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A' aioiitrral : [■IlINTKl) livr JCIUX LOVKI.I, 4 SON, UW .1, iW. i^ Tl.e Socu'lv will not holi"ions which may be advanced m the follo\vin^ announced, the constitution adopted, and application for Charter made to the Dominion Parliament, which obtained the Eoyal sanction on 23rd June following, and then our Society began its legal existence. All our preliminary proceedings up to this time were annulled by the Charter which does not set up anything previously done as law, and it became necessary that a new election and adoption of constitution should be hud, which was done by submitting the tickets for officers, and the constitu- tion adopted at the annual meeting, to a second vote of the members. Our Charter was carried through Parliament by Mr, Walter Shanly M.P., a Vice-President of this Society, and we owe it to his representa- tion that the fees were refunded. I propose to refer in very general terms to the engineering progress of Canada under the following heads: Railway, Hydraulic, Civic, Mechanical, Mining, and Electrical. Many things which ought to be noticed are not, not only for want of space but also from want of knowledge, and I trust this deficiency will call forth better information from members of this Society more qualified than I am to write upon many of the points raised. In this way valuable papers can be contri- buted for publication in our transactions. m PrcmlcnVs Address. IIAILWAY ENCHNKKJUNO, Railway Engincerinp;, nltliou-aneis, and above the latter — in the Long Sault l^apids. These wiTC ehiifly constructed by lloy;il Kiigineers, though some were the result of private enterprise. Merchandise at that time was carted to Laehine, from whence the batteaux and Durhnm boats took t}ieir departure in brigades of five or more boats, in order that their united crews might aid eavh other at the J^apids. At the C a^cades three fourths of the cargo was discharged and carted to the head of the Cedars, the boat with the remaining fourth beintr locked past the Cascades, drauired up the Split IJockand the Cedars, and reloaded— passing the Coteau by a lock into Lake St. Francis. Above Cornwall there were two locks in the Long Sault, one of which was private pr >perty, and between Mille l^iclies and the head of the Long Sault, and between the Cascades and the Cedars. lif cut stone. The Imperial Government had commenced their military route to Lake Ontario via the Ottawa Iliver, as early as 1819, by the construction of lueks to pass the Long Sault Rapids, between Carillon and Grenville. The Grenville locks were completed on the scale of the old Lacliine Canal, the remainder upon that «if the Eideau. The route between La- chine and Carillon was via Vaudreuil, where the rapids were navigable at all stages, while by the shorter route of Ste. Anne's thoy were only BO at high water. A lock was built at Vaudreuil in 1832 by a forward- ing eoniiany. Navi«jation was maintained upon this route until 1843, when the loik at 8t. Anne's, which was commenced in 1837, was com- pleted. 'I'll is lock has a chimlur 200 feet long by 45 feet in width. The first cnhirL-ement of the Laehine Canal, completed in 1848, was upon the same dimensions as the lock at 8t. Anne's, but the sc;ilc of naviga- tion betwitii Montreal and Ottawa was limited by the size of the dimi- nutive CJienvill'' lock, until the recent enlargement of the lattiT by the Dominion, by A\hich also a new and larger lock has been built at St. Anne. The Cornwall Canal was commenced by Upper Canada, in 1?34, but was not coni)>U te. : mitil after the Union in 1842. Tlic locks were 200 feet long and 55 tret wide. This width was reduced 10 feet for the Bemhar- noi.s Canal, wliieli was not underlak(>n until 1842. and completed in 1845. The ^ihort canals above Cornwall were completed in 1847, and the first enlirgement of the Laehine Canal in 1848, in which year through navi- gation between Montreal and Lake Erie for the first time became prac- ticable, with locks on the St. Lawrence 200 by 45 feet, and on the ■\Vellaiid. 150 by 2^ feet. The enhrgetnent now in progress has only been completed as regards the Laehine iind the Welland canals. It diflPers from preceding ones in that it has been for a uniform scale between tide water and Like Erie. The l(K^k chambers have been lengthened to 270 feet, but the width of 45 feet has been miint lined. Large lake vessels can reach Kingston from Lake Superior, and could no doubt come to Prescott ; but until the enlargement between Laehine and Prescott is completod, no iu)pvovement in trauspoitatiou between theie points over what was prac- President's Address. 13 n at the nal lock- cs hij^hcr P Lac dcB itimate of ras about leight : — • route to iistruction Groiiville. I Laeliine tween La- navigable were only a forward- intil 1843, ', was com- b in width. 8, was upon of niiviga- if the dimi- tti^r by the )uilt at St. 1 1S34, but ;ro 200 fret le Boiuhar- eil in 1845. nd the first dugh iiavi- ocame prac- ind on the as regards ceding ones • and L ike oet, but the can reach rescott ; but u)itlet<^d, no at was jrac- ticablc 30 years ago can be had. Whether the larger lake craft will descend to Montreal, or transfer their cargoes at or above Prescott, is tlio problem to bo solved by experience. This transfer is now made by vessels in the grain trade, which could descend to Montreal, but do not. Longer locks and deeper water may enable Canadian coal to compete with American upon Lake Ontario, especially if the colliers can obtain return cargoes. For the grain trade the barges become floating ware- houses, and cnn carry more in proportion to the steam power re(|uirod, their crews and the cost of their tonnage than the lake I'rat'r, and can better iiff'ord the loss from delay and the want of back freight. Our canal enlargements proceed so leisurely that it is possible we may revise tlieir scale before completion, as we Lave done mote than once at interviils of only 25 years. The present onlargemeiit h,is been in i)ro- gress about f 'urteen years, and very little has been done to the St. Lawrence Ca'^als above Lachine. The explanation no doubt is to be found in the large demand for railway construction which everybody is interested. The canals have fewer fricnils. If, !is Flngineers, our foresiuht were as good as our backsight, we would plan locks to suit the vessel of the future, instead of having to build vessels to suit the locks. It should be mentioned, however, that the dimensions of our locks were established by a commisi-ion representing the trade, of which commission the late Sir Hugh Allan was chairman. We are about to commence the Sault Ste. Marie canjil, which, since Lake Superior has become an important entrepot of Canadian commerce, is necessary to complete the Canadian