REPAIRING CRACKS.

Fig. 66.

This cut represents a form of clamp used in holding the plates against each other when being riveted.

Fig. 67.

Fig. 67represents a peculiar form of bolt for screwing a patch to a boiler. It is threaded into the boiler plate, the chamfer rests against the patch and the square is for the application of the wrench. After the bolt is well in place, the head can be cut off with a cold chisel.

Cracks in the crown-sheet or side of a fire-box boiler, or top head of the upright boiler can be temporarily repaired by a row of holes drilled and tapped touching one another, with3⁄8or1⁄2inch copper plugs or bolts, screwed into the plates and afterwards all hammered together.

For a permanent job, cut out the defect and rivet on a patch. This had better be put on the inside, so as to avoid a “pocket” for holding the dirt. In putting on all patches, the defective part must be entirely removed to the solid iron, especially when exposed to the fire.

Note.—When fire comes to two surfaces of any considerable extent, the plate next to the fire becomes red-hot and weakens, hence the inside plate, in repairs, must be removed.

The application of steel patches to iron boilers is injudicious. Steel and iron differ structurally and in every other particular, and their expansion and contraction under the influence of changing temperatures, is such that trouble is sure to result from their combination.

Fig. 68.

Fig. 68represents a patch called a “spectacle piece.” This is used to repair a crack situated between the tube ends. These are usually caused (if the metal is not of bad quality) by allowing incrustation to collect on the plate inside the boiler, or by opening the furnace and smoke doors, thus allowing a current of cold air to contract the metal of the plates round the heated and expanded tubes.

The “spectacle piece” is bored out to encircle the tubes adjacent to the crack, or in other words, to be a duplicate of a portion of the tube plate cracked. These plates are then pinned on to the tube covering the crack.

Steam generators, as they are exposed to more or less of trying service in steam production, develop almost an unending number and variety of defects.

When a boiler is new and first set up it is supposed to be clean, inside and out, but even one day’s service changes its condition; sediment has collected within and soot and ashes without.

Unlike animals and plants they have no recuperative powers of their own—whenever they become weakened at any point the natural course of the defect is to become continually worse.

In nothing can an engineer better show his true fitness than in the treatment of the beginnings of defects as they show themselves by well-known signs of distress, such as leaks of water about the tube ends, and in the boiler below the water line, or escaping steam above it. In more serious cases, the professional services of a skillful and honest boiler maker is the best for the occasion.

In a recent report given in by the Inspectors the following list of defects in boilers coming under their observation was reported. The items indicate the nature of the natural decay to which steam boilers in active use are exposed. The added column under the heading of “dangerous” carries its own lesson, urging the importance of vigilance and skill on the part of the engineer in charge.

Nature of Defects.Whole Number.Dangerous.Cases of deposit of sediment41936Cases of incrustation and scale59644Cases of internal grooving2516Cases of internal corrosion13921Cases of external corrosion347114Broken and loose braces and stays8350Settings defective12914Furnaces out of shape17114Fractured plates18184Burned plates9331Blistered plates23222Cases of defective riveting30634Defective heads3620Serious leakage around tube ends54957Serious leakage at seams21453Defective water gauges12814Defective blow-offs459Cases of deficiency of water94Safety-valves overloaded227Safety-valves defective in construction4116Pressure-gauges defective21129Boiler without pressure-gauges30

Cases of deposit of sediment

Cases of incrustation and scale

Cases of internal grooving

Cases of internal corrosion

Cases of external corrosion

Broken and loose braces and stays

Settings defective

Furnaces out of shape

Fractured plates

Burned plates

Blistered plates

Cases of defective riveting

Defective heads

Serious leakage around tube ends

Serious leakage at seams

Defective water gauges

Defective blow-offs

Cases of deficiency of water

Safety-valves overloaded

Safety-valves defective in construction

Pressure-gauges defective

Boiler without pressure-gauges

This list covers nearly, if not all,the points of dangeragainst which the vigilance of both engineer and fireman should be continually on guard; and is worth constant study until thoroughly memorized.

