central  train  averaged  64.2  miles  an  hour  between  New 
York  and  Buffalo.  A  real  fast  run,  of  course,  but  not  so  remarkable 
when  we  find  in  the  records  that  ten  years  before  that  a  train  of  the 
same  railroad  rolled  the  148  miles  between  Albany  and  Syracuse  at  68 
miles  an  hour. 

Such  speeds,  or  speeds  even  approaching  some  of  the  old  records  are 
now  so  unusual  that  when  in  1927  a  special  train  averaged  51  miles  an 
hour  on  a  run  from  New  York  to  Atlantic  City,  the  newspapers  recorded 
the  feat  in  headlines. 

What  seems  to  be  the  record  coast  to  coast  run  was  made  in  1924  by 
a  relay  of  specials  which  rushed  Mrs.  A.  H.  Smith  from  Los  Angeles 
to  New  York.  One  train  reached  Chicago  in  49  hours,  17  minutes,  and 
another  made  the  run  from  that  city  to  New  York  in  19  hours,  54 
minutes,  thus  fixing  69  hours,  11  minutes  as  the  fastest  time  yet  re- 
corded for  a  continuous  run  from  one  coast  to  the  other.  But,  if  we  go 
back  to  1905  and  take  into  account  the  record  of  44  hours,  54  minutes 
made  by  the  "  Scotty  the  Miner  Special  "  from  Los  Angeles  to  Chicago, 
and  then  add  to  this  the  16  hours,  55  minutes  in  which  a  special 
chartered  by  Mrs.  Cyrus  H.  McCormick  made  the  New  York-Chicago 
run  in  1926,  we  find  that  the  composite  time  shatters  the  accepted  record 
by  7  hours  and  22  minutes. 

Of  course,  there  is  no  doubt  that  old  speed  records  would  be  ex- 
tinguished in  short  order  if  the  railroads  should  make  up  their  minds 
to  do  so.  The  fact  is  that  railroads  feel  no  temptation  to  try  such  feats, 
for  sound  management  must  take  into  account  not  only  comfort,  safety 
and  regularity  of  service  in  the  face  of  capacity  traffic,  but  also  the 
expense  of  maintaining  roadbed  and  equipment,  an  item  which  mounts 
considerably  as  train  speeds  increase.  In  spite  of  several  recent  im- 
provements in  running  time  instigated  by  competition  with  newer  modes 
of  travel,  many  of  the  entries  in  the  old  record  books  seem  reasonably 
certain  of  surviving  for  some  time  to  come. 


^929.  THE     L  O  C  O  iM  O  T  1  V  E  249 


Removing  Explosion  Hazard  From  Electrical  Equipment 

IN  PLANTS  where  dust,  explosives,  or  inflammable  materials  are 
present,  says  Power,  there  is  great  danger  of  explosions  caused  by 

sparks  from  electrical  apparatus.  For  that  reason,  the  magazine 
points  out,  it  is  advisable  for  such  plants  to  install  specially  con- 
structed and  inclosed  motors. 

"  When  an  attempt  is  made  to  inclose  ordinary  electric  motors," 
continues  the  article,  "  there  is  danger  of  their  overheating  if  nearly 
loaded.  Sometimes  they  can  be  successfully  inclosed  by  using  a  blower 
to  bring  in  cool,  fresh  air  and  such  an  arrangement  will  keep  the  motor 
fairly  clean.  But  as  a  safe  measure  in  rooms  where  there  is  danger 
from  igniting  inflammable  material  it  is  better  not  take  the  chance 
of  inclosing  the  ordinary  motor  to  prevent  sparks  escaping.  When 
motors  are  to  be  used  where  explosive  vapors  or  materials  are  near, 
the  squirrel-cage  type  is  preferred. 

"  Storage  batteries  ofTer  another  explosive  hazard.  They  should 
be  placed  in  a  room  by  themselves,  and  no  one  except  a  qualified 
person  should  be  allowed  to  enter  that  room.  When  batteries  are 
placed  in  such  rooms  care  must  be  exercised  to  provide  for  proper 
ventilation,  so  that  acid  fumes  and  inflammable  gases  will  be  removed. 
Under  no  conditions  allow  open  flames  to  be  brought  in  or  near  a 
battery  room,  for  when  a  battery  is  being  charged  considerable  gas 
is  given  oflf  which  is  inflammable  and  may  cause  a  serious  explosion 
if  ignited." 


