The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1897-03-30
MECHANICAL ARTS OF TODAY
Ancicnts no Farther Advanced
Than the ModernS.

ion OF mechanics now that there is very
little worth knowing in the so-caIled
lost" arts that was known in times
past. but is not known today. As good
cement as the Romans used is made
The principal ingredient is found in
one place only cat present. by man.
Nature makes il in Vesuyius. Other in
gredient is known but is not used T.
is not wanted. il costs TOO much and
is too beastly. And it viii stand water
IL united with good rock.
We use the same material from the
same place. The changes that chemical
/ " occur are the same. Why should it
not last as we'll? II Will. But the pub
lie are so used 70 buying cheap imita-
tions that they do not know the real
article when they see it. Portland ce-
ment from Portland for instance.
At present a glass ball can be made
as biz as a balloon, and it viii hold
water too. 1t cannot be smashed by
fall. II can be packed up into a very
small space. We can also make lady's
dress Of glass filaments if required, and
a few other little things in glass that
would have astonished any Roman
Emperor and have led to his instant
execution if he meddled with us.
We do not require Greek fire in this
era that is what the Turk is saying
tool. We have far more effectual in
struments of warfare and now we Eng
lishmen have no warships il would in
jure.
BY dipping your finger into luke
warm water and letting it stay a few
moments you can then. if you wish,
push il at once into a stream of molten
iron, Withdrawing it quickly. The
Prince of Wales has done it for
one, and he was shown how to do so by
a mechanic whom he visited Fool
hardy feats are common enough. but
now you will notice we venture fingers.
the Olden folks arms. legs, heads, etc.
As for cOlOrs, the very finest are still
with us and can be had. But climate.
adUlteration, etc, must be taken into
account The old masters made them
for themselves and if you go farther
back each man most certainly made
or saw made by others, every article
he used. Adulteration is the artists
greatest bug bear. He cannot really
get quart of linseed oil outside of a
very few places. and old oil in fewer.
AS for violin makers; one of the
greatest judges of the fiddle as a me-
chanical work says: LAS good a violin
as ever is made can be purchased in
London today for two guineas" The
sweetest sound of the old fiddle is ow-
ing to age. and to modern mechanical
cl- old x-inl &c
brated has been practically recon
structed in order to be able 10 stand
the modern concert pitch. And the
celebrated varnish can be duplicated
if very great trouble is taken. The
same very eminent maker in his Rem
diana tells you all about it. But the
old violin makers of Italy were first in
the market and got their sovereign
gums, resins. etc. at will. They picked
their wood and patiently waited till it
was seasoned by nature. Every fiddle
Antonicus Stradivarius made seems
as if its back c me from one tree of
sycamore; beautiful lustrous hard
wood
The ancients are supposed to have
cut out their monuments. etc, with
bronze tools of very hard temper
Where is a sample to be seen? | have
tested one or two. and | don't call them
hard today. / can buy steel (muskets)
that will cut anything in metal that
can be produced. ancient or modern, |
and ii don't have to be tempered |
believe the old workers used iron or
steel because their tools have persisted |
There as no quantity to be found only |
one chisel land it's steeD found so far |
in the pyramids. Bronze does not per- |
ich Ill,
found in primitive state after great |
fires in which soluble rocks. earths, |
etc. are melted. It's hardness would be |
iron is really steel. There is no such |
thing as cast iron, only wrought iron
and cast iron hard is hardness itself.
What the old mechanics knew they
discovered for themselves. They kept
it secret and died hugging their mean
Did souls with the vain belief that they
we're the only men who would be able
10 discover so great thing. How to
weld steel has been known by good
smiths for generations past. They had
10 cast steel. We have and can weld
hat. but not as with the sword so as
% be perfect as before. Old process
steel can be broken welded
and the canton replaced in welded
part inside Of half an hour. if you can
ind sword made of it right here in
Honolulu. But cast steel always is
spoiled for cutting purposes at the
weld.
There is very little evidence that the
I'D world mechanic could teach the
present generation. and if we keep on,
he coming race will accomplish by
Mechanical art what the old ones never
ried to do. Universal Peace
]. s. BAILEY
Mechanic