1935-05-18 — Page 2

Page

MAIL NEWS FROM CHINA

WOLFRAM MINING

Nanking, May 12- In order to develop the wolfram- Ing industry in this province," the Klangs - Provincial Government has decided to exercise centralized control over export and transport of the ores.

An agreement, entrusting, the Yu Min Bank with the transpost and sale of wolfram. Bas been signed by the' Provincial Wolfram Bureau and the Bank, with the approval of the Provincial Goy- ernment.

Kno Mis

GENERAL HAMMOND'S

TOUR

Nanking, May 12 The Itinerary for the rallway Brig. General inspection tour of F. D. Hammond. British railway

expert, and his assistants. Messrs. I J. L. Lean and F. J. M. Tay- tor. has been fixed by the Minis- try of Railways.

Brig. General Hammond and his party will leave Shanghai, to- marrow for an inspection of the Shanghal-Hangchow to Rankow

the after inspecting

Cheklang- Kiangst Railway. From Hankow they they will inspect the Peiping- Hankow. Pelping-1/honing. Pel- plag-Sulyuan. Chengting-Taiyuan. Lung-Hai and Taukow-Chinghua "Railways

On their return from Pelping they will inspect the Tien- tsin-Pukow. Klaochow-Tsinan an tsin-Pukow, Klaochow-Tsinan and the eastern section of the Lung- Hal Rallways.-

INTER-PROVINCIAL SYSTEM

Fonchow, May 12. The Fukien Provincial Govern- ment has agreed to the construc- tion of a Fukien-Klangsi Inter- Provincial

Rallway between Shangjao Station, on the Che- klang-Klangs Raliway in eastern Klangst. and Nanping. northern.. Fukien. A remittance has been to the Cheklang-Klangsi Railway Corporation for Fuklen's share of the survey expenses- Kuo, Miu.

'sent

NEW WHARF

Foochow, May 12. Work on the construction of a wharf at Pagoda Anchorage, on the southern bank of the Min River, opposite Mamol, was start-

ed yesterday. A loan for $210

000 from the Bank of Communi- cations is been. secured by the Provincial Department of Eepon- struction for the purpose.

The Min River Conservancy Board will be responsible for the redemption of the loan in monthly instalments of $3,500- Ku Min.

NEARING COMPLETION

Changsha, May 11. Engineering work on the Tao- yuan-Yuanling section of the Hunan-Eweichow Inter-Provincial Highway is nearing completion, Omnibus service is expected to be operated on the section month-

Kuo Min.

ENGINEERING WORK

next

Nanking, May 11. The Ministry of Railways is in receipt of a petition from the Na- tional Railway Association, request- Ing that, the authorities of the rakway trunk lines be instructęd to Soperate railway Factories In order to develop engineering work in the cuUNITY.

The Ministry has referred the proposal to the various Railway Administrations for perusal.— Kuo Min

THROUGH TRANSPORT.

Talyuan, May 12.

In order to facilitate through transportation with Lung-Hai Railway as a means of develop- ing Shansi province. General. Yen Hsl Shan, Director of the Talyuan Pacification Headquarters. has decided to build a hrarich line of the Tatung-Puchow Railway be- tween Yuncheng, southern Shan- 31, and Mouchingtu. од the northern embankment. of the Yel- low River. opposite the Shanchow station of the Lung-Hal" Rallway, in north-western Honan.

The line will be 120 13 (40 miles) long.

An engineering corps has been despatched to make sur- veys; construction work is expect- ed to be started in two months. Kuo Min

HIGHWAY OPENED

Slan, May 11. The newly constructed Feng- slang-Lunghsien Highway, IT: northwestern Shensi, was formal- ly opened to traffic át a ceremony- held at Fengsiang yesterday in the presence of over 1,000 officials and representatives of civic bod- les. Mr. Lei Pao hua. Provincial Commissioner of Reconstruction for Shens, presided.

Mr. Shao Li

Tzu. Chairman

of the Shensi Provincial Govern

ment; spoke on the importance of the new road, while Mr. Chang Chieh Cheng. Chief Engineer, re- ported on its construction.

