THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. MONDAY, AUGUST 27, 1906.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXIX, Issue 8221, 27 August 1906, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. MONDAY, AUGUST 27, 1906.

The extraordinary action of the body of unemployed in Manchester in seizing a vacant plot of Church land waa not without its humour. True it had its pathos, too. The men, with one or two exceptions, knew as little about pitching a tent us they did about agriculture, and their lot at night was not a pleasant one. But we should be thankful to their leaderjfor reminding us of the saying that work is a most clumsy way of making a living, which certainly deserves to be remembered. This gentleman confessed oandidly in a speech that the unemployed did Dot want work; nor did the merchant, cor the tradesman, nor, indeed, anyone whom he knew, jfividently, like Mr Dooley, they had the judicial temperament. His views on the sabjeot of work were reflected in the agricultural labour of his men. In one day twelve men turned over, to tjhe depth of six inches, a piece of ground mea auring 33ft by 14ft. True it is that there was only one spade in the camp, and, as one correspcn-

dent remarks gently, the men had no opportunity of tiring themselves out. But whether the turning over of 4(32 square feet of ground in a day by twelve men, working one at a time, is a fair day's work we leave to those of our readers who are gardeners to decide. The occupation of the laud was, however, a serious step, said to have been taken after a good deal of deliberation, and was tc be the first of similar autions all over the country. The aotion was defended on the ground that the land had been lying idle for years. "We have started a movement that will revolutionise England," said the leader, "we have put into practical operation the famous maxim: 'The land is the people's.* We are proving to the Government, to the rich, and to the world that Englishmen at any rate will insist upon the right to Mother Earth." "We shall come south," said another, "we are going to prospect the land round London. There are lively times in store for London land-owners." The assault on Loudon has been referred to in our cable news, and no news has yet come of a brilliant victory. Nor do we know yet what has happened to the pioneers of the movement. The land belongs to the Church, and as the deeds go back four hundred years, and would have to be referred to in ejectment proceedings, the men may have enjoyed their leisurely agriculture for some time. They declared their intention of resisting ejectment by force. The movement may draw further attention to the unemployed question but it is eqnaliy possible that illegal actions suoh as these only set back the men's cause.

The turbine engine principle, which has been adopted so extensively for steamships, has been applied now to the propulsion of the torpedo. The newest of these deadly 'maobines is the Bliss Leavitt, which is superseding the Howell and the Whitehead in the United States Navy. Jn its general furm and arrangement the BliasLeavitt torpedo is very like the Whitehead. Its distinguishing feature is the use of the turbine principle, not only in the propelling engine, but also in the gear for steering by the vertical rudders. The main engine is a oompressed air turbine, running at a much higher rate of speed, and developing higher power than the old reciprocating torpedo engine. The 181n Whitehead has a speed of 27 to 28 knots 1,200 yards range, falling to about 22 at 2,000 yards, whioh near the limit of its effeotive range. The Bliss-Leavtt has a speed of 36 knots at 1,200 yards, and still has a speed of 28 at 3,500. It is claimed that up to this range it can make good practice, which means that a ship armed with this torpedo could sink an enemy about two miles away. Part of this great increase in speed and range is due to a device for increasing the working tension of the compressed air by heating it This is effeoted by means of a spirit lamp or stove, whioh is lighted automatically in the air-chamber the moment the torpedo is discharged. There are two main types of turbines. In one, the most übubl kind, the steam, air, or water acts by impinging upon blades attaohed to the shaft that is to be rotated. The other depends upon reaction. Its oldest form is the] little engine invented by Hero'of Alexandra, whioh revolves under the backward drive of jets of steam escaping from points on its circumferenoe. Tbis ( is a remarkable application of the second kind of turbine] in the Bliss-Leavitt. In the Whitehead the rudder is controlled by tho Obry gyrostat gear. The gyrostat, a heavy wheel revolving at high speed, and always keeping the same plane of direction, is set running ay the release of a powerful coiled spring at the moment when the torpedo is discharged. The Blisa-Leavitt torpedo also has this gyrostat principle, but inatead of being revolved by clock work, the wheel has little slanting nozzles all round its oircumference. Compressed air escaping through these nozzles drives the wheel round at a speed, it is said, of 1,8000 revolutions a minute.