gy>tem. It will, no doubt, be upon a much larger scale than any other Canadian canal, and, if so, will, I think, soon raise the question of a further enlaigement of the Welland Canal, so that vessels which" can now reach Buffalo may extend their voyage to Prescott, within a little over 100 miles from the oceau steamer. There was a narrow canal and lock at Sault Ste. Maiie at the begin- ning of thi" century, the work of the Northwest Fur C(»inpany. The lock was 38 feet I'lUg, Sf feet wide, with 9 feet lift, the lower gate let down by windlass, the upper one having two folding gates with a sluice. The canal was nearly half a mile long, with a tow pitii for oxen. The first survey for a Canadian canal at this point was made in 1853. Besides the canals connected with the St. Lawrence and Lake Cliam- pliin routes, and the interior military route by the Ridtau Canal, de- tached efforts have been made upon the Upper Ottawr, at tiio Chats and the Culbute, and upon the Trent. In both cases the expenditure was commenced in the middle, and the ends are yet to be worked out. 14 President'' 8 Address. Fifty yonrs ago locks were commenced on the Trent, between rapids, as part of a system to connect tlic B.iy of Quints with Lake Huron, iiIKtii a ntute 235 miles long with 81^2 feet lockage. The Welland Canal accomplishes the same result with 27 miles canal and 330 lock- age, h«it upon a route 220 miles longer to reach Lake Superior. The greater sjtccd obtainable in the open lake and the saving of about 500 feet lofkago will always make the Welland the shorter route in point of time, as well as the cheaper in cost, because its route aflfords double the draft of water possible by the inland system. Thirty years ago, after the expenditure of nearly half a million, work was abandoned on the Chats (^inal, which, if coujpleted, would have only eoiineeted two short and shallow lakes without outlets to any further n;ivigation at either end. Higher up at the Culbute, a similar connec- tion of detached aiid inaccessible reaches has recently been completed at a cost of §380,000, but since it was commenced in 1874, the boats for which it was intended have boon driven oflf the river by the railways constructed upon both sides of the Ottawa. The tot il canal expenditure upon the St. Lawrence, Ottawa, Ridcau, Eielu lieu and Trent n;tvigation, the St. Peter Canal, in Cape Breton, and Bale Verte Canal surveys is about fifty millions of dollars, of which over lour millions were contributed by the Imperial Government. The Prov- im'i;il expenditure, previous to Confederation, which included the first enlargement of the Welland and Laehine canals was sixteen millions of dollars. The expiuuiture by the Dominion Government in the last 20 years is about thirty millions, which includes the second enlargement of the Welland and Laehino, (.)ur wliole public expenditure upon engineering works, — exclusive of public buildings which have cost over §15,000,000, Dominion steamers §753.893 and Telegraph lines §581,127— exceeds §200,000,000. The accidents due to drawbridges for railways over canals shew the necessity for a double opening and a double channel, so that trains in either direction, which will persist in running into an open draw, may lie there till thev are fished out without suspendins; navigation. A new machine for excavating rock under water is beini put in opera- tion in tho Suez Canal. The work is done by long chisel-shaped cutter", weighing about four tons each, falling about 20 feet, and sniashinsr the rock into dredgeablo matter. The principle has been tested successfully upon some of the hardest rock in Scotland. The quantity to be re- moved is some 3.000,000 tons, and it is -expected the cost in 30 feet water will not exceed one dollar p.T cubic yard. One man cintriU tie whole machinery for which the indicated power is over 1.000 horses. This system was employed years ago at the Des Moines Elver improvement. President's Address. ] The Quatlrant valve for the sU'.ices of lnck-jz?te? was introduced on the first finl-'.rgemetit of the Latdiino Canal, by David "Wilkinson, a Newburyport mechanic and a most ingtuious inventor. lie vvii< Itoin a Britisli subject before the llevolution, and died at Caledonia Springs about 1855. He was the contractor for the lock-i;ates on the St. liawrence Canals, and also for the Suspension Bridj^e at O'.tawa. I To was the original inventor of the most important improve meiit in tools for mechanical engineering, the modern slide-rest for lathes. It was patented in Philadelphia in 1796, when Congress held its soMsions tluire. It was never, I believe, patented in England, but was first intioduci-d there by Maudslay and Field, two of the Engineers who founded the English institution. Wilkinson's patent expired before he derivi'd any benefit from it, but many years after the United Status Govcrnnit'iit granted him a considerable sum for the benefits derived from it in the national arsenals. Previous to the adoption of the slide rest, the tool was either lieM by hand, or upon a plate, moving along a groove as in common drawers, worked irregularly, and required c "istant attendance. In substituting tlie knife edge rest with throe bearing points, and loading it with a weight, steadiness of action was secured and attention dispensed with. Contrasting the faithful aetion of giavity with the inattention of ap- prentices, Wilkinson said tome: "Gravity never forgets to pull ; if you set him at work at night you will find him hanging on there in the morning." He said he was led to this invention by observing his grandmother putting a chip under her four-legged table and chair while her three-legged pot stood firm anywhere, lie called it the Tiiiiity of Mechanics, and (-aid that although brtiuglit up a Quaker he had been sceptical until he saw that three, and no more nor less than three, points of support were necessary to ensure stability. Wilkinson also invented the crooked arm for east iron wheels, pre- vious to which the more r:ipid cooling of the straight arms separated them from the greater mass in the rim ol' the wheel. Jacob Perkins, of steam gun celebrity, was a townsman of Wilkinson, a frequent vi>itor at his shop, and an excellent median ic. He carried Williinson's inventions to England long before the United States offered any important field for them. The latiie has now reached a length of 75 feet and a weight of It'O tons, operating upon " subjects " 60 tons in weight, and reeling off turnings 1^ inches deep by |- inch thick, at the rate of one ton per hour with four tools ; one with eight tools removes 20 tons of steel in ten hours. Planing machines of 90 tons weight operate over surfaces 20 feet by 15 feet upon subjects 60 to 70 tons in weight. It is to these m* 1 16 President's Address. proat