Volume 033-2 - April 1979 (10 pages)

“*.the application of a Newcomen atmospheric impulse in alternation to each side of the same piston. This doubled the effective energy output per cycle and permitted still higher speeds. It was also capable of producing a useful rotary motion through (ultimately) a crank and flywheel transmission and was the progenitor of all ‘low-pressure’ (condensing) double-action steam engines (see illustration no. 4).’’® Young and Egenhoff report that the beam type steam engines which were developed in Cornwall, England, were made to run extremely efficiently. This was due to the great expense associated with importing coal to that region. As time went on, their size increased asa function of their increasing efficiency. Engine cylinders of 85, 90 and even as large as 144 inches in diameter were developed to clear water from tin, copper and coal minesand to drain land in the Netherlands.'° Young points out that pump engines of such huge size simply could not be employed on a general basis in the American West, however. Transportation costs there would have been greater than the original cost of the equipment. An exception to this general statement was a pump, installed at the Comstock which utilized a cylinder of 100 inches in diameter. In the transportation limited West, the use of pumps of such a size was simply not feasible. Thus the use of smaller but faster pump engines (tied to flywheel which was generally an tegral part of the bell crank power -cansmission) became common.!! The first Cornish pump known to have been used in the West used an engine of this type. Being installed at the Gold Hill Mine in 1855, it apparently was both fabricated and mounted upon the site near Grass Valley. It was powered by steam as most early pumps of its type were. Steam powered pumps of a similar design spread throughout California and eventually were employed in many of the mines of the Comstock lode.!2 By the 1880’s most of the steam power driven pumps were gradually giving way to more efficient and less expensive water driven systems. The cost of keeping the pumps of a mine running by burning wood must have been prodigious. Young reports that one large steam driven pump at the Comstock, while classed as very efficient, still consumed thirty three cords of wood per day. The cost of keeping cord wood cutters employed and the furnace supplied with wood, also took a devastating toll on the forests as contemporary photos of most California and Nevada mines illustrate."% o-~ GY; Vs q =. « R z a BY J ee == Ve n A J x SS SS SS SS S oO . — WSK y SS IQS VY SSR RYS SSS QOS SH D 4 P af 0) SSS ILLUSTRATION #4. AN EXAMPLE OF A TYPICAL CORNISH PUMP AS DESIGNED BY WATT. FEW PUMPS OF THIS VARIETY CAME TO THE WEST BECAUSE OF THEIR EXCESSIVE WEIGHT. SOURCE: HANS BEHR. The beam type steam engine wan only part of the Cornish pumping system. The actual work of raising the water far down in the mine was accomplished by a rod, connected to the steam engine. Key to the actual transfer of power from the engine to the pumping rod was the bell crank or “bob” as the Cornishmen called it. The bell crank, according to Young, was: “..a rigid triangle, pivoted either at one corner or in the center of its hypotenuse to a fulcrum. Under proper conditions a push or pull exerted on a second corner will be transmitted from the third corner at any angle up to 180 degrees from the original axis of motion, through movement of the entire truss.”’'4 These “‘bobs” also served as places to attach boxes which when filled with rock or cast off metal scrap, could effectively counterbalance the weight of the rods, thus making the work of the engine easier.!5 According to the former North Star Mine éngineer, Arthur B. Foote, the “bob” allowed the Cornish pump to be adapted to the: **..long and crooked shafts characteristic of the Nevada district, following the ups and downs of the veins..” According to Foote on one occasion the Idaho-Maryland Cornish pump rod changed direction so radically that even the bell crank had to be replaced by a heavy chain which allowed even more flexibility.'* 11

“*..the application of a Newcomen atmospheric impulse in alternation to each side of the same piston. This doubled the effective energy output per cycle and permitted still higher speeds. It was also capable of producing a useful rotary motion through (ultimately) a crank and flywheel transmission and was the progenitor of all ‘low-pressure’ (condensing) double-action steam engines (see illustration no. 4).’’® Young and Egenhoff report that the beam type steam engines which were developed in Cornwall, England, were made to run extremely efficiently. This was due to the great expense associated with importing coal to that region. As time went on, their size increased asa function of their increasing efficiency. Engine cylinders of 85, 90 and even as large as 144 inches in diameter were developed to clear water from tin, copper and coal minesand to drain land in the Netherlands.'° Young points out that pump engines of such huge size simply could not be employed on a general basis in the American West, however. Transportation costs there would have been greater than the original cost of the equipment. An exception to this general statement was a pump, installed at the Comstock which utilized a cylinder of 100 inches in diameter. In the transportation limited West, the use of pumps of such a size was simply not feasible. Thus the use of smaller but faster pump engines (tied to flywheel which was generally an tegral part of the bell crank power -cansmission) became common.!! The first Cornish pump known to have been used in the West used an engine of this type. Being installed at the Gold Hill Mine in 1855, it apparently was both fabricated and mounted upon the site near Grass Valley. It was powered by steam as most early pumps of its type were. Steam powered pumps of a similar design spread throughout California and eventually were employed in many of the mines of the Comstock lode.!2 By the 1880’s most of the steam power driven pumps were gradually giving way to more efficient and less expensive water driven systems. The cost of keeping the pumps of a mine running by burning wood must have been prodigious. Young reports that one large steam driven pump at the Comstock, while classed as very efficient, still consumed thirty three cords of wood per day. The cost of keeping cord wood cutters employed and the furnace supplied with wood, also took a devastating toll on the forests as contemporary photos of most California and Nevada mines illustrate."% o-~ GY;

Vs q =. « R z a BY J ee == Ve n A J x SS SS SS SS S oO . — WSK y SS IQS VY SSR RYS SSS QOS SH D 4 P af 0) SSS ILLUSTRATION #4. AN EXAMPLE OF A TYPICAL CORNISH PUMP AS DESIGNED BY WATT. FEW PUMPS OF THIS VARIETY CAME TO THE WEST BECAUSE OF THEIR EXCESSIVE WEIGHT. SOURCE: HANS BEHR. The beam type steam engine wan only part of the Cornish pumping system. The actual work of raising the water far down in the mine was accomplished by a rod, connected to the steam engine. Key to the actual transfer of power from the engine to the pumping rod was the bell crank or “bob” as the Cornishmen called it. The bell crank, according to Young, was: “...a rigid triangle, pivoted either at one corner or in the center of its hypotenuse to a fulcrum. Under proper conditions a push or pull exerted on a second corner will be transmitted from the third corner at any angle up to 180 degrees from the original axis of motion, through movement of the entire truss.”’'4 These “‘bobs” also served as places to attach boxes which when filled with rock or cast off metal scrap, could effectively counterbalance the weight of the rods, thus making the work of the engine easier.!5 According to the former North Star Mine éngineer, Arthur B. Foote, the “bob” allowed the Cornish pump to be adapted to the: **...long and crooked shafts characteristic of the Nevada district, following the ups and downs of the veins...” According to Foote on one occasion the Idaho-Maryland Cornish pump rod changed direction so radically that even the bell crank had to be replaced by a heavy chain which allowed even more flexibility.'* 11