Fatal  Accident  Stresses  Need  for  Caution 

Either  a  momentary  lapse  of  caution  or  unfamiliarity  with  the 
extreme  hazard  he  was  taking  cost  a  man  his  life  recently  when,  having 
entered  a  switch  room  at  a  pumping  plant  in  South  Hingham,  Mass., 
to  examine  apparatus,  he  touched  a  metal-sheathed  pencil  to  an  ex- 
posed lug  on  the  2,300-volt  side  of  a  current  transformer.  The  plant 
engineer  offered  to  pull  the  switch  before  the  man  entered  the  room 
but  the  latter  said  it  would  not  be  necessary. 

A  few  minutes  later  the  engineer  heard  the  sound  of  something 
falling  in  the  switchroom  and  found  the  man  on  the  floor.  The 
victim  soon  lapsed  into  unconsciousness  and  efforts  to  resuscitate 
him  were  unavailing.  The  fused  end  of  the  man's  pencil  gave  the 
clue  to  what  had  happened. 


250  THE       LOCOMOTIVE  October, 


'A 


Steam  Auto  in  1832  Had  Remarkable  Boiler 

^'  j^  AMOVING  power  by  which  carriages  can  be  propelled  on  the 
common  roads  of  the  country  with  speed  and  safety  and  with- 
out smoke,"  had  just  made  its  appearance  in  England  when 
the  editor  of  The  American  Railroad  Journal  sent  to  press  the  issue  of 
November  17,  1832,  an  article  from  which  was  recently  sent  us  by 
Mr.  G.  E.  Windau,  of  Huron,  Ohio.  The  old  paper  informed  its 
readers  that  the  epoch-making  device  enbodied  a  "  patent  "  boiler  that 
could  withstand  294  pounds  of  pressure  per  square  inch ;  was  operated 
regularly  at  two-thirds  that  ultimate  rating;  and  "  exhibited  upward  of 
19,000,000  pounds  of  pressure  without  the  slightest  danger." 

We  do  not  know  how  this  tremendous  though  meaningless  figure 
was  derived,  although  we  suspect  it  was  the  product  of  the  total  square 
inches  of  surface  multiplied  by  the  working  pressure  in  pounds  per 
square  inch.  Whatever  it  was,  we  imagine  that  few  of  the  readers 
were  able  to  share  the  editor's  confidence  in  an  arrangement  that  in- 
volved any  such  pressure,  for  in  those  days  steam  boilers  were  regarded 
with  unfeigned  skepticism. 

"  This  coach,"  said  the  article,  "  is  the  invention  of  Messrs.  Ogle 
and  Summers,  of  Southhampton,  who  after  a  most  serious  expendi- 
ture of  time  and  money  have  at  length  accomplished  the  desideratum 
of  a  moving  power  by  which  carriages  can  be  propelled  on  the  com- 
mon roads  with  speed,  and  safety  and  without  smoke.  The  first 
attempt  was  from  Southhampton  to  Oxford,  and  then  from  Oxford 
to  Birmingham.  During  its  progress  there  was  considerable  difficulty 
in  regulating  the  speed  down  hills,  the  machine  having  in  one  instance 
hurried  down  a  declivity  at  a  most  enormous  rate,  probably  50  miles 
an  hour.  Captain  Ogle,  by  his  nerve  and  management,  steered  it  not- 
withstanding, with  perfect  ease." 

Such  "  ease  "  on  the  part  of  the  brave  chaufifeur  must  have  been 
inspiring  to  the  twenty-two  passengers  (or  inmates,  as  the  article 
called  them)  while  the  ponderous  machine  hurtled  down  hill  at  a 
speed  which  even  today  is  not  looked  on  with  favor.  Evidently  even 
Captain  Ogle  had  no  desire  to  put  his  "  nerve  and  management  "  to 
another  such  test,  for  he  equipped  his  machine  with  brakes  before 
he  made  the  next  trip. 

Possibly  some  of  our  readers  will  be  able  to  explain  how  a  boiler 
that  was  operated  at  a  factor  of  safety  of  only  1.5  survived  the  jars 
and  jolts  incident  to  a  trip  over  the  rough  roads  of  that  day.  Like- 
wise   someone    with    an    inclination    toward   higher   mathematics    may 


1929- THE     LOCOMOTIVE 25^ 

figure  out  what  the  editor  meant  in  saying  that  a  boiler  with  398  square 
feet  of  heating  surface  under  a  pressure  of  200  pounds  "  exhibited 
upward  of  19,000,000  pounds  pressure." 


