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VOL. XXXVI.

BELGIAN LOCOMOTIVE ENGINE.

Mechanics' Magazine,

MUSEUM, REGISTER, JOURNAL, AND GAZETTE.

No. 966.]

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1842.
Edited, Printed and Published by J. C. Robertson, No. 166, Fleet-street.

[Price 3d.

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BELGIAN LOCOMOTIVE ENGINE.

[Translated from the Bulletin du Musée de l'Industrie of Brussels, for the Mechanics' Magazine.]

When one advance has been made in any department of art, others are sure to follow fast; the human mind is ever on the alert, to improve and perfect its acquisitions. M. Arago shrewdly predicted, some years ago, that it would be long before we should hear the last of railways. He was not mistaken in this, though certainly he did very wrong to make use of that as an argument for postponing the extension of the railway system in France; to act so, was to convert progress itself into an obstacle to progress.

Several journals have already noticed the new locomotive of M. Deridder, called, from its economical properties, "The Economy;" and, if we mistake not, this invention is destined to mark a new era in the history of railways.

Already many experiments have been made with this locomotive, on the railway from Brussels to Túbise. On the 13th of July, 1841, it drew, on inclines of 1 in 250, 1 in 333, and 1 in 500, between these two localities, six wagons, carrying 7 tons 8 cwt. of goods and 15 passengers, making altogether a load of about 9 tons 9 cwt. The journey of 48 miles 12 furlongs, (going and returning,) was performed in 80 minutes, and the consumption of coke was only 2 cwt. 1 qr., or 32 lbs. per league of 3 miles 34 poles.

This machine bears to ordinary locomotives about the same proportion as the horse to the elephant; and, like the light but powerful courser, it is guided and controlled at pleasure.

Each driving-wheel has but the weight of one ton to support, instead of three, as in the case of the ordinary locomotive. The engineer has three different degrees of power instantaneously at command, to be used according to the inclination of the rails and the load; he may work either with half steam on, or full steam, or at any intermediate degree of pressure. The same carriage frame includes both engine and tender, which obviates the necessity of having flexible tubes to convey the water to the boiler. The cylinder, and all the rest of the machinery, are under the eye and hand of the en

A new quarterly journal, of excellent promise, to which we wish every possible success.-ED. M. M.

gine-driver. The whole of the details, in short, of this machine bear the stamp of difficulty overcome, for almost every separate piece exhibits some improvement. The danger attending an undue elevation of the passenger carriages has been avoided, by placing the seats on a level with the wheels; the wheels themselves are so constructed, as not to be liable either to shrink or break from changes of temperature; and a much improved system of springing has been adopted in the buffers.

M. Deridder's engine, (from its combination of great power with extreme lightness,) renders it now practicable to have railways of almost any gradients. Railway making will, in fact, become reduced to a matter of mere surface levelling, which will allow of a vast saving in the purchase of land, in embankments, masonry, the length and thickness of sleepers, &c. The rails, too, may be reduced in weight, from 50 lbs. per yard to 25 lbs.; and, by an improved mode of construction, chairs may be entirely dispensed with.

We have only to add, that the justly celebrated English engineer, Mr. Robert Stephenson, who was present with several Belgian engineers at the trial before mentioned of the 13th of July last, fully recognizing all the advantages of this new system, addressed a few days after a letter to M. Deridder in the following

terms:

"Sir,-Since I had the pleasure of being present at the experiment with your locomotive and its train of carriages, I have maturely considered the reasons on which your new railway system is founded, and of the effect which it would have in diminishing the capital necessary for railway undertakings, and thus placing them within the reach of districts of comparatively limited traffic.

"I participate entirely in your ideas as to the principal details of this new mode of execution; it is not to be doubted, that from the moment its advantages begin to be fully appreciated, public opinion will force on its universal adoption.

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This system seems destined to unite with the great lines of communication, numerous seats of business of secondary importance, which, though commercial and populous, could not make an adequate return on such

FIRE PREVENTION-WOOD RENDERED FIRE PROOF.

large capitals as are indispensably required for the formation of railways on the present system.

"Many railways which have been undertaken on a larger scale than there was commercial traffic to justify, would, nevertheless, have paid well, had your system, to which I am decidedly favourable, been adopted.

"It only remains for me to add, that the examination of your locomotive and your wagons has given me much satisfaction; the disposition of the mechanism is distinguished by more than ordinary ingenuity; and I have no doubt, that the application which you have made of the plan of working steam expansively, will be attended with a saving of about 40 per cent. in the consumption of fuel. I am, &c.

ROBERT STEphenson.

[The preceding article is accompanied by an engraved elevation of the Economy," which we have copied on a reduced scale on our front page, but no other explanatory engravings or details are given, so that after all that has been said -by our worthy brother Editor of the Bulletin, and our esteemed countryman Mr. Robert Stephenson,-the reader is still left to guess, if he can, and to wonder at all events, what the new improvements are, by which M. Deridder has so far outstripped (as alleged) all preceding locomotive builders. It is of great lightness certainly, this Belgian engine; but light engines, capable only of drawing correspondingly light weights (as seems to be the case with the "Economy") are no strangers to English railway practice.

