1934-01-13 — Page 2

Page

SHIPBUILDERS, SHIP REPAIRERS,

BOILER MAKERS,

FORGE MASTERS,

OXY-ACETYLENE AND

ELECTRIC WELDERS, MECHANICAL AND

ELECTRICAL "

ENGINEERS.

---DRY DOCK-

OF HONG KONG, LIMITED.

THE TAIKOO DOCKYARD & ENGINEERING COMPANY'

SALVAGE TUG "TAIKOO' Wingless Cakk

V.P.O.N. 100 METERS.

Length 787 Feet Length on Blocks 750 Feet. Depth on Centre of sil (H.W.0-5.T.)`34 ft. 6 ins. -THREE SLIPWAYS,

Capable of Handling Ships Up to 4,01) Tons Displacement

Electric Crane at Sea Wall, Capable of Lifting 100 Tons at 70 Feet Radius.

BUTTERFIELD & SWIRE, Agents,

HONG KONG, CHINA & JAPAN.

TEL ADDRESS: TAIKOODOCK, HONG KONG.".

TELEPHONE: S0211

CALL FLAG. "NUMERAL ONE" OVER "ANS, PENNANT."

Shanks

+

& CO LTD

BARRHEAD-SCOTLAND

HONG KONG DAILY PRESS, SATURDAY, JANUARY 13, 1934.

THAMES FLOOD

PREVENTION

Tidal Area From

Teddington

The disastrous food, which oc- curred on the Thames on Jan- uary, 6-7, 1828. was quickly fol- lowed by a conference of local authorities to consider ways "and means of preventing future trou- 'ble within the County of Lon-

don. This body recommended. " that the whole subject of tides in the Thames should receive expert investigation, that a sys tem of flood warnings should be instituted, and that the duty of supervising flood defence works should be laid on the London County Council. The wider ques- tion of Dooding in the tidal ba- sin, as a whole was considered by » a conference held in November, 1930, when the opinion was ex- pressed that a single authority operating over the whole of that part of the Thames was needed, while in April, 1931, a Depart- mental Committee was appoint- ed by the Ministers of Health and Agriculture, to consider the present organisation for the pre- vention of damage by foods in the tidal portion of the Thames, and to make recommendations regards. the authority which the duty of carrying out such measures should be entrust- ed This Committee, of which Sir William Hart was chairman, has now reported, and recom- mends that a Joint Committee consisting of representatives of the local authorities concerned, with the Catchment Boards of

as

SANITARY WARE

MODERN SANITARY

EARTHENWARE

IN

APPLIANCES

WHITE & COLOUR

THE JARDINE ENGINEERING CORPORATION, LTD.

14, PEDDER. ST. HONG KONG.

(Incorporated under the Companies' Ordinances of Hongkong)

SOLE ACENTS

.9

SHAMEEN, CANTON,

For Constructural Work of Every

Description

Use Green Island Cement

TWO REFLEX TYPE: ROTARY KILNS HAVING AN OVER ALL LENGTH OF 254 FELT THESE KILNS ARE MANUFACTURE GREEN ISLAND CEMENT.

Issued by the

USED TO

GREEN ISLAND CEMENT CO., LTD.

2ND FLOOR EXCHANGE BUILDING

to

ENGINEERING & BUILDING

HIGH-SPEED DIESEL

ENGINES

Excellent Case for High-Speed

ןן

Marine Engine

- The Sixth Thomas Lowe Gray Lecture was delivered at a meet- ing of the Institution of, Mecha- nical Engineers on Friday, De- cember 1, held at Storey's-gate, St. James's Park. The lecturer was Mr. H. R. Ricardo, B.A "FRS... who had selected as his subject "High-Speed Diesel En- gines for Marine Service." As the rules of the Institution pre-.. clude publication of the lecture in full, we are only able to give it in abridged form. This, neces- sitated

the excision, amongst other things, of the illustrations and of the good-humoured critic- iam levelled against the heavy Diesel marine engine with which Mr. Ricardo enlivened a some- what controversial subject. In referring to this rather unusual mode of presentation, it may al- so be said that Mr. Ricardo's manner of delivering the lecture was much to be commended, in every way the well-chosen pace rendering it "capable of being readily followed with the close attention it so thoroughly de- served. The abridgment has been left in the first person singular, the more customary alteration to reported speech in dealing with these lectures not having been adopted.