Probably one-quarter, if not one-third, of all boiler-work is done in the way of repairs, hence the advice of men who have had long experience in the trade is the one safe thing to follow for the avoidance of danger and greater losses, and for the best results the united opinion of 1, the engineer, experienced in his own boiler and 2, the boiler-maker with his wider observation and 3, the owner of the steam plant, all of whom are most interested.

Corrosion is a trouble from which few if any boilers escape. The principal causes of external corrosion arise from undue exposure to the weather, improper setting, or possibly damp brick work, leakage consequent upon faulty construction, or negligence on the part of those having them in charge.

Internal corrosion maybe divided into ordinary corroding, or rusting and pitting. Ordinary corrosion is sometimes uniform through a large portion of the boiler, but is often found in isolated patches which have been difficult to account for. Pitting is still more capricious in the location of its attack; it may be described as a series of holes often running into each other in lines and patches, eaten into the surface of the iron to a depth sometimes of one-quarter of an inch. Pitting is the more dangerous form of corrosion, and the dangers are increased when its existence is hidden beneath a coating of scale. There is another form of decay in boilers known as grooving; it may be described as surface cracking of iron, caused by its expansion and contraction, under the influence of differing temperatures. It is attributable generally to the too great rigidity of the parts of the boiler affected, and it may be looked upon as resulting from faulty construction.

Fig. 69.

In plugging a leaky tube with a pine plug, make a small hole, of3⁄16of an inch diameter, or less, running through it from end to end. These plugs should never have a taper of more than1⁄8of an inch to the foot. It is well to have a few plugs always on hand.Fig. 69exhibits the best shape for the wooden plug.

How long since you were inside your boiler?

Were any of the braces slack?

Were any of the pins out of the braces?

Did all the braces ring alike?

Did not some of them sound like a fiddle-string?

Did you notice any scale on flues or crown sheet?

If you did, when do you intend to remove it?

Have you noticed any evidence of bulging in the fire-box plates?

Do you know of any leaky socket bolts?

Are any of the flange joints leaking?

Will your safety-valve blow off itself, or does it stick a little sometimes?

Are there any globe valves between the safety-valve and the boiler? They should be taken out at once, if there are.

Are there any defective plates anywhere about your boiler?

Is the boiler so set that you can inspect every part of it when necessary?

If not, how can you tell in what condition the plates are?

Are not some of the lower courses of tubes or flues in your boiler choked with soot or ashes?

Do you absolutely know, of your own knowledge, that your boiler is in safe and economical working order, or do you merely suppose it is?

If you find a thin plate, what would you do?Put a patch on.

Would you put it on inside or outside?Inside.

Why so?Because the action that has weakened the plate will then act on the patch, and when this is worn it can be replaced; but the plate remains as we found it.

If the patch were put on the outside, the action would still be on the plate, which would in time be worn through, then the pressure of the steam would force the water between the plate and the patch, and so corrode it; and during a jerk or extra pressure, the patch might be blown off.

It is on the same principle that mud-hole doors are on the inside.

If you found several thin places, what would you do?Patch each, and reduce the pressure.

If you found a blistered plate?Put a patch on the fire side.

If you found a plate at the bottom buckled?Put a stay through the centre of the buckle.

If you found several?Stay each, and reduce the pressure.

The crown of the furnace down?Put a stay through the middle, and a dog across the top.

If a length of the crown were down, put a series of stays and dogs.

A cracked plate?Drill a hole at each end of the crack; caulk the crack, or put a patch over it.

If the water in the boiler is suffered to get too low, what may be the consequence?Burn the top of the combustion chamber and the tubes; perhaps cause an explosion.

If suffered to get too high?Cause priming; perhaps cause the breaking of the cylinder covers.