Removal  of  Safety  Devices  Results  in  2  Deaths 

UNIQUE  means  taken  to  conceal  the  presence  of  an  old  vertical 
tubular  boiler  which  they  were  using  in  conjunction  with  an 
illicit  whisky  distillery  were  partly  to  blame  for  the  deaths  of 
two  men  in  a  small  town  near  Baltimore,  Md.,  on  July  11,  when  the 
boiler  exploded  after  it  had  been  in  operation  only  three  hours. 

The  boiler  and  still  were  set  up  in  a  clump  of  pines  not  far  from 
the  edge  of  town,  and  in  order  to  eliminate  such  noises  as  would  have 
been  caused  by  the  normal  operation  of  the  safety  valve  and  by  the 
possible  bursting  of  a  gauge  glass,  the  owners  removed  the  safety 
valve  and  gauge  glass,  and  even  plugged  up  all  but  the  lower  gauge- 
cock  opening  with  old  automobile  spark  plugs.  Having  thus  stripped 
the  boiler  of  its  most  essential  fittings,  they  evidently  thought  that  the 
pressure  gauge  and  the  single  gauge  cock  would  enable  the  fireman  to 
keep  pressure  within  safe  limits. 

An  examination  of  the  wreckage  showed  that  rivets  of  the  mud 
ring  seam  were  so  badly  corroded  that  half  of  them  were  without 
heads.  Staybolts  holding  the  head  were  also  eaten  away  to  an  extent 
that  deprived  the  head  of  almost  all  support.  Failure  occurred  at  this 
mud  ring  seam,  the  boiler  rocketing  up  into  the  air  and  coming  to  rest 
in  a  field  a  hundred  yards  away. 

The  junk  dealer  who  sold  the  boiler  maintained  that  he  had  warned 
the  purchasers  of  its  condition  and  had  told  them  that  he  was  holding 
the  boiler  only  as  scrap.  However,  either  he  or  the  purchasers  had  in- 
stalled a  set  of  second-hand  tubes  which,  although  beaded  properly  at 
the  top  head,  were  not  beaded  at  all  at  the  bottom  head.  Needless  to 
sav,  the  boiler  was  not  insured. 


What  "Matter"  Is  Thought  To  Be 

According  to  the  scientists'  latest  conception  of  matter  (the  theory  that  even 
such  solid-appearing  things  as  wood,  iron,  and  stone  are  nothing  more  than 
groups  of  positive  and  negative  charges  of  electricity  with  unfilled  spaces  be- 
tween them)  if  we  could  eliminate  all  the  unfilled  space  in  a  man's  body  and 
collect  his  protons  and  electrons  (positive  and  negative  electric  charges)  into  one 
mass,  the  man  would  be  reduced  to  a  speck  so  small  that  he  could  not  be  seen 
by  the  naked  eye. 


252 THE       LOCOMOTIVE  October. 

Caught  in  the  Separator 

SPEAKING  OF  APOLOGIES 

The  }oung  lawyer,  of  counsel  for  the  defendant,  finally  lost  all  vestige  of 
patience  as  the  judge,  on  point  after  point,  over-ruled  his  objections.  Springing 
to  his  feet,  he  started  to  harangue  the  court.  "  Your  Honor,  I  am  surprised," 
he   commenced,   indignantly. 

The  judge,  a  severe  old  fellow,  glowered  angrily  and  thundered  a  demand 
for  silence  —  following  this  up  with  a  promise  that  the  otifending  barrister 
would  be  brought  up  on  charges  of  contempt. 

But  the  young  man's  associate,  a  suave  old  lawyer  with  years  of  experience, 
sought  to  smooth  things  over.  "  Your  Honor,"  he  said,  by  way  of  apology, 
■■  1  trust  you  will  pardon  the  momentary  lapse  on  the  part  of  my  associate.  As  you 
can  appreciate,  he  is  new  to  the  ways  of  the  court  and  cannot  be  expected  to 
exercise  the  restraint  which  will  come  as  greater  experience  makes  him  more 
sensible  of  the  Court's  dignity.  I  venture  to  say  that  when  he  has  practised  before 
Your  Honor  as  long  as  I  have,  he  will  not  be  surprised  at  any  ruling  Your 
Honor  mav  make." 


