POETRY OF THE RAILWAY.

FROM THE DUBLIN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE.

The silent glen, the sunless stream,

To wandering boyhood dear,
And treasured still in many a dream,

They are no longer here;

A huge red mound of earth is thrown
Across the glen so wild and lone,

The stream so cold and clear;

And lightning speed, and thundering sound,
Pass hourly o'er the unsightly mound.

Nor this alone-for many a mile,
Along that iron way,

No verdant banks or hedgerows smile
In summer's glory gay;

Thro' chasms that yawn as though the earth
Were rent in some strange mountain-birth,
Whose depth excludes the day,
We're born away at headlong pace,
To win from time the wearying race!

The wayside in the homelike air,
No longer tempts a guest
To taste its unpretending fare,

Or seek its welcome rest.

The prancing team-the merry horn

The cool fresh road at early morn-
The coachman's ready jest ;
All, all to distant dream-land gone,
While shrieking trains are hurrying on.

Yet greet we them with thankful hearts,
And eyes that own no tear,

'Tis nothing now, the space which parts
The distant from the dear:

The wing that to her cherished nest
Bears home the bird's exulting breast,
Has found its rival here.

With speed like hers we too can haste,
The bliss of meeting hearts to taste.

For me, I gaze along the line

To watch the approaching train,
And deem it still, 'twixt me and mine,
A rude, but welcome chain
To bind us in a world, whose ties
Each passing hour to sever tries,

But here may try in vain;
To bring us near home many an art
Stern fate employs to keep apart.

JOURNAL OF MINING AND MANUFACTURES.

IMPROVEMENT AND ECONOMY IN THE MANUFACTURE OF FLOUR. We copy from an English contemporary the subjoined statement touching an invention for the manufacture of flour:

PATENT FLOUR MILL AT MESSRS. PAVITT'S, 247 WAPPING.

An invention which is likely to effect a complete revolution in the erection of all future mills, and which was frequently brought forward while in its chrysalis state as a model in the Great Exhibition, has been matured, and is now, and has been for the last two months, at full and daily work at the Anchor Flour Mills of the Messrs. Pavitt, Wapping. Being proved to be complete in all respects, and tested by longcontinued work, and the flour made from it preferred by the bakers who had tried it, to the other flour they had previously purchased, it was determined to throw the works open to all who desired to inspect them in practical operation, and to compare the results with the working of one of the best ordinary mills in London on the same premises.

Lord Beaumont and Sir J. V. Shelley, Bart., stated to the two Houses of Parliament, in a petition asking for inquiry and adoption, that by this invention 81,857,120 quartern loaves, in addition to those that are made from the same quantity of wheat, would be produced, giving a clear saving of upwards of £2,000,000 per annum. Also, that it effected an economy of time and labor of cent per cent, while it produced a better and healthier article than the flour usually sold, lasting longer, being stronger, and not liable to become sour and unwholesome, possessing in color all the advantages of Parisian flour. Mills are now erected, or in the course of erection in France, Belgium, Austria, and Mexico, under the patents of this invention.

As on all matters of science, journals connected with science should be adopted as authority, we shall here extract from a report of this important improvement, taken from the Mechanics' Magazine of the 12th ultimo :

On the 9th of February, a large party of engineering gentlemen, and of others engaged in an extensive way of business, as millers, assembled at the flour mills of the Messrs. Pavitt, High street, Wapping, to witness the performance of two mills con structed by Mr. Middleton, on the principle of Westrup's patent. In the same establishment are seven other mills of the ordinary construction, and the trial of relative merits was between the two conical and the most effective pair of the flat mills. The

result proved to be immensely in favor of the conical system; while the quality of the article produced, according to the opinion of experienced bakers, is far superior. The economy of this new system of grinding is found to effect very sensibly the detail of operations both in the mill and in the bake house. In the former it becomes possible to grind up a large portion of farinaceous matter now rejected in the form of bran; that is, to exhaust the husk of the clavel more completely, and therefore to yield a larger quantity of pure farina. In the latter, the tedious but critical duty of watching for what is technically termed "the sponge," or rising of the dough, is quite superseded. At present, if this be neglected, the dough falls again in the oven, and the bread is sold at a reduced price, which is a serious disadvantage.

Under the conical system of grinding, in consequence of the greater proportion of gluten contained in the mass, the acids do not escape so rapidly, and the sponge takes

place in the oven.

Upon the whole, there is a large gain to the public; for besides a saving in fuel, it is capable of increasing the bread of the people to the value of £2,460,428 a year, which, at 6d. per loaf, would give them 81,857,120 more quartern loaves a year.

