ENGINEERING WONDERS.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 17629, 5 December 1922, Page 7

ENGINEERING WONDERS.

INVENTIONS FOR THE EMPIRE EXHIBITION.

P-BESS-THE-BUTTON EKA. (rr.oM otTR own corrksron dent.) LONDON, October 27. The most up-to-date a:;d representative assembly of machines y that the world has ever seen will shown at the British Empire Exhibit ion "in IVrJ-l. Hundreds of thousands oi pounds worth of 20tu century inver.tii :is and eraitsmanrJiip will ix* on view.

At the invitation of the Executive Council of the Exhibition, tho British Engineers' Association and the Britisti Electrical and Allied .Manufacturers' Association have cor.s-enteu to organise and arrange .all the exhibits of electrical, general and marine engineering, and the ablest men in industries are now applying their minds assiduously to this stupendous u..-k. •Shipbuilding improvement.; are sure to play a part worthy of an Empire of great mariners. Latest developments in ship-construction and murine engineering will he displayed. Visitor.* will be able to see how the oil in t-i:c- most modern oil-burning ship<s is distributed front the tanks to the burners beneath the boilers. Side by side, tl'.o' most recent steam-turbines and the marinetype ]>iesel oil-engines will be shown, and the power-system of the all-elec-tric sitip will be compared with both.

From Hand-Drill to Power Wave. Colliery and other mining appliances of every description will be shown. Scarcely more than a quarter of a century ago, our quarrymen, our coal, un and copper miners, were working with only hand drills to boro the holes Tor then- shot-tiring. "Wembley, with its novel displays of rock, slate .and stoneoutting by means of drills worked by, compressed air. electric motors, and on the new wave-transmission system, will reveal to the multitude' tlie revolution quietlv brought about by our modern scientific power appliances. Light railway engineering is another section in which many modern improvements will he demonstrated'. All the latest types of locomotives, both steam and electric, the latest cranes, lifts, and overhead transmitters, signalling inventions, bridge-work, and permanent-way improvements, will provide a complete summary of modern transport developments in all parts of the Empire. Visitors will see also textile machinery of every modern character, appliances used in the wool, cotton, printing, paper, chemical, dyeing, pottery, and glass-making industries, and all classes of agricultural machinery. Perhaps development in no section of engineering is so rapid and continuous as in electrical plant and appliances. In this section Wembley's display will include the latest achievements in turbo-alternator design, in switch-gear, transformers, storage batteries, and plant used in connexion with the generation, conversion, aiid distribution of electrical energy on an enormous scale. Some of these will be at work on the spot, serving a useful purpose within the Exhibition.

Homes Made Homely. But it is not only the inventions for use in factory, mine and navigation, that the great Empire Exhibition will reveal- There is the home side —the side that appeals most to the womenfolk; and this "switch and button" side is tho only one of the thousand features of tho Exhibition in which women wi.l be specially interested. Electric labour-saving devices for the home will be shown in infinite variety. Electric stoves, ovens, grills, washers, cleaners, toasters, coilee mills, and cake mixers will demonstrate the extent to which the domestic servant problem has been solved in the really modern household. The housewife to-day, by turning a switch, can have a-.m-st everything done for her by electricity—from the brewing of tea to the beating of carpets, liou press a button and you get _your boots cleaned. Transmitting sets, aerials, and power units for long-distance communication will astonish visitors who have not yet realised the enormous progress that is continually being made in the commercial application of wireless transmission. Every kind of receiving 6et, from the simple "crystal" unit to a complete multi-valve equipment, will be explained. In addition there will he, at frequent intervals, practical demonstrations of wireless transmission and reception of messages, speeches, t'.nd musical items. Visitors will be able to got into touch with the best musical and theatrical entertainments of the West End, and with the big political demonstrations, if any are held during the run of the Exhibition. Engineering, however, is only one of the sections of this vast Empoire trad© fair.

It has been decided to divide pie exhibits into ten sections, 45 groups and 150 classeß.