Mr. Ricardo spoke as follows:- "The lecture I am to delivet in memory of the late Mr. Thomas Lowe Gray must deal with ma- rine engineering, a subject in which I am indeed very inter- ested, but about which I can claim no expert knowledge or experience. If, therefore some of my statements and proposals ap- pear outrageous, I must claim from you that tolerance which is the prerogative of either youth or inexperience. There are times, I think. when the outsider, igno- rant of the traditions and quite undeterred by that vast accumu- lation of superstition which ties the hands of, the expert, may happen on a new theme, or at least start A fresh train of thought. I am going to plead the case for the really light high- speed Diesel engine for marine

the Essex rivers, the Lee, Med- way and Roding, the Thames Conservancy and the · Port of

London Authority should be ap pointed to co-ordinate the work of flood prevention in the tidal area from Teddington seawards. to survey the area to see what measures of defence are neces- sary, and to prepare proposals for carrying out such work. It' is further suggesteed that the expenses of this Joint Committee. should be met from the rates of the areas affected in proportion "to their rateable value, and that In the Catchment Areas the cost af new works should be in ac- cordance with, the Land Drain- age Act, 1930, and in other areas should fall on the rates, with the proviso that a wide discre- tion may be exercised in decid- ing on the areas to be charged. and the proportions which each should pay. Authorities should

not, it is considered. be able for damages caused by a flood. but

where complete defence works can only be erected at an unwarrantable cost steps are to be taken to render the use of basements as sleeping quarters unnecessary.

TEMPERATURE CHART

Recently Prepared By Hadfield's

propulsion; though in previous lectures I have touched on this subject

USE OF ELECTRICITY IN BUSINESS

Variety and Beauty in the Neon Tube

The neon tube industry is one of the most interesting branches' of electrical manufacture that has been developed within the past. few years. A striking recent ap- plication of it is in the restaur- ant of one of London's newest Etores, where a vast false ceiling is illuminated entirely by neon tubes. Sach of the four parabolas constituting the ceiling can be flooded by any desired shade of colour

and have outlined already elsewhere the proposals I am here going to make. I And it difficult to make out a case for a Diesel engine of any sort in really large or very fast vessels. As the size of unit in- creases, the steam plant becomes more efficient, relatively lighter, and cheaper; the Diesel engine. however, gains nothing in eff- ciency, but grows enormously in specific weight; while its constitu- tion grows weaker and its initial cost heavier. There must be a signs used in window display. point on the scale of size where The luminous gas discharge-tube the rising curve of the steam turns a mere advertising sign to plant and the falling curve of the a thing of He and virid Diesel cross. I submit that that colour. Many forms of research intersection lles somewhere shout and experiment have combined in the 6,000 tip mark, and further bringing neon tube manufacture that it is unlikely to vary much to its present stage of progress. It in the near future, since the is founded. on the labours of the scope for improvement would ap- research chemist and the expert- pear to be quite as great in the ments of the electrical investiga- steam plant as its rival. I pro- tor in the Deld of electrolytic pose, therefore, to discuss the conductors and pressures. Later, Diesel engine in terms of power the illuminating engineer and ad- plants of up to, say, 6,000,hp, andvertising expert, versed in the to urge that plants up to this se should be composed of a very large number of very light, high- speed units.

within the considerable range available of reds, greens, and blues. With all the colours riingling a perfect white is ob- tained writes a special correspon- dent of "The Tunes."

