ENGINEERING

New Zealand Times, Volume LII, Issue 12042, 21 January 1925, Page 4

ENGINEERING

BEVELOPMENT IN BRITAIN “ELECTRICAL TOWN” A FEATURE OF WEMBLEY THIS YEAR. DISPLACEMENT OF COAL. (From a London Correspondent.) Within the last few days it has been decided definitely that the British, Empire Exhibition at Wembley will reopen its doom in 1925, and will thus give the many thousands who were un-abta-to see its wonders in 1924 another opportunity of learning some thing about the Empire overseas, and to view the vast collection of diverse interests whiHi form d£is wonderful exhibition. At this juncture, it is not possible to say in What form the various "branches of the engineering industry will be represented, but it is probable that combined displays will he less in evidence, and,, that more will he left to individual- enterprise. In the case of the electrical industry,' however, there is a strbDg probability that a number of prominent firms will combine, , and their exhibit will form ah electrical town, such as is like ly to be typical in the future when coal has.'been entirely displaced for industrial and domestic uses by electricity. It is to -jbe hoped that this'project will be carried out, for it Would serve as the means for a- most interesting and instructive display. In brief, it is certain that British engineers are alive to the enormous publicity value of ; the exhibition, and will see that the industry as a whole is adequately representPOPULAR RADIO INDUSTRY. If the electrical Town-comes into being,-, the new radio industry will, no doubt, figure largely there, for wire • loss, has now become an integral part of the daily, life of all civilised countries,’ and the sphere of its uses is ex-; tending almost daily. Broadcasting ii now bringing pleasure 'and instruction into thousand of homes daily, and has 1 become so general that it 4s difficult to realise that jt is but two yea-rs old 1 . Of course,: loud-speakers were used fairly extensively before broadcasting, oalne into fashion in such places as ships’ engine-rooms where it was desir ed to amplify the sound of the human voice above the’ noise of machinery, but _ these appliances were of the. straight ’ funnel type and... servo l as- an interesting contrast to the latest development in loud-speakers sijch as the “Pnmax,” made, by the Sterling Telephone and Electric Company, at theii works at Dagenham. This type - con a largo pleated of parchment material, and' in operation gives remarkable purity of tone with an amazing-volume. It is, of course, artistically,- too, a notable-advance on the older patterns of loud-speaker. COAL-CONVEYING PLANI\

In the Palaoe of Engineering at Wembley, during 1924, the stand occupied .by _ the General Electric^Company and-its associated companies wasa veritable exhibition -in itself ,but it was; only possible, so to speak, to “hint” at some of the larger produo- - tiona ill the heavy engineering line: . Which are among the activities of this organisation. Interesting models were '-shown, and gave the visitor a reliable idea of the actual product, which, ofcourse, could not be shown, owing toexigencies *of spaoe. A few particulars. therefore, will possibly be found interesting of the new.. coal-handling plant installed at. . East. -Greenwich Power; Station for the ..London County Council. This is the work oh the Fraser and , Chalmers Engineering ■ Works, which ia. associated, with - the G.E.C., and was ■ responsible for the ingenious modle of a coal-handlirfg plant at ‘ Wembley. , ■ E® B * Greenwich plant, coal 18 delivered .by grabs into hoppers attaopod _ to travelling -transporters, which- load it evenly on .to - ’ two horizontal belts, runhing.. .parallel to the' .rivpr at-the pier-head:v-Either or both |_of these belts delivers the coal into specially-designed chutes at- the tbp of the crusher-house situated %t the centre of the. pier. Thence, by a system of chutes, it is conveyed to a short horizontal inshore belt, and so to storage bunkers, or by mei ns of a long inclined belt to bunkers over the boil-er-hpuse., - This inclined conveyor belt is. 80in wide and nearly 670 ft long, and raises the coal to a maximum height of 58ft 6in) It runt at a speed of 350 ft per-minute, and has a capacity of ’4OO tons of coal per hour. The belt is driven through a system of spur gearing from a 50 h.p. Wittdn electria motor.The construction of the .belts Is interesting. Steppe 1 pjy construction is employed,” with specially-selected / cotton duck, bonded together by-a solution Of rubber compound, gives a separation test on -a piece lin wide of _2slb pqll at. an inch per minute. It is ds well to .add that belts of this quality have been known to carry as much,.as 14 million tons of'coal before wearing opt. Automatic machinery.

