Volume 08 (1864) (474 pages)

198 The Mining and Scientific Dress. = PMlecaniol Beparhyent. An Inuense Casttnc—Tue Larcest Cannoy 1 zgHE Wortn.—The announeement was made about a year ago that preparations were making at Pittshurg for casting a 20-ineh gun, that would be eapahle of throwing a %00-pound shell or a 1000-pound solid shot. Aetual work was eommenced upon this piece of ordnanee in May last. Its casting required the eonstruetion of new huildings, furnaces, eranes, ete. The mould was placed in a pit. The easting was doue on the Rodman, or hollow cone prineiple. The eore eonsists of an iron cylinder, half an: inch in thickness, through whieh a stream of water was kept eontinually running during the proeess of casting. This cylinder was wrapped with rope, whieh was eovered by sand, and outside of this fora short distauee from the mouth of the mould, was a sheet iron eylinder. During the casting a stream of water was kept running through this cylinder to keep it eool. The water as it was discharged indicated a temperature of about 42° In the casting three furnaces were used, in which 80 tons of metal, pure Juniata iron, were placed. The furnaces were fired at 5 a. a, and in six hours the metal was all melted. It was conveyed from these furnaces by troughs toa eommon reservoir, from which it was suhsequently eonducted to the mould, by another trough. The process of easting is described as having presented a most animated seene, the sparks flying in a million eorruseations, and the metal generating a gas, which burned with a blue flame. It was a complete success. The easting was perfected without ithe slightest confusion. ‘lhe rough weight of this monster piece of ordnance is ahont eighty tons. Its length twentysix feet ; its maximum diameter five aud one third feet ; its minimum diameter 2 feet and 10 inches. This gun is the largest in the world. and it is to Ameriean genius and American meehanies that the honor belongs of adding such an immense picce of ordnanee to military seienee. Vhe easting was made on the llth of Febrnary ; and it was expected it would have to remain in the pit some ten or twelve days before it would he cool envugh to handle. The gun will probably be plaeed at the uarrows, as a defenee of the harbor of New York. Its cost thus far has been $30,000, to which $5,000 more will he added for finishing ; and how inuch more for placiug in position will depend upon circumstances. A single shot from this monster gun, fairly delivered, would be pretty likely to crush and destroy any ship that ever floated. A. New Lusrrcating Matertau.—Mr. I. Janssen, proposes, as an improved eumposition to be used for lubrieating purposes, a mixture of fatty matters and lime-water. The proportions vary aeeording to the eonsistency which it is desired the composition should have. Fora hard compound he proposes to use, of olive, eo'za, or neat’s-foot oil, 500 parts; aud lime water 2,000 parts. For a semi-hard eompound he uses olive, eolza, or neatsfoot oil, 1,000 parts; and Jime-water, 1,000 parts. For a liquid lubricaut, he’ uses olive, colza, or neatsfoot oil, 1,000 parts ; limewater, 2,000 parts. The lime-water is a saturated snlution of lime. The fatty matters are first melted, and well mixed together, aud then thoroughly mixed with the lime-water. Correction.—In our notice of Farrand’s amalgamator, last week, the eompositor made us say that the maehine would be construeted of various eapaeites, to work from 300 to 600 ths.—it is perhaps, needless to say that we wrote “ 6000 ths.” instead of “ 600 tbs.” A Sunsrrrvre ron Ivory.—Messrs. Phelan & Cal lender, the well known billiard table makers, offer a reward of $10,000 to any one who will prodneo a substitute for ivory, such as can be employed in the maonufaeture of billiard balls. Swirt Steawers.