machine tools that mechanical engineering owes its greatest triumphs of to-duy. RIVER IMPROVEMENTS. Our most important ri\er improvement, whether we consider the amount of work performed and money expended, or the result!? to our conimorce, is the deepening of tlie ship channel between Montreal and (Quebec, whereby we have established a seaport nearer to ChicajiO, St. Paul and Winnipeg than any other upon tliis continent. A submerged canal having an aggregate total length of about 32 miles, with a bottom width of 300 feet, is being excavated at a total cost of over four millions of dollars, and will be compUtod during the present year. This excavation if unwatered would show in Lake St. Peter one continuous cutting 18 miles in length — 9 miles of which has a depth of 17 feet. One mile and a half of this artificial channel, 50 miles above Quebec, is dredged out through solid slate rock where the depth at high tide is 40 feet. The cost of this work, in 1886, was as follows : — 111 liJike St. Peter soft clay in 30 feet water, 3 cents per cubic yard. At Cap H la Pioche solid slate rock in 25 to 40 feet water, 30 cents per cubic yard. At detached shoals, boulders and hard pan, 30 feet water, 10 cents to T5 cents per cubic yard. The total amount excavated was 1,524,000 cubic yards at average cost for the whole of IIitt cents, exclusive only of interest and depre- ciation of plant. The channel depth has been increased from 11 to 27^ feet; and the effect has been to bring ocean steamers with ten times the tonnage of the old Montreal traders to a fresh water seaport, 250 miles above salt water and nearly 100 miles abdve tide. This result is I believe due to the fact that Montreal is upon an air line between Liverpool and Lake Erie. If the course of the Hudson river had been east and west instead of north and south, some point west of NcAV York would probably now be the terminus for the ocean steamers. t ','* A Another class of river improvements, for navigation in one direction only, is that undertaken to facilitate the descent of timber, and in this respect we have done perhaps more than any other country. The expenditure to 30 June, 188G, on river improvements, not in- cluding the deepening of the channel between Montreal and Quebec, by the Montreal Harbor Commissioners, is $1,370,335 ; upon slides and booms, $1,775,071. Premdent's Address. 1 greatest isider the ilts to our itrcal and Chicago, about 32 it a total luring the 1 Lake 8t. which has liannel, 50 where the lubic yard, r, 30 cents 10 cents at average and deprc- rom 11 to with ten ,er seaport, ide. This in air line idson river int west of 1 steamers. e direction and in this nts, not in- d Quebec, slides and Tlic first slide for the transfer of a crib of timber without cliangc from head to foot of a rapid was constructed at Hull, on the Ottawa, in 18*J9, by ]'liileuion Wright, the pioneer of that quarter, in tl'o early pirt of this century. There are two descriptions of slide, the singlestick, and the crib slide. In the fornjcr the tiuiUr is put through piece by piece, but in the hitter the crib descends with the two men who have guided it into the slide, and also the cook house and provisions on board. Before any improvements were made, timber was floated loose through the rapid rivers and chutes, (where it was much damaged by the roeks.) and cau"ht in booms at the lakes or slack water reaches, rafted up and conveyeu through these until another rapid, not navigable by the cribs of which the raft was composed, was re;iched — broken up, put through and re-rafted; this was repented as often as necessary. On the smaller tributaries the narrow single stick slides were built to pass the rapids, but upon the main river crib navigation was practicuble, except upnu the greater falls and chutes. Short slides, wide enough to pass a crib (jibout 26 feet,) are built at these, of greater or less length andiiradient the slope conforming closely to that of the water fall. Above the crib slides there is a filer dam with an opening for the crib to pass through, which is provided with stop logs used only for high water — or when it is needed to shut the water off. A difference of level of several feet may be maintained at the stop logs over which the crib can pass safely, so long as the depth of water fl(jats them clear of the logs. Simil ir logs at the head of the slide take a further portion of the fall in high water, the slide floor being set for the low water navigation. When the fall is great it is necessary to curve the lower end of the slide, so as to throw the crib off horizontally. This is effected by hinged aprons which float to a level, but not higher, with the rise at high water below the elide. When the rise is great, two of these aprons are used one above the other. In low water thoy fall down and form part of the floor of the slide. The pine timbers in these cribs have no fastenings. Two long round timber floats are placed about 25 feet apart and parallel with each other, and the space between filled with a single course of the timber. Four traverses are laid across the tops of the timber and fastened to the floats ; upon these traverses four heavy loading timbers are hauled, the weight of wliich sink the crib, the lower timbers of which are kept in place by pressure against the traverses, arising from this sinking. In descending a slide, the men put their handspikes between the timbers of the crib und pry in opposite directions to produce side friction, other- wise the dragging of the larger sticks which only touch the bottom of the slide would allow those drawing less water to move faster and dismember 18 PremlenVs Address. »fti, i the crib. Tlic cribs pass out of the hi^'li slides with great velocity, and if their direction were not changed by the aprons would dive into the di'ad water at the foot, the loading timbers would go forward and the under ones backward, and the crib be wrecked, crushing or drowning tlie crew. The first fipplicatiou in Canada of the Bear Trap sluice was made in 1845, at Ottawa, to a tiudter slide. Tliis ingenious contrivance was invented in 1818, by Josiah White, President of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company. This, like tiio timber, was a descending miviga- tion only. Coal was taken in "arks," a kind off-cow which was broken up and .sold as lumber wiien discharged of its cargo at tide water. A similar system obtained on the St. Lawrence in the last century, when grain was brought down both on rafts and in " arks." Even with the aid of wing dams, the Lehigh in low water could not float the arks over all the shoids. It became necessary to dam up the water, collect the arks at the head of the shoal and flush the fleet over it by opening the dam. The requirements of timber navigation are different; the