the Northern Circuit. A person of the name of Backhouse, employed in the Wingate Colliery, brought an action against the proprietors to recover a sum of money which he alleged to be due to him under the terms of his pit bond. The defendants pleaded that he had been refused his wages because he had refused to work; to which the plaintiff replied that his refusal arose from the defendant's neglecting to supply, provide, and maintain sufficient means of descent and ascent, inasmuch as they had substituted for the old hempen ropes in use the newly invented wire ropes, which were unsafe, dangerous, &c. The real question, therefore, which came to be tried was, whether the wire ropes were as secure as the others? The jury decided in the affirmative. We quote the following abstract of the proceedings from the Times:

For the plaintiff a great deal of evidence was adduced to show the insecurity of the wire rope. It appeared that the use of wire ropes in collieries dated only since the end of the year 1842, when they were introduced in various parts, both in working inclines, and raising coals from the pit. Those used on the inclines were chiefly round, while those at the collieries were made flat for the greater facility of rolling them on the drum. In the latter end of the year 1842, a rope of this kind began to be used at the Wingate Colliery. It was in use for about six months, when it met with an accidental injury from the engineman carelessly allowing the cage with the coal to be drawn up too far, and thus to come in contact with the woodwork over the mouth of the pit. The effect was to stop the engine, but the rope did not give way. It was, however, taken off to be examined, and replaced by a hempen one. In April, 1843, the wire rope, consisting of 96 wires, was again put up, and was worked in conjunction with another rope of 144 wires. This latter rope met, in June, with an accident, in consequence of the cage coming in contact with the mouth of the pit, and on examination, it was found that one whole strand of six wires was broken, and that other single wires had given way. It was, however, worked until the evening, when it was taken off for examination, and a hempen one fitted up in its stead. Complaints of the other rope were the next day made by the men. It was alleged that single wires were broken in several places, and that as many as five had given way in one spot. This was alleged as a reason for their not descending to their work. Mr. Armstrong, the manager, expostulated with them on the subject, and endeavoured to show them, that though some of the wires were broken, there was nothing that could at all affect its security. Offers were made on one side and the other to refer the question to some competent authority, but they finally could not agree on a choice of the person or persons who should inquire into the matter; and, on the 10th of June, the parties made their appearance before the magistrate. It was there proposed by Mr. Armstrong that the rope should be tested by a machine, if the men would pay the expense; and he finally offered to test it with a weight of 20 tons as it hung in the shaft. It was finally put to the test, with a weight, however, of 10 tons only, the pulley over which it was carried at the top not being, as was alleged, capable of carrying more.

The result of this experiment was not satisfactory to the miners present. They alleged that the rope yielded somewhat with the weight, and that the strands at the upper part opened. The rope was examined throughout its whole length by a Mr. Chicken on their behalf, and it appeared that 19 wires were broken at different parts of its whole length. Of these, five were broken at one spot and four at another. A piece of the rope was cut off and handed over to them as the subject of any experiment they might choose to make.

A Mr. Galloway, who had been for many years engaged in the manufacture of iron, stated, that he examined the rope in question, which was on the scale of 1 cwt. to four fathoms. He was of opinion that the strength of the rope was diminished in proportion to the aggregate amount of wires fractured. He thought the rope might bear a strain of 27 tons when new, but it would be very injurious to it to expose it to a strain at all approaching to that amount as its elasticity would thereby be permanently injured. The breaking of a single wire shows that all are strained, and that the elasticity of the whole rope is impaired. He thought the rope in question might carry 34 tons, the usual weight upon it, but would not be safe with that weight in case it met with a jerk.

Other evidence was adduced as to the manner in which the rope stood the test of the 10 tons. It was shown that nine ropes had given way in the Coxhoe and Jarrow collieries. In the former case, however, the rope was flat, and consisted of undivided skeins of wire, laid alongside of each other; in the latter, the rope had been lying idle for six weeks in consequence of the turn out.