Let it be clearly understood that if there were no steam generators using steam under pressurethere would he no boiler inspection, and no licensing of engineers; it requires no license to be a machinist or a machine tender, no more would a license be essential to run a steam engine, except it were connected with the boiler.The danger to the public arising from their use requires that the care and management of high-pressure steam boilers shall be in hands of careful, experienced and naturally ingenious men, hence it is on the affairs of the Boiler Room that the first tests are made, as to the worthiness of an aspirant for an engineer’s license, hence, too, the success of many firemen in obtaining the preference over engine-builders or school graduates, in the line of promotion as steam engineers.

The inspection laws of the various states and cities are framed after substantially the same leading ideas, and in presenting one the others may be assumed to be nearly the same.

The special province of the Steam Boiler Inspection and Engineers’ Bureau in the police department in New York City is to inspect and test all the steam boilers in the city, at certain stated periods, and to examine every applicant for the position of engineer as to his ability and qualifications for running an engine and boiler with safety.

According to the laws of the State, every owner, agent or lessee, of a steam boiler or boilers, in the city of New York, shall annually report to the board of police, the location of said boiler or boilers, and, thereupon, the officers in command of the sanitary company shall detail a practical engineer, who shall proceed to inspect such steam boiler or boilers, and all apparatus and appliances connected therewith.

When a notice is received from any owner or agent that he has one or more boilers for inspection, a printed blank is returned to him stating that on the day named therein the boilerswill be tested, and he is asked to make full preparation for the inspection by complying with the following rules:

Be ready to test at the above-named time.Have boiler filled with water to safety-valve.Have 11⁄4-inch connection.Have steam gauge.Steam allowed two-thirds amount of hydrostatic pressure.

More particularly stated, the following have been adopted by one or more Inspection Companies:

1. Haul fires and all ashes from furnaces and ash pits.

2. If time will permit, allow boiler and settings to cool gradually until there is no steam pressure, then allow water to run out of boilers. It is best that steam pressure should not exceed ten pounds if used to blow water out.

3. Inside of boiler should be washed and dried through manholes and handholes by hose service and wiping.

4. Keep safety-valves and gauge-cocks open.

5. Take off manhole and handhole plates as soon as possible after steam is out of boiler, that boiler may cool inside sufficiently for examination; alsokeep all doors shutabout boilers and settings,except the furnace and ash-pit doors. Keepdampersopen inpipesandchimneys.

6. Have all ashes removed from under boilers, and fire surfaces of shell and heads swept clean.

7. Have spare packing ready for use on manhole and handhole plates, if the old packing is made useless in taking off or is burned. The boiler attendant is to take off and replace these plates.

8. Keep all windows and doors to boiler room open, after fires are hauled, so that boilers and settings may cool as quickly as possible.

9. Particular attention is called to Rule 5, respecting doors—which should be open and which closed—also arrangement of damper. The importance of cooling the inside of the boiler by removal of manhole and handhole plates at the same time the outside is cooling, is in equalizing the process of contraction.

These conditions having been complied with, the boiler is thoroughly tested, and if it is deemed capable of doing the work required of it, a number by which it shall hereafter be known and designated is placed upon it in accordance with the city ordinance: Failure to comply with this provision is punishable by a fine of $25. A certificate of inspection is then given to the owner, for which a fee of $2 is paid.

This certificate sets forth that on the day named the boiler therein described was subject to a hydrostatic pressure of a certain number of pounds to the square inch. The certificate tells where the boiler was built, its style or character and “now appears to be in good condition and safe to sustain a working pressure of —— to the square inch. The safety-valve has been set to said pressure.” A duplicate of this certificate is posted in full view in the boiler-room. In case the boiler does not stand the test to which it is subject, it must be immediately repaired and put in good working order before a certificate will be issued.

