decision of Commissioner Fisher, in which he reviews the laws and
former practice of the office in regard to applications for patents for
designs, with the view to the establishment of a uniformity of practice
in regard to design patents. The decision is one of much interest to
inventors and agents, and fully warrants its publication.
* * * * *
OIL PAPER HANGINGS.--A kind of oil paper hangings called "Oleo Charta"
is now made in England, which, it is asserted, is impervious to wet, may
be placed on new or damp walls without risk of damage or discoloration,
may be washed with soap and water as often as required, and will last
twenty years. The process of manufacture is not explained.
* * * * *
THE STEVENS BREECH-LOADING RIFLE.
This new arm, a patent on which, was obtained through the Scientific
American Patent Agency, June 11, 1867, is destined, in our opinion,
to become a formidable rival to the breech-loading rifles which have
already attained popularity. It is one of the most simple and effective
guns we have yet seen. Only three motions are required to load,
discharge the piece, and throw out the shell of the cartridge. The
breech-block is side-hinged, and it is opened and the shell is thrown
out by simply bringing the gun to half cock. The gun may, however, be
cocked without opening the breech by pressing the trigger while cocking.
The gun, when held in position, may be fired at the rate of forty shots
per minute. All the movements of the parts are directly backward and
forward; in our opinion the best that can be employed for this purpose,
and the least liable to get out of order. In short, the gun possesses
all the essentials of a first class rifle, and has advantages which we
think are not ordinarily met with in arms of this character.
* * * * *
A NOVEL FRENCH HAND VISE.
In using ordinary hand vises several inconveniences are met with. For
instance, if it is desired to work a piece of metal of a certain length,
it must necessarily be presented obliquely on the side of the jaw of the
vise, because of its screw, which is horizontal and forms a knob in the
axis of the vise. The consequences are, first, that on tightening the
nut of the horizontal screw vise the pressure is only exerted on the
side, and greatly tries the vise itself while obtaining an irregular
pressure; secondly, that as the piece to be worked is held obliquely,
however skilled the workman may be, he always finds himself cramped in
the execution of his work, particularly if of a delicate nature.
To avoid these inconveniences a Parisian mechanic has designed and
lately patented in England the neat form of hand vise of which we annex
illustrations, Fig. 1 being an elevation and Fig. 2 a longitudinal
section. In these views, A, is a wooden or metal handle pierced
throughout its length; this handle of metal may be made in one piece,
with the nut, and the conical ferrule. B is the ring or ferrule of the
handle; and C are the jaws of the vise worked by the adjusting screw,
D, and the springs, r r. E is a conical ferrule or shoulder, fixed or
movable, and serving to open or close the jaws of the vise accordingly
as the handle is turned right or left; this conical shoulder is
protected from wear by a tempered steel washer, v. G is a nut with
collar carrying the conical ferrule or shoulder, E, and the steel
washer, v, while H H are the joints of the jaws of the vise held by a
screw, I, which serves as a support to the adjusting screw.
[Illustration: FIG. 1. FIG. 2.]
This hand vise may be applied to a number of uses, and among others it
may be readily converted into a haft or handle for any kind of tailed
or shanked tool, such as files, wrenches, olive bits, chisels, or
screwdrivers, and may also serve as pincers or nippers. It is of very
simple construction.
* * * * *
THE MOUND-BUILDERS IN COLORADO.
New evidence of the existence of the Mound-Builders in the mountain
ranges of Colorado, similar to those in Montana, Utah, and Nevada, have
recently been discovered by Mr. C.A. Deane, of Denver. He found upon
the extreme summit of the snow-range structures of stone, evidently of
ancient origin, and hitherto unknown or unmolested. Opposite to and
almost north of the South Boulder Creek, and the summit of the range,
Dr. Deane observed large numbers of granite rocks, and many of them as
large as two men could lift, in a position that could not have been
the result of chance. They had evidently been placed upright in a line
conforming to a general contour of the dividing ridge, and frequently
extending in an unbroken line for one or two hundred yards. The walls
and the mounds are situated three thousand feet above the timber line.