For the defence, evidence was adduced to show that a portion of the rope was submitted to a strain of upwards of 19 tons before it gave way, that a single strand of six wires was able to carry upwards of 19 cwt., and a single wire 3 cwt.; that with the test of the 10 tons in the shaft it was perfectly elastic, and that the weight rose and fell some inches, and that on examination afterwards it showed no symptoms of any strain. It was further stated, as the opinion of the scientific witnesses, that the diminution of the strength of the rope would not be in proportion to the whole number of fractures, but to the number at one spot. The cohesion of the wires from the twisting of the rope is such, that a wire at the extremity of the rope, fractured 5 inches from that extremity, will not pull out from the rest, but break if a sufficient weight is applied. So much is this the case that a single strand of the rope in question, consisting of six wires, had individual wires. divided at different places throughout its whole length, so that every wire of the six was divided within the space of every foot, and yet even in that state it bore a strain of 12 cwt. 3 lbs. before it gave way. The weight usually carried by the rope at Wingate Colliery was three tons and a half.

Evidence was also adduced of the fact of wire ropes being used at various collieries throughout the country, and that they were generally looked upon as much safer than hemp; that they were better, and that any symptom of weakness was sooner perceived.

The Jury, after being for some time out of the box, returned a verdict for the defendants. Lond. Mechanics' Mag.

AMERICAN PATENTS.

List of American Patents which issued in the month of September, 1844, with Remarks and Exemplifications. By CHARLES M. KELLER, Examiner of Patents.

1. For a machine for Shaving and Splitting Wood; William Rose, Philadelphia, Pa., September 3.

The operative parts of this machine consist of a horizontal wheel, around a portion of which is arranged rollers for conducting the pieces of wood to be split, or shaved, or both together, with the knives and a trough for feeding in the wood. The rollers are placed on vertical shafts provided with pinions at their lower end, that gear into a cog wheel on the shaft of the horizontal wheel. The splitting knife is placed between the periphery of the horizontal wheel and the first feed roller, and is attached to a stock jointed to the frame above, and connected by a loop with the shaft of the feed roller, mid-way between the roller and the lower journal of its shaft, so that when the roller is pushed from the periphery of the wheel, by the thickness of the picce of wood fed in, or forced towards it by a pressure spring (the upper journal working in a slide to admit of this,) the knife will move just half as much as the roller, and thus occupy a position mid-way between the wheel and roller to split the piece of wood in half. The shaving knives are permanently attached to the frame at any required distance from the periphery of the wheel. The upper ends of the shafts of all the rollers work in slides, and are provided with pressure springs. When the pieces of wood are to be shaved thinner at the ends, there is a cam-formed piece, or projection, on the periphery of the wheel, which forces the wood towards the permanent or shaving knives and for the purpose of shaving the edges of staves and other articles, cutters are jointed to the frame above and below the horizontal wheel, and so arranged that properly formed cams on the wheel, cause them to approach and recede from each other in proportion to the form to be given.

Claim. "What I claim as my invention, is the combination of the revolving wheel and cams, with the rollers and knives for splitting and dressing pieces of wood, as described."

2. For a machine for Splitting Hoop Poles; William Rose, Philadelphia, Pa., September 3.

This, in its chief characteristic, resembles the preceding machine, and is for the purpose of splitting without shaving; but instead of feeding and carrying the wood between a wheel and rollers, there are two sets of feed rollers, the lower ends of the shafts of which are geared together, and the upper ends of one of each set work in slides, and are provided with pressure springs. The hoop pole passes in between the

first set, and is presented to the edge of the cutter or knife by the other set, the edge of the knife being between the two rollers, and hung in the same manner as in the preceding machine; the connexion between the shaft of the movable roller and the knife stock being by means of a crutch, or forked bar. The stock is extended below this connexion, and is provided with an oblique adjustable bar, which passes through guides to insure the proper position of the knife.

Claim. "What I claim as my invention, is the manner of changing the position of the knife, so as to bring its cutting edge to the centre of the hoop pole, whatever its diameter may be, by means of the aforesaid combination of suspended knife stock, crutch bar, and oblique adjustable bar, or other means substantially the same."

