New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-06-14

age and the strength of materials. This important
Investigation has been speciality Of the institute
for number Of years. and the library Of con-
structing engineer is complete without the long
list of tables which have resulted. This year.
several OF seniors writing theses certain
phases Of the subject after long and painstakng.
tests in the well equipped mechanical laboratory.
There is more of general interest In this laws
OF breakage'' matter than would appear at first.
glance. Indeed. there is chance for every one
TO begin z study on his account. The students
at Tech don't begin to cover the field. They
coufine themselves to the strength of materials,
and even the material list is further limited to
steel, iron, wood, cement, concrete ano the ike
with rope and wire as entertaining side issues.
Many other things are broken besides building
and machinery materials. There is the wall street
broker. for instance. He has way CT gong orehe
with crash He may have millions in the bank
one dgy and headlines in the newspapers the next
There is a fortune in II for the who can figure
o,,t the laws of Wall Street breakage Knowing the
laws there is chance Of avoiding the breaks.
Of interest TO ar even greater number would be
an accurate table of laws Of domestic breakage-
No reference TO the divorce court is intended. for
q whole host Of things break 6efcre the marriage
tie What housewife has not use for trustworthy
treatise on the laws Of breakage OF fine china
China oDeys laws somewhat different from those
which apply TO machinery or steel beams
"It is apparently a selective> law, the results OF
which might be expressed in the survival OF the
least fit" some one has said
Another asserts that the nearest one can come
70 +be solution Of the problem is to LAY it all to
the total depravity Of inanmate things
TT If is possible that needs an Illustration OF
domestic breakage. here is ore from the diary OIL
a last June bride:
crying for half an bss6 h9uT "d do6 6hf
- shall be happy even when John comes u
dinner. . - q eeryant that-that-
,,a+ NJ to clean the china closet She put tnat
beauiifui pre esye Ms On small table. Then she
mounted chair to take down that T 49,
1sT nav Aunt Martha sent down from Ne"-Hiis-
ne careful MARY cried nv way she OF Answered.
Not plate have. broken in a week. OF d iluO"
as I'd c9 ab5enmWeI then-sife let that ugly jar fan
on the table Did the jar break No son ot Count
the pieces!
Ava M one has ever discovered why this snouio
no Tins The chance for a faculty Of housewives
is obvious. -. Doctor ,,
+,.n+e and il is serious and practicaI as We'll
e. e+udx of strength Of materials has been car
tad f,,rtber than in any other college rms may
he because none other is so well eQulppeu
rr wears students OF mechanics mao beeh eA-
,artr,entinr with small specimens of timber steer
Peiiiiee +~ta1 They made tables Of material
.s,t,, from these tests but the tables "ouIa not
10y ont when it came to applying them IheS
were not true to facts- -. -aare
hos been in charge of the institutes department oi
mechanical engineering. decided 10 oothei No ~
ter snecinoens but to full size oeaiis anu
orders and to them under pracIc7i 80.
.tors TT meant the enlarging Of the testing piaI1
hut the results have more than justiheo the 'i0"Do
and expense - - ,-ar,jnz
Beginning with simple wooden beams CT Vai siHe
,,.s the investigations have covered eoIisioer-
49,, r.,ea nj the materials used by contractors
Arches of various shapes have been tested IN az
rerent WAYS There have been tests OF run SIG
cournns and beams OF cast ir3n. OK wrought Iioii'
of Steel and Of the common framing JoiS.S 80 .
.,os hoth IN trusses and in floors and tests or
,he behavior of metal when subject to repeHll"H
% .,resses. Another series OF tests incinoeu inc
strength of cement and OF stone ana OF masonry
n;ers Then there is "A test with TINS eAtieiiei'
technical title To determine the inoou,D -.
xsst,, ar6 tensile strength of annealed or bright