It is, therefore, hardly supposable that they were built for altars of
sacrifice. They were not large enough for shelter or defense. The more
probable supposition is that, like the large mounds in Montana and
elsewhere, they were places of sepulture.
* * * * *
THE WOVEN-WIRE MATTRESS.
Most of our readers who attended the last Fair of the American
Institute, will recall an article in the furniture department, which
attracted much attention on account of its novelty and utility. We refer
to the wire mattress, or bed, manufactured by the Woven Wire Mattress
Company, of Hartford, Conn. To the ordinary mind a new invention is
interesting or not, in proportion to the probability of its coming into
every-day use, and many a good housewife lingers in admiration over an
improved sewing machine or cooking stove, to whom a new steam engine has
no attraction. For this reason it was that the wire mattress was sat on
and lain on by the numerous visitors at the Fair.
[Illustration]
The engraving presented herewith will give the reader, who has not seen
the article, a good idea of its appearance. It consists of a fabric
represented below, half an inch thick, composed of fine wire springs,
each one the length of the bed; all the three hundred spirals, being so
woven and braided together, in a double "weave," by machinery, that
a sort of wire cloth is produced. It differs from any other material
hitherto made, in that it has great strength and elasticity. There is,
in fact, no other device, except the air or water bed, which can compare
with it in its elastic properties.
[Illustration]
We are informed that nine hundred pounds of dead weight of wire were
placed on it for nearly five days, without injurious effects. This
fabric is stretched on a frame, as seen in the first engraving, the
proper tension is secured to suit the fancy, and the mattress is ready
for use. It is then set into the bedstead, like the ordinary spring bed,
except that only two slats are used to support it. Thus, with a slight
covering in summer, and a thin hair mattress for warmth in winter, a
most perfect sleeping arrangement is secured.
The first adaptation of the wire mattresses was for private houses, but
they have been found to have special advantages for hospital use. They
have been largely introduced into the Hartford Hospital, the Bellevue
Hospital, New York, and the Marine Hospital, Brooklyn, and have proved
to be, after months of the severest use, with all classes of patients,
a very great success for such purposes. The elastic flexible mattresses
yield to every motion and part of the body, much to the relief of the
suffering patient.
Another very great advantage is, that when carefully painted they are
always clean.
Pillows of the same materials are made soft and pliable by using a fine
wire and small coil. They are always cool, and afford the opportunity of
placing bags of ice under the head in case of sickness.
One of these mattresses and a bedstead and pillows complete--all of
which the Company make--furnish, with the addition of a folded blanket
or comfortable, a perfect outfit for hospital use.
They are particularly useful for ships' berths, as they dispense with
the ordinary bottom, and the sacking and thick mattress. Shippers know
this.
We are assured that a coating of paint, carefully applied to the
well-tinned wires will protect them from rust.
There can be no question but that these beds, with a light
covering--scarcely more than a sheet--are especially adapted for hot
climates. The Company have already orders for them for the Brazilian
market, and they have been introduced into many of the Southern States.
This wire fabric is adapted to other articles of furniture, and is used
in place of the ordinary springs in chairs, sofas, etc. For out-door
settees, lounges, car seats, and other like purposes, it is well
adapted.
Three patents have been issued to the Company on the wire mattress,
through the Scientific American Patent Agency. [See advertisement of the
Woven Wire Mattress Company on another page.]
* * * * *
Flouring Mill Hazards.
A correspondent, in discussing the causes of fires in flour mills, gives
the following facts and queries:
"F. Bertchey's mill, at Milwaukee, burned in September last. The fire
originated from a candle held near a bran or feed spout, reaching from
the upper to a lower floor. The ignition was instant, and attained
different points of the building at about the same moment.
"On November 20, 1868, Schmidt & Co's mill, at St. Louis, burned in a
similar manner, the light in this case being in a globe lamp, but the
conflagration was, nevertheless, quite as sudden and general as in the
first case cited. Other instances of like character have occurred quite
recently. And now the query is, What caused the disaster? Whence the
combustion?