Neon lighting can be seen in almost every town of any size in "Britain. Its wide and effective

application to advertising is plain- to all, whether in the form of elaborate devices an shopfronts, the outlining in colour of build- ings, or the smaller arresting

When suggesting to any ship- builder the use of light high- speed engines in preference to the large heavy slow-speed

engine, I have always been answered that they could not possibly face the hardships of a sea-faring life, for a marine en- gine is required to run year in and

year out "at its maximum power and has to be capable of running on insecure foundations with doubtful alignment. I may reply that he would be a happy shipowner indeed who could keep his vessel at sea for 4,000 hours per year, while the average, mo-. tor 'bus runs for fully 5,000. As to running at full power, the so- called full-power rating at which the initial speed trials of large marine Diesel engines are "run, corresponds, in an unsupercharg ed four-cycle engine, to only about 75 lb. per square inch "brake mean pressure, yet any or-. dinary Diesel engine, of the high- speed or low-speed type, can quite easily develop well over 95 "lb: per square inch with good econo- my. Even the rated full power, therefore, is barely 80 per cent. of what the engine is really cap- "able. Again, though I have tra- velled thousands of miles in large motor ships, in no single instance has the average of the day's run fallen short of the trial speed by less than 10 per cent. The de- Aciency has usually been nearer 20 per cent. As to the insecure foundations and dublotis align= ment, I have never discovered

that the marine engineer has taken any action in the design ar mounting of Diesel engines to meet this dificulty. The "high- speed engine, on the other hand, being, far more rigid and entirely self-contained, can be so mount- ed as to require no foundation, and it looks after its own align-

•ment problems. Compared there- fore with many of the services in which the small high-speed en- gine is already employed, that of ship propulsion would appear to be relatively easy, the more so since the speed will be nearly constant and overloading non- existent. Engineering.

POWERFUL RADIO FOR CHANGSHA

Wavelength Of 950 Kilocycles

7

دينيه

Changsha, December 30.

An attractive and useful tem-

A 100-watt Radio Station, with perature chart has recently been

wave-length of 850 kilocycles, prepared under the direction of

erected by the Headquarters of Sir Robert Hadfield, Bart., the Western Route Bandit- F.R.S., and the research" depart- ment of Messrs. Hadfield's Lim-communication, has just been * Suppression'. Forces to facilitate ited Sheffield. The chart mea completed. General Ho Chien, sures 21in by 9in, and running Chairman of the Human Provin-. down the centre la a ennyencial Government and Comman- tional thermometer" stem On der-in-Chief of the Western the right-hand side of the latter. Route Forces, is to give a broad- are tabulated the melting "and" cast at the Station on New Year's boiling points, on the Centigr Day, and the various subordinate: ade scale, of elements, refractor- military organs. have les, steels and other materials,

'beeh instructed to instal radio sets to used principally in metallurgy, listen In-Kuo Min,VA TEAMUA these being separated Into two.. columns to facilitate reference. On the left-hand side are in- dicated the temper and temper ature colours of steel together with various natural and indus -trial temperatures, the remark-.

ably low temperature of 273.05 des. C. recently obtained by. Pro- fessor De Haas, of Leyden, being shown. For grester clarity and

ease in reference, the various classes of date, are separated, in contrasting colours. The pre- sent chart is a new edition with many, impro

andy adol tioma, of que prepared some years

azg and much appremated metallur

values of colour-lighting. bave also lent the weight of their ex- perience.

BLOWN GLASS

On what may be described as the more practical side the in- dustry owes much to the skill of the glass-blower; and at a fur- their stage of manufacture there enters again the électrical expert who has to solve intricate pro- blems connected with the design of suitable electrodes, transform- ers, and condensers. Behind all these activities stands the des igner of the sign itself,

About forty years ago Sir Wi- lam Ramsay succeeded in isolat ing neon, helium, and the other Inert gases, and almost contem- poraneously, Moore in the United States was beginning' the commer cial exploitation of "luminous dis- charge tubes? His tubes contain-" ed nitrogen, Their great disan- vantage at that time, compared with the

neon tube, was the rapid cleaning up of the gas, to mitigate which an automatic re- plenishing device was provided. The first installation on these lines was made at Newark, N.J.. in 1904, and, other noteworthy uses to which Moore's system was applied were the illumination of the Berlin Ice Palace and Bavoy Court, London, A mbre recent example of interior illumination by means of the Moore tube in a perfected form is to be seen in a London restaurant, where single tube circumscribe the hall, twists round the pillars and emerges in a great circle round the orchestra. rostrum, "while a second tube illuminates the dance floor.

