(From the Scientific American.)

Slipping of Leather Belts.—The slipping of belts is a great annoyance, not always remedied by tightening. The writer has known a slipping belt to be so shortened as to spring the shaft without preventing the slipping. The radical remedy is to keep the belt pliable, so as to hug the faces of the pulleys; but this is not always feasible. The belt may be softened by neatsfoot oil or by castor oil. A siccative oil, like linseed oil, is unfit for a leather belt, as it has an affinity for the oxygen of the atmosphere and reverts to its acid base, which is injurious to the leather. When a ready remedy is demanded for a slipping belt, the powder known as whiting, sprinkled sparingly on the inside of the belt, is least harmful of any similar application. Powdered resin is bad, as it soon dries the leather and cracks the belt, while it is difficult to get it out of the leather; whereas whiting may be wiped off or washed out with water. The use of water on belts, preliminary to oiling, is good. The belt should be washed on shutting down at night, or Saturday, after the close of work, is better, and then the oil applied when the belt is partially dry. Never oil or wash a belt while stretched on the pulleys. If iron-faced pulleys were always lagged with leather, there would be little complaint of the slipping of belts. But often this slipping is due to too much strain on the belt; there is economy in running wide belts, wider than is the usual practice. Many a 3-ineh belt has to duty for a 4-inch belt, to the annoyance of the operator and the ruin of the belt.