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By C. E. Arnold

A BRIEF description of this installation was included in a recent paper by H. Kenyon Burch.1 The purpose of the present paper is to amplify Mr. Burch's description, as it is felt by the writer that the subject merits more than passing attention. In making a comparison between the common method of hoisting men in mine shafts, and elevator practice in high buildings, the former shows to great disadvantage both as regards safety measures and smoothness of operation. It is surprising that in view of the inducements offered, the step of applying the building equipment direct to the mine shaft has not been taken before, as in many respects the conditions of service are similar, and the objects to be attained are identical. Even without doing this, it is certain that safety to life and limb in the usual method of hoisting men underground can be greatly enhanced by the application to the mine hoist, of some of the features of the building elevator. In the case under consideration, the elevator cage runs in a vertical, concrete-lined shaft compartment 5 ft. 11 in. by 5 ft. 6 in. (1.8 by 1.68:m.) in section and 585 ft. (178 m.) deep, while the counterweight runs in the pipe and ladder compartment of a twin shaft 102 ft. (31 m.) distant. The section of the division of this compartment occupied by the counterweight measures 2 ft. 4 ¼ , in. by 3 ft. 10 ½ in. (0.72 by 1.18 m.), and the counterweight is made in the form of a small cage which. suffices to carry two men for the purpose of making inspections or repairs in the pipe and ladder way.

Jan 12, 1917

Jan 1, 1890

By John C. Smock

George Hammell Cook was born at Hanover, Morris County, New Jersey, January 5, 1818. His early education was obtained in the country school, and he was, for a short time, a teacher in his native town. In 1836 he was engaged, as a civil engineer, in making surveys and locating the line of the Morris and Essex Railroad from Newark to Morristown, and the extension of the road to the Delaware River. Appreciating the advantages of a thorough education, and seeking a wider field of usefulness, he entered the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at Troy in 1838, and, was graduated from that .school in 1839. In this institution he heard the lectares of Amos Eaton, the famous teacher, from whom so many of our older scientists caught their inspiration and love for the natural sciences. After graduation, he was employed as a tutor in the school, and subse-

Jan 1, 1890

By R. W. Raymond

IX the death of William H. Scranton, which occurred at Oxford, N. J., June 19, 1889, the Institute has been called once more to mourn the loss of a name from the fast diminishing list of those who constituted its membership in the first year of its existence. But it loses more than a name—a friendly presence and an intellectual force have departed ; a fruitful life has been cut short. Mr. Scranton was born in Belvidere, N. J., on the 13th of January, 1840. He was the eldest son of Colonel George W. Scranton, the

Jan 1, 1890

By R. W. Raymond

The sudden death of Captain Jones, September 28,1889, became known to his fellow-members on the eve of the Ottawa meeting of the Institute; and at that meeting, Mr. Charles Albert Ashburner, of Pittsburgh, expressed with unaffected feeling and unpremeditated eloquence the sorrow of all. Mr. Ashburner subsequently undertook to revise and extend, for in in the Transactions, the remarks he had made at Ottawa; but death surprised him also, in the midst of his labors; and it has become my duty and privilege to prepare from the memoranda he left behind, the present brief and inadequate notice. To me, who knew and loved them both, this task of double sorrow recalls them both, with a peculiar sense of presence and of absence. They seem to speak from another land, not far away, yet not with human voices—like an echo and its echo. William Richard Jones was born in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, February 23, 1839. His father was Rev. John G. Jones, a Welsh minister, who had immigrated to the United States in 1832. William was the eldest son, and his father's failing health made it necessary for him to begin early the work of self-support. At the age of ten, he was apprenticed to the Crane Iron company, of Catasauqua, and in this humble capacity entered upon the profession in which he was to become famous. Unquestionably, the thorough acquaintance with all details, acquired by working his way from the bottom to the top, was one secret of the conspicuous executive ability which characterized him in the height of his career. According to a letter from Mr. J. H. Geer, Assistant Chief Engineer of the Cambria Iron Company, Mr. Jones entered the service of that company in 1858 or 1859 as a machinist, and continued to work in that capacity until July, 1862, when he enlisted as a private in the 133d Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers, in which he afterwards commanded a company. The regiment was mustered out of service in 1863, and Captain Jones re-enlisted in the 194th

