iderable
period of time in which to cool.

Before any radical changes were made it was decided that a man should
crawl in the suction pipe A, and remove such sand, dirt, or any other
obstacles as were believed to cause the friction. After this had been
done and considerable sand had been removed, tests were resumed with
practically the same results as before. The investigation was continued
and the dry-vacuum pumps were overhauled, as they had been damaged by
water in the cylinders, and furthermore needed re-boring. In short, the
auxiliaries were restored to the best condition that could be brought
about by the individual improvement of each piece of apparatus. As this
was not the seat of the trouble, however, the remedy failed to effect a
"cure." It was demonstrated that the steam consumption of the turbines
was greatly increased due to priming of the boilers, as well as
condensation in the turbine casing; hence, the ills above mentioned were
aggravated.

Changes in Piping

After a great deal of argument from the chief engineer, and the firm
which furnished the pump, both making a strong plea for a change in the
piping, the company accepted the inevitable, and the dotted portion
shows the present layout. The elbow M was removed, and a tee put in its
place to which the piping D was connected. The circulating pump was
removed to the position shown, and a direct connection substituted for
the S-bend. The discharge pipe C was carried from No. 1 unit separately,
as shown in the elevation, and terminated at No. 1 cooling tower
instead of No. 2, which shortened the distance about 60 feet, the total
length of pipe (one way) from No. 1 unit being originally 250 feet. In
this way the condensing equipment was made practically separate for each
turbine, as it should have been in the first place.

With the new piping a vacuum of 24 inches on the peak could be reached.
While this is far from an efficient value, yet it is better than the
former figure. The failure to reach a vacuum of 28 inches or better is
due primarily to a lack of cooling water, but an improvement in this
regard could be made by reconstructing the cooling towers, which at
present do not offer the proper amount of cooling surface. The screens
used were heavy galvanized wire of about 3/16-inch mesh, which became
coated in a short time, and must be thoroughly cleaned to permit the
water to drop through them. The supply of cooling water was taken from a
30-inch