he writer's apology for what
follows. The Curtis 1500-kilowatt steam turbine will be taken first and
treated "from the ground up."

On entering a turbine plant on the ground floor, the attention is at
once attracted by a multiplicity of pumps, accumulators and piping.
These are called "auxiliaries" and will be passed for the present to be
taken up later, for though of standard types their use is comparatively
new in power-plant practice, and the engineer will find that more
interruptions of service will come from the auxiliaries than from the
turbine itself.

Builders' Foundation Plans Incomplete

It is impractical for the manufacturers to make complete foundation
drawings, as they are not familiar with the lay-out of pipes and the
relative position of other apparatus in the station. All that the
manufacturers' drawing is intended to do is to show the customer where
it will be necessary for him to locate his foundation bolts and opening
for access to the step-bearing.

[Illustration: FIG. 1]

Fig. 1 shows the builders' foundation drawing, with the addition of
several horizontal and radial tubes introduced to give passage for the
various pipes which must go to the middle of the foundation. Entering
through the sides of the masonry they do not block the passage, which
must be as free as possible when any work is to be done on the
step-bearing, or lower guide-bearing. Entering the passage in the
foundation, a large screw is seen passing up through a circular block
of cast iron with a 3/4-inch pipe passing through it. This is the
step-supporting screw. It supports the lower half of the step-bearing,
which in turn supports the entire revolving part of the machine. It is
used to hold the wheels at a proper hight in the casing, and adjust the
clearance between the moving and stationary buckets. The large block
which with its threaded bronze bushing forms the nut for the screw is
called the cover-plate, and is held to the base of the machine by eight
1-1/2-inch cap-screws. On the upper side are two dowel-pins which enter
the lower step and keep it from turning. (See Figs. 2 and 3.)

[Illustration: FIG. 2]

[Illustration: FIG. 3]

The step-blocks are very common-looking chunks of cast iron, as will be
seen by reference to Fig. 4. The block with straight sides (the lower
one in the illustration) has the two dowel holes to match the pins
spoken of, with a hole through the center threaded for 3/4-inch pipe.
The step-lu