The old flat flour mill ordinarily consists of a low fixed circular stone, and an upper revolving one, each of about 4 feet 6 inches in diameter. The wheat being introduced through an aperture, is drawn in and ground between the revolving and the fixed dressed surfaces. The average weight of these stones is about 14 cwt., and it is ordinarily found that the grinding surface presented is so extended as to render the delivery of the flour extremely slow and uncertain, notwithstanding the great velocity of the running-stone, which is generally 120 revolutions per minute. The evil arising from this circumstance is, that the flour, finding only a partial escape, is triturated and re-triturated to the great ultimate injury of the meal.

Some idea of the power required to keep such massive machines in operation may be gathered from the fact, that a single pair of stones, 4 feet in diameter, require the power of a four-horse engine to maintain the needful speed. This enormous power becomes necessary, in consequence of the great weight of the " top stone," the rapid rate of revolution, and the very large amount of friction produced by the process of grinding so glutinous a substance as meal between such extended surfaces.

These are the principal objections to the old flat mill system of grinding, which has been the universal one in use in all parts of the kingdom for a considerable time, the only variation in practice consisting in the motive power. Most commonly steampower is employed, but when the locality admits of its introduction, the cheaper and more uniformly certain agent, water, has been brought into action. In all other respects, the mechanical detail of the system has been uniformly the same.

The "conical" mill is intended to obviate these defects; and a very few remarks will suffice to show that its inventor has not only detected their causes, but has brought into operation a most philosophic, and therefore successful, combination of grinding and separating agencies, by which these defects have disappeared to an extent which leaves little to be desired. The beneficial changes effected may be suc cinctly enumerated. First, the reduction of the weight of the running-stone from 14 cwt. to 1 cwt., by placing it beneath instead of upon the fixed one; second, the reduction of the size of the stones in the proportion of 3.34 to 1; and thirdly, the giv ing to the stones a new form-that of the frustum of a cone. The advantage of les sening the diameter and weight of a mass, of which the one is 4 cwt. and the other 14 cwt., will be apparent, when it is considered that its effective velocity is 120 revolutions per minute, and that this velocity must be sustained against the enormous friction of the grinding surfaces. The altered position of the running-stone admits of a much more delicate adjustment of the opposing surfaces, and gives to the miller an easy and effective control over the most important portion of his operation. The conical form facilitates the discharge of the flour, and obviates the clogging and overheating of the old practice. In addition to these advantages, by a judicious modifica tion of the ordinary mode of dressing, or rather by a combination of the mill with the dressing machine, a perfect separation of the flour from the bran is effected at the moment the grist escapes from the stones. The bran still remains in the mill, and falls by its own gravity to a second pair of stones in all respects resembling those already described.

Both pairs of stones are mounted on the same spindle, and of course impelled by the same gearing. The operation of the lower pair need not be described; they com plete the process, and leave nothing unconverted into flour which could add either to the weight or the quality of the loaf. In considering this arrangement, we cannot fail

to be struck with the analogy subsisting between it and that which we observe in the construction of the jaws of animals-a circumstance which assures us of its philosophi cal superiority.

There were three trials as regarded the old system and the new. The first experiment on the old mill gave a discharge of 16 lbs. of flour in five minutes, which was equal to 192 lbs. per hour; while upon the patent mill there was a discharge of 384 lbs. in five minutes, or 462 lbs. per hour. The difference, therefore, on that experiment was against the old system 270 lbs. per hour. The second experiment tried was even more favorable as regarded the new system.

Two conical mills worked against two on the flat principle for one hour, ascertained exactly and with the following results:

We hope the following interesting article from Chambers' Journal will arrest the attention of our American clockmakers :

With all their ingenuity and industry, the Chinese appear to employ themselves but little in the art of clock-making; and it may be safely declared that Geneva turqs out more time keepers in a year than are produced in the whole of the Celestial Empire. In the large city of Nankin there are not more than forty clockmakers: Suchew has thirty, and Ning-po not more than seven; while, until recently, the value of the clocks and watches imported into China from Europe, amounted to about half a million dollars yearly. It is said that the number of clocks really manufactured in the country in a twelvemonth does not exceed 1,500-a fact the more remarkable when contrasted with the state of the case in other countries. The watch and clockmakers in London, including those who manufacture portions of the mechanism only, amount to more than 1,000; and, as is well known, the enterprising horologists of New England make and export clocks every year by tens of thousands. These latter, with that keen spirit of trade which characterizes them, have lately been turning their attention to China as a profitable market for their handicraft; and a request was dispatched some time since from the United States Patent Office, to such American citizens as were resident in the flowery land, for any information that might promise to benefit the branch of industry in question.