"It has been conjectured that the bran-dust, or fine and dry powder,
passing down or up these conductors, may be the kindling cause of the
fire in these cases; but bran is not over combustible in itself, nor
do we know why it should become so when thus reduced to an impalpable
powder.
"Another theory is that a gas arises from the transmuting grain, which,
excluded from surrounding atmosphere in these close conduits, becomes
inflammable, and hence the results, as recited above, whenever a lighted
flame is brought in contact therewith.
"Be the cause gas or dust, the disaster is the same: and is it not a
phenomenon worth studying and remedying, so far as within the province
and control of those most interested?"
Some similar instances came under our personal observation while
adjuster for the Aetna at its western branch. The Star Mills at
Mascoutah, Ill., burned about the year 1864. They were grinding
middlings. About three o'clock in the morning the miller in charge went
up to the chamber (a large box extending through several stories), as he
had often done before, to jar the middlings down, they having clogged.
He carried a small, open oil lamp, which he placed on a beam, just
behind and above his head. He then opened a slide and thrust in a
shovel, which started the middlings down with a thump, raising a great
dust. As this dust issued in a thin cloud from the slide, it approached
and touched the lamp, when instantly, as if it had been coal gas, it
flashed, burning the miller's hair and beard, and filling the middlings
box with a sheet of flame, which spread with great rapidity and
destroyed the mill.
A mill at Dover, Ky., had accumulated a large quantity of middlings in
an upper story, when the weight caused some sagging, and a man was sent
up with a shovel to "even" the bin. His pressure was the "last straw,"
and the floor under the man broke through, pouring out a cascade of
middlings, which flowed down from story to story, filling the mill with
its dust. In a very few minutes it reached the boiler room, and the
instant it touched the fire it ignited with a flash, and the mills was
in flames instantly. It was totally destroyed.
In this last named case the gas theory will not apply. The dust was not
confined in a spout, but was floating free in the air throughout the
mill. The phenomenon was like the others mentioned, and seems to
indicate that the fine dust itself, when floating in the air, is the
fatal incendiary.
The subject is worthy of a scientific analysis, such as we have never
seen bestowed upon it. The facts are well authenticated, but the
philosophy of such ignition is not generally understood.--_Insurance
Monitor_.
* * * * *
Fire-Proof Buildings.
"It has long been a vexed problem with architects and builders, how to
make a building completely fire-proof without the enormous expense of
iron beams and girders, and even this has sometimes failed to prove a
complete protection. In the building of the National State Bank, the
architect estimated that it could not be made fire-proof in the ordinary
style for less than $6,000, and while hesitating as to the expense and
seeking to provide some remedy against the dampness incident to iron
beams, Mr. Fowler learned from the SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN that Edwin May,
of Indianapolis, the well-known architect of our county jail, had taken
letters patent on a fire-proof lath for ceilings and inside partition
walls, together with a concrete floor for the protection of the upper
edge of the joist which by actual test had been demonstrated to be
fire-proof. After a critical examination of the invention upon its
merits, it was adopted, and the workmen are now engaged in putting
it in. Our citizens engaged in, or contemplating building, will be
interested in an examination of the work while in progress."
[We copy the above from the _Lafayette_ (Indiana) _Courier_, and in this
connection we make the following extract from a letter just received by
us from Mr. May, the inventor:
"You will see by the above notice one result of my advertisement in the
SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN. This is only a _mite_. I have more than I can do,
and I would say to inventors who are not realizing what they expected
from their patents, that one _illustrated advertisement_ in the
SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN will effect more than a notice in all the newspapers
in the United States. This is saying a good deal but such is my belief."]
* * * * *
The Decline of American Shipping.