The hydraulic test is a very convenient method of testingthe tightness of the work in a new boiler, in conjunction with inspection to a greater or lesser degree, in the passing of new work. As a detector of leakages it has no rival, and its application enables faulty caulking to be made good before the boiler has left the works, and before a leak has time to enter on its insidious career of corrosion. The extent to which it enables the soundness and quality of the work to be ascertained is another matter, and depends on several conditions. It will be evident that if the test be applied with this object to a new boiler, the pressure should range to some point in excess of theworking load if such a test is to be of any practical value.

What the excess should be so as to remain within safe limits cannot be stated without regard being paid to the factor of safety adopted in the structure.

In addition to the advantage which the hydraulic test affords as a means of proving the tightness of the riveted seams and work generally, it is also of frequent assistance in determining the sufficiency of the staying of flat surfaces, especially when of indeterminate shape, or when the stresses thrown upon them by the peculiar construction of the boiler are of uncertain magnitude. For the hydraulic test, however, to be of any real value in the special cases to which we refer, it is essential that it should be conducted by an expert, and the application of the pressure accompanied by careful gaugings, so as to enable the amount of bulging and permanent set to be ascertained. Without such readings the application of the test in such cases is worthless, and may be delusive. Indeed, the careful gauging of a boiler as a record of its behavior should be a condition of every test, and is a duty requiring for its adequate performance a skilled inspector.

The duty of inspecting a new boiler or witnessing the hydraulic test properly belongs to one of the regular inspecting companies, who have men in their employ specially trained for the performance of such work. The advantage accruing from such a course is well worth the fee charged for the service, and secures a searching inspection of the workmanship, which frequently brings to light defects and oversights that a mere pumping-up of the boiler would never reveal. Such a proceeding in fact, can only prove that the boiler is water-tight, and a boiler may be tight under test although the workmanship is of the poorest character. Besides, it is well to bear in mind that the tightness of a boiler under test is no guarantee of its tightness after it is got to work. In a word, as far as new boilers are concerned, the application of hydraulic pressure unaccompanied by careful inspection and gaugings may be almost worthless, while with these additions it may be extremely valuable, especially in the case of boilers of peculiar shape, and is a precaution that should not be neglected.

Keeping in mind the fact thatif there were no steam-boilers there would be no examinationsand no public necessity for licenses, these “points” are added.

Examinations are trying periods with all engineers, as the best are liable to fail in their answers from a nervous dread of the ordeal, but the granting of the document is very largely influenced by the personal experience of the candidate in the practical duties of the engine and boiler-room, which must be stated and certified to by the evidence of others.

A general knowledge of the subject of steam engineering is the first requisite to success.A few sample questions are here given to show the ordinary course pursued by examiners to determine the fitness of applicants:

How long have you been employed as an engineer, and where? Are you a mechanic? Where did you learn your trade? Give some idea of the extent of your experience as an engineer? What kind of boilers have you had charge of? Describe a horizontal tubular boiler. Describe a locomotive style boiler. Describe a vertical style boiler. Describe a sectional water tube boiler. How thick is the iron in the shell of your boiler? How thick should it be in the shell of your boiler? How thick are the heads in your boiler? How thick should they be in your boiler? How are the heads fastened to the shell? What is the best way to put heads in a boiler? How is the shell riveted? What size rivets are used? What distance apart are they? How should the shell be riveted? Why do they double rivet some seams? What ones are best double riveted? How is a horizontal boiler braced? How is a locomotive boiler braced? What is the size of and forms of braces generally used? What is the size of your boiler or boilers, length and diameter? How many have you in charge? Name the horse power. How many tubes are in the boiler? What size are they, and how thick? How long are they? How are they secured? What is the difference between a socket and a stay bolt? What is the tensile strength of Boiler Iron? What is the tensile strength of Boiler Steel? What is mild steel? What is CH No. 1 Iron? What is Flange Iron? What is Hot Short and Cold Short Iron? What is the common dimensions of a Man Hole? What is it for? What are Hand Holes for? Do you open them often? How often? What are Crown Bars and where are they used? How is a Boiler Caulked? What is a Drift Pin?