From one of the replies which this "request" elicited, we gather that the Chinese have always been too deficient in their acquaintance with astronomy and mathematics to construct proper sun-dials; and that their knowledge of these instruments was obtained from Europeans, while hour glasses are known only as a contrivance "employed in western countries to measure time." Many Celestial gentlemen make it a sine qua non to carry two watches; among these, specimens of very ancient workmanship are sometimes met with as rotund as Nuremberg eggs;" and the wearers are too often anxious to make the pair go well together. The trouble they gave in consequence, in former days, to some of the Jesuit Fathers who were skilled in clockmaking, will be found mentioned in the "Lettres Edifiantes et Curieuses."

A Chinese day comprises twelve periods, each equivalent to two hours, and they are represented by twelve characters on the clock-face, being those used also to designate the months. "The first in the list (meaning Son) is employed at the commencement of every cycle, and to the first of every period of twelve years, and also to the commencement of the civil day-at 11 P. M.-comprehending the period between this and 1 A. M. The month which is signified by this term is not the first of the Chinese year, but singularly enough coincides with January. Each of the twelve hours is divided into eight kih,' corresponding to quarter-hours. The diurnal division of time does not appear to have been in use in the time of Confucius, as mention is made in the spring and autumn annals of the ten hours of the day."

The writer whose remarks we quote, recommends his countrymen, in manufacturing clocks for the Chinese, to adopt the clock-face commonly used in China, with some improvements, one of which would be to surround the twelve "hoary characters" with a ring of numerals from one to twenty-four, every alternate one of which would be opposite the half-hour mark of the inner circle, corresponding with a whole hour of

our time, and to continue the use of the four signs which now stand near the center of the face to indicate midnight, dawn, noon, and evening. The pendulum is to vibrate seconds; the minute-hand to make half a revolution at every sixty seconds; and the hour hand is to go but once round the face in the whole diurnal period. As the result of this arrangement-" At one o'clock, P. M., our reckoning, the hour hand will be half way between the large character at the top, and the next one to the right; and the minute-hand, having made half a revolution, will point perpendicularly downward, and the clock strike one. At the expiration of another of our hours, a whole Chinese hour will have expired, when the former hand will have reached the first large character to the right, and the latter will be directed to the zenith-the clock striking two." The minute hand is therefore to make twelve revolutions in the twenty-four hours.

The clocks are to be constructed with lines and weights, as those with springs are not liked in China; and as a Celestial always likes to see what he is buying, it is suggested that the works be made as visible as possible, and of good quality, to avoid the loss that would be sure to follow attempts to palm off clocks made to sell merely. To gratify the Chinese wish for utility, the lower part of the door is to contain a looking-glass, or if not this, something very ornamental; and inside, instructions in the native character for fixing, winding, regulating, &c. Such clocks as are here described can be manufactured in Connecticut for $2.50 each; and as they can be sold in China at from $5 to $6 each, we may shortly expect to see a great and profitable trade in American time-keepers between the two countries.

WATCHMAKER'S OIL.

The Scientific American says that the best oil for diminishing friction in delicate machinery is that which is entirely deprived of every species of acid and of mucilage, and is capable of enduring intense cold without congealing. The oil, in fact, should be pure elaine, without any trace of stearine.

Now, it is not difficult to extract the elaine from all fixed oils, and even those from seeds by the process of Chevreul, which consists in treating the oil with seven or eight times its weight of alcohol almost boiling hot, decanting the liquid, and exposing it to cold. The stearine will then separate in the form of a crystalline precipitate. The alcoholic solution is then to be evaporated to a fifth of its volume. What is left is the elaine, which ought to be colorless, insipid, almost without smell, without any action on the infusion of turnsole having the consistence of white olive oil, and with difficulty coagulable.

Another method of obtaining elaine, more simple and exact than the former, is that adopted by M. Bracconol, which is to squeeze tallow between the folds of very porous paper, by which the elaine is absorbed, while the stearine remains. The paper being soaked in water, and pressed, yields up its oily impregnation.

In the "Annales de Chimie," March, 1823, another mode of obtaining elaine is given by M. Peelet, to which a preference over both is given on account of the facility with which it may be procured in quantity. It is as follows:-Pour upon oil a concentrated solution of caustic soda; stir the mixture, heat it slightly, to separate the elaine from the soap of the stearine; pour it on a cloth, and then separate, by decantation, the elaine from the excess of alkaline solution.

DORN'S GOLD MINE IN SOUTH CAROLINA.

