300 THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN. August 9, 1918. coal, mineral as well as vegetable, and to transform de- fective coal, such as anthracites, lignites, coke and other kinds used in industry, navigation and railways, and other branches in which fuel is used, into excellent coal. The product in question is a chemical compound which, when mixed in a suitable proportion with water, fresh or sea water, and sprayed on the coal which is to be used for the feeding of boilers, kilns and furnaces employed in industry, navigation and railways, secures an important increase in the calorific power of coal and an easy com- bustion of anthracites, lignites, coke, and generally all those fuels which up to the present could not be called combustibles, but which could be used only in small pro- portions mixed with other fuel, and by assisting tneir combustion by means of a fen or by forced draught through the ash-box. The product forming the subject matter of this patent is obtained by the combination of the following chemical materials in the proportion indi- cated : Water, 100 ; chloride of sodium, 65 ; chloride of iron, 1 ; sulphate of lime, 2; ferric oxide, 12; sodium bicarbonate, 10 •> tinctorial earths and extracts, 10. All these materials are subjected to energetic maceration until a good mixture is obtained, which is afterwards trans- ferred to a boiler in' which, by the heat, the 100 parts of water are made to evaporate. The result is an ex- tremely fine powder of chestnut colour; the cplour, how- ever, may vary, as it depends on the earthy and tinctorial materials which are used in forming the paste. This product' is intended to increase the calorific power of mineral and vegetable coal, and to make it possible to burn defective coal, and generally all the fuel which is used in industry, navigation, railways, and for all purposes for which coal, including domestic coal, is destined. Its use is very simple : From 2 to 3 kilos, of this product are dissolved in 60 or 70 litres of water for each ton of coal, and, after the solution has been thoroughly stirred, the coal to be used is sprinkled with the same. This chemical and industrial product, applied in the manner indicated, furnishes the coal with its component parts, which during combustion are transformed into three elements—hydrogen, oxygen and fluxes. Hydrogen makes combustion more energetic, and to obtain the maximum number of calories from the coal, the oxygen makes the combustion of the coal complete, and the flux ensures that the coal will be consumed less quickly, thus producing greater heat. (Three claims.) 116744. Discharging Debris Formed by Coal-Cutting Machines.—A. Wilks, 17, Church-street, Bloxwich, near Walsall.—This invention relates to improved means for discharging the debris formed by coal-cutting machines. According to one form, in a machine of the disc type, a chain carrying scrapers, and having pivots at right angles to one another, travels to the rear of the cutting disc and is driven by the engine driving the machine. According to another form, a machine of the chain type has an end- less conveyor travelling at right angles to the path of the machine and between the cutting and inactive parts of the chain underneath the coal and in an inclined plane from the coal face. (Seven claims.) 116869. Jigging Conveyors. C. Candlot, 37, Rue du Roche, Paris.—The present apparatus has for its object to impart to jigging conveyors, which are supported on rollers or suspended from rods an oscillating movement such that the material to be transported moves in a deter- mined direction. Consequently the movement, slow at the beginning of the stroke ought to accelerate, then sud- denly slacken, resume a rapid movement at the beginning of the backward stroke, and diminish gradually in order to change slowly from the forward stroke to the back- ward or return stroke. The material is therefore sub- mitted to the impulsion or jerk of the conveyor, and slides in the desired direction for a certain length at each move- ment. Controlling systems heretofore extant transform a continuous circular movement into an alternating move- ment, the law of which is determined, so as to realise the displacement of the material under the conditions hereinbefore explained. The change is made by rods and cranks, which latter oscillate about a fixed point. The controlling members are subjected to considerable stress when the direction of motion is suddenly changed from the forward to the backward stroke. The rods are sub- jected to important alternate forces, and as they become displaced with very sudden or abrupt movement, they are badly adapted to act as resilient shock absorbers. The apparatus according to the present invention has neither cranks oscillating about a fixed point, nor rods having abrupt movements. The controlling rod has relatively slow movements. The change of movement is effected by means of a bell crank lever pivotally connected at its centre to the end of a driving rod, and directly attached by its upper part to the conveyor, and by its lower part to a coupling which is resilient and extensible, but non- compressible. (Two claims.) 