slides require a uniform flow over the breast or entrance, as too much water will wreck tlie criijs and too little strand them. Moreover different quantities are needed for heavy and light timber, and if these follow each other in rapid siiccession, frequent changes would be necessary with stop logs of different thickness. The Bear Trap sluice consists of two leaves or shutters, similar to lock gates laid horizontally, which recline against each other, so as to present a triangular vertical section, and contain beneath them a ."pace cap.ible of being filled with water from the superior level, and emptied thereof at will ; the contained angle at the vertex when the gates are up being rather more than 100°, in order that the leaves may slide easily the one over the other, which they evidently would not do if the verti- cal angle of the uplifted gate were either a right or an acute angle. This gate is raised and depressed by hydrostatic pressure applied and removed upon the principal of the Hydrostatic Bellows. A child can manipulate the inlet and outlet valves and set the gate to p.i.ss any required depth of water, which it will thereafter maintain automatically, rising and falling with the fluctuations of the superior level. Locks were subsequently constructed on the Lehigh with these hydraulic gates. As these gates will not work in dead water a head sufficient to overcome the weight and friction of the gates must have been available, but there was a plan for using large air vessels in connection with the upper gates. The plans for this Bear Trap sluice were prepared in 1845 by Mr. Samuel Keefer, then chief engineer of Public Works, from a description W President's AJdress. 19 >city, and I the d<'ad tlic under the aim' vas made vanco was Coal and ii^' tr.ivijra- ras bvoken vator. A iry, when could not im up the fleet over [cs require will wreck ntities are h other in top logs of similar to •, so as to ■m a space d emptied ites are up lide easily the verti- !utc an{j;le. )plied and child can ,0 p;iss any jmatically, Locks lulic gates. overcome but there )per j^ates. 5 by Mr. escription published in tlic Civil Engineer and Architect's Jonrmtl. These gates weio successfully used for years on the Ottawa slide, but were not continued when worn out, the reason for which I uui unable to <^ive. Some beautiful models of the Bear Trap sluice, the f,'ates beinj; made wholly of iron, were exhibited by the French Knf^ineers at the J'aris Exhibition of 1878. They would, I think, bo valuable wherever a *fi. CIVIC ENOINKEUING. 21 This is n wide field of increasinji^ iniportuncr' ('nibracins; hydnulic, mechanical, electrical, pan, railway and road erijiinecrinL', that is water BU}.])ly and sewcrat'C, cli'Ctric lijrhtinj.' and the electric railwiiy, the elevated and tli«' eal)le railway and pavenicnts, any one of which is the suhj(Ct for a separate an handle ten millions of gallons daily. Of this ten millions, two per cent, or less mny bo usod for drinking and culinary purposes. Filtration, therefore, like ventilation should be done in the houses by those who demand it, and they must see that, by daily cleansing, they get the water in as good condition as it comes to them. The Insurance Companies are reminding us that fire protection should bo a leading consideration in evory system of wafer sup{)ly. la gravitation supplies like Quebec with sufficient elevation, and in pump- ing supplies where water powor is used, as in Ottawa, this result is ob- tained without additional cost. But where steam power is required, as in Toronto, the best fire protection — that from direct pressure from hydrants — is secured only by increased consumption of coal. The people there complain of their coal bill, but if it were less their in>;uranco bill would be greater. They compare their consumption of coal with cities which do not lift the water half the height to which it is lifted in Toronto. Our principal cities, Halifax, St. John, Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Hamilton and London, have very efficient systems of water- supply, in respect to quality and pressure. As compared with the older systems i'M New York, Philadelphia and Boston, our pressure is greater and our use of Steamers for firo is less. We pay more for pumping and lesstnr fire insurance. With the exception of Winnipeg, Vancouver and Belleville, all our cities own their water-works. Quebec, Halifax, St. John, St. Catharines, Victoria and Vancouver have gravitation supplies. Montreal and London have water power sup})lemented by steam, with distributing rescr\ oirs. Ottawa has water power exclusively ; continuous pumping without stand pipe or Eeservoir since 1874, and without any failure in the supply. Botli pumping power and mains are duplicated, because, with a single pump and main, in the absence of a Reservoir, a break down of either suspends the delivery instanter, and in toto. Brantford, Guelph and Stratford pump by steam, Peterborough, Port Hope and Lindsay by water power ; the two latter for fire purposes only. Brampton has a gravitation supply. In Stratford and Port Hope the water power is used at nights for the Electric Light. This is also done in Victoria, wiiere, with a gravitation system, the high levels are supplied during the day by steam from the Electric Light boilers. This economical arrangement is only applicable — for constant supply, where there is a reservoir and suflScient pumping capacity to keep it filled by working only during daylight. T Presidenfs Address. 23 would bo rniometer to handle it. or less tliorofore, eniand it, n as good protection [iply. la in punip- nilt is ob- [uired, as sure from .^lic people irniice bill yitli cities lifted in Ottawa, of water- the older is greater pumping 'ancouver Halifax, avitation nted by usivcly ; 874, and d mains bscnco of liter, and igh, Port purposes ort Hope is is also gh levels It boilers. t supply, ) keep it Vancouver's gravitation supply is only comuienced. The water is brouglitfroni a mountain canon — nearly ten miles distant — through steel pipes 22 and IG in. diameter, and carried across an arm of the sea in (50 feet water by a ca.-t iron flexible jointed pipe. The fountain head in 480 feet ;ibove tide, the highest parts of the city being about 250 feet lower than the source of supply. 'J'lure are a number of other Canadian towns and villages which have water works. I trust we will recc've a full account of them, as well as of tho.se mentioned, through local members of this Society. An economical and ingenious method of sujipl^ing a limited number of houses, above the distributing reservoir head has been in successful operation in Burlington, Vermont, for the last six years. i\n hydraulic motor is in.serted in the pumping main near the IJeservoir, the water surface of which is 289 feet above Lake Champlain, the source of supply. Two ten-inch rising mains connect the pumps and reservoir, passing through the city. The distributing pipes are fed from these maiiis, receiving from the pumps, when in motion, and from reservoir when pumps lire standing, tlie pres!