JUST  A  PARTING  SHOT 
A  lawyer  stopped  at  the  boiler  room  door  and  called  for  Timothy  O'Toole. 
One  of  the  firemen  inquired  in  a  heavy  voice,  "Who's  wantin'  me?" 
"  Mr.  O'Toole,"  said  the  lawyer,  "  it  is  my  duty  to  inform  you  that  your  aunt 
has  died  in  Dublin,  leaving  you  an  estate  of  sixty  thousand  dollars." 
There  was  a  silence  below  and  then  a  lively  commotion. 
"Are  you  coming,  Mr.  O'Toole?"  the  lawyer  called  down. 
"  In  wan  minute,"  was  the  bellowed  answer.  "  I've  just  stopped  to  lick  the  chief." 


Golfer  :     These  links  are  terrible,  caddy. 

Caddv :     This  ain't  the  links,  sir.    You  got  off  them  a  long  time  ago. 


YOU  DON'T  SAY! 

"  With  all  due  deference,  my  boy,  I  really  think  our  English  custom  at  the 
telephone  is  better  than  saying  '  Hello  '  as  you  do." 

"What  do  you  say  in  England?" 

"We  say,  'Are  you  there?'  Then,  of  course,  if  you  are  not  there,  there  is  no 
use  going  on  with  the  conversation." 


"  Did  you  manage  to  give  the  cop  the  slip?  " 
"  No,  he  gave  me  one." 


A  motorist,  meeting  a  negro  trudging  along  the  dusty  road,  generously  offered 
him  a  lift. 

"  No,  thank  you.  sah,"  said  the  old  man.  "Ah  reckon  mah  old  laigs  will  take 
me  'long  fast  enough." 

"Aren't  afraid  are  you,  uncle?    Have  you  ever  been  in  an  automobile?" 

"  Nevah  but  once,  sah,  and  den  ah  didn't  let  all  mah  weight  down." 


A    colored    employe    of    an    express    company    approached    his    superior    with 
the  query : 

"  Boss,  what  we  gwine  do  'bout  dat  billy  goat?   He's  done  et  up  where  he  gwine." 


"  The  preacher  in  our  church  last  Sunday  told  us  how  Lot's  wife  looked  back 
and  turned  into  a  pillar  of  salt.  I  couldn't  help  thinking  whenever  my  wife 
looks  back  she  turns  into  a  telegraph  pole  or  a  lamp-post  or  something." 

—  Detroit  Motor  Mezvs. 


19^. 


THE     LOCOMOTIVE 


253 


SUMMARY  OF  INSPECTORS'  WORK  FOR  192& 

Xumber  of  visits  ot  inspection  made  (boilers  and  engines) 

Total  number  of  boilers  examined 

Xumber  of  boilers  inspected  internally 

Number  of  boilers  tested    by    hydrostatic    pressure 

Xumber  of  boilers  found   to  be  uninsurable    . 

Xumber  of  shop   boilers    inspected 

Xumber  of  premises  where  pipe  lines  were  inspected 

Total  number  of  engines  and  wheels  examined 

Xumber  of  uninsurable  engines  and  wheels 


s) 

277,76.1 

536.763 

191,348 

13,917 

946 

23,184 

32,736 

59,481 

227 

Summary  of  Defects  Discovered 


Nature  ot   Defect 

Cases  of  sediment  or  loose  scale  and  adhering  scale 

Cases  of  grooving  and  internal  and  external  corrosio 

Cases  of  defective  bracing 

Cases  of  defective  staybolting    . 

Settings  defective 

Fractured  plates   and  heads 

Burned   plates    .... 

Laminated   plates 

Cases  of  defective    riveting 

Cases  of  leakage  aroimd  tubes  and  defectiv 

Cases  of  leakage  at  seams 

Water  gauges  defective     . 

Blow-offs  defective    .... 

Cases  of  low  water   .... 

Safety  valves  overloaded  or  defective 

Pressure  gauges  defective  or   missing 

Miscellaneous   defects    in   boilers 

Fl>-wheels    found   over  speeded    . 

Cases  of  cracks  found  in  engine  parts  and  wheels 

Defective   governors  ..... 

Miscellaneous  defects   in   engines  and  wheels    . 


e  tubes  and  flues 


Whole 

Danger- 

Number 

ous 

78,207 

3,926 

45,642 

2,302 

804 

180 

3,247 

497 

8,672 

802 

2,504 

488 

2,841 

385 

179 

28 

1,621 

475 

26,215 

6,477 

5,604 

416 

3,528 

624 

4,520 

1,195 

571 

208 

2,884 

715 

6,947 

652 

9,741 

765 

65 

II 

578 

196 

333 

164 

69 

2 

Grand  Tot.\l  of  the  Inspectors'  Work  ox  Boilers  from  the  Time  the 
Company  Began  Business  to  January  i,  1929 


Visits   of   inspection   made        ..... 