116873. Construction of Retorts, Coke Ovens, Etc. R. W. Easton, 73, Melbourne-grove, East Dulwich, London, S.E. —The object of this invention is improvements in or con- nected with the construction of retorts, coke ovens and the like, for the treatment of coal, shale, peat, carbona- ceous and nitrogenous substances or other material, the chief feature of the invention being the application or arrangement of the apparatus embodied in former Patent No. 109663, dated September 25, 1916, for feeding or conveying the material along the interior of the retort, oven or the like by the said apparatus, which may be mounted to work either inside or outside the retort, coke oven or the like. The apparatus referred to consists of two exactly similar intermeshing screws, both acting to- gether to convey or drive the material along the casing. In carrying out. the present invention, a continuous retort for treatment of coal, shale, peat and other carbonaceous and nitrogenous substances consists of a casing of metal, fireclay or firebrick built into a suitable furnace setting, and may be horizontal, vertical or inclined. The material to be treated is fed (automatically or otherwise) from a hopper at one end along the retort casing by two or more intermeshing propelling screws on the archimedean principle, both or all the screws being of the same con- struction as in’ the former patent above referred to, and which may revolve in the same direction, either all right- handed or all left-handed., or in different directions, de- pending upon the material treated, and which are operated from externally mounted gearing either at one end only or from both ends. Gases are drawn off along a pipe conveniently fixed on the retort casing, or from a gas duct made for that purpose, and the coke or. solid residues are discharged into a hopper which is periodically emptied. For continuous coke ovens or the like, a casing of metal, fireclay or firebrick, or part metal and part firebrick or fireclay, is built into a suitable furnace setting, and the intermeshing propelling screws are mounted with their separate casing and gearing outside of the hot furnace with a feeding hopper. The coal or other material to be treated, to which may be added binding agents, is forced along the casing in a solid or semi-sohd mass, to be discharged as coke or debris at the further end into a receiving hopper, which is periodically emptied, gases being drawn off from a pipe conveniently fixed on the casing, or from a gas duct provided for that purpose. In the retort first referred to, the intermeshing screws meet at certain points (i.e., the points of intermeshing) in such a manner that as the screws revolve it is impossible for the material to revolve also, being prevented from doing so by these intermeshing helices, but must be forced along the retort as the screws rotate. The feeding hopper at one end supplies a con- tinuous or intermittent stream of material to be treated, which travels along the retort at the required speed and is discharged into the receiving hopper, to be emptied periodically. With coke ovens or similar machines, the intermeshing propelling screws revolve in the outside casing. This is attached to the coke oven, which passes through the furnace, the treated material being discharged into a hopper. By this method a solid or semi-solid mass of material is treated which slowly passes along inside the casing, which is preferably made of slightly increasing dimensions towards the hottest zone to allow for expansion and prevent jamming of the coke or other materials in its passage io the discharging hopper. (Three claims.) 116977. Miners' Lamps. John Davis and Son (Derby) Limited, and W. H. Davis, both of All Saints Works, Derby.—The object of this invention is to facilitate assembling and locking the parts of a miner’s lamp, preferably of flame or electric type, and rendering these parts readily accessible, the invention relating to the type of lamp in which a ring is employed to carry the cage, and is provided with joggles or indents corresponding to fitting within and adapted to hit and miss with pro- jections on a lid or plate hinged or secured to the outer case of the lamp. (Two claims.) 116991. Centrifugal Pumps. E. Schauffelberger, 119, Kenilworth-court, Putney, London, S.W.