A

neon

sign other colours and shades can be obtained with luminous gas discharge tubea. By adding metallic mercury to neon gas blue is got, and by fl- toring the blue through uranium (yellow) glass a green is achieved. In the ordinary way the flter- Ing of the blue would lower the efficiency of the green light, but by using uranium glass a strong additional green fluorescence 15 obtained through the action of the ultraviolet ray component of the mercury radiation. By using argon and helium white or gold can be obtained. In all these cases different shades by using different coloured glass,”

In the construction of the tube many kinds of glass-for exam- ple, soda, lead and Pyrex-are utilised. If a completed sign is examined in detall very elaborate bends in the glass, will be seen. including intricate backward bends into a plane behind the outer surface of the glass, At the same time very sharp angles are avoided because they, would impede the path of discharge. This construction is necessary be- cause the electric current must flow from

one electrode to the other. For example, if a capital E vere made by the glass bender in the ordinary way the short middle stroke would not be illum- toated. Like, the, electrodes, the additional bends, which provide a continuous path along which the current will dow, are blacked out, When the glass-benders have, Anishing their work on the tu bular device and the electrodes are in place, the air is exhausted and a small quantity of gas ad- mitted. A further cleansing pro- cess, is then carried out, after which the tube passes to the ageing bench in order that every impurity, may be eliminated, the complete device being finally test- ed under actual running condi- tions, with its own transformers. before being packed. It is most essential that the installation of the completed 'tubular device is carried out by electricians skilled in this particular branch, sa much of the efficiency of the luminous

--gas discharge-tube depends on

proper erection.

Backgrounds for algas may be of Staybrite steel, copper, copper bronze, oxidized copper, or other high-class finish. Gold leaf on teak is a favourite form of let- tering in a combined daylight and illuminater. For econ- omy in mainte

box signs are glass-faced. Ne signs can be "supplied as visih, by daylight as they are at night, the intensity being changed by either a time switch or an electric eye.

OUTLOOK IN LOCOMO TIVE INDUSTRY

-་་

Few orders months have

during

recent been so welcome, or opportune, as that just plac- ed by the London Midland and Scottish Railway Company, as part of an addition to their 'or- dinary 1934 building programme with.

Messrs, Vulcan Foundry, "Limited, of Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire.. for 50 locomotives and tenders. For several years the firm has suffered acutely

the ,, from

general depression which has overshadowed the lo- comotive-building industry, and for a considerable time past employment has been found only. for a skeleton staff of about 400. The order is for engines of the 4-6-0 type designed for mixed traffic work, and will, is stat-

It is beyond the scope of this article to describe in detail al the factors connected with con- ductivity, voltage, and atmosph eric pressure which, in conjunc- Hon with tube dismension and other considerations, had to be investigated before the luminous gas discharge tube could be laun- ched commercially. One fact about the neon light which will impress the non-technical; how- ever, is that it has nothing in common with the heat-provoked radiation of the electric lamp filament. From the point of viewed, provide employment for 1,600 men for nine months. There is also an improved outlook at Crewe, where the London Mid- land. and Scottish Railway Com- pany bas extensive works. In the last few weeks, it is stated, a, epnsiderable number of men have been reengaged, and the hope is enterained that the town will benent substantially when the company's full 1934 contruc- tional programme is announced.

Engineering4

of attractiveness and efficiency the neon tube, overshadowed the nitrogen tube when it was first introduced. in Paris in 1910 by George Claude. It is claimed. that a red neon tube is visible for a much greater distance by night and in fog than any other light of equal power,-

SHAPING LETTERS Apart from the very attractive red which is characteristic of the

1

Cantieri Riuniti Dell'Adriatico

TRIESTE-MONFALCONE

Shipbuilders, forge masters, electrical engineers, makers of the most up to date types of seroplanes and seaplanes.

Tenders and designs submitted on request. CENERAL AGENCY FOR HONG KONG AND SOUTH CHINA PRINCE'S BUILDING, 3D FLOUR,

.