Jan 1, 1890

By W. M. Courtis

. There seems to be a well-established belief that there is an indescribable something in the appearance of gold-quartz not to be learned from books, that enables those who are fortunate enough to have acquired the power to recognize this characteristic, to pronounce at once that a certain quartz will or will not pay. The stronger this claim is made, the more certain is the claimant to be one of the self-styled practical miners. After several years spent among the gold-mines of California with practical and professional gold-miners, I have come to the conclusion that very few care to risk an opinion on a piece of quartz until some of it has been "horned out." Nevertheless, there is what the miners call a " kindly " appearance, that is more often followed by good results than is a vitreous, water-wet-looking quartz. A dark, resinous quartz seems to be most in favor, but there are so many exceptions that even quartz as " white as a hound's tooth " produces gold in some mines.. The ribbon-quartz, a laminated variety, separated by thin talc or chlorite partings, has a well-known good name. The slides of rich quartz specimens show that this parallelism is a microscopical characteristic of the only macroscopical distinction that, as a rule, these quartzes show. This is shown by Nos. 12 and 13, photographs of the richest quartz, that averaged $65 per pound. It is noticeable, also, in Nos. 7 and 9, and others. Dr. Hensoldt, of Columbia College, who prepared, excellently, a large number of my slides, and whom I have to thank for descriptions and suggestions, says of Nos. 12 and 13: "This variety of quartz differs considerably, microscopically, from the others of your locality, and is, in more than one respect, remarkable. Like the

Jan 1, 1890

By W. H. Adams

Inasmuch as] the mining of phosphate rock and its transportation has so general a bearing on the great industries of this continent, entering as well into the problem of our trade with foreign countries, it may be useful to place on record the following list of localities from which certain products of a like nature are received by us in a business way, or in which we are interested more or less either by ownership or by competition. As a ready means of comparison, the percentages of the mine products and the deteriorating constituents are given : Coprolite (Cambridge).—This material is obtained from the Upper Greensand formation in Cambridgeshire. The phosphate runs from 50 to 60 per cent., and averages 64 per cent. It contains much carbonate of calcium, but little iron, in the ferric condition. The superphosphates manufactured from the material are permanent and little liable to a revert." They contain from 28 to 35 per cent. of soluble phosphate. Coprolite (Buckingham).—From the same formation as the Cambridge variety, and very similar in composition.. It averages 60 per cent. phosphate. Coprolite (Suffolk).—These coprolites are not so valuable for the manufacture of superphosphate as the two previous varieties, as the iron they contain is in the ferric state, and liable to "revert" the soluble phosphate. The phosphate varies from 48 to 60 per cent., but averages 54 per cent. They are of Tertiary formation. Coprolite (Potton or Bedford).—The average amount of phosphate in these coprolites is about 50 per cent. In some cases they may, however, run up to 60 per cent., and in others may not exceed 45 per cent. They belong to the Lower Greensand formation. The ferric iron frequently is as high as 4 per cent., and the alumina as much. Russian phosphate comes from the chalk, and occurs in carious rounded masses. It contains from 28 to 35 per cent. of phosphate, but may run up to 69 or 70 per cent. Curacoa phosphate is also of very high class quality, giving 80

Jan 1, 1890

By R. W. Ells

That portion of Quebec to which the few remarks I propose to make are more particularly intended to apply, viz., the Eastern Townships, has long been known for its mineral wealth, and has enjoyed a reputation for mining enterprises, second probably to no other part of Canada. Capital has been invested in large amounts at various points, some of which has yielded a handsome return to the investors, while in other cases the inevitable results of rash and foolish speculation have followed, much good money has been sent after bad, and the principal result has been a dearly bought expe- .