At a meeting of the New York Chamber of Commerce, held December 16, to
consider means for reviving American commerce, the following resolutions
were adopted:
Resolved, That this Chamber recommend to the Congress of the United
States, about to assemble, the modification of existing laws, so that
I. Foreign-built steamers may be imported free of duty, and privileged
to carry the American flag, provided they are American owned and not to
be employed in our coastwise trade.
II. That iron plates and such other material for the construction of
steamers as may be deemed advisable, be admitted free of duty.
III. That on all ship stores procurable in bond, drawback be returned,
as upon goods shipped for sale to foreign lands; and
Finally, That ample subsidies be granted to lines of steamers built
in American yards, to the end that competition with powerful foreign
organizations may be successfully inaugurated and sustained.
The Chamber ordered the resolutions engrossed, accompanied by a memorial
forwarded to Congress.
These resolutions, in our opinion, embody the solution of the question
under consideration, and we trust they may be speedily and favorably
acted upon by Congress.
* * * * *
Young men out of employment can easily obtain enough subscribers for the
SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN to receive a cash prize of sufficient magnitude to
insure them a good salary for six weeks' work. Send for prospectus and
circulars.
* * * * *
CORRESPONDENCE.
_The Editors are not responsible for the Opinions expressed by their
Correspondents_.
* * * * *
Aerial Navigation--A Suggestion.
Messrs. Editors:--As a constant reader of your invaluable paper, many
subjects of deep interest come under my observation, and doubtless no
journal throughout the land contains more instructive reading--that
which tends to accelerate the progress of scientific investigation,
and promote the general interest of the people--than the SCIENTIFIC
AMERICAN. The series of articles under the head of "Aerial Navigation,"
commenced on page 309, volume XXI., has, perhaps, been read with as much
pleasure and interest as anything published in your valuable journal. I
say with pleasure--because it is really gratifying to mark the advancing
steps which inventors are making in this branch of science; and with
interest--because every new idea set forth, calculated to further the
success of aerial navigation, should be, and no doubt will be, regarded
as of great importance by every one. And, as the more suggestions placed
before the minds of those working for the improvement of any invention,
the greater number will they have from which to choose or experiment
upon, I would like to make one suggestion here, which may be of some
importance in the construction and operation of the "Aeroport," under
the supervision of Mr. Porter, of your city, a description of which is
given on pages 346-7, volume XXI., of your paper.
I suggest that the propelling wheels be placed in some other position
than that given in the said description. From what little knowledge I
possess of aerial navigation, I am persuaded that it would take less
power to propel the "Aeroport" at a given speed, if the wheels were
placed at the rear or front portion of the flying ship. My reason for
being thus persuaded is, that as the forward and aft halves of the float
are cone-shaped--the center being the base, and the front and rear
ends being the vertexes--there must be an increased velocity of the
atmosphere from front to aft as the aeroport advances. Consequently the
driving wheels being placed under the center or largest diameter of the
float, they must evidently revolve with greater rapidity in the current
of air passing between the float and the saloon, going in opposite
direction to that in which the aeroport is flying at a given speed, than
they would were they placed in front or behind where the atmosphere is
comparatively at rest. I take this view from the fact that steamboats
and other vessels proceed with greater speed, with a given power, _down_
stream than they do _up_ stream, mostly on account of the paddles
striking against the current flowing in the same direction in which the
vessel is rowing. The propelling wheels placed either at the front or
rear may have the axle extended through the end of the float to the
center, and the cog-wheel, for the chain, placed on the inner end of
the axle, and the chain descending through the bottom of the float, and
connected to the engine in the same manner as given in your paper. The
chain should be inclosed from the float to the saloon below, with a pipe
of the same material as the float, and sufficiently large to insure the
free action of the chain, and the axle of the propellers should be made
tight with suitable packing to prevent the escape of gas. However there
may be different arrangements employed for connecting the engine to the
wheels. A shaft extending directly under the float, and reaching
from the center to the axle supporting the propellers, and connected
therewith by means of side cog-wheels, might be used; and as the shaft
would necessarily diverge from a straight line with the said axle, the
shaft having the chain-wheel on the end directly over the engine and
connected therewith in the manner proposed by Mr. Porter, I would
suggest further that it would, perhaps, be preferable to place the
wheels at the front end, that the rudder might remain in its original
position, and the aeroport could swing behind the propellers on
encountering side currents of air, and could thus be more easily guided.
