THE "MECHANICAL NAVVY?"'

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XI, Issue 170, 10 July 1876, Page 4

THE "MECHANICAL NAVVY?"'

["GLASGOW NEWS.''[ One of the most ingenious mnchineß yet invented for tbe saving of labor is the steam-digger. If we bar the first application of steam as a power, most modern inventions have tended in the direction of removing the necessity for skilled work. Unskilled labor has been, for the most part, allowed to fight its way against the power of steam as applied to tbe elements of mechanism, such as the pulley, lever, and so on. The v mechanical navvy," however, at work in the cuttings of the Glasgow, Bothwell, and Hamilton railway now in course of construction, fights tbe laborer on his own ground — it does as muck work sb fifty navvies can accomplish in a smaller area, and at much less cost. It will not strike any one with surprise to learn that its inventor was an American. The two machines now in use on this side of the Atlanticone being worked near Hull and the other at Fallside — have been built by Messrs. John Souther & Co., of Boston, Massachusßets, from the plans of the patentee, Mr. Otis. A general description of that in use by Mr. Jas. Yoaog, on the Bothwill railway, may not be without interest. The locality of its working is a hill, rising some 30 feet above the level of the proposed line, and mainly composed of stiff clay. Before the introduction of the steam-digger three weeks ago, the work of cutting through this hill, besides employing many navvies, was facilitated by blasting, Even with the aid of dynamite, however, progrees was slow. Then tbe steam, digger was brought into requisition. Its construction resembles that of a steam-crane supported on a moveable platform. From the end of the crane is suspended, with a multitude of complex chainmotions, a heavy iron scoop, not unlike the. bucket of a dredger. The outer edge is armed with steel fingers, and the general action of the machine is that of a hand, starting at the base of tbe face of-a bill, and scraping upwards until the palm of the hand — in this case a bucket capable of holding one and ahalf cubic yards of carth — is full. Then the bucket is wheeled round by the crane till it is poised over an ordinary ballast truck, when a movable bottom gives way and the rubbish falls into tbe waggon. Tbat done, the gigantic band falls to the bottom of tbe face, and repeats the scraping process. The machine haa many other motions besides this. For example the band is attached to arms, which bear some resemblance to the handle of a spa ie, and which force the scoop forward, keeping it in contact with the f_ce of the hill. Working in loose sand, the action of the machine would not be dissimilar to that of a navvy shovelling up earth, with this exception that two or three spadesful of (he steam-digger would fill a truck. Witbin the radius of tbe crane from which it is suspended, it does, on a gigantic scale, the work of two gangs of navvies. It digs out tbe earth and deposits it in a ballastwaggon with the same movement, and as it is able to make two strokes a minute, and takes up sufficient material to fill a truck in three strokes, some idea of its vast utility may be imagined. It is very possible tbat the 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 a stratum of rock, or even a big boulder; but as it is at present digging through the hill ahove Fallside, its superiority to hand labor, both in speed and economy, is evident. At the same time there is no necessity for excavators to rush to the conclusion that their means of livelihood are endangered by the introduction of the steam-digger. Between twenty and thirty men were employed when we saw it in the necessary work of clearing up the debris left by the digger, the sides of the cutting, and attending to the horsing of tbe trucks, as one was filled after the other AU that the machine was intended to do it did, and that was to excavate earth and deposit it on ballaßt-waggons at a rate, and in such quantity that forty or fifty navvies, independently of those employed, could not have attempted with success. As a piece of mechism, it is most ingenious and complete, and as a labor and time-saving machine — if its present work may be accepted in any degree as a sound criterion — it fully answers the design of its inventor.

A murder case awaiting trial at the Cuddapah sessions last month was, according to the Indian papers, expected to give rise to much legal discussion as to whether the circumstances justified the charge. A juggler, who alleged that be possessed some power which rendered bim " bullet proof," invited the prisoner in the case to aim at him with a loaded musket presented to him by the juggler, assuring him that he might do so without the slightest fear of producing any painfnl results. The prisoner accepted the kind inAitation, and immediately sent a bullet through his head. It, is urged, that as there was no intention on the part of the prisoner to kill (he deceased, tbe charge of murder cannot be maintained. The juggler was thoroughly coufiient of bis own invulnerability, and several of his relatioos who were to be called as witnesses for the defence were prepared to prove that, although several times shot at before, he was never hurt. It is always dangerous to take jugglers at their word in these gun tricks. Some few years ago, in England, a " wizard " at one of the theatres, begged one of the audience aa