Jan 1, 1890

By Charles Albert Ashburner

Natural gas has been known to exist for many years in the St. Lawrence Valley, between Quebec and Montreal, and more partirularly in the vicinity of Louisville and Three Rivers, 74 and 94 miles respectively northeast of Montreal, and 98 and 78 miles respectively southwest of Quebec; the distance from Montreal to Quebec along the St. Lawreuce River being about 175 miles. It was not until 1880 that any practical explorations were begun with the hope of finding gas in sufficient quantities for commercial uses. In this year Messrs. Piret and Genest, of Three Rivers, sank a well near St. Maurice to a depth of 50 feet, where solid rock was encountered. A similar well was drilled through the glacial and allavial drift, in the same district, in 1883, by the Messrs. Renaud Freres and Dubois, to a depth of 70 feet before solid rock was encountered. In this latter well a strong flow of gas was obtained. The gas was an outflow from a very limited reservoir in the porous glacial gravel, which had been filled from the gas resulting from the decomposition of vegetable remains, which had been buried in the gravel at the time of its deposition. Subsequently, other wells were sunk in the same way, with the hope of getting gas in commercial quantities from similar reservoirs. Commercial Gas.—By gas in commercial quantities I mean gas in such quantity that, if utilized with proper care and economy, it would generate steam at a cost below the cost at which the same duty could be obtained from the use of coal or wood at current prices, and that

Jan 1, 1890

By Wm. Hamilton Merritt

With the exception of the Vancouver Island coal, all the western coal-fields owe their present development to the completion, in the autumn of 1886, of the Canadian Pacific railroad. While it could not be expected that a very great deal could be accomplished in three years, enough has been done to pretty thoroughly establish the coal-bearing areas and their correspondence with those which have been developed to the south of the boundary along the lines of the transatlantic railroads in the United States. This summer I visited some of the important developments in the coal areas of Washington Territory, largely with the object of being better able to appreciate the corresponding coal-bearing areas in British Columbia to the north. In Western Canada, coal-bearing rocks have been found in three zones: 1. In the plains to the east of the Rocky Mountains and in the eastern flanking ranges, the coal occurs in the Cretaceous formation (including the Laramie). 2. In the interior plateau of British Columbia, the coal is found in the Tertiary formation. 3. On the coast of British Columbia, Cretaceous and Tertiary rocks are found carrying coal, and on the Island of Vancouver the well known Nanaimo coal has been worked for years in the first named formation. In all of these zones, the coals vary from lignites up to higher grades, the factor determining quality being the amount of pressute to which they have been subjected. The intensity of this pressure is generally shown by the disturbance which the coals exhibit, and, in many cases, is almost directly in proportion to the distance of the deposits from mountain ranges. This seems to be also the opinion expressed by Mr. Bailey Willis in connection with his Census Report on the coals of Washington. It has been elsewhere stated

Jan 1, 1890

By J. C. F. Randolph

New Granada, or, as it is known to its people, the Republic of Colombia, occupies the northwest corner of South America, and includes the Isthmus of Panama. Although it is one of our nearest neighbors, so little is known about it in the United States that the following notes regarding it, flowing from a year's professional residence, may be timely. It is bounded on the north by the Caribbean Sea and Costa Rica, on the east by Venezuela and Brazil, on the south by Brazil and Ecuador, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean. Its extreme geographical limits are from 2' South latitude to 12' North latitude, and from 69 to 78' East longitude. In size, therefore, it is roughly 1000 miles from north to south, and 600 miles from east to west. After many political convulsions and revolutions, and a somewhat checkered history, the country consists to-day of nine departments, Panama, Bolivar, Magdalena, Cauca, Santander, Antioquia, Tolima, Boyaca and Cundinamarca. These departments are governed from the national capital of Bogota, although each has its own capital and departmental staff. The total population of the Republic is not more than 3,000,000 inhabitants, and these to a large extent consist of mixed races. Those who live in the hot belt are, as a

