The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-08-04
IMPROVE MEHTS IN
MECHANICAL SCIENCE
Honolulu. July IS, 1908.

Editor Advertiser: We do not need
to go abroad to see the wonderful i'm
provements made along mechanical
and electrical lines; evidence our iron
works, electrical plants and sugar mills.
But this improvement is more pro-
nounced the farther we go east, and
eliminating in the great Atlantic
steamers.
For instance, when I first crossed
the Atlantic the chief engineer could
be seen in the engine room. night and
day, so anxious was he, watching his
engines, and which seemed to be pound
ing themselves to pieces, and nearly
shaking themselves off their founda-
ton. But this is all changed now, and
the chief engineer can be seen in his
office, almost any time, studying prob
lens and accomplishing results that the
other never dreamed of. The tired and
anxious look too has left his face, and
he stands forth smiling and confident,
the best dressed man and the most i'm
portant parsonage aboard ship, except.
ing the captain. And he may well be
proud, for no finer sight can be seen
than these twin screw, triple expansion
engines that run without noise of any
kind, and as smooth as a sewing ma
chine. Some idea of the size of these
engines may be learned from the fact
that the line of shafting is nearly as
large as our mill rollers; and when
these immense engines, standing side
by side, are set in motion, they are a
sight to behold.
I was also fortunate enough to meet
many of the foremost engineers of
America, and who had charge of some
of the largest electrical and engineer
ing plants in the world.
Wonderful improvements have been
made in these works in economizing
of space, and of concentrating of pow
er, and in methods of doing work, and
in saving labor. For instance, in one
of the largest electrical plants, all the
work in the fire room is done automat-
ically, and so perfectly by machinery,
so that only one fireman is needed
for the entire plant. The great depart
ment stores, such as Marshall Field s,
I had the pleasure of inspecting from
top to bottom; and was amazed at the
vast amount and variety of the various
machinery necessary to run this vast
business. And it will be a surprise to
many to learn that it takes forty men,
including the elevator men, to run the
machinery of this establishment. But
the locomotive leads everything in way
of change. These useful machines, or
at least the more powerful of them,
are no longer a thing of beauty, but
monsters of strength and power. The
largest of them weigh two hundred
and ten tons, and are double enders;
that is, having double compound en-
gines at both ends of them, and they
are so powerful that no coupling link
is strong enough to stand the strain,
and consequently they are mainly used
to push the long trains up grades. OF
course the ordinary engines look much
the same as of old, but on none of the
roads did [ see any of the engines keep
so bright and clean as of old. Indeed
none of the roads have the side or con-
Meeting rods of their engines finished
or bright, and most of them are not
only black but covered with dirt and
grease.
In the turbine engine. however, is
seen the greatest change of all, and it
has but little resemblance to any style
of engine 1t is a wonderful machine
and is said to be, and probably is,
ahead of any of the old styles. Its
one objection is the vibration. And it
does not matter whether it is the great
Lusitania, with her seventy thousand
horse power engines, or the little steam
packets that run across the English
Channel, the vibration is very pro-
nounced. Indeed the latter are so
much so, as to be very uncomfortable,
and to a large extent destroys the
pleasure of the trip; although the in
creased speed may partly make up for
this.
Very truly.
nENDrr nCpOPNE