et was not to be outdone.
Discerning good returns from a plant established close to a big center
of consumption, Mr. Bailey entered into a deal with New Jersey
capitalists, and a big factory was set a-going in that State. A
trusted employe of the Bailey concern, Levi Richardson (who still
lives and is the proprietor of a modest little store in East
Winthrop), was sent to New Jersey to instruct the green hands there
in the art of manufacture. While thus engaged, Mr. Richardson's brain
was busy with the problem of labor saving, and one day a phantom
device for smoothing and rubbing down the first rough coats on the
burlaps took form in his mind, and for some weeks he spent his spare
time in experimenting. The result was the present patent used in most
factories, whereby as much rubbing down can be done in one day as
could have been accomplished in four by the old hand method.
--Industrial World.

* * * * *

THE KOPPEL ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVES.

The question of the design of small locomotives for use on pioneer
lines has been always a difficult matter.

The needs of the railway contractor have called for such locomotives,
for which several systems of power have been tried. In many ways the
electric locomotive has distinct advantages over its rivals, steam and
compressed air, for these narrow gage lines. Reviewing these
advantages briefly, we see that the electrical equipment is more
economical to work, as one good stationary engine develops power much
more cheaply than several small locomotives. Again, the electric
locomotive can be more readily designed for narrow gages than steam or
compressed air locomotives.

[Illustration: FIG. 1--AN ELECTRIC LINE EQUIPPED ON THE KOPPEL
SYSTEM.]

[Illustration: FIG. 2.--THE SECTION WITH THE SUPPORT FOR THE OVERHEAD
LINE.]

A new system of equipment of such lines is now being introduced into
this country by Mr. Arthur Koppel, of 96 Leadenhall Street, E. C. The
keynote of this system is flexibility, the arrangements being such
that extensions or alterations can be readily effected. In fact, the
line is portable, and it is claimed also to be cheaper than the
ordinary construction. The overhead conductor is employed, as can be
seen from Fig. 1, which gives a general view of a locomotive and train
of skips on a line actually at work abroad. The supports for the wire
are not provided by separate posts and brackets in the usual way, but
by arched