I firmly believe that Mr. Porter has taken "the right step in the right
direction" to accomplish that which has been so long sought, and which
evidently will be accomplished at some future time. The air will yet be
navigated by numerous flying ships, going from one city to another like
those that now cover the broad bosom of our oceans.
HIRAM VAN METER.
Macomb, Ill.
* * * * *
Puttying Floors of Jewelers Shops and Otherwise.
Messrs. Editors:--I am a reader of your valuable paper and find in
it much to interest, and many practical hints that are useful in my
vocation; I would not be without it for any consideration and I think
every mechanic in the land should take it, read it, and profit by the
reading.
I notice, in Vol. XXI, page 371, a communication headed, "Watch
Repairers' Shop," in which directions are given to fill the chinks in
the floor around the work-bench with soft pine and putty, etc., etc.;
this is all well enough, but will not prevent the breaking of pivots
should a balance wheel be dropped, neither will it prevent the wheel
being stepped upon and so rendered useless, as often happens.
I am a watch-maker and jeweler, and I never drop a wheel or part of a
watch on the floor. I have an apron about one yard wide, and in the
corners of it are eyelet-holes, so that I can pin it to the bench when I
am working; I have strings to it, but do not generally tie them around
me, but let it be loose in my lap as I have to jump up, to attend to
customers in the shop. In the shop where I learned my trade (in London,
England), every workman was _compelled_ to wear an apron, and so much
waste of property and valuable time was saved; the saving of _time_ in
_one week_ will more than pay the cost of the aprons.
Sidney Plains, N. Y,
GEO. C.L. KENT.
* * * * *
Western Demand for Agricultural Implements.
Messrs. Editors:--I often think, on perusing your very valuable journal
of science, and the numerous mechanical and scientific problems it
unfolds, that the tendency of the age is to supersede all manual labor
by machinery. Whether such a thing is possible is not the question for
me to consider; I only know that the tendency of universal human genius
seems directed to that end.
I make the above observation casually, in order to introduce a few ideas
on the subject of improvement in agricultural implements--the great
_desideratum_ of the West at this moment. Here nature has opened her
stores so munificently, that all the husbandman has to do is to plow,
sow, and garner the fruits of his labor. But two great improvements are
needed to enable the western farmer to keep pace with improvements in
the mechanic arts and other kindred employment. Indeed, we at the
West, particularly, need a good, cheap, steam plow that can be made
practicable for at least the better grade of farmers. The English plan
of moldboards, that overcome all possible traction and necessitate the
duplex stationary engines, with the cumbrous "artillery of attachments,"
may do for sluggish people but will never meet the wants of the Yankee
nation.
The steam plow suited to the genius of our people, must, to use a
vulgarism, "get up and go." It must possess sufficient power of
propulsion and traction to pulverize the ground better, deeper, and
more rapidly than the "old way." Such is the want of the great West
in reference to preparing the soil for crops. I do not know of such a
machine in use, nor do I believe in the theory of Dr. Brainard, that the
moldboard is the only plan for properly pulverizing the soil; for I am
satisfied that such plan is wholly inadmissible in steam plowing in
this country, for want of sufficient traction for self-propulsion, and
observation has taught me that a self-propelling plow is the only steam
plow our people will tolerate.
I have lately examined the drawings of a steam plow invented by a
gentleman of this city (which I am not at liberty to explain in detail)
that seems to meet the great want I have spoken of. The invention
consists in a very simple device, by which the whole force of
pulverizing the ground is applied to propel the machine, and if this be
not sufficient, an independent force may be applied, so arranged as to
govern the speed of the machine at the will of the operator. You will,
no doubt, in due time hear more of this machine, which seems to me to
meet the great want so long experienced in Western cultivation.