—The City of Buffalo, a lake steamer, the Mary Powell and the Daniel Drew, Hudson river steamers, can nnder favorable circumstances make an entire trip at the rate of twentyfive miles an honr, rouning time. The two latter nained have even exeeeded this speed, for short distanees. They are prohably the three fastest steamerg in the world. Their speed is equal to the average of a railroad train. . Extraordinary Power of Resisting Heat. The power of superior animals, and especially of man, to resist high degrees of temperature, is very extraordinary, and was at first discovered hy accident in the following mauner :— It is well known that the natural temperature in this eountry is uot far from 96° Fahr. But Dr. Fordyce, formerly physician to St. Thomas’ Hospital, London, went into a room heated to 120°, where he remained twenty minutes, and afterwards into a room heated to 130°, and remained fifteen minutes, while the thermometer in his hand rose only to 100°. Sir Joseph Banks, Dr. Solander and Sir Charles Blagden remaioed several minutes in a room heated to between 196° and 211°, the temperature at whieh water boils; and the latter of the ahove gentlemen remained eight minutes in a room heated to 220°. We have aceounts of a young female at Rochefou' cault, who was in the habit of staying ten and_ twelve minutes at a time in an oven heated to 276°, aud Tillet and Duhamel informs us that they bore a heat of 299° for nearly fivo minutes. Chantry, the sculptor, often entered his furnace, when heated for drying his mould, to 320°, aud his) workmen did the same with impunity when the therniometer was up to 340°. : A dog of moderate size was snbjeeted to a heat of) 120°—30 minutes the heat was 236, On being taken out, the bottom of the hasket was wet with saliva. By the same heat, beefsteaks were cooked in 30 ininutes, and in 20 egps were roasted hard. Most of our readers have probably heard of Mons. Chanhert, the “fire king,” end who, as is stated by Dr. Dunglingson, entered an oven when the heat was raised above 400°. And we find the living hody pessessed also of the same power to generate ealoric. We have seen that its natural temperature is ahout 96°; hut in the aceount of Capt. Parry’s voyage to the Arctic seas we are told that his crew were frequently expnsed to a temperature of 50° helow zero, and 150° below that of their own bodies, without heing frozen ! In the year 1760, at Roehefoncault, Mons. du Hamel and Tillet, having occasion to nse a large public oven on the same day on whieh hread had been baked in it, wished to ascertain with preeision its degree of temperature. Being at aloss how to proceed, a girl, one of the attendants on the oven, offered to enter, and mark with a pencil the height at which the thermometer stood within the oven. The girl smiled at Mr. Tillett’s surprise at this proposition, and entering the oven marked the thermometer as standing at 260° of Fahrenheit’s scale. The female salamander assuring Mr. Tillet, who pressed her to return, that she felt no ineonvenience from her situation, she remained ten minutes lorger, the thermometer then standing at 288°, or 76° above boiling water; when she came out her eomplexion was eousiderably heightened, but her respirations by no means quiek or laborious. ‘This was aftewards made the subjeet of accurate and decisive experiments by Sir Charles Blagdeu, Dr. Fordyce, and others. Dr. Blagden entered a room, heated by flues in the floor, when the thermometer indicated a hear above that of boiling water. ‘The first impression of j asserts it’s nearly played out. this heated air upon his body was exeeedingly disagreeable, but in a few minutes all uneasiuess was removed by the breaking out of asweat. At the end of ten minutes he left the room much fatigned, but . not otherwise disordered. The thermometer had risen to 220°, In other experiments it was found that a heat even of 260° eould be borne with tolerable ease. At these high temperatures, every pieee of metal about the bodies of the experimenters beeame intolerably hot; small quantities of water plaeed in metallie vessels immediately boiled; egos placed upon a frame were roasted hard in twenty minutes, and a heefsteak was overdone in thirty-three minutes. Notwithstanding the great degree of heat to which tho experimenters were exposed, the temperature of their bodies was not raised. <Auimals are also capahle of living in temperature of extraordiuary elevation, even in the dense medium of water. In the thermal springs of Bohemia, in Brazil, small fishes were sceu swimming in a rivulet that rises the thermometer to §8°, and fish have been found existing in a hot spring at tho Manillas at 158°. ‘The power of resisting temperature helougs almost in au equal degree to the vegetahle world. Percvsston geuerates heat. Most of the elongated shells now made for service against iron-clad ships have