The oil,
however, does thicken in very cold weather, and the temperature has a
considerable influence on the delivery.
A very ingenious patented device is used for cleaning out the pipes, and
by it the delivery is said to have been increased in certain localities
50 per cent. This is a stem about 21/2 feet long, having at its front end
a diaphragm made of wings which can fold on each other, and thus enable
it to pass an obstruction it cannot remove; this machine carries a set
of steel scrapers, somewhat like those used in cleaning boilers. The
device is put into the pipe, and propelled by the pressure transmitted
from the pumps from one station to another; relays of men follow the
scraper by the noise it makes as it goes through the pipe, one party
taking up the pursuit as the other is exhausted. They must never let it
get out of their hearing, for if it stops unnoticed, its location can
only again be established by cutting the pipe.
The pumping stations are substantial structures of brick, roofed with
iron. The boiler house is removed some distance from the engine house
for greater safety from fire; the building, about 40 by 50 feet,
contains from six to seven tubular boilers, each 5 by 14 feet, and
containing 80 three-inch tubes.
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