We have no desire to disparage M. Deridder's achievements, but must wait for further information, before we can subscribe to all that is here said in their favour. ED. M. M.]

FIRE PREVENTION-WOOD RENDERED FIRE PROOF.

Sir,-Having read in your 963rd Number, the observations and arguments of Mr. Baddeley and Colonel Macerone on the subjects of fire extinguishing and fire prevention, I must beg of you to insert in your journal my approval of the utility of being constantly provided with means ready to be put into immediate use; and I must particularly assent to the valuable maxim of the Colonel, "that prevention is better than cure;" yet considering that I am in possession of the knowledge re

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quisite to protect wood from fire, and to thwart in a great measure the destructive progress of the "devouring element" at one hundreth part the expense attendant on the Colonel's plan, I must entirely dissent from the adoption of that plan. I know a cotton factory, whose eight floors, containing each 600 square feet of wooden surface, have been as effectually fire-proofed, at an expense of 2s. 6d. each floor, as though they were metal, and have several times resisted the action of fire, as completely as though they were wetted with water. Now, Sir, the capability to do this surely deserves attention, and the object of this letter is to bring the same under the notice of some capitalist, who may be willing to secure an interest by patent in so valuable a discovery. In the above instance of protection 4,800 square feet of deal were made to resist fire at an expense of 20s., and so complete is the effect of this remedy, that wood so treated will not burn with flame, nor will its carbon ignite like other carbon; and if air be blown upon wood so prepared, and thrust into a fire at bright red heat, it is kept cool and prevented from burning. Nobody will, I think, attempt to deny, that the principal sources of fuel in "fires" generally are the floors, and therefore, if these are once protected from kindling, all chance of a destructive fire will be avoided.

The process is so simple and so easy of application, that it can be applied to wooden fittings after erection in one day, provided they are free from paint, and if we may reason from analogy, wood so prepared, can never undergo the action of dry rot. After simply inviting such of your readers as are able and willing to spend a little money in a project which must certainly be lucrative, and stating that I shall be happy to convince any honourable individual so disposed of the tangibility of this process, I shall conclude, with soliciting your instrumentality in aid of this object. I am, Sir,

Your obedient servant,
W. R.

Southwark, January 31, 1842.

[Another correspondent (W. M. S.) who writes from Staffordshire, professes also to have discovered a very harmless and cheap ingredient for rendering timber, linen, cotton, paper, &c. fire-proof. A specimen of linen thus treated has

been forwarded to us, which is quite incapable of burning with a flame. The process is represented as consisting simply of immersion in a liquid and hanging out to dry; the act of mangling or ironing afterwards does not lessen the effect.

Any communication for W. R., is requested to be addressed to the care of the Editor of the Mechanics' Magazine.]

PREVENTION OF FIRE-COLONEL MACERONE IN REPLY TO MR. BADDELEY. "Think'st thou, because thou 'rt honest, we shall have no more cakes and ale?"

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Sir,-In No. 964, there is a letter from Mr. Baddeley, animadverting upon my previous week's communication to you, on the prevention of fires. I should not have troubled you with this little notice, were it not for the very high esteem in which I hold the talent, benevolence, and diligence of Mr. Baddeley, with whom I should regret to have any difference of opinion, on matters of fact and public utility. Mr. Baddeley says, that he is "sorry "that the shortness of my memory should have betrayed me so much into error on the subject of fire prevention. I do not impugn the correctness of Mr. B.'s statement, as to his having suggested in your pages the iron staircases, antiphlogistic" plaster, &c. But this I can state, that I have never seen any thing of his, save on the proper use of fire-engines, the supply of water, &c., and excepting his eulogium of the bubble patent cement, the first experiment on which I saw exhibited on a doorless, windowless, curtainless, little house in South Lambeth, before a number of scientific gentlemen and directors, in the summer of about (I think) four years ago. I was there the day before the "triumphant" experiment; I saw the cement laid on the ground floor doorways. I took a portion of it home with me, and found it to consist of Roman cement, size, and alum. I saw the tubs of Roman cement, those of size, and others, which, not being open, I cannot swear contained the alum. True, in my last letter I forgot to mention the alum. But on the subject of anti-combustion appliances to timber, thatch, and linen, my memory has not "betrayed me so far" as to make me forget that I applied a solution of alum to dimity curtains,

and to the canvas of theatrical scenes, at Naples, so far back as 1811. Moreover, I wrote on that subject, and on Hartley's plan, and on iron staircases, to the Times and Chronicle, full twenty years ago. Five years ago, I wrote on the same matters to our Mechanics' Magazine, with the addition of instructions to render quite incombustible the thatch of cottages, barns, in fine, all thatch, by saturating the whole straw with common whitewash, with a pound of alum to a pailful.

