The sun., 1903-02-08

the mines OF Pennsylvania to the works
crushers, whence an endless chain OF buck
cts carries II to the boiler room. Aw o.
matically the fuel In fed to a score OF fur
naces. and by another system Of conveyors
the ashes are gathered and taken away
No stokers OF aesh and blood nre needed
for machines do the work Of inen. From he
boilers the steam II fed to the engine room,
where 5000 horse power OF electric energy
In developed.
From waterfalls on the Hudson River.
miles away. thin copper conductors bring
! 800. horpe power Of electric energy to the
powerheuse. SO cheap 10 that power that
In time Il will do all the work Of the shops.
just now, eight miles above Glers Falle,
on tho upper Hudson. there Ia nearing CON-
pletion ono Of the greatest power dams ever
high. ard II converts five miles Of the ur-
b,ilent stream into a placid lake: Here
electric general ors. connected with ten
turbine shafts. will develop from 200OO TO
5000 horsepower.
Much Of this new power will he 'red for
street railways in the three neirhborinp
counties, but the electric shops at Schenec-
tady will be bidders for good share Of H..
The power, from tho river pOwerhoiise
comes irto Schenectady over the hills AZ a
deadly i0.O0O-vot alternating current. Be
fore II can he used In he shops II must he
and changed In rotary converters TO direct
current.
The combined energy Of the power house
IL gathered on a great Switchboard, IN a
huge copper conductor, ten inches VIDE
and an inch thick-well named the bus
bar. The energy flowing Invisible through tIIsn
this copper plank operates 6OO machines
cranes, trucks. lifts, tools-dist ributed
through the hundred buildings. bui
man can rest his hand against 1t without
fee,ing the slightest tingling.
livery leading school OF mechanical en-,
gineerng now has its own experimen'a,
workshops blacksmith shop and
machine shop, where the undergraduate
don overalLs and become familiar with
the mechanic arts; but no university can
ever hope to G fYer its students such work
shop equipment AZ there II al Scilehec'any;
But the college graduate does not ma
these vast workshops entirely strange:
They are but q stupendous enlargement OF
his laboratories.
In taking up mechanical construction in
the elect ric works, the student must mrs.
take up foundry work The new iron
foundry-ths largest gray iron foundry III
I he United States-is a steei-fra med struc
Two OF New York's taliest skyscraper.'
II contains three miles Of railway track,
and IL could easily house the Cedric, the
worlds greatest steamship wn'ch - no"
on its maiden voyage acro's the Auan.ic,
And vet ess than nine months aiter the
builders put spade TO the grouho' 'he n'si
met al was poured.
A dozen electric cranes whir under the
roof, CARRYING about the foundry grea'
ladies' each with a capacity OF fifteen tons
Of metal Eight hundred men are al WORK
here, and four-score electric motors are a'
their service.
floor moulding. and loan and dry SAND
no, ling, and become familiar WIN
he operation of cupolas and furnaces
making castings Of from few ounces
up to 10 90 pounds. From the iron foun-
dry they 60 TO the brass foundry, and theh
TO the blacksmith shop. where they be,
come skilful in directing ponderotS steer
hammerA
But the more important con.truCtioh
work ia in the machine shops. Machine
tools-ths wonder workers OF American
met with everywhere.
nowhere else in the worid can
there he found such varied coiiec'ion
Of these steel automatons.
In the new machine shop. structure
larger. even. than the great foundry. there
has bean bIilt recently the largest machine
/ ool in the world. Several years ago a
,O-Yoot boring mill was installed, ana IL
was thought this would meet all future
but 20 rapid Ia the progress
of electrical engineering that 1t has been
necessary to provide new n'ii WIN
swing Of sixty-fve feet:
The increase In the size Of electric gen.
prators has exceeded the widest dreams
pf the inventors of ten years ago Inc
generators in the Manhattan Elevateds
power station are u feet high Each weighs
nearly q million pounds, and the revolving
part. 80 feet In diameter, weighs as much
as two railway locomotives, and its outsioe
face travels at a speed twice a. last as tiat
If the Empire State Express.
All the knowledge of the varied proc
paratus insulai ion OF wire one three
hundre,lth OF an inch thick, and the auto"
matte manufacture Of cables coated with
rubber and Lead: the building up OF arms-
lures and field magnets, OF generators
motors and transformers; the eonstIuc- sI,,n;uc
mountain climbing. urban lramc ana
.rlnk-line hauling; the fashionng oil
switches, switchbOards, controllers and
metres, Of arc and incandescent lights,
and searchlights whose gleam Is visible
ninety miles away-all the ACQUAINTANCE
with methods Of construction, which the
student must have before he can hope to
AXE up engineering problems. Is gained
here in the home OF the electric industry
When the students have mastered the
details of construction they
axe up engineering design, spendlhs
many Wet ks III thc vi ouBi'b LIS 'V. Oh"
20 into the sales department, Tor II taxes
a profess ionnl engineer TO sell electric
machinery.
Each student finds his bent and spe-
cializes. Some take executive places,
d hers bury themselves In the experimental
Constantly the depart ment
heads are urging the young men TO orlgi-
nate, to improve machinery and to cheaper
All through the shops are
10 he seen the results Of encouraging the
81 tudents' inventive genius.
How well college men are regarded in
these shops and how valuable they have
become In the industrial organization,
NAV be Judged from the fact that on the
works payroll are the names OF 500 college
graduates.
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