The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1881-06-02

vi Tie ruQeSI cndTacIeT. Line Improved pow
the drill, the reaper, the threshing machine
and many others which are now regarded as
indispensable, were. then unknown. Oul
wheat crops were sown broad-ca by hand
and our harvests were reaped by the sickle
and the cradle and threshed out by the fail
or the tramping of horses. Many OF the ap
planes now deemed essential to domestic
comfort then had no existence.
; And so it was with all the other depart
ments of human industry. Machinery fol
manufactures of all kinds was of prim
tive and imperfect character. All con-
modities were conveyed to market by wagons
and when the cost of production and transpor
ton was deducted from the price received
there was but small sum left to reward the
toll of the farmer or mechanic.
1t would tax your patience too far to emu
merate, even the various articles now deemed
to be of prime necessity, which were utterly
unknown to eur fathers.
Truly we live in an age of progressl When
turn my thoughts from this retrospect Of the
last half century, and venture to look to the flu
ture my mind is dazzled by the brightness of
the pictures which rise before it, and lam forced
to exclaim who can venture to predict what the
next half century may bring forth!
Whatever it may be, | hazard nothing in pre-
dieting that no small part of its achievements
will be due to men OF your profession. Per-
nit me then to thank you in advance for what
| am sure you will accomplish, and again to
tender to you in behalf of my citizens,
| cordial welcome to our city.
RESPONSE.
To Mr. Stuart's address, President Metcalf
of the Institute, responded as follows:
1t gives me the greatest pleasure, sir, to
thank you in behalf of this Institute for your
| cordial words of welcome.
Ola cordial welcome we were assured before
we came here, for hospitality to the stranger is
the history of Virginia from the foundation of
this great Commonwealth. Therefore, your
| kind words were not necessary to convince
us of the pleasures which we know are in
store for us during our present visit. While
we are enjoying the pleasures prepared for us,
and are discussing the questions that will be
brought up in various papers, there are other
important matters which should occupy us at
| this time. Virginia lies in the very heart of
the richest and most extensive mineral and
| agricultural region in the world.
Beginning in Western Massachusetts and
Northeastern New York, extending down
through Northwestern New Jersey, and
spreading over almost all of Pennsylvania,
| through Maryland, over all of the Virginias,
| part of Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina,
and Northern Alabama, and Georgia, we have
| a succession of mountain ranges and valleys.
| Every mountain and hill is full of iron, coal 1
| and other valuable minerals. and nearly every
| acre of the surface is capable of growing the
| finest timber. Every valley and all of the
surrounding country is unsurpassed in agri-
cultural wealth and salubrity of climate.
This great country is capable of sustaining
a population of hundred millions, and vet, |
while the whole energy of the nation seems to |
be turned toward the development of the arid |
plains and snowy ranges of the far West, in |
wild pursuit of precious metals and the carry
ing trade OF the antpodes, this great region of |
yours and ours lies almost neglected and I'M
developed. This ought not SO to be, and it |
is hoped that this great gathering of Engi-
neers, Scientists, and Manufacturers, and lead
ing Mechanics from all parts of the country,
will lead to the widespread conviction of the |
truth, that here is the greatest source of wealth
and of national power in all our country. And |
when idle capital shall have once become con-
WINGED of this; when your mountains are
teeming with thousands of busy mechanics,
who will eat up the surplus products of your
valleys, then this great country east of the
Mississippi will supply all of the manufactures
that shall be needed by the millions of agfcul-
millions of people will be unable to make us
feel crowded in this great country of ours.
Free trade we shall then have between the
different parts of the whole country; free
welcome for everybody; no pauper labor for
any class, and no poverty for any who are not
too lazy to be well off.
ANNUAL ADDRESS
President Metcalf then delivered his annual
address to the Institute, selecting for his sub
ject, "Force."
The traveller after crossing plain country
finds himself near high mountain, is inspir-
ed by feeling OF awe at the vastness of the
pile? The Engineer who studies the mountain
acquires sense of its relation to the earth
and is probably impressed with tue idea Of its
inertia The unfortunate who sees it's avalanche
or land slide is filled with a sense of its de-
structiye power. In fair weather, the traveller
on the sea is filled with an idea of its vast
expansion but when the wind rises to a hurri-
cane he is overcome by telling OF terror,
while the Engineer must be impressed by the
vast power which is developed by an infinite
number Of equal, small and PARALLEL forces
When huge cloud rolls through the sky, and
the lightnings flash and thunders reverberate {
the ignorant and timid hide themselves in fear,
whilst the Engineer and the Scientist must
look on the display with pleasure, knowing
well that the vast cloud is only water vapor,
that the thunder is only harmless sound, and
that the lightning, once seen, can do no dam
age as its force has then done its work.
We are accustomed now to ascribe to the
sun the forces that raised the mountain mass,
that sent the huge waves rolling on their f
destructive course, and that gathered the great
clouds and caused the lightning and thun-
ders or rather we ascribe these results to
force which we recognize as proceedings from I
the sun. Heat, light, electricity and all other 7
forces are traced back to molecular notions
and all facts begin to point to the conclusion
that there is but one force, and also some
scientists already proclaim their belief that /
here is only one element, all manifestations I
Of force and all kinds of matter, as we see it, :
being attributed to numberless vibrations of :
she action of one force upon one element.
If we ask, What is force? or what is matter
here is no answer. If we only knew what r
orce is, of what matter consists, we would I j.,
hen be able to tread the royal road to learn
ng; perhaps we might even be able to harness I
chat much derided perpetual motion which we c
know extends all around us. 7
In the mountains, the waves and the light j.
lings, we have illustrations of what we com. 4
monty call mass, motion and force Wit h a
hese the Engineer has to deal. Mass fall s '
properly into the province Of the Mining En- r
ylneer; Motion to the Mechanical Engineer +
while Force must he the chief study Of the
Civil Engineer This does not include the
Chemist who engineers the elements, but we Y
eaye abundant scope for him in the study of
he calculus Of endless variations in his ele-
nent L
These classes of engineers have their direct r
'elation to various social forces for themselves,
he end and aim of their ambition is glory
or the capitalist to help him make money Q
or the toiler to enable him to make the most |
wages with the least labor. The chem a
st is allowed to meekly bow his back to be q
Kicked by all when things do not come out
Just exactly as wanted.
There is another social feature, however, n
which although, perhaps, the least sought af n
ter, is yet the most important, and that is the q
inevitable raising of the general level of man.
kind. by the pursuit of all the aims of the G
above named classes. D
The man who delves in the earth with pick a
md shovel, hammer and hand drill, has little
% interest him in life; provide him with
good power drill and all of the appliances of a
modern science, and you invest him with an at Il
nosphere of intelligence which must add to his O.
mental growth; he is paid more wages for his
better skill, the product of his labor is increas-
I'd and he is happier every way. And so with b
he quarryman, the old style machlnists, the D
steel melter and the puddler, &c. The benefits :,
hat have accrued to them, show that without VI u
inning for such results, engineers are rapidly q
'aising the intelligence of those who work Il
lnder them. n
Leaving the social questions it is proper to