In the back counties of England for many generations before the steam engine was evolved from the brains of Trevithick, Watt and Stephenson, the word “stoke” was used, meaning to “stir the fire.” The word was derived from an ancient word, stoke, meaning a stick, stock or post.

To-day there are very many men who are called “stokers,” employed principally on locomotive engines, steam vessels, etc., and then there is the “stoke hole,” so-called, in which they do their work.

mechanical stoker

But, now comes the “mechanical stoker,” which is well named, as its office is to feed and “stir the fire” by a machine, thus relieving the fireman from much excessively hard toil and allowing the time and energy thus saved to be more profitably used elsewhere. The figure shows aviewof the American Stoker which is a device of the most advanced type.

The principal parts of the machine are: 1, the Hopper, which may be filled either by hand shoveling or by elevating and conveying machinery; 2, the Conveyor Screw, which forces the coal, or indeed, any description of fuel, forward to the 3, Magazine, shown in the figure to the left; 4, a Driving Mechanism, which is a steam motor arranged conveniently in front of the hopper; 5, the Retort, so called from its being the place (above the conveyor) where the coal is distilled into gas.

Note.—An illustrated printed description of this machine is issued and sent free upon application by the makers. The American Stoker Co., Washington Life Building, Cor. Broadway and Liberty St., New York.

The rate of feeding coal is controlled by the speed of the motor, this being effected by the simple means of throttling the steam in the supply pipe to the motor. The shields covering the motor effectually protect the mechanism from dirt and dust. The motor has a simple reciprocating piston; its piston rod carries a crosshead, which, by means of suitable connecting links, operates a rocker arm having a pawl mechanism, which in turn actuates the ratchet wheel attached to the conveyor shaft. The stoker is thus entirely self-contained and complete in itself.

A screw conveyor or worm is located in the conveyor pipe and extends the entire length of the magazine. Immediately beneath the conveyor pipe is located the wind-box, having an opening beneath the hopper.

At this point is connected the piping for the air supply, furnished at low pressure by a volume blower. The other end of the wind-box opens into the air space between the magazine and outer casing. The upper edge of the magazine is surrounded by tuyeres, or air blocks, these being provided with openings for the discharge of air, inwardly and outwardly.

The stoker rests on the front and rear bearing bars; the space between the sides of the stoker and side walls is filled with iron plates, termed “dead grates.” Steam is carried to the motor by a3⁄4-inch steam pipe. The exhaust steam from the motor is discharged into the ash pit.

In operation the coal is fed into the hopper, carried by the conveyor into the magazine, which it fills, “overflows” on both sides, and spreads upon the sides of the grates. The coal is fed slowly and continuously, and, approaching the fire in its upward course, it is slowly roasted and coked, and the gases released from it are taken up by the fresh air entering through the tuyeres, which explodes these gases and delivers the coal as coke on the grates above. The continuous feeding gives a breathing motion to this coke bed, thus keeping it open and free for the circulation of air.

It will be noted that in this machine the fuel is introduced from the bottom of the bed of fuel, technically speaking, upon the principle of “underfeeding.”

Chemistryis a science which investigatesthe composition and properties of material substances.

Nature is composed of elementary elements; knowledge of these bodies, of their mutual combinations, of the forces by which these combinations are brought about, and the laws in accordance with which these forces act, constitute chemistry, and the chemistry of steam engineering largely deals with the foreign bodies contained in the feed water of steam boilers.

Element.In general, the word element is applied to any substance which has as yet never been decomposed into constituents or transmuted to any other substance, and which differs in some essential property from every other known body. The term simple orundecomposed substanceis often used synonymously with element.

There are about 70simple elements, three-quarters of which are to be met with only in minute quantities and are called rare elements. Copper, silver, gold, iron, and sulphur are simple elements—the metal irridium, for example, is a rare element—it is the metal which tips the ends of gold pens—it is heavier than gold and much more valuable. Probably there are not two tons of it in existence.

