Read Ebook: The House in the Mist by Green Anna Katharine

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Ebook has 560 lines and 35992 words, and 12 pages

NOTE.--This book is made up of separate parts, or sections, as indicated by their titles, and the page numbers of each usually begin with 1. In this list of contents the titles of the parts are given in the order in which they appear in the book, and under each title is a full synopsis of the subjects treated.

Hoist Indicators 1-5 Column indicators; Dial indicators; Special indicators.

Drums and Reels 6-20

Cylindrical Drums 7-8

Conical Drums 9-16 Hoisting with cylindrical drums; Hoisting with conical drums; Comparison of cylindrical and conical drums.

Flat Rope Reels 17-20

Rope Wheels 21-26 Koepe system; Whiting system; Modified Whiting system.

Rope Fastenings 27

Clutches 28-31 Jaw clutch; Band friction clutches; Beekman friction clutch.

Brakes 32-43 Block brake; Post brake; Strap brake; Differential brake; Power for brakes; Differential lever; Power brakes; Crank brake.

HOISTING, PART 4

Hoisting Appliances 1-51

Sheaves 1-5 Cast-iron sheave; Wood-lined sheaves; Diameter of sheave; Rollers and carrying sheaves.

Cages for Vertical Shafts 6-11 Construction of cage; Safety catches; Multiple-deck cages.

Automatic Dumping Cages 12-16 Definition; Slope, or inclined shaft hoisting; Slope carriage.

Skips, or Gunboats 17-22 Definition; Method of loading skips; Method of dumping skips; Skip cage.

Buckets 23

Car Locks 23-24

Cage Guides 25

Landing Fans, or Keeps 26-28 Common forms of fans; Hydrostatic fans; Pneumatic fans; Cage chairs.

Head-Frames 29-45 Head-frames in general; Types of head-frames; Examples of various types; Head-frame specification.

Detaching Hooks 46-47

Signaling 48-51 Hammer-and-plate signal; Electric bells; Speaking tubes; Pneumatic gong signal; Telephones.

HOISTING

Serial 851C Edition 1

HOISTING APPLIANCES

HOIST INDICATORS

TYPES OF INDICATORS

The different landings in the shaft are marked on the guide; and as the pointer or gong rises and falls it indicates the position of the cage in the shaft. If a gong is used, pointer also may be added and the gong so arranged that it will ring at a point some distance before the landing is reached and thus attract the engineer's attention. Indicators of this kind, though cheap and easily constructed, are not reliable, for the cord and chain may stretch or they may overlap in winding on the pin, or may bind in the pulley and thus indicate a wrong position of the cage.

EXAMPLE.--An indicator is desired for a shaft 800 feet deep at which the drum of the hoisting engine to be used is 10 feet in diameter; what ratio of gearing must be used so that the pointer will make one revolution during the hoist?

The pitch of the worm will, of course, be the same as that of the wheel, and its diameter will be whatever is necessary to give sufficient strength outside of the shaft, since it bears no relation to the ratio of the gearing.

DRUMS AND REELS

CYLINDRICAL DRUMS

As this description pointed directly toward me, I was about to venture a response on my own account, when my attention, as well as theirs, was freshly attracted by a loud "Whoa!" at the gate, followed by the hasty but assured entrance of a dapper, wizen, but perfectly preserved little old gentleman with a bag in his hand. Looking askance with eyes that were like two beads, first at the two men who were now elbowing each other for the best place before the fire, and then at the revolting figure in the chair, he bestowed his greeting, which consisted of an elaborate bow, not on them, but upon the picture hanging so conspicuously on the open wall before him; and then, taking me within the scope of his quick, circling glance, cried out with an assumption of great cordiality:

As none of the men he openly addressed saw fit to answer, save by the hitch of a shoulder or a leer quickly suppressed, I kept silent also. But this reticence, marked as it was, did not seem to offend the new-comer. Shaking the wet from the umbrella he held, he stood the dripping article up in a corner and then came and placed his feet on the fender. To do this he had to crowd between the two men already occupying the best part of the hearth. But he showed no concern at incommoding them, and bore their cross looks and threatening gestures with professional equanimity.