«ure on the motor being gnater on the pump side when the latter is working, and upon the reservoir side at other times. When the reservoir is full the head isbetv-'een 12 and 13 feet, and the pressure a little over 5 lbs. This motor, raises the water 60 feet, and delivers it through a mile of pipe into a tank having an oveiflow pipe into the main, so that no wit'-r is wasted. The speed of the pump worked by this motor varies from 5 or 6 strokes per minute in the night, to 22 strokes per minute in the day time. 'J ho cost of this application was under 62000. Mild steil is competing successfully with cast iron for mains, rivetted for the larger sizes and lap welded for 12 inch and under. The strength and security is greater, and the cost on the whole less, because of the lighter weights, longer pipes, fewer joints, and lesser cost of transportation Cast iron, however, maiuttiins its supremacy for all purposes of distri- bution on account of the facility and oeonomy with which coum ctious can be ?iiade with it. Its gi iater durability on account of its grater thickness also checks the extension of the use of steel. 1 can only direct attention to the great works going on for the further supply of New York, Liverpool, Kansas City, San Franci;ion irom the natural outlets is limited by local eotiditicns. Clarification and i/rig.ition both involve punsping, and the latter is only jiraetieable whi.ro 1 nge art as of low level and cheap land are to he ohtaiiied. No system can surpass the discharge into lurge flowing rivers, orlirgo bodies of water, and where these are the sources of tiie water supjily, the best and cheapest course is to remove the intake of the latter to a Siife distance. The removal from the streets of jiarbagc and rubbish, whicli may be washed into sewers, and the cremation of all combu>tihle trash, is attracting deserved attention in towns where this new departure is needed. This cremation is as old as Jerusalem, where the tires in the Valley of Hinuom were never quenched. PAVEMENTS. The gradual approach to the old Rom.in method of roadway is the result of increasing wealth and intelligence in our large cities. I give the precedence to wealth as intelligence is usele-s without it. Jt is money and men with us, while with the ancients men were pi ntilul and a little money went a long way. In fact the men had to do the work whether the money was forthcoming or not. The knights of those days were not Knights of Labor. Our practice has been to veneer the graded surface with a shallow costing of stone or wood, as wi 11, — or other- wise (and sometimes otherwise) a,s the mom y would wnrrant ; but, chiefly for want of a proper foundation (which is the expensive p irt) theie was no durability. A temporary system is in fact the only one applicable to growing towns. The constant breaking up of streets for gas, wat'T, drainage, tramways, etc., is the great drawback to a per- manent system. The wooden block pavements were no sooner completed than they were chopped through for these purposes and the statu (;uo could not be restored in the necessarily hasty refilling of the trench. There is apparently no limit to this, — larger gas and water pipes may be required, and telegraph, telephone, and electric light wires must yet go c 26 President's Address. m 'i under LMouiul, and it must iroon until wo can afford pcriiuincnt sub-ways as ill Paris, ;ind then .-ill connections can be made witliout bre.ikini^ throiijili our {laveniiiits. All street work for all purposes should be und;'r one city control. Wh«re two or more parties liave the right to op( n tlie streets, there is no remedy for injury done but the unsatis- factory one of litiiiatioa. TRAMWAYS. Electricity as a means of propulsion for city railways is niakinjr sreat ptrides in the United States to the south and west of us, where it dis- penses with horses and theri fore stables, but in our climate it is oidy Jivailahle about seven months in the year. It is more efficient and in some cases more economical than horse power, but whether it will prove so for our car season only will depend on the traffic. 'I'he horse stock and staltles must be letained, and the former must eitlier go to other Work or be sent to prass. The cable system for the same reason is shut out from Eastern Canada, but both it ante in (iermany, where 400,000 tons are now used annually for this purpose, and is iiid to contaii. as great a quantity of phosphoric acid as the superpliosphati's. This by-product of steel manufacture has an interest for us as exporters of apatite. MINING ENGINEERING. Canada contains such a vast mineral area in proportion tn her popu- lation that with the exception of coal upon her sea coasts, no exti'nsiv6 mining has yet been accomplished. Her productions, however, i-nibrace all tlie pn cious and commercial mrtals and mineral, excepting precious ston' s and tin. Gold, silver, copper, lead, iron, slate, apatite, graphite, gypsum, asbestos, antimony, arsenic, mica, petroleum, salt, and barytes have been worked. Line, nickel, petroleum, antimony and bismuth are known to exist. Besides other minerals used f )r chemical manufactures, manures, pigments, refractory materials in soapstone, fire clay, kaolin, sandstone, grinding imd polishing materials, whetstones, infusorial t'arth, and polishing powders, as well as materials for construction, ineluding marble, granite, slate, flagstone, hydraulic lime, etc., and many appli- cable to fine arts and jewellery, from lithographic stone to jaspers and agates. The total coal and lignite bearing aren, surveyed and partially surveyed, is neaily 100,000 square miles. Anthracite has heen found on Queen Charlotte Island, where is the only known deposit on the Pacific coast. It is being worked also in the National P.irk near Banff. The Wellington coal on Vancouver Island is considi-rcd the best on thiit coast, and is selling at $10 per ton in San Francisco ; the cost at the mine dock is, however, $4 per ton. Coal is extensively worked at Lcthbridge in Alberta, N. W. T., on the main seam of the Bow River deposit, which deposit is estimated to contain 330,000,000 tons. The amount of coal raised in Nova Scotia in 1886 was 1,682,924 tons, on Vancouver Island, 326,636 tons. In Nova Scotia a vertical 30 President's Address. depth of lUoO feet \mh been reached in tlie Vale coal mine, and about half ol' that depth at Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. Coal min'ng boj^an in Nova Scotia as early as 18i7. Since 1880 the annual production has exceeded one .'