22
[Ci.ass I.
department of all, and that which has furnished to thiscountry a source of wealth altogether disproportionate toits superficial extent—we mean the working of coal—isbrought under notice by only a few isolated specimens,while the iron works, clay works, refractory sandstones,and grindstones, have furnished the greater part of theobjects exhibited. To render as brief as possible thegeneral account of the different rewards granted by theJury, we shall group them according to the nature ofthe products.*
We must first recall attention to the fact that the CouncilMedal has been awarded to the Company of Zinc Minesand Foundries of the Vieille Montague. The highreputation enjoyed by this establishment, whose productsare exported to all parts of the world, fully justifies thisdistinction, and we will not here repeat the reasonswhich have guided the Jury in its judgment, and whichwe have already stated at the commencement of thisReport.+
The first object that has attracted the attention of theJury is the safety-lamp, of which two kinds are exhibited ;one by Mathieu Louis Mueseler, mining engineer (24,p. 1151), and the other by Fe'lix Eloin, associate engineer(11, p. 1151).
Long experience has established the advantages ofM. Mueseler’s lamp, more than twelve thousand of theseinstruments being at present in use; and we may attributepartly to its adoption the sensible diminution that hastaken place in the number of accidents from the explosionof carburetted hydrogen gas in those mines, where gas isconstantly given off from the coal.
In this lamp, a part of the metallic covering whichsurrounds the flame and forms the chimney, is replacedby a glass, a modification which insures a much strongerlight than that given by the Davy lamp, and which ispreferred by the miners; but the essential peculiarity ofM. Mueseler’s arrangement consists in the mode in whichthe air to support combustion is introduced. It is broughtin from above, through two wire gauzes at right anglesto each other, and afterwards escapes, with the productsof combustion, by a central chimney.
The chief objection that at first suggests itself to thislamp, is the brittleness of the glass; aud on this accountthe Jury for some time hesitated in admitting anymarked superiority in it over the Davy lamp. But theBelgian government having communicated the officialreports of experiments made by a special commission,their doubts have vauished, and they have granted aPrize Medal to M. Mueseler.
It results from these experiments “ that the resistanceof the glass has been found to be infinitely superior tothat which could be presented by wire gaxize, and that inthis respect it offers a greater security; that the instancesof fracture have been very rare, aud that on no occasion,whatever the cause of the fracture may have been, has itresulted in the introduction of the external air to theinterior of the lamp. On the other hand, the fragmentsof glass have always remained in their place until thelamp was opened.”
The lamp of M. Eloin is also provided with a glass inits lower part, and the inventor has given it a concave formon the outside, to disperse the rays of light, and diminish,as much as possible, the numerous shadows produced bythe opaque parts of the lamp. The essential differencebetween this lamp and that of M. Mueseler consists of anapparatus for admitting the air and distributing it roundthe flame. This apparatus is simply a ring of wiregauze, pressed between two circles, having severalopenings corresponding to each other, and resting on theedge of the lid of the reservoir of oil. This exhibitor, aswell as Messrs. Roberts and Coombes, has added a pecu-liar trumpet-shaped contrivance, of which the larger endrests on the oil reservoir, a little below the air-holes, theupper part having a circular opening about three-quarters
* This outline is borrowed in great part from a note ad-dressed to the Chairman of the Jury by M. Gernaert,Ingcnieur en Chef des Mines Beiges, and Member of theJury.
f See ante p. 3.
of an inch (18 to 22 millemetres) in diameter, placedabout three-eighths of an inch above the bottom of thewick. This arrangement makes it necessary that the airintroduced to feed the flame should pass quite close tothe wick, which is flat, and the combustion is thusrendered more active, while the inflammable gas is moreor less consumed as soon as it enters the lamp.
The Jury have examined with interest the lampexhibited by M. Eloin; but as it is at the present timesubmitted by the Belgian government to a special com-mission, who will report on the advantages or delectsthat it may possess, they have thought it best not topublish an opinion with regard to it. They think itright, however, to state that the experiments made byMessrs. Blackwell, Rogers, and Smith, in the coal minesof Abercarn, near Newport, and of Shipsey, in Derbyshire,have satisfied them of the value of M. Eloin’s lamp.
The Jury have awarded six Prize Medals and threeHonourable Mentions to the Belgian exhibitors in iron.They have beeu obtaiued by the following establish-ments :—
Moncheur, F. and A., iron-masters of Ardennes , in theprovince of Xamur (366, p. 1162), who have exhibited pigiron made with charcoal, and various specimens of ironbearing the mark [MBR], also made with charcoal. Apart of the iron exhibited by this firm is intended forgun-barrels, aud they supply exclusively the royalmanufactory of the Belgian government. Mr. Tim-merhaus, inspector of weapons for the government, hascertified in an official document handed to the Jury, thatnot a single gun manufactured of this iron has burst atthe proving-house, even under the most extreme trial.
Amaxd, J., iron-master, of Ermeton-sur-Bierse, Nanmrf368, p. 1162). This manufacture resembles that of MM.Moncheur, and part of the iron is also intended formaking fire-arms.
Orban, J. M. and Son (372, p. 1162). These exhi-bitors manufacture iron with coke, and also with charcoalfuel; and besides merchantable iron, they make alsosheet iron and iron wire. It is especially for these latterproducts that the Jury award the Medal, and they wishto mention particularly—
A piece of rolled coke iron, measuring 106^ feetin length, and half an inch (14 millemetres) indiameter, and weighing 86 lbs.
Another specimen, only one-fifth inch (6 mille-metres) in diameter, corresponding to No. 4 of theEnglish gauge, measuring 282 feet in length, withouta joint, and weighing 42 lbs.
A specimen weighing 55 lbs., the length of whichis 375f feet.
A roll of galvanized iron wire, No. 8, weighing99 lbs., and measuring 1476 feet, used in the con-struction of the electric telegraph. Similar wire isnot received by the Belgian government till a suc-cession of trials prove it to be capable of supportingat least 1,760 lbs. without breaking, a strength cor-responding to 140 lbs. per sq. millemetre (= *00155sq. inches English ). It is also sufficiently malleableto admit of the extremities being bent into a verysmall eye.
Several pieces of charcoal sheet-iron of variousdimensions aud thickness, but all of the first quality.
Remacle, J., andPERARD, of Liege (371, p. 1162), haveexhibited sheet iron of different numbers, manufacturedwith wood fuel, and of very excellent quality.
Delloye-Matthieu, C., of Huy (376, p. 1163). Acomplete assortment of common and polished sheet ironand steel, whose high degree of excellence "will perhapsbe most easily seen in their small thickness comparedwith the dimensions, their perfectly-continuous surface,the absence of all oxidation, their ductility, and theirtenacity.
The Pommer<eul Smelting Company (6, p. 1150), forthe specimens of pig and rolled iron, produced at theirworks, and exhibited by them.
Honourable Mention has been awarded to J. Cockerill,