THE MARVELS OF MODERN ENGINEERING.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 10582, 11 October 1910, Page 6

THE MARVELS OF MODERN ENGINEERING.

That the engineer is the modern, Aladdin, at whose touch wonders happen, "is proved by .the machinery . and. appliances that fill the 1 'Hall of Ten Thousand Wheels" at Olympia. It is three years since such an exhibition was held in London, but m that short time remarkable progress has been made. The internal combustion engine has enabled the aviator to conquer the air, and motor-driven battleships may soori replace the turbine, which made sueli a sensation when it was introduced at a naval review nt Portsmouth only a few" years ago.. . The machinery was silent yesterda\. but when all the wheels are in motion to-day Olympia will be the most w ond'erful workshop in .the world. . The largest anchor ever made—a giant of fifteen and a-lialf tons, wita a chain of which each link weighs several hundredweights—shows, the size that modern ships have attained. This anchor is intended for the ulympio;';the White Star-Jiner which Messrs Harland and Wolff, of- Belfast, are now building. Twelve horses were requiredto drag it to its place at Olympia. - By-its side is a-bar of- Staffordshire wrought iron five inches in.diam..ei tied in a true lover's knot when 1 lie bar was cold as easily as a child coui.. make a cat's cradle' of string. A portion ofi a cable intended to lion, a. Hamburg-American liner close n.v. Every link - 'IS" .'two feet long, j" 1 ."- weighs 2001bs. • As a contrast to this display of strength is a. delicate recording instrument used ; oil large liners which shows to a, hair's breadth, .every, of the vessel, even when &ne is : hurling herself through the ocean -at a ' speed"- o£ 25 knots, v-Another remarkable J exhibit Is pipe, which melts , platfii j like butter, and can . eat a hole m a steel safe as 'quickly as, can. a mouse in

Ch Tlil' blowpipe,is a long, thin nozzle of brass with a down-turned bui nei through which ,a of - ■acetylene gas produced a white heat. iA- tinj , spray ol oxygen forced through tlie .centre exidises any metal the jet touches. Eight mcli steel can be cut through in halt a minute. , . . Divers in helmets and outfits which ; niake-' |; air'Hi;ubeS"- uniiec6ssaTy-«iaesceiia. into glass-fronted tanks m full view of visitors to the exhibition, and walk under the water,, as comfortably as though strolling between the stalls. A "room of death" which is nlled at intervals with dense sulphur luines, in which no unprotected man could live for an instant, is another of the sensations of the exhibition. - : Every now 7 and then a. man. with a. patent smoke helmet enters this room and takes a seat. He cduld. remain there for six.hours without the slightest discomfort. It is this ingenious, invention which has saved many lives m recent colliery disasters. 6 *" "Wireless" apparatus, . herculean lathes, which can ' 'turn'' a gieat ; gun asi-easily as-a broomstick, and a novel instrument by-winch a * captain -in his 'oabra* can, checko£ the. man'sat the wheel l are other--mar]-vels'-of the" exhibition'. . ■