.jd a half million of tons and is now increasing yearly. Coal was discovered )n Vancouver Island in 1835, and mininL' was comiiiencL'd by the Hudson Iky Co. m 1850. The first steamboat wiiicli rm on the North Pacific Coast was placed there in 183(5 by the Hudson B ly Co., and is still in conunission. The first locomotive also on that coast was imported for the Nanaimo Colliery. Our total production of coal in 188G was 2,091 ,976 tons, of which about 500,000 tons were exported chiefly by British Columbia. In that year WP imported about 2,000,000 tons, nearly half of which was antliracite. The gold production of British Columbia since 1858 amounts to $50,000,000, ami of Nova Scotia in the same period $7,700,000. The Crown Copper Mine at Capleton, Sherbrcoke Co., Quebec, has reached a depth of 1520 feet on an inclined shaft, and the Albert mine at same place 810 fe(t. This is a sulphuret with about 4 per cent, copi'er, and has, after failing to pay as a copper mine, been successfully worked for sulphuric acid, the yield of copper paying all expenses, and thus giving tlic whole value of the acid for profit. The Silver Islet mine in Lake Superior, which yielded millions before it was abandoned, reached a depth of IIGO ftct, and the Shuniah 700 feet. Very valuable silver mines are now beins; worked west of Port Arthur, one of which, the Beaver mine, is reported to have millions in sight. Our total mineral production for 188G including structural materials is valued at $10,529,301, of which coal made up five millions, and gold one and one-third millions: — petroleum, copper, phosphate, pig iron, silver, and asbestos rank next in value in the order named. Some of the important discoveries in connection with mining engin- eering have been the result of accident. In boring for water petro- leum was discovered, and in boring for the latter natural gas in the U. S., and rock salt in Canada, have been found. Petroleum had flowed out of Oil creek in Western Ontario as long ago as Indian tradi- tion extends. It was gathered from the surface of the water by Indians, and was sold under the name of Seneca oil as a specific for rheuma- tism. This oil exuding from the grou.id had filled a low depression away from Oil creek, several acres in exti?nt and several feet in depth. It had dried out, and become an ill-smelling, viscous, dark brown mass known as the " gum bed." Samples were seni- to the Paris Exhibition in 1855, and found to yield paraffine wax. When the distillation of President'fi A t hlressi. 31 , and about Since 1880 of tons and inininL' was t steamboat 183<) by tlie omotive also 'wliicb about In tbat year ,s antbracite. amounts to ),000. Quebec, bas I Albert mine D 4 per cent. a successfully ixpenscs, and lillions before Sbuniab 7G0 west of Port c millions in iral materials millions, and lospbate, pig med. uining engin- watcr petro- al gas in tbc etroleum bad Indian tradi- er by Indians, for rheuma- ow depression feet in depth, brown mass is Exbibition distillation of till fmni bituminous sliales commenced, preparation was n.ade to utilize the gum bed. A steam boiler and retorts were sent up, and a pit was sunk in the stiff clay to collect surface water for tlie boilers. Ji,sl(at'. of water petroleum flowed into the exeavation, was barielled and sbipped. tlust tlien m'W^ eame of tlie discovery of rock oil at Titusville, I'a.. )iv a man who was boiing fur water, aiul thus the Cunaiiian oil wells were started at Knuiskillen about ISO). The retorts were never used. The late Sir Charles Siemens maintained that gas will be the furl of the future, niid tbat this was the only solution of the smoke (|Ui'stiou for I-oiidon. Since bis death the use of natural gas has .'.olved it tor Pitt.-burg. '^lakini: the ccst of producing gas for all Kuj^liiml, it vas sbiwn a i'ew years .-ij:*! that the value of the by-puxluets execeiled the cost ((f coal and labor, and that if all the works were jmoUd, more Jmtrlcaiio, the wholo charge for gas was available i'ur dividt mis. \V liore ;| uatiira! jas does not eomi' to the relief of our to\v>is, the (juestion lor our engineers will be b.ow far gas fuel can he l.iid on economieally from cential stations, which will much depend upon a market for the by products. Elect lie lighting will doubtless turn the attention of the gas con, panics to this problem. A French engineer, Mr. Chalon, has published inZe Gein'eCin'I, the Tlie deepest well whieh has been bored is oiw near I'lttsbuigh, I'a., where a depth of i,G18 feet has been reached ; there is another of 4,300 feet, two of 3,500 feet, and one over 3,000 feet in tlio U.S. In Europe there are six wells over 3,000 ieet in depth, the deepest one is 4,515 feet at Schludeback ; the diameter ibr the first 189 lee t is 1 1 inches, for the tiext 41(5 fuet 9 inches, iit 4,000 feet the bore is 2 inches. Buorter aisiauce to wuicn it was tnrown. f ELECTMCAL ENGINEEIli:>fG. The practical application of electricity in Canada for lighting and }j locoiiiotion is very recent, dating since 1882, and in fact its whole ^M devcloftment as a commercial question is confined to the last ten years. M The Avcnu dc 1 Opera, in Paris, was lighted in 1878 on the Jablokoff system, each light requiring 2-^ horse-power. Jt was regarded as a luxu V then, and the li;^lits Were extiuiiui-hel at m!Ju;j,bt. The .-auie 30 President's Address. deptli of iMoO feet has been reuchod in tlio Vah; coal mine, and about lialf of tliat depth at Nanainio on Vancouver Ishmd. Coal uiiniiij;; bi'<,'an in Nova Scotia as early as 18i7. Since 1880 the annual {>r(»duetion has exceeded one and a half million of tons and is now inereasinj^ yearly. Coal was discovered on Vancouver Island in 1835, and mininjj; was commenced by the Hudson Bay Co. in 1850. The first steamboat whicli r in on the Noitli Pacific Coast was placed there in 18:{(! by the Hudson Biy Co., and is still in commission. The first locomotive also on that coast was imported for the Nanaimo Colliery. Our total production of coal in 18S(j was 2.0!)1 ,070 tons, of which about 500,000 tons were exported chiefly by Hritish Columbia. In that year WP imported about 2,000,000 tons, nearly half of which was anthracite. The <;()ld production of British Columbia since 1858 amounts to $50,000,000, and of Xova Scotia in the same period $7,700,000. The Crown Copper Mine at Capleton, Sherbrooke Co., Quebec, has reached a depth of 1520 feet on an inclined shaft, and the Albert mine at same place 810 fei t. This is a sulphuret with about 4 per cent, copier, and has, after failinj^ to pay as a copper mine, been successfully worked for sulphuric aciil, the yield of copper paying all expenses, and thus giving the whole value of the acid for profit. The Silver Islet mine in Lake Superior, which v\o\r^..