A very, simple and efficient plant for; lighting, heating, and' cooking,, which: is likely to prove very useful in country districts, is the “G-K” Petrol Airgas machine, manufactured by George Kent, Limited; of London and Luton. Air-gas gives an excellent incandescent light, and, moreover; can ■ be readily Used also' for heating and cooking. The installation is simplicity itself ...consisting ot agas-generating machine worked hy falling weights, and gas-pipes leading to fittings and burners in tho ordinaiy/way. The onlv supervision required is the winding up of the driving weights onee'a’day, and filling up with petiol about once a week. Occasionally, guide rods and levers should W oiled. As far as .cost is concerned, with, petrol obtainable at 2s -per gal* Ion," eight 60 c.p. burners cost one penny per hcrtir, which cannot .to called an extravagant sum. The special carburettor used On the “G-K” machine gives excellent, results, the highest possible vapourisation of spirit being at* tained, and a perfectly steady light secured' under any load. ’Another useful apparatus which trns recently been brought out is the “Alekin” distilling apparatus. This plant is manufactured m various sines, having capacities up to four gallons of water Tier' hour, and js intended for use , in hospitals, laboratories, workshopsC on . shipboard , and in. other places where distilled water is required in regular supplies. The “Alekin” apparatus, which is made hy J. btone and Company, of' Deptford, is very compact, and is automatic in action; It has the advantage of embodying no moving parts to work loose, and the parts that require occasional cleaning are readily accessible. Various types are made sd that wood, coal, gas, oil, or steam can he employed for heating. POWER FARMING One of the greatest problems in power ploughing in the past has been the difficulty of avoiding compressing the soil by the tractor. To get over I this, of course, a system was devised I which made use of two te3£tion engines

placed at either side of a field and a long who rope for hauling the plough. - The advent of a. tractor fitted with ail improved form' of “roadless” track, however, has obviated the old difficulty entirely. ' Owing to the very large area of tho track and the, comparatively light weight of the tractor; the pressure on the ground only works out at about ton pounds per square, inch. The new. “Sentinel-Roadless” tractor, which is referred 1 to. is the latest product from the Shrewsbury Works, in conjunction witli Roadless Traction, Limited. and is likely to find a verV'wiile market, both, at Home and overseas. Regarding its use in ploughing operations; the tractor can be .safely taken over the lightest soil drawing a five or seven-furrow, plough without detriment to the crop-bearing qualities of the soil in Question. Apart from

are a multitude of ttses *9, :*»*«»" tbe tractor can be put when ability to go anywhere and pull hard is the chief requirement. In this connection it ib interesting to add that the tractor will successfully negotiate embankments and' such like as steep as 1 in 1, "and has a, maximum drawbar pull 'Of about si xtdns. -romance op the plough. To refer again for a moment to the plough, it is stranga to find that in early times them was an idea prevalent ’in. many countries that iron passing through the soil actually poisoned it! This belief was not entirely confined to the ancients, for the same superstition wae'shown, by many American farmers when the first iron ploughs were

introduced into the country in 1797. All primitive • ploughs wre cf wood, "the early Greeks using the trunk of a small tree with two opposite branches, one forming the share or point, the other the handle, while the teunk formed the team. Indeed, wooden plough* may be seen in use to-day on the North-Eest frontier of India, whew tho hardy Pathan wrosts a sparse ing from* the. inhospitable soil of thoOT 1 regions. Plough- to-day, however, generally speaking, the results of year* of experience and design, and a firm such as Ranaomes, Sims, and Jefferies, Limited, of Ipswich, turn out a wide ' variety of types. Ploughs for anb- . coiling, ploughs for ridging, . ploughs for draining, ploughs for laying the furrow air one way, and ploughs for direct traction are smoaj their product*.