Graham's Magazine, Vol. XL, No. 6, June 1852Various
General
Graham's Magazine, Vol. XL, No. 6, June 1852
Various
Literature -- Periodicals; Literature, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals
Of the engine there is nothing very special to be observed, as it is of
the old construction, and, though perfectly efficient, not now to be
imitated or adopted. It is a horizontal high pressure engine of about
forty horse power, under the head of steam usually employed, though
capable of exerting considerably more force, if called upon. There has
been recently attached to it a singularly ingenious little machine, in
the shape of a hydraulic regulator, of which great expectations are
entertained, and which, in the very short time it has been tested, works
to admiration, one week only having elapsed since its application. To
attempt to describe this, or in fact any other complicated machine, in
an illustrative article such as this pretends only to be, were an
absurdity; for the operations of the simplest engines can be rendered
thoroughly comprehensible, only—if at all—by thorough diagrams with
numerical references, and then comprehensible only to scientific
readers, conversant at least with the principles and working of the
motive power, and the forces to be exerted by it.
Ascending from the subterranean regions, which are, by the way, so
constructed under an open and little occupied court-yard that even in
case of any untoward accident the least possible damage would ensue, and
certainly no upheaval of whole edifices, as by the explosion of a powder
magazine, would be the consequence, we arrive next in the order of
production at the great foundery, occupying nearly one half of the
ground floor on the Broome street front.
[Illustration: OLD STEAM-ENGINE, BROOME STREET.]
Of this, although it furnishes the rude material, the first degree we
mean from the actual raw metal for the whole establishment, the saw
manufactory alone excepted, there is little to be noted worthy of
particular attention by those who are familiar with the operation of
furnaces, founderies and casting on a large scale, as in fact there is
nothing in it unusual or novel, unless it be what struck us as both
novel and unusual, the general absence of noise, confusion, din and
turmoil, not to mention ill sounds, ill savors, and oppressive heat,
which seems to pervade the whole establishment. This, ministering as it
does largely to the comfort and well-being of all concerned, detracts
somewhat, it must be admitted from the picturesque effect of the
scenery, and its adjuncts. Even the neatness and cleanliness of the
orderly and well conducted moving about each his own business
noiselessly, and obeying a sign or the wafture of a hand, diminished the
effect which we almost expect to feel in an iron foundery, a furnace, or
a machine shop.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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