—This invention is particularly designed to obviate the difficulties and dis- advantages that have hitherto been experienced in pro- ducing a centrifugal pump which will operate efficiently against varying pressure heads. When dealing with pumps of the above kind, such, for example, as those which may be required to de-water mine shafts and the like, where the pressure head upon the delivery pipe increases as the water level in the mine shaft sinks, it is found that when a pump which has been designed to work with maximum efficiency against a certain pressure head is called upon to operate under varying conditions of pressure, the out- put of the pump will increase for lower pressures, but the power required to operate the pump is also very consider- ably increased, with the result that either the prime mover will be overloaded at the lower pressures (if designed to furnish only the amount of power necessary at the head of pressure for which the pump is designed), or a very much larger motor or the like will have to be installed for operating the pump at the lower pressures than that which would be required at the most economical pressure, with the result that there is a very considerable wastage of power. Two methods of preventing the motor from being overloaded have hitherto been employed : The pres- sure against which the pump is operating has been in- creased artificially by throttling a sluice valve in the pump delivery pipe. This method is obviously most wasteful. The other known method consists in the removal of one or more stages while the pump operates against pressures below the normal, the impeller being replaced by dummy pieces. This method is more economical, but the output of the pump at the lower pressures cannot be materially increased as compared with its output at normal pressure. Further, it has been proposed to arrange centrifugal pumps of two or more stages to be worked in parallel or in series with the aid of suitable valve mechanism, but the employ- ment of such valves is undesirable with centrifugal pumps, particularly when dealing with dirty water, as they are subject to much wear and tear. The object of the present invention is to overcome the above difficulties, and the invention consists in a centrifugal pump provided with a plurality of impellers and so constructed and arranged internally that, without the aid of any valve apparatus, two or more of the impellers may operate either in series or in parallel, as may be required by the varying pressure head against which the pump has to work, the series arrangement being required for the higher pressures, and the parallel arrangement for the lower pressures. (Four claims.) NEW PATENTS CONNECTED WITH THE COAL AND IRON TRADES. Applications for Patents. • July 29 to August 3 {inclusive}. [Note.—Applications arranged alphabetically under the names of the applicants (communicators in parentheses). A new number will be given on acceptance, which will replace the application number.] Aktiebolaget Ingenibrsfirma F. Egnell. Gas analysing apparatus. 12483) Anderson, W. Apparatus for production of oil fuel. (12706) Berriman, A. E. Internal combustion engines. (12640) Bone, W. A. Treatment of fuels to improve their calorific value. (12399) Booth, W. N. Furnaces, etc. (12337) Boving, J. O. Means for utilising tidal action. (12410) Brown, H., and Evans, J. H. Non-accumulative electric signalling indicator for colliery shafts, etc. (12306) Brown, R. J. Wainwright-, and Bullock, P. W. Internal combustion rotary engines. (12398) Clarke, C. W. R. Internal combustion engines. (12388) Cleeve, F. J., and Enderson, J. Rotary pumps. 12492) Collette, L. Electric generators and motors. (12604) Cressler, A. D. Apparatus for charging and discharging gas retorts. 12430) Davidson, W. B., and Liversedge, A. J. Gas washers. (12334) Davies, S. Means for preventing formation or accumu- lation of scales in steam boilers, generators, etc., or for removing scale. (12440) Durbin, W. R. Internal combustion engines. (12675) Fletcher J. E., Smeeton-Wright Furnaces, and Wright, A. C. Recuperators for furnaces. (12582) Fletcher, J. E., Smeeton-Wright Furnaces, and Wright, A. C. Gas-fired furnaces. (12599) Fornaca, G. Internal combustion engines. (12491) Fox, C. W. Tipping trucks. (12652) Freer, P. M. Internal combustion engines. (12460) Galvin, F. Protector miners’ flame safety lamps. (12538) Garrow, J. R. Carbonisation of coal, oil, shale, wood, peat, etc. (12509) Hay, R. K. Removal of ash and clinker from grates of boilers. (12602) Helps, G. Burners, and combustion of gas in boilers. (12370) Hendrickx, J. Rotary engines. (12406) Hopkins, D. Miners’ picks. (12471) Lange, J. Element boilers for steam or water. (12552) Mackay, H. J. S. Water-tube boilers. (12519) MacTaggart, H. H. Rotary pumps and motors. (12627) Morison, D. B. Steam-condensing apparatus. (12705) Norris, H. Kent-. Internal combustion engines. (12671) Oubridge, W. A. Means for lifting and transporting loads. (12702) Owen, E. D. Construction, etc., of internal combustion motors, engines, or pumps. (12531) Pearson, W. H. Distillation of shale, etc. (12590) Roberts, G. H. Furnaces, etc. (12337) Scott, R. G. Rotary