uo fuses; the heat evolved at the inoment of impaet being sufficient to explode the eharge. Strone soap suds is said to be just as good to use in drilling wrought iron as oil. It is certainly much cheaper. Tue Omen Sme—Discovracixe ror Inawo— Recent accounts from the Boise conntry are somewhat eonflieting with regard to the riehness of that region. ‘I'he gold is of a very poor quality—worth only from $10 to $12 per ounee. The diggings are said to he very much seattered over an extensive region, and rich ouly in isolated patches, aud that they will not support but a very small proportion of the thousands that are rushing thither. It is not denied that gold is found there, hut it is asserted that Idaho is far from being a second California. Tho Butte Record has seen a letter dated “ Elk City, Idaho Territory, February 12th, 1864,” which it considers reliable, and whieh says: ‘*The Boise mines, to tho hest of ny knowledge, are, in a few instances, rich, but the eountry is overrun with people, and has been sinee its first discovery. I am in private corres/ pondence with a merehant in Boise, and he positively It will require a large amount of eapital before the couotry can possibly amount to much. I would advise every ono making grub to stay where they are.’ The Muscatine (Iowa) Journal, of a late date, notices the return of Judge Hoyt from the Bannock inines. He says; “The mining reports from that quarter have been greatly exaggerated, and that most of the money made is derived from trading. ‘The people of tho States ean safely disconnt the reports sent frum the mining district. In nearly every instanee a speculator will he found at the bottom of it.” The Portland Oregonian states that the amount of assays in the eity of Portland for the year 1863 amounted to over four millions of dollars. A gentleman now resident ot Colusa, who has recently returned from Idaho, says that nost of the gold extracted from the Idaho mines is taken eastward hy way of Salt Lake. We give the above rumors and reports for what they are worth. . Petnorzum «Nv Micnicay.—Michigan is getting iuto a furore of excitement over the recent petroleum diseoveries in that State. In addition to the discoveries at Athiou, oil has heen found in Calloun county. On the read from Marshal to Dry Prairie there are five oil springs. In Kalamazoo eounty there are a series of these springs. On the DPawpaw, Dowagiae and St. Joseph rivers there are also several which eontain extensive deposits. The Michigan petroleum has been carefully analyzed, and found to be of a very superior quality. It has less odor than the ernde Peonsylvania oils, and will yield 20 per cent. more of the refined article thau the former. Its specifie gravity is 40 degs. That of the Pennsylvania oil ranges from 45 degs. to 47 degs. The Albion petroleum .is easily deodorized, and when refined makes a elear, white oil, that burns freely, and is entirely non-cxplosive., It yields but ~ little naptha, and stands a fire test of 140 degrees. Owens Rrver.—The following particulars in re_ gard to White Mountain District, Owens River, were furnished us by Mr. George W. Edgerton, who has recently returned from a four nionths’ tour in that vieinity. Mr. Edgerton has visited the Colorado mines and Washoe, hut, as a ehoiee, has heeome interested in the Owens River mines, believing they present more inducements to the mass of prosectors than either of the other:—* Deep Spring Valley is a small valley, with plenty of grass, tiniber, and a fine stream of water, sufficient to mn a large number of mills. Cottonwood creek empties into a valley abont seven miles north from the Deep Spring. It contains water privileges for several miles along its banks. In the neighborhood of this locality there are about forty miners at work. The lodes in the distriet are well defined, containing both gold and silver. A large nunther of claims have been taken up, and in some eases are being worked and ores taken ont, whieh prospeet well. The Amazon lode, which is six feet wide, is heing worked. and an assay of average rock in this city gives $123 in silver and $31 in gold. The Indians, who a_ year ago were so troublesome, are now quiet, and all that is now needed to fully develop the mines and yield & good return to adventurers, is capital to build one or more wills to reduce the ores.”