^ — :"-' it was oV»"- J ■• - b* 111 LIIU — ^.^ 111 c-anada, have been found. Petroleum had flowed out of Cil creek in Western Ontario as long ago as Indian tradi- tion extends. It was gathered from the surface of the water by Indians, and was sold under the name of Seneca oil as a specific for rheuma- tism. This oil exuding from the ground had filled a low depression away from Oil creek, several acres in extent and several feet in depth. It had dried out, and become an ill-smelling, viscous, dark brown mass known, as the " gum bed." Samples were sent to the Paris Exhibition in 1855, and found to yield paraffine wax. When the distillation of Preside ut's AcUlresfi, 31 I iibmxt CO 1880 ;onH atid \\\\:ary in advance of the jias. It is e.-tiinated that the capital invested in electric liirhting in Canada n aches 82.'M)0,()(in already, that there are about :J,<)00 arc lights, and about I'l.OOO Edison incandescent lijrhts in use bete. A street railway has been ;-uccessfully worked by electricity upon tbo over head system, between Windsor and Walkerville, in Ontario, for several years. It was one of the earliest apjdieations of the system upon this coiitineiiL There is also an exhibition one in Toronto. The line between St. Catharines and Tliorold is worked by electricity. The rlioiiogriiph is the litest wonder of EU-ctric application. It was invented 10 years ago by Kdison, but reniaineil a curiosity until list year, the inventor meanwhile hnvinir been occupied with the incan- descent li^ht. llanlened w.ix cylinders have been sub.-titntid for the oriuioal tin loil covereil ones. These cylinders are provided with a mMillni; case, so that not onl\' the sjioken words, l)Ut the expression ;inJ inflection oC the voice can be transmitted to distant p lints. It will replace the steno;;rapher, can make no mi>*takes, will be an nnim- peiichable witiie-s and cannnt be confused by cross-exau)ination. Besides its use in Court, it will report speeches. soii;_'s. h's^^ons, and orders, aivl read to tlie sick in hospitals, etc. Four cylinders, each 4 inches in diameter and 8 inches lung, will record 'ac whole of Nicholas Xickleby, EARLY EXGIXEERS. I am unable to sivc much information about the early engineers of Canada. Royal E i<.'inecrs controlled the Rideau Canal, but bad civil en- pinoers as assistants, all of whom I believe came from Britain. Xichol II. Baird. who was the chief, and John McTaixu'art. are two of the names associated with that work. When the Lachine Canal was undertaken, Thos. liurnett was broutiht out from Britain as Chief Ensrineer. Francis Ilidl. a pupil of Telford. >vas the Euirineer of the Shubenac:idie Canal, which was commenced in lS2o. As this work was suspended, and remained so, he removed to St. Catharines, and wascon>ulted with respect to the Wclland Canal, and also that at Biirlinsiton Beach near Hamilton. Samuel Clowes, a Briti>h engineer, was employed by the commission- ers of Internal Xavigatiou in 1824, to report upon the liideau Navi^iatioD Prcsi St. Lawrence CuuiiIh, in lH2r». Tlieconipli'tinn of the j^reat Ciilcdnniun Canal in Scutlnnd, hy'l'tirord in 1820, set free amuuuii -d" Hritisli hydniulieen^incfrs Hinif ul' wIhuh eauic to Canada; and the (ipi'niii«; nf th(! Krie Canal, in 1H2I. >-n|i|.li. i| a number of American en<,'inet'is iducatetl upon ihat work lor hoth tht; Welland and St. Lawrence Canals. Hiram Tibbetts made a preliminary survey lor the Welliind Ciiiml in 1823 ; but the Chief Enj^ineer during,' construction was Alfred iiarreit, who was afterwards en^'aged on the fir>l cnlarj^emenl of the Lar|ii»i'j Canal, and died in Montreal, liarrett's location of tiie W.llind was revised by Geddes and Jloberts. two Amerieati i iiL'iiieers i.! la :;:(; ex- perience. Samuel Clowes and his .'-r)n were employed on this jorutiud. George and Samuel Keefer were erigageu<: of Moneure Kobins-.-n's pupils, was Chief Enu'inecr. and },<: broughi -Aith him Wm. J. Mc Alpine and Jame- Won ail. Tli'- l-xaiioa wa-; revi^-dby "icdJes ; and als-o by Benjamin Wright, who was retrained a- Co/iru]lif;g Eij_'ineer. We Alpine and Worrall left on completiori of thf; ru.'vey- : and fur eonstmetion. Mr. Bodrigue of Philad'rlphia. and .Samue* K'-M'-.r, were the Divi-ion Engineerf?. Miil.s. the Chief Enirio'^r. r'..-igijed aft/if two vtars. and was succeeded >'V Col. Phillr/jlts. of the Kova- En'/iijeeri.. B'>irigae also resigned and was succee'ied by ^j^^jrj.': K'Af.r. Both McAlpine and Bobin-^on are celebrat»r«i Amenca.'i engirj':*:r-. «;.. .;rijig, — tlv first in New York, and tho ■:^>::A \u Philidelphh. Mo-j^cur': 1 34 President's Address. ■■"•:,l m Robinson is related to the family of the late Sir John Beverley Robin- son of Toronto. Peter Fleming, a British engineer, reported upon the Chambly Canal in 1829, and Mr. Hopkins was the engineer in charge during construction in 1835. Fleming was a good mathematician, and pub- lished a work upon the quadrature of the circle, in which he succeeded — as well as could be expected. James Cull, a British engineer, reported upon the Toronto harbor in 1833, and was also engaged upon macadamized roads in the neighbor- hood of Toronto and Kingston. Alex. Stevenson, a British engineer, reported upon the Boauharnois Canal in 1 834. I have mentioned only those engineers who were engaged upon our public works previous to the Union and the establishment of the Board of Works in 1841, as well as previous to the railway era. I may have omitted several names which ought to be mentioned. I think in those (lays there were few City Engineers, and that all the public works wore Government ones. Since 1841 the Annual Reports laid before Parliament, and, later, the railway rejwrts, record the names of the engineers. PROJRCTEr WORKS. Of future engineering works I can say but little. Our railway sys- tem penetrates all parts of the Dominion, and will extend itself wherever and as soon as required. The only remaining national railway not yet accomplished is the one projected to reach Hudson',^- Bay. I do not believe this will become an exporting route in competition with the St. Lawrence, nor th;it 500 or GOO miles of railway without local traffic or through couneetion. can be sustained by a few months ocean navigation in Arctic waters. The crop of the North West cannot be exported before navigation closes, and the railway will have little traffic to keep open its line during winter, because grain will rarely be sent to cool off for six months or more in elevators on Hudson's Bay. Our eastern trunk lines, with the advantage of a local traffic through our richest territory, cannot hybertiate at Montreal and Quebec, but have been obliged to push on to the open sea. I believe, however, that as a nation we should tap Hudson Bay at the bottom, in James Bay, where it approaches within a few hundred miles of our railway system in the Ottawa Valley. I believe the valuable fisheries, furs and other Arctic exports from an enormous coast line would gravitate southward to such a railway, and that its terminus would be the depot for a fishing fleet, which could compete with the whalers of the United States. PresidenVs Address. 