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ELECTRICITY AND
or
In a Paper. which he read before the Farmers, Electrical Conference at the Royal Agricul- tural Show, Ipswich, Mr. M. M. Harvey explained that it was not economical to tap 133 kV. 66 kV 33 kV lines to give an electricity supply to isolated farms. Most authorities would. however, tüp 11 kV lines, though" this meant capital expenditure. the charges, on which had to be covered by the revenue obtained from the consumer. A system hau therefore been developed in! some areas, whereby the authori- ty bore the cost of the transfor- mer, high tension switchgear and running charges' while the far- mer paid for the low pressure lines. The price per kilowatt- hour could then be fixed at approximately the same price as if the farm was on a low pres- sure village system, plus a stand- ing charge or guarantee to cover the extra cost of the equipment necessary to supply such DJA declated consumer. The guaran- te might be a percentage of the 'capital cost or be based on the demand. It was not generally realised
the that
distribution
AGRICULTURE
maina accounted for 75 per cent. of the cost of giving a supply in rural areas, and the conditioris were therefore totally different
from those in towns.
Dealing with the
use of electricity in providing a water supply on farms. Mr. Harvey gave an account of two dalry farm's on the top of a hill near Bewdley, where 3,500 gallons per day
were pumped, by a 3 hp.
motor a distance of two-thirds. of a mile from the valley to a lange reservoir. The head was 150 ft. and the back pressure 80 lb. per square inch at the pump. It would be impossible to main- tain the production of Certified Grade A milk on this farm with- out this arrangement. In anot- her dranch of farming, the rear. ing at poultry, the advantages of using electricity were also belag increasingly realised and incuba- tors with a capacity as high as 70,000 eggs, were being employed. The running cost was economical, there was no smell, smoke or fire risks, the control of temperature was automatic' and there was a great saving of labour,
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AN ELECTRIC
HONG KONG DAILY PRESS, SATURDAY, AUGUST 18, 1934.
ENGINEERING AND BUILDING
Carving On Cherry Stones
There is in the Musee Mone- taire of Paris, a seal, said to have been the
Michael property of Angelo, on which is engraved, in
a space 14 mm in diameter, a classical scene including 15 human figures, the detail being so minute as to be indistinguish- able by the unaided eye. Vasari. in his account of Italian art. written about 1550. gives nume- rous other instances of this type of manual skill, crowded groups carved on cherry stones and so forth. The almost infinitesimal movements involved in such pro- ductions were.. no doubt, very slowly performed, and the process resolved itself into one of giving concrete form to a pre-existing mental plcture by a very precise degree of muscular control. At the other end of the scale comes rapidity of setion accompanied by a different sort of accuracy. The manual skill here required is that resulting from repeated practice of already acquired movements, rather than from creative impulse. Practice played. for example. important part in the curriculum of Mr. Fagin's" celebrated academy for pickpoc- kets, though that unpleasing per- son can hardly be said to have made a scientific study of motion. Whilst the one filustration is of useless, and the other, of anti- social, work, both exhibit the won- derful degree of control that the human brain can exercise the hand.
曲
"Hidden Mecchanism"
over
In this connection we may draw attention to a recent lecture by Dr. J. W. Cox, of the National Institute of Industrial Psychology on, "Recent Researches into the' Nature of Manual Skill." The tests on which the conclusions are based were made upon boys and girl from the upper classes of elementary schools, alder
students ranging from the age of about sixteen upwards and mem- bers of the staffs of the Institute and of the City of London College, A group of backward girls was also included. The data derived from each of these fairly homo- geneous groups were kept separate and the results from each were in general agreement. The actual tests consisted in the assembly and stripping of an electric lamp- holder, not as a whole but in successive stages: simpler opera- tions. e.g.. threading rings on a rod or assembling a turnbuckle; and the explanation of move- ments effected by simple hidden mechanism. It is impossible to discuss here the ingenious and searching methods adopted by Dr. Cox in making the analyses. but a few comments may be made on the results emerging from the tests. It might have been ex- // pected that the more "intelligent" of the subjects would prove the the more skilful, especially in more complex operations, Ex- haustive tests of general intelli- gence were made so that the sub-
jects could be arranged in some sort of order from the start. The subsequent experiments showed that there was some small agree- ment between a person's rank in the scale of Intelligence with the scores he made at the manual "operations, ` but
evident it was that other factors were present.
Broadly speaking. there seem to be two other factors, namely, one which depends on the ability to recognise the rationale of me- chanical movements, whilst the other appears to be specially as sociated with the precise control of muscular movement, generally known as manual skill. It is somewhat surprising. to us at all events that the degree of ability to perform the several elements of the assembly opera- tions was not fotind to be con-
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stant in an mdividual, proficiency at one elementary operation; not being invariably accompanied by a comparable degree of prof- ciency at another. Hence Dr. Cox suggests that a series of manual skills of varying · degree, rather than as general manual 'skill, usually exists in a person. The observation on the changes In ability due to practice on the one hand and analytical train-w ing on the other, were informa- tive. Practice of the series of
operations for a fortnight showed as was graphically illustrated in the lecture by output curves, that all the subjects gained consider- ably in skill, but they finished up In about the same relative order as they were in on the first day. On the other hand the graphs showed a more important fact re- lative to training. When persons were left to practice an operation by themselves they showed Improvement over one another In the new operations they sub- sequently undertook. If, however,„ instead of being left to their own
NEW CONTRACTS THE SURVEY OF
Messrs. Richard Dunston, Limited, Thorne, near Doncaster. are to construct a large single-
LONDON
screw steam tug and eight river Relief for Unemploy-
for
barges
London owners for whom they have already built similar craft. The tug will be built at their Hessle Yard, near Hull (Messrs. Henry Searr, Limit- ed) and the barges at their Thorne Yard. Further orders received include a Diesel-engined tug, 70 ft. long, for service on the Thames, and a steel light craft. fitted with special" bell-ringing and light-flashing devices, for service of the East Coast,
Messrs. Stothert and Pitt, Limited Bath, have secured an order from the South African Railways and Harbours Adminis- tration for ten 4-ton electrically- driven portal jib cranes or the crank level-luffing, type, for Port Elizabeth Harbour, These cranes are similar to Ave, which they have just completed for. Port Elizabeth.
