Fire tests of cast iron columns, made by order of the city authorities of Hamburg, are described in recent issues of the Deutsche Bauzeitung. The columns were 10 feet 8 inches long, 10.5 inches in diameter and of 1/13 inch or 0.5 inch metal. They were loaded centrally and eccentrically, and some were cased with a fireproof covering. A hydraulic press was placed below the column and its crosshead above it, and then a hinged oven containing twelve large gas burners was clamped about the column. The oven was furnished with apparatus for measuring heat, with peep holes and with a water jet. On an average a load of 3.2 tons per square inch, with a heat of 1,400 deg. F., produced deformation in thirty-five minutes in a centrally loaded column without casing. This showed itself by bulging all round in the middle of the heated part, especially where the metal happened to be thinner; fracture occurred finally in the middle of the thickest point of the bulge. If the load was less, this occurred at a higher temperature. Jets of water had no effect until deformation heat was reached. The casings had the effect of increasing the time before deformation began from half an hour to four or five hours. * * * * * ENGINEERING NOTES. THE MASSILON (Ohio) Bridge Company has received an order for the construction of a cantilever bridge 562 feet long and 18 feet wide, which is to be built by the New York Dredging Company at Honda, on the Magdalena River, in Colombia, South America. NAVIGATION ON the Amoo-Darya is to be extended considerably, so that Russian steamers will proceed upward on that river to Feisabad-Kalch, which is only about 200 miles from the scene of the recent Indian frontier troubles.--Uhland's Wochenschrift. A NEW process of manufacturing artificial stone has been patented in England. The stone is formed in steel moulds, which can be adjusted to any size, shape or design for which the finished stone may be required, and solid blocks weighing several hundred pounds have been easily produced. M. BERLIER, the well known engineer, has laid before the governments of Spain and Morocco a project for the construction of a tunnel under the Straits of Gibraltar. The execution of this plan would have immense economic consequences, so that its fate will be followed with interest. M. Berlier is the inventor of a new method of subterranean boring. "THE SALE of the steamers 'Pennsylvania,' 'Ohio,' 'Indiana,' 'Illinois,' and 'Conemaugh,' by the International Navigation Company to the States Steamship Company for the Pacific trade leaves but five steamships flying the American flag crossing the Atlantic Ocean," says The Marine Record. "They are the 'St. Paul,' gross tons 11,629.21; 'St. Louis,' gross tons 11,629.21; 'New York,' gross tons 10,802.61; 'Paris,' gross tons 10,794.86; 'Evelyn,' gross tons 1,963.44, the latter three built in English shipyards and denationalized."