Following the ceremory, the guests were taken for the first omnibus ride on the highway,— Kuo Min

Motor Omnibus Design

And Maintenance

In 1932, the Municipal "Tramings and for lubrication of bear-

ways and Transport Association' initiated an inquiry relating to the design and maintenance of motor omnibuses, the findings be- ing, embodied in a memorandum which was submitted to the Bo- ciety of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. A Maison was subse- quently established between the latter body and the Institution of Automobile Engineers, and a joint conference WAS held in June, 1933. This was followed. in November of the same year, by a further conference of the Municipal Tramways and Transport Association, at which Mr. R. Stuart Pilcher submitted a memorandum on motor omnibus design and maintenance. Subse-, quently, the representatives of t commercial-vehicle manufacturers presented a reply to the points raised. A further "joint confer~ ence was then arranged, of which the recommendations have, just been published. The first im- pression made on the reader of these recommendations is one of mila surprise at certain of the re- "commendations, the impressior created being that some, at any rate, of the current designs are in a surprisingly backward state.

Water Pumps

It has been considered neces- sary, for example, to specify that the casings of water pumps should be of corrosion-resisting material, that the linkage of en- gine-control systems should fol- low the shortest path, that pro- vision should be made-for the bushing of bearings subject to wear for looking screwed fasten

HONG KONG DAILY PRESS, SATURDAY, MAY 18, 1935.

ENGINEERING

AND

BUILDING

History Of Distillation

BACK TO PREHISTORIC TIMES

だ

را

Every art, every craft and every science has a history which car- ries us back to prehistoric times before man had discovered that Ideas and facts could be com- municated by aystems of writing. The making of tools, weapons, clothing. utenslis, arnaments and commodities, no less than the use. of numbers and the observation of the heavenly bodies, were com- mon long before the days of the ancient classical civilisations, man apparently always evincing a desire to better his condition, as is the custom to-day. Who the. great benefactors were to whom we owe the early, developments of the arts and crafts never know, for the records of primitive engineering, primitive shipbuilding and primitive metal- lurgy are lost in the mists of anti- quity. "But It is a fact,” said Dr. O. T. Mason, in his book "The Origin of Invention," "the our modern activities, with their re-. sults and methods and appll- ances. are the descendants of a long line of ancestors, that be- come more and more obcure and humble as we trace them back- ward."..

Modern Activities

2

we can

was

Of such modern activities, the chemical industry, with its ever- widening sphere of usefulness, is one of the most important. Af- ecting our daily life at every turn, carried on in innumerable labora- tories and factories, and using processes which have called forth the exercise of the highest scien- tific genius. it yet had its birth thousands of years ago, when men first manufactured beverages, wo- men employed cosmetics, and physicians administered drugs, while its written history dates from the exercise of that "Egyp! - Jan art raised the suspicions of the Emperor Diocletian. As car- rled out in the secrecy of the temples of Egypt, chemistry at the beginning of our era largely concerned with the pre- clous metals, and so Diocletian caused

diligent search to be made "for all the ancient books which treated of the admirable art of making gold and silver and without pity committed them to the flames; apprehensive, as we are assured, lest the opulence of the Egyptians should inspire. them with confidence to rebel against the "Empire." We may, or may not, agree with Gib- bonthat the Emperor's edict "Instead of being condem- bed as the effect of jeal- ous tyranny, deserves to be ap- plauded as an act of prudence and humanity," but all students of technological history will be. glad that some of the precious papyri escaped destruction, and that through the writings which have come down to us we are able o know something or the che- mical operations and apparatus of that time.

་

Chemical History

Ings and joints, and that particu- ... lar attention should be given to the accessibilty of the water pump and magneto. Those who are familiar with modern practice will be aware that obvious defects of the kind are fortunately rare. It is not contemplated that the recommendations should form zime! basis for a standard speciâcation, It being held that the establish- ment 01 such น specification would tend to restrict techniçal enterprise and development. Among the more important re- commendations, no preference is expressed for wet or dry cylinder liners, but it is "agreed that cylin- der walls should be of sumcient thickness to enable dry liners to be fitted when desired. Light- alloy connecting-rods of good de- sign are considered to be satisfac- tory, dificulties leading to earlier failures having now been over- come. The fitting of valve-seat inserts is accepted as destrable ̈ chemical manipulation, practice, but no recommendation

is made concerning their provi-" sion as original equipment,

"

Light Alloys

Criticisms of the use of light alloys for cylinder heads have been investigated, and it has been established that the difficul- ties experienced with such heads relate only to the earlier designs. One other point of particular 21- terest may be referred to, namely, the position of the controls. It is recommended that the hand- brake lever should be on the driver's right, and of the pull-on type, the gear lever being located to the left.

But until we come to compara- tively recent limes chemical his- tory is intermixed with so much that was vain and unprofitable, with so much self-deception and “ fraud, that it is difficult to un-.. ravel the thread of true progress from the entangled mass of ob- scure. enigmatical and unsub- stantiated statements. In the age-long search for the philoso- pher's stone ond the elber of life, emperors, kings, priests and philosophers all had a share, but, said Edward Thorpe, "the history of alchemy id simply a long chap- ter, in the history of human cre dulity."

