We give the following notice in connexion with the subject of Wood
Pavements, believing, as we do, that the efficiency of that mode of
paving greatly depends upon its being kept clean; an object which this
invention will materially facilitate.
_Patent Self-Loading Cart, or Street-Sweeping Machine._
The Self-loading Cart has been lately brought into operation in the town
of Manchester, where it has excited a considerable degree of public
attention. It is the invention of Mr. Whitworth, of the firm of Messrs.
Joseph Whitworth & Co., engineers, by whom it has been patented, and is
now in process of manufacture. The principle of the invention consists
in employing the rotatory motion of locomotive wheels, moved by horse or
other power, to raise the loose soil from the surface of the ground, and
deposit it in a vehicle attached.
It will be evident that the self-loading principle is applicable to a
variety of purposes. Its most important application, however, is to the
cleaning of streets and roads. The apparatus for this purpose consists
of a series of brooms suspended from a light frame of wrought iron, hung
behind a common cart, the body of which is placed as near the ground
as possible, for the greater facility of loading. As the cart-wheels
revolve, the brooms successively sweep the surface of the ground, and
carry the soil up an inclined plane, at the top of which it falls into
the body of the cart.
The apparatus is extremely simple in construction, and will have no
tendency to get out of order, nor will it be liable to material injury
from accident. The draught is not severe on the horse. Throughout the
process of filling, a larger amount of force is not required that would
be necessary to draw the full cart an equal distance.
The success of the operation is no less remarkable than its novelty.
Proceeding at a moderate speed through the public streets, the cart
leaves behind it a well-swept track, which forms a striking contrast with
the adjacent ground. Though of the full size of a common cart, it has
repeatedly filled itself in the space of six minutes from the principal
thoroughfares of the town before mentioned.
The state of the streets in our large towns, and particularly in the
metropolis, it must be admitted, is far from satisfactory. It is
productive of serious hindrance to traffic, and a vast amount of public
inconvenience. The evil does not arise from the want of a liberal
expenditure on the part of the local authorities. In the township of
Manchester, the annual outlay for scavenging is upwards of 5,000_l_. This
amount is expended in the township alone. In the remaining districts of
the town, the expense is considerable. Other towns are burdened in an
equal or still greater proportion. Yet, notwithstanding the amount of
outlay, the effective work done is barely one-sixth part of what would
be necessary to keep the public streets in proper order. In the district
before referred to, they were a short time ago distributed into the
following classes, according to the frequency of cleaning them:—Class
A,—once a week; B,—once a fortnight; C,—once a month. It may be safely
asserted, that all these streets should be swept, at least, six times
oftener. The main thoroughfares, as well as the back streets and confined
courts, crowded with the poorer part of the population, absolutely
require cleaning out daily. But the expense already incurred effectually
prevents a more frequent repetition of the process. The expensiveness of
the present system, in fact, renders it altogether inefficient; nor is
there any chance of material improvement in this important department of
public police, unaccompanied by a corresponding reduction in the rate of
expenditure.
* * * * *
According to the _Kunctsblatt_, a German painter, Edward Hansen, of
Basle, has been commissioned to prepare cartoons for the oil paintings
intended to decorate the church at Oscott, which Mr. Pugin is about to
build at the Earl of Shrewsbury’s expense. One of the designs, “The Last
Judgment,” is spoken of as exceedingly beautiful. On the same authority,
we learn that Thorwalsden has sustained a loss by the wreck of a ship,
bound from Leghorn to Hamburg. On board were several of his works, most
of which were saved, but were completely spoiled by the sea-water; from
which we infer that they were plaster casts.
Gothic Architecture.
[Illustration: Westminster Hall Roof.]