198 The Mining and Scientific Dress. = PMlecaniol Beparhyent. An Inuense Casttnc—Tue Larcest Cannoy 1 zgHE Wortn.—The announeement was made about a year ago that preparations were making at Pittshurg for casting a 20-ineh gun, that would be eapahle of throwing a %00-pound shell or a 1000-pound solid shot. Aetual work was eommenced upon this piece of ordnanee in May last. Its casting required the eonstruetion of new huildings, furnaces, eranes, ete. The mould was placed in a pit. The easting was doue on the Rodman, or hollow cone prineiple. The eore eonsists of an iron cylinder, half an: inch in thickness, through whieh a stream of water was kept eontinually running during the proeess of casting. This cylinder was wrapped with rope, whieh was eovered by sand, and outside of this fora short distauee from the mouth of the mould, was a sheet iron eylinder. During the casting a stream of water was kept running through this cylinder to keep it eool. The water as it was discharged indicated a temperature of about 42° In the casting three furnaces were used, in which 80 tons of metal, pure Juniata iron, were placed. The furnaces were fired at 5 a. a, and in six hours the metal was all melted. It was conveyed from these furnaces by troughs toa eommon reservoir, from which it was suhsequently eonducted to the mould, by another trough. The process of easting is described as having presented a most animated seene, the sparks flying in a million eorruseations, and the metal generating a gas, which burned with a blue flame. It was a complete success. The easting was perfected without ithe slightest confusion. ‘lhe rough weight of this monster piece of ordnance is ahont eighty tons. Its length twentysix feet ; its maximum diameter five aud one third feet ; its minimum diameter 2 feet and 10 inches. This gun is the largest in the world. and it is to Ameriean genius and American meehanies that the honor belongs of adding such an immense picce of ordnanee to military seienee. Vhe easting was made on the llth of Febrnary ; and it was expected it would have to remain in the pit some ten or twelve days before it would he cool envugh to handle. The gun will probably be plaeed at the uarrows, as a defenee of the harbor of New York. Its cost thus far has been $30,000, to which $5,000 more will he added for finishing ; and how inuch more for placiug in position will depend upon circumstances. A single shot from this monster gun, fairly delivered, would be pretty likely to crush and destroy any ship that ever floated. A. New Lusrrcating Matertau.—Mr. I. Janssen, proposes, as an improved eumposition to be used for lubrieating purposes, a mixture of fatty matters and lime-water. The proportions vary aeeording to the eonsistency which it is desired the composition should have. Fora hard compound he proposes to use, of olive, eo'za, or neat’s-foot oil, 500 parts; aud lime water 2,000 parts. For a semi-hard eompound he uses olive, eolza, or neatsfoot oil, 1,000 parts; and Jime-water, 1,000 parts. For a liquid lubricaut, he’ uses olive, colza, or neatsfoot oil, 1,000 parts ; limewater, 2,000 parts. The lime-water is a saturated snlution of lime. The fatty matters are first melted, and well mixed together, aud then thoroughly mixed with the lime-water. Correction.—In our notice of Farrand’s amalgamator, last week, the eompositor made us say that the maehine would be construeted of various eapaeites, to work from 300 to 600 ths.—it is perhaps, needless to say that we wrote “ 6000 ths.” instead of “ 600 tbs.” A Sunsrrrvre ron Ivory.—Messrs. Phelan & Cal lender, the well known billiard table makers, offer a reward of $10,000 to any one who will prodneo a substitute for ivory, such as can be employed in the maonufaeture of billiard balls. Swirt Steawers.