El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-01-05

II is 40 years ago today since Watt
took out the first patent on the re-
ciprocating steam engine, and it is
interesting to read the signs that be-
token the approaching eclipse of this
world revolutionizing invention.
Gradually man has been discovering
new methods until the reciprOcating en-
CINE once the acme of economical trans
formation of heat TO work, has become
By comparison, the agency of superla-
tive extravaganza. Not only is the cost
OF its operation serving to retire the
reciprocating engine, but at least one
realm has been found into which it can
never enter-that of aeronautics.
Turbines TO the Front
w hereVer there is reciprOcating en-
CINE 1t sees the specter Of retirement
The steam turbine wants its Job and
oIters 10 do its work at much smaller
cost The gasoline engine claims that
LOT small power it is the most ready
and most economical The electric en-
sIhe Grams that it can reduce to mini
mum expense. smoke and noise and
fhat II can be relied upon TO send its
power hundreds of times further than
the belt of reciprocating engine can
reach Petrol is declared to be the mo-
1--WE power par excellence for the fly
ing machine.
twentieth Century Picture
Here is picture which describes the
superiority or the electric engine over
the one invented by Watt. Behold
S'iT'oH OF Zoth century. four tracked
81. .diIi oau outside of New York On one
.idcA - the finest steam driven Iocomo-
i've tnat ever pulled a limitAd train
1t is rushing onward as - ~ 81
demon were in pursuit The driver -
hhlrrihs around, and volumes of inLy
p'"ch smoke are pouring from the
sldch- steam bursts from every valve
ana mighty roar acconpanies IFS
l4ight- III IS the steam driven Ioconoo-
1--WE at the very zenith of its power.
Du' Dehihd 1t comes another The
second racer glides along as snootbIv
as meteor sweeping down a reach of
SKY. No steam, no smoke none of +ba
familiar things about an engine which
Detokens maximum steam pressure and
a Wideopen throttle let silently, This
easy going monster bears down unon
the other train. closes the gan between
them, and then passes on with the ease
Oh kentucky thoroughbred passing a
plowhcrse- This picture might be call
ed the passing Of steam"
Lacks Economy.
While the reciprocating engine is TOO
slow for this swift age. during the
anu q quarter OF It's Darfncfp6
existence II has conferred incalculable
benefits upon man. especially when
made part of a locomotive The nrin-
clpa4 Indictment drawn against IT does
not set forth that it fails to do its work
well. Tor tTCthirds of all the Dovv4r
used in manufacturing is employed
through the recirrOcating> engine. and
peFh& pS nlnetenThs Of all used In trans
portation- 1t is the lack Of economy
systems Of
OF conservation doctrines have revealed
that the reciprocating engine makes
power too expensive. wasting and suuan-
dering dozens of times more than if
uses
The scientifically trained engineer.
who speaks in the language of heat /
units. potentiality. condensation and cal /
orlcs with the same ease that charac- /
terizeS the physician in referring to /
ganglia. hemaphlegia and thrombosis. /
mas discovered that he sends a whole .
regiment out 70 fight and that only /
gets to the front prepared for
action.
In other words, he puts 1920 heat units I
into the firebox of his boiler, and only
100 Of them get through TO help turn /
the shaft which drives the machinery
are used up in other ways
Waste In the Exhaust.
OF these. PA use the very first ave- I
hue of escape from the temporary SEN
tence of hard labor. getting out
through furnace radiation and fIue
gases. One hundred and twelve more
If them shirk duty by getting away /
through steam pipe radiation And
hen comes the exhaust, where 667 of
hem. more than half the number who !
started In. make a bold dash for lib
.rty and succeed in reaching the cir
This leaves III ready for !
service Seventeen of these must run !
he engine itself, leaving only 100 for
he machinery TO which it is hitched.
When one remembers that nearly half
# the coal that is in the mine is wasted
" improper mining methods and that
My percent of that which reaches
he factory is made TO do gainful work.
lie will see what a tremendous waste
4 energy there Is under modern meth
ds of power production. Leaving en-
rely out of the reckoning the energy
mployed in the mining and the trans
ortatoin Of the coal, which is no incon-
iderable item, less than D percent of
he power represented by the unmined
cal can be utilized in gainful work
then the reciprocating engine is the |