The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1920-08-25
Experts Are Solving
 US. Packing Problem
Laboratory Methods Used Find Best Methods of Pre- pairing Goods for Shipment Some of the
 Difficulties Encountered

The machine inside had, in those two years, done good deal of perspir- ing with too little ventilation.
 The problem was so serious that the talent of Dr. Charles P. Steinmetz, one of the foremost electrical authori- ties of the land, was enlisted. He advised that rows of breathing holes around the side of the cases be bor- ed so that the temperatures inside and outside might be approximately the same. His plan has been follow ed with excellent success by several American companies ever since. The. holes are far enough from the top
 and bottom of the case so that if the
 box gets into shallow water, none will
 run in. If the case is turned so that rain falls into the holes, it does not
 reach the machine inside, but is caught in tin. spoon-shaped spouts
 tackled inside the box and opening
 outside.
 the business of packing. In packing
 the seven pound Coolidge tube used in
 x-ray and radio work, pr. w. D.
 Coolidge concluded that the best way
 to insure careful treatment was to
 let the men who handled it while it
 was in process of being shipped, see
 just what it was. Therefore each tube is slung by it's ends from can vas straps inside an open, spring-sided
 crate of light construction. This
 method insures more careful handl-
 ing than stenciued warnings of fra gile" or handle with care.''
 The problems of shipping, as well as of packing, are numerous ana som etimes difficult. In the yard of the Schenectady plant of the General Electric Company stands a monu-
 ment to the genius of early turbine constructors - the huge turbine built by the company in 1902 for the Com ! m onwealth Edison Company of Chi cago. The railroad over which it was | to. be hauled was notified of it's di- | mensions before it was built, but when ; the great machine was completed it 1 demanded a guarantee of s1,000 above the freight rate before it would ! move it. However, the trip was made l by special train, and made safely. 1 In loading a huge generator for l the Metropolitan Street Railway Com | pany of New York, it was discovered i that the machine was three inches too | high on the flat car to clear the l bridges and tunnels along the route | The planking was therefore removed l from the car, which brought down | the height two inches, but the re-
 maining inch constituted a serious l problem. After studying the prob- | lem. engineers concluded to com 1 press the car springs The only way | this could be done to the necessary | degree was to suspend the big ma- 1 chine over the car and then drop it | This was done, the necessary compres- 1 sion obtained, and the journey suc- l cessfully accomplished
 The modern shipping expert must
 
 | encountered by merchandise in pro- ! cess of transit. He must know the 1 height and width of tunnels the 1 amount of clearance of bridges, where l and how goods are to be transferred l what the maximum weight that car be ried is, and a number of other i things along the same line, including temperature and climatic conditions. If it is going from Schenectady te
 certain European countries it may be | packed one way to New York, tt
 meet American railroad conditions | another for the sea trip in order tt lessen the cubica1 contents and thu
 decrease the freight charges, and stil | another to meet the conditions of tho ! light railways of the continent
 Somebody knows just what condi tions are going to be encountered b, every package in the 12,O0O carload
 that annually leave the Schenectad, plant of the General Electric Com
 pany, and elaborate preparations ar,
 made to meet them. This is part O