CANTERBURY COLLEGE ENGINEERING SOCIETY.

Press, Volume LVI, Issue 10384, 29 June 1899, Page 6

CANTERBURY COLLEGE ENGINEERING SOCIETY.

The Canterbury College Engineering Society held its annual laboratory night on Saturday -last ,when there was an unusually large attendance. Mr A. F.. Morrison," demonstrator; gave a lecture on"The Testing of Materials.'' He referred to the scientific and commercial aspects of. the subject, and dealt with tension, compression, shearing, bending, and torsion. The effect of loading on a structure was considered in detail, and the important properties of elasticity and ductility olv'metals explained, showing the great benefit a designing engineer derived from a knowledge of the results obtained Irom testing mtuMnery. These remarks wWe illustrated by*" reference to practical examples, such as tlie treatment of iron and steel plates to counteract the injury done to ihenji by punching and shearing. Mr Morrison then described the constmotion and working of all the machinery" of the engineeriw*: dfejwa*tm___V including, the 50-ton and 20001b Buckton's testaic: machines, the lubricating and cylinder oil testers, the Calorimeter, and the steam, -engines, and pointed out the method of conducting a boiler and engine trial such _s would be required by "the owner of a steam plant desiroua of aaoertacning whet-her it was htsftg worked in the way best fitted to ensure economy. After the lecture, which was illustrated throughout by limelight views, the engineering laboratory was visited, and the machinery shown at woric, thus giving additional and practical demonstration in connection with tbe subjects referred to. by Mr Morrisop.; tests being made on bolts, joints, -chain, bicycle spokes, wire, timber, cement, Oamarn stone, oil and coal. In the lecture room an additional attraction consisted of a display of models and a great variety of diagrams. . The latter have been made at the College, being part of & large stock used to illustrate the vario__* lectures on Engineering, and on Saturday were arranged to show the development of the steam-ngtne from the time of Hero, 200 8.C., and it is interesting to notice that they show that many of the' present day inventions aro really toe inventions of yearn gone by, which were then-un-productive, but __r_ now-being re-introduced and perfected. Bar e_c__mp_e, one sketch gives the self-propelled steam rood motor made by Cugnot in 1771; and in juxtaposition ore _-e*enindiaerain»-f the steam turbine in 1629, awl Mr Parson's now famous "Tm-binia;" of the water, tube boaler of Gurney in 1828, end the nmnerous latter day types, to the adoption of which so much attention is being paid in __e Navy at the present time.