3. For improvements in machinery for Pressing Bonnet Tips; Thomas Kendall, New York city, N. Y., September 3.

This is for pressing that kind of bonnets which have the crown narrowed in and then swelled out towards the upper part, or tip. The mould or block iron, on which the bonnet is put to be pressed, is made with two movable parts towards the tip, called the "movable ball,” these are placed one on each side of a wedge-like projection on the block, and the outer faces of these pieces are grooved and swelled to give the desired form to the tip of the bonnets, so that when the block is put in and forced down, the movable pieces are forced outward and give the desired form. These parts are connected together by pins and grooves to keep them together and admit of their moving outwards. This mould is provided with an upper and lower heater holder in the usual way, and with a matrix; and in addition to these, there is a pair of forceps, so formed as to embrace the "movable tip," and to admit of putting in and removing the mould, or block, with the bonnet there

ou.

The claim is limited to the movable parts of the mould, when used in combination with the forceps, and with the upper and lower heater holders, and the lower cup, or matrix.

4. For an improved mode of connecting the Elliptical Springs of Carriages; Erastus T. Sprout, Dimock, Susquehanna Co., Pa., September 7.

The improvement in question, is for connecting together the elliptical springs of carriages on the front and back axles, by means of two horse-shoe springs; the open ends of the horse shoe springs being bolted to the upper and lower parts of the elliptic springs, and their curved or bow parts connected together by a screw swivel box and clevises, or clasps, so that the connexion between the two can be regulated by the screw swivel box to increase or decrease the tension of the springs, and thus prevent the longitudinal rocking of the carriage.

Claim. "What I claim as iny invention, is the combination of the two shoe springs, connected together by means of the swivel box and clevises, or clasps, and the elliptical springs, in the manner and for the purpose specified."

5. For an improvement in the apparatus for Heating Buildings with Hot Water; Benjamin Blaney, Boston, Mass., September 7.

This is for an improvement in the method of heating air for heating buildings, by the circulation of hot water through a series of tubes in a hot air chamber. The patentee says "My apparatus consists in part, of a furnace and a vertical boiler. To the upper part of this boiler is attached a box, which I denominate a water trap, said water trap being intended to receive the water which by its ebullition is caused to flow into it from the boiler. From the bottom of the water trap, the heated water passes along and descends through a series of recurved pipes contained in an air-heating chamber, and from the lower part of these it again passes into the lower end of the boiler, and is thus kept constantly circulating while ever a fire is maintained in the furnace. The whole apparatus is to be contained within a suitable chamber, made perfectly close, excepting where provision is made for giving access to the furnace, and the opening or openings made for the admission of the air from without, which is to be heated, for the purpose of being conveyed through tubes into the apartments to be warmed." Claim. "What I claim therein as new, is the manner in which I have connected the boiler with the series of tubes or pipes, through which the heated water is to circulate, by combining there with a box or vessel, such as that which I denominate a water trap, into which the boiling water is to pass, in consequence of its ebullition, and through which, as well as through the tubes connected therewith. and through the boiler, said water is to circulate for the purpose and substantially in the manner set forth."

6. For improvements in the Brick Press; Collins B. Barker and E. Gifford, Troy, N. Y., September 7th.

This machine is double acting, that is to say, it is furnished with two moulds, and two pistons or followers, so arranged as to operate successively at each end of the machine, the bed of which is placed horizontally. There are two slides, moving in suitable guide pieces, one of which has a piston, and the other a mould, at each of its ends. These slides are moved back and forth by cams, placed upon a horizontal shaft which crosses the bed of the machine at its middle, and is made to revolve by any adequate power.

Claim. "What I claim as new, is the manner in which we have arranged the moulds and pistons, or followers; the moulds and followers being affixed on either end of a slide, and said slides being moved back and forth, and the bricks pressed against a stationary plate or head, (at each end of the frame,) in the manner described, the whole arrangement being substantially such as is herein set forth."

7. For improvements in the Steam Engine; Benjamin Crawford, Alleghany, Pa., September 7th.

Claim. "What I claim, is the method of working the condenser of a Steam Engine, without the aid of an air pump, by so combining it with a valve which opens from an escape pipe into a water heater,