The editor of the Greenville Mountainer, says:—" We had the pleasure of meeting and conversing with Mr. Dorn, when on a visit to Greenville, and of learning from him some particulars in relation to his valuable gold mine in Abbeville. Much as we had previously heard of the incalculable value of this property, we were astounded at some of the facts stated by Mr. D. It may be as well to state that Mr. Dorn is a plain unostentatious gentleman, and a man of truth, which is better than all his wealth. Therefore his statements may be implicitly relied on. Mr. Dorn informed us that be

had within the last eighteen months, with a small force, taken from his mine some three hundred thousand dollars; that he had traced the vein a mile and a quarter on his land; that it was fifteen feet wide; that there was gold most frequently discoverable from the surface to the rich vein below. Mr. Dorn has got as much as one thousand dollars from one bushel of dirt, and has been, if we recollect aright, offered a million or two dollars for one-half of his mine, which he very wisely declined taking.

IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF INDIA RUBBER GOODS.

By reference to page 254, vol. viii., Scientific American, our readers will perceive that a patent was granted to Charles Goodyear and Robert Hearing, assignors to Charles Goodyear of New Haven, Ct., for an improvement in the mode of manufacturing goods from India rubber, gutta percha, &, and a patent was granted in England for the same process in 1851. The following abstract of the specification will be interesting to our readers. It contains all of importance embraced in the patent: The improvements made are in the moulds which give form to the vulcanized rubber, &c., heretofore metal moulds have been used without good results. The invention consists in using or employing sand, pulverized soapstone, plaster, or some similar granular, or pulverized substance, and when put together form porous matter, or moulds made of porous substances, to sustain and keep the form of moulded articles composed of caoutchouc or its compounds, and other gums susceptible of vulcanization during the process of heating or vulcanization. We take articles composed of compounds of caoutchouc, or other gums which are susceptible of vulcanization in the green state. We cause them to be pressed or otherwise formed into the exact shapes which they are required to have after being vulcanized; we then cover the surface of the articles with pulverized soapstone, or plaster, or other similar nonadhesive powder. We then place the articles in a box filled with sand, the finer the sand the better, or pulverized soapstone, or other similar equivalent granular or pulverized matter, so that each article shall be completely surrounded and covered by the sand, or pulverized soapstone, or plaster, &c., and imbedded in the same, and thereby sustained when it is desired to give a very smooth surface to the article, we cause it to be completely surrounded with a layer of soapstone, even though sand may be employed about the layer of soapstone. We sometimes use moist sand or pulverized soapstone. When the articles are thus properly placed in the box, we subject the sand or other material to pressure, so that the box shall be solidly filled; we then, by means of a cover, or sometimes by pressure, confine the sand or other material, so that the articles shall be at all times in contact with and pressed upon by the sand or other material during the process of heating. We then place the articles surrounded with and sustained by sand or pulverized soapstone or other material in an oven or heater, and subject the same to a high degree of artificial heat, moist or dry heat, say from 260 to 300° Fah., for a period of from three to seven hours, and upon taking the articles out of the sand or other material, the articles will be found to be vulcanized in the same form in which they were when put into the sand; we are thus enabled to produce economically great variety of objects. Among them, embossed or indented, or plain sheets or plates, or masses of regular or irregular forms, convex or concave, such as pieces of furniture, book covers, buttons, toys of various kinds, &c., or we make the mould of plaster of Paris, (best calcined,) or other substance, which, when dried, will be porous and permit the escape of gases evolved from the matter under treatment, and all contained air, and thereby prevent the expansion of confined air and other gases from injuring the surface of the moulded substance; or we mould the article in a mould which is to produce the figure, and pack in sand or pulverized soapstone, or other like granular or pulverized substance, to support the other surface or surfaces of the article to be produced, and thus keep the face, which is to be figured, in contact with the partial mould of metal or plaster, or other material, and thus afford a free discharge for air and gases, whilst at the same time the moulds are greatly cheapened. The moulds or outer casing may be made of glass instead of iron or other metal, but we prefer the first mode of procedure, as it avoids entirely the use of moulds during the process of vulcanization. The sand, or other pulverized or granular material, having the effect thoroughly to support and retain the form previously given to the article by moulding or modelling. The prepared caoutchouc, gutta percha, &c, if it is to be imbedded in moistened plaster should be previously varnished; and to keep the surface of such articles to be thus vulcanized in sand smooth, India paper should be interposed between such surface and the sand.

FIELD FOR MANUFACTORIES IN AUSTRALIA.

There is such a field in the resources already developed in Australia for the enterprising manufacturers in this country, that we cannot but advert to it more fully; at