FILTER FOR INDUSTRIAL WORKS.
As a rule, bleach and dye works are established where there is a sufficiency of good and soft water, except in such cases where for special reasons it is desirable to use town water, and which then is generally clear. Where, however, water from brooks, rivers, or lodges is used, as is mostly the case, it is often discolored after heavy showers by earthy substances which are carried away by it. These impurities, all existing in the water in suspension, are not at all desirable for the dyer, and less for the bleacher, who generally allows the water to settle in a lodge, to give it time to deposit its impurities by gravitation. We understand that by means such as these even the water of the much-abused Irwell is made, in a Salford bleach-works, to produce some of the most beautiful whites possible. These lodges occupy, however, much space, which is not always available, and filtration is therefore the best where it can be carried out. We here produce the description of a cheap and efficient filter which bleachers or dyers may easily make for themselves. The dimensions are of course dependent upon the quantity of water to be filtered, and as a guide we shall describe a filter serving for a volume of water of about 1½ cubic yards per minute. In the first instance a hole is dug at a point where the water has sufficient fall to give it a head, and here a cistern set in cement is bricked out, measuring about 30 yards in length, 2½ yards in width, and 2½ yards in height. Across this cistern two partition walls are erected, one at the left resting upon rails, and the other going down to the bottom of the cistern. Between these two walls railway rails are laid crosswise, and over these a floor of wooden laths. Over this floor the filtering media are placed, consisting of a bottom layer of stones, then a layer of coke, then a layer of gravel, and lastly of a top layer of river sand. The water enters on the left-hand side into the space between the outer wall and the partition, and descends under the floor of the filter, through which it rises and passes in succession through the four layers of filtering substance until it issues at the top, when it runs over the partition, and out by the pipe shown in the right hand corner. It will be seen that the course of the water is upward through the filter, and in this respect contrary to the usual custom. The filter is cleaned about once a month by reversing the course of the water, and turning it indirectly on the top of the filter—causing it to run but at the bottom—and thus carrying all deposits with it. Both the central filtering compartments, as also the overflow cistern at the right hand, contain, near the bottom, doors, through which, when opened, the cleansing water runs off by a separate channel to the river. The dimensions of the cistern can, of course, be made to suit the situation.—Tex. Manfr.
THE VAL ST. LAMBERT GLASS WORKS.
During the recent meeting in Belgium of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers several interesting excursions were made, and by no means the least interesting was the visit to the glass works of Val St. Lambert.
This is one of the largest glass works in existence, entirely devoted to the production of domestic articles, such as tumblers, wine glasses, lamp chimneys, and such like. A good deal of ornamental work is also turned out, a staff of highly competent artists being employed in painting glass vases, etc., such as are used for the decoration of rooms.
The Val St. Lambert works stand on the right bank of the Meuse, in the commune of Seraing, and about seven and a half miles from Liege. As the head offices of Cockerill's vast establishment are located in the old palace of the Bishops of Liege, so the Cristalleries of Val St. Lambert occupy the site of the Abbey de Rosieres. Up to the year 1192 the site was almost a desert, but about that period the abbey was founded. In 1202 Hughes de Pierrepont, Bishop of Liege, gave to the monks a tract of land and woods situated in what was then called the Champ des Maures, whereon was built the abbey. It prospered and became powerful. At the end of the last century it was reconstructed, and at that time were raised the fine buildings now used as a manufactory. The rebuilding had hardly been finished when the Revolution came, and with it the expulsion of the monks. It was sold by the nation, and was used for various manufacturing purposes, until the year 1825, when it was purchased by MM. Kemlin and Lelievre. There had previously existed, at Vonêche, near Givet, a glass works carried on by M. D'Artigues, its owner, aided by M. Kemlin, his nephew, and M. Aug. Lelievre. This latter gentleman had left the Ecole Polytechnique of Paris with distinction, and was the son of Mr. Anselme de Lelievre, Inspector-General of Mines, and a distinguished savant of the last century. MM. Kemlin and Lelievre both became naturalized Frenchmen. However, the frontier traced by the Congress of Vienna for the new territory of Belgium cut Vonêche off from France. The glass works accordingly lost their only market, cut off from it by a heavy tariff. M. D'Artigues left the place and went to France, while MM. Kemlin and Lelievre found in the old Val St. Lambert Abbey what they wanted in Belgium, and this was the origin of the glass works. Nor would it be easy to hit on a better site. In the heart of a rich country, on the borders of a fine river, in the center of a coal basin, and close to the Marihaye Collieries, well provided with railway accommodation, the Val St. Lambert glass works possess every advantage, and they have been proportionately successful.
The establishment is worked by a company known as the Societé Anonyme des Cristalleries du Val St. Lambert, under the Presidency of M. Jules Deprez; and the company possess four distinct establishments, namely, that at Val St. Lambert; one at D'Herbatte, near Namur, founded in 1851; a third in the Rue Barre-Neuvill, at Namur, founded in 1753; and, lastly, one at Jambes, near the same town, founded in 1850.
We need not trace at length, says The Engineer, the history of the works. It will be enough to say that for a long time they were carried on with small or no profits; but a great advance was made when, in 1830, coal was first substituted for wood for heating purposes. Further capital was introduced in 1836, and operations have been carried on practically without intermission ever since. In 1850 the annual turn-over was about £60,000. In 1880 the turn-over of the company was £200,000. To give an idea of the magnitude of the operations carried on, we may say that no fewer than 120,000 pieces are turned out every day. To pack this there are used 50,000 kilos. of heather, 55,000 kilos. of straw, and 250,000 feet of boards per month. The sand of all kinds used per year weighs 7,000,000 kilogs., and the weight of the fire clay 1,500,000 kilogs. The weight of the finished goods sent out per year exceeds 9,000,000 kilogs. The company employs in all about 3,000 hands, 1,800 of whom are at Val St. Lambert. Much attention is paid to the welfare of the operatives by the company, and a species of co-operative store is worked with great success. Many of the hands have been on the works of the company for fifty years, and the managers speak in the highest terms of their servants. They know nothing of "St. Monday." They are laborious, assiduous, intelligent, and attached to the works and the locality, which they rarely quit. These conditions are the most favorable possible for the employers, and they are far too rare in Great Britain. The Val St. Lambert hands, men, women, and children, work uninterruptedly for eleven hours a day all the week through, and some of the men even longer. This affords a remarkable contrast with the hours of labor and customs of our English glass workers.