and finished with a setting punch. The bar of iron is drawn along, and the same operation repeated t the length of the hose be finished.

It is necessary, however, to be very particular about the rivets. They should be made of the best drawn copper rods, and, after being forged, chucked in the lathe singly, and the heads turned, after which they must be well tinned before being used. I have tried to get the rivets finished without the extra expense of turning, but I soon found they could never be trusted to. The object of turning being to take off the sharp edges which might otherwise cut the leather, it is quite obvious that this part of the expense is indispensable. I have seen rivets which have been struck in dies; but on each side of the neck where the dies meet, the sharp edge was invariably left.

The washers are cut with a punch, and afterwards tinned.

Some objections have been made to rivetted hose, on account of the alleged difficulty of repairing them ; but this is not so serious a matter as may at first view appear. Indeed they very seldom require any repairs, and when they do, the process is not difficult. If any of the rivets be damaged, as many must be taken out as will make room for the free admission of the hand. A small flat mandrel being introduced into the hose, the new rivets are put into the leather, and rivetted up the same as new pipe; the mandrel is then shaken out at the end.

If the leather be damaged, it may be repaired either by cutting out the piece, and making a new

joint, or by rivetting a piece of leather upon the hole.

The manner of attaching the hose to the coupling-joint, is also a matter of very considerable importance. If a joint come off when the engine is in operation, a whole length of hose is rendered useless for the time, and a considerable delay incurred in getting it detached, and another substituted.

To prevent this, the hose ought to fit as tightly as possible to the coupling-joint, without any packing. In rivetted hose, a piece of leather, thinned down to the proper size, should be put on to make up the void, which the thick edge of the leather next the rivet necessarily leaves; the hose should then be tied to the coupling-joint as tightly as a half-inch cord will bear. The cord ought to be made of lint very hardly twisted and cable-laid, that is, nine strands in place of three. The advantage of having the cord made in this manner is, that it better resists the water, and is therefore less liable to contraction and expansion. See plate 4, fig. 4.

When the hose are completely finished in this manner, they are proved by a proving-pump, and, if they stand a pressure of 200 feet of water, they are considered fit for service. I may also add, that, when any piece of hose has been under repair, it is proved in the same manner before it is deemed trust-worthy.

The proving of the hose is of very considerable importance, and the method of doing so which I have mentioned, is greatly superior to the old plan

of proving them on an engine or fire-cock. By the latter method, no certain measure can be obtained by which the pressure can be calculated. In the first place, it must depend on the relative height of the reservoir from whence the water is obtained, and that of the fire-cock where the experiment is made; and as the supply of water drawn from the pipes by the inhabitants, may be different on different days of the week, and even in different hours of the day, it is quite evident, that by this method no certain rule can be formed for the purpose required, the pressure being affected by the quantity of water drawn at the time.

The method of proving by an engine is considerably better than this; but when a proving-pump can be obtained, it is infinitely better than either. One disadvantage of an engine is, that it requires a considerable number of men; but even the proof, that of throwing the water to a given height on the gable of a house, or other height, is not always a test of the sufficiency of the hose. As the temperature is low or high,-the wind fresh or light,— the degree of pressure on the hose, in throwing the water to the required height, will be greater or less. Indeed, in high winds, it is a matter of extreme difficulty to throw the water to any considerable height.

With an engine of 7-inch barrels and 7-inch stroke, fitted with 80 feet of 28-inch hose, I have found from several experiments, that when the water is thrown 75 feet high, the pressure on the

hose is equal to 100 feet. The same engine, with 160 feet of hose, and the director or jet-pipe, raised 50 feet above the level of the engine, when the water was thrown 56 feet from the director, occasioned a pressure equal to 130 feet on the hose. From these experiments, I am convinced that the pressure will not be equal to 200 feet, except in very extreme cases, or when some obstacle gets into the nozle of the director.

I tried the extreme strength of a piece of rivetted hose, 4 feet long and 23 inches diameter, and found that it did not burst till the pressure increased to 500 feet; and when it gave way, the leather was fairly torn along the rivet-holes.

Every possible care should be taken to keep the hose soft and pliable, and to prevent its being affected by mildew. After being used, in order to dry them equally, they should be hung up by the centre, with the two ends hanging down, until half dry. They should then be taken down and rubbed over with a composition of bees'-wax, tallow, neat's-foot oil,* and again hung up to allow the grease to sink into the leather. When the hose appear to be dry, they should be a second time rubbed with the composition, and then coiled up for use. In order that

* This composition, recommended by the Sun-Fire Office in London, has been used here for upwards of four years, and found to answer the purpose well. The proportions are, 1 gallon neat's-foot oil, 2 lbs. tallow, lb. bees'-wax melted together, and laid while warm on the leather.

the hose undergoing the operation of greasing, may not be disturbed, or used till in a fit state, it is better to have a double set, and in this way, while one set is in grease, the other is in the engine ready and fit for service. More time can also be taken for any repairs which may be necessary, and they will, in consequence, be more carefully done; and at fires, where a great length of hose is required, the spare set will always be available. When the weather is damp, and the hose cannot be dried so as to be fit for greasing in two or three days, a stove should be put into the room in order to facilitate the proThe greatest care, however, must be taken in the use of artificial heat. The whole apartment should be kept of one equal temperature, which ought never to be higher than is requisite to dry the hose for greasing in about forty hours.

cess.

Coupling-joints.So much of the efficiency and duration of the hose depend on the proper form given to the brass coupling-joints, that I deem it useful to give a detailed description, both of those generally made use of, and of those adopted by the Edinburgh fire-establishment, and also to point out their various defects and advantages.

Fig. 3, plate 4, is the construction commonly made by engine-makers. Its defects are as follows: -From the form of the furrows and ridges where the leather is tied, it does not hold on well against a force tending to pull the hose off endways; nails are therefore often employed, as at A, to secure the hose on the brass. The points of these

screw