35 Eobin- yhambly D during nd pub- icceeded I arbor ia leighbor- .uharnois ipon our ■j of the a. I may think in le public lorts laid names of hvay sys- wherever ly not yet I do not th the St. traffic or lavigation ted before p open its aif for six ;-unk lines, ry, cannot push on to on Bay at V hundred le valuable 3 coast line ;s terminus e with the In bridges Canada has the finest samples of the various types, and ■the only tubular ones on this continent. While there is undoubtedly a surplus of iron in the Victoria Bridge, I do not think there is an unnecessary amount of masonry in the piers. Its location and exposure to ice shoves require more massive piers than bridges where only running ice has. to be encountered. Moreover, the liberal dimensions in the direction of the stream are sufficient for a second line of rails. But we have a bridge project, which when carried out will in lengtli of span be second only to the Forth which is IGGl feet. This is the proposed cantilever at Quebec. The car traffic of the Canada Atlantic has warranted that road in deciding to supersede a costly ferry system by . a bridge, and let us hope that a similar case may soon be made out fur Quebec. The Railway Bridge over the St. Lawrence at Lachine recently com- pleted by the Canada Pacific Uailway is an example of rapid construc- tion of the best masonry in a difficult situation, which has not I believe been equalled anywhere before — the work being done between the leav- ing and the taking of the ice in the same year. The tunnel or subway to give railway connection with Prince Edward Island is another of thegreai Engineering works proposed. It is diffi- cult at present to say whether the physical or the financial obstacles are the greatest, but when the money is forthcoming I have no doubt a way will be found to reach the Island. The last great project I have to notice is the proposed ship railway between the Bay of Fundy and the St. Lawrence, located in the neighborhood of the route surveyed for the Bale Yerte canal. I will not anticipate the poper to be presented to this Society by one of our members, who is the projector of the scheme, by an attempt to describe it in detail, but will only say: No route could be more fovorable in an engineering sense for the inauguration of this new system. A practically straight and level line less than 20 miles in length, is available. I have the utmost faith in the practicabilit' of lie enterprise. There is no novelty in raising, or moving vessels on wheels. France is now transferring torpedo boats between the Atlantic and tlie Mediterranean by rail. Shii)S have been hauled cut on wheels, and been put back in the same water; the ship railv.'ay only proposes to carry them farther and put them in another water. In conclusion, when we reflect that steam'^cjL navigation began less than 80, and railway construction less than GO years ago, the telegraph 40, and the Atlantic cable less than 30 years ago, and that the telephone, electric lights, and iuotors are yet in their infancy, and then look at their position and work of to-day, we have reason to be proud of a profession to which the world owes so much; and, having regard to the 36 President's Address. it.' /-j crreat interests committed to us, wc have need to take counsel together for we cannot say of each other, no more than the foot to the hand, 1 have no need of thee ! Motive power until the days of Watt was limited to the use of wind and water. The invention of the steam engine gave to En- gineers a new and constant power, unliuiited in its application and extent, and has revolutionized navigation. But it was the much later application of steam to locomotion which gave birtli to the Eailway system, and is revolutionizing the world. The Mining Engineer gives us the coal, the Mechanical Engineer the stationary, locomotive, and marine engine, as well as the metal steamship, the Eailway Engineer supplies the road for the locomotive, and the Hydraulic Engineer the harbor and docks for the commerce whicli they create. Tlie extension of commerce due to steam transportation by land and water has vastly increased the population of the older cities and created new ones of fabulous growth, and the Municipal Engineer, in giving drainnge, water-supply an(i {ire|>rotection — whereby the terrible destruc- tion of life and property duo to piague and tire so common in the middle ages has been arrested — provides for the health, comfort, and safety of the citizens. In addition to these five branches of Engineering there is another and most important one, a great power in Nature, — electricity, until recently with little commercial value, and valuable chiefly for electro — plating or as a health ofiicer in dispelling a sultry or vitiated atmosphere, but inestimable in value if admitted to be the agent through which the clouds" drop down their fatness " on the earth. Invisible like steam, and like it known chiefly by its eff'ects, its range is universal, — in the heavens above, and in the earth beneath, and apparently in all things living, in all animal and vegetable life. 1 1 transports with equal velocity the weakest tones of the human voice, -^a I tlie irresistible force of the thunderbolt. It traverses the ocean as wcl; r- the continent. It lights the harbor, it moves the car, it pumps the ui^ae, it welds the metals, it vitalizes the human frame. We cannot forecast its future, or limit its possibilities of production. Economically, it may yet become the cheapest source of power with the exception of wind, water, gravtiy, or the sun, and by chemical energy may become as constant and universal in its application as the sun itself, to which in common with the other natural powers we may ascribe its origin, even though that be the limit of our knowledge concerning it. Thus are we the complement one of the other, and thus has grown up in the present century a great army of Civil Engineers with different braiiches oi' service, but all working together for the same end — " the directing the great powers in nature for the use and convenience of man." 1 together I hand, 1 lie use of 3 to En- ition and luch later ! Eailway leer gives )tive, and Engineer ;inecr the land and d created in giving 3 destruc- lie middle safety of s another ity, until electro — nosphere, vhich the ke steam, — in the all things A velocity e of the It lights netals, it limit its ! cheapest f, or the iversal in he other the limit ;rown up different d— " the 9f man."