—The City of Buffalo, a lake steamer, the Mary Powell and the Daniel Drew, Hudson river steamers, can nnder favorable circumstances make an entire trip at the rate of twentyfive miles an honr, rouning time. The two latter nained have even exeeeded this speed, for short distanees. They are prohably the three fastest steamerg in the world. Their speed is equal to the average of a railroad train. . Extraordinary Power of Resisting Heat. The power of superior animals, and especially of man, to resist high degrees of temperature, is very extraordinary, and was at first discovered hy accident in the following mauner :— It is well known that the natural temperature in this eountry is uot far from 96° Fahr. But Dr. Fordyce, formerly physician to St. Thomas’ Hospital, London, went into a room heated to 120°, where he remained twenty minutes, and afterwards into a room heated to 130°, and remained fifteen minutes, while the thermometer in his hand rose only to 100°. Sir Joseph Banks, Dr. Solander and Sir Charles Blagden remaioed several minutes in a room heated to between 196° and 211°, the temperature at whieh water boils; and the latter of the ahove gentlemen remained eight minutes in a room heated to 220°. We have aceounts of a young female at Rochefou' cault, who was in the habit of staying ten and_ twelve minutes at a time in an oven heated to 276°, aud Tillet and Duhamel informs us that they bore a heat of 299° for nearly fivo minutes. Chantry, the sculptor, often entered his furnace, when heated for drying his mould, to 320°, aud his) workmen did the same with impunity when the therniometer was up to 340°. : A dog of moderate size was snbjeeted to a heat of) 120°—30 minutes the heat was 236, On being taken out, the bottom of the hasket was wet with saliva. By the same heat, beefsteaks were cooked in 30 ininutes, and in 20 egps were roasted hard. Most of our readers have probably heard of Mons. Chanhert, the “fire king,” end who, as is stated by Dr. Dunglingson, entered an oven when the heat was raised above 400°. And we find the living hody pessessed also of the same power to generate ealoric. We have seen that its natural temperature is ahout 96°; hut in the aceount of Capt. Parry’s voyage to the Arctic seas we are told that his crew were frequently expnsed to a temperature of 50° helow zero, and 150° below that of their own bodies, without heing frozen ! In the year 1760, at Roehefoncault, Mons. du

Hamel and Tillet, having occasion to nse a large public oven on the same day on whieh hread had been baked in it, wished to ascertain with preeision its degree of temperature. Being at aloss how to proceed, a girl, one of the attendants on the oven, offered to enter, and mark with a pencil the height at which the thermometer stood within the oven. The girl smiled at Mr. Tillett’s surprise at this proposition, and entering the oven marked the thermometer as standing at 260° of Fahrenheit’s scale. The female salamander assuring Mr. Tillet, who pressed her to return, that she felt no ineonvenience from her situation, she remained ten minutes lorger, the thermometer then standing at 288°, or 76° above boiling water; when she came out her eomplexion was eousiderably heightened, but her respirations by no means quiek or laborious. ‘This was aftewards made the subjeet of accurate and decisive experiments by Sir Charles Blagdeu, Dr. Fordyce, and others. Dr. Blagden entered a room, heated by flues in the floor, when the thermometer indicated a hear above that of boiling water. ‘The first impression of j asserts it’s nearly played out. this heated air upon his body was exeeedingly disagreeable, but in a few minutes all uneasiuess was removed by the breaking out of asweat. At the end of ten minutes he left the room much fatigned, but . not otherwise disordered. The thermometer had risen to 220°, In other experiments it was found that a heat even of 260° eould be borne with tolerable ease. At these high temperatures, every pieee of metal about the bodies of the experimenters beeame intolerably hot; small quantities of water plaeed in metallie vessels immediately boiled; egos placed upon a frame were roasted hard in twenty minutes, and a heefsteak was overdone in thirty-three minutes. Notwithstanding the great degree of heat to which tho experimenters were exposed, the temperature of their bodies was not raised. <Auimals are also capahle of living in temperature of extraordiuary elevation, even in the dense medium of water. In the thermal springs of Bohemia, in Brazil, small fishes were sceu swimming in a rivulet that rises the thermometer to §8°, and fish have been found existing in a hot spring at tho Manillas at 158°. ‘The power of resisting temperature helougs almost in au equal degree to the vegetahle world. Percvsston geuerates heat. Most of the elongated shells now made for service against iron-clad ships have uo