That evening it was planned to visit on the morrow the extensive telegraphic works of Siemens Brothers & Co., Limited. George retired to sleep, but his mind was never more active. On warm summer evenings he had often held in his hand glow-worms and studied them as they emitted bright phosphorescent light. He had learned that this faculty was confined to the female which has no wings, and that the light is supposed to serve as a beacon to attract and guide the male. The light proceeds from the abdomen, and its intensity seems to vary at will. He had also read of a winged, luminous insect of South America, which emits very brilliant light from various parts of its body.
When George reflected that under even the most favorable conditions there was realized in mechanical work of the energy stored in coal only 10%, he was convinced that the extravagant waste of 90% of energy was in itself sufficient argument against the present method as being the best possible. Ever since his graduation, he had believed that the greatest of all technical problems was the production of cheaper power. That it was the great desideratum in cities in the production of food, and in food transportation from farms to trunk lines, on railways and on the ocean.
While in America he had discussed the matter of cheaper power with Edison, Thompson, Tesla, and others.
George and his father, James Ingram, experimenting with chemical energy, had already discovered a galvanic element which enabled them to furnish electrical energy direct from coal and the oxygen of the air, but this important discovery was kept a secret. The chief object of George Ingram's visit abroad was to follow the footsteps of other great scientists and manufacturers to the edge or frontier of their discoveries and practical workings.
It was two o'clock that night before George could close his eyes, but promptly at 6:30 o'clock next morning he was ready for his bath and shave, and later he and the colonel ate the usual European breakfast of eggs, rolls, and coffee. The eight o'clock train was taken for the great works of Siemens Brothers & Co., Limited, which are located at Woolwich, down the Thames.
This firm, the pioneers of ship lighting by electricity, has already fitted out hundreds of vessels with electric lights. They also manufacture submarine and land telegraphs in vast quantities, having aided largely in enclosing the globe in a network of cables. All the Siemens brothers have shown much ability. Charles William was born at Lenthe, Hanover, in 1823, and has received high scientific honors. The world recognizes the valuable services that Dr. Siemens has rendered to the iron and steel trade by his important investigations and inventions.
Dr. Siemens, like Mr. Bessemer, labored to make iron and steel direct from the ores. By the invention of his regenerative gas furnace, which makes the high grade and uniform steel so desirable in the construction of ships, boilers, and all kinds of machines, Dr. Siemens has rendered signal service. This visit at Siemens Brothers & Co.'s works was of great interest, and many valuable ideas were gained.
Several days were next spent in Birmingham, and at the centers of steel making in northwest England. Birmingham is called the "Toy Shop of the World" for there almost everything is manufactured from a cambric needle to a cannon.
Colonel Harris and George Ingram studied the workings of the English "Saturday half-holiday," which employees earn by working an extra half-hour on the five previous days. A visit was made to the Tangye Bros. Engine Works at Soho, near Birmingham, which absorbed the engine works of Boulton and Watt. It was Boulton who said to Lord Palmerston visiting Soho, "Sir, we have here for sale what subjects of his Majesty most seek, viz., Power."
The Tangyes employ thousands of men, manufacturing engines and other products. Steam engines of all sizes, in enormous quantities are stored, ready at a moment's notice to be shipped broadcast. It was the invention of the powerful Tangye jack-screw that finally enabled the famous engineer Brunel to launch his "Great Eastern" steamship which he had built on the Thames, and which had settled on her keel.