BIRDS AND FAST ENGINES.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 22, 21 October 1907, Page 5

BIRDS AND FAST ENGINES.

i v A NATURALIST FROM THE , WORKSHOPS. ' MR. EDGAR STEAD'S RETURN. ...... ; 'Mr.:. Edgar ■ Stead..is. well. known in New. Zealand las an authority on the Dominion's birds. In the .intervals of nineteen months' Hard study of electrical'engineering, inHhe United States,. ho has learned a, good deal also about American birds. When Mr. Stead arrived in Wellington .by the Wimmera, en\ route' to Christchurch, a Dominion representative questioned him about his favourite scientific bobby, pursuing tho more utilitarian subjects of advances in .electrical engineering,' developments m rapid transit; and.the "latest thing" in motor-cars. Mr. Steady it. should be mentioned, has. come back by way of England, where ho spent a pleasant month, staying behind his family for the 'pleasure, of a grouse : shooting expedition which he had promised to attend. . Proper Bird Protection., . . : On arriving in America Mr. Stead obtained a permit to take bird specimens for purely scientific purposes, and managed to secure •: someeighty skins and a'number of eggs for ' the Canterbury Museum. :He comes back to New Zealand more thoroughly imbued 1 than ever .with' the idea of tho urgent : necessity that exists for more stringent regulations for the protection of our avifauna.' In this respect, he says the .Americans, are miles" ahead of us. There'flll the ; birds are protected, and an open seaaori ; gazetteer for certain'kinds pf game birds;' Mr. Stead is' Strongly of'opinion that New Zealand should fr?'me its legislation . on those lines, and as'there is an Animals' Piot'ection'Bill now bofore Parliament.there ', would.appear to.be a good opportunity, for doing ,so. The utterly riotous condition of affairs that now obtains' hero is, in '.'Mr; Stead's opinion, a disgrace to the Dominion. Even in connection with, the taking of birds' for, scientific purposes,'the regulations in 'America are remarkably strict. Not only has one to obtain and pay for a. permit, but one must also get .three landpwners in the State, mentioned to -enter into a' bond of two hundred dollars each that one will riot break evon the'spirit of.the'regulations. So strict -* are the Americans iiv the 'matter of bird protection that,'they set■;a" close, watch, arid seyorely' punish offenders.. As 'an instance, , Mr> Stead-mentioned that'the famous Wai-' ' dorf, Astoria, , for having birds out of season, had'to'. pay. a fine "amounting; in all to 5000 ■ ■■ dols. ~.. .'.'.'.;;;, /;', ■'■■-.■,"'" .; .. ' .'■" , ." ' . Mr.' Stead' , ;.during his stay.in New York i tad the pleasure'of making the' acquaintance of Messrs. Chapman, Beobe, and Dwight, all, . well-Jcnown "students. ~of tjie avifauna of \ I 'America. .'Bach ,of.these men is, working, on •■'■/■ differentxlines. Mr.. Chapman is,curator of ' the. Ornithological, Department,, of the Now ■York Museum,/and is, of course, keen in the interest of science to get all the specimens he can into his museum.. Mri Bcebo, on the other hand, is ornithological curator of the famous Zoo there,! and , studies birds in their natural habitat. Mr. Dwight specialises on plumage.- '••'■ ' ■ ■■■;'■■[''■'.: • ■ ■,; An Interesting Experiment: - ' -'■■• Apropos _', of .this, , Mr., Stead mentioned , a very,"ihterestirig experiment:with,one species of birds'which, on the sand plains of llpxico, has a greyishipluma'ge, and in the swamps of Florida is almost black. The birds were so different in'plumage as .almost! to , constitute a.different species.. Mr. Beebe thought.the. change .was due_to. 'atmospheric.-.'.conditions. Some of the Mexican birds were obtained and kept in an ' atmosphere, of 110 degrees humidity, with the; so'mewhat'startling resultthat,in three,years they, had changed into -■' the' , Florida species. "..'.,:"'.' v , V.' One feature of the■,'' American "museum's that;'.impressed':.MK'.'Stead .'was 'the"splendid represeritatioirof bird. Ijljo as'in thenatural habitat.Y.No 6'n(l"df "expense"and .trouble, is ' spared : for .these, life-like [representations. 'Artists'go; to'the ''and paint the backgrounds' onMfclie spot, while, the very soil ,and' ; herbage 'a'rn' brought'"■froih' l .the'"native v habitat and' reproduced in'wax as if they. • wore riea'l.' ; \one man Mr.' Stead saw employed on this work could build a "branch of, any tree; So lifelike '.that one could not tell it from' the geriuine article The whole scene, whether/'of Mexican sandy desert or" Florida STtjamp, is so real that the birds secrii to bo alive" .in a "natural landscape. '? Nearly all thi - 3 work is done by' private' benefactions, men'like Mr. J. P. Morgan being ever ready to dip , their'hands into thfeir pockets' in aid of zoo or museum.' The, Americans Mr. Stead found were very keen on Nature study,' and he ■ thinks ~Neiv Zealand might do more in this direction; The'y'ouriß people, instead of getting' :a !'guh ancT shooting at' anything or - Bvorytliiug. feathered,'have, been: taught, to \ love the birds,'and to protect them. Bird-Protection Society. L ; -One society—the Audubon Society—is'doing ( magnificent work in this respect; It isnamed . after '■ the bird naturalists who trampeA thrbugh North America and studied tho birds in their haunts.- ; It was recently bequeathed 45,000 dollars. . Owing largely to its efforts,"the 'plume-hjinters .have been' checked hv their deprcdatibris, : and grebe, pelicans, herons, , and many'other birds formerly slaughtered' for the senseless decoration .of women's hats, are once again on the increase in America. The Society maintains its own rangers in'ordor'to prevent such slaughter, andj'in addition, does a great deal to promote nature study and a'love of birds generally.' A Famous- Collection, ...\ , .'.-.' .'.l'', . In England -Mr. • Stead' had a: great treat ingoing over with the Hon. Walter Roths- • child, -the famous Tring■ Musoum, where' there is a fine collection of New ; Zealand* and othor birds. , He was charmed" with the , beauty ;of Mr. Rothschild's grounds, and surprised to find-that,tho owner of the,Tring Museum know so much about his great collection. He, could ..pick up out of his wonderful collection of 80,000 almost any bird, and tell not only whore arid : how he got-it,; but'protty nearly all about the bircl.ttself. , Mr. Rothschild .is'not-a more collectors; he has a very thorough knowledge , of his subject. .■ ~ ... •-, -.-.. r .. Engineering .Extraordinary. ' Bird study; however, was :, but a recreation . of Mr., Ste'ad while he was in America. " Tlie object of his visit was to gain, experience 'n , electrical ongirieering/and this he did-in the testing department of. the General ■ Electrical ■Company at Schenectady. The company ; s one of tho biggest industrial concerns in the would not -break-.down,; It , will go through is only'ono'of many/employs as many as hands. Mr.j Stead was in tho testing department, where every machine made by the company is studied by college students and other employees, who are instructed to put themselves in the place of : customers, ■ and make the most thorough tests of each machine, with the object 'of discovering ; every. flaw that may exist. The company has lately turned out something ' very extraordinary in the nature of a high tension transformer, of '100 killowatts, which stood a- "heat run" of 300,000 s volts, and an insulation test of 450,000 volts. '' No insulator has yet been mado that this machine would not rbeak down. . It will go through sheets of : glass and across a window pano with the greatest ease. It has. the highest voltag'o that human' beings ' havo ever handled practically. Just bofore Mr. ; Steadleft,the company also turned out a nine thousand killowatt ! steam turbine,- which had been built for a power station. This is, Mr. Stead .thinks, tho largest single electric unit that has ever been turned out. The i Americans are spending an enormous am- ' ount of money in research- work every year, a test which Mr. Stead conducted to find out the wear and tear in bearings , being allowed to cost 7500 dollars. "There is one thing in America that impresses one as compared with. New Zealand," said Mr. Stead', "and that is that private enterprise is much, keoner there than hero. People have a certain amount of money to - invest, and they don't mind if the investment is in tho nature of a speculation. Amerha owes nearly all its commercial prosperity to ■private enterprise, arid;, riot to the State. If it had been a matter of privato enterpriso hero the railway between Christcliurch and Lyttelton, for example, would have been electrified years ' ago, . and double-traclied » through the'tunnel,- but as a matter .of Government enterprise : that has -not been dono.

