The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1917-01-28

.Hey must pe Iasnioneu were n2t COIL
mercially available. Again, the rank
and file of each factory staff was not
educated to such highly specialized
work. But the demands of war have
compelled one motor maker after
another to produce engines of more
or less high output for aviation work.
The original British designs that have
proved practical are few In number, a
remark which applies equally to the
cases of France or of Germany, for
| instance; but manufacturers are
nevertheless gaining enormous eX
perience because many. who are un-
able to make highpowered aircraft
engines of their own designing are re
producing them from designs evolved
| elsewhere.
! THE difference between war and
peace work for engines Of high output
| Is this, that in peace time the indi-
vidual manufacturer produces few
examples for competition work under
what may be styled more or less
nursery conditions in that the cream
of his staff of mechanics Is in constant
attendance on them; whereas In war
| time engines of. high output have to
| be standardized precisely as do those
of touring cars and issued to the ser
vices. whereupon they are placed In
/ charge of those who. for the most
part had never anything to do with
this class of engineering construction
before the war. Hence, experience is
being gained on an immense scale.
There remains the question of
price. The war has put an amazing
premium on increase of stell produc-
! ton. The point that matters IN this
! particular connection Ia that, like
in the case of this country and of any
OF the big engineering nations. post
war steel production capacity will be
/ NJ, ,,el., i,, ~
| quirements. as distinct from those of
the brief reconstruction rush period.
steel makers will find themselves
In very keen competition one with
another Those who will succeed In
/ filling their order books will be the
| firms which will commentaries higher
and yet higher grades Of steel or
/ course the way to make q better
motor carriage is not merely to employ
| finer materials than hitherto-the pos
| sibilities of these materials must be
realized to the full by utilizing snem
with worthy designs.
| Probably, by concentration on one
model to the factory. and 30 forth, as
| fas as the lowered price cars of or
binary design are concerned. no radi
| cal change will be witnessed for
spell. They will be more completely
| equipped for less money. But as re-
CARDS higher grade production. includ
! ing the matter of power for weight.
we shall see startlingly fresh things in
car design because the weight prob
| lem will be attacked to the saving of
| tires and petrol. You will be able to
maintain motor carriage more
cheaply. a. well as find 1t more pleas
| urable to use, because it will be more
flexible. and SO forth Certainly we
| shall see the more and more efficient
overhead valve engine standardized
for private car practice. with four
valves q cylinder. the whole properly
| silenced. The cylinder castings. as well
as the axles and the longitudinal frame
members OF the car. for instance. ~iil
| be made OF the finest grade steels or
! OF the latest aluminium alloys to save
weight.
| "Lightness with oommodioasnass.
| has not been attempted yet Progress
| in this direction will lead us. uncon-
sciously or otherwise. to realize that
| quality which in our childhood's days
we associated with the Damascus
/ blade. We must utilize the elasticity
| OF modern methods more and more.
! The automobile industry in Europe
must suffer permanently because the
war has enabled the American indus
| try to develop to an unmatchable mag
nitude. But America has not yet pro-
! duced engines of really high output in
I the sense which obtains today. More
! over. any engineer who has studied
| aluminium alloy construction work
1 take the girder framework of Yep
pelin--will be aware that. apart from
I metals, there is the opportunity TO
! employ design and the workmanship
, in making cars that will be feather
weights compared with what we know
now. Why have springs weighing over
hundredweight apiece il you can
build a long. light frame to absorb
the shocks?
"Of course the fear viii be that the
price OF such vehicle must be beyond
the purchasing power OF the public.
I That is not so. for there remains al
ways a sufficient proportion of the
public which Is ready to buy the new
and the much more than ordinarily
good thing for whatever price 1t Is
necessary to charge for II
Hitherto. no matter what class OF
car we ride in. we have at least five
hundredwe!ght OF machinery for each
individual conveyed. After the war
we may expect the best examples 10
scale two and half hundredweight
i OF machinery per person carried as a
| start toward seriously attacking the
problem OF motor-vehicle weight. In
/ less than five years from the time
peace is concluded we shall regard the
! motor carriage of today as a heavy
i watChf even as twenty wears and q