extensively used throughout the United States, with both long and short smoke boxes. The deflecting plate is, in this and many other cases, perforated, but is usually without perforations.

Fig. 14 illustrates the front end of the new Atlantic type engines, Nos. 1591 and 1592; of the same road. In this case, which shows the views of the builders, a "basket" or truncated cone of netting reaches from the top of the exhaust pot to a plate extending to the flue head and a front inclined sheet of netting. The above illustrations are selected from a number of blue prints furnished by Mr. F. A. Delano, superintendent of motive power, who calls attention to the fact that there is considerable divergence of opinion as to what is the best, and that master mechanics have been allowed to follow their own ideas to a considerable extent. The basket" form of netting, as in Fig. 14, appears to be preferred in these designs when a low exhaust nozzle is used, and one of them, which practically corresponds with that shown in Fig. 13, except that the netting is curved upwardly, instead of being inclined, and that a longer smoke box is used, is stated to be applied to about sixty locomotives on one of the divisions of the C., B. & Q. railroad, and to be thought a good design. Mr. Delano also states that he uses brick arches in all his engines, and that he believes in as high an exhaust nozzle as will give sufficient draft, and as large a netting area as can be used.

A front end which has been substituted, with entirely satisfactory results, for long extended smoke boxes, in a number of engines on a prominent railroad, is shown in Fig. 15. The motive power officer in charge, who is recognized as good authority, but who, for satisfactory reasons, does not desire to be named, forwarded the blue print from which the illustration was made, with a letter of March 28, 1899, in which he says:

'We have shortened the front ends on a number of our locomotives for the purpose of enabling the nozzles to be enlarged, which we found by experiment could be done when the front ends were shortened. The design of front end arrangement we use, is practically the same as that recommended by the committee of the Master Mechanics' Association two years ago, and we have found it quite satisfactory. We, of course, made some slight modifications to suit the different conditions under which they were applied.

"We cannot give you any reliable figures on the performance of the locomotives before and after the extensions were shortened, as the conditions of the service have changed from time to time sufficiently to vitiate a comparison of the coal consumption during the different periods.”

Figs. 16 and 17 will be fully understood by reference to the following extract from a letter of Mr. F. W. Johnstone, superintendent M. P. & M. Mexican Central railway, dated May 12, 1899 :

I take pleasure in sending you blue print, showing front end arrangement of the new engines which we are getting built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works, our card 726, drawer 28.

"You will see that we are using the master mechanics' standard nozzle and petticoat arrangement, with what we call the Mexican Central standard deflecting plate and netting arrangement. This gives a clear opening between the bottom of the netting and the top of the deflecting plate of seventeen inches.