1direction.
The axle is square and is thirty-five feet long and two feet thick
and wide. Beyond the wheel, at a distance of six feet, the axle has four hubs,
one foot wide and thick, each one of which is four feet distant from the next
to these hubs are fixed by iron nails as many pieces of wood as are necessary
to cover the hubs, and, in order that the wood pieces may fit tight, they are
broader on the outside and narrower on the inside; in this way a drum is
made, around which is wound a chain to whose ends are hooked leather bags.
The reason why a drum of this kind is made, is that the axle may be kept in
good condition, because this drum when it becomes worn away by use can
be repaired easily. Further along the axle, not far from the end, is another
drum one foot broad, projecting two feet on all sides around the axle. And
to this, when occasion demands, a brake is applied forcibly and holds back
the machine; this kind of brake I have explained before. Near the axle,
in place of a hopper, there is a floor with a considerable slope, having in
front of the shaft a width of fifteen feet and the same at the back; at each
side of it there is a stout post carrying an iron chain which has a large hook.
Five men operate this machine; one lets down the doors which close the
reservoir gates, or by drawing down the levers, opens the water-races; this
man, who is the director of this machine, stands in a hanging cage beside the
reservoir. When one bag has been drawn out nearly as far as the sloping
floor, he closes the water gate in order that the wheel may be stopped; when
the bag has been emptied he opens the other water gate, in order that the
other set of buckets may receive the water and drive the wheel in the opposite
direction. If he cannot close the water-gate quickly enough, and the water
continues to flow, he calls out to his comrade and bids him raise the brake
upon the drum and stop the wheel. Two men alternately empty the bags,
one standing on that part of the floor which is in front of the shaft,
and the other on that part which is at the back. When the bag has been
nearly drawn up—of which fact a certain link of the chain gives warning—the
man who stands on the one part of the floor, catches a large iron hook in one
link of the chain, and pulls out all the subsequent part of the chain toward
the floor, where the bag is emptied by the other man. The object of this
hook is to prevent the chain, by its own weight, from pulling down the
other empty bag, and thus pulling the whole chain from its axle and
dropping it down the shaft. His comrade in the work, seeing that the bag
filled with water has been nearly drawn out, calls to the director of the
machine and bids him close the water of the tower so that there will be time
to empty the bag; this being emptied, the director of the machine first of
all slightly opens the other water-gate of the tower to allow the end of the
chain, together with the empty bag, to be started into the shaft again, and
then opens entirely the water-gates. When that part of the chain which
has been pulled on to the floor has been wound up again, and has been let
down over the shaft from the drum, he takes out the large hook which was
fastened into a link of the chain. The fifth man stands in a sort of cross-cut
beside the sump, that he may not be hurt, if it should happen that a link
and wide. Beyond the wheel, at a distance of six feet, the axle has four hubs,
one foot wide and thick, each one of which is four feet distant from the next
to these hubs are fixed by iron nails as many pieces of wood as are necessary
to cover the hubs, and, in order that the wood pieces may fit tight, they are
broader on the outside and narrower on the inside; in this way a drum is
made, around which is wound a chain to whose ends are hooked leather bags.
The reason why a drum of this kind is made, is that the axle may be kept in
good condition, because this drum when it becomes worn away by use can
be repaired easily. Further along the axle, not far from the end, is another
drum one foot broad, projecting two feet on all sides around the axle. And
to this, when occasion demands, a brake is applied forcibly and holds back
the machine; this kind of brake I have explained before. Near the axle,
in place of a hopper, there is a floor with a considerable slope, having in
front of the shaft a width of fifteen feet and the same at the back; at each
side of it there is a stout post carrying an iron chain which has a large hook.
Five men operate this machine; one lets down the doors which close the
reservoir gates, or by drawing down the levers, opens the water-races; this
man, who is the director of this machine, stands in a hanging cage beside the
reservoir. When one bag has been drawn out nearly as far as the sloping
floor, he closes the water gate in order that the wheel may be stopped; when
the bag has been emptied he opens the other water gate, in order that the
other set of buckets may receive the water and drive the wheel in the opposite
direction. If he cannot close the water-gate quickly enough, and the water
continues to flow, he calls out to his comrade and bids him raise the brake
upon the drum and stop the wheel. Two men alternately empty the bags,
one standing on that part of the floor which is in front of the shaft,
and the other on that part which is at the back. When the bag has been
nearly drawn up—of which fact a certain link of the chain gives warning—the
man who stands on the one part of the floor, catches a large iron hook in one
link of the chain, and pulls out all the subsequent part of the chain toward
the floor, where the bag is emptied by the other man. The object of this
hook is to prevent the chain, by its own weight, from pulling down the
other empty bag, and thus pulling the whole chain from its axle and
dropping it down the shaft. His comrade in the work, seeing that the bag
filled with water has been nearly drawn out, calls to the director of the
machine and bids him close the water of the tower so that there will be time
to empty the bag; this being emptied, the director of the machine first of
all slightly opens the other water-gate of the tower to allow the end of the
chain, together with the empty bag, to be started into the shaft again, and
then opens entirely the water-gates. When that part of the chain which
has been pulled on to the floor has been wound up again, and has been let
down over the shaft from the drum, he takes out the large hook which was
fastened into a link of the chain. The fifth man stands in a sort of cross-cut
beside the sump, that he may not be hurt, if it should happen that a link
zoom in
zoom out
zoom area
full page
page width
set mark
remove mark
get reference
digilib