pumps and motors. (12627) Smith, H. E. Operation of water-gas plants. (12694) Smith and Sons, S., Trier, V. A., and Trier and Martin. Constant-current dynamos.. (12593, 12669) (Soc. d’Etud^s Chimiques pour 1’Industrie). Process for preventing explosion in the preparation and handling of explosives. (12368) Stirling Boiler Company. Water-tube boilers. (12519) Swaby? S. T. Internal combustion engines. (12293) Tescari, G. Violati-. Fire boxes for steam engines. (12716) Tricoche, A. Electric machine operating as motor or dynamo. (12668) Tweedale, S. Manufacture of gas. (12543) Vanni, P. G. Internal combustion engines. (12424) Vaughan W. H., and Wood, F. Worm-geared hoisting appliances. (12371) Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company. Geared turbines. (12394) Westwood, J. W. Oil burners. (12564) Wilson, J. C. Control of dynamo-electric machinery. (12313, 12470) Complete Specifications Accepted. {To be published on August 22.) [Note.—The number following the application is that which the specification will finally bear.] 1916. 16709. Helps, G. Utilisation and combustion of fuel. (117637) 1917. 5663. Lucas, H., and Breedon, C. L. Dynamo-electric machines. (117639) 6027. Hinks, L. S. Internal combustion engines. (117642) 8743. Turner, C. Processes of destructive distillation. (117645) 10543. Bartlett, H. A., and London Improved Motor Coach Builders. Tipping wagons, trucks or the like. (117659) 10662. Crossley, Sir K. I., and Webb, W. Le P. Hori- zontal internal combustion gas and oil engines. (117670) 10663. Crossley, Sir K. I., and Webb, W. Le P. Vertical internal combustion gas and oil engines. (117671) 10786. Dutt, P. K., and Hamer, J. D. Purification of commercial benzol and toluol from thiopene and other smilar compounds. (117683) 11019. Stone and Company, J., Wells, A., and Whitaker, A. Semi-rotary pumps. (117690) 12089. Townsend, W. W. Intermittent vertical retorts. (117710) 12100. Rushton, A., and Bolton, C. H. Mine props. (117711) 12625. Solari, L. Fuel for use in explosion engines. (109802) 13041. Turner, W. de C. Gas-producer plant. (117721) 15326. Dawe, G. S. Internal combustion engines. (110752) 16240. Alldays and Onions Pneumatic Engineering Com- pany, Lyon, F., and Collins, J. N. Runners of centrifugal fans and other rotating bodies. (117756) 17240. Soc. J. Munier et Cie. Hoists for charging blast furnaces or the like. (111492) 18527. Dixon, T. Means for operating switches for tram roads in mines, quarries or the like. (117769) 1918. 2935. Wood, H. A. Means for preventing the emission of smoke from stoves and furnaces. (117780) 3496. Plaisant, G. Dynamo-electric machines. (117784) Complete Specifications open to Public Inspection before Acceptance. [Note.—The number following the application is that which the specification will finally bear.] 1918. 11905. Soc. de Moteurs a Gaz et d’Industries Mecanique. Condensers. (117814) 12162. Compagnie Centrale d’Energie Electrique. Endless chain grates. (117817) 12280. Prat, L. Method of and apparatus for regulating the temperature of the gases in fans for induced draught. (117820) Canadian Coal Supply.—A despatch from Winnipeg, Canada, states that the Fuel Controller of Manitoba has announced that the western Canadian mines, which were expected to supply over 1,000,000 tons of coal for this province, in lieu of anthracite, which previously came from the United States, have decreased their deliveries, and he forecasts a very grave condition for the country for the winter. He further asserts that the maximum amount of hard coal that will come up the lakes this summer for all western Canada will not exceed 175,000 tons, when in other years the United States sent 700,000 tons of hard coal and an equal quantity of soft coal up the lakes for the prairie provinces. Miners’ Deputation to Coal Controller.—The executive committee of the Miners’ Federation of Great Britain had an interview with the Coal Controller, on Wednesday, on the question of coal supplies. The proceedings were private. As a result further efforts are to be made for an increased output. The Controller urged that com- mittees should be set up in the various coal fields to enquire into the reasons — such as absenteeism and defective management—affecting output. Every effort, he said, would be made to obtain all the appliances necessary at the pits, and data would be available to men’s leaders indicating not only the nation’s needs, but also our obli- gations to our Allies and to neutrals, and the obligation of complying with contracts with other nations. It was intimated that when the specified quota of men had been obtained for the Army from the various collieries no more men would be enlisted, and the transfer to the mines of lower category miners now in the Army would be facili- tated. It was also urged that miners’ agents should under- take vigorous propaganda in the coal fields.