Yet through many ages there were operative chemisis skilled in

and

through the painstaking resear- ches of Hoefer, Köpp, and espe=" cially Marcellin Berthelot, it da possibe to trace some of the de- velopments of chemistry ah an art.

The value of these "resear- èbes was exemplified by Dr. A. J. V. Underwood, in a paper entit led "That Historical Development of Distilling Plant," read before the Institution of Chemical En- gineers on February 22. Distilling is one of the commonest opera-" tions in industrial chemistry, and descriptions of installations for the distillation of coal, oll, water, and other substances often and a place in our columna, -

It is, therefore, or internas th

Dio

have so fascinating a picture of the evolution of furnaces, sand and water baths, alembles, stilla, colls, condensers, preheaters and heat exchangers, as is given by Dr. Underwood. One of the ear- liest applications of distillation, he says, was for the preparation of mercury, another for the pre- paration

oxide, of zinc scoribed, who lived in the first century

our 'of

STEL, des- scribed the preparation of mer- cury by heating cinnabar in an pot and condensing the Ta- pour in an earthenware cover, while Pliny described the distil- lation of oli of turpentine from rosin.

In the latter operation vapour from heated rosin collected on fleeces of wool spread over the pats: In the Third Cen- tury, Alexander of Aphrodisias said that sailors obtain fresh water at sea. "They boll the sea water and suspend large aponges from the mouth of a brazen ves- sel to imbibe what is evaporated and, in, drawing this off from the sponges, they find it to be sweet water." This apparently is the earliest reference in existence to marine distilling.

THE RUSSIAN INDUSTRIES

Progress Noted

Was

The weekly organ of the Inter- national Labour Office at Geneva states that great progress was made by the Russian Iren and steel industry in 1934. The out- put of this branch, which in 1933 only amounted on an average to two-thirds of the quantities fxed for the end of the first five-year period; increased by from 40 per cent to 45 per cent, and in part exceeded the estimates of the programme. The average daily output of the blast furnace.rose from 23,000 tons in January to 29,800 tons in July and 31,200 tons

December, while the average output in 1933 was 19,500 tons a day. The output of open-hearth furnaces showed a less favourable development. The most urgent task of 1935 is assu..aed to be the achievement of a more satisfac- tory propertion between the pro- duction of cast-iron and that of steel and rolled. A shortage of scrap iron for smelting purposes has hitherto hampered the pro- duction of steel, but such a state of matters no longer exists. There

is now,

It is stated, a sufficient quantity of metal in the country. In 1936, the production of steel is to be 14,800,000 tons, thus exceeding that of cast-iron, which is fixed at 14.000.000 tons, Non-ferrous Metals

The development of the non- ferrous metals industry has been more favourable than in previous" years, and output, as a whole, -- creased by 18 per cent, to 20 per cent. The copper industry, which, despite ali ĕfforts, remained sta- tionary during 1931, 1832 and 1933, ricreased its production by 18.4 per cent, but the program- me was only carried out to the extent of. 81 per cent. The zine. and lead industries, although 'their output was. 10 per cent. De- low the estimates, showed a still larger Increase. Finally, certain. "other branches, including the production of nickel, aluminium and gold, exceeded the estimates of the programme.

The value of the output of the engineering, industry amount to 9,828 million roubles. This âgure, however, does not include the production of local and provi clal industries no longer attuch- ed to the Commissariat of Heavy Industry, which may be estimst ed at about 3,000 million roubles. .As compared with the previous year, the Increase in production was about 25 per cent. As a whole the value of the output alightiý. exceeded the estimates, but cer- tain branches, including the con- struction of locomotives and roll- ing stock, showed a deficiency. The output of rolling stock amountér to only 32,000 units, instead of the 42,000 required by the prograin me. The most favourable resnits were obtained in the construction

COAL BURNING

Wider Range Of Activities

The Coal Burning Appliance Makers' Association was founded. in 1933 with the primary object of promoting co-operation-be- tween the coal industry and ap- pllance makers, so ag. to help the latter to take advantage of the propaganda in favour of coal which had been launched by the Coal Utilisation Couned. It was, however, recognised that a far wider range of activities, includ- ing standardisation, testing and research, would be necessary, and the report of the Committee which WES submitted to the second Annual General Meeting on Thursday, March 28, indicates something of what is being done in these directions. To begin with, the membership has risen from 47 Arms to 95 firms during the year and, though this in- crease is regarded as satisfactory, It is pointed out that there are stil several hundred

A

other who

r

are eligible. As regards work, a Cetailed programme of activities and a schedule of coal-burning applfarices has been drawn up.