W'hole  number  of  inspections    (.both  internal  and  ext.) 

Complete    internal    inspections  .... 

Boilers  tested  by  hydrostatic   pressure    . 

Total  number  of  boilers    condemned 

Total  number  of  defects    discovered 

Total  number  of  dangerous   defects    discovered 


6,913,086 

13,648,165 

5.263,496 

472,435 

37,740 

7,242,630 

809,517 


The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection  and  Insurance  Company 


56  Prospect  Street 
HARTFORD,  CONN. 


ABSTRACT   OF   STATEMENT,   DECEMBER  31,   1928 


Capital  Stock, 


$3,000,000.00 


ASSETS 


Cash  in  oflFiCes  and  banks    . 

Real   Estate         .... 

Mortgage  and  collateral   loans     . 

Bonds  and   Stocks 

Premiums  in  course  of  collection 

Interest   accrued 

Other    Assets       .... 

Total    Assets 

LIABILITIES 
Reserve  for  unearned    premiums 
Reserve  for  losses       ...... 

Reserve  for  taxes  and  other  contingencies 
Capital    Stock     ....... 

Surplus  over  all  liabilities   .  .  .  .  . 

Surplus  to  Policyholders 

Total 


$3,000,000.00 
7,239,199.60 


$        599,693-18 

300,423.66 

1,296,386.75 

17,475,629.38 

1,288,819.44 

151,132.41 

18,205.76 

$    21,130,290.58 


$     8,619,119.83 

377,212.80 

1,894,758.35 


$10,239,199.06 


$  21,130.290.58 


CHARLES   S.  BLAKE,   Chairman  Board  of  Directors 
WILLIAM   R.   C.   CORSON,   President  and  Treasurer 


BOARD   OF   DIRECTORS 


LUCIUS  F.  ROBINSON,  .\ttorney,  Hart- 
ford,  Conn. 

JOHN  O.  ENDERS,  Chairman  Board  of 
Directors,  Hartford  National  Bank  & 
Trust    Co.,    Hartford,    Conn. 

MORG.A,N  B.  BR.\IN.\RD,  President 
yEtna  Life  Insurance  Co.,  Hartford, 
Conn. 

CHARLES  P.  COOLEY,  Chairman  Board 
of  Trustees,  Society  for  Savings,  Hart- 
ford, Conn. 

HOR.\CE  B.  CHENEY,  Cheney  Brothers, 
Silk  Manufacturers,  South  ^lanchester, 
Conn. 

D.  NEWTON  BARNEY,  Vice-President 
The  Hartford  Electric  Light  Co.,  Hart- 
ford,   Conn. 

DR.  GEORGE  C.  F.  WILLIAMS,  Presi- 
dent The  Capewell  Horse  Nail  Co., 
Hartford,   Conn. 

JOSEPH  R.  .  ENSIGN,  President  The 
Ensign-Bickford    Co.,    Simsbury,    Conn. 


EDW.\RD  MILLIG.\N,  President  Phoenix 
Insurance    Co.,    Hartford,    Conn. 

CHARLES  S.  BLAKE,  Chairman  Board  of 
Directors,  The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler 
Inspection  and  Insurance  Co.,  Hart- 
ford, Conn. 

WM.  R.  C.  CORSON,  President  The  Hart- 
ford Steam  Boiler  Inspection  and  In- 
surance   Co.,    Hartford,    Conn. 

SAMUEL  M.  STONE,  President  Colt's 
Patent  Fire  Arms  Mfg.  Co.,  Hartford, 
Conn. 

SAMUEL  FERGUSON,  President  The 
Hartford  Electric  Light  Co.,  Hartford, 
Conn. 

HON.  JOHN  H.  TRUMBULL,  President 
The  Trumbull  Electric  Mfg.  Co.,  Plain- 
ville.    Conn. 

CURTISS  C.  GARDINER,  Vice-President 
The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection 
and  Insurance  Company,  80  Maiden 
Lane,    New    York,    N.    Y. 


Incorporated  1866 


Charter  Perpetual 


Department 

ATLANTA,  Ga. 

1 103-1106    Atlanta   Trust   Bid 

BALTIMORE,  Md.,  . 
5  South  St.       . 

BOSTON,   Mass., 
4   Liberty    Sq.   Cor.    Water    St 

BRIDGEPORT,  Conn.,       . 
404-405  City  Savings  Bank  Bldg 

CHICAGO,    111.. 
209  West  Jackson  Boulevard 

CINCINNATI,   Ohio. 
First  National  Bank  Bldg. 