Messrs. The Cambridge Instru-.
ment
Company, Limited, 45, Grosvenor-place, London, S.W.1, have received orders from the Admiralty to supply dial thermo- meters for HMS.8. Kingfisher · and Woolwich, and H.M. sub- marine Seawolf. no
Я
devices. during the practices: period
they
given were training directed" to- course" of wards showing them what charac- ters to look for, they not only did
better than others, who were equal to them before the training.
at every operation which they afterwards carried out, but they also made more rapid progress in these other "operations. The effects of training are thus seen to be transferable to the other operations, both in the static and dynamic sense, where no such transfer can be observed in the case of practice-
UNIVERSITY OF LONDON
New Buildings To Be Erected
At a
recent meeting of the Court of the University of Lon- don, the tenders submitted for the construction of the super- structure of the first of the buildings, to be erected on the University's site. In Bloomsbury were considered. The lowest ten- der, namely that of 362,578!, from Messrs., Holland, and Han- nen. and Cubitts, Limited, 1. Queen Anne's - gate, London, S.W.1. was accepted. The con- tract now to be entered into with this Company will provide for the building of the Senate House and administrative offices, a portion and of the University Library certain works connected with the University, Hall The University, however, will have the option, for 2 period not exceeding nine months from the date of signing, to extend the contract to cover additional works. The date for completion is March 25, 1936,
Messrs. South Durham Steel and Iron Company. Limited, Stockton, who supplied two lines. of high-pressure pipes for the hydro-electric scheme at Loch Rannoch, Perthshire, of the Grampian Electricity Supply which installation Company. commenced generating power four years ago, have now received #
the further contract from engineers, Messrs. Balfour. Beat- ty and Company, Limited. This comprises the supply, erection. and testing of a third pipe line at Loch Rannoch, similar in con- struction to the existing Unes and involving approximately 1,000 tons of steel pipes. The firm is also engaged upon a simliar con- tract for the North Wales Power Company. Limited.
Messrs.
Electrical
Metropolitan - Vickers Company. Limited, Trafford Park, Manchester, 17, have received an order from the
and Victoria Falls
Transvaal. #Power Company, Limited, for generating plant to be installed In the new Kilp River Station, South Africa. The contract covers the supply of three turbo- alternator sets, each of 33,000-KW capacity, complete with condens- ing plant. The turbines will be of the two-cylinder impulse type and the alternators are to be wound for 10,500 volts at 0.825 power factor. The plant will run at 3,090 r.p.m., corresponding to a periodicity of 51 cycles per second.
"
RAIL-CAR SERVICE
The Great Western Railway Company has inaugurated 2 special express stream-lined rail- car service between Cardin and Birmingham, to enable business men to make quick journeys be- tween these points, independent of the regular train service. This car, has only one class, and passengers are conveyed at a supplemental fare of 2s. 6d. above the third class fare each way. It is scheduled to do the journey
21.
to
ed Architects
1931.
The economic crisis of brought in its train, in addition other unfortunate mway effects, a slowing down of bulld- ing, and a consequent unparallel- ed degree of unemployment. among architects. A scheme of. emergency relief was therefore set up by the Royal Institute of British Architects, and it Was decided
which
that the contributions, were invited, should be used to finance a programme "of collective research. This proce- dure. It was thought, would not only provide a livelihood for those who were suffering, but would prevent their technical skill from becoming rusty and provide a definite contribution to knowledge.
An exhibition, which was open- ed at 7. Bedford-square, London.. W.C.. on Friday, June 22, indi- cates the success of the idea. The work on view is divided into four main groups: Surface utilisation survey, measurement- of old buildings, survey of street elevationis, and survey of the height of build'nga. In the first section. large areas of London have been surveyed to discover to what use land is at present. being put, this being an essential preliminary to the making of any plan for controlling growth, or for replanning. In the second section, 2
of lesser- number known Seventeenth and Eigh teenth Century buildings have -been measured, and the results Will be available for use in the London County Counell survey. The work on street elevations has provided an interesting compari- sdh between the appearance of the principal London streets to- day and one hundred years ago, when. Tallis made similar draw- frigs. Finally, the determination. of the heights of buildings is valuable in connection with the calculation of densities of popu- lation, rehousing, and the pro- vision of open spaces,
Although it is to be hoped that conditions of employment will rapidly improve, It Is feared that there will always be some wen without remunerative positions. For that reason, and because the work fa too important to be abandoned, a scheme has been drafted for its continuance" and, If necessary, for its expansion. The exhibition is for many rea- sons well worth a visit,
of 1171⁄2 miles at an average speed of nearly 50 mlies per hour, al- though on the trial trip as much as 13-2 miles per hour was' rea- ched, and an average of 54-8 miles an hour maintained. These
cars
carry 40 passengers, and refreshments may be obtained on the journey. The cars are run on heavy oil from the Liandarcy Oil Refinery, bear Swansea. The Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of Birmingham, the Mayor and Mayoress of Gloucester, and the Mayor and Mayoress of Newport. visited Cardiff on the occasion of the trial trip..
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