All cables are of galvanized steel and provided with open twin buckles. The main parts of the apparatus are of steel, and all pieces subject to wear and tear are fitted with bushes so formed that they can be easily replaced. The quantity of suitable soil removed by these apparatus amounts to 350 cubic meters (12,360 square feet) per hour. Four plants of similar construction have been built for the new Baltic Sea Canal, besides a fixed elevator of the same power and disposition, with the exception that the top tumbler shaft was suspended at a height of 16.1 meters (51 ft. 10 in.) above the water line, and the dredge conduit placed at a distance of 13 meters (43 ft.) from it. * * * * * IMPROVED COLD IRON SAW. [Illustration: IMPROVED COLD IRON SAW.] The engraving given herewith shows a general view of the "Demon" cold saw, designed for cutting iron, mild steel, or other metals of fairly large sections, that is, up square or round, and any rectangular section up to 8 in. by 4 in. The maker, Mr. R.G. Fiege, of London, claims for this appliance that it is a cold iron saw, at once powerful, simple and effective. It is always in readiness for work, can be worked by inexperienced workmen. The bed plate has T slots, to receive a parallel vise, which can be fixed at any angle for angular cutting. The articulated lever carries a saw of 10 in. or 12 in. diameter, on the spindle of which a bronze pinion is fixed, gearing with the worm shown. The latter derives motion from a pair of bevel wheels, which are in turn actuated from the pulley shown in the engraving. The lever and the saw connected with it can be raised and held up by a pawl while the work is being fixed. In small work the weight of the lever itself is found sufficient to feed the saw, but in heavier work it is found necessary to attach a weight on the end of the lever. The machine is fitted with fast and loose pulleys, strap fork and bar. We are informed that one of these machines is capable of making 400 cuts through bars of Bessemer steel 4 in. diameter, each cutting occupying six minutes on an average, without changing the saw.--_Industries_. * * * * * A RAILWAY THROUGH THE ANDES. The railway system of the Argentine Republic is separated from the Chilian system by the chain of the Andes. The English contractors, Messrs. Clark & Co., have undertaken to connect them by a line which starts from Mendoza, the terminus of the Argentine system, and ends at Santa Rosa in Chili, with a total length of 144 miles. The distance from Buenos Ayres to Valparaiso will thus be reduced to 816 miles. The Argentine lines are of 5.4 foot gauge, and those of Chili of 4.6 foot. The line in course of construction traverses an extremely hilly region. The starting and terminal points are at the levels of 2,338 feet (Mendoza) and 2,706 feet (Santa Rosa) above the sea; the lowest neck of the chain is at the level of 11,287 feet.