6. Long-distance transmission of electricity; is it practicable for cotton-mill work?

Mr. C. J. H. WOODBURY, Lynn, Mass.

7. (After-dinner topic.) The Vicars automatic stoker, and ropedriving; with other appliances noted in English cotton mills.

Mr. EDWARD ATKINSON, Boston, Mass.

A large majority of the members having signified their approval of the suggestion of the Board of Government in circular issued June 27 last, a dinner will be provided for the Association at the close of the morning session. This will be paid for from the treasury, and will be free to all members.

By vote of the Board of Government,

AMBROSE EASTMAN,

Secretary.

PROCEEDINGS.

Pursuant to the foregoing notice, the stated semi-annual meeting of the Association was held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boylston Street, Boston, on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 1892, at 10 o'clock A.M.

The President, Mr. ROBERT MCARTHUR, occupied the chair. The President submitted the following nominations of new members, recommended by the Board of Government, for election:

On motion of Mr. W. J. KENT, it was voted that the Secretary be authorized to cast one vote for all the persons nominated. The vote was cast by the Secretary, and the persons above named were declared elected members of the Association.

The PRESIDENT. We will now proceed with the topics presented for discussion by this meeting. The first will be, "Tests of Spindle Oils," by Mr. A. M. GOODALE of Waltham, Mass.

TESTS OF SPINDLE OILS.

By Mr. A. M. GOODALE, Waltham, Mass.

The topic of spindle oils, assigned to me for the last meeting of the Association, was treated in an imperfect manner, owing to the limited time at my disposal. In going into the subject carefully, I became convinced that it was necessary to give two weeks' time at least to each oil in order to get the best results. In this way each test is commenced Monday morning after the rest of Sunday, when the frame starts hard, and has to be gradually warmed up; and, as a check on the first week's run, a second week's test is given to the same oil under the same conditions. In this way the readings of the second week are a check on the readings of the first week, and a more accurate result is obtained than if only one week or a portion of a week were given to each test.

In comparing the table here presented with the table presented at the April meeting, certain things are to be noticed. First, the Fountain Spindle Oil in the April test was a heavy spindle oil of Masury, Young & Co. In the present table their light spindle oil is the one tested. The Velocité Spindle Oil in the second test is presumably of the same grade, though the oil in the second table was taken from a different barrel than that of the first test. The Special Imperial Oil of F. L. Young in the present test is an improved Special Imperial Oil sent after the first tests had been made and presented to you. The other oils presented in this table were not presented in the April table.

The gravity, flash test, fire test, cold test and viscosity were taken by Prof. L. M. Norton of the Institute of Technology. Weighings were taken, as before, by Wm. G. Nichols, assisted by H. P. Meikleham. The tests have all been made on a Fales & Jenks frame, containing 160 McMullan spindles, spinning No. 30 yarn from double roving, under the ordinary conditions of a spinning room. It was not convenient for me to test a frame with spindles only, and I do not consider that a test with spindles only is as desirable as a test made under the full conditions of spinning. The frame had a geared end, size of cylinder 7 inches, single boss top roll, 2 gauge, 1 ring, 6 inch traverse with separators. A measured quantity of oil was put in each spindle base, and the quantity to the frame accurately measured. The oil remaining after the test was also measured, so that the percentage of oil used is given as one of the factors in the table.

After each test the oil was removed from the spindle base by a pump. The bolsters were cleaned with a steam jet, and the spindles wiped. From 11 to 14 readings were made from the empty bobbin to the full bobbin, and an average of 188 weighings were taken for each oil. The average of all the readings is the average given in the table. The Emerson Power Scale was used, the oil used on the scale being the same in each test. The oil used in the spindles being too light for the other running parts, another oil was used for that purpose, being the same throughout all the tests of this series.

The tests of oils that have been made from time to time under the direction of the Cotton Manufacturers' Association have, without doubt, furnished valuable information both to the oil dealers and to the members of the Association. It is not very long ago that the first cost of an oil was an important factor with the manufacturers. To-day I do not suppose that one member of this Association regards the first cost of an oil to the mill as being of much importance. To illustrate: There are 20,000 ring spindles in the room where these tests were made, and, taking the percentage of the oil used of the best and of the poorest oil