fuses; the heat evolved at the inoment of impaet being sufficient to explode the eharge. Strone soap suds is said to be just as good to use in drilling wrought iron as oil. It is certainly much cheaper. Tue Omen Sme—Discovracixe ror Inawo— Recent accounts from the Boise conntry are somewhat eonflieting with regard to the riehness of that region. ‘I'he gold is of a very poor quality—worth only from $10 to $12 per ounee. The diggings are said to he very much seattered over an extensive region, and rich ouly in isolated patches, aud that they will not support but a very small proportion of the thousands that are rushing thither. It is not denied that gold is found there, hut it is asserted that Idaho is far from being a second California. Tho Butte Record has seen a letter dated “ Elk City, Idaho Territory, February 12th, 1864,” which it considers reliable, and whieh says: ‘*The Boise mines, to tho hest of ny knowledge, are, in a few instances, rich, but the eountry is overrun with people, and has been sinee its first discovery. I am in private corres/ pondence with a merehant in Boise, and he positively It will require a large amount of eapital before the couotry can possibly amount to much. I would advise every ono making grub to stay where they are.’ The Muscatine (Iowa) Journal, of a late date, notices the return of Judge Hoyt from the Bannock inines. He says; “The mining reports from that quarter have been greatly exaggerated, and that most of the money made is derived from trading. ‘The people of tho States ean safely disconnt the reports sent frum the mining district. In nearly every instanee a speculator will he found at the bottom of it.” The Portland Oregonian states that the amount of assays in the eity of Portland for the year 1863 amounted to over four millions of dollars. A gentleman now resident ot Colusa, who has recently returned from Idaho, says that nost of the gold extracted from the Idaho mines is taken eastward hy way of Salt Lake. We give the above rumors and reports for what they are worth. . Petnorzum «Nv Micnicay.—Michigan is getting iuto a furore of excitement over the recent petroleum diseoveries in that State. In addition to the discoveries at Athiou, oil has heen found in Calloun county. On the read from Marshal to Dry Prairie there are five oil springs. In Kalamazoo eounty there are a series of these springs. On the DPawpaw, Dowagiae and St. Joseph rivers there are also several which eontain extensive deposits. The Michigan petroleum has been carefully analyzed, and found to be of a very superior quality. It has less odor than the ernde Peonsylvania oils, and will yield 20 per cent. more of the refined article thau the former. Its specifie gravity is 40 degs. That of the Pennsylvania oil ranges from 45 degs. to 47 degs. The Albion petroleum .is easily deodorized, and when refined makes a elear, white oil, that burns freely, and is entirely non-cxplosive., It yields but ~ little naptha, and stands a fire test of 140 degrees. Owens Rrver.—The following particulars in re_ gard to White Mountain District, Owens River, were furnished us by Mr. George W. Edgerton, who has recently returned from a four nionths’ tour in that vieinity. Mr. Edgerton has visited the Colorado mines and Washoe, hut, as a ehoiee, has heeome interested in the Owens River mines, believing they present more inducements to the mass of prosectors than either of the other:—* Deep Spring Valley is a small valley, with plenty of grass, tiniber, and a fine stream of water, sufficient to mn a large number of mills. Cottonwood creek empties into a valley abont seven miles north from the Deep Spring. It contains water privileges for several miles along its banks. In the neighborhood of this locality there are about forty miners at work. The lodes in the distriet are well defined, containing both gold and silver. A large nunther of claims have been taken up, and in some eases are being worked and ores taken ont, whieh prospeet well. The Amazon lode, which is six feet wide, is heing worked. and an assay of average rock in this city gives $123 in silver and $31 in gold. The Indians, who a_ year ago were so troublesome, are now quiet, and all that is now needed to fully develop the mines and yield & good return to adventurers, is capital to build one or more wills to reduce the ores.”