Scientific American Supplement, No. 481, March 21, 1885 eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 130 pages of information about Scientific American Supplement, No. 481, March 21, 1885.

Scientific American Supplement, No. 481, March 21, 1885 eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 130 pages of information about Scientific American Supplement, No. 481, March 21, 1885.
of the detaching roller, which for good work is undesirable.  This is remedied by placing a heavier top roller in the horse tails, which is made with a broader bearing so as to give greater solidity to the top roller.  Another good idea we noticed in this machine was in the application of a treble brush carrier wheel, which permits of the brushes being driven at three different speeds as they become worn.  For instance, when the brushes are new the bristles are long, and consequently they are not required to revolve as quickly as when the bristles are far worn.  By this improvement the brush lasts considerably longer than in any other system of machine.  Their speed can also be regulated according to the length of the bristles, and the change from one speed to the other can be effected in a very few minutes.

A common defect in combing machines is the flocking that frequently happens.  This is the filling up of the combs on the cylinder with dirt and cotton, which the brush fails to remove.  Although in general appearance the cleaning apparatus is the same as the ordinary one, modifications are introduced which make its action always effective and reliable.  We were informed by a mill manager, who has a great number of these combers, that he meets with no inconvenience from flocking from one week end to another.  Altogether, it will be seen that Messrs. Dobson and Barlow have almost reconstructed the machine, strengthening and improving those parts which experience showed it was necessary to modify.  As a result their improved machine works at a high speed (80 to 95 strokes per minute, according to the class of cotton), with great smoothness and without noise, and from the almost complete absense of vibration the risk of breakages is reduced to a minimum.—­Textile Manufacturer.

* * * * *

THE MUNICIPAL SCHOOL FOR INSTRUCTION IN WATCH-MAKING, AT GENEVA.

When, in 1587, Charles Cusin, of Autun, settled at Geneva and introduced the manufacture of watches there, he had no idea of the extraordinary development that this new industry was to assume.  At the end of the seventeenth century this city already contained a hundred master watch makers and eighty master jewelers, and the products of her manufactures soon became known and appreciated by the whole world.

The French revolution arrested this impetus, but the entrance of the Canton of Geneva into the Confederation in 1814, rendered commerce, the arts, and the industries somewhat active, and watch-making soon saw a new era of prosperity dawning.

On the 13th of Feb., 1824, at the instigation of a few devoted citizens, the industrial section of the Society of Arts adopted the resolution to form a watch-making school, which, having been created by private initiative, was only sustained through considerable sacrifices.

[Illustration:  CLASS IN ESCAPEMENTS AT THE WATCH MAKING SCHOOL, GENEVA.]

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Scientific American Supplement, No. 481, March 21, 1885 from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.