THE "MECHANICAL NAVVY."

Evening Star, Issue 4146, 10 June 1876, Page 4

THE "MECHANICAL NAVVY."

(Frdi&ifie News,) -One-of the mpst iathe|t|aihdigger. If-we>';bar the first, application of t steai& asm l jD^OTii l V vlmvajtended m the direction of removing tha **' V&eiteity'fdr skilled work, labor has been,: fpc.the to fight its way gainst the poorer of steam as applied' to the and.so pm. -.- . mechanical ttavvy, however, at vrorkais the cuttings pf the OlaagdWi-'Bothwelly^nd-:Hamilton Railway, how iff coarse of construction, fights’ the laborer oh his own gronnfl. It does as much work as fifty navvies hah accompli ah in a smaller area, and at much less. boat. It will not strike anyone with surprise to learn that its inventor is an f) .Tho two machines now in use om : thisr the Atlantic—one being Hull and the other at Fallside—have boeh built Jay Messrs John Souther ,an'ffGo;, ; of Boston, Maas., from the plans of the patentee, Mr Otis. A general description-or that’in use by Mr dajnes Yo.ung on the" Bothwell Railway may r '"^i&qthS interest. ' The locality of its i? v adhllL rising aome-30ft above the,. H line, .and mainly cbm-;, f-i stiff clay«... ‘ the iutrpduo; (M, s'%4 three , ,we’eks. ago,- ? ,;,.thpwprk of, putting.through this hill, besides • i ~ . employing many navvies* was facilitated by .blasting; -'Even; with ithe'aid of idynamitej ThenthesteamobiHrfcnfctibn sbmewhat resembles' that of a steam-crane sup'poffed on a movable platform. the end T of the crane is auswitii _a multitude of complex chain, ,o motidns/> t# heavy iron'scoop, not unlike the bucket of-a dredger. The outer edge is anngff steel fingers, and. .the general action of the . machine is that of a hand*/ starting at the'base of the face of a hill, and upwaelsiuhtit the palm, qf the hand •—in this case »-bucket capable of holding Kv and:a;half pubjtp yards pf full.' •%ii .Then. the; bucket is; wheeled-reuns by the ■ ii jjrane’ till it is:pdißed ever an ordinary.ballast i& tauck,Whena movable bottom gives way and the rubbish falls into the waggon. That dtpne, gigantic handfafistothe bottom of the face and Repeats the scraping process; motions besides r fi f'r^^^PP^“pletheh^dißattachbdtoarms, *»gOTOOthe handle' • 0-7 hud .which force'the scoop forwith the face of ; hthp ffr .M the; machine would mot ibhvdissimilar to ■‘-•that ofanavvy shovollii&up earth, ,:f «ajeption,lthat two or three spadesful of the fiUa truch. Within the Radius of the crane, -from which it -is • suspended, it does, on a gigantic scale, the r two gangs of navies. ' It; digs out te&W? earth and deposits .it, .in’the ballast ■iL with the same. movement, and as it .je ablpitO'makes two strokes a minute, and s takes up .sufficient material to, fill a truck in- three- strokes, some idea of its vast utility may be imagined. , It, is very possible thatthe' machine is to be seen to the best advantage when working on stiff clay, and, indeed, it is not easy to see how it could tackle stiatum of rock, or even a big ■ boulder; but as it is at present digging through the hill above Fallside its superiority tohand labor both in. speed and economy is ; • evident. At the same time there is no ne- ‘ hesrijy for otcivatora to rusk to the opndu'V ~ fliou'ihat thelr means of liyelihpod are en- ; fidgeted by the , introduction; of the ' ; • • Between Wentyand thirty :• i „ men'/were, employed when wo' saw it in * fchef necessary work of clearing up the delrte in -left by the digger, trimming the sides of the : putting, and attending to the horsing of the . ’'triickkae One was filled after the Other. All that; the machine was intended tb'do it did,- , ; And that Was tp earth and.deposit ' ■ ballast waggons at a rate and in such Quantity that forty or fifty navvies, indcppndently of those employed, ooulduothave attempted with success. As a ..piece of* ■j. mcchafiism 'it is most ingenious and complete. atid as a labor and time-saving machine —if its present work may Ire accepted in any'degreje as a sound criterion —it fully answers the design of itslhvefitor.