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Page 11
An interesting verification of the remarkable non-heat condensing
quality of the magnesia covering occurred at Lynn, Mass. In the heart of
the district in that city, recently the scene of the disastrous
conflagration, there was located the machine-shop of Messrs. Rollins &
Glozier. A two-inch steam-pipe there was covered with this material. The
heat of the fire at this place has been curiously determined to have
been between the minimum extreme of 2,756� Fah. and the maximum extreme
of 2,950� Fah., in this way: Cast-iron melts at 2,756� Fah.;
wrought-iron at 2,950� Fah. A portion of the cast-iron bed of a lathe
was fused into an irregular mass, and on it, partly imbedded, was a
wrought-iron nut not melted. The steam-pipe spoken of fell a distance of
20 feet, and some of the magnesia covering was broken by the fall, but
so effective was its heat-resisting and non-heat-conducting power that
the pipe was found to be uninjured, and it is being used again in the
building which is being erected to take the place of the one burned.
That the magnesia should have endured the ordeal successfully was not
unexpected, for we know that it is used by the Herreshoff Manufacturing
Company as a lining to the shells of its coil boilers, and it is there
subjected to a very intense heat resulting from the forced draught used
in this type of boiler. Instances could be multiplied indefinitely, but
I refrain from occupying further time with them, citing, however, one
recent pertinent case.
The trial trip of the new cruiser "_Baltimore_" took place in the middle
of September. It is reported to have been in many ways eminently
satisfactory. The report goes on to state: "Another noteworthy fact was
the comfortable condition of the fire and engine rooms. A duplicate crew
had been provided with the expectation of relieving the firemen in
two-hour turns; but after the first two hours of the run the first watch
refused to quit work and insisted in running the ship throughout the
entire four hours' trial." Boilers and all steam-surfaces were covered
with the magnesia covering.
So it appears that not alone is the man who pays for the coal interested
in this question of most perfect insulation, but also the men who
operate the plant as well. In time, those architects, those mechanical
engineers, those engine-builders and those other advisers, who are paid
to advise soundly and correctly, and who are represented by our figure
with the re-entering angles, will, of necessity, change their form and
begin to assimilate these new facts, or ossification will so spread
throughout the whole figure that they will be relegated to the shelf for
curiosities as showing what strange geometrical forms the intellectual
life of man may take.
* * * * *
THE COST OF A SMALL MUSEUM.
[Illustration: Mr. A.A. Carey's
Cambridge, Mass.
_Sturgis & Brigham Archts._]
More than once we have endeavored to impress upon our readers the
importance of collections of casts and other art reproductions as
factors in popular education. It is only through these that the body of
our people can ever hope to become familiar with the great masterpieces
of European galleries, which have had so much effect upon the taste of
the people among whom they exist, and might do a similar good work in
this country were they only brought within reach. Doubtless there are
many who join us in the wish that not only every large, but every small
city might have its gallery of reproductions as well as its public
library--a gallery in which children could grow up familiar with the
noblest productions of Greece and Italy, in which the laborer could pass
some of his holiday hours, and in which the mechanic could find the
stimulus to make his own work beautiful as well as good. But the
principal reason why such collections are not more numerous is probably
that people have an exaggerated idea of their cost, and, among those who
might best afford this, there are doubts as to whether an undertaking of
the kind would be appreciated in any but the large cities.
Thanks to the liberality of Mr. W.A. Slater, the experiment has been
tried in Norwich, Conn., and the results of the first year of the Slater
Memorial Museum in attracting and holding popular interest have far
exceeded the anticipations of its founder and his advisers. As it has
been Mr. Slater's desire that the museum established by him should serve
not only to educate his townsmen, but also to stimulate others who had
the means to follow his example in other parts of the country, he has
given us permission to make public the cost of his collections, which,
we doubt not, will be a revelation to many. In August of last year we
gave a long description of the Slater Memorial Museum, not then quite
completed, from which it was evident that within the lines laid down by
Mr. Slater, by which it was determined that the collection should
contain only reproductions, and no original works, there were no
restrictions as to expense. The works selected were to be the best of
their kind, and were to be set up and arranged in the most effective
manner possible. The number of objects was to be limited only by the
size of the building.
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