Road Sprinklers for the Durban
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The two photographs which we reproduce on this page illustrate one of a couple of speciallydesigned, steam-driven road sprinklers which have been built 1)y Mann's Patent Steam Cart and Wagon Co., Ltd., of Leeds, for the State of Patiala, in India, and the machines are to be used for sprinkling the roads surrounding the scene of the forthcoming Durbar at Delhi. The purchase of two such splendid machines for this special purpose is typical of the thoroughness and enterprise of many of the Indian States. These machines may only be used for watering purposes for a few days, or at most a few weeks, and they will then probably have the special watering gear dismantled, and be pressed into service for general transportation purposes within the State. In general design, the wagons are of the Mann five-ton, over type the compound engine is mounted directly over the boiler, and the drive to the live hack axle is by a single, heavy-pattern roller chain. When the vehicle is under way, rotatory motion is transmitted by a second chain to a transverse shaft behind the axle, and thence by two smaller chains to the pair of bevel-driven rotary sprinklers which are mounted at the extreme end of the machine. Each of the two last-named chain devices may be connected or disconnected at will, so that either or both of the sprinklers may be operated as required. The gearing to the sprinklers is such that, when the wagon is travelling at, say, five m.p.h., the sprinklers votate at about 1,000 r.p.m., and by them the water is broken up into a very fine spray,. and is thrown backwards and sideways, covering an area fully 60 ft. in width, On account. of the .conditien and structure of some Indian roads, it is only possible to drive such machines as these on the very centre, and, as some roads are quite 60 ft. wide, it. is necessary
that, at one operation, the full width should be watered ; it was to meet this special requirement that these machines were built.
The storage tank has a capacity of 1,000 gallons, and it is provided with separate down-takes and regulators to the two rotary sprinklers at the hack. For the purpose of filling the tank, a centrifugal pump is mounted on the near side of the driver's footplate, as may clearly be seen in the illustrations. The drive to this pump is by belt from the
engine fly wheel to a small countershaft to the left of, and just forward of, the engine cylinders, and thence by a second belt to a pulley on the pump spindle. A special steamoperated priming air ejector is fitted for the purpose of priming the pump, and thus avoiding the necessity for the fitting of a foot valve in the long flexible suction pipe which, when the vehicle is travelling, is hooked up on the lefthand side of the tank body, as may be seen in the views.