Bating And Testing Technical Bub-Committee has been formed to deal with standardisation of pomenclature and of rating and testing ap- plicances, to" investigate

the effect of coal grading on these appliances, to promote research in combustion and to collect data with regard to performance. In addition to the section already existing, others

traction,

with

dealing the metallurgical. chemical, ceramic, and cleaning Industries, and with dryers, ovens and brewers' equipment, have been established, and negoti ations with the British Standards. Institution are resulting In the preparation of standards for coal-barning appliances. An at- tempt is being made to co-ordin- ate investigation into the oper- ation of domestic. industrial and marine appliances, as well as into fundamental problems of solid-fuel combustion, in the hope that in this way the mem- bers of the Association will 'be able to derive the maximum benefit from what la already being done.

Number of Grates The Lancashire and Cheshire Coal Research Association. bas agreed to test a number of grates under identical conditions with different sizes and classes of coal with a view to determining the best performances. Though it is felt that the time is not yet ripe for an official system of coal classification to be drawn up, an agreed nomenclature tor the description of coal sizes is practicable and would be of great benefit to coal-burning appliance manufacturers and coal consum- ers without causing any difficul~ ties in the coal industry.

and machine tools. Apart from certain exceptions, almost all the equipment and machinery requir ed by the Soviet Union are at pre- sent produced in Soviet factories, according to a statement by Mr. Ordzonikidze. The value of im- ports of machinery has declined from 452 million roubles in 1921 to about 50 million roubles in 1934. The programme for 1935 Axes the value of the output of undertakings under the Commis sariat of Heavy Industry at 11,267 million 'roubles,

[

Electric Power The production of electric po wer rose from 15,855 milion kWh In 1933 to 19,955 million kWh in 1934, thus considerably exceeding the estimate, although the total power of electricity supply, sta- tions increased by only 786,000 kWh instead of the 1,187,000 kWh. required by the plan. The power of heating suppy stations rose to 870,000 KWh, and the saving of fuel obtained through these sta- tion's is estimated at over a mil- lion tons. According to the pro- ・gramme for 1935, the production of electric power must reach 24,000 million kWh and the power of electricity supply stations must i be raised from 6,218,000 KW to -7,874,000 kW. The investments in the construction of regional elect- ricity supply stations are to amount to $25 million roubles. The working of these stations must be improved with regard to the Interuptions of current, which are still to frequent, especially in

of power-generating, “machinery áthe prăvincial stations.

PROPAGATION OF SOUND

To Great Distances

The monthly meeting of the Royal Meteorological Society was held at 49, Cromwell-road, Lieut.- Colonel E. Gold, D.S.Q, FRA, the President, being in the chair.' As is customary the meeting took the form of a lecture (The Symons Memorial Lecture), which was delivered on this occasion by Dr. E. J. W. Whipple, FInst.P. The lecture was entitled "The Propagation of Sound to Great Distances." Dr. Whipple said it was well known that the sounds. produced by explosions were sometimes heard at very great distances. even when no sounds were to be heard at points com- paratively close to the origin. This phenomenon had attracted the interest of meteorlogists for a paradoxical" reason--while the Wind carries sound with it to moderate distances (and this was... readily explained), the transmis- ston greated distances, 100 miles or more, seemed to be in- dependent of the weather. For close investigation, microphones were used which recorded not only sounds which could be heard, but also infrasonic waves which were too deep for perception by the human ear. By such means

to

It was proved that when sounds

were heard at great distances, the energy had traversed the atmos- phere at levels far, above the highest mountains. The MAXI- mum height of the path along which the energy travelled WID generally comparable with 25 miles. There was good evidence.' that at such a height the air was warmer than on the ground

Very Consistent

It was found during the war that the fring on the Western Front could be heard in this country only in summer, and at like distances in Germany, only winter. This alternation, which was very consistent, Was due to the change of the prevall- the ing wind in

upper atmos- phere. At a height of 12 miles the wind was generally from the east in summer, and from the west in winter. This reversal was connected with the great range of the changes of temperature in the course of the year in the up- per atmosphere in Arctic regions. but no satisfactory explanation had yet been given of the high temperature which prevailed in the upper atmosphere, apparently from pole to pole, and at all sea- sons. There was much scope for further research.

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