Neither in my article to which Mr. Baddeley objects, nor in any other, have I denied a fact of which I knew, or know, nothing, i. e. Mr. Baddeley's having written to you about any other preventive from fire, save and except his warm eulogium on the "Patent Fireproof Cement." I will not forget to mention, that I have also proposed to soak deal boards in a strong solution of alum, and also to paint them with a paint composed of linseed oil, colour, soap, and alum. The surveillance which I recommend to prevent architects and builders from placing their fire flues in juxtaposition with the deal boards and other timbers of houses would not, in my opinion, be, as Mr. Baddeley calls it, "an outrageous infraction of the liberty of the subject." There are innumerable laws existing, which, for the (at least pretended) benefit of the community, sorely infringe upon the lieges' liberties. for example the whole body of the Excise Laws-the laws against free trading (in many commodities) free sporting, free speaking, &c. But the list of such laws would cover far more paper than I have at my disposal. At any rate, the insurance offices ought to resist the payment of all sums claimed for damage done through such reckless and stupid arrangements of fire-flues and deal boards, as have lately destroyed the Houses of Parliament, the Royal Exchange, the roof of the Reform Clubhouse, and several stately mansions.

Yours obediently,

Take

MACERONE. P.S.-I will send you an account of the experiment at the South Lambeth house, which I witnessed.*

[This experiment was described at the time, by Mr. Baddeley, in our 778th No. ED. M. M.]

PRACTICE AND PRACTICIANS, v. MATHEMATICS AND MATHEMATICIANS.

PRACTICE AND PRACTICIANS, V. MATHEMATICS AND MATHEMATICIANS-S. Y. IN EXPLANATION.

[We stated last week, in our Notices to Correspondents, that we declined inserting this letter, because, in our judgment, it exceeded the limits of free discussion. The writer has since given us permission to leave out the parts we considered particularly exceptionable, and it is now published with these parts omitted. What remains will, we have no doubt, be quite sufficient to vindicate the writer from all suspicion of having intentionally misrepresented Mr. Cheverton.-Ed. M. M.]

Sir, I should have thought Mr. Cheverton might have managed this discussion without parading his own notions of honesty, or attacking mine; but as he has not chosen to do so, I must explain that, when he quoted somebody's censure in No. 959, I was led to suppose it might be his own, by his remark, that the writer" appeared to know me well;" which remark struck me as being discreditable to Mr. C. For, as he and I are total strangers to each other, I did not see how it was possible for him to have had any opportunity of forming such an acquaintance with my characteristics, as could justify his saying whether I was, or was not, apparently well known to a third person; and I consider a strictly honest man would not give an opinion upon any subject upon which he had never possessed the necessary means of forming one. But I suppose Mr. C. takes a different view of the matter; otherwise, he would probably have adopted a lower and more discreet tone respecting "blunted perceptions," and all the other offensive personalities, without the aid of which, it would seem, he knows not how to conduct his defence.

Mr. Cheverton's paper in No. 956 appeared to me an attack upon the mathematics, and when I read it, I thought reasoning would be wasted upon such a production, and that to make its weakness manifest, nothing more was necessary than to place the contradictory assertions conspicuously; or to change the terms in which the statements were made, so as to state an extreme case, of precisely the same nature as that described in each of Mr. C.'s charges against that science; and I suppose, by his being so very angry, he feels that in No. 958 I have succeeded in exposing the errors of his paper.

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In No. 956, Mr. Cheverton, speaking of Mr. Pilbrow, says, "not perhaps that he himself is a mathematician, but an in stance, not at all uncommon, of the banes ful effect which a blind indiscriminating admiration of the science, or even an imbibing of the spirit of the science, has generally upon our modes of thinking and reasoning." And in the note appended, it is said, "As a curious instance of the influence which this science indirectly exerts, not indeed in producing baneful effects--for that is too sober a word-but in leading a writer into a display of ludicrous pedantry and solemn foolery," &c. &c. May not any science which does even this-and I could quote many other charges of a similar description-be fairly called a noxious science? The spirit of the science is distinctly charged, in the first of the above passages, with having a "baneful effect" upon our modes of thinking and reasoning; and the passage from the Commissioner's report is cited to prove the worse than baneful influence which "this science indirectly exerts," and NOT " as an instance of the ludicrous,

rather than the baneful effects of imbibing the spirit of the science," &c., as Mr. C. mis-represents in No. 963. Again, the baneful effects are clearly described, in No. 956, as arising from "this science," and from an imbibing of the spirit of the science," and NOT as

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flowing from a blind indiscriminating admiration of it," as is erroneously asserted in No. 963. I have here pointed out the true meaning of the passages quoted, which no reference to the context, as it exists in No. 956, can alter; and if any one doubts that I have done so, I beg he will be good enough to refer to page 442, and judge for himself. If Mr. C. had merely pointed out the ill effects of a blind, incautious, and improper application of the pure science to practical purposes, no one would have been more ready to commend him than I should; but I consider he did not do so.

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