- "The thing that tho Americans aro really strong on," pursued Mr. Stead, "is rapid transit, and that thoy havo doveloped to a striking oxtont. I went on all tho fastest things 1 could. Once 1 rodo for seven miles at tho rate of sixty-five and one-third miles an hour in a single electric car. Tho «ar had four motors of 125 horse-power each, and ran on an ordinary: railroad. I wont down to Atlantic City and travelled on the l'onnslyyania 'special,' .in which,' for about eight miles, our speed was just on ninety miles an hour. This is on a fairly rickety old track, and tho train bounds along in an exciting manner, but it is aii absolutely straight -track. Hero there are two rival trains, the Reading,'special,' and tho Pen--1 nsylvania , 'special,' and they are scheduled up to ninety miles an hour for this one ; stretch across the flat. Thero is an enormous :* traffic on both lines, ' and people treat the • speed quite as a matter of course There is nothing like it anywhoro in tho world. The Reading '.special' is the fastest train in the world, -wjth an average speed of over sixty-five miles an hour for its whole distance." Questioned as; to the effect upon- the traveller of this excessive speed, Mr.' Stead observed that aftor fifty miles an hour, incrnaso of speed is hardly noticed till a rate of seventy or eighty miles is reached. "Then you realise that you are 4 travelling at a. tremendous pace. Things begin to whizz after that., Coming back our train was delayed by the worst thunderstorm I have ever seeii. ■ A tree was seen to bo across tho line. That was sawn through to allow the -train to pass, and then woistarted to make up lost time.. That has been tho cause- of nearly all the accidents on American railways. The schedule times are too quick for the track, the fast'trains are nearly always -late, and thoy attempt to make up that lateness. They try to take a curve 'at a faster -rate than it can possibly bo taken, and either the train goes off the track ,or the track flies out with the train. AVe we're doing between seventy and eighty miles an hour all ;the time, over points, and through little villages, and-you could hardly sit still in tho Pullman,car." 1 Electricity, is coming into more general use on the railways,. Mr. Stead stated, but even more noticeable is the extent to which •it is replacing in factories. Small electric motors to drivo /each machine aro foundv more economical, ■ and cleaner than ono large steam motor driving several machines by means of belting. . v ' Moior-Car Type 3. , / In motor-cars thefo have not been many changes, but the .high horse-powered car\ is all the.vogue in America, and the small horse ; p6wered machino practically a thing of thepist. Tho car that is coming intopopularity is a semi-racing-car, seated for : two, 'with the body.- fairly low, \a fairly long wheel base, and high horse-powered engine, with a high gear. The car is painted grey so as not to show tho dust, and has-a somewhat rakish appearance.. ; As to,the American roads, Mr. Stead declares.that these are absolutely ■ beyond descriptibn. ."They call a rpad what people in tho Hawera district would call a bush track." .1.-.-.-- . ■■■-■ ■ ■