CLEVELAND,   Ohio, 
Leader   Bldg.    . 

DENVER,  Colo., 
916-918    Gas    &    Electric    Bid 

DETROIT,  Mich.,       . 
2401-7   First  Nat'l   Bank   Bldg 

HARTFORD,    Conn., 
56  Prospect  St. 

NEW  ORLEANS,  La.,       . 
1 128  Hibernia  Bank  Bldg. 

NEW  YORK,   N.  Y., 
80  Maiden  Lane 

PHILADELPHIA,  Pa.,     . 

429  Walnut  St. 

PITTSBURGH,  Pa., 
1807-8-9-10   Arrott    Bldg. 

ST.  LOUIS,  Mo., 
319  North  Fourth  St. 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  Cal.,  . 
114  Sansome  St. 

SEATTLE,  Wash.,      . 
423    Dexter-Horton    Bldg. 

TORONTO,    Canada, 
Federal  Bldg. 


Representatives 

W.   M.  Francis^  Manager. 

C.  R.  SuM.MERS,  Chief  Inspector. 

Lawford  &  McKiM  Inc.,  General  Agents. 
P.  E.  Terroy,  Chief  Inspector. 

Ward  I.  Cornell,  Manager. 
W.  A.  Bayliss,  Chief  Inspector 

W.  G.  Lineburgh  &  Son,  General  Agents. 
A.  E.  BoNNETT,  Chief  Inspector. 

P.    M.    Murray,   Manager. 

C.  W.  ZiMMER,  Chief  Inspector. 

F.  L.  HowER,  Manager. 

W.  E.  Glennon,  Chief  Inspector. 

A.    Paul   Graham,   Manager. 
J.   F.   Hunt,   Chief   Inspector. 

J.   H.   Chesnutt, 

Manager  and  Chief  Inspector. 

L.  L.  Coaxes,  Manager. 

Thomas    P.    Hetu,    Chief    Inspector. 

F.   H.   Kenyon,   General   Agent. 
A.  E.  Bonnet,  Chief  Inspector. 

R.  T.  Burwell,  Mgr.  and  Chief  Inspector. 
E.   Unsworth,  Ass't  Chief   Inspector. 

C.  C.  Gardiner,  Vice-President. 
E.  Mason  Parry,  Chief  Inspector. 

A.    S.   WicKHAM,   Manager. 
S.  B.  Adams,  Chief  Inspector. 

George  S.  Reynolds,  Manager. 
J.   A.   Snyder,  Chief   Inspector. 

Chas.   D.   Ashcroft,   Manager. 
Eugene  Webb,  Chief  Inspector. 

C.  B.  Paddock,  Manager. 
L.  J.  Reed,  Chief  Inspector. 

E.   G.   Watson, 

Ivlanager    and    Chief    Inspector. 

H.  N.  Roberts,  President  The  Boiler  In- 
spection and  Insurance  Company  of 
Canada. 


Business  Interruption 


A  boiler  explosion,  a  turbine  break-down  —  in 
fact,  almost  any  serious  accident  to  a  plant's  power- 
producing  equipment  —  very  often  causes  a  loss  far 
greater  than  the  amount  it  takes  to  efifect  repairs. 
An  accident  of  this  sort  may  halt  entirely  or,  at  least, 
seriously  curtail  plant  output  for  days,  weeks,  and 
even  months^  during  which  such  FIXED  EX- 
PENSES as  Salaries,  Taxes,  Interest,  Service, 
Lease-holds,  Contracts,  and  Depreciation  must  be 
met  with  CASH  that  can  come  only  from  the  firm's 
reserves. 

"  Hartford  Steam  Boiler's "  USE  &  OCCU- 
PANCY policy  furnishes  certain  protection  against 
that  sort  of  loss.  May  we,  without  obligation  on 
your  part,  send  details  of  this  form  of  insurance  and 
the  manner  in  which  it  stands  ready  to  reimburse 
you  for  loss  of  production  due  to  an  accident  to  the 
"  heart  "  of  your  plant? 

The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  P.  O.  Drawer  2133 

Inspection  and  Insurance  Co.  Hartford,  Conn. 


Gentlemen  :  —  Please  send  me  the  details  of  Use  &  Occu- 
pancy Insurance. 

Signed    

(Official    Position) 
(Company) 
(Address) 


CARNEGIE  LIBRARY  OF  PITTSBURGH 


3  1812  04248  1367