A Re-agentis a chemical used to investigate the qualities of some other chemical—example, hydrochloric acid is a re-agent in finding carbonic acid in limestone, or carbonate of lime, which when treated by it will give up its free carbonic acid gas, which is the same as the gas in soda water.

An Oxideis any element, such as iron, aluminium, lime, magnesia, etc., combined with oxygen. To be an oxideit must pass through the state of oxidization. Iron after it is rusted is the oxide of iron, etc.

A Carbonateis an element, such as iron, sodium, etc., which forms a union with carbonic acid—the latter is a mixture of carbon and oxygen in the proportion of 1 part of carbon to 2 of oxygen. Carbonic acid, as is well known, does not support combustion and is one of the gases which come from perfectcombustion. This acid, or what may be better termed a gas, is plentifully distributed by nature and is found principally combined with lime and magnesia, and in this state (i.e., carbonate of lime and carbonate of magnesia) is one of the worst enemies to a boiler.

An Acidis a liquid which contains both hydrogen and oxygen combined with some simple element such as chlorine, sulphur, etc. It will always turn blue litmus red, and has that peculiar taste known as acidity; acids range in their power from the corrosive oil of vitriol to the pleasant picric acid which gives its flavor to fruits.

Alkaliesare the opposite to an acid; they are principally potash, soda and ammonia—these combined with carbonic acid form carbonates. Sal-soda is carbonate of soda.

A Chlorideis an element combined with hydro chloric acid—common salt is a good example of a chloride—being sodium united with the element chlorine, which is the basis of hydro chloric acid. Chlorides are not abundant in nature but all waters contain traces of them more or less and they are not particularly dangerous to a boiler.

Sulphatesare formed by the action of sulphuric acid (commercially known as the oil of vitriol) upon an element, such as sodium, magnesia, etc. The union of sodium and sulphuric acid is the well-known Glauber salts—this is nothing more than sulphate of soda;sulphate of lime is nothing more than gypsum. Sulphates are dangerous to boilers, if in large quantitiesshould they give up their free acid—the action of the latter being to corrode the metal.

Silicais the gritty part of sand—it is also the basis of all fibrous vegetable matter—a familiar example of this isthe ashwhich shows in packing, which has been burnt by the heat in steam; by a peculiar chemical treatment silica has been made into soluble glass—a liquid. 65 per cent. of the earth’s crust is composed of silica—it is the principal part of rock—pure white sand is silica itself—it is composed of an element calledsilicumcombined with the oxygen of the air. Owing to its abundance in nature and its peculiar solubility it is found largely in all waters that come from the earth and is present in all boiler scale.

In water analysis the terminsoluble matter, is silica. This is one of the least dangerous of all the impurities that are in feed water.

Magnesiais a fine, light, white powder, having neither taste nor smell, almost insoluble in boiling, but less so in cold water. Magnesia as found in feed water exists in two states, oxide and a carbonate, when in the latter form and free from the traces of iron, tends to give the yellow coloring matter to scale—in R. R. work, yellow scale is called magnesia scale.

Carbonate of Magnesiais somewhat more soluble in cold than in hot water, but still requires to dissolve it 9,000 parts of the latter and 2,493 of former.

Magnesia, in combination with silica, enters largely into the composition of many rocks and minerals, such as soapstone, asbestos, etc.

Lime, whose chemical name iscalcium, is a white alkaline earthy powder obtained from the native carbonates of lime, such as the different calcerous stones and sea shells, by driving off the carbonic acid in the process of calcination or burning.

Lime is procured on a large scale by burning the stone in furnaces called kilns, either mixed with the fuel or exposed to the heated air and flames that proceed from side fires through the central cavity of the furnace in which the stones are collected.

The calcined stones may retain their original form or crumble in part to powder; if protected from air and moisture they can afterwards be preserved without change.

