WORKSHOP AND BUILDING.

Southland Times, Issue 19546, 9 May 1925, Page 9

WORKSHOP AND BUILDING.

ELECTRICAL INSTALLATIONS (Contributed.) ■ Honest workmanship and good material ' are as essential tc-day as at the earliest i stages of this wonderful power that has ■ come to the aid of man. It used to be i continually asserted that the adoption of I the electric light increased the risk of fire. . The opinion of the manager of the Phoenix j Fire Office in London, on this subject, is j therefore worthy of note as that of a man peculiarly qualified to speak with authority. i This gentleman holds that electric light is j one of the most secure of all methods of | lighting when the installation is properly ' made with the best quality workmanship and materials. On the other hand, he says [ that an installation carelessly made, or I made with bad materials, renders a building ■ exceedingly liable to an outbreak of fire. It is the case of the lightning conductor over again. A great deal depends on how I it is fixed. A MONSTER KEY. ; The restoration of the exterior of the I Church of St. Peter, Cornhill, necessitated l the taking down off the great vane or I weathercock of a key—the emblem of the I patron saint of the church. The key was ! found to be Bft. Bins. in length, and the ; wards, which served to show how the wind I blows up there, are 18 inches high and 24 inches across. A spindle passes through the bow, and between it and each side there ; is a space of 10 inches. The bow itself is.; j 2ft. from top to bottom. The gold leaf used !in re-gilding the key amounted to 700 • leaves. The church, which is one of Sir | Christopher Wren’s, is of brick. It stands j cn the site of a much older edifice, which j was destroyed by the Fire of London, and i itr spire reaches to about 140 ft. from the ground. A dragon surmounts the steeple iof Bow Church, and it is 9 feet long. A ' grasshopper (the crest of Sir Th cm as Gresham, the original founder of the Exchange) ; reposes over the Royal Exchange, and is 11 . feet long, while on the Church of St. ; Lawrence Jewry, close to Guildhall, there I is a large gridiron, typical of the martyrdom i of the saint. THE IRISH JOINER. ' I’m a joiner by trade, and O’Chisel’s my name; From the sod to make shavings and money I came. : But myself I was never consarning ’Bout the lessons of schools, : For my own chest of tools I And my shop were my college of laming. For by cutting controversy And boring and driving Each learned profession gains bread. Oh, they’re safe to succeed If they only take heed, To strike the right nail on the head. The lawyers, like carpenters, work on the bench, And their trade’s just the same as my own, to an inch, For clients, whenever they dive in it, Socn find their cash fail— For the Law’s a big nail And the ’turneys are hammers for driving it. The doctor a big chest of tools carries out, And cuts, saws and hacks his poor patients about, Just as I would a plank or a scantling; And it’s all one to him If he lops cff a limb Or takes out an old tooth or a bantling. Then each Sunday at church by the parson we’re tpld By line, square and compass our actions to mould, And at joining, himself the right sort is, For he joins man and wife Together for life, Just as firm as a tenant and mortise. And the heroes that served in our army and ships, When they’re fighting our battles are all brother chips. So entirely cur trades are according. For with tools of sharp steel Soldiers cut a great deal, And the tars are nate workmen at boarding. Then our nobles and merchants and stockjobbing lads, Like joiners, work best when there’s plenty of brads. Each projector’s a great undertaker. And to clinch up the whole Our King—bless his soul— Is an elegant Cabinet-maker. THE PROGRESS OF INVENTION. One who takes a bird’s eye view of human I progress sees that the race has advanced, not in a straight line, but by a series of tacks, like a vessel beating against a headwind. The progress made in physical ‘ science, which has been very great during the last hundred years or so, is the result of a series of small advances frcm one point of knowledge to another. : not very far away. The most important invention of its age was the steam engine. Its most effective application has been to manufacturers and the propul--1 sion of ships. When steam navigation was : first proposed, Sir Joseph Banks, President ■ of the Royal Society, said: “It is a pretty ' plan, but there is just one point overlooked I —that the steam-engine requires a firm i basis on which to work.” That was the opinion of a theorist, and ! as such was not heeded by a practical mechanic like William Symington, who ; said: “Let us test this theory by an experi- ' ment.” He put a steam-engine into a . double-hulled boat, the paddle-wheels of which had been worked by men turning a : capstan. The men soon became exhausted and the I boat stopped; but the steam-engine turned the wheels and the boat towed vessels. Then Fulton improved on Symington’s plan, and steamboats going against wind and tide , proved that the philosopher’s theory had overlooked “just one point”—the mechanic’s : bility to build a stable fcundation in an unstable boat. When it was proposed to unite England and America by steam, Dr. Lardner delivered a lecture before the Royal Society “proving” that steamers could never cross the Atlantic, because they could not carry coal enough to raise steam during the whole i voyage. The passage of the steamship ■ Sirius, which crossed the ocean in 19 days .! (it has been cut down since that) knocked I Lardner’s theory to pieces. The “wooden walls” of England have i given place to “walls” of iron. But when an iron ship was mooted many persons said j “Iron sinks; only wood can float.” But experiments proved that the miracle of the • prophet could be repeated, and ships of war , and merchant vessels were built of iron and ! steel. The change came only in time. The last j wooden line-of-battle ship built for the British Navy required 4,200 loads of timber, ■ the growth upon seventy acres of ground . for eighty years. The merchant ships which • Great Britain needed would require 800,000 acres of timber land. Take the evolution of the present tele- : phene system as an example of the assertion that we move by steps and staira. A simple > little plaything, these two tins with a piece ' cf vellum stretched taut and connected , by a piece of twine. But contemplation and brains and patient study and experiment have made it a practical and indispensable agent of communication. Another example—not so important perhaps—may be given—the “elevator,” as ■ the Americans call it, and which we call ! the “lift.” Before the introduction of this appliance even city buildings were not raised . very high. Anything above the third story I was practically inaccessible, and could be i rented only for storage purposes. Now the I only limits to the height of buildings are i the solidity of the foundations and the : crushing strength of building materials. ' While the high cost of land leads capitalists j to erect very high structures, the elevator I ItM sUi&de the highe&t SQQfiMI the UiOA dttHh i

able, as they afford better flight and air. These and other beneficent inventions have grown up from small beginnings and gained maturity juat when the human race needed them, in order to make another “tack” in its progress.