Scientific American, Volume XXIV., No. 12, March 18, 1871 | Page 8

tying.
69. Wooden shell in section.
70. Crossed fastening. The turns of the cable, passing in front of the post, B, are crossed at the back of C, in the direction 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, the end, 8, being secured to the cable.
71. Wooden shell.
72. Double-chain fastening.
73. Lashing for "ram" block, or "dead-eye." The ram blocks, a and b, are strapped by the cords, e, which hold them; the small lanyards, d, pass through the holes to make the connection, and as they are tightened give the requisite tension to the cordage; the ends are fastened to the main rope. Usually one of these dead-eyes is held by an iron strap to the point where it is required to fix and strain the cordage, which is ordinarily a shroud.
74. Chain fastening.
1'. Simple band, showing the upper side.
2'. The same, showing the under side and the knot.
3'. Tie, with crossed ends, commenced; a turn is taken under the strands, to hold the ends of the cord.
4'. The same, completed.
5'. Bend with crossed strands, commenced, the one end being looped over the other.
6'. The same, completed.
7'. Necklace tie, seen on the upper side.
8'. The same, seen underneath. The greater the strain on the cords, the tighter the knot becomes.
9' and 10' are similar splices to 7' and 8' with slight modifications.
11' shows the commencement of 13', the legs in elevation; 12' being a front view. An ordinary band, made by several turns of a small rope, is lapped round them and hauled taut, and then interlaced at the ends. This done, the legs are shifted into the shape of a St. Andrew's cross. Thus the lashing is tightened, and, for further security, we pass the line several times over the tie and between the spars, knotting the ends.
13'. Portuguese knot. This is a lashing for shear legs, and must be tight enough to prevent the spars slipping on each other; the crossing of the two legs gives a means of securing the knot.
14'. For binding timbers; a, knot commenced. Take several turns round the timbers, and fasten the ends by passing them under the turns; b, knot completed. The end of a round stick, m n, termed a packing stick, should be passed under the knob, the cord being slack enough to allow of this. By turning the stick, the turns can be tightened to any extent; when tight, we fasten the longer arm of the lever to some fixed point, by a rope, p q, so that it cannot fly back. Care must be taken not to turn the stick too far, or the rope may be broken. As the timber dries and shrinks, the lever may be used to make all taut again.
* * * * *

THE HARTFORD STEAM BOILER INSPECTION AND INSURANCE COMPANY.
The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company makes the following report of its inspections in January, 1871:
During the month, there were 522 visits of inspection made, and 1,030 boilers examined--853 externally and 363 internally, while 106 have been tested by hydraulic pressure. Number of defects in all discovered, 431, of which 163 were regarded as dangerous. These defects were as follows: Furnaces out of shape, 24--3 dangerous; fractures, 47--25 dangerous; burned plates, 29--14 dangerous; blistered plates, 54--10 dangerous; cases of sediment and deposit, 97--18 dangerous; cases of incrustation and scale, 70--24 dangerous. To show how little attention is paid to the internal condition of boilers by incompetent engineers, we copy the following from a letter of one of our inspectors:
"In one tubular boiler I found sediment in the back end, eight inches deep, and extending forward more than four feet. It seemed to be an accumulation of fine scale cemented together, so that it was necessary to break it up with a hammer and chisel before it could be removed. The engineer said he had cleaned the boilers only three days before, and objected to my making another examination. This is one of the many cases we find, where the proprietor trusts everything about his boilers to his engineer, supposing him to be reliable."
With such accumulation of sediment and deposit, is it any wonder that sheets are burned? A careful engineer will understand, if the feed water be impure, that he must blow down two or three inches every day, or oftener, that the sediment may be removed as it accumulates, and then an internal examination once in two weeks, or once a month, will insure a clean boiler.
Cases of external corrosion, 26--10 dangerous; cases of internal corrosion, 17--5 dangerous; cases of internal grooving, 28--11 dangerous; water gages out of order, 50; blow-out apparatus out of order, 15--7 dangerous; safety valves overloaded, 40--12 dangerous; pressure gages out of order, 54--6 dangerous, varying from -15 to +8 pounds. (We have found several gages entirely ruined