Jan 1, 1890

By W. J. Keep

Those who have observed the influence of various elements upon cast-iron will be interested in the methods used by us to form the several series of test-bars, which form the basis of the conclusions presented in this paper. We found that we could not, by adding ordinary white stickphosphorus to molten iron, produce bars which would exhibit to the eye the peculiar influence of phosphorus. By melting wrought-iron drillings with red phosphorus, Mr. H. S. Fleming produced in his laboratory 10 pounds of phosphide of iron, containing 10.22 per cent. of phosphorus. With this we made two series of test-bars, the first with our white-base iron, and the second with our FLM gray-base iron. Before the time of making these bars we had been unable to procure regularly made pig-iron which contained enough phosphorus to permit of the production of

Jan 1, 1890

By Frank Clemens Smith

The occurrence of the tellurides of gold and silver, even in small quantities, is so rare that their metallurgical treatment has engaged little attention. A residence of several months at one of the few mines in North America the product of which consists entirely of such ore, has led me to arrange a method for its economical treatment. The mine referred to is the Huronian, situated a few miles distant from Jackfish Lake, in Ontario, Canada. The plan proposed is for this peculiar case, and is put on record as possibly suggestive and helpful .in any similar instance, should it occur. Since freight-rates from the mine to the nearest railroad-point were extremely high, and for other economical reasons, the method proposed is modified by the use, as far as possible, of the machinery already at the mine, and is so arranged that bullion instead of concentrates would be obtained as a final product. The ore-vein at the Huronian mine varied in width from about 4 feet at the surface to 2 feet and less at the lowest level—125 feet —and dipped southeast about 88. The rock consisted, on both foot- and hanging-walls, of soft, green Huronian slates carrying much highly crystalline but barren pyrite. The ore carried an inconsiderable amount of galena with iron and copper pyrites, argentite, hessite, sylvanite (or petzite), and probably altaite, the telluride of lead. Near the surface the ore showed considerable native gold, but this disappeared with greater depth. Two complete analyses of minerals containing tellurium are here attached, as they establish the presence of two important compounds: I. Analysis of a mineral supposed at the mine to be sylvanite, but agreeing more closely in composition with petzite (Ag, Au)2 Te: Ag = 41.062 Au =23.691 Te =32.007 Pb = 0.071 SiO2= 0.097 Fe = trace 96.928

Jan 1, 1890

By Sterling G. Valentine

The annual .use of large quantities of sulphurous iron-ores (over 1,500,000 tons in the United States) has led to a search for the best methods of desulphurization, in order to make this material more available for the manufacture of a good quality of pig-iron. Although such ores can be used raw in small amounts, they must be previously roasted if they are to constitute the entire ore-charge of a furnace.

Jan 1, 1890

By E. Gilpin

Any estimate of the economic mineral value of an unvisited district is to the mining engineer largely a comparative one. If he knows that certain minerals characterize any given geological horizon he naturally draws upon his experience of the same ores as met by him cinder similar geological conditions. And if he has not had the personal experience, the investigation of the geology of a similar district as given in a trustworthy report enables him to lay a fair basis for conclusions. In a general way these conclusions are of value, and while they pronounce on the possible mineral fecundity of a given district, they

Jan 1, 1890

By E. D. Peters

The Sudbury ore-deposits possess a peculiar interest for a variety of reasons. In the first place, they are deep within the borders of the Huronian rocks, and are consequently amongst the oldest deposits that we know of, unless, indeed, the ores were deposited at a much later period than the country rock. Again, they carry nickel in unusual proportions, and lastly, they are unique in containing a small amount of platinum, although arsenic is not present. I shall not pretend to go into the geology of this region. The Huronian and Laurentian rocks are familiar to all American geologists, and these present only the usual series of gneiss, graywacke, quartzites, greenstones, clay-slates, etc., characteristic of this gigantic system of rocks, which has excited so much discussion of late years. As in all parts of Canada where it occurs, I believe, the rocks of this system are tilted to such an extraordinary degree that it may be said that the whole country is standing on edge at an angle of something like 70°. The general strike of these rocks is southwest

