Half a dozen men were at work, all cutting as fast as possible, and the great steel plates, and beams were coming and going as quickly as ever boards were passed along by a carpenter. The lines that were to be cut were all marked out in advance so the men never put out their torches. The only cessation in the work was when one of them stopped for a minute or so, to wipe his eyes, for in spite of the dark goggles worn by all operators of the oxy-acetylene process the intense flame is very hard on the eyes.
One reason why the cutting process is so popular in shipyards is because in making steel ships, holes are cut in the plates, ribs, and beams, wherever possible without lessening the strength, to lighten the frame.
Probably the most picturesque use of the cutting device is by wreckers of steel structures. Nowadays whenever there is a bad fire the building is left a tangled mass of steel pipes and girders that can only be cleared away with the greatest risk of life, and the greatest difficulty. The process always was a long, tedious one until the oxy-acetylene cutting came into use.
Thousands of New York boys saw the device in use during the winter of 1911-1912 when they visited the ruins of the Equitable Life Assurance Society fire. The sight is unmistakable. Far up in the ruins you see a man bending over a great twisted steel beam that it might take weeks to pull out of the débris. Soon there is a shower of sparks, and the part that is sticking out is cut off and ready to be sent to the street and hauled away. The device has been used in the ruins of a large number of disastrous fires, lately, particularly where men have been entombed in the collapse of ceilings, and haste means everything in getting out their bodies. Also, it was very successfully used in cutting up the old battleship Maine before the hull was removed from Havana harbour.
CHAPTER VIII
THE TESLA TURBINE
DR. NIKOLA TESLA TELLS OF HIS NEW STEAM TURBINE ENGINE A MODEL OF WHICH, THE SIZE OF A DERBY HAT, DEVELOPS MORE THAN 110 HORSEPOWER
"HOW would you like to have an engine for your motor boat that you could almost cover with a man's derby hat and yet which would give 110 horsepower?" asked the scientist of his young friend one day when they had been talking about boats and engines.
"I never heard of any real engine as small as that," said the boy. "I used to play with toy engines, but they wouldn't give anywhere near one horsepower, much less 110."
"Well, I think I can show you a little engine that, for mechanical simplicity and power is about the most wonderful thing you ever have seen, if you would like to make another visit to Dr. Nikola Tesla, who told us all about his invention for the wireless transmission of power the other day. Doctor Tesla invented this little engine and he is going to do great things with it."