"You know me?" he now unexpectedly snapped, bestowing another look over his shoulder at that oppressive figure in the chair. "I'm no Westonhaugh, I; nor yet a Witherspoon nor a Clapsaddle. I'm only Smead, the lawyer. Mr. Anthony Westonhaugh's lawyer," he repeated, with another glance of recognition in the direction of the picture. "I drew up his last will and testament, and, until all of his wishes have been duly carried out, am entitled by the terms of that will to be regarded both legally and socially as his representative. This you all know, but it is my way to make everything clear as I proceed. A lawyer's trick, no doubt. I do not pretend to be entirely exempt from such."

A grumble from the large man, who seemed to have been disturbed in some absorbing calculation he was carrying on, mingled with a few muttered words of forced acknowledgment from the restless old sinner in the chair, made it unnecessary for me to reply, even if the last comer had given me the opportunity.

"It's getting late!" he cried, with an easy garrulity rather amusing, under the circumstances. "Two more trains came in as I left the depot. If old Phil was on hand with his wagon, several more members of this interesting family may be here before the clock strikes; if not, the assemblage is like to be small. Too small," I heard him grumble a minute after, under his breath.

"Generous, very!" commented the lawyer in a murmur which was more than audible. "Pity that sentiments of such broad benevolence should go unrewarded."

This, because at that very instant wheels were heard in front, also a jangle of voices, in some controversy about fares, which promised anything but a pleasing addition to the already none too desirable company.

"I suppose that's sister Janet," snarled out the one addressed as Hector. There was no love in his voice, despite the relationship hinted at, and I awaited the entrance of this woman with some curiosity.

But her appearance, heralded by many a puff and pant which the damp air exaggerated in a prodigious way, did not seem to warrant the interest I had shown in it. As she stepped into the room, I saw only a big frowsy woman, who had attempted to make a show with a new silk dress and a hat in the latest fashion, but who had lamentably failed, owing to the slouchiness of her figure and some misadventure by which her hat had been set awry on her head and her usual complacency destroyed. Later, I noted that her down-looking eyes had a false twinkle in them, and that, commonplace as she looked, she was one to steer clear of in times of necessity and distress.

She, too, evidently expected to find the door open and people assembled, but she had not anticipated being confronted by the portrait on the wall, and cringed in an unpleasant way as she stumbled by it into one of the ill-lighted corners.

The old man, who had doubtless caught the rustle of her dress as she passed him, emitted one short sentence.

"Almost late," said he.

Her answer was a sputter of words.

"There are several to come yet," blandly observed the lawyer. But before the words were well out of his mouth, we all became aware of a new presence--a woman, whose somber grace and quiet bearing gave distinction to her unobtrusive entrance, and caused a feeling of something like awe to follow the first sight of her cold features and deep, heavily-fringed eyes. But this soon passed in the more human sentiment awakened by the soft pleading which infused her gaze with a touching femininity. She wore a long loose garment which fell without a fold from chin to foot, and in her arms she seemed to carry something.

Never before had I seen so beautiful a woman. As I was contemplating her, with respect but yet with a masculine intentness I could not quite suppress, two or three other persons came in. And now I began to notice that the eyes of all these people turned mainly one way, and that was toward the clock. Another small circumstance likewise drew my attention. Whenever any one entered,--and there were one or two additional arrivals during the five minutes preceding the striking of the hour,--a frown settled for an instant on every brow, giving to each and all a similar look, for the interpretation of which I lacked the key. Yet not on every brow either. There was one which remained undisturbed and showed only a grand patience.

As the hands of the big clock neared the point of eight, a furtive smile appeared on more than one face; and when the hour rang out, a sigh of satisfaction swept through the room, to which the little old lawyer responded with a worldly-wise grunt, as he moved from his place and proceeded to the door.

This he had scarcely shut when a chorus of voices rose from without. Three or four lingerers had pushed their way as far as the gate, only to see the door of the house shut in their faces.

"Too late!" growled old man Luke from between the locks of his long beard.

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