a favor to fire a gun at him. The spectator thus invited loaded the gun with a charge of shot he had brought with him for the express purpose of testing crucially the alleged invulnerability of the wizard. The result was painful in the extreme — the wizard's face was peppered with lhe shot, and the spectator who fired the gun was given into the custody of the police. Both narrowly escaped death — one by the gun, the other by the gallows. — Pall Mall Gazette. The G. R. Argus of Monday last says : — Information was given to the police early yesterday morning that a man named James Hood had been drowned off the ketch Sarah and Mary, at the wharf, under the following circumstances:—One of tbe sailors named Charles Donovan came into the cabin at 1 a.m., very drunk, (where Hood was asleep, having got to bed two hours before perfectly sober) and said to Hood, " What are you kicking up a noise about, Jemmy." Hood replied, "I am not makiog a noise at all." Donovan continued accusing Hood of making a noise, and asked him what made him say that he (Hood) would fight any man. Hood again told Donovan that he never made any -such statement, and at last, being greatly provoked by Donovan, and having repeatedly asked him to go away to hie bed, Hood said, "Well if you don't knock off, I will give you a smacking." Donovan then commenced tearing off his own clothes, dragged the blankets off Hood and pulled him out of bed. Both men then went on deck, and a scuffle ensued, and both men having bold of each other fell overboard between the Sarah and Mary and the Isabella Anderson, which was lying alongside, Donovan falling backwards and Hood on the top of him. Donovan got hold of a rope between the two vessels and was got out, but Hood floated astern of the schooner towards the two vessels lying further down. Kerr, the mate of the Sarah and Mary, threw him a rope, but, as he did not catch it, he called out to Hood to make for the two vessels, and he apparently tried to do so, but disappeared suddenly. A boat was got out immediately by Kerr and others, and a search made, but without avail. Yesterday the North Beach was searched by Sergeant Muller for ten miles, but the body was not found. The deceased was a master mariner, about 32 yearß of age, a native of Selkirk, Scotland, where he leaves a wife and family. Donovan was arrested, and is now in the lock-up, A Melbourne contemporary is responsible for the following : — Quite recently a gentleman of this city died suddenly, which event so preyed upon the mind of his betrothed tbat she determined to joio him in another world. Consulting with a young lady friend, they agreed that laudanum was the easiest and most agreeable means, and the deadly draught was taken by the afflicted girl. Calmly she waited the end, but, when the poison began to work, her adviser became so alarmed and grieved that she also partook of the poison. Bnt, instead of that calm which pervades death coming over her, fear impelled her to hasten her expected death, and hurrying to the river, she plunged herself into its depths. Fortunately, she was seen by some gentlemen, who rescued her from the watery grave. When composed enough to speak she told all. Emetics were applied, and at last accounts she was as well as could be expected under the circumstances, but her friend is io a precarious condition. The moral of it is that poisons should not be so recklessly sold, if indeed they should ever be supplied at all, excepting to the medical man who is to use them. At the Sheffield County Court lately the Judge (Mr T. Ellison) gave judgment in a case which involved the question of a wife's wedding-ring. The wife died at her mother's bouse, and shortly before her death g.ve her her wedding-ring. The husband now claimed the value" of it as a set-off against a claim brought against him for his wife's board and lodging. In giving judgment his honor said a wedding-ring came under a class of articles which the wife had separately and independently of her husband, and she had power to keep them, but she had no power to give them away, even during her life. In this case the wife had no power even to give away her ring, and his judgment must be accordingly.

Three hundred and fifty passengers I left Melbonrne per the steamship Northumberland for London on June 10. i The salvage from the cellar of Shaw's bonded store, Melbourne, which was recently destroyed by fire, is very con- j siderable. The brandy, whisky, and rum, consisting in all of 500 casks, as also about 100 casks of wine and two of porter, have been got out only slightly depreciated in value, and 500 cases of cascor-oii have been recovered in a very fair condition. Professor Holloway, of New Oxfordstreet, has, says the City Press, recently presented to his employes, in the shape of bonuses, upwards of £3000; those of the recipients who had been in his employ for 20 years, receiving each the sum of £200, or its equivalent, together with a kindly-expressed letter. Mr. Holloway has also presented to his coachman and to his groom £200 each. The following is a Port Darwin telegram of 12th June :— " The exploring party to the Victoria River have returned. They went up thai river a distance of 70 miles, and bslive there is good mineral country. They also went up the river Daly 80 miles, and discovered there magnificent prospecting country, with apparently large rich quartz reefs, ' They found the natives were numerous and powerfully built, and they tried to cut the exploring party off. Splendid alluvial country was found up the Daly, loam deposits 20 feet deep. Thoy crossed splendidly grassed plains, and found plenty of game."

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