Sodais a grayish white solid, fusing at a red heat, volatile with difficulty, and having an intense affinity for water, with which it combines with great evolution of heat.

The only reagent which is available for distinguishing its salts from those of the other alkalies is a solution of antimoniate of potash, which gives a white precipitate even in diluted solutions.

Sodiumis the metallic base of soda.It is silver white with a high lustre; crystallizes in cubes; of the consistence of wax at ordinary temperatures, and completely liquid at 194°, andvolatilizes at a bright red heat. It is very generally diffused throughout nature though apparently somewhat less abundantly than potassium in the solid crust of the globe.

Salt, the chloride of sodium, a natural compound of one atom of chloride and one of sodium. It occurs as a rock inter-stratified with marl, and sandstones, and gypsum, and as an element of salt springs, sea water, and salt water lakes.

The proportions of its elements are 60.4 per cent. of chlorine and 39.6 per cent. of sodium.

In salt made of sea water the salts of magnesia with a little sulphate of lime are the principal impurities.

The above mentioned chemical substances can be classified into two distinct classes,i.e., incrusting and non-incrusting.

Of the incrusting salts, carbonate of magnesia is the most objectionable, and any feed water that contains a dozen grains per gallon of magnesia can be expected to have a most injurious effect on the boiler, causing corrosion and pitting. Carbonate of lime, while not as bad as the magnesia carbonate, yet has a very destructive action on a boiler and 20 grains per gallon of this is considered bad water. All silicates, oxides of iron, and aluminium, and sulphate of lime are also incrusting. The non-incrusting substances are three, viz., chloride of sodium (common salt), and sulphate and carbonate of soda.

In view of the increasing importance laid upon a knowledge of the chemical formation of feed water, these chapters of Chemical Terms and Analysis of Feed Waters are given to indicatethe direction in which the advanced engineer must push his inquiries. There are more millions of treasure to be made by properly “treating” the water which enters the steam generators of the world than can be extracted from its gold mines.

An important “point” is to make sure, before adopting any permanent system for purifying the waters of a steam plant, that it is always the same in its ingredients,i.e., that the impurities contained in the water are the same at all times.

In response to a generous offer made by a leading engineering journal, the following compositions of feed water were ascertained and published. The “Directions” show how the water was forwarded, and the tables, the result of careful examination, of samples sent from widely separated sections of the country.

Directions.

1. Get a clean gallon jug or bottle and a new cork (or, at all events, a thoroughly clean one).

2. Wash out the vessel two or three times with the same water that is going to be sent in it. This is to make sure that the sample may not be contaminated with any “foreign” ingredient.

3. Tie the cork, after the bottle is filled with the water, with a strong string or wire. Pack the bottle so secure, with hay or straw, sawdust, or newspapers, that it may not knock itself to pieces against the sides of the box.

FROM ARGOS, IND.Grains perGallon.Silica1.1096Oxides of iron and aluminium.1752Carbonate of lime11.9010Carbonate of magnesia5.4597Carbonate of soda1.1324Chloride of sodium.0715Total solids19.8494

FROM SIOUX FALLS, S. D.Grains perGallon.Silica.8292Oxides of iron and aluminium.2452Carbonate of lime9.0699Carbonate of magnesia5.4376Chloride of sodium1.7172Sulphate of sodium4.5245Sulphate of lime2.6976Total solids25.0936

FROM LITCHFIELD, ILL.Grains perGallon.Silica.4711Oxides of iron and aluminium.7475Carbonate of lime.3800Carbonate of magnesia2.2911Chloride of sodium8.7543Sulphate of soda16.0329Sulphate of lime2.8168Total solids31.4835

FROM CHELSEA, MASS.Grains perGallon.Silica.1168Oxides of iron and aluminium.6540Carbonate of lime34.5260Carbonate of magnesia22.8470Chloride of sodium63.2041Sulphate of soda28.4711Carbonate of soda32.2321Total solids182.0511

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