Jan 1, 1890

By Thos Egleston

The sands of Snake River, Idaho, have long been known to contain gold. They were worked by some of the first prospectors who came to Idaho, and on the banks still stand the ruins of camps abandoned for years. There are almost always prospectors searching for gold during the season of low water, and it is not an infrequent thing to find a miner of the old type actually panning the sand, or the prospect-hole which he has just left. There is more or less mystery about these miners and their methods of finding the spots where they work. They are always subjects of much speculation to the ordinary traveller. The rich discoveries are, for the best of reasons, concealed until the claims can be taken up. It is difficult to find a place where there are no prospects, but the " colors " are so very fine that they do not offer much inducement to enterprise. The California miner usually values a color at from 5 to 10 cents, often the latter; while on Snake River it would take 100 colors, or even more, to make that amount.

Jan 1, 1890

By P. H. Dudley

The present paper was suggested by the paper read by Mr. R. W. Hunt at the New York Meeting, in February last, on rail-sections (Trans., xvii., p. 778)) in the discussion of which I brought forward some of the facts and observations here stated. Professional duties having prevented me from writing out my part of that discussion in time for its publication in the volume containing Mr. Hunt's paper, I take the opportunity to present it in separate form and greater fulness. The striking features of the series of rail-sections submitted by Mr. Hunt are their shallow heads and heavy bases. In these respects they are quite similar to the section of the 80-1b. rail, which I designed in 1883 to meet the requirements of the traffic of the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad. Before the adoption of the 80-1b. rail, this road had modified its 65-1b. section from a shallow head with rounding sides and quite heavy base to one having a deep head and thin base. All the leading railroads had changed from the earlier sections of steel rails to those having deep heads and thin bases, conforming to the recommendations of the Committee on Rails of the American Society of Civil Engineers. It is but proper to say that the committee's investigations upon the wear of rails were made upon the rails manufactured under a practice quite different from that which obtained after the committee's recommendations were carried into effect. The results in actual service have been contrary to what was expected. Fig. 1 shows my 80-1b. section of 1883. Before designing this rail I had taken, at different times, a series of diagrams of the condition of tracks, with my car, on the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad, all of the New England railroads, and all but one of the trunk lines. My diagrams gave me an opportunity which could not otherwise have been obtained to see the wear of great numbers of sections of rails under widely varying conditions of traffic.

Jan 1, 1890

By Lewis Carroll

AS he contemplates the numerous good things the hard-working committees have evolved for the 140th Meeting of the Institute, the Editor knows just how the walrus felt when he uttered his memorable, if somewhat lugubrious lines. For there are the Annual Reception and Dinner at the Commodore, 'the Gold Supply Symposium, the luncheons, general and special, and the Annual Institute of Metals Lecture, a Round Table on Iron Ore and a wonderful Informal Dance at the Grand Central Art, Gallery, substantial general sessions, a Smoker-and many other things. -Old, friends and new, reminiscences and confidential chats, horizons pushed back by new information and adjusted perspectives, courage revived and ambitions stimulated-one with a flair for the modernistic might make something-or nothing-of the kaleidoscopic preview 'of the coming Annual Meeting.

Jan 1, 1931

By William H. Bassett

RECENTLY it has become the custom of retiring presidents to talk of the relations of the Institute to its membership and its constituency- and it seems a good precedent to follow. Past-president Smith reviewed our relations to materials and to society in general. Mr. Bradley spoke of the value and use of our publications and of our educational duties. My message will be in regard to the coordination of our various groups of member interests and of service to industry. This Institute has, within its organization, four divisions and fourteen technical committees--each interested in a separate put very definite subject, and each covering a phase of mining engineering interest. These vary from geology and the geophysical methods of prospecting, to the physics of the structure of metals, truly "from the mine